Nursing Knowledge Essays

Nursing Knowledge Essays Nursing Knowledge Essay Nursing Knowledge Essay Over the years, nursing has evolved not only as a profession but also a hands-on discipline. Nursing is a theory-based practice that evolves and grows continuously through research. Fawcett (1984) defined nursing’s metaparadigm as the overall overview of nursing which consists the concepts of person, environment, health and nursing. Nursing practice began to evolve in the early 18th century. I will be exploring the different major influences that have altered the practice of nursing to what it is today, namely the traditional role of women, feminism, religion, military, apprenticeship, technology and medicine. In the 19th century, the role of women was traditionally one of a homemaker. She was responsible for the care of the family and managed all aspects of their household. Women’s role as a domestic specialist has many similarities with the nurses’ roles. According to Hughes’ (1990), the ideology of domesticity rationalised nursing as a legitimate, if temporary, occupation for women. Nurses had difficulty identifying themselves as professionals due to the perception of the society of their nursing roles. As a socially defined duty of women, caring for others was not seen by society as necessitating the specialised expertise that typified the work of a professional† (Hughes, 1990). This stressed the society’s perception that nursing is a women’s work by society. Over the years, this idea has changed as the roles of women in society became more important and the role of nurses became more defined. While it is still largely dominated by women we have seen an increasing trend of male nurses joining the nursing profession, not only in Singapore but also worldwide. In reference to a Sunday Times article by Nur Dianah Suhaimi in 2009, she mentioned that out of the 18,400 active nurses in Singapore, 7. 5% are male. There has also been an increase of male nurses in the profession over the years. Statistics showed that there were 998 male nurses active in the nursing workforce in 2001 and 1,363 in 2007 (Singapore Nursing Board [SNB], 2008). More male students are also enrolling themselves in the nursing programmes offered by different institutions in Singapore, namely Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and National University of Singapore (Suhaimi, 2009). In an excerpt of an interview with the director of the School of Health Sciences in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, one of the institutions that offers the diploma in nursing studies, she mentions how Singaporean parents are less hesitant about their sons taking up nursing (Phang, 2009). â€Å"Australia and the United Kingdom claim a 10 percent male nursing workforce, while recent statistics place the male nurse workforce in the United States at 6 percent, up from just 2. 7 percent in 1980† (University of Pittsburgh, n. d. ). In my opinion, this is a positive change as men become more willing to take up the challenges of nursing. This change also further reiterates the changing view of nursing as a stereotypical female profession. Male nurses play a vital role in the profession. Besides having the skills and knowledge of nursing, their masculinity is an added incentive in restraining violent patients and assisting heavier patients in their ambulation. The change in view and statistics also reflect the change ideology that nurses no longer act as handmaidens and instead as an allied professional in healthcare. As nursing has been perceived as a female dominated profession, feminism in the profession is inevitable. According to Bunting Campbell (1990), feminism has been defined â€Å"as a world view that values women and that confronts systematic injustices based on gender. † Feminism began back in the late 1300s with Christine de Pisan being the first feminist who wrote about the feminist theory that transformed modern thinking of women’s roles in society. There were different views of feminism such as enlightened liberals, cultural feminism and radical feminism. The feminists typically disagreed with each other as they had â€Å"different philosophic points of view† (Bunting, 1990). These views would then alter the perception of nursing. Problems between the act of nursing and the idea of feminism began to arise in the 1960s, during the second wave of the feminist movement. During this period, women faced the battle for access to education, the professions, and freedom from abuse and exploitation occurred (Sullivan, 2002). When nursing leaders were torn between feminism and professionalism, many chose professionalism instead as they had more dedication with the sanitary ideal and not to the feminist mission (Bunting, 1990). However, the connection between nursing and feminism should be minimal. â€Å"â€Å"Nursing can embrace the movement because equality benefits individuals, society, and, thus, the recipients of nurses care† (Sullivan, 2002). In my opinion, nurses face different, individual experience everyday. They identify themselves as nurses and comparing with other women workers. Whilst the feminist movement has indeed made a mark in nursing history by allowing nurses to be advocators of the women’s movement, equal rights should be handed to men to be involved and be a part of the nursing profession. In the 19th century, designs of the nursing uniforms were greatly influenced by the church, the military and the servant (Campbell et al. , 1999). According to Ellies and Hartley (2008), the nuns influenced early uniforms, which were starched white and covered from head to toe inclusive of a nursing cap. As such, this projected a â€Å"professional image for nursing, giving it status, respect and authority† (Ellies Hartley, 2008, p. 156). The white uniform â€Å"communicated an impression of confidence, competence, professionalism, authority, role identity, and accountability† (Ellis Hartley, 2008, p. 56). However, by the 1970s, a lot of changes were made to the uniform. One such example would be that hospitals no longer require the nursing cap. This aspect of the uniform was generally found impractical for nurses while carrying out their duties and also for infection control purposes. In the present day, it is observed that there are many changes made to the nursing uniform. Many institutions have incorporated the scrub suits as their uniform as they are found to be more comfortable and ease movements when performing tasks. For example, in Singapore, the nurses’ uniforms are easily identified by the general society despite its differing designs of the various hospitals. Emphasis has been stressed on the importance of donning the proper attire so as to project a professional image of nursing. In World War II, nurses were a part of the military and were appointed as officers. This gave them autonomy and also status in the military. Being in the military, a nurse officer has to be disciplined and adhere to uniform codes, follow rules, and respect the higher ranked officers. The military have a strong influence on nursing till the present day. For example, role calls are in place at the beginning of a shift so as to address issues in our workplace. As with most other organisations, there is a hierarchial system. The position in the hierarchy determines the power and respect one will have in the organisation. This will in turn teach nurses to be more disciplined, display more respect towards the individuals in the upper hierarchy and also towards each other. In the military, the senior officers will guide and hand down their knowledge to the junior officers. Similarly in nursing, an experienced staff will guide and teach junior nurses who have just joined the force, newly graduated nurses or nursing students. The experienced staff would then play a leadership role and an educator role. Also, it allows the new staff or nursing students to be exposed to the nursing environment and are able to practise the skills that they have learnt theoretically. Reading Benner’s (1982) article, I understood the methods of classifying nurses into â€Å"novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert† individuals. Benner listed out some examples of nurses in different stages of nursing practice to determine the most appropriate classification using a scientific model by Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus. Reading the article and reflecting on my current experience as a nurse, I believe that I am in between an advanced beginner and a competent nurse. Although I am no longer a novice, I encounter difficulties in keeping up with the different types of occurrences during work such as delivering the best nursing care to my patients with other things in mind. At times, I struggle with time management. I was given the preceptor role where I am responsible in guiding a newly graduated nurse. This taught me to prioritise my work and deal with time management. It provided me with the experience of having an educator role and the opportunity to teach. Experiential knowledge, as Benner identified, is widely observed in the nursing world. This group of nurses has the ability to diagnose a patient’s psychosis stage without any scientific means (Benner, 1982). Experience, in addition to formal education preparation, is required to develop this competency since it is impossible to learn ways of being and coping with an illness solely by concept or theorem† (Benner, 1982). With Benner’s classification of nurses in mind, nurses’ knowledge has changed with the advancement of technology in nursing. Over the years, technology has become an essential tool in every individual’s everyday life. With the introduction of tech nology, patient’s care and treatment is enhances while nurses need to acquire knowledge on the skills and keep up with it. In the 19th century, technology was mainly used to store patient medical records or to aid in the calculation of the patient’s hopitalisation bills. Presently, in Singapore, and I believe in many other countries, most of the hospitals have gone â€Å"paperless†. With the help of computers, nurses’ notes and patient’s medication record are now entered electronically through the various programmes designed specifically for nurses and nursing documentation. Technology in healthcare has its advantages and disadvantages. With computerized record, point-of care testing such as testing the patient’s blood glucose levels can be verified electronically and do not require a handwritten record. As the health systems are mostly integrated, healthcare providers all over the country can easily access the patient’s record allowing the continuity and consistency of care for the patient. Healthcare providers can maximize the availability of the hospital’s intranet to look up on information, policies or work procedures as and when they need to. This will help to keep nurses up to date on the current nursing practices or policies. Although there are advantages, there is also a downside. Confidentiality