Case 1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

1 - Case Study Example is accident, Bertha as an employee of The Happy hour sports bar is liable and needs to compensate the young man for injury caused (Duplessis, Enman & O’Bryne, 2010). However, Bertha as the defendant in this litigation can defend her actions on the basis of duty of care and the young being incapacitated to making an informed decision at the time. As an employee at the bar, Bertha owed duty of care to her employees and this is evidenced in her refusal to sell the young man a beer since he was already drunk. The man having come back again after being thrown out the first time; was reason enough to believe that his reasoning was compromised. The young man even attempted to assault Bertha but she handled him and gave him a â€Å"heavy† push that led to his head injury. The heavy push needs to be described and will serve as a basis in which a decision will be made. It has to be ascertained if Bertha pushed the young man with an intention of hurting him or it was a mere accident. The decision of the court would be based on the motive of the â€Å"heavy push† which with enough evidence would lead to the bar owner compensating the young man for injuries. However, if the â€Å"heavy† push is disapproved by the court, Bertha will have no case to answer since the young man’s mental capacity was compromised and as an employee, Bertha owed the young man duty of care hence did not sell him a beer. His injury was merely an unforeseen circumstance (Duplessis, Enman & O’Bryne,

Network Remote Access Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Network Remote Access - Essay Example On this logical connection data packets are constructed in a specific VPN protocol and are encapsulated within some other carrier protocol then transmitted between VPN client and server. The name itself signifies that the client has to it self has to initiate or to manage the connection. The VPN client has to first establish a connection to the carrier and then the VPN client will create a tunnel to the VPN server over the logical live connection. In compulsory tunneling the Internet service provider has to manage VPN connection setup. When the user in this case an employee away from the office tries to establisha connection to a local carrier, the ISP inurn establishes a connection to the VPN server. If we look from the clients point of view, Compared to voluntary tunneling compulsory tunneling sets up a VPN connection in just one step instead of two steps in a voluntary tunneling. This kind of tunneling authenticates the users or the client and then connects them with the specific VPN servers using specified logic built into the broker device. The network device that comes into picture for compulsory tunneling is some times called FEP (front end processors), Network access servers (NAS) or point of presence (POS). The basic function of compulsory tunneling is to hide the details of server connectivity from the VPN client and then moves it's control from client to local carrier. Using a dialup connection also a connection can be esta... The network device that comes into picture for compulsory tunneling is some times called FEP (front end processors), Network access servers (NAS) or point of presence (POS). The basic function of compulsory tunneling is to hide the details of server connectivity from the VPN client and then moves it's control from client to local carrier. The additional burden for the service provider is the he has to install and maintain the front-end processors. There are number VPN tunneling protocols available, which are presently implemented in various VPN applications. The most widely used are. 1. Point-to-point tunneling protocol. (PPTP) 2. Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP). 3. Internet protocol security (Ipsec). 1. Dialup connection using telephone line. Using a dialup connection also a connection can be established to a VPN server from a remote place. But dialup connection is adequate to connect to an E-mail server. It lags in terms of continuous contact with the server due to frequent disconnection. So, connectivity and reliability is not associated with this type of connection, which are required for intensive and secure business applications 2. Dialup connection using mobile phone. VPN connectivity to the company's network using a mobile phone is also possible with a hand set having GPRS feature. This could be an ideal way for the employees who are always on the move. Connecting to company's network using mobile phone for prolonged duration is not advisable since there are chances of disconnection from the servers of the office network due to congestion in cellular network during peak time. Another disadvantage using a cell phone is that an employee has to compromise with the speed offered by the service provider. During an Internet

The Roles Played Since High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Roles Played Since High School - Essay Example The researcher will begin with the statement that he greatly appreciates the fact that being idle is not good for personal development. This being the case, he has always sought something constructive to do every time he has time to spare. From the time the author finished high school, he has been engaged in a raft of activities and played different roles in different communities. The researcher has volunteered to work in different organizations serving different needs whenever he feels that his services can help improve people’s lives. He has volunteered at Weaver Lake elementary school, where his kids school, assisting teachers, organizing and implementing events as well as acting as the chaperon. At Abbot Northwestern Hospital, his seven years of voluntary service has greatly been appreciated by the administration, members of staff, and patients. During school breaks, the author mostly went to the hospital to serve as a receptionist at the surgical waiting room. Some of his duties in this capacity included checking in patients and their families and liaising between doctors and nurses and patients’ family members. More specifically, he informed the family members of ongoing surgical procedures and gave direction to visitors so that they easily found their way to the right departments. Â  In addition, he also volunteered at the mother and baby department, emergency room, and patients escort office. Â  Apart from providing voluntary services to different organizations, he has maintained himself and family by working full time.

