Thursday, October 31, 2019

Strategies in Action Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Strategies in Action - Coursework Example One of the key considerations, when looking at global strategies is the state of the global economy. There has been much debate as to whether globalisation consists of one single global market. It is necessary to think whether a uniform global strategy is one, which is 100% uniform and standardised, or just its key elements. It must acknowledge that companies that operate in overseas markets do so in order to expand their businesses and reach as well as stave off competition. "Even businesses whose focus has traditionally been on domestic markets are finding they must compete across borders not just to prosper but also to survive". (Kanso and Nelson, 2002, p.87) Regarding terminology, it is important to acknowledge that different academics may use the same terminology for different types of companies; confusion can arise with different companies & markets, which interpret slightly differently depending on the author. An organisation's global strategy(s) is dependent upon where the competitive advantage(s) for the product(s) or service(s) lies. This links win with Thompson, Strickland and Gamble (2007, p227) belief that there are four strategic issues relevant to competing across national boundaries. Issues are, whether to customise a company is offering in each different country to the taste of products. Implement the basic competitor strategy in all countries or fit them to specific markets and conditions depending on competition circumstances. Locate company's production facility(s), distribution, and customer service operation in order to gain greatest location advantages, and lastly share company's resource, capabilities in different country, to ensure competitive advantage. These are the factors to consider developing a global strategy. When considering uniform versus localised strategy is the transferability of a product's/service's/company's competitive advantage(s), means identifying the factors behind the competitive advantage. This can be location specific such as low cost labour, the quality of infrastructure, or technological, or brand name or a company's internal resources and capabilities. Empirical evidence suggests that it is usually easy to recreate technological, brand name and most other organisational capability advantages in a new international location, given enough time. Uniform strategy, standardisation, and national adaptation In adapting a uniform global strategy, there are many associated cost savings and potential benefits. One of the key concepts of a uniform strategy is standardisation and the ability to standardise not only products but also to transfer other competitive advantages. Theodore Levitt was a renowned famous supporter of standardisation and one uniform global market. Standardisation can be an easy and quick success as products/services stay the same. Many argue that it is important to have some sort of standardisation of a product when entering a new international market in order to have an existing competitive advantage, but there is much debate whether this applies in all, some, or few circumstances. Theodore Levitt believed that organisations that operate and compete on only a national basis are vulnerable to attack from companies that treat the world as a single global market. His main argument surrounds scales of economies and companies producing standardised products (at a

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Business Math - advantages and disadvantages of higher interest rates Essay

Business Math - advantages and disadvantages of higher interest rates on investments - Essay Example Secondly, increase in interest rate has an effect to bond debt. When interest rate rises, after bonds are issued, bond prices fall. Government can use this strategy to buy back bonds, hence retire debt and free money in their budget to devote to other projects. Interest rate also affects risk aversion. When the interest rate is high, returns from normal savings cushions against riskier investments. The effect of this leads to more investors willing to work with these rates of return. Interest rates also affect equities, rising rate brings about higher borrowing costs, and this consequently impacts on the ability to spend. (Frankel, 2003) On the other hand, a disadvantage is that when interest rates are high, the following disadvantages are experienced. These occur in order to balance out the change. First, its expensive to borrow money, hence less money is available to buy goods. In effect, this will slow the growth rate of an economy. High interest rate can have effect on stock market, since less money is borrowed, the quantity of goods available from traders is less as they cannot afford to make more purchases. Loan borrowing by businesses is also reduced due to the cost incurred in borrowing. High interest rate also has a negative effect on credit cards, companies using credit cards will raise their rates respectively in order to balance with the interest rate changes (Frankel,

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Case Study Of An Abusive Parental Relationship Social Work Essay

Case Study Of An Abusive Parental Relationship Social Work Essay Abstract: Child abuse and neglect are common social issues in differing degrees are prevalent in all countries of the world. This paper will discuss the case of Child L who is in an abused relationship with her mother. The paper will also focus on the issues faced by her mother as a single black parent with unstable financial and emotional history. It deals with the assessment of the situation with reference to the facts as presented in this case study and talks about intervention strategies to develop a care plan for Child L. Attention has been paid to interact with Child L and engage her in direct communication keeping in mind anti-discriminatory practices. Justification for interventions suggested has been included wherever necessary. Introduction: Until as late as a few decades ago, womens and childrens issues were not given due consideration. Women were usually blamed for their powerlessness to look after their children and guard them from domestic violence. This was mainly because they were unable to walk out of their abusive relationships with their husbands due to societal pressures and not having independent means of income (Humphreys Stanley 2006). Things have changed but slightly and single parenting has become more common. However, there is need to support single parents and provide them training in good parenting skills for them to be able to raise their children in a healthy environment. Socialization of children begins in the family, particularly, with the parents. Children learn to form attitudes that determine how well they will be adjusted as adults in society. They learn life skills, relationships, conflict resolution skills, and communication