Mt 460-02 Management Policy and Strategy Free Essays

Unit Seven Scotts Miracle-Gro Case Study Analysis XXX Kaplan University MT 460-02 Management Policy and Strategy Dr. Carrie A. O’Hare April 22, 2013 Unit Seven Scotts Miracle-Gro Case Study Analysis Introduction The submitted report distinguishes Scotts Miracle-Gro’s qualities, shortcomings, openings, and dangers (SWOT) (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. We will compose a custom exposition test on Mt 460-02 Management Policy and Strategy or then again any comparative theme just for you Request Now 140). Key issues will be investigated concerning Scotts Miracle-Gro’s outside condition and arrangements created to expand its chances or limit its greatest dangers. This far reaching investigation will used to increase the value of the organization and its buyers. Summation (Background) of the Situation The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (Scotts), situated in Marysville, Ohio, was framed by a 1995 merger of Miracle-Gro and the Scotts Company (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). The merger made Scotts the biggest organization in the North American grass and nursery industry just as the world’s driving provider and advertiser of customer items for do-it-without anyone else's help yard and nursery care (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). The Scotts Company was established in 1868 by Orlando McLean Scott as a purveyor of without weed seeds. By 1879, Scotts had expanded into conveyance of pony drawn ranch gear and furthermore began a mail-request ranch seed dispersion channel. Scotts started offering grass seeds for gardens in 1907, circulating through retail diverts starting in 1924 (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). In 1928, Scotts presented Turf Builder, the primary manure explicitly intended for grass and began its spreader business with the presentation of drop spreaders in 1930; communicate spreaders were turned out in 1983 (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 6-1). Scotts procured Republic Tool Manufacturing Company in 1992 and picked up skills in complete quality command over spreader assembling (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). Responsibility for firm changed hands a few times, starting in 1971 when ITT purchased Scotts from the Scotts family. In 1986, an utilized purchase out (LBO) made Scotts a privately owned business again for a period, until 1992, when its stock began exchanging on the NASDAQ (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p . 26-2). Supernatural occurrence Gro was established in 1951 by Horace Hagedon (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2). In contrast to Scotts, Miracle-Gro had no inside creation; all creation was redistributed to contract makers. Prior to the 1995 merger with Scotts, Miracle Gro was at that point a main brand in the grass care concoction industry (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2). By mid 2000, Scotts Miracle-Gro items were No. 1 in each significant class and in basically every significant market in which they contended (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2). Key Issues The three key issues confronting Scott’s are expanded residential creation costs, reliance on huge scaled clients, and benefit underneath showcase normal. The nearly high plant and work expenses of the Temecula plant keeps on being an issue to the development of Scott’s Miracle-Gro. The key issues spin around the possibility that that is has gotten costly to create manure spreaders and yard seed by Scott’s Temecula plant. Another shortcoming that has been distinguished is Scott’s over ward to clients, for example, Home Depot and Wal-Mart, which represent 61% of the company’s deals (Mays, 2012). These enormous purchasers have requested an adjustment in strategy and creation by â€Å"leaner inventories to end their financial years just as to draw shipments nearer to the beginning of the yard and nursery season (Mays, 2012). Scott’s additionally has encountered lower deals in the global portion, tumbling 21 percent, while likewise missing income focuses in 2011 because of deals declining by - 2%, a 8% miss (Mays, 2012). Characterize the Problem The principle issue to Scott’s survivability and wellbeing is the expanding cost of creation for the Temecula plant, which makes items for Scott’s Miracle-Gro. These expanding costs are driven by the higher work costs. These expanded expenses are additionally related to more significant expenses for crude materials, vitality costs, and higher state charges. Elective Solutions The three potential answers for easing this issue is re-appropriating, recruiting lower pursued specialists, or marginally lower wages and offer rewards for meeting certain achievements. Re-appropriating to China may not be the best arrangement since it would bring costs up in the circulation channel, which is anything but an attractive result as long as possible. Additionally recruiting an outside work-power ready to acknowledge a lower pay could endanger quality however the new representatives can be told on the most proficient method to give quality when fabricating the items which would create a transient increment in costs for preparing. The other option is to move the arrangement to all the more agreeable assembling state and somewhat lower current employees’ compensation on the off chance that it is viewed as that they are higher, and furthermore to distinguish territories where cash can be spared. This would hold human capital which has prompted profitability enhancements which have arrived at the midpoint of six percent for each year (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 26-4). In this segment, you exhibit your skill by distinguishing two or three distinct approaches to take care of the difficult you recognized in the past segment! Chosen Solution to the Problem The most conservative and practical arrangement is move creation outside of California. Zones where expenses can be spared are in the appropriation of the items and in the acquirement of crude materials. Scott’s should look for zones where costs can be brought down and costs cut yet that doesn't lessen worker confidence and occupation fulfillment which can contrarily affect efficiency. The express that has been chosen is Utah which has option to-work law on the books which means lower work costs, Utah likewise has a good administrative atmosphere and Utah’s 5% level corporate expense rate is one of the most reduced in the nation (Badenhausen, 2012). Usage Internal Stakeholders|  | External Stakeholders | Accounting-Assess financial plan |  | Customers-e. . Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot| Operations-Calculate expenses of operational procedures |  | Suppliers †Local and current crude material suppliers| Procurement-Calculate the expenses of buying material |  | Regulatory organizations Local government agency| Human Resources-Calculate wages and advantages of current representatives, the board, and administrators. Distinguish preparing for new plant. Make advant age bundle to hold current workers. |  | Natives-Local community| Legal Department-Develop and audit contracts for new offices and providers.  | | Information Technology-Develop arrange for gracefully chain, tasks and deals. Keep up trustworthiness of database|  | | Initiating Process Group-Time outline Within one month * Project Integration Management * Reason-Develop Project Charter * Project Communications Management * Reason-Identify Stakeholders Planning Process Group Time outline Within one month (to run simultaneous to the inception procedure) * Project Scope Management: (Within about fourteen days) Reason-Define Scope (Moving plant activities and dissemination) and Create a work breakdown structure (WBS) * Project Procurement: (Within about fourteen days after task is characterized) * Reason-Plan Procurements (Where, who, and how much crude materials will cost if plant is moved) * Project Risk Management: (Within about fourteen days after undertaking is characterized) * Reason-Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Plan Risk Responses, and Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis * Project Human Resources Management: (Within about fourteen days after venture is characterized) * Reason-Develop Human Resource Plan-(Calculate wages and advantages of current representatives, the board, and officials. Recognize preparing for new plant. Make advantage bundle to hold current workers. ) * Project Quality Management: (Within about fourteen days after undertaking is characterized) * Reason-Plan Quality-Ensure the viable structure of procedures that confirm client needs, plan item life cycle andâ design, create and convey the item or administration. Venture Cost Management: (Within one month of undertaking degree) * Reason-Estimate Costs and Determine Budget * Project Time Management: (Within about fourteen days after task is characterized) * Reason-Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Develop Schedule, Estimate Activity Durations, and Estimate Activity Resourc es * Project Integration: (Within one month of task scope) * Reason-Develop Project Management Plan Executing Process Group Time outline Within a half year of finishing the arranging stage * Project Quality Management: * Reason-Perform Quality Assurance (5% improvement from earlier year) * Project Procurement Management: * Reason-Conduct Procurements (10% decrease in obtainment) * Project Human Resource Management: Reason-Acquire Project Team, Develop Project Team, and Manage Project Team * Project Communications Management: * Reason-Distribute Information and Manage Stakeholder Expectations (30% decrease in labor costs and 20% speed up) * Project Integration Management: * Reason-Direct Manage Project Execution Monitoring and Controlling Process Group Time outline Within a half year * Project Scope Management * Reason-Verify Scope, Control Scope * Project Procurement Management * Reason-Administer Procurements * Project Risk Management * Reason-Monitor Control Risks * Project Commun ications Management * Reason-Report Performance * Project Quality Management Reason-Perform Quality Control * Project Cost Management * Reason-Control Costs * Project Time Management * Reason-Control Schedule * Project Integration * Reason-Monitor Control Project Work and Perform Integrated Change Control Closing Process Group Time outline Within nine months of finishing the arranging stage * Project Scope Man

Project Management Essay

1. Examine why numerous data innovation experts may neglect venture cost the board and how this may influence finishing ventures inside spending plan. Data innovation experts don't comprehend essential bookkeeping and account standards to have the option to do a net present worth investigation rate of profitability and recompense examination. It ought to likewise be viewed as that new innovations or programming improvement costs are off base as it is difficult to put a figure on something has not been created. The issues they face might be they gauge too rapidly, don't have the assessing experience, might be one-sided towards disparaging and the executives may require more exactness. The book expresses that IT experts comprehend the estimation of a fair portfolio lined up with business targets yet do not have a very much characterized and steady procedure for dealing with the start, assessment and execution of IT ventures. To the extent examining ventures with financial plans it would not be a precise gauge of cost except if all the partners are included to make these conclusions. 4. Clarify what occurs during the procedure to decide the undertaking financial plan. A venture financial plan includes designating quotes to singular work over the hour of the task and depends on the WBS. The spending plan is resolved utilizing the quotes, premise of evaluations, scope standard, plan, asset schedule, contracts and authoritative procedure resources. The primary objective is cost planning which makes a cost gauge for estimating execution and subsidizing necessity and thinking about record refreshes. It is additionally imperative to see how the organization works so the financial plan is made fittingly. 6. What is venture portfolio the board? Can extend administrators use it with earned worth administration? Undertaking portfolio the board permits associations to gather and control a whole set-up of tasks or speculations as on set of interrelated exercises. Venture directors can utilize it with earned worth administration as it is an exhibition estimation strategy that let them know how well the task is meeting extension, time and cost objectives by entering real data and afterward contrasting it with a standard. 7. Portray a few sorts of programming that venture directors can use to help venture cost the board. Spreadsheets are a typical apparatus utilized for cost evaluating, planning and control. Microsoft Project is an undertaking the executives programming that takes into account the accompanying to be made, for example, income, financial plans, over spending errands, over spending assets and earned worth reports. Some task chiefs just utilize the company’s bookkeeping programming and spreadsheets to get greater adaptability. They have likewise figured out how to associate their bookkeeping programming to the task the board programming for progressively exact data.

