Concepts of health promotion

Concepts of health promotion Before we discuss how different concepts and theories can be used to promote health, nurses need to know what the term health promotion means. An authoritative definition of health promotion comes from the W.H.O which defines it as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. (W.H.O 1986). Health education is considered the core component of health promotion. Until the mid 1980s the term health education was most widely used to describe the work of practitioners such as nurses and doctors in promoting health. Health promotion is putting education into action. With evidence based information, the patient is more likely to comply with a treatment regime if she understands the regime, the reasoning behind it and is given the tools to achieve it. (McDonald et al 1999). Models are useful tools in Health promotion because it helps to visualize and to test theories. It helps to lend support for or against theories, explaining phenomena and plan possibilities for interventions. Beattie 1991 is a model that offers a structural analysis of the health promotion repertoire of approaches and this model will be the framework of this essay bringing in psychosocial models. His typology argues that there are 4 strategies for health promotion. Health persuasion by health care professionals, legislative action, personal counselling and community development. The Legislative Action part of Beatties model are interventions led by professionals but intended to protect communities such as lobbying for a ban on tobacco advertising. The nurse is in the role of custodian knowing what will improve the peoples health and to protect the population by making healthier choices more available. Staying in the legislative perspective, the nurse as a health educator or promoter must also always adhere to the NMC code of conduct. This code dictates accountability and advocacy for vulnerable clients and in this essay it is emphasised that a person with health behaviour is a vulnerable. Other aspects of legislation that we are duty bound to is the European policy framework, the Health 21 targets. This was introduced to achieve full health potential for all people in the region and this world health document emphasises the date and time when damaging health behaviour have to be eradicated. Another legislation is the Patient Charter which involves the patien t in their health education/promotion plan. It is vital for the nurse to work out where the patient is with regards to changing the behaviour and therefore work at the patients pace. In order to demonstrate a clear knowledge of health education and promotion, a scenario will be applied. Mrs Smith (pseudonym name) in compliance with the NMC (2008) on confidentiality, a 55 year old housewife who has been admitted in the casualty department after an episode of severe chest pain and a degree of dyspnoea which has already lasted for 2 hours. She has been otherwise well, but at 110kg and 54 she is clearly overweight. She has been a smoker for 30 year. Her initial assessment shows that the pain is not cardiac and a working diagnosis of acute reflux oesophagitis is made. Routine screening has shown that she has a random blood sugar of 18mmol/L.Although there are several health issues highlighted in this case, this essay will focus on Mrs Smiths predisposition to Type 2 diabetes mellitus due to her obesity. Factors including weight loss and how much she is in control over her blood sugar levels in the long term (Stratton et al 2000) can determine the eventual outcome. The refore, the main health promotion activity relating to her is giving her advice on weight reduction to improve her diabetic control (Terry et al 2003). In order to work out the stage of change Mrs Smith is in, the nurse has to carry out personal counselling with the patient. This is another strategy of Beatties model. Here Beattie focuses on the patients personal development and to encourage the patient to have the skills and confidence to take more control over their health. Personal counselling focuses on the clients specific needs and normally works on one to one basis and the nurse acts as a counsellor to discuss and negotiate client needs. Decisions are made based on the clients wishes. The client needs to be assessed by Maslows hierarchy of needs. Abraham Maslows model indicates that basic, low-level needs such as safety must be satisfied before higher-level needs such as self-fulfilment are achieved. While a person is motivated to fulfil these basal desires, they continue to move toward growth, and eventually self-actualization. An interview is done at this stage of Beattie using a client centred approach. The patient needs t o be physically and psychologically comfortable in order to assess how motivated they are and what stage of change they are at. It is the nurses role to persuade or encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyles here, educating the patient with evidence based information to give them full understanding of their unhealthy behaviour and the results of it. Therefore advice and information from the nurse is the main features in Beatties health persuasion strategy. A relevant model to this part of Beattie is the work of Prochaska and DiClemente (1984, 1986) in developing the stage of change model. This framework can be used to describe the different phases that individuals progress through during health related behaviour change. It focuses on the individuals readiness to change or attempt to change towards healthy behaviours and encourages change in addictive behaviours. Although the model can be used in addictive behaviours, it can be used to show that most people go through a number of stages when trying to change behaviours. The model is important in showing that any transition we make is not final but part of an ongoing cycle. The model shows 5 stages the patient goes through. They can start from the pre-contemplation stage where the patient has not yet considered changing their lifestyle, possibly from the lack of awareness of any risks in their health behaviour. Identifying this stage is important because it allows the nurse to realise th at the patient may not be ready to undergo any change. This may mean the healthcare worker should focus on other issues. Once the patient is aware of the problems, she can then proceed to the contemplation stage. At this stage the patient is aware of the benefits of changing but is not ready to do so and needs information and support to help make that decision. It is the nurses role to provide the patient with evidence based information to encourage them to change. For some, this stage may last only a short period whilst some may never progress beyond this stage. A nurse must work at the patients pace and only move on when the patient is ready to proceed to the next stage. When the change seems possible and worthwhile to the patient, they may be ready to change, perhaps seeking for some extra support. At this stage, the patient should be motivated and ready for the stage of making the change. The patient should be given a clear goal along with a realistic plan and support at this st age. The early days of change needs the patient to have positive decisions to do things differently. If the patient manages to make the change of her lifestyle with the nurses support then the patient falls into the final stage of the