by emulating their parents or other socializing agents. Hence, it is not enough to blame abusive parents for their bad parenting but support by way of training, counselling, advice needs to be provided to them so that they can learn to be good parents. When all efforts in supporting abusive parents fail to bring about any appreciable change in the parents attitude or behaviour other intervention strategies like placements in foster homes need to be considered. The childs protection and well-being is in the balance here. Facts of the case: Subject, Child L is a 2 year old black girl Subject does not go to any nursery or play school Mother does not take her to the hospital or to see any doctors Subject does not have a father Subject has an abusive mother Mother suffers from personality disorder Subject under child protection plan Mother does not adhere to the child protection plan Mother has history of violence and convictions Mother was also a looked after child Mother is a school drop-out at 14 Mother does not have a permanent job Comprehensive assessments of risks that Child L is exposed to: Child L is isolated from the community as she does not go to play school and does not have any social interactions with people other than her abusive mother. The child needs to interact with others because social interactions create awareness and helps to build confidence; self -esteem and a positive attitude towards societal values, cultural standards and the willingness to accept authority of others and share responsibilities. The child is an infant and is probably not able to communicate effectively with others or express her anxieties and stress. Parents need to spend quality time with their children to understand their needs and desires. Talking to children and listening to them is a good way of spending quality time and having a good parent-child relationship. This helps children to have positive self esteem and develop a healthy respect for others as well. Mother is unable to provide a stable home for the child and the seventh floor bedsit accommodation is not conducive to proper child development. Living conditions have an important impact on health and development of children. The risk to proper child development is higher in low income homes (Ross and Roberts 1999). However, family income is not the only determinant of a childs proper growth and development. Mother is not mentally or emotionally stable and has convictions for aggression and violence. Research shows that mothers who are verbally aggressive with their children were found to be controlling and gave directions even for their play activities (Wiley-Blackwell 2008). They demonstrated a tendency to restrain their children by grabbing their wrists or shoulders. It was also found that children with verbally aggressive mothers refused to accept their manipulations and orders, though their resistance was often weak, short lived and indirect. It is important to remember that a parents verbally aggressive behaviour might damage the self confidence and self esteem of the child causing the child to have behaviour disorder in later life (Dwivedi Harper 2004). Child L does not have any one to intervene on her behalf in the event of her mother abusing her physically. The scene described in the case study when the mother asks her daughter to piss off is unfortunate. This scene took place in a public place, namely the GPs chamber. This is an example of the verbal aggression that Child L is exposed to with no one to intervene on her behalf. Physical and emotional abuses of this nature happen with many children in our society. Children are subjected to threats, commands, loud angry words, accusations and words full of mistrust directed towards them all the time. Mothers behaviour has been termed as unpredictable not suitable for healthy parent-child interactions. Parent behaviour has a deep impact on childrens emotional growth. The unpredictable nature of Child Ls mother can cause her anxiety and apprehension. The child will grow up feeling confused by her mothers outbursts and alternate mellow behaviour. This will impact her self confidence and her trust in other adults and she will not know how to emotionally deal with different situations. Mother does not have a support system and has very few friends or family members. As such she does not get much help in raising her daughter alone and she is impatient with her because she is over-worked and tired. In such cases the children are left pretty much by themselves and do not have much supervision or monitoring. The impact of being left unsupervised and unmonitored can have negative implications on young children, especially from poor families. Mother does not have a steady means of earning with practically no education and does not have a steady paid job. Studies have showed that children of employed mothers tend to be better adjusted socially and do better in academics. Daughters of employed mothers are more positive and less shy. Children with employed mothers also fit into leadership roles quite comfortably. For poor or working class people a mothers employment status is important as that has a direct connection with the mothers sense of well being (Hoffman 1998). Mother has a history of violent behaviour and the child is at risk of abuse. Instance of her verbal aggression towards the child has been noted. When a child is witness to violent behaviour at such a young age as Child L, the impression tends to be very deep and she may carry the scars of this fear throughout her life. Her faith in her mother will be shaken as she knows her mother to be her only care giver. In such cases children find it hard to have healthy attachments with parents, siblings or friends. Such children may develop depression and anxiety disorders in adulthood. The child does not have proper medical attention as the mother does not allow her to interact with social workers or doctors. This may be a dangerous trend as all children must have medical check-ups to determine healthy growth. In case of abused children, like Child L in this case, it is important for a medical practitioner to examine her for physical injury that may have been inflicted on her by her unstable mother. The advice of the doctor or health practitioner is also valuable in determining whether the child needs psychological help as well. Child L is lonely and this manifests itself in her reluctance to go away with her mother from the surgery where she is inclined to stay and play with the health practitioner. Isolation and loneliness only add to the burden of being abused by ones intemperate parents. Child L is isolated and does not have many relatives or friends to communicate with and form healthy attachments. This will increase her trauma and result in poor people skills in adult life. The child belongs to an ethnic minority group and is at risk of facing discriminatory behaviour from others in the community. Black African women face racial discrimination, oppression