Eschatology Religion and Theology Research Paper

Eschatology Religion and Theology - Research Paper Example It is also good to look at the Hebrew’s approach to afterlife, and finally a conclusion can be drawn. According to the traditional definition, eschatology means the doctrinal teachings of the "last things". Eschatology relations involve the relations of individuals (including resurrection, death, judgment, as well as the afterlife). It also explores man’s relationship with the world. In the latter respect, the doctrine of eschatology tends to be restricted, at times, to the absolute destruction of the world. The biblical usage is not warranted by the restrictions of eschatology. The "last days" may imply the end of the current order, or "hereafter." Eschatology, according to the Greeks point of understanding, as drawn from the Theological Terminology Dictionary, entails studying about the end times. It further integrates the second appearance of Jesus Christ, the rapture, the millennial kingdom of Christ Jesus, the battle of Armageddon, the ultimate judgment of Satan to gether with his false prophets and angles, and the new earth and the new heaven. National Eschatology The hope of national resurrection is expressed earlier compared to the individual resurrection. In the vision of the dry bone, God showed Ezekiel that the divine breath has the potential of breathing new life into the dead, thus featuring a national resurrection: "These bones are the whole house of Israel" (Ezek. 37:11). â€Å"Isaiah 26: 19 promises a national resurrection.† "Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise". Resurrection for the individual first is explicit as put in (Dan. 12:2). Martyrs persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes offered a powerful assurance upon the resurrection hope. Therefore, belief in the resurrection of the righteous, at least, was adopted as part of Orthodox Judaism, in exception to the Sadducees. The Sadducees claimed to be the champions of religion of the old-time contrary to Pharisaic innovations. Having attained there is a sharper distinct ion existing between the wicked people and the afterlife fortunes of the righteous, in Gehenna or heaven (Paradise) respectively. According to the significant teaching of the "day of the Lord", (Amos 5:18 - 20), the Israelites have been rebuked because of their anxiousness for it. The day would neither bring light nor joy though that was their hope. It would rather bring mourning and darkness. Because Yahweh is absolutely righteous, the intervention for vindicating His action must include the righteous judgment wherever it appears, particularly amongst His chosen people, who obtained exceptional opportunities and got to know His will. Individual Eschatology in the Old Testament Afterlife existence is much contemplated in the Old Testament. Jesus indeed revealed that immortality was implicit in humans’ in relationship to God: the LORD God is God of living and not of the dead (Luke 20:38). However, the featured implication was unappreciated in Old Testament. Perhaps in response to the cultic practices of Canaanites regarding the dead, the Old Testament puts little emphasis concerning the afterlife. Sheol could be regarded the underworld as the place where the dead would dwell as shades; their past (former) status as well as character are less accounted for there. The praises made to Yahweh, which used to engage so much of pious activities of Israelite on earth, would remain unsung in Sheol, which would popularly be thought to apply outside the jurisdiction of Yahweh (Isa. 38:18; Ps. 88:10 - 12). In the book of Psalms, (Psalms 73 and 139) there is an assurance that the presence of God will not be deprived unto those who chose to walk with God, in their death. Job

Symbolism in Hemingway's Cat in the Rain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Symbolism in Hemingway's Cat in the Rain - Essay Example A knock at the door brings the maid with a cat in her hands which the hotel owner asks her to bring to American wife. This short story of Hemingway clearly illustrates one chapter of marriage life which is enriched through the use of symbolism. The story starts with the beautiful description of the place outside the couple's hotel with the view of the sea and the picturesque panorama that artists cannot resist to paint. After this, Hemingway starts to build the situation where the couples are-"rain dripped from the palm trees (Hemingway 1)," "motor cars are gone (1)," and "empty square (1)"-which are all in contrast to the previously depicted beauty of the place. This description can be seen as Hemingway's illustration of the husband and wife. When they first got married, everything seems to be so well between them. However, they are now faced with the hardship of making their relationship work because of their individual differences which is further portrayed in the succeeding paragraphs. Hemingway's use of cat which is "trying to make herself compact that she would not be dripped on" (2) can be directly linked to the emotional suffering that the woman is going through. It should be noted that like the cat, she is battling the coldness of her husband and is trying to make him understand what she wants.

