Dunkin Donuts Essays (Examples)

Introduction
Being a regional director for a major restaurant chain like Dunkin Donuts presents unique challenges and opportunities. Factors like job design, organizational design, recruiting and selection, and training and performance appraisals will reflect the demographics of the target market, and the unique geographic features of the region. Moreover, choices in organizational design and human resources will reflect the organizational strategies and climate of the parent culture. There are ways that our region can set new precedents for organizational culture and climate, such as by empowering service workers and using a transformational leadership style to prevent employee turnovers.
Job Design
Good job design strategy takes into account employee input, employee training, work and rest schedules, and adjustments needed for some of the more physically demanding parts of the job (“Job Design: Meaning, Steps, and Benefits,” 2018).
Job Analysis
Job analysis will derive from the hierarchical structure that persists in the…

References
Bowen, D.E. & Lawler, E.E. (1992). The empowerment of service workers. Sloan Management Review 33(3): 33.
“Job Design: Meaning, Steps, and Benefits,’ (2018). Management Study Guide. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/job-design.htm
Jehanzeb, K., Hamid, A.B.A. & Rasheed, A. (2015). What Is the Role of Training and Job Satisfaction on Turnover Intentions? International Business Research 8(3): http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/view/45871
Kanyan, A., Nganya, L. & Voon, B.H. (2016). Improving the service operations of fast-food restaurants. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences 224(2015): 190-198.
Rosado, J. (n.d.). What organizational structure is best for a fast food restaurant? The Chronicle. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/organizational-structure-fast-food-restaurant-75640.html
Shumba, K., Zindiye, S. & Donga, G. (2017). Challenges faced by franchise entrepreneurs operating in a volatile business environment. Problems and Perspectives in Management 15(2): http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.15(2-2).2017.12

That's proving a business opportunity for Krispy Kreme, McDonald's and other American fast-food chains. For Krispy Kreme, Japan is part of its overseas expansion -- a crucial element of its revival plan announced earlier this year. The chain, based in inston-Salem, N.C., saw its stock collapse two years ago under the weight of overexpansion in the U.S., an accounting investigation and the low-carb diet craze...[Now a] Japanese man carries boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts back to his office...two Japanese girls devour doughnuts last week at a Krispy Kreme shop in Tokyo. Long lines form outside the shops, sometimes leading to waits of an hour" (Kageyama 2007). But because of more health-conscious consumers in other regions of America where the Southern, Americana image of the company has less cache and novelty, this strategy has not been successful. Also, the idea of a 'trans-fat free doughnut' has not quelled fears about health…

Works Cited

About us. (2008). Carvel Ice Cream Website. Retrieved September, 21 2008 at  http://www.carvel.com/about_us/about_us.htm 

About us. (2008). Dunkin' Doughnuts Official Website. Retrieved September 21, 2008.

A  https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/company/ 

Cateora, P.R., & Graham, J.L. (2005). International Marketing. 12th ed. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The employee does, however, receive recognition and has the possibility of extrinsic rewards such as pay raises and promotions.

The relative lack of positive goals for the cashier/finisher position is ineffective. Employees are not encouraged to seek new, higher standards of performance because they face limited advancement and pay raise prospects. The company's emphasis on minimum standards works well, but the bagel example shows how better use of positive goal-setting can help to unleash the full potential of Dunkin's front-line customer service staff. If these employees working towards positive goals can bring the chain to be the number one bagel seller in the country in less than a year, then clearly the firm's day-to-day performance is underperformance and this is largely due to the lack of such rewards.

Conclusion

The cashier/finisher position at Dunkin' Donuts can be difficult to fill. As such, the company's job design, rewards and motivations systems…

Works Cited:

Job Posting: Dunkin' Donuts Crew Member. Snagajob.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009 from  http://www.snagajob.com/job-seeker/jobs/job-details.aspx?postingId=1308092&ref=vseindeed 

No author. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. NetMBA.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009 from  http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/maslow/ 

No author. (2008). Dunkin' Donuts rewards "brilliant bagel behavior." Incentive Performance Center. Retrieved October 17, 2009 from http://www.incentivecentral.org/employees/casestudies/Dunkin_Donuts_Rewards_Brilliant_Bagel_Behavior_.836.html

In contrast, Harley-Davidson is selling more of an experience and also a lifestyle change. For Harley, the open road and freedom is the catalyst of their unique value proposition. For Dunkin' Donuts, the trust they have created and sustain makes them a perfect choice for millions of consumers rushing to work in the morning who may have skipped breakfast at home. Harley-Davidson is all about a lifestyle change and freedom while Dunkin' Donuts has become a trusted source of excellent coffee, bakery items and excellent service.

American Express Video

After viewing the American Express video, can you identify a card that might fit your needs?

The Optima card which allows a card holder to carry a balance would be best, as the work I do has unequal payment dates. Freelance work pays irregularly so the Optima card would work best.

Also describe a credit card that you have. Is the…

Starbucks Accounting

This is a managerial accounting paper

Starbucks accounting questions

From the case in 2004, explain the logic for a price increase from Starbuck's perspective.

In 2004, Starbucks was facing rising costs for its input goods such as milk and coffee beans. In 2004, Starbucks announced that the "price for a tall coffee is going up by 10 cents. A 12 ounce coffee used to cost $1.55 without tax but it will now cost $1.65" (Wirth 2004). Consumers were understandably annoyed by the price increases, and groused about how already expensive coffee was getting more expensive. However, Starbuck's decision seemed to be wise in the short-term. Customers who are price-sensitive to a 10 cent increase in the price of beverages are unlikely to be regular patrons at Starbucks. According to one Starbucks coffee buyer: "Because it's only 10 cents it won't make that much of a difference to me,…

References

Champions of breakfast? (2009). ABC News. Retrieved:

 http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7108261 

Operating leverage. (2012). Investopedia. Retrieved:

 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operatingleverage.asp#axzz236I9lleM

education essential to my success. Since returning to school at XXX College of XXX, I have worked very hard to not only learn all I could from the courses, but to apply my knowledge to my professional life. Because my profession is in the financial industry, I believe that the degree program in Management Studies will be very helpful.

Unfortunately, I had to leave school because I was no longer able to afford tuition. I went into the workforce so that I could earn money for college and reflect on what I wanted from my university experience. I was very shy and reserved in my early college years and found it difficult to find my way in large universities. Because I came from a small private all girls' school, I was out of my comfort zone while attending a large university.

The working world taught me some lessons. I learned…

3 Competition

As stated before, the competition in the coffee shops industry has increased drastically during the past recent years. In 2003, the industry had registered total sales of over $6 billion (Ferguson, 2004). The top five competitors of Sweettreats would be: Starbucks, Nestle, McDonald's, Dunkin and Gloria Jean's.

Gloria Jean's is among the leaders of the industry and they basically address their products to the young population. The corporation is based in Australia but present in numerous countries of the globe through franchise contracts (Official Website of Gloria Jean's, 2008).

Dunkin Donuts is a U.S. based company, namely headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. In 2006, they registered annual revenue of over $4 billion. They address all types of consumers and sell a wide palette of coffee-based beverages and foods (Official Website of Dunkin Donuts, 2008).

