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main strategies and ideas put in place to come up with a product that consists of water mixed with real fruit pieces

Business proposal

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Executive summary

Water Idea is a new solution to some of the most common problems encountered by people while determining the best drinks to take for quenching thirst. The following business proposal outlines the main strategies and ideas put in place to come up with a product that consists of water mixed with real fruit pieces. The full implementation of the project will cost $104,000 as indicated on the budget Forty Fruits Companies.

Introduction

Water Idea is a newly created company that aims at producing drinking water flavored with fruits. Most people would require a drink that tastes different from normal water but does not introduce any health problem in the body. The research group has conducted an intensive survey to determine the effects of using this product in relation to others already in the marker. The implementation of this plan will cost $104,000.

The main aim of starting a business is to achieve certain business goals and ensure the goods and services offered achieve a high competitive advantage. Entrepreneurs today must make crucial decisions entailing business opportunities every single day. One of the challenges facing business today is that the environment is fast growing and extremely dynamic. A business strategy might work today but no longer effective tomorrow calling for business people to be diverse in the changing environment (Bangs & David, 2011). On the other hand, the business environment is global because microeconomic factors from every corner of the world have an impact on business in different regions regardless of their size. In addition, the modern environment has consumers with different values and lifestyles depending on individual tastes and preferences that affect the target market needs. These are the challenges that someone ought to think about while starting a business in order to fit in the current business environment requirements (Daft, & Marcic, 2008).

Main idea

This following is a business proposal on water idea entailing the sale of water mixed with real fruit pieces. The most targeted donors are the water companies because the business entails production and sale of modified water. Water is essential in day-to-day life of an individual that makes it a basic need. People should be given the importance of water in the body because it assists in maintaining the balance of body fluids. In addition, water helps in flushing toxins from the body and maintaining body health. The main aims for introducing this new product into the UAE- Abu Dhabi market is to take care of different client needs because they might feel better drinking water mixed with real fruit pieces as it quenches thirst totally. On the other hand, this product will supplement other common drinks consumed such as sodas that have high chemical levels capable of affecting people’s health.

The product

Water mixed with real fruit juices is the proposed product. It will be processed and sold in UAE-Abu Dhabi before gaining access to international markets. With the availability of required funds, this product has the capability of achieving high sale volumes and generates a lot of profit within a very short duration. The following product will be processed and packed in containers of different sizes depending on the consumer’s requirement. In addition, the price of this product will be lower compared to other company prices. Often clients judges the quality of products in terms of meeting their desires, quality and satisfaction of the tangible products and element, assurance given and reliability of the service (Jacobs, & Chase, 2010). Water idea is an ideal drink that fulfils all these requirements hence, the best option in the market. In order to ensure total customer satisfaction, water idea products will come in different flavors as listed below:

Green apple syrup with lime pieces

Cinnamon flavor with apple pieces

Coconut flavor with pineapple pieces

Ice cubed water with strawberry pieces (straw berry flavored)

Coconut with passion fruits

Kiwi pieces flavor

The possible competitors include Forty Fruity and Squeezed Companies.

An understanding of the prospective client’s problem, needs and wishes

Loma Linda University in California conducted a research where 20 men and women of ages between 38 and 100 years were used as a target group. The research aimed at comparing the health effects associated with frequent drinking of water and other drinks such as coffee, tea, milk or any other beverage. The study results showed that people who took enough water daily had lesser chances of contracting heart diseases. The above drinks cannot substitute water because they increase chances of a person suffering from a heart attack. It is from this research that I generated an idea of coming up with a product that will have no health effects to clients and at the same time increase the quality of plain water while serving the same purpose. An investigation about the consumers’ behaviors at UAE- Abu Dhabi indicates that most people prefer taking soft drinks such as sodas and cocktails to quench their thirst. Creating awareness of the health effects associated with these drinks leaves my product the best option for a thirsty customer.

On the other hand, most clients wish they could get something cheap and containing fewer additives compared to the locally available drinks in the town. According to Schein (1997), any change process occurring in the market has the aim of targeting a client. In addition, clients keep on changing their trends and expectations that is why the product comes with many flavors for customers to make a choice. There will always be a room to do better and delight the customer other than merely having them satisfied. A deep survey was conducted on the client’s problems, needs and wants in order to come up with this product. Contacting clients were done at the individual level in order to create a close intervention with the person and determine what he or she desires most. Several surveys conducted showed that most people would wish to have a drink that is different from pure water and contains essential flavors.

Client needs

Human beings instinctively aim at satisfying a variety of intrinsic needs in all aspects of their life. These needs include social needs (for example, acceptance), various types of physical needs (for example, shelter and food), and individual needs (knowledge need) (Moore and Pareek, 2010). Therefore, Water Idea needs to satisfy physical and social needs of the customers. Measuring satisfaction is an essential tool that aids in evaluating the performance of a new product in the market. The performance incorporates factors such as the quality of the products delivered and market share gained through the sale of the products. In addition, satisfying customer needs aids the in formulating effective measures that need adoption in situations of low-quality product. On the other hand, consumer needs in a product, vary largely. These needs include the appealing quality of a product, the packaging method used, the price of the product, or the attraction of the brand name developed. Some products when introduced in the market have higher prices than the related products, their quality is not appealing, and have poor packing method that does not attract consumers and their brand name has no taste (Olive, 2010).

Client’s needs measurements will be done through an establishment of a feedback program that will be available in the company website. Clients will be requested to join online social channels such as FaceBook, Twiter, and Skype where they could put their views and recommendations about the product. In addition, questionnaires dissemination is also a key strategy of need satisfaction measurement. Questionnaires will be made available in the company website. Only registered customers will get access to the questions page to avoid idlers creating traffic in the system. Registration to the website will be free and customers will be required to update their profiles as the need arises. However, the questions need phrasing in a simple language that the customers easily understand, and the responses analyzed through classification of common responses. The response analysis will assist in delivering quality products to customers that will compete effectively with other products.

Marketing strategies

The market structure adopted by an organization acts as an element of undertaking need analysis of the market share. In this business, the market structure has to segment the potential market of products for effective analysis of the needs, and formulation of measures that need adoption by the company. In addition, the market structure formulates an effective strategy for undertaking business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) business models respectively. If the marketing relationship develops, the values derived increases largely. This increase has the association of the easiness in the achievement of the desired satisfaction among the parties (Sadeh, 2002). Marketing of the Water Idea product will follow the B2B model because it will ensure a total interaction between the company and customer. In addition, clients will have an opportunity to take part in price negotiation and it takes care of the buyer behavior.

Apart from price matching, marketing the water idea products will adopt other means of maintaining the market share in UAE- Abu Dhabi. To begin with, the company will venture into a brand name creation of its products. An appealing brand name attracts more customers and creates customer loyalty to the product. As such, customers will always make decisions favoring the product. In line with brand name branding, the company will undertake an extensive promotion of its products. This calls for the sales team to venture in as many places as possible, to create client awareness of the new type of water that is different from the available ones. Advertising methods such as after sale services, media campaign, and offering gifts to the products bought by customers will bear good fruits for the water idea products if adopted. In addition, the processing team will adopt a different packaging system of the products because it forms a key step in market share possession. Finally, an intensive innovation on products is planned, so that they have no comparison with products from the competing firm (Mercer, 1996).

According to Moore and Pareek (2010), internet support by technology lerads to a cost-effective means of marketing that aims at interacting with the potential clients. Web marketing is more of direct marketing than mass marketing. In the interaction process of the internet, it involves one individual, although, the individual may gather pals around. This results in conveying the information directly to the individual. In addition, the individual may send the link to friends, and when they open, direct marketing occurs since the target person gets the information very fast. The company will open a website that portrays all its products with their respective prices for the potential customers to view. This form of marketing will lead to the development of customer loyalty and obtaining immediate customer feedback.

