Astor Lodge & Suites Inc Case Study

Astor Lodge & Suites Inc

Astor Lodge & Suites Inc Case Study

Order Instructions:

2. Assessment A1 – Assessable Case

Due 13 October (submitted to Turnitin)
Astor Lodge & Suites, Inc (35%) –

Kerin & Peterson page 338 Case Questions:

A: Specific Case Questions – worth up to 17.5%
Section A
One
1. How would you characterise the U.S. hotel industry in early 2005

Two
2. What is the current competitive positioning for Astor lodges & Suites, Inc

Three
3. How would you characterise the operational (e.g. occupancy rates, prices, costs per room,
etc) and financial performance (e.g. EBITDA – Earnings before interest and taxes and direct admin expenses) of Astor lodges & Suites, Inc. You need to be able to link sales and marketing expenditure to corporate financial metrics.

Four
4. Given Mr James charge to the senior vice president, how would you portray and assess sales and marketing initiatives, expenditures, and outcomes for fiscal 2004 and 2005?

Five
5.What should Kelly Elizabeth propose in her fiscal 2006 sales and marketing plan and budget

Astor Lodge & Suites, Inc (17.5%) – Kerin & Peterson page 338

Criteria for Part A
• • Maximum length 10 pages excluding appendices; cover page and table of contents. Your write-up can be a mixture of bullet point form and essay style [Times Roman, 12 point font single spacing, 2.5cm margins]. Answer each question separately.
• • Use headings to highlight which questions you are answering. Structure your answers using sub- headings if necessary to make it clear that you have used an analytical approach to reach your answers. The grader will be treating (apparently) random lists of issues with caution.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Contents

1.0 Introduction. 3

2.0 The U.S. Hotel Industry during the Early 2005. 3

3.0 Competitive Positioning for the Astor lodges & Suites. 5

3.1 Porter’s Five Forces. 6

3.11 Bargaining Potential of Suppliers. 6

3.12 Bargaining Power of Buyers. 7

3.13 The Intensity Competitive Rivalry within the Market. 7

3.14 Threat of Alternatives. 8

3.15 The threat of new Entry. 9

3.2 SWOT Analysis. 10

3.21 Strengths. 10

3.22 Weaknesses. 10

3.33 Opportunities. 11

3.34 Threats. 11

4.0 The Operational and Financial Performance of Astor Lodges & Suites. 11

5.0 Sales and Marketing Initiatives, Outcomes, and Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005. 14

6.0 Proposal for Sales and Marketing Plan and Budget for 2006. 16

7.0 References. 19

Astor Lodge & Suites Inc Case Study

1.0 Introduction

The Astor Lodge & Suites Company was founded in 1979 and owns over 250 properties nationwide. It is the owner of 200 Astor Lodges and 50 Astor Lodge & Suites across the United States. The two major services that the company offers are Aston Lodge Economy Class Hotels and Aston Lodge & Suites Midscale Class Hotels. The top competing points for the hotel are service, price, and amenities. The company has six hotel segments including luxury, upper scale, upscale in the full-service hotels and midscale food and beverage, midscale, and economy in the category of limited-service hotels (Seoki et al., 2014, 87). This paper aims at exploring the characteristics/features of the hotel industry of US in the early 2005, identifying and evaluating the present competitive positioning that is associated with Astor Lodges & Suites Company, characterizing the financial and operational performance of Astor Lodges, portraying and assessing the sales and marketing initiatives used in Astor Lodges and offering recommendations on what should be in the firm’s sales and marketing budget schedule for the financial year 2006.

2.0 The U.S. Hotel Industry during the Early 2005

The period around the late 2004 and early 2005 in the hotel industry across the United States was characterized by a return on revenues following declines in the previous years. The lodging industry particularly returned to positive profit growth. It is estimated that a typical hotel in the country during this period achieved an 11.4 percent increase in profits compared to the previous years. The improved profitability followed a three-year recession in the hotel industry that pushed unit-level hotel profits to a 36.2% decline during the period between 2001 and 2003 (Singh et al., 2014, 205). Nevertheless, this improvement in revenues was still low and far from the previous levels achieved in the late 1990s.

During the early months of 2005, the hotels in the U.S recorded a 7.6% increase in their total revenue which in turn led to the 11.4% growth in operating profits. Indeed, the larger hotels with higher rates of rooms experienced the greatest increase in profitability. The resort hotels realized the greatest increase in profitability with their overall revenue growing by up to 9% and operating profits growing by about 17%. The combined revenue from the beverage department, rentals, food department, and other operated departments increased by 6.3%. Food revenues recorded the highest growth at 6.9% while the rental and other income grew by only 4.3%. Since the number of rooms occupied only grew by 4.3% it can be argued that some of the additional revenue sources increase emanated from the increased usage of hotel restaurants, retail shops, lounges, and recreational facilities in the hotels. Additionally, the cost of running these departments only grew by 5.9% thus indicating that the supplement revenue sources equally contributed to the overall increase in hotel profitability (Seoki et al., 2014, 89).

Operating costs constituted 45.9% the bulk of which emanated from labor and related costs expenses. The 6.3% increase in labor and related costs during this period contributed greatly to the 6% percentage increase in the total operating costs for the hotels. This implies that the overall operating costs excluding that of labor grew at a pace higher than the 6%. There are two components of hotel labor costs; employee benefits and wages and salaries. There was a noted 8.9% increase in employee benefits and 5.5% in salaries and wages. Consequently, undistributed operating costs increased by 6.5% (Singh et al., 2014, 209). Due to their nature (fixed and not greatly influenced by the changes in hotel business volume) they can be viewed as intentional costs by the management. The highest rise in undistributed operating cost was experienced in the administrative and general department which grew by 7.3%. Insurance costs in the hotel industry contrary to other operating expenses started stabilizing during the 2004/5 period. For instance, on average the hotels paid 1.8% less for general liability and property insurance during the period than previously (Seoki et al., 2014, 89).

Generally, the hotel industry in the U.S in 2005 can be described as being very fragmented with no one brand or company controlling a majority of the total hotel rooms. Overall, the major competing points for hotel were amenities, service, and price. Typically, full-service hotels provided food and beverage outlets such as lounges and restaurant, luggage service, a concierge, convention/banquet/meeting facilities, and room service. Limited-service hotels offered rental rooms and include midscale without beverage and food. All hotel segments have particularly indicated improved performance in terms of average daily rate, revenue per available room, and occupancy in early 2005.notably, the five major hotel segments indicated great variance on these measures of performance with the luxury hotel segment recording the most improvement.

3.0 Competitive Positioning for the Astor lodges & Suites

Competitive positioning focuses on the aspect of differentiation with the aim of winning the mindshare of the industry or market. Various models can be employed in the determination of a firm’s competitive positioning in the market. One of these models is porter’s five forces model, which contributes significantly to the determination of a company’s competitive positioning in an industry. Besides, this model can be employed in the determination of the level of attractiveness of a market (Seoki et al., 2014, 56). This framework is founded on the notion that there exist five forces within a market that determine its attractiveness and competitive intensity. This model assists in identifying position of power in a business situation as in the case of Astor Lodges. The model is significant in the comprehension of the strengths/power of a firm’s current competitive position alongside the strength into which the business may choose to look. This model is employed b strategic analysts in identifying areas of strengths, improving weaknesses and avoiding mistakes. The five forces associated with this model are bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, competitive rivalry within the market, threat of alternatives and threat of entry of novel/new firms. In addition, the SWOT analysis can be employed in determining the competitive position of Astor Lodges in the Industry.

3.1 Porter’s Five Forces

3.11 Bargaining Potential of Suppliers

This element is employed in the assessment of the easy with which suppliers can drive up or increase prices. The strength of suppliers in the market is determined by the number of suppliers supplying each essential raw material, uniqueness of the supplier’s service or product, relative strength and size of the suppliers, and the expense of alternating from one supplier to the other. In relation to this, it can be noted that the bargaining potential of suppliers in the industry in which Astor Lodges operates is high. The suppliers’ power is associated with presence of many firm in the industry to which the suppliers can shift their services (Seoki et al., 2014, 58). Some of the firms that exist in this market are Marriott, La Quinta Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites and Fairfield Inn. The presence of many companies within the industry subjects companies like Astor Lodges to intense competition approaches, which are aimed at attracting suppliers. Thus, firm have to ensure that they offer better contracts or payments to suppliers to avoid losing them to their rivals.

3.12 Bargaining Power of Buyers

As an aspect of determining a firm’s competitive position, the element of buyers’ bargaining potential involves the evaluation of the ease with which buyers can drive prices down. The strength of power of buyers in market is determined by the significance of every buyer to the organization and expenses involved in switching from one firm to the other. Currently, the bargaining power of buyers in the US hotel industry is high. The buyers obtain their strength from the fact that this industry is characterized by a monopolistic model, which is always associated with the ease of entry of new firms in the market (Seoki et al., 2014, 62). As a result, the industry has many companies, which raises the strength of buyers as they can easily move from one business to the other. As such, companies such as Astor Lodges should focus on providing suitable services and product to buyers to avoid losing tem to other businesses. Specifically, the lodging industry as a monopolistic competitive market possesses the following features;

Differentiated products
Ease of entry for new firms
Many sellers

Multiple dimensions of competition

3.13 The Intensity Competitive Rivalry within the Market

This principle driver of this aspect is the number of and potential of competitors existing in the industry of market. In a situation in which the market has many competitors offering undifferentiated commodities and services, such a market is often associated with low attractiveness. High number of competitors in the firm often leads to a high intensity of competitive rivalry. On the other side, the existence of few firms in the market leads to a lower intensity of competitive rivalry. Being that the hotel industry in which Astor Lodges operates is associated with the monopolistic model new firms can easily enter it(Seoki et al., 2014, 64). Taking this aspect into consideration, the US hotel industry has many firms, which has resulted into a higher intensity of competition among businesses. Firms in this market struggle to beat each other by winning more consumers. Thus, Astor Lodges should ensure that it focuses on strategies that make it look unique in relation to its competitors as this can help it attract more buyers than them.

Competition within the hotel industry in U.S assumes a monopolistic model which implies that the company can only be able to influence the market position through altering the kind of product they offer to the market. Customers in such an arrangement are have clearly defined preferences concerning the products or services that expect from the company (Seoki et al., 2014, 67). As such, the company will always strive to differentiate their products from others from their competitors. In this context, it can be argued that a monopolistically competitive hotel will always manage to exploit the heterogeneity of its brand in order to reap high profits. Astor lodges & Suites being part of this monopolistic competitive industry has different types of hotels. Getting the many hotels to act as one proves to be a difficult task for the company’s management.

3.14 Threat of Alternatives

In a situation in which the industry is associated with the existence of close substitute services or products, the probability of buyers shifting to alternatives is often higher. On the other side, when the industry lacks close substitute services or products, the likelihood of buyers moving to alternatives is always lower (Singh et al., 2014, 61). Taking the two aspects into consideration, the hotel industry in which Astor Lodges operate is associated with the existence of alternative in relation to the services offered. Firms in this industry offer tow forms of services that are close to each other. There are firms that offer full-services by providing beverage and food outlets like restaurant and lounges, luggage service, convention/meeting facilities, a concierge and room services. On the other hand, there are organizations that offer limited-services. Taking the tow aspects into consideration, Astor Lodges & Suites is positioned as a limited service hotel and falls between the full-service and economy hotels. As such, the company is not faced with the threat of alternatives as it provides all the services that are offered in the industry. Moreover, the existence of Astor Lodges between economy and full-service hotels, implies that it is fighting other common names in this segment as Hampton Inn & Suites, Fairfield Inn, La Quinta Inn, and Marriott (Singh et al., 2014, 207). It is important to note that these are not necessarily competitors of the hotel. The top competing attributes for company are amenities, service, and price.

3.15 The threat of new Entry

Markets that are profitable attract new firms, thereby eroding the profitability that is associated with such markets. Unless incumbents possess durable and robust barriers to entry, then the profitability levels associated with such markets will decrease to a competitive rate. In relation to this, the US hotel industry can be considered profitable. In early 2005, hotels in this market were noted to have realized a total revenue increase of 7.6%. The increase in total revenue resulted into the growth or increase in operating profits to 11.4% (Seoki et al., 2014, 89). As such, new firms can be attracted easily to this market coupled by the fact that the market is associated with a monopolistic model that allows for easy entry of businesses.

3.2 SWOT Analysis

This model focuses on the strengths, opportunities, threats and weakness that are associated with the firm and market in which it operates. SWOT analysis offers a suitable platform on which Astor Lodges’ competitive position can be determined in an effective manner.

3.21 Strengths

The hotel has a strong leadership dedicated to increasing and attracting more occupants for the hotel
The embracing of the online communication platform is a big addition for the hotel in capturing business travelers
The location of most of its hotels along major highways, airports, large shopping centers, and office complexes is a strong business strategy
Currently the hotel is recording an above average occupancy rate with Astor Lodge & Suites Inc.
It is also enjoying a high brand loyalty
The hotels are recording a high revenue growth rate.

3.22 Weaknesses

Complaints from most business guests since the hotel is seen as more adopting a business model inclined to vacationers
Trends of its main target guests are changing.
There is a projected increase of 2% in terms of direct cost of rented rooms.
The hotel experiences low occupancy rates during the weekends.
It is experiencing fiercer competition.

3.33 Opportunities

Their prices are lower than the industry averages at $57.52 against the industry average of $61.50.
The hotel industry in the country is experiencing a 7.6% growth
Special offers for guests.

3.34 Threats

Challenge presented by terrorist acts slowing down travel.
Competition from large hotel chains such as Hilton.
Its frontier strategy has not yet been rendered effective.
Other major competitors have more property, greater presence and big reputation in the U.S.

4.0 The Operational and Financial Performance of Astor Lodges & Suites

Finance and operational performance of a company contributes significantly to the determination of its success in the market. Improvements in group, individuals or organizational performance cannot be realized in the absence of proper mechanisms of obtaining performance feedback or results. Feedback refers to having results of a task communicated to work group, employee or company. For organizations, performance measurement acts as a link between organizational goals and decisions. As such, managers should ensure that they are involved in active processes of evaluating their firms’ performances in relation to finances and operations for them to accomplish their business goals (Seoki et al., 2014, 78). Besides, this undertaking ensures that managers can make proper decisions on how the companies’ goals can be met.

Performance measurement provides a suitable platform on which suitable methods improving the company’s weaknesses in the evaluated areas can be established. Performance measurement focuses on two broad categories that include financial performance and operational performance (Singh et al., 2014, 109). Financial performance measurement focuses on the evaluation of the company’s income status while operational performance measurement focuses on the evaluation of the determinant of a firm’s results. Examples of results’ determinants in a company are inputs such as flexibility, quality, innovation and resource utilization.

Measurement of the business’ performance often takes into consideration five principle elements that include money, input/output associations, customers’ emphasis like quality and human resource. Within the area of operations, the measurement parameters that are often considered are quality measures, productivity measures, preventive maintenance, lead-time measures, utilization and performance to schedule (Seoki et al., 2014, 73). In this area, the specific measurement include cost of quality that is evaluated as budgeted versus exact/actual, variances that is evaluated as standard absorbed expenses verse actual costs, safety that is measured based on a common scale, profit contribution that is measured based on a common scale or measured dollars, and inventory turnover that is measured in terms of actual turnover versus budgeted turn over.

While measures of firms’ financial performances are always employed in gauging organizational performance, certain companies have witnessed negative outcomes from depending solely on such measures. In the real sense, traditional mechanisms of measuring the performances of firms are better at evaluating the consequences of past actions or activities than at projecting the performance of the future (Singh et al., 2014, 209). As such, managers should ensure that they do not depend on a single set of measures for them to realize clear targets. Many companies still depend on measures of efficiency and cost, when in some situations, such approaches as quality, services and time would be more suitable approaches. To be effective and efficient, performance yardsticks need to be subjected to a continuous evolvement so that they can manage to assess performance properly and target resources at continuous development.

The years 2004 and 2005 were part of the five consecutive year long profit draught for the Astor Lodges & Suites. Joseph James, the new CEO that the company had acquired developed a goal in which the company was expected to achieve profit within the following two years. The company with 250 properties across ten states in the Midwest had recorded a net-loss of $ 15.7 million (Singh et al., 2014, 209). As a result, four senior vice presidents were requested to meet and present the effects of the past five years. In addition, Kelly Elizabeth, a very experienced player in the marketing filed was brought on board to assist in underpinning the issue and in devising a new strategy to realize profits.

The marketing plan was expected to increase the overall occupancy. It was designed to attract pleasure travelers. An increase in the marketing plan advertising resulted in significant increase in media advertising budget to $ 11,360,000 (Seoki et al., 2014, 92). The marketing plan achieved the projected objective of increasing occupancy and weekend occupancy. However, the average daily rate did not change. The overall effect is that the lodging revenue and the revenue part room increased.

The projected annual revenues growth from the lodging segment was 7.4% for the year 2005. This was slightly below the industry average but at the same time higher than the growth rate in the segment. The company recorded a net loss for the third year while the industry recorded profits. As a result, the company had to close two under-performing lodges and opened one suite property. The projected consolidated company occupancy reached to 67.1% with average daily rate of $57.52 and revenue per room at $38.60 (Seoki et al., 2014, 94). Properties recorded an improved occupancy rate per room in 2004 but slowed in 2005. This is attributed to the free-night stay deal. Lodging expenses were projected at $211 million for the year 2005 including variable costs, utilities, direct labor, and supplies. Other expenses were estimated at $62.5million. Corporate expenses were estimated at $44.9 million, a $ 5.9 million increase from 2004 as a result of increased employee compensation, IT expenses, costs on sales and marketing, and health insurance (Singh et al., 2014, 208).

5.0 Sales and Marketing Initiatives, Outcomes, and Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005

The evaluation of a firm’s marketing and sales initiative is significant in ensuring that businesses develop suitable decisions on the selection of appropriate sales and marketing approaches. Marketing and sales initiatives serve as a game plan to the realization of the firm’s objectives. After the attainment of the company’s objectives, managers should ensure that they are involved in active evaluation of the sales and marketing initiative that their companies employed in achieving such goals (Seoki et al., 2014, 94). Such an undertaking is significant in evaluating and revealing how well a business has exploited the existing marketing opportunities within an industry using its capital resources and sales/marketing staff. Evaluation of the sales and marketing strategy can be accomplished using six steps.