Child Abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Child Abuse - Research Paper Example Children are a blessing from God and deserve love just like anyone else. However, in the recent past many researches have indicated that several children are being abused. This should come as a bad news especially in this 21st Century where the youth form a large percentage of the population. According to some researchers like Besharov et al (2001), there are many cases which go unreported, uninterrupted or misreported. According to stop it now (www.stopitnow.org) a world organization that prevents child abuse, reports that a third of girls and nearly 1 in seven boys experiences sexual abuse while statistics suggest from research suggest that only 12% to 30% of the cases are reported. Families mostly deny child abuse within their homes. In one of the cases reported in stop it now, one woman had been sexually abused by his brother but she kept quiet for fear of being killed, after sensing that her niece will fall in the same trap she finally reported the matter to their family but the family did not believe her and so nobody took action on that case. Most powerful people go unreported if they are found abusing children because people find it hard to talk bad things about them. Since nearly all states passed the mandatory laws requiring any suspected child abuse to be repor ted, child abuse cases has been on the rise. This result in many cases being reported which are baseless (Besharov et al., 2001). Melissa (2009), says that child abuse can be considered to be any act that causes physical body injury, psychological or emotional torture. These acts causes suffering to the child and sometimes may be harmful enough and eventually may lead to death or permanent damage of victims.

Effects of Mass Media Essay Example for Free

Effects of Mass Media Essay The benefits that the society gets from mass media have undeniably led to the heavy reliance of people to media for information and entertainment. While the society perceives the media information as either real or important, the media shapes the values and culture of people into an entirely new concept that always end up to the conclusion that the world has been changing because of advancement in terms of technology. From selling goods to giving salient issues, the people can rely on the power of mass media. The heavy reliance of society to media may had been evident in the lifestyle of the mainstream; however, the information that the society keeps nowadays constantly change, molding the psychological and sociological aspects of the next generation. Mass media plays a very important role in the society. The people have been relying on the capability of media to inform, entertain, and provide all the necessary information that the individuals need. The people cannot deny the benefits that they gain from media for different purposes. In fact, its influences in the society have been evident not only through the development of the world in terms of technology but also through the culture and perceptions that the people have nowadays. Media exposures show that media consumption has measurable effects on the perceptions of the society. The people use media information and their actions, judgments, and attitudes are unconsciously being affected by the media messages. The society has been showing too many evidences of media effects; however, the people seem to recognize the benefits of media sources more rather than the negative impacts that it brings to the public. Each media concept has a target audience and the effects vary depending on the level of involvement of the audience and the status of a certain cluster in the society. Apparently, the modern media has been targeting the cluster of the society which can easily be reached and influenced—the young generation. Due to continuous release of media concepts and endless influx of technology, does media still portray images that would help for the betterment of the young adults? What are the negative effects of media concepts to the young generation? Media Images in 20th Century As the world conforms to modernity, the media images have been constantly changing giving the people new ideas and information in fashion trends, technology, and current events. The media sources keep on providing information and the people stay connected with the media information not only to be updated with the changes but because of the availability of resources that would connect the people and the media regardless of their location. Today, media is far different from the media that people have known in the past century. The television shows are more advanced and the films and advertisements show evidences of development in terms of media tools and concepts. Consequently, the society get use to seeing new concepts everyday and the post modern world leave the people with no choice but to conform in order to survive. Even though the society has been criticizing the media for the offensive images that media portrays, the mainstream still relies on the information that media could provide for them. Media sources boomed not only for entertainment but also for commercial purposes in twentieth century. From business to entertainment, the media has been the source of information of any cluster of the society. Today, the young generation can be seen on media sources endorsing consumer goods or promoting services to the society. While some teens appear to be wholesome, some are being criticized for negative underlying messages to the mainstream. Some media sources portray the fun of being a teenager in this modern society and some messages convey a message that the young adults are the hope of the future generation. On the contrary, there are films and television shows that portray aggression and violence. The advertisements portray images of thin and skinny young women who endorse products to the market. The modern youth are being perceived as materialistic, socially aggressive, and partying individuals because of the images that the mainstream sees on media sources. Positive Impacts of Mass Media on Teens The society has been blaming the mass media for making the young adults change their perceptions toward certain matter and behave exactly opposite of how people expect them to be. The society recalls the images that they have seen on media sources which are often considered as negative due to the effects that these portrayals brought to them. Apparently, the effects of mass media have been in the heart of debate in the society because most people perceive media in negative aspect while some still consider the benefits that the society gets from it. Due to negative images on media, the society often fails to recognize the positive effects that media can give to the public. Although some parents perceive television as helpful in developing the mind of their children, the society on the other hand, points out this perception as effect of media brainwashing. The heavy reliance of people on media has been the effect of the society’s acceptance to all the messages that are being conveyed on all media sources.