Distribution

According to (Simchi, Kaminsky and Levi, 2003), due to market nature and the nature of product nature, different products require different distribution strategies. The distribution strategy for the Water Idea products will be different from the strategy used on other soft drinks because is a unique product. This is because the two products have different properties and their markets do not exhibit similar characteristics. Moreover, the rapidly changing technology and increasing competition require that any business outline a proper distribution strategy to enable the realization of the business objectives. The analysis of the market coverage is very crucial especially for the drinks industry. Therefore, a distribution strategy that ensures effective delivery of products to the end user is important. This ensures that the products are available to customers at all times. A good strategy for use is the intensive marketing and distribution strategy (Linton and Donnely, 2009). In this strategy, products distribution will occur over a wide region where the market covers. To facilitate extensive marketing, intermediaries will be used. These include agents and dealers that are all over the town.

Product offering selling

Businesses operate to attain growth through profits; thus, the operations should be cost effective (Lewis, & Slack, 2003). A typical marketing transaction creates value in the satisfaction of the parties involved in the business transaction. This satisfaction is derived from the expectations each party had prior to the transaction, and the ability to give what is expected. Therefore, exchange will be the main value that will be derived in the transaction process. Included in the exchange process are the products or services that the concerned parties expect from each other. These products and services act as indicators of the values of the transaction that takes place. Selling of the product will take an extremely different perspective from those taken by competitors. Water is a drink for quenching thirst and customers take it in different forms. In order to ensure customer needs are fulfilled, the product will be offered in different forms. Both cold and warm forms of the product will be offered depending on the weather situation and the customer’s taste and preferences. Determining the target audience forms the best method of developing a selling strategy for a product that results into good selling channels ((Muller, 2011).

The increasing health concerns among consumers in UAE- Abu Dhabi have influenced the shift in demand for high quality water. Presently, water mixed with real fruit flavors is regarded as healthier since it contains high levels of nutrients essential for protection against harmful health conditions. Marketing fruit, flavored water as a soft drink will entail four stages in the marketing strategy. To start with, different flavors of water will be introduced in the market through advertisements and promotions to make the customers aware of the new drinks in the market. Secondly, the sales teams of the new brands will make the product grow especially during the summer when people have high needs to quench their thirst. Third stage is making the brand mature and competes with other brands. In UAE- Abu Dhabi, customers always like purchasing products that have good flavors and new tastes.

Budget

No. Activity Cost ($) Total ($)

1 Carrying out market survey 4,000.00 4,000.00

2 Processing structures and materials Buying and installing processors 40,500.00 65,500.00

Other materials 25,000.00 3 Advertising 9,5000 9,500

4 Wages and salaries 10,000 10,000

5 Licenses and other costs 15,000

Total budget 104,000

References

Daft Richard L, & Marcic Dorothy. (2008). Understanding Management. The seventh

Edition. United States of America: Cengage Learning.

Bangs, J. & David, H. (2011). Creating a Plan to Successfully Market Your Business,

Products, or Services. The Market plan Guide. Retrieved from:

http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/plan/

Linton, C, & Donnely, R. (2009). Delivering Customer Value through Marketing. Elsevier

Publishing Inc.

Mercer, D. (1996). Marketing. The Second Edition. Malden, Massachusetts. Blackwell

Publishers Inc.

Moore, K, & Pareek, N. (2010). Marketing: The Basics. Second Edition. 2 Park Square, Milton

Park. Routledge.

Oliver, R. L. (2010). Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer(2nd ed.). Armonk,

N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.

Sadeh, N. (2002). M-commerce technologies, services, and business models. New York: John

Wiley & Sons.

Schein, E. H. (1997). The Concept of client from a process consultation perspective: A guide for

change agents. Retrieved from:

http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/2647/SWP-3946-36987393.pdfSimchi, D, Kaminsky, P, & Levi, S. (2003). Designing and managing the supply chain. New

York: McGraw Hill Inc.

They are moral rules that govern business, how business decision are made and how people are treated

BUSINESS ETHICS

They are moral rules that govern business, how business decision are made and how people are treated. In a business organizations and corporation business ethics help them to promote integrity and good interaction among their employees and gain trust from their stakeholders such as consumers. They use different business ethics approaches in order to make a good decision whenever they have a crisis or are in a dilemma of a rising issue.

In an organization you have to deal with an issue of discrimination. You may find two of the employees in an argument where one of the employees is disabled. The reason for the argument was that the disabled fed the wrong information to a computer .Instead of using the right way to correct him he used his disability as a weakness. As a manager I would choose virtue approach of business ethics that will help me on how to find a solution that will help them to reconcile. Discussing the issue with them will bring out the issues and bring them together thus forgiving each other which will be easier to solve the problem.

When making a decision in utilitarian it is based on what will benefit the majority in the society while in virtue ethics the decision is based on having the virtues like fairness, generosity, self-control, confidence and loyalty. Making a decision using the deontological approach decision are made in the best interest a person.In communitarism decision making is based on opposes individualism and supports community based approach.

Utilitarian approach focuses on the promotion of happiness and duties (Jeremy Bentham) while deontology focuses on the duty roles and respect for people (Immanuel Kant).Virtue approach stresses more of moral development and moral education which is following the moral values and rules in the business (Aristotle).Communitarian stretches on seeking social justice in the community.

Utilitarian ignores the seeking of justice for the minority since it stresses on the majority while deontological usually underestimate the need for happiness and social utility because stresses on duties. Virtue approach depends on the standards of morality in the community while communitarian approach stands for social justice through responsibility where people provide for themselves that will contribute to the community’s ability to fulfill its essential tasks.

A reasoning process behind an ethical issue is identifying ethical issues and being able to think, solve and respond to a problem. In order to come up with a suitable solution there are several steps to be followed which are;

Identify the ethical issue: identify the ethical issue affecting the business organization in order to make the right decision that will favor all the stakeholders in the organization.

Outline the options: this is the process of choosing the best policies that might be followed to respond to the ethical issues so as to make the right decision.

Construct ethical argument; come up with arguments and reasons that are ethically right and can be used to support a conclusion as to what ought to be done ethically.

Evaluate an argument for a decision; evaluate very important consideration in each argument. Come up with the best argument that will help come to conclusion without violating any ethical rule.

Make a decision; decide on the strongest option or argument that will be ethically best way to deal with issue presented .Make a decision from the argument with the strongest ethical reasoning behind it.

Principles and actions of decision making in ethics helps in examining choices and options before making a decision or solving an ethical dilemma. They are;

Universalism, it is a principle that considers the wellbeing and risks of all parties when considering decisions and outcomes in an organization. It involves considering people’s needs and values seriously. When making a decision one should make sure it does not affect the needs and the moral values of an individual.

Justice, this helps in making a decision by being just and fair to all the individuals by treating them equally, making fair decisions and agreements among parties and punishing those who go against the organizational ethical rules. When dealing with a case you have to take action: is it fair, is it right, who get hurt and who has to pay for the consequence.

Utilitarianism, it holds that an action is morally right when it produces the best results for a large number of people. An action is morally if it benefits a large number of people. Basically it favors the majority more than the minority.

Influence of culture on ethical decision making

There are different cultures in the world that impact on the way people make their decision and also individuals are affected by their cultures. Individuals who take part in making a decision also bring up their personal characteristics.

An individual interest can be in a conflict with different culture when making a decision in an organization. This is because a culture can support an issue while another does not. When making a decision cultural differences must be considered in order to be fair and equal regardless of individual’s cultural beliefs. Such beliefs can hinder them from making a proper decision to avoid cultural conflicts in an organization.

Influence of environment on ethical decision making

Lack of rewards; employees love to be motivated hence rewarding them will make them put more efforts in order to achieve goals of an organization. It will also be an encouragement to those who have not been rewarded to reach the goal so as to be appreciated.

Limited competitive pressure; competition from external and internal environment helps the employees to put more effort in decision making to come up with better results compared to others.

Poor career direction; this affects most of the employees in an organization. This happens when new employees are not directed properly in making decision that will hinder them from getting to the right solution to a problem.

Professional leadership; leaders make lack the professional skills that are used to govern an organization in order to bring the best way to make the right decision thus will hinder the employees from getting to the right decision.

Personal decision based on ethical decision making

A good personal decision should be able to demonstrate values like trust, respect, fairness, integrity, caring, responsibilities and good citizenship which will help in generating and providing foundation for a decision.