and demoralization even today. However, anti-discriminatory practices need to be implemented and the social care worker needs to be well trained in understanding diversity and in getting appropriate and timely health care for Child L (Malek Joughin 2004). Under the circumstances it is very difficult to monitor the childs condition. It is difficult to reach the child as the mother is not inclined to allow her daughter to socialize and be friendly. The social care worker assigned to care for Child L needs to be able to mitigate the mothers hostility (Falkov, Diggins Mayes 1998) and have access to the child at all times to be able to prevent her being abused. Monitoring Child Ls physical and emotional condition is also important as that will allow the social care practitioner to assess the childs current needs and provide intervention when necessary. Since the mother was also raised in a foster home she may not know how to cope with her childs emotional needs. Research shows that quite often parents who had been abused as children grow up to be abusive parents as they emulate the behaviour they had been exposed at a sub conscious level. As they were never given the opportunity to have responsible and caring parents they themselves do not develop good parenting skills (Saisan, Smith Segal 2010). Though the risk factors present in Child Ls case are many, it may be helpful to mention here that not all children respond to the same risks and their causal factors in the same ways. There is no specific risk aspect that can be associated specifically with mental, emotional or physical hazard for a child (Nemours 2006). Different risk factors can affect different children differently and children may exhibit different symptoms after being exposed to the same risk. The symptoms Child L demonstrates should be noted and then plan for appropriate interventions should be developed. Child Ls Needs, Safeguarding and Interventions: The Child Protection Plan is a means to help families and professional social care workers to interact and be able to establish the guidelines for parents to better safeguard their childs interests. The keys points of a child protection plan (Haringeys LSCB) entails that the child is to be kept in a safe and secure environment, the childs welfare has to be of foremost importance and the family should receive the support they need to raise their children in safety. Protection against witnessing violence- Witnessing violence can be a terrifying experience for young children and can cause emotional trauma. The mother needs to protect her child and not be the cause of her distress. Child L needs to be kept under child protection plan to safeguard her from being physically abused. The mother needs to be counselled about her creating an extremely damaging environment for her child by her aggression. Mothers untreated mental and behaviour disorder- Parents who suffer from depression, anxiety disorder, mental instability have trouble taking care of themselves, much less their children. As is demonstrated in the case study Child Ls mother is mentally and emotionally not very balanced hence she is quick to anger and is aggressive with her daughter. Parents who are themselves traumatized and struggling to behave normally may appear be distant and withdrawn from their children. Treatment for the mother is important as it will mean better care for Child L. Lack of proper parenting skills. Child Ls mother was a looked after child herself and probably did not have the opportunity to learn good parenting skills. She probably has unrealistic assessment of her daughters needs and the amount of care she deserves. The mother needs to be given parenting classes, support from community support groups and/or counselling therapy sessions to get over her own problems and learn good parenting skills. The plan should keep in mind the Children Act 1989 s 17(1) which says that it is the duty of every local authority to safeguard children and take care of their welfare within their area and provide a range of services appropriate for childrens needs (DH). Isolation and lack of support. As we all know that parenting is not an easy task and people need to spend a lot of time and effort to raise a child, especially, when the parent is a single mother. In this case study not only is the mother a single parent, but she has added problems of not having financial stability or a support system by way of friends or family. Child L needs to be protected from being isolated and in order to do that effectively, her mother needs to be supported to be emotionally and financially stable. Care must be taken to socialize the child and her mother. Safeguarding against abuse and neglect. Since Child L is under child protection plan, she should be closely monitored and any signs of abuse or neglect must be reported and taken very seriously. Repeated abuse can have lifelong repercussions for the child and can impact her relationships in future and damage her sense of self-esteem. Monitoring closely will also help monitor her mothers behaviour which can be remedied by putting her mother through anger management programmes or good parenting lessons. Scientific evidence proves that the family, school and community have a large role to play in the physical and mental health of individuals. Interactions with parents, peers and others in the community impact their behaviour beyond their normal genetic propensities. Child L, therefore, needs to be allowed to spend time with others in the community to be able to understand a wider range of behaviour patterns and be able to learn from them. This will help her to make correct choices as an adult. Socializing plays an important part in the general growth and well being of a child. Socializing teaches a child life skills and peer interactions help establish self-esteem and self confidence. The risk of Child L being isolated and not allowed to socialize can render her incapable to handling conflicts in adult life. There are several positive outcomes of socialization and these prepare the child for an independent and responsible adult life. Interactions with peers and others in the school, neighbourhood and community helps the child to learn how to regulate emotions, think independently and adapt behaviour to suit the type of interaction (Berns 2010). Research done by the National Institute of Child Health and Development shows that the quality of mother-child interaction, especially the mothers sensitivity to her childs physical and emotional needs was more important than whether or not the mother was employed as it determined the sense of security a child experienced, of attachment and love from the mother. The mothers employment status has little bearing on the childs behaviour but may be impacted if the mother is negative or insensitive to the childs needs. Safety of the child comes first and the case should be handled by professionals. Instead of focussing on individual case by case basis legislation