Social welfare policy that facilitates reduction of poverty and inequality in US

Introduction In the past two decades, the international community has made poverty eradication as their number one priority. Over a decade ago, Breton wood institutions came up with an objective of minimizing cases of income – poverty in less developed countries from over 30% to less than 15% by 2015 (Bourguignon 2).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social welfare policy that facilitates reduction of poverty and inequality in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Escalation in global poverty has led to emergence, fusion, and dispensation of new economic models which focuses on economic stability, liberalization, privatization of public institutions, and exploration of market solutions in supplying public goods. These approaches marked the era of policy making in both developed and developing nations in their effort to promoting living standards of the poor nations and the eradication of poverty globally (Bour guignon 3). Most studies investigating inequalities between countries assume all citizens from these nations have similar mean income. Most of these studies suggests that majority of the Asian countries grew first towards the mean income while the rest of developing nations are moving further away (Glazer 3). These studies show that the income of the richest members of the population which constitutes of about 20% has rose to over 80%. Therefore, the increasing global inequality has been a constant feature over the past three decades, with a noticeable scenario from 80s to date and there is diminutive evidence that this condition will change (Glazer 4). With exclusion of china, the reduction of inequality in the global arena has not been realized since 1975. Since the end of 70s, US have experienced spectacular increase in economic inequality. United States is considered to be the most unequal nation among the world richest economies. In spite of the scale of the increase in the ine quality, the political class in the US rarely discusses this subject in the public. Throughout the history of the United States of America, its populace has struggled considerably with the paradox of poverty amidst riches (Weil and Kenneth 2). This has left many people wondering why a nation endowed with such magnitude of wealth still witness its own citizens struggle while there are enormous opportunities and excellent economy. Are the poor to be to be blamed or they are just victims of social inequality dogged with racism and bigotry, or economic system that favors the affluent over the struggling population? The paradox of the American poverty runs down to a long time and the only news is the amount of public policy concentration aimed towards the poor. A lot of attention is being paid now than before and one of the major reasons for this is the restructuring of the welfare system.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your fi rst paper with 15% OFF Learn More The American income safeguarding system is categorized into two based on their relationship with the workers; one of the category is the social security which includes unemployment compensation program, disability insurance among others which is linked to the payroll deduction or contributions from the income to the public programs. The other category is the social welfare programs whose suitability is centered on the welfare earning and accumulated affluence. Welfare programs are mostly for the needy and the poor people in the society (Glazer 3). Personal Responsibility and Work opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 led to the overhaul of the welfare system. One of the major reform programs was the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). This program offered cash incentives to the families which had children but earned low income (Weil and Kenneth 4-5). There were other legislations that sought to terminate all of the abo ve government programs that assisted the low-income earners/ the poor by encouraging self-reliance and personal responsibility. PRWORA put in place stringent measures that limited the cash assistance, enforced work requirements, and promoted matrimony and nuclear family as a basis for raising children (Trattner 6). Welfare reforms in the US have been a big achievement, in any case by considering the reduction in the welfare problems. The number of families that got assistance from the welfare programs decreased by more than half between the year 1994 and the year 2000. By the year 2000, only 2.1% of the US populace was receiving support from the government welfare program known as the Temporary Assistance for the Needy Family program (TANF). Successes of these programs were promoted by the flourishing economy at that time. This welfare programs helped in poverty caseloads reduction even in the single families with women as the head. The year 2002 saw the re-authorization of the welf are reform bill as a result of the protests from the poverty and welfare rights group. The right group argued that PRWORA placed a lot of focus on minimizing caseloads instead of prioritizing poverty reduction (Glazer 3). Statistics of the poor Americans According to the studies carried out in the year 2000 it was established that the poor Americans constituted of about 11% of the population. This study was carried by the US office of management and Budget. This was the lowest rate since 70s and only 4.4% lived below the poverty line.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social welfare policy that facilitates reduction of poverty and inequality in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There is diminutive evidence to support the critics who opposes PRWORA claiming that it has impoverished the populace more. In a matter of fact, the average income of the American families within the bracket of bottom 20% increased from 1 2600 dollars to over 14000 dollars. The growing incomes among the poor and the rich reinforced the euphoria over the improving economy and authenticating claims that welfare reform was successful (Glazer 3). Activists representing the poor argue that income benchmark used by the federal government to measure poverty was too low to cover the basic needs. In the year 2000, single mothers with two children required only 14000 dollars to be counted out of the poor population while a nuclear family with two children required 17500 dollars. In contrast, the median income for the American families was approximately 51000 dollars. Analyst argues that personal income at or above the economic poverty income threshold cannot support an individual in the world biggest cities like London, Washington D.C, among others since housing is beyond their reach (Bourguignon 2). Considerable difference in living costs in different geographical regions forms the basis for criticism against a single nationa l income standard for defining poverty. Other limitations on the official definition of poverty are its failure to account for other source of income or support such as food stamps (Trattner 6). Child poverty rates dropped by almost 20% in the early 1990s to the year 2006 according to the national survey carried out in 2007. About 11.5 million children and 3.4 million adults of age 65 and above live in poverty making almost half of the poor population in America. Children and elderly persons are considered as eligible poor who deserves state’s assistance. They cannot be held responsible for their poor status. America’s racial minorities still constitute the poorest in the American society (Glazer 3). The racial structure and composition of the poor Americans have not changed over the past ten years. In early 90s, 50% of the poor populations were non-Hispanic white. This figure went down by 3% in the year 2000 to 47%. America’s increasing racial diversity has tak en place at the same time with the waning poverty rates across racial and ethnic minority groups. Between 1990 to date poverty, rates have gone down from 28% to 19% among the Hispanic, and from 12% to 10% among Asian and Islanders.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reduction in poverty rates dropped steeply among the African American from about 40% in the year 1990 to about 20% in the year 2006. However, poverty rates among the African American and the Hispanics is still about twice the national average (Trattner 7). Wage inequality between male and female have persisted coupled with the escalation in single motherhood. This has underpinned the perception that the growing poor Americans are women (Bourguignon 2). In the year 2000, the poverty among women was 25% higher than men and this gender difference has remained constant over the years. The sex difference has persisted despite of the increasing female employment rate, increase in income and reducing wage difference between male and females (Trattner 6). About half of the America’s poor families are headed by women although families headed by women only represent quarter of the all families with children. In the year 2000, the rate of poor families headed by women was six times high er than the rate for married couple (Trattner 6). After the enactment of the PRWORA, this rate started to decline from 47% to nearly 30%. The main goal for this welfare program was to encourage work and economic self-reliance among the poor particularly among the unwed mothers with children. Therefore, welfare reforms forced large percentage of female beneficiaries into the labor force. Although employment does not protect an individual from poverty, people who area employed are likely to be less poor (Glazer 3). The personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) The personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was signed by President Clinton in 1996 into law to fulfill his promise of ending the welfare problems facing the poor Americans at that time. This law transformed the entire national welfare system both substantially and administratively. This law also eliminated the previous welfare system which had been advocated against by peop le from all walks of life since it was increasing state expenditure while leaving the poor on the mercy of the government donations (Caraley 5). The main purpose for the introduction of personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was to minimize over dependence on welfare, bringing forth children out of wedlock and promoting nuclear type of families. In line wit the above preconditions, the act required that the beneficiaries to look for job opportunities within two years of receiving support, and placed a five-year limit on the lifetime a person should be entitled to these benefits. In addition, the act (Weil and Kenneth 7) Brief history of the law PRWORA eradicated the previous welfare program known as the AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) which was enacted in 1935 following the great depression that engulfed the US and the global financial arena. AFDC welfare benefits were based on eligibility. This means that families who met their conditions wer e entitle to the benefits for as long as they needed it. In addition, the federal share of the AFDC funds fluctuated in accordance with the caseloads. At first people saw the program as a helping hand to the justified widows as it helped them to raise their children. On the other hand, critics felt that this program encouraged dependency among the escalating class of single mothers, besides creating inflated and incompetent bureaucracy (Weil and Kenneth 9). In 1970s large number of women started joining the workforce as the Americans started becoming hungry at the single mothers whom they viewed as undeserving the benefits of the program. Besides, the welfare beneficiaries stated to grow at an alarming rate thus increasing the cost of the program. Racial subjects also played a big part in the switch as the African-American women became stereotyped as welfare mothers (Weil and Kenneth 7). The US government in the year 1980s, started to issue waivers to the to some of its states that considered to test their own welfare programs. Some of these states enforced work obligations and limited time for receiving benefits thus tried to transform the behavior of the beneficiaries by granting or denying benefits inline rules set in their programs. Some of the American conservatives also argued that the welfare programs increase d poverty instead of reducing it since many people became over-dependent on the program (Bourguignon 8). When President Clinton was elected he continued to support states that wanted to test their own social welfare programs to replace the then entitlement program.However, when the republicans won the majority sits in congress in 1994, they proposed a plan to introduce their own principals into the welfare program. This pressurized President Clinton to pass a considerable welfare restructuring legislation so as to demonstrate his record as a moderate politician (Bourguignon 9). However, President Clinton rejected two republican welfare-restructuri ng bills in the year 1995 that he felt were too inconsiderate. In the year 1996, both the republicans and the democrats were under pressure to conclude the welfare reform agenda before the forthcoming general election. As a compromised bill, congress submitted PRWORA to the president who signed it into law despite of his doubts over certain clauses. A number of high-level officials resigned to protest the signing of the bill arguing that the bill would cause escalation of poverty and inequality during recession (Weil and Kenneth 7). Main provisions of the personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act The act creates Temporary Assistance for the Needy families (TSNF). TANF substitutes previous eligibility program for instance Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The act devolves responsibility of welfare programs from federal government to the state/ local governments and non-profit making private organizations. The act uses time restrictions and work conditions to stress the move from welfare to work. The law stiffens entitlement standards for Supplementary Security Income (SSI) child disability benefits. The act also requires state to impose strict child maintenance programs for collecting child funds from the absent fathers (Weil and Kenneth 5). This act restricts entitlement and other public benefits to the newly immigrants. The act also denies illegal immigrants most of the benefits except under emergency cases. The state is required to provide federal cash support to the legal migrants in the country and to use government funds to assist immigrants not entitled to federal funds. PRWORA provides funds for foster care data system and national child welfare custody research. The law provides for unit fund to enable states to offer childcare for the working parents. The act transforms entitlement criteria and benefits for child nutritional programs. The law has put forth strict standards for food stamps and other benefits. PRWORA minimiz es benefit level and refutes most benefits to able persons unless they are working or in school. Finally, the law limits entitlement for TANF beneficiaries. The law sets up five-year deadline for beneficiaries and deters persons convicted of drug related crimes from accessing this program in their lifetime (Weil and Kenneth 7). Assessing Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) Before the enactment of the bill, the number of people under the welfare program had already fallen. This number continued to fall significantly after signing of the bill into law. Between the period when the bill was signed and the year 2000, the figure