An Internal Analysis Of Starbucks Marketing Essay

An Internal Analysis Of Starbucks Marketing Essay The internal analysis of Starbucks will consist of an organizational analysis strategy analysis and a business model analysis. 4.1. Organizational Analysis The corporate mission of Starbucks, along with its vision statement and business model are crucial in determining where Starbucks wants to go as an organization. The Starbucks mission statement is: to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time (Starbucks, 2011). To deliver on its mission, Starbucks executes some core principles. Firstly, Starbucks commits to the finest coffee. Starbucks is not only concerned with quality for the end consumer, but also ensures coffee beans are purchased in an ethical manner that will improve the lives of the farmers. Secondly, Starbucks deems their employees as a crucial resource and asset. Starbucks guarantees perfect coffee to their customers, which can only be delivered by high engagement of staff (Starbucks, 2011). Thirdly, the third place experience provided by Starbucks gives customers a gratifying atmosphere of human connection and a sense of belonging (Rice, 2009). The products and services that Starbucks offer are critically important to Starbucks achieving differentiation in the market by way of constant product innovation (Kelly, 2006). Starbucks currently offers more than just quality gourmet coffee. Starbucks is proud of its customer service and is dedicated to ensuring that each customer enjoys each trip to Starbucks (Starbucks, 2011). Other services include the third place experience atmosphere and onsite coffee service. The third place experience is what Starbucks refers to as the third location that consumers will relax and enjoy drinking coffee beverages (Rice, 2009). Starbucks also offers free Wi-Fi to everyone at its store locations to entice customers to stay longer and work or surf the web while they enjoy their coffee (Starbucks, 2011). The organizational analysis evaluates the key characteristics of the organization. Starbucks aims to nurture the human spirit around the globe by offering the finest coffee in a friendly and inviting atmosphere. It promotes product innovation and customer service through a decentralized leadership style that emphasizes distributed decision-making and information-sharing. The quality of a company is judged by the symbiotic fit between its strategy and organizational structure, yet consideration is also placed on whether the firms strategy and structure meet the demands of the external environment (Hannan, 2011). The next section will give a detailed analysis on Starbucks strategy. 4.2. Strategy Analysis The strategy analysis consists of three parts: marketing strategy analysis, operations strategy analysis and international expansion strategy analysis. Marketing strategy The first part is about Starbucks positioning strategy. A positioning strategy aims at positioning rival companies into strategic groups. These strategic groups consist of industry members that have similar goals and positions in the competitive industry (Piercy, 2008). These groups are placed on a strategic group map to analyse how industry firms are positioned. Firms in the coffee industry will be mapped based on price and quality of their products versus product line breadth. The size of the circle representing each firm on the strategic group map is symbolic proportional to the size of the firms share of total group revenues. The coffee beverage strategy group consists of quick-service restaurants and specialty coffee shops. The major players in the strategy group are listed in the following table. The firms are divided by breadth of products offered to the market, industry related sales, and percentage of sales relative to rivals. The data listed in table x are used in constructing the strategic group map. Diagram 7: Strategic Group Map of Coffee Industry Green Mountain Price/ Quality Source: Williams (2007) Competitors of Starbucks can be divided into two different categories: direct and indirect. The direct competition would include firms that manufacture and produce hot drinks (Datamonitor, 2010). These firms are the retailers of ready-to-drink coffee and tea products, quick-service restaurants, and supermarkets. Also, in this category are the large multinational companies that produce ground coffees and instant coffees (Datamonitor, 2010). The indirect competitors are comprised of firms producing energy drinks, caffeinated soft drinks, and energy shots. Starbucks close competitors include other specialty coffee shops, doughnut shops, and restaurants. Starbucks holds a dominant position in the specialty coffeehouse market and has no single clear rival in the sector. Its closest specialty coffeehouse competitor is Caribou Coffee with 440 stores in the US. Its most intense specialty coffeehouse competition is dispersed among the thousands of independent or small-chain coffee shops around the nation and the world. Two of Starbucks stiffest quick-service restaurant rivals are McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. McDonalds followed its 2009 strategy of competing against Starbucks through expansion of McCafe locations into more stores both domestically and internationally (Liu, 2009). Nevertheless, there are big