The first step involves reviewing the initial/original goals of sales and marketing. Conducting this step is significant in addressing the changes in the sales/marketing goals that might have been encountered during the implementation process without the knowledge of the sales or marketing team. The second step involves the identification of the performance gaps that exist in the marketing or sales objectives. This process acts a suitable method of examining the company’s sales or marketing goals after the attainment of their deadlines (Seoki et al., 2014, 92). This objective can be accomplished by reviewing the financial and marketing/sales reports for the target product or service against their corresponding goals. The third step involves the evaluation of the effectiveness associated with a promotional approach. Sales/marketing and promotional campaigns are often developed to impact a firm’s market share. As such, this undertaking is vital in ensuring that the company acquires adequate knowledge on its market share and ways to increase such a market share. The fourth step takes into consideration the reviewing of the sales/marketing staff performance. This goal can be accomplished by reviewing specific marketing or sales goals for the individual members of staff. Moreover, it can be attained by focusing on the timescales established for sales/marketing plans against the exact performance data to verify whether the sales/marketing initiatives were executed in a timely manner (Seoki et al., 2014, 98). Furthermore, the sales or marketing plan budget should be reviewed in relation to the actual expense for implementing the sales or marketing plan. Taking the six aspects into consideration various aspects can be revealed about the sales and marketing approaches used by Astor Lodges in the financial years 2004 and 2005.

The sales and marketing segment of the hotel has lagged behind the other functions in terms of establishing substantial profit results from its expenditures. The growth rates can be rated in three categories hotel industry 7.6%, Astor Lodge & Suites, 7.4%, and limited service segment at 5.8%. Reports indicate a 50/50 split between leisure and business customers with a typical business customer estimated to spend about $ 81,000 per year paying $96 per room per night. A typical leisure customer estimated at $72,600 per year paying $89 per room per night (Singh et al., 2014, 209).

Currently the hotel is recording an above average occupancy rate with Astor Lodge & Suites standing at 67.1% against the industry average of 61.3%. All hotel segments have particularly indicated improved performance in terms of average daily rate, revenue per available room, and occupancy in early 2005.notably, the five major hotel segments indicated great variance on these measures of performance with the luxury hotel segment recording the most improvement with an increase of 3.5% in occupancy and an increase in revenue per available room of up to 39%. The occupancy was at 61.3%, revenue daily rate was at $53, and average daily use stood at $86 for the industry (Seoki et al., 2014, 95).

The Aston Lodges & Suites are recording a high revenue growth rate at 7.4% against the industry rate of 7.6%. This implies a positive financial performance in the recent past compared with previously. There is also a projected increase of 2% in terms of direct cost of rented rooms for the company. However, their prices are lower than the industry averages at $57.52 against the industry average of $61.50. Overall, the hotel industry in the country is experiencing a 7.6% growth (Singh et al., 2014, 209). The Aston Lodges & Suites registered a direct operating profit of $ 23.2 million in 2013 which was a 19.4% increase from the year 2012. The hotel average EBITDA has been growing steadily in an average annual rate of about 6% over the recent years. Generally, the hotel industry has recorded a $113.7 billion of revenues and $16.7 billion gross pre-tax profit and $ 4.4 million in hotel rooms in the same period compared with a 1.1 billion in 2011. This can be attributed to the recovery of the U.S economy as well as the growth being experienced in the consumer spending. For instance, the consumer spending in the U.S has been on the upward trend since the year 2011 with movement to $10912 in 2014 from $10373 in 2011 (Seoki et al., 2014, 97).

6.0 Proposal for Sales and Marketing Plan and Budget for 2006

Developing an effective sales and marketing budget and plan is significant in ensuring that companies accomplish their marketing/sales budgets within the required timescales and finance limits. When manager do not engage in the active development of sales/marketing plans and budgets, they can face several problems in the realization of their marketing and sales objectives (Singh et al., 2014, 102). Effective plan and budget development for organizations’ marketing and sales activities play a significant role in ensuring that resources such as time and money are utilized in an efficient and effective manner, thereby leading to a successful accomplishment of companies’ objectives. In relation to this, several issues should be considered in the development of the marketing/sales budget and plan for Astor Lodges.

First, the free-night-stay deal was one of the main causes for reduced revenues for the hotel. The strategy should have been to replace the free-night-stay with the weekend special deal. This was expected to increase the hotel’s occupancy rate, offer the deal to families seeking lower cost, and consequently return a part of lost revenues that had been experienced during the free-night-stay deal. The replacement would in turn return revenue lost by up to 50% and profits would have been projected at $ 22,552,680. Since the room rates are lower than the industry averages as established earlier in the discussion, it would be thoughtful for the company to increase their pricing. Prices could be increased to $60 for Astor lodges and $ 75 for Astor Lodge & Suites. As a result, the total profits for the 2006 would have been projected at $ 51,703,080 (Singh et al., 2014, 209). The rationale behind this would be that business customers are not so sensitive to higher prices since they are looking for booking rooms which the companies pay for. Concerning advertising, the company should change their media advertising budget allocation. For instance, they should focus more on attracting weekend leisure customers. The budget allocation for marketing should, therefore, be targeted to leisure customers. The change in allocation should be to 60% towards the business customer and 40% towards leisure customers (Seoki et al., 2014, 98). It is projected that leisure customers would be more likely responsive to learning about deals. More importantly, a hybrid mix of the three strategies would have been the most effective direction for the company marketing campaign.

By and large, there was a need to identify what the problem was and in so doing develop a way forward for the company starting 2004. The main challenge was the failure to make profits in five consecutive years. Generally, the hotel industry had recorded profits. The Aston Lodges & Suites failed to realize any profits despite the thriving hotel business during the same period.

7.0 References

Seoki, L, Yoon, K, & Qu, X 2014, ‘Internationalization and financial health in the US hotel industry’,Tourism Economics, 20, 1, pp. 87-105

Singh, A, Dev, C, & Mandelbaum, R 2014, ‘A flow-through analysis of the US lodging industry during the great recession’, International Journal Of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26, 2, pp. 205-224.

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Price Waterhouse Coopers Supply Side Report

Order Instructions:

Progress Report/Information Report.

Due: Thursday October 16th

Weighting: 20%

Each member will be allocated a phase of the Marketing Project and will provide a progress report on that particular phase.

The assignment acts as a progress report of the final project to demonstrate understanding of the relevant Phase of the Group Marketing Project and as such detailed feedback will be provided by tutors.

You are required to complete an analysis of the marketing strategy of our Client Partner – Price Waterhouse Coopers, focusing on the particular marketing issue (what does PWC look like in 2-5 years?) related to the organisation. Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) will be applied to the marketing issue and the framework provided by BOS used to formulate a marketing solution supported by other marketing concepts and analytical tools.

The analysis must demonstrate:
(a) understanding of the predominant marketing systems in the Client Partner industry
(b) the potential to develop ‘blue-ocean’ strategies for the Client Partner
(c) application of the analysis to the Client Partner.

Report Phase 3 – Supply Conditions and Intermediaries, Environment and Observers

Supply Conditions including for example:
• What are the conditions for supplying the product? Number, type, size and location of direct and indirect competitors supplying the product or service (including both domestic based and international import suppliers) i.e. What are the supplier alternatives?
• What is the concentration or lack of concentration of ownership and trends in supply. Use Supplier Power analysis from Porter’s 5 Forces.
• Nature of value creation and delivery system linking producers and consumers for this type of product or service (including channels of distribution, key input suppliers, key complimentors and other relevant intermediaries that impact on the cost of the product)
• Government actors involved and their role
• Environmental Impacts on Supply – contraints and enablers: Including, socio-cultural, economic and material environment, regulations, technology, and relevant infrastructure (transport, communication, finance etc)
• Any marketing models or frameworks applied to the supply conditions you consider appropriate.
• Use appropriate Blue Ocean Strategy theory and models to evaluate the supply conditions. (See Appendix 3 for Model and Chapter Table)

Intermediaries, Environment and Observers
• Nature of Intermediaries (e.g. distributors, transportation, logistics, warehousing, retailers) predominant in the industry and their role.
• Industry Observers Outside the Firm and Service Organisations and their influence/role such as: Industry Studies, Unions, Business Press (BRW), Local Org. Chambers of Commerce, State Governments, Federal Government, Domestic Trade Bodies/Statistics and International Organisations, e.g. OECD; World Bank, etc. Service organisations such as trade associations, investment banks, consultants, advertising agencies, etc

Suppliers and Intermediaries
(Supply Side) Other Marketing Frameworks
– Relevant macro level impacts on industry competition (PESTL)
– Porter’s 5 Forces: Supplier Power
– Porter’s Value Chain

Phase 3 – Nature of Industry Marketing and Competitive Positioning Strategies

Identify the kinds of strategy selection in your industry. (e.g. six basic strategies can be the starting point for your own custom strategy :
– Cost leader with Product Life Cycle Focus
– Differentiation with Product Life Cycle Focus
– Broad Cost Leader
– Broad Differentiator
– Niche Cost Leader
– Niche Differentiator
Models to use: product Life cycle. Four basic stages
Porters Generic Strategies

Phase 3 – Competitors
Review the market positioning and differentiation of competitors.
Consider the kinds of marketing mix strategies:
– branding, before and after sales services
– product/service design, packaging
– prices, margins, finance and contractual arrangements – advertising and promotion marketing channels, logistics, margins, role of e- commerce.

Cooperative Strategies: strategic alliances, supplier, customer, distributor and complementor relations (including technical alliances, government relations, co-marketing arrangements, sponsorship, trade associations, etc.)

Other aspects of trade and marketing practices and issues not elsewhere covered
Environmental factors affecting competitive and cooperative strategies Including, socio-cultural, economic and material environment, government and regulations (taxes, tariffs, trade practices act), technology (standards bodies), professional bodies and relevant infrastructure (media, transport, finance etc.)

Any marketing models or frameworks applied to the supply conditions you consider appropriate.
Use appropriate Blue Ocean Strategy theory and models to evaluate the competitive position.

IT service industry Marketing and Competitive Positioning Strategies

IT service market (demand condition)
• – The market for green IT services is pushed by businesses to save money and improve efficiencies
• – IT services market will grow 60 percent per year into 2013
• – More enterprises are investigating hiring IT services firms to help plan and implement
• – Large number of outsourcing and hosting IT services market (e.g. “cloud computing”)
• IT Service Trend (supply condition)
– Outsourcing (offshore)
• – high-value, innovative and consultative services
• – Seeking cost savings and management centralization

competitor analysis:
• Aim: To identify market and competitive strategies of major competitors
• Implication of competitors:
• – Fast-cycle business
• – Hypercompetitive
• – Most emphasis on differentiation, cost leadership
• – Strength the relationship between company and clients
• – Value maximization
• Strategy selection (sustainable): • Cost leadership
– Lowering price relative to competitors and still create value to customers
• Differentiation with PLC focus: Provide distinguishing services through
-high awareness and easy accessibility product

-Value chain management: Cornerstone of business

Competitive advantage/ Differentiation of competitors.
Marketing Mix Strategy
Branding: Image, message, interaction, prospects
• Product/Service: Differentiation, competitive response, market testing
Packaging: Sustainable view
Before and after sales service: Building relationships with customers, handling feed backs, delivery original promises
Price: • Set up based on different variables
Advertising and promotion
Appropriate,budget,unique, design
Marketing channels and e commerce
Efficiency.
Right place, easy to use, technical control

Cooperative Strategies
– To establish strong position against external threat, minimizing weaknesses and maximizing core competencies through strategy alliance
• Customer
– Contract alliance
– Loyalty and Retention
• Distributor
– Joint Venture/partnership
– “FujiXerox’s Triangle Corporation”
• Complementor relations
– Synergistic
– E.g.HP technical alliance
Service market Matrix.
Environmental Factors
• Economic
– Domestic/Global economic climate
• Market Standards
– ACCC, ITIL, ISO
• Technology
• Corporation infrastructure – Media
– Skilled human resource – Finance
– Security

Conclusion
1. Marketing approaches: strategy selection.
Cost leadership:
Differentiation with PLC
Value chain management
2. Marketing mix strategy
-Setup 4P’s based on specific niche market
3. Cooperative strategy:
– Speeding up the development of services & market entry
– Maintaining market leadership
– Overcoming uncertainty/sharing risk
•4. Environmental factors
– Identifying external threat factors and choosing right strategies

This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:
• Articulate frameworks and approaches to harness the power of marketing-oriented thinking for the creation of long-term advantage of any organisation.
• Be able to conduct an industry and market analysis to assess market opportunities by analysing customers, competitors, collaborators, and other external forces

Enhance awareness of marketing’s contribution to society through discussion of ethical and professional conduct and issues in corporate social responsibility

SAMPLE ANSWER

Report: Price Waterhouse Coopers Supply Side

In this paper, an analysis of the marketing strategy of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) is provided that focuses on the particular marketing issue – that is, what PwC looks like in the next 2 to 5 years – related to the organization. The supply conditions, intermediaries, the environment and observers are analyzed exhaustively. PESTL and Porter’s Supplier Power are described pertaining to PwC’s supply side. The Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) will be employed to the marketing issue and the framework provided by BOS used in formulating a marketing solution supported by other concepts and analytical tools.

1.0 Supply Conditions and Intermediaries, Environment and Observers

PwC is an international professional services network, and it is currently the second largest professional services network in the world as measured by its revenues of the year 2014. Along with Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Deloitte, PwC is one of the Big 4 auditors worldwide (PwC 2014). With regard to the conditions for supplying the service – auditing, tax, advisory, and consulting services –, the main competitors to PwC include KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young. Out of four biggest auditors in the world, Deloitte is the largest. In the year 2012, the world revenue of Deloitte was $32.4 billion; PwC had aggregated gross revenues of $32.09 billion; Ernst & Young had combined revenue of $25.83 billion; and in the fourth place was KPMG with worldwide revenue of $23.42 billion (Saito & Takeda 2014, p. 205).

Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst & Young are each a network of firms, and they are managed and owned independently. They have entered into accords with other member companies in the network to share common quality standards, brand and name. Each of these networks has created an entity for co-coordinating the network’s activities. In most instances, these 3 major competitors to PwC have member firms in countries all over the world. Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst & Young have separate legal entities in India, Europe, Americas, Africa, the Middle East, as well as the Asia-Pacific region in countries such as Japan (Strahler 2013, p. 19). As such, Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst & Young are the main direct competitors to PwC not only nationally in Australia, but also internationally. Besides these three main competitors, PwC also faces direct competition from many small auditing firms nationally and this impacts on PwC’s financial bottom-line.

The main environmental impacts on supply consist of regulations, economic, socio-cultural environments. Accounting firms and auditors face market discipline that works towards a decreased likelihood of future accounting scandals. The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board develops guidance and standards for auditors and accountants. The regulations set by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission must be observed, which are intended to ensure that Australia’s fiscal markets are transparent and fair, supported by informed and confident consumers and investors (Francis, Michas & Yu 2013, p. 1629).

Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) theory

This theory postulates that there are unexploited markets as well as the opportunity for higher growth without having to eat away at the competitors’ profits. Competition is not relevant according to the Blue Ocean Strategy, since the rules of the game are yet to be laid down. With supply being more than the demand in many industries, to compete for contracting markets would not be adequate in sustaining high performance (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005). With the use of BOS, PwC can be able to succeed not by fighting with the competitors in the marketplace, but through the creation of blue oceans of uncontested market space. Such strategic moves would lead to a leap in value for Price waterhouseCoopers, its staffs, and clients, whilst unlocking new demand and rendering the competitors irrelevant.

2.0 Intermediaries, Environment and Observers

Industry Observers Outside the firm

There are several organizations that have a considerable influence to the auditing industry in Australia. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) administers the requirements of the Corporations Act as it pertains to auditor independence as well as audit quality. ASIC’s audit oversight activities assist with maintaining and raising the standard of conduct in the profession of auditing. It is of note that whilst these activities have both a compliance and educational focus, enforcement action could be taken when considerable non-compliance is identified (Australian Securities & Investments Commission 2014).

The other industry observers are the Australian and Assurance Standards Board and Australian Auditing Standards, which set the requirements and offer application on other explanatory material regarding: (i) the form as well as content of the auditor’s report. (ii) The responsibilities and duties of an auditor when engaged to carry out an audit of a fiscal report, or complete set of fiscal statements, or any other historical fiscal information (Auditing and Assurance Standards Board 2014). Another industry observer is the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), a statutory, independent agency with the responsibility of creating standards and guidance for auditors as well as providers of other assurance services. The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) administers and regulates the proceeds of crime, personal insolvency system, and trustee services. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) provides board oversight of the process for establishing standards of accounting in Australia (Australian Government 2014).

PESTL

A scan of an organization’s external macro-environment may be described in terms of Legal, Political, Economic, Technological, Environmental, and Social factors (Porter 1998). Political: at present, there is political stability in Australia and in a lot of other countries in which PwC operates in, and this is favorable to PwC and other auditors. Economic factors: the economic growth in Australia was 2.8% in 2013 and the rate of inflation is 3% (World Bank 2014). This is favorable to PwC and other auditors since it illustrates that there is a growing market and opportunity of the services offered by PwC.

Social factors: in terms of demographics, Australia. has a population of about 23.13 million, with 89 percent living in suburbs, cities and other urban areas as of the year 2014. The rate of population growth is currently 1.4 percent, and the education level in the Australia is very high (World Bank 2014). Technological factors: technology has a substantial influence and impact on auditing. The incessant evolution of software and hardware provides auditors with the capacity to do more complex calculations with greater accuracy, speed, ease and mobility. Now, auditors can speedily collect data, produce reports, and explicitly communicate the results (Montgomery 2010, p. 50). Some of the new technology available to auditors include IDEA from CaseWare IDEA Inc., and ACL from ACL Services Ltd which are software programs for data mining and data extraction.

Legal factors: these include consumer protection, rules on monopolies and mergers, international trade regulations and restriction, as well as national employment laws in Australia and in other nations around the world wherein PwC operates in. In the Australia, PwC must pay its workers no less than the stipulated minimum wage of $16.87 per hour or $640.90 per week as mandated by the Fair Work Commission (Montgomery 2010, p. 42). Auditors must also comply with the regulations established by the government and government bodies such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Australian Accounting Standards on auditing quality, standards, and integrity.

Porter’s 5 Forces: Supplier Power – Low

In Porter’s 5 Forces, the supplier power is understood as the pressure that suppliers can exert on business organizations by raising the prices (Gurau 2007, p. 380). At present, the bargaining power of suppliers is not a significant force in such a fragmented industry. Essentially, universities are suppliers considering that nearly all employees in this market come out of business schools. The auditing firms can obtain workers from the many universities and business schools across Australia, and therefore this makes the supplier power to remain low.

3.0 Nature of Industry Marketing and Competitive Positioning Strategies

Kinds of strategy selection

Cost leader with Product Life Cycle Focus: in essence, this would entail seeking to reduce the costs through expertise and efficiency (Montgomery 2010, p. 58). The services offered by PwC would be allowed to age and alter in appeal from High End, to Traditional, and ultimately Low End clients. The firm will focus on profits, return on investment, and ROS, and the company will spend moderately on promotion and sales. Moreover, the firm will spend low on research and development, and invest in technology early enough in the life-cycle of the product (Porter 1998). Differentiation with Product Life Cycle Focus: with this strategy, the company will be seeking to be recognized everywhere as the auditing firm that provides best quality auditing and consulting services in terms of objectivity, integrity, and competence. The firm will offer several product lines in targeted segments – Low End, Traditional, and High End. There will also be high investments in promotion and sales with the aim of creating maximum awareness as well as accessibility. The focus will be on Asset Turnover and ROA (Montgomery 2010, p. 61).

