Online Retailer Zappos Uses Social Media to Build Customer Relationships

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  Please provide a one to two-page paper on the topic. This work should include an opening paragraph clearly restating the questions (DO Not simply copy the questions). Then apply at least one complete paragraph on each of the topics, followed by a closing or summary paragraph. Cites and structure should comply with APA v6 style.   

 

Online Retailer Zappos Uses Social Media to Build Customer Relationships

Zappos was one of the first companies to incorporate social media into its business, and they have established themselves as a leader in its use. One reason this online retailer that sells clothing for women, children, and men, shoes, handbags, and accessories has experienced rapid growth is because they have made their corporate values a part of their social media activities. Many customers know that Zappos is a large business. At the same time, Zappos operates like a small business when it comes to how they treat their customers. In return, customers often feel they are dealing with a small business when they visit the Zappos Web site or purchase merchandise from the online retailer.

Steven Hill, Vice President of Merchandising, explains “Social media … is more about discovering our culture rather than our business.” In fact, the primary objective of the online retailer’s social media activities is to “deliver happiness.” Sometimes customers will leave fun comments about their experiences with the company. Zappos takes these comments—along with comments about problems customers experience and questions about products—very seriously. Responding to all comments is a major objective of the online retailer’s social media plan. For example, if a customer experienced a problem with an order or has a question about a product, the Zappos team ensures that these comments and questions are responded to honestly, authentically, and in a timely fashion.

Zappos does not maintain a specific strategy for marketing on social media, nor does it have a policy for responding to customers. As with any Zappos activity, responses to the customer’s concerns and comments are guided by the company’s core values, including creating “WOW” customer experiences and a culture characterized by fun. Product Manager Robert Richman explains, “Social media is a communication tool … and we want to be available to people wherever they’re at.” If customers are making comments about Zappos on Facebook, Zappos makes sure to have a response on Facebook so they can participate in the conversation. In fact, Kenshoo, a digital marketing specialist, has recognized Zappos’ Facebook activity for its effectiveness and how they engage customers using social media.

Rob Siefker, Director of the Customer Loyalty Team, emphasizes the importance of using Twitter. He states, “Most people went on Twitter as a way to interact with friends. Some companies went on there and solely focused on the business or service aspect. For us, part of service is being playful … it makes it much more human to the customer … it makes it much more personal.” Most companies that use social media use it for promotion rather than for truly interacting with customers. Mr. Siefker points out that customers “feel when they are being marketed to, and they know there is a reason for it.” However, Zappos strives to go beyond using social media simply for promotion purposes and selling merchandise. They want to forge a real connection with customers and describe themselves as a human company that encourages strong interactions between customers and the organization.

For Zappos, another objective of their social media plan is to cross-promote their activities across digital platforms. For example, if they receive or post a comment on Facebook, they will also share it on Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and Pinterest in order to reach other current or potential customers. While the company focuses mainly on current customers, Zappos also generates interest by encouraging customers to share promotions and purchases with friends. This activity often generates word-of-mouth marketing that brings in new customers. The current customers in this sense serve as brand advocates or brand enthusiasts. One campaign they used on Facebook was to ask people to like their page. It read, “Let’s be in a Like-Like Relationship.” Then they asked users to sign up for their email list. The order in which they made these requests gave people the impression that Zappos was indeed concerned about building relationships.

They also have exclusive content for people who opt to become fans. Once deemed a fan, people are able to see special offers, videos, and promotions and share comments about them. Finally, another major campaign Zappos launched was its engagement strategy called “Fan of the Week Contest,” where people were encouraged to take and post photos of themselves with Zappos products. Users voted on the best photo, and the one with the most votes won. Then Zappos posted the photo on their Web site for all to see.

For Zappos, social media is more than using the Internet to sell merchandise or increase profits, it’s about building customer relationships through human interaction. Overall, the objectives for Zappos marketing plan ensure that they are using social media to build relationships by bringing customers closer to the company.

Questions

  1. Describe some of the ways that Zappos uses social media to build a social community.
  2. How does Zappos encourage word-of-mouth marketing through social media?
  3. If you were the social media director for Zappos, what quantitative and qualitative measures would you use to evaluate the success of the firm’s social media activities?