model Maintenance. At this stage the patient is to have moved into a healthier lifestyle and sustained her new behaviour. In order to analyse how effective this strategy is for the patient, the progress needs to be reviewed and assessed. This stages of change model is different to other concepts in that it is about how peoples behaviour change and not why people do not change. The advantage of this model is that if any patient relapses back to previous stages, it is not considered to be a failure because she can go backwards and forwards through the cycles of change. The patient would still be aware of the benefits of changing and nurses only have to focus on small things to encourage them to proceed to the next stage once again. This can be rewarding to the patient as there is identifiable progress. Most health behaviour models are related to self-efficacy where it involves how one person believes they are capable to attain certain goals by possibly having the feeling of self worth and being optimistic, resulting in motivation to change. Not only does self efficacy influence the challenges the patient chooses but it also affects how high standard they set their goals. Individuals with a strong self-efficacy select more challenging goals (DeVellis DeVellis, 2000 xClose DeVellis, B. M., DeVellis, R. F. (2000). Self-efficacy and health. In: A. Baum, T. A. Revenson, J. E. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of Health Psychology (pp. 235-247). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. ) than people with a weaker self efficacy. In relation to the case study, if Mrs Smith had a strong sense of self efficacy then she may result in adherence to a particular diet whereas if she had a weaker sense of self efficacy she will become discouraged and give up. Self efficacy is therefore directly related to the future behaviour and must be taken into account when assessing the patient. Continuing on to the next strategy of Beatties model, Community development is similar to personal counselling. The nurse tries to emancipate groups and communities so they recognize what they have in common and how social factors can influence their lives. Here patients should be given statutory support as well as voluntary support. In Mrs Smiths case, her health would more than likely be improved if she lost weight. Ideally she could aim for a BMI in the region of 24-25, but this is seldom achieved in practice, but it is none the less a goal. (NICE 2000). Staff in primary care or the integrated diabetic clinic will probably be responsible for producing a full evaluation and implementation of Mrs Smiths condition. A smoking cessation nurse could also be useful in helping Mrs Smith quit smoking improving her overall health. Offering the patient statutory support means she will further understand the whole regime and feel more comfortable, resulting in compliance. Voluntary support ca n also be offered to the patient. An example would be Weight Watchers for Mrs Smith to assist her with weight loss and maintenance, offering her various dieting products and services. The four paradigms for health promotion by Beattie is useful for health promoters because it identifies a clear framework for choosing a strategy, and it reminds them that the choice of these is influenced by social and political perspectives. However, as this model deals with information, education, legislation, psychological and social factors as strategies in achieving help, it has been criticised. Some argue that health has other dimensions not considered including physical, mental, spiritual and environmental that is essential for total health and well-being. Health behaviour models are there for nurses to use to motivate patients to change and make nurses aware of the barriers present. However, the nurse must always accept the work with the patient at their stage. By building a therapeutic relationship and working in partnership with the patient, it allows nurses to give the support the patient needs whilst enabling the client to make choices for themselves. The nurse needs to be aware of their communication skills such as using open questions, listening and encouraging, clarifying and summarizing and showing reflective listening. The goals set for the patient must be realistic, desirable and the nurse must help the patient to believe that they can achieve goals, praise and reinforce positive behaviour and provide emotional support. The nurse must continue to be accountable and continue using evidence based practice.

Aboriginal Cultures Essay -- Sociology, Culture

The Aborigines are one of the oldest, unaffected cultures that remain in our world today. Their historical culture and territory, in the past, was unaffected by the constantly evolving world. Until recently, their historic society has remained sacred, yet today they are undergoing a colossal fight. The Australian government and uranium mining industries are attempting to build new mine fields, bullying Aborigine tribes and their leaders into ultimately selling their land for future nuclear waste dump sites. Their culture should be preserved due to the fact that many cultures have diminished, modified, and changed as our society and world has; they are truly one of a kind. They don’t let the outside influences of money and technologies affect their lives; they are content and proud of their ancestors and should be given the right to preserve their history, passing it down from generation to generation. Macpherson (2010) found that: In June 2007 the Howard Coalition government used the Little Children are Sacred report into child abuse in remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities to invade these communities under what it called the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. the Rudd Labor government has not only maintained the NTER, but also extended it. (para. 2) Basically, when tribe leaders decided to stand unified and decline the substantial financial offers, the companies began to look for a loophole. They, nor the government, have no interest in the Aborigine children, they just needed another bargaining chip, so to speak. Macpherson (2010) clearly sides with the ancient culture rights, stating that â€Å"The real intention of the NTER is the theft of more Aboriginal land through the destruction of Aborigina... ...ing other’s beliefs. BHP Billiton, an international mining monster, is about money and money alone; they are willing to make spur of the moment decisions just to sell their idea of why one should approve of uranium mining. BHP’s truths and realities are distorted due to the billions of dollars to be made. Even though a battle is still underway with between the tribes and the monstrous company, MacPherson (2010) stated â€Å"BHP still hopes to convince Canadian indigenous peoples of their bounty to them – promising jobs (mining) etc† (para.2). By taking a philosophical look into this current issue, many truths are exposed. From ethics, morality, and the significance of human freedom, many lines are crossed. By reviewing the Aboriginal dilemma, it provides an inside look on the effects of the uranium mining, as well as the thoughtlessness of those supporting it. Aboriginal Cultures Essay -- Sociology, Culture The Aborigines are one of the oldest, unaffected cultures that remain in our world today. Their historical culture and territory, in the past, was unaffected by the constantly