Broad Cost Leader: the firm will strive to be the low-cost producer in all segments of the market. The company would enjoy good profit margins on all sales whilst keeping prices low for clients who are price-sensitive (Murray 2008, p. 390). The firm will be more probable to reposition its services than introduce new services to the marketplace, and it will tend to spend less on sales and promotion. The focus will be on profits and market share, and capacity improvements are not likely to be undertaken. In addition, the firm would finance investments using stock issues and/or debt (Porter 1998). Broad Differentiator: the firm aims at creating maximum awareness as well as brand equity, and wants to be known as an auditing firm which provides high-quality and very sought-after auditing and consulting services. The firm focuses on profits and market share, maintains a presence in every market segment, and it spends greatly on sales and advertising with the purpose of creating maximum awareness and accessibility. The firm will tend to charge higher prices for its services (Montgomery 2010, p. 62).

Niche Cost Leader: the firm will be seeking to dominate each of the price sensitive market segment, and it will aim at setting prices below that of all the competitors in the marketplace, and still remain profitable. The company focuses on profits, returns on investment and ROS, and invests in several service lines within the low-tech segments – traditional and Low End segments. The firm will also spend moderately on advertising to clients who are cost sensitive (Porter 1998). Niche Differentiator: the firm will be seeking to be recognized as the best provider of high quality consulting and auditing services in all the targeted segments. It will offer several product/service lines in segments that are high-tech, and there is little focus in the other segments (Montgomery 2010, p. 61). The business also focuses on ROI, asset turnover, as well as ROE.

Product Life cycle: this is essentially a concept of how a particular product moves through 4 basic stages which are (i) introduction; (ii) growth; (iii) maturity; and (iv) decline. Introduction: this is when the service is introduced into a marketplace. Growth stage: the marketplace has accepted the new service and demand of the auditing and consulting services provided by the company start to increase along with sales. Maturity: sales attain their peak. Decline: sales start to reduce as the product/service gets to its saturation point (Murray 2008, p. 392).

4.0 Competitors: KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young

Market Positioning and differentiation of competitors

As noted earlier, the main competitors to PwC are KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young. The 4Ps of marketing strategy include product, price, place/distribution, and promotion. Product: product is the auditing and accounting services offered by PwC’s competitors. Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Deloitte all provide high quality accounting and auditing services and consulting practice, which has contributed to their wide popularity not only in Australia, but internationally. Deloitte focuses on providing uniquely high-quality and innovative auditing and consulting services, and this has enabled it to hit global revenues record of $34 billion (Saito & Takeda 2014, p. 205). KPMG provides exceptional professional services and provides 3 basic service lines including advisory, audit and tax. Ernst & Young also offers high-quality audit services to clients in more than 150 countries worldwide (Francis, Michas & Yu 2013, p. 1644). The auditing and consulting services provided by each of these firms is virtually the same, and there is little differentiation.

Price: the pricing of the services offered by the competitors is dependent on various variables and thus it is always updated. The main consideration is costing of the service, the expenses incurred in marketing and advertising, as well as price fluctuations in the marketplace. Since the three main competitors are all prestigious and highly-respected firms, they tend to price their services highly. Smaller competitors, however, tend to charge less expensively for auditing and consulting services (Saito & Takeda 2014, p. 205). Place/distribution: this pertains to how companies get their products/services to the clients and customers. KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young have member firms throughout Australia and in countries all over the world. They have separate legal entities in India, Europe, Americas, Africa, the Middle East, as well as the Asia-Pacific region, and they use these member firms to get their services to clients worldwide. Promotion: this is when a company communicates the value and benefits of its services/products to the consumers. KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and other competitors of PwC often make use of personal selling to promote themselves (Robson & Roseman 2009, p. 76).

Cooperative strategies

The three top competitors of PwC have established cooperation with customers and suppliers in Australia and in many other nations the world over. Ernst & Young works with various universities and business schools which supply the firm with employees. Some of these universities and business schools include Warwick Business School; Nottingham University; Leeds University Business School; Bangor University’s Bangor Business School; Pace University’s Lubin School of Business; and School of Business, University at Albany. Ernst & Young cooperates with various customers including Lehman Brothers and PNC Financial Services Group. KPMG cooperates with the University of Exeter Business School, Birmingham Business School, and also works together with Durham University Business School which are some of its suppliers. KPMG also works with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW). Deloitte cooperates with many customers and a lot of these clients are among the FTSE 250 corporations. It has also partnered with various suppliers such as Columbia University’s Columbia Business School; and School of Business, University at Albany in New York (Francis, Michas & Yu 2013, p. 16).

Environmental factors affecting competitive and cooperative strategies

The key environmental factors that affect competitive as well as cooperative strategies include state and national governments and regulations considering that policies established by the government can enhance or impede competition strategies and cooperation strategies. All the competitors in this industry must observe the ASIC, and AASB standards, rules and regulations. The companies in this industry take into account the Blue Ocean Strategy and understand that there are unexploited markets as well as the opportunity for higher growth without having to eat into the profits of other players in the industry. KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young have been able to succeed not by fighting with each other and other auditors in the marketplace, but through the creation of blue oceans of uncontested market space (Kim & Mauborgne 2005).

5.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, regarding the conditions for supplying the service – auditing, tax, advisory, and consulting services –, the main competitors to PwC include KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young. Each of these networks has created an entity for co-coordinating the network’s activities both in the Australia and in more than 150 nations globally hence they are PwC’s competitors both nationally and globally. The main industry observers are Australian Accounting Standards Board, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, and Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The competitors have partnered with suppliers and clients including universities and business schools across Australia. By using Blue Ocean Strategy, PwC can be able to succeed not by fighting with the competitors in the marketplace, but through the creation of blue oceans of uncontested market space.

References

Auditing and Assurance Standards Board 2014, Australian Auditing Standards. Available at http://www.auasb.gov.au/Pronouncements/Australian-Auditing-Standards.aspx (Accessed October 14, 2014).

Australian Government 2014, Financial Regulation. Available at http://australia.gov.au/topics/economy-money-and-tax/financial-regulation (Accessed October 14, 2014)

Australian Securities & Investments Commission 2014. Financial Reports & Audit: For Auditors. Available at http://asic.gov.au/auditors (Accessed October 14, 2014).

Francis, J, Michas, P, & Yu, M 2013, ‘Office Size of Big 4 Auditors and Client Restatements’, Contemporary Accounting Research, 30, 4, pp. 1626-1661, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

Gurǎu, C 2007, ‘Porter’s generic strategies: a re-interpretation from a relationship marketing perspective’, Marketing Review, 7, 4, pp. 369-383, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

Kim, W, & Mauborgne, R 2005, Blue Ocean Strategy : How To Create Uncontested Market Space And Make The Competition Irrelevant, Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press, Discovery eBooks, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

Montgomery, A 2010, ‘Price Waterhouse Coopers shrinks to PwC’, Design Week Online, 2010, Business Insights: Essentials, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

Murray, AI 2008, ‘A Contingency View of Porter’s “Generic Strategies”‘, Academy Of Management Review, 13, 3, pp. 390-400, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

Porter, M 1998, Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press.

PWC 2014, About Us. Available at http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about-pwc/index.jhtml (Accessed October 12, 2014).

Robson, GS., & Roseman, GH 2009, Is Government Regulation of Auditors Redundant? Boca Raton, FL: Penguin Publishers.

Saito, Y, & Takeda, F 2014, ‘Global Audit Firm Networks and Their Reputation Risk’, Journal Of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, 29, 3, pp. 203-237, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

Strahler, SR 2013, The Big Four’s New Math, Crain’s Chicago Business, 36, 40, p. 0019, Regional Business News, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 October 2014.

World Bank 2014, Country Profile: Australia. The World Bank.

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Astor Lodge & suites Inc. Case Study Part B

Astor Lodge & suites Inc. Case Study

Order Instructions:

Astor Lodge & Suites, Inc (35%) – Kerin & Peterson page 338

Part B: Competitive Strategy Questions – worth up to 17.5%

In Australia the hotel industry is in the mature growth phase of its life cycle (IBISWorld (2014) – H4401 Hotels and Resorts in Australia Industry Report_IBISWorld July 2014). In this part you are required to study the Australian Hotel industry and then develop and justify an alternative viable blue ocean strategy approach(s) for Astor Lodges if it were to set up business in Australia. To successfully complete this component you must be able to demonstrate at least a clear understanding of the application of Blue Ocean principles and methods to the Astor lodge context. To achieve higher grades you must be able demonstrate a realistic and viable (both logically and financially) Blue Ocean opportunity which is consistent with the theory.

Criteria for Part B
1. Maximum length 10 pages excluding appendices; cover page and table of contents.
2. Your write-up can be a mixture of bullet point form and essay style [Times Roman, 12 point font
single spacing, 2.5 cm margins].
3. Structure your answers using headings and sub-headings if necessary to make it clear that you
have used an analytical approach to reach your answers. The grader will be treating (apparently)
random lists of issues with caution.
4. Use of at least 7 academic sources from peer reviewed journal articles to emphasize theoretical
aspects of strategy and Harvard referencing is required

Marking Criteria:
1. Understanding of the principles and methods used to create competitive and Blue Ocean strategy: Demonstrates a sound understanding of competitive strategy and Blue Ocean Strategy and the issues raised therein. 25%
2. Critical Analysis and construction of a coherent argument in relation to Competitive Strategies for Astor Lodges in Australia: Able to accurately interpret evidence and statements. Offers analysis and evaluation of obvious alternate points of view. Demonstrates creativity, insight and imagination shown at arriving at case solutions. Able to construct a coherent line of argument throughout. 30%
3. Case decision analysis and financial outcomes. Demonstrate a sound understanding of the financial implications of alternative courses of actions and to quantify outcomes associated with specific actions 20%
4.Clarity of written expression. Consistent expression. Few spelling and/or grammar errors. 10%
5.Use of academic sources and Referencing. Mostly accurate Harvard referencing both with-in text citations and list of references. 15%

Due Date: Monday 13th October 2014 (Australia time)

BOOKS/Textbooks for reference:
Strategic Marketing Problems: Roger A. Kerin,Robert Allen Peterson
Blue Ocean Strategy (2005) W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne

SAMPLE ANSWER

Astor Lodge & suites Inc. Case Study Part B

Introduction

In today’s world of business the activities of key stakeholders is directly impacted by how specific business entities perform in their respective micro and macro environments. The key issue in the external environment is the development of strategies that will enable a business entity to successfully capture a large enough market share so as to ensure optimal and sustainable profitability. The idea here is often to beat the competition through a myriad of strategies. The most common strategies that firms use in an effort to beat their competition is through price wars, aggressive marketing and at times activities as low as smear campaigns which shed bad light on the competition. All of these are done with the hope of shepherding the finite number of potential buyers towards one’s own business at the expense of the competition. The above mentioned strategies while effective only tend to benefit the firm for a short period of time before things go back to the unpleasant normal when they are once again desperate to increase their turnover through increasing their market share. In any market or industry there can only be two kinds of products. These are either the tangible or the intangible products. These are more commonly referred to as goods and services respectively. The marketing and promotion of tangible consumer goods is fairly straight forward since the product is something that needs to be prepared then transported to establishments from where the customers can view them and make purchases. Purchases need not to be made immediately production has happened as the products can be stored for short or extended periods depending on their nature and durability. The marketing of these products is often rigid over time with little changes being made save for the packaging and maybe a few ingredients.

Services on the other hand are a completely different ball game. The Service industry’s products pose unique challenges to those who are charged with the responsibility of producing and marketing them. The challenges that are associated with the promotion and marketing of services lies in the fact that they are intangible, very much unlike the commodities mentioned above. Services have to be consumed as soon at the same time they are being produced or rendered. What this means is that customer experiences will tend to be highly subjective to the customers and the service providers. Despite these challenges, those employed in the service industry are obliged to put their best foot forward when it comes to the development of products on offer. This obligation is legitimized by the fact that the service industry is not in any way exempt from the market forces such as supply, demand and also competition. For short term gains ahead of the competition business entities in the service industry may also resort to aggressive marketing and the lowering of prices to get ahead of the competition. This, as stated above is only bound to bring about short term gains and not have any lasting impact on the firm’s market share and profitability. One of the best examples of the service industry is hotels. The reason for this is that hotels are in the business of providing hospitality to their guests in exchange for money. In this exercise an analysis will be conducted on the Australian Hospitality Industry to find out how Astor Lodges Inc. can successfully make inroads into this industry through the application of the Blue Oceans Strategy.

The Blue Oceans Strategy is an approach to marketing that steers clear of conventional competitive strategies that have proved to be largely ineffective when it comes to the impact they have on helping the market share to grow. The Blue Ocean Strategy refers to the act of a business entity creating for itself a market space that is devoid of competition. This market place is usually carved out of an already existing industry. This strategy to business is often compared to other methods of approaching the competition head-on or by going on the offensive. The latter approaches in their totality are referred to as Red Ocean which is relatively chaotic in comparison to the new alternative approach. In market environments where the Red Ocean approach reigns supreme there is usually a sizeable number of firms that fail due to the unsustainable practices that are employed. Those that manage to survive and maintain their place in the market usually do so at the cost of having to contend with constrained profits as well as a limited pool of customers to attract. The Blue Oceans strategy was developed as the result of two decades of research on the most successful strategies that had been employed by business entities over the past century. The developers of this strategy laud it for having a much higher potential for profitability than the other approaches which give false impressions such as increased sales but lower profits due to reduction in pricing or increments in various marketing strategies. With the Blue Oceans strategy a firm that is within an already existing industry may choose to take up innovation or expansion with the hope of creating for itself what is known as a Blue Ocean. It will be tapping into a part of the industry whose potential has not been realized by other mainstream players in the industry. If this is approached correctly the firm stands to benefit in the long run by having what is tantamount to a monopoly within an industry that was seemingly saturated.

For the Blue Oceans strategy to be applied by Astor Lodges Inc, it is imperative that a proper analysis of Australia’s Hospitality Industry be conducted (Roger, 2010). At the same time it is also very important to take an in depth look at Astor Lodges so as to see how it could best create for itself a Blue Ocean in Australia’s hospitality industry. This will need an analysis that is similar to the conventional SWOT analysis though in this case the most important element will be the Opportunities that exist in this industry coupled with the Strengths that can be adequately leveraged by the management of Astor Lodge to ensure that the opportunities are actually transformed into business (Friesner, 2011). The Opportunities need to be those that have not yet been tapped but actually exist. Through the seizure of these opportunities, Astor Lodges Inc will have effectively created for itself a Blue Ocean since it will have joined an existent industry and capitalized on an innovation that opened up a totally new market that is growing at an exponential rate.

Current position of Astor Lodge Inc.

Astor Lodges is a hospitality based business enterprise that was created in 1979 and have been in operation ever since. Between 2000 and 2005 the company has not been profitable. This hospitality enterprise has divided its operations into two main categories. These are Astor Lodge which specializes in the provision of services in its Economy Class hotels. The other branch of its operations is Astor Lodges and Suites. This other branch specializes in the provision of hospitality services in middle class hotels which do not provide beverages or food (Roger, 2010).

This company has made considerable investments in the hospitality sector. It has a total of 250 properties across the country. Astor Lodge has 200 while Astor Lodges and Suites has 50 facilities. Astor Lodges’ main instruments of competition are its low pricing regime, high quality customer service and also a wide range of amenities. The hotel chain’s range of services can be divided into 6 categories. These include luxury, Upper scale facilities, upscale, mid-scale with food, mid-scale without food and finally economy accommodation. The customers who patronize the company’s properties are split 50/50 with half of the total customers being leisure guests while the other half are business travellers. Business travellers are predominantly males aged between 34 and 54 who take up singles room that cost on average 96$ per night. Leisure travellers on the other hand travel in pairs taking up rooms that cost 89$ per night. The average income of business travellers is 81,000 annually while leisure travellers earn 72000 on average a year (Roger, 2010).

The occupancy rates of Astor Lodge Suites have been relatively favorable at 67% compared to the industry’s 61%. This has been attributed to its customers exhibiting high brand loyalty. While the company’s occupancy in its properties is much higher than the industry average it is also important to point out that the average price it charges per unit is lower than the industry average. The industry average is 61$ while the company charges on average 57$.

While the company’s revenues are mainly supported by both leisure and business customers, it emerged that business customers have perennially complained about disturbances from leisure customers. As yet this problem is yet to be effectively resolved due to the complexity involved. The hotel has been striving to grow its leisure segment through the provision of special offers to families looking for accommodation on a tight budget. A strategy that is currently in place to attract more leisure and business customers is known as a ‘free night’s stay.’ While this attracted more customers it proved to be detrimental to the finances of the lodges since it ate into the revenues coming in. In light of this it had been proposed that the free night’s stay be replaced with a weekend special.

A SWOT analysis of Astor Lodges Inc.

Strengths of Astor Lodges

A large number of fixed assets
An occupancy rate that is higher than that of the industry
A high level of brand loyalty exhibited by the hotel’s customers.

Weaknesses of Astor Lodges

The main weakness of Astor Lodges its inability to generate profits for the past five years.
There is bad blood brewing between its business segment and the leisure travelers and this threatens the brand loyalty.
A low occupancy rate on weekends

Opportunities for Astor Lodges

Lower prices than those of the Industry is bound to attract more customers given that online portals prioritize lower prices for those who book on such platforms.
High possibility of repeat guests
Upward trend in the growth of the industry.

Threats to Astor Lodges’ business

International travel has significantly reduced since the 9/11 attacks
Large hotel chains are putting up more competitive offers to customers.
Potential reduction in business guest numbers due to apparent disturbance from the leisure travelers.

Australia’s Hospitality Industry

Prior to the formulation of possible strategies that can be used to grant Astor Lodges a Blue Ocean for it to conduct its business more profitably it is important to analyze the current status of Australia’s Hospitality and Tourism Industry so as to provide logical support for the innovations that need to be carried out. Australia’s accommodation sector is expected to grow by about 4% in the year between 2014 and 2015 due to a surge in consumer confidence. The country’s accommodation industry comprises of Hotels and Resorts (Ruhanen et al, 2013). Presently the industry is experiencing an upward trend in its international arrivals while the domestic customer numbers decline. The reason for the upward trend in international arrivals is the gradual improvement in the economies of source markets such as Europe and Asia, specifically China (Chon, 2013).