Typing or Writing Notes Which Is Best

Typing or Writing Notes Which Is Best (0) You’ve probably taken a bajillion notes in your life by now. It’s how you absorb and remember class lectures, organize research, and study for tests. But even though you’ve taken notes for years, there’s one big question that might still stump you: is it better to type or handwrite notes? Let’s take a look at the advantages of each before making our decision. The case for typing Typing notes on the computer is increasingly common. After all, its potential for quick, efficient note-taking is incredibly high. For most of us, who have been typing from the time we were kids, typing on a computer keyboard is much faster than writing by hand. A related benefit? Notes quickly typed out are sure to still be legible when you go back to study them, while notes that were quickly written down by hand may not always be tidy enough to read back, especially if you know that you have less-than-impeccable handwriting. If you’re using your computer to take notes, you also have the benefit of all the interactive features that digital notes can offer: You can link to sources or further reading and even prepare your citations right there ahead of time, whether in MLA format or APA format. It’s quick and easy to highlight corresponding notes or jot down a side note without making a mess of the page. Changes can easily be undone with the click of a button. For convenience, you can’t beat typed notes. If you’re looking for a convenient grammar checker, there’s EasyBib Plus! The case for writing Handwritten notes are a classic for a reason. Remember when you were in elementary school and your teachers made you write out your vocab words over and over? That’s because there are proven benefits to the repetitive actionâ€"namely, its positive effect on memory. But handwritten notes aren’t just about having the memory of writing it down, it’s also about the physical act of writing itself. Studies, such as this analysis from Scientific American, have shown that there is something about the action of writing that helps the brain more clearly remember what is written. For many people, this is just part of their learning style: just like some people learn best from visual cues or from listening to something, others learn best by interacting with the lessons in a tactile way. In this case, the action of forming the individual words with your own handwriting may be preferable to the interchangeable, repetitive motion of typing on a keyboard. The best choice is… You guessed it: the winner is writing notes by hand. While digital notes may be convenient, that’s pretty much their only advantage. Let’s explain. When you’re taking notes by hand, chances are good that you’ll have little to distract you from the lecture in front of you. Using the computer, however good the intentions, is a lot likelier to lead to distraction. Think about it: how easy is it to give in to temptation and check your email or Facebook page for just a second, then look up fifteen minutes later without even realizing it? Handwriting notes, although there’s always that temptation to doodle, requires more concentration and has fewer opportunities to tune out of the lesson. Taking notes on the computer may also allow for more speed, but that’s not necessarily a good thing, as a 2014 study by Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer demonstrated. When you’re taking fast notes by typing, what you’re actually doingâ€"maybe without even realizing itâ€"is more like transcription than note-taking. Because of this, students who use this method aren’t processing and synthesizing the information in the moment; they’re just making a record without really thinking about it. In contrast, the slower process of handwriting notes forces students to listen actively, prioritize and summarize information in the moment, and then rewrite it in a way they’ll understand later. This process allows them to figure out what’s important and how to convey it. In many ways, taking notes by hand is another layer of learning, which another study by Dung C. Bui, Joel Myerson, and Sandra Hale also showed. Developing good note-taking skills will help you throughout your academic and professional careers. Be sure to find a style that works best for you! Works Cited Bui, Dung C., et al. “Note-Taking With Computers: Exploring Alternative Strategies for Improved Recall.” Journal of Educational Psychology, 2012. May, Cindi. “A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop.” Scientifica American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/ Mueller, Pam A., and Daniel M. Oppenheimer. “The Pen Is Mightier Than The Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Keyboard Note Taking.” Psychological Science, vol. 25, no. 6, 2014, pp. 1159-1168. Looking for quick notes on grammar? Check our EasyBib grammar guides and learn about these parts of speech: verb, noun, conjunction, determiner, and more!

Intercultural Communication Paper - 1673 Words

Intercultural Communication Paper Doris Ingersoll University of Phoenix Comm. /360 Valerie Fuller April 18, 2012 Intercultural Communication Paper Demonstrate an example of poor intercultural communication that significantly affected international commerce or foreign policy with United States and Mexico. Mexico is a country of intercultural relevance neighboring among the American continent. The United States of America is the traditional believe in a different in tradition. The norms between the two counties are the ethic, language with in intercultural communication. In the United States there over a 313 million people in the population and it the third largest country in the world. It said the large portion of the†¦show more content†¦Native peoples of Mexico from big cities may be more reserved around foreigners (Berry amp; Maciel, 2000). It is offensive by tossing items is of one hands items directly to another individual. Communications are generally well developed, though numerous rural families do not have telephones in their homes and high-speed internet is available only in large cities. Slower internet service is generally found in smaller cities (-Berry amp; Maciel, 2000). Some Mexicans have access to internet at home and to mobile phones, but these services remain prohibitively expensive for many. Some of people have the daily newspaper, several broadcasting such as the television stations and radio serve the public. In communication both parties use these devices, mobile phones, the internet, and radio. In the United State most the communication is by cell phone and internet. In Mexico most communication is done directly to another person because many rural families cannot get the internet just large cities (Berry amp; Maciel, 2000). The theorist of intercultural communication that could help solve the problem with communication with the United States and Mexico can come from different fields such as psychology, anthropology, and sociology (Chen amp; Starosta, 2000). It has been numerous theories use to help intercultural communication to primarily focused on the adjustment, adaptation, and research on each country (Huntington, 2005).Show MoreRelatedIntercultural Communication in the Workplace Paper2108 Words   |  9 PagesIntercultural Communication in the Workplace Paper University of Phoenix Cultural Diversity / SOC 315 Mary Hamilton July 27, 2006 Week Three Intercultural Communication in the Workplace Elaine Winters, a noted subject matter expert on Cultural differences and awareness says, Few people seem to feel the need to truly face the underlying issues that cloud even the simplest of delicate, and frequently confusing, cross-cultural interactions. There is no doubt as to the many culturalRead MoreResponse Paper Intercultural communication986 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Response Paper 1 Living in the United States, we are exposed to so many cultures. I have thought that I learn a lot about culture in this country. However, when discussing the concept of culture in class, I realize how little I actually know about it. Importantly, I have a similar response to some other students about culture, which is â€Å"I don’t have a culture†. Until I have read the first chapter of the book Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice by Kathryn Sorrell, I beganRead MoreEthnographic Research Paper for Intercultural Communication1513 Words   |  7 Pagesthrough observational techniques and participation in the practice. Since my participation is a long process of approximately five years, I believe I am a competent member and my analysis is representative to illustrate the ideas of interdiscourse communication in this site. Context of the community The dance studio offers dancing classes every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday at night, as well as Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon. Each class consists of ten to twenty students and one dance tutor. ThereRead MoreField Research Paper on Aspects of Diversity and Intercultural Communication2867 Words   |  12 PagesField Research Paper 2010-11-11 INTB-311 Diversity and Intercultural Communication Daniel Plouffe 1686200 The International Cultural Battle Composed by Daniel Plouffe In our world of expanding technology and shrinking geography, people of different cultures have increasing frequency of contact and need for effective communication on a daily basis. Whether through travel, immigration, or international business, having the ability to communicate across many different cultures is anRead MoreIntercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks By Samovar, Porter, Mcdaniel Roy1267 Words   |  6 PagesIntercultural Communication Introduction According to the articles Intercultural communication stumbling blocks by Barna and Intercultural communication by Samovar, Porter, McDaniel Roy, describe the various challenges that are faced between communications of two individuals who come from different cultures. Notably, challenges that are faced by different people who come from different cultures exist due to the problem of the difference between the cultural norms. For instance, what is acceptableRead MoreDiscuss The 11 Common Areas Of Intercultural Misunderstanding1957 Words   |  8 Pages Case Study Analysis: Discuss the 11 Common Areas of Intercultural Misunderstanding Mirlande Jean-Pierre Davenport University MGMT 535 – Spring 1 2015 Dr. Beverly Pierce June 20, 2015) â€Æ' Abstract Nowadays, many companies have prompted business establishments to expand its network across cultures so that they can keep up being culturally competence in the internal business world (Vennapoosa, C., 2012, July). The importance of cross-cultural competence skill is becoming progressivelyRead MoreMovie Analysis : Crash By Paul Haggis Essay1305 Words   |  6 Pages The movie I chose to discuss for this paper is Crash by Paul Haggis. Once given the list of movies to watch my girlfriend suggested we match this movie because you see a lot of racism in it. Being in a rough time in the world right now social issues come close to me so I must watch it. In the movie there are a lot of scenes that connect to social issues that plague this world currently and many things I learned in class. I will attempt to bring each scene to a connection to social issue or thingsRead MoreInternal and External Communication on Bp Gulf Oil Spill Essay3877 Words   |  16 PagesContents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Analysis 3 Internal communication 3 External communication 6 Conclusion 10 Recommendation 11 Internal communication 11 External communication 12 Executive Summary BP oil spill in April 2010, had incurred serious damage to both the company and publics. Though some internal and external communication strategies were carried out after the accident, more improvements should be made by BP to maintain the safety and reputationRead MoreBus 600 Cart the Learning Interface/Bus600Cartdotcom1067 Words   |  5 PagesBUS 600 Week 1 DQ 1 Importance of Communication BUS 600 Week 1 DQ 2 Ashford Learning Resources BUS 600 Week 2 Assignment Topic Thesis Statement for Research Paper BUS 600 Week 2 Assignment International and Intercultural Communication (2 Papers) BUS 600 Week 2 DQ 1 Reducing Communication Barriers BUS 600 Week 2 DQ 2 Intercultural Communication Competence BUS 600 Week 3 Assignment Communications Skill Assessment BUS 600 Week 3 DQ 1 Technology and Communication BUS 600 Week 3 DQ 2 Visual Presentations Read MoreBenefits And Limitations Of Intercultural Communication1307 Words   |  6 PagesExplore the benefits and limitations of Intercultural communication Today we live in a ‘global community’ connected to the whole world by ties of culture, latest communication and travel technologies, politics, economics and a shared environment. We now live in a multicultural society where we interact with people of different colours, nationalities, cultures and languages. With the benefit of modern technology, it has also enabled us to interact and communicate with people for personal and business

The Sixties The Great Shift Essay - 882 Words

After reading â€Å"The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics†, I acknowledged the argument Bruce Schulman was making. This book was about the 1970’s in America and the changes that occurred during the decade. Just like in the title a change in culture, society, and politics. Schulman talks about the rise of liberalism in America after WW2. He talks about that briefly, than points out the importance of the 1968 Nixon presidential campaign. About how he pushed away from the government and more towards the private sector. Schulman mentions that the 70’s were nicknamed or known as â€Å"the lost decade†. The main argument in Schulman’s book was that the 70’s was not a lost decade, it was an important one that reshaped America for the better. He supports his argument with several events that helped shape the decade. Schulman points out two major shifts during the 70’s the â€Å"Southernization† of the country, and the distrust in the government. First I would like to talk about Schulman’s argument and if it’s a well-supported argument or not. Schulman’s argument is a broad topic and he could have gone with several different areas of argument. He picked specific shifts in culture and political policies. I believe Shulman’s argument is a good one. Because the two main arguments tell the importance of that decade. Like the shift away from the government which helped the Reagan era during the 1980’s. Or how diversity and discrimination helped reshape the attitudeShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis of Eberstadts Article Drunken Nation: Russias Depopulation Bomb664 Words   |  3 Pagesfifty-fifty chance of surviving to the retirement age of sixty five (Eberstadt, 2009). Further, Eberstadt asserts that the reason for this astonishing fact is because men in this age bracket have a very high rate of death due to accidents or chronic disease (Eberstadt, 2009). He also notes that the current birth rate is less than two children per person (Eberstadt, 2009). If all males have less than a fifty-fifty chance of surviving to age sixty five, it is clear that there is a depopulation bombRead MoreHealth And Safety Of Workers1699 Words   |  7 Pagessafety of workers has grown amongst both members of the scientific community and the healthcare industry itself. There are many studies illustrating the adverse effects on the general health and wellbeing of workers resulting from frequent overtime shifts and extended working hours. Specifically, evidence of a relationship between long working hours and an increased risk of occupational injuries has been found repeatedly â€Å"among nurses, anesthetists, veterinarians, and other healthcare professionals†Read More Civil War Poetry Essay1571 Words   |  7 Pagesescalate dramatically. In the section Arrival in Madrid of the International Brigade Neruda shows the troops from the international forces arriving in the desolate city of Madrid. This section mirrors Whitmans Drum Taps section of poetry Eighteen Sixty-One which also focuses on the war as it is reaching a critical point of expansion. Centered on the time of most profound national crisis, the poets use the image of gathering soldiers to validate their cause. The solider becomes the embodiment ofRead MoreThe Sixties: A Decade of Rebellion Ess ay1630 Words   |  7 Pagesand accept their differences, and a war that would eventually destroy all that America stood for. It was a time for new ideas in all aspects of life. This shift in thinking is apparent when looking at the happenings in society, the younger generation, and the media. The sixties were the beginning of many great revolutions in society. The sixties were a time of many political changes. Three men were president during this time period, and their actions both impacted and molded the events that occurredRead MoreThe Constitution And The Texas Constitution866 Words   |  4 Pagesprimary focal points that will be addressed throughout this essay. Texas, amongst many of the state constitutions, has had a great deal of proposals to amend the state constitution. Reminiscing back to 1876 when the Texas constitution was adopted, there have been six hundred and sixty six prospective proposals to amending the constitution. However, of the six hundred and sixty six proposals, four hundred and eighty four have been ratified leaving the remaining few defeated by the Texas voters. FurthermoreRead MoreThe Evolution Of Marketers By Google975 Words   |  4 Pageswhich Google is at currently but where its destination is in the next six months or next two years and beyond. Staying ahead of these shifts assures one can stay ahead of Google and your competition to entirely dominate online in your spectrum of specialty. The future in search is definitely now. It is time to begin thinking forward and hastily. Here are three SEO shifts that you require to comprehend: From SEO to ‘SEO and content convergence’: Just as content alone is not good enough to guarantee SEORead MoreYouth Culture History Paper1075 Words   |  5 Pagesforge an identity worried adults, who couldnt understand the shift (Shmoop Editorial Team).† The fifties were essential to youth culture because it marked the historical roots of teenagers. In essence, prior to the 1950’s, the youth lacked freedom to develop a youth culture. Succeeding the fifties, the youth culture stepped out of conformity forming a greater youth culture. Before the 1950’s, many historical events occurred such as the Great Depression and after that were the war years. Young peopleRead MoreMy Life At High School979 Words   |  4 Pagesthat I would be working ten to twelve hour shifts on Monday through Friday. I found out that I was working for a staffing agency which most companies use to hire new employees, so that the employee is not directly employed by the company. In mid-December, I got fired for listening to music and I was devastated. Because I was unemployed, I started working with my father in Eagle Pass, Texas. My father owns a construction company under the name Mejia Great Plastering and has plastered several buildingsRead MoreBenefits Of Workers At Carolina Plant1364 Words   |  6 Pagescovered by the WARN Act are prohibited from ordering plant closing or mass layoffs until the end of a sixty-day period that follows the provision of written noticed to affected employees.† (Walsh, Pg. 728). If the employer made the decision to terminate 50 employees per week to reach their goal of terminating 200 employees in total, they would be violating the WARN Act and not abiding by the sixty day notification period. According to an online article titled, â€Å"WARN Act May Help if You’re Losing YourRead MoreThe Sixties : An Era Of Continuing Movement For Civil Rights1310 Words   |  6 PagesThe 1960’s or â€Å"the sixties† was an era of continuing movement for civil rights, acceptance of cultural taboos, shifts in religion, and the advancement of many new technologies. This decade is also labeled as â€Å"the Swinging Sixties† because of the amount of formalities that were crushed by the wave of leftist ideals. While the decade starts in 1960 and ends in 1970, the cultural changes last in a more loosely defined decade - beginning in the sixties and lasting well into the seventies. Important to