differences between their core customers. Privately owned Dunkin Donuts is another major competitor, with nearly 5,000 stores in the US. Following Starbucks footsteps, Dunkin Donuts will look to expanding globally, especially in the Asian markets (Dicarlo, 2004). Although Dunkin Donuts retail footprint also overlaps largely with that of Starbucks, its customer experience is much more similar to the coffee-to-go model rather than the third place to work and relax model. Consequently, it is likely to compete more directly with McDonalds than with Starbucks (Dicarlo, 2004). Starbucks is an industry leader in both product innovation and product offering. Most other firms take a follower position and simply copy successful Starbucks products at lower prices. This is a favourable position for Starbucks. The strategic group map shows Starbucks as the leader in both price/quality of product offerings as well as the breadth of products offered. The white space on the map is possible openings for existing firms or new firms to move into. These would be high priced, low breadth offering positions, or low cost, high breadth offering positions. The second part analyses Starbucks competitive strategy using Porters Generic strategies framework. As a whole, Starbucks implements a broad differentiation strategy. It provides high quality coffee and a unique experience in accessible locations, which makes it stand out among all the coffee providers. VIA, the new instant coffee line, straddles broad differentiation and cost leadership strategy. Though it will be a low cost and convenient alternative to Starbucks regular coffee, Starbucks coffee is still unique from other products in the market. Providing in-store gifts and brewing utensils is the focused differentiation strategy; it was designed for coffee lovers, especially Starbucks loyal fans. Diagram 8: Starbucks competitive strategy Competitive Advantage Uniqueness Low cost Broad Target Narrow Target As a whole VIADifferentiation Cost Leadership In-store brewing utensils/ gifts Differentiation Focus Cost Focus To differentiate it from rivals, Starbucks convinces customers that it provides more than a cup of coffee and associates its brand image with a sense of community activism. Moreover, Starbucks acts as a social responsible company to strengthen its differentiation strategy. It promotes ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship, and community involvement. Starbucks also prides itself on the innovation of new products, which further differentiates it from its competitors. However, with the customer base becoming more sophisticated and differentiation indicators adopted by ordinary coffee firms, Starbucks advantage on the differentiation strategy may fade away (Piercy, 2008). The third part is about Starbucks brand building strategy. Its marketing strategy has focused on word-of-mouth advertising and building the brand cup by cup, letting the high quality of their products and services speak for themselves (Starbucks, 2010). For years, this unique marketing strategy has played an important role in making Starbucks Coffee Company a success. In 2010, two-thirds of all coffee was sold in supermarkets. Starbucks coffee sold in supermarkets featured distinctive, elegant packaging and the same premium quality as that sold in its own stores. This new change requires Starbucks to create a new way to build its brand. Therefore, the Starbucks marketing strategy has expanded to create a community around their brand. On its website, individuals are encouraged to express their experiences with Starbucks history, and the company strives to personally join in the discussions. Operations management Strategy Starbucks has positioned itself as a provider of ethical premium coffee products and pleasant, luxurious meeting places for people. So, its prices are relative high and it competes on a unique value proposition. Commitment to the best quality and high ethical standards are evident in every step of the supply chain, from bean procurement to service (Jennings, 2009). Starbucks supply chain starts from bean sourcing. To ensure compliance with its rigorous coffee standards, it controls coffee purchasing, roasting and packaging, and the global distribution of coffee. Starbucks pays over the market price for its beans in order to procure premium beans. Besides acquiring the highest quality coffee, the ethics of paying a fair price for coffee producers provides an ethical aspect to the value proposition (Rubin, Dierdorff and Brown, 2010). Starbucks also has the expertise to secure top-notch coffee beans to supply the companys growing needs. All this allows Starbucks to serve coffee that is of superior quality compared to competitors. As part of its sourcing strategy, Starbucks entered into fixed-price purchase commitments in order to secure an adequate supply of quality green coffee beans and to limit exposure to fluctuating coffee prices (Starbucks, 2010). When satisfactory fixed-price commitments were not available, the company purchased coffee future contracts to provide price protection. Nonetheless, there have been occasions in years past when unexpected jumps in coffee prices put a squeeze on the companys margins and necessitated an increase in the prices of its beverages and beans sold at retail price. However, by this