of the people under the welfare program went down by almost half, even though caseloads in majority of the states started to go up again by 2001 and continued to vary moderately. Besides, the rate of poverty fell to the lowest recorded level of 19% from 22% in 1994, though this rate never went down remarkably as the figure of t he beneficiaries (Trattner 14). In spite of the encouraging figures, the welfare of those under the PRWORA program was never clear. By the end of 2002, many people who were former beneficiary of the welfare program were by then working low paying jobs with minimal benefits. These people were no longer granted food stamps or medical cover even in cases where they were eligible. In most cases, the underpaying job opportunity for the poor meant loss of the benefits from the welfare program. Majority of the former beneficiaries thus lingered beneath the poverty line. Almost half of the former beneficiaries who left the program in search of jobs went back within a year since they were not able to access jobs or consistent child care (Trattner 15). In addition, almost half of the people who left the welfare program did not have jobs or were not working at all. Some of these people got discouraged from applying for the program; majority had their benefits cut trimmed down or terminated by failing to meet the required threshold while others just vanished from the system (Carale 2). Majority of the beneficiaries of the former welfare program (TANF) had considerable obstacles for employment including illiteracy, health problems, and drug / alcohol problems among others. Even though PRWORA provided no apparent policy guidelines to assist these people overcome such obstacles, beneficiaries faced set time deadline on assistance (Weil and Kenneth 9). Lawful Challenges that pretentious the personal accountability and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act PRWORA brought about a welfare system which was triggered by the level of reforms, though its execution was met by several challenges of the law. Supreme Court ruled against the lesser benefits that was being accorded to the citizens who were moving from state to state since it violated their right of movement. In addition, there were cases of successful petition against the unjust Welfare officers who were mistreating the ben eficiaries. These cases revolved around those officers who were trying to discourage the needy from applying for help, denying them access to the program or giving them unfair hearing in cases where they violated the law. (Weil and Kenneth 10). Nevertheless, some of these court petitions never bared fruit. Examples of such cases include incidences where the applicants tested positive for illegal drugs which is against the law. Other legal challenges have focused on the aid organizations of choice. The law requires the state to include religious organizations when contracting out welfare administration (Trattner 25). The reorganization of the PRWORA It was back in the year 2002 in the month of October when PRWORA mandate expired, but was later on reauthorized by the congress. Within the same year, President Bush increased the working hours for the employees under the program. In addition, President Bush laid down a plan to increase the number of beneficiaries in the work force from 5 0% to70% before the end of his term. The president also offered to finance state programs that encouraged marriage and unmarried adolescent from engaging in premarital sex. The president’s proposals were passed in May the same year (Trattner 5). June 2002 saw the senate finance committee passing a more accommodative bill that raised childcare funds, widened the description of work activities, and allowed state to provide welfare benefits to the legal immigrants. On the other hand, the senate refused to pass the bill. Being unable to reach a compromising ground on the same subject, the Congress passed an abiding resolution to retain TANF until 2003 thus leaving the bill to the subsequent congress (Caraley 5). Conclusion United States is considered to be the world richest economy ad has the greatest share of money in the international monetary fund. With all that wealth it is unbelievable to realize that some of the American citizens still live in poverty. This is a paradox sin ce the median income of the Americans is about 59,000 dollars. This inequality led to a number of social welfare programs to help the poor and the needy. These efforts started in the late 30s following the great depression but the turning point in the America’s welfare reforms took place when President Clinton signed personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act into law in the year 1996. This was a major milestone in the quest for welfare reforms although the act also had some loopholes. The rate of the poor Americans have dropped significantly since the introduction of the bill. Work Cited Bourguignon, Francois. The Poverty-Growth-Inequality Triangle. Washington D.C: World Bank, 2004. Print Caraley, Demetrios James. Ending Welfare As We Know It: A Reform Still in Progress. Political Science Quarterly 116, no. 4 (2001): 525. Glazer, Sarah, Are Former Welfare Recipients Better Off Today? CQ Researcher 11, no. 27 (Aug. 2001). Trattner, Walter. From Poor Law t o Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America. 6th ed. New York: Free Press, 1999. Weil, Alan and Kenneth, Finegold. Welfare Reform: The Next Act. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, 2002. Print. This essay on Social welfare policy that facilitates reduction of poverty and inequality in US was written and submitted by user Sister Grimm to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Realistic Hero Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays

The Realistic Hero Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays The Realistic Hero Tom Sawyer, the main character of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, is an average boy who is bored with his civilized life and escapes these constraints by pulling pranks, and pulling other mischievous things. The character of Tom, in the most part, is presented as a realistic and convincing boy. He is kind and loving, but also cruel, stupid, and hypocritical of others at times, as well as, he shows maturation throught the story. The story of Tom Sawyer,as well as being about a realistic character, is a story that is intrusive to adults and children. Tom is shown throughout the story as a typical boy of his time and place. He has a loving, happy home, with his devoted Aunt Polly to care for him. He is mostly restricted by his home routine of prayers, meals, chores, bedtime, and things like that, but when his routine life gets to dull, he has the nearby river and woods, where he can go to escape. Though Tom is not " the model boy" of the village, he even hates the "model boy." He plays boyish pranks on Aunt Polly, Sid, his friends, and everyone in town. He steals, lies, plays hooky, fights, and goes swimming secretly, but he is a normal boy and this is what normal boys do at his age. Tom is a clever, imaginative boy who has a good knowledge about human nature and knows how to use it. He continually outwits his Aunt Polly, and also persuades other boys to do his work for him without them even knowing of his trickery. One example of this is in the whitewashing scene, when his Aunt Polly makes him whitewash the outside fence before he is allowed to play. He slyly conviences the first boy by saying "...I don't see why oughtn't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence everyday?" (21) With this cunning use of words he manipulates the boy to whitewash the fence, which leads to others also joining in to help. In the end, Tom has made a tidy profit as well as got the whitewashing done without actually doing it. As well as Tom being known as a strong boy, he also has fears. He is afraid, at various times in the book, of being harmed by Injun Joe, starving to death with Becky in the cave, of witchcraft, and of death during the thunderstorm when he is ill with the measles. Some of his fears are based on real dangers, such as with Injun Joe. Others are just simply fears in his mind. Partly by luck and partly by using his mind and courage, Tom is able to eventually triumph over his fears. Tom , who is usually a spirited guy, sometimes goes off by himself to be alone and think about his death. Ususally these dark moods only last a very short time, then he is back to his rowdy self. For example, after being rejected by Becky, he goes off into his comforting woods and thinks about ways to get back at her, and even thinks about running away. Though he gets into these moods occasionally, a quick visit from his friends he totally forgets his depressed mood, and resorts back to his spirited self. Although Tom likes to rebel against society and its restrictions, he is basically respectable. He is the nephew of a woman who is the soul of suitability and who is instilled him with these values. When Tom calculates his pranks and adventures in term's of society's reactions. At the end of the story, he even persuades his best friend Huck, who is an outcast in the town, to become "respectable" by telling him "Well, everybody does that way, Huck." (243) Tom also conviences Huck to "be respectable" by telling him he won't let him join his robber gang " if you ain't respectable." Also another aspect of Tom that is realistic is how he grows throught the story. Tom starts out acting childish and irresponsible and ends up acting more mature and responsible. The story of Muff Potter begins with Tom and Huck going to a graveyard to try

Independent Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Independent Research - Essay Example . . Before the constitutional monarchy in 1931 (Kiriwat 2001), all theatre Khon, or masked dance drama was for palace performances only. Khon is still part of an elite group of the Thai National Theatre. Their performances are only related to the Rhamakayian. Lakon Nai also dealing with the Rhamakayian, was intended to be danced only by women who can do the complicated hand and finger movement. They are both very much part of the Thai culture. This is a study to present a short history of the origins of Rhamakayian and its importance in Thai Culture. The study will show how the royal family changed Rhamakayian from the original Ramayana developing two distinct dance styles which began centuries ago. King Rama I and King Rama II standardized the dance forms . This classical dance of today still has ancient origins. It style is old fashioned and no longer appeals to modern audience. It will be shown why the perception of the audience is no longer met. An audience is determined by the t ype of performance . Their needs and expectations will be shown in order to how what companies can do today, to bring the universal aspect of Rhamakayian back to the dance and drama without losing this beautiful Thai Epic. To conclude, the study will have shown that the use of an ancient subject is universal and its dance and drama can be brought up to the expectations of today's audience. The Origins of Ramakien from the original Ramayana Ramayana is a "timeless tale", which originated in ancient India. India was considered the centre of the world. The epic consists of 18 books covering every significant and insignificant aspect of human nature and character. The epic, though adapted to each individual country's culture and standards, has traversed all of Asia. It is so ingrained in the culture of the Asian world that it is compulsory in University and some lower education. In Indonesia, students are quoted as saying "Islam is our Religion but Ramayan is our Culture". (Kumar 2007) The Way of the Ram as Ram was a God who left his children , Lav and Kush to travel the world. This epic is universal to all as it covers the nine sentiments known to man. Each and every situation in a person's life is covered in the epic. So that the reader might get an excellent feel of the importance of Ramayana on the development of Rakayian. Expressing feeling are used in movement as they show the power of the sentiments in dramatic art. As it will be explained in the psychology of the audience are the Rasas expressed to the people in the hall? Love: between Sita and Rama Valor : Shiva's bow was broken when it was being restrung Pathos: Kakasura's feelings when he surrendered Suprise: the bridge over the ocean Humour: Shoorpanakha going to Rama Terror and Disgust: battlefield Fury: Killing Ravana Peace: Interaction with the sages. All of Asia was influenced by the story. "Ramanama is for the pure in heart and for those who want to attain purity and remain pure.' Mahatma Gandi". (Kumar 2007,page 4) The progression from Ramahaya to Ramakian was done in stages. The first Ramakian version came to Siam in the 14th century. In the 18th century there was a great fire which destroyed all existing written versions of the epic. The most modern version comes from King Rama I who in the 18th century saw the importance of cataloguing and sequencing the whole epic. He added his own writing where he had to complete the storyline. In Thailand, Ramakien changes in context but the story stays the same; the

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Human Resource Development - Essay Example Human Resource Development (HRD) can also take an informal shape for example employees being coached by a manager. Healthy organizations, in meaningful terms, have strong faith in Human Resource Development and cover all its fundamental aspects. Learning and development is continuous process in every aspect whether it's in organizational or in classroom, people or an employee always learn something new in every area which will help in developing its skills and knowledge which also support him/her to work better in an organization or any other working condition. Ans. In my opinion learning is a continuous process and person will always learn on every stage of life. According to me learning will be more practical to gain an effective skills, knowledge, and motivation by developing the vision and skills that result in real team commitment; Build and lead empowered and motivated teams; Delegate tasks and authority while maintaining control, communicate effectively at all levels, create w orld-class team performance, Become a skilled and effective team leader. Ans. 2.Needs and performance are the main factors to improve learning. Discus this issue in relation to E-learning method to learn. Ans. Learning is a phenomenon within this definition that takes place across various locations, or that reaps benefits of learning opportunities provided by moveable technologies. In other words, E-learning decreases limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices. The term covers: learning with portable technologies, where the focus is on the technology (which could be in a fixed location, such as a classroom).in today's world technology places very positive and effective role in several sectors and in different aspects such as in performance and needs as well. This technology will help in effective learning in every person's life because it's really fast and effective and the person can learn everything very easily and work can be done efficiently af ter effective learning in relation to E- learning. 3. State the main problem, objective that this university applied this teaching method. Ans. Arab Open University runs degree programs in the Middle Eastern country by providing open learning business studies. The lecturers adopt an action learning approach to teaching during their periodic time to students. However, resistance to this method is regularly experienced.