When business was at its worst due to the Global Financial Crisis’ impacts a large number of hotels were forced to lower their room rates and compliment their service offerings in a bid to attract customers and therefore stay afloat. The domestic market on the other hand is continuing to reduce due to the transportation element. Majority of the local travellers prefer to travel by air and this is what leads them away from the country’s hotels and resorts. There domestic flights are relatively expensive if they are compared with the outbound ones to the Asian sub-continent (Chon, 2013). This makes leisure travel to these countries an attractive prospect due to the perceived higher value for money. Nationally the revenue per room for hotels and resorts across the board is still at an all-time low but the story is different in the country’s cities where revenue is gradually increasing due to high occupancy in the hotels situated in urban area. It is estimated that the Hotel and Resorts sector of Australia’s economy is bound to experience improvement due to the shift in focus towards Asian economies that are doing relatively well. This will be the direct result of travellers from these countries coming to enjoy the country’s tourist products (Ruhanen et al, 2013).

As stated above the Blue Oceans strategy is a revolutionary approach to increasing market share while averting a scenario where the firm is involved in competitive strategies that only grant minimal short term gains (Kim and Mauborgne, 2004). Industry knowledge is important for this initiative to work out well. The Blue Ocean will only be realized when the innovation being undertaken targets the sectors of the industry that have the most promising potential for growing market share and turnover. Analytical tools that can be carried out on the industry are a SWOT analysis as well as a PESTLE analysis so as to enable Astor Lodges Ltd to figure out where it could best apply its strengths. The results of the Porter’s five forces Analysis may also prove useful for this to work since the management will be leveraging the best qualities of the company in combination with the strengths of the Australian Hospitality Industry and using them to seize opportunities that come up in this market. The porter’s analysis will however be done in a hypothetical situation given that Astor Lodges aims to make inroads into this market (Porter, 2008).

A Hypothetical Five Force Analysis of Astor’s operation in the Australian Hospitality Industry

The five force analysis will briefly analyze the different forces that have a direct impact on the ability of Astor Lodges to compete in the hospitality industry in Australia. This will also provide pointers regarding the competitive environment and where the company can thrive without going head-on against the competition. The five forces to be considered are Astor’s competitive rivalry, the threat of New entrants to the market, the customers’ bargaining power, the suppliers’ bargaining power and finally the threat of substitution. In a blue ocean business environment the competitive rivalry will be a non-entity while the rest of the forces will be greatly minimized. This is in the ideal Porter’s five forces environment. While the Porter’s five force analysis is mainly meant for application in highly competitive environments, it can also be used to analyze or in this case predict if the firm will be operating in a Blue Ocean or a Red Ocean.

Competitive Rivalry

Given that the firm is making in-roads into the Australian-market with the aim of operating in a Blue Ocean environment the competitive rivalry will not be considered. The strategy being applied seeks to avoid competing for an already existing market segment as the projected operation will be akin to a monopoly in the market segment created by Astor Lodges’ innovativeness.

Threat of New Entrants

The blue oceans approach is also characterized by a relative difficulty for other experienced operators to easily break into the market segment that the company being analyzed has carved out for itself. What this however means is that Astor Lodges needs to keep this factor in mind so as to stop its prospective blue ocean from becoming red as competition creeps in.

Theoretically it is expected that there will be zero competition in this new market segment. The reality on the ground however is that the firm will have to tale proactive measures to ensure that there is minimal competition for its market segment. This will be achieved through ensuring that the product offering that Astor has makes it very difficult for other hotels and resorts to offer the same.

Power of Suppliers

Being a largely service-oriented industry it is likely that the bulk of the supply will be labor. These are the different individuals who will be working on the front-line as well as behind the scenes to ensure that business is going on smoothly. The power of suppliers of labor will be relatively high initially since they have a direct impact on the supply and regardless of the position they hold within the establishment their input remains crucial for the supply of hospitality services to the company’s guests. Their remuneration and working conditions will have to be satisfactory to them but still within the capacity of Astor Lodges.

Other suppliers in this context are the entities that will provide marketing services, an online portal for the website and an online tool that will link the hotel’s reservation system to the internet. These providers are abundant and this serves to diminish the power they have over the organization.

Suppliers of tangible products such as food items and toiletries will have a relatively lower power since the hotel has a wide pool of suppliers to choose from.

Astor Lodges should therefore ensure that this power of suppliers remains low though it needs to be careful to ensure that it doesn’t serve to compromise on the quality of accommodation services it delivers to its customers.

Power of Customers

The Australian market can be divided in two main ways. The first approach to segmenting the market is inbound travellers on one side and domestic arrivals on the other. The second approach to segmenting this market is Business travellers and Leisure Travellers. At present the foreign tourists are abundant while the number of domestic arrivals are limited. From a marketing point of view the power of international tourists is diminished in comparison to the domestic travellers who are scarce and therefore have a greater bargaining power. This means that higher prices can be set for the international travellers as opposed to the domestic visitors who are fewer due to the prohibitive costs of flight.

From the company’s summary however it appears that its capacity to supply to leisure travellers and that to cater to the needs of business travellers is at par since their arrivals matched up on a 1:1 ratio. Business traveller were however more favorable since they spend more per person and have little qualms about paying for a higher price. The fact that their complaints were the most prevalent indicates that they have abit more power but this comes with the benefit of higher value purchases. With respect to this analysis they will be considered to have minimal bargaining power since their travel expense are often footed on a corporate account and not a personal one thus making them less sensitive to price increments (Welch et al, 2007).

Astor Lodges needs to maximize on where the power of customers is least manifested and this will be in the international arrivals segment and this is a potential candidate segment where the blue oceans strategy needs to be applied given their increasing number (Kim and Mauborgne, 2004). While domestic visitors are highly sensitive to prices this too can be eliminated through the introduction of special rates for them or combined hotel and flight packages that are subsidized so as to ensure they remain at home instead of going to the Asian sub-continent for their holidays due to cheaper flights (Chon, 2013).

Threat of Substitution

At present the threat of substitution is very high given the fact that its current product offering is very much similar to the services that are on offer by the companies that fall under the umbrella of Australia’s hotel and resorts sector. With regard to destinations it is clear that those in the Asian sub-continent are increasingly becoming a viable option for the locally based travellers (Chon, 2013). What this does is deny the country’s hotels and resorts is to deny them a chance to provide their services to this market. For the in-bound travellers this threat is much more pronounced given the fact that operators in New Zealand, the USA and Thailand are stepping up their campaigns.

A SWOT analysis of Australia’s Hospitality Industry

The purpose of this analysis is to aid in the identification of opportunities that provide a fertile ground for the implementation of the Blue Oceans strategy (Friesner, 2011). The weaknesses that emerge from this analysis will also aid the management of Astor in ensuring it doesn’t set itself up for failure (Kim and Mauborgne, 2009).

Strengths of Australia’s Hotels and Resorts sector

Australia is attractive to tourists and this buoys the hospitality sector considering the tourists have to make use of the existent accommodation facilities (IBIS World, 2014).
A weakening local currency compared to the standard US dollar makes it economical for foreign travellers to patronize the country’s hotels due to a higher purchasing power.
The hospitality industry is experiencing an upward trend in its growth given that the world economy is gradually recovering from the Global Financial Crisis whose impacts included the lowest occupancy numbers in recent history for the hotels and resorts.
The continued shift of hospitality and tourism related enterprises to online platforms is a big plus for smaller players and new entrants who can compete on the same platform as larger more experienced players.
The international aviation sector is highly competitive and this grants travellers from the Asian market a chance to travel to Australia at affordable air fares.

Weaknesses of Australia’s Hospitality Sector

Majority of the hotels and resorts coupled with the country’s tourism sector was highly dependent on travellers from Europe. The economic challenges facing the Eurozone has limited the capacity of these travellers to visit Australia. This is a situation whose resolution is expected to take at least two years (IBIS World, 2014).
On a domestic front the economy of Australia is performing below par and the short to medium term challenge of this will be an increase in unemployment as well as decreasing disposable incomes thus making it difficult for the locals to patronize the existing accommodation facilities.
Hotels that offer business travellers accommodation facilities and other amenities are increasingly lowering their rates in an effort to sustain their customer-base as numbers dwindle.

Opportunities in Australia’s Hotels and Resorts Sector

Australia is located near the Asian sub-continent and this makes it very much accessible to tourists travelling from this part of the world.
The intense competition between low cost and full service airlines makes it possible for customers from the Asian region easily come to Australia (Ruhanen et al, 2013).
There is limited investment being carried out in the urban areas’ accommodation facilities and this serves to drive demand towards dispersal areas. This increases the potential for leisure travel.
The fact that the Australian dollar is depreciating is likely to increase the value of inbound tourism since international travellers will be attracted by a higher purchasing power.
The weakening Australian dollar will also benefit domestic travel since outbound travel will become more expensive due to lower purchasing power for those who hold the local currency.

Threats to Australian Hospitality Sector

The unresolved challenge of the United States’ debt ceiling continues to cause challenges in economies that are key to sustaining Australia’s Hospitality sector. Examples of such economies are Japan and the countries in the Eurozone (IBIS World, 2014).
While economic growth is bound to increase travel, the corporate segment is bound to continue being slow since this market segment’s travel behavior is not regular and what this means is that business travel is bound to remain low (Ruhanen et al, 2013).
The country’s hospitality is also threatened by intense competitiveness being exhibited by its neighbors such as New Zealand and Thailand.

Application of the Blue Ocean Strategy to Astor Lodges in Australian Market

The Blue Ocean Strategy will be formulated based on the above analyses with the aim of adding value for the customer while consecutively bringing down the costs of operation thus creating mutual benefits for the end consumer and the company (Chan and Renee, 2014). The company’s benefits will be realized through positive economies of scale combined with a high turnover (Kim and Mauborgne, 2009).

For Astor Lodges an ideal approach to ensuring that a Blue Ocean operating environment can be created if it were to capitalize on package tours with airlines for the leisure segment in the domestic tourist market (Hudson and Ritchie, 2002). The reason for this is the fact that the local hotels and resorts have pretty much given up on this market. The fact that they are travelling abroad to enjoy their holidays in Asian tourist attractions suggests that they have the disposable income for holidays. To accomplish this, the Astor Lodges needs to capitalize on the existent potential for travel by offering packages that combine air travel and hotel stays. The catch in this is to get into an agreement with domestic one or more domestic airlines and convince them to subsidize their flight costs on condition that the company guarantees a specified number of seats per flight. In line with this, it will also be important to rope in the existent out-bound tour operators and pay competitive commissions for their part in channeling tourists towards this new combined package (Hudson and Ritchie, 2002).

An alternative approach can be for the company to focus its energy on the provision of hospitality and accommodation strictly to the business clientele and at the same time giving them subsidized rates if they combine their flights bookings with their trips. The hotels should also find a way of covering all travel arrangements for the business travellers while they are in Australia (Welch et al, 2007). This too is a potential blue ocean since majority of the establishments that offer services to the business travellers provide only hotel services and this at times causes conflicts for them as was the case in several properties operated by Astor Lodges and Suites (Chan and Renee, 2014). Such an arrangement will save these travellers time and thus add value to their travels while lowering their costs. The current low occupancy in dispersal areas makes this ideal since it is an indication of this resource being greatly underutilized. Given that Astor Lodges has mastered the art of operating by charging lower rates than its competitors in the past, charging rates affordable for domestic travellers will not be difficult. Its experience in the hospitality industry will also contribute to ensuring the customers get quality service which translates to value for money and a potential for repeat customers. This will play a major role in aiding to grow this operation.

The two proposed strategies could be used concurrently through run independently so as to ensure one does not interfere with the other. These two are considered to be blue oceans since the markets being targeted are currently on the decline and many of the hotels and resorts are turning their attention towards inbound leisure tourists. Astor Lodges can therefore create for itself a niche in Australia’s accommodation sector by following these strategies. They promise to add value to the hotel given that it will capitalize on the revenue the industry foregoes when domestic travellers spend their holidays abroad. The second option is also a promising endeavor since business travellers will be willing to pay premium prices to ensure that they enjoy premium facilities without interruption from holiday goers (Chan and Renee, 2014).

Blue ocean strategies fulfilled by the above proposals.

By reaching out to two markets that are quickly declining the strategy is bound to redefine this market’s boundaries in real time.

The focus has been turned to business travellers as well as home-based travellers whose current numbers are not at all attractive to the industry. Once the strategy gains momentum however Astor Lodges will be reaping all the benefits.

The above approaches will reach beyond the existing demand which seems to be largely based on the influx of Asian travellers.

These proposals also get the strategic sequence right since they are based on several analyses that have been conducted on both the business and the industry.

By separating leisure and business travellers, Astor Lodges will have overcome its main organizational hurdle to the provision of quality services to its customers as personnel dealing with the respective groups will give them specialized attention.

The two approaches if executed will be in themselves strategies being implemented since they aim to steer Astor Lodges towards its own Blue Ocean in Australia’s hospitality Industry (Chan and Renee, 2014).

References

Chan, K. W., & Renee, M. 2005. Blue ocean strategy.

Chon, K. S. 2013. Tourism in Southeast Asia: A new direction. Routledge.

Friesner, T. 2011. History of SWOT analysis. Marketing Teacher, 2000-2010.

Hudson, S., & Ritchie, B. 2002. Understanding the domestic market using cluster analysis: A case study of the marketing efforts of Travel Alberta. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 8(3), 263-276.

IBISWorld 2014 – H4401 Hotels and Resorts in Australia Industry Report_IBISWorld July 2014

Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. 2004. Blue ocean strategy. If you read nothing else on strategy, read thesebest-selling articles., 71.

Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. 2009. How strategy shapes structure. Harvard Business Review, 87(9), 72-80.

Porter, M. E. 2008. The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40.

Roger, K. 2010. Strategic Marketing Problems: Cases And Comments, 12/E. Pearson Education India.

Ruhanen, L. M., Mclennan, C. L. J., & Moyle, B. D. 2013. Strategic issues in the Australian tourism industry: a 10-year analysis of national strategies and plans. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 18(3), 220-240.

Welch, D. E., Welch, L. S., & Worm, V. 2007. The international business traveller: a neglected but strategic human resource. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(2), 173-183.

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Ethical Legal Dilemma Advanced Practice Nursing

Ethical Legal Dilemma Advanced Practice Nursing Case Study

Order Instructions:

As mentioned below , this is a continuation of 111490 SECTION B, basically in section B the writer wrote the introduction of the paper, and now the writer will have to write the entire paper. The paper will have 4 pages minimum excluding the introduction which is already written in 11490 SECTION B. follow the instructions below and also note that this is a fact-based assignment that will not include your opinion.
• This will require research and support for what is written.
• The assignment should be paraphrased without quotations from scholarly and fact-based publications.

Case Study Ethical Legal Dilemma Advanced Practice Nursing

Description.

This paper is a continuation of 111490 SECTION B, in that section, the introduction was written and for this paper the writer will take the introduction and continue by responding to the questions below base on the instructions giving hear below. Basically SECTION B of 111490 is the introduction of this paper, as you will realized if you read through it, so the writer will continue written the entire paper from where the introduction ended.

Also it is very important to note that this is a fact-based assignment that will not include your opinion.
• This will require research and support for what is written.
• The assignment should be paraphrased without quotations from scholarly and fact-based publications.

The paper should have a minimum of 7 citations and some of these should be case law or applicable statutes. The APA Manual and the textbook have instructions on legal formatting.

Directions:

1. Create an ethical legal decision-making dilemma involving an advanced practice nurse in the field of education, informatics, administration, or a nurse practitioner.

2. Include one ethical principle and one law that could be violated and whether the violation would constitute a civil or criminal act based on facts in the law.

3. Construct a decision that would prevent violation of the ethical principle and prevent the law from being violated.

4. Describe the legal principles and laws that apply to the ethical dilemma.

5. Support the legal issues with prior legal cases or state or federal statutes.

6. Analyze the differences between ethical and legal reasoning and apply an ethical-legal reasoning model in the case study to create a basis for a solution to the ethical-legal dilemma.

7. List three recommendations that will resolve advanced practice nurses moral distress in the dilemma you have presented.

8. Based on the issue you presented, the rules of law apply the laws to you case and come up with a conclusion.

Note:

• This is a fact-based assignment that will not include your opinion.
• This will require research and support for what is written.
• The assignment should be paraphrased without quotations from scholarly and fact-based publications.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Ethical Legal Dilemma Advanced Practice Nursing

In a case on the night of April 15, 1975, a patient by the name Quinlan ceased breathing for two intervals of 15 minutes. The parents decided to transport the patient to hospital where it was determined that her pupils were not moving and she failed to respond to deep pain (Karen Ann Quinlan Memorial Foundation, 2010). The patient was placed on a ventilator at the hospital and received a tracheotomy. The parents watched the condition of their daughter and observed that as days went by their daughters’ condition was deteriorating continuously. After much discussion and counseling, the family decided that it was at their best interest to remove the ventilator. The nurse attending the patient went to remove the ventilator but as she was about to start removing it the patient asked her to stop removing it. The nurse was in a dilemma not knowing what to do and who to listen to. This forced the hospital top disagree with the parents decision and later filed a case in court.

The principle of autonomy could be violated in this case if the nurse had done as by the parents’ wishes. Autonomy is essentially independence, the ability of an individual to choose his or her own actions (Fowler & American Nurses Association, 2008). According to this principle patients have a right both morally and legally to decide what type of treatment should be offered to them. The patient’s decision should be upheld and respected by all those involved in attending to the patient (Milton, 2003). Violating an ethical principle is a civil wrong.

The self-determination act could be violated if the nurse acted according to the demands of the family. The law provides that the parents are part of the patients family and that they have a right to call off the treatment or a do not resuscitate order for their patient (Bandman & Bandman, 2002). The 1990 act of self-determination provides that all the paternal relatives of the patient have a right to determine the treatment of their patient. The law further says that in case of life determination and maintenance the patient has a last decision on the same if at they can speak. Violation of this act is a criminal act punishable before a court of law.

When presented with the same case as above the nurse could choose to do what any reasonable and profession al person in the nursing field could do when faced with such a situation. The beneficence principle is based on the provision of bringing good to the patient (Purtilo, 2005). Every day of work is a day of nursing reflection; every day that a nurse is working is making decisions that are very crucial to the life of the patient (Furlong, 2007). In consideration to the beneficence principle, I could not remove the ventilator and instead ask the hospital administration to take the case to a court of law.

Another similar case to this was the case of Terri as described by Bratcher, Farrel, Stevens, & Wanderground (2007). The case was about the right to remove a feeding tube from the patient who had been using the tube for feeding for so long. Terri suffered a cardiac arrest in 1990. Her husband took her to hospital to seek for medical attention with the hope that Terri could recover. As time went by, the husband lost hope that the patient could not recover band therefore sought the ethical committee to take off the tubes. Terri’s parents refused that the tube should not be taken away from their only daughter. This brought a very serious battle between the two families. When they presented the case before a court of law, the court ruled in favor of Terri’s husband. However, the parents using their political power influence they did not heed to the court order and instead asked to pay the costs of the hospital as long as their daughter is arrive. First in this case, the court arrived at the decision after proving beyond reasonable doubt that the patient could not survive any longer on the tube after they were presented the facts about the situation of the patient by the nurse in charge of Terri.