is an issue. Although all systems require an individual password access, there are risks of illegal hacking into the main system and these illegal intruders may have an access to the confidential records of various patients. Hence, a high level of security should be in place to protect these systems. The healthcare system in Singapore aims to be a â€Å"paperless† organization as they believe that the change would benefit the nurses by easing their workloads. However, in my opinion, it is an additional workload and a complex task for nurses to assess documentation through the programmes on the computer. The hospital has recently introduced these systems. However they have to consider the time required for the nurses in order for them to acquire the skills in order to carry them out competently. For example, in the current practice, when serving medications, we need to verify patient’s identifiers against a Personal Digital Assistant or PDA, which lists patient’s medical records and identification. For novice nurses who just learnt on how to use the PDA, they will have difficulty in the administration of medication to the individual patient as it may be time-consuming. As such, the completion of the nurses’ workload will be delayed, resulting in a further delay in the delivery of care to the patient. With the advancement in technology and the evolution of nursing, Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has been continuously put into use in nursing research. Evidence-based nursing is drawn from the evidence-based medicine collaboration that is predicated on rules of evidence that value strictly controlled, data-based studies and research critique† (Winch, 2002). â€Å"EBP first began in medicine and is expanding to all of health care† (Ellies Hartley, 2008). As nursing is becoming increasingly scientific, it is no surprise that a comparison is drawn between the nursing and doctoral profession. Henderson (1981) highlighted how similar the nursing roles are in the nurs ing process when compared with the roles of the physicians. This further illustrates Henderson’s belief that the nursing process is leaning towards the science of nursing. With the development of EBP, it has somehow contradicted with Carper’s (1978) article. In Carper’s article, she identified the four patterns of knowing; empirics which refers to the science of nursing, esthetics which is the art of nursing, personal knowledge which is based on experience and ethics which is the component of moral knowledge in nursing. Porter (2010) argues that Carper’s patterns of knowing have been challenged by EBP. Porter (2010) also mentioned, â€Å"the new problem of EBP requires nurses to change the shape and patterns of knowing to respond to the challenge it represents. The challenge involves its threat to reduce nursing knowledge to a very narrow form of empirics. † The sources that were chosen for this essay cover a wide range of opinions and concepts. From the traditional role of women to feminism and to how nursing developed by religious and military influences, the authors have in many ways potrayed the various varying points of view that influences the nursing discipline. With the new advancements and changes in nursing practice, nurses should bear in mind that they should always deliver the best nursing care to their patients. Nurses need to constantly upgrade themselves in order to be kept up to date with the latest development and practice in nursing in line with the advancement of technology. References Benner, P. (1982). From novice to expert. American Journal of Nursing, March, p. 402 – 407. Bunting, S. , Campbell, J. C. (1990). Feminism and nursing: Historical Perspectives. Advances in Nursing Science, 12(4), p 11 – 24. Carper, B. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 31(4), p 296 – 307. Doheny, M. O. , Cook, C. B. , Stopper, M. C. (1997). The Discipline of Nursing: An Introduction (4th ed. ). Stamford, Connecticut: Appleton Lange. Ellis, J. R. , Hartley, C. L. (2008). Nursing in Today’s World: Trends, Issues, Management (9th ed. ). USA: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Fawcett, J. (1984). The metaparadigm of nursing: Present status and future refinements. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 16(3), p 77 – 87. Henderson, V. A. (1982). The nursing process – is the title right?. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 7, p 103 – 109. Hughes, L. (1990). Professionalizing domesticity: A synthesis of selected nursing historiography. Advances in Nursing Science, 12 (4), p 25 31. Lefebvre, M. (2003). Nursing uniforms: dead or alive?. Nursing News, 27(4). Porter, S. (2010). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing: The challenge of evidence-based practice. Advances in Nursing Science, 33 (1), p 3 – 14. Suhaimi, N. D. (2009, March 31). Who says nursing is for sissies? The Straits Times. Retrieved from siaone. com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090330-132089. html Sullivan, E. J. (2002). Nursing and feminism: An uneasy alliance. Journal of Professional Nursing. 18 (4), p 183-184. University of Pittsburgh . (n. d). Nursing: Options and Opportunities [Brochure]. Pittsburgh, PA: Author. Winch, S. , Creedy, D. , Chaboyer, W. (2002). Governing nursing conduct: The rise of evidence-based practice, Nursing Inquiry, 9 (3), p 156 – 161. Zerwekh, J. , Claborn, J. (2006). Nursing Today: Transition and Trends (5th ed. ). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Elsevier.

Belief And Faith In Organisations Cultural Studies Essay

Belief And Faith In Organisations Cultural Studies Essay Religion and think of an organization is tradition. It's a term which is not unusual and is understood to nearly every person on earth. It outlined and could be equally discussed freely or it may be simply comprehended mutually, in other words, without stating anything-but could be represented in the only functions of even a company, team or a person. It's something not absent in all facets of our own lives. To put it differently, it's the real reason for an individual's behavior. But tradition may emerge in a variety of circumstances including cultural tradition and culture. It's worthy and a development of praise. You will find five measurements of the tradition: Masculity, Uncertainty prevention, Personal Group and Power Space Ferminity. Culture may be understood to be the organized manner to do things within an company where principles and beliefs which can be created inside the company is discussed. Therefore, the tradition direct the behavior of the people in the business. Additionally it is referred to as business lifestyle and is an integral facet of any workplace or business environment. Several occasionally we notice people make claims like: "Here Is just how is done points here". They may be the truth is that revealing or speaking in regards to the tradition. For varieties of Business civilizations are Bureaucratic, Flexible and Corperative. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture Records from Pitch Hand-Outs Some Notes from Company Conduite. Cultural lifestyle is how individuals act according from what they've realized out of society or their family. This can be usually according to the competition anyone lives in or the state that she or he is from. It includes emphasizing ways that are specific that the items are complete and do-ing specific things. Distinct civilizations 've gotten distinct understandings of issues that were seeing. Something which could possibly be dismissed or as standard in one single tradition that was cultural might be considered to not be as low overlook in another. For instance,for instance, the notion of relationship in the tradition that is Oriental as well as the American tradition and each additional differ. It's an average matter to get a few to call home together without marriage in the lifestyle that is American. Yet, in the Oriental lifestyle (primarily Indian) it's really an excellent failure to do such factor plus in addition, it exhibits contempt for the ideals organized in their opi nion. Discovering the huge difference between both of these civilizations is this in Organisational tradition CHANGE usually takes spot frequently and readily. Say in case a kiwi supervisor of the business modifications, it is not unlikely the way points are complete because business may furthermore alter in accordance with the supervisor that is newest. Organisational lifestyle is generated from whoever owns the organisation/firm it self as well as the individuals who work with him. Organisational lifestyle period is dependent upon the operating as well as the equilibrium of their direction and such specific company. Organisational tradition h-AS boundation that is regular /connection by means of the people dealing together. Although the change in the tradition that is Racial just isn't a typical stuff that will occur often. Actually when there is an alteration, it could consider under consideration in to quite a few additional matters prior to the real selection is manufactured. Number of individuals creates racial culture /society discussing thoughts and sam-e opinions from previous period of time. Tradition period that is cultural typically are from wonderful earlier of forefathers. Ethnic lifestyle have really near heartedly connection by means of the people of this society. Racial tradition functions from spiritual and the tradition about the notion. Cultural lifestyle h AS less versatility because it's just adjustable lifestyle that is low and static. Cultural lifestyle h-AS host of diversity and selection when it comes to food, considering, clothing. Cultural traditions assistance is restricted for the individuals who make an effort to alter themselves in accordance with the scenario. Schein, E.H. (1985-2005) Business Tradition and Management, 3rd Ed., Josseybass ISBN 0-787-9-7597-4 Pitch hand-outs by Mona Some Notes from Company Conduite. (2) Direction Lifestyle - Describe how social understandings might affect behavior as well as the direction design of business or the person The direction instance that I've selected for the 2 concerns that are following, is the fact that of my Supervisor. He lately transferred to Nz and stems in the Sydney. COMPONENT A It's an extremely frequent consideration to listen to some one state: "No person is exactly the same". Lots of that time period this term can be used to generate folks realise that every person h AS diverse skills which it would unwise to examine yourself by means of another person only to be deterred by particular things one particular can-not execute while another may. Therefore, also an individual's understanding and each additional differ. Understanding means the method whereby individuals arrange, obtain and inter-Pret details in the surroundings. Numerous variables bring about individuals having intelligent that is various. As an example from, the household ideals which they obtained, the culture or the surroundings they was raised in etc. Since tradition is related to the conduct of somebody, it's quite probably