Conclusion

Business ethics helps to promote integrity among the employees and employers to gain trust from their stakeholders. Ethics create a conducive working environment that helps achieve goals set for a period of time in an organization. Ethics programs helps in promoting moral conduct.

system for GGC students

Brainstorming ideas for new information system for GGC students

List your ideas here.

System Request Form

Project Name:

2.1 Why is the system needed?

Business Need: Describe why GGC students need this system

Functionality: Describe the functionality requested

2.2 Technical Feasibility: Can We Build It?

Does GGC have a similar system where IT staff could leverage existing knowledge? If yes, what is it? If not, what tools, software, hardware, or other resources will be required?

Application(s)/Software Needed

Hardware Technologies Needed

Other resources required

Project Size (estimate how many students or faculty it will impact)

2.3 Organizational Feasibility: If We Build It, Will They Come?

Project Champion(s) Who is (or should be) championing this project? This means who would you go to if you wanted to actually present this idea?

Users Who (specifically) will be using this system?

Other Stakeholders What is the impact on other stakeholders (people who are impacted – for better or worse – by the system you are proposing)?

2.4 Summary:

Overall, what are the biggest benefits for this GGC implementing this system?

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

3.1 Expected Value: What Value does it provide?

Tangible: Value that can be easily measured

Intangible: Value that cannot be easily measured

Special Issues or Constraints: What special issues or constraints will need to be considered?

3.2 Economic Feasibility: Should We Build It?

What economic constraints (and benefits) must be considered?

Annual Benefits (Cost Savings and Revenues) (best guess estimates)

Intangible Costs and Benefits

Data

Data Needed?

What data will you require users to input?

Data?

What other data would be required to be stored in the database?

INPUT / OUTPUT DESIGNS

Input Screens

What would the input screen(s) look like? Draw them here. You can use drawing tools in MS Word or use Excel or Powerpoint or http://wireframe.cc to do a mockup.

Output Screens

What would the output screen(s) look like? Draw them here. You can use drawing tools in MS Word or use Excel or Powerpoint or http://wireframe.cc to do a mockup.

Output / Reports / Printouts

What would output reports look like? Draw them here. You can use drawing tools in MS Word or use Excel or Powerpoint or http://wireframe.cc to do a mockup.

Introduction (12)

Book Review

Student’s Name

Institutional affiliation

Introduction

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela follows the extraordinary story of Nelson Mandela’s life. It is a story about his setbacks, struggles, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph of the globally revered human rights icon. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is one of the greatest political and moral leaders of his time. Mandela is an international hero who was dedicated to the fight against apartheid in South Africa, an act that won him the title of president of his country and the Nobel Peace Prize (Herzog, & Román, 2015). After his release from a 27- year jail term in 1990, he found himself at the center of inspiring and most compelling political drama in the world. As head of the African National Congress and anti-apartheid policy, he played a pivotal role in steering South Africa towards majority rule and multiracial government. On the other hand, Race, Gender, and Punishment: From Colonialism to the War on Terror documents the disproportionate representation of black Americans within the U. S criminal justice system and the beliefs and entrenched system that shape punishment among other social control forms today. Specifically, the book talks about the cultural and structural forces which continue to influence and further perpetuate racial discrimination. This essay highlights the relationship between race and colonialism, gender and race, social control, and immigration. Further, it examines social punishment on a global scale, Mandela’s message about race, and the promotion of global peace through Mandela’s example.

Racism and Colonialism

The aspects of race and colonialism are evident in the texts. Their interaction has to do with the unequal treatment of particularly the people of color within their respective environments. Notably, in the United States and South Africa, the practices of punishment were not equal. Different races were treated differently, but in most situations, the white people received preferential treatment. This was informed by the notion that white people were better than others because they came to colonize other countries. In South Africa, apartheid had become a norm, with Americans treating the native people, particularly racial minority as outcasts. In the Long Walk to Freedom, we experience Mandela’s brush at the hands of white settlers. In the biography, Mandela’s description of his tenure in prison cells is disheartening. He received a life sentence on charges of inciting people to strike in 1961. Mandela reported that the conditions under which he was living as uninhabitable; he carried out backbreaking labor and slept in tiny cells. All the torture he underwent resulted from the apartheid policies that gained massive support and influence from politicians, including Daniel Malan Francois, who was responsible for implementing the nadir of African freedoms.

How Slavery Highlights Race and Gender

Both texts reveal that there is an interrelationship between slavery and gender and race. This is because, to some extent, the gender and the ethnicity of a person determine their fate. With regard to freedom, Mandela explains that he was convicted of inciting people to strike, but close examination reveals that underlying factors, including his race, fueled the determination of his opponents to convict him. In the 1960s, there was rampant racial discrimination across South Africa. The white colonialist had taken over leadership, and they disregarded the rights of racial minorities such as black people. In fact, at the time, the situation was so critical to the extent that Africans were denied access to some spaces, and they had been confined to living in specific locations while the white settlers who were in authority had the freedom to access and live in places of their choice. This kind of treatment was gendered and discriminative in all forms. Additionally, text from Race, Gender, and Punishment shows that punishment practices in the United States are racist and engendered. Considering the United States’ racist history, it is evident that colonizers shaped the justice systems in a way that is unfair to the subjects, particularly people of color and women, hence subjecting them to slavery. The colonizers had the notion that painted their culture as superior. As a result, the justice system ended up criminalizing and giving people of color and men favorable treatment compared to their counterparts who are not people of color.

Immigration and Social Control

Immigration is related to social control because it shapes the attitudes and perceptions of the people in society, including the community and police. The text from Race, Gender, and Punishment points out that in U. S. policing, factors such as immigration status, race, and ethnicity influence how the law is enforced. With the current populations of immigrant groups on the rise, the legal authorities face the challenge of fully enforcing the law. Worth noting that individuals who identify as minority groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and others are disproportionately affected by the negative perception and stereotypes. This has to do with the past experiences that law enforces have with these particular groups of people. For instance, there’s the notion that people of color are criminal offenders because they comprise the majority of convicted fellows. Because of their history and these social perceptions, some ethnicities not originally from the U.S are subject to unfair treatment within the justice systems, hence controlling their freedom.

Social Punishment on a Global Scale

On a global scale, social punishment, also referred to as a social sanction, is a mechanism through which individuals within cooperation use some of their resources to punish defectors. Social punishments arise from norms that are found within a give a given society. Within a given society, punishments are used in controlling society. For instance, prisons’ existence is entirely for maintaining law and order where defiant people are punished by being denied freedom. In essence, any sanction is a reaction from one person towards a group or an individual’s behavior. Social punishment is any means by which confirmation of standards that have been socially approved is conformed. Social punishments can be negative and positive. When a person’s action conforms to normative expectations, we are rewarded, and while failure to meet expectations leads to negative sanctions in the form of punishment. It is important to note that different norms carry different sanctions because of their importance in different cultures is not equal. Essentially, rewards and punishments are definite expressions of group approval.

Mandela’s Message on Racism

Concerning the discussion about racism, Mandela brought the message that to be free is not merely to cast one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others (Nokele, 2015). Mandela spent all his life-fighting injustice and racism. Notably, Mandela’s will power and political principle to rebel against white supremacy apartheid in South Africa motivated people struggling for an equal and fair world. He spent 27 years of his life in prison for rebelling against apartheid. This followed his realization that the only way to eliminate white supremacy was by the use of force. He maintained that the lack of dignity that Africans went through was a direct result of white supremacy policies. His struggle represented a true struggle experienced by African people, and it was inspire by suffering and experience. Mandela remained committed to ideals of a free society to the extent that he was prepared to die for this cause if need be.

Peace Promotion Using Mandela as an Example

We can promote global peace by following in Mandela’s footsteps as a dedicated and true advocate of equality and justice. He put his people’s interests before his own and was prepared to even die in his fight against racial discrimination. Like Mandela, we can contribute to the promotion of global peace by forming commissions designed to help violators and victims of human rights violations address their past. Further, we should encourage our governments to be transparent in all their dealings and to keep watch on their actions by calling them out on their wrongs. This way, we will encourage restorative justice for many nations whose past are marred with racial discrimination and injustice.

