Last time i saw him Essay

The last time I saw my Grandfather he was walking along the beach with his metal detector. Actually it was not the last time I physically saw him, but it was the last time that I would see him and be able to talk to him person to person, eye to eye. I remember my surprise as I stood at the rail on the boardwalk looking down upon the steaming sand, noting nothing remarkable until, from the corner of my eye, I spied his figure. He had a figure that I had grown up knowing in silhouette distinct in my mind – but not as his. It was the familiar figure of Alfred Hitchcock. Whenever I looked at Grandpa I saw that shadowy teller of tales from days gone by. But, as I knew that I was not seeing the grand master of mystery himself, I knew it could be, couldn’t it, why yes . . . it was, Grandpa. He was slowly searching the sand for buried treasure with his prized metal detector. A hobby that he had adopted after retiring from the workaday world. Although I knew he lived somewhat cl ose to Seaside, that was the first time that it occurred to me that I might actually run into him. I suppose one never expects to run into their grandparents at the beach. I smiled silently for a moment as I watched that adorable man, donned in shorts, t-shirt. baseball cap and earphones studiously monitoring his valuable machine for blips or beeps. But that moment passed quickly as I called out to him, â€Å"Grandpa, Grandpa† waving my hand furiously to draw his attention. He spied me yet seemed puzzled as to who I could possibly be. I was, after all, the only black haired granddaughter that he had. After a moment or two of contemplation I watched as he seemed to awaken. As he waved back I began to walk toward a place where hellos could become hugs. I brought him to the pizzeria where Kenny, my husband, worked and we fed and watered the old dear. We sat talking at a table for moments too swift, not knowing then that this would be the last time we would really have the chance. We talked briefly of family matters that, in the big picture of things, seem not to have mattered enough for me to note them; of the wonderful treasures found beneath the sand thanks largely to his narrow, metal sidekick; of why Ken and I were in Seaside at all, and how long we planned to stay. Small talk filling a smaller moment in time. I asked him why he would want to wear that baseball cap, as I could not remember having seen him in one before, and he showed me the brilliance of the sunlight upon his naked head. I joked with him about not seeing me only feet away from where he was, and he  explained his glaucoma operation that would be taking place that month. We embraced as I walked him out and said goodbye. I may have just spent moments listening, but I was not hearing. He was not telling me about small items that day, he was telling me, I am old now and time is ticking away. He was warning me that he would not be here forever, yet I did not heed his warning. He was telling me goodbye that summer’s day and I was saying â€Å"Talk to you soon.† I was but a foolish child. As he walked away, the sun was taking a bow before fading away. I did not, until this day, see that something more blindingly beautiful had also taken their bow. As I yelled goodbye, at the moment the surf washed the sand back into its home – the sea, did he hear talk to you later or did he merely whisper, â€Å"Yes, goodbye.†

