Client Address: 49 Featherstone Street, London, United Kingdom
Background This patient care action plan is for William. William currently has liver cancer and he is very much worried about his condition and how his wife Gladys will cope with the situation. When William was growing up, he thought that he would live to reach ninety years old, like his parents, without any serious illness. His dream of living longer has just been shattered after he recently discovered the presence of blood in his stool. On visiting the hospital, William has received a confirmation from Dr. Maxwell that he has liver cancer. William’s immediate carer is his wife, Gladys, who provides assistance with daily living activities as well as with social support. Since William’s kids have their own families and they are mostly committed to work, he has limited access to family support. His living setting is the home environment, and he frequently visits the hospital from where he is cared for by Dr. Maxwell and nurse Linda. Dr. Maxwell has involved other physicians in William’s care. The doctor is working together with other highly qualified healthcare professionals to ensure that William receives the support that he needs for the longest period possible. William’s health condition is not that severe, and his recent health care trajectory indicates that he has a positive progress. His positive health progress is mainly attributed to good communication and a positive relationship with his healthcare providers, including the social worker. At the moment, William largely depends on services obtained from only one GP healthcare resource.
Needs Assessment From the PCC4U Needs Assessment, it is evident that some of Williams needs have been met while there are others, which have not been effectively addressed. Needs that are currently met The positive progress that is being observed in the patient is attributed to primary health care services that he is now receiving from the doctors and nurse Linda (Llobera, Sanso, and Leiva, 2017). Through support obtained from the doctors, William has learned and can apply various health promotion options that are available to him. Also, William has been informed about the right people he should approach in case his health condition gets worse. Immediate needs that should be met It is important to prioritize patients’ unmet needs to plan effectively on how to help them manage their health conditions (Khosla, Patel, and Sharma, 2012). There are two major immediate needs that William should be assisted to meet. During his interaction with nurse Linda, William explains that he is in a bit of pain and that he still has a lousy appetite. These conditions are common among older people with terminal illnesses (Goodman, Dening, and Zubair, et al., 2016). In this regard, William should be taught how he can solve his appetite problems and how he can effectively manage pain. Potential needs that might arise William’s healthcare providers should be prepared to address potential needs that might arise in the course of care. It is important to identify possible emotional and physical health problems that may arise to formulate strategies that can be used to prevent them early (Clarke, Bourn, Skoufalos, Beck, and Castillo, 2017). To meet William’s physical and emotional needs, the healthcare providers should engage specialists in palliative medicine and palliative nursing, as well as family members, to provide necessary care as early as possible (Llobera, Sanso, and Leiva, 2017).
Local Resources and Services Scan
Service name and brief description
Address/contact details and website URL (if available)
Opening hours/contact hours
How to access (e.g. is a referral required?)
What needs can this service help to meet?
Healthcare team member responsible for referral/action
Open Monday to Friday from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm, Saturday 11.00 am to 6.00 pm, and Closed on Sunday
No referrals are necessary
Offers emotional and social support for patients with terminal illness and their families.
Lead nurse Angel and Marilyn can assist patients with making appointments and follow-up.
William can get necessary emotional and social support from this facility.
Hospice UK
34-44 Britannia St, Kings Cross, London WC1X 9JG +44 20 7520 8200 http://www.hospiceuk.org/
Open Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Closed on Saturday and Sunday
No referrals are necessary
Provides all types of home-based care needed by patients with serious illness.
Carol Warlford is the Chief Clinical Officer in charge of all forms of palliative care in the facility.
This facility is appropriate for meeting William’s physical, social, physiological, and emotional needs both now and in future.
St. Christopher’s Personal Care
Sydenham, UK +44 20 8768 4500 http://www.stcpersonalcare.org.uk/
Open every day from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.
No referrals are required
Offers support with all forms of care including medication, nutrition, activities of daily living, social support, and emotional support.
Denise, Maxine, Tony, and Sandra are highly trained to offer palliative care to all patients with various needs.
The facility is a useful back up for William’s palliative care needs.
Action Plan
Medication: The nurse should plan a visit to the physician to provide the right prescription for William to enable him to manage pain effectively (Ramanayake, Dilanka, and Premasiri, 2016; & Al-Mahrezi, and Al-Mandhari, 2016). This arrangement should be made as soon as possible.
Nutrition: The nurse should contact a nutritionist to help with the development of a feeding plan for William and his wife. Since appetite is one of William’s problems that should be solved urgently, this action should be started as soon as possible (Forbat, Haraldsdottir, Lewis, and Hepburn, 2016; & Caccaialanza, Pedrazzoli, and Zagonel, et al., 2016).
Physical Activity: William’s wife should contact a trainer to help William with physical exercise (Lowe, Tan, Faily, Watanabe, and Courneya, 2016; & Chandrasekar, Tribett, and Ramchandran, 2016). This arrangement should be made before William’s next meeting with the GP.
Counselling: The nurse should plan a visit to a professional psychologist to plan counselling sessions for William and his family (Pino, Parry, Land, Faull, Feathers, and Seymour, 2016). This plan should be ready before William’s next meeting with the GP.
Referral to Hospice: The nurse should contact a social worker to provide William and his wife with detailed legal information related to the procedures he should follow when he will be required to relocate from home-based care to the hospice (Hui and Bruera, 2016). This arrangement should be made when William will no longer be in a position to make decisions by himself.
Reference List
Al-Mahrezi, A. & Al-Mandhari, Z. (2016). Palliative care: Time for action. Oman Medical Journal, 31(3): 161-163. doi: 10.5001/omj.2016.32
Caccaialanza, R., Pedrazzoli, P…& Zagonel, V. (2016). Nutritional support in cancer patients: A position paper from the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM) and the Italian Society of Artificial Nutrition and Metabolism (SINPE). Journal of Cancer, 7(2): 131-135. doi: 10.7150/jca.13818
Chandrasekar, D., Tribett, E. & Ramchandran, K. (2016). Integrated palliative care and oncologic care in non-small-cell lung cancer. Current Treatment Options in Oncology, 17: 23. doi: 10.1007/s11864-016-0397-1
Clarke, J., Bourn, S., Skoufalos, A., Beck, E. & Castillo, D. J. (2017). An innovative approach to health care delivery for patients with chronic conditions. Population Health Management, 20(1): 23-30. doi: 10.1089/pop.2016.0076
Forbat, L., Haraldsdottir, E., Lewis, M. & Hepburn, K. (2016). Supporting the provision of palliative care in the home environment: A proof-of-concept single-arm trial of a palliative carers education package (PrECEPt). BMJ Open, 6(10): e012681. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012681
Goodman, C., Dening, T…& Zubair, M. (2016). Effective health care for older people living and dying in care homes: A realist review. BMC Health Services Research, 16: 269. doi: 10.1186/s12913-016-1493-4
Hui, D. & Bruera, E. (2016). Integrating palliative care into the trajectory of cancer care. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, 13(3): 158-171. doi: 10.1038/nrclinonc.2015.201
Khosla, D., Patel, F. D. & Sharma, S. C. (2012). Palliative care in India: Current progress and future needs. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 18(3): 149-154. doi: 10.4103/0973-1075.105683
Llobera, J., Sanso, N….& Leiva, A. (2017). Strengthening primary health care teams with palliative care leaders: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial. BMC Palliative Care, 17: 4. doi: 10.1186/s12904-017-0217-9
Lowe, S., Tan, M., Faily, J., Watanabe, S. & Courneya, K. (2016). Physical activity in advanced cancer patients: A systematic review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 5: 43. doi: 10.1186/s13643-016-0220-x
Pino, M., Parry, R., Land, V., Faull, C., Feathers, L., & Seymour, J. (2016). Engaging terminally ill patients in end of life talk: How experienced palliative medicine doctors navigate the dilemma of promoting discussions about dying. PLoS ONE 11(5): e0156174. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156174
Ramanayake, R., Dilanka, G. & Premasiri, L. (2016). Palliative care: Role of family physicians.Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 5(2): 234-237. doi: 10.4103/2249-4863.192356
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The patient care that I have provided has greatly influenced my career and my decision to advance my nursing education. Although I am a licensed practical nurse (LPN), the nature of patient care that I have provided is far much above my professional level. Most of the care services I offer perfectly match those that should be performed by a registered nurse. For instance, I have been able to obtain a specialty in allergies just like a registered nurse.
Due to my commitment to patient care, I have been promoted to head the sub-acute unit of the hospital where I currently work. I have frequently had the privilege to train registered nurses who are deployed at my unit despite the fact that I belong to a lower rank than them. Surprisingly, a large percentage of registered nurses whom I have interacted with have succeeded in their careers, not only in my current hospital but also in other facilities.
These achievements have influenced me to continue my nursing education. As Farinaz (2016) explains, there is always a limit of the nature of patient care that an LPN can provide. Being an LPN, there is a limit of what I can do to my patients and my fellow nurses. In this regard, I feel that by advancing my education, I will acquire additional nursing knowledge and skills that will enable me to possess competencies that resemble those of a registered nurse.
With these academic qualifications, I will be in a position to perform more advanced caring roles than the ones that I can offer at the moment. Furthermore, I believe that advancing my nursing education will increase the salary that I shall be able to earn. Being a single mother of three, I honestly think that I should be compensated well to motivate me to work hard because most of the tasks that are delegated to me should be performed by a registered nurse.
Question Two
With the nursing knowledge and skills that are currently possessed, together with those that are yet to be acquired, I see myself contributing positively to the nursing profession. According to Arabi, Rafii, Cheraghi, and Ghiyasvandian, (2014), nurses make an enormous contribution to the nursing profession by protecting the quality of health care. I believe that the goal of a successful nurse is always to make a meaningful contribution to his or her profession.
I am highly committed to achieving this goal, and I increasingly utilize my work experience to make a significant change to nursing. With seven years of professional experience, I stand out as a nurse who can deliver quality patient care. Furthermore, I always strive to provide care by my educational training to protect my licensure. I work hard every day to become part of highly qualified nurses who can deliver the highest quality care as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (The Institute of Medicine, 2010).
Furthermore, I will contribute to the nursing profession by utilizing my skills and knowledge to assist my supervisors as well as my fellow nurses. As I continue to deliver extraordinary care to patients, I extensively interact with my supervisors because this helps me to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses.
I am eager to learn to fill my knowledge gaps and to fit to work in the rapidly changing medical and nursing fields. In this manner, I will be in a position to make meaningful reforms to the nursing profession and to take patient care to a higher level. The contribution that I can make to nursing encompasses both patient advocacy and change implementation (Arabi et al., 2014).
Reference List
Arabi, A., Rafii, F., Cheraghi, M. A. & Ghiyasvandian, S. (2014). Nurses’ policy influence: A concept analysis. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 19(3): 315-322.
Consumer behavior can best be understood by recognizing that each individual has unique tastes and preferences. In marketing, consumer behavior plays an imperative role in designing marketing strategies, through an understanding of consumer psychology, consumer decision making process, implications of consumer knowledge on decision making, and motivation associated with the purchase of different products (Johnson et al, 2014). This way, marketers can effectively improve their marketing strategies and campaigns to ensure that they appeal to the customer.
In making a decision, customers go through a process that involves need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation. To influence demand for its products or services, a company must ensure that it maintains quality to meet customer needs and provides adequate information about its products and services.
A useful strategy in understanding consumer behavior is to remain in the limelight so that when customers are in the process of decision making, the company’s product or service comes to mind. Through advertising, marketers can promote brand awareness, reinforce attitude on brands and influence external searches. A company that has successfully achieved this is Proctor & Gamble, which is considered the world’s largest advertiser. Its constant advertisements on television, online, social media and printed media has ensured revenue growth to a great extent.
The #LikeAGirl Always sanitary pads advertisement for example has over 64 million views. The Smell Like a Man, Man advertisement featuring Old Spice products also became widely famous as well as ‘Best Job’ that sought to recognize the importance of mothers. These advertisements by Proctor and Gamble could have easily influenced decision making among customers.
To take advantage of the customer decision making process, companies must design marketing strategies that capture the attention of consumers and thus invoke interest in the program ((Johnson et al, 2014). Coca Cola remains one of the products that has managed to consistently capture the attention of customers. Most of Coca Cola advertisements are a call to action and this plays a major role in influencing decision making. In the advertisement catch phrases ‘Taste the Feeling’, ‘Share a Coke with a Friend’, ‘Obey your Thirst’, all these are aimed at encouraging customers to buy Coca Cola beverages.
Organizations in designing their marketing strategies must establish which of the three types of decision making the consumer is likely to make. Cognitive decision making is a deliberate, sequential and rational process and the effort put towards decision making depends on the degree of involvement. To enhance decision making, companies should design and advertise their products in such a way that it catches the attention of the customer.
In purchasing a car for example, the process of decision making is cognitive and this explains why brands such as Mercedes, Volkswagen, Nissan and Toyota ensure high quality and performance of their cars, given that the customer is likely to check specs and the experience of other users before purchasing. This differs from habitual decision making where the process is mostly unconscious, behavioral and automatic and hence lack evaluation or information search (Ciravegna, Fitzgerald & Kundu, 2013).
Examples include everyday use products such as toiletries and food supplies. While companies may not spend much on advertising for such products, there is need to ensure customer satisfaction because it determines customer retention capability.
Marketing – STP
Customer needs are unique to each individual and no particular product can satisfy everyone, hence the growing importance of segmentation, targeting and positioning (Ciravegna, Fitzgerald & Kundu, 2013). Large conglomerates such as Coca Cola, Walmart, Dell Inc., Apple Inc., Amazon, L’Oreal, H & M, Louis Vuitton, Rolex and Rolls-Royce among others attribute their success to effective market segmentation.
This means that in order for organizations to effectively meet customer needs, they must tailor their products and services to meet different groups of customers. This is known as segmentation and is defined as the process through which a company identifies individuals and organizations whose characteristics are similar; in order to base their marketing strategy on such information.
Segmentation is an important aspect of marketing because it ensures effective identification of target markets, development of marketing mix to suit market characteristics, identification of differentiated marketing strategies and an opportunity to take advantage of marketing opportunities (Kotler & Armstrong, 2015). Rolls Royce, Rolex and Louis Vuitton for example target high end customers who are lovers of luxurious products and are willing to pay high prices in order to gain prestige.
Accordingly, such companies must ensure that their products are expensive when analyzing consumer behavior and that not everyone can afford them. Failure to do so would lead to loss of customers because it is no longer prestigious to own their brands. This means that customer segmentation has helped them in designing a marketing strategy and a marketing mix that works for its customers.
Identifying customer segments may be based on various approaches including geographical segmentation, demographic segmentation, behavioural segmentation and psychographic segmentation. Subway and McDonalds target families, thus indicating demographic segmentation; Target aims at reaching people in urban areas, thus demographic segmentation; Nike targets sports personalities which represents interests and is therefore psychographic segmentation; Mercedes targets brand loyalty and is thus behavioural segmentation.
Customized marketing is growing in popularity and locomotive companies, airplane manufacturing companies and design companies have taken a lead. Customized marketing is used in markets where individual customers have sufficient purchasing power to warrant the design of a unique marketing mix for each (Kotler & Armstrong, 2015).
Ferrari for example specializes in the development of tailor-made cars to provide their clients with unique cars that match their personality. ‘Build your own Ferrari’ is a mantra of Ferrari’s Personalization Programme, which seeks to give a personal touch to all customers (Ferrari, 2017). To achieve this, customers can choose their own fabric, colors, wood, leathers and finishes to suit their individual tastes and desires.
References
Ferrari 2017, Ferrari’s personalization programme, Retrieved from
The basic understanding of literacy is the ability to read and write. Early literacy differs from literacy in that it is a process through which children are prepared for literacy. Neuman & Dickinson (2011) define early literacy as what children recognize about reading and writing before they can learn to read and write in reality. It is about laying a foundation to ensure children have the skills necessary when they are developmentally prepared to read and write.
While literacy pays much attention to reading and writing, developments in early education provide a wider learning range by including talking about books, book sharing, early mark making and environmental awareness in addition to reading and writing (Foundation Years, 2009). Early literacy as we know it today has a rich history, entrenched in the need to improve how children learn and the inclusion of play pedagogy in enhancing literacy.
Albright, Delecki & Hinkle (2009) retrace early evolution of literacy to the 1940s and 1950s when the development of storytelling techniques including rhyme and repetition started gaining importance. Story hours were first offered by librarians in the 1940s as a response to the ‘reading readiness’ theory aimed at ensuring that children were mentally equipped to read. Story hours would involve dramatization, clapping, repetition, songs and rhymes and were seen as an avenue for children to interact with peers and gain interest for reading.
Over the decades, new concepts such as dialogic reading to promote more enjoyable reading, entertainment and education have been developed through research and development. Historically, the government in England made little intervention towards preschool provision and curriculum (Kwon, 2002). However in 1996, the Desirable Outcomes for Children’s Learning on Entering Compulsory Education framework was introduced to guide early years curriculum. This was later revised as Early Learning Goals in 2000 and was aimed at providing learning goals for children (Kwon, 2002).
Early literacy strategies
Early literacy strategies have evolved significantly over the years and the emphasis on play and innovative learning methods in England is apparent. The House of Commons Education Select Committee in December 2000 issued a report indicating that creative play should be the main form of learning for children under five (Clouder, 2017). In England, the development of rules and policies guiding early childhood education aims at improving early literacy by providing guidance to teachers and caregivers (Department of Education, 2017). As a result, England’s statutory frameworks are keen on the fundamental role played by literacy.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, first introduced in 2008 and revised in 2012, 2014 and 2017 is a law provides rules and regulations to guide early literacy and its statutory framework as provided in Learning and Development Requirements is that ‘All the areas must be delivered through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities’ (Foundation Years, 2009, p.10).
Early literacy and play pedagogy are mutual, based on the role of play pedagogy in promoting literacy. Contemporary research labels play as the most effective approach in setting the foundation for literacy in early years.
References
Albright, M, Delecki, K, & Hinkle, S 2009, ‘The Evolution of Early Literacy: A History of Best Practices in Storytimes’, Children & Libraries: The Journal Of The Association For Library Service To Children, 7, 1, pp. 13-18
The self-sufficient electric generator is a new invention that will help to increase the supply of renewable energy in the society. The electric generator will help many people to meet their energy needs considering that it can be used for several purposes. Moreover, this invention is an appropriate source of electricity in today’s society because it is less costly and it does not cause environmental pollution (Islam, Hasanuzzaman, Rahim, Nahar, and Hosenuzzaman, 2014).
Self-sufficient electric generator Invention
The invention discloses a self-sufficient electric motor and generator system accessories connected to each other. The motor will generate rational energy while the generator will produce electric energy. The two connected accessories will produce three-phase energy from the rational energy. Since both the motor and the generator can use either alternating current (AC), or direct current (DC), the invention can be made in either two or three-phase wires to produce AC or DC power. The system will serve general electric purposes including camping out, housing, industrial, and an excellent replacement of Gas, diesel, or any other engine petroleum dependency such as small or large car engines, heavy equipment, and machinery, among others. Additional advantages of the system include; easy portability, a home-based electric station for re-charging electric power cars, minimized maintenance costs, and lack of pollution because it does not produce smoke and noise. (Phoolari, Pavanasudan, and Uday, 2014).
Self-sufficient electric motor and generator system is efficient regarding energy, expenses, and environmental protection. Specifically, the invention offers an alternative for electric energy and does not require extra expenses for purchasing fuel tanks, oil filters, and for system maintenance. Moreover, the energy source will help to solve the problem of global warming because there will be no smoke and tailpipe emissions from automobiles.
Reference List
Islam, M. A., Hasanuzzaman, M., Rahim, N. A., Nahar, A. & Hosenuzzaman, M. (2014). Global renewable energy-based electricity generation and smart grid system for energy security. The Scientific World Journal, 2014: 197136. doi: 10.1155/2014/197136
Phoolari, S. V., Pavanasudan, M. & Uday, M. (2014). Self-proclaiming generator for automobiles. International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, 3(11): 50-61.
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In an increasingly competitive world, effective leadership ensures that a firm can maintain a reasonable niche. This calls for the adoption of leadership styles and approaches that best enhance the organization’s performance. This paper is an assessment of Global Delivery Direct one of the prevalent leadership theories, leadership approach and leadership style; in a bid to determine the candidate that best suits the position of a manager for the new custom delivery service.
Leadership Theories: GDD’s Results
The table below illustrates the common leadership theory, leadership approach and leadership style at GDD.
Leadership Theory
Leadership Approach
Leadership Style
Relational leadership theory can be observed at GDD. Leaders applying this model are inclusive, purposeful, empowering and ethical.
The proactive leadership approach best applies at GDD. Leaders are future oriented and always focused on finding solutions to benefit the company.
A combination of situational and transformational leadershipstyle applies to GDD, which believes in a different ideal for each situation.
The relational leadership theories are most prevalent in GDD, which aims at enhancing success in the 21st century. This is a modern theory in which shared vision is encouraged and maintaining effective relationships is considered important in promoting performance.
GDD considers proactivity in leadership a major prerequisite for effective leadership because it ensures better performance through futuristic thinking that ensures that leaders can come up with solutions to drive the organization’s vision as opposed to being reactive to problems. Leaders at GDD are required to identify new opportunities for the company and also be on the lookout for potential leaders within the organization.
A modification of situational and transformational leadership styles is evident in GDD, where leaders are encouraged to treat each situation uniquely while encouraging and mentoring followers to effectively achieve the organization’s performance. At GDD, leaders are not only interested in situations but also people involved in accomplishing organizational goals.
This style of leadership is effective in the modern world where the relevance of workers is becoming increasingly important in enhancing innovation and championing change (Grant, 2016). Accordingly, respect, trust, ethical values, and expertise are considered worthy traits for leaders who aim at promoting employee commitment and organizational effectiveness.
Candidate’s Results
Based on an assessment of the candidates, the table below is a summary of their prevalent leadership theory, leadership approach and leadership style.