evolving world. Until recently, their historic society has remained sacred, yet today they are undergoing a colossal fight. The Australian government and uranium mining industries are attempting to build new mine fields, bullying Aborigine tribes and their leaders into ultimately selling their land for future nuclear waste dump sites. Their culture should be preserved due to the fact that many cultures have diminished, modified, and changed as our society and world has; they are truly one of a kind. They don’t let the outside influences of money and technologies affect their lives; they are content and proud of their ancestors and should be given the right to preserve their history, passing it down from generation to generation. Macpherson (2010) found that: In June 2007 the Howard Coalition government used the Little Children are Sacred report into child abuse in remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities to invade these communities under what it called the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. the Rudd Labor government has not only maintained the NTER, but also extended it. (para. 2) Basically, when tribe leaders decided to stand unified and decline the substantial financial offers, the companies began to look for a loophole. They, nor the government, have no interest in the Aborigine children, they just needed another bargaining chip, so to speak. Macpherson (2010) clearly sides with the ancient culture rights, stating that â€Å"The real intention of the NTER is the theft of more Aboriginal land through the destruction of Aborigina... ...ing other’s beliefs. BHP Billiton, an international mining monster, is about money and money alone; they are willing to make spur of the moment decisions just to sell their idea of why one should approve of uranium mining. BHP’s truths and realities are distorted due to the billions of dollars to be made. Even though a battle is still underway with between the tribes and the monstrous company, MacPherson (2010) stated â€Å"BHP still hopes to convince Canadian indigenous peoples of their bounty to them – promising jobs (mining) etc† (para.2). By taking a philosophical look into this current issue, many truths are exposed. From ethics, morality, and the significance of human freedom, many lines are crossed. By reviewing the Aboriginal dilemma, it provides an inside look on the effects of the uranium mining, as well as the thoughtlessness of those supporting it.

Reaching . . . Extending . . . Chasing. . . What? :: Essays Papers

Reaching . . . Extending . . . Chasing. . . What? This mantra plays through my head and my body like children on a jungle gym, swinging from youthful legs and arms, tearing new clothes, taunting, laughing, bouncing, running, ducking just out of my reach. I am conscious of some message they have to give me, but not yet bowed enough to hear the whispers of meaning between the shouts of proclamation. REACH! I feel like I've been reaching for something for a long time, maybe my entire life. The reach I learned as a baby has certainly kept me exploring new worlds. I consumed books as a child, never satisfied until I found one more tidbit of information on the aardvark or Algeria or Aunt Sue's garden. I did not care what it was, I wanted to know it. But is that IT? Is knowledge of the world what I'm after? I did book reports during the summer because I thought if I could just show the teacher that I was a hard worker, I could hold onto . . . I don’t know. The favored spot in the class? The other students’ approval? My own sense of self-worth? The little girl got to college and couldn't sustain it anymore. No one cared, because everyone else was reaching for IT, too. So, she had to switch races. Reaching for bodily strength was a lot more productive, the fruits (no matter if they were bitter) were screamingly visible. No hiding the results of this race---success! With every step I ran or weight I lifted, my body grew more rigid with tension. I was ready to find IT, and I felt IT within my reach. Thankfully, I did not cross the finish line of this one, for I fear now what I would have found on the other side. Certainly not IT. Three years of my life spent reaching for something that only led to non-life: loss of relationships, loss of health, loss of desire. The only thing I had was schoolwork. I must make up for lost time. So I began to reach for relationships; not just the occasional nice conversation, but absolute emersion in any opportunity to connect with anyone. Seek them out, Heather. Get to know all those people you missed. There's something there worth reaching for, and you’re pretty far behind the others.

Islamic Art :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islamic Art   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islamic art is perhaps the most accessible manifestation of a complex civilization that often seems enigmatic to outsiders. Through its brilliant use of color and its superb balance between design and form, Islamic art creates an immediate visual impact. Its strong aesthetic appeal transcends distances in time and space, as well as differences in language, culture, and creed. Islamic art not only invites a closer look but also beckons the viewer to learn more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The term Islamic art may be confusing to some. It not only describes the art created specifically in the service of , but it also characterizes secular art produced in lands under Islamic rule or influence, whatever the artist’s or the patron’s religious affiliation. The term suggests an art unified in style and purpose, and indeed there are certain common features that distinguish the arts of all Islamic lands.†1 Although this is a highly dynamic art, which is often marked by strong regional characteristics as well as by significant influences from other cultures, it retains an overall coherence that is remarkable given its vast geographic and temporal boundaries. Of paramount concern to the development of this singular art is Islam itself, which fostered the creation of a distinctive visual culture with its own unique artistic language. Calligraphy is the most important and pervasive element in Islamic art. It has always been considered the noblest form of art because of its association with the , the Muslim holy book, which is written in Arabic. This preoccupation with beautiful writing extended to all arts including secular manuscripts; inscriptions on palaces; and those applied to metalwork, pottery, stone, glass, wood, and textiles and to non-Arabic-speaking peoples within the Islamic commonwealth whose languages such as Persian, Turkish, and Urdu were written in the Arabic script. Another characteristic of Islamic art is a preference for covering surfaces with patterns composed of geometric or vegetal elements. Complex geometric designs, as well as intricate patterns of vegetal ornament (such as the arabesque), create the impression of unending repetition, which is believed by some to be an inducement to contemplate the infinite nature of God. This type of nonrepresentational decoration may have been developed to such a high degree in Islamic art because of the absence of figural imagery, at least within a religious context.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contrary to a popular misconception, however, figural imagery is an important aspect of Islamic art. Such images occur primarily in secular and especially courtly arts and appear in a wide variety of media and in most periods and places in which Islam flourished. It is important to note, nevertheless, that