Strategic Organizational Leadership in Capstone Paper

Strategic Organizational Leadership in Capstone Paper Overview Chrysler Group LLC is the third largest American Automobile manufacturer and fifth largest in the American market with an 8.79% market share on sales of 931,402 units. (Chrysler, 2010) The Chrysler Group LLC was created in 2009 through a 20% purchase of Chrysler LLC by The Fiat Group. The Chrysler Group LLC consists of Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Mopar and Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) brands of vehicles and parts. The recent alliance between the Fiat Group and Chrysler Group LLC is said to better position both companies in the global market (Chrysler, 2010). Chrysler Group LLC dates date to 1925 when it was founded by Walter Chrysler. The original Chrysler Corporation merged with Daimler-Benz in 1996 to form Daimler-Chrysler. In 2007 the Chrysler division of Daimler-Chrysler was purchased by Cerberus Capital Management to form Chrysler LLC, the precursor to the current Chrysler Group LLC. Fiat Group was started in 1899. Both companies have a unique history of innovative and storied products (Chrysler, 2010). Having survived a brief Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2009, the company position is positioning itself for an automotive resurrection by choosing a back-to-basics alliance with Fiat. The collaboration gives Chrysler access to the Italian companys small-car expertise and global markets, while still manufacturing its Chrysler brands, including Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles. Chryslers trademarked MOPAR (MOtor PARts) division, with its 30% market share, carries over 280,000 parts, options, and accessories for vehicle customization; it expanding to incorporate Fiat parts. Chryslers GEM (Global Electric Motor Cars) makes neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., Chrysler Group LLCs product lineup features some of the worlds most recognizable vehicles models, including the Chrysler 300, Jeep Wrangler and Ram Truck. Fiat will contribute world-class technology, platforms and powertrains for small- and medium-sized cars, allowing Chrysler Group to offer an expanded product line including environmentally friendly vehicles. History In 1920, the president of Buick and Vice President of General Motors (GM) resigned his positions in the GM Corporation following political differences with founder and then-president of General Motors William Durant. This former automotive Vice President was promptly approached by a group of investors to focus his business acumen in the fledgling automotive industry on a small, financially troubled New York company called Maxwell Motor Corporation. The one-time automotive vice president was installed as president of Maxwell Motor Company (Hyde, 2003). The mans name was Walter Percy Chrysler. In short order, Walter Chrysler brought the Maxwell Motor Corporation out of bankruptcy. The financial improvement was due in large part to Mr. Chrysler introducing a new Maxwell model- the Chrysler Six (Hyde, 2003). This car was very well received by the automobile buying public and went on to sell 32,000 units in its first year, generating a profit of over $4 million for the small company. On the heels of the success of the Chrysler Six, Walter Chrysler changed the name of the Maxwell Motor Corporation to the Chrysler Corporation. Capitalizing on the success of the initial Chrysler model, Walter Chrysler introduced 4 additional Chrysler models know as the Chrysler 50, the Chrysler 60 the Chrysler 70 and the Chrysler Imperial 80. Interestingly the model numbers were derived from the top speed of these new vehicles as gauged on level ground. As a point of reference, Fords Model T was, until the introduction of the new Chrysler models, the fastest road car with a top speed of 35mph. I t was these new Chrysler models that caused Henry Ford to notoriously shut the doors of the Ford Motor Company for nine months to create a replacement for the Model T. By the time Ford closed its doors to redesign its offering, Chrysler had established itself as formidable competition. With sales of 192,000 of these new models, Chrysler officially became the fifth largest automobile manufacturing company in the industry (Hyde, 2003). Walter Chrysler determined that to achieve the greatest manufacturing cost efficiency, he would have to build his own plants to produce the various parts needed for his vehicles. The capital expenditure required to do this was estimated at $75 million. While successful, the Chrysler Corporation could not afford this capital expense and so Walter Chrysler contacted the banking firm of Dillon Read and Company in New York; a firm that fatefully had just purchased the Dodge Corporation from the widows of the late Dodge Brothers. Dillon Read and Company was eager to do business with the well known Chrysler Corporation. As part of the arrangement, the Dodge Corporation became a division of the Chrysler Corporation. This merger effectively increased the size of the Chrysler Corporation fivefold. Shortly after the merger, the Chrysler Corporation unveiled its new, low cost Plymouth and Desoto models. In a reversal of strategy, Walter Chrysler ended his drive to bring all manufacturing in-house. He was wise to see that the speed with which the automotive industry was growing demanded greater flexibility that in-house manufacturing could provide. Outsourcing automobile components was more expensive but allowed for greater flexibility and a more rapid development cycle in designing new models. In this same period, Walter Chrysler made research and development a budgetary priority. Research and Development persevered at the presidency of Chrysler was This foresight allowed Chrysler to weather the Great Depression and emerge in a more sound financial position than many others in the automotive industry (Curcio, 2000) In 1931, Joseph E. Fields assumed the presidency of Chrysler from Walter Chrysler and in 1936 Walter Chrysler fully handed of the daily operation of the company. At the beginning of the 1940s the Chrysler Corporation, along with most other large American manufacturers switched to wartime production. The Chrysler Corporations Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler models were put on hold while the company contributed to the production of wartime necessities including small ammunition, submarine nets and, perhaps most notably, B-29 bomber engines (Hyde, 2003). As American industry adjusted to post-war production needs, the Chrysler Corporation started to falter and performance began to wane. The vivacity and forward momentum that Walter Chrysler imparted to the company were no longer present. After the automotive technology boom of the 20s and 30s, the rate of innovate in the industry began to slow. Post-war Americas tastes began to change toward streamlined, nontraditional models and, at times, at the expense of reliability and built quality (Hyde, 2003). To some extent, flashy advertising was influencing buying decision more than quality, features and nameplate. Chrysler was detrimentally slow to react to this new America. In 1950, a long-time legal counsel for the Chrysler Corporation by the name of L. L. Colbert became president. He immediately took the reins of the company to institute managerial reforms with the help of a professional management consulting firm. Colbert concentrated on three areas; expanding into international markets, centralizing corporate management and refocusing the engineering department on innovation. Despite his decisive changes, Colberts efforts did little to improve Chryslers position in the industry. In two short years, Colbert was replaced as head of Chrysler by Lynn Townsend. In charge of the struggling company, Townsend proved to be more successful in his revival attempt. He sold, closed or otherwise divested of unproductive manufacturing facilities and downsized the labor force thereby improving efficiency. He purchased a single early model IBM computer which helped workforce reduction efforts by eliminating the need for almost 800 employees. The early 1950s saw the dawn of Total Quality Management Theory lead by pioneers in the field including W. E. Deming and A. V. Feigenbaum (Kreitner, 2007). Townsend seemed to take notice of this movement as his most notable achievement was a focused quality improvement effort that did boost sales and allowed Chrysler to offer a warranty unprecedented in the industry thus far. To further the momentum,. Townsend undertook an aggressive marketing campaign touting the new, improved quality of Chrysler vehicles. Where Colbert had failed, Townsend succeeded; Chrysler was again a stable, financially healthy and expanding corporation. As might be expected, with this new success came growth. In the midst of the American space age of the 1960s, Chrysler expanded to include an aerospace division and became a principal subcontractor for NASAs Saturn rocket program. Townsends consistent push to grow international business resulted in Chrysler plants in 19 countries by the end of the decade. At the onset of the 1970s, the American car market was feeling the effects of a rising consumer price index, increasing competition from foreign auto manufacturers, and the first signs of the crude oil crisis. In 1969, Chrysler reported losses of almost $5 million dollars and, with an infrastructure to support he growth of the 1960s, was operating at only 65% of capacity. Chrysler met this changing market climate with a product stable that included large, expensive, gas thirsty vehicles as well as smaller more economical cars. The company seemed more content to contend with the traditional American competition than to assess the changing market demand and consequently, Chrysler was faced with an excess inventory of the vehicles the market wasnt buying and a severe shortage of the vehicles the market was demanding. Despite significant price reductions to move its excess inventory, Chryslers financial fortune continued to slide. Chryslers presidency was assumed by John Riccardo. Ricardo, with an accounting background was intent on cutting operating costs. Total employment, payroll and individual budget area were affected by the cost cutting measures. This period also marks the first efforts to import and sell vehicles manufactured overseas. Chryslers shortsightedness with regard to market demand was not over. Despite the inconsistency between what the company was manufacturing and the market was demanding, Chrysler continued to make larger, less efficient models right into the Arab oil embargo. In 1974, Chrysler reported an unprecedented budget deficit of over $50 million. In 1975, the damage was five times as great at over $250 million in losses. The American auto market was severely impacted by several factors including inflation and the Arab oil embargo but Chryslers significant foreign interests were still showing a profit. This profit served to offset the domestic losses however, in 1978 Chrysler again reported losses of over $200 million. Riccardo continued to cut costs, consolidate the various divisions of the Chrysler Corporation and direct manufacturing efforts toward smaller, more efficient vehicles but the Chrysler Corporations financial health continued an unsustainable slide. Chrysler ended the 1970s on the brink of bankruptcy. The company was spared bankruptcy proceedings by federal intervention in the form of a $1.5 billion lifeline loan guarantee. This loan came with conditions including the requirement that Chrysler raise $2 billion in additional money on their own and they make significant management changes. This last requirement ended the tenure of J. J. Riccardo as president of Chrysler. Riccardo was replaced by charismatic industry veteran Lido Anthony Lee Iacocca. Where Riccardo was an accountant, Iacocca was adept at public relations and marketing. He employed these skills in communicating to both the workforce at the Chrysler Corporation and the public at large the need for federal intervention By the mid-1980s, the company was back on track and stronger than ever before. Chrysler benefited from the combined impacts of strong industry demand and shifting consumer preferences toward pickup trucks and minivans, products that dominated Chryslers lineup. By 1997, Chrysler reported annual sales of 2.9 million vehicles, record revenues of $61 billion, and record earnings of $2.8 billion. Chryslers year-end market capitalization was $22.8 billion and its US market share crossed over 16%. Chrysler had become one of the most profitable automotive companies in the world and had roughly $7.5 billion in cash on hand.2 Nick Colas, an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston, declared: Chrysler has a better business model for building and selling cars than General Motors and Ford do.3 As profitable as Chrysler was, however, the company was not capitalizing on the growth of the global automotive industry. Since the company had made limited investments in overseas markets up to this point, finding a partner made the most strategic sense. On May 7, 1998, Chrysler merged with Daimler, the leading German luxury car manufacturer, for $36 billion of Daimler stock, the largest trans-Atlantic merger in history. The merger was orchestrated in order to create an efficient and lean automotive powerhouse that would better compete in the global marketplace. The transaction was reported as a merger of equals in the business press. The combined company would have a market capitalization close to $100 billion. In 1997, Daimler reported revenues of $62 billion and net income of $1.8 billion. Though Daimler was soundly profitable and had a strong foothold in the European market with its Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, and Smart Car brands, Daimlers US market share was less than 1%.4 Daimlers management hoped that Chrysler would give the company greater inroads into the lucrative US automotive market with its extensive dealership network and powerful brand name. During the early 1980s, Iacoccas skills as a superb television salesman were of crucial importance as Chrysler lost nearly $1.8 billion in 1980the largest loss ever for a U.S. companyand another $475 million in 1981, before returning to the black in 1982. In August 1983 Chrysler was able to pay off the government loan guarantees seven years early, with the government making a $350 million profit on its investment. Chryslers road to recovery was a difficult one, demanding the closure of several plants and the reduction of the companys workforce. Once restructured, Chrysler scrapped its plans to diversify and divested the Gulfstream Aerospace unit it had purchased five years earlier, selling it to a New York investment firm for $825 million in early 1990. Two other units in the companys Chrysler Technologies subsidiaryElectrospace Systems and Airborne Systemswere slated for divestiture as well, which underscored Iacoccas intent to create a leaner, more sharply focused company. Meanwhil e, there were two key developments in the 1980s that helped form the foundation for the 1990s resurgence: the introduction of the minivan in 1984 and the acquisition three years later of American Motors Corporation and its Jeep brand for $1.2 billion. Reorganized as such, Chrysler entered the 1990s braced for a full recovery, but the economy did not cooperate. The decline in automotive sales during the fourth quarter of 1989the companys first fourth quarter decline since 1982portended a more crippling slump to come, as an economic recession gripped businesses of