Starbucks is the undisputed leader of the industry and in 2006 they registered annual revenues…

References

Dawidowska, K., April 1, 2002, Coffee Overload. Agree that coffee from gourmet coffee shops is too expensive - Almost 3 in 4 coffee shops patrons 72%, American Demographics

Dream, C.S., 1997-2008, How to Start a Coffee Shop, Home Business Inc., http://www.homebusinesscenter.com/how_to_start/coffee_shop.htmllast accessed on February 28, 2008

Ferguson, M., 2004, Specialty coffee retail in the U.S.A. 2003-04, Specialty Coffee Association of America, Retrieved at  http://www.scaa.org/pdfs/press-coffee_retail_sales.pdfon  February 28, 2008

Fisenko, a. And Associates, 2006, How to Start a Successful Coffee Shop, a Coffee-Espresso Drive-Thru or a Coffee/Espresso Cart, Espresso Business,  http://www.espressobusiness.com/last  accessed on February 29, 2008

I wanted to learn about some of the things that I would need to do in order learn about the process of finding good employers for my clients. I wanted to get a sense of what it was like to meet a manager and tour a facility. I also was interested in seeing what a manager's response would be to the issue of hiring a rehabilitated worker.

Questions you'd like to ask of the employer about company, hiring practices, position, etc. (at least 5)

Questions should help gather information to achieve meeting intent/goal.

1. What sorts of jobs are available at a typical Dunkin' Donut?

2. I want to know a little bit about the attributes you look for a in a worker.

3. I would like to know what your expectations are for people that you hire.

4. I am interested to know what the employment policies are at…

Balanced Scorecard Analysis: Starbucks

What is the balanced scorecard?

The balanced scorecard is a method of conveying value to an organization through the use of performance measurement tools. "The balanced scorecard has evolved from its early use as a simple performance measurement framework to a full strategic planning and management system. The 'new' balanced scorecard transforms an organization's strategic plan from an attractive but passive document into the 'marching orders' for the organization on a daily basis" ("Balanced scorecard basics," 2014). It can be quantified according to a 'four quadrant' perspective analysis whereby a business is analyzed holistically from a financial, customer, process, and learning and growth perspective. It was designed to circumvent the frequently 'backward-looking' perspective of many modern organizations and to create a more forward-thinking perspective. "Traditional financial reporting systems provide an indication of how a firm has performed in the past, but offer little information about how…

References

Allison, M. (2005). Starbucks stores to shut 3 hours on Feb. 26 for retraining baristas

The Seattle Times. Retrieved from:

 http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2004177542_baristas12.html 

Balanced scorecard basics. (2014). Balanced Scorecard. Retrieved from:

Business and Corporate Strategies

Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.

The most influential competitive business-level strategy that Starbucks has put in place is differentiation. Starbucks focused on creating an aspirational and consistent brand that would translate to different product markets (Thompson & Strickland, 1999). Starbucks offers a wide variety of coffee products, drinkware and accouterments, music and Wi-Fi, and personalized customer service (Flight, 2007). But the key differentiation perceived by Starbucks customers seems to be the ambience that is at once soothingly familiar and intellectually exciting (Thompson & Strickland, 1999).

Starbucks customers perceive that the company provides value through the beverages it provides and through a particular sensuality that is referred to as The Third…

References

Bower, J.L. And Hout, T.M. (1988, November). Fast-Cycle Capability for Competitive Power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review. Retrieved  http://hbr.org/1988/11/fast-cycle-capability-for-competitive-power/ar/1 

Flight, G. (2007, March 15). Grinding out success next to Starbucks: Coffee competitors' strategies for thriving in the shadow of the world's largest chain are as varied as the beans in their brews. Business 2.0 Magazine. CNN Money. Retreived  http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/10/01/8387114/index.htm 

Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., & Hoskisson, R.E. (2013). Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competiveness and globalization (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-

Western Cengage Learning.

Loyalty'

"Thee aspects of Concept: Band Expeiences, Band Image and Custome Satisfaction.

I must discuss and give examples of how each band inspies loyalty. Name a few bands.

The seven bands that inspie the most loyalty, accoding to business website ("Main Steet") ae the following:

Dunkin Donuts

Facebook

Cheeios

Apple computes

Sam Adams

The Yankees

Each of these fits the definition of band expeiences as conceptualized by Bakus et al. (2009) as something which consists of sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioal esponses. Each of these factos too is evoked by cetain aspects of the band's packaging such as envionment, communication, and oveall stimuli. Band expeience, theefoe, accoding to Bakus et al. (2009) is synonymous to band image which essentially consists of fou dimensions: sensoy, affective, intellectual, and behavioal. When each of these fou concete dimensions is fulfilled, custome loyalty is the end esult since the custome has been satisfied in…

references. It looks ahead. Brand image, on the other hand, is subjective, particular (rather than general), and looks back (to subjective experience) in forming one's opinion about the brand (MSG; online).

Brand identity is active; the company invests enormous expense, thought, time, and effort into creating its brand. Image, on the other hand, is passive. It is the consumer's experience with the brand or his experience with image associations of brand.

Finally, brand identity signifies the company's promise to consumer about deliverance of their brand. Brand image, on the other hand, signifies the consumer's experience with the brand: whether or not she is satisfied (managementstudyguide.com, online).

Each of the 7 brands listed above were packaged with their own identity. Each of them gained a certain image that according to Barkus et al. (2009) satisfied clients in the dimensions of sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral. At least three of them also provided COR associations. The result is a product that produces a satisfied customer. And a satisfied customer -- if he/she remain so -- becomes a loyal one.

Sources

Social Media

The author or this report is to identify three best practices relative to a social media strategy that can and should be implemented by ed Bull GmbH. The overall strategic approach, the implementation of the strategy and the expected results of that strategy will be covered for all three examples provided. The strategies and implementation thereof will come from expert and scholarly sources from the academic and/or business world. While social media has made it much easier to reach customers in an efficiently and effective fashion, the harnessing of the tool that is social media is not foolproof or easy, by any means.

Analysis & Examples

One example of social media marketing that has (and is) being undertaken is the use of "suggestion" posts on Facebook. For example, if someone likes bands like Poison and Cinderella, then the Facebook page for Motley Crue would probably be a suggestion.…

References

Barker, M.S. (2013). Social media marketing: a strategic approach. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Brody, J. (2011, January 31). Scientists See Dangers in Energy Drinks. The New York

Times. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/health/01brody.html 

Elliott, S. (2013, October 6). Marketers Chase Evolving Consumer . The New York

STABUCK'S

CASE ANALYSIS: STABUCKS

Starbucks Case Analysis

Starbucks Case Analysis

Situation Analysis

Suppliers

Competitors

New Entrants

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Strategic fit

Many individuals all over the world walk into Starbucks daily for their cup of coffee, but it is more than the costly coffee that brings individuals in day after day to the shops across the globe. Starbucks offers a high-energy atmosphere and helpful employees who help clients in any issue or question they might have with the coffee or service. People buy the product because of symbolizes and the status position coming along with it. Although various business designs are available, the concepts and framework of Starbucks is a good design to follow, due to its nationwide and international success. This paper investigates the strategic fit of Starbucks as a business and further shows how it survives even through hard economic times. By looking at the market and…

References

Grimm, C.M., Lee, H., & Smith, K.G. (2006). Strategy as action: Competitive dynamics and competitive advantage. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pham-Gia, K. (2009). Marketing strategy of 'Starbucks Coffe'. Mu-nchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Pahl, N. (2008). The idea behind the Starbucks experience: The main elements of Starbucks' strategic diamond. Munchen: GRIN Verlag.