Analysis of C Seasons Footwear Company

Analysis of C Seasons Footwear Company Introduction For the business world today, the aim of every company is to invest in an environment that is economically safe with the aim of working towards making profit, make maximum returns on investment and to kept the interest of the companys shareholders in mind and also to have the interest of customers in mind in order to gain competitive advantage by working on core competency of the organisation. The company is in the athletic footwear industry called C SEASONS. The company used a differentiated strategy for the sale of its sports footwear. This is going into the footwear market in a different way from other footwear making companies in order to have a competitive advantage over other athletic footwear industry. C Seasons Footwear Company has been in the footwear industry for the last five years supplying the best footwear to four different regions namely, North America, Europe Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The BSG Online simulation was based on twelve industries that were into athletic footwear located in four regions (North America, Europe Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. It started with twelve companies and to compete with other company and make necessary decisions and design and implement a strategy that will provide a longterm return for shareholders over the next five years. The report will focus on company 25 (C SEASONS). According to Johnson, et al (2009) a differentiation strategy seeks to provide products or services that offer benefits that are different from those of competitors and that are widely valued by buyers. p.153. The aims and objectives of the BSG online simulation are: Becoming the market leader in the footwear making industry. To have a good shareholder returns. To have a high net profit at the end of the game simulation. Various report, tables and graphs would be used to help decision making processes. The table below shows the strengths and weaknesses for C Seasons on both the internet segment and wholesale segment of the business for the five years. Simulation Result. Year 1. In order to be the market leader, we decided that in year 1 we would be making a 1% charitable contribution, by doing this it would help reduce the tax payable by the company at the end of each financial year. The company would also be involved in workforce diversity programs. The company also decided that at the end of the year we would have certain percentage of our unsold stock on clearance sales. For the North American market clearance would be 25%, Europe Africa would be 25%, Asia Pacific would be 50% and 50% for Latin America. The company also had strengths in all regions in the models offered, rebate offers and advertisement. Some weakness were also identified such as the style and quality, delivery time and the wholesale price. At he end of the first year the company had an image rating of 66 and a credit rating of A. The net profit margin in the first year was 14.1% while return on equity was 22.8%. The current ratio in the first year was 2.74 while the asset turnover was 0. 93. Year 2 In year two the strengths of the company in the regions were the models offered and the rebate offers. The inventory clearance was left as the first year which the company believed would attract more customers. The weaknesses in year two were style and quality, wholesale price offered to retailers, the delivery time, celebrity appeal and free shipping. Return on equity in year two was 23.4% while the net profit margin was 16.4%. This was a 3.1% rise from the first year which points out that the company was selling well. Asset turnover in the second year was 0.93 while the current ratio was 4.11%. Year 3 In year three the strengths of the company in the three regions were the free shipping offered, rebate offers, celebrity appeal and the models offered. The return on equity in year three was 19.7%. Net profit margin 16.9%. Asset turnover was 0.57 while the current ratio was 5.37%. The company had some weaknesses in the third year of business delivery time, retail outlet, and advertising were the setback for the company. Year 4 In year four the company decided to pay shareholders, a sum of $0.50/share is to be paid to each shareholder per the number of share(s) they hold in the company. Shareholders were paid dividend as a sign of goodwill and also to show value for the money they have and would invest in the company. The company showed some strengths during the trading year such as the models offered, the free shipping offered, rebate offers and good advertising. The company also had some weaknesses in some of the regions such as the style and quality, retail outlet and the delivery time. The return on equity for year four as 10.3%. Net profit margin for the year was 10.5%, the reason for this was the dividend paid to shareholders during the year. The asset turnover for the year was 0.76 while the current ratio for the company was 7.32%. Year 5 In year five the current ratio for the company was 8.21% while the operating profit margin was 25.7% and net profit margin was 17%. In the fifth the company had some weaknesses such as wholesale price, style and quality and the retail outlet. The strengths during year five were free shipping offered, the good advertisement made, the delivery time, the rebate time offered and the celebrity appeal the business had. The asset turnover for year five was 0.72. Strategic Thinking a.) Strategic Analysis The basis strategy used in the simulation was a differentiation strategy â€Å"this seeks to provide products or services benefits that are different from those of competitors and that are widely valued by buyers† (Johnson et al, 2006) pg 153. C Seasons offered a good quality product and started with a slightly lower price for a quality product that it was producing. C Seasons used the PESTEL framework to analyse its external environment. â€Å"The PESTEL framework categorises environmental influences into six main types; political, economical, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors† Johnson et al (2006) pg 25. The aims was to achieve competitive advantage by offering better product or services at a reasonable price or enhancing margins slightly higher. Although, Seasons product may be identical, but possible to differentiate on the