all types, both domestically and abroad. Net income in 1990 slipped to $68 million, then plunged to a $795 million loss the following year, $411 million of which was attributable to losses incurred by the companys automotive operations. Mired in an economic downturn, Chrysler appeared destined for more of the same, rather than headed toward recovery as Iacocca had hoped, but part of the reason for 1991s losses also led to the companys first step toward genuine recovery. Partly to blame for the $795 million loss in 1991 were the high preproduction and introduction costs associated with Chryslers new Jeep Grand Cherokee and increased production costs at the companys St. Louis minivan plant. These two types of vehiclesminivans and sport utility vehiclesrepresented the key to Chryslers recovery. The popularity of these vehicles, coupled with significant price advantages over Japanese models, fueled Chryslers resurgence. In 1992, Chrysler turned its $795 million loss the year before into a $723 million gain. It was a signal achievement, accomplished in Iacoccas last year as CEO. Taking over during 1992 was Robert Eaton, who was hired away from GM, where he was head of European operations. Chrysler then went on to enjoy its most successful year ever, with 1994 earnings of $3.7 billion on revenues of $52.2 billion. The good news at Chrysler continued into the late 1990s, after the company managed to fend off a $22 billion buyout proposed by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian in 1995. The long prosperity and low gasoline prices of the middle to late 1990s created a huge demand for large vehicles, and Chrysler was producing hot models in each of the hottest segments: the Dodge Ram pickup truck; the Town Country minivan; and several sport utility vehiclesthe Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Dodge Durango. Questions about the quality of Chrysler products continued to pop up, but the companys share of the U.S. auto market reached as high as 16.7 percent in 1996, the highest level since 1968. In 1996, the year Chrysler moved into new headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, sales reached $61.4 billion. The Creation and Early Years of DaimlerChrysler Daimler-Benz Chief Executive JÃ ¼rgen Schrempp had concluded as early as 1996 that his companys automotive operations needed a partner to compete in the increasingly globalized marketplace. Chryslers Eaton was drawing the same conclusion in 1997 based on two factors emerging around the same time: the Asian economic crisis, which was cutting into demand, and worldwide excess auto manufacturing capacity, which was looming and would inevitably lead to industry consolidation. With annual global overcapacity as high as 18.2 million vehicles predicted for the early 21st century, it became clearer that Daimler-Benz and Chrysler could survive as merely regional players if they continued to go it alone. After several months of negotiations, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler reached a merger agreement in May 1998 to create DaimlerChrysler AG in a $37 billion deal. The deal was consummated in November 1998, forming an auto behemoth with total revenues of $130 billion, factories in 34 countries on four continents, and combined annual unit sales of 4.4 million cars and trucks. The two companies fit well together geographically, Daimler strong in Europe and Chrysler in North America, and in terms of product lines, with Daimlers luxurious and high-quality passenger cars and Chryslers line of low-production-cost trucks, minivans, and sport utility vehicles. Although this was ostensibly a merger of equalsthe company set up co-headquarters in Stuttgart and Auburn Hills, naming Eaton and Schrempp co-chairmenit soon became clear that the Germans were taking over the Americans. DaimlerChrysler was set up as a German firm for tax and accounting purposes, and the early 2000 departures of Thomas Stallkamp , the initial head of DaimlerChryslers U.S. operations, and Eaton (who was originally slated to remain until as late as November 2001) left Schrempp in clear command of the company. During 1999 DaimlerChrysler concentrated on squeezing out $1.4 billion in annual cost savings from the integration of procurement and other functional departments. The company organized its automotive businesses into three divisions: Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars/smart, the Chrysler Group, and Commercial Vehicles. In November 1999 DaimlerChrysler announced that it would begin phasing out the aging Plymouth brand. The Debis services division was merged with Chryslers services arm to form DaimlerChrysler Services, while DASA was renamed DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. Late in 1999 the company reached an agreement to merge DaimlerChrysler Aerospace with two other European aerospace firms, the French Aerospatiale Matra and the Spanish CASA, to form the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). DaimlerChrysler would hold a 30 percent stake in EADS, which would be the largest aerospace firm in Europe and the third largest in the world. In early 2000, DaimlerChrysler set the lofty goal of becoming the number one automaker in the world within three years. The companys most pressing needs were to bolster its presence in Asia, where less than 4 percent of the companys overall revenue was generated, and to gain a larger share of the small car market in Europe. Filling both of these bills was DaimlerChryslers purchase of a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation for $2 billion, a deal announced in late March. The company later increased its interest in Mitsubishi when it purchased a 3.3 percent stake from Volvo. In another key early 2000 development, DaimlerChrysler agreed to join with GM and Ford to create an Internet-based global business-to-business supplier exchange named Covisint. DaimlerChryslers lofty goal would remain unrealized however, as the company faced a host of challenges. The Chrysler Group division was plagued by high costs and weak sales which ultimately cost James P. Holden his CEO position. Buoyed by its strong sales in the mid-1990s, Chrysler had spent heavily on product development in the late 1990s and bolstered its work force while costs were skyrocketing. By the second half of 2000 Chrysler lost $1.8 billion while spending over $5 billion. Dieter Zetsche was tapped to reorganize the faltering U.S. division. He launched a major restructuring effort in February 2001 that included cutting $2 billion in costs, making additional cuts in supplier costs, slashing 20 percent of its workforce, and making changes to Chryslers product line that included the elimination of the Jeep Cherokee (the Grand Cherokee remained in the product line) and the launch of the Jeep Liberty. At the same time, global economies began to weaken in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. To entice customers, car makers began offering buyer incentives that began to wreak havoc on profits. Industry analysts began to speculate that the 1998 merger may have been a mistakeSchrempps proclamation that the deal would create the most profitable car maker in world had indeed fallen short. In fact, the companys market capitalization was $38 billion in September 2003. Before the union Daimlers market cap had been $47 billion. Meanwhile, the companys Mercedes division plugged along launching the E-Class sedan, the SLK roadster, and the Maybach luxury vehicle. In 2003, Chrysler launched the Crossfire, a roadster developed with Mercedes components, and the Pacifica, a SUV/minivan. It also began to heavily market its powerful Hemi engine, which could be purchased for the Dodge Ram pickup and its passenger cars. In early 2004, Chryslers 300C sedan and the Dodge Magnum sports wagon made their debut. Competition remained fierce in the auto industry prompting DaimlerChrysler to make several changes in its strategy. In December 2003, the company sold its MTU Aero Engines business. That year the firm acquired a 43 percent stake in Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation hoping to cash in on Asias growing truck market. Perhaps its most drastic move, however, came in April 2004 when DaimlerChryslers supervisory board voted against providing funds to bailout Mitsubishi Motors, which by now was struggling under losses and a huge debt load. Mitsubishi played a crucial role in Schrempps Asian expansion strategy and it developed the platforms for Chryslers compact and midsize cars. The failure to provide funds put a strain on the business relationship between the two and threatened to result in huge problems for Chrysler, which had cut back on engineering capacity as it relied on Mitsubishi to develop its small and mid-sized cars. At the same time, DaimlerChrysler moved ahead in the Chinese marketwithout Mitsubishi and without another partner, Hyundai. To bolster is presence in the region, DaimlerChrysler restructured its joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. Ltd. and set plans in motion to tie up with Chinese Fujian Motor Industry Group and the Taiwanese China Motor Corporation to launch several cars in the Chinese market by 2005. Rumors circulated that DaimlerChryslers relationship with Hyundai was faltering as a result, and in 2004 the company signaled that it would sell its interest in the South Korean automaker. By 2004, Schrempps DaimlerChrysler was a far cry from what the 1998 merger promised to deliver. The companys financial record was lackluster, bogged down by Chryslers $637 million loss in 2003. DaimlerChrysler remained the worlds number three car maker, leaving the 2000 goalto become the number one auto company in the worldunfulfilled. Whether the merger would provide the hoped-for results remained to be seen. Literature Review Leadership is the process through which one individual influences the attitudes perceptions and motivations of other members of a group toward the achievement of a specific group or organizational goal (Greenberg Baron, 2008). Strategic leadership, by extension, is a leaders ability to foresee and proactively act on external conditions, and empower group members to implement change toward the strategic plan as necessary (Kreitner, 2007). Strategic change therefore is that change that happens as an organization moves toward the attainment of their strategic plan. (Kreitner, 2007). Strategic leadership is serves several functions, includes extending managerial influence through other group members, and makes organizations more able to successfully meet the need for change that is brought by ever quickening change in the market and market forces (Nickels et al., 2002). The ability to understand and analyze internal realities as well as market forces is a necessary component of strategic leadership. With this information in-hand, it is then necessary to perform complex information analyses. Appling a strategic management process successfully will aid in bringing about effective strategic leadership (Hitt and Keats, 1992). As this description suggests, strategic management is not without complexities, but it is critically necessary for successful strategic leadership. Many organization in todays business environment fall victim to the over-managed, under-led paradigm and so the understanding and successful implementation of strategic leadership is more important than ever (Kreitner, 2007). The successful application of strategic leadership starts at the top. By virtue of his or her position, the CEO should not consider delegating this specific duty to lower management. Once the CEO is effectively practicing strategic management, his or her methods may be adopted by other managers to effectively implement strategic management in the various divisions of an organization (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 1995). Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson (1995) formulated a strategic leadership model which consists of six components; Determining strategic direction, exploiting and maintaining core competencies, developing human capitol, Sustaining effective corporate culture, emphasizing social responsibility and ethical practices, and establishing strategic controls. (1) Determining strategic direction; (2) Exploiting and maintaining core competencies; (3) Developing human capital; (4) Sustaining an effective corporate culture; (5) Emphasizing social responsibility and ethical practices; and (6) Establishing strategic controls. Determining strategic direction of an organization involves using all information available on market, competition, core competencies and well as foresight and vision to clearly define long range goals for the organization (Kreitner, 2007). Strategic intent means leveraging the firms internal resources, strengths, opportunities and core competencies to accomplish the goals that have been defined in the strategic planning process. Strategic directions give the members of the organization a clear path to attainment of the set goals (Kreitner, 2007). An organizations efforts can be considered strategic intent exists when all members of the organization or united in their pursuit of the specific benchmarks set forth by the strategic plan and belive that these goals are attainable and attainment will enable the organization to have a competitive advantage over other organizations in their industry. (Kreitner, 2007). Intel, Canon, and Xerox Microsoft are good example of corporations that have clearly discernable strategic intents (Loeb, 1993). Clear strategic intent requires effective strategic planning and effective strategic planning requires long range vision and foresight, usually five to ten years into the future. This long range vision must incorporate organizational and human resource strategy, design strategy, product planning strategy and information use and information system strategy and, finally, it must provide for a system of strategic control (Hunt, 1991). Exploiting and Maintaining Core Competencies is the second of the six components. Core competencies are the internal and external resources and the body of capabilities and expertise that give an organization its identity in the market and ultimately, its competitive advantages. Usually, core competencies relate to an organizations ability to produce their main products, be they material of informational. Some examples might include industrial manufacturing, research, customer interfaces and customer service, retail sales, technology or even specific patents held by the company. Unique market positioning, and unique customer benefits or product value are results of core competency and so, these things should be analyzed when determining core competency. A good question to ask is: why do our customers do business with us?. A main responsibility of strategic leaders in business today is to first identify, and then strengthen and grow their core competencies. Once core competencies are identified, they can then be utilized. As strategic leaders, corporate managers make decisions intended to help their firm develop, maintain, strengthen, leverage, and exploit core competencies. Exploiting core competencies involves sharing resources across units. In general, the most effective core competencies are based on intangible resources, which are less visible to competitors because they relate to employees knowledge or skills. Effective strategic leaders promote the sharing of intangible resources across business units in their firms (Hitt and Keats, 1992). In many large, diversified firms, core competencies are developed and applied across different units in the organization (economies of scope) to create a competitive advantage. Miller Beer, for example, has applied marketing and promotion competencies across its multiple businesses (Maruca, 1994). In many multinational corporations, the development, nurturing, and application of core competencies also facilitate managing complex relationships across business operating in different international markets. Whirlpool has emphasized competency across country borders (Lei, Hitt, and Bettis, 1990). 3. Developing Human Capital Human capital refers to the knowledge and skills of the organizations work force employees as a capital resource (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 1995). Much of the development of American industry can be attributed to human capital. One-third of the gr

