WAL_SOCW6121_01_A_EN-CC.mp4Make sure to read the instruction.docx

WAL_SOCW6121_01_A_EN-CC.mp4
Make sure to read the instruction carefully
ASSIGNMENT 3
In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you
selected and focused on for Assignments 1 and 2.
Research the company on its own website, the public filings on
the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database
(http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University's online
databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual
report will often provide insights that can help address some of
these questions.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you
chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most
important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or
not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you
chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is
most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether
or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
Analyze the competitive environment to determine the
corporation's most significant competitor. Compare their
strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think
is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your
choice.
Determine whether your choice from Question 3 would differ in

slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and
other Websites do not quality as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS).
The format is different than other Strayer University courses.
Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for
details.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the
student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the
date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
the required page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
· Identify various levels and types of strategy in a firm.
· Use technology and information resources to research issues in
business administration.
· Write clearly and concisely about business administration
using proper writing mechanics.
ASSIGNMENT 1
ASSIGNMENT 2
(http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Strayer Writing Standards (SWS).
Running Head: THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
ENVIRONMENTY OF APPLE

1
THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTY OF
APPLE
7
The External and Internal Environment of Apple
Clarice Torrence
BUS 499
Professor: Joseph Keller
August 12, 2019
Give your opinion on the corporation's greatest strengths and
most significant weaknesses. Choose the strategy or tactic the
corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its
strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation should
select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices.
Apple being one of the most valued technological companies
has its strengths and weaknesses just like any other company or
organization. Perhaps Apple’s greatest strength which has made
it become a global powerhouse in manufacturing
technologically advanced mobile phones and other electronic
gadgets is their ability to create innovative products. For
instance, one of the company’s most innovative product is the
iPhone which has gone through massive technological upgrades
since it was first introduced in the market by Steve Jobs a
couple of decades ago. When it was first introduced, the iPhone
was one of the most innovative smartphones in the market at
that time compared to the other smartphones its competitors
were offering consumers (Hitt et al., 2016). One of the reasons
is that unlike other smart phones at that time that required a
pointing device in the form of a pen to operate, Apple was able
to develop a smartphone that allowed its user to interact with it
through using their thumb and fingers as the primary pointing
devices. The other reason was the ability of iPhone developers
to incorporate an operating system and a Graphical User
Interface (GUI) similar to the ones found in a desktop or laptop
to their smartphones. Other smartphone manufacturers at that

period in time used interfaces that similar to the one found in a
calculator which was mostly black and white and never had any
graphics or color on their displays (Lerner & Tirole, 2015).
Using this as an advantage over its companies, Apple should
continue maximizing on these strengths by not only promoting
innovation as a philosophy to its employees but also motivate
its employee base in order to make them create newer ideas that
sustains the company’s innovative productions. One weakness
that Apple has exhibited over the years as a corporation is their
product pricing which many people have always viewed as
being expensive compared to other similar products from other
mobile technological companies (Hitt et al., 2016). Fixing this
problem of product cost will mean that Apple finds a way of
reducing its production costs and later passing on to its
consumers such savings that have been made, lowering the
prices of its products.
Determine the company’s tangible and intangible resources,
core capabilities, and core competencies.
Within the operations and organization of Apple lie many types
of resources, capabilities, and core competencies that drive the
corporation’s success. Apple’s brand name and reputation for
creating innovative products are just but examples of resources
the company can brag of unlike other companies whose
resources translate only to physical assets. These resources that
Apple enjoys unlike other resources can never be bought with
cash or dug from the earth but are as a result of years of hard
work, patience, and being committed to a course. Apart from
that, the company’s other resource is having the ability to create
its products on large scales to enjoy economies of scales along
with its ability to raise huge sums of capital to spend on
research when wanting to come up with new products. Apple
has also proved time over time that it has the ability to create
products outside its traditional computer industry oriented
approach type of business (Hitt et al., 2016). Not only has the
company achieved to expand its revenue bases by tapping extra