basis of the following Quality product Reasonable price Global brand Broad market Unique value Niche market Product differentiation is another strategy for gaining a market foothold, and to be successful, product differentiation must be valued by target customers. It must be protected by products, make duplication by rivals difficult or impossible Today, most successful and powerful companies grew out of business model that were elegant, compelling in their logic and powerful in economic potential as some variation of the value chain that support business. b.) Mission And Vision â€Å"A mission is a general expression of the overall purpose of the organisation, which, ideally, is in line with the values and expectations of major stakeholders and concerned with the scope and boundaries of the organisation† Johnson, et al (2006) pg 9. â€Å"A vision can also be described as desired future of the organisation. It is an aspiration around which a strategist might seek to focus the attention and energies of members of the organisation† Johnson, et al (2006) pg 9. Therefore, the mission of C Seasons will be to become ‘the major player in the market and the vision is ‘to produce the best footwear that are worn and cherished the world over by both children and adult. External Environment External environment examines opportunities and threats that exit in the environment. Both opportunities and threats exist independently of the firm (Adkins, March 2008). See appendices. Internal Environment The internal environments are those that the company can set up strategies for and make sure that the decisions are the right one for the company. See appendices. Value Chain Value chain analysis also highlights the mechanisms through which developing countries and their procedures have upgraded their activities and linked to producers and consumers in the global economy, or may do so in the future in a manner that can lead to a sustainable income growth. The results of this type of analysis should indicate the way to policy challenges confronting the private and public agents operating in or promoting the chain (Kaplinsky,2000). The VRIO framework was the foundation for internal analysis in order to lead to sustainable competitive advantage a resource or capability should be valuable, rare, imitable and organised. Decision Making And Personal Learning C Seasons decided not to take a bank loan in the first year of business, the reason for this was to see if the company could sustain itself without a loan or overdraft. At the end of year one the company had a total sales of $267,140m with a net profit of $37,666m. In year four the business decided to issue dividends to shareholders, a $0.50 was to be aid to each shareholders per the number of shares they hold. The reason for the dividend been paid to shareholders was as a result of increase in the businesses market share and profit. The reason why the net profit in year four was low was as a result of the exchange rate at the time which went up to $21,764m compared to $6,756m in year three. The company had problems with its style and quality during the first two years of business and were able to sort it out by year three. In order to generate net income on our investment, we signed a celebrity to endorse our product and also wear the footwear during shows and also placed some adversitment on TV and billboards. We tried to create a new concept with good features in order to meet customers aspiration at this period our firm started making sales. In all, this exercise have exposed me to know how business can be done in real life and make necessary strategic decision that will make the business more viable to operate. These also allowed me to have an in depth understanding of business practice and ability to have a longterm vision and generate positive customer and shareholder expectation. I was also able to know how to use the accounting ratios in calculating for businesses. Conclusion To gain return on investment, strategic decisions must be made in accordance with the set objectives, the report focused on developing strategic decisions which helped in comparing the simulation to a real life business. An important skill derived will monitor numerical information and analysing these statistics in order to forecast the future and successfully survive in the business. The various experienced gained during the cause of the simulation game and comparison of other group result to improve the firms decision making were utilised this included taking risks to ensure that the firm performance in the market is high. Charts and financial ratios were analysed during the course of the simulation exercise to complete the tasks, this helped the decision making process. Making use of resources and information that is available. Recommendations C Seasons is clearly the top of its industry, but no company is invulnerable. Seasons has several avenues of improvement. If they want to continue to build upon their lead and maintain their status in the industry, they need to take a hard look at their mission and define it in SMART terms. The ability to reach some of their target customers in such a fashion could be a huge marketing advantage. Seasons reputation will be more positive and if they can gain back customers lost due to negative publicity. People already associate Seasons with quality retail products. It would be even better to feel good about buying their product and not feel as if people are being exploited every time they purchase a Seasons product. Appendices The Summary of Internal and External Analysis Swot The SWOT summarizes the key issues from business environment and the strategies capability useful as a basis against which to generate strategic options and assess future courses of option(Harvard Business Essentials,2005). Its helps to generate strategic alternatives from a situation analysis, and can be applicable to either corporate level or business unit level and do appears in marketing plans The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of information, much of which may not be highly relevant. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects of the company as strengths or weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into a strategic situation analysis. SWOT Profile The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of information, much of which may not be highly relevant. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects of the company as strengths or weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats. In summary, the interaction of the internal and external analysis will result to SWOT important. e.g, the strengths can be leveraged to pursue opportunities and to avoid threats, and managers can be alerted to weaknesses that might need to be overcome in order to successfully pursue opportunities. Strengths In a SWOT analysis, the capabilities that enable Seasons company to perform wellcapabilities that needs to be leveraged. The company has introduced many innovative products giving it a competitive edge. Its global reach provides it an opportunity to tap growing global footwear market. The companys consistent innovations have enabled it to remain competitive and maintain market share Weaknesses In a SWOT analysis, the characteristics that prohibit Seasons company or unit from performing well and need to be addressed. The seasons company falls behind in brand awareness compared to its competitors because of lacking celebrity endorsements. The company faces intense competition from global players such as other competitors. Opportunities In SWOT analysis, the trends, forces, events, and ideas that Seasons company or unit can capitalize on. The global footwear market has shown positive growth in recent years. The North Americas and EU markets are expected to grow at CAGR of 4.3% and 3.2%, respectively, to reach values of $93.2 billion and $60 billion in 2010. The Asia Pacific region is set to grow more strongly in the 20052010 period, recording a CAGR of 4.7%. a positive outlook for the global footwear market would boost the revenue growth of the company. Threats In a SWOT analysis, the possible events or forces that Seasons company or unit must plan for or mitigate. The principal materials used in manufacturing footwear products are natural and synthetic rubber, plastic compounds, foam cushioning materials, nylon, leather, canvas, and polyurethane films used. As a result of rising oil prices, the prices of synthetic rubber and plastic based products has increased. Rising oil prices will further increase the prices for petroleum based products. Increasing raw material costs would increase the companys production costs and may affect its profitability. SWOT Analysis Limitations The classification of some factors as strengths or weaknesses, or as opportunities or threats was somewhat arbitrary. For example, a particular company culture can be either strength or a weakness. A technological change can be a either a threat or opportunity. But, the most important was that firms awareness of them and its development of a strategic plan to use them to its advantage. Competitive Environment The prospects for longterm industry wide growth in footwear sales are excellent. Athletic shoes have become the footwear of choice for children and teenagers, except for dressy occasions. Increased adult concerns regarding physical fitness are boosting adult purchases for use in exercise and recreational activities. Distribution Channels The ultimate customers for athletic footwear, of course, are the people who wear the shoes. But athletic footwear manufacturers have all refrained from integrating forward into retailing and making direct sales to the final user. Customer demand for athletic footwear is diverse in terms of price, quality, and types of models. There are customers who are satisfied with no frills budgetpriced shoes and there are customers who are quite willing to pay premium prices for topoftheline quality, multiple features, and fashionable styling. Wholesale Selling Price The higher your companys wholesale price to retailers, the higher the prices that retailer will charge customers. Consumers are quite knowledgeable about the prices of different brands, and many do comparison shopping on price before setting upon a brand to purchase. The Number Of Retail Outlets Retail outlets are essential in accessing the consumer market. The more retail outlets a company has carrying its brand of shoes, the more market exposure a manufacturer has and the easier it is for consumers to purchase the brand. Celebrity Endorsements Footwear companies can contract with celebrity sports figure to endorse their footwear brand and appear in company ads. Celebrity endorsements, along with the impressions and perceptions people gain from watching a companys media ads over time, combine to define how strong a brand image a company enjoys in the minds of athletic footwear buyers. Customer Rebates Manufacturers who give rebates provide retailers with rebate coupons to give buyers at the time of purchase. To obtain the rebate a customer must fill out the coupon and mail it to the manufacturers distribution warehouse, along with the receipt of purchase. The VRIO framework was used to evaluate how capable Seasons Value A resource is valuable if it helps the company to meet an external threat or exploit an opportunity. If a resource helps to bring about any one of these four things then its valuable Quality Service Seasons offer a quality service, and the good does whats designed for exceptionally well. Innovation Process innovation can influence efficiency rather than having a direct effect, because the company can have at least temporary monopoly on new product. Rare Seasons brand name is valuable but most of its competitors ,also have widely recognised brand names as well, making it not that rare. The Seasonls brand may be most recognised, but makes it more valuable not more rare. Uniqueness Its a prime locations, design, and intellectual property. Inimitability The inimitable resource are often result of historical, ambiguous or social complex causes. Intangible resources or capabilities like corporate culture or reputation are very hard to imitate and so inimitable e.g Seasons marketing strategy leads to distribution, partnership programme leads to customer relation management. Organised A resource is organised if the firm was able to actualise it. If analysis does turn up a valuable, rare and imitable resource that Seasons was not taking advantage of, then recommendations. Porters Five Forces The essence of formulating competitive strategy, writes scholar porter was relating a company to its environment. Every companys environment includes with