Conclusion

Issues of racism and differential treatment cut across the history of not South Africa and the United States as contextualized by the two books; they affect many countries. Long Walk to Freedom is about Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, one of the greatest political and moral leaders. He is an international hero who was dedicated to the fight against apartheid in South Africa, an act that won him the title of president of his country and the Nobel Peace Prize. Race, Gender, and Punishment: From Colonialism to the War on Terror follows the disproportionate representation of black Americans within the U. S criminal justice system and the beliefs and entrenched system that shape punishment among other social control forms today. We can borrow a leaf from Nelson Mandela’s legacy in his fight for equal treatment. We need to stand up against discrimination in all its forms because we are all equal, and nobody deserves preferential treatment moreso on the grounds of racism.

References

Nokele, A. B. B. (2015). Translating conceptual metaphor in Mandela’s Long walk to freedom: a cross-cultural comparison (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Africa).

Herzog, B., & Román, E. (2015). Revoking citizenship: expatriation in America from the colonial era to the war on terror (Vol. 9). NYU Press.

Walmart – the Face of Twenty First Century Capitalism

Book Report

Lichtenstein N. Wal-Mart, The Face of Twenty First Century Capitalism: New Press, 2006. Print.

Name

Professor

Course

Date

Wal-Mart – The Face of Twenty First Century Capitalism

Introduction

Wal-Mart – the Face of Twenty First Century Capitalism is edited by one America’s most excellent labor historians. The book marks a determined effort to scrutinize the full scope of Wal-Mart’s operations in business, its effects on the social scene, and its role in the American as well as, the world economy. The book is based on a conference held in 2004 by leading business analysts, labor leaders, historians, and sociologists. The conference immediately drew the interest of national media. Profiles were subsequently drawn in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, as well as the New York Review of Books. Typically, books concerning Wal-Mart either eulogize blindly the budget behemoth or criticize it for its elimination of beneficial legislation in regard to labor practices, along with other things. This book fails to do either.

REVIEW OF WAL-MART – THE FACE OF TWENTY FIRST CENTURY CAPITALISM

The book comprises of twelve selections that are separated into three categories. These include “A Global Corporation,” “Working at Wal-Mart,” and “History, Culture, Capitalism.” The authors include labor and social historians, anthropologists, economists, management specialists, and union leaders. On the whole, the papers are academic in nature and incorporate graphs, charts, tables, as well as footnotes. However, they are interesting and accessible and present insight into the world’s leading company. The book provides scrutiny of the numerous sectors that Wal-Mart occupies in people’s lives as well as the increasingly global economy. The book is extremely recommended for scholastic libraries.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Wal-Mart overtook all its rivals as the world- changing economic institution in contemporary times. Even in a country of shoppers whose chief burning metaphysical objective is to find their stuff, the domination of the big-box retailer that is Wal-Mart is a big astonishment. The enterprise that originated from Arkansas is currently the 30th biggest economy on the planet. It is also China’s 6th biggest export market, the chief customer to Bangladesh, and the biggest private employer in Mexico. It is proven that Wal-Mart’s single day sales surpass the total gross domestic product of approximately 36 nations.

Contributions to the book are an anthology of essays from sociologists and historians who anticipate depicting that this leviathan has thrown the world economy into an innovative hyper-retail quagmire whereby big businesses and conglomerates stalk the world, fighting off regulations as well as, standards of fair labor. Indeed, facts demonstrate that businesses of the scale of Wal-Mart generate their own economic power turfs, consequently reducing wages and twisting market access and manufacturers’ prices wherever they go.

However, an essay by Strasser Susan explains that, Walton’s homegrown empire is actually the most recent in the American custom of merge and squeeze. The genealogy of Wal-Mart is traced to the Frank Woolworth’s innovations of cost control and the Richard Sear’s popularization of mail order in the late 19th century. It is also traced to the 20th century sudden increase of chain stores and discount houses. Even prior to the emergence of retailer gigantism, centrally coordinated enterprises drove off independent merchants and substituted locally based businesses with national corporations. Numerous market analysts have been keen over the collapse of the small-town self-regulating entrepreneur for several generations.

According to Moreton Bethany, the reality of the matter is that, the success of Wal-Mart relies on the managers’ abilities to suckle life out of the convectional red-state ethics. The corporation’s Human Resource practices thrive in exploiting the labor force and employees’ traditional principles, in order to sustain the Wal-Mart family.

The question begs whether Wal-Mart is a curse or a blessing for America. The essayists acknowledge that Wal-Mart has its remarkably positive aspects. Its policy on everyday low prices is alleged to reduce families’ expenditure by approximately $600 per annum. Several analysts credit Wal-Mart sustaining a restraint on the inflation rate of U.S. According to a survey conducted by McKingsley & Co, 25% of the productivity gains in the U.S economy from 1995 through 1999 were attributed to Wal-Mart. The analysts also acknowledge the fact that Wal-Mart employs approximately 1.33 million U.S citizens mainly in the economically miserable communities.

However, the essayists do not predominantly focus on Wal-Mart’s achievements, but rather focus on the costs of its retailing style. The essayists allege that, Wal-Mart holds the American economy at ransom through its paltry health-care coverage, as well as, low wages that throw costs on the American tax payers. While money spent in the Wal-Mart stores by its clients would eventually circulate in the local economy, a great amount of the finances vanish into the international-market stratosphere. The book also highlights how Wal-Mart’s style of retailing damages metropolitan landscapes, disfiguring traditional downtowns as well as increasing the average drive times per household, pollution, and sprawl.

An essay by Rathke Wade proposes a Wal-Mart Workers Association which would campaign extensively for better workplace conditions, through rallying politicians and the public to the cause for equity in labor instead of focusing barely on isolated collective bargaining accords. According to essayist Bell Clement, probably Americans could be influenced into making an alternative choice. For instance, in Germany, the company concurred into improved workplace conditions thereby it is yet to record any tangible profits. This is while shoppers in America continue to take their dollars to the uptown hyper mart, without minding the bona fide costs. Wal-Mart is criticized for its supposedly melancholic obsession with profits, but it is criticized also for practicing a careless process whereby employees are promoted into the senior management positions. While the supporters of the Wal-Mart class action proceedings malign Wal-Mart for its assumed prejudice, none has received above-normal profits through offering employment to the ones against whom Wal-Mart allegedly discriminated.

According to Karjanen, Wal-Mart is a vital component of the forerunner of a social revolution. The essayist alleges that structural and spatial inequalities are increased when mega retailers transforms regional economies. Karjanen asserts that Wal-Mart is a component of a structure that generates an hourglass economy where growth takes place typically at the top and bottom of the wage scale. However, this is intricate to interpret, particularly since another essayist, Hoopes, alleges earlier that little is known concerning the Wal-Mart workforce. Like other essayists, Hoopes, in the book unconditionally believes that remuneration is determined by the munificence of the employer, but not by competitive conditions. According to Hoopes, Wal-Mart is able to employ managerial influence to squeeze labor out of its employees.

Furthermore, the temporal assessments have little to say concerning labor force participation trends. Karjanen criticizes Wal-Mart as a medium in an international supply chain that cannibalizes less important rivals, but a new study by Russell Sobel and Andrea Dean found no statistically vital effect of Wal-Mart’s entry on small-firm employment or self-employment.

Regrettably, economic analysis is this book discharged out of hand. Disregard the economic structure short-circuit discussion and, since the essayists are dealing with unambiguously economic subject matter, it may be compared to restraining language by disregarding some pages in a dictionary. This generates double speak, and it is inappropriate. Regrettably, it seems to be the modus operandi in regard to Wal-Mart criticism. Colorful argumentative literature may be entertaining and useful, but it should not be a substitute for vigilant economic way of thinking.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the essays are found to be conflicting in their discussions of discrimination and profits. First, the essayists sustain that Wal-Mart is a paranoid profit-maximiser, especially alert to the bottom line. Secondly, they allege that Wal-Mart is blinded by custom and prejudice that it would apparently forgo healthier business practices, and, consequently, profits, with the aim of indulging a taste for prejudice. These observations are contradictory. Wal-Mart can only be seen as either a profit-maximiser, or not. However, there are cases in which prejudice can endure in equilibrium, but this would occur in situations in whereby the clientele are keen to pay more for prejudice. While the book serves as a constructive catalogue of information and a foil for the financially viable mind-set, the valid motivation to criticize Wal-Mart, its aggressive quest of subsidies, are offered little thought, and the political limitations Wal-Mart faces are hardly analyzed. If there is a need to criticize Wal-Mart, it is deficient to allege that Wal-Mart offers low wages and fail to provide more information. It is prudent to demonstrate that the markets whereby Wal-Mart operates in are not aggressive. Therefore, in this regard, if patterns are to be claimed, then such patterns require being clearly identified.