Research Proposal

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The research question: What are the experiences of policy brutality? How do they relate to human rights violations?

SOC 330 Qualitative Research Methods – Spring 2021

Research Proposal Assignment Sheet (30%)

Over the course of your semester, you will construct a research proposal. The objective of this assignment is two-fold. First, it will give you the opportunity to apprentice as a scholar in the field of sociology. Second, it will allow you to come away with a deeper understanding of a specific topic of your choosing within the field of sociology. There are several deadlines throughout the semester that correspond to the steps associated with your proposal. These deadlines are designed to make sure you all are making good progress and are on the right track. The culmination of will be a ten to twelve page paper that describes a research project you propose to conduct. Your paper should be an attempt to convince an academic audience that your proposed research is meritorious and that you have the know-how to conduct it. In addition to thoroughly reading this assignment sheet, make sure to also consult the Research Proposal Grading Rubric (accessed via Blackboard).  

Your proposal will consist of four parts:

Introduction (~1 page): Select a topic or question and write a statement about the chosen problem. This can be any social concept that you might have learned about in another class, relates to your job or interests, or based on an observation of everyday life. Be smart about your decision; choose a topic that you will be interested in enough that you will be able to work on throughout the semester. You may change your topic, but only with my permission and only early on in the semester, so choose carefully. If you would like to pursue a topic or question not on the provided list, you must get instructor permission (via the Research Proposal Topic/Question submission due on Friday, 2/12).

To write the introduction, you will start off with a broad and then focus this topic into a more specific research question. Your introduction should address the following questions: (1) What is your study about and what are your specific objectives? (2) Why is the study important? In other words, what contributions will your study make to the literature on this particular topic? Are you filling a gap in knowledge or improving our understanding of a socially and/or scientifically significant research question? and (3) You should have a clearly defined research question – that is, what do you want to know? 

Framework (~3 pages): This section should contain a systematic and well organized review of the literature that is directly related to your research problem. A good review of the literature should tie your research problem to existing theories, previous research, and current issues in the field of interest. It is not an annotated bibliography but a summary of a body of knowledge that is pertinent to your specific research question. You must identify, read, and integrate at least ten publications (books or journal articles) from academic sources (newspapers or magazines are not recognized as academic sources) into your proposal. Pay careful attention to the literature review sections in the journal articles you are reading for the style of an academic literature review. Your articles, since they are on the same topic, should inform each other in a complimentary way. Thus, weaving together multiple journal articles is necessary for a successful literature review. Keep in mind that there is most likely a lot of literature to draw from, and in such a small project, I do not expect you to cover all of it. I would recommend that you find ten solid journal articles and base your literature review around those.

Methods (~4 pages): This section provides details of the research procedures you will use in search for a valid answer to your research question. You may use the qualitative methods we cover in class for your proposal: in-depth interviews; focus groups; ethnographic field work; or content or frame analysis. If you would like to pursue a method not listed here, you must get instructor permission by Monday, 3/15. This will be the largest part of your proposal and you should focus on convincing your audience that you are capable of conducting your proposed research (i.e., demonstrating your knowledge about the research process in general and your selected method in particular). 

The methods section should include the following items:

a.  An introduction that reiterates your research question and then describes at least two expectations based on the Framework section.

b.  A clear outline of the research procedures including details about where, when, who, what, and how the research will be conducted.

c.  An evaluation of the project’s feasibility that addresses issues of access to research sites and human subjects.

d.  A description of the data to be collected including examples of the kinds of evidence to be gathered, the different modes of data collection that will be used, the places data will be obtained.

e.  An assessment of the possible impact of the researcher’s presence and biography on the research from the point of problem selection. 

f.  Information about replicability, in particular try to consider and suggest ways in which others might reproduce this research.

Depending on the specific method you propose to use, the following questions may also be helpful:

If you are using in-depth interviews or focus groups: 

a.  Who will be your respondents? Describe your sampling strategy.  How will you recruit them? How many total respondents do you plan to have? How many people will be in a focus group and how many focus groups do you plan to have? How long will the interviews last?  

b.  Given your research topic, do you expect to have trouble getting subjects to participate in your interviews or focus groups? How will you try to overcome these difficulties?

c.  Where will you conduct the interviews or focus groups? What are the advantages and disadvantages of conducting them in these locations? What steps (if any) will you take to ensure that both you and your respondents feel safe and at-ease in this setting?

d.  What will you ask respondents about? List the main constructs you will include in your interview guide.  Design at least 5 interview questions that you will ask your respondents. At least one of these questions should specifically be about your main topic of interest.

e.  Explain how you will gather your data. Will you record the interviews, take notes during the interview/focus group, or do both strategies?  

If you are using ethnographic field work:

a.  What social setting(s) will you do your research in? What time of day will you conduct these observations? How long will these observations last each time? How long do you anticipate your entire observational period to last?

b.  Explain why this setting is appropriate. How is this setting an appropriate place to investigate your research question? What are you going to be looking for in this setting? What will you need to observe and measure?  

c.  Given your research topic, do you expect to have trouble getting access to the social setting in which you want to do your observations? What steps will you take to gain access? 

d.  Where will you fall on the complete participant to complete observer continuum? What role will you have in the setting? How might your presence in the setting affect what you observe? How will you minimize the possibility that your presence in the setting will bias your observations because people will act differently than they normally do?

e.  Explain how you will gather your data (Will you take photographs? Will you take notes in the setting, when you leave the setting, or both? Will you use a video camera? Will you speak your notes into a recorder?). 

If you are using content/frame analysis:

a.  What type of content will you study? How much of it will you analyze? Explain your sampling strategy (how exactly will you decide which “texts” to study, and how will you select these texts?). 

b.  Specify at least 8 concepts that you will measure. Conceptualize these measures.

c.  Indicate what procedures you will use in your approach to coding.

d.  Create a coding sheet that you could use to record your data.  

e.  What difficulties do you anticipate facing as you code your data? What implications does this have for the reliability and validity of your results?

Analysis Plan (~2 pages): The final component contains a number of important sections. First, restate your research question. Then, provide a detailed plan of analysis by indicating how you expect to answer your research question, the type of analysis technique you will use, how long you anticipate it taking. Also, consider the advantages and disadvantages to conducting this type of research. If you were to add another research method to deal with some of your studies shortcomings, what method would you pick and why? Then address any ethical considerations important to your study. How will you minimize the possible harm to your respondents within your study? Finally, what will you do with your data and analysis once it is complete? How will you disseminate your results? Who will be your likely audience?

Formatting:

You should have 1” margins, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, and double-spacing. Your paper should include proper ASA in-text citations as well as a reference list. Consult the following resources for help on how to do this:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/2/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/3/

In order to keep everyone on track, you will submit a variety of assignments associated with the paper across the semester. The assignments and due dates are as follows:

1.  Research Proposal Question (Friday, 2/12; Submit via Blackboard by 11:55 pm EST): Indicate your qualitative question and give a brief description of what interests you about this topic. 

2.  Research Proposal Annotated Bibliography (Friday, 3/12; Submit via Blackboard by 11:55 pm EST): This component is the beginning of your literature review. In this piece, you will find important articles related to your question. In your write up, discuss the tactics you took to find your articles. What search databases did you utilize? What search terms did you use and were they successful in finding articles that were directly related to your research question? Did you have a hard time finding articles on your topic, or is there a lot of research already done on your topic? 

For each source, create an annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography includes both a bibliographic citation and a summary of the article. First, list the source that you found, properly cited using ASA style guidelines (as shown in your ASA handbook). Then, summarize this article (go beyond the abstract, including as much of the following information as possible): 

·  What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? 

·  Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? 

·  Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source? 

·  Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research proposal? Has it changed how you think about your topic? 

You need a minimum of five scholarly publications (books or peer-reviewed journal articles – newspapers or magazines are not recognized as academic sources). Please keep in mind that the final research proposal requires ten academic sources total.

3.  Framework Outline (Wednesday, 4/14; Submit via Blackboard by 11:55 pm EST): For this component, you will provide an outline of the framework (i.e., front-end) of your paper. The outline should sketch out the planned topic of each paragraph, bonus points if you can actually draft your paragraph topic sentences. The outline should cover your Introduction and Framework sections.  