is passed as a broad spectrum measure to curb the increase in incidents of child abuse. However, since the dynamics of child abuse can be varied people need to report child abuse and get help from professionals (Gil 1971). The child should be protected against repetitions of abuse and alternative solutions must be considered, for example, putting child under protection plan where the child is monitored by professionals regularly or be put in foster homes where proper care will be given to the child. Professional intervention in the form of direct communication with the child should be done by social care givers. While interacting with the child, the social work practitioner must ensure that the child feels reassured and relaxed. Since Child L is almost an infant the social worker needs to be very calm and friendly. S/he needs to reassure the child that the mothers aggressive and dismissive behaviour towards the child is not the childs fault. There is nothing wrong with her and she is just as lovable as any other 2 year old. Gaining the confidence of the child should be the primary objective so that the child feels free to come to the social worker if she needs help. Social worker must keep in mind that the child has limited language and cannot quite explain what she experiences. Observation is more important than interrogation (Saisan, Smith Segal 2010). Child Protection Plan Data has to be collected at different levels with sampling from all strata of society, while focussing more on lower income families. Social care professionals need to be trained to identify (Beckett 2007) and classify children who are victims or at risk of child abuse. Monitoring and reporting at all community levels must be ensured. Parents need to be monitored to check if they are receiving their basic rights and support from the government. A round the clock response system has to be put in place to receive and deal appropriately with complaints from abused children or anyone reporting abuse. A prevention plan needs to be implemented to prevent children from being abused further. Every Child Matters is a programme that helps to advance positive outcomes for children, young adults and families. It is an instrument of change and a tool to implement the Governments policy of elementary reforms for children and guidelines for safeguarding their well being. In this case study, as Child L is but an infant, the social care practitioner must involve the mother in this programme to be effective in this individual case. Every Child Matters draws its inspiration from the framework provided by the Childrens Act 2004. The four key aspects of the legal framework are given below (Fraser 2007): Children must be engaged in positive activities to bring about an attitudinal change. This can be streamlined by engaging experts in communication who will be able to provide the right motivation and remove barriers to learning. Young people must be encouraged and motivated to join and volunteer for community service. Creating awareness for young people to make the right choices about their own lives. Support should be based on individual basis depending on the needs of the child. Community groups need to be organized at different levels to work on child and family issues. Volunteers and social workers need to be able to provide guidance and counselling for abused children and their family members. A body should be set up to coordinate the work. Social programs should be introduced to raise public awareness on this issue and advise people on human and child rights to prevent children from being exploited and abused. Social workers team must be multi-disciplinary and be trained to identify victims that need immediate safety and protection and be able to organize for their safekeeping. Social workers should carry out home visits and on the spot inspection and coordinate with child protection agencies. Government and community social work agencies are doing a fair amount of work in this field. We need to integrate the effort made by these agencies by organizing life skills training (Maennantharat 2010), self protection training, and raise awareness about domestic violence, especially amongst minority sections of the community. A core group of professionals from multidisciplinary fields, including members of the community mental health team, will have to be involved in developing the plan further. The plan needs to include a continual assessment of the situation and check for adherence with the child protection plan and also include areas of concern as listed below (Haringeys LSCB): Indentifying and addressing the root causes that may harm the child. Being able to create a schedule that will have time bound activities for the social care givers and family members to stop the sufferings of the child. Specific tasks that target short term and long term child focused outcomes with deadlines and consequences for not being able to meet the target. A daily monitoring task for social workers for individual children to check the safety of the children on a day-to-day basis. A contingency plan has to be set up if the child protection plan fails in delivering the required outcomes. A regular reviewing system for the child protection plan has to be set up to check for efficacy. If the parent fails to adhere to the child protection plan as in the case study and the child is exposed to significant harm, care proceedings have to be started in a family court (Family Justice Council 2010). The local authorities in collaboration with social care workers will try to work out the necessary changes required of the family before involving court proceedings. A full assessment is required with provision of services mentioned in the child protection plan. The parents, in this case the mother of Child L, should contact a specialist child care law solicitor in case the case needs to be presented before a court. Legal aid scheme is available to parents free of cost for their legal representation. Family group conferences should be organized that will include the wider family and community support groups to encourage the mother to arrive at a solution. A guardian has to be appointed till a decision is taken to allow the parent or relatives custody of the child or the child to be put in foster care. Conclusion It is important to be conversant with knowledge and awareness of normal family interactions and child development process to be able to identify children who receive inappropriate and less care. It will also help the social worker to assess a childs situation and understand whether the child is at risk of neglect or abuse. A thorough and logical assessment of the case will help to implement programs that prevent child abuse and neglect. It will be useful in assessing a childs current needs and whether these needs are being met. In the event of the child having to be placed in a foster home it will help to customize placements based on a childs individual needs (AAP Policy 2000).