Legal reasoning is the kind of thinking that comes from law, which consists mainly in legislation and the courts decisions (Rantmeester, 2013). The law is produced in relationships among the federal and state government and the governed. Law is very flexible and is subject to challenge depending on individual’s way of reasoning. Legal reasons suggest what is to be done from a legal point of view and suggest legal consequences for not doing what there are legal reasons to do (Lir & BJumtschkc, 2001). Ethical reasoning on the other hand emphasizes on the obligations, relationships, virtues, duties, responsibilities and personal character. Ethical reasoning focuses on practices of deliberation, argumentation and justification in which individuals try to make their moral lives in their line of professional communities. Ethical reasoning suggests what should be done and why it is right to do so. Whereas legal reasoning is a process of a legal expert giving advice to non experts, ethical reasoning is a process of reasoning among several different parties who are acting in the best interest of their loved one or patient, or who cares deeply about the rights of others (Rantmeester, 2013).

Savage & Milton (1989) came up with a decision making model for nurses. This framework is arranged into 9 steps that a nurse can follow in making a decision on the action to take when in a dilemma. The first steps require the nurse to use their professional and reflection practice in order to identify the health problem that the patient is suffering from. Once the health professional has discovered the health problem of the patient then they should identify the ethical problem or the ethical principle that is in the dilemma. Step there the practitioner should identify all the stakeholders who are involved in the decision. The fourth step the practitioner should identify their role as stated by the duties and responsibilities guidelines. The fifth step is to identify as many alternative solutions as they are available. These decisions should be based on reflective practice and application of past experience and also the use of evidence based practices (Sims, 1994). The sixth step is to consider the long-term and short-term consequences of each alternative solution that the practitioner has identified. The seventh step requires the practitioner to make a decision based on the best considered option. The eight steps is consideration on how the decision fits in with the general philosophy of practice care. The last step requires the practitioner follow the situation until they can see the actual results of the decision and use this information to help in making future decisions.

In the case presented in this paper, I could recommend the following when the advanced nursing practitioners are faced with a similar case. Never bring personal sympathy and feelings when dealing with such a case. When one brings their personal emotions and feelings in such a case, they may not act according to the will of the patients paternal relatives of family. This will b e very contrary to the patients will and families will. Secondly, the practitioner should listen to the two parties before they act, before removing any measures to resuscitate the patient’s life sustaining services first find out whether the patient is able to speak and think on their behalf. Thirdly, never act against the patients will. If at all the case is in such a way that the parents or relatives of the patient have refused the decision of the patient then take the matter to court for determination on the issue.

The ethical legal dilemma of the advanced nursing practice is basically solved through the application of the code of ethics principle and the law. Respect to the ethics of practice and the law will help one deal with the ethical legal dilemma effectively. Therefore, there is a dire need for masterly of the law in relation to nursing practice and the masterly and implementation of the code of ethics.

References

Bandman, E. & Bandman, B. (2002). Nursing Ethics Through the Life Span. (4^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

Bratcher, R., Farrel, J., Stevens, K., & Wanderground, K. (2007). Ethical and Legal issues. Jones &Barllet Learning, chapter 25; 387-400.

Fowler, M. D. M., & American Nurses Association. (2008). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses: Interpretation and application. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association

Furlong, E. (2007). Right or wrong: legal and ethical issues and decision-making. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, chapter 3: 29-45

Karen Ann Quinlan Memorial Foundation, (2010). Karen Ann Quinlan: she changed the way people looked at life and death. Retrieved September, 27, 2014. From www.karenannquinlanhospice.org/history.htm

Lir&J. Jumtschkc,(2001). Ethical Dilemmas and the Nurse Practitioner in the NICU. Neonatal Network, 20 (1): 33-38

McLean, D. J., & Yoder, D. G. (2005). Issues in recreation and leisure: Ethical decision making. Champaign,Ill:HumanKinetics

Milton, C. (2003). The American Nurse Association Code of Ethics: a reflection on the Ethics of Respect and Human Dignity With Nurse as Expert. Nurse Science Quarterly, 16(4), 301-304

Purtilo, R.(2005). Ethical dimensions in the health professional (4^th ed.). Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders.

Rantmeester, C. (2013 ). What’s legal? What’s moral? What’s the difference? A guide for teaching residents. American journal of bioethics, volume 6(4). Creighton University Medical Center.

Savage TA, and Milton CB. 1989. Ethical decision-making models for nurses. Chart 86(4): 2-5.

Sims, R. R. (1994). Ethics and organizational decision making: A call for renewal. Westport, Conn., u.a: Quorum Books.

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Marketing effectiveness; Nike inc. Research Paper

Marketing effectiveness; Nike inc.

Order Instructions:

For this paper, the writer will be combining 111486,111516 and 111587 , plus the writer will include an executive summary. The writer will end the paper by responding to the points listed below. It is important that the writer take proper care and combing the paper following the instructions below as it will not come out right if proper instructions are not followed.The executive summary must be base on the entire paper.

In combining the paper , we have to start from the first week which is 111486 and then follow by 111516 and then 111587 and finally he will include the respond to the section below following the instructions giving below for the summary, making one complete paper.

Your entire Paper is due this week. You should combine all information gathered over the past 3 weeks into one organized, cohesive report. You should also include a brief executive summary and set each week’s content in the context of the relevant literature. End the paper by responding to the following:
• Identify at least three short-term steps that the company can take to improve its overall marketing effectiveness. Provide details of specific activities in which the company should engage.
• Identify at least three long-term steps that the company can take to improve its overall marketing effectiveness. Provide details of specific activities in which the company should engage.
• In addition, include a discussion of the importance of the marketing audit that references scholarly literature and explain how the audit can help a company identify key issues.
Remember to include all references (in correct APA format), both scholarly and first-person interview, that you have used in your research.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Abstract

This paper provides a macro-environment audit of a selected company, which is Nike, Inc. The external influences that affect Nike including the demographic, economic, environmental, political, as well as cultural factors are described in an in-depth and comprehensive manner in this paper. These factors cannot be controlled by firm and at times they present threats. Nonetheless, changes within the external environment of a firm also create new opportunities (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The person whom I intend to interview is Davide Grasso, the Vice President, and Global Marketing manager at Nike.

Executive Summary

Nike, Inc is one of the multinational enterprises in the United States of America that designs and also manufactures sports apparels, foot wares, equipments among other accessories. Its major production subsidiary is Converse Inc, a company that specializes in designing and distribution of casual apparels, foot ware, and other personal sports outfits. Hurley International Company, specialiases in designing, marketing and distribution of sports ware and equipment for the youth.

Nike has adopted a wide range of marketing and communication strategies that have enabled it to achieve a lot of success in its marketing activities and revenue volumes. Despite its successes, Nike has also suffered setbacks in its journey to success. Nike had to contend with several accusations of child labour abuse and wage exploitation in parts of Asia. Several strikes have also hit some licensed contractors working for Nike in China.

These activities have affected the marketing effectiveness of Nike’s products in several countries especially those countries that uphold fair treatment of employees and respect for the rights of employees to a safe working environment.

Demographic Factors

Nike makes its products not only for women and men, but also for children of all ages. The target market for Nike’s products comprises females and males who are between the age of 18 years and 35. This age-group continues to increase every year, which presents a major opportunity for Nike’s products. People of all ages today are more health conscious than they used to be in previous years. As such, increasingly more people are actually choosing to join fitness clubs. Consequently, there is an accompanying growth for demands of fitness products particularly exercise equipment, shoes and apparel (Nike, 2014). Nike can position itself to exploit the opportunity brought about by this increase in demand as younger and older people are looking for sports equipment, apparels and shoes. Moreover, the female’s athletic market is also on the increase as the number of collegiate athletes have risen considerably from just a few thousands 5 decades ago to nearly 1 million at present (Nike, 2014).

Economic Factors

In response to the recent economic developments and trends characterized by a slowing economy which has caused consumer purchases to reduce, Nike has been greatly affected. Material prices and labor costs increased. The economic recession, which was the company’s biggest threat, resulted in weak sales for Nike (Nike, 2014). The actions that Nike is taking in response to the recent economic recession include increasing sales in China which experiences robust economic growth. In essence, sales in the Chinese market and in other parts of the globe were used by Nike to make up for weak sales in Europe, Australia, Japan and North America. Not only did Nike use the Chinese market to fight recession, but it also cut a total of 1,750 jobs. Nike also cut its marketing during the recession (Rogoway, 2009).

Environmental Factors

To make its products, Nike is presently reliant on the availability of natural resources including energy, water and raw materials. The cost of competition for these resources would rise as these resources become more and more scarce (Nike, 2014). Greenpeace reported that Nike had relationships with 2 Chinese textile processing factories that were producing dangerous chemicals and polluting 2 of China’s major rivers with chemicals that were hazardous (Hunt, 2011). With regard to the steps taken by Nike on the subject of pollution and conservation, Nike is committed to delivering innovative new products in ways that are more sustainable. To properly manage scarce resources, Nike develops and uses more sustainable and more recycled materials, as well as leaner manufacturing processes (Nike, 2014).

Technological Factors

Product innovation is essentially a continuing process and is of major importance to staying ahead of the competition (Oliva, 2006). In this industry, corporations invest considerably in Research and Development so as to sustain the new demands of today’s contemporary athlete. Nike has employed a lot of specialists who include athletes, industrial designers, engineers, as well as biomechanics to collaborate in the design process (Nike, 2014). Product technology generally has to evolve as fitness also evolves so as to gain an advantage. It is of note that Nike introduced into the market Nike Shox, a product that greatly revolutionized the cushioning foam utilized in shoes. In addition, Nike also worked together with Apple in launching new footwear and apparel that would easily carry the iPod of the consumer (Nike, 2014).

Political Factors

There are several changes in regulations and laws that may affect marketing strategy and tactics used by Nike. Several states such as Ohio have established Environmental Pollution Agencies (EPA) pollution control laws that are designed to prevent environmental pollution and generally to protect the environment (Esworthy, 2013). Such federal and state laws on pollution greatly affect Nike’s marketing tactics and strategy. The United States Government has also put in place price controls on prices which could be charged for services and good within the marketplace. Such price controls are mainly aimed at maintaining the affordability of products, and to slow inflation. Moreover, the Consumer Product Safety Act gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission the mandate to formulate safety standards and pursue recalls for goods which present significant or unreasonable risks of death or injury to consumers (Esworthy, 2013). The laws on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forbid specific kinds of work discrimination in some workplaces. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission regulates and oversees marketing and advertising law. These laws could possibly impact many of Nike’s areas of business, for instance how the company labels its products, how it carries out telemarketing and email campaigns, and how Nike advertises to children (The U.S. Small Business Administration, 2014). Laws on advertising protect consumers by demanding that advertisers should be truthful regarding their products and be able to validate their claims.

Cultural Factors

Nike’s brand is one of the most recognizable worldwide. The public’ attitude towards Nike’s products is that they are expensive, particularly the sneakers, and are of high quality. They are also durable products. However, a new reasonably priced series of Nike products for consumers in Asia made Asian consumers to think of Nike’s products as affordable. Changes in customer lifestyles such as doing more exercise to keep fit might affect Nike since there might be an increase in demand for the company’s sports shoes, apparel and equipment.

Markets

The major market segments of Nike Inc are mostly located in North America, Western Europe, Japan, China and other emerging markets. The markets have been expanding globally as well as the volume of sales. In 2013, the operations grew by 11% as a result of the popularity of the Nike brand and all the segments except China registered improved sales in the year 2013. In the same year the total sales turnover were $20.117 billion while the assets and liabilities for the same period were $17.584 and 6.428 billion respectively. The total market capitalization for Nike Inc. amounted to $64.75 billion in 2013. The inventory turnover for the same period was 4.3 compared to the previous year which was 4.3. The total revenue for Nike Inc for the year ended 2013 amounted to $27.8 billion

Customers

North American is the leading market segment in terms of sales volume which is followed by the emerging markets and China. The other markets are Western Europe, Japan and Central and Eastern Europe. Most of the segments make majority of their sales through wholesale outlets. Nike Inc products are highly rated both by its direct competitors like puma, Reebok or Adiddas and its customers. The Nike’s + sports band is a type of shoe that is universally rated as one of the best basketball shoes globally. It records or provides the distance covered when running and also the time taken. Nike brand is also common with the youth culture especially the urban fashions.

Competitors

Nike Inc is the leading company in footwear industry and it controls about 47% of the entire footwear industry while Reebok and Adidas control 16% and 6% respectively. Reebok is the second largest manufacturer of footwear in the US after Nike Inc. Adidas market capitalization for the year 2013 was 15.55 billion while its quarterly growth rate is 2% compared to Nike’s 11% for the same period. The total revenue for Adidas for the year ended 2013 amounted to 18.59 billion as compared to Nike’s $27.8 billion for the same period. Nike’s operating margin was 0.13 compared to 0.07 for Adidas for the same period while the earnings per share were 2.93 and 2.2 for Nike and Adidas respectively. The gross operating margin was 0.45 for Nike compared to 0.49 for Adidas. (Nike, 2014)

Adidas is enjoying one of the fastest growths in brand expansion. Their positive attributes have been shielded from any form of bad publicity by the two largest brands that are Nike and Reebok. (Van de Ven, 2008) They adjusted and expanded their manufacturing operation strategies to specialized outsourced services in the early 60’s from Germany to cheaper economies in Asia. But their greatest weakness is that they still do not have an operation code of conduct for outsourced agencies like Nike and Reebok. (Nike Annual Report, 2013) Adidas is currently considered to the worst employer in footwear industry and it’s largely due to its subcontracted or outsourced work in outsourced factories in Asia. (Van Dusen, 1992)

Distribution and Dealers

The largest earners for Nike Inc are the wholesale distributors which control majority of its sales volume. The inventory turnover or efficiency ratios for the year 2013 was 4.3 compared to the previous year which was 4.3 while the total revenue for the year ended 2013 amounted to $27.8 billion. Nike has outsourced most of its manufacturing business to China and other parts of Asia. Nike Inc also operates thousands of retail outlets in North America and also in other selected countries globally. The future ordering service or program facilitates the retailers to receive advance orders from customers and deliver them when they are due. In 2013, 87% of all the US sales were made under this program. (Kotler & Keller, 2012)

Nike also sells its products through their own Direct to Customer sales operations by utilizing the services of mix independent distributors, sales representatives globally and other licensees. Nike also operates the NIKETOWNS and other outlets for their employee-only stores. (O D’Esopo, & Almquist, 2007)

Suppliers

The suppliers of Nike are mostly located in Asia and other parts of the world. All the footwear for Nike is manufactured outside the US. China and Vietnam manufacture 36% each of Nike’s footwear production while Indonesia and Thailand manufacture 22% and 6% respectively of the total production. (Nike Annual Report, 2013) Other factories that manufacture for their primary markets are located in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and India. The major suppliers of Nike’s raw materials which are generally canvas, leather, nylon and polyurethane that is used to manufacture the Air-sole components are from China and Thailand. Since the year 1972, Sojitz International Corporation of America and Nissho Iwai Corporation from Japan has handled the bulk of Nike’s raw materials in the form of importing and exporting the requirements of the major production facilities across the world. They also finance the some of the operations and also handle the transporting logistics for the subcontractors.

Facilitators and Marketing Firms

Nike operates its marketing strategy by sponsoring celebrity athletes, college teams and other international professional teams to market its branded apparels and footwear. Nike has an agency known as the Wieden + Kennedy popularly known as the W+K and its responsible for creating its advertisements on most broadcasting stations and features mostly on the New York marathon and other international events. (Lee & Broderick, 2007) Nike has won several accolades in the international scenes due to its effective advertisement including the Emmy advertisement awards and also in the Cannes awards events. Nike pursues an aggressive marketing policy that favors its quality products. (Hauser, 2007) The core competencies of most footwear industries is to provide quality footwear and they concentrate largely on the research and development of their products while they leave the production and manufacturing operations to outsourced contractors. The main companies form the policies that guide the technological expertise, marketing and distribution networks. These companies gain in the form of reduced capital needs and risks, lower wages and management requirements when they outsource their manufacturing operations.

In conclusion, Nike has adopted several communication strategies to market its products and also to track vital information from the internet and also from other broadcasting stations. (Schibrowsky, Peltier & Nill, 2007) Internet marketing and other email technologies are utilized by Nike to reach potential clients throughout the world. The revenues for Nike Inc have continued to rise despite economic challenges that exist globally.

Marketing Function Audit

13.1. Products

Nike’s product line objective is based on performance oriented strategy that seeks to manufacture foot ware’s and sports apparels that can endure the rigorous training and competition pressures to achieve top most performance for their clients. For clients who purchase the products for casual use, Nike Inc aims at providing the best apparels and foot wares that is based on extensive research on personal performance and comfort.

Nike Inc product and brand overall strategy is mostly based on sports performance where a major of its revenues are derived from. But the overall casual market for its products is far larger than the sports market. More product branding and strategy should be focused on the casual market to achieve higher sales on the emerging market.

13.2. Price

Nike’s pricing objective are based on the competitive market that also aims at providing the best sporting and casual foot ware and apparel in the market. Nike products are priced slightly higher above its competitors due to its products higher quality and endurance aspects of its products. Its pricing policy is based on value for the price offered but occasional its marketing strategists conducts assessments on the overall market reaction to its prices in various parts of the world using different sampling procedures especially in the US which provides almost 45% of its total revenues.

13.3. Distribution

Nike’s Converse Inc specializes in designing and distribution of casual apparels, foot ware, and other personal sports outfits for the general public and sportsmen while Hurley International Company, specialiases in designing, marketing and distribution of sports ware and equipment for the youth, colleges and other sports events for teenagers. Besides the wholesale customers, Nike also sells directly to customers through the Direct Consumer Operations. Nike has a global presence in most of the countries worldwide and its marketing strategy is very effective and adequate. (Beverland, Napoli & Yakimova, 2007) Its product is available to most of its consumers globally besides the normal orders that can be placed under the Direct Consumer operations. (Hauser, 2007)

Integrated Marketing

Nike has won the Emmy Award for best commercial on two occasions in the years 2000 and 2002. (Nike Annual Report, 2003) Its advertising objective is to create a trademark that is associated with excellence performance in the track and field for athletes and other sportsmen and women and also for casual use.

The advertising media for Nike is well chosen and effective. The decision to use sports celebrities to market and promote its products and also to demonstrate the performance of their technology and design is proving to be the best decision. Nike Inc signed in the NBA player Mike Jordan, in the year 1984, and its revenues increased dramatically hence the introduction of the Jordan brand name in one of its foot ware products. (Beverland, Napoli & Yakimova, 2007) Nike adopted the internet and email marketing management technologies since its inception in the early 2000 and it’s currently using the broadcast and narrowcast satellite communication technologies to drive its multimedia marketing campaigns. (Schibrowsky, Peltier & Nill, 2007; Szmigin, Canning & Reppel, 2005)

Strategy Audit

15.1. Business mission

Nike business mission is clearly stated in market oriented terms and represented wholly by its trademark in all its designs. (Nike Annual Report, 2013) In the year 2010, the value of its brand alone was estimated to be worth more than $10.7 billion. Nike’s brand name is very feasible and it actually leads its sales. Its trademark represents all its mission strategies and accomplishments.