approach, Starbucks can smooth costs and avoid price hikes in the stores that would have a devastating effect on the companys image. Starbucks deems store operations as an important part of strengthening the companys reputation and image. The company formed a group to create a store development process to ensure that each store conveys the appropriate image and character. Then, the information and operating system of Starbucks allow it to communicate information throughout the organization to increase the quality of decisions and efficiency in value-chain activities (Gamble Thompson, 2011). Starbucks also tries to develop the companys brand through its specialty operations with third parties outside the traditional coffeehouse. This includes Licensed Stores, Packaged Tea and Coffee, Branded Products and Foodservices Operations. In 1997, Starbucks began entering into a limited number of licensing agreements for store locations in areas where it did not have the ability to locate its own outlets. For example, Licensed Stores with Marriott Host International and Aramark Food and Services put Starbucks stores in airport locations and on university campuses. Starbucks received a license fee and a royalty on sales at these locations and supplied the coffee for resale in the licensed locations. International Expansion Strategy Starbucks international expansion started in 1995 and its international expansion strategy is to provide licenses or create joint ventures with reputable local companies, which are equipped with retailing know-how in the target country (Garza, 2010).. This strategy is built upon the growing reputation of the Starbucks brand and the ability to identify attractive store locations. The international expansion strategy is also supported by centralized buying, standard contract development and fixed fees for certain items, and consolidated work under contractors with good cost-control practices (Alberto, 2011c). Starbucks product supply is also a key in the successful expansion. As reported by the Wall Street Journal (2006), the Starbucks Corporation is expanding at a very high rate and focusing on China. This company has aggressively campaigned to become the leading coffee in the United States and after attaining this, it has made further steps to considering global leadership. The expansion and growth of Starbucks has been well known, especially by its desires to venture in emerging economies. Currently, the Starbucks Corporation is downsizing in the US as a result of the economic downturn in this country and its increasing global expansion. In 2008, this company closed more than 600 coffee shops across the US. Since the need for international coffee has increased, Starbucks is opening up 1,000 coffee shops across the world especially in Asia. Starbucks expansion strategy was well thought out: the strategy target was in the Asian Pacific, far away from Europe and Latin America where coffee shops competition is very strong. As the diagram below shows, the revenue from the US market is shrinking and the operating income of the EMEA market became negative in 2010 and 2011, while the market of China and the Asian pacific shows good potential. Therefore, China is Starbucks largest target, as it is expected to be the biggest growing market over the next two year s (Starbucks, 2011). After the global economy recovery, Starbucks is planning to open an average of more than one store each day. Starbucks continues to close domestic stores that have already saturated the market, and replace them with international stores abroad. Total revenues ($ Million) Starbucks is able to enter into Asian markets and China in particular by targeting Chinas middle class and bringing new lifestyles while maintaining coffee and other beverages as affordable luxuries. Barraclough (2006) reports that the Chinese are known for their increasing preference for coffee and hence Starbucks is able to convince more customers to take coffee. American products and lifestyle are highly admired by the Chinese and Japanese, and hence consumers there adopt American trends and products easily and quickly. This indicates that Starbucks is making use of the Chinese culture to enter into Chinas market (Haoting, 2009). However, the rapid international expansion also has negative effects. First of all, too many new locations established would exert an adverse effect on customer service. Therefore, the customer experience may degrade. Secondly, some retail stores opened even before the local supply chain was fully built up, leading to bad customer perceptions towards Starbucks coffee and food. Thirdly, the strategy of closing down US locations to offset new growth abroad results in reducing the convenience factor in the US market. Many American customers have to drive a long way to buy a cup of beloved Starbucks coffee. As mentioned previously, the convenience is one of most important parts of its value proposition. Last but not the least, the large number of stores is a huge asset or liability, depending on how one assesses the situation. If there is a strong economy and people have disposable income, then it is an advantage to have abundant stores to generate revenues. On the other hand, the vast n umber of stores will become a huge financial liability during economic downturns. Therefore, now Starbