Friday, January 31, 2020

Starbucks Corporation Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Corporation Essay Starbucks founded in 1987 as a modest nine-store operation in Seattle, Washington and quickly became the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffees in the world with over 17,400 store locations in more than 55 countries (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). The company first got its start in 1971 when three academics all decided upon opening a coffee store in touristy Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The three academics; Jerry Baldwin an English teacher, Zev Siegel a History teacher and Gordon Bowker a writer were all coffee aficionados (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). They all enjoyed, love and shared a passion for fine coffees and exotic teas as they believed they could build a clientele in Seattle that would appreciate the best coffees and teas. The case tells us that the store was an immediate success, with sales exceeding expectations. The company ordered its coffee bean supplies from a specialty coffee retailer in Berkeley, California but towards the end of the year the partners purchased a used roaster from Holland, set up roasting operations in a nearby ramshackle building, and came up with their own blends and flavors (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). The case tells us that by 1980s the company had four Starbucks stores in the Seattle area and had been profitable every year since opening its doors. A few decades on, April 2012, annual sales were expected to exceed $13 billion in that fiscal year (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). Howard Schultz who was vice president and general manager of U.S operations for a Swedish marker of stylish kitchen equipment and coffeemakers, decided to pay Starbucks a visit (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014).  The case tells us that he was awed by the violinist playing at the door, the powerful and pleasing aroma of coffees, and the wall displaying coffee beans. After just three sips of the brew, Schultz was hooked and he began talking to the owner and was intrigued by the business philosophy of the partners. After tough negotiations, Schultz was finally hired as head of marketing and oversing retail stores. Schultz was overflowed with ideas for the company and how to move the company forward (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). A trip to Milan Italy allowed him to explore coffee bars and learned an immense deal about the Italian passion for coffee. The trip showed him the potential of Starbucks as he then approached the owners hopefully of improving the company. The owners reject Schultz ideas as they felt it would put the core values of the companies in shadows however they did allow him to test an espresso bar which became a huge success. At the time the owners did not share similar view with Schultz so he decided to leave to start his own coffee and espresso bar named II Giornale Coffee Company. This venture became a huge success and expansion across the United State happened immediately. After much success Schultz went back and acquired Starbucks and had numerous improvement plans for the coffee company. The first of the improvement strategy was going public, followed by making Starbucks a third place where customers could enjoy coffee, surf the internet, read, or catch up with friends (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). Another Strategy was to make Starbucks a great place to work. This strategy in my opinion was one of the key strategies in the turnaround of the company. After years of success, Schultz relinquished his role as CEO and retained his position as chairmen of the companys board of directors and assumed the role of chief strategic officer. The sharp economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009 that affected much of the worlds economy hit the coffee company hard. The company began experiencing slow customer traffic and a decline in stock prices, Schultz was asked to return to his role as CEO and lead a radical restricting and revitalization initiative. This case study focuses on Starbucks, with respect to human capital and resources in the pursuit of strategy  implementation. There will be an analysis of how effectively the company implemented its turnaround strategy and how effectively Starbucks utilized human capital to implement its strategy. In conclusion of this paper, there will be recommendations for effectiveness in future implementations at Starbucks. Implementation of Starbuck’s Turnaround Strategy The return of Schultz saw him focus on three different themes; strengthen the core, elevate the experience and lastly, invest and grow. The implementation included various strategies which involved; slowing the pace of opening new stores, closing underperforming stores, restructuring the companys store operations in Australia, creating new designs for future Starbucks stores globally, enhancing the customer experience, providing additional resources and tools for employees, undertaking a rigorous cost-containment program, and renewing attention to employee training and reigniting enthusiasm on the part of employees to customer. The case tells us that 800 underperforming stores in the United States and 100 additional stores in other countries were closed. The company even trimmed its workforce by about 6,700 employees. From further analysis it was clear to see that Schultzs investment in growth played a huge part in the turnaround. The company implemented this strategy by choosing to open new stores in Asia with Japan and China being the primary destinations (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). Japan became the biggest foreign market while China was seen as the most significant growth opportunity (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). With the implementation process in action, the company was on the path to profitability once again and long term growth. In 2010 Sales at Starbucks operated stores worldwide improved in the most recent