Corporation

Starbucks is a successful coffee chain. The organizational structure is geographic, and decision making is mainly centralized with respect to strategy, and many operational decisions even at the local level come with strong guidance from head office. There are a few key issues, however, that need to be addressed. One is the relatively weak leadership pipeline within the organization, another is the distribution of resources to facilitate expansion and finally there is also the issue of maintaining quality standards despite a still-rapid pace of expansion.

General Description

Starbucks is a company operating in the quick service restaurant business, where it is the 3rd-largest firm in the industry in the U.S. By revenue (Oches, 2014). The company name is Starbucks Corporation. To nobody's big surprise, it is a corporation. Starbucks is publicly traded, on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol SBUX. The company has a 97.33% float, with 2.74% inside…

References

Choi, C. & Skidmore, S. (2012). Starbucks buys Teavana Holdings for $620 million. Huffington Post. Retrieved December 12, 2014 from  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/starbucks-buys-teavana-holdings_n_2136048.html 

Jargon, J. (2011). Latest Starbucks concoction: Juice. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 12, 2014 from  http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204358004577030112155716538?mg=reno64-wsj 

Lim, P. (2014). Dunkin, Mickey Ds, or Starbucks? The surprising winner of the coffee war. Money. Retrieved December 12, 2014 from  http://time.com/money/3028578/dunkin-donuts-mcdonalds-starbucks-coffee-wars/ 

Michelli, J. (2007). The Starbucks experience: Leadership tips ebook. Joseph Michelli. Retrieved December 12, 2014 from  http://www.josephmichelli.com/pdf/ebook_starbucks.pdf

There may be more closings in North America, as the company has reached saturation in many areas. In response to the glut of new, underperforming stores that emerged in 2006, Starbucks will return to its core philosophies regarding location scouting. New store openings will be slow in the next couple of years, but when the economy begins to pick up the company is expected to resume opening new outlets to take advantage of the economic upswing.

Overall, the coffee industry is going to be subject to numerous challenges. As market leader, Starbucks will bear the brunt of the competitive challenges. However, they are well-positioned to weather these challenges. After a couple of relatively difficult years, Starbucks can be expected to leverage its various competitive strengths to regain dominance five years in the future.

orks Cited

Harris, Craig. (2008). Starbucks to close some stores, stop selling breakfast sandwiches. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved…

Works Cited

Harris, Craig. (2008). Starbucks to close some stores, stop selling breakfast sandwiches. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 25, 2009 at  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/349349_sbuxearns31.html 

Linn, Allison (2008). Starbucks to close 600 stores in the U.S. MSNBC. Retrieved January 25, 2009 at  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25482250/ 

Lomax, Alyce. (2008). Did Starbucks Just Supernova? Motley Fool. Retrieved January 25, 2009 at  http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2008/07/02/did-starbucks-just-supernova.aspx 

Shuey, Scott. (2007). Costa ready to beat Starbucks in UAE. Gulf News. Retrieved January 25, 2009 at http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/11/06/10165331.html

STARBUCK'S STRATEGY AND INTERNAL INITIATIVES FOR PROFITABLE GROWTH

Stabuck's Stategy and Intenal Initiatives to Retun to Pofitable Gowth

Stabuck's Stategy and Intenal Initiatives to Retun to Pofitable Gowth

Stengths

Weaknesses

Oppotunities

Theats

Michael Pote's 5 Foces Model

Industy Competition

Theat of New Entants

Buye's Bagaining Powe

Bagaining Powe of Supplies

Fomulate Stategic Maketing

Impove Standing of Stock Maket

Stabuck's Stategy and Intenal Initiatives to Retun to Pofitable Gowth

As Stabucks was expanding, anothe emphasis was set on hiing talented leadeship in managing the huge momentum of the oganization. Significant amount of esouces was geaed towads developing an oganizational infastuctue, which would satisfactoy suppot the expected pospective size of Stabucks. Schultz accepted that numeous business visionaies failed by not making the coect systems and pocesses to guaantee a suitable establishment fo thei entepeneuial divisions to be actualized. Togethe with his patnes, he made the planning, legal logistics, accounting and financial impotant…

references are continually evolving. Subsequently economic situations likewise change. In this setting, Starbucks neglected to stay abreast of the changing market positions and consumer behavior. In the most recent months, Starbucks' performance is going on a downtrend. It is essential that the explanations for this downtrend must be recognized, and remedies must be invested. The remedies also need to be permanent and not just short-term.

Whilst transient activities are required to address strategic progressions, it is more imperative to set a strategic objective, or if fundamental, reform the present strategic objective to fit in with to the conditions in today's business environment and the future business. Hence, it was suggested that Starbucks might also concentrate on marketing while upgrading its operational adequacy. Marketing has been the missing segment in the Starbucks practice as of late. It is consequently imperative to emphasize on this area.

Reference

Thompson, A. & Shah, A. (2010). Starbuck's strategy and internal initiative to return to profitable growth. Mu-nchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Featuring an Analysis of a Corporation

Starbucks Company Analysis

In the year 1971, Starbucks opened its first store in Seattle's Pike Place Market. At the time, it engaged in selling ground beans over a small counter. In addition, the location was an open-air market, and its beginning, was more or less similar to a hobby. The friends, who started the now renowned global company, were not profit oriented. However, the joining of Howard Schultz is the primary cause of its current growth. He first expanded to Italy, and in the year 1990, the firm began expanding in the United States. The company expanded its headquarters in Seattle, built other plants, including stores in renowned cities in nationwide (Green).

Its growth was partly because of the contracts the director negotiated with the United Airlines, Nordstrom, Barnes and Noble, and the Sheraton Hotel. In addition, the director made efforts to expand beyond…

Works Cited

Baker, Rosie. "Starbucks' reputation grinds to a halt over tax decision."Marketing week,

35.52(2012): 5. Print.

Bose, Nandita,"Starbucks signs pact to enter India."Reuters.com. 13 January 2011.

Web. 16 March 2014. Retrieved from Colchester, Max, "Starbucks Resumes Tax Payments in Britain."Wsj.com.

Starbucks struggled in the late 00s as a result of increased competition and the economic slowdown. However, the company has since righted its ship and now has a bright future. The firm has addressed its economic and competitive threats, and improved its internal performance. As a result, it is now well-positioned to take advantage of its opportunities, and faces few serious threats to its business. Starbucks is positioned to drive growth in three ways -- geographic diversification, consumer products and the juice business. It has a broad appeal among adults 18-40, and this demographic has ample disposable income. Thus, Starbucks has tremendous opportunities in marketing with its core audience and should be successful in the coming years as a result.

Introduction

Starbucks is a quick service food chain that specializes in coffee and snacks. The company is the fifth-largest firm in the industry and the largest with a coffee focus…

Works Cited:

Adamy, J. (2009). Starbucks plays common Joe. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123413848760761577.html 

Adhiambo, M. (2011). Climate change could drive spread of major coffee pest. The Guardian. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/13/climate-change-coffee-pest 

Allison, M. (2008). Starbucks closing 5% of U.S. stores. Seattle Times. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008028854_starbucks02.html 

Interbrand/Business Week. (2006). The world's best brands. Business Week. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from  http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/06_32/B399606globalbrands.htm

Please see Appendix a for a give year ratio analysis of Starbucks Corporation illustrating the significant effect the recession is having on gross margins. Yet despite this pressure, Starbucks continues to be successful in keeping its gross margins above industry average at 9.67% for the latest fiscal year. Also noteworthy about their financial performance is the increase in evenue Per Employee from $53,864 in 2004 to $59,156. This speaks to the fact that Starbucks is being successful with their long-term strategy of delivering exceptional customer experiences, so much so that there is greater levels of repurchase of drinks and food even in a recession (Churchill, 2008). All of these factors point to the critical need for managing customer experiences more closely than ever, with a strong orientation towards giving customers and opportunity to have their voices heard on potential new products. Starbucks has excelled in the area of social networking,…

References

Bernoff, J., & Li, C.. (2008). Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(3), 36-42.