15.2. Marketing Objectives and Goals

Nike’s marketing objectives and its goals are well stated, adequately enough to plan its marketing and performance operations to facilitate global expansion and achieve highest returns. Nike’s athletic foot wares for example, are aimed at providing specific athletic use and they have been designed with the same purpose in mind. (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004)

The company’s objective is appropriate given its competitive nature and huge resources and opportunities available. These can be confirmed from its huge revenues that are derived from its sales revenues and the popularity of its products. In the year 2012, Nike posted more than $24.1 billion dollars in its total revenues.

Strategy

The management of Nike Inc has a clear strategy of achieving its marketing objectives. The US forms its target segment with an estimated 45% of its entire revenues coming from the US alone; its major strategies are tailored for the American market. Product positioning refers to the development and marketing of the company’s products brand as the true and real images of the company’s major product. (Kotler & Keller, 2012) To form an impressive strategy, Nike has chosen a communication strategy that is unique and competitive to the nature of its products. The use of sports celebrities as its promotion strategy has created an effective marketing strategy. (Nike, 2014) Most of its customers view the Nike brand as an epitome of success something which influences its pricing policy. (O D’Esopo & Almquist, 2007). It’s a process known as brand equity and it occurs where the company’s loyal customers are even more willing to pay much more to obtain their choice of product mostly because of its positioning in the market.

Short-term Marketing effective Improvement Strategies

To perfect the effectiveness of Nike’s marketing strategy, the short term measures that the company can take is to polish its tainted image on allegations of child labor in Cambodia and Pakistan and which were first registered in the 1990’s. The allegations were once again confirmed by the BBC in the year 2001 who gave an account of six girls who worked more than sixteen hours a week continuous for weeks on end and without adequate compensation. Also in April 2014, a strike in China almost grounded the operations of Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings in Dongguan that was occasioned by poor pay and inhospitable working conditions. The company is a Subcontractor of Nike Inc. Nike has to prove to the world that it’s an equal opportunity employer and its policies are not discriminatory on the basis of race, gender or nationality. Issues of exploitation can gravely taint its image and can have very negative repercussions on its brand image globally. The company must have a way of reigning in its errant Subcontractors who exploit the workers notwithstanding the political factors that may be at play in such countries.

One of the marketing strategies that Nike has adopted is the promotion of its product by using successful sportsmen as way of promoting its products worldwide. Most of these sports celebrities don various apparels that are branded with Nike’s trademarks and which associate success to with Nike’s products. However, there are instances where the motive of Nike’s major objective of portraying success has been marred by the celebrities negative immoral and unethical behaviors’ like in the case of Tiger woods’ unbecoming conducts outside the field. Nike Inc needs to do more on researching their sports celebrities before contracting them so as to improve the effectiveness of its marketing policies and communication strategies.

Nike also needs to improve on its efficiencies in the production process and conduct more research on affordable raw materials that can be costed affordably. Its pricing policy is way above most of its potential customers. Nike’s products are more expensive than its rivals Adiddas and Reebok. For its marketing strategies to be more effective the prices of its products must also resonate well with its potential clients.

Long-term Marketing effective Improvement Strategies

The long term measures may include more research on improvement of the sportsmen needs and the latest demands on consumer tastes and preferences. For Nike to maintain a sustainable, competitive and effective marketing strategy efficient methods of evaluation and feedback analysis must be established and the objectives clearly defined.

The log-term measures should include an effective promotional strategy that will entail long-term research on all potential sports celebrities and those that aspire to promote the products of Nike Inc. These measures will ensure that the risk of recruiting incompetent, hot tempered or immoral promoters would be minimized. Cases like the suspension of Oscar Pictorius due to negative publicity would have been avoided much earlier before the revelation or publicity of Nike’s sponsorship details in February 2013.

Cases of inadequate and ineffective advertisement should also be addressed by adopting clear communication strategies. Competent and experienced promotional designers should be hired to design and develop effective marketing materials that are required for long-term marketing strategies. In some cases Nike had to withdraw some advertisement from the market after some of their marketing phrases were offensive to the public like the Nike 6.0 advertisement. (Brettman, 2011)

Discussion of the Importance of the Marketing Audit

The marketing audit has revealed the marketing activities of Nike Inc, its business environment and also assessed its present and past performance. It has also provided the basis for analyzing its marketing strategies. As the dynamic nature of the marketing and business environment is always changing, the marketing audit report can be used as a point of reference or as a tool of reflecting the constant changes in the business environment internally or externally. External environment reveal the changing patterns of the industry’s competitors compared to the company’s development and growth. The external environment audit also reveals the effects of government policies like taxation and trade policies on the company. The internal audit reveals the effectiveness of the company’s marketing strategies and also the marketing information research.

Conclusion

To conclude, the main aim of Nike’s marketing strategy should not only be business expansion only but also it should include corporate social responsibility both to its immediate environment and also for future generations. A short-term victory against its rivals or competitors would be great for the company and its management but the major aim of the company should be to maintain a sustainable and a competitive advantage over the rest of the firms in the industry

References

Brettman, A. (2011). “Nike courts controversy, publicity with drug-themed skater shirts”. The Oregonian. Retrieved 2011-06-24.

Beverland, M., Napoli, J. & Yakimova, R. (2007) Branding the business marketing offer: Exploring brand attributes in business markets. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 22(6), 394–399. Doi: 10.1108/08858620710780154

Esworthy, R. (2013). Federal Pollution Control Laws: How are they Enforced? Federation of American Scientists.

Hauser, W. (2007) Marketing analytics: The evolution of marketing research in the twenty-first century, direct Marketing, 1(1), 38–54. Doi: 10.1108/17505930710734125

Hunt, K. (2011). Greenpeace Links Big Brands to Chinese River Pollution. BBC News.

Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2012) Marketing management, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Lee, N. & Broderick, A. (2007). The past, present, and future of observational research in marketing. Qualitative Market Research, 10(2), 121–129. Doi: 10.1108/13522750710740790

Nike Annual Report (2003) http://www.annualreportowl.com/Nike/2003/Annual%20Report

Nike Annual Report (2013) http://www.annualreportowl.com/Nike/2013/Annual%20Report

Nike. (2014) Strategy, Available at http://www.nikebiz.com/crreport/content/strategy/2-1-1-corporate-responsibility-strategy-overview.php?cat=cr-strategy (Accessed September 4, 2014).

O D’Esopo, M., & Almquist, E. (2007). An approach to mastering the marketing mix. Business Strategy Series, 8(2), 122–131. Retrieved from Proquest Central database.

Oliva, R. (2006). The three key linkages: Improving the connections between marketing and sales. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 21(6), 395–398. Doi: 10.1108/08858620610690155

Prahalad, C. & Ramaswamy, V. (2004) Co-creation experiences: The next practice in value creation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(3), 5–14. Retrieved from Business Source Premier Data base.

Rogoway, M. (2009). Nike Will Cut 1, 750 Jobs, Including 500 at Oregon Headquarters. The Oregonian. Available at http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/05/500_oregon_jobs_among_1750_nik_1.html (Accessed September 4, 2014)

Schibrowsky, J., Peltier, J., & Nill, A. (2007). The state of Internet marketing research: A review of the literature and future research directions. European Journal of Marketing, 41(7/8), 722–733. Doi: 10.1108/03090560710752366

Szmigin, I., Canning, L. & Reppel, A. (2005) online community: Enhancing the relationship marketing concept through customer bonding. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 16(5), 480–497. Doi: 10.1108/09564230510625778

The U.S. Small Business Administration. (2014). Advertising & Marketing Law. Available at http://www.sba.gov/content/advertising-and-marketing-law (Accessed September 4, 2014).

Van de Ven, B. (2008). An ethical framework for the marketing of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(2), 339–352. Retrieved from http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/applied+ethics/journal/10551

Van Dusen, S. (1992) The Manufacturing Practices of Footwear Industries: Nike Vs the Competition, http://www.unc.edu/~andrewsr/ints092/vandu.html

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Analysis of Overstock.com strategic choices at corporate level

Order Instructions:

Analyze Overstock.coms strategic choices at the corporate level, to include how these strategies follow Porter’s generic strategies. Are they in sync?
Which of the four quadrants of the ‘Grand Strategy Selection Matrix does Overstock.com fit in, and why?

SAMPLE ANSWER

Introduction

O.co is the popular initials of Overstock com Inc, the American Company that operates online businesses that are based in and also outside the US. Its head office is located in Cottonwood heights, Utah near the Salt Lake City.

Michael Porter’s (1996) generic strategies eventually narrow to the two major headings between the cost advantage and the product differentiation strategies. Overstock Company applies the cost advantage in its corporate strategy level to market its products on its online business segment whose cost leadership advantage has earned its differentiated status as a cost efficient and effective products distributor as it strives to be the most economical or the lowest cost provider in the entire business to most customer segments. It was initially known as the D2- Discounts Direct before it rebranded itself to Overstock.Com. It sells all types of domestic equipments, appliances, furniture, jewelry, computers, magazines, DVDs, apparels among other requirements. It offers various discounts on brand names and also non branded products. Overstock operates a large online retailer that primarily supplies the American market with literally anything they would like to purchase including vehicles. It also operates a World stock Fair Trade shows that offers its clients a variety of handcrafted products. The characteristics of Overstock are in sync with porter’s arguments.

Overstock Company has the characteristics displayed in Quadrant 1 below where strong and very competitive companies flourish in markets that are rapidly growing. Overstock strategic position in online sales places it in a strategic market where its products have a wide global market and its development strategy has an excellent opportunity. The company can expand and develop its market in all directions, horizontally, forward or even backwards. Being a company that sells multiple products, its marketing strategy is to offer products that attract more clients because of their discounts and low pricing policies which aid it to penetrate the market. (Porter, 1996)

	Weak Competitive	Strong Competitive
1.	Companies in Rapid	Companies In 2. markets
	growth Market	with Rapid Growth
1	Market Dev	Market Dev
2	Market Penetration	Market Penetration
3	Product Dev	Product Dev
4	Horizontal Integration	Horizontal Integration
5	Divestiture Liquidation	Related diversification
6		Forward integration
	Weak Competitive	Strong Competitive
3.	Companies In markets	4. Companies In Mkt
	that have slow Growth	with Slow Growth
1	Retrenchment	Joint venture
2	Related Diversification	Related Diversification
3	Unrelated diversification	Unrelated diversification
4	Liquidation
5	Divestiture Liquidation

Overstock sells its products mostly at the industry’s average prices or at times lower to increase its market share and it subsidizes its costs by applying the economies of scale, outsourcing, process efficiencies and its experience on the curve effect. Its major aim is to achieve a low- cost distribution network that’s relatively economical than its rivals and it’s the main focus of the firm’s strategy. (Hayes, Pisano, Upton and Wheelwright, 2005)

Porter (1996) argues that by utilizing the value chain and the value system and also the linkages a company can improve its efficiency significantly while exploiting the sources of competitive efficiency and other value added strategies.

Reference

Hayes, Pisano, Upton and Wheelwright (2005) Pursuing the Competitive Edge; New York, Wiley and Sons, page 264.

Porter, M.E. (1996) What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, Boston pp 61-78 Vol.74, No.6 November-December.

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Governance and Fraud Case Study Paper

Governance and Fraud

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Part 1 1000 words maximum
Part 2 1000 words maximum

Part 1; There have been numerous corporate scandals in the past 15 years, most of which caused the companies affected to subsequently experience financial difficulties. Prominent frauds include HIH Insurance and Onetel (Australia), Satyam computers (India), Societe-General and Parlamat (France), World.com, Enron and Waste management (USA), Barings Bank and Equitable life Ins (UK) Royal Dutch Shell (Holland), Olympus (Japan), Duetche Bank (Germany) and Siemens (Greece).

(i) Select a fraud from three different countries and describe the nature of the fraud.
(ii) Explain the causes of the frauds using the fraud triangle.
(iii) Using the fraud triangle as a framework, compare and contrast the influence of cultural and social factors in each international jurisdiction on the cause of the frauds.

Part 2; Answer the following questions based on the case study below:
Alex McAdams, the recently retired CEO of Athletic Shoes, was honoured to be asked to join the Board of Consolidated Mins (CMI) International Inc. Alex continues to sit on the Board of Athletic Shoes, as well as the Board of Pharma Advantage another publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. However, CMI, as it is known, is a major step up for Alex.
CMI was formed as the United Mines Company in the 1870s, by an American railway magnate, and in 1985 it became Consolidated Mines International Inc. It operates mines in Central America and northern South America. In 2004, its revenue were approximately $4.5 billion and it employed about 25,000 people worldwide.
In deciding whether to accept the board seat, Alex conducted his own due diligence. As a result, there were two issues that he wanted to raise with Cameron Derry, the CEO of CMI. One concerned the allegations of questionable business practices. The other concerned the political instability in several of the Latin American countries in which the CMI mines are located. Today Alex was meeting with Cameron at the Long Bar Lounge.
During lunch Cameron candidly talked about the history of the company and the bad press that it often received. “In the 1920s we were accused of bribing government officials and using our political connections to have unions outlawed. In the 1950s we were accused of participating in the overthrow of a Latin American government. In the 1990s there were charges that we were exploiting our employees, polluting the environment, and facilitating the importation of cocaine into the U.S. But, none of these allegations has ever been proven in court of law,” said Cameron. “And we’ve even successfully sued one newspaper chain that published a series of these unproven stories about us”.
“As for the political environment, Alex, you’re right. There is no effective government in many of the countries in which we operate. In fact it is often the paramilitary that are in control of the countryside where we have our mines. These are very unsavoury organizations, Alex. They have their own death squads. They have been involved in the massacre, assassination, kidnapping, and torture of tens of thousands of Latin Americans, most of them peasants and workers, as well as trade unionists and left wing political figures.”
“Do they interfere with CMI’s operations?” asked Alex.
“No, and that’s because we’ve been paying them off. It’s now 2014 and we’ve been paying them since 1997. To date we’ve given them about $1.7million in total. Don’t look so shocked, Alex. Occasionally, we have to do business with some very unsavoury characters. And the United Peoples Liberation Front that controls much of the region around our mines is probably the worst of the lot. They are involved in disappearances, murder, rape and drug trafficking. The payments we make to them are for our protection. If we don’t make these payments it could result in harm to our personnel and property.”
“That’s extortion!”
“We don’t call it that. We list these payments as being for ‘security services, but we have no invoices to support the payments, and beginning in 2002 we began making direct cash payment to them. But, we now have an additional problem. The United State government has declared the United People Liberation Front to be a terrorist organization, and our outside legal counsel has advised us to stop making the payments. But if we stop I’m afraid of what might happen to our employees. I don’t want to support drug trafficking and terrorism, but I need our mines to stay open.”
“I’m telling you this Alex, because when you join the Board, the first item on next months’ agenda is these payments. I want the Board to approve that we continue to make these payments in order to ensure the safety of our Latin American employees and operations.”

(i) Discuss the ethical issues in the case above with reference to the principles of professional conduct.
(ii) What should Alex do? Justify and analyse the case above using AAA ethical decision making model and arrive at a decision.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Governance and Fraud

Part 1

Corporate scandals in India, USA and Australia have indicated that corporate accounting fraud is the greatest problem in the corporate world that is rising in occurrence and severity. Research shows that the alarming rates of fraud have damaged the reliability of financial reports, resulted to considerable economic losses and corroded the assurance of investors on the efficacy and consistency of financial statements (Jones, 2011).

Corporate accounting fraud is an economic or political scandal that arises from the disclosure of fiscal offenses by trusted organization managerial. Such fiscal offenses often involve multifaceted ways of mishandling or misusing funds, overstatement of corporate value assets, understatement of corporate expenses, overstatement of revenues, or under-reporting the extent of liabilities (Romney & Steinbart, 2008).

In the US, corporate accounting fraud has crippled many companies. The Enron Corporation, an American energy company located in Texas, was declared bankrupt in 2001 following claims of immense accounting fraud that led to the loss of $78 billion in stock market value, leading to the fall of Arthur Andersen and the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Following a severe fall in the company’s stock price in 2001, the shareholders of Enron filed a $40 lawsuit, which prompted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin an investigation. Dynegy, Enron’s rival made an offer to buy the Enron at an extremely low price, but Enron put down the offer, and Enron was compelled to apply for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Enron Corporation’s $63.4 billion in assets made it the biggest corporate bankruptcy in the history of the United States until WorldCom took up the bankruptcy record in the following year.

Regardless of legislative reactions to the rising trend of corporate accounting fraud in the United States, which led to much stricter corporate guidelines with amendments to the UN Sentencing Guidelines and the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, colossal corporate fraud still continues to prevail in the country.

The collapse of a prominent Australian corporation OneTel has indicated the inadequacy of corporate governance practices in Australia (Albrecht & Albrecht, 2004). HIH Insurance was liquidated in 2001 with losses ranging between AU$3.6 billion and AU$5.3 billion. In a similar way, just prior to its collapse, OneTel, which was once ranked as the fourth largest telecommunications company in Australia and one of the ASX’s fastest growing companies, revealed an operating loss of AU$291 in 2000. The collapse OneTel was triggered by many problems including questionable related party dealings, potentially unnecessary management compensations, unproductive working capital management, improper auditing, destructive financial reports, untenable business policies, and poor corporate governance. The failure of this Australian company highlights the significance of not only having good corporate governance practices but also ensuring thorough execution of the same rather than plain paid “lip service” (Jones, 2011).

The fundamental problem of Australian companies as highlighted in OneTel is their keenness in pursuing low yielding businesses and failing to set aside adequate capital to cater for future liabilities. Predictably, the problem has been catalyzed by the failure of management and the board of directors to efficiently implement and scrutinize due diligence practices.

India has also experienced massive corporate fraud particularly since the wake of the 21^st century. In 2009, it was revealed that the chairman of Satyam Computer Services, one of Inida’s largest computer IT companies serving many global corporations such as 185 Fortune, had manipulated corporate books in various commercial dealings. Satyam’s chairman was also found to have engaged in mishandling of assets, increasing expenses, forging documents, and manipulating of profits, inventory value and income, since 2001. The losses encountered by Satyam were estimated to be US1.5 billion, that is, two and a half times the sum of the Enron Scandal (Bhasin, 2013).

The fraud triangle consists of three components that act together to lead to fraudulent behavior and they include pressure, opportunity, and rationalization (Albrecht & Albrecht, 2004). Pressure involves the motivation of a person to commit fraud. It includes financial, lifestyle, and emotional motivation. In Enron’s case, financial pressure existed for top management to meet the Wall Street analysts’ expectations. As for Satyam and OneTel, the top management engaged in fraud due to lifestyle motivation.