five quarters, customer traffic increased by 3% in United States, net revenues increased by 8.6% and net income increased from $25 million in 2009 to $217.3 million in 2010 (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2014). Utilizing Human Capital at Starbucks In any business the concept of human capital can be interpreted in many ways. One of them could be looking at the person or employees as an asset; as a resource that belongs to the company and from which they can demand all  its capacity and commitment (Marimuthu Arokiasamy, 2009). In this case it is without a doubt clearly evident that Starbucks greatest asset was Howard Schultz and through him the employees. Schultz was able to make the company profitable on a few different occasions which the case explains thoroughly. Schultz understood the concept of what coffee means to coffee drinkers. A trip to Italy where he saw how passionate Italians were when it came to coffee shops made him understand that the success of any coffee shop depended heavily on customers experience. With this in mind, he made sure that part of the companys values was to ensure every employee is well educated and knowledgeable about the companys products. They employees paid close attention to detail when preparing espresso drinks, eagerly communicated the companys passion for coffee, possessed the skills and personality to deliver consistent and outstanding customer service. The employees within the company all received at least 24 hours training on topics like coffee history, drink preparation, coffee knowledge, customer service, retail skills, and Brewing the perfect cup workshop to better prepare them for their day to day task. He was able to utilize the employees further by rewarding employees in a manner that would make them want to work for the company and generate a level of enthusiastic commitment and high levels of customer service which he felt was key to the turnaround strategy. He created a highly motivated workforce and emphasized the fact that employees can put their trust on the management team. The case gives many examples of why winning employee loyalty and commitment to the companys mission would retain employees. In one situation, he heard an employee requested to extend health insurance benefits to part-time employees which were turned down by pervious management team. He personally proposed to the board that a reduction in turnover would reduce the cost of hiring and training, the plan was then approved and part-time employees were offered health insurance. Schultzs next plan was to pursue a stock option plan for employees as he believed that it would have a positive, long-term effect on the success of Starbucks (Starbucks, 2012). The idea behind this was turning employees into partners invested in companys performance. The employees were offered stock options awards based on the success and profitability of the financial year, and the size of the employees base for the purchase of  stock through regular payroll deductions (Starbucks, 2012). He ultimately had a clear understanding that happy employees provide exceptional customer service to customers which in turn gains customer loyalty and brings in revenue. Recommendation Based on the brief analysis which was carried out on this case study it was somewhat easy to come up with recommendations which Starbucks may wish to consider for future implementation effectiveness. The companys growth strategy and objects have proven to be a huge success. I am a big believer in if it is not broken do not fix it. However with that said no matter how good a strategy may be it can always be improved upon. The company should continue to focus on customer satisfaction and ensuring customers have a positive store experience. This is what has given the company so much success over the years so a suggestion will be to build on this strategy. The company could survey customers to gain a better understanding of how they can improve customer experience within the various stores (Marks, 2014). Starbucks could even go deeper with their products by having a customer data base that allows consumers to quickly get their daily coffee once in a Starbucks. This data base can be something whereby once a customer gives their phone number a list of previous coffee which they have bought would appear to the employee (Marks, 2014). I believe this will speed up the process for some customers who would like a Starbucks but do not want to wait for it. Another recommendation will be for Starbucks to create a mega store in some big cities (Koehn, n.d). This mega store can geared towards strictly customer experience and educating customers where their coffee is from, showing how it is made and even amusement centers where customers and children can interact. This recommendation may seem unrealistic however I feel in order to maintain a competitive advantage a company must continue to think outside the box and beyond what their competitors are doing. References Koehn. N (n.d) Whats next for Starbucks. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-04-25/what-s-next-for-starbucks Marimuthu, M. Arokiasamy, L (2009). Human capital development and its impact on firm performance. Retrieve from

Thursday, January 23, 2020

The British Colonies in the New World Essays -- United States History

The British Colonies in the New World Several historians often examine significant points in history in attempt to discover the reasons the events occurred. The aforementioned statement applies to the American Revolution as countless number of books has been written concerning the American colonies decision to declare independence from England. Woody Holton and Bernard Bailyn are two historians who have probed the subject and reached two separate decisions about the revolution. Focusing on the fears and threats the colonists felt, Bailyn identifies England as the threatening force against the colonists, while Holton gears towards those within the colonies. Before examining the two authors’ views, exploring the terms liberty and power are essential in comprehending the colonists’ fe...