Luxury Goods and Jewellery in India Essay

The VERTU originally started in 1998 in Great Britain, now wholly owned subsidiary of Finnish company Nokia. The same year founder and Chief Designer, Italian Frank Nouvo began putting his ideas for Vertu on paper and the board of Nokia gave the project a green light. Frank Nuovo was a design strategist at Nokia from 1995 to 2006, when he left to become Vertu’s lead designer full time. Also in 1998 the company made it a company principle of hand making their products with â€Å"exotic, rare and naturally durable materials†. In 1999, their characteristic V form was established, and it is still highly visible across the Vertu product portfolio. In 2000 Vertu began taking shape as a company, locating their headquarters in England, and started an extensive Research and Development- project and decided on some of the parts that would go into the phones as well as some design decisions, such as the use of sapphire crystals as a design-tweak. Three years in to operations, Vertu was granted the Vertu Concierge Service as a patent and this is still one of Vertu’s edges in the luxury cell phones market. Vertu launched what they themselves call the â€Å"†¦first ever luxury mobile phone† near the Eiffel tower in Paris in 2002, the Vertu Signature. With the first phones now available on the newly created market for luxury phones, Vertu also had the opportunity to offer one of their customers help through the concierge service, with a flight from London to New York. In 2005 10. 000 concierge requests was made according to Vertu, a figure that is, and should be (due to their customers privacy), hard to confirm. In 2003 they open their 50th retail location. By 2010, Vertu had more than 90 own boutiques and was sold in over 600 locations in almost 70 countries, worldwide, according to Nokia`s financial statement for 2010. In 2007 Vertu went on a joint venture with Ferrari, creating an special edition phone marking the car company’s 60th anniversary. CONCEPT AND UNIQUENESS The concept of Vertu is to appeal to high-end customers who look for something unique in their mobile phones. Through meeting target customers standards about design, materials, price and brand Vertu has created a market for luxury mobile phones. The additional services, such as the Vertu Concierge give customers an elevated experience. â€Å"Vertu aims to enhance and enrich customers’ lives through the services and products we offer. This enrichment will now further extend to the experience in our stores with a focused, tailored approach to customer interaction. † by Perry Oosting, President of Vertu BUSINESS STRATEGY Nokia’s first idea was to create a phone that was completely contrary to the company’s mass phone distribution and enter the luxury market by creating the subsidiary company Vertu. In order to keep the luxury image and status of Vertu, the phone was not associated with Nokia’s mass mobile phones. During the recession in 2009, the CEO Perry Oosting, announced that Vertu was launching cheaper phones and accessories as a tool to keep up the market shares and survive the recession. Late 2011, the new CEO of Nokia, presented the new strategy; to use a new operating system from Microsoft for their smartphones. This resulted in a giant downfall in market shares. As mentioned above, Vertu’s flagship stores are located at the most exclusive shopping districts, amongst other Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, in order to be associated with the same luxury atmosphere as the neighboring brands. Vertu also put a huge emphasis on the store layout, everything from special glass for the display cases, to the floor and lightening. For the ultimate luxury experience, they also provide high personal service with top skills. For the exclusiveness and status of the luxury phone, it was chosen to be launched in connection with fashion shows at Paris fashion week and was thereby becoming to be viewed as a fashion brand instead of a technology brand. This was a strategic move to strengthen the image if the brand. Vertu chose to launch their products in the BRIC countries, which consists of some of the most emerging markets in the world today. Additionally, the Middle East and Japan are also two extremely important markets for Vertu, partly due to the strong technology awareness in these areas. The sales in these countries are larger than in the western countries and the luxury company is exploiting the new wealth of the generations with high luxury awareness and taste. In order to gain greater market share in the British and Hong-Kong market, Vertu has numerous joint ventures and partnerships with jewelry stores, such as King Fook Jewelry in Hong-Kong and Goldsmiths in Harrods, London. â€Å"We understand communications technology. We believe now that we understand the luxury industry. It will take something for competition to match that. † – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu, 2002 MARKETING MIX Product: Vertu sells hand-made luxury phones made from fine materials like gold, platinum and sapphire. Along with every purchase the buyer receives superior service and is entitled to free ‘concierge’ service which assists users with exclusive services like restaurant and hotel reservations, priority bookings, and a global recommendation network. Price: Vertu prices range from $5,000 to over $300,000. The prices vary with the different collections and the materials that are used in them. Place: Vertu phones are selectively distributed. They are available at company-owned boutiques and at other various company-selected luxury stores like London Jewelers, Goldsmiths, Tourneau and Colette. Vertu locates its stores in luxury shopping districts of large metropolitan areas and opens relatively few stores. The stores are small, intimate and have a luxury feel more like that of a jewelry store than a cell phone store. All sale locations can be found on vertu. com. Promotion: Vertu acquires much publicity from sales to celebrities like David Beckham, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. As well Vertu has collaborated with big brands before like Ferrari, Boucheron and Audemars Piguet. Vertu releases different collections at different times and will only make a certain number of phones in order to keep a prestigious image and attract buyers. Vertu has a website for publicity which features product descriptions and photos of celebrities who own Vertu phones. POSITIONING. Vertu was a pioneer in the luxury cell phone market and has positioned itself as the top-of-the-line targeting high-net-worth individuals. Vertu accomplishes this by using only the finest materials to manufacture their products which are all handcrafted ensuring that every product is of perfect quality. Vertu will release different collections each featuring different materials and designs which make the collections unique and prestigious; their most expensive line ever was the Signature Cobra designed by Boucheron, only eight were made and they cost $310,000 each. Vertu will often collaborate with other luxury brands, like Boucheron, Audemars Piguet and Ferrari, to extend their success and name in the luxury product world. Vertu offers superior and personalized service to its clients, including a free concierge service anywhere in the world, guaranteeing customer satisfaction and loyalty. They also position themselves by showcasing the celebrities who own their products as an indication that their products are for the rich and famous. Vertu has locations all over the world in 70 countries however they open relatively few boutiques solely in luxury shopping districts of large cities and thus are considered selectively distributed. Vertu boutiques are decadent, small, intimate venues which offer personalized service to clients wishing to make a purchase; the other stores licensed to sell Vertu products are also luxury stores like Tourneau Watches and London Jewelers in the United States, Bandiera Jewelers in Canada, Colette in Paris and Ernest Jones in London. Vertu very successfully maintains a prestigious image with its ultra-luxurious products and superior service through its positioning. VERTU SERVICES VERTU brand offers services that are unique, independent and carefully customized to the particular needs and desires of their customers. All services are integrated into gadget. VERTU CONCIERGE Vertu Concierge is added directly to the customer`s handset, offering luxury assistance and enrichment. The service is offered by voice call or email, and access through a dedicated key on the cell. At the moment of VERTU phone registration and activation of VERTU Concierge service, initial â€Å"fitting† call is proposed. It can be done immediately at purchase time or later up to client`s choice. The â€Å"fitting† call gives an opportunity to have full explanation of services offered by Concierge, as well as client can express her/his needs and desires which will be matched to this service. This includes the establishment of personal preferences, the range of the service they would wish and significantly, the sort of contact they wish to receive from Vertu. The Vertu Concierge Classic service offers the client with 24/7 access to a team of lifestyle managers, situated within a network of global centers covering all the main time zones including London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and San Francisco. Vertu Concierge also has managers on the ground in major destinations in order to create close relationships with specialist suppliers of goods and services specifically for Vertu clients. Many customers choose to use Vertu Concierge for their travel and lodging requirements as Vertu has protected exclusive opportunities for its clients. Vertu Concierge can contact the widest network of hotels, restaurants and airlines, and can as a result meet the exact preferences and expectations of their customers. Vertu Concierge clients may also ask for support with purchases ranging from small luxury items to accompaniments to their property range. Vertu Concierge is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese. Vertu Classic Concierge is included free of charge for one year from the date of purchase of a Vertu handset. VERTU CITY BRIEF. Vertu City Brief is a global digest of information covering more than 200 cities and destinations worldwide. Launched in September 2009, it is now one of Vertu’s most utilized services. Independently written for Vertu by experts in their respective fields, Vertu City Brief is available on Vertu handsets in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. Refreshed and updated on a regular basis, Vertu City Brief allows the user to hit the ground running on arrival in an unfamiliar territory or to explore new or exciting opportunities in their home town. If the customer does not see anything which exactly meets their requirements, Vertu City Brief is the perfect inspiration to begin a conversation with a Vertu Concierge Lifestyle Manager. VERTU SELECT Vertu Select delivers original articles selected to inspire, inform and entertain based on a user’s region, preferences and passions. Written by carefully selected global journalists, experts and organizations, the articles appear via the handsets RSS feed once a customer has registered their phone. Vertu Select is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. VERTU. ME Introduced with the launch of Constellation Quest in October 2010, vertu. me is a service that provides the user with a Vertu email account and effortless harmonization of the device’s lifestyle and business tools. Should the customer choose, the user’s emails, contacts, calendar and task information can be automatically synchronized with Vertu’s secure servers, giving the benefit of protected back up of their data. Vertu offers the consumer complete peace of mind. Should the handset be lost, this data can be retrieved and seamlessly downloaded to a replacement phone. The system also ensures that whenever the vertu. me account is accessed, whether from the phone, a home or office computer (PC and Mac) or via the web, this information is up to date. TARGET CONSUMER The Vertu mobile is a highly luxurious product, which doubtlessly is made to fit the extremely wealthy population of this world. The main customers are rich and found in the urban areas, who are constantly searching for the extraordinary products. Furthermore, their flagship- and department stores are situated in the finest areas, in order to attract the highly rich international shoppers. â€Å"These are people who buy the best quality watches, the best quality fashion devices† – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu The special features and services of the phone such as the â€Å"Vertu Concierge†, attracts customers who are constantly traveling worldwide – jet setters. The Vertu mobile was the first phone which was able function in over 180 different countries. This fact covered many needs and made it rapidly attractive for people who were constantly traveling such as celebrities and high ranked business people. In fact, Madonna, Beckham and Gwyneth Patrol were some of Vertu’s first users when it was launched. CONSUMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID Brand Salience For Vertu achieving right brand identity involves brand salience. People generally are not still aware of VERTU because it is relatively â€Å"young† brand and promotion is quite narrow. However their target consumer for sure can recall and recognize this brand. So conclusion here is that Brand salience is more depth than breadth. This basically means that even thou there are not yet many people knowing VERTU, but those who do , they know all insights of it, can easily recall it and understands what this brand is about. Brand Performance The product itself is at the heart of brand equity, as it is the primary influence of what consumers experience with a brand, what they hear about the brand from others, and what the brand can tell customers about the brand in their communication. Brand Performance relates to the ways in which the product or service attempts to meet customers` functional needs. This is on top level for VERTU brand. It is crucial to contribute to customers` desires, wants and needs. Vertu brand highly represents all what their HNWI customers want to have for paying a high price. The product is highly durable; it has distinctive logo, premium pricing and advanced technology in gadgets. Unique services provided for customers by VERTY also attributes to brand`s performance. Brand Imagery Another variable CBBE Pyramid is second type of brand meaning which involves brand imagery. Imagery deals with such a properties of a product, which meets customers` psychological needs. It is more about what people think of it, how they see it. VERTU`s imagery is extremely individualistic and stylish. When customer is buying VERTU cell he/she buys a beauty of it as well. As of VERTU`s customer has a strong judgment of a brand as high quality luxury product. Credibility is high and customer see VERTU as superior, advantageous brand. Brand Judgments Brand judgments focus upon customers` personal opinions and evaluation with regard to brand. This involves how consumer put together all from performance and imagery association to make kind of an evaluation. VERTU`s clients evaluate this brand as a high quality luxury brand. Brand Feelings This variable shows emotional response with respect to VERTU brand. It shows what feelings are evoked by the marketing strategy for the VERTU and how does it affect feelings about themselves and relationships with others. Customer of VERU is for sure status-conscious person. Customers of VERTU have a unique and warmth feeling about the brand. It can be exciting due to special relationship of beauty and technology in brand`s products. Customer feels it is trendy and relates to special status and therefore social approval. Customer feels high security within this brand due to all advantages provided. As VERTU makes consumer feel better self-respect, pride, fulfillment and accomplishment also occurs. Brand Resonance Final variable of pyramid shows brand relationships with a customer based on Salience, Performance, Imagery, Judgments and Feelings. As for VERTU even if general awareness is low the behavioral loyalty is very high, customer want to get back to this brand, consequently repeat purchase is possible. Brand loyalty is necessary but not sufficient for resonance to occur. Within VERTU brand customer is not returning to this brand again due to, for example, scarce of substitutes. VERTU attained their main goal- strong personal attachment to brand. It goes beyond of having just a positive attitude to view brand. Another important part of Resonance is active engagement. This probably is the strongest affirmation of brand loyalty. It occurs when client is willing to invest time, energy, money in to the brand. Constantly customers of VERTU are invited to special social events created by VERTU worldwide, and they are participating. Therefore VERTU has a very strong relationship with its customer. SWOT ANALISYS FOR VETRU STRENGHT * Masterpiece of design, engineering, and craftsmanship. * Was truly innovative pioneering brand * Strong reputation (Products have established strong reputation in their field) * Global expansion (Includes significant growth over last 10 years) * Customer service * Control of Quality(As produced just in one factory in England) * London Symphony Orchestra is creating ringtones exclusively for each model of Vertu WEAKNESSES * Extremely high production price (which leads to high product price) * Limited access as distribution is exclusive and limited (Missing opportunities for new customers) * Not able to buy online (More customers now go online). * Not enough technical innovation again (Many customers claim that gadgets are beautiful but not really practical) OPPORTUNITIES * E-business (launch â€Å"buy option† online) * Emerging markets * Mix VERTU styling with Nokia (in order to increase awareness ) * Change of consumer lifestyle (growing demand from young and senior people) THREATS * Increasing Quality of Competing Products and Number of those * Importance of counterfeiting (Chinese counterfeiting factories already picked up the idea) * Newer forms of luxury and innovation are constantly changing COMPETITORS. GOLDVISH Brand established in Geneve, Switzerland in 2003. Very Haut-Couture style but extremely not practical. Cells are difficult to buy, narrow distribution channel. View itself as a pioneering brand of luxury cell phone on official website which is obvious lie. The pioneering brand was VERTU. Only 3 lines of phones are developed since 2003. The most expensive gadget is â€Å"Le Millionaire† and it costs $1,000 000. MOBIADO Canadian-based manufacturer of luxury phones with modern minimalistic design launched in 2004. It has 3 main lines –Classic, Professional and Grand Line. Mobiado actively participates in social events in North America (such as Golden Globes and Couture Fashion Week in NY). The brand is not very popular in Middle East and Europe. Still Distribution channel is not wide enough. Price range is from $1,900 to $57,000 GRESSO Gresso is Russia-based company which started its activity in 2007, so it is the newest competing brand in luxury phones field. Gresso has 5 main lines and they also provide customized phone for their clients. But mostly popular in Russia and Vietnam, Ukraine and one distributor in USA so far, however it is compensated by their option to buy products online. For Gresso products price range is from $3,000 to $42,000. RECOMMENDATIONS Focused and customized segmentation is valuable in this market, so VERTU must continuously concentrate on their customers’ needs and desires. As any luxury company which faces constant global expansion it has to pay attention to counterfeiting problem. For example, Apple Inc. now faced big problem in China where whole Apple stores are opened and being â€Å"fake†. China already produces cheap unqualified cells, abusing the brand VERTU, so losses in long-run might be significant. VERTU must work on effective anti-counterfeiting strategy in order to preserve the â€Å"face† of the brand. During this study we have discovered that general awareness of the brand is still low, therefore VERTU might collaborate with mother-company Nokia in order to produce some kind of mix and make the brand more popular and easily recognized, as for example H&M and Roberto Cavalli collaboration. Vertu is constantly launching Limited Edition lines which are sufficient in this market, because â€Å"best consumer† wants something distinctive and really exclusive, and more important, the customer is ready to pay for that. Partnership with Ferrari, Boucheron and Ermenegildo Zegna increased popularity of the brand considerably. For that reason, we suggest VERTU to collaborate more also with fashion designers, thus gaining also â€Å"fashion† group customers. REFERENCES http://us. vertu. com/world-of-vertu/history/ http://i. nokia. com/blob/view/-/263802/data/1/-/form20-f-10-pdf. pdf http://www. cpp-luxury. com/en/vertu-lanseaza-o-gama-de-produse-mai-ieftina_444. html http://www. google. fr/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=vertu%20mobile%20strategy&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CGQQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered. mcgraw-hill. com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F007710708x%2F110214%2FGucciLouisVuitton_Vertu_CaseStudy. doc&ei=_GctT_WCE8HM0QWryK2tCA&usg=AFQjCNHW6_wzn1WCQxkM_OJSMTuizfXMcQ&sig2=MWFOk5Qo1sZB17F5_23Eew&cad=rja http://www. businessweek. com/globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb20071221_951028. htm http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm https://www. iveycases.com/ ProductView. aspx? id=52373 http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-services-overview/ http://mktg. uni-svishtov. bg/ivm/resources/CustomerBasedbrandEquityModel. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/ http://www. brandchannel. com/features_profile. asp? pr_id=61 http://www. prschool. ge/img/every_day/Fashion%20Marketing. pdf#page=155 http://www. zdnet. co. uk/news/desktop-hardware/2002/03/22/platinum-luxury-phones-have-no-competition-2107188/ http://www. goldvish. com/ http://mobiado. com/ http://www. gresso. com/ http://vertu.com/ http://www. linkedin. com/company/vertu/statistics. http://vertu. com/en/discover-vertu/history. aspx http://vertu. com/en/help-and-support/contact-vertu/where-to-buy. aspx http://money. cnn. com/popups/2006/biz2/cellphone/4. html http://www. allbusiness. com/retail-trade/apparel-accessory-stores-womens-specialty/4250840-1. html http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm http://www. unet. univie. ac. at/~a0025537/php/ABWLs/FK-Marketing/store3/Internet_Exercise_Vertu. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/.

Assess individual in health care Essay

Compare and contrast the range and purpose of different forms of assessment. Prior to moving into an organisation all individuals are assessed as are the care providers to ensure that placements can meet and preferences of the individuals. The organisation conducts independent assessments by a qualified key member of the team to assess the needs and preferences of the individual to ensure that the organisation have the facilities and resources to cater for them. The key areas for assessments for needs and preferences would be: Emotional Physical Social Leisure Key professionals then hold a Care Planning Assessment (CPA) meeting along the individual to discuss the outcomes of assessments. Active support is provided holistically within a role package for all individuals for all aspects of living. This is implemented through means of care plans and structured weekly planners. Before an individual is identified as needing specialist care and support, they must undergo a series of assessments. These assessments may not diagnose a learning disability, but they do decide whether the individual will receive social care. This explains the types of assessment an individual may undergo, including: – Official process or corporate screening procedures – Clinical assessments – Behavioural assessments – Holistic assessments – Person Centred Planning (PCP) – Comprehensive assessments and care plans A range of assessments can take place in the social care field where the differing assessment processes include: comprehensive assessment community care assessment multidisciplinary assessment needs assessment social functioning assessment psychiatric assessment risk assessment performance assessment health and safety assessment behavioural assessment Intellectual assessment. Any individuals moving in a care home need to be assessed which is call a pre-admission assessment. This assessment is held by a qualified member of a staff or the home manager. The organisation will take into consideration the activity of the daily living, the past medical history, social and personal background, a formal/informal assessment and a visual assessment is carried out. The pre admission assessment of individuals should involve: Name of the individuals, date of birth, marital status and address Next of Kin, relationships, family and friends involvement contact details and address GP name and address, Social worker name Cultural needs, religion/relevant policies, social background Past medical history, provisional diagnosis Equipment required prior to admission(walking aid, cot sides, specialised bed, pressure relieving equipment) The activity of the daily living: Maintaining a safe environment Communication Breathing Nutrition Elimination Hygiene Mobility Sleeping Pressure care Medication Physical capabilities Mental well being Knowledge & understanding of condition Dying 1.2 Explain how partnership work can positively support assessment processes Working in partnership with GP, Families, friends and other care professionals (social worker /advocate) give a better understanding of what care the individuals needs and if these needs are met. Having gained a lot of information about the individual the organisation will be able to build a better picture of the service user. This will highlight the principles which determine good practice including: – Choice – Rights – Respect and dignity – Individuality – Privacy – Confidentiality – Emotional needs (and empathy) – Independence – Valuing people The purpose of assessment is to describe and evaluate an individual’s presented needs and how he is to be supported to live a full and independent life. The impact of a person’s needs on his or her independence daily functioning and quality of life is evaluated, so that appropriate action can be planned. Assessment involves both the person with needs and professionals explanations how different needs interact. Working in partnership with other professional bodies ensures service users using services are benefited. However basic personal and holistic information is gathered from family, friends or people whom the service user was known to and previous life activities/background. This information helps to carry out assessment and build up care plan in such a way, and be sufficiently transparent, for individuals to: Gain better understand of their situation Identify the option that are available for managing their own lives Identify the outcomes required from any help that is provided Understand the basis on which decisions are reached  Appropriate service provision can then be planned both in the immediate and the long term to promote or preserve independence. One key principle is that the person’s views and wishes shape the assessment process. Individual is helped to prepare their contribution to the assessment and having the right information. Support and advocacy arrangements available will facilitate this. Assessment should be responsive to people’s changing circumstances of independence over time. Therefore an effective assessment of individual is crucial when appropriate of family members; carers and other care professionals are involved. Implementation assessment process by health and social care agencies will promote better care services and better outcomes for service users and more effective use of professional resources. Basic information will be checked and validated by the agreement of the service users to confirm that is up to date and accurate. Assessment builds a rounded picture of the service user’s needs and circumstances including not only health social care issues but also relevant : Housing Benefits Transport & other issues.  It is essential that the organization work in partnership with all of the people surrounding the individuals in order to ensure the best possible support and care is provided. This will include carers, families, advocates and other people. In order to work well in partnership, there has to be good communication and the organization will need to have good communication skills. Learning from others and working in partnership is important. It will help to understand the aims and objectives of different people and partner organization as they may have different views, attitudes and approaches. The organization will work together sharing relevant information with each other to ensure the individual receives the best support and care possible. These include: Doctors Other health professionals Nurses Social workers Advocates Physiotherapists Occupational therapists Welfare benefit advisors Personal financial advisors It is essential that everyone’s focus is on providing the best care and support to individuals for example:- Supporting the individual to achieve their goals and be as independent as possible. Respecting and maintaining the dignity and privacy of individuals Promoting equal opportunities and respecting diversity and different cultures and values Reporting dangerous abusive, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour or practice. Communicating in an appropriate, open, accurate and straight forward way Sharing knowledge and respecting views of others to achieve positive outcomes for individuals. 