New Questions About Teacher of the Year Essay Answered and Why You Must Read Every Word of This Report

New Questions About Teacher of the Year Essay Answered and Why You Must Read Every Word of This Report It conveys the thought that the exact same group of individuals are usually doing the majority of the work and burning themselves out. As you can picture, Rexy wasn't very great at hiding. I used ton't understand what she was speaking about. Though this actually is a sort of plagiarism, it's by no means the only method to plagiarize, or even the most frequent. Once you're done with every one of these steps, the EssayDog software utilizes these exercises to combine all your work and make the very first draft of your essay which will be prepared for editing and proofreading. We understand how to deal with the writing process easily. But to be able to accomplish this, we have to be measured properly with qualitative measures. Information regarding the program, current winners, and the application procedure is found on the TASA site. They must involve students in actual wor k for real outcomes. We offer flexible system of discounts, but in addition our discount policy which allows you to conserve money on ordering essays at one time. I believe I learned to benefit from the freedoms we've got in this nation. Honestly for the very first time that I don't wish to pass the grade. Dare to be the initial one. She's very funny and is not hard to get along with. She's a great role model for those students and a phenomenal individual. Just imagine how, when you learn how to handle this individual, it will be simple for you to communicate with other difficult individuals. The Little-Known Secrets to Teacher of the Year Essay They don't just make you excel, but they make you wish to visit school. Give names of students helped, or individual examples of exactly what this teacher has done to assist you. I really like teaching, and I adore the students, she explained. Not all of these are likely to be pleasant, and that's when your experience with a l ousy teacher is going to be of usage. If you can't find v via your school, and you can't afford to cover a program, you can research this subject by yourself. Also tell the reader how you could be regarding the teacher. That's my preferred teacher. She is really an awesome teacher. She is a rather superior teacher and have a special teaching style. Details of Teacher of the Year Essay It may be beneficial to get together to encourage one another to write. I opted to nominate Mr. Burch because he's great teacher which makes class fun but we learn a lot. And, since we know, the most significant elements of our jobs are students. Though you will likely not lose your job due to NCLB following your very first calendar year, ensure you take opportunities to expand and increase your teaching methods. However, even when you don't know about any requirements our specialists can help you. We're keen to meet the requirements of our clientele. Contrary to other companies, we're sa fe and skillful group of writers that are deeply concerned regarding the academic writing tasks. Should they have talked to you once, they'll be more inclined to share information later which will help you understand and address learning problems. Type of Teacher of the Year Essay If your school doesn't offer a writing class, you can locate a workshop offered on campus or possibly a class it is possible to take online, if you're keen to pay. I feel that I've developed my writing skills most this year than every other year. Tutoring is a superb option because it permits you one-on-one time with your instructor, so they can offer you all their attention and become acquainted with your writing. However, the move to Connecticut was the perfect one. There's no defense against an excellent story. You don't have to be worried about your personal details that may be viewed, as we handle the matter on a safe network. In your working life you will satisfy broad array of individuals . I truly think that education isn't a one-size-fits-all arena. Every tiny boy who knows the type of fear that addiction brings. Every small girl who knows the type of fear that poverty brings. The History of Teacher of the Year Essay Refuted Over the summertime, Wimmer will find the chance to go to NASA's Space Camp for a week. But she finally obtained some joyful news Tuesday. The Foolproof Teacher of the Year Essay Strategy Trust me, you are going to be glad, she explained. We're certain that your school years ought to be the best years of your life. She remembered how Luis left his house for Turn of River Middle School at the start of the year. Unfortunately, you can't avoid meeting unpleasant folks in your life. There's light in the surface of the young man with Downs Syndrome who's good friends with a different child on my campus who can't speak.

Vygotskian Approaches To Human Development â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Vygotskian Approaches To Human Development? Answer: Introducation The multifarious psychological process instigates like a societal activity and progressively changes into the internal psychological activity which children are able to utilize autonomously. It is one of the key ideas developed by Lev Vygotsky in his social development theory.Unlike other Psychologists such as Jean Piaget he felt that in a child development and learning process, social interactions play a primary role. He states that "Every function in the child development appears twice, first, on the social level and later on the individual level." The two parts are known as inter-psychological and intra-psychological respectively (Crawford, 2006). According to Lev, language as an essential social interaction function takes a key role in the growth and development of a child. It involves external experiences being transformed to internal through the sense of hearing and speech. For example, when a child consistently hears specific aspects of the speech he or she will internalize them and repeatedly will master them. Another aspect is the way of dressing which the child will learn from the social interactions and will eventually take them as part of him, and even while independent, he will dress accordingly. A child also learns simple activities such washing hands, cooking and performing other errands depending on what the society has exposed him to (Vyogtsky, 2012). It is thus very true that the growth of a child majorly depends on the social activities observed which becomes part of the complex mental process. References Crawford, K. (2006). Vygotskian approaches to human development. New York: Megan Press. Vygotsky, L. (2012). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Legalization Of Drugs Essays - Drug Control Law, Neurochemistry

Legalization of Drugs Such an issue stirs up moral and religious beliefs; beliefs that are contrary to what America should "believe". However, such a debate has been apparent in the American marketplace of ideas before with the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920's. With the illegality of alcohol the mafia could produce liquor and therefore had considerable control over those who wanted their substance and service. The role that the mafia played in the 1920's has transformed into the corner drug dealers and drug cartel of the 1990's. The justification that legalized alcohol under Amendment 21 in 1933 should also legalize drugs in 1996. With the legalization of drugs a decrease in deaths related to drug deals would occur and also the price would lessen because bigger businesses could produce drugs at a cheaper price. Thus, reducing crimes that are committed to support a drug habit. Another drug that has played a major role in American society is nicotine. For hundreds of years, cigarettes have been a popular legal drug within the United States. Only through legalization and education has the popularity and the use of cigarettes declined within the past ten years. Physically, the actual consequences of using illicit drugs is much less than of using drugs like alcohol or cigarettes and the consequences will be diminished. Illicit drugs can and will be made safer than they are in the present system. In making comparisons, the best is to look at how countries are functioning that have less enforcement on drugs and what the statistics were after drugs were decriminalized. Within the last thirty years many groups have their attempts. The use of drugs is a victimless crime much like homosexuality. Homosexuals have fought for a great deal of freedom that is based on their basic human rights; the right to make decisions and act freely based on what is protected under the Constitution, so long as anyone else is not affected. Economically, the production of drugs in the United States would benefit the financial well being of the American government and people. Taxes should immediately be placed on drugs thus resulting in a significant increase in government income. The more money that government receives is more money that they can put towards the education of how drugs effect the human mind and body. Prohibition breeds disrespect for law?enforcement; the agency that "should" hold the highest respect of the American society. Money spent on prohibition is an overwhelming figure that is not needed and is obviously accomplishing little. Those who want to be controlled by a substance should have every right to do so, because this right has equal jurisdiction as any other human right that has emerged from the sea of oppression and persecuted freedoms. The deaths resulting in the acquiring of alcohol have all but disappeared. When all non?medical dealings in alcohol were prohibited in the United States in 1919, the results were very similar to today's drug trade. Alcohol quality was brewed illicitly; importers were considered criminals and behaved as such; protection rackets, bribes and gang warfare organized crime in the United States. (Boaz, p.118) The enforcement budget rose from $7 million in 1921 to $15 million in 1930, $108 million in 1988 dollars. In 1926, the Senate Judiciary Committee produced a 1,650-page report evaluating enforcement efforts and proposing reforms. In 1927, the Bureau of Prohibition was created to streamline enforcement efforts, and agents were brought under civil service protection to eliminate corruption and improve professionalism. In that same year, President Hoover appointed a blue-ribbon commission to evaluate enforcement efforts and recommend reforms. Three years later Prohibition was over and alcohol was legalized.(Boaz, pps.49?50) Immediately, the bootlegger stopped running around the streets supplying illicit contraband. People stopped worrying about drunks mugging them in the streets or breaking into their apartments to get funds to buy a pint of wine. We now deal with alcohol abuse as a medical problem. Let us deal with the drug problem in the same way. Let us try not to repeat the mistakes of the past by continuing to escalate a war that is totally unnecessary.(Boaz, p.120) The repeal of alcohol prohibition provides the perfect analogy. Repeal did not end alcoholismas indeed Prohibition did not--but it did solve many of the problems created by Prohibition, such as corruption, murder, and poisoned alcohol.(Boaz, p.50) We can expect no more and no less from drug legalization today. United States has not tried to ban the use of tobacco on cigarette smoking is one of America's most dangerous drug habits.