Friday, October 25, 2019

A Cultural Studies Approach to Understanding Islam Essay -- Interpret

In today’s world, given the turmoil that sometimes seems to be caused by religious differences, it is easy to see each religion as a monolithic entity existing separate from other religions, and thus representing starkly polar worldviews. Often, such notions arise as a result of not utilizing a cultural studies approach towards studying religion, which is arguably the best approach for understanding the role of religion in one’s daily life. The cultural studies approach, which examines the particular context in which one interprets his or her religion, is particularly important when it comes to understanding religions like Islam, whose adherents come from vastly different backgrounds. Through the cultural studies approach, which is arguably much more interdisciplinary than the textual approach, we see that one’s interpretation of religion is strongly influenced by factors including social, political, educational, and economic aspects of life, as well as one’s particular historical backdrop; this then makes the arts and literature a unique window by which we can observe a particular culture’s comprehension of the religion (Infidel of Love 10). These creative responses thus are my own response to my understanding of Islam, and intertwined in these works, then, are not only lessons from the classroom, but my own personal experiences, which have themselves been shaped by the economic, social and cultural backdrop in which I have grown up. Asides from the different cultural backdrops in which one can interpret Islam, it is also crucial to understand the fundamental divisions that have persisted in Islam, from Sufism, Shi’a, to Sunni groups. Understanding these different communities of interpretation is thus cruci... ...m Understandings of Islam. Harvard University Press, 2013. Asani, Ali. â€Å"In Praise of Muhammad: Sindhi and Urdu Poems.† Religions of India in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. Asani, Ali. Lecture: Gender and Islam. Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 54. Asani, Ali. Lecture: Pillars of Islam. Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 54. Asani, Ali. Lecture: Reform Revival Iran. Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 54. Chelkowski, Peter. Ta’ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran. New York University Press, 1979. Handout Week 4: The Qur’an on the Attributes of Muhammad and the Names of God. Hussain, Rokeya Shakhawat. Sultana’s Dream and Selections from The Secluded Ones. New York: Feminist Press, 1998. Iqbal, Mohammad. â€Å"Complaint and Answer.† Trans. By A.J. Arberry. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2003. A Cultural Studies Approach to Understanding Islam Essay -- Interpret In today’s world, given the turmoil that sometimes seems to be caused by religious differences, it is easy to see each religion as a monolithic entity existing separate from other religions, and thus representing starkly polar worldviews. Often, such notions arise as a result of not utilizing a cultural studies approach towards studying religion, which is arguably the best approach for understanding the role of religion in one’s daily life. The cultural studies approach, which examines the particular context in which one interprets his or her religion, is particularly important when it comes to understanding religions like Islam, whose adherents come from vastly different backgrounds. Through the cultural studies approach, which is arguably much more interdisciplinary than the textual approach, we see that one’s interpretation of religion is strongly influenced by factors including social, political, educational, and economic aspects of life, as well as one’s particular historical backdrop; this then makes the arts and literature a unique window by which we can observe a particular culture’s comprehension of the religion (Infidel of Love 10). These creative responses thus are my own response to my understanding of Islam, and intertwined in these works, then, are not only lessons from the classroom, but my own personal experiences, which have themselves been shaped by the economic, social and cultural backdrop in which I have grown up. Asides from the different cultural backdrops in which one can interpret Islam, it is also crucial to understand the fundamental divisions that have persisted in Islam, from Sufism, Shi’a, to Sunni groups. Understanding these different communities of interpretation is thus cruci... ...m Understandings of Islam. Harvard University Press, 2013. Asani, Ali. â€Å"In Praise of Muhammad: Sindhi and Urdu Poems.† Religions of India in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. Asani, Ali. Lecture: Gender and Islam. Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 54. Asani, Ali. Lecture: Pillars of Islam. Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 54. Asani, Ali. Lecture: Reform Revival Iran. Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 54. Chelkowski, Peter. Ta’ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran. New York University Press, 1979. Handout Week 4: The Qur’an on the Attributes of Muhammad and the Names of God. Hussain, Rokeya Shakhawat. Sultana’s Dream and Selections from The Secluded Ones. New York: Feminist Press, 1998. Iqbal, Mohammad. â€Å"Complaint and Answer.† Trans. By A.J. Arberry. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2003.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Howard Schultz Essay

I. Introduction Starbucks today is widely recognized as the megabrand for coffee, and there clearly are no close competitors that have its international recognition and scope. Starbucks has grown to employ over â€Å"160,000 people and generates about 13.6 billion dollars annually† (Forbes). Much of Starbuck’s success is attributed to a man with a clear vision and drive: Howard Schultz. Howard Schultz’s passion for delivering quality coffee along with a positive cafà © experience has given him the motivational determination to demonstrate exceptional leadership traits. This paper will give a brief overview of the history of Starbucks, and will then investigate the changes that were made after Schultz stepped in. Furthermore, problems that Schultz encountered throughout his time as CEO will also be discussed, along with the key steps he took to bring Starbucks back on to a road of recovery. As a concluding remark, Schultz’s leadership style and abilities w ill be analyzed in terms of effectiveness. II. A Brief History of Starbucks  Looking at the Starbucks company today, it is difficult to imagine that a company that has over twenty thousand locations in sixty-one countries (Starbucks) was once a single small retailer that had only three employees. In 1971, three academics, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker, opened a small store at Pikes Place Market based on their collective love for fine coffee-making. Baldwin, Siegel, and Bowker’s initial goals were to expose Seattle to bring a refined coffee culture that existed in the San Francisco Bay Area. The three looked to Alfred Peet, an expert coffee roaster from Berkeley, CA, who taught them the art of dark-coffee roasting. Baldwin, Seagel, and Bowker took on that knowledge to produce their own roasts and blends that were then distributed in their stores. Ten years later, Howard Schultz, then the vice president and general manager for a Swedish kitchen and housewares, visited Starbucks to see why they were placing such large orders for a particular coffee maker. Schultz was immediately captivated by the aromas and quality of coffee that was offered by the store. He, gained as much insight as possible from Baldwin and Bowker about the entire coffee production process, and later convinced them to join their team. It was not until Schultz took a trip to Italy, when he began to envision a new Starbucks. Schultz visited many espresso bars and was exposed to a new culture of coffee drinking that we wanted to bring to the United States. Upon his return, Schultz did all he could to convince the managers at Starbucks to get a full espresso bar and begin serving lattes and drinks at Starbucks. Due to many disagreements with the managers on the values and culture that Starbucks should have, Schultz mad a decision to leave and start his own cafà ©: Il Giornale. With this venture, Schultz had the executive freedom to create a culture that he passionately envisioned. Schultz’s business plan was widely successful, and within two years, he opened up â€Å"three cafes that generated 1.5 million dollars annually† (McGrawhill). With his success, Schultz acquired Starbucks to gain wider reach and growth. III. New Era for Starbucks and Problems Arising Now as the new CEO of Starbucks, Schultz faced many difficulties and challenges. The biggest problem that Schultz faced was making sure that Starbucks retained its â€Å"soul† in spite of growing into a large corporation. The biggest issues that played into Starbucks maintaining its soul was hiring the right managers and executives on his team, having consistent quality products and in-store experience for all Starbucks stores, and lastly- establishing a positive company culture for both the employees and customers. At the start of his career as the CEO for Starbucks, Schultz was faced with many obstacles to overcome. The first issue he tackled was getting the right people on his team. Lack of a Strong Core Executive Team With nine stores open, Schultz saw that Starbucks lacked professional management skills to control all the processes to grow to his plan of adding â€Å"125 stores in the next five years† [McGrawHill]. He made sure to add â€Å"A players† to his team: roasters and cafà © owners with decades of experience, a president of a profitable beverage company, and a CFO with eighteen years of management consulting experience at Deloitte and Touche. Schultz was able to see the need to recruit strong players with a lot of experience in the coffee and management industry. Early on, Schultz addressed the lack of organization management that was crucial for Starbucks to accelerate forward. Employee Enthusiasm and Commitment Another problem that Schultz faced was the issue of building a strong core of employees throughout the company. Schultz found that as the company grew, it lacked strong dedication from its employees. Starbucks had a high turnover rate, just like many other entry-level service jobs at McDonalds or retail stores. Schultz saw this as a huge problem for not only the money Starbucks lost through losing an employee and having to pay more to hire and train new ones, but also losing team members. Schultz wanted to create an environment for Starbucks employees in which they would want to stay in. Schultz had difficulties convincing Starbuck’s Board of Directors to invest in constant training, higher salaries, and rewards based on merit. He even went far enough for wanting baristas to become invested in building Starbucks into a great company, and thus offered them stock options. The biggest action step he took to really show that he wanted to show that Starbucks had a heart for their employees was fighting for providing health care coverage to all its employees. Schultz’s father recently battled cancer, and he knew that it would not only add tremendous value to the lives of Starbucks’ employees, but also allow them to have an incentive to stay. Through a particular story about the impact that Starbucks was having on its employees lives, I learned that Schultz had high emotional intelligence and the ability to put himself in others’ shoes. Schultz recalled, â€Å"I had known Jim was gay but had no idea he was sick. His disease had entered a new phase, he explained that he wouldn’t be able to work any longer. We sat together and cried, for I could not find meaningful words to console him I could not compose myself. I hugged him†. [McGrawhill] Schultz built his career from the bottom up from nothing, and his ability to demonstrate sympathy to others clearly showed great leadership skills. Having adept emotional skills is incredibly valuable for a leader because it gains the trust and approval of many people. Maintaining Consistent Product Quality and Customer Experience The last problem that will be discussed in this paper is how Schultz ensured product quality and positive store experience throughout all the Starbucks locations. Schultz could not emphasize enough how important it was to maintain the integrity of the coffee bean and the quality of the coffee throughout the stores. In order to do so, he made strict guidelines on preserving the heart of Starbucks’ history: getting good coffee to all customers. Starbucks had the option of chemically flavoring the beans, but Schultz made the executive decision to never add any chemicals to their core products. If customers wanted flavoring in their coffee, the source of additional flavoring could not come from the bean, but rather from a syrup mixed into the coffee. Another example is that he stressed the exact temperature that the milk for lattes needed to be heated to, the amount of time coffee can sit in a pot, and always compensating dissatisfied customers with a free drink. Schultz’s stringent standards on delivering consistent experiences also let him to scrapping a popular breakfast sandwich because it interfered with the coffee aroma in the Starbucks stores. III. Schultz’s Leadership Style Without Schultz trailblazing leadership styles, Starbucks would not have nearly achieved the success that it has today. The passion that Schultz exudes in terms of implementing the true Italian coffee house experience on an international scale has definitely shown through in his time as CEO. Schultz’s leadership style shows a commitment to keeping soul despite the large size of the company. Schultz’s standards for quality have never been compromised, and he continually makes the effort to ensure that his entire company is on board with delivering his goals. Aside from delivering quality to customers, Schultz’s leadership style also emphasizes treating all of his employees with respect and individuality. He guarantees that when working at Starbucks, an employee will be treated with fairness and dignity. Schultz more than anything emphasizes improving quality in terms of any experiences for whoever comes in contact with the St arbucks name. IV. Opinion on Leadership Style and Takeaway Schultz’s strong vision and keen awareness for what the Starbucks brand was very telling when he came back to Starbucks after stepping down. Schultz saw many problems, such as too many stores and below-par customer service. Schultz made a very bold move to close down Starbucks stores for three hours for mandatory training that cost the company millions of dollars. Schultz also closed down many locations. Schultz is very serious when it comes to giving a positive customer experience, and drives his motivation and actions off of that. I believe that Schultz’s ability to isolate and deliver the needs of Starbucks’ customers is his strong point. He has always been convincing Starbucks partners and board of directors to also see his standards for quality and having Starbucks retain its â€Å"soul†. His leadership style has definitely proved to be effective in building Starbucks into the behemoth of a company that it is today. Personally, I hope to be as passionate about delivering something to consumers when I take on a leadership position. To be cognizant of what exactly needs to get done to deliver a quality experience without losing focus is an important trait that can be learned through Howard Schultz’s leadership style.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Final Project: Business Portfolio Presentation Essay

The following is a presentation of information about â€Å"Nick’s Mexican Restaurant†. I will be going into detail about certain things that matter within a business like the organization, potential legal or ethical issues, business culture, types of motivation, human resource management, technology, and operations and materials management. Introduction to Mexican FoodAlthough the restaurant will be mainly Mexican, the menu will also consist of several American dishes and sea food dishes like Caldo de Marisco (seafood soup) and other favorites. Business OrganizationNick’s Mexican Restaurant will be privately owned. Since it is I will be fully responsible for all debts and obligations related my business. First at hand will be the staff, I need to have enough staff to get my business going and have the customers satisfied. My employees will consist of servers, cooks, dishwashers, preps, host/hostess, and a member of management for the kitchen and the front to greet the customers. Always making sure my employees are happy and secure. Taking care of my teams who will in turn take care of our guests, resulting in increased profits. Potential Legal or Ethical IssuesAs far as ethics goes, I will not be doing anything that may be considered illegal nor will my employees†¦I will stress it as much as possible to obey the law and be as clean and neat as possible. Legally you can be sued for almost anything from having a dirty kitchen to a small crack on the parking lot floor. I will be having plenty of insurance and I will make sure my business follows and obeys all kinds of licensing law. I will make sure all tax laws and employment laws will be followed as well. All employees will be treated fairly and will always have the option of leaving if they want. Business CultureNick’s Mexican Restaurant will strive to develop the strongest culture in the business and to out execute our competition. We focus on quality staffing , controlling team turnover and increasing  employee and customer satisfaction. The restaurant will be created to occupy both Mexican and American atmospheres because being here in the Rio Grande Valley, people can’t get enough of good Mexican cooking and a great down-home atmosphere. The restaurant will overlook the down town area for a pleasant dining experience. It will consist of a fancy banquet room that will be used for private and cooperate events, along with a down home dining room that will have a cozy fireplace and hearth. The outside will demonstrate a traditional Mexican style home (stucco) with an orange color motif. Types of MotivationWhen it comes to making my employees happy, I will always strive for that. I have always said, â€Å"happy employees means happy customers†. I will offer several types of incentives to motivate my employees to have great customer service. As the customer is paying, I will offer them a â€Å"report card† sort of speak to fill out about the service they received. If the service was excellent with several comments on it, I will place one from each server at the end of the week and draw to see which will receive a cash prize that week. It is very important that the kitchen stays clean, I will inspect it every week and make sure everything is looking great, if so I will give the kitchen staff a cash prize as well. All this in order to keep my employees happy and wanting more. Human Resource ManagementThe best way to improve the business is to have proper human resource management. Helping employees with common training practice is the best way to achieve growth within the business. Having four to five employees to one trainer would be very beneficial. Since everyone will be trained in a certain way the company will expand fast. Pay and benefits need to be increased if we want employees to stay with the company. Several businesses are offering better pay and benefits; we must retaliate by offering good starting wages and benefits. Retirement and sick leave is some of the issues that need to be operational. Vacation time should be offered after six months of employment and medical leave as well. Pay increases would be done every six months if the employees are doing well instead of yearly. Doing all this will surely help employees determine if the company is worth their services. TechnologyThe restaurant will be able to accept debit/credit cards and any other types of payment. The cash registers will have the options of keeping track of all the sales and transactions that have taken place throughout the day. The employees will have electronic time cards†¦at the beginning of the shift they are to swipe in and the end of the day to swipe out. After every night has passed a report will be printed out so I could look over. Operations and Materials ManagementEvery part of management should have all the materials needed for their area. The kitchen management is in charge of making sure all materials are ordered and products are supplied. I would not want my customers to get upset when they order something on the menu and it is not available due to insufficient ingredients. The front manager is in charge of making sure all napkin holders are stocked and all cleaning supplies are in abundance. The front manager is also to make sure all menus are current and printed correctly, along with cash register paper and credit/debit card machine also have paper. Nick’s Mexican RestaurantWith all this careful planning, Nick’s Mexican Restaurant will surely be one of the most successful restaurants in the Rio Grande Valley. People will love to work with us and dine with us as we will offer the very best in wage and benefits as well as a great mixture of Mexican, American, and seafood dishes. Nick’s Mexican Restaurant, where the food is fresh and the service is exellent!ReferencesNicholas Saldivar. (2008). Job Fair Brochure. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from Nicholas Saldivar, Week Six, BUS 210 Foundations of Business Web site. Nicholas Saldivar. (2008). The Impact of HRM CheckPoint. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from Nicholas Saldivar, Week Seven, BUS 210 Foundations of Business Web site. Nicholas Saldivar. (2008). IT Applications Presentation CheckPoint. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from Nicholas Saldivar, Week Eight, BUS 210 Foundations of Business Web site. Abuelitas , (2008). Menu. Abuelitas Mexican Restaurant. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from http://www.abuelitastopanga.com/menus.htmlAzteca , (2007). Welcome to the Family. Azteca Mexican Restaurants. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from http://www.aztecamex.com