2.1 Initiate early assessment of the individual An early assessment of the individual is done on pre admission to the care organisation. The assessment of the service user needs and abilities is taken into consideration as person centred. As a manager I currently looked at:- Hearing/Sight/Speech – any impairment, aids severe/complete loss Comprehension – Clear understanding or any support needs Ability to make choices – Identify how the service user wants to append the day and agree â€Å"daily life† plan. Orientation – know where they are and review the service user safety and security Memory- need to assess capacity Well being – any anxiety, agitated /restlessness Mobility and Walking, Moving – complete moving and handling assessment sheet immediately on admission. Any risk identified include in care plan Potential to fall – Complete falls risk assessment immediately on admission. Dexterity – use of hands well and effectively. Oral care – How he/she clean teeth/ can he/she deal with their dentures Washing, dressing and foot care – identify preferred toiletries/ hairdresser/barber Re: hairdressing requirements or make observations on foot care ask if any problem. May consider visual assessment Skin condition – complete pressure sore risk assessment within 4 hours of admission. Any risk identified care plans required. Categorise pressure ulcers. Use body  map and wound assessment form. Photograph skin with consent and make a referral for specialist advice. Sleeping – Ask service user if sleep well or experiencing difficulty with sleeping, need night sedation or any warm drinks or reassurance. Medication – risk assessment and care plan required. Observe effect of medication and record outcomes. Arrange six monthly reviews with GP (as a minimum). If medication given covertly check capacity following the capacity assessment and arrange multi disciplinary assessment. Financia l choice/arrangements – check capacity Personal perspective – religious beliefs, cultural interests, education requirements and family involvement. Name of advocate, relationship and contact number. Nutritional risk – check level of nutritional risk using the MUST risk assessment tool. Complete MUST nutritional risk assessment within 24 hours. Any risk/problems identified: food diary and care plan required. Inform chef, consult dietician as required. Food and Preferences – Record any allergies or diets. Assistance in choosing meals, specific dietary requirements as a result of an allergy, medical condition or religious belief Drinking and eating abilities – eat & drink independently, guidance, prompting or help in cutting food/ need to be fed. Consider use of a fluid balance chart. Swallowing – Any swallowing difficulties, require soft diet, a liquidised diet/or thickened fluids; be at risk of choking or aspiration, assess risk of choking. Require feeding e.g. PEG feeding. Mood/emotion – what make him/her happy/sad? Complete geriatric depression scale. Low moods or mood swings /feel suicidal. Relationships and interaction – Relaxed, distressed behaviour/ frequently restless or agitated which impacts on their daily living. Observation if demonstrate intense anger or distress. Response to care intervention – ask what are their expectations? Able to make own choices, resistance to care or need encouragement. Urinary continence – How manage going to the toilet. Manage independently with aids. Ask for specific aids. If has a catheter what type. Faecal continence – how manage bowels. Continence assessment required specific aids. If has a stoma what type is this temp or permanent. Breathing – Any breathing problem, shortness of breath. Airway management e.g. suctioning, tracheotomy, ventilator, oxygen. Specify equipment & complete risk assessment. If smoker complete risk assessment. Pain – Have any pain, experiencing severe pain which is  difficult to control. Use assessment chart in conjunction with or alongside MARR Chart & CP-1-13(b). Refer to GP as required. 2.2 Support the active participation of the individual in shaping the assessment process All individuals are encourages and supported to maintain self identity and individuality. All individuals are encouraged to engage in their Care Plan Assessment (CPA) meetings, formulation of person centred care plans and integration into the wider community. Prior to CPA meetings their personal views, wishes, needs preferences and outcomes. All individuals are encouraged to express their personal views and preferences regarding all aspects of daily living including the care they receive within the organisation and outside resources. Care plans are person centred and are formulated with the input of individuals. CPA meetings are generally set for the individuals are invited to engage and discuss their own care package. Active support is provided holistically within a care package for all individuals for all aspects of living. This would be taking in consideration accessing in-house resources such as e.g. psychology therapy session. Supporting individuals to explore, maintain, and sustain family relationship and research facilities and resources. Al individuals are supported and encouraged to be independent in accessing other health professional such as G.P’s, dentists, opticians etc with the help of necessary staff advocate and liaise on individuals behalf’s. Individuals are offered talk time on a daily basis, this enables them communicate any feelings, wishes, needs and preferences and gain support for any aspects of life they may need. The organisation work in compliance with the regulation that w ould mean respecting and involving service users in shaping their care plan. The service users are enabled to make or participate in making decisions, relating their care or treatment. The individual is provided with appropriate information and support in relation to their care or treatment. Service users or those acting on their behalf are encouraged to understand the care or treatment and choices available and discuss with an appropriate health care professional or other appropriate person the balance of risks and benefits involved in any particular course of care. The service users or advocate are able to express their views as to what is important to them in relation to the care. Where appropriate provide  opportunities for individual to manage their own care and support them to promote their autonomy, independence and community involvement. Taking care to ensure that care is provided to service users with due to regard to their age, sex, religious persuasion, sexual orientation racial origin, cultural linguistic background and any disability they may have. The organisations also ensure that the service users’ human rights are respected and taken into account. Systems are put in place to gain and review consent form people who use services and act on them. Personalised care, treatment and support are given to service users for example:- Care and welfare of people who use services Meeting nutritional needs Cooperating with other providers Safeguarding and safety The organisation ensure applying person centred planning in all aspects of health and social care work particularly in relation to vulnerable individuals e.g. service users with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health issues, total communication, essential lifestyle planning and person centred reviews. Moreover working towards person centred outcomes e.g. satisfaction with care involvement and communicate with service users to find out their history, preferences and wishes. Work sensitively with service users who have an impaired capacity to express consent e.g. adapting working approaches using physical or communication aids, seeking help where necessary. It is vital to listen and respond to service users’ questions and concerns responding appropriately and work to resolve conflicts if consent cannot be established. Seeking extra support and advice where necessary. 2.3 Undertake assessments within the boundaries of own role As a social care manager I should be qualified and meeting the requirement of the CSSIW to be able to work accordingly to carry out service users’ assessment. Good working knowledge of care legislation and regulation and understanding of social care policy developments. I should have excellent verbal communications skills, time management and planning skills and comply with the relevant domains within the skills framework. As a social care manager the main focus of my work will be to undertake care assessments with service users whether in the organisation or pre-admission assessments. I will be working with the service users to develop their care packages which meet their preferred outcomes. As a Registered and qualified care manager I will be accountable for all my responsibilities. I have to contribute to the development of the service users to enable the empowerment of vulnerable individual and liaise with local and other services to promote access to them. I have to ensure in all my work that I recognise the diverse nature of the service user and deliver services accordingly. I have to undertake a timely assessment of an appropriate level and in depth with the service user to determine their level of needs in line with the Skills Framework. Where the service user has a carer I should offer them an independent assessment and identify the outcomes they wish to achieve in their own right and if the assessment is in line with framework policy. I also identify whether the service user or carer are within the framework eligibility criteria for services and inform them of my decision. As a care manager following initial assessment I should decide whether further specialist assessment are required and arrange them as necessary. This could be other specialist e.g. Sensory impairment Occupational Therapy from health or housing services District Nurse SENSE etc. Where Service user or carer does not meet the framework eligibility criteria I should work creatively with them to identify way in which they might make their own arrangement to enable them to achieve their preferred outcomes and care package. As a manager throughout the formation of the care plans, accesses to services are also considered. All service users are entitled to access services, but it is important that there are service users who may need more assistance that most in order to make that decision, for example individuals who suffer from dementia or those with learning disabilities. When making a full assessment of each service user, access to specialist professional support and advice are discussed. Specific services are accessed immediately in response to a service users assessed need, including (but not limited to) health care, nutrition and physiotherapy. However any  mental health needs are recorded and the relevant services provided. Medication needs are assessed and provided as appropriate. Palliative care plans are formulated where necessary. Advocacy services are fully available. 2.4 Make recommendations to support referral processes The referral process is a systematic approach to help service users use services or resources, with the aims of promoting wellness and enhancing self care and quality of care. By gaining their life stories during the care planning process, I can ascertain what may prove to be a positive stimulus for them. Care plans are not tick boxes; they require active engagement to promote the well being and independence of the service user. Continuity of care is an essential feature of the service users’ well- being. When making a referral I should identify: What kind of help the individual needs? Agency /resources that may help individual’s needs Getting the individual ready for the referral by helping her/him to deal with the feelings about asking for help. Individuals are referred to other professionals’ services for example:- Occupational Therapy District nurse if any concerns for pressure sore Speech Therapy Physiotherapy Swallowing Disorders (Dysphagia) in adults Sensory impairment (Blind, Hearing etc.) As a manager working with individuals needs referral to other professional is vital as to promote their well-being. 3.1 Develop a care or support plan in collaboration with the individual that meets their needs Completing risk assessments is another method and one which every care service must involve itself in a regular basis. Risk assessments are an essential tool for me as a manager to understand firmly what is happening to provision of care, whether reviewing medicines  distribution, manual handling, care planning or general health and safety requirements. The risk assessment of risk is part of the process of deciding on outcomes. In assessing risk I should looks at the balance between possible beneficial and harmful outcomes and the likelihood of their occurrence within a stated time scale. Risk assessment are carried out in great detail I ensure that once identified any measures needed to protect service users and staff are put into place as soon as possible considering policies and procedures to promote safety and well being of service users. Risk assessment involves the activity of collecting information through observation, communication and investigation. It is an ongoing process that involves considerable persistence and skill to assemble and manage relevant information in ways that become meaningful for service users as well as the practitioners involved in delivering services and support. To be effective it needs service users’ families, carers and practitioners to interact and talk to each other about making a judgement on any potential harm and measures to reduce this. However during the risk assessment the following should be considered: Individual with a disability or elder people should not simply be seen as the source of risk- their view of risk and that of their families and carers have a prominent place in the identification assessment and management of risk. When gathering information from adults and family/carers all staff need to emphasise the importance of information that is both accurate and ide ntifies any concerns or issues that may increase the probability of any harm occurring. There should be a focus on a person’s â€Å"strengths†. Consideration should be given to the strengths and abilities of the service users their wider social and family networks and the diverse support and advocacy services available to them. A person Centred Approach should be used to identify access and manage risk. An assessment and subsequent risk management plan needs to be clear if it is to protect the service users or others. Each assessment should identify a review date and include the signature of everyone involved in the assessment. Decision making in relation to risk must be clearly evidenced on relevant information. As a manager I need to recognise that there is joint accountability/ownership for risk decision. Practitioners and service users need to know that  support is available if things begin to go wrong. Information sharing needs to be part of the decision making process with regard to appropriate disclosure. This approach supports the recognition of an individual’s right to make informed decisions about the care or support they receive. Working in collaboration to support and meet the individual needs the key features are by person centred planning. There is an approach based on the principles of rights, independence, choice and inclusion of the Individual. As a manager taking into consideration the key legal principles and legislation will help to make informed decisions that promote both the involvement and interest of service users and their families. An understanding of the following legislation is important: Human Rights Act 1998 Disability Rights Act 1995 Mental Capacity Act 2005 Data Protection Act 1998 Health and Safety at work Act 1974 Moreover care Planning is all about improving the lives of those who receive care. Ensuring that I have adequate policies and procedures in place is the first step towards providing effective care planning. Amongst my documentation the care plans are the most significant I will maintain. They should be regularly reviewed and stored in a safe place. I will hold them in both physical and electronic formats and establish a schedule for the following: Full assessments to be undertaken prior to the provision of a service. This should include Mental Health Assessments, Consent Records, Personal Details, Health Details, Palliative Care Needs, Needs Assessment, Record of Involvement etc. Documentation is in place to ensure that the service user is being involved in the formation of their care plans. Cultural needs are being respected and considered. Long-term conditions are being considered. The well-being of the service user is actively promoted. The language used is clear and easy to understand. The service user must always be kept in mind when constructing their care plans, as they must be able to fully understand its contents. Care Plans take the form of  communication tools rather than dictates. A key worker system is in place to match individuals with staff. Relatives and other key individuals are involved in the care planning process. The human rights, dignity and any special concerns are always considered fundamental to the provision of care and the construction of the care plans. Awareness is present of different communication needs in order to inform care planning. Learning disabilities and conditions like dementia should therefore be considered when discussing the care plans for these individuals. Assumptions must always be avoided. Staffs are trained to understand the importance of verbal and non-verbal communication, with respect for situations which may impair understanding. 