Holden Caufield and PTSD Essays

Holden Caufield and PTSD Essays Holden Caufield and PTSD Essay Holden Caufield and PTSD Essay After the death of Holdens little brother Allie, who passed away from leukemia, Holden at this point begins to give up on himself, he started to fail majority of his classes and became extremely enraged with everyone. The death of his brother left scarring and a significant amount of stress in his life.He even started to have thoughts of death which are clear signs that he suffers from PTSD. In this scene from the novel, Holden mentions Allies baseball glove and it reminds him of his brother because it had poems and literature written all over it, and how academically inclined Allie was, his teachers would always write letters home to their mother saying that he was a very intelligent student and Holden goes on talking about his brother stating all the positives aspects about him. These constant flashbacks and memories are causing Holden to think of his brother a lot and it is making him depressed on the inside, which therefore him developing suicidal thoughts. This dreadful incident that happened when Holden was thirteen has had a huge impact on his mental state, it is not easy for someone who has lost loved one at a young age because their mind is still developing and it can be hard for them to overcome stress and emotions that follow. Secondly PTSD can make you feel very anxious or on edge at times. Many people feel irritable or tempered very easily this relates to Holden because the fight that took place between him and Stradlater was caused because he let his emotions get the best of him and reacted to the situation when stradlater was talking about Jane someone who Holden has had mixed feelings for in the past. In this scene he is upset because Jane is a girl who Holden actually shows some affection towards, and he is upset by the way Stradlater talks about her because all he does is treat women like objects and is disrespectful. Holden in this scenario is upset of the way Stradlater has been talking about Jane and reacts t

ITM501 MOD 4 Cases Assign Mangement Information System Essay

ITM501 MOD 4 Cases Assign Mangement Information System - Essay Example With the advent of technology as uprising of modern techniques, it is believed that the notion of â€Å"software as a service† will dominate the next few years of software business (Wainewright, 2011). SaaS has the ability to draw a new canvas of business. However, from the perspective of a business, the IT infrastructure needs to be advanced so as to support its functions (Guptill, 2012). This study intends to lay emphasis on the significance of â€Å"software as a service† in the present days and will try to establish how this concept is going to dominate the next several years in information management. Discussion The notion of SaaS has been into the limelight over a considerable number of years now and its origin dates back to the early 1960s. However, the initial concept was limited to time sharing and common data base storage. During this epoch, IBM along with other mainframe service providers, carried out a service bureau business which is often termed as a time sharing business. The services provided by these companies were however limited to large organizations and financial institutions. Theorists believes that in the coming years, most business software or solution packages will be delivered via the mechanism of SaaS. In addition, scholars also believe that the notion of SaaS will be elongated by the next big thing in IT, which is ‘Utility computing’. The ‘utility computing’ is a concept in which IT will be more accessible for common man and will act just as other necessary stuffs of the daily life such as electricity and telephone. Likewise, electricity and telephone bills, people in the near future may have to pay IT bills. ‘SaaS’ is also sometime referred to as on-demand software" provided by the Application-Service-Providers (ASPs). The mechanism is simple as software packages are delivered to the customers which are centrally hosted in the cloud. It has become one of the most common of softwar e delivery forms. For example, solution packages such as management software, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), invoicing software, management information systems (MIS), and service desk management software to name a few can be delivered via this distribution mechanism. This is the reason why it has been observed that a number of companies have already incorporated this strategy as a part of their business strategy. These evidences clearly suggest that â€Å"SaaS† is the future of information management (Wainewright, 2011). There are several advantages of â€Å"software as a service†. The cost gets reduced to a great extent for everyone who is involved in the process. From the point of view of a customer, they do not have to pay incur large upfront cost for gaining the access to that particular software; on the contrary they can avail renting option and can pay on a monthly basis. For example, if a customer need access to one o f the word processing software. If he or she wants to buy it, the cost to be incurred is around $300. On the contrary, if the customer rents it, the cist will be merely $10 a month. Thus, the pressure on customers gets reduces to a great extent and the opportunity to access increases simultaneously. In the similar way, the software vendors also get highly benefitted for pursuing the â€Å"software as a service† strategy. The software vendors

Improving the Performance of a Team Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Improving the Performance of a Team - Assignment Example Technical factors include understanding the mission, spelling out goals, and developing activities critical to success of the goal. To improve the functioning of a particular team, these factors have to be addressed. The following steps go towards improving the performance of a team. A project team is subject to group dynamics because of an assembly of individuals with diverse talents and commitments. The most common problems faced by work teams arise from: Different points of view, role conflicts, implicit power struggles, and groupthink which compromises decisions in favour of unanimity. (Nurick, 2001) There are many other problems that may arise due to behavioural and skill factors. Performance measures need to be devised taking both performance factors and process factors into account. The performance measures would measure the performance/outcome factors which may be: Team cohesion; Improvement orientation like creativity, forward thinking, proactivity; and Team achievements. Team process factors, which also affect the performance of a team includes factors such as: Team relationships, team focus, approach to performance, leadership style, team discipline, team decision making, team confidence, value of contributions, decision focus, social contact, process focus, and lastly, consistency. Team performance is also related to attractiveness of performance, agreement with team goals, team goal level, and willingness to use cross-training, perceived participation, team efficacy, and team commitment. Some factors which also need to be measured are: 1. Team member dispositions - Studies have indicated that employees' need for achievement, need for affiliation, aggressiveness towards other people and the value placed on autonomy affect the team in a lot of ways. 2. Team process skills - process skills include skills like communication, leadership, goal setting, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills. 3. Employee perceptions about the team - This includes perceptions about team efficacy, and perceived participation. 4. Goals and goal commitments - this includes factors like team goal level, goal commitment, agreement with team goal, and performance expectations. 5. Attractiveness of performance and self efficacy. (Scott and Townsend, 1994) Measures that take the above factors into account can help assess how the team would fare in a task and what is to be done to improve its performance. Step 2: Making the Team and Planning Work Activities The second step to enhancing team performance involves the selection and training of the team and planning the work activities for the team. Selection: To ensure team effectiveness one criterion for selection of members of a team is interpersonal skills. Other criteria would include the member disposition, member skill sets, commitment to goals, and other such factors. This can be done by using the performance measures devised in the first step. Training: The next step would involve training the team in product knowledge, time management; interpersonal skills like listening, assertiveness, and conflict management skills; creativity; meeting deadlines; energy and determination; reporting and administration; personal appearance and image; steadiness under pressure, and such other factors. In addition to receiving training in skills they should be empowered to use