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

My financial career analysis Essay

1) Introduction. A man of seemingly inexhaustible talents, Stephen Butler Leacock (born December 30, 1869) easily juggled being a humorist, essayist, teacher, political economist, lecturer, and historian. He received many awards and honorary degrees, among them the Lorne Pierce Medal the Leacock Medal for Humour was established in his honor and has been awarded annually since 1947 to the best humorous book by a Canadian author. At the height of his career from 1915 through 1925, Leacock was undeniably the English-speaking worlds best-known humorist. His parents, Peter Leacock and Agnes Emma Butler, had been secretly married Agnes was three years older than her new husband. When Leacock was about 7, his large family (ultimately ten brothers and sisters) moved to Canada and settled on a 100-acre farm. Despite living a hard life on the farm, and having a charming but shiftless alcoholic father, Leacock was fortunate in that his mother believed strongly in a good education. With her devo ted support and guidance, he did well in school, and graduated in 1887 as Head Boy from Upper Canada College. He received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1891. During this time, he wrote humorous articles for magazines for extra income. In 1900, he married Beatrix Hamilton, daughter of a well-to-do Toronto businessman. Her death from breast cancer in 1925 grieved him greatly, but he kept his anguish private, and spearheaded fundraisers to aid cancer research. Among his professional accomplishments, Leacock was appointed to full professor at McGill University in 1908. He was also appointed William Dow Professor of Political Economy and chair of the Department of Economics and Political Science, a position he held for 30 years until his forced retirement at age 65. Leacocks prolific written observations–sharp, funny, and timely–were critically applauded and loved by the public. He published what many consider his literary masterpiece, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, in 1912. Leacock wrote two excellent biographies Mark Twain, published in 1932, and Charles Dickens, His Life and Work, in 1933. In 1935, he published Humour Its Theory and Technique. He died of throat cancer in 1944, leaving his autobiography, The Boy I Left Behind Me, unfinished. It was published in 1946. But death did not sweep him from Canadas cherished memory. To mark the 100th anniversary of Leacocks birth, the government of Canada issued a six-cent stamp in his honor in 1969. Leacocks former homes were declared historic sites, more awards were heaped upon him posthumously, and in 1970,  a mountain in the Yukons Saint Elias range was named after him. 2) The summary. The sketch opens quickly with the narrators frank admission that banks and everything about them rattle him.He confesses to falling into a state of near idiocy at any attempt to transact business but is determined, now that he has more than fifty dollars in his pocket, to open an account. Timidly, he asks to speak to the manager. The manager takes him into a private room, locks the door, and proceeds to assure the narrator of utmost security. Because of the narrators air of confidentiality and distrust, the manager assumes he is a private detective or that he has a large sum to invest. Learning that the narrator has only fifty-six dollars, he unkindly turns him over to a clerk. The narrator is now flustered, mistakenly walks into the safe, and is eventually led to the clerks window, into which he thrusts the money. When assured that it had been deposited, the narrator quickly asks for a withdrawal slip. Meanwhile he feels that people in the bank are staring at him, th inking him a millionaire. Intimidated and miserable, he quickly withdraws his fifty-six dollars and rushes out. The sketch concludes with the narrators observation that he keeps his money in his pants pocket and his life savings in a sock. 3) The structure. This short story with ongoing tradition has traditional elements of structure. The principle of unity enables the reader to perceive the relationship between the individual units. Each incident contributes to the perception of that relationship there we can find an ordered arrangement of the parts. This story is written in accordance with dramatic pattern so it has the traditional structure of conflict, sequential action and resolution. This short story, though short in length and simple in characterization, also reflects its writers characteristics of narration and thought with its narrative structure. We can be alert on a storys structure even as we read it for the first time, primarily by paying attention to repeated elements and recurrent details of action and gesture, of dialogue and description, and to shifts in direction and changes of focus. Repetition signals are important connections to the relationships between characters, and connections between ideas. S hifts in direction are often signaled by such visual or aural clues as a change of scene, a new voice, and a blank space in the text. They may also include changes in the