Blaming Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Blaming Wal-Mart - Essay Example The two sides I see are this: on one side are workers at Wal-Mart and at other shops, both trying to earn an honest living; on the other side are shoppers like me, also trying to earn a living. The main problem is not that both sides like different things. The problem is that both sides do not have the complete picture, and unless we do, we may end up destroying each other. I also like the convenience that a one-stop shopping place like Wal-Mart offers me. Six days a week, I work like a slave, but on the day I shop at Wal-Mart, I feel like the Queen! I love their service with a smile and their clean stores. Most of all, searching for bargains and seeing so many beautiful things give me pure joy. I cannot buy everything I like, but seeing those colorful items on display gives me something to look forward to, something to save for, a future treat to savor for myself, my kids, or for our home. A few hours shopping at Wal-Mart helps me rest and forget the many troubles in life. Walking through the shopping aisles of Wal-Mart is like a relaxing walk in the park, and this is what I want to continue enjoying, at least once a week. The essay made me think of how we can strike a balance between what each side wants.

Marketing and Strategy Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing and Strategy Theory - Essay Example The introduction section examines the fact that the rate of failure for the introduction of new products in retail grocery industry falls within the 70 to 80 per cent range. It then develops a theoretical model explaining why this happens. The theoretical model then culminates in a set of hypotheses that are further investigated by the paper. The conclusion part of the paper summarises the main issues brought out by the paper and gives inferences where appropriate. It then confirms that indeed the rate of failure for the introduction of new products in retail grocery industry falls is very high. The rate of failure for the introduction of new products in retail grocery industry is very high; it falls within the 70 to 80 per cent range. Linton Matysiak and Wilkes is a product development and market research firm specializing in perishable foods. The firm carried out a review of 1935 new products introductions by top food companies in the United States (Linton, Matysiak and Wilkes, 1997). This review was aimed at determining national introductions, regional breakdowns, line extension mortality, new item mortality and the overall product mortality. It also ventured into determining the ratio of line extensions to new items. The firm examined a number of issues such as the number of product line extensions, the number of innovative and new items and the locations where new products were introduced. On the other hand, the review found that the Top 20 grocery retailers in the United States enjoy a 76 per cent rate of success in the introduction of new products. However, the bottom 20,000 food companies in the US found to have slightly less than 12 per cent rate of success for new products introduced (Linton, Matysiak and Wilkes, 1997). The review found a number of differences between the top 20 companies and the bottom 20,000 companies in new product introductions. A notable one is the lack of strategic marketing on the part of the bottom 20,000 new product introductions. The research also observed lack of research among the bottom 20,000 food companies in the US. On the other hand, the top twenty companies were observed to greatly embrace strategic marketing and research. Before any new product introductions, these companies had gathered all the vital information through research. Strategic marketing elevated them even higher (Quinn, 1998). These two aspects are what are believed to be the magic behind the success of the top 20 companies. New product introductions were found to cost an average of $270 per product for each store (Linton, Matysiak and Wilkes, 1997). This is quite a sum of money considering that every year a supermarket may introduce about 5000 new products. It therefore becomes very difficult for the small players to compete effectively with the larger and already established players in the retail grocery industry (Porter, 1980). Groceries spend about $956,800 for every store, most of which eventually fail. Strategic marketing and market research can therefore go a long way in increasing the success rate for new product introductions. This can greatly save money for both retail stores and manufacturers, since any successful new product introduction pays off in the long run. The survey further observed that big corporations practice strategic marketing as an essential part of their day-to-day business management. The firm made use of statistics from the US Commerce