Chris Churchill. (15 July 2008). Starbucks competitors get jitters: Local coffeehouses, facing woes of their own, cast wary eye on chain's recent closings. McClatchy - Tribune Business News

Fridell, G. (2009). The Co-Operative and the Corporation: Competing Visions of the Future of Fair Trade. Journal of Business Ethics: Supplement, 86, 81-95.

Burt Helm. (2007, April). SAVING STARBUCKS' SOUL: Chairman Howard Schultz is on a mission to take his company back to its roots. Oh, yeah -- he also wants to triple sales in five years. Business Week,(4029), 56.

The instant coffee, called Via, Starbuck's newest entry into supermarket-style purchases, is sold at its lowest price point, compared with its higher-end coffee ice creams and bottled Frappucinos and espresso shots. Despite initial criticism Via has kept the Starbucks name alive on store shelves and in consumer's minds who are not currently going to cafes, because these former patrons and Starbucks loyalists have lost their jobs or because their investments have been decimated.

The current policy of keeping the prices high for only some of more elite types of coffee and drinks secures another facet of Starbuck's complex image -- namely, that of a luxury brand, without pricing all consumers out of the market across the board. "Price as an attribute, while relatively unimportant in affecting overall customer satisfaction, is certainly important in affecting the generation of a differentiating customer experience. That does not mean that customers are satisfied with…

Works Cited

Adamy, Jane & Nick Wingfield. (2009, March 17). Starbucks to present recession strategy.

The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 11, 2009 at  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123723335325646025.html 

Andrews, Edmund L. (2008, December 8). U.S. recession began last December, economists say.

The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2009 at  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/business/worldbusiness/02iht-02econ.18315318.html

These two factors of aspirational value of the brand and customer experience are what also make this factor a very critical opne in the augmented analytical framework.

Market Growth

The growth of coffee retailing continues to be flat, only generating 5% growth on a compound annual basis (Joo, Min, Kwon, Kwon, 490). This is forcing coffee retailers to concentrate on highly differentiated approaches to selling. For Dunkin' Donuts their approach is to branch out into retail channels with their coffee being available in grocery stores. Other competitive strategies include creating satellite locations and smaller airport kiosks, a strategy Caribou Coffee has tried in the northwest U.S..

Market Turbulence

The rapid pace of disruptive innovation in coffee retailing is increasing, as Starbucks is now challenged by McDonald's entering the high end of the coffee retailing market with their McCafe brand of customized coffee beverages. There is also a shakeout of smaller…

References

Seong-Jong Joo, Hokey Min, Ik-Whan G. Kwon, and Heboong Kwon. "Comparative efficiencies of specialty coffee retailers from the perspectives of socially responsible global sourcing. " International Journal of Logistics Management 21.3 (2010): 490.

Stanley Slater and Eric Olson. "A fresh look at industry and market analysis. " Business Horizons 45.1 (2002): 15.

Figure 1, Distribution of Starbucks Customers Worldwide, 2009 was derived from the company's filings with the Security and Exchange Commission and their annual reports. The most brand-loyal customers on average spend $4.42 per visit and also have loyalty cards and Starbucks credit cards as well (Seiler, 2005).

Figure 1: Distribution of Starbucks Customers, Worldwide 2009

Market Segment

Share

Males 18-45

37.0%

Females 18-45

28.0%

Males 45

2.0%

Source: Based on Analysis from http://investor.starbucks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99518&p=irol-irhome

Competitor Targets

Starbuck's faces a very wide variety of competitors, from the smaller independent coffee shops to the regionalized chains including Caribou Coffee, Peet's Coffee & Tea and their most entrenched competitor, Dunkin Donuts. Dunkin' Donuts operates in 38 states and has over 3,800 stores. Starbucks' differentiates against all these competitors with the experience their stores provide and the attention unique customer requirements for customized drinks (Nolan, 2007).

A statement of core strategy

The core strategy of…

References

Carolina Marahao, & Alexandre de Padua Carrieri. (2007). Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 213-215.

Sara Nolan. (2007). The STARBUCKS EXPERIENCE. Strategic Communication Management, 11(3), 3.

Stanley C. Plog. (2005). Starbucks: More than a Cup of Coffee. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 46(2), 284-287.

Marianne Seiler. (2005). High performance. Marketing Management, 14(6), 18-23.

Finally, increasing repeat business through expanded customer loyalty efforts would help to increase sales.

Threats abound. A longer than expected recession could lead to more sagging demand for premium-priced coffee. An ongoing recession will also continue to make it difficult for Starbucks to impose additional price increases at a time when U.S. operating margins are falling because of increased labor and utility costs and increasing coffee prices (MCRoskey, 2008). Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's are fierce competitors at lower-price points and could always scale up to offer more premium-based products. The company's international expansion plan is extraordinarily aggressive and customers may find that it has failed to meet their cultural expectations for cafes and coffee. This expansion is coming at a time when the company is experiencing problems in its established global markets. Continued growth could further erode the company's brand image and lead to commoditization that threatens the company's ability…

Bibliography

Helm, B. (2007, April 9). Saving Starbuck's Soul: Chairman Howard Schultz is on a mission to take the company back to its roots! Oh, yeah-- he also wants to triple sales in five years. Business Week, 4029, p. 56.  http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&did=1252343951&SrchMod  e=2&sid=12&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1235501315&c lientId=29440

McRoskey, R. (2008, August 19). Starbucks: Big investors' divorce grounds. Business Week.  http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1534482941&SrchMode  =2&sid=13&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=123

Rae, J. (2006, November 27). The importance of great customer experiences. Business Week, 4011, p. 32.

Dream Business

My dream business would be a German Bakery that sells traditional German Bakery and Cafe. I would call it "Heidi's German Bakery and Cafe." I would open the business together with a German nephew of mine who has worked for over 25 years as a master baker in the Heidelberg bakery of my German relatives. The third member of the business would be an American baker who received his professional training at Venieros Italian Bakery, America's oldest Italian pastry shop in New York City that was founded in 1894. Our business would be located in New York City since there is a huge German/European population and only very view places where one can dwell in traditional German baked goods. ifty [to date: sixty two] years ago, when East 86th Street was known as "Sauerkraut Boulevard," there were German bakeries aplenty as well as pastry counters in most of…

Filing Office: The LLC Operating Agreement needs to be filed with the following LLC Filing Office: Department of State, Division of Corporations, State Records and Uniform Commercial Code, 41 State Street, Albany, NY 12231, Tel [HIDDEN] Filing Fees: The filing fee is $200. The Department of State's Division of Corporations accepts MasterCard and Visa for the payment of fees. Complete and sign the Credit Card Authorization Form and submit it to the Division of Corporations with your Articles of Organization. The Credit Card Authorization Form is available from the Department of State's website at http://dos.state.ny.us/corp/creditcard.html or by calling (518) [HIDDEN]

Expedited Processing: For an additional, non-refundable fee, as indicated, the Division of Corporations will ensure that a document is processed within the following time frames: (1) within 2 hours for an additional fee of $150; (2) the same day for an additional fee of $75; and (3) within 24 hours for an additional fee of $25. The additional, non-refundable fee for expedited processing must be paid by a separate check or money order or indicated in the appropriate space on the Credit Card Authorization Form.