4.  Methods and Expectations Outline (Friday, 4/30; Submit via Blackboard by 11:55 pm EST): For this component, you will provide an outline of the methods (i.e., back-end) of your paper. The outline should sketch out the planned topic of each paragraph, bonus points if you can actually draft your paragraph topic sentences. The outline should cover your Methods and Analysis sections.  

5.  Research Proposal (Friday, 5/7; Submit via Blackboard by 11:55 pm EST): Your complete research proposal should include the above-described components. 

Your overall Research Proposal grade is worth 30% of your final grade, and will be determined based on the following components:

EVALUATION

PERCENTAGE

Research Proposal Topic/Question

5%

Research Proposal Annotated Bibliography

10%

Framework Outline

10%

Methods and Expectations Outline

10%

Research Proposal

65%

Please make sure the references are scholarly sources. 

Essay revision#2

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This is a very good start, and you have done some excellent work in this draft. My main feedback at this point is just to slow down a bit in your writing and help your reader understand each of the points you are making—this would also allow you to go a bit deeper with your analysis of each point in order to expand this draft for the final version. I would also suggest using a specific quote from one of the two texts to support each point you are making; you raise some excellent points in this draft, but they are sometimes a bit too general. When you use these quotes, make sure you are also doing some work to analyze them—tell the reader what is important about each quote, what you think it means, and how it is significant to the argument you are making. Beyond that, the next step in revising and expanding this draft would be to go a bit deeper in asking why: Why, for example, do you think Gilmore provides so much data and writes the book in a way that she knows will be difficult for many readers to grasp at first? Is it possible that she is aiming at a different audience than Davis, or trying to do different things as a writer? It would also be good to compare the conclusions of the two books, and the suggestions that they make to the problems that they are writing about. Are there differences between their conclusions and the concrete suggestions that they offer? I love that you have begun to bring them into a dialogue towards the end of your draft, and this is something that you might have them discuss as well. But overall, this is a very good start, and I really appreciate the way you bring your own voice into this. Keep up the good work! Please let me know if you have any questions about these comments.

NEED DISCUSSION IN 8 HOURS or LESS

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The textbook describes Presidential Disaster Declarations and states that to some degree, they constitute a chronological record of the pain and suffering caused by the major focusing events that have occurred in the United States history. Consider the Presidential Disaster Declarations. Which two declarations seems to be the most important in a disaster situation? Explain your reasoning.

PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE WITH MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS)

                                              CLASSMATE’S POST

The President of the United States (POTUS) has two declaration options under Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5207 (the Stafford Act), Emergency Declarations and Major Disaster Declarations. The Stafford Act requires that “All requests for a declaration by the President that a major disaster exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State” (“The Disaster Declaration Process”, n.d.). 

When the local resources need immediate assistance, the governor can request that the POTUS make an Emergency Declaration. This can provide limited Individual assistance (IA) and public assistance (PA). PA is limited to debris removal (Category A) and emergency protective measures (Category B) (“The Disaster Declaration Process”, n.d.). This provides the local responders the financial support they need to address the immediate needs to address the needs of the community. My community is currently in the preliminary damage assessment (PDA) phase to determine eligibility for PA for damages caused by flash flooding. Many of the smaller communities have very limited budgets and the damages. Without the Emergency Declaration and the PA funds, they would not have the ability to recover from their damages.

The Major Disaster Declaration is vital to the long-term recovery of the community. PA included in the Major Disaster Declaration covers support for the critical infrastructure such as water treatment facilities, roads and bridges, and even parks and recreation facilities. IA funding provides support to the community members to heal, including unemployment support, case management, and crisis counseling.

In the initial response as a community is wondering how they will survive responding to the immediate needs, the Emergency Declaration provides the much-needed support. As the disaster become more defined with damages identified, the needs of the community shift to those addressed by the Major Declaration. Both have vital roles in supporting the local disasters.

                                                     Reference:

The Disaster Declaration Process. (n.d.). Retrieved August 24, 2018, from https://www.fema.gov/disaster-declaration-process

Create a Draft of an Introduction Section for a Research Paper

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Competency

Draft a paper that answers the research question based on findings.