time and place of action or alternations in characters entrances and exits, or in their behavior. Or  they may appear as changes in the pace of the story and in its texture of language. The structure of stories can never be regarded as a matter of little importance The plot is the carrier of the structure. The plot is the sequence of unfolding action, and structure is the design or form of the completed action. Structure satisfies our need for order, proportion, and arrangement. A storys symmetry or balance of details may please us, as may its alternating of moments of tension and relaxation. The short story requires the readers utmost attention, a focus of the mind on each detail like a fine lyric poem. The structure of a traditional plot is essentially dramatic. There may be a geometrical quality to its plot structure. It follows Aristotles statement that a proposition is stated, developed by arguments and finally proved. Therefore a conflict, in this case – internal within the character, is stated at the beginning of a story, developed by a series of scenes, and resol ved at the end. Each scene, incident, and its resolution, but most also carry its bit of significance in the progression that it occupies. So we can divide My Financial Career into 4 logical parts. The exposition starts from the very beginning of the text and continues up to the procedure with the deposit of a narrator. In its turn, the exposition consists of the series of complications meeting with the manager, stepping into the safe, formalization process. Then goes the key event, which is the withdrawal of the money by making a mistake in a cheque. It was the point of highest emotional tension. The denouement is the last thoughts of the narrator, where he concludes not to have any deals with a bank any more. 4), 5) General atmosphere characters. The humor of the piece is achieved not only by the exaggerated situation but also by a skillful use of short clips of dialogue. The narrators psychological intimidation is clearly presented by an economy of detail in which the scene richly suggests more than it relates. It is a very funny piece that appeals to all ages. Perhaps as times change and we no longer refer to tellers as clerks at their wickets and we forget what the Rothschilds and Goulds represented and our banking experience is reduced to online transactions, it will become more difficult to identify with the situation of the main character. But the basic empathy with the embarrassment of someone in an unfamiliar environment remains. When he asks to speak to the bank manager and adds a conspiratorial alone without knowing why he does so, leading to a misunderstanding, we understand. We  understand because its the kind of inexplicable thing we recognize we do ourselves when were nerv ously trying not to appear nervous. The other characters have no vivid characteristics. The only things were an accountant was a tall, cool devil, the manager was a grave, calm man. These lines show us that the narrator see the bank clerks like something blurred and obscure. 6) The style. The most vivid characteristic is the usage of 1st person perspective. Stephen Leacock uses the first-person perspective in his short autobiographical story My Financial Career, and that is an effective narrative choice in comic fiction. First of all, telling his story in first person is more interesting. It is generally much more interesting to hear someone tell his own story than to hear him tell someone elses story. Readers would much rather hear him say I went to the bank the other day than Someone I know went to the bank the other day. Even worse is A guy went into a bank, which is more for spoken (stand-up) comedy than written comedy. Second, the readers know exactly what the character (in this case, the author) is feeling as he fearfully walks into the bank, armed with years of d istrust. While he could try to explain someone elses feelings, Leacock is certainly able to share with us exactly how humiliating this experience was for him. Third, the first-person point of view adds credibility to the story. This is not just something that happened to somebody at some point in time at a random bank this happened tohimand he knows the particulars and details which both add humor and make the story believable. Fourth, no one is hurt by his humor except for himself. It is often uncomfortable for readers to hear an author make fun of others somehow it is more humorous for us to know that the writer is making fun of himself, which gives readers the right to laugh, too. Finally, the story is told by a narrator, from the perspective of time, who can use humor to teach his readers the lessons he learned. We could not know what someone else might have learned from this banking experience, but we can know what Stephen Leacock learned because it is his story. The story is full of puns and innuendos, especially the text is filled with allusions Pinkertons, Baron Rothschild and young Gould. Some metaphors are used make a plunge, idiot hope struck me etc. 7), 8) The mail idea personal evaluation. The main topic of My Financial Career is a confession of Leacocks phobia