Publication of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs): According to New York Limited Liability Company Law, limited liability companies that are formed or authorized to do business in New York must publish a "notice of

Finance

Starbucks is engaged in the quick service food industry, primarily focused on coffee and related snacks. The company has come under strong competitive and economic pressures recently, and this has impacted its performance. However, Starbucks has turned around its financial performance in the past year, which has restored investor confidence in the company.

Starbucks is both liquid and solvent. In the past year or so, they have improved their liquidity and solvency ratios. They added long-term debt to their balance sheet in 2007 but have not increased this debt since. The company's margins have slowly eroded over the past five years, mainly due to a decline in customer side pricing power as the result of competition from low price providers. Starbucks has also seen its efficiency erode, likely due to expanding into less-saturated markets around the world in search of growth. Overall, however, the company's financial performance has been…

Works Cited:

Allison, M. (2010). Starbucks tests new names for stores. Seattle Times. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009479123_starbucks16.html 

Groom, N. (2007). Starbucks shares hit 18-month low -- time to buy? Reuters. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1541189820070515 

MSN Moneycentral: SBUX. (2010). Retrieved October 24, 2010 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/hilite.asp?Symbol=SBUX 

Starbucks 2005 Annual Report. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/99/995/99518/items/178286/Annual_Report_2005_part2.pdf

Starbucks Coffee has been faced with a number of challenges in recent years. The company has faced intense competition from McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and from a number of imitators in international markets. This has resulted in the company's margins being squeezed in the domestic market (Jargon, 2009) and threatens the company's strong growth trajectory in emerging markets. Starbucks' strategy should focus the company on stabilizing its competitive position as a differentiated player in the domestic market and continuing on a pattern of strong growth in key international markets. The objectives of the strategy should be focused primarily on the financial objectives that appeal to shareholders -- improving profits, growing revenues and increasing both market share and margins. Each of these should come with a specific target figure that represents an improvement over the current position of the company.

Functional Tactics

The Starbucks plan will require a number of functional tactics…

Works Cited:

Jargon, J. (2009). As profit cools, Starbucks plans price campaign. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 3, 2011 from  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124103701018769993.html 

MSN Moneycentral. (2011). Starbucks. Retrieved June 3, 2011 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statemnt.aspx?lstStatement=Income&symbol=U.S.%3aSBUX&stmtView=Ann

Change

As we will see in the case studies, leadership is a decisive factor in the process of diagnosing and in the implementation of changes in the operation of a corporate organisation. IT, HR and corporate work ethics may be excellent. However, without secure and decisive leadership, the best organisational makeovers can fail miserably.

In this part of the essay, this author will illustrate three models and techniques in the change management professional literature for diagnosing organisations. ith regard to this, we will compare and contrast three different diagnostic models/techniques, including the main strengths and weaknesses of each. In this discussion, we will also examine the relationship between each diagnostic model/technique and the organisational development and political approaches to organisational change.

In the first we will consider, a great person and a great organisational management team leads change and the charge, focusing in on areas that needs to be changed.…

Works Cited

Aloini, D., Dulmin, R., & Mininno, M. (2007). Risk management in erp project introduction: Review of the literature. Information & Management, 44, 547 -- 567.

Flamholtz, E.G. (2011). The leadership molecule hypothesis: Implications for entrepreneurial organizations. International Review of Entrepreneurship, 9(3), 1-24.

Ford, M.W., & Evans, J.R. (2006). The role of follow-up in achieving results from self-assessment processes. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 23, 589-606.

Friedman, B.A. (2007). Globalization implications for human resource management roles. Employment Responsibility Rights Journal, 19, 157 -- 171.

Starbucks, a Market Analysis

Starbucks is a major, world wide coffee retailer specializing in a variety of brands of blend coffee and iced beverages, among other related products. Within the market sector Starbucks exists stands several competing companies such as The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Caribou Coffee. Each company shares similar strategies, appealing to a similar demographic, and hails themselves as the high-end of coffee-based shops/cafes. They also share a similar promise of quality ingredients and service. The difference is, while a company like Starbucks focuses on the behavior of consumers to market their product, a company like Caribou coffee relies on the taste and quality of their product, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf rely on location and ease of access.

Starbucks was selected as the primary company to analyze due to its immense popularity and success over the last decade. It has become one of…

References

Mayo, E.J. (1977). The impact of the consumer's psychographic and demographic characteristics on buyer behavior: A comparative analysis of psychographics and demographics as segmentation variables in a rail passenger market. Ann Arbor, Mich: Xerox University Microfilms.

Morrison, M. (2013, September 20). Starbucks Launches Campaign Focused on Bean Quality | News - Advertising Age. Retrieved from  http://adage.com/article/news/starbucks-launches-campaign-focused-bean-quality/244263/ 

Starbucks Coffee Company (2011). Starbucks Company Profile. Retrieved from  http://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/F62C45CD8A8B4699BEFC60A2618F0431.pdf 

Weinstein, A., & Weinstein, A. (2004). Handbook of market segmentation: Strategic targeting for business and technology firms. New York: Haworth Press.

Session-Long Project

Module 1 Session Long Project The purpose Session Long Project give opportunity explore applicability Module life, work, place space time, experiment Module academically rigorous presentation a topic, work / trauma, " close personal."

Business session-long project: Starbucks

The mission of Starbucks is defined as "to inspire and nurture the human spirit -- one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time" (Mission statement, 2013, Starbucks). Starbucks began as an American company determined to bring the European coffeehouse experience to Seattle and the company now exists as a worldwide enterprise with a distinct brand image. Starbucks stresses the personal attention it devotes to its customers. Each store has a neighborhood, regional, or national 'flavor' to it. Starbucks has faced criticism in recent years that the quality of its coffee does not justify its price and even took a day to close down all of its stores for a…

References

Allison, M. (2010). Starbucks has a new growth strategy -- more revenue with lower costs.

Seattle Times. Retrieved from:

 http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2011861321_starbucksstrategy16.html 

Mission statement. (2013). Starbucks. Retrieved from:

environmental pressures: Starbucks

Starbucks: Three organizational pressures

Since 2008, Starbucks has made an effort to close unprofitable U.S. stores after a period of unwisely swift expansion

It has striven to expand internationally to support its business model, moving into new areas to outflank competitors

Starbucks has always prided itself on its ethical business model and the fact that workers have health insurance and other benefits as well as its Fair Trade Coffee. It must strive to keep these alive while it remains profitable.

Starbucks: Three environmental pressures

Inexpensive competitors like Dunkin' Donuts are threatening the organization

Coffee is not a universally-beloved commodity and Starbucks must adapt to local markets

Starbucks must justify its higher price point by maintaining high levels of quality

Organizational and environmental pressures

Starbucks is one of the world's most profitable food-based companies but it has experienced many challenges in recent years. In 2008, Starbucks announced a…

References

Armental, M. & Jargon, J. (2014). Starbucks profit rises as sales increase. The Wall Street

Journal. Retrieved from:  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303380004579521601565594542 

Carter, C. (2008). Starbucks ordered to pay more than $100 million in back tips. Huffington Post.