Apple Swot Analysis – 2

Apple SWOT Analysis II Cesar Diaz MGT/521 Management October 31, 2011 Erick Espinosa Abstract Apple is a company that concerned of the environment and has been working for more than 20 years to minimize the impact their products have on the environment. Apple has developed and formulate an environmental policy in 1990 and since then, Apple has continue making their products more energy efficient, eliminating toxic substances. Apple is also the only organization that all the products they sell not only meets but exceeds the firm energy guidelines of the ENERGY STAR specification. In 2009 become the first company to report their total carbon footprint giving the opportunity to their clients to see Apple progress and efforts. Studying the financial statements of Apple investors and also costumers can determinate the health of the company, with the statements investors can decide if is a good investment risk by studying them in depth because the financial statements inform all of the business assets and liabilities and also include information about how much shareholders would receive as dividends from each share of stock. Companies calculate the earnings per share by dividing their net income by the total number of outstanding stock. Apple SWOT Analysis The environment of Apple is unique in this type of industry, because they focus on all the steps that their products pass through, Apple calculate their carbon footprint establishing the impact the company has in the planet. The footprint of Apple is divide in 46% on Manufacturing, a 6% on Transportation, a 45% on Product use, 1% of Recycling and the last 2% in Facilities The vast majority of our carbon emissions come from the manufacturing, transportation, use, and recycling of our products. The rest — 2 percent — come from our facilities. The way Apple minimize the impact of their growth is designing the products using less material, ship with smaller packaging and been as energy efficient and recyclable as Apple possible can. Apple remains committed to creating products that have the least amount of impact on the environment. Since 2008, as our revenue grew 74 percent, our greenhouse gas emissions grew only 57 percent. In other words following Energy Star qualification all products of Apple go beyond the USA Environmental Protection Agency`s strict ENERGY STAR guidelines for efficiency and has become the only company that can make that claim. In the past few years has made notable reduction in carbon Emissions (http://images. apple. com/environment/ images/manufacturing_ emissions_20110909. jpg) also the CO 2 Emissions per hour of products have considerable reduce (http://images. apple. com/environment/images/product_graph_20110909. pg) Apple continues to install state-of-the-art digital controls, high-efficiency mechanical equipment, and monitoring technology and Apple have a commitment to recycle, that also have Recycling Program and with this increasing their goal all year. The goal for 2010-2015 is a 70% of weight Recycled per year. (http://images. appleinsider. com/apple-e-waste-perc-070502. gif) Apple Inc. is an American based multinational company whose stocks are listed in the  New York S tock  Exchange and NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) under the symbol AAPL. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacturing of electronic equipments like computers, software and smart  phones. The hardware related product line of the company is well known to everyone; including iphone, Macintosh and ipad and ipod respectively. While there are multiple range of software`s offered by the company to its customers that ranges from operating system to the entertainment and educational based software suits. There are several statements that can be analyzed to establish the health of Apple each one with different meaning and purpose. The income statement is for measures a company's financial performance over a specific accounting period. This is one of the three major financial statements; it also  shows the net profit or loss incurred over a specific accounting period, typically over a fiscal quarter or year. The income statement of Apple is In the last quarter the Revenue (in billion) of three of Apple products Ipod, Mac and iPhone) is of 28. 23 and the cost of Revenue is 16. 89. The gross profit is 11. 38, which leave us between the selling, administration and expenses, also the department of research and development a total operating expense 19. 56. so after taxes the income available Is 6. 62 with this information investor can identify how Apple has been growing despite the death of their executive chief. The balance sheet will give the summarize of a company's assets, liabilities and  shareholders' equity  at a specific point in  time. Knowing what Apple owns and what owes and also the amount invested by the shareholders. Seen the graphic, it’s enough to appreciate that Apple does not owes nothing and the assets are increasing more each quarter Cash ; Equivalents 9,815. 00 Short Term Investments 16,137. 00 Cash and Short Term Investments 25,952. 00 Total Receivables, Net 11,717. 00 Total Current Assets 44,988. 00 Long Term Investments 55,618. 00 Total Assets 116,371. 00 Total Liabilities 39,756. 00 Total Equity 76,615. 00 Total Liabilities ; Shareholders' Equity 116,371. 00 Total Common Shares Outstanding 929. 28 And the last statement to study is cash flow, this is a A revenue or expense stream that changes a cash account  over a given period. Cash inflows usually  arise from one of three activities – financing, operations or investing – although this also occurs as a result of donations or gifts in the case of personal finance. Cash outflows result from expenses or  investments. This holds true for both business and personal finance. This statement provides aggregate data regarding all  cash inflows a company receives from both its ongoing operations and external investment sources, as well as  all cash outflows that pay for business activities and investments during a  given quarter. As we can see in the graphic and confirm with the numbers Apple has increase their operating activities but the investing are dropping fast enough to realize that even is a good market rentable their stock are not valuable right now, we can say that one of the reason that their value have decrease in stock is because of the death of Steve Jobs. After reviewing each statement I can understand that the company is financial speaking, healthy because it have values that makes the company special, such as the quality in their products and cares about the planet, also the revenue are increasing and is a solid business because is always improving for increase the profit and reduce the cost. That concern to me because as an young entrepreneur learn to measure an investment`s risk. Management use this information to see the weak points have to strengthen and how is the company doing, is the duty of the manager make the revenue of the company always increase and find a way to reduce the cost. The stocks of Apple have a value of 404. 78 and a valuation change of -0. 04% Apple has 929. 28M of Shares and 70% of the installations Apple is the owner, comparing Apple with other companies is simple to appreciate that (see table) Apple is the most stable for investment and with more market capital to invest, also is the most active in dollar volume improving in technology and research, certificating the quality of Apple products. Key stats and ratios | Q3 (Sep '11) | 2011 | Net profit margin | 23. 43% | 23. 95% | Operating margin | 30. 81% | 31. 22% | EBITD margin | – | 32. 87% | Return on average assets | 23. 81% | 27. 06% | Return on average equity | 36. 40% | 41. 67% | Employees | 46,600 | – | Carbon Disclosure Rating | – | 80/100| In terms of technology advancement Apple is pioneer because have the brains of Steve Jobs, Jonathan Ives and other top visionaries at the company But it would be a mistake to think that only these few drive all of Apple’s vision and long term strategy. Indeed, as I understand it, the visionary conclusions they come to that drive Apple is quite a collaborative effort. A good example of technology advancement is the iPhone, that product began when some engineers showed Steve Job’s a larger touch screen version of an iPod they created in 2004, It took three years to pull off but in 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone and its apps eco system and as you know, this changed the course of smart phone history. Since then, every handset maker and PC vendors has been playing catch up with Apple. It has taken at least two years for the competition to pull alongside Apple but with each new generation of the iPhone, Apple seems to raise the bar. The 4th generation of the iPhone introduced the retina screen and a front facing camera and who knows what will be in the next generation iPhone when it comes out this summer. What Apple does is use its cash hoard to pay for the construction cost (or a significant fraction of it) of the factory in exchange for exclusive rights to the output production of the factory for a set period of time (maybe 6 – 36 months), and then for a discounted rate afterwards. This yields two advantages: First Apple has access to new component technology months or years before its rivals. This allows it to release groundbreaking products that are actually impossible  to duplicate. And second Eventually its competitors catch up in component production technology, but by then Apple has their arrangement in place whereby it can source those parts at a lower cost due to the discounted rate they have negotiated. Once those technologies (or more accurately, their mass production techniques) become sufficiently commoditized, Apple is then able to compete effectively on cost and undercut rivals. It's a myth that Apple only makes premium products – it makes them all right, but that is because they are literally more advanced than anything else (i. e. the price premium is not just for design), and once the product line is no longer premium, they are produced  more cheaply  than competitor equivalents, yielding higher margins, more cash, which results in more ability to continue the cycle. There is one other strategic advantage that Apple has that does not make them happy and that is Apple’s $60 billion cash in the bank. Although there has been suggestion from stockholders that some of that be given back to shareholders, Jobs and team have argued that they need it for acquisitions and other competitive issues. Well, it turns out the competitive issue they are talking about is the ability to pre-buy components in large quantities and at big price breaks. One example was the $500 million purchase of flash memory Apple did three or four years ago that almost wiped out the entire supply of flash at the time and drove the price f flash for competitors up. Apple is currently working on the differentiation strategy by putting unique elements in the design and development of its products. The differentiation strategy is defined as a strategy that aims to develop the products and or services that have unique characteristics that are well liked by the customers and are valued by them. This strategy enhances the market position of the companies with respect to their counterparts (Porter, 1998). Moreover, the company strategies also involve the expansion of its distribution network  in order to improve its global reach by providing high quality products and services with after  sales services to their customers. Therefore, the company is positioned uniquely in the markets to offer superior and integrated digital technologies and productivity solutions. The company faces aggressive competition from the other market players. According to Hoover (2011) the top three competitors of Apple Inc. in United States are Fujitsu Technology Solutions (Holding) B. V. , International Business Machines Corporation and Media Net Digital, Inc. respectively. The needs of the markets it caters are highly competitive in nature due to the ever changing and advancing technological environment and the rapid introduction of new technology based products. The main competitors of the company are following cost leadership strategies by reducing the prices of their products or by maintaining low profit margins to maintain their market share. There are various forces that can impact the business and profitability of Apple. These factors may include the marketing mix  ± product, price, place, promotion strategies, product  performance, the quality and reliability of the product, innovative designs as well as the availability of up to date software services. Currently, the management of the company is focusing on the expansion of its business markets related to the smart phones and other media and communication devices. Therefore, it is expected that the competition in these markets will tend to increase for the company. Conclusion Apple competitors delight in going head-to-head with Apple in hardware, because they can compete with them at this level. But it’s the combinations of its hardware that’s created specifically to be a vehicle for its software and the software itself that really sets Apple apart. And, there is another element to Apple’s â€Å"blank screen† strategy that adds to its competitive advantage. It makes Apple driven content a cornerstone of its extended software offerings. Also the study result showed that the company is doing pretty well in the global markets due the integrated resources and operative capabilities that are outcome of globalization. Apple Inc. lags only in its outsourcing associations with the other company’s at different countries of the world. In order to improve the outsourcing practices ethically, Apple can strictly ask its outsourcing partners to comply with the ethical rules, and regulations. References Apple Finance (2011, October 18). Apple Financial Result [Audio podcast]. Conference Call. Retrieved from http://stream. qtv. apple. com/events/oct/earnings/earnings_11/earnings_ref. mov Apple Inc.. (October 21, 2011). Environmental Policy. Retrieved from http://www. apple. com/privacy/ Apple an the Enviroment. (2011, Summer). Environmental Progress. Retrieved from http://www. apple. com/environment/progress/ Bajarin, T. (2011, March 5). Apple`s Strategic Advantage. Retrieved from http://technologypundits. com/2011/03/apples-strategic-advantage/ Google Finace. (2011, Octuber 31). Apple Summary Statement. Retrieved from http://www. google. com/finance? q=NASDAQ:AAPL McHugh, N. W. (2010). Understanding business (9th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin..

Historical Perspective of Management Essay

Max Weber was a German sociologist that pioneered the term bureaucracy. Weber founded six major principles of bureaucracy Formal hierarchical structure, Management by rules, Organization by functional specialty, An â€Å"up-focused† or â€Å"in-focused† mission, Purposely impersonal and Employment based on technical qualifications. (Busting Bureaucracy. com) A formal hierarchical structure is the management pyramid that is designed to control the level below with organized planning and decision making. For example (chain of command). Then he developed management by rules such as policies and handbooks that are used by lower levels. Next is organization by functionality specialty this means that each individual will be placed in a position according to their specialty. These three steps of bureaucracy are still used today in every business known. Max Weber designed this pyramid because in the 1930’s the industrialism of our country was expanding and it was no order of command business was ran without consistency. And a change was needed to make things run smoothly. My advice to managing people today is to organize your business according to functional specialization. Your employees and managers according to their skills and expertise so that each job will be done to the best of that person or persons knowledge and capabilities. Use clear lines of hierarchical authority in doing so you will need to put together a clear set of policy and rules that underline the chain of demand in detail. Your managers will need to be trained accordingly with consist seminars and meeting so that they can be well trained and fully informed about their duties and the duties of their staff. Decision making should be based on the rules and guidelines developed to guarantee consistent and effective reflection of organization goals.

Case study Bharti & Walmart Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The case study is conducted to analyze the sustainability of the joint venture of Wal-Mart and Bharti in disregard of the fact that the two companies have split apart in late 2013. Therefore, the paper will be conducted by using the information given in the case material and course materials, with extra information related to statistics and government policies before the split up of the joint venture. Through the SWOT analysis and pros & cons analysis of the joint venture, it is crystallized that the joint venture was facing obstacles coming from intrinsic factors such as the challenge to maintain low cost leadership and the ability to adapt local market for Wal-Mart and extrinsic factors such as government policy, consumer behavior and poor infrastructure. The challenges Wal-Mart was facing couldn’t all be solved with the partnership. For instance, the market share and overall profitability were low due to the unsolved problems with Wal-Mart’s strategic orientation and the localization to the market, leaving uncertainty to the joint venture. Hence, among three alternatives of 1) Change strategic Orientation and re-positioning; 2) Improve corporate image and social responsibility and 3) Call off joint venture, it’s recommended for Wal-Mart and Bharti to maintain their partnership but to re-position the joint venture and localize themselves to the market. The recommendation would be further explained in the last section of this paper. PROBLEM STATEMENT Given the circumstance, the joint venture was facing challenges on the sustainability for different reasons. Wal-Mart has planned ambitiously for the joint venture, however it failed to achieve the goals of opening sufficient amount of stores in order to gain the market share and improve the margins due to the competence or willingness in localization, the government policies etc. Measures are needed for the two entities to take in  order to achieve profit growth whether to change the positioning/strategic orientation, improve the corporate image to achieve long term benefits or even to call off the joint venture since it’s no longer mandate for Wal-Mart to access the market through a partnership. ANALYSIS In order to tackle the most fundamental issues in Wal-Mart business journey in India, I’d like to first conduct a SWOT analysis of Wal-Mart’s retail business in India as following. Strength: 1. Scale of operations. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world that no other retailer can match. Due to such large scale of operations, the corporate could exercise strong bargaining power on suppliers to reduce the prices. 2. Competence in information systems. The success of Wal-Mart in 21st century is largely due to its competence in information systems and supply chain management. However Wal-Mart’s advantage in supply chain management was shattered when it entered India. 3. Varity of products. Wal-Mart could offer wider range of products than local competitors. It has also been proven that Indian consumer would embrace affordable products with an upper standard of quality. 4. Low-cost leadership strategy. This strategy has helped Wal-Mart to become the low cost leader in the retail market. Weakness: 1. Inexperience in localization. Even though Wal-Mart was expanding its global appearance, it lacked experience in adapting its products and services to the specific demand of local market due to the domestic strategy. 2. Different shopping mentality. The Indian consumer mentality of â€Å"save and buy† was totally different from the American’s and Indian businesses were focusing more on B2B model, therefore the success of Wal-Mart’s B2C model was questionable. 3. Dependency of logistic system. Wal-Mart and its low cost leadership strategy are largely depended on an effective and efficient warehouse system which was not fully developed in India. 4. Lack of skilled employees. Wal-Mart would have to face the issues with unskilled employees while doing business in India and would potentially increase the training cost of employees. Opportunities: 1. Emerging retail market. Indian retail market grew by 5% in 2006, opening huge opportunities for Wal-Mart’s revenue growth, and the market was opened to Wal-Mart through joint venture. There was also existed an emerging demand of organized retailer. 