Reflection on a clinical skill Essay

This essay will discuss a clinical experience in which I feel more competent in practicing. I will use a reflective model to discuss how I have achieved the necessary level of competence in my nurse training programme.The reflective model I have chosen to use is Gibbs model (Gibbs 1988). Gibbs model of reflection incorporates the following: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan (Gibbs 1988). The model will help facilitate critical thought process as it relates theory to practice. Discussion will include the knowledge underpinning practice and the evidence base for the clinical skill. A conclusion to the essay will then be given which will discuss my reflection skills, acknowledge my competence and show my personal and professional development. Trigger Event The clinical skill I have chosen to reflect on within this essay is my first IV start. I have chosen this as my first clinical placement is on a surgical unit, where Intravenous therapy is a widely used to administer medication. I was very happy to finally be able to start developing this skill as I have seen it done several time and was ever able to acquire the process in which is needed to start an intravenous. Appraisal The first stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection requires a description of events. As a transitioning Registered Practical Nurse to a Registered Nurse the expectation are that I will have develop this scope in my practice. I had observed this clinical skill on a variety of occasions and had previously administered IV medication and antibiotics under supervision. On this occasion I was being observed by my clinical educator. I had gathered all the necessary things I needed which included a bag of normal saline. My clinical educator was talk me through the procedure step by step and informed me that I should never place the tape on any surface as tit leads to cross contamination, and I should always clean blood from around the IV site. The facility also uses chlorhexadine instead of alcohol as eliminates stinging sensation. The second stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection, which is a discussion about my thoughts and feelings. I was aware of being under the supervision of my educator and other classmates this made me feel  very nervous and self- conscious. Once my professor said I am in do not advance I realize how truly nervous and under pressure I was feeling. I held my breath as I did not want this vain to blow and have to stink the patient again. This patient was an elderly gentlemen and I did not want the patient to feel that I did not know what I was doing. I thought that as I had been observed this clinical procedure on many other occasions it would be easy for me to do but it was very challenging, finding an appropriate vain, the right size of needle and wanting to get success on my first try made this a very trying experience. Exploration Evaluation is the third stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection and requires the reflector to with state what was good and bad about the event. This experience was filled with emotion because for many years I have been an rpn and I always wanted to be able to start an IV and I finally got to do just that. I think the best thing about this experience is I got it the first time and my instructor made it seem so effortless. So many times I had place tape on the hand rail of a bed in preparation of taping a dressing, I never thought of the fact that I was taking all the germs from that rail onto the patient. This one little thing has caused me to change my present practice. Integration Stage four of Gibbs (1988) is an analysis of the event, where Gibbs encourages the reflector to make sense of the situation. I will do this by exploring the skill and look for other opportunities to get more starts that I will feel more confident in my practice. In conclusion the use of this model of reflection has helped me to structure my thoughts and feelings appropriately. My level of awareness concerning evidence based practice, and its importance, has been enhanced with the use of critical reflection. My competence, within this clinical skill, has been further developed and I now feel that my personal and professional development is progressing. Using this reflective model has helped me to realise that my learning is something which I must be proactive in. Furthermore as a student nurse I have recognised that reflection is an important learning tool in practice.

A close reading of a specific and familiar space Essay - 1

A close reading of a specific and familiar space - Essay Example In ancient period, most houses were divided into two parts at a point one third of the way across its length using a small lattice work wall reaching the top of the house. The main area is reserved for human living and was covered by a layer of black clay and cow dung that women polished over it with a stone. The other reduced area paved with flagstones was meant for animals. These rooms had only one entrance and the house was organized in such a way that one end has provisions ready for consumption like flour, figs, and leguminous plants that had been preserved. Near the door, there was water jars while on the stable part from any type of tool and equipments, a number of straws and hay for animals were stacked up and this region is where the children and the women sleeps especially in winter. The male on the other hand, slept on the larger area as a symbol of authority as they were known to have visitors and could share the room. A number of items inside this house have different na mes with different meanings. For instance, kanun was the upper part of the stable where kitchen earthenware was kept (cooking pot, ladle, and dish for cooking bannock). A fireplace was also on the woman’s side and was place of cooking. The male sleeping area is usually dark since it symbolize place of intimacy and recreation. After birth, boys and girls were isolated based on their sexes and introduced to their roles within their early stages of life. However, males needed to undergo additional cultural rite to make them courageous and face the outside world suitably. Women stayed within the house most of the time as their duties were mainly cooking and washing dishes while male perform their duties outside herding or hunting for food.. The division of labor was so significant that women were to remain in the dark part of the house. These

Effects Of Media On The UAE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Effects Of Media On The UAE - Essay Example And now in this era of increasing media penetration how children are brought up is a lot different; their childhoods are spend playing with toy guns (no wonder this is where all the violence stems in) and as they grow up they become cruel young men who believe life is nothing but a war zone which can be conquered with their "toy guns" (Wellisch 2000). Television is that source of the media which affects our society most strongly. When I say strongly, I mean it because a research by Emercon Statistics, 2000, show that on average a person who subscribes to cable in Dubai watches television more then 6 hours a day! Everyone knows of the success story of Dubai; it used to be a desert not until long ago, till the Sheikhs invested some money in developing this city and what you see now is one of the mega cities of the world! Foreign media played an important change in this development of Dubai from a desert to a city, then a mega city and now eventually a media and fashion hub! The effects foreign media has on the UAE are countless. It has changed peoples' life style, how to perceive things, what they study and how they study and even more their aspect towards life! Bryant, J., & Thompson, S. (2002). Fundamentals of media effects gives this situation: An Arab wife, previously she used to sit in the home and settle all the household chores so that when her family came home in the afternoon, they could all spend quality time. As time passed, American television channels opened in UAE and that made the Arab women know about the American culture (where husband and wife both go to work). And now If you see an Arab wife in this era, they're don't perceive life as to staying at home and waiting for their family to comeback while they settle their chores, they instead and go out and work! Media of course has changed lifestyles. (Bryant & Zillmann 1994) The youth I believe has been affected significantly of the lot. It is generally believed that media exposure brings more aggression into, viewers especially in youth if the movie is a violent one. To prove my point I believe there wouldn't be a better example then the classical "Bobo Doll Experiment" from Strasburger, V. C. (1995). Adolescents and the media: Medical and psychological impact. This experiment was done on nursery going children. They were put into a play room where they observed a television where an adult was hitting and kicking and inflatable doll and making sounds as if he was really fighting. The movie was then stopped and the children were observed for the next ten to twenty minutes. On the other hand another group of children were put to play with a similar doll, but they weren't made to see the adult hitting the doll video. The results were significant and as expected! The group who witnessed the video was performed similar aggressive acts on the doll while the o ther lot did not. The above experiment proves that the youth tend to take what they get from the media. According to Ravitch, D., & Viteritti, J. P. (2003). Kid stuff: Marketing sex and violence to America's children, most human rights group have called in for a total ban on movies for youth, especially those that depict sexual and violent scenes. Considering the negative