Retrieved from:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/20/starbucks-ordered-to-pay-_n_92684.html

Starbucks runs coffeeshops, and therefore is beholden to a number of different trends. First is the rise of economies elsewhere around the world, in particular the BIC countries. The second trend is climate change. The third trend is the rapid pace of technological change, in particular mobile and the post-mobile Internet of things. A fourth trend is maturation of the domestic market, and a fifth trend for Starbucks is ongoing attempts by competitors to win back market share that they have lost to Starbucks in recent years.

The first trend is the emergence of developing world economies. While many major economies are in a state of slow growth, or no growth at all, many emerging market economies are growing quickly. There are a lot of companies that rightly see this as a tremendous opportunity and Starbucks is one of them. The company has been active in the Chinese market for…

References

Burkitt, L. (2012). Starbucks plays to local Chinese tastes. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from  http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324784404578142931427720970 

Carrington, D. (2014). How climate change will brew a bad-tasting, expensive cup of coffee. The Guardian. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/28/climate-change-bad-expensive-coffee-ipcc 

Favaro, K., Romberger, T. & Meer, D. (2009). Five rules for retailing in a recession. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from  https://hbr.org/2009/04/five-rules-for-retailing-in-a-recession 

QSR. (2014). The QSR top 50. QSR Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from  http://www.qsrmagazine.com/reports/qsr50-2014-top-50-chart

Product Description

The type of innovation represented for YoNuts is an innovation in production that changes the dynamic between the user and the production.  Normally, supermarket doughnuts are produced ahead of time in a factory, then shipped and sold.  YoNuts are entirely different in that they are only partially produced at a factory, shipped frozen, and then the final production is done at the site of the end user.  It is akin to the difference between going to the store and buying a bag of popcorn versus going to the store and buying a pack of Orville Redenbacher.  Things like Jiffy Pop and microwave popcorn have a large share of the grocery store popcorn because, quite frankly, the consumer gets a fresher, better product.  So it is with YoNuts.  The innovation allows consumers to produce the freshest, best doughnuts at home.  

The benefit to the consumer is that the…

Production Description

The product is a line of bake-at-home doughnuts. The name of the product is YoNuts, meaning "Your Doughnuts", because this might be the first time that a company has marketed doughnuts that you can make at home yourself.  The logic of the product is simple.  First, everybody loves doughnuts.  We can have fun with this, having a tagline like "Not just for cops anymore" or something like that, but the reality is that doughnuts are one of the most popular snack foods in America, the retail doughnut industry worth around $13 billion annually (IBIS World, 2014).  This includes both shops and doughnuts sold in grocery stores as well. IBIS estimates that the overall doughnut market has nearly 9000 competitors, ranging from small hipster doughnut shops like the trendy Voodoo Donut in Portland to giant chains like Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts and Tim Horton's.  The packaged doughnut market is…

organization can pursue in pursuit of a market. The most important breakdown is between being a cost leader with a low cost strategy and pursuing a differentiated strategy. A low cost strategy needs to be supported by tactics that allow the company to be the cheapest in its market, because they are trying to win over the customers that are most attracted to low prices. The differentiated company is not seeking to offer the lowest prices but it is seeking instead to justify charging higher prices by offering the customer a unique value proposition.

There are other approaches to strategy as well . For example, there is the customer relationship strategy, where a company differentiates itself by focusing on building strong relationships -- this is basically a tactic within the differentiated strategy, but it works quite strongly in some industries. An investment advisor, for example, is by his or her…

It offered a value proposition to consumers who cut back on high-end coffee purchases at the likes of Starbucks in favor of cheaper coffee at home. Consumers of Folgers benefited from the strength and increased visibility afforded the brand by Smuckers.

Employees have not necessarily benefited from the company's mission and objectives in recent years. Smuckers is the process of restructuring Folgers. This benefits workers in New Orleans, where a $70 million expansion is underway and it Orrville (Plain Dealer, 2010). However, workers in four other plants are losing their jobs in the restructuring (Associated Press, 2010). The strategy therefore benefits some of these stakeholders but only at the expense of others as the company is forced to rationalize some plants in order to contain costs and maintain its price competitiveness.

The company can improve its mission by lending it clarity. The company's strategy may be relatively clear, but it…

Works Cited:

Smuckers website, various pages. (2010). Retrieved April 19, 2010 from  http://www.smuckers.com 

Smuckers 2009 Annual Report. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzQyODkzfENoaWxkSUQ9MzI5MzkwfFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1

MSN Moneycentral: JM Smucker Company. (2010). Retrieved April 19, 2010 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?Symbol=sjm&getquote=Get+Quote 

Associated Press. (2009). Smucker's profit surges after acquiring Folgers. MSNBC. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34060210/

That is the beauty of the successful and rising platform established through successful investments; it all becomes quite circular. Then, by reinvesting and refinancing earnings, everything becomes stronger. Just as easily, however, this corporation could have been buried.

1. What is a franchising arrangement? And how is this reflective of business expansion? Moreover, how does this support business growth? From HighBeam Business, these key-terms set the stage from here on out:

MLA: Pondent, Corr S. "About eacquired Franchise ights" (29 December 2010). Highbeam Business: Money. eHow. Demand Media, Inc. Web. 18 March 2011.

About eacquired Franchise ights

A franchising arrangement is a way to expand a company's business without investing a lot of additional money. The franchisee gets the use of an existing business model, or franchise rights, as well as business support, and pays the franchisor a franchise fee in return.

eacquired ights

The franchisor could decide to buyback…

References:

HighBeam Business: Issues in Accounting Education: The hole in the doughnut: accounting for acquired intangibles at Krispy Kreme. Web. 16 March 2011.

Citation: Bollinger, Michael a. CMA, CFM, CPA, CIA, CGFM, CDFM. "Fair value, Accounting procedures." Publication title: Strategic Finance. Montvale: Mar 2011. Vol. 92, Iss. 9; pg. 25, 1 pages 4K9S4PXGS8 at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - SACRAMENTO MAIN ACCOUNT via ProQuest, an information service of ProQuest LLC.

5. Auditor impairment analysis on book value of reacquired franchise rights for Arizona acquisitions. The four present values should allow you to reach a conclusion about the acceptability of the client's impairment analysis. Up to this point you are performing a conventional analysis of accounting estimates as per CAS 540. Become thoroughly acquainted with this CAS and refer to it in your report. Call this conventional analysis, and its conclusion, Part I of your report. It is worth 5 marks. The solution posted in BB for class 7 to the class discussion a&B company case, and the Hilton and O'Brien article in class 6 link may help in doing this part of the assignment.

You can use any accounting standards you prefer to support your conclusions, the U.S. ones mentioned in the case, or comparable CICA Handbook sections, or international standards, but be specific about which ones you are using so that the marker can follow your analysis and give you full credit.

In particular, the company trumpeted its ability to earn record profits and revenues despite the ongoing economic slowdown.

The overall conference call experience is interesting. It is unusual to have such direct access to the leaders of a major company. The information contained can be largely understood to be the same as will be in the annual report, so he call is essentially a preview of that document. The depth and breadth of the information provided is exceptional -- it would take hours to research that information independently. For example, there is information on some of the back-end tactics that the company has undertaken in order to improve its performance and profitability -- information that because of its lack of visibility seldom finds its way into the business press. The call is relatively formal in nature, however. The call and the messages that the company sends in the call, are…

All of these attributes are more likely to be provided by multiple sourcing.

