Analizes of a case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analizes of a - Case Study Example The company always used outside the box thinking in its business strategies such as buying idle production time from manufacturers in other industries. One of the reasons for the success of the firm in the furniture business was its introduction of self-assembled furniture. This concept help the firm reduce its prices because it eliminated two of the highest cost drivers in the industry which are assembly and delivery. The company’s managerial philosophy is to have an open system in which nobody is superior to others. Input from the employees is always welcomed at IKEA. The management process stressed simplicity and attention to detail. Being cost conscious was also a part of the business culture of the firm. IKEA penetrated the United States marketplace in 1985. In the 1990’s the company was exposed to bad media when a revelation was made to the public that IKEA was dealing with suppliers in Asia that used child labor. Stakeholders Ingvar Kamprad – Founder of th e firm. His values and beliefs are embedded in IKEA’s culture. Using child labor goes against everything he stands for. He does not want to hurt the reputation of the company through a child labor scandal. Marianne Barner – IKEA business area manager for carpets division. She is responsible for finding a solution to the problem. Shareholders – The shareholders of the firm are worried about the problem of child labor because its occurrence will hurt the image and reputation of the company which will negatively impact the price of the common stocks of the company. Asian children – The children population in Asia are at risk due to employment exploitation by IKEA suppliers. The children are the biggest victims in this scandal. Issues By the mid 1990’s the company had grown tremendously. IKEA had 98 stores across 17 countries worldwide. Its supply chain had become extremely complex since the firm had almost 2,300 suppliers. It had become extremely diff icult to monitor the actions of its suppliers. To make things worse those 2,300 suppliers were scattered across 70 countries. The firm was sourcing around 11,200 products. During the 1980’s environmental problems occurred with some of the products IKEA sold. In the 1990’s a new and extremely serious issue occurred as the company was accused of doing business with suppliers that used child labor. Child labor is a growing problem in our society with over 250 million children working in the labor market (Humanium, 2010). IKEA in the 1980’s faced new regulations from the Denmark government that redefine the limits of formaldehyde emissions permissible in product building. At concentration above 0.1 mg/kg in air this material caused watery eyes, headaches, burning sensation in throat, and difficult breathing. The company was fined by the government of Denmark and it was heavily criticized by the media. IKEA sales in the aftermath of this scandal drop by 20% in Denmar k. The company reacted quickly to the problem by establishing stringent requirement regarding formaldehyde levels. At first the problem was not simply to attend since suppliers bought from sub-suppliers that were exposed to formaldehyde. The firm resolved the problem by dealing directly with glue producing chemical companies. A decade later the firm was once again facing issues with formaldehyde in Germany. Its best selling bookcase series had high levels of

Role of the student in higher education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Role of the student in higher education - Essay Example This is also a right approach to ensure that students get the right knowledge so that they can be able to rely on themselves. On the other hand, this form of education will be instrumental in ensuring that the students acquire the necessary job related skills. On the other hands, it provides theoretical knowledge to apply to real work (Kay 2010). These institutions provide social and community incorporated education and hence reinforces the relevance of higher education towards national development. As a result, this strengthens job relevant skills and innovation skills. This will help especially in nursing due to technology influence (Mastrian et al. 2010). Therefore, it can be viewed as a way of making a connection between formal schooling and social/community learning (Baumann & Blythe, 2008). All these ideals help in shaping a career. Higher education is of essence to nursing student as it makes them professional, relevant, and follow regulation. Nursing education is paramount in higher education (HE). This will help in improving nursing knowledge before and after they get their licenses. This is because a difference exist in the practice nurses were educated in the 20th century. These skills are no longer up to quality as compared to the health care needs in the 21st century. This is because patient needs and care setting has become more involved. This has been the case due to the rise of chronic diseases such as diabetes and the ever-increasing aging population. Therefore, nurses need requires competencies to deliver high quality care (Chiarella & McInnes n.d.). Such competencies include leadership, health policy, system improvement, research and evidence based practice, and teamwork as well as collaboration (Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2010). Likewise, competency is needed in different areas. The HE will also help nurses to cater for increasing roles in healthcare and obtain necessary technological skills and data management system (IOM 2010). This will take place as they cooperate and coordinate care across teams of health professionals. On the other hand, nursing should be treated like a profession. In fact, in this decade nursing requires more skill, intelligence, and education. This is because the increasing demand for nurses calls them to have unique and attainments. In the past, uneducated, wicked women were allowed to take care of the sick as nurses. It is also necessary to note that the medical profession was against nurses acquiring education and awareness in the early years (DeNisco & Barker 2012). However, this has changed significantly with the acceptance of health care professionals having learned nurses. Hence, nursing need to be considered as a profession. This way the knowledge they earn will help them in linking theory to practice. Therefore, just as other profession requires a recognised higher education to be able to link theory to practice, the same should apply to nursing. In higher education, nurses get an opp ortunity to learn concepts and put it into practice. In such institutions, nurses get an opportunity to develop critical thinking to manage nursing care and service within a group of intellectuals when meeting the requirements of the patients. For example, they will be able to use the current technology in communicating with doctors in the theatre section. In addition, patient is most likely to be able to trust a nurse based on his or her competency (Price 2013). On the other han