Candidate
Leadership Theories
Leadership Approach
Leadership Style
Henrietta Raynard
Great Man Theory
Structural approach
Authoritative leadership
Orson Hernandez
Contingency theory
Inclusive approach
Laisse-Faire
Jonathan Livingston
Relational theory
Proactive approach
Transformational leadership
Adrianna Coyote
Relational/servant
People-focused approach
Servant/authoritarian
Raynard believes in great man leadership theory, and this can be demonstrated by her how she is more concerned about being the leader while giving no concern to employee participation. She prefers to make the rules as opposed to including the opinions of others and believes the best way to enhance performance is to ensure rules, policies, and structures are followed. She seems rigid in her approach and is not proactive.
She does not seem aware of her leadership approach, but hers can be described as the structural approach. Her leadership is authoritarian because she prefers to be in control.
Hernandez exercises the contingency theory and this means that he tends to lead depending on the situation. He understands the importance of motivating and empowering employees, and this explains his leadership style, which is laisse-faire.
This is a leadership style where employees are empowered to make decisions in performing their work thus enhancing productivity. Hernandez says he does not have an approach to leadership, but his approach appears to be an inclusive approach, influenced by his leadership style.
Livingstone exercises relational theory and considers this imperative due to its ability to influence relationships within the organization. He has a proactive approach, demonstrated by his previous visit to both companies before the interview and his approach of looking for leadership opportunities and encouraging others to act on them. He is also a transformational leader and believes in people relations.
Coyote’s leadership style is more about enhancing motivation and satisfaction of her followers. She achieves this through flexibility, looking into her team’s needs and allowing them an opportunity to be happy with their jobs. While she does not seem to know her leadership approach, hers is a people-oriented approach where her team’s happiness is considered of great importance.
This can be associated with her recognition that happy employees perform better. This also explains her leadership style which is servant leadership. This means that she is more concerned with the needs of her team and how she can help them achieve the best. By combining this with a bit of authoritarianism, she has managed to achieve success in her leadership role.
GDD/Candidates’ Comparison
Candidate
1 No Fit
2 Bad Fit
3 Not Sure
4 Good Fit
5 Best Fit
Raynard
Hernandez
Livingston
Coyote
Raynard is considered a bad fit because she is an authoritarian as opposed to a transformational leader as required by GDD. She does not seem social with employees, and this means that she is not in a position to influence them or motivate them to perform better as required at GDD. Based on her emphasis on the use of rules, structures, and procedures, her approach does not encourage innovation and proactivity. She also seems unsure of her leadership approach style.
Hernandez is a good fit because he seems interested in employee involvement, motivation, and empowerment, which are considered highly important at GDD. He also exercises situational leadership which is encouraged at GDD alongside transformational leadership. However, his leadership style does not match that of GDD, and he does not seem to be aware of his leadership approach.
Livingstone’s leadership theories, leadership approach and leadership style is a perfect match with that of GDD. Livingstone exercises relational theory takes on a proactive approach and is a transformational leader.
Coyote is considered a good fit because besides having experience with the company, she is people-oriented, which means that she keeps her employees motivated. She is more concerned about employee welfare and provides a flexible working environment. Her authoritarian style may, however, impede performance to a certain extent. It is not certain whether she is proactive and innovative and she is also unaware of her leadership approach.
Recommendation
Livingstone’s leadership theories, leadership approach and leadership style best matches that of GDD. Accordingly, he is considered the most suitable candidate for the job. GDD promotes relational leadership, and it can be established that Livingstone recognizes the importance of relationships with followers, given the role played by individuals in making change work.
A similar theory is taken by GDD which encourages the creation of fruitful relationships to enhance performance. The proactive approach taken by Livingstone matches GDD’s as evidenced by his quest to seek leadership opportunities and encourage employees to work on them. This matches the example of Juan Carlos, the college intern at GDD who was recognized as an opportunity for leadership.
Livingstone also took the time to visit both companies before the interview and this shows his proactivity. Regarding leadership style, Livingstone is a transformational leader, and this remains a desirable trait at GDD.
Pedagogical leadership is theorized as being one of the most important kinds of leadership in early childhood education, based on its recognition of best practices for teaching and learning. Leadership is considered one of the most imperative quality aspects in Early Childhood Education (ECE), due to its role in enhancing educational quality. Recent studies have established that the early childhood educator profile is changing and the need to possess leadership skills is necessary to respond effectively to the changes in the education environment.
Waniganayake (2014) notes that unlike in the past where teacher responsibilities exclusively focused on the education of young children, the contemporary early childhood settings have expanded in scope with increasing demands from the government, parents and other stakeholders. This demonstrates expanding roles for ECE professionals and hence the growing relevance of pedagogical leadership.
The relevance of effective leadership in enhancing the quality of pedagogy continues to gain significant importance in the field of early childhood, as stakeholders seek to achieve greater professionalism and enhanced outcomes as illustrated by children’s performance (Heikka, 2014). “The field of early childhood education and care has had a growing interest in pedagogical leadership rising from the need to increase quality and influence organisational change (Alameen, Male & Palaiologou, 2015).”
In this regard, there is greater focus on building relationships, mentorship, diversity and inclusiveness. Individuals in leadership work in partnership with others, providing leadership opportunities to other staff, students and others in the education community. This insinuates that leadership as traditionally defined does not always apply to early education realms. It is because while business and other sectors may observe leadership from a hierarchical perspective, effective early years leadership is mostly more collaborative or transformational in nature.
The traditional way of envisioning a leader as the one on top of the hierarchy is a just incomplete definition of how leadership is. Leadership is a process that is influenced by the shared vision and purpose by individuals or teams in connecting with each other. Effective leadership while being guided by the principal who provides direction goes beyond this by recognising the role played by all stakeholders as defined in shared values, visions and expectations. Leadership in early childhood education is an in-depth human quality that does not follow the conventional rule of authority.
Children are purely innocent to what this society gives to them in early childhood. If the society provides them with effective skills of leadership then that is what they are going to get regardless of gender or sect. If children are exposed to negative traits from the society then this would only end up in criminal activities. Children tend to strive hard to learn the way of living which society provides them.
The importance of early childhood education can be imagined from Siraj-Blatchford and Hallet’s (2014) idea of leadership, which states that “Effective and caring leadership is an evolving area of importance in developing quality provision for young children and families (p. 9).” Early childhood leadership is not only about the business of academics but it involves everyday routine of children’s services.
In recognition of the growing importance placed on leadership in early childhood education, this paper explores the concept of pedagogical leadership in the context of early education and how it influences the quality of education. In this relation, it will focus on what leadership means in the context of early childhood education, leadership styles in ECE, effective pedagogy in the early years, effective leadership in the early years and challenges and issues in early childhood leadership.
Background Study of Pedagogical Leadership
The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) project changed the education landscape in Europe, and can be considered an influential study in the emerging importance of leadership in early childhood education (Siraj‐Blatchford, et al., 2008). The longitudinal study was the first of its kind and consisted of a young children’s development sample with the objective of investigating the impact of preschool education among three and four year children. Information for the study was collected from 3000 children and also involved interaction with their parents, home environment and school settings (Sylva, et al., 2004).
Through the research which as conducted between 1997 and 2004, it was established that education quality made a significant impact in the development of children (Sylva, et al., 2004). This is a function of leadership, which the study also established as being instrumental in ensuring quality and better outcomes among children.