Student Success Criteria

View the grading rubric for this deliverable by selecting the “This item is graded with a rubric” link, which is located in the Details & Information pane.

Scenario

You are a first-year graduate student. You are taking a graduate course on research and writing. In this assignment, your professor has asked you to write the introduction section of a research paper for a research question/problem in which you are interested.

Instructions

Write the introduction section of a research paper for your professor. This section should:

  • Clearly identify the research question/problem.
  • Pique the reader’s interest in your research paper.
  • Analyze why the research question/problem is important by reviewing studies that have addressed the question/problem. Summarize groups of studies, not necessarily individual ones. The studies that you cite should be recent, published in the last 5-10 years. Older studies may be cited if they have been widely referenced by others.
  • Evaluate the deficiencies/gaps in the studies.
  • Explain how your research paper will address the deficiencies/gaps of past studies and how it will contribute to the scholarly research.
  • Explain what you expect to find by performing research on this question.
  • What benefits will the findings have and on whom?
  • Establish the purpose and the thesis of your research paper.

QUANTITATIVE Journal Article Review – SUBMIT HERE

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 You will review both quantitative and qualitative research.  The topic is up to you as long as you choose a peer-reviewed, academic research piece.  I suggest choosing a topic that is at least in the same family as your expected dissertation topic so that you can start viewing what is out there.  There are no hard word counts or page requirements as long as you cover the basic guidelines.  You must submit original work, however,  and a paper that returns as a large percentage of copy/paste to other sources will not be accepted.  (Safe Assign will be used to track/monitor your submission for plagiarism. Submissions with a Safe Assign match of more than 25% will not be accepted.) Please use APA formatting and include the following information:

  • Introduction/Background:  Provide context for the research article.  What led the author(s) to write the piece? What key concepts were explored? Were there weaknesses in prior research that led the author to the current hypothesis or research question?
  • Methodology:  Describe how the data was gathered and analyzed.  What research questions or hypotheses were the researcher trying to explore? What statistical analysis was used?
  • Study Findings and Results:  What were the major findings from the study? Were there any limitations?
  • Conclusions:  Evaluate the article in terms of significance, research methods, readability and the implications of the results.  Does the piece lead into further study? Are there different methods you would have chosen based on what you read? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article in terms of statistical analysis and application? (This is where a large part of the rubric is covered.) 
  • References  

Module 01 Project – Planning

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Barbara was recently hired as a regional manager for the Urgent Care Clinic Organization (UCCO). One of her first tasks is to compile a strategic plan for the executive committee to review. The overall goal of the strategic plan is to identify specific actionable items that can better position the clinic organization.

For this assignment on UCCO, complete a minimum 2-page summary to explain why the organization should devote time to planning and why a strategic plan is needed.

Visit the Rasmussen online Library and search for a minimum of 4 articles covering the topics of strategic planning and healthcare management. Conduct academic research using the library’s databases, like:

  • Discovery
  • Business Source Complete via EBSCO
  • Business via ProQuest
  • What can a healthcare organization accomplish with the strategic planning process?
  • What would you recommend as areas of focus for Barbara’s strategic plan?
  • Discuss how Barbara can achieve a balance between historical and current topics in healthcare?
    • How should she apply them for her strategic plan?
  • What type(s) of primary and secondary research would you recommend Barbara conduct? What are the benefits? Explain.

Remember to integrate citations accurately and appropriately for all resource types; use attribution (credit) as a method to avoid plagiarism. Use NoodleTools to document your sources and to complete your APA formatted reference page and in-text citations

REPLY 1 DISC 6 CH

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Within my community there are a variety of vulnerable populations.  Some of the most vulnerable are the elderly, behavioral and mental health, and homelessness.  Luckily in my community, we have great resources available for all of them.  When it comes to the elderly, we have many neighborhoods that are for ages 55 and older, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing facilities.  When an individual is admitted to the hospital, the case managers will assist with placing individuals who need it into the appropriate facility for them.  They will also report any cases of abuse towards the elderly.  Some forms of abuse may include physical, emotional, and financial.  For individuals that are not admitted into a hospital, cases of abuse can also be reported to the Department of Elder Affairs.  They can be reported either online, by phone, or by fax (Department of Elder Affairs, n.d.).  If an elderly individual needs to be placed in a facility for long term care, a family member or physician can assist the individual with the process of finding a location that will suit the patient best.

