Wal-Mart’s Integration Strategies: Diversification and Expansion

by Herman Bailey | Apr 23, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

Wal-Mart is a multinational retail company whose goals of growth, expansion, and diversification have been attained through a combination of different strategies including vertical and horizontal integration. The adoption of vertical integration has contributed to its diversification from a place where customers bought consumer goods to its involvement in the provision of different types of goods and services, and to the point of establishing its own brand called Sam’s Choice. Through this strategy, it has managed to branch out into new retail sectors. For instance, Wal-Mart is involved in the manufacturing of soft drinks, grocery sales, entrainment, pharmaceuticals, and other products as indicated by Hayden, Lee, McMahon, and Pereira (14).

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Wal-Mart is known for providing quality products at lower prices compared to its competitors thus managing to attract more customers as indicated by Hills and Jones (5). This has been greatly contributed by the company’s strategy that focuses on minimizing costs by establishing a central communication system that speeds and lower communication costs thus reduced transaction costs, their outstanding bargaining power at the supply level, and eliminating middlemen’s influence. Production of high-quality products is attributed to their use of appropriate technologies. Hence, has managed to increase its market share enhancing profitability.

Wal-Mart has demonstrated good managerial strategies since it has been able to successfully bring all its business operations under common leadership and corporation. The company has also been able to achieve competence and gain customers’ trust by bringing and retaining a competent team of employees dedicated to achieving its mission of offering quality products and outstanding customer care. Wal-Mart established a culture that takes into consideration the needs of its workforce and devised various ways to motivate them like offering them discounts as stated by Hills and Jones (5). This has enabled the company to create a positive image and gain recognition thus maintaining its superiority in the industry.

Wal-Mart’s success in maintaining its lead in the business has been contributed by its expansion in the market since it has a chain of stores that stocks even its own supplies. The company has managed to extend its customer base by putting up several stores close to the consumers since their stores are everywhere even outside town. Their major goal is to reach as many customers as possible to increase sales thus profitability. Wal-Mart established a variety of stores that meets the needs of a wide range of customers such as, Sam’s club, discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets. This strategy has enabled the company to dominate the retail industry and in the United States create some level of monopoly as implied by Hayden, Lee, McMahon, and Pereira (15). However, as much as the company has diversified using horizontal integration, it may consider buying stores in the area that are not doing well to fully occupy the market and achieve greater gains as well as secure its future since the strategy minimizes the risk of failure.

Wal-Mart has proven its determination and commitment to promoting its growth and development of its enterprise since its foundation within and outside the United States. Considering their progress as well as excellent corporate strategies that have enabled them to achieve their goal of dominating the retail industry, I do believe it is capable of venturing into other sectors besides retailing that has been the center of their focus in terms of diversification. Furthermore, Wal-Mart already has the resources to venture into other sectors in terms of leadership strategies, human resources, experience in customer responsiveness, and capital. The existing customer trust, global recognition, and commendable reputation give them an advantage as well since they make it easier for the company to find a market for their new products. Their venture into e-commerce also provides a platform for them to introduce and market new products.

Wal-Mart may consider creating more brands besides Sam’s Choice soft drink that is the third most popular soft drink in the United States since one of its aims is to create a positive brand. Therefore, the company could venture into the manufacturing of products such as cooking oil or even snacks. Significantly, in case it indeed to go beyond retailing then they need to carry out research to determine business opportunities and select appropriately. Otherwise, Wal-Mart has the potential to invest further in different sectors.

Works cited

Hayden, Patrick, Lee Seung, McMahon Kate, Mike Pereira. “Wal-Mart: Staying on Top of the Fortune 500 A Case Study on Wal-Mart Stores Inc.” (0). Print.

Hills, Charles W. L, and Gareth R. Jones. Essentials of Strategic Management. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2008. Print.

Herman Bailey

With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.

Enhancing Nursing Competency through Residency Programs

by Herman Bailey | Apr 23, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

Nursing Training

Nursing is a type of health provision that looks into the management, coordination and delivery of care services using different programs within the domain of patient-care. Nurses use the nursing process to provide care for individual patients or defined population in different health facilities or hospitals. Nursing education begins with student have to either cover different levels in nursing education that starts from a Diploma, Degree and finally Baccalaureate degree in nursing. A diploma courses are is trained in hospital that offers sponsorship training programs just within the facility and in other cases a student works as an attaché. Baccalaureate students are well placed to receive advanced working positions such as tutoring diploma students, health-care administration and patient-care.