revenues from the music industry, it continues to rake in
massive revenues in the cell phone industry too with newer
innovations. The core competencies of Apple lie in its research
and development activities. Apple not only spends much time
and money on researching and developing new products but also
does that while maintaining high levels of knowledge and
competency in areas of networking, computing, mobile devices
among other forms technology.
Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that
would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you
chose. Assess how these segments affect the corporation you
chose and the industry in which it operates.
One segment of the general environment that highly influences
the operations of Apple includes the legal/political segment.
The legal and political segment governs the company’s relations
not only with its competitors and consumers but also other
players in the industry like employees, partners, and investors
among other things like policies and operations of the company
(Lerner & Tirole, 2015). This segment of the general
environment mainly deals with legal issues and laws that a
company may face naturally as a result of doing business. Some
elements found in this segment that might affect the operations
of a corporation like Apple include labor training laws, taxation
laws, anti-trust laws, and educational philosophies and policies
(Federal Trade Commission, 2016).
The second segment is the technological segment which is one
of the highest ranking segments influencing the operations of
electronic equipment industries like Apple. With main elements
like product innovation, new communication technologies, focus
of private and government supported R&D expenditures, and
application of knowledge being found in this segment. For
Apple, innovating new products is the most important element
in this segment with many consumers willing to spend money on
what the best technology has to offer. These two segments,
political/legal and technological segments, are the biggest

general environment factors that influence Apple as a
corporation and its success (Federal Trade Commission, 2016).
Thus, these two segments rightfully deserve Apple’s attention
when it comes to how they are implemented as they positively
or negatively impact vital resources of the company.
Choose two (2) forces of competition that you estimate are the
most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how
well the company has addressed these) forces in the recent past,
going back no further than five (5) fiscal years.
Threats such as rivalry among competing firms and substitute
products are the most significant for Apple. Unlike new entrants
in the industry, competitors of Apple like Samsung, Techno, and
Huawei have the resources, capital, and facilities to compete
with Apple by producing in large scales hence can provide
strong competition. According to a text from the course
“Common dimensions on which rivalry is based include price,
service after the sale and innovation” (Federal Trade
Commission, 2016) Microsoft continues to be the strongest rival
of Apple as both companies offer similar products and services
to global consumers that include web browsers, handheld
computers, and operating systems common in gadgets in the
market today. A good example is in the range of similar
products these two gadget giants offer their consumers. Just like
Microsoft offer its consumer’s tablets that are handheld
computers, Apple offers the same range of product in the name
of an iPad that serves the same purpose as a tablet. Even though
both devices perform the same tasks, they offer a number of
different services to their users that may not be included in
opposing rivalry products. Thus, the main rivalry between
Microsoft and Apple is in the pricing of products with
Microsoft providing its customers with relatively cheaper
gadgets compared to Apple. On average, a computer with a
Microsoft operating systems retails for around $700-$800 while
on the other hand, Apple computers with an iOS operating
system ranges in the regions of $1,200-$2,000 for a gadget with
the same size (Hitt et al., 2016).

Similarly, the rivalry of offering substitute products can give
Apple unwanted competition in this diverse market where
consumers can opt to get cheaper substitute products which
might be sharing similar features to those of an Apple product.
For instance, one would opt to buy a touch screen phone similar
to the iPhone at a Wal-Mart outlet for as little as $100 and the
same can be said for a similar product like Apple’s iPad which
can be substituted by getting a tablet with the list going on and
on (Hoofnagle, 2016). To address these forces, Apple in the past
have engaged their competitors in continued court battles in
order to recoup its lost revenues and damages they have
continued to incur due to increased competition. Hoofnagle in
his journal states a case in point where a California jury
awarded Apple with $119 million out of a $2.2 billion lawsuit
against Samsung. In another separate ruling, Samsung was
ordered to pay $1 billion in 2012.” (Hoofnagle, 2016).However,
in its attempts to reverse these rulings, Samsung has continued
to relentlessly appeal for some of these rulings.
With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company
might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the
near future.
Some of the predictions of what Apple might be forced to do in
the future in order to improve its ability to address these forces
named above is simply to lower the prices of some of its
expensive products in the market. Apple is able to produce
better products and services while lowering the prices of these
products in order to limit rivalry effect even if it means making
losses for the short term. In relation to its challenge of
substitute products, Apple can form partnership with other
smaller firms to create substitute products before its major
competitors have the chance of coming up with these substitutes
(Lerner & Tirole, 2015). The other approach would be for the
firm to come up with cheaper innovative products from the
start, a move that can force their competitors to run out of
business if they sell their substitute products at cheaper prices.

In short, there are a number of measures Apple can implement
to deal with rivalry and substitute products.
Identify what you consider to be the greatest external threat to
this corporation. Discuss how the corporation should address
this threat. Justify your explanation.
The greatest external threat to Apple would be in the unlikely
event that all its competitor merging or acquiring other smaller
firms. In the event that its competitors make such a move,
Apple can counter it through legally blocking such companies
from merging with others. If this move proves futile, and this
can be because of so many legal factors including whether it is
really applicable, Apple can seek alternative routes to counter
such moves by its competitors. For instance, Apple Inc. can
decide to offset or interrupt certain acquisitions by placing
higher bids than their competitors (Federal Trade Commission,
2016). By doing this, Apple can come out with better deals and
working terms deemed beneficial to its operations. Such terms
can include retention of shares of ownership for original
founders of such acquired firms.
Identify what you consider to be the greatest opportunity
presented to the corporation, and discuss how the corporation
should take advantage of this opportunity. Justify your
explanation
Assessing the firm’s opportunities, Apple’s greatest opportunity
lies within the cell phone production. Not only does everyone
need a cell phone to communicate, it is also one of the fastest
growing industries in Africa, Middle East, and Asia apart from
other readily available markets like America and Europe. And
being a world leader in the manufacturing of cell phones which
include smart phones and pads, Apple should continue pursuing
this line of product innovation in order to make huge gains from
their most proven and tested area of profession which is the
production of mobile phones and gadgets. s
References
Federal Trade Commission, (2016). Guide to Antitrust laws/The
Antitrust Laws. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-
antitrust-laws/antitrust-laws
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2016). Strategic
management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and
globalization. Cengage Learning.
Hoofnagle, C. J. (2016). Federal Trade Commission privacy law
and policy. Cambridge University Press.
Lerner, J., & Tirole, J. (2015). Standard-essential patents.
Journal of Political Economy, 123(3), 547-586.
Assignment
Redo.doc
Running Head: APPLE INCORPORATION
1
APPLE INCORPORATION
7
Week 3 Assignment 1
Clarice Torrence
Strayer University
BUS499 Business Administration Capstone
Dr. Keller
Dr. Gardner
July 23, 2019
Week 3 Assignment 1
This assignment examines Apple Corporations and how internal

and external factors directly impact the organization since its
establishment by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne
back in 1976. The assignment also strives to address the issue
of how Apple uses the resource-based model and the industrial-
organization model and how these models can be used by the
company to improve its annual returns. The paper also
determines the mission and vision of the company and how they
contribute to the success of the firm. Finally, the stakeholder's
section examines how stakeholders of the company have
contributed to the success of Apple Inc. with the
recommendations made helping the organization in increasing
its annual returns while reducing the costs it incurs in
production.
Globalization
Globalization is the interaction and the subsequent integration
both of firms, people, and governments worldwide with the need
of interaction driven by international investment and trade,
aided by information technology. Globalization has always had
a significant influence on the way ideas are not only conceived
but also on how they are created and delivered in the form of
new technology ending up impacting operational models of most
multinationals (Thompson, 2017). Apple Corporation is one
such multinational company that has increased its market niche
to international levels, even with the fact that the company
started as a California based organization in the US. Being one
of the Fortune 500 organizations that have capitalized
inventively on globalization alongside keen product
considering, Apple today derives almost up to 60% of its total
revenues from markets outside America (Noe et al., 2017).
Using the tools and knowledge of globalization has helped the
company increase its revenue returns in nations such as Asia
which would not have been possible without the embracing of
globalization by the management at Apple Corporation.
Secondly, Apple’s benefitting from globalization can be seen in
terms of the company’s increased production at low costs as has

been experienced in recent times. Not only has the company
been able to discover countries and continents such as China
and the Middle-East where they source for readily available
resources and in effect helps it to lower the costs of production.
By decreasing the costs of production, Apple has been able to
significantly increase its production and sell their products at
relatively lower prices, increasing its market niche in the
process in the international markets. In addition to that, Apple's
effective supply chain management that has enabled it to reach
out to more suppliers and to make its production processes more
reliable can be attributed to it embracing globalization (Noe et
al., 2017). With this type of supply chain management, Apple
has been able to wade into markets like Africa, markets that
were previously ruled by its competitors like Microsoft and
Android.
Technology
Apple has always been known for being the leader in smart
thinking, and this can be partly attributed to how the company
has embraced and incorporated technology in the running of its
entire systems from production to its elaborate supply chain.
Thus, technology continues to play an essential role in the
company's operations, ensuring that the firm excels at all times.
By technology, we mean the collection of skills, techniques,
processes, and methods to produce goods and services (Wu et
al., 2015). One of the ways the company has benefitted from the
use of technology in their production processes is in the
lowering of production cost. Advancement in technology has
meant that the firm has significantly reduced the number of
employees, replacing them with machines that have been able to
do better work and for an extended period. Technology, as a
tool, has also played an essential role in ensuring that Apple
comes up with high-end quality products. Not only have these
high-quality products attracted a broad base of loyal customers
across the globe; it has also ensured that the company reaps big
in terms of revenue growth. Use of advanced technological

know-how has seen the annual revenue of Apple grow by almost
400% in Indian markets alone, according to Apple India (Wu et
al., 2015). Because of technology and the advancement of it,
Apple has been able to stand out from the other traditional
mobile phone manufacturers through features in their range of
iPhone devices. For example, create a phone with no menu
button or main button or even a keyboard as was always done by
other phone manufacturer players e.g. BlackBerry, Samsung,
and Nokia. Additionally, technology has also helped the firm
increase the number of products it can produce meeting
customers high demands for its products globally. Thus,
technology and globalization have been credited for the fast
growth Apple Corporation has enjoyed in the software and
hardware industry.
Industrial Organization Model
Industrial Organization model refers to an economic model
majorly put in place by big firms to secure their perceived
market niche in highly segmented markets. Different stages of
the industrial organization model can be used by firms to
achieve specific goals like reducing competition through policy-
making, strategic studies of the behavior of firms, and coming
up with anti-trust policies to keep external threats in check (Wu
et al., 2015). Apple can also take advantage of the industrial
organization model to not only reduce levels of competition
from its competitors but also increase their revenues above the
annual average income of its industry. One of the strategies
Apple can use to keep in check competition is by mounting
barriers to entry and significantly reducing the chances of other
firms joining the industry. The other approach could be to lower
the prices of all Apple products to wade off competition. For
instance, in 2018, Apple dropped the prices of iPhone below the
average prices in the industry increasing the sales of iPhone and
subsequently experienced increased revenues at the end of that
fiscal year (Thompson, 2017). The industrial-organizational
model has proved a success for many companies as it has

allowed firms to predict trends in the markets and effectively
react to those changes in trends. Apple, like any other
organization, has been able to anticipate future customer needs
by developing new products such as the new iMacs, iPad mini,
iPod, Airpod that have all met customers’ expectations (Wu et
al., 2015).
Resource-Based Model
The second strategy is the resource-based model that Apple can
apply to increase its revenues above its projected annual
average earnings. A resource-based model refers to a model that
sees a company's collection of internal resources and
capabilities prove superior to its performance. By this, it means
that the resources that a company or an organization has can
enable it to gain and sustain a competitive advantage over its
competitors. The first benefit of a resource-based model is that
it can help a firm to maximize the use of locally available
resources (Noe et al., 2017). Just like in the case of Apple with
moving its production facilities to China and the Middle-East,
they have been able to effectively use the knowledge on
resource-based models to increase production at relatively lower
costs. This has been due to the availability of these resources
needed to come up with their products being readily available in
countries like Taiwan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Using locally available resources helps reduce the costs
incurred on additional expenses like transportation when raw
materials need to be imported from another country. The
resource-based model also encourages the use of internal
resources of the firm by managers instead of outsourcing for the
same. Apple can additionally benefit from this type of model by
helping it decide where to locate its operations in areas of
abundant resources to increase its production capacity but at
relatively lower costs which then helps the firm to generate
more revenue (Noe et al., 2017).
Vision
Apple's vision is always to make great products which will then

translate into meeting the needs of all its customers. This vision
was set during the reigns of its first CEO, the late Steve Jobs
and which has up to date has kept the company much stronger
year after year. To fulfill Job’s vision for the company, the
current CEO Tim Cook has encouraged the use of technology is
not only producing excellent products for its customers but also
putting in place processes to ensure that customers get these
products in time and good condition, by developing an efficient
supply chain management for the company. Apple's products are
very simple to use and what makes their products even more
amazing is that in all that simplicity, quality has not been
compromised as their products are of high quality with very
high levels of technology incorporation. The firm has achieved
to produce excellent products that are above the average
industrial standards available in the market today (Noe et al.,
2017).
Mission
The mission statement of Apple is "Bringing the best products
to the customers so that they can have the pleasure of using
quality products." And true to its mission statement, the firm
has been able to enjoy success throughout their customer base
by delivering just that, quality products. Production of high-
quality products has seen the company enjoy successes around
the globe with high-quality products that satisfy the needs of all
its customers helping it retain its old customers while attracting
new ones (Noe et al., 2017). This attraction and retention of
customers have seen the company's revenue experienced a
massive boost as the innovative software and hardware of the
firm acting as an attraction to more clients who need the latest
mobile phones and computers.
Stakeholders
Since the start of 2013, Apple, as a company has been involved
heavily in trying to address all the issues raised by its
stakeholders. This journey started when the company became
the first technology company to join the Fair Labor Association

after a public outcry over allegations of widespread working
environment conditions at one of China’s largest private
employer, Foxconn (Thompson, 2017).
Apple's stakeholders comprise of its customers, suppliers,
employees, and lastly the shareholders. Having one of the
largest numbers of loyal customers globally that contributes to
almost 90% of the company's total revenues; Apple is perhaps
the only company that heavily relies on its customer base to
efficiently run thus its customer-oriented approach business
model. Apple also has more than 130,000 employees who ensure
that the organization's goals and objectives are met at all times
(Thompson, 2017). Given different duties in different stores
ranging from sales to marketing, the employees play a vital role
in the success of the company and are treated as part and parcel
of the organization thus are involved in its day to day running.
With policies that protect workers exploitation, the company
worked hard to ensure workers are not overworked and that they
are exposed to better working conditions by prioritizing their
safety.
The other categories of stakeholders are investors. Investors
are the significant financiers of Apple Corporation. Investors’
equity amounted to 107.147 billion US dollars by the end of
2018 (Thompson, 2017). Some of these investors contribute
generously to the leadership of the organization, ensuring that
the firm remains profitable always. Investors like Arthur
Levisohn, chairman, Tim Cook, CEO and Jeffrey Williamson,
chief operating officer are also leaders to the firm. The last
stakeholders are the suppliers who ensure that the firm gets the
raw materials at the right time and this helps the firm to always
continue with its production processes and not to experience
any down breaks in the process of production or its supply
chain. All the stakeholders have essential roles to play to ensure
that the firm is successful (Thompson, 2017).
References
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M.
(2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive

advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Thompson, A. (2017). Apple Inc. Stakeholders: A CSR
Analysis. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/apple-inc-
stakeholders-csr-analysis
Wu, S. P. J., Straub, D. W., & Liang, T. P. (2015). How
information technology governance mechanisms and strategic
alignment influence organizational performance: Insights from a
matched survey of business and IT managers. Mis Quarterly,
39(2), 497-518.
Assignment Week
6.doc
The Petrakis Family
Helen Petrakis is a 52-year-old heterosexual married female of
Greek descent who says that she feels
overwhelmed and “blue.” She came to our agency at the
suggestion of a close friend who thought Helen
would benefit from having a person who could listen. Although
she is uncomfortable talking about her
life with a stranger, Helen said that she decided to come for
therapy because she worries about
burdening friends with her troubles.
Helen and I have met four times, twice per month, for
individual therapy in 50-minute sessions. Helen

consistently appears well-groomed. She speaks clearly and in
moderate tones and seems to have linear
thought progression; her memory seems intact. She claims no
history of drug or alcohol abuse, and she
does not identify a history of trauma.
Helen says that other than chronic back pain from an old injury,
which she manages with
acetaminophen as needed, she is in good health. Helen has
worked full time at a hospital in the billing
department since graduating from high school.
Her husband, John (60), works full time managing a grocery
store and earns the larger portion of the
family income. She and John live with their three adult children
in a 4-bedroom house. Helen voices a
great deal of pride in the children. Alec, 27, is currently
unemployed, which Helen attributes to the poor
economy. Dmitra, 23, whom Helen describes as smart,
beautiful, and hardworking, works as a sales
consultant for a local department store. Athina, 18, is an honors
student at a local college and earns
spending money as a hostess in a family friend’s restaurant;
Helen describes her as adorable and
reliable.

In our first session, I explained to Helen that I was an advanced
year intern completing my second field
placement at the agency. I told her I worked closely with my
field supervisor to provide the best care
possible. She said that was fine, congratulated me on advancing
my career, and then began talking. I
listened for the reasons Helen came to speak with me.
I asked Helen about her community, which, she explained,
centered on the activities of the Greek
Orthodox Church. She and John were married in that church and
attend services weekly. She expects
that her children will also eventually wed there. Her children,
she explained, are religious but do not
regularly go to church because they are very busy. She believes
that the children are too busy to be
expected to help around the house.
Helen shops, cooks, and cleans for the family, and John sees to
yard care and maintains the family’s
cars. When I asked whether the children contributed to the
finances of the home, Helen looked shocked
and said that John would find it deeply insulting to take money
from his children. As Helen described her
life, I surmised that the Petrakis family holds strong family
bonds within a large and supportive

community.
Helen is responsible for the care of John’s 81-year-old
widowed mother, Magda, who lives in an
apartment 30 minutes away. Until recently, Magda was self-
sufficient, coming for weekly family dinners
and driving herself shopping and to church. But 6 months ago,
she fell and broke her hip and was also
recently diagnosed with early signs of dementia. Through their
church, Helen and John hired a reliable
and trusted woman to check in on Magda a couple of days each
week. Helen goes to see Magda on the
other days, sometimes twice in one day, depending on Magda’s
needs. She buys her food, cleans her
home, pays her bills, and keeps track of her medications. Helen
says she would like to have the helper
come in more often, but she cannot afford it. The money to pay
for help is coming out of the couple’s
vacations savings. Caring for Magda makes Helen feel as if she
is failing as a wife and mother because
she no longer has time to spend with her husband and children.
Helen sounded angry as she described the amount of time she
gave toward Magda’s care. She has

stopped going shopping and out to eat with friends because she
can no longer find the time. Lately, John
has expressed displeasure with meals at home, as Helen has
been cooking less often and brings home
takeout. She sounded defeated when she described an incident
in which her son, Alec, expressed
disappointment in her because she could not provide him with
clean laundry.
When she cried in response, he offered to help care for his
grandmother. Alec proposed moving in with
Magda. Helen wondered if asking Alec to stay with his
grandmother might be good for all of them. John
and Alec had been arguing lately, and Alec and his grandmother
had always been very fond of each
other. Helen thought she could offer Alec the money she gave
Magda’s helper. I responded that I
thought Helen and Alec were using creative problem solving
and utilizing their resources well in crafting
a plan. I said that Helen seemed to find good solutions within
her family and culture.
Helen appeared concerned as I said this, and I surmised that
she was reluctant to impose on her son
because she and her husband seemed to value providing for their
children’s needs rather than expecting

them to contribute resources. Helen ended the session agreeing
to consider the solution we discussed
to ease the stress of caring for Magda.
The Petrakis Family Magda Petrakis: mother of John Petrakis,
81 John Petrakis: father, 60 Helen Petrakis:
mother, 52 Alec Petrakis: son, 27 Dmitra Petrakis: daughter, 23
Athina Petrakis: daughter, 18
In our second session, Helen said that her son again mentioned
that he saw how overwhelmed she was
and wanted to help care for Magda. While Helen was not sure
this was the best idea, she saw how it
might be helpful for a short time. Nonetheless, her instincts
were still telling her that this could be a bad
plan.
Helen worried about changing the arrangements as they were
and seemed reluctant to step away from
her integral role in Magda’s care, despite the pain it was
causing her. In this session, I helped Helen
begin to explore her feelings and assumptions about her role as
a caretaker in the family. Helen did not
seem able to identify her expectations of herself as a caretaker.
She did, however, resolve her
ambivalence about Alec’s offer to care for Magda.