3.2 Implement interventions that contribute to positive outcomes for the individual The crucial element of care planning is to consider the individual in the process. As the care manager, I need to show that I am planning a service around the identified and agreed needs and desires of the individual rather than fitting a person in my service. In order to achieve best outcomes, I will need to consider how to ensure the full involvement of the individual. It may be that an official care planning document may be threatening and inaccessible. For example, I may be supporting a deaf person who uses British Sign Language, which may need to be translated in another language. Care plans documents vary and I do have some autonomy in terms of the design and content. However, it is important that I can clearly indicate the desired outcome for the individuals. The process for the development of individual care plans should start by gathering information from key sources. These could include; Ser vice user Generally family Social workers Current service providers General practitioners Other health professionals (e.g. psychologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists etc.) Community nurse Intervention and support is considered, once the goals or objectives have been agreed, I need to think about how to implement the plan. I need to be aware of the need for ongoing collaboration with the service user so that  outcomes will be more effectively achieved. I need to ensure that packages are effective throughout their lives and that service users are enabled to get the most from the package designed for and with them. In order to do this, I need to consider how to encourage constructive, ongoing feedback. I will gain a more balanced and useful picture if I invite feedback from a range of sources including: The service user The service user’s family The team members Partners involved in the caring process. Each package must be reviewed at least six month and any changes made. There are different ways of doing this: Meetings with service users to gather their views Internal review meetings Monthly update reports on progress and difficulties Staff meetings The involvement of an advocate for the service users Consultation with others, for example, family members, counsellors and other professionals. 4.1 Develop others’ understanding of the functions of a range of assessment tools As a manager my systems should provide a good framework for practice and ensure consistency for residents. However, most important is the training and awareness of the staff team. Initial training is crucial if staffs are to understand, not only the process, but the reasons for example: For managing medication in the prescribed way. The national minimum standards emphasise the need for accredited. It is also emphasises that the content of such training should include the way in which medication is used, the problems which can arise and the principles which have informed the policy on the management of medication. The most important mechanisms for providing support to resident and staffs are through staff training and development. The Care Standards Act 2000 prescribes in Standard 30 (30.4): That all staff receive a minimum of three paid training days per year ( including in-house training) and have an individual training and development assessment and profile. This minimum requirement will ensure  that team members meet the National Training Organisations workforce training targets and that my practice setting will therefore continue to meet the changing needs of my residents. As a manager, it is my responsibility to take into account and differentiate between individual team members’ abilities as well as their developmental needs. This will be in terms of their knowledge, skills and accredited qualifications and I will have to audit and supervise to ensure that they remain appropriate to their current roles. However this will consider training: Manual Handling Infection control Risk Assessment Care Planning Health and Safety Medications etc. As part of their training, most carers will be expected to develop the skills and knowledge to identify that a client has specific need. Having the knowledge of individuals’ diagnosis enables the staff team to ensure that choices offered and encouraged to individuals are suited to their personal limitations. This also promotes the well being and protection of individuals by having an in depth knowledge of mental health illnesses that could result in them having a detrimental effect on there well being and safety caused by their own behaviour, vulnerability and exploitation. There are also a number of physical conditions that can impair a person’s mental health (i.e.):- An individual whom has diabetes and as a result has a HYPER resulting in them becoming aggressive and disorientated this could be mistaken for the individual displaying challenging behaviour, therefore the staff team need to be aware and have the knowledge of the condition where individual will need medical attention. Another example could be an individual whom has moderate asthma leading to an asthma attack; staff team should have knowledge and understanding of this condition for intervention and treatment for the individuals seeking medical help. As a manager I support staff to observe and use best evidence and knowledge based practice in their work by assisting to identify training needs in these areas through reflective practice and supervision. I also coach and mentor staffs when working with individuals throughout the day the staff team also regularly  engage in reflect practice. There are many training manuals, text book and journals within the work place that staff have access to, enable them to improve their knowledge and understanding of individuals. 4.2 Develop others’ understanding that assessment may have a positive and/or negative impact on an individual and their families. Service users and carers’ families have a critical role to play in success for care planning, and care management. Their involvement is an integral part within each of the thematic headings outlined in this document. Involving them in the following ways:- Sharing of information in respect of the illness and reasons for being there. The assessment process including risk assessment. Safeguarding and developing key social supports networks. The choice of accommodation. Families involvement may sometime cause negative impact on service users well being. For example for (Domiciliary care) Families insisting to shower a service user where no hands are rails are in place, and no appropriate equipments according the service users condition/mobility. Families may think that a service user is not receiving proper hygiene care, whereas on the other hand not taking into consideration the health and safety factor. 4.3 Develop others’ understanding of their contribution to the assessment process. All care staff attends detailed care induction programmes and their ongoing progress is evaluated through regular mentoring and appraisals. Annual training updates are compulsory for all staff. For examples below organisation’s care worker training programme includes: Health and Safety 1974 RIDDOR/COSHH Food hygiene Personal care Back care Communication Bereavement Record keeping Challenging behaviour Confidentiality/Data protection Moving and Positioning Fire safety Emergency First Aid Medication Specialist training dementia Every care worker spends time shadowing more experienced colleagues and is fully supported by the management teams. As a manager I encouraged all carers to undertake further qualifications and wherever possible and provide them with opportunities to extend their studies. All staffs are continually assessed during regular supervision sessions. Carers play a vital role in providing care to people in the care home. As a care manager I encourage staff to carry out health and safety assessments all the time on service users and to report to me any concern. Staffs are made aware about the legislations and why it is important for them as they need to work according to regulators to avoid any mishap. For example: – equipment out of order. 5.1 Review the assessment process based on feedback from the individual and/or others. The organisation aspires to best practice as set by CSSIW in developing implementing, monitoring reviewing service delivery/care plans. Care plans are formulated with where possible with the individual and implemented daily throughout the staff team and staff work in accordance to any guidelines that interlinked with care plans along with risk assessments. Throughout my working role and responsibilities I monitor care plans daily to ensure they are maintained and sustainable. Care plans are reviewed within allocated time scales. Some of the relevant legislation that effects my work roles in regards to service delivery and care plans are:- Health and Safety Act 1974 Care Standard Act 2000 Human Right Act 1998 Data Protection Act 1998 Mental Capacity Act 2005 Mental Health Act 1983 NHS and Community Care Act 1990 Under care standards every individual has the night to have their needs assessed and have these met as far as possible. Within the organisation individual’s needs are constantly changing and being reviewed due to nature of the individuals whom we support and cater for. As a manager I carry out monthly audit anybody involves in the care home e.g.: GP, OT, District Nurse, Service User, Chiropodist, Physiotherapist Speech Therapist Dentist Opticians Dietician Mental Health (Psychiatrists) Social Services CPN As a manager I generally invite all outside agencies and key professionals to complete service questionnaires to enable us as an organisations to maintain and strive for the highest standards of care. As gather feedback from these professionals, whether they think my referrals were relevant and appropriate with my care organisation. I asked them how they feel I have used their knowledge within the time scale. As a manager I include also about outcome. 5.2 Evaluate the outcomes of assessment based on feedback from the individual and/or others. Based on feedback from other professionals involved in service users’ care. We did receive some constructive feedback about how we can improve our performance and service. GPs stated were satisfied with the service provided to our service user and that our care planed it very much up to date. The District Nurse stated in their comments that they are very satisfied about following appropriate treatment and service users are being referred. Service users families are very satisfied as their loved one is  having appropriate care and is well looked after. They are well pleased about the way the service users can make her choice on her care having review meeting on the care planning and taking their concern into consideration. 5.3Develop an action plan to address the findings The purpose of the Action Plan is that a person receiving services has an individualized, personalized plan for their supports, formal and informal. The plan identifies the supports the person has chosen to use, the person’s intention or desired outcomes of their supports, who is responsible for the supports, and, how and when those supports will be reviewed for effectiveness. The plan provides a written summary of Issues and Goals, the Plan/Strategy of each support, the Responsible Person(s) for providing that support, and the Target Dates for completion. The plan is intended to assist the person, and the people who support them, to better understand the intent and purpose of the supports, and who is responsible to carry out each part of the plan. It should be written so that the person can easily understand and refer to it. It should enable a person to easily review their plan and the agreements that have been made. The plan also allows the person to build upon their own strengths and be an active participant in their supports. A plan is completed at the time of initial assessment, should be regularly discussed by the person receiving supports and their case manager, and updated as a person’s support needs change. Progress, lack of progress, and changes to the plan are recorded in the person’s file. Any significant change that triggers the need for a new assessment must also trigger the need for a new plan. I have produced few examples below for action plan:- Client Name: Michael Cornell Date: April 12, 2010 Issues and Goals Plan/Strategy Target Date 1. Issue: I feel down a lot. Goal: Increased energy and interest in their hobbies. -Refer to Elder Care Clinician for further assessment and treatment. 15 April 2010 2. Issue: Not eating well and losing weight. Goal: Eat well to manage my diabetes and gain 10lbs. -Refer to Nutrition Director at CVCOA for nutrition consult for Michael & Jennifer. -Refer to Meals on Wheels (MOW) 2x a week. -Jennifer wants to cook evening & weekend meals. -Michael will have nutritious meals at Barre Project Independence (BPI) 3x a week. -Michael, Jennifer & Marie will review in 3 months progress toward goal. 20 April 2010 Issue: Assistance needed with personal care, dressing, bathing, laundry and housework. Goal: Michael will have the PCA assistance he needs 7x a wk. For independence in his home. Provide PCA 7x a wk. For personal care. 13 April 2010 Michael’s spiritual needs are not being met. Goal: Michael’s spiritual needs will be met through visits from his minister and attending church. 2 -Michael would like Jennifer to call the minister, Barbara Watkins to arrange for a visit. -Michael will let Barbara know that he would like spiritual visits 1-2 x a month if possible. -Jennifer agrees to bring Michael to church 2x a month. Michael’s friend John will bring him 2 x if Michael wants.