Based on the study results, it was established that high performing centres included in the study had resilient leadership and a strong shared philosophy, and that managers ensured a strong lead in planning and curriculum development. In addition, leaders in these centres encouraged staff development, education focus, child-adult interaction, all essential aspects of leadership in early childhood education. Therefore this study illuminated the importance of effective leadership in preschool in a bid to enhance outcomes and it remains a point of reference in the realms of ECE.
Effective Leadership in the Early Years Sector (ELEYS) and Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) also played an imperative role in illuminating leadership as an important issue in early education. The ELEYS research demonstrated the ideal setting for early year schools, noting that adult-child interaction, good curriculum knowledge among practitioners, parent involvement, formative feedback and behaviour policies influenced good outcomes for children Siraj-Blatchford et al (2007).
REPEY on the other hand argues for the provision of leadership for learning as a fundamental requirement in early learning. This can be done through social context considerations, collective working and a focus on children’s learning outcomes. This research is based on the passing of the Children Act of 2004 in England and the commitment of the government to reform children services through the ‘Every Child Matters’ campaign (Siraj-Blatchford, I & Manni, 2007). These two studies have influenced commitment towards leadership in ECE and are a good source of reference for leadership literature.
Early childhood is a sensitive stage where all leadership efforts should be directed towards ensuring the best outcome for the children. Leadership in early childhood education has been considered a pacesetter and a major influence of quality, hence the need to effectively understand what really consists of leadership in ECE. Kagan and Bowman (1997) proposed five faces of leadership that early childhood leaders should seek observe in order to promote the outcome of children in their schools.
The first face of leadership is administrative leadership. This involves the everyday operational activities and management of services (Kagan & Bowman, 1997). In executing administrative leadership, a leader is expected to maintain skills necessary in:
Dealing with people: This involves building effective relationships with staff, children, families, board members and colleagues among others
Structure: This entails the maintenance of infrastructure, complying with regulations, security issues and fire procedures among others
Processes: This includes the development of policies and procedures for governing school activities, including interaction of children and families.
Culture: This involved possessing knowledge on resource and referral agencies as well as changes in legislation.
Outcome: This includes maintenance of occupancy rates, fees, wages, budgets, petty cash and resources among others.
Environment: This involves awareness of the health and safety issues related to the occupation as well as the legislative requirements and aesthetics.
Pedagogy is understanding how learning process takes place which is supported by philosophy and practice.Pedagogical leadership entails the recognition of the best approaches in ensuring quality of early childhood care and education (Heikka, 2014). At the core of early childhood education lies the need to ensure that the quality of children’s lives is improved through enhanced growth, learning and development (Cheng, 2013; Kivunja, 2015).
In this relation, leadership in ECE is about identifying how best the children can learn. It is associated with the philosophy of the program, its goals and everyday practices that are advocated for in the managing the organisation (Murray & Clary, 2013). A leader is also expected to stay informed about issues and trends in early childhood education and care, and propagate the same information to staff. Leaders are expected to work closely with families and the community and ensure that all their actions demonstrate their knowledge of pedagogical leadership in everything they do (Sullivan, 2010).
Leaders is early education have an obligation to disseminate the importance of early childhood education to the community. This means that leaders must promote advocacy for best practices in early childhood education in order to influence the community and the overall outcome of ECE in the community (2008). It involved being increasingly visible in the community where one operates, developing community partnerships and participating in the education and training of ECE professionals through mentorship and networking. An early childhood leader is required to collaborate with community members and play a vital role in influencing policy making within the community.
Conceptual leadership is about being actively involved in the creation of new ideas with the aim of advancing the profession. This means that a leader should be capable of contributing to the ECE profession through innovative and futuristic thinking that leads to the development of pioneering ideas to influence early childhood education success (Kagan & Bowman, 1997; Rodd, 2013). This is equated to visionary leadership and is best achieved if one has a social conscience. This means that ideas are based on what leaders believe is the best for the advancement of children in early years.
Leaders in early childhood are expected to actively advocate for early childhood issues in order to improve the welfare of children and their families (Kagan & Bowman, 1997; Woodrow, C & Busch, 2008). Leadership involves taking a lead in looking out for better education quality and advocating for issues affecting early childhood education such as licensing requirements, affordable childcare, teacher salaries and other important issues (Rodd, 2013). Leadership in ECE is not only about working with individuals and organisations within their immediate sector but rather collaborating with others beyond their environment to create better outcomes in the early childhood sector.
Effective leadership in early childhood is defined by the ability of the leadership to effect high quality, through involvement of different stakeholders and upholding professionalism. This can be demonstrated in the following illustration, which demonstrates the importance of well set goals, high quality educators, professionalism in leadership, programming quality, and the involvement of families in ensuring outcomes for children. This is best achieved through pedagogical leadership, which is considered highly relevant in promoting high quality education in early childhood.
Pedagogical leadership can be considered the most effective leadership in early childhood and its principles should be emphasised to promote educational outcomes. Pedagogical Leadership tells us to reconsider the way we learn and work alongside with other adults. It is a common observation that development and growth take time and the best way children learn is by the interest and engagement with adults. Characteristics like curiosity, purposefulness and openness create an environment of learning both for the child and for the adult.
The Pedagogical Leader has an important role in creating a setting that supports values and vision for a healthy and quality learning environment. In this kind of environment, habits like organising time, spending money and supporting others come from the vision for growing child. In this way, children are nourished to produce leadership qualities and sense of responsibility. (Coughlin & Baird, 2013)
It has been recognised that effective leadership is the key to the growth of education and care. Teaching, learning and sustaining high-quality learning environment cannot be shaped without the skilled and committed leaders. There are minimal chances for effective leadership in early childhood without these skilled pedagogical leaders. According to a research, leadership comes only second when teaching has an influence on learning. Leadership is essential for an improved outcome and equality in education. (Leithwood et al., 2006: 4)
The style of leadership that is adopted within the organisation to a great extent determines the organisation’s performance. In this respect, the leadership style adopted in enacting pedagogical leadership should match the objective of the organisation in order to ensure that set goals are met. In early childhood, it has been established that pedagogical leadership is more about inclusiveness and that the traditional idea of leadership, demonstrated through hierarchical outlook is considered outdated.
Leadership is seen as a practice that is socially constructed and where the need to promote the quality of education and outcomes for children determines the leadership style adopted. The following leadership styles consist of some of the leadership styles adopted among early education institutions.
Directive leadership: In directive leadership, leaders are required to guide followers by spending as much time as possible with learners who are learning new tasks. The leader is expected to observe the learner provide feedback and develop suggestions for improving performance (Wieczorek-Ghisso, 2014). Directive leadership in ECE is seen as a means to ensure that the learner acquires the best knowledge possible to enhance the quality of education.
Facilitative leadership: This style seeks to empower group members by providing them with the resources necessary to execute their work. This style is aimed at ensuring that the needs of group members are met and that the outcome is satisfactory to the children and their families. While it may be directive at times, facilitative style is never authoritarian.
Participative leadership: This is where the leader promotes a collaborative atmosphere with teachers, such that everyone has an opportunity to participate in decision making. Ideas from followers are held in high regard and each view is considered important. Leaders are open with teachers and communication ensures that they can contribute to the everyday running of the school (Aubrey, et al, 2013). Participative leadership enhances motivation and is considered effective in advancing performance due to its ability to identify new ideas that would otherwise go unutilised.
