Strategic Choice and Evaluation Paper on Apple Inc Research

Strategic Choice and Evaluation on Apple Inc - Research Paper Example In this sense, the company cannot afford to relent on its path towards market domination because its rivals and new entrants can easily catch up and take over the market leadership position that Apple Inc. currently enjoys. This paper explores the three levels of strategy that the company can use to consolidate its position. The three areas of strategy include the identification of the best value discipline for the company, the best generic strategy option, and the most effective grand strategy that Apple Inc. ought to pursue. Value Discipline All companies usually choose between three broad value disciplines. This three value disciplines are operational efficiency, product leadership, and customer intimacy (Treacy & Wiersema, 1993). Operational efficiency refers to the ability of a company to provide a product without hassles and with minimal inconvenience to the customer. Usually, it calls for investment in powerful supply-chain management tools to ensure that there are no delays i n the production process. Companies that attain efficient operations as a value discipline also tend to provide basic products made with little or no embellishments, and with a very small parts-count. They employ advanced levels of designed-for -manufacture concepts. In order to attain product leadership as a value discipline, a company must invest in advanced product research and development techniques because it requires that the company retain leadership in its ability provide new products for its customers (Treacy & Wiersema, 1993). The IT industry seems to require this as a basic value discipline because of the high rate of innovation in the industry. The amount of game-changing discoveries in the IT industry renders new products obsolete within a very short time. Thirdly, adopting customer intimacy as a value discipline calls for the use of personalized methods of production and marketing that aims at developing a sense of personal attachment with customers (Treacy & Wiersema, 1993). This approach works best for low volume and high margin products for the target market. The best value discipline for Apple Inc. is product innovation. This comes from the fact that Apple Inc. is an IT based industry dealing with personal products. The main competitive edge for companies producing IT devices for personal use is in the innovativeness of the products. Pursuing operational efficiency will limit the innovative edge that Apple Inc. enjoys because of the efforts it will divert to attain efficiency. On the other hand, Apple Inc. develops products for the mass market. It is very challenging to implement customer intimacy as a value discipline when it comes to productions for the mass market. However, there may be strategic benefits in pursuing a two-fold strategy both as a product leader and as an efficiency operator because Apple Inc. may not always be a product leader in the unpredictable IT industry. Product Innovation alone may also make it too expensive for App le Inc. to return a profit because of the high cost of product development. Generic Strategy Porter identified three elements of generic strategy that informs the approaches organizations use to gain market share. In Porters model, the three strategies come from a matrix developed by comparing the scope of the target market with the source of advantage (Porter, 1980). In this sense, a company can pursue a strategy aiming for a niche market or for the mass market. In addition, it has to make a decision regarding whether it

Faith Based Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Faith Based Nursing - Research Paper Example Health is something which can be experience only in the absence of disease and injury. So in faith based nursing attempt is made to give wholeness of mind, spirit and body to a patient suffering from illness. According to (Hickman,2006,pg 12)â€Å"Faith based nursing was the term used by the Rev. Granger West berg to describe the unique, specialized practice of professional nursing in faith communities to promote holistic health†. It is a principle of holistic health which aroused from a concept that the human beings must have the aim to strengthen his relationship with God, family and society. In earlier times, the faith based nursing existed between Judeo- Christian communities but currently it has taken strong hold in all other faiths as well. However, the concept of faith nursing is not well accepted by other faith traditions and as a result there are many other names given to this practice of nursing. The Concept of Faith Based Nursing The faith based nursing if defined f rom the perspective of Christianity can be said to be a sacred calling. It is a religious based phenomenon, wherein the faith upon the creator helps a patient in healing form an illness. Here the emphasis is on the spiritual relation of a person to God and health .In this area of nursing, the sacredness of God and its relation to the health of a person is considered of utmost importance. As per ( IPNRC,2000) â€Å"The American Nurses Association is the recognized professional organization for nurses in the United States. ANA sets universal standard for nursing care and professional performance common to all nurses engaged in clinical practice – Standards of Clinical Nursing Practice†. Faith based nursing can be offered in various models and it entirely depend upon the nature of faith community delivering the service. During the 16th and 17th century major transformation has occurred to this nursing practiced still the Roman Catholicism remained the dominant faith tradi tion. During this period, there were profound social, intellectual, political and economical changes which had impact on this nursing practice. There were reformation which led to the partition of churches into protestant and Roman catholic, and faith based nursing remained the latter’s concept and practice. In the their website ( Nursing Homes ,2010) writes that â€Å"Catholic nursing homes are often found in association with local parishes, however many are part of larger non-profit groups or hospitals that offer decades of experience with medical care as well as specialties like Alzheimer's care†. Scope and Practice of Faith Based Nursing Faith based nursing is also known as congregational nursing or parish nursing. The nurses who practice this nursing are bound by scope and standard of parish nursing practice established by American Nurse Association. According to ( Vicky, 2005)â€Å"Based on the generic standards, the American Nurses Association recognizes specia lty nursing practice by identifying the specialty and delineating its unique scope and standards of practice†. The scope and standard of nursing practice were established with the co – operation of Health Ministries Association which was formed in 1988 by the recognition of ANA. Faith based nursing is a profession of independent nature and focuses on the promotion of health and wellbeing of people with the means of spirituality. The patient’