that there's a large sway of the way in which issues are viewed by a person and execute things which could change from your additional man. It-no question performs an important part in the specialist area because lifestyle is apparent in all facets of our lifestyles. His ethnic heritage is greatly depicted by the authority fashion of my Mgr.. He comes from Sydney as cited before, as well as the tradition there's not rather same from my own, personal lifestyle. It's quite obvious in my experience that his authority design displays extremely on such a after having an exchange with him about his breeding and tradition. As a person, he aims to carry through his purpose as a supervisor and takes his career critically. Yet, he doesn't offer large respect to his standing on a regular basis. Usually, he and his workers joke, whether it is about a few other subjects or perform. He considers that employed within an company is in the manner of a household According to his tradition, offering because of the demands of his family is hardly unimportant which simply will not me-an purchasing them the necessary however in once getting quality moment away to invest together. So when work hrs are finished he requests every one depart the leftover employment for 24 hours later and to abandon the premises. It may be figured, his ethnic understanding is reflected by his management job. ( Address hand-outs by Mona ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture Some Records and Information from Company Conduite. COMPONENT B Me definitely does impress, particularly just how he applies to the fact along with his employees that he's quite friendly. On the other hand, being from a culture that is totally diverse, my strategy could not be rather same. While I 'd enjoy to get the easiness between my employees and me, I might at once anticipate they understand and value the place whom I got in the business. This greatly demonstrates from my ethnic heritage from my facet of the household, where we occur after every person and the predominantly organization values and values their regulators that are higher. On the other hand, that doesn't me-an that acknowledgement is required on a regular basis by this strategy but frequently on when more than a few of these have a tendency to overlook their independence being easygoing by means of the personnel causes some trouble later. Like the majority of the civilizations, for the households needs offering is crucial within my lifestyle. In a somewhat dissimilar circumstance from the lifestyle of my supervisor, our perception is not and to get the perform done when possible to depart the benefit to-morrow of today's. So, work that was hard is established during his or her mindset towards his work, earning a method for promotional material or their evaluation. Obligation is some thing of esteem that is large and is valued at facets and all amounts of the area that is operating. As an Indian, I realized that Foreign tend to be mo-Re sensitive and painful plus they welcome the strategy which comes directly to them-which signifies they connect you in the standing of equivalence in the place of standing of ethnic brilliance While having a dialogue that was friendly with the personnel is beneficial to develop their regard and admiration, it's urged to not allow it to be a custom wherein one forgets to cover regard to those they've been afflicted by. For instance,for instance, frequently and fully being a supervisor concerning your-self in gags during work-hours would unethical. The motives behind this are warranted from my understanding. There could make sure individuals who could easily get offended at this reality plus reason which they don't fit in the company and they might begin to distance themselves from the others. So, my strategy and that of my supervisor as a result of our distinct ethnic understandings might surely vary. As I will be an indian ( Address hand-outs by Mona ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture Some Records and Information from Company Conduite. COMPONENT III - Multi-Cultural company Every organisation consists of individuals. Individuals, that are people that are exceptional, also have various understandings for things that are different and come from other ethnic backdrops. An expression which is popular in describing companies is "multi-cultural organisation". The phrase variety is frequently connected to the expression. Variety is a phrase utilized to refer to the big difference among individuals on the job , which might be according to expertise, age, sex, the competition etc. Business that is Multi-cultural identifies the existence of distinct ethnicities in a business. A number of the features of a multicultural company are: Pluralism- People of civilizations, whether bulk or fraction get the capacity to affect the environment of procedures and essential beliefs. Architectural integration- associates from your fraction-tradition are reasonably re-presented in most occupations in any way amounts as well as in most practical duties. Casual community integration- fraction-lifestyle members get help in the profession improvement in types of support and coaching groups. Lack of splendour and bias - the demand to remove the lifestyle- through the use of various coaching and taskforce actions team prejudices. Minimal intergroup discord- variety will not encourage harmful clashes between members of fraction and bulk ethnicities. You'll find lots of advantages as well as drawbacks of being a true innovator in a cultural business that is multi. Edges Embracing lifestyle, practices