Classical Theories And Crime Prevention Criminology Essay

Classical Theories And Crime Prevention Criminology Essay Crime is one of the greatest challenges the world is experiencing today. Crime rates have continually shot up at the same time taking new dimensions. People faced by the challenges of accomplishing their responsibilities under various economies, environmental situations and mental psychology often end up in committing crime. The society in response to this has stipulated several lawful mechanisms to arrest the situation, punishment being the utmost resolved means. Punishing the criminals without identifying the root cause of the crime does not necessary solve the vice, more approach is directed towards establishment of the why question the individual ended in committing crime. Societies have therefore formulated various criminological theories intended to gauge crime and criminals in passing out sound judgments. Each theory is applied in accordance to its relevance to a particular case since different criminological theories base their arguments on a different societal set up and var ied environmental/social conditions. This paper examines the application of classical choice theories in crime prevention. Introduction Classical choice theory dates back the 18th century and probably forms the bases of other theories too. This school of thought find it context by basing an argument that people are at liberty in decision making and therefore will behave in a manner that best suits their desires (Ambroise, 2006). The theory attributes that crime can be curbed to greater extent if there is a mobilization in societies to avert from getting influenced by their desires and pleasures in taking an action course. Crime can be contained by ensuring that punishment outweighs the pleasures derived from the crime committed (Siegel, 2008). This concept therefore, is a framework that tries to understand the behavior of people, the reasons that drives them in committing crime and various approaches to prevent a person in making choices that leads to crime. This theory was first developed in the 18th century by European philosophers who were criticizing the corrupt and authoritative arbitrary nature of their legal system. The ideas about people and the criminal behavior in determining crime came up when these philosophers were changing the legal system thus referring it as choice theory. On the other hand classical theory is based on arguments that the law should not be discriminative and should be applied equally amongst all (Cullen Agnew, 2006). The other aspect of the classical and choices theory is ground to the fact that human beings have the capacity to control these choices. The fear to the confrontation of the consequences resulting from their behaviors governs their mode of conduct and therefore refrains from criminal activities. Human beings have the ability to analyze situations with regard to their positive outcomes and their potential negatives. If the risks involved in engaging in certain behavior are much less than the benefits, then an individual is likely to commit that crime(Siegel, 2004). According to the philosophers, people act in a rational manner and choose towards their actions that gives them the greatest pleasure and least pain. The concept is equally applicable to the individuals who are involved in criminal activity. The classical theory holds that Delinquent behavior is a rational choice made by a motivated offender who perceives the chances of gain outweighs any perceived punishment or loss (Siegel Senna, 2004, p. 61). It is therefore an individuals choice to commit a crime after considerations of the benefits and possible consequences outcome. The characteristics traits of the offender, nature of the offence, specific factors and situation may affect his/her decision to a point. Psychological state of an individual in relation to emotions, strain and other external pressures is thus considered a contributory factor towards an individual committing a crime (Verma, 2007, p. 2020). The theory advocates that an individual is encouraged to commit a crime on opportunity availability. The classical theory helps to understand demographics, victimization and lifestyle of a process whereby the offender and the victim come into contact with one another. Researchers have identified aspects like being unmarried, male, leading an active lifestyle and frequenting bars can raise the risk of crime committing (Verma, 2007, p. 2020). People can opt to use illegal means in acquiring what they want to achieve if the consequences are not severe compared to the benefits associated with the crime. The society has to ensure that punishments accorded to criminals are severe if it is to achieve tangible results in trying to discourage criminal activities (Adler, Mueller, Laufer, 2004, p. 59). In relation to this, penalties for committing criminal acts must be known to the public, the punishment handed down must be swift and certain (Cullen Agnew, 2006). In the early 1700s, the Europe legal system was in disarray. The laws were open to interpretation and vague where the judges were accorded with a lot of power which they misused in interpreting laws to suit their interests. A penalty for a particular crime varied depending on who was at the receiving end. Equality in law application did not apply: Some criminals could go unpunished for a crime committed while others received a life sentence for the same (Cullen Agnew 2006). It had become the order of the day for the societies in the upper class bribing the judges to go free for offences committed while the poor with no resources to bribe their way out received unconditional harsh punishments. Petty offences like theft resulted to stiff punishments amounting to torture, life imprisonment or murder (Cullen Agnew, 2006). These legal shortcomings fueled a new wave targeting radical reforms in the mid 18th century. In the year the year 1740, Fredric II of Prussia terminated torture to inmates and death sentence for burglary offences in the year 1743 (Ambroise, 2006), a move that was welcomed by many European philosophers. Hobbes, a philosopher believed that people naturally pursue their own interest and in the course harm one another. Further, he asserted that rational individuals give up some freedom to the state willingly so that laws could be established which placed limits in order to prevent this harm from occurring (Cullen Agnew, 2006): A philosophical thought that led changes to criminal justice. Many criminology experts have contributed towards development of the classical and choice theories to make stand relevant to the ever-growing challenges surrounding the field. Much debate has rested on the measure of punishment a particular offence should hold. The purpose of punishment is crime deterrence, not social revenge. Certainty and swiftness rather than severity in punishment best secures this goal (Clear Cole, 2003, p. 33). The level scale of punishment should correspond to the nature of crime, in a proportionate system. This is because criminals are rational in the sense that they calculate the benefits and costs a behavior before action before deciding the action. The notion of Beccarias proportionate punishment is based upon this assumption and indeed this forms the basis of our current criminal justice system (Verma, 2007, p. 202). Classical choice theory emphasizes on the utilization of the resources available to reduce possible crime occurrence by advocating direct solutions to the problem arising from crimes. The verdict applied to the offender is meant to discourage further engagement in similar or associated crimes. By upsetting the balance between the benefits vs. costs, crime occurrence is found to reduce (Campie, 2003). Classical and choice theory application to crime This theory finds application up to date. The current approach is more focused on crime prevention. Policy makers still develop more approaches particularly those that have grounds with evidence and are results based which includes: policing initiatives, gun control tactics, increased incarceration and youth substance abuse and violence reduction strategies (Schuck, 2005, pp. 448-49).The following are some examples where this theory finds application. In an article entitled Giving students what they need, internal and external motivation approaches in the classroom are examined. Â   Student motivation is one of the input most needed for success. Educators wish for their students to be motivated since motivated students perform better. Â   Failure to this, students will possibly do poor work or no work at all, learn little, and frequently show reckless or unruly behaviors. There are two types of motivation-external and internal. Â   External motivation, the proverbial carrot, and stick approach predominates not only in most classrooms but also in the world (Erwin, 2003, p. 20). Â   Nonetheless, this approach is not as successful as internal motivation since it encourages students to work hard only for rewards. The promised reward has to increase once a behavior is achieved. Students do not fight to excel for the right reasons. Â   Internal motivation is a wiser choice for educators to use with students since it helps to fulfill some of the students basic needs. Â   Choice theory by William Glasser explores internal motivation and its impact on relationships. Â   According to Choice Theory, five basic needs constitute the source of internal motivation and guide all behavior (Erwin, 2003, p. 21). Â   Â   Â   Survival is one of the basic needs that our students need to have met. Â   The importance of having the survival need fulfilled is that it allows individuals to feel a sense of order and security. Â   Educators can help fulfill this need in the classroom by developing structured and consistent classroom procedures, allowing students to have snacks and drinks, and creating rules that allow a safe and respected environment (Erwin, 2003, p. 21). Choice theories are among the fastest growing theories in social science today. Many sociologists and political scientists defend the claim that rational choice theory can provide the basis for a unified and comprehensive theory of social behavior. Rational choice theory is distinguished from other theories because it emphasise on the fact all actions are calculative and rational. All social action can be seen as rationally motivated, as instrumental action, however much of it may appear to be irrational or non-rational. Choice Theory would be most beneficial in the reduction or control of crime. According to the Choice Theory, law-violating behavior should be viewed as an event that occurs when an offender decides to risk violating the law after considering his or her own personal situation (need for money, personal values, learning experiences) and the subsequent consequences. Other factors a potential criminal would consider includes: how well a target is protected, how affluent the neighborhood is and how efficient the local police happen to be. Before choosing to commit a crime, the reasoning criminal evaluates the risk of apprehension, the seriousness of the expected punishment, the value of the criminal enterprise, and his or her immediate need for criminal gain (Erwin, 2003). The Choice Theory shift attention to deviant activity or the act of engaging in criminal. The issue becomes, what can be done to make the act of crime or deviance less attractive to an individual, and how can crime or deviant behavior be prevented? The theory claims that crime prevention or at least crime reduction may be achieved through policies that convince criminals to disengage from criminal activities, delay their actions, or avoid a particular target. Strategies that are relevant to this perspective includes: target hardening, deadbolts, self-defense skills, neighborhood and watching programs that are illegal (Siegel, 2008). The theory is among the least complicated explanations for any action and involves a simple cost-benefit analysis. A violent individual gains some benefit from either threatening violence or acting out violently. If he or she does not receive, or fear receiving, some significant punishment, then he or she is more likely to act on his or her drive to act out in a violent manner (Ferguson, 2009). Crime is seductive and opens the door of opportunity. People may rationally choose crime because it provides them with psychological and social benefits and can help them solve problems. Choice Theory roots are based on the classical school of criminology, by Ceasare Beccaria, who viewed that crime is rational and can be prevented by punishment that is swift, certain and severe enough to deter crime. This has lead to a more contemporary version of classical theory, based on intelligent thought processes and criminal decision-making; today this is referred to as the rational choice approach to crime causation (Siegel, 2007). This theoretical perspective suggests that: people have free will to choose criminal or conventional behaviors; people choose to commit crime for reasons of greed or personal need; and crime can be controlled only by the fear of criminal sanctions (Siegel, 2007). Offenders choose crime after considering both personal-money, revenge, thrills, entertainment-and situational factors, such as target availability, security measures and police presence (Siegel, 2007). The choice theorists view crime as offense- and offender-specific; and that a number of personal factors condition people to choose crime; and the decision to commit crime regardless of its substance, is structured by where it occurs and the circumstances revolving the offender and the environment (Siegel, 2007). New and tougher laws are now being put in place to bring the crime rate down. With this reflection, the U.S public policy of 1980 created a mandatory prison sentences for drug offenders. Surprisingly, the prisons population swelled up with minors constituting a considerable figure (Schmallager, 2006). Despite liberal anguish, conservative view of crime control shaped criminal justice for a lengthy period. Most Americans that were passionate opponents of abortion on the ground that it takes human life, became ironically ardent supporters of the death penalty (Siegel, 2008) The tough attitude measures was overwhelmingly supported owing the fact that while the prisons were getting overcrowded, crime was on the other hand was noted to be on the decline. These developments saw the classical theories take another advanced dimension. The newer approach is based on intelligent thought processes and criminal decision making. Experts in criminology ascertain that the choice theory is in a way different from the original classical theory which posed criminals as individuals who maximized their pleasure and minimized pain. These experts suggest that if individuals are caught while committing crime, it is because they are slow thinkers and are not perfect in their decision making. The causative factors influencing a crime are therefore extended to thought and emotion processes. Social relationship, environmental characteristics, individual traits and capabilities have also been found to impact criminals in decision making. Human behavior in making their choices is therefore willful and determined (Schmallager, 2006). The latest developments have described criminals as people who share profile and ambitions just as the normal citizens but have opted to use shortcuts in achieving their goals. They possess conventional citizens values strive for success, material attainment and work hard. Phillipe Bourgois in his study towards crack dealers in Harlem found that criminal lead a life where they were mobile, and struggling to make their ends meet: They only commit crime as a choice to use an illegal path in obtaining their goals that were deemed elusive using the legal way (Siegel, 2008). Crime has become attractive when an individual believes that its results is more beneficial compared to the cost. Their is a tendency for individuals engaging in a crime when they have a prior information that other who committed a similar crime made considerable achievements and are successful owing a crime previous committed. It is common that crime does not pay. Small but significant subsets of criminals earn as much as $50,000 yearly on crime. Such success is an encouraging factor to potential criminals. Offenders are however less likely to be inclined to committing crime if they perceive that their future earnings from criminal acts will be low and legal opportunities that can generate income are available. In this sense, rational choice is a function of a persons perceptions of conventional alternatives and opportunities (Siegel, 2008). The various authorities therefore have to keep tracking the employment level demands and creating more opportunities with considerable remunera tions. The job offers should be attractive so that it captures many individuals who would possibly engage in crime if there were no such offers. Criminals tend to adapt the rational choice of time and place of their crimes. Burglars for example prefer working between 9A.M and 11A.M and in the mid afternoon, when parents are either working or dropping off or picking their kids from school. They avoid Saturdays when most families are at home, and the morning hours of Sunday. Church hours are considered the best for weekend burglaries. Criminals are known to identify their targets hobbies so as to strike when the families are out for such outdoor hobbies. These activities are meant to create the least possible chances of being caught (Siegel, 2008). Family living in close neighborhoods can limits the access to their homes by disconnecting the subdivision from the adjacent ones and install walkways to locations safe to pedestrians, and to create bounds for them. Evidence of rational choice may also be found in the way criminals choose their targets locations. It has been noted that thieves avoid free standing buildings as there is likelihood of police surrounding them. They select targets that often do cash business like bars, supermarkets and restaurants. Burglars appear to monitor car and pedestrian traffic and avoid busy streets. Instead, they choose corner homes mostly those located near traffic lights, or those surrounded by wooded areas. Most burglars choose their neighborhood where they are conversant with the terrain and access roads. New location is only chosen when the target is worth and the law enforcers are not perceived to be very vigilant (Siegel, 2008). It is recommended that residents adopt the method of natural surveillance that advocates that: door is fully illuminated from outside and windows to be laced strategically for good visibility. If proper lighting system is placed along sidewalks and the entire yard in generals, thieves and burglars would lack the opportunity of striking in unnoticed. Commercial areas can be designed such a way that, check-out counters are located in front of the stores visible from the outside enabling the employees to view outside activities. Public entrances can be marked with a landscape, architecture and graphic to designate sidewalks, parking areas and design loading zones separately with designated delivery hours. Conclusion Classical choice theories concludes that the choice to engage in a criminal behavior is based on the offenders own interests. It is therefore in position to assert that most offenders act rationally and in their personal best interests. With this understanding of the decision making mechanism behind committing crime and in relation to criminal justice, professionals may be able to reduce crime level to a grater extent. This can only be achieved by making crime less attractive and the punishment more severe, swift to justice so that potential criminals get discouraged in engaging with the acts. Crime prevention can be used to propel the agencies responsible in enforcing city and county codes to help identify problem areas and properties that are crime risks or could become future crime risks. Factors that attract crime and violence like improper zoning, trash accumulation should be eliminated to reduce future victimization.

jackie robinson Essay -- essays research papers

The grandson of a slave, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia; he was the youngest of five children. Jackie grew up very poor, but little did he know that his athletic ability would open the doors for his future. After his father deserted the family when Jackie was six months old, his mother, Mallie Robinson, moved the family to California in search of work. California also subjected blacks to segregation at that time, but to less of a degree than in the Deep South. The young Jackie defused his anger over this prejudice by immersing himself in sports. He displayed extraordinary athletic skills in high school, excelling at football, basketball, baseball, and track. After helping Pasadena Junior College win the Junior College Football Championship, Robinson took his athletic ability to the University of California at Los Angeles and became a top collegiate running back in 1939. Having used up his athletic eligibility, as well as having some financial trouble, Robinson left UCLA before graduating. After college he held a job with the National Youth Administration work camp until the camp was closed due to the onset of World War II. In the fall of 1941 he joined the Honolulu Bears professional football team. In 1942, Jackie Robinson was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was accepted into Officer Candidate School in Ft. Riley, Kansas and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in January 1943. While stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas, Robinson worked with heavyweight champion Joe Louis to eradicate unfair treatment of blacks in the military. However, inequities would persist in the armed forces for decades to come. He was later transferred to Ft. Hood, Texas where an incident in which he refused to move to the back of the bus found Court Martial charges brought up against him. He was found innocent, but was honorably discharged in 1944 on the grounds that his ankles had been weakened during his years of playing football. Robinson joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League in 1945 for a reported $450 a month. Although he soon became one of the league's top players, he was not fond of the low pay and relentless traveling and apparently had no intention of making baseball a career. That attitude was changed due to the efforts of Brooklyn Dodger president Branch Rickey. Starting in 1943, Rickey had been searching for a black playe... ...ckie Robinson’s debut. On that day, Major League Baseball announced that the number forty two would be retired throughout the Major League, an event that was symbolic of the impact that Robinson had on baseball. Jackie Robinson always went his own way, answering to his own instincts and refusing to be swayed by those who objected to his choices. He never took for granted his role as a trailblazer in the integration of sports and the opening of opportunities for blacks in the United States. By being a man with incredible physical skills, mental fortitude, and competitive fire who arrived in the right place and at the right time in history, Robinson had a major impact on the black struggle for equality in the twentieth century. Jackie Robinson's signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers was the most significant event to occur in baseball since World War II. Although Robinson may not have been the best athlete in the Negro Leagues it was his overall character, education, and social upbringing that appealed to Branch Rickey. Collectively, they paved the way for integrating the game, allowing some of the greatest players to participate who had previously been restricted to their own league.