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Nursing Action

Graduate nurses are usually ready to take up different challenges in health care whereby they can work in any department such as emergency rooms or administration. New RN graduates finds themselves getting direct employment without necessarily need for orientation to different working positions. Hence, nurses need to be competent with enough knowledge to assist then in using healthcare system whereby a nurse need to think about how to use then while administering to patients needs.

Role of Residency Programs in Promoting Nursing Competency

The residency programs has been helpful in promoting health in emergency departments as it highlights importance of creating a healthy public policy ,strengthening of nursing actions, development of personal skills and reorientation of health services (Nelson et al,. 2001). Graduate nurses in a public setting or in a community they are likely to promote health through mobilizing the communities, training on health related and environmental aspects that affects health and health policies. The promotion of nurses education is an important component of health practice in form of care is the ability to physically provide diagnostic services.

Retention of graduate nurses in the health facility not addressed the shortage of staff in hospitals and health centers dealing with facing different complications. Graduate specialists such as psychiatrists and nurses are often few in numbers compared to the population that requires their services in an emergency room. Therefore, many need to be trained for NLN competency to be able to handle different challenges in emergency rooms which are currently originating from lack of adequate personnel (Happel K, 2007). There is need for reform on fundamentals health system through education and change of governance in order to be in a position to offer better services. This way, practitioners will be able to address the aspect of changing service delivery in the health sector by making integrated care more accessible to the patients. Moreover, there is the need to improve the infrastructure in hospitals by hiring competent nurses to handle these facilities (Brady, 2009). More information should be given to trainees as it is believed that the stigma surrounding health is a cause for low level of health practitioners’ interested professional fields. With an adequate working force, the health system would be better equipped to deal with the emergency crisis.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nursing education is an essential component of health care provision. It involves training nurses to provide quality care services to patients in different health care facilities. The residency program has been instrumental in promoting nursing competency, especially in emergency departments. Graduate nurses can work in various departments such as emergency rooms, administration, and health care, among others. There is a need to retain graduate nurses in the health facilities to address the shortage of staff in hospitals and health centers facing different complications. The health system requires reforms in governance and infrastructure to equip it to deal with the emergency crisis. By doing so, healthcare practitioners will be better equipped to address the aspect of changing service delivery in the health sector and make integrated care more accessible to the patients.

References

Brady. W. (2009). Comparison of traditional and nontraditional new Graduate RN’s in a NICU (1st ed.)

Happell . K. (2007). Employment through residency program: A strategy to address the workforce crisis in Psychiatric Nursing. Psychiatric Nursing Archives, 21(3), 126-131.

Nelson. M. Olson & Yougn, L. Kleinsasser. A. (2001). Nursing Student Residency Program: a model for seamless transition from Nursing Student to R.N. Journal of Nursing Administration, 31(1), 40-48.

Herman Bailey

With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.

Fifth Disease: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment in Children

by Herman Bailey | Apr 23, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

Case study

I was working in ABC hospital as a nurse for the past few weeks and one condition caught my eyes. A child was admitted with red skin rashes all over his body and I suspected it to be fifth disease. Although I have learnt about fifth disease in my course, I have never experienced it before. The mother of the child said that her son had fever, running nose, was vomiting for the past four days. Upon examining the child, he had bright red rashes on the cheeks and it looked like it was a “slapped” cheek. The body of the child had also the rashes on the legs, arms, trunk and the rashes has a lacy appearance

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Background history

The mother of the child narrated how his son, who is a pupil at Jefferson Elementary school came back from school four days ago with a mysterious rash. She called their teacher and their teacher informed her many children in his class are suffering from fifth disease. Given that she has never heard of the disease, she went to the nearby chemist and purchased medicine for skin rushes. However, as days passed by and the health condition of the child deteriorated, she brought him to the hospital for check-up and treatment.