Opportunity refers to the condition or situation that allows a person or an organization to commit the fraud, hide it, and switch it to personal gain (Barney, 2009). The conditions at Enron, Satyam, and OneTel that provided an opportunity to commit the fraud were the companies’ control framework; the control environment, the control procedures, and the accounting system. The companies’ top management failed to accept the responsibility to provide conducive work environment. In addition, proper and effective accounting systems could have provided an audit trail, particularly a paper trail that could make it easier to detect fraud. Furthermore, the conditions in the three countries provided opportunities for the perpetrators to switch the misrepresentations into personal gains. During the respective frauds, top management received large bonuses.

Rationalization is a form of mental justification by perpetrators of their illegal behavior. Most perpetrators in the three fraud scenarios were first-time offenders with no criminal history that allowed them to use rationalization to hide their dishonesty. Due to the fact that the crimes committed were non-violent, the perpetrators did not appreciate the consequences of their actions.

The frauds committed by the three companies were influenced by cultural and social factors. The Enron scandal was triggered by the pressures for economic success that had commenced in the late 20^th century and was characterized by a perceived expansive growth that heightened the expectations of corporate success. Enron was a victim of these expectations which resulted to the growth of a fraud designed to mislead the public until the economic face improved.

The management in all the three companies did not carry out effective fraud education training to the employees to tell and show them the devastating consequences of fraud. Since the top executives of the companies condoned fraud, the other employees did not feel that fraud had devastating consequences and thus, they could not hesitate to commit fraud. The frauds were also influenced by permissiveness of the activities in their cultural environments and lack of an ethical environment that condemns fraud.

Part 2

Ethical issues in the case with reference to the principles of professional conduct

The principles of professional conduct are varied due to the fact that every profession has its own code (Weissman & Debow, 2003). However, all codes often work towards the promotion of the public interest, integrity, objectivity, independence, confidentiality, technical and professional standards, competence and due care, and ethical behavior. These principals also apply to all members in public practice.

As regards public interest, while acting in the course of the interests of their employers, professionals must put into account legal requirements and any loyalties and responsibilities owed to the community. Thus, in all its endeavors, CMI should ensure that it does not disregard public interest while furthering its own interests. Integrity requires members to show straightforwardness, sincerity, and honesty in their approach to professional work. An employee who discovers that his employer has committed or is about to commit an unlawful act should make all relevant efforts to convince the employer not to continue perpetuating the unlawful act and to rectify the matter. Objectivity requires professionals to be fair and not allow prejudice and conflict of interest to override their objectivity.

The principle of independence requires that professionals should act independently without any interest that is considered inconsistent with objectivity and integrity. Despite the fact that employees cannot be independent of their employers and there are certain legal duties such as keeping information confidential, they also have responsibilities towards directors, shareholders, other executives and employees, and third parties such as customers, banks and suppliers. Another principle of professional code of conduct is confidentiality. It is important to respect the confidentiality of information acquired in the course of work and disclosure to a third party without specific authority is unethical. Professionals also need to observe ethical behavior by conducting themselves in a manner consistent with the good reputation of their profession and refraining from any conduct which might bring discredit to their profession (Flanagan & Clarke, 2007).

The principles of professional ethics require all professionals to promote and support the highest level of ethics in their profession and uphold the highest standards of professional conduct. Professionals are also required to use only ethical and legal means in their course of operations while protecting the public against unfair practices and fraud and promoting all practices that bring respect and credit to the profession. It is also an ethical requirement for professionals to provide accurate and truthful information with regard to the performance of their duties at all times.

The facts of the case indicate that CMI has several ethical issues. The first ethical issue is with regard to integrity. The company’s bribing of government officials and using its political connections to outlaw unions raises integrity issues. It also raises the issue of employee mistreatment whereby the top executive officials make decisions to mistreat other employees, even to the point of breaking the law. The outlawing of unions deprives employees a platform for them to raise their concerns on issues such as paid leave, working hours, wages, discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful and unfair dismissal.

Other ethical issues are in respect to the company’s pollution of the environment, exploitation of employees, and facilitation of the importation of cocaine into the US. These issues are against the principle of protection of public interests. In addition the company’s funding of the United Peoples Liberation Front raises ethical concerns due to the fact that the organization is involved in harmful activities such as drug trafficking, rape, murder and disappearances. Making payments to this unsavoury terrorist organization raises the question of public interests, integrity, and competence and due care.

What Alex should do using AAA ethical decision making model (The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, d.)
Determine the facts

Alex should establish the facts as to who, what, where, when, and how the problem was committed. Alex should find out the facts before raising the matter with Cameron. He should document his findings, noting that the employees have been mistreated, the company is funding a terrorist organization, polluting the environment, and facilitating drug trafficking.

The significant stakeholders and definition of the ethical issues

Stakeholders of CMI include Cameron Derry, directors of the organization, shareholders, and creditors. The ethical issues include Alex’s responsibility to Cameron Derry versus his own integrity, Alex’s responsibility to the organization versus his responsibility to Cameron, and Alex’s responsibility to the organization and Cameron versus public interest. Overall, Alex’s dilemma is what further action he should take regarding the information he has gathered.

The applicable fundamental principles and any other rules or values

Alex needs to demonstrate integrity, technical and professional standards, and competence and due care.

The alternatives

By doing nothing, Alex would breach the principles of integrity, technical and professional standards, and competence and due care. Resignation would satisfy the three principles, though it would abrogate responsibility. Raising the concerns with the board members informally would not give Alex an opportunity to explain himself. By trying to convince Cameron Derry to stop breaching ethical and legal duties, Alex would be acting in consistence with integrity and it allows Alex the opportunity to explain himself.

Assessment of the consequences

If Alex decides to do nothing and allow the company to continue funding the terrorist organization, it would pacify the ethical problems affecting the company, and this would cause devastating legal consequences to the operations of the company. This would cause Alex to breach his ethical standards as outlined in the Code. If he chooses to resign, the problem might never be identified, which may cause detrimental problems to the company. If he talks informally with the board members, it may preserve Alex’s integrity and may lead to an independent investigation, though it can have a negative impact on Alex’s career aspirations. If he tries to convince Cameron to put an end to harmful practices, Cameron might consider rectifying the problem.

Decision-making

In light of the analysis, first, Alex can once more convince Cameron to rectify the issue basing on his findings. If this is not successful, Alex can raise his concerns with the board and other stakeholders. If again not successful, Alex can resign.

References

Albrecht, S. & Albrecht, C. (2004). Fraud Examination and Prevention.

Barney, J. L. (2009). Corporate scandals, executive compensation, and international corporate governance convergence: a US-Australia case study. Temp. Int’l & Comp. LJ, 23, 231.

Bhasin, M. L. (2013). Corporate Accounting Fraud: A Case Study of Satyam Computers Limited. Open Journal of Accounting, 2: 26-38.

Flanagan, J., & Clarke, K. (2007). Beyond a Code of Professional Ethics: A Holistic Model of Ethical Decision‐Making for Accountants. Abacus, 43(4), 488-518.

Jones, M. J. (2011). Creative Accounting, Fraud and International Accounting Scandals. John Wiley & Sons.

Romney, M. B. & Steinbart, P. J. (2008). Accounting Information Systems. Reading, mass: Addison-Wiley.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. Joint Guidance Notes GN – Members in Business Guidance Statement. Retrieved from: http://www.apesb.org.au/attachments/GN1.pdf

Weissman, H. N., & Debow, D. M. (2003). Ethical principles and professional competencies. Handbook of psychology.

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Defenses to Malpractice and Risk Management Techniques

Order Instructions:

Look at this case and respond to the 3 main points raise in the question, it is critical that the writer detail out the respond to the question clearly using credible sources and past case laws to support your stand on the case.

Take the malpractice case below and discuss the defenses that may be raised in that case. Discuss how the incident could have been prevented. What risk management techniques could have been used?

Case Study : Malpractice Action Brought by Yolanda Pinnelas
People Involved in Case:
Yolanda Pinnelas-patient
Betty DePalma, RN, MS-nursing supervisor
Elizabeth Adelman, RN, recovery room nurse
William Brady, M.D., plastic surgeon
Mary Jones, RN-IV insertion
Carol Price, LPN
Jeffery Chambers, RN-staff nurse
Patricia Peters, PharmD-pharmacy
Diana Smith, RN
Susan Post, JD-Risk Manager
Amy Green-Quality Assurance
Michael Parks, RN, MS, CNS-Education coordinator
SAFE-INFUSE-pump
Brand X infusion pump
Caring Memorial Hospital
Facts:
The patient, Yolanda Pinellas is a 21-year-old female admitted to Caring Memorial Hospital for chemotherapy. Caring Memorial is a hospital in Upstate New York. Yolanda was a student at Ithaca College and studying to be a music conductor.
Yolanda was diagnosed with anal cancer and was to receive Mitomycin for her chemotherapy. Mary Jones, RN inserted the IV on the day shift around 1300, and the patient, Yolanda, was to have Mitomycin administered through the IV. An infusion machine was used for the delivery. The Mitomycin was hung by Jeffrey Chambers, RN and he was assigned to Yolanda. The unit had several very sick patients and was short staffed. Jeffery had worked a double shift the day before and had to double back to cover the evening shift. He was able to go home between shift and had about 6 hours of sleep before returning. The pharmacy was late in delivering the drug so it was not hung until the evening shift. Patricia Peters, PharmD brought the chemotherapy to the unit.
On the evening shift, Carol Price, LPN heard the infusion pump beep several times. She had ignored it as she thought someone else was caring for the patient. Diana Smith, RN was also working the shift and had heard the pump beep several times. She mentioned it to Jeffery. She did not go into the room until about forty-five minutes later. The patient testified that a nurse Updated: June 2014 MN506- Unit 9 Page 3 of 5
came in and pressed some buttons and the pump stopped beeping. She was groggy and not sure who the nurse was or what was done.
Diana Smith responded to the patient’s call bell and found the IV had dislodged for the patient’s vein. There was no evidence that the Mitomycin had gone into the patient’s tissue. Diana immediately stopped the IV, notified the physician, and provided care to the hand. The documentation in the medical record indicates that there was an infiltration to the IV.
The hospital was testing a new IV Infusion pump called SAFE-INFUSE. The supervisory nurse was Betty DePalma, RN. Betty took the pump off the unit. No one made note of the pump’s serial number as there were 6 in the hospital being used. There was also another brand of pumps being used in the hospital. It was called Brand X infusion pump. Betty did not note the name of the pump or serial number. The pump was not isolated or sent to maintenance and eventually the hospital decided not to use SAFE-INFUSE so the loaners were sent back to the company.

Betty and Dr. William Brady are the only ones that carry malpractice insurance. The hospital also has malpractice insurance.
Two weeks after the event, the patient developed necrosis of the hand and required multiple surgical procedures, skin grafting, and reconstruction. She had permanent loss of function and deformity in her third, fourth, and fifth fingers. The Claimant is alleging that, because of this, she is no longer able to perform as a conductor, for which she was studying.
During the procedure for the skin grafting, the plastic surgeon, Dr. William Brady, used a dermatome that resulted in uneven harvesting of tissue and further scarring in the patient’s thigh area where the skin was harvested.
The Risk Manger is Susan Post, J.D. who works in collaboration with the Quality Assurance director Amy Green. Amy had noted when doing chart reviews over the last three months prior to this incident that there were issues of short staffing and that many nurses were working double shifts, evenings and nights then coming back and working the evening shift. She was in the process of collecting data from the different units on this observation. She also noted a pattern of using float nurses to several units. Prior to this incident the clinical nurse specialist, Michael Parks, RN, MS, CNS, was consulting with Susan Post and Amy Green about the status of staff education on this unit and what types of resources and training was needed.

Resources

Anselmi, K. K. (2012). Nurses’ personal liability vs. employers’ vicarious liability. MEDSURG Nursing, 21(1), 45–48.

American Nurses Association Nursing World. (2009). Patient safety: Rights of registered nurses when considering a patient assignment. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy/Positions-and-Resolutions/ANAPositionStatements/Position-Statements-Alphabetically/Patient-Safety-Rights-of-Registered-Nurses-When-Considering-a-Patient-Assignment.html

Essentials of Nursing Law and Ethics
Chapter 5: “Defenses to Negligence or Malpractice”
Chapter 6: “Prevention of Malpractice”
Chapter 7: “Nurses as Witnesses”
Chapter 8: “Professional Liability Insurance”
Chapter 9: “Accepting or Refusing an Assignment/Patient Abandonment”
Chapter 10: “Delegation to Unlicensed Assisted Personnel”

SAMPLE ANSWER

Defenses to Malpractice and Risk Management Techniques

Introduction

It is the mandate of every medical practitioner to take care of the clients entrusted under his care. The doctor should not harm the patients, and neither should they make the existing illness worse. This case involves Yolanda Pinellas a 21 year old cancer patient entrusted under the care of Jeffrey Chambers. The client was admitted at Caring Memorial Hospital for chemotherapy but suffered massive injuries after being left unattended for over forty minutes. Despite the fact that she rung the bell, the medical staff in charge did not hurry to assuage her pain. Medical malpractice occurs when the treatment administered by the physician leads to further injury to the client (Infusion Nurses Society, 2010). Notably, there was an infiltration to the IV and as a result Yolanda suffered necrosis of the hand requiring her to go through multiple surgical procedures, skin grafting, and reconstruction. During the skin grafting process, the surgeon, Dr. William Brady, used a dermatome resulting to uneven harvesting of tissue, further scarring the patient’s thigh area where the skin was harvested.

The Defenses In This Case

While medical practitioners together with the other health care providers are not required to be perfect they have the duty to act responsibly and use reasonable care in their medical profession (Wickham, 2006). In the case of Yolanda VS Caring Memorial Hospital, Diana Smith, working during the shift heard the pump beep several times. She immediately alerted Jeffrey who was entrusted to take care of the client. Jeffrey did not take swift action as required, Diana went to the room after 40 minutes and discovered that IV had dislodged for the patient’s vein. She cross-checked and found that there was no evidence that the Mitomycin had gone into the patient’s tissue. Later it was discovered that indeed Mitomycin had gone to her tissue leading to massive injuries.

In Diana’s case, the practitioners were not apathetic, Diana responded to the patient’s bell. She took the right precautions by immediately stopping the IV, notifying the physician, and providing the necessary care to the hand. The major cause of the harm caused to Yolanda was not as a result of negligence. The Risk Manager Susan Post had noted over the last three months prior to the incidence that there were challenges of short staffing. Moreover, the nurses were working double shifts like Jeffery and this could compromise on their performance. Often the hospital assigned float nurses to several units (Sauerland, 2007). The hospital was in the process of implementing a training program to bolster the staff performance. In this case the damages that Yolanda occurred can be blamed on multiple acts of negligence, the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff to proof that more likely than not, the injuries she incurred were as a result of a particular negligent act.

How The Incident Could Have Been Avoided

This incident could be avoided by foremost ensuring that the ward in which Yolanda was admitted was sufficiently staffed because there were critically ill patients admitted in that ward. Infiltration which caused the leaking of the IV fluid could have been avoided if only one practitioner was assigned to conduct the operation. The staff who inserted the IV was not the one who administered the drug through the infusion machine. The practitioner should have applied a splint for stability and to prevent dislodging the IV infusion machine (Infusion Nurses Society, 2010).The hospital should have ensured that only qualified, chemotherapy-certified nurses trained in venipuncture are allowed to allowed administer vesicants. When Diana Smith heard the first bell from the client she should have respondent aptly knowing that the ward comprised of critically ill patients.

Management techniques That Could Have Been Used

During the administration of IV fluid the practitioner should have chosen a large vein with good blood flow for the placement of infusion machine. This would have minimized chances of infiltration (Ener, 2004). The venipuncture site must have been monitored closely to make sure that there was no infiltration, pain or discomfort.

References

Ener R., A. (2004). Extravasation of systemic hemato-oncological therapies. Ann Oncol. June;15(6):55-62.

Infusion Nurses Society (2010). Infusion Nursing. [3rd edition] 2010

Sauerland C,. A.(2007). Vesicant extravasation part I: Mechanisms, pathogenesis, and nursing care to reduce risk. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2007 Nov 27;33(6):114-41.

Schrijvers DL. Extravasation: a dreaded complication of chemotherapy. Ann Oncol. 2003;14 Suppl 3:iii26-30.

Wickham, R.(2006). Vesicant extravasation part II: Evidence-based management and continuing controversies. Oncol Nursing Forum. November 27;33(6):1143-50.

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Organizational Structure: Coca-Cola Company

Order Instructions:

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you select an organization with which you are familiar and present the following items as they relate to that organization:

•Describe the organizational structure of your selected organization. Compare and contrast that structure with two different organizational structures.

•Evaluate how organizational functions (such as marketing, finance, human resources, and operations) influence and determine the organizational structure of your selected organization.

•Explain how organizational design (such as geographic, functional, customer-based, product, service, hybrid, matrix, marketing channels, and departmentalization) helps determine which structure best suits your selected organization’s needs.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Organizational Structure: Coca-Cola Company

An organizational structure describes how activities are coordinated, allocated and supervised so as to achieve the goals and objectives of an organization. The structure defines how an organization exercises authority through allocation of management responsibilities. By so doing, the organization benefits in two major ways. First, the structure helps in setting a standard procedure that guides operations and routines. Second, it determines how each and every employee participates in the decision making process and how their views help in shaping the organization. Nonetheless, Amaral and Uzzi, (2007) notes that organizational structures are varied between different organizations depending on several factors. The organizational functions; finance, marketing, operations and human resource are likely to influence the organizational structure while also organizational design, for instance functional, product, geographic, customer-based, hybrid, service, matrix, departmentalization and marketing channel impact on the determination of a structure that best suits the needs of these organization.

The practicality of these assertions is made evident with the selection of Coca-Cola Company. This company operates as a multi-national dealing in the manufacture, marketing and distribution of non-alcoholic beverages. The company sustains a large supply chain spanning 200 countries while serving more than 1.6 billion customer every day (Stevenson, 2009). The board of directors are based at headquarter in Atlanta, Georgia. The organizational structure for Coca-Cola is designed in such a way so as to suit the changing needs of the customers. It uses a decentralized system of management, which divided into two operating groups; the Bottling Corporate and Bottling Investment. The operating groups are further divided to match the different regions within which the company operates. These regions include; Africa, Eurasia, Latin America, European Union, the Pacific and North America. These regions are again divided into geographic regions so as to allow for localized decision making. The adoption of the decentralized organizational structure gives mandate to the local managers as well as the regional managers to make decisions on behalf of the overall managers based at the headquarter (Borgatti & Foster, 2013). This process facilitates decision making because these regional and local managers can make decisions with urgency so as to match up to the changes in the market demands. On the other hand, the higher-level management based at the headquarter get the time to focus on long term planning for the organization while simultaneously reviewing the decisions made by the local and regional managers.