By the end of the session, Helen agreed to have Alec live with
his grandmother. In our third session,
Helen briskly walked into the room and announced that Alec
had moved in with Magda and it was a
disaster. Since the move, Helen had had to be at the apartment
at least once daily to intervene with
emergencies.
Magda called Helen at work the day after Alec moved in to ask
Helen to pick up a refill of her
medications at the pharmacy. Helen asked to speak to Alec, and
Magda said he had gone out with two
friends the night before and had not come home yet. Helen left
work immediately and drove to Magda’s
home. Helen angrily told me that she assumed that Magda
misplaced the medications, but then she
began to cry and said that the medications were not misplaced,
they were really gone.
When she searched the apartment, Helen noticed that the cash
box was empty and that Magda’s
checkbook was missing two checks. Helen determined that
Magda was robbed, but because she did not
want to frighten her, she decided not to report the crime.

Instead, Helen phoned the pharmacy and
explained that her mother-in-law, suffering from dementia, had
accidently destroyed her medication
and would need refills. She called Magda’s bank and learned
that the checks had been cashed.
Helen cooked lunch for her motherin-law and ate it with her.
When a tired and disheveled Alec arrived
back in the apartment, Helen quietly told her son about the
robbery and reinforced the importance of
remaining in the building with Magda at night. Helen said that
the events in Magda’s apartment were
repeated 2 days later.
By this time in the session Helen was furious. With her face red
with rage and her hands shaking, she
told me that all this was my fault for suggesting that Alec’s
presence in the apartment would benefit the
family. Jewelry from Greece, which had been in the family for
generations, was now gone. Alec would
never be in this trouble if I had not told Helen he should be
permitted to live with his grandmother.
Helen said she should know better than to talk to a stranger
about private matters. Helen cried, and as I
sat and listened to her sobs, I was not sure whether to let her
cry, give her a tissue, or interrupt her. As

the session was nearing the end, Helen quickly told me that
Alec has struggled with maintaining sobriety
since he was a teen.
He is currently on 2 years’ probation for possession and had
recently completed a rehabilitation
program. Helen said she now realized Alec was stealing from
his grandmother to support his drug habit.
She could not possibly tell her husband because he would hurt
and humiliate Alec, and she would not
consider telling the police. Helen’s solution was to remove the
valuables and medications from the
apartment and to visit twice a day to bring supplies and
medicine and check on Alec and Magda. After
this session, it was unclear how to proceed with Helen.
I asked my field instructor for help. I explained that I had
offered support for a possible solution to
Helen’s difficulties and stress. In rereading the progress notes
in Helen’s chart, I realized I had
misinterpreted Helen’s reluctance to ask Alec to move in with
his grandmother. I felt terrible about
pushing Helen into acting outside of her own instincts. My field
instructor reminded me that I had not
forced Helen to act as she had and that no one was responsible

for the actions of another person.
She told me that beginning social workers do make mistakes and
that my errors were part of a learning
process and were not irreparable. I was reminded that advising
Helen, or any client, is ill-advised. My
field instructor expressed concern about my ethical and legal
obligations to protect Magda. She
suggested that I call the county office on aging and adult
services to research my duty to report, and to
speak to the agency director about my ethical and legal
obligations in this case.
In our fourth session, Helen apologized for missing a previous
appointment with me. She said she
awoke the morning of the appointment with tightness in her
chest and a feeling that her heart was
racing. John drove Helen to the emergency room at the hospital
in which she works. By the time Helen
got to the hospital, she could not catch her breath and thought
she might pass out. The hospital ran
tests but found no conclusive organic reason to explain Helen’s
symptoms. I asked Helen how she felt
now. She said that since her visit to the hospital, she continues
to experience shortness of breath,
usually in the morning when she is getting ready to begin her

day. She said she has trouble staying
asleep, waking two to four times each night, and she feels tired
during the day. Working is hard because
she is more forgetful than she has ever been. Her back is giving
her trouble, too. Helen said that she
feels like her body is one big tired knot. I suggested that her
symptoms could indicate anxiety and she
might want to consider seeing a psychiatrist for an evaluation. I
told Helen it would make sense, given
the pressures in her life, that she felt anxiety. I said that she and
I could develop a treatment plan to
help her address the anxiety. Helen’s therapy goals include
removing Alec from Magda’s apartment and
speaking to John about a safe and supported living arrangement
for Magda.

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