2. Rising acceptance of foreign products. The increasing acceptance of high quality and low price foreign products opened the opportunities for Wal-Mart as well. In addition, the consumer disposable income and purchasing power was increasing. Threats: 1. Increasing resistance from local communities and retailers. Wal-Mart had a negative impact on local retailers therefore it faced considerably the political pressures from local communities due to the protection of local retailers. On the other hand, Wal-Mart faced the direct challenges from organized local retailers such as Pantaloon, RPG group etc. 2. Challenges from other MNCs. Other multinational corporations, such as Spencer’s Retail were also threatening Wal-Mart’s business in India. Given that some traditional advantages such as the efficient warehouse system were weakened in India, Wal-Mart’s domination in India would be shaken. Wal-Mart’s Challenges in India The opening of an emerging market with a rapidly growing middle class should create a promising future for Wal-Mart. However along with the opportunity are also challenges. After analyzing the SWOT of Wal-Mart, it’s very clear that Wal-Mart was facing challenge from extrinsic environment and intrinsic core competitiveness. Traditionally, foreign investors fail mainly because of the incompetence of maintaining their core competitiveness. But in India, Wal-Mart might be facing more of the external environment challenges. To begin with, retail industry was one of the few sectors where FDI was not allowed due to the protection of small and medium sized local retailers before 2012, forcing multinational corporations to seek a joint venture with a local partner rather than wholly-owned model as in other countries. Local communities worried that Wal-Mart would eliminate small retailers and intermediates who played important roles in supporting local economy. In addition, Wal-Mart cou ldn’t cover the job loss since the main strategy of the company was low-cost leadership which suggested that Wal-Mart would hire just-enough employees to maintain its operations and would cut the  middle-man in the process of procurement in its supply chain. The Indian government requires foreign retailer to source 30 per cent of its goods from small supplier with objectives to discourage imports by foreign retailers from their few large dedicated suppliers and to weaken Wal-Mart’s bargaining power and make economic growth becomes sustainable1. Moreover, with an aggregate score of 2.5, India ranks 64th in market openness and is largely due to the fast real import growth, according to International Chamber of Commerce (2013). India has its weakest score in trade policy (2.0) which is also the second to last score among G20 nations (see table1). From a cultural aspect, the Indian consumers have a different mentality of â€Å"save and buy† thus traditionally Indi an businesses were focusing more on B2B model. Dealing with foreign authorities requires finesse and charm, and given that lobbying was forbidden in India, Wal-Mart might not be able to influence the government policies in an official way and Wal-Mart should avoid seeking inappropriate channel to reach the local authority such as bride. As for intrinsic competitiveness, Wal-Mart was facing problem with losing its traditional advantages. To begin with, the national differences would continually question Wal-Mart’s ability to adapt itself to the market since Wal-Mart had less experience in foreign market. Given that the road infrastructure and the modern supply chain system were not fully developed in India (see table 2), Wal-Mart would face the inefficient transportation in its supply chain. In addition, Wal-Mart would need to associate with local partners in order to solve the warehouse shortage and poor infrastructure. As a result of the lack of skilled labor, labor producti vity in Indian retail market should be lower and Wal-Mart would have to increase its spending on employees’ training and therefore it would be challenging for Wal-Mart to maintain its advantages in low-cost leadership in India. Finally, Wal-Mart stores were competing with entrenched local general merchandise and food merchants, potentially leading to unprofitable for the company. Joint venture with Bharti Given the circumstances, it’s logically for Wal-Mart and Bharti to form a joint venture. In the rapidly growing organized retail market in India, Wal-Mart and Bharti were able to leverage the needs and assets of each other’s (see table 3). For Bharti, one advantage of this joint venture is  that since the management of Wal-Mart promised to lead the liberation of retail market, it would be beneficial for both two parties and India as well. From the same perspective, Wal-Mart was a particularly attractive partner to Bharti for the strength of Wal-Mart in information technology and supply chain management knowledge that could turn around the infrastructure, supply-chain and IT through a strategic alliance (Bose, 2012). As for Wal-Mart, through the 50/50 venture for backend supply chain management and wholesale cash-and-carry operations, (Bose , 2012) Wal-Mart was able to utilize Bharti’s domestic facilities as a jump board to the emerging market and it was able to bypass some restrictions that were harmful to its business. With Bharti’s deep knowledge of India’s fast-growing market and its prior foreign experience of cooperate with other foreign firms (Bose, 2012), Wal-Mart would have a smooth start in the early stages of the joint venture (Luo, 1998). By increasing its purchase from local suppliers and associating with prestige local firm, Wal-Mart could also possibly change positively the consumer perception on itself. However, there were also many disadvantages brought by the joint venture. First, it took time and efforts for both parties to form the joint venture, meaning Wal-Mart might take longer time to expand compared with using wholly-own model. In this joint venture, Wal-Mart and Bharti would deliver a mixture of brand image which might confuse the consumers, and the local partner might take advantage from this mixed message and knowledge transfer as mentioned before. As a result, this joint venture had the possibilit y of creating a new competitor for Wal-Mart. As mentioned before, one of the biggest problems Wal-Mart had was from the government regulation which either of the two parties could lobby the government. In addition, the financial situation of Bharti Enterprises was not a positive factor in their joint venture, for its debt was at a