Works Cited

Lichtenstein N. Wal-Mart, The Face of Twenty First Century Capitalism: New Press, 2006. Print.

The case is an analysis of Giordanos corporate expansion mission

Case summary

The case is an analysis of Giordano’s corporate expansion mission. The case examines what Giordano’s future is and whether it would be beneficial if it maintains its current positioning strategy. The case also analyses the factors that will be essential to Giordano’s success and whether the company’s competitive strengths in merchandise selection and service are can be transferred to the new market. The company willing to retain its success in their existing market, wanted to examine issues that would affect their market entry and factors that will determine their success in the new market. Among the issues that the case presents is whether Giordano should change its present position. The company also debated if the factors that had contributed to the company’s success in their current market should be exercised in the new market.

The report also analyses the company’s background where it explains when and where Giordano was founded. The report records that Giordano initially opened its first retail store in Hong Kong and then expanded to other cities for instance Taiwan through joint venture. The company, according to the report expanded to Singapore later in 1985.

According to the report, the company since its formation used various positioning strategies. In understanding why the company took the options it took, the report analyses management values and Human Resource Policies. According to the report, the company has been willing to try new unconventional ways of doing business. According to the report, strong empowerment has helped the company to grow in various market segments as it believed that suppose it reduced its errors, they could be successful.

Describe and evaluate Giordano’s product, business and corporate strategies.

Giordano has continuously applied and is continuing to apply the facet of marketing which is concerned with the actualization of goods and/or services, as related to the customers’ needs. It was previous argued that a good product or service will sell itself. But in the highly competitive markets of today, there may be no bad products .Therefore the obvious questions regarding product include: Do the products meet the customer’s needs? And if so then what are the features of the products or services that meet the needs of our clients? These questions are best answered by the management as well as the relevant committees assigned with Napster land’s strategic planning.

Giordano has to maximize the use the four P’s which are parameters which the control of marketing, on condition of inner as well as outer constraints related to marketing environment. The goal here is to make decisions that center the four P’s on the customers in the target market in order to produce perceived value and generate a positive response.

Describe and evaluate Giordano’s current positioning strategy. Should Giordano reposition itself against its competitors in its current and new markets, and should it have different positioning strategies for different geographical markets?

A major requirement in business is to capture the attention of the customers by providing them with whatever they require at a meaningful cost. Understanding the customer is a critical aspect in this case since the business would be in a position of working towards the customer expectations. These expectations are best realized by contacting customer research.

To enhance customer relationship, various approaches can be used. First, one can observe the customers in their normal and everyday surrounding. Observing the customers’ normal and their daily life would include establishing their daily opportunities as well as getting to know their expectations. This would make the management work in a way that would meet such expectations. Customer expectations could be established in a friendly way whereby customers are requested to state their satisfaction from the consumption of the provided products or services. The observation could be made through interactive ways such as observing the way customers enjoy the use of the business products or services. The behavior of the customers could as well be observed such as establishing whether customers end up becoming repeat customers.

Again, it would be important to observe the way customers shop and consume the business products or services. Some customers would want to increase the quantity of products they purchase depicting an aspect of satisfaction. Various aspects could enhance customer satisfaction. Some customers would be satisfied by the type of product packaging used while others would be captivated by the quality of customer care services available. The feature that contributes to increased customer satisfaction should be considered. To establish such feature, the use of several prototypes could be used such as observing several packs in the case of packaging as a key factor. Customers would always seem to be attracted by different versions of packaging, which portrays their expectations and level of satisfaction.

The company that operates like Giordano is Yumi Kim which was founded in 2004. Since its formation, the company expanded and currently has more than five retail centers. Yumi mainly deals with cloths just like Giordano.

What are Giordano’s key success factors and spruces of competitive advantage? Are its competitive advantage sustainable, and how would they develop in the future?

The most important thing to know the customer expectations and needs a way of improving the business-customer relationship would be the customer feedback. Using the right prototype to initiate these feedbacks would be a critical consideration (Cross, 2010). The feedbacks would make it possible to understand what the firm has to improve to improve customer satisfaction. This could be done with the use of effective communications systems via the business website, social networks, or personalized communications. The customer could also be involved in developing new ideas via these modes of interactive communication. This is the strategy that it has used.

Again, to understand customers effectively, the researchers should place themselves in the various situations of the customers. This could include having the same experience that customers have or pointing out own experience with respect to an observed behavior form customers (Cross, 2010). Direct experience of what the firm is offering would be of great importance in understanding why some customer would act in certain ways.

Customers are the most important driving factor behind the supermarket retail industry. Even though Giordano is constantly innovating and implementing newer technologies to retain and impress its customers, for customers it is all about convenience and better savings. A customer might be ready to change his supermarket store on the basis of proximity, lower price on particular commodity or better offers. The most significance attribute of Giordano is its dedicated and committed team. It is very much evident when one glances over its financial performance which sits high at a 6.5% greater than the forecast growth. Even the financial services have recorded growth in almost every product for Giordano. Splendid performance and stellar growth has been shown in women attires and grocery.

Could Giordano transfer its key strategies factors to new markets as it expanded both in Asia and other parts of the world?

The strategy that Giordano plans to execute in the future is focused on the customers. Quality, production, cost and capability will be among the areas addressed. The company’s original mission of providing the needed clothes to customers worldwide and to be the leading firm in the clothing industry still remains. Since it is focusing on the customers, their needs and how the products reach them, distribution is top on the formulation process. Giordano plans to apply an offensive approach defending its international business status as the global leader in the heavy industry. Since the company is already stable, established, and delivering, maintaining this impressive performance presents the biggest challenge. Increased financial service options, improved competitive prices and introducing innovation are some of the strategies that will obtain an offensive stance. Timely delivery of products, improved customer relations, and provision of high quality products to the customer is the other approach that targets customer satisfaction and loyalty. Company execution and accountability will also be included in the strategy for the future since it will build trust in the customers. Giordano u has in the past utilized upgrades to fend off competition. The strategy set for the future similarly applies the concept of improvement of quality and reliability.

How do you thing Giordano had/would have to adopt its marketing and operations strategies and tactics when entering and penetrating your country?

The main agenda on the strategy model of Giordano is expansion into the global market. The company has in the recent past and is presently hiring foreign and flexible employees who will help improve the company’s quality and accelerate sales abroad. Given the weakness of the domestic market, Giordano has applied an appropriate strategy to expand. Furthermore, its 2010 impressive profit illustrates the necessity of the company to join the international market as it has gained enough financial recognition to compete with global heavyweights. Additionally, the company aims to expand its product line to include other equipment in line with the needs of the customers.

Placement simply refers to the process through the goods in addition to services reach the customers (the market).This facet is sometimes referred to as Place, implying, a channel through which a product or service gets to the targeted clients. This is a process that involves making decision on the prices of goods and/or services together with the preferred discounts on the products. The objective is to work on a pricing strategy best suited for both the clients and the business firm.

What general lessons can be learned from Giordano for other major clothing retailers in your country?

Strategic management requires assessment of the company’s strengths and weaknesses and the environment’s opportunities and threats. Three countries can be compared as they have competed in the same market for a considerable time. The competitive strategy applied by each company is different from the other. New entrants and competitive companies pose little or no threat to a giant market leader like Giordano. Although, a new entrant might offer a better offer on a particular product, it cannot overtake the hold of Giordano in the Australian market.