Mental Health Social Work

Mental Health Social Work This research paper is going to look at the social work profession and specifically deal with mental health social work. In researching on the subject, I will use books and articles to get secondary information and at the same time carry out an interview with two social workers that are involved with mental health patients and clients. One of the social workers has a bachelors degree in social work while the other one holds a masters degree in social work. Carrying out the interview will require posing a few questions which are listed below. What is the social work profession in general all about? What other or extra duties are social workers expected to perform? How many categories of social workers are there in the profession? What does a mental health worker specialize in? What is the connection between a mental health social worker and a substance abuse social worker? What are the services that one would expect to get when visiting a mental health social worker? Give me a short briefing of the nature of your work as a social worker? How is your work related to the outside and regular work environment? What are the challenges that most mental health workers face in their jobs? What requirements does one need to get into this profession? Are there any exceptions for entry-level jobs in small agencies or community work? Is there a specific amount of field experience required beforehand seeing as one gets to handle clients directly? What other qualifications does one need apart from the educational and professional ones? Are there any personal skills advantageous to this profession? Is there any advancement opportunities in the mental health social work profession and what are they? Essay Social work is a profession which is most suitable for individuals who have a strong urge and desire to help improve the lives of other people. Therefore, social workers are the professionals who help people in coping with their day to day lives and solving their personal, family and relationship problems. In additions, there is another group of social workers that helps the clients in dealing with disabilities and life threatening or fatal diseases as well as social problems such as drug abuse and unemployment. As a result, they also end up being involved in the conducting of research, advocating for improved services and involvement in the planning and/or policy development. Basically, most of the social workers concentrate in supplying their services to a particular population or in operating in a specific background. Social workers are generally involved in different areas of practice according to ones preference. These categories are mental health, elderly, education, political, medical or slums dwellers. If they have the right State mandated license, these workers are referred to as licensed clinical social workers in spite of whichever setting they are in. Mental health social workers, who are often paired up with the substance abuse social workers, are the ones who treat people affected with mental illness or substance abuse problems. The reason why mental and substance abuse social workers are paired up is because more often than not, substance abuse leads to addiction and most experts concur that addiction is a brain disease. The services offered by these social workers include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, outreach, social rehabilitation and outreach programs. In addition, they help in planning for supportive services so as to make it easier for the clients when they leave the in-patient facilities to rejoin the community and also provide services to help the family members of their clients cope with the situation. Although most mental health workers are flexible to work in whichever setting that they are comfortable with, they usually spend most of their time in an office or a residential facility. Some of them work in outpatient facilities whereby the patients come for the treatment and medicine then leave while others work in inpatient facilities whereby the clients reside within the facility until they are well enough to go back home. In regard to the normal work environment, there are a few mental health workers who work in employee-assistance programs in which case they help people cope with job-related pressures or with personal problems that may affect the quality of their work production. Several other workers are involved in private practice where they get employed directly by a particular client. Workers may also travel locally to visit their clients, meet with service providers and attend meetings. Even though most of the mental social workers are greatly satisfied after offering their services, the job can sometimes be very challenging. Social work, and especially in the mental health specialty, does not have a lot of professionals. Due to this, there is a regular understaffing and build up of large case load in some of the agencies thus leading to too much pressure on the available workers. Full time social work requires one to work a standard 40-hour week but due to the nature of the job, one is at times obligated to work during the evenings and weekends meeting with clients, attending community meetings and handling emergencies. Moreover, in the working with some patients especially in the mental health institutions can prove to be challenging and at times impossible. This is especially when dealing with a chronically ill patient who is unwilling to co-operate and is difficult to handle and manage. In such a case, external help might be required to calm down such a patient and acts such as man-handling and injecting them with sedatives have to be executed so as to return things back to normality. (Golightley, 159) Just like any other profession, social workers also have minimum requirements so as to be permitted full entry into the occupation. Although some positions necessitate one to have an advanced degree, the most common minimum requirement is on average a bachelors degree in social work (BSW) which is sufficient for entry into the field. However there are a few exceptions whereby a major in psychology, sociology or related fields can qualify one for some entry-level jobs in small community agencies. On the other hand, a masters degree in social work (MSW) is characteristically vital for one to get positions in both the health and teaching fields as well as in clinical work. Furthermore, for teaching position in colleges or universities, one would need a doctorate in social work (DSW or PhD). A certified bachelors degree program requires a minimum of 400 hours of supervised field experience while a masters degree program includes a minimum of 900 hours of supervised field instruction. Thi s prepares the graduates for employment in their chosen field of specialty and helps them continue developing the skills required to execute clinical assessments, handle and supervise large case loads as well as explore new ways of using social services that are helpful to the clients. In addition to the educational qualifications, all states have licensing, certification or registration requirements regarding the use of professional titles. Most of the states call for 2 years of supervised clinical experience for any social worker to be given a license. However, one does not only need professional and educational qualifications to successfully practice a socially and emotionally challenging career of mental health social work. One also needs to have certain personal skills and traits. First and foremost, a mental health social worker should be objective and at the same time sensitive to other people and the problems they are dealing with. It is also helpful to both the social worker and the client to possess calm temperament, quiet disposition and be very patient. A social worker should also be emotionally mature, be able to manage responsibilities and to maintain good working relations with both clients and coworkers. In terms of advancement, a mental health work er can progress to become a supervisor of other workers, a program manager or an executive director of a mental health institution. In the case where one has reached a retiring age or is unable to work in a health institution, there are other career options such as teaching, consulting, researching or going into private practice. In conclusion, despite the social work profession and most especially the area of mental health not being as popular as other careers such as medicine or law, it is just as important in the community as the others. Mental health social workers contribute greatly to the community in undertaking a task that most people do not have the heart, disposition or courage to do. If more people were to delve into the profession, the community and the families dealing with mental illnesses would benefit significantly. NAME : Kerril Sommerville. LOCATION : Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, New Jersey. PHONE : +1 800 732-922-7300 EMAIL : [emailprotected]

Aristotle Essays -- essays research papers

Aristotle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In our fast paced technologically advanced society today, our governments have evolved into supposedly well oiled machines effectively managing budgets, jails, militaries, as well as many other programs. Unfortunately, many of these governments are not as well organized, as they could be. Democratic countries like France, Germany, and even the United States have some very serious shortcomings to the way their governments are managed. These problems occur, many times at a very basic level, rather than at the minor details. One problem that is consistent with many countries is the maintenance of governmental programs over large geographical areas. Many times geographic or social differences within countries are what cause these problems. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle had simple, yet ingenious ways to deal with problems, precisely like these. Aristotle solved this problem, for example, by dividing the country into both geographic and social regions. Then h e would have smaller governments for each of these sections. These divisions were similar to states or provinces in some modern countries today. Aristotle’s ideas, in general, on governmental politics were revolutionary in Athens, when he wrote them and some could even have positive effects on governments today. Modern governments, such as Germany, France, and the United States could all use Aristotle’s ideas to make their own governments run much more efficiently. Aristotle even had plans to minimize corruption, a big problem in most governments today (politics 1286a). If modern democratic countries based their political philosophies more on Aristotle’s theories, they could run smoother and do a better job of supporting the people, which is what democracies were made for in the first place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The polis is a partnership of citizens in a system of government that serves to achieve the common good. It is not just a place where people live together for defense against enemies and for the exchange of goods. It is rather a partnership between households, clans, and villages for the sake of a fully developed and self-sufficient life. The polis gives those who possess wisdom and moral intellect a chance to move up to high positions Justice is the political good in the polis, and it must promote the common interest of the people. What is perceived to be good has to be distrib... ...ld have authority rather than those who are "best fit to rule", and groups few in number. Although everyone in the polis may not be a political scientist, they can work better together with peers. With each individual having qualities of excellence and intelligence, they join to form a single entity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The real difference between democracy and oligarchy is between poverty and wealth. Oligarchy occurs when rulers owe their power to wealth whether or not they are the majority. Tyranny can be described as the worst of two potential evils. It is extreme oligarchy in its "distrust of the masses" and extreme democracy in its "hostility to the noteables" (Page 211). Aristotle says the best form is one based on merit. A combination between oligarchy and democracy is constitutional government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although people can agree on what justice is, they often fail to reach it because they can not stop from pursuing their own goals and desires. A good government can moderate between what people think is just and what is best for the common good. Aristotle's theories are fundamentals of our current political system and earned him the title "The Father of Political Science."

Kashmir Dal Lake

Dal Lake has rightfully become an icon of the Kashmir tourism industry. A Himalayan urban lake, it has five basins and a number of channels that are well linked with each other. There are plenty of fishes in Dal Lake and fishery is the second largest industry of the region centered on the lake. The sparkling quiet waters of Dal surrounded by snow-capped mountains on its three sides, undoubtedly mark it as one of the most beautiful lakes of India. It is also the second largest lake in the State of Jammu and Kashmir with numerous gardens and orchards all along its shores. Houseboats form an indelible part of the scenery of the Dal Lake that are always ready to take tourists to a romantic and peaceful ride of the lake and soothe their nerves as the houseboat floats over the slightly rippling waters. They also offer some of the most exotic views of the splendid scenery of the Dal Lake. There are Shikaras that look like small ornate versions of the gondolas of Venice that offers ferry rides to and from the banks of the lake to the houseboats. The shores of the Lake houses the distinct Moghul monuments and the campus of the Kashmir University while the two hillocks overlooking the lake house Shankaracharya and Hari Parbat temples. The glorious Mughal gardens on its shores contribute to the beauty of the Dal Lake. Out of about five hundred gardens laid down in 16th to 17th century, only a few still survive. There have been controversies about the origin of the Dal Lake. While some geologists believe that the origins of Dal Lake lie in the Pleistocene Oligotrophic Lake that once covered the entire valley of Kashmir, others just believe it to be a flood plain lake. The floating gardens of Dal Lake are considered a beauty in themselves. One can find a number of restaurants and hotels at the lakefront that have sprung up, encouraged by the large influx of tourists here.

Impact of Organized Retailing on Unorganized Retailing in India

Retailing is playing a major part in Indian business emergence. There are many modern business systems taking place in Indian market because of Globalization. But retailing is the foremost part of them which is predicted to have a better growth. When it was said retailing, organized and unorganized retailing will come in to picture to debate. Unorganized retailing is the tradition of India and organized retailing was on track from early 90’s. In this context organized retailing is successively grown in recent years. Concerns are raised by many unorganized retailers that emergence of organized retailing is showing an adverse affect on unorganized retail. The book â€Å"Impact of Organized Retailing on Unorganized Sector† discussed about the existence of adverse affect of organized retailing on unorganized sector. This book also enlightened if there exist an adverse affect, how much does organized retailing is affecting unorganized sector. OVERVIEW: This book from ICRIER discussed many considerations to bring the real impact of organized retailing on unorganized retailing. The authors while analyzing considered many factors like â€Å"Effect on employment that how organized retailing is enhancing the job opportunities and the growth prospectus. This book also gave an idea about Impact on Consumers by bringing in to picture in relation to savings when shopped in organized outlets. The authors of this book even discussed many factors out of which primarily aimed at revenues to the government from both organized and unorganized retailers. Results from consumer surveys are made to understand their savings while shopped in organized outlets and which social class of people is saving more from these outlets. Conclusion made by the authors included all the particulars mentioned above. CORE GOALS: The Core purpose of the book is to explore the positive effects of the organized retailing by studying the retail market in India. This book also aimed to answer the opposing views on organized retailing to unorganized sector. Authors designed the book in measuring the prices impact on consumer and taxation revenue to the government and overall impact on economical growth of retailing in India. The book core goal by analyzing all these factors is to understand the effect on smaller retailers in the unorganized sector by organized sector. The authors tried to give details of increase in turn over in unorganized retailing after organized retailers stepped in to the Indian retail market. The other goal is to understand and portrait the unorganized retail outlet formats and how the change in services offered by the traditional retailers to compete with organized sector. The authors also illustrated the response by the unorganized retailers to organized sector to compete. SUPPORT AND DATA: Many surveys are conducted nationally to understand the employment impact of unorganized retailers. It was understood that unorganized outlets hire family members in average of 1. 5 persons per store. Where they employ hired labor in an average of 1. 1 per outlet (ICRIER report 2008). Interestingly there is a subsidiary improvement in overall employment in these sampled outlets over the existence of organized outlets near by. How ever there has been a general increase in employment in unorganized retail field after the existence of organized retailers which averaged at 21months. Over all we can identify the employment growth in the traditional retail outlets in India increased by 2. 2 times than earlier (ICRIER Retail by Mathew J, Sanghamitra S, pg83). As it was known organized retailing allowed better employment it also in some way pushed the growth of employment in unorganized sector. This book also showed that there exists a relationship between period of existence of organized outlets and employment effect. It says, if there exist an adverse effect, it carries off with time. Interestingly from the country wide sample it was shown that south and east part of India has observed an increase in employment (ICRIER report, table 5. 4 and chart 5. 1c, pg84). It is to understand after an average period of 21months there is no adverse effect on unorganized sector and they evenly initiated competing with organized outlets. Impact of turnover of unorganized retailing was keenly observed by the authors. Result with national sample of unorganized outlets turnover. It was understood that there exist a depression of annual turnover in unorganized sector at initial tages. Though there is a downfall in annual turnover, steady increase in the turnover and profit too is observed after an average 21months existence of organized retailers (Table 4. 2a, pg84). According to the survey table 4. 3a, unorganized retailers have indicated a number of steps taken in response to competition from organized retail, such as adding new product lines and brands, better display, renovation of the store, introduction of self service, enhanced home delivery, more credit sales, acceptance of credit cards, etc. This allowed consumers to consume better service from unorganized outlets. The authors also identified that currently 22% of unorganized retailers installed technological facilities to provide better service and to speedup the competition from organized retailers. Boost in exports and advantages to the urban producers in terms of superior price, strong processing of supply chain by the organized retailers brought new technologies and reduce in consumer price. The book even investigated the preference of consumers for organized and unorganized outlets. Authors sampled a nationwide data and found that 43% to 46% of organized customers declared that they are spending 30% of their spending on food and grocery in organized outlets. Shoppers at unorganized outlets preferred 61% of their spending in traditional outlets. Authors highlighted a very important fact organized retailers are bringing revenue to the government by paying huge taxes and where unorganized retailers don’t pay any taxes. IMPLICATIONS: Of all the observations the authors suggested, Simplification of the licensing and permit system for organized retail and move towards a nationwide uniform licensing system in the states to facilitate modern retail. Encourage co-operatives and links of unorganized retailers for direct procurement from suppliers and farmers. The book also suggested ensuring better credit availability to unorganized retailers from banks and micro-credit institutions through innovative banking solutions. To assist the formation of co-operative retailing of traditional stores, which in turn can undertake direct procurement of products from manufacturers and farmers. They also suggested by eliminating intermediaries, unorganized retail stores can obtain their supplies at lower prices, while farmers get better prices for their produce. CONCLUSION: Up on analyzing and observing the facts it was concluded that unorganized retailers in the vicinity of organized retailers experienced a decline in their volume of business and profit in the initial years after the entry of large organized retailers. The adverse impact of sales and profit on unorganized sector weakens over time. There were no facts of a decline in overall employment in the unorganized sector as a consequence of the entry of organized retailers. It was identified and concluded that there is a competitive response from traditional retailers through improved business practices and adopting advanced technologies as organized retailers. With the entry of organized retailers it was observed that overall spending of consumers is increased. It was said that consumers are definitely benefited from organized retailers in multiple benefits. Through the surveys made by ICRIER it was concluded that while all income groups saved through organized retail outlets, lower income groups are the one who benefited. Thus at the end it was concluded that organized retail is relatively more beneficial to the less wealthy consumers.