Starbucks Case Study

Starbucks in 2004: Driving for Global Dominance Strategic Management STRA 703 Assignment Prepared by: Sherif Hendi (M1100758) Presented to: Dr. Gamal Shehata Questions Q. NO. 1 What are the key elements of Starbucks strategy as of 2004? (What is the store concept, the customer offerings and differentiators? The expansion strategy? The financial strategy? The personnel management and social responsibilities? Conduct a five forces analysis? ) Q. No. 02 What was the original strategic vision and objectives and how did they evolve? What is your opinion of Starbucks’ mission statement? What grade would you give Howard Schultz for his job as the CEO Starbucks and why? Q. No. 3 What is your assessment of Starbucks financial performance during years 1998-2003? (Growth rates, profitability, control of major cost categories, financing, ROE, and P/E ratio? ) Q. No. 04 What were the key issues faced by Starbucks in 2004? Q. No. 05 What recommendations would you make to Howard Schultz to sustain the company growth and support strong financial performance in the years ahead? Q. NO. 1 What are the key elements of Starbucks strategy as of 2004? ANS: Key Elements of Starbucks’ Strategy Starbucks adopted a lot of innovative strategies throughout its journey from 1971 to 2004. These strategies in brief are as follows:- * The restaurant/store concept * The offering of Innovative product line * Differentiation from competition * National and international expansion * Distribution channels (Pepsi partnership/online store/Dreyer partnership) * Efficient Financial management (Centralized Information Systems) * Capitalizing on enhancing the people element * Engaging in social responsibility programs (CARE). Competitive Advantages or Differentiators Their differentiating elements are as follows:- They were the pioneers to introduce espresso bar idea in USA * Mail order sales * Word of mouth marketing * Employee motivation strategies to attain improved employee commitment * Convenient distribution channels * Introducing chemical free cultivation process. Q. No. 02 What grade would you give Howard Schultz for the job he has done as CEO of Starbucks? Be prepared to support you r answer based on how well (or not so well) he has performed the five tasks of strategic management discussed in Chapter 2. ANS: Howard Shultz gets a grade of 95% in his Strategic Management approach. In my opinion Howard Shultz just didn’t do perfect in the area of marketing as he did not spend adequate budgets on advertising and product innovation. Last but not the least is that he did not attempt to study the environment properly while entering into new geographical areas e. g. he opened a store down street in Chicago which was not a good idea due to cold weather conditions. Other than that, he made a great task of performing all the five tasks of Strategic Management Q. No. 3 What was Howard Schultz’s original strategic vision for Starbucks? Is his present strategic vision for Starbucks different from the one he had in the 1980s? How many times has his strategic vision changed? Is his present strategic vision likely to undergo further evolution? ANS: Howard Shultz original Strategic Vision â€Å"To establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world. † Strategic Objectives * They wanted to have 15,000 stores by the year-end 2005. * They aimed to provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity. * They believed in taking on diversity as an essential component in the way they do business. * To apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of coffee. To develop loyal and satisfied customers all of the time. * To contribute positively to their communities and environment, and recognize that profitability is essential to future success of business. How did they evolve? At the earlier stages they promised themselves that they will not leave even a single stone unturned to make Starbucks the most recognized and re spected brand in the world. Therefore, they thought that this could only be possible if they will develop these strategic objectives because these are basis to earn the respect and fame for any business. Q. No. 3 What is your assessment of Starbucks financial performance during years 1998-2003? (Growth rates, profitability, control of major cost categories, financing, ROE, and P/E ratio? ) Growth Rate| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Growth rate| 0| 0. 2889| 0. 29095| 0. 2164| 0. 2415| 0. 2391| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Profitability| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Operating profit margin | 8. 34| 9. 29| 9. 4| 10. 57| 9. 6183| 10. 42| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ROE| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Return on equity| 8. 6| 1. 58| 8. 23| 13. 1| 18. 35| 12| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Price Per Earning Share| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Price Per Earning Share| 0. 19| 0. 27| 0. 24| 0. 46| 0. 54| 0. 67| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Control of Major Cost Categories In this portion we have analyzed that how Starbucks controlled its fixed cost. If we talk about the locations, it was very expensive to purchase land and then develop it as a store, so to overcome this problem Starbucks started leasing the land for long term periods. In our opinion, it was a quit impressive move to cut down its fixed cost. Secondly they observed that to get the license was too costly for them, so they made contracts with the partners who had license with them. Financing For the financing, Starbucks instead of taking loans preferred raising the equity. It was a better idea to generate capital because they did not have to pay any short term and long term interests against the borrowings. Q. No. 04 What were the key issues faced by Starbucks in 2004? Every company faces major challenges, even companies that are as successful as Starbucks. Although they have an outstanding reputation, have won many awards like top sustainable retail store award and most ethical company award etc, and even give back to their community, they are still facing challenges like any other company. Following are the most obvious challenges that Starbucks is dealing with:- * Schultz was overflowing with the ideas for the company, early on he noticed that first-time customers sometimes felt uneasy in the stores because of their lack of knowledge about fine coffees and because store employees sometimes came across as a little arrogant or superior to coffee beginner. Howard Schultz when came back from Italy shared his ideas for modifying the format of Starbucks’ store with Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. But instead of winning approval for trying out some of his ideas, Schultz encountered strong resistance but after a year Schultz succeeded in winning the approval from Baldwin and Bowker. * After sometime Baldwin and Bowker again went against th e ideas of Schultz so he became so frustrated and left Starbucks in late 1985 to open his own separate Espresso Bars in high-traffic down town locations. Schultz acquired Starbucks in 1987 and after the 20 months of acquiring, some employees felt unappreciated that there was a feeling of prior management had abandoned them. So, Schultz decided to make building a new relationship of mutual respect between employees and management. * Starbucks lost its money when it expanded market to Chicago because in Chicago that was the first downtown store opened on to the street rather than into the lobby of the building where it was located; in the winter months, customers were hesitant to go out in the wind and cold to acquire a cup of coffee. It was expensive to supply fresh coffee to the Chicago stores from Seattle warehouse. * The challenge to Starbucks, in Schultz view, was how to attract, motivate, and reward store employees in a manner that would make Starbucks a company that people would want to work for and that would generate enthusiastic commitment and higher level of customer service. * A values and principles â€Å"crisis† arose at Starbucks in 1989 when customers starting requesting nonfat milk in making Cappuccinos and lattes (an espresso coffee with frothy steamed milk) So, Starbucks started selling both fat milk and nonfat milk Cappuccinos and lattes. They were facing the issue of Wi-Fi (wireless internet service) in 2002, the number of accesses was in the millions by T-Mobile; internal research showed that the average connection last approximately 45 minutes So, in October 2003, Starbucks announced that they will expand Wi-Fi capability to additional locations and would have 2700 stores equipped wit h wireless Internet access by year end. * They were also facing challenges from their competitors. In 2003 there were an estimated 14000 specialty coffee outlets in the United States but they were not competent enough to exert pressure at Starbucks. Q. No. 05 What recommendations would you make to Howard Schultz to sustain the company growth and support strong financial performance in the years ahead? Recommendations After analyzing the whole case study, we became able to give few suggestions to Howard Schultz which can be handy to sustain the growth and support strong financial performance in the forthcoming years:- * He should spend more budgets on advertisement of products. He should bring innovations in his products because we saw in this case study that he was inspired by espresso bars so he imitated the whole theme of Italian espresso bars and the idea of dark roasted bean was an older one as well. * Before entering to any new geographical region he should study the market environment of that particular region as we saw that at Chicago there was an issue of cold weather and his store was at down-town-street. Furthermore, the labor rates and rents of building were higher as well. * At the stores Starbucks’ technique to teach customers about how to make coffee was not a good idea ecause it does not support their business model. Therefore, it should be avoided in future. Above elaborated things were having details about the strategies of Starbucks which drove it for the Global dominance till 2004. Starbucks is in fact the recognized and respected brand in the world and if it can overcome the shortcomings which we identified then nobody can create bother for it to be successful and there will be no point left as a mistake on its part. Reference www. starbucks. com Case Study â€Å"Starbucks in 2004: Driving for Global Dominance† written by Arthur A. Thompson, Amit J. Shah and Thomas F. Hawk. Starbucks Case Study Conner A Intro to Business 3/26/2013 Case Study Consumer Behavior in the Coffee Industry Did you know one franchise alone dominated an entire payment-processing market in just one year? You might have heard of this giant company by the name Starbucks. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, had a significant role in the company’s growth. Starbucks has steadily dominated the coffee market and has even extended to being a 3rd home for many of its consumers. Based in Seattle, Starbucks had significant competition when it opened its first store in the Pike Place market in Seattle, yet still managed to become superior.Starbucks used new advertising tactics and presented a unique experience for its customers, all of which was a game changer in the business world. Starbucks was created when three friends opened a small store to sell coffee beans and roast in 1971[1]. Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowler and Zev Siegl opened their store in the heart of the unique open air market in downtown Seattle . Located just off the harbor, Pike place market was the optimal location and attracted many residents and tourists.After ten years of incredible growth, Jerry Baldwin hired Howard Schultz as head of management. When Schultz first started, he slowly learned the coffee industry and helped made subtle but significant changes. For example, Schultz noticed that â€Å"first-time customers sometimes felt uneasy in the stores†[2] so he developed â€Å"customer-friendly sales skills and produced brochures that made it easy for customers to learn about fine coffees†2 Schultz had the vision of making Starbucks a coffee lounge versus a bar after being inspired by eastern traditions.Even though he did not agree with the new direction, Baldwin allowed Schultz to open one espresso bar and in 2 years, Schultz was able to buy out Baldwin and equity owners with the help of investors in 19921. Howard Schultz initially saw the power of consumer behavior early on when he realized Starbuck s began to be a social gathering mecca for people instead of just an espresso stand. When Schultz first noticed the ‘seismic change in consumer behavior,’ he adopted a free-Wi-Fi service and mobile payment service and noticed that Starbucks began to attract people as if it was a third home for coffee enthusiasts.Although he jokes about not getting rent from consumers, it allowed Starbucks to create an online-experience in their ‘3rd home’ which was unique to the coffee scene in the United States. With scheduled deliveries and privatized ad networking, Starbucks was maximizing its profits and allowing an experience for coffee enthusiasts that did not make them feel locked-into paying. This shift in consumer behavior was in response to the cultural need for a place between home and work. As social beings, humans thrive for an excuse to hang out and socialize or participate in a community environment.This amazing experience that Starbucks supplied needed to be fine-tuned like any business plan. Like any business, Starbucks had challenges, such as their management of spending. In an interview entitled Business Brilliant, Schultz said that too much was focused on the customer instead of the infrastructure. To improve this, Schultz developed a unique experience in the store with the paired pastry-drinks and released free Wi-Fi for customers. In addition to free-Wi-Fi, mobile payments allowed consumers to avoid lines and continue their private work in the confines of the lounge.Soon Starbucks was thriving and announced that â€Å"the opening of 150 new stores in five years significantly exceeded the 1987 business plan’s objective of 125†[3]. Like every company, Starbucks faced unique issues in their business which slowed down growth initially which in effect slowed down growth in the long run. Schultz attributed the biggest hold-back in the long run to not investing in the supply chain, technology or manufacturing. Although Sta rbucks was marketing their franchise extremely well, they did not invest ahead of the growth curve and the infrastructures became under-par.In the Business Brilliant, Schultz candidly admitted that Starbucks â€Å"solely accelerated growth of the company. † Moreover, Schultz said the issue was that Starbucks â€Å"needed competency well beyond the size of the company and needed the kind of capability they didn’t have. † Since their infrastructure’s efficiency in the short run was hindered by technological limitations coupled with access to capital, the entire store chains needed to be shut down. Schultz defined the event as a need to redesign their image and retrain their employees.Starbucks was losing grip on the customers and their loyalty because the experience of Starbucks was losing its unique features. All of these internal and external issues that Starbucks was facing were all connected with values and company image according to Schultz. Schultz wa s so specific with the Starbucks experience that when he smelt burning cheese in a store he decided to ask the workers and they told him â€Å"So what, profits are up! † Soon after this, Schultz decided to close down and retrain all stores and employees. He sent out a press release admitting that Starbucks was misrepresenting itself.Although no one had accused or criticized Starbuck’s prior to his declaration, it was a bold move which negatively impacted the financial strength of the Company. However, the action proved loyal to the consumer and enhanced brand loyalty for Starbuck-addicts. This root issue of misrepresentation in the Starbuck’s experience and the company vision was so significant to Schultz that he needed rework his company from the ground up. This road block of ‘conserving the core businesses’ and ‘pushing for relevant