Visual art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Visual art - Essay Example However, it is also evident that Spanish cinema has an increasingly international appeal with added creativity and dynamism than at any time in its history. Results released by the Spanish film board shows that Spanish films have grossed more than $143 million in 2013despite funding cuts that have been a result of austerity measures (Dennison 16). This is the best performance ever by the industry, which can be attributed, among other things, to the conscious attempts by the industry to appeal to a global audience base. Some of the best films I have watched in the last year include â€Å"The Impossible† that I believe is the best local Spanish film of all time, which earned an Oscar nomination. â€Å"I Want you† by Fernando Molina and â€Å"Tad, the Lost Explorer† were also local hits that gained international recognition in this period. These films also grossed $50 million, $15 million, and  million locally, while making double the amount globally, indicating a renaissance for the Spanish film industry (Dennison 34). This year has also begun brightly with â€Å"Mama† produced by Guillermo Toro and starring Jessica Chastain, which was also successful in the US, beginning its run in at the top of the box office. However, it is also important to note that these successful films began production over four years ago; mostly because of a decline in government, funding that was widely criticized in the Spanish media. The last year and half have been the most successful for the Spanish film industry according to the Spanish media, especially due to its simultaneous international and local appeal. For example, the four nominees at the GOYA awards this year for best picture, â€Å"Unit 7†, â€Å"The Artist and the Model†, â€Å"The Impossible†, and â€Å"Blancanieves†, were especially appealing to local audience as they tackled the theme of crisis, which has been emblematic of Spain in the last five years (Dennison 34). However, my interest in the Spanish

No Topic Required Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No Topic Required - Assignment Example ly, it shows that Jack Levine may have learnt to make use of several skills such as cubism in accord to both the atmosphere, and the various images that have been noted in his painting. Although, the location of the painting is not very clear, there is a representation of both men and women in the society posing in anticipation of a certain event. One wonders whether the painter may have intended to communicate anything through this painting or was it a way of indicating how art can be useful (Bender 13). What is striking about the painting is how each element that has been noted is so distinct yet it is almost the same colour that was used to make a painting. This is noted from the background, which displays a housing structure, the individuals themselves and their clothing and lastly the dogs. The strokes of the painting display different edges and the colours schemes are distinctly applied to show a clear linkage between the various structures of the body. For example, the arms and the faces of the individual clearly show they are black people. Also notably, the painting shows the mood. The dogs are barking and held by the various individuals. This act of barking in itself portrays agitation, an excitement that is not clear. The faces of the individuals on the painting are also expressionless and looking to the same direction, which probably reaffirms why the dogs could be under some excitement. The surrealism in Birmingham 63 not only does denote how different individuals are at a specific time of the day, but also it brings out some element of surprise all which sums up to our initial thought of the intention of the painter in the first place. Clearly, the painting only shows one side of the coin, which are people going about their daily activities and an events halts them to look in the direction they are currently looking. The kind of dressing by these individuals notes the possibility that they may go about their daily activities (Bender 15). Bender

Government Regulations for Small Firms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Government Regulations for Small Firms - Essay Example This paper illustrates that very often small business is positioned as small fish in the ocean, where only strong sharks can survive due to strict conditions, rapidly changing the environment and high competition. On the other hand, in the modern globalized world being an owner of a small business warrant the need to have a strong position to withstand the challenges and hardships in case business owners’ rights are not protected. Government protection is cited as one of the major prerequisites for achieving success and profitability in small business. Simultaneously, small firms are obliged to comply with the \ laws and rules developed by governments to assist economies and citizens. Unfortunately, even with the presence of sophisticated small business policies, the interests of small firms tend to be neglected; this is particularly the case of economies in transition. However, to understand whether or not government regulations benefit small businesses, the concept of regula tion has to be understood. Regulation plays a crucial role in the market. Very often this role is diminished. There is a need to promote regulation in order to advance relations within the market and develop the market economy in general. Regulation should not be positioned as a restriction imposed on the performance of the small firms. On the contrary, regulations have the potential to positively affect small business performance. More often than not, firms claim government regulations to be an important impediment to small business growth. However, most of these claims are too general to be valid. Only 36 percent of small firm owners have been successful in identifying the factor that impedes their development, whereas the rest tend to blame governments just because they impose their rules on games on businesses.

Level of evidence abd grading recomendation Research Paper

Level of evidence abd grading recomendation - Research Paper Example The author utilizes multidisciplinary theoretical pieces of literature and research and conceptual pieces from literature on social work to support the development of this kind of model. The author first notes the relevant current trends to the interdisciplinary practice for the purposes of pointing out its essentiality. The article describes a model that is made up of two parts. The first part of the model has five categories that form interdisciplinary collaborative relations between social workers and other professionals. These include flexibility, professional activities that have been newly created, ownership of goals that is collective, interdependence and process reflection. The second part recommends the use of such influences on collaboration as structural characteristics, professional role, history of collaboration, and personal characteristics. The book provides the readers with a critical and a comprehensive review of the health communication field and the different types of evidence that have been collected concerning communication that is effective. In addition to this, the book sets out what has been researched about the micro- structure of encounters in health care and interactions. The book offers the concerned professionals essential new agendas for research practice and training in health care, based on lessons acquired from linguistics, using a broad range of evidence to identify patterns that can lead to improved practices in healthcare. The book recommends brief, effective and ordinary activity in communication in addition to consultations that are formal. The effects of errors in health care have essential implications. The article utilizes peer- reviewed reviews and discussions of a broad range of literature and issues regarding quality of health care and safety of patients. The article provides some insight in to the many aspects that determine the

How Were Workhouses Run so That Only Those in Need of Genuine Help Would Apply Essay Example for Free

How Were Workhouses Run so That Only Those in Need of Genuine Help Would Apply Essay Workhouses, tried many things to stop those in need of help applying for help; this was because they soon became to expensive to run which is why the owners of the workhouse began to try to put the public off applying for help. I am going to cover all of the main reasons that tell you why the poor were ‘put off’. To begin, the workhouses soon introduced separation, they had different classifications. These were: Infirm men, able-bodied men and youths above fifteen, boys above the age of seven and under fifteen, infirm women, able-bodied women and girls above fifteen, girls above the age of seven and under fifteen and children under seven (however they were allowed in the same workhouse as either their mother or father). This would mean that if you were classified to a different class than someone else in your family, for instance; you would be separated and not allowed to communicate. This encourage those in need of slightly less help not to apply, as they may have believed that scraping a living with their family and friends would be better than getting separated in a work house. Next, the living conditions may be considered to have been better outside the workhouse, scraping a living, the living conditions were horrific! Firstly, all the women and babies were all living in the same room; this meant that when one baby awakened, apart from a heavy sleeper, everyone woke up. They also slept in square, coffin-like beds, which will have been hardly comfortable to sleep in. For me, if workhouses wanted their employees to perform to their full potential they would have given them good living conditions, however they didn’t want people coming in on demand. Because the workhouses mad the living conditions so horrific, would have encouraged many to not apply for help. This is because they may have believed they would get a longer, more comfortable sleep outside the workhouse. To continue, the food provided was terrible, the food was cooked terribly for a few reasons, two examples would be because the workhouses wanted to save money and buy the cheapest food, for the cheapest possible price and they may have purposely cooked the food badly. They also gave each of the same food for each food break causing people to have a bad diet. Again, people in poverty would not apply for help. People wouldn’t apply because word would spread about the terrible food and people wouldn’t apply because again they could think that they could get better food elsewhere. The workhouse owners probably knew that word of this would spread and less people would apply for help, like they wanted. Next, punishments were very harsh and barely taken into consideration, for instance the workhouse owners would judge whether someone was ill or not ill, for instance, if they judged someone to be well and fit when they were ill the would punish the ill person, for no reason when they should be treating their employee well so that as soon as they had recovered, they would be able to perform at a high standard again. This would have put people off because they would be scared of the owners and if they were a parent, they may feel that they were the person to hand out punishments to child not the owners. The owners most possibly knew again that word would spread and would be ruthless to any parent try who tried to have authority. Working conditions, like living conditions were poor. Some people may have applied sot they may get a more enjoyable job with good earnings, instead they were allocated with jobs such as rope picking, this was where a worker had to get old, battered rope, and individually take each thread off the rope and then put it back together to make good rope. This would have put the poor off because they may feel that the jobs they were doing were more enjoyable plus they may feel that they should be doing better jobs if they were to apply for help because workhouses had been advertised to be the ‘way out’ of problems. My final point is on the fact that the workers had no individuality. The workhouse owners had some rules which were strict and if broken would show no tolerance. An example of this is in a picture, it shows how each of the women in the workhouse are having their meal, everyone’s food is exactly the same food, which for lunch was commonly beef and vegetable soup, so vegetarians would be forced to eat the food, not necessarily by the workhouse owners but by their own hunger because they were served such a small amount, they would be extremely hungry. They were also sat in rows, they were not allowed to socialise and they all had to wear uniforms. This would make employees feel worthless and as if they were in prison and ultimately they would feel demoralised and wouldn’t feel excited for the job they would do after their lunch, for example. Word would have spread about this (Like the owners would have wanted) and the poor would feel that the joy of socialising was worth m ore than living a poor lifestyle. To conclude this essay, I feel the most important factor that people would have taken into consideration would be the fact that families were split; the workhouse owners would have found that this was the biggest blow to a family thinking of applying because they would have wanted to be together.