Transformational leadership: Leaders depicting transformational leadership lead by showing concern to personal development of followers, such that they are committed to ensuring that they can discover their potential by acting as their role models. Through providing them with the required knowledge and resources, transformational leaders develop their followers into leaders and moral leaders through inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, idealised influence and individualise consideration (Hughes, 2014).
In ECE, this plays a role in enhancing motivation and thus high performance of teachers; consequently contributing to changes in school education. Transformational leadership is such that both the leaders and followers learn from each other and is therefore not about power holding.
Situational leadership: A commonly used leadership style is situational leadership, where leaders tend to apply different approaches in dealing with different issues. This according to Wieczorek-Ghisso (2014) is an approach which in the early years education context is based in levels of competency, such that continuous professional development is enabled. This is evidenced through the Blanchard model which provides four different leadership styles for four competence levels identified.
Blanchard’s quadrant, consists of four leadership styles namely directing, coaching, supporting and delegating. Each style is useful for different competency levels through which staff go through before they can be considered highly effective to work without much support.
Blanchard’s first competence level consists of staff portraying high commitment and low competence. These are members who are probably new in context and therefore lack the necessary skills to carry out required activities. This group may display high enthusiasm and willingness to learn but lack the skills to perform effectively. The suggested leadership style is the ‘directing’ approach, aimed at providing them with guidance to undertake activities through providing specific instructions and making follow up.
An employee who effectively succeeds in this quadrant such that they no longer require close supervision then moves to the second quadrant, representing low or some competence and low commitment. This group requires ‘coaching’ as the leadership approach. This requires leaders to explain the importance of task completion and monitoring of progress while providing encouragement and support.
When a staff is ready to move to the next quadrant, this means that they no longer need coaching but rather ‘supporting’. These are staff with high competence but with variable commitment. While they may have adequate experience, such teachers may lack confidence, motivation or initiative to undertake independent tasks. By supporting their daily activities, a leader can ensure that staff effectively accomplish tasks and that they develop high commitment.
This means that they are ready to graduate to the next quadrant, consisting of staff with high commitment and high competence. These are individuals who have mastered their roles and who are confident in their ability, experienced, knowledgeable and self-motivated, such that they do not require much supervision. In this situation, the leader employs ‘delegating’ approach, such that these individuals may be trusted with responsibilities without the need for monitoring or direction.
The model is considered effective because it aims at gradually developing staff capabilities to ensure that they can effectively respond to delegated tasks. It considers the different needs of staff and the required form of support needed to enhance competency and is thus considered an effective approach to leadership.
Leadership is an undertaking that requires individuals to demonstrate their ability to influence processes and other people for the attainment of set goals, such that leaders are expected to possess certain qualities that differentiate them from others (Ang, 2012). It is not any different in early childhood and pedagogical leadership, such that the following qualities of a leader ensure enhanced outcomes. Teachers with early childhood development degree give them the right skills to help every child learn. Practically speaking, teachers of early education of children must possess certain qualities that will enable them to motivate children along with finding joy every day (Aubrey, 2011).
When it comes to young children, leaders having the confidence of working with the children require enthusiasm and dedication to the work. Only this way, they could think of achieving the successful completion of their leadership duties. Teachers should have the enthusiasm to unlock each child’s door to learning. In addition, every child is different which makes the job even more challenging; thus requiring a patient nature along with good sense of humour to help the teacher to face this sloping path of ups and downs every day.
Every child has a different learning style and personality when he comes to school for early education. Each child would have his or her own style of doing anything. Due to this reason, teacher must always respect the differences and mange to teach in each child’s style rather than imposing on the child to adapt another style. Furthermore, each day teaching young children and at the same time educating them requires creativity.
Adapting to the style of learning that each child possess is flexibility. Regardless, the planning a teacher has done for each day, there should be flexibility to handle all the glitches that can throw off the day. A successful early childhood teacher would be the one who is always creative and flexible to make each day a positive one.
An effective pedagogical leader takes approaches that are unique and whose execution ensure that organisational goals and objectives are met. This skill requires critical thinking to ensure that ideas and strategies set the organisation apart from competitors through quality outcomes. Additionally, an inspirational leader motivates followers to perform by helping them discover their strengths.
He or she should be capable of influencing followers to perform by helping them discover their potential, providing them with the needed guidance and rewarding good performance (Murray & Clary, 2013).
Contemporary leadership literature indicates that active involvement of employees and other stakeholders in leadership decisions and undertakings can have an influential role on organisational outcomes (Grant, 2016). In early education, there is need to involve teachers, boards, students and the community in leadership, thus ensuring that the management can understand what the needs of others are.
When leadership considers the input of others, the likelihood of success is enhanced through diversity in ideas. In a world where leadership entails greater involvement of stakeholders in leadership and decision making, having a leader who is open and accommodating can have a considerable impact on the organisation. In early education, being open can encourage contribution from followers and thereby improve the outcome of schools.
Every leader’s mandate is to achieve the organisation’s goals and objectives and thus contribute to the overall performance of the organisation. In this relation, a leader must not lose focus on the main goals that the organisation seeks to achieve (Grant, 2016). This ensures that he or she can effectively lead others in achieving the goals, correct deviations, mentor and encourage others to achieve.
In doing so, the ability to influence others through endowing them with the power to perform is considered a major leadership quality. Leaders in early childhood should not only provide teachers with the necessary skills to perform tasks but they should also build their capacity to perform roles that are considered as being beyond their level, including independent decision making (David, 2012).
A leader should be concerned about the welfare of others, such that their decisions should be considerate about the feelings of others. This is essential in ensuring that followers feel appreciated, which promotes their productivity and willingness to contribute in organisational activities (Cheng, 2013). Being collegial involves recognising every individual as being important and avoiding self-exalting behaviour.
An effective leader sees themselves as part of the team and thus encourages others to work to work together towards achieving the organisation’s goals (David, 2011). This demonstrates the adoption of a give-and-take approach, such that the leader can learn from followers, just as followers learn from them.
Developing skills necessary to enhance the performance of early education institutions is imperative in enhancing pedagogical leadership. Waniganayake (2014) notes that while a majority of institutions have ECE graduates, most of these individuals are not equipped with the leadership strategies necessary to enhance performance. Waniganayake (2014) further notes that given the budding nature of ECE, the number of schools has grown significantly, leading to the demand for managers and principals.
This means that more ECE teachers find themselves in positions of leadership when they are fresh graduates with minimal knowledge and skills on leadership. In order for them to successfully execute the mandate given to them, such teachers require training to help them acquire the necessary leadership skills and qualities. This may be enhanced through different approaches as discussed below.
Learning communities
Group of individuals when come together to share passion and interest in collaborative learning is known as professional learning communities. Individuals participating in this learning communities build up knowledge through their interactions. There is a need of facilitator who helps them to start a dialogue of ideas that could enhance the connection to values and perspective. The professional learning communities is a powerful staff development strategies to help shift the focus from teaching to learning. (Coughlin & Baid, 2013)
Giving Time to absorb
Time is very precious and a necessity for any skill or development to be fully absorbed by both children and adults in the early learning environment. It is often practiced that learning communities make quick fixes and single training session to introduce change. However, to make changes sustainable, educators must be given time to share their complexities and practice growth in collaborative work.
Selection of Pedagogical Leaders for preschools
The building of strong leadership in the field, teacher’s education serves as an important role for building new resources and learning environment for the children. Student teachers should be selected on the merit of their experience that includes teamwork, engagement with kid and reviews from their pedagogical courses. These pedagogical leaders are also asked to provide a reflection of their leadership journey and opinions for life-changing experiences.
While the above discussion demonstrates approaches to developing pedagogical leadership skills, it is notable that there are various issues related to early years’ leadership that could affect such processes. These impact the outcome of pedagogical leadership and thus require to be addressed in order to address the challenges witnessed in early years leadership are discussed as discussed below.
Like in any other profession, the issue of age in leadership is prominent and the question of the age at which an individual can take up leadership is of concern. In ECE, a high number of young professionals are increasingly joining leadership, more so with the increase in the number of institutions and the consequent demand for managers and principals. Whether these individuals, some who are fresh from college have the required skills and capabilities is what makes it challenging for them to pursue their careers. This is more so where there the individual needs to manage older staff who may not appreciate their position as leaders.
A significant issue in early education is that individuals in leadership are not as adequately remunerated as their counterparts in other sectors. Given the significantly low pay among early childhood education professionals, taking up a position of leadership is not as motivating as it would be in other sectors where it would come with attractive perks. As a result, individuals are more likely to be adamant to take up leadership positions because the amount of work involved may not be adequately compensated.
Early childhood education for a considerable portion of its history mostly constituted of a female workforce. According to Siraj and Hallett (2014), early education workforce could comprise up to 98-99% women. This can be attributed to the fact that women were considered more caring and motherly to children, and as playing the nurturing role which they did best (Kelleher, 2011). Mistry and Sood (2013) also note that stereotyping of men who work in early childhood education as either paedophiles or homosexuals has led to slow growth in the number of men in the sector.
This feminisation has an impact on leadership in that men who have since joined early childhood education still find it difficult to settle into the female dominated career. As a result, leadership roles among men tend to be few in the sector. According to Mistry and Sood (2013), the gendered perception about men in the early education profession may lead to leadership prejudice because men still tend to be treated with suspicion when handling children. This could deny men an equal chance at being in leadership positions despite being qualified.
Leadership remains a challenging undertaking and some individuals tend to shy away from such responsibility. This means that despite their qualifications, they may be reluctant to lead. According to Mistry and Sood (2012), early years leaders tend to be reluctant on taking on the leadership of whole schools because they believe that it is not given adequate significance.
In addition, some leaders are reluctant to take on management roles because they feel that such responsibilities divert their attention from their preferred role as child developers and educators. Mistry and Sood (2012) add that reluctance could also be based on lack of confidence in their level of training on leadership such as adult management and budgeting among others. Reluctance may also be observed among males, mostly due to the desire to remain inconspicuous based on the feminisation issue discussed above.
A major issue is the existence of the hierarchical leadership mentality in some institutions. Some early childhood schools are still run using the traditional leadership approaches, such that it becomes difficult for an inclusive workplace to be maintained. This may impact leadership effectiveness and consequent leadership outcomes.
The effectiveness of pedagogical leadership in ECE can be measured against the learning outcomes of children, such that the key role played by school principals can be recognised based on the performance of their schools. However, leadership issues discussed above must be addressed in order to ensure that leadership is enhanced for better outcomes.
An important aspect to consider is the defeminisation of the profession. Currently, the profession still remains a female dominated field and encouraging men to participate would play a relevant role in enhancing leadership efficiency. To succeed in this, there is need to eliminate the stereotypes surrounding men as early childhood educators and instead advocate for male participation in ECE leadership.
Achieving high level motivation as far as leadership is concerned is a challenging task for this sector, given the low motivation to lead. To achieve this, authorities in ECE must recognise that leadership in ECE is just like leadership in other professions and that there is need to motivate leaders through improved pay and providing opportunities for skill development (Jor’dan, et al, 2013). Mentorship would work effectively in promoting performance of upcoming leaders and ensuring that they remain focused.
It is apparent that individuals in ECE are increasingly taking up leadership positions at a young age, which implies that their leadership skills may not be well developed. In this relation, leadership should be incorporated into graduate programs to ensure that leadership in an ingrained skill among ECE graduates. By preparing graduates for leadership as part of their learning objectives, it is easier for them to fit into leadership positions.
It is important to recognise that children are emotionally bonded to their parents. The workforce in early year education is most comprises of female. The Daycare Trust reports that 97.5% of the workforce for childcare comprises of females. This gender discrimination in child care needs to end. Men should be actively involved in this workforce. Other than this, research also tells that there is a strong need for collaborative leadership training for pedagogical leaders for better future of early childhood education (Siraj-Blatchford & Manni, 2007).
Bring the educators and parents together with the photos of children with observations of children behaviour when engaged in focused activity. Start the conversation by asking questions like: What appearance can be noticed from child’s face when focused in any activity? What interests him the most? How much child tries to give effort to area of his interest? How child’s point of view can be considered a factor of influence for the thinking of educator?
Importance of Home Learning
Other than preschool learning at early age, EPPE study has found out that children’s intellectual and social development is more influenced through Home Learning Environment (HLE) then by their parent’s education, occupation, and income. Due to this, the study also concludes that children’s learning by their parent’s support is far more important than who the parents are.
The study clearly suggests that the parents should opt for giving more time and affection to their children. Children need a healthy environment to get morally stronger. In this fast-moving world, people have generally less time for their children due to work load and professional responsibilities. That is why there is preschool where children are taught in a proper systematic way to nourish their skills and to provide them with the environment which they couldn’t get at home (Siraj-Blatchford & Manni, 2006).
Leadership in the context of early childhood education has recently been illuminated as an important aspect in determining the quality of outcomes among children. Evidently, effective leadership in ECE is directly related to the performance of early years institutions and the need to develop such skills is necessary. This paper discussed the concept of pedagogical leadership as it applies to early childhood education, with specific attention to the nature and facets of leadership, the application of leadership styles, qualities of good leadership and the challenges facing effective pedagogical leadership in ECE.
It can be established that pedagogical leadership in ECE has not effectively matured and that there are certain issues that still require to be addressed in order for institutions to function effectively. However, training and application of effective leadership styles could play an important role in enhancing leadership outcomes in ECE settings.
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The Korean honey market is having a challenge giving their customers quality honey. The market is flooded with poor quality honey and this does give the Korean Food a chance to penetrate the market if they focus their production on quality honey. The cost of quality honey in the market is also so high reaching a price range of $ US 100. The introduction of cheaper quality honey from the Korean Food company will increase their market share in the industry (Lee et al., 2010, p. 25).
Moreover, the Korean’s who have visited Canada often send to their families 20 to 30 kilograms of honey when they visit (Tavares, 2014, p. 22). This is an indication of positive reception of the Canadian honey by the people in Korea. It therefore, means that entry into the market will work in favor of the Korean Food as they already have a ready market for their product.
On the unfavorable aspects, the Korean government still has a restriction on open trade policy, especially when it comes to the agricultural sector. This policy does make it hard for the company to venture into the country, despite the optimism that the Korean government is considering withdrawing the restrictions (Hayakawa et al., 2013, p. 499). Moreover, the Korean honey producers have enjoyed a monopoly in the market and may place a lot of hurdles that will make the market unfavorable for Korean foods.
Question 2
The uncertainties in the strategy arise from the fact that the company has limited experience in the export market in Korea. This does pose a huge challenge for the company as they need to conduct an intensive market research before they step into the country. This will cost them a lot of finances, considering that the maximum amount of profit that they are to make from this venture is by a margin of 20%. The Korean market is centered on their culture where most of the consumers consider honey as a medicinal rather than a food product (Sydkorea, 2017). This will pose a challenge for the company when it comes to extending their market share from the hotels to selling the products to the consumers.
Additionally, the Korean market does work on the perspectives that the company will require an intermediary to be able to penetrate the market (Yoon, 2017, p. 387). The involvement of the middleman does pose an uncertainty on the manner to ensure that the company does achieve the objective of making a profit. The company has been working directly with the suppliers, and the changes of the operations structure to relying on the middlemen to foster their agenda will force affect the management of the company.
Lastly, despite their being hope that the Korean government will open up the agricultural market to allow imports, there is uncertainty on the resistance of the Korean honey producers (Hayakawa et al., 2014, p.499). The Korean honey producers have a monopoly in the honey market and they, therefore, have the strength to influence the government not to open up the honey market (APHIS’ website, 2017). Moreover, they might consent the opening of the market, but place a lot of hurdles for the new entrants an aspect that will uneven the competition making the market unfavorable.
The uncertainties can be reduced by identifying a company in Korea and entering into a joint merger to enable them to penetrate the market. The merger will be a shield for them as they understand how the market operates and will provide them the needed information to venture into the market (De Mooji, 2013, p. 36). Additionally, it will enable the company to navigate any hurdles that will be posed by the Korean honey producers in a bid to protect their influence in the market. Furthermore, the merger does reduce the cost of market research that the company will have to incur in their bid to penetrate the market.
I believe that the company has an opportunity to achieve immense success if they apply the suggested solutions in reducing the uncertainties. The company will be able to increase their margin and market share from a maximum of 20% and 60% respectively. This is an opportunity that will be effective for the company.
Question 3
Canadian honey: Marketing
In looking for ways to improve the marketing plan to make it acceptable to all the management team members, the 3 phases that form the foundation of the plan will be evaluated. In the first phase, the distribution strategy needs to be altered to involve using the networks established by the company they decide to merge with to penetrate the hotels. The local company has been in operation in the country they, therefore, have connections in different sectors of the economy like the hotels. This will make market entry easier for the company instead of having two salespeople positioned in Seoul (Lee et al., 2015, p. 32).
Additionally, the advertising strategy in the first phase will cost the company a lot of finances. To ensure that the company saves money, the use of free samples to the hotels coupled with media advertising is sufficient. The provision of recipe booklets and carrying out person-to-person advertisement will cost the company a lot of money.
In the second phase, the company needs to focus on regulating the prices of the honey with time as they extend their control of the hotel honey market. The penetrating price strategy is used to enter the market but needs to be readjusted to ensure that the company can make more profit from this sector (De Mooji, 2013, p. 12). The minimum price is an introduction to the Korean hotel industry to the purity of the Canadian honey. Increasing the price will not alter the purchase, as they would have managed to create a customer base in the industry that is attracted to the new flavors of the honey.
Additionally, the distribution channel is effective, but the involvement of the company that they will merge with will inject efficiency in the operation. The partner comprehends the Korean honey distribution network this will, therefore, ensure that the products can reach the target customers on time.
Furthermore, the company needs to concentrate more on introducing the Canadian honey as food rather than a medicinal product. This will play a role in increasing their target market more effectively. The Korean’s already have had a negative conception of honey due to the poor quality that is present in the market. Their culture compounded with the bad honey experience has made them consider that the product can be used only as a medicinal product (Lee et al., 2010, p. 18). Emphasizing on the other uses of honey will not only revolutionize this perception but also provide them with mileage in the industry.
In the third phase, introducing different qualities of honey in the market will cast doubt on the type of honey that the customers are purchasing for medicinal purposes. It will cast a shadow on the qualities of the Canadian honey that the company is introducing in the market, hence reducing their penetration. The company needs to concentrate on high-quality honey solely to get the customers goodwill in their product (Tavares, 2014, p. 25). I will recommend the company to use the warehouse of their partner as this will save them the cost of setting up one. They can then capitalize on the sales representative of their partner to increase their market penetration in the country.
Question 4
Kevin Lee at the beginning of the case study identifies pertinent issues that are linked to the difference between their way of operations and the new marketing plan. The company has immense knowledge in importing business and limited knowledge in the exporting business. They have managed to comprehend the needs of the North Americans when it comes to the Asian foods which have enabled them to raise the business to $30 million. The exportation of the Canadian honey to Korea is a new business venture as they do not know how to navigate the Korean industry with its restrictions (Anania, 2013, p. 25).
Additionally, despite the fact that the Canadian honey is loved by Korean visitors who send it to their families, this is not a guarantee that they will penetrate the market with ease (Tavares, 2014, p. 12). On the other hand, the Asian product is loved by North America and the company has managed to create a customer base that loves their products (Shaw, 2017). The company encountered challenges but managed to establish a reputable brand. Contrariwise, the only similarity is that the company has dealt with Korea on an international business level as discussed in the essay.
References
Anania, G., 2013. Agricultural export restrictions and the WTO: What options do policy-makers have for promoting food security. Draft paper prepared for informal ICTSD policy dialogue on, 25.
De Mooji M., 2013. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications, 2013.
Hayakawa, K., Kim, H., and Lee, H. H., 2014. Determinants on utilization of the Korea-ASEAN free trade agreement: margin effect, scale effect, and ROO effect. World Trade Review, 13 (3), pp.499-515.
Lee, M.Y., Hong, I.P., Choi, Y.S., Kim, N.S., Kim, H.K., Lee, K.G. and Lee, M.L., 2010. Present status of Korean beekeeping industry. Korean Journal of Apiculture.
Lee, Y.K., Kim, S.H., Seo, M.K. and Hight, S.K., 2015. Market orientation and business performance: Evidence from franchising industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 44, pp.28-37.
Sydkorea. M. (2017). Korean Business Culture. [online] Available at: http://sydkorea.um.dk/en/the-trade-council/korean-business-culture [Accessed 9 Sep. 2017].
Tavares, A., 2014. Statistical overview of the Canadian honey industry 2013. Government of Canada, Canada.
Yoon, S. J., 2017. Cultural Brokerage and Transnational Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs in Beijing’s Koreatown.” Korea Observer, 48 (2), p.387
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The new product that is being introduced as part of Whirpool production will be marketed along the market chains that the company has used and has competitive advantage over other products in the market. The company will concentrate on marketing the product in the Western nations, followed by the Asian countries and lastly the African nations based on the sales margin of their earlier products (Chakraborty, 2017).
Customers in the industry have expressed the problem of having their refrigerator doors not tightly closing when they are shut.The company GE appliances that is one of the competitors has admitted to the existence of the problem on their website, but they have only provided a limited number of solutions (Refrigerator-Freezer Door Pops Open, 2017).
In the industry, none of the companies have come up with a long-lasting solution like the new invention. The product will provide the company with a competitive advantage in the consumer home appliances. The company does sell their products in over 170 countries, and by the first quarter of 2017, they had a market share of 34.33% (Whirlpool Corp Comparison to its competitors, market share, and competitiveness by Segment-CSIMarket, 2017).
In order to succeed in any market a company has to decide which strategy is more appropriate to use, which means identifying the sources of a potential competitive advantage such as skills or resources. Superior skills in creating a special product can represent the element that is setting the company apart from its competitors. That is easily translated into a very good quality of the products.
Reference List
Chakraborty, A. (2017). Leverage Analysis: A Study on Whirlpool LTD. Nopal Institute of Management Studies-Department of Management.