high level and affected negatively the cash flows of the joint venture. Both companies had complementary strengths they were able to utilize to expand in India in a long term. By leveraging each other’s expertise, both entities were able to use and build upon best practices that had proven successful for both companies in their individual ventures, performing better than either company could do alone in the growing Indian retail market. However, since many disadvantages remained for Wal-Mart and Bharti and the fact that they haven’t acquired the expected market share, the future of this joint  venture was in vague. Hence, the two companies should focus on the sustainability of the joint venture. In this regard, both two parties should take measures to reassure the sustainability of their joint venture and improve its performance accordingly. According to Dr. M.N.H. Mazumder, there are three traits that MNC should consider when selecting local partner, strategic traits, organizational traits and financial traits. Therefore, the sustainability of the joint venture would also be dependent on the fits of these traits. For instance, in terms of strategic fits, by establishing a mutually satisfied, efficient, and productive trustful partnership with Bharti, Wal-Mart would be very likely to maintain a common goal so that the joint venture could avoid the risk of being sabotaged by the dysfunctional conflicts between the two partners. In the following section, we’ll be discussing the details of alternatives that could help in the sustainability. ALTERNATIVES: Alternative 1- Change the strategic orientation and re-positioning In 2007, Wal-Mart announced with ambitious that partner with Bharti, it planned to open hundreds of stores, it has quietly shelved its expansion plans after complex market conditions. In 2012, Wal-Mart opened just five wholesale stores in India last year while it planned to open 22 stores. In addition, while Bharti wished to open more small traditional stores or cash and carry business due to the fragmented market and consumer behavior, Wal-Mart was pushing its large retail stores which usually take 24 months to open. Therefore, since Wal-Mart struggled to gain market share, it should be carefully examine its expansion plan and consider Bharti’s perception on the market. Alternative 2- Improve corporate image and social responsibility As stated, Wal-Mart was facing obstacles brought by its corporate image and it has been criticized for eliminating local business and leading to higher unemployment. By operating a public relation campaign and fulfilling its social responsibility in education, agriculture (assisting local farms) etc, Wal-Mart should be able to change the stereotype perception of foreign investors and establish a good foundation for less challenges from the local society. However, this alternative wouldn’t enable Wal-Mart and the joint venture to expand its market share in a short term. Therefore it’ll require both two parties to have coherence on campaign cost and long term revenue. Alternative 3- Call off joint venture Bharti Enterprise has been struggling under a debt of USD 12 billion of its mobile business. Bharti’s liquidity would directly affect the joint venture’s ability to pay off short term financial obligations. Also considering that Wal-Mart is allowed to the 100% ownership in a retail company in India, it’d also be an alternative for two parties to split and do business alone. It’s possible that Wal-Mart will lose its market share in a very short future due to the losses of information and suppliers in this split up. RECOMMENDATIONS It’s recommended to maintain the joint venture, but changes are needed in the strategic orientation and the positioning. For the joint venture and mostly for Wal-Mart, building convenient stores and therefore establishing a larger presence in the Indian market are crucial to the sustainability and profitability. In order to solve extrinsic problems such as the consumer behavior of purchasing on a daily basis rather than buy a weekly portion, it’s more flexible for Wal-Mart if it could have smaller stores covering more locations and it would be positive to consumer loyalty with larger presence in different regions, though thorough research on the target consumer markets would be needed in order to offer Indian consumers the type of products they desire at the appropriate quantity and location. In addition, opening smaller stores would require two parties to work collectively and more productively on their supply chain management due to the complexity brought by more stor es. REFERENCES: Edwards, Ron; Adlina Ahmand and Simon Moss (2002): Subsidiary Autonomy: The Case of ICC (2014): Open Markets Index 2013 (05.03.2014) [URL: Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum (2013): The Global Competitiveness Report 2012–2013 Indranil Bose (2013): Wal-Mart and Bharti: Transforming retail in India Yadong Luo (1998): Joint Venture Success in China: How Should We Select a Good Partner? APPENDIX: Table 1: Scores on the Open Markets Index 2013 G20 Rank Country Overall OMI 2013 Rank Aggregate Score Trade Openness Trade Policy FDI openness Trade Enabling Infrastructure 18th India 64th 2.5 2.9 2.0 2.5 2.8 Source: ICC 2013 Table 2: Ranking of India in infrastructure India Quality of overall infrastructure 86th Quality of roads 85th Quality of railroad infrastructure 24th Quality of port infrastructure 82th Quality of air transport infrastructure 67rd Available airline seat kilometers 12th Quality of electricity supply 112th Mobile telephone subscriptions 113th Fixed telephone lines 117th Source: World Economic Forum 2013 Table 3: Needs and capabilities of both parties before and after their joint venture Before joint venture Needs Capabilities Wal-Mart 1. Entry to the Indian Retail Market 2. Governmental lobbying Skills 3. Knowledge of local market 1. Largest retailer in the world with low cost leadership and a focus of â€Å"Always low price† 2. Known for its information management and supply chain management. Bharti 1. Need retailing experience 2. Need information technology and supply chain management skills 1. Known for its brand and execution capabilities 2. Known for its experience in collaboration with foreign companies 3. Strong Consumer Marketing and distribution capabilities due to other business 4. Bharti’s Agriculture programs with local farmers