However, multiple sourcing can make it difficult to encourage a continued commitment by suppliers to offer consistent and competitive prices. Adjusting or 'tweaking' the menus seasonally offers a potential risk management strategy. Frequent menu changes means Ms. Nok will never be at the mercy of an individual supplier and without bargaining power if, for example, the price of beef suddenly escalates. On the other hand, she will be unable to reduce her orders substantially without incurring a large price 'hike' given that she does not have an exclusive, close relationship with a supplier. Having bulk vegetables, meats, and fish from a single supplier that can be seasoned in unique ways to allow for diversity might be one way to make single sourcing work, and if sympathetic high-quality producers were found with which to establish a relationship, this…

The vast majority of the trademark value at Smuckers ($1.824 billion) is considered by the company to be indefinite-lived, not subject to amortization. This means that the company believes its marks have near-permanent value, evidence of their strength in the market.

The company's distribution competency is also considered to be one of its greatest strengths. Smuckers has saturation distribution across North America, which allows it to launch brand extensions and new products and to outmuscle smaller competitors. Distribution also allows Smuckers to forge partnership with its retailers that can help with product positioning within the store (merchandising) and with new product introductions. Smuckers can place complementary brands together to enhance its merchandising capabilities. The result has been strong financial performance, which in turn has fueled the company's strong balance sheet. This financial strength has allowed Smuckers to make acquisitions that have strengthened its brand portfolio. For example, the company acquired…

Works Cited:

MSN Moneycentral: Smuckers. (2010). Retrieved May 15, 2010 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statemnt.aspx?Symbol=SJM&lstStatement=Balance&stmtView=Qtr 

Lin-Fisher, B. (2010). Smucker to cut 40% of Oroville plant workers, build new factory. Ohio.com. Retrieved May 15, 2010 from  http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/89013322.html 

Smuckers 2009 Annual Report. In possession of the author

QuickMBA.com (2007). Porter's generic strategies. QuickMBA.com. Retrieved May 15, 2010 from  http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml

That would be nice, like the old times.' But eventually, they did find a parking space in an alley behind a Dunkin' Donuts and the girls piled out.

Alison had never seen a place move and shake quite like the frat house: the building was dilapidated and strobe lights from within poured out of the windows. At first, the brothers at the door weren't going to let them in, but then Jackie's brother appeared, the girls had stamps on their hand, and they were wandering through the beer-stained rooms.

At first, all of the girls were uncertain about what to do. Then, Bethany and Jackie had an inspiration. "Dance and pretend like you're having fun," whispered Bethany to Alison, and shoved her onto the makeshift dance floor on the first-floor common room.

"I don't know anyone."

"Look like you're having fun and you will," said Jackie.

Alison eventually wandered away…

Offering benefits such as healthcare and even stock options to lower-level employees, a compensation strategy also pursued by Starbucks (a company both literally and figuratively 'green' in its image), is another example of a policy that can benefit both the company and employees -- employees enjoy greater security, while the companies reduce the high rate of workplace turnover that is endemic to the service industry at companies like McDonald's. In fact, as Eric Schlosser observed in Fast Food Nation, fast food companies have often deliberately made life unpleasant for lower-level employees, to reduce the need to offer them promotions, benefits, and higher pay, on the theory that it is easy to train a new worker to operate a cash register. "How can workers look to this industry as a career…when it pays them the minimum wage and provides them no health benefits" (Schlosser 2001, p. 88). hole Foods and Starbucks…

Works Cited

"Benefits." Google website. February 8, 2010.

http://google.com/international/en/jobs/lifeatgoogle/benefits/

"Careers." Whole Foods Market. February 8, 2010.

 http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers/benefits_us.php

The company operates high volume retail outlets and has adopted a saturation strategy. Yet, inventories at the retail level are kept low in order to control costs. This is facilitated by strong logistics. Deficiencies in logistics would hamper growth prospects and compromise the Starbucks Experience. Moreover, the firm's ability to translate this competency into international markets will go a long way to determining how successful the company can be in those markets, in particular with regards to the revisiting the same saturation strategy they have employed in North America.

The final core competency that helps to distinguish Starbucks is its human resources. This supports the Starbucks Experience, in that the company is consistently able to identify and train candidates to fill strict criteria within the framework of a low-paying food service job. The corporate culture and benefits package contribute to this competency, indicating that a substantial amount of thought has…

Works Cited:

Starbucks 2008 Annual Report. Retrieved June 20, 2009 from  http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/99/99518/AR2008.pdf 

Some financial data from MSN Moneycentral. Retrieved June 20, 2009 from  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/hilite.asp?Symbol=SBUX 

No author. (2007). New Issue -- Starbucks Sells $550 mln in 10-year notes. Reuters. Retrieved June 20, 2009 from  http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2131222520070821 

Allison, Melissa. (2009). Moody's Downgrades Starbucks Bond Rating. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved June 20, 2009 from  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009217122_webstarbucks13.html

S. It is at a stage where it would be considered a cash cow. Yum is feeling out international expansion opportunities for Taco Bell, but there is little possibility that Taco Bell will supplant KFC and Pizza Hut as the key driver of economic growth. Those two firms have stronger product offerings for international markets. The role that Taco Bell plays, providing cash that can fuel global expansion of other brands, is the ideal role for the company within the context of Yum Brands.

There are a couple of companies that could make a good fit for Yum. They are Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. These firms operate in complementary segments to Yum's existing portfolio and have core product offerings that can be taken overseas, thus the industry is attractive. The stock price for the former is particularly depressed in light of their recent struggles although the latter is perhaps a…

Works Cited:

MacNealy, Jeremy. (2007). Fool on Call: Yum! Brands Wall of China. Motley Fool. Retrieved May 8, 2009 from  http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/10/11/fool-on-call-yum-brands-wall-of-china.aspx 

CNBC Video Report. (2008). CNBC Special Report on China Features Yum! Brands. CNBC. Retrieved May 8, 2009 from  http://www.yum.com/news/pressreleases/081908.asp 

Yum.com website: Multiple pages. (2009). Retrieved May 8, 2009 from www.yum.com

Taco Bell website: Multiple pages. (2009). Retrieved May 8, 2009 from  http://www.tacobell.com/

Other measures can include sanctions against foreign companies that are engaged in bribery. This many motivate the governments of those countries to take stronger measures towards eliminating bribery.

3) There are a couple of reasons I think Starbucks has been so concerned about its corporate social responsibility. One is that it helps cultivate a positive image of the company, which can help to both attract and retain customers. Another reason is that the company comes from a culture in the Pacific Northwest where philanthropy and social responsibility is more accepted in business. This cultural difference may have impacted the overall philosophy of Starbucks with regards to this issue. Also, Starbucks is a high-profile company. They open themselves up to significant negative publicity if they engage in social irresponsible acts. Maintaining a high level of corporate social responsibility is therefore a defense against potentially damaging criticism.

Starbucks' various relationships are generally…

In short, I am eating too much of what is not beneficial, and not enough of what is. In order to address this problem, which could develop into a full-blown health crisis in a few years if I do nothing, I must make drastic changes to the way I eat. For example, one of my first goals must be to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables that I eat each day. According to Canada's Food Guide, my intake of fruits and vegetables should be roughly around 875 ML. I can achieve this goal by drinking 100% juices and eating more salads and leafy vegetables. Similarly, I must increase my amount of milk alternatives by drinking more milk and eating more cheese. Perhaps I can limit my intake of diet soda, replacing it with milk. By changing these eating habits, I will achieve to meet more of the recommendations of…

Works Cited

"Canada's Food Guide." Health Canada. (2007). The Canadian Government. 9 July 2008.  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/order-commander/eating_well_bien_manger-eng.php#2 .