innovation’ made Schultz tweak and adjust the Starbucks experience constantly but effectively.While Sch ultz attributes the root issue for Starbucks to be company image and adapting core values, could it be possible that the vision and image were not correctly portrayed because of unwise funding? Schultz does admit the funding issues contributed to the core issue of misrepresentation of company image and values, but he does not see the two issues in separate environments. Schultz assigns the core issue to misrepresentation and the surface symptoms to be funding. However, more funding or a different funding plan with more focus in infrastructure would have changed the outcome.The core issue was funding and the symptoms of the core issues were misrepresentation because of resource allocation. While their short term fixed costs of infrastructure and labor were solved, their reserved and recurring allocation towards the upgrades of their infrastructure lacked significantly. If properly funded before and seen ahead of the curve, their growth could have been anticipated. This is evident thr ough the need to shut down and retrain employees. It’s clear that the total fixed and variable costs exceeded their revenue initially.Like all companies, there was a start-up curve but when the curve was dealt with, resource allocation was not the focus. The best plan of action ideally would start with addressing resource allocation. Starbucks was able to stay in business and have great growth so it’s clear the management was able to properly allocate their average variable costs and fixed costs for the most part. Nevertheless, it would have been best if the costs were optimized and revenue was set aside for changes in infrastructure. Funding should have been directed at things which would have produced stability in the long run.This would have lowered their total costs and properly funded their infrastructures for the long run and short run. Schultz should have looked at the management immediately after buying out the company and properly hired people with skills that would be able to guide Starbucks through significant growth. Investment in infrastructure to avoid long-term costs would have saved Starbucks from funding issues at later times. In addition to optimizing their infrastructure for the long run, Starbucks needed to invest more in manufacturing and supply chain for the success in the long run.For example, Starbucks should have initially allocated more funding towards small upgrades in their infrastructure such as ovens versus microwaves to avoid unpleasant scents in the customer’s experience. This also connects to Schultz’s emphasis on hiring employees and affiliates based on similar values. If the decision to hire those employees would have initially been more focused on similar values in addition to management skills, the variable costs to upgrade the infrastructure in the long run would have been lower because the management would have been more motivated to deal with the issue before the CEO had to see the symptoms.Fi nally, the management of Starbucks needed to choose their employee’s more wisely from the start. If Schultz would have chosen his employee’s based on the similarity of their values and the company vision, little issues such as smell in the customer’s experience would have been dealt with more efficiently. This connects to optimizing their infrastructure but focuses on the employees instead of the technology. It’s important to treat both with separate solutions because Schultz reminded us that the employees can only work with the assets they are provided with.This small change in the focus of the start-up of the company could benefit the image of Starbucks very efficiently and in a cost-productive way. Schultz jokes about not getting rent from Starbucks admirers yet he also notes that the potential to plug into the social media of the internet and create the environment was more beneficial than the issue of customers hanging out inside the store. The evolv ing Starbucks experience caused consumers to have incredible brand loyalty over alternatives such as Pete’s Coffee and Tea and Tullies.Yet the quick and agile response of technology was exactly what Starbucks needed to put it ahead of the ‘growth curve’ in social media while its competitors struggled behind. Schultz’s solutions were effective in the short run but he still realized his long run potential was limited by resource allocation. The problem with Starbucks and consumers was not the shift in demand for coffee consumers but it was resource allocation and initial planning. Howard Schultz’s plan of action was headed in the right direction apart from the minor mix-up between the surface symptoms and the core issue.In addition to new work practices, Schultz integrated new management and had to let go many of the people he knew were limited to the knowledge of the short-term. This new resource allocation towards what Schultz called ‘the back side’ of the company, allowed the company to finally resolve its funding and allocation issues. The new plan of action consisted of hiring new employees and investing in infrastructure to anticipate growth and new forms of technology; the poor management habits of the past from would not hinder Starbucks in the future.Similar to my suggested plan of action, Schultz’s initiative consisted of new employee’s, new technology and investing in the short term. If Schultz’s would have put more funding towards infrastructure to bring stability in the long run, he would have been able to manage the shift in consumer behavior and maintain profit without the need to close down the stores for retraining. The issue for Starbucks is not losing customers but how to accurately represent the company’s values. Moreover, if the employees were chosen correctly and the infrastructure was properly optimized, Schultz plan would have worked perfectly.All in all, every comp any in any industry is going to face challenges and have limited resources to meet them in an efficient manner. Howard Schultz used the resources he had to best manage Starbucks and handled the big issues he had efficiently and creatively. The future of Starbucks all depends on its management and commitment to adhering to the company vision and values. After experiencing the 2000-2008 period, one can see that the values will inevitably shift with changes in management. 4] The future of Starbucks is highly dependent on how long Howard Schultz continues to be an active part of the company and in shaping its vision. If affiliates and employees are chosen intelligently and have values matched properly with the company’s mission, Starbucks’s vision should be passed down effectively through each generation of new management. Nevertheless, the rise and fall of competitors in a market is inevitable and time will tell if Starbucks will eventually be surpassed by a competitor. S tarbucks will be a primary educational focus for many business programs.It is one of the best managed franchises in history and will remain one of the most successful for a long period of time. Like any business, Schultz received criticism for extreme responses yet these responses excelled the growth of the company. Much like my suggestions, Schultz acted quickly and made extreme changes which were crucial to repairing the infrastructure. Unlike most companies, Starbucks’s major focus is promoting the company image and values instead of putting profits first. Works Cited I. Schiff, Lewis. â€Å"Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Coming to NYC. Inc. com. INC, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. II. â€Å"Starbucks Corporation History. † History of Starbucks Corporation – FundingUniverse. Funding Universe, n. d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. III. McGraw Hill. â€Å"Starbucks Corporation. † Starbucks Case Study. MHHE. com, n. d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. ———†”———– [1] Funding Universe, Starbucks Corporate History [2] McGraw Hill, Starbucks Case Study, Starbucks Corporate History [3] McGraw Hill, Starbucks Case Study, Starbucks Corporate History [4] Funding Universe, Starbucks Corporation History Starbucks Case Study Starbucks in 2004: Driving for Global Dominance Strategic Management STRA 703 Assignment Prepared by: Sherif Hendi (M1100758) Presented to: Dr. Gamal Shehata Questions Q. NO. 1 What are the key elements of Starbucks strategy as of 2004? (What is the store concept, the customer offerings and differentiators? The expansion strategy? The financial strategy? The personnel management and social responsibilities? Conduct a five forces analysis? ) Q. No. 02 What was the original strategic vision and objectives and how did they evolve? What is your opinion of Starbucks’ mission statement? What grade would you give Howard Schultz for his job as the CEO Starbucks and why? Q. No. 3 What is your assessment of Starbucks financial performance during years 1998-2003? (Growth rates, profitability, control of major cost categories, financing, ROE, and P/E ratio? ) Q. No. 04 What were the key issues faced by Starbucks in 2004? Q. No. 05 What recommendations would you make to Howard Schultz to sustain the company growth and support strong financial performance in the years ahead? Q. NO. 1 What are the key elements of Starbucks strategy as of 2004? ANS: Key Elements of Starbucks’ Strategy Starbucks adopted a lot of innovative strategies throughout its journey from 1971 to 2004. These strategies in brief are as follows:- * The restaurant/store concept * The offering of Innovative product line * Differentiation from competition * National and international expansion * Distribution channels (Pepsi partnership/online store/Dreyer partnership) * Efficient Financial management (Centralized Information Systems) * Capitalizing on enhancing the people element * Engaging in social responsibility programs (CARE). Competitive Advantages or Differentiators Their differentiating elements are as follows:- They were the pioneers to introduce espresso bar idea in USA * Mail order sales * Word of mouth marketing * Employee motivation strategies to attain improved employee commitment * Convenient distribution channels * Introducing chemical free cultivation process. Q. No. 02 What grade would you give Howard Schultz for the job he has done as CEO of Starbucks? Be prepared to support you r answer based on how well (or not so well) he has performed the five tasks of strategic management discussed in Chapter 2. ANS: Howard Shultz gets a grade of 95% in his Strategic Management approach. In my opinion Howard Shultz just didn’t do perfect in the area of marketing as he did not spend adequate budgets on advertising and product innovation. Last but not the least is that he did not attempt to study the environment properly while entering into new geographical areas e. g. he opened a store down street in Chicago which was not a good idea due to cold weather conditions. Other than that, he made a great task of performing all the five tasks of Strategic Management Q. No. 3 What was Howard Schultz’s original strategic vision for Starbucks? Is his present strategic vision for Starbucks different from the one he had in the 1980s? How many times has his strategic vision changed? Is his present strategic vision likely to undergo further evolution? ANS: Howard Shultz original Strategic Vision â€Å"To establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world. † Strategic Objectives * They wanted to have 15,000 stores by the year-end 2005. * They aimed to provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity. * They believed in taking on diversity as an essential component in the way they do business. * To apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of coffee. To develop loyal and satisfied customers all of the time. * To contribute positively to their communities and environment, and recognize that profitability is essential to future success of business. How did they evolve? At the earlier stages they promised themselves that they will not leave even a single stone unturned to make Starbucks the most recognized and re spected brand in the world. Therefore, they thought that this could only be possible if they will develop these strategic objectives because these are basis to earn the respect and fame for any business. Q. No. 3 What is your assessment of Starbucks financial performance during years 1998-2003? (Growth rates, profitability, control of major cost categories, financing, ROE, and P/E ratio? ) Growth Rate| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Growth rate| 0| 0. 2889| 0. 29095| 0. 2164| 0. 2415| 0. 2391| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Profitability| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Operating profit margin | 8. 34| 9. 29| 9. 4| 10. 57| 9. 6183| 10. 42| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ROE| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Return on equity| 8. 6| 1. 58| 8. 23| 13. 1| 18. 35| 12| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Price Per Earning Share| Years| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| Price Per Earning Share| 0. 19| 0. 27| 0. 24| 0. 46| 0. 54| 0. 67| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Control of Major Cost Categories In this portion we have analyzed that how Starbucks controlled its fixed cost. If we talk about the locations, it was very expensive to purchase land and then develop it as a store, so to overcome this problem Starbucks started leasing the land for long term periods. In our opinion, it was a quit impressive move to cut down its fixed cost. Secondly they observed that to get the license was too costly for them, so they made contracts with the partners who had license with them. Financing For the financing, Starbucks instead of taking loans preferred raising the equity. It was a better idea to generate capital because they did not have to pay any short term and long term interests against the borrowings. Q. No. 04 What were the key issues faced by Starbucks in 2004? Every company faces major challenges, even companies that are as successful as Starbucks. Although they have an outstanding reputation, have won many awards like top sustainable retail store award and most ethical company award etc, and even give back to their community, they are still facing challenges like any other company. Following are the most obvious challenges that Starbucks is dealing with:- * Schultz was overflowing with the ideas for the company, early on he noticed that first-time customers sometimes felt uneasy in the stores because of their lack of knowledge about fine coffees and because store employees sometimes came across as a little arrogant or superior to coffee beginner. Howard Schultz when came back from Italy shared his ideas for modifying the format of Starbucks’ store with Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. But instead of winning approval for trying out some of his ideas, Schultz encountered strong resistance but after a year Schultz succeeded in winning the approval from Baldwin and Bowker. * After sometime Baldwin and Bowker again went against th e ideas of Schultz so he became so frustrated and left Starbucks in late 1985 to open his own separate Espresso Bars in high-traffic down town locations. Schultz acquired Starbucks in 1987 and after the 20 months of acquiring, some employees felt unappreciated that there was a feeling of prior management had abandoned them. So, Schultz decided to make building a new relationship of mutual respect between employees and management. * Starbucks lost its money when it expanded market to Chicago because in Chicago that was the first downtown store opened on to the street rather than into the lobby of the building where it was located; in the winter months, customers were hesitant to go out in the wind and cold to acquire a cup of coffee. It was expensive to supply fresh coffee to the Chicago stores from Seattle warehouse. * The challenge to Starbucks, in Schultz view, was how to attract, motivate, and reward store employees in a manner that would make Starbucks a company that people would want to work for and that would generate enthusiastic commitment and higher level of customer service. * A values and principles â€Å"crisis† arose at Starbucks in 1989 when customers starting requesting nonfat milk