The value aspect of the three firms can apply to Giordano in its projected future competitive strategy whereby Giordano plans to improve its quality and reliability. Once the quality of Giordano is guaranteed to improve, the value of the products of the firm will improve consequentially and thereafter the profits realized will reflect the change in value. Value creation applies best in the factors that promote profit realization.

Recommendations

Giordano has opted for a strategy that will give positive feedback but there is uncertainty whether the income statement will reflect the success. The cost incurred in a customer service improvement strategy does not bring immediate and returns to cover for the expenses. A marketing and sales strategy would have been better. The Company has realized success from its quality and reliability improvement strategy in the past therefore the possibility of its strategy to succeed is high. The value aspect of the firms can apply to Giordano in its projected future competitive strategy whereby the Company plans to improve its quality and reliability. Once the quality of Giordano is guaranteed to improve, the value of the products of the firm will improve consequentially and thereafter the profits realized will reflect the change in value. Value creation applies best in the factors that promote profit realization.

Conclusion

Strategic management requires assessment of the company’s strengths and weaknesses and the environment’s opportunities and threats. Three countries can be compared as they have competed in the same market for a considerable time. The competitive strategy applied by each company is different from the other. Giordano has prioritized improvement in quality and reliability as its most utilized strategy. Giordano has merged, created a joint venture, expanded its product line and introduced financial services to offer ranging financial services globally. Giordano plans to focus on improving customer services which may be a long-term strategy that would reflect results later on rather than immediately. Giordano would rather have opted for improved marketing and sales activities which would have realized similar results but in a faster manner. The three companies have achieved a number of their original objectives with Giordano being recognized as the world leading firm in clothing.

Setting a pollution prevention goal for the company

Case study

Pollution prevention

April 3, 2011

Abstract

Pollution prevention is a concern to many companies and everybody right now, especially after a massive global warming alarm in the 20th century, many facilities and institutions are trying to implement on issues which will bring an end or halter on matters concerning pollution.

This has enabled many plants, facilities, companies and institution to try and implement the new changes in their organizations programs to enable minimization of pollution, minimization of waste production and the introduction of purchasing of recyclable materials.

Setting a pollution prevention goal for the company

Below is a list of my proposed goals which will help in tackling, halting and implementing new issues concerning pollution in the plant.

Positive procurement practices to ensure the purchase of recycled content materials as directed by environment protection agency.

Increase the volume of recycled materials.

Decrease the purchase of unnecessary toxic and hazardous chemicals.

Decrease the generation of solid wastes.

Decrease the consumption and free of pollutants as directed by the agency pollution prevention strategists.

Reduce the release and exploitation of the toxic chemicals to environmental justice areas where socioeconomic factors are of concern.

Decrease the implementation of extremely hazardous chemicals in the facility.

Reduction in the consumption of materials, water and power in the facility.

Establish a pollution prevention team

Select the pollution prevention team of which they should be selected from the current facility staff and try to Convince and gain support from the staff; the project of pollution prevention should be supported by maintenance engineers, supply staff, safety staff and occupational health professionals but also the help of some staff to help in the field work may be required. This will help in smoothing of work when it comes to implementing the new pollution prevention policies in the facility. The prevention team should be managed by a leader from the environmental prevention agency.

Gather and ask for ideas from the staff team, make them donate ideas on how they think the matter of pollution in the plant should be tackled. Provide some prevention skills to some staff making them to understand and have the idea on how to tackle and prevent pollution in the facility; this will be by offering some lessons concerning pollution management and prevention to the staffs.

Creating a management commitment

Try to create a bonding bridge between the upper management and the staff; this will help in the prevention plan to run more smoothly to facilitate the growth and prevention of pollution within the plant facility. Determine and know the responsibilities of who are supposed to purchase and handle raw materials in the plant.

Conduct a pollution prevention opportunity assessment

The staff team should come up with ideas on how to prevent pollution; they are also supposed to identify activities that will promote pollution prevention. Identify or come up with some potential prevention activities and opportunities that will help promote the pollution prevention. Implementation of immediate changes in the facility to help in pollution prevention, provide applications of current pollution prevention policies, techniques or technologies.

The staff will have to conduct analytical measurements on studies; it will have for them to assess pollution prevention opportunities before the completion of the analysis, during this act additional analysis will be required. Thorough pollution preventive assessments opportunities should be conducted by the facility staff, also the baseline may show the processes acquiescent to pollution prevention options. When the activities concerning the preventing pollution plan are completed or new ones are identified through pollution prevention opportunity assessments, the list of prevention activities will change, here is when the listing of all the pollution preventive activities and opportunities are identified.

Set plan on how to manage different issues in the plant such as cost reduction in the purchasing of non recyclable materials, minimizing the usage of toxic and hazardous chemicals or reduction of water usage in the plant. Exertion and implementation of issues concerning pollution prevention, this will help in impacting the process responsible for environmental issues.

Develop criteria and rank facility on wide pollution prevention activities.

The project should depend on the facility specific consideration and goals on which this is the order in which you choose to initiate pollution prevention activities. It will also initiate on improving the facility overall compliances status. Determine the environmental benefits, the time taken for the implementation of changes in the facility and the save on cost associated with project implementation changes. Figure out the impact on the project in the plant mission and the ability of the facility staff to accomplish their mission. Develop, identify and agree on a list of action items that you and the facility staff will undertake to amalgamate pollution prevention into the facility activities.

Criteria to consider

The availability of disposal capacity, community and surroundings concerns, environmental justice goals, workers safety and exposure, expectancy of future regulations and resource consumption. Rank and rate all pollution prevention activities that reflect how the activity matches the decisive factor.

Conduct a management review

Select, agree and elect a professional committee to review on pollution prevention plans. One the committee has selected a prevention team and it has developed a ranked list of pollution prevention activities, you have to gain support from the upper management and staff to help in the implementing of the new plan on pollution prevention.

This opportunity will enable the upper management to show support to the environment friendly project for preventing pollution. The preventive staff working on the project should present a pollution prevention plan ranked list and call attention to the potential benefits of the effort. Get full support from the upper management on the project by making them understand the relationship between the pollution prevention plan programs and their impacts on the plant mission and the current environmental programs.

References

(n.d) Pollution prevention. Steps for developing facility pollution prevention plan. Retrieved from http://www.labtrain.noaa.gov/ppguide/ffpp_14.htm

(n.d). U.S department of energy office of science. Pollution prevention. Community and environment. Retrieved from www.anl.gov/Community_and_Environment/pollutionprevention.html

(n.d). Pollution prevention. Pollution prevention. Retrieved from http://www.alcosan.org/Education/PollutionPrevention/tabid/72/Default.aspx

(n.d). Pollution prevention. Pollution prevention. Retrieved from http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/hwtr/p2/index.html

Tam, Hayley. (2011). Pollution prevention. Pollution incident response planning by machinery or electrical equipment businesses. Retrieved from http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/businesses/62287.aspx

Ratel, Kanel. (2010). pollution prevention. Pollution prevention. Retrieved from http://www.bnl.gov/ewms/pollutionpreve/WasteStream/default.asp#Hazardous Wastes

Staff Training- Case Study

Case Study

Name

Institution

Executive Summary

The various changes in modern management practices necessitated by globalization and advances in technology and communication have led to emergence of human capital as an important input in modern organizations. However, many organizations fail to respond to the needs of their work force and may suffer from poor employee performance and lack of job satisfaction. This may be witnessed when absenteeism rates increase and employees become increasingly demoralized.

However, it is organizations that fail to adopt appropriate human resource practices of motivation, recruitment and training, and employee relations that may lead to decline in employee performance and job satisfaction levels. However, the management can solve this by providing appropriate training and development to employees and also defining other benefits to award them and increase morale. Moreover, this will reduce pressure associated with assigned duties and enable employees reduce their stress levels. Therefore, top management should direct sufficient funds to training and development programs to achieve this objective.

Case Study

Many large companies and business organizations rely on the performance of its branches as a critique for gauging overall performance, and it is apparent branch managers operate under intense pressure to achieve the objectives and goals set-up by the organization. They are obliged to sustain their operations under tight budgets while expected to realize increased sales and financial returns to their organizations. However, the emergence of human capital as an invaluable input in modern organizations has led to failure of organizations that do not cater for the needs of their human resource (Jaksic, 2013). Therefore, it is apparent that an organization’s success in global market relies on the satisfaction of its workforce necessary for translation of activities into real financial returns.