Evaluation and diagnosis

According to MGH (2015), the incubation period of fifth disease ranges between 4-28 days and the rashes usually lasts 1-3 weeks. This means that the child was within the incubation period and therefore evaluation and examination could provide accurate results. KidsHealth (2015) pointed out that diagnosis of fifth disease is usually done from the distinctive rashes on the body and face if the child. The health care provider should do a complete physical examination and medical history of the child. Similarly, CDC (2015) suggested that blood tests could be performed to see if there is presence of parvovirus B19 in the blood of the patient

From the unique rashes on the body often child, it was evident the child was ailing from fifth disease. However, when blood tests was done, the results indicated presence of the parvovirus B19 in the blood of the child

Treatment plan

MGH (2015) pointed out that fifth disease among children is caused by a virus. However, despite the fact that there exists antiviral medicines, currently there is none available that is able to treat fifth disease. Furthermore, in most cases of fifth disease, there exists mild illnesses that medicine is not even necessary.

KidsHealth (2015) suggested that normally children with fifth disease need little home treatment and feel fairly well other than some rest. After the mild cold symptoms and fever have passed, there is little to treat except the discomfort from the rashes on the skin.

The goal of my treatment plan was to help reduce the fifth disease symptoms since there is no cure for the viral infection of fifth disease. The treatment plan in the case scenario included the following:

• Drinking of more fluids
• the child has some itching from the fifth disease rash and therefore to relieve discomfort, I recommended antihistamine for itching
• I also recommended acetaminophen or ibuprofen for joint pain and for fever.

Cultural diversity issues

Culture is a learned and transmitted practices, beliefs and values of a particular group of people that guide their actions, thinking and decisions in pattered ways (MedScape, 2015).the associated behaviours with response to illness such as pain, fear, and anxiety and determined culturally. MedScape (2015) gave an example of some cultures where the role of the sick is no longer valid after the disappearance of the symptoms. Therefore, the continuous need for care is a challenge when dealing with the patients whose symptoms have disappeared.

In the case scenario, there was a cultural diversity issue when the patient stopped coming for check-ups after the symptoms have subsided.

Patient outcomes

The child recovered with no complications. The itching stopped, rashes disappeared and other accompanying symptoms disappeared and the child went back to his normal activities.

Herman Bailey

With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.

Why College Education Goes Beyond Financial Gains

by Herman Bailey | Apr 22, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

Allan, G. (1997). Rethinking college education. Lawrence, Kan: University Press of Kansas.

The author is George Allan, in this book he demonstrates that what the students are taught in school is not important when their moral practice is tainted. He further goes ahead and elaborates with the fact that moral practice determines how students can acquire knowledge in the best way as well as their conduct and how they become individuals who are responsible. The book points out that some practices are not taught in class but learned in an environment that enhances dialogue and open-mindedness. In brief, the author observed that the college earns individuals skills to converse, skills of cultured intercourse, and not only a means through which they earn a living.

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This book will be essential in illustrating how college education builds an individual personality, develops a unique brand for individuals where people can easily interact with. This is as a result of the environment that college creates an environment that encourages dialogue and also enhances individuals to air their point of view. This fact will be further linked to the notion that one does not go to college for financial future gains only but also to be shaped into a reasonably noble human being.

In Atwan, R., Duff-Strautmann, V., & Atwan, G. (2017). America now: Short readings from recent periodicals.

The article is about how students often look forward to going to pursue their careers. It highlights the optimism that drives the student to pursue marketable courses. it highlights how there is a paradigm shift in education how today critical thinking or knowledge that only appreciates culture, history, or government does not entice the students because they are more driven by the success of having money.

The article also points out at the change in the generation in education policy now that college is seen as a way through a better job prospect is offered for better earning in the future, unlike the past where education was broad and it was more than the earnings.

This article is vital to my research; I will use it to prove the fact that people should be driven by a passion other than the prospects of a better future. In addition to this, I will illustrate how one can actually learn a technique through apprenticeship and become an expert and be better more than the one who has gone through college, in other words, it will give me fact there are some faculty which are better learned in the field than in-class use it further to illustrate that experience gained from outside college in another field like baking industry. To support this the author gives this example, “Oklahoma State’s degree in fire protection and safety engineering and technology suggests skill in acquiring valuable tips for making society safer, but should the university be the place to collect such tips?”