Walmarts Essay Example for Free

Walmarts Essay Part I describe Walmart expansion As the largest retail chain in the world, Walmart is one of the earliest companies that realize that waiting too long to get into foreign countries would give competitors a lead that would be difficult to close. However, globalization is always a double-edged sword. Despite that Walmart is the world’s largest company with a turnover of $312. 4 billion, Walmart’s results from globalization had been mixed. In 1991, the establishment of Sam’s Club near Mexico City represents takeoff of Walmart’s globalization. In 1998, In 1998, Wal-Mart acquired a controlling interest in Mexicos largest retailer, Cifra, which operated stores throughout the country, ranging from the largest chain of sit-down restaurants to a soft lines (apparel, home furnishings, fabric) department store. In 2000, Wal-Mart changed Cifras name to Wal-Mart de Mexico. Acquisition is a common way in that Walmart goes into other countries’ markets. In March 2004, Wal-Mart Brazil announced the acquisition of Bompreco, a retail chain with 118 units; In late 2005, Wal-Mart acquired the retail operations of  · Sonae Brasil S. A. (Sonae). In 1994, Wal-Mart purchased all 122 Canadian Woolco discount stores. Walmart entered South Korea in July 1998 by acquiring a majority stake in Makro. In the United Kingdom (UK), Wal-Mart had acquired ASDA, a profitable chain in 1999; In the spring of 2000, Walmart moved quickly to finalize its $10. 8 billion deal to acquire the 232-store supermarket chain, which was Walmart’s largest acquisition ever. Acquisition helps Walmart conquer some foreign countries quickly. Some successful examples are Walmart’s practices in Mexico, Brazil and United Kingdom. At the end of 2005, Wai-Mart operated a total of 807 stores in Mexico, including 107 Super centers and 71-SAMS CLUBS. The company employed more than 112,000 associates across the country. as of December 2005, Wal-Mart Brazil operated 22 Wal-Mart Super- centers, 15 Sams Clubs, and 2 Todo Dias and 116 Balaio discount stores. Employing about 28,000 associates, Wal-Mart was the sixth-largest retailer in Brazil. In December 2005, Wal-Mart had 273_ASDA Super Centers, 21 ASDA! Wal-Mart Supercenters, 10 GEORGE stores, and 5 ASDA Living stores and 4 ASDA Small Town stores in the UK. The company employed more than 150,000 people in the UK. Acquisition is not a master key to door of any country, some failures remind Walmart to reconsider its global strategy. In Canada, Walmart’s initial operation did not get off to the right start. Indeed, for the first three years (1995-97) Wal-Mart Canada showed major losses. Fortunately, things got improved subsequently. But the luck did not last to Korean market: In May 2006, Wal-Mart announced that it would sell all 16 of its South Korean stores to Shinsegae and exit from Korean market. It is not fair to entirely account Walmart’s losses in Canadian and Korean markets for failure of acquisition strategy. Expansion globally is always a systematic and complicated process, in which a lot of factors need to considered, such as politics, diet habits, consuming psychology etc.. Looking the history of Walmart’s expansion through, Walmart was used to, or had to, apply joint venture under tight restrictions in foreign countries. And it is indeed hard to evaluate whether joint venture is an ideal approach or not. Wal-Mart had entered Indonesia, attracted by the worlds fourth most populous country. The retailer faced numerous challenges in a country where retailers operated under tight restrictions?. Walmart teamed up with Lippo Group. However, the development of Walmart Indonesia was not smooth as expected. China is another country where Walmart had to partner with other to practice its expansion strategy. Walmart and other foreign retailers had to offer a 35 percent stake in each store to a Chinese joint venture partner and were restricted to a territory of approximately 40 cities each. After China joined WTO, Walmart obtained greater management authority. Meanwhile, Walmart became actively involved in government relations and started talking directly with Chinese government officials at both local and national levels and through trade groups in both the United States and China. In December 2005, Walmart had 46 Supercenters, 3 Sams Clubs, and 2 Neighborhood Markets in China, together employing more than 27,000 associates. However, at the end of 2006, Walmart was laying the groundwork to become the biggest foreign chain in China with the $1 billion purchase of a major retailer-a Taiwanese-owned supermarket chain called Trust-Mart- which-would more than double its presence in China. And in Wuhan, a Chinese city with a population of approximately 10 millions, there is only one Walmart supercenter. Compared with McDonald’s, it is safe to say that Walmart has a long way to go to complete its global expansion. Part II Top management orientation in Walmart: The orientation of top management refers to the degree of domination of the MNE headquarters over subsidiary management and HR practices as compared to the degree of localization of subsidiary practices. In my opinion, Walmart’s senior management orientation is Geocentrism. The most significant characteristic of Walmart is its perpetuation: Walmart hires best employers all over the world, and is willing to train them to take key positions everywhere in the world, which typically matches the requirement of Geocentrism. In addition, a word â€Å"localization† is usually connected with â€Å"globalization†. As a multinational Enterprise, Walmart’s global strategy determines that Walmart has to localize itself from Decision Making to Evaluation, from Rewards to Punishment. On the other side, Wal-Marts approach to competing in overseas markets had evolved over time. But three main ingredients never change: Brand names (Wal-Mart and · Sams Club), Every Day Low Price (EDLP) strategy, and ethical standards. In order to keep its core value, Walmart need to figure out the balance between localization and standardization. The only flaw, I think, is Walmart information flow. There is no doubt that Walmart’s subsidiaries have smooth channel to communicate with headquarter. However, based on my research, there is not so many practices to strengthen communication among subsidiaries. In any case, we cannot deny that Walmart is Geocentrism. Value Culture: As the largest retail company, Walmart must focus on customer and quality. Actually, that’s exactly what they do. The customer is No. 1 in the Walmart culture, and they are putting tremendous effort into understanding customers and serving them in new ways. Its Global Customer Insights group is developing world-class analytics to identify customer trends and support merchandising and marketing decision-making within the business. At the same time, the importance of getting even closer to our customers is always emphasized throughout their ranks. Business Model Behaviors: To satisfy customers’ one-stop shopping experience, Walmart regards a broader assortment as the approach to attract customers. In 2012, Walmart added back more than 10,000 products across hundreds of merchandise categories. Walmart selects suppliers with high standards, assuring that it is the first to be offered new innovative products. Meanwhile, Walmart continue to fine-tune its offerings. All kinds of national brands, private brands and opening price point products can be seen in Walmart, to adapt different tastes. As we all acknowledged, â€Å"Every Day Low Price(EDLP)† is one of the most important ingredients of Walmart. EDLP is the result of Walmart’s everyday low cost (EDLC) philosophy. Walmart lowers costs by reducing expenses, increasing productivity and leveraging technology to improve efficiency throughout our supply chain and our operations. And as the largest retail company, occupying an important role in many countries’ retail markets, Walmart are able to negotiate with suppliers to obtain lower prices. For example, in Mexico, Since Walmart had more purchasing power than the next 17 largest Latin American retailers combined, it was able to negotiate price discounts from its suppliers and generate economies of scale. Walmart attempts to develop a variety of channels – core supercenters, smaller formats such as Neighborhood Market and Walmart Express, and eCommerce. The rise of Internet has Walmart pay attention to online business. Site to Store and Pick Up Today, which provide shopping alternative to Walmart customers, promote its online business grow. KPC: Compliance Integrity: Walmart is implementing a stronger global compliance organization. The job of every Walmart associate must begin with integrity. Ethics and compliance are non-negotiable. Walmart aligns its global compliance, ethics, investigations, and legal functions under one organization. In addition, full compliance with all laws and regulations is premise that they operate in any markets. Walmart has improved its compliance programs significantly and taken appropriate action for any instance of non-compliance. We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made through training, new processes and procedures and recruiting exceptionally strong talent to fill new roles. Acceptance of Diversity: When people mention Walmart today, it is not a certain national company any more. â€Å"Globalization† has stamped deep brands on Walmart. With its expansion, both employees and customers have different skin colors, languages, tastes and consume concepts. In this situation, acceptance of diversity plays more critical role in Walmart’s development. Part III a. China’s Twelve pillars First pillar: Institutions. The quality of institutions has a strong bearing on competitiveness and growth. China’s institution ranked in the middle of all surveyed countries (50th ). Second pillar: Infrastructure. Well-developed infrastructure reduces the effect of distance between regions, integrating the national market and connecting it at low cost to markets in other countries and regions. China ranked on 48th with a score of 4,46. Third pillar: Macroeconomic environment. The stability of the macroeconomic environment is important for business and, therefore, is important for the overall competitiveness of a country. China’s macroeconomic situation remains very favorable, 11th of 144 countries. Fourth pillar: Health and primary education. A healthy workforce is vital to a country’s competitiveness and productivity. Workers who are? ill cannot function to their potential and will be less productive. China receives relatively high marks in health and basic education (35th) and enrollment figures for higher education are also on the rise, Fifth pillar: Higher education and training . Quality higher education and training is particularly crucial for economies that want to move up the value chain beyond simple production processes and products. China places on 62th with a score of 4. 32 Sixth pillar: Goods market efficiency. Countries with efficient goods markets are well positioned to produce the right mix of products and services given their particular supply-and-demand conditions, as well as to ensure that these goods can? be most effectively traded in the economy. Chinese market efficiency places 59th(down 14). In this ? illar, insufficient domestic and foreign competition is? of particular concern, as the various barriers to entry appear to be more prevalent and more important than? in previous years. Seventh pillar: Labor market efficiency. The efficiency and flexibility of the labor market are critical for ensuring that workers are allocated to their most effective use in the economy and provided with incentives to give their best effort in their jobs. China has the greatest number of labor in the world. However, due to deficiency of efficiency and flexibility, China only ranks on 41th. Eighth pillar: Financial market development. The recent economic crisis has highlighted the central role of a sound and well-functioning financial sector? for economic activities. Ninth pillar: Technological readiness. The technological readiness pillar measures the agility with which an economy adopts existing technologies to enhance the productivity of its industries, with specific emphasis on its capacity to fully leverage information and communication technologies (ICT) in daily activities and production processes for increased efficiency and enabling innovation for competitiveness. For China, technological readiness takes a place of 88th(down 11), which has negative influence on Chinese competitives. Tenth pillar: Market size . The size of the market affects productivity since large markets allow firms to exploit economies of scale. In the era of globalization, international markets can to a certain extent substitute for domestic markets, especially for small countries. China has the largest population in the world. With the increase of consume level, China is the second market in the world. Eleventh pillar: Business sophistication. Business sophistication concerns two elements that are intricately linked: the quality of a country’s overall business networks and the quality of individual firms’ operations and strategies. With a score of 4. 25 (45th), there is huge space for China’s firms to improve their operation and strategies. Twelfth pillar: Innovation. The final pillar of competitiveness focuses on technological innovation. Compared with last pillar, China shows better performance on innovation – placing 33th with a score of 3. 85.