customers, competitors, suppliers and regulators etc, and has impact on its profit potential (Harvard Business Essentials,2005). Both current and potential customer, each requirements for product quality, features and utility. Changes in the external environment may be related to competitors, suppliers, partners, customers, sociochanges, economic environment etc. The external analysis was use to examine opportunities and threats which do exists in the environment, and both opportunities and threat exists independently of the firm. The opportunities were favourable conditions in the environment, which produce the results for an organisation if agreed. But, the threats were conditions or barriers that may prevent the firms from reaching its objectives. Power Of Buyers The bargaining power of buyers was very high, as Seasons continue to market their products and differentiate their brands against competitors, so as to increase sales and market share. With the use of internet marketing, helps the company to improve accessibility and intimacy among users. It helps the brand entity plays its role in purchasing behaviour, strong identity will gives customers trusts and loyalty. Some of the online customers are sensitive to price and switching cost for the buyer was low. Power Of Suppliers The threats of bargaining power of Suppliers was very low, many suppliers in this industry, little differentiation among suppliers and makes it nonexistence. The suppliers dependent on the firm in order to survive can switch between suppliers quickly and cheaply due to geographical locations, cheap labours on various regions. In this industry, raw materials were abundantly present (Leather, rubber, cotton) etc, will help the seasons to standardise their input procedure especially to material used, labours, suppliers, services and logistics in some of the regions. Threats Of Substitutes The buyers propensity to substitute was very low. Consumers are not likely to substitute due to the performance specification of the product. e.g, a basketball player would not wear boots to play basketball. Therefore, there are no real substitutes for athletic footwear. Consumer substitutes for athletic footwear products are low because there are little alternatives to switch, some substitutes for athlete footwear could be boots, sandals, dress shoes or bear feet. Barriers To Entry Threats of entry was very low in the sense that, seasons is able to control their costs to retain performance advantage over emerging competitors in the industry. The capital injection into web site development is high and must be updated frequently with new promotions and added features to attract online shoppers. There are many proprietary product differences in the industry therefore brand identity has an immediate competitive advantage. The online footwear industry is highly abundant with hundreds on online merchants. Switching cost is low for the consumer, and may occur frequently depending on consumer preference and other factors affecting consumer, and may occur decision, (i.e. price sensitive consumers). Selling footwear online is highly competitive; however, barriers to enter into this ecommerce industry are quite low. Rivalry Among Existing Competitors The rivalry among existing competitors in the footwear industry was very high. Most individuals in North America have access to high speed internet and online purchasing has become the new trend for the twenty first century. Almost every large firm has a web site, and most of these web sites contain virtual stores which provide convenience to consumers. Competition is fierce in the footwear industry and those who dominate or lead the market do so with high capital expenditures, aggressive sales and marketing strategies, and strong brand identity. Pestle Analysis Political Analysis Political environment vary widely between countries and can alter rapidly. Government can of course create significant opportunities for organisations. It is important, however, to determine the level of political risk before entering a country (Johnson et al, 2009) pg 218. Examples are the political stability of the country, tax policies, etc. Economic Analysis key comparators in deciding entry are levels of gross domestic product and disposable income which help in estimating the potential size of the market. However, companies must also be aware of the stability of a countrys currency which mat affect its income stream (Johnson et al, 2009) pg 218. Examples inflation rate, interest rates, labour costs, etc. Social Analysis Social factor will clearly be important, for example the availability of well trained workforce or the size of demographic market segments old or young relevant to the strategy (Johnson et al, 2009) pg 218. Examples are income distribution, consumer behaviour, living standard. Legal Analysis Countries vary widely in their legal regime, determining the extent to which businesses can enforce contracts, protect intellectual property or avoid corruption. (Johnson et al, 2009) pg 219. Another external factor that C Seasons faced was other competitor, this was difficult because we new that other industries would have access to our details and would see what we were doing and try to target our business. The edge our industry had was that we spent more on advertising and reducing our delivery time to two weeks. Internal Environment Technology Capabilities All the industry under the simulation game has got one thing in common and that it we are all making athletic footwear. We all want to make the best footwear and so we would make sure that we use the best and very latest technology to produce the best footwear for the athlete or for the public that would wear them. Distribution This is how the footwear is distributed to the wholesalers and private customers. C Seasons was able to reduce delivery time from four weeks to two weeks which helped sales. Purchase Decision Purchase decision is what will determine the product a customer will purchase or buy, this would in turn reflect in the decision to be made by the company. In all cases, before customer makes a decision to purchase a particular product they would compare prices of the product with the value they hope to enjoy from such product. C Seasons was able to enhance the purchase decisions of its customers by making their footwear a high quality with good styling.