The article will also help in showing how the so-called “marketable course” is not that marketable as the field end up being flooded with graduate and with the high demand for the job than the job itself it renders many graduate jobless “Graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, known as the STEM courses, think their training aimed them in the right direction for jobs, but only 1 in 5 recent STEM graduates get those jobs.”

Mangukiya, Piyush. “[Infographic] Is College Worth the Cost?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/piyush-mangukiya/infographicis-college-wor_b_8692234.html.

The article is about weighing the worthiness of education and determine whether the advantages of education outweigh the disadvantages and also if the advantages I worth the cost. To begin with, the author points out the coast of education and how it leaves an average student to a debt that is roughly $30,000 after which a job is never guaranteed immediately after finishing school making the 4 -5 year spent in school a waste of important resources like time and money.

On the contrary, the author gives detailed facts about the advantages of a college education besides a career. The author gives facts about social attributes that college education adds to an individual making them confident, have high self-esteem, more friends, and excellent communicators. In addition to social growth, college education promotes career growth as those with a college degree are paid better and are the decision-makers in the places of work while those with high school diplomas are subjected to implement the decisions. Further to this, those with a college degree have got high job satisfaction as well as the lowest unemployment rate. Finally, the author indicates that those who have a college education have got better health due to the comprehensive insurance cover and less stress related to income.

This article I vital in my research, I will use it to affirm the fact that when one goes to college there I much he or she gets besides the education. I will also use this article to explain the social, wealth, and career positives that college education brings and prove the fact that it is worth every penny used.

Herman Bailey

With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.

Addressing Mental Health Challenges: Insights from a Social Worker’s Perspective

by Herman Bailey | Apr 22, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

Social workers play a major role in providing equity among societies today. They help in building the health of society by ensuring coordination and respect for human life. They advocate for the rights of the disadvantaged, neglected, and isolated populations. They also play a major role in ensuring the good standards of the health of society members. There has been an emphasis on concerns about mental health in recent years. Social workers have been identified as the leading practitioners in addressing the concern. Research has discovered that various behaviors are clear indicators of mental conditions that call for medical attention. Ranging from depression, isolation, to the extremes of suicide, mental concerns are a robust threat to humanity unless addressed adequately. This paper seeks to discuss the findings from an interview with a social worker who works at Royal Colombia Hospital as a Medicine Social worker on unit 6N, regarding the major issues faced in the sector from both the patients and the Social Workers’ perspective.

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Victims of mental health face similar challenges across the globe. (Consider the power of language here, the word victim has certain implications) (Mental health is a continuum that we all fluctuate on) They are subject to stigmatization. These patients struggle with the adverse manifestation of the psychological impacts of their mental health conditions at the same time battling against the society they live in. Most societies tend to be stereotypical on people with mental illnesses. They view these patients (clients, service users, maybe more strength-based terms) as incapable of leading a sustainable lifestyle hence deter them from their right to equal treatment. Some communities minimize contact with these populations, leaving them vulnerable to challenges they wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to. A stigmatized patient, living within a population that barely has any regard for their existence is more unlikely to lead a satisfying life. The effects of stigmatization are diverse and extend to discrimination, isolation, and rejection.

The modern world has put much emphasis on Social Workers’ competitiveness as the major principle of economic development. (reference?)This way, firms seek to maximize the utility resource of each laborer subject to a minimum wage. Most managers assess the mental wellbeing of their employees to verify their capability in the industry (Stansfeld et al. 2005). People with mental health concerns have problems with acquiring employment in modern societies. Employers prefer not to employ them because of the risks associated with mental instability, a threat to the general economy. In addition to stigmatization and discriminatory trends, the victims of mental disorders remain threatened in the modern economy. They rely on social workers who fight for their rights, to ensure equity and recognition in every life aspects.

Third world nations have identified the prevalence of mental health concerns and their impact on the social wellbeing of humanity (Coyle et al. 2005). However, the interview with a social worker revealed that social workers who address concerns of mental health lack enough support at the societal level. One of the greatest challenges they face is a lack of social support from the governments. Governments are paying more attention to the bio-medical view of health with less emphasis on the psycho-social aspects of human existence. (how might mental health SW navigate these differences?)