Hidgon, Jane. "Vitamin C Deficiency." Micronutrient Information Center. (2006).

Oregon State University. 9 July, 2008.  http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminC/ 

Enker, Warren. "Bowel Function and Dietary Fiber." Continuum Health Partners. (n.d.).

This strategy was combined with the company's focus on CAFE-based compliance and support for Fair Trade-based trading practices with coffee suppliers. This renewed focus on managing their supply chains to tighter levels of profitability and performance metrics including increasing quality standards has led to a significant reduction in operating expenses and control of variable costs (Starbucks Investor elations, 2011). Starbucks was also able to manage costs of closing locations effectively, and when this strategy was combined with supply chain cost savings, greater focus on in-store profitability and faster new product introductions, Starbucks was able to reverse a negative trend on gross margins and profitability. Beginning in FY 2010 and continuing through the current fiscal period, Starbucks continues to see their gross margins and operating profits including Net Margin, Gross Margin and EBITDA Margin. Figure 1, 5-Year Trend Margin Analysis Shows Impact of Strategic Marketing shows the aggregate impact of these…

References

Melanie Godsell (2007)."Starbucks to push food line. " Marketing QSR. June, pp. 34 -- 35.

Jeffrey S. Harrison, Eun-Young Chang, Carina Gauthier, Todd Joerchel, and et al. (2005) "Exporting a North American Concept to Asia: Starbucks in China. " Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 46.2: 275-283.

Kanter, R.. (2010) "How to Do Well and Do Good. " MIT Sloan Management Review 52.1. 12.

Mintel Research, 2006, A Classy Cup of Coffee, Convenience Store News March 15, 2006. Retrieved November 29, 2011 from  http://www.csnews.com/csn/foodservice/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002158065

Price Elasticity of Demand

For a firm looking to boost its profits, it must consider how a change in price might affect the total profits. The most important concept to this analysis is price elasticity of demand. The underlying principle of price elasticity of demand is that a change in the price of a good will result in a change in demand. The degree to which this occurs is the rate of elasticity. Price elasticity of demand is determined by dividing the change in demand by the change in price. Alternatively, a variety of price points can be graphed and the slope of the demand curve can be determined (NetMBA, 2010).

In either case, a company that is seeking to maximize its revenues will need to determine the point at which it has achieved the optimal price and demand. This is the point at which the price multiplied by the…

Works Cited:

NetMBA.com (2010). Price elasticity of demand. NetMBA. Retrieved November 15, 2010 from  http://www.netmba.com/econ/micro/demand/elasticity/price/ 

AP. (2007). Coffee clash: McDonald's versus Starbucks. MSNBC. Retrieved November 15, 2010 from  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21837962/ns/business-consumer_news 

Jargon, J. (2009). As profit cools, Starbucks plans price campaign. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 15, 2010 from  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124103701018769993.html

BAINSTOMING IDEAS O EXPEIENCES AE MOST ACCEPTABLE. Thanks

Discerning the oot Problem

a) Situation Overview

Provide a brief explanation of the organizational context

Starbucks is a multinational corporation that began as a single, Seattle-based coffee company designed to provide an Italian coffee shop experience to Americans.

What prompts the proposed change?

Starbucks has over-expanded, diluting the value of its brand name and compromising the perceived quality of its coffee (Gross 2007).

Starbucks has difficulty communicating the unique value of its premium coffee brand. Domestically, consumers are complaining about the quality of the service and beverages. Internationally, it wishes to expand to untapped markets but must do so in a manner to suit the tastes and preferences of these 'international' neighborhoods.

b) Organizational Context

Describe the organization

Starbucks is a multinational company. It tailors its coffee offerings to suit the needs of international consumers by engaging in joint partnerships with local…

References

Gross, Daniel. (2007). Starbucks' venti problem. Retrieved:

 http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/04/opinion/op-gross4 

Mission statement. (2012). Starbucks. Retrieved:

 http://www.starbucks.com/ about-us/company-information/mission-statement

global branding of Stella Artois

Porter's 5-forces analysis of the beer industry

Bargaining power of buyers

The bargaining power of buyers is very high in the beer industry. Consumers have many choices, spanning from other alcoholic beverages to other brands of beer, including smaller labels as well as the major brands. Also, beer is not strictly a necessity. Consumers can conceivably 'do without' if the price is too high.

Bargaining power of suppliers

The bargaining power of suppliers is also very high in the beer industry. Beer companies are critically dependent upon obtaining specific input goods to create their brews. They need a high volume of input goods to produce their product, and they need a timely and steady supply. Good relationships with bottlers and distributors are also required to take the product to market.

Competitive rivalry

Competitive rivalry is extremely high. All of the major beer brands are fighting…

References

Caves, R.E. & M.E. Porter. (1977). From entry barriers to mobility barriers: Conjectural decisions and contrived deterrence to new competition. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 91 (2): 241-262. Retrieved: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1885416

Sinha, S.K. & Zaid Ahmad. (2009). Global financial crisis - with special reference to insurance industry. African Journal of Marketing Management, 1(8): 184-189,

Retrieved at:

 http://www.academicjournals.org/ajmm/PDF/Pdf2009/Nov/Sinha%20and%20Ahmad.pdf

Technology and Social Change

The Industrial evolution completely changed the way that human beings live and work. Before the Industrial evolution, society was dominated by agrarian economies. The Industrial evolution created a new way of life in which an increasingly large percentage of the population either owned or worked in factories involved in mass production. Populations became increasingly concentrated in urban areas; fewer people worked on farms or owned farms. Instead of making their own goods and services, people now bought the majority of the items they needed in stores.

The current Knowledge evolution is technologically driven, just like the Industrial evolution. It is fueled by the Internet and radically expanded accessibility of information to everyone who has an Internet connection. In some ways, like the Industrial evolution, it is extremely democratic -- just as many people made their fortune through capitalism, the knowledge economy of World Wide Web has…

References

Gouras, M. (2003). Bulking up for a hardware battle. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved:

 http://articles.latimes.com/2003/dec/26/business/fi-hardware26 

How women use the web. (2013). Mashable. Retrieved:

 http://mashable.com/2010/07/28/women-on-the-web/

ii. Operational Objectives:

The second key objective of the company encompasses its aim to become operationally stronger and unbeatable in the long run. McDonald's is currently the market leader in the global fast food industry due to various competitive advantages and core competencies: including extensive &D, quality management, efficient manufacturing capabilities, strong supply chain and distribution network, excellent customer services, etc. All these competitive advantages and strengths are focused on achieving its operational objectives (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2011). By achieving these objectives, McDonald's aims to prove itself as the most competitive fast food brand which is always the first choice of customers.

iii. Human esource Objectives:

McDonald's has employed around 1.7 million employees in its production plants, regional offices, restaurants, and the Headquarters (McDonald's, 2013). It considers these employees as the most valuable resource for its business. Therefore, its five key objectives also constitute the human resource aspects of…

References

About McDonald's, (2011). Sustainability Scorecard. Retrieved on July 7th, 2013, from

Hill, C.W., & Jones, G.R. (2012). Strategic Management Theory, 10th Edition. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning

Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., & Hoskisson, R.E. (2011). Strategic Management: Competitiveness & Globalization - Concepts, 9th Edition. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning

McDonald's, (2013). Our Story. Retrieved on July 7th, 2013, from