Within the regional offices are corporate divisions such as human resources, finance, innovation, research and development, strategy and planning and marketing departments. The managers of these departments are given powers to operate autonomously. Their decision making is guided by the vision and mission of the company thus their decisions, in spite of their being made at a local level, have to be in line with those made by the top hierarchy. An example is exhibited when the corporate management based at the headquarters made the decision to sponsor the 2002 World Cup (Stevenson, 2009). Inclusion was practiced when the company allowed the regional managers to manage the advertisement decisions for their local divisions. By so doing, the regional managers designed marketing and promotional campaigns that were appealing to their local audiences and customers. It is also notable that when the organization is faced by a problem such as low growth rate, the top management at headquarter is involved in seeking a long standing solution. Their decisions are often guided by reports made by the local managers who meet in face to face meetings with the local employees and discuss on the possible solutions. By so doing, Coca-Cola Company portrays itself as a company that is more customer oriented.

The company also has an intranet system that facilitates real time communication between the managers thus facilitating sharing of information across the organizational structure. By so doing, Coca-Cola Company has managed to balance between mutual adjustments and standardization of the workforce. Additionally, the actions of the employees are guided by the Code of Conduct, which gives employees flexibility while retaining their focus to the common organizational goal. From these illustrations, it is evident that Coca-Cola Company employs the use of a hybrid organizational structure that combines both organic and mechanic models. The hybrid system allows for the flow of information from bottom-up and laterally between the employees. (Stevenson, 2009) On the other hand, decentralization and standardization are components of a mechanistic structure. The blending of these two is important considering the large customer base as well as providing coordination among the 94,800 employees.

The hybrid organizational structure employed at Coca-Cola Company can be contrasted with two different organizational structure. These two structures are functional and divisional structures which are applied in different companies based on the desired outcome. To begin with the functional organizational structure, it mainly consist of task allocation, supervision and coordination activities and it organizes people according to their functions (Lim & Sambrook, 2010). The structure is suited towards coordinating production, accounting, human resource and marketing functions. Functional structures often lead to operational efficiently as employees are made to specialize on functions they are best suited. Coca-Cola Company cannot implement this structure because it provides a rigid communication channel, which slows down decision making. This structure is best suited to small organizations that produce standardized goods. Comparing the structural organization structure to the hybrid structure used at Coca-Cola shows that a combination of organic and mechanic structure could be better suited towards managing multi-national organizations because of the increased communication between the various departments, the employees and the top-most management. In contrast, whereas functional structure could result into disagreements for large organizations, it could be enhance coordination of employees when applied to small firms.

The second organizational structure that will be compared and contrasted against the hybrid structure used at Coca-Cola Company is the matrix organizational structure (Burt, 2012). This structure divides the employees based on the products of the firm as well as their functions. A matrix structure combines teams of employees rather than individuals as seen in the functional structure. By so doing, the organization takes advantage of group work and exploits their strengths while making up for their individual weaknesses that are common among functional and decentralized structures. The matrix structure provides a pure organizational structure that ensures control while at the same time regulating the activities of the employees (Jacobides, 2007). It is best applied at Google organization where the employees work together in developing new computer programs. The system is therefore suited to the service industry but it could be perfectly applied to Coca-Cola Company. It is recommended that a multi-divisional structure would be best suited when applied to Coca-Cola Company as it would increase coordination between the divisional level and corporate level managers and this will enhance decision making.

Apparently, organizational functions such as production, accounting, human resource and marketing functions are seen to influence the selection of the hybrid organizational structure applied to the Coca-Cola Company. More so, this is seen in the decision to create five hierarchical levels to suit the diverse needs of the managers at the corporate level (Cogliser & Schriesheim, 2010). It is because of the rising need to coordinate the functions between these organizational functions that Coca-Cola Company is striving to adhere to the hybrid structure which combines both mechanistic and organic structures. By so doing, the company enjoys the advantages organic and mechanistic structures thus reducing on the disadvantages that could result from sticking to either the mechanistic or organic structures. As a result, Coca-Cola has realized an increase in their sales and revenues while the employees have remained motivated and satisfied. Furthermore, the example of Coca-Cola presents evidence that the organizational design is varied depending on the functions, geographic coverage, customer base, type of product or service, marketing channels and departmentalization. These factors influence the needs of the employees, the management and the customers thus creating a need to implement an organizational structure that promotes inclusiveness so as to increase the chances of success.

Specifically, Coca-Cola Company appreciates that a divisional structure will give the organization a chance to operate in uncertain global environment. Dividing the global market into regions allows the company to meet the diverse needs of its customers (Dansereau, Graen & Haga, 2010). For example, the marketing campaigns need to be localized to suit specific geographic locations. Again, the decentralization of the organization structure allows for the proper functioning of the corporate ad regional/local managers as they can focus on specific organizational functions. From these illustrations, it is made apt that organizational design is influence by either geographic, functional, customer-based, product, service, hybrid, matrix, marketing channels or departmentalization factors.

References

Amaral, L. & Uzzi, B. (2007). Complex Systems—A new paradigm for the integrative study of management, physical, and technological systems. Management Science Journal, 53 (7), 1033–1035.

Borgatti, S. & Foster, P. (2013). The network paradigm in organizational research: A review and typology. Journal of Management, 29 (1), 991-1013.

Burt, R. (2012). Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Cogliser, C. & Schriesheim, C. (2010). Exploring work unit context and leader-member exchange. A multi-level perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21 (2), 487-511

Dansereau, F., Graen, G., & Haga, W. (2010). A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership in formal organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance Journal, 13 (1), 46-78.

Jacobides, M. (2007). The inherent limits of organizational structure and the unfulfilled role of hierarchy: Lessons from a near-war. Organization Science Journal, 18 (3), 455-477.

Lim, M. & Sambrook, S. (2010). Organizational structure for the twenty-first century. Presented the annual meeting of The Institute for Operations Research and The Management Sciences, Austin.

Stevenson, W. (2009). Production operations management. Boston: Irwin Press.

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Application of the Nursing Process

Order Instructions:

linked item M6A3: Application of the Nursing Process Paper
Using APA format, the information from this course, and your assigned readings write a six (6) to ten (10) page paper (excludes cover and reference page) addressing the application of the nursing process to a patient care scenario.

A minimum of three (3) current professional references must be provided. Current references include professional publications or valid and current websites dated within five (5) years. Additionally, a textbook that is no more than one (1) edition old may be used.
The paper consists of three (3) parts:

The meaning and use of the nursing process in making good nursing judgments that effect patient care
The development of a plan of care using the nursing process for a specific patient situation
The preparation stage for a teaching plan to prevent a recurrence of a similar situation
The following sheet will assist you when composing the plan of care for the paper: Overview of the Nursing Process.

Patient scenario

A 78-year-old man is living in an assisted living facility. He is able to walk very short distances and uses a wheelchair to transport himself to the communal dining room. He administers his own medications independently and bathes himself. Over the last year he prefers to remain in the wheelchair even when in his room. He has a history of CHF, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and lower extremity weakness. He is able to state his current medications include metoprolol (Lopressor) 50 mg once daily by mouth, furosemide (Lasix) 20 mg once daily by mouth, Quinapril (Acupril) 20 mg once daily by mouth, atorvastatin (Lipitor) 20 mg once daily by mouth.

During a routine examination, his physician noted a pressure ulcer over the ischium on the right buttocks. The wound is oval about 10mm x 8 mm, with red and yellow areas in the middle and black areas on some surrounding tissue. It has a foul odor. The patient had been padding the area so “it doesn’t get my pants wet”. The physician arranged for him to be admitted to the hospital in order for intravenous antibiotic therapy and wound care to be initiated.

After being admitted to the hospital his medications are: metoprolol (Lopressor )50 mg orally every 12 hours, furosemide (Lasix ) 40mg once daily by mouth, quinapril HCl (Accupril) 40 mg once daily by mouth, cefazolin (Ancef)1.5 Grams in 50 mL 0.9 % Normal Saline intravenously three times a day. The result of the wound culture identified Methicilin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. After a surgical debridement of the black tissue a SilvaSorb® dressing was ordered daily.

Part 1 (3-4 pages)

Review the required readings about the nursing process. In your own words, define each step of the process and provide an example for each step.

In the implementation step, what is meant by direct and indirect care as described by the Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC) project?

Discuss the three (3) types of nursing interventions (nurse-initiated, dependent, and interdependent) that applies to the patient care situation. Provide an example of each (refer to your textbook).

Explain how the nursing process provides the basis for the registered nurse to make a nursing judgment that results in safe patient with good outcomes. How does the RN use nursing process to make decisions about priority of care for a single patient and within a group of patients?

Discuss how the registered nurse evaluates the overall use of the nursing process. Identify three (3) variables that may influence the ability to achieve the desire outcomes for the patient.

How is the plan of care modified when the outcomes are not met?

Part 2 (3 pages)

Develop a Plan of Nursing Care for this patient that includes all steps of the nursing process:

One (1) actual NANDA-I nursing diagnosis addressing the priority problem the patient is experiencing. Provide a rationale, with evidence, why this nursing diagnosis is the priority for this patient. What is the assessment data that supports the use of this nursing diagnosis?
One (1) expected outcome that addresses the diagnosis and meets the criteria for an expected patient outcome. Discuss whether the outcome is a cognitive, psychomotor, affective or physiologic outcome. Discuss why the time frame selected for the evaluative criteria was selected. Use evidence as the basis for the time frame and criteria.
Four (4) nursing interventions that includes at least one (1) nurse-initiated, one (1) dependent, one (1) interdependent intervention. Provide a rationale for each intervention that is evidence-based.
Part 3 (1-2 pages)

To assist the patient in preventing a recurrence of a similar incident once he returns to the assisted living environment, the RN needs to develop a teaching plan. Consider the information the information the RN would need prior to development of the plan. Respond to the following and be able to support your answers. You will not be developing a teaching-learning process but demonstrating the ability to prepare for an individualized plan.

How does the RN decide the format of the teaching plan, i.e., written, verbal, or other?
How does the RN know which information needs to be included?
When does the RN determine how and when to evaluate the teaching-learning process?

Compose your work using a word processor (or other software as appropriate) and save it frequently to your computer. Use a 12 font size, double space your work and use APA format for citations, references, and overall format. Assistance with APA citations and references is available through the free resource Citation Machine™. Assistance with APA format, grammar, and avoiding plagiarism is available for free through the Excelsior College Online Writing Lab (OWL). Be sure to check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors before you submit your assignment.

You are required to submit your paper to Turnitin (a plagiarism prevention service) prior to submitting the paper in the course submission area for grading. Access is provided by email to the email address on record in your MyExcelsior account during week 2 of the term. Once you submit your paper to Turnitin check your inbox in Turnitin for the results. After viewing your originality report correct the areas of your paper that warrant attention. You can re-submit your paper to Turnitin after 24-hours and continue to re-submit until the results are acceptable. Acceptable ranges include a cumulative total of less than 15% for your entire paper, and no particular area greater than 2% (excluding direct quotes and/or references).

See the videos below for instructions on how to submit your paper to Turnitin and view your Originality Report.
Video – Submitting a Paper
Video – Viewing Your Originality Report

When you’re ready to submit your work for grading, click Browse My Computer and find your file. Once you’ve located your file click Open and, if successful, the file name will appear under the Attached files heading. Scroll to the bottom of the page, click Submit and you’re done.

This activity will be assessed according to the NUR104 M6A3: Application of the Nursing Process Paper Rubric.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Application of the Nursing Process

Introduction

Nursing process is the scientific methodology used by Registered Nurses to perfect provision of quality health care to their patients. The overall nursing process is broken into five distinct steps that include: assessment, diagnosing, care-planning, implementation, and evaluation phases. The process does not always produce expected results, but it can call for its repetition in order to address cons from the process. Therefore, the following article will indulge to discuss the meaning and use of the nursing process in making good nursing judgments that effect patient care. The discussion will also go ahead to describe a plan of care using the nursing process for patient with a history of CHF, hypertension and lower extremity weakness.

The meaning and use of the nursing process in making good nursing judgments that effect patient care

The first phase in the nursing process is the assessment phase. The meaning behind this step is that the RN gathers information about a particular patient’s physiological, psychological, spiritual and sociological status (Timby, 2009). The main method used by RNs to garner this data is through interviews, physical assessment, digging out of patient’s health history and general observation of the patient’s health behavior. This phase completes by documenting the relevant information in retrievable forms. Diagnosing phase follows as the second phase in nursing process. During this phase, The RN involves himself or herself in making an intellectual judgment about the likelihood or actual health disorder with a client (Timby, 2009). This phase can incorporate multiple diagnosis techniques directed to a single client. The diagnosis can be done to a single patient rather to a group of patient if a specific condition from an already disorder in the course of treatment. This assessment not only comprises of actual description of the problem, but also whether or not the patient is susceptible to developing another complication (Timby, 2009). The other reasons behind diagnosis are to gauge patient’s readiness for health improvement and to determine whether or not the patient has developed a syndrome. The meaning of diagnosis phase is crucial is in suggesting the appropriate course of treatment to undertake to that particular diagnosed disorder.

Planning phase is the third step used in nursing process. In this face, plan of action is developed. The plan is developed as a result of patient and the nurse agreeing on the diagnosis Timby (2009). This phase still suggest that if there is multiple diagnosis that need to be addressed, the RN will focus or prioritize each assessment and concentrate to severe symptoms and high risks conditions. For each single problem, it is assigned a clear, measurable objective for the expected beneficial result. In this phase, therefore, Registered Nurse overly refer to the evidence based Nursing Outcome Classification, which is a program of standardized terms and measurements for tracking client wellness.

According to Timby (2009), in the book Fundamental nursing skills and concepts, Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC) can also be employed as a resource for planning. In planning phase, independent nursing interventions are nurse actions started by RN that do not need any direction or any order from another nurse in planning medication for a patient (Timby, 2009).inter-dependent nursing interventions are activities of a RN and other practitioners with sole role of addressing a single factor. Nurse-imitated nursing intervention is a treatment imitated by a nurse in response to a nursing diagnosis.

The fourth phase in nursing process, which is the crucial one, is the implementation phase. During this phase, the RN follows through the already Plan of Action (POA). Timby (2009) argued that the plan is particular to each and every patient and aims at achievable outcomes. Actions and activities involved in a nursing care plan comprises monitoring of the patient for signs of change or improvement, directly caring for the patient or engaging crucial medical roles, educating and giving directions to a patient about further health management, and contacting the patient follow-up (Timby, 2009). The duration in implementation phase can vary and can take hours, days, weeks or even months (Timby, 2009). During implementation phase, indirect care comprises, for example, Emergency Cart Checking and interventions for communities such as social, economic and political aspects. Direct care implies that the patient will have to attend herself or himself with medication without assistance of medical practitioners near him or her.

The last step is provided by Timby (2009), in the book Fundamental nursing skills and concepts, is the evaluation phase which comprises all nursing intervention action that has taken place to the above steps. Once all the intervention activities have taken place, the RN completes an evaluation for client wellness to have been met (Timby, 2009). Possible client outcomes are generally provided under by three terms: patient’s disorder improved, patient’s disorder stabilized, and patient’s disorder deteriorated, died or discharged. If the condition of the client does not show any improvement, or if the set objectives are not met, the nursing process starts afresh and cycle repeats itself (Timby, 2009). The Registered Nurse can evaluate the entire use of nursing process by its outcomes. One of the outcomes to consider is whether the client has been vindicated from the disorder. Another important variable to put into practice in evaluating the process is susceptibility of the patient to develop another disorder from the previous one (Timby, 2009). Most importantly, the RN should be able to evaluate the nursing process by observing outcome of a patient being able to be discharged from the hospital. After the above evaluation of outcomes, the RN can grade the nursing process as either not productive, productive or more productive based on the apparent condition of the client.

The development of a plan of care using the nursing process for a for patient with a history of CHF, hypertension and lower extremity weakness

Timby (2009) contends that the nursing process can assist a RN to develop a plan of care by using its five stages. In the above scenario of a 78-year-old man, the RN will have to gather important information to assist the client. One of the vital data to be recorded is that the man has ability to walk short distances and transports himself to the communal dining room. The man is able to administer himself medication and can bath himself. The RN should also note that the man has a history of CHF, hypertension and lower extremity. Another data to collect is that the client was continuing with direct care. The diagnosis will first begin by rapid assessment of the patient’s personal information. The assessment data that support use of this nursing diagnosis is a pressure ulcer over the ischium on the right buttocks. The other important clinical manifestation is an oval wound about 10mm by 8mm with red and yellow areas in the middle and black areas on some surrounding tissue producing a smelling foul. The doctor uses independent nursing intervention to direct the client to receive intravenous antibiotic therapy so as wound care can be initiated. The outcome that meets the criteria is that similar medication that was dispensed to the man in the first place is still the same one administered after diagnosis. This is because the RN nurse known that development of the wound was as a result of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. The outcome of the patient is psychomotor because the old man uses his physical abilities and procedures to aid himself to get healed.

The RN uses dependent nursing interventions to prescribe the old man to undergo surgical debridement of the black tissue. Time frame decision was one of interdependent nursing interventions to ensure that there is a connection between earlier medication and the current medication (Timby, 2009). To perfect the medication, the RN uses independent nursing intervention to ensure that the client is administered with saline intravenously three times a day. This period is to ensure complete neutralization of staphylococcus aureus. Implementation will also involve dressing of the wound daily. Evaluation will aim to determine whether SIlvaSorb will heal the entire wound and whether intravenously administered Saline will suppress the activities of Staphylococcus aureus. The RN will also incorporate other medical practitioners in scrutinizing the performance of the wound to see if it would heal. If these symptoms persist, the RN will have to repeat the same nursing process again and find other way to deal with the disorder.

Nursing teaching plan to avoid recurrence of the above condition

To assist the patience in preventing a recurrence of a similar incident once he returns to the assisted living environment, RN will need to develop an individualized plan. In this case, the RN will decide the format of the teaching plan to be in verbal form. The RN comes to this conclusion by the fact that the client can talk, walk for short distances and count transport himself to the communal living room by himself. The information that needs to be included in the plan will include dressing the wound daily with SilvaSorb, saline intravenously three times per day and correct adherence to the prescribed drugs including Metoprolol and others. All this information will be used evaluation where all nursing interventions used converge. Looking into results at the evaluation stage, can guide a registered nurse (RN) to make effective decision on when and how to evaluate teaching-learning process. The appropriate time for RN to determine how and when to evaluate the teaching-learning process is when the patient start demonstrating psychomotor features, that is, ability to use physical skills or procedures. The RN can also determine to evaluate teaching-learning process by identifying priorities of learning needs within the overall plan of care. In this case, the important learning needs is how to change the SIlvaSorb dressing within the prescribed time.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nursing process has to be done tremendously to perfect nursing activities towards provision of quality services to patients. Through the process assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation, RNs are able to address a particular disorder systematically. If a disorder is not dealt with completely by the process, RNs are advised to use the same nursing process to rectify areas of mistakes, and as a consequence, develop other strategies within the process to holistically eradicate the disorder.

Reference

Timby, B. K. (2009). Fundamental nursing skills and concepts. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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