Understanding And Coping With Client Resistance Social Work Essay

Understanding And Coping With Client Resistance Social Work Essay Professional social workers frequently encounter a thorny situation called client resistance. As resistance is inevitable in the intervention process and will very likely affect the intervention outcomes, study of client resistance is important to social workers and learning how to manage it will be pivotal to achieve expected goals and objectives. This paper will firstly narrate the writer s personal experience so as to put the issue of client resistance on the agenda and give a brief description of involuntary clients or client resistance, then present the writer s understanding of them in terms of their several distinctive features, and finally propose tentative strategies of coping with client resistance. Keywords: resistance; involuntary clients; intervention skills Introduction As potential social workers, we probably will be brought into contact with more and more involuntary clients in the future, like mentally illness patients, deviant behavior adolescents, violent parents, battered children, etc.. Some of them are legally mandated to engage with service providers (Rooney,1992), while others are experiencing social or non-legal pressures, for example, being coerced by family members to seek assistance for a particular behavior (Rooney,1992). These kinds of clients constitute a high proportion of whole clients and display more resistant behaviors than those voluntary ones. Often, they do not seek help willingly and may demonstrate resistant behaviors such as negative evasions, pretended obedience or undisguised hostilities, threats and attacks from the very beginning of the worker s intervention. Therefore, how to interact with and intervene in this type of clients has become a tremendous challenge in the field of social work practice and it is important for social workers to get a deeper understanding of involuntary clients. Case Example X once was a primary school teacher with a fine income, and her husband Y has been running a factory which creates a great deal of wealth to the whole family. Everything seemed perfect that the couple were devoted to each other and have a daughter C who was in her second year in a satisfactory university. Unfortunately, X was extensively burnt in an explosion accident three years ago. Since then, she lost self-confidence because of her disfigured face and refused to go out for the fears of being laughed at. The daughter Z tried to took her out for an airing and ease her anxieties and inferiority about the disfigurement but failed. Since a lot of people pointed at her on the street, X felt painful and tended to isolate herself. To make things worse, not too long after her accident, her husband Y began to make relationship with another woman and was spending a large sum of time and money on that woman. He went to his factory early and back home late every day and seldom had meals at home which was entirely different from what it was before. In addition to Y s indifference, Z was studying at a university so far from home that she was unable to accompany her mother all the time. Consequently, X always staied alone at home with the feeling of helpless and hopeless. Although sometimes Y would come back home and cook meals for A, he had nothing to talk with X. Actually, the daughter Z here is me. I was extremely anguished, seeing my originally harmonious family rapidly disappeared. I tried to cope with such a depressing family atmosphere, but found it difficult. However, when I look back and combine the past experiences with what I have learnt in MSW, I have been realized that there were such a lot of unwise actions had been taken to resolve my family problems. Examples are showed as follows: In that period of time, I tended to communicate with my mother more than with my father and owe this difference to gender similarity and the tragic suffering of my mother. I spent much time on comforting her just because she was the only victim as in my own perception. I constantly teaching my mother how to calm herself down and change her mindsets, so as to survive in a miserable feeling. Unexpectedly, when I suggested her talking more with my father, she just sneered, saying he is so obstinate that nothing will change his mind . It could be inferred that she was still pessimistic and lacked motivation to make changes in spite of my consistent encouragement. On the other hand, the stereotypes that men are always mentally stronger than women made me totally forgot that my father was suffering pains and he needed care as well. Hardly had I decided to concern for and communicate with my father when I learnt that I should take him into consideration early. The most challenging thing was that he had been greatly reluctant to talk about either his former or current relationship with my mother especially the information about his extramarital love. He even did not admit any fault he had made. I have to acknowledge that I was livid when I found out that my father had been two-timing his wife and was highly emotional and illiberally prejudiced against as a result. Only now did I understand the reasons why I failed to assist my parents in settling their contradiction. My deficient consideration of my father s personality and the dignity as a man almost turned an equal dialogue into a thoughtless bickering. In fact, my father was defiant in the who le session because he was afraid that his authoritative status in the family would be ruined, however, I did not realize that kind of unwillingness at that time. No doubt, neither my mother nor my father is my client in the sense of professional, but if they are viewed as clients, it will be a classic case of client resistance. Definition of Client Resistance When doing the literature review, I found that the term involuntary is sometimes used interchangeably with resistant, however, the former refers to the status of the client , while the latter refers to behaviors or characteristics that hinder the therapeutic process (Chui Ho, 2006). Usually, involuntary clients show some resistant thoughts and behaviors. Freud (1914/1957) originally conceptualized resistance as the client s effort to repress anxiety-provoking memories and insights in the unconscious during psychoanalytic free association (Freud, 1914/1957). According to the perspective of social interaction theory, resistance is psychological forces aroused in the client that restrain acceptance of influence (acceptance of the counselors suggestion) and are generated by the way the suggestion is stated and by the characteristics of the counselor stating it (Strong Matross, 1973). Simply stated, resistance has been defined as a process of avoiding or diminishing the self-disclosing communication requested by the interviewer because of its capacity to make the interviewee uncomfortable or anxious (Pope, 1979). Client resistance should not be regarded as something that happens within the client, as a response to his or her inner workings, and must be overcome by the counselor (Cowan Presbury, 2000). Rather, resistance should be understood as a phenomenon that emerges between client and therapist in the unfolding interaction between their differently organized subjective worlds (Cowan Presbury, 2000). In a word, resistance is treated as results from the communication pattern of the counselor and the client. In other words, resistance emerges when the intervention strategies are not gear to clients willingness to accept the style in which the intervention is conducted. Typical Involuntary Clients This part is a personal understanding towards client resistance. Based on an examination of the case example and the literature review, I summarized three types of involuntary clients. 