and custom - It can help someone to manage the struggles between residence lifestyle/conventions and lifestyle that is fresh /conventions. In case that one discovers fresh vocabulary it really is a masterkey for the tradition that is second. C-Reative problemsolving - It can help anyone to generate alternative to your difficulty. In case that issue is being solved by one for whom the position enhances the option should both have worth, certainly resolve the mentioned difficulty or valued by some body. Minuses Battle increases - Really Being A innovator and battle can be created by functioning with individuals from varied places. Scenario appears are prepared with sights and several thoughts or were the other folks will not be ready to acknowledge the orders and attempts. Social issue - Social difficulties have been all seen by us in the course of our existence associations that are extended may not be easy to handle. Our self-esteem trust and is influenced this way, it are able to make li Fe that is handling change hard and give rise to conversation abilities that are previously lousy. Direction managing problems - Really Being A head its among the job that is difficult since you've got therefore a lot of people functioning from characteristics, behaviours, distinct ethnicities and age alongside you. S O at the same period one seems to function until it is often worst or the recommendations are prepared by him which the others must follow along with should they must live for the reason that firm. Thing that is certain like preparation and prediction, evaluation of aggressive and hazards, doubt tendering must be handled. Pitch giveaways by Mona http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture Some Notes from Company Conduite.

Poor nutrition; food poverty; food deserts in Nigeria Essay

Poor nutrition; food poverty; food deserts in Nigeria - Essay Example Just like the rest of the world, most African countries suffer from poor nutrition, food poverty, and food deserts. In West Africa, Nigeria turns out to be one of the most affected countries, and such conditions mostly trickles down to pregnant women. While the role of proper nutrition and food security in pregnant women in African needs efficient management, it is also essential to apply concepts of food economics in the management of the outlined issues (Yamin & Norheim, 2014). This report will aim to analyse poor nutrition issues in pregnant women living in Africa, while relating to specific countries, as well as the influence these issues have on health promotion. Furthermore, the report will examine questions concerned with the control of prevalent diseases in pregnant women. One of the main issues affecting Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of poor nutrition is the rise of migration patterns in recent years, especially to the Western world. Currently, among all African countries, Nigeria takes the lead in representing the continent, claiming the most predominant immigrant residents in a number of first world nations (Shrimpton, 2006). On the other hand, if at all there are any impacts of immigration on their nutritional status and the results of pregnancy of women in their native countries, many studies have not captured such data comprehensively. Thus, it is currently unidentified, to some extent, about the dietary insufficiencies as well as pregnancy complications not only in Nigeria, but also in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa. These discrepancies have led to unexploited opportunities focused on the most suitable antenatal care aimed towards the reversing the likely high risks in different groups of women during pregnancy. According to Shrimpton (2006), poor nutrition in pregnancy among Sub-Saharan women, with in-depth focus on Nigeria, leads to the most common

Mgmt 4420 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mgmt 4420 - Essay Example Employees need continual training so that their output remains strong. The 10 Talent Management practices that I will employ in future work are: recruiting online, source work out, take advantage of social media, makes it easier for new employees to integrate into the workplace when they first arrive, establish clear goals across every department of the organization, correspond performance reviews with company objectives, provide on-the-job training, implement a system to track employees’ output, offer pay based on performance, and identify future leaders. Of the above Talent Management practices, I would focus on two main ones: create uniform goals across the organization and to offer pay that is linked with performance. I believe that these two practices are the most vital in any organization because they get overlooked much of the time. Any organization needs to be on the same page, so company goals must be communicated to every employee. Also, employees perform better when their pay is linked to their work. The extra motivation will increase output and result in profit for the

Evaluating Retail Markets in Several Small Cities :: Retail Market Analysis