in making Cappuccinos and lattes (an espresso coffee with frothy steamed milk) So, Starbucks started selling both fat milk and nonfat milk Cappuccinos and lattes. They were facing the issue of Wi-Fi (wireless internet service) in 2002, the number of accesses was in the millions by T-Mobile; internal research showed that the average connection last approximately 45 minutes So, in October 2003, Starbucks announced that they will expand Wi-Fi capability to additional locations and would have 2700 stores equipped wit h wireless Internet access by year end. * They were also facing challenges from their competitors. In 2003 there were an estimated 14000 specialty coffee outlets in the United States but they were not competent enough to exert pressure at Starbucks. Q. No. 05 What recommendations would you make to Howard Schultz to sustain the company growth and support strong financial performance in the years ahead? Recommendations After analyzing the whole case study, we became able to give few suggestions to Howard Schultz which can be handy to sustain the growth and support strong financial performance in the forthcoming years:- * He should spend more budgets on advertisement of products. He should bring innovations in his products because we saw in this case study that he was inspired by espresso bars so he imitated the whole theme of Italian espresso bars and the idea of dark roasted bean was an older one as well. * Before entering to any new geographical region he should study the market environment of that particular region as we saw that at Chicago there was an issue of cold weather and his store was at down-town-street. Furthermore, the labor rates and rents of building were higher as well. * At the stores Starbucks’ technique to teach customers about how to make coffee was not a good idea ecause it does not support their business model. Therefore, it should be avoided in future. Above elaborated things were having details about the strategies of Starbucks which drove it for the Global dominance till 2004. Starbucks is in fact the recognized and respected brand in the world and if it can overcome the shortcomings which we identified then nobody can create bother for it to be successful and there will be no point left as a mistake on its part. Reference www. starbucks. com Case Study â€Å"Starbucks in 2004: Driving for Global Dominance† written by Arthur A. Thompson, Amit J. Shah and Thomas F. Hawk. Starbucks Case Study Conner A Intro to Business 3/26/2013 Case Study Consumer Behavior in the Coffee Industry Did you know one franchise alone dominated an entire payment-processing market in just one year? You might have heard of this giant company by the name Starbucks. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, had a significant role in the company’s growth. Starbucks has steadily dominated the coffee market and has even extended to being a 3rd home for many of its consumers. Based in Seattle, Starbucks had significant competition when it opened its first store in the Pike Place market in Seattle, yet still managed to become superior.Starbucks used new advertising tactics and presented a unique experience for its customers, all of which was a game changer in the business world. Starbucks was created when three friends opened a small store to sell coffee beans and roast in 1971[1]. Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowler and Zev Siegl opened their store in the heart of the unique open air market in downtown Seattle . Located just off the harbor, Pike place market was the optimal location and attracted many residents and tourists.After ten years of incredible growth, Jerry Baldwin hired Howard Schultz as head of management. When Schultz first started, he slowly learned the coffee industry and helped made subtle but significant changes. For example, Schultz noticed that â€Å"first-time customers sometimes felt uneasy in the stores†[2] so he developed â€Å"customer-friendly sales skills and produced brochures that made it easy for customers to learn about fine coffees†2 Schultz had the vision of making Starbucks a coffee lounge versus a bar after being inspired by eastern traditions.Even though he did not agree with the new direction, Baldwin allowed Schultz to open one espresso bar and in 2 years, Schultz was able to buy out Baldwin and equity owners with the help of investors in 19921. Howard Schultz initially saw the power of consumer behavior early on when he realized Starbuck s began to be a social gathering mecca for people instead of just an espresso stand. When Schultz first noticed the ‘seismic change in consumer behavior,’ he adopted a free-Wi-Fi service and mobile payment service and noticed that Starbucks began to attract people as if it was a third home for coffee enthusiasts.Although he jokes about not getting rent from consumers, it allowed Starbucks to create an online-experience in their ‘3rd home’ which was unique to the coffee scene in the United States. With scheduled deliveries and privatized ad networking, Starbucks was maximizing its profits and allowing an experience for coffee enthusiasts that did not make them feel locked-into paying. This shift in consumer behavior was in response to the cultural need for a place between home and work. As social beings, humans thrive for an excuse to hang out and socialize or participate in a community environment.This amazing experience that Starbucks supplied needed to be fine-tuned like any business plan. Like any business, Starbucks had challenges, such as their management of spending. In an interview entitled Business Brilliant, Schultz said that too much was focused on the customer instead of the infrastructure. To improve this, Schultz developed a unique experience in the store with the paired pastry-drinks and released free Wi-Fi for customers. In addition to free-Wi-Fi, mobile payments allowed consumers to avoid lines and continue their private work in the confines of the lounge.Soon Starbucks was thriving and announced that â€Å"the opening of 150 new stores in five years significantly exceeded the 1987 business plan’s objective of 125†[3]. Like every company, Starbucks faced unique issues in their business which slowed down growth initially which in effect slowed down growth in the long run. Schultz attributed the biggest hold-back in the long run to not investing in the supply chain, technology or manufacturing. Although Sta rbucks was marketing their franchise extremely well, they did not invest ahead of the growth curve and the infrastructures became under-par.In the Business Brilliant, Schultz candidly admitted that Starbucks â€Å"solely accelerated growth of the company. † Moreover, Schultz said the issue was that Starbucks â€Å"needed competency well beyond the size of the company and needed the kind of capability they didn’t have. † Since their infrastructure’s efficiency in the short run was hindered by technological limitations coupled with access to capital, the entire store chains needed to be shut down. Schultz defined the event as a need to redesign their image and retrain their employees.Starbucks was losing grip on the customers and their loyalty because the experience of Starbucks was losing its unique features. All of these internal and external issues that Starbucks was facing were all connected with values and company image according to Schultz. Schultz wa s so specific with the Starbucks experience that when he smelt burning cheese in a store he decided to ask the workers and they told him â€Å"So what, profits are up! † Soon after this, Schultz decided to close down and retrain all stores and employees. He sent out a press release admitting that Starbucks was misrepresenting itself.Although no one had accused or criticized Starbuck’s prior to his declaration, it was a bold move which negatively impacted the financial strength of the Company. However, the action proved loyal to the consumer and enhanced brand loyalty for Starbuck-addicts. This root issue of misrepresentation in the Starbuck’s experience and the company vision was so significant to Schultz that he needed rework his company from the ground up. This road block of ‘conserving the core businesses’ and ‘pushing for relevant innovation’ made Schultz tweak and adjust the Starbucks experience constantly but effectively.While Sch ultz attributes the root issue for Starbucks to be company image and adapting core values, could it be possible that the vision and image were not correctly portrayed because of unwise funding? Schultz does admit the funding issues contributed to the core issue of misrepresentation of company image and values, but he does not see the two issues in separate environments. Schultz assigns the core issue to misrepresentation and the surface symptoms to be funding. However, more funding or a different funding plan with more focus in infrastructure would have changed the outcome.The core issue was funding and the symptoms of the core issues were misrepresentation because of resource allocation. While their short term fixed costs of infrastructure and labor were solved, their reserved and recurring allocation towards the upgrades of their infrastructure lacked significantly. If properly funded before and seen ahead of the curve, their growth could have been anticipated. This is evident thr ough the need to shut down and retrain employees. It’s clear that the total fixed and variable costs exceeded their revenue initially.Like all companies, there was a start-up curve but when the curve was dealt with, resource allocation was not the focus. The best plan of action ideally would start with addressing resource allocation. Starbucks was able to stay in business and have great growth so it’s clear the management was able to properly allocate their average variable costs and fixed costs for the most part. Nevertheless, it would have been best if the costs were optimized and revenue was set aside for changes in infrastructure. Funding should have been directed at things which would have produced stability in the long run.This would have lowered their total costs and properly funded their infrastructures for the long run and short run. Schultz should have looked at the management immediately after buying out the company and properly hired people with skills that would be able to guide Starbucks through significant growth. Investment in infrastructure to avoid long-term costs would have saved Starbucks from funding issues at later times. In addition to optimizing their infrastructure for the long run, Starbucks needed to invest more in manufacturing and supply chain for the success in the long run.For example, Starbucks should have initially allocated more funding towards small upgrades in their infrastructure such as ovens versus microwaves to avoid unpleasant scents in the customer’s experience. This also connects to Schultz’s emphasis on hiring employees and affiliates based on similar values. If the decision to hire those employees would have initially been more focused on similar values in addition to management skills, the variable costs to upgrade the infrastructure in the long run would have been lower because the management would have been more motivated to deal with the issue before the CEO had to see the symptoms.Fi nally, the management of Starbucks needed to choose their employee’s more wisely from the start. If Schultz would have chosen his employee’s based on the similarity of their values and the company vision, little issues such as smell in the customer’s experience would have been dealt with more efficiently. This connects to optimizing their infrastructure but focuses on the employees instead of the technology. It’s important to treat both with separate solutions because Schultz reminded us that the employees can only work with the assets they are provided with.This small change in the focus of the start-up of the company could benefit the image of Starbucks very efficiently and in a cost-productive way. Schultz jokes about not getting rent from Starbucks admirers yet he also notes that the potential to plug into the social media of the internet and create the environment was more beneficial than the issue of customers hanging out inside the store. The evolv ing Starbucks experience caused consumers to have incredible brand loyalty over alternatives such as Pete’s Coffee and Tea and Tullies.Yet the quick and agile response of technology was exactly what Starbucks needed to put it ahead of the ‘growth curve’ in social media while its competitors struggled behind. Schultz’s solutions were effective in the short run but he still realized his long run potential was limited by resource allocation. The problem with Starbucks and consumers was not the shift in demand for coffee consumers but it was resource allocation and initial planning. Howard Schultz’s plan of action was headed in the right direction apart from the minor mix-up between the surface symptoms and the core issue.In addition to new work practices, Schultz integrated new management and had to let go many of the people he knew were limited to the knowledge of the short-term. This new resource allocation towards what Schultz called ‘the back side’ of the company, allowed the company to finally resolve its funding and allocation issues. The new plan of action consisted of hiring new employees and investing in infrastructure to anticipate growth and new forms of technology; the poor management habits of the past from would not hinder Starbucks in the future.Similar to my suggested plan of action, Schultz’s initiative consisted of new employee’s, new technology and investing in the short term. If Schultz’s would have put more funding towards infrastructure to bring stability in the long run, he would have been able to manage the shift in consumer behavior and maintain profit without the need to close down the stores for retraining. The issue for Starbucks is not losing customers but how to accurately represent the company’s values. Moreover, if the employees were chosen correctly and the infrastructure was properly optimized, Schultz plan would have worked perfectly.All in all, every comp any in any industry is going to face challenges and have limited resources to meet them in an efficient manner. Howard Schultz used the resources he had to best manage Starbucks and handled the big issues he had efficiently and creatively. The future of Starbucks all depends on its management and commitment to adhering to the company vision and values. After experiencing the 2000-2008 period, one can see that the values will inevitably shift with changes in management. 4] The future of Starbucks is highly dependent on how long Howard Schultz continues to be an active part of the company and in shaping its vision. If affiliates and employees are chosen intelligently and have values matched properly with the company’s mission, Starbucks’s vision should be passed down effectively through each generation of new management. Nevertheless, the rise and fall of competitors in a market is inevitable and time will tell if Starbucks will eventually be surpassed by a competitor. S tarbucks will be a primary educational focus for many business programs.It is one of the best managed franchises in history and will remain one of the most successful for a long period of time. Like any business, Schultz received criticism for extreme responses yet these responses excelled the growth of the company. Much like my suggestions, Schultz acted quickly and made extreme changes which were crucial to repairing the infrastructure. Unlike most companies, Starbucks’s major focus is promoting the company image and values instead of putting profits first. Works Cited I. Schiff, Lewis. â€Å"Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Coming to NYC. Inc. com. INC, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. II. â€Å"Starbucks Corporation History. † History of Starbucks Corporation – FundingUniverse. Funding Universe, n. d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. III. McGraw Hill. â€Å"Starbucks Corporation. † Starbucks Case Study. MHHE. com, n. d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. ———†”———– [1] Funding Universe, Starbucks Corporate History [2] McGraw Hill, Starbucks Case Study, Starbucks Corporate History [3] McGraw Hill, Starbucks Case Study, Starbucks Corporate History [4] Funding Universe, Starbucks Corporation History