The main problem facing the store is employee job performance and satisfaction (Jaksic, 2013). The neglect of an appraisal system by the former management has compounded the problems faced by the employees in the working environment. The employees in the store lack the sufficient skills and expertise thus does not find their job interesting, challenging, and motivating (Jaksic, 2013). This is witnessed through frequent absenteeism from work in the disguise of sick leaves. This is because the workforce is overloaded with work, which may lead to work related stress (Jaksic, 2013). As a result, the employees in the store appear less motivated and enthusiastic about the duties and roles they are assigned in the store, and the trips made to out-of-town retail shops is done with less dedication and interest. Moreover, this has led to decreasing sales as the store trails others in overall sales in the business.

Moreover, the former management of the store nurtured a poor relationship with its employees as it failed to carryout performance appraisal and refused to work on opinion surveys organized by the business. This may be attributed to rising telephone costs as employees seek opportunities to work elsewhere. However, the problems may be associated to the human resource practices employed by the former management (Jaksic, 2013). The practices related to the problems in the case study may result from failure of the management of the store to carryout performance appraisal in order to notify management of employee problems (Jaksic, 2013).

The problems also expose the management practice of recruitment and training as employees in the store do not have the sufficient skills to perform their duties leading work related stress and absenteeism (Jaksic, 2013). The former management also failed to recognize employee need for training and development in the annual survey to improve their skills. Lastly, it is important for the store to recognize what motivates their employees and prioritize motivation as a human resource practice (Jaksic, 2013). The store does not have any mechanism for motivating employees, which explains the declining motivation levels among the workforce.

However, as a branch manager it is possible to resolve the problems inherited from the former management by adopting a variety of remedies, to ensure the store prioritizes its human resource as an important input in the business. Firstly, the store should implement recommendations of the opinion survey and provide training and development to its employees in order to facilitate development of new skills and improve performance of tasks and role (Jaksic, 2013). Moreover, the store should provide anxiety management training to employees to avoid the pressure in work and delegate authority to avoid overburdening the twenty employees of the store. Employee morale can be increased if the business combines its training programs with defined benefits to its employees (Jaksic, 2013). This will also boost job satisfaction as work becomes interesting and motivating. The advice to top management would be to direct sufficient funds towards training and development programs to ensure high employee morale and job satisfaction, which will translate into real financial gains through increased sale of computer equipment.

Reference

Jaksic, M., & Jaksic, M. (2013). PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 9(1), 85-92. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1355247790?accountid=458

Statistical_Thinking_in_Healthcare

Case Study: Statistical Thinking in HealthCare

Student’s name

affiliation

course

Date

Any Pharmacies in the world can encounter problems during their day-to-day operations. In the case study provided, Ben Davis is a pharmacist assistant in an irregular problem. His manager, Juan de Pacotilla, fears to lose his job in case an improvement is not done to the day-to-day operations. Juan asks Ben to help him find an opportunity for improvement in the process of filling prescriptions. This case study will provide an explanation to the issue of medication errors that are dispensed in HMO pharmacy. Despite the dispensing error rates being low, more enhancements in pharmacy distribution systems are vital since the pharmacies dispense large volumes of medicines that even a low error can render into a huge number of error which in return may equate to great amounts of lawsuits equaling even bigger sums of money. Advanced research is needed into dispensing errors in and out- patient health care settings, such and community pharmacies worldwide (Salmasi, Long & Khan, 2016).

There are six types of errors that can take place within the pharmacological chain and pharmaceutical patient care thus: dispensing errors, transcription errors, prescribing faults, administration errors, across setting errors and prescription errors. A dispensing error can be described as a discrepancy between the prescription and the medication that the pharmacy distributes to the patient or to the ward on the root of this prescription, such as the dispensing a medicine with substandard pharmaceutical or informational quality (Chua & et.al, 2003).

When dispensing, errors are well-thought-out from the viewpoint that the quality of all pharmacy care on goings should be guaranteed by the pharmacist, this list can be prolonged by the addition of three other groupings: lack of detecting and correcting a prescribed error before dispensing; lack of detecting a manufactured error before dispensing; and lack of providing satisfactory patient counseling so as to prevent administration errors (Teagarden & et.al 2005). These error groupings occur in other sections of the pharmaceutical patient care chain however; they are nonetheless significant when one attempts to do a full assessment of the performance of the pharmacy.

The classifications of dispensing errors are as follows: When medicine is dispensed to the wrong patient, when wrong the medicine is dispensing, When a poor or stronger drug is dispensed, when medicine is dispensed at the wrong time, When wrong quantity of medicine is dispensed as well as the wrong dosage form, when an expired or almost to expiry medicine has been dispensed, if there has been a failure or an omission to dispense, inferior quality of medicine being dispensed an inaccurately compounded medicine being dispensed, wrongly labeling information when dispensing (Anacleto & et. Al, 2007).

Below is a process map describing the prescription filling process for HMO’s pharmacy, that specifies the major problems that the HMO’s pharmacy experiences

.

Suppliers

Inputs

Process

Output

Customers

Doctors

Patient

Prescription

Telephone

Computer

Printer

Drug directory

Medication

Dosage advice

bill

Patient

Suppliers

Inputs

Process

Output

Customers

Doctors

Patient

Prescription

Telephone

Computer

Printer

Drug directory

Medication

Dosage advice

bill

Patient

Below, is a diagram showing the use of the supplier, input, process steps, output, and customer (SIPOC) model to analyze the HMO pharmacy’s business process.

Process Map for filling a Prescription at HMO Pharmacy

The Causes of dispensing errors can be outlined by making inquiries from the practicing pharmacists through means of a survey or through root-cause analysis. A survey will measure the opinions and perceptions of the pharmacists while the root-cause analysis may come closer to reality. An example is a study done in a UK hospital in which the researchers uses semi structured interviews of pharmacy staff about self-reported dispensing (Anacleto & et. Al, 2007). Totally there were 106 error-producing conditions mentioned in these interviews. The most common causes of error that were mentioned from the most to the least included: being busy (21%), less operating staff members (12%), time limited (11%), tiredness of healthcare providers (11%), disruptions during dispensing (9.4%), and medicines that look-alike/sound-alike (8.5%) (Rickrode & et.al, 2007).

The process has been broken down into various groupings Based on the process map and research done on the subject of errors in medication dispensing cycle. Thus, Ordering, Transcribing, Dispensing, and Administering. In each of these four steps, there are a lot of probable areas for errors to take place. To begin with the ordering process, one can see, a wrong drug, a wrong dose, wrong route/form, an allergy or drug interaction. Secondly, the transcribing process, one can see a wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong route, wrong time, and wrong drug errors occurring (Knudsen et.al, 2007). Dispensing can have errors in wrong patient, wrong dose, wrong time, wrong route, incorrect labeling/drug ID, and allergy/drug interaction. Lastly, administering errors can entails, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong drug, wrong route, wrong time/omitted and often consists of infusion pumps. Pharmacies have brought about various methods and strategies to reduce dispensing errors, depending on the various working stages of the pharmacies in the medication procedures and the progress of information technologies over the years (Beso, Franklin &Barber, 2005).

In a certain study, a research team investigated self-reports of community pharmacies to find the causes of dispensing errors. The research team recognized four causes: unreadable/ poor handwriting; look-alike and sound-alike medications; lack of operative controls; and lack of attentiveness caused by interruptions (Chua & et.al, 2003).

Medication dispensing has several effective alternatives that can reduce error rates. The use of bar code system which has helped reduce the dispensing error in US hospitals. The use of semi-automated medication cabinets from the use of carousel fill process help reduce rate of dispensing errors from (0.25 to 0.08) % as opposed to the 2 day manually shelving process.

Medication orders which were not automated and not readily available on patient care units are ordered as prescription requests and are faxed by pharmacists. The rate of dispensing error increases because once orders are filled they have to be verified and then transported. The rate of incorrectly filled orders would also increase from an average (2.1 to 2.3) %.