Due to the resent desire of expanding into one of the following three cities; Ann Arbor, MI, Lincoln, NE and Madison, WI that have been chosen for possible location sites. I Regina Molel, Junior Executive of Swifts’ researched and analyzed the best possible location to start up another Swifts’ boutique, due to the request of Swifts’ CEO, Taylor Swift. At Swifts’ Boutique there will be merchandise that will appeal to those around the ages of 15-24 years old. The ideal area for the new expansion would have a larger population of teenage girls as well as younger women that are within our age range. Our company will be looking for Economic Indicators such as Household Income Growth and Projected Future Job Growth. Site Selection is a key category for the reason that depending on the location selected could make or break a company, for this reason we will be looking at Mall Locations, retail Sales, Local Transportation, and Entertainment and Restaurants. Then finally there is the competition; Swifts’ will be looking into how many stores are there that have the same customer base and would be competing with our brand directly. Madison, WI and Lincoln, Ne both did very well in the category of Population. Madison has a Metro Population of 568,593, Lincoln has a Metro Population of 302,157, and Ann Arbor, MI with 344,791. As for Female Population, Lincoln was on top with a total Female Population of 129,462, then Madison with 118,377, and finally Ann Arbor with 57,779. Ann Arbor may seem like it is being beat in most of the categories but when it comes to our target market Ann Arbor is at the top with 31.8% of their population landing in the range of 15-24 years of age, next with Madison at a 22.1% and lastly, Lincoln with 19%. Looking in to the Economic Indicators is at the highest in Lincoln at .8% Household Income and 44.48% for Future Job Growth, then in Ann Arbor with .4% Household Income, 31.30% Future Job Growth and finally ending in Madison with 0% Household Income, and 36.78% for Future Job Growth. Within the three towns there are possible malls that Swifts’ could expand in that would be sui table. The Retail Sales falls into this category, Madison dominating the Women’s and Girls’ clothing with $382,503 in sales, next would be Lincoln with $218,360, and lastly Ann Arbor with $155,768.

BMW business model crunches gears as models expand, profit falls Essay

This article discusses the recent changes in sales, earnings, and profits of BMW, the German based manufacturer of luxury automobiles. The article opens by proposing five market scenarios that may affect the way BMW conducts business and earns revenue. The scenarios include changes in laws, consumer desires, auto financing availability, political climate, and consumer buying habits. Recently, earnings have declined by 63 percent and further losses are anticipated. Company executives and industry analysts note that earnings on certain models has declined while sales have increased over a 10 year period. The change is attributed to a lower demand for the high end performance cars that have been BMW’s core product. In response BMW has sold more smaller less expensive cars as a way to respond to changing market demands. This article demonstrates several factors that affect a company’s profitability: competition in the market, consumer demand and habits, and the company business model. In the case of BMW these changes were prompted by legislation regarding gas prices and environmental concerns which changed consumers’ driving and car buying habits. BMW responded to this change by switching to a different line of cars including SUVs and compact cars. They sold more units at lower prices compromising the overall profitability of the company instead of conforming their high performance base model to be fuel efficient. â€Å"Intel’s shock warning sounds alarm for tech sector† This article discusses the issues that led Intel to cut its revenue and profit forecasts for upcoming periods. Intel has reduced profit forecasts and their stock prices have declined by seven percent. Other technology companies including Microsoft, which uses Intel microchips, and competitors such as National Semiconductor Corp have also lowered their profit forecasts. These reports have spread fear across the industry that consumer spending will continue to decline. Intel also cited the credit crisis as an issue affecting demand for products and the ability of suppliers to provide services that Intel needs in its manufacturing process. Industry analysts note that Intel’s slow performance is normally indicative of early spring results, but do not speculate on how the current outlook may affect the coming spring results. This article demonstrates how one factor can have an adverse and possibly unnecessary negative affect on profitability: speculation. As mentioned in the article speculation alone caused stock prices to tumble. Investors assume that profits will be low and will either divest or not further invest affecting the company’s ability to finance production operations. Suppliers assume the worst and make it difficult for the company to obtain materials they need to manufacture and get chips to the market. End users like Hewlett Packard and Microsoft may purchase chips from competitors on the assumption that Intel will not be able to deliver. In other words, a grim forecast can become a self fulfilling prophecy. The difference in the two articles is that the BMW article demonstrates a verifiable and valid set of issues that can and do affect the profitability of the company and the automobile industry as a whole. The Intel article demonstrates how speculation can affect consumer confidence in a way that can reduce profitability. BMW has analyzed the real issues that have reduced their profitability and are in a position to change their business model to respond to the situations identified in the article. Intel, on the other hand, has subjected itself to speculation and must wait to see how the market environment plays out. They can change their forecast but that is not a solid guarantee that consumers will respond positively to the change.