1. Clients Who Have Inadequate Strength or Ability Some clients do not have the ability to take care of themselves or seek help from others, such as the disabled, the battered children and the abandoned elderly. These clients are normally forced by others to consult an agency and a social worker. 2. Clients Who Have Insufficient Motivation The clients who fall into the difficult position for a long time may feel mentally exhausted and have no extra will to seek help. Take some battered women as an example, they tend to have a despairing view of the marriage because of the learned helplessness and may find it meaningless to join in the intervention tasks. Similar to those who have inadequate strength or ability, the majority of the insufficiently motivated clients are not willingly attended the intervention tasks. 3. Clients Who Lack Introspection Although some people know that they are mired in difficulties because of their misbehaviors, they have insufficient self-contemplation, and self-examination when faced with the problems they have, which, as a result, make the problems relapse again and again. This is also the reason why most drug or alcoholic abusers find it difficult to completely overcome their additions. Skills of Coping with Client Resistance For involuntary clients, it is a common phenomenon that they will be reluctant towards self-exposure and conservative to their own experience because they worry about that not doing so would threaten their self-concept. It is necessary for a social worker to learn how to alleviate clients excessive anxiety. Social workers are expected to adjust their intervention methods and the styles to the need of clients. Since most involuntary clients pay much attention to self-protection, the workers should not only avoid requesting or anticipating their self-betrayal, but also refrain from any actions that attempting to tear down clients mask. 1. To Find Out the Third Party In general, social workers are required to listen carefully to clients, thus provide clients more opportunities to express their feelings and perceptions and make them feel respected and admitted. However, things are different when confronting involuntary clients. Since it is an issue of power and control that the pouring-out people are usually vulnerable whereas the listening people always have the power to make evaluation and assessment, the involuntary clients tend to crave a sense of empower through the process of resistance and rebuttal. In involuntary cases, the third party is needed in the course of the entire conversation. If I intake a client like my mother, I should not unilaterally focus on counseling the client changing herself, but on concerning several means to bring the third party into the intervention so that establishing a social work C client C the third party triangular communication system. In short, the third party is ones who push clients to seek help or forced them to ask for counseling. 2. To Make the Intervention Process Clear Apart from understanding about the force that push clients into the intervention, the workers should also enquire about whether the clients have any other confusions. It aims at discovering the problems which clients want to improve. The worker as a listener should do something to give clients a feeling that they are under a clearly planned effective assistance. In addition, it is very important to make sure that clients know what will the worker do and will not do. For example, summarizing or reflecting clients current situation or their main resentment can possibly promote their expectation to the counseling and enhance social workers reliability as well. 3. To Alleviate Clients Anxieties about Changes Resistant clients may or may not recognize that they have a problem, and/or may not want to engage in a process of change (Rooney, 1992) so that they will take resistance as an means to protect themselves from the unknown (Yalom Molyn, 2005). They might be resistant towards the therapeutic process because it involves changing their current maladaptive behavior (Chui Ho, 2006). An available method to ease clients anxiety about change is to make them feel more sense of control. The less the clients can control the process and results of intervention, the more they will view social workers as the representatives of those who force them to participate in the intervention. Consequently, the degree of resistance may increase dramatically. Such situation requires social workers to discuss with clients about the reasons why they are recommended to have the counseling. If a client is compelled to accept counseling, the social worker may point it out to the client that he could reject the counseling and bear the consequences of such rejection, thus restore their sense of control. Furthermore, as cultivating new behaviors is much easier than changing old ones, it might be more reasonable and effective that social works try to train the clients to foster some new patterns of communication and behavioral habits, rather than amend their previous habits, thus establish a harmonious relationship with clients. Some more complex intervention, such as teaching clients relaxation skills, or assisting them in analyzing the irrational thoughts, may have immediate utilities to the involuntary clients. Discussion The relationship between the social worker and the client is always living no matter what happened in the process of intervention. One of the major responsibilities for social workers is paying enough attention to the quality and the health of rapport-building process. To some extent, clients changes or improvements come from an appropriate and valid interaction within a harmonious relationship. As potential social workers, in addition to understanding of various theories or therapies which provide different approaches to resolve client resistance, we should also learn to determine how best to address that relational dynamic in counseling (Joshua, 2008).