about banks. This humorous essay is one of his most popular pieces because many of his readers share his fear of big,  imposing institutions. Banks in Leacocks time were more intimidating places than most of them are today. In fact, it is possible to do most banking without ever entering a bank. But Leacock picks out the aspects of the old-fashioned bank that were most intimidating. They had thick stone walls, high ceilings, uniformed and armed guards, bars separating tellers from customers, and imposing vaults with incredibly thick steel doors. The men and women handling all that money were deadly serious and also suspicious of any stranger. Leacock seems to have been most intimidated by the people in the bank. No doubt Leacock received many penetrating looks when he first went in to open his modest account. As with most humor and comedy, we laugh at him because we ar e really laughing at ourselves. When I go into a bank I get rattled. The clerks rattle me the wickets rattle me the sight of the money rattles me everything rattles me. After his interview with the manager, Leacock rose to leave the office. A big iron door stood open at the side of the room. Good morning, I said, and stepped into the safe. Come out, said the manager coldly, and showed me the other way. Personally, I must admit that Leacock wrote excellent and very readable biographies of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. He must have been influenced by the humor pieces in which Mark Twain confesses some of his own foibles and idiosyncracies. One of his best is about his feelings about barber shops. Another is about how he allowed a traveling salesman to put so many lightning rods and metal coils around his house that the big Victorian building attracted every bolt of lignting in the county. Another very funny essay by Mark Twain deals with how he couldnt get a ridiculous little jingle out of his mind until he passed it on to a friend, who was then stuck with it himself. To my mind, Leacocks humor, like Mark Twains, is built on exaggeration. Leacocks style is unpretentious, personal, friendly, and informal like that of Mar k Twain. Notice how short all of the paragraphs are in My Financial Career. Such short paragraphs and short sentences have eye-appeal. Leacock was an extremely popular writer at one time, both in Canada and the United States. He ranked with Robert Benchley and James Thurber as a popular humorist. He is not so well remembered today. But humor essays can become dated quickly. As for the text, the main idea is even deeper as I could imagine. My Financial Career deals with the idea of the emasculation (made to not feel manly) of the individual by societal exceptions. The man feels forced to  practice in banking which seems like a place of importance and masculinity. The individual fears of being emasculated or embarrassed because of his lack of wealth compared with supposed expectations leads him to perform idiotically and causes further embarrassment. The contrast between the bank managers expectations (that he is someone of importance financially or for situational reasons) and the reality of what the man is highlights this unavoidable emasculation of the individual due to societal expectations.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Sentencing And Correctional Policies During The United...

Sentencing and correctional policies in the United States are said to be a lot rougher than most European countries today. Although some may have a different view point and assume we have better prisons, a further look into Germany s prison shows us just how much better they are in prison styles and comfort for the inmates. Going further into I will discuss crime rates, incarceration rates and how different the policies and sentencing procedures really differ and how the outcome and recidivism of the inmate is between the United States and Germany. Crime rates as of 2015 in the United States according to Spies, violent crime did go up 3.8 percent after a two year decline, as far as violent crime is concerned. Spies also found the following: In 2015, there were an estimated 1,197,704 violent crimes. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter increased 10.8 percent when compared with estimates from 2014. Rape and aggravated assault increased 6.3 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, while robbery increased 1.4 percent.There were an estimated 7,993,631 property crimes. The estimated numbers for two of the three property crimes show declines when compared with the previous year’s estimates. Burglaries dropped 7.8 percent, larceny-thefts declined 1.8 percent, but motor vehicle thefts rose 3.1 percent. In Germany 2015 crimes rates, can be compared closely to the United States, if not a little bit higher actually on some crimes. The OSAC stated the following: The number ofShow MoreRelatedCorrectional Facilities in the United States: An Increasing Concern669 Words   |  3 Pagesburgeoning area of correctional facilities, it is necessary to gauge current trends and measures of policy that are designed to account for them. 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