The interdepartmental request fill is a process where medication orders come from departments or clinics associated with the hospital such as cancer center, pain, neurology and others. The dispensing error was noted to be a minimum without the automated system. Despite the zero-margin error when an automated pharmacy carousel system was implemented in the clinics a quantity discrepancy was identified. This was caused by requests which only documented the dispensing errors because of the interdepartmental fills (Salmasi, Long & Khan, 2016). The automated pharmacy carousel system can also consist of bar code scanner, label printer, barcoded medication bins that allow an interface between both in the hospitals pharmacy information system. To finalize the study implementation of a computerized drug interaction system was used and measured in three periods. The first period the pharmacies implemented system but not physicians, second period pharmacies used the system and an average number of physicians, third period the pharmacies and the physician practices used the system. The interaction rate between the second and the third were the highest as compared to the first period and was reduced by an average percentage (Rickrode & et.al, 2007).

In conclusion, the rates of dispensing errors can only be reduced by implementation of an automated system. Most HMO pharmacies have various processing systems for pharmacy distribution but the need for improvement is very important. The checking of prescriptions has to be implemented to reduce the prescription errors and strategies should be implemented and correctly communicated to prevent administrative errors (Beso, Franklin &Barber, 2005).

References

Anacleto, T. A., Perini, E., Rosa, M. B., & César, C. C. (2007). Drug-dispensing errors in the

hospital pharmacy. Clinics, 62(3), 243-250. doi:10.1590/s1807-59322007000300007

Beso, A., Franklin, B. D., & Barber, N. (2005). The Frequency and Potential Causes of

Dispensing Errors in a Hospital Pharmacy. Pharmacy World & Science, 27(3), 182-190. doi:10.1007/s11096-004-2270-8

Chua, S., Wong, I. C., Edmondson, H., Allen, C., Chow, J., Peacham, J., . . . Grantham, J.

(2003). A Feasibility Study for Recording of Dispensing Errors and ???Near Misses??? in Four UK Primary Care Pharmacies. Drug Safety, 26(11), 803-813. doi:10.2165/00002018-200326110-00005

Costa, L. A., Valli, C., & Alvarenga, A. P. (2008). Medication dispensing errors at a public

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Olivier surveying company

Case study: Olivier surveying company

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Case study: Olivier surveying company

Introduction

Olivier Surveying Company (henceforth OSC) is a private entity dealing with surveying work for building and construction. Surveying work essentially deals with measuring land, elevation, and angles. It is the responsibility of the surveyors to provide precise information about the land like the topographical information before the construction begins. The surveyors need to be proficient in using precision tools.

OSC, based in Prahran, in Melbourne’s inner south-east, was founded in 1995 by Larry Olivier who is also the owner and the managing director of the company. Larry and his wife Vivien work as the directors in the company, a major source of decision-making. The company started with a single employee and it has managed to grow into a business with 19 employees. OSC’s success is based on its culture and reputation for high-quality work and reliability. ( ) found that it is essential for the growth of any company from its inception to offer quality and be reliable and have an organized structure of working, decision making, and control mechanisms that ensure all the qualities needed by the client. The high standards that have been set by OSC have already made it possible for the company to bid and acquire other larger contracts, something a majority of firms in the construction industry are unable to achieve. As a direct consequence of the performance of the company in the construction industry, the management through its founder is able to charge a premium for its services.

The objective of this case study is to apply theories to analyze the company’s organizational structure, its decision-making processes, and control mechanisms applied. Specifically, the report is interested in comparing both the pre-2015 and the post-2015 organization, looking at the reorganization that led to company-wide changes. The changes will then be observed against theories relating to the company’s organizational structure, its decision-making processes, and control mechanisms applied.

Overview of Roles

Larry Olivier is a competent surveyor, one whose name is well known in the construction sector. His skills in the field have made the company grow gradually from a startup to a well reputable firm. His main work policy and culture are built on a culture of reliability and high-quality work. These qualities have now emerged as the main competitive advantages of OSC in its industry against rival organizations. Larry handles almost every aspect of the organization, including client relationships to contractual negotiations, staffing, work assessment, employee performance reviews, pay allocation, discretionary bonus decisions, administrative arrangements, frequent site visits, and almost every other aspect of the company.

Organizational Structure

Organizational structures are one of the most important elements of an organization in its quest to achieve its objectives and goals. ( ) defines an organizational structure as a framework outlining the way different activities are directed so as to attain the organizational goals including responsibilities, rules, and roles, and the reporting format. Essentially, an organizational structure enables the flow of information between various levels of the company. OSC, by 2015, had 19 employees. ( ) found that an organizational structure is put in place to ensure that an organization retains focus and efficiency. Successful structures define the job of every employee and describe how it fits within the whole organization’s system.

Organizational structure basically takes either a centralized or a decentralized overall structure. Conventionally, organizations use a centralized leadership system that defines the chain of command ( ), for example the military as an organization where every role is clearly stipulated and a hierarchy of subordinates and superiors being very specific and well enforced. The roles of each organizational member is clearly defined and the subordinates responsibilities default to a guiding structure from the superiors ( ). In contrast, a decentralized system delegates decision-making and daily operations decisions amongst the top, middle, and lower-level management. The role of such a structure is to help an organization’s top executive to focus on major decisions.

Organizational Structure Pre-2015

Except for the administration assistant, every other employee (including the senior registered surveyor, two senior project surveyors, CAD specialist, three junior surveyors) reported directly to Larry. Ideally, the company was run as a small company. According to ( ), the organizational structure chosen by a business creates a reporting hierarchy that aids in the increasing of effectiveness and efficiency of business operations, including decision-making, daily running, customer relations, and every other job related to an organization. While different small organizations operate in variant methods, research conducted by ( ) found that there is no one-size-fit-all strategy that can be applied to create efficiency and effectiveness. OSC’s organizational structure runs through Larry as the focal point of every activity, decision making, and includes some technical aspects that would traditionally be left out to niche experts.

OSC’s structure aligns with a centralized functional organizational structure. In this structure, ( ) mentions that a more bureaucratic framework is employed to break up an organization based on the workforce and its specialization. This system applies to a majority of the small and medium sized companies. The firm, in the functional/bureaucratic framework, is divided into small departments based on specialization. The functional structure is intended to create focus for employees since they have a common goal to work towards. Larry’s leadership uses a centralized and bureaucratic system of decision making that divides employees according to their specialization and role. Due to the small size of the company with a total of 19 employees, the structure is yet to be fully defined. However, it is already clear that every decision is run through Larry, including issues that could easily be solved by senior surveyors in the firm.

Post-2015 Reorganized Structure

After the 2015 reorganization, Larry changed from having all the 19 employees directly reporting to him to have on 5 direct reports. As part of the reorganization, two new roles of supervising surveyors were formed in order to assist in overseeing daily surveying work. All surveyors in the field reported directly to the supervising surveyors. Additionally, each supervising surveyor had a responsibility to schedule junior surveyors to projects, handling emerging enquiries from the staff and liaising with clients. They also continued with their technical work on their projects. Noel, a senior licensed surveyor’s role was shifted to the provision of technical support to the supervising surveyors and the junior surveyors. He also gained a new advisory role with Larry in decision making regarding the new markets. The new structure chosen by OSC is as presented in the chart below.

After the reorganization, OSC employed a hierarchical organizational structure. In this structure, employees were grouped and assigned to a supervisor. OSC’s new structure grouped employees together using their functions and roles and the services they provided. ( ) terms this structure as a pyramid because of the multiple levels it has and the authority levels displayed. The pyramid thins the higher it goes as more employees report to only a few managers at various levels. The benefits of this structure to the top management is that authority was more clearly defined, enabled Larry to free up more time to work on other projects, and solved the issue of reduced delegation caused by Larry’s involvement in every major firm activity. The new structure changed the reporting format at OSC leading to better teamwork and increasing trust on employees to do the right thing. The reorganized structure changed how employees handled problems, reducing the need to always consult Larry in every situation to foster the development of other employees and increased promotion opportunities.