Another vulnerable population is the behavioral and mental health population.  In my community we have an inpatient facility right down the street called South County Mental Health Center.  This facility is a state-chartered, nonprofit health care organization.  They deliver high quality care for behavioral health as well as substance abuse disorders to people of all ages and income regardless of their ability to pay (South County Mental Health Center, 2020).  Individuals can be placed there either voluntary or involuntary.  Those that are involuntary are placed there because they were baker acted, while those that are voluntary can call the facility and asked to be placed there either by themselves or a family member if they are a minor.  

Homelessness while it is not a huge population in my community, it does exist.  There are many services available to them.  Some services include Boca Helping Hands and Gateway Community Outreach.  Boca Helping Hands provides food, medical and financial assistance to help with the basic needs of individuals.  They also provide education and job-training for individuals to be self-sufficient (Boca Helping Hands, 2017).  Gateway Community Outreach provides assistance to those who are struggling and are about to become homeless.  They provide intensive case management, food, housing assistance, and referrals to those in need of emergency aid (Gateway Community Outreach, 2021).  

While there are services available within my community, they are not advertised for individuals.  Some ways that they can improve on is placing information in areas like bus stops, convenient stores, hospitals, clinics, fire stations, and advertisements on television.  Police offers and healthcare providers would also be a good resource.  If they have the proper information for all of the resources available to these individuals, when they come across someone that needs assistance, they can pass the information along.  

Reference

Boca Helping Hands. (2017). Our Mission. Retrieved from: https://bocahelpinghands.org/Mission

Department of Elder Affairs. (n.d.). Elder Abuse Prevention Program. Retrieved from:http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/doea/abuse_prevention.php

Gateway Community Outreach. (2021). Our Mission. Retrieved from: https://gcoflorida.org/about/

South County Mental Health Center. (2020). About SCMHC. Retrieved from: https://www.scmhcinc.org/

REPLY 2

Vulnerable Populations

Resources for vulnerable populations in my community include organizations dealing with drug and substance abuse among adolescents, establishments providing services for the elderly, community education programs, and elder abuse services, and child welfare programs.  Educational programs in my community are tasked to create awareness to prevent disease injury and improve community’s quality of life by creating awareness for individuals’ behavioral change, advocating for policy change, educating communities about their environments and its health, and partnering with governmental and non-governmental agencies to realize goals and objectives (Porteny et al., 2020). In particular community-based educational programs contribute to the overall health and well-being of people in Florida’s communities. They are developed to target vulnerable pope outside of the regular healthcare settings such as institutions of higher learning and schools, community health concerns, worksites and whole communities. However, the effectiveness of these organizations is often suboptimal due to lack of adequate fiscal and human resources (Porteny et al., 2020). Their impacting fails totrickle down to the community, especially when they fail to effectively engage the community and create long lasting partnerships that foster changeand enhance communities’ quality of life. Therefore, it is critical to establish an evidence-base for service delivery in community educational programs, utilize skilled human resource, and adopt policy interventions to improve impact. 

Each setting for community-based programs offers chances for targeting and reaching people using prevailing social systems. This helps to optimize strategy and impact and decrease the amount of resources required to design and implement the programs. However, programs that utilize only one setting diminish their opportunities for having contact with people given that they have high contact with the community-based settings such as schools, worksites, or community centers. For instance, a program dealing with obesity and chronic disease prevention is likely to have contact with obese andchronically ill people in community centers, schools, and worksites. 

Resources providing services to the elderly such as assisted living services, meals on wheels, transportation services, and elder abuse hotlines deliver their services in a timely and efficient manner. They coordinate their efforts to take care of the elderly’ needs and coordinate with healthcare organizations, other community-based resources, hospitals, and families (Porteny et al., 2020). This helps to reduce gaps in care for the elderly in terms of food security and nutrition, routine visits to healthcare facilities, and prevent widespread abuse of the elderly. However agencies dealing with drug and substance abuse in communities face challenges at multiple levels. They face the barrier of achieving maximum constant with the youth, family members, or community residents who are integral to commitment to eradication of drug and substance abuse. Although a number of governmental and non-governmental agencies actively seek collaborations and partnerships with these organizations, a disconnect exists between community-based programs for mental health services, drug and substance abuse and the general healthcare system. Healthcare systems perceive drug and substance abuse as a problem that requires being dealt with outside of the traditional healthcare system because it is viewed as a criminal and social problem.  

