Answer

1. Gathering Information

   Question 1

   To collect information from key community informants, I would perform interviews. Interviews can either be through the phone or on a face-to-face basis. Key informant interviews are the best option because they enable the researcher to conduct thorough qualitative interviews with people with in-depth knowledge of the community and underlying situations. Besides, through the interviews, information can be collected across a wide range of community members such as residents, professionals, and leaders (Chesnay, 2014). The three relevant questions to ask when identifying incidents that influence a problem are: what is the main cause of the issue? What is the nature of the problem? And how can a solution to the problem be found?

   Question 2

   Cultural humility and cultural competence are similar in that they require one to develop self-awareness of their cultural behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and norms, as well as identify their prejudices, stereotypes, and biases, and consider the impact of cultural difference on interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds (Campinha-Bacote, 2019; Gehlert & Browne, 2019). The two also entail obtaining cultural knowledge that extends more than just knowing to create room for more learning (Gehlert & Browne, 2019).

   The two differ in that cultural humility extends further to include understanding of the power imbalances and redressing them (Campinha-Bacote, 2019). For instance, one can study the history of racism and race in a country, such as the United States and understand its disproportional impacts on access to healthcare. This will facilitate the development of interventions, materials, and culturally relevant programs (Gehlert & Browne, 2019).

    

   Question 3

   The three theories of power, politics, and change are class analysis, managerial theory, and pluralism (Netting et al., 2017). The managerial theory, also known as the elite theory stipulates that the most power is held by the minority members of the policy planning networks and economic elite, and is independent of the democratic electoral process of the state (University of Minnesota, 2016). The class theory, on the other hand, states that the capitalist elites of the state hold the highest political power. Pluralism opines that although the decision making and politics are carried out by the government, non-governmental groups can exert their influence by laying down resources (University of Minnesota, 2016).

   Implications for Communities

   Pluralism causes incremental and slow community changes and creates a platform for power competition among interested groups (University of Minnesota, 2016). Elite theory denies the public a right to decision making, and leaves policy decisions on elite members and corporate boards (University of Minnesota, 2016). Class theory, on the other hand, splits the power structure into structuralist and instrumentalist approaches, and power is solely focused on determining the overall ruler (Netting et al., 2017).

   Application to Virtual Communities

   Pluralism theory places the government as an impartial participant to act as a referee in ensuring veto group competitions are fair and the citizen interests and needs are considered (University of Minnesota, 2016). The elite theory on the other hand leaves the military, the big business owners, and the government as the ruling class in control of society to meet their needs while citizens are left to fate. The class theory can be considered as the most neutral because it considers the interests of every participant in decision making (Netting et al., 2017).

   Question 4

   A systemic approach is designed to facilitate decisions based on the limited resources such as materials, personnel, money, and time on a mutual understanding of the activities and objectives accepted by the community (Netting et al., 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to facilitate community constant change, macro change at the community level, and a personal view of the environment (Netting et al., 2017). For instance, while dealing with the problem of obesity facing a community, a systemic approach enables the social worker to understand the environmental factors affecting the community, determine the need to adopt a healthy lifestyle for the community, and develop strategies that can enable community members to embrace this lifestyle.

    

Answer

Assessing Risk and Reward

The Nissan Motor Company is one of the leading automobile makers in the world. The Japanese carmaker has primarily enjoyed a successful run, allowing it to enter various regional and international markets such as the United States. However, the changing business environment was not favorable to the company in 2019. Notably, the cooperation recorded losses amounting to 7.8%. The experience pushed the management into making tough decisions, requiring almost all of its North American workforce to go for unpaid leaves.

In late 2019, the company announced that the decline in sales necessitated a two-day unpaid leave for the North American workers. The stated days for the vacation were January 2 and 3^rd    (Chicago Tribune, 2019).  Notably, this move was a crucial decision for the company because of its conflicting impacts. Whereas on the positive side, it could help the firm minimize expenses, it threatened to affect the public perception of the company regarding employee welfare.

The rewards for the decision involved cutting expenses by not paying the workers on leave, which eventually would translate into reduced expenses. Another reward was that the decision could allow the company to optimize performance by evaluating employee performances then developing new milestones. However, on the low side, the company risked affecting its public image and brand name, especially in the North American market. As per Chakravorti (2010), the way an organization treats its employees influences the firm’s public perception. Thus, Nissan risked eliciting a negative public perception. With a distorted public image, the company could fail to revive its declining sales.

I would have advised the management of Nissan to utilize the Predictive Analytic perspective in determining the right decision to take. Ideally, the approach tries to predict what might happen in the future if particular decisions or actions are undertaken at the moment (Traymbak & Aggarwal, 2019). Looking at the situation at Nissan, the company needed to develop a goal such as increasing sales. After that, they would have made decisions aimed at realizing the set goal. In this regard, the predicted outcome could give the management an overview of whether more risks existed or significant rewards could be realized.

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