There are no minimum standards set to guide the social workers; these social workers have no exact information regarding the limits of their activities. (?? What role do our code of ethics and agency policies play?)They are tasked with the role of taking care of people with mental health problems but lack a set of minimum standards. Mental health has been undermined and few opportunities are available in the economy to address this concern. (references to support this statement) Despite the prevalence of mental challenges amongst populations, the mental health sector is not receiving enough effort to sustain it within our societies.

The most common challenge experienced by social workers is the lack of community collaboration. To deal with mental health problems, the patients are not only those directly affected by the problem but also the people around them. For instance, society is responsible for the adversity of mental health problems. While society is determined to neglect, isolate, and stereotype individuals who display signs of mental instability, the patients become detached from them. Stress kicks in and the problem manifests itself faster than initially. For example, HIV&AIDs patients begin to experience mental problems upon discovery of the health disaster. (references to support?) When the society becomes aware of their status, they respond by keeping their distance and creating social boundaries that they did not have before (Earnshaw et al 2012). The fight taken by social workers to help these victims is a war against the society itself and only a few understand the gravity of its implications.

My interviewee revealed some of the common clients presenting concerns across the departments they worked for; Cancer, family problems, foster care issues, abortion, guilt, HIV&AIDs, isolation, and rejection. The most prevalent concerns by the clients were health-based and pointed to desperation for new socialization, hope for salvation, and desire for redemption. However, most of these needs are not easily achievable if they only relied on the people around them. Life is the best gift that we have. When people realize that they have lost it already, and they live on borrowed time, they undergo a temporal period of suspension from rational reason and turn to panic. Social workers are therefore tasked with the role of bringing mental peace back to these people.

Social workers have demonstrated admirable support for people with mental health concerns over the past years to date. They fight for the civil rights of all citizens and address gaps where they are not observed. They also emphasize on humane treatment of those patients. Social workers also play the role of intervening cases to do with child abuse and rejection. (Connecting to mental health?) Summarily, social workers in the mental health department restore the lives of their clients by making them feel accepted and equal to other populations. As a preventive measure, they encourage school-based interventions for both parents and children to understand mental problems. They also increase awareness of the importance of mental health promotion as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle including nutrition and exercise trends that may influence mental health. (Good point, prevention is integral to holistic MH care)

As an emerging and aspiring social worker, I understand the role of mental health and its inhibitors as well as the mitigation strategies. Technological advance is to the advantage of my career. With bigger and safer information sources and storage technologies, social workers can serve a huge population since access to the relevant information has been made more convenient by technology. (While this may be true, privacy laws have been slow to catch up with the rate of technology) Also, the increasing awareness of understanding the implications of mental health is a loud call for social workers. However, social stereotyping of people with mental problems is alarming rates. Societies tend to disown people with mental health problems, thus worsening the situation. To curb this problem in my society, I seek to increase public education on understanding that mental problems are normal and fixable, to restore the hope for the salvation of mental health patients.

It was unclear what info came from your interview and what was your own views/statements, referencing would clarify this. I would encourage you to consider the use of language as it is a powerful tool and some words such as victim, patient, etc serve to reinforce stigma and stereotypes. Reviewing a strengths-based approach and language may be helpful. Supporting statements with relevant research and/or theories would strengthen your paper. 18/25

References

Coyle, D., Edwards, D., Hannigan, B., Fothergill, A., &Burnard, P. (2005).A systematic review of stress among mental health social workers.International Social Work, 48(2), 201-211.

Earnshaw, V. A., Smith, L. R., Chaudoir, S. R., Lee, I. C., &Copenhaver, M. M. (2012). Stereotypes about people living with HIV: implications for perceptions of HIV risk and testing frequency among at-risk populations. AIDS education and Prevention, 24(6), 574 581.

Stansfeld, S. A., Kerry, S., Chandola, T., Russell, J., Berney, L., Hounsome, N., …&Bhui, K. (2015). A pilot study of a cluster-randomized trial of a guided e-learning health promotion intervention for managers based on management standards for the improvement of employee well-being and reduction of sickness absence: GEM Study. BMJ Open, 5(10), e007981.

Herman Bailey

With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.