Learn English With These Basic Conversation Skills

If youre just starting to learn English, theres no better way to improve your speaking skills than with basic conversation exercises. These simple role-playing games will help you learn how to introduce yourself, how to ask for directions, and more. With practice, youll be able to understand others and begin to enjoy conversations in your new language.  Below are links to some essential exercises that will help you have basic English conversations. Getting Started All you need to begin are the basic conversation guides youll find below and a friend or classmate to practice with. Be patient with yourselves; English is not an easy language to learn, but you can do it. Begin with the first conversation in this list, then move on to the next when you feel comfortable doing so.  You can also use the key vocabulary provided at the end of each exercise to write and practice your own conversations. Asking and Answering Questions Learn how to ask and answer simple  questions in English with these articles. Key skills covered include basic questions, polite questions, asking permission, and providing personal information such as your name, address, and phone number. Introductions Learning how to introduce yourself and greet people both formally and informally are essential skills in any language, whether its your own or a new one youre studying. In these lessons, you learn how to say hello and goodbye, as well as vocabulary that you can use when meeting new people and making friends. Telling the Time and Using Numbers Even if youre just visiting an English-speaking country for a few days, knowing how to tell the time is important. This role-playing exercise teaches you the right phrases to ask a stranger what time it is. Youll also learn how to thank the person who helped you, plus key conversation words. And if youre going to tell time, youll also need to know how to express numbers in English. This article will help you out with all kinds of numbers, including weights, distance, decimals, and more. Finally, when expressing quantities, English uses either much or many, depending on whether the noun is countable or non-countable. Speaking on the Phone Phone calls can be challenging for people who dont speak English well. Improve your telephone skills with this exercise and vocabulary quiz. Learn how to make travel arrangements and how to make purchases over the phone, plus other important words. Best of all, youll use the conversation skills you learned in the other lessons here. Shopping for Clothing Everyone loves to go shopping for new clothes, especially if youre visiting a foreign country. In this exercise, you and your practice partner learn the basic vocabulary that youll use in a shop. Although this particular game is set in a clothing store, you can use these skills in any kind of store. Eating at a Restaurant After youre finished shopping, you might want to eat at a restaurant or go to a bar for a drink. In these dialogues, you learn how to order from a menu and how to ask questions about the food, whether youre by yourself or out with friends. Youll also find a quiz to help you improve your restaurant vocabulary. Traveling at the Airport Security at most major airports is very tight, so you should expect to speak English with many different people when youre traveling. By practicing this exercise, youll learn how to have basic conversations when you check-in as well as when you go through security and customs.   Asking for Directions Its easy for anyone to lose their way when traveling, especially if you dont speak the language. Learn how to ask simple directions and how to understand what people tell you. This exercise gives you basic vocabulary plus tips for finding your way. Finally, youll want to know how to ask for a room at a hotel or motel once youve arrived at your destination. Going to the Doctor Nothing is worse than not feeling well and not knowing how to communicate with a doctor. These tips, vocabulary lists, and sample dialogues can help you practice making an appointment. Tips for English Teachers These basic English conversations can also be used in a classroom setting. Here are a few suggestions for using conversation lessons and role-playing activities: Ask students about their experiences in the situation featured in the dialogue. Solicit important phrases, grammar structures, and so on from the students and write them on the board.Introduce new vocabulary and key phrases to students.Pass out printed dialogue to students.Have each student take on a role and practice the dialogues in pairs. Students should take on both roles.Based on the dialogue, ask students to write out their own related conversations using key vocabulary.Have students practice their own dialogues to the point where they can  perform  short conversations  in front of the class.