Lack of cooperation and coordination between  the healthcare system and drug and substance abuse disorders programs creates effective care delivery at the community level.  Besides, drug and substance abuse services targeting the youth are not covered by insurance which further limits the efficiency of community-based programs in providing care to the vulnerable groups such as the youth. This presents room for improvement and better outcome’s in the treatment of substance abuse disorders in community-based organizations. Operational integration of prevention treatment and recovery in addition to efficient coordination of service delivery would improve substance abuse service delivery among the youth and other vulnerable groups (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); Office of the Surgeon General (US), 2016). Community-based organizations can liaise with other agencies to lobby for reform and policy enactment to facilitate improved integration of community-based substance abuse services to lower health disparities, decrease high costs and improve outcomes.

References

Porteny, T., Alegría, M., Del Cueto, P., Fuentes, L., Markle, S. L., NeMoyer, A., & Perez, G. K. (2020). Barriers and strategies for implementing community-based interventions with minority elders: Positive minds-strong bodies. Implementation Science Communications, 1(41), 1-13. doi: 10.1186/s43058-020-00034-4

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); Office of the Surgeon General (US) (2016). Facing addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on alcohol, drugs, and health. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services.  

200 WORDS EACH REPLY

What can you do now to integrate the experiences and insights you had in the MBA program with your personal and professional development goals?

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  • What can you do now to integrate the experiences and insights you had in the MBA program with your personal and professional development goals?
  • What are the most important things you are taking from your MBA program that will shape your future and enable you to make a positive difference?
  • You wrote an entry into your BPPG in the first course that asked you to reflect on what you might say if you were giving a commencement speech. Review that entry now. Would you change it? If so, go ahead and revise it!

Write a detailed action plan for one new goal for professional and personal development (you will continue to build on the list of goals you started in your previous course). Include the following in your action plan:

 our reflection and action plan, will typically be 1 ½ to 2 single-spaced pages. 

  • Your specific goal for professional and personal development with an explanation as to why you selected the goal. Be sure to provide concrete and specific examples of why the goal is important, the extent to which this goal enables you to be an agent for positive social change, the personal or professional value you expect from achieving each goal, and how the goal relates to the resources you reviewed in the course.
  • At least two objectives for the goal you have identified. Provide a rationale that explains how your objectives support the goal.

Assignment: Advanced Human Services Professional Practitioner Roles and Career Paths

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It is never too early to begin thinking about your career path. Whether you are already working in the human services profession and interested in advancing your career or are new to the profession, it is important to spend some time thinking about the types of human services jobs you would like to pursue. Over the past several weeks, you have completed assessments to learn more about yourself. For this Assignment, you use that self-knowledge to determine your capacity to serve in a leadership position in which you will be supervising human services practitioners performing the roles you learned about in this course and performing some of the roles yourself. You will also identify two leadership positions of interest to you and the knowledge areas, skills, and abilities you would need to develop to work in these positions.

To Prepare

  • Reflect on the results of your conflict management, personality, and human services assessments from the previous weeks.
  • Based on this information, consider your capacity to serve in a leadership position in which you will be supervising human services practitioners performing the roles you learned about in this course and performing some of the roles yourself.
  • Use the internet to search for job postings for your two leadership positions of interest to you. Consider what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities you would need to develop to work in these positions.

Submit a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:

  • In a paragraph or less, synthesize the results of your conflict management, personality, and human services assessments from previous weeks.
  • Based on this information, assess your capacity to serve in a leadership position in which you will be supervising human services practitioners performing the roles you learned about in this course and performing some of the roles yourself.
  • Provide links to two human services leadership job postings of interest to you.
  • Explain why the jobs interest you and what additional knowledge areas, skills, and abilities you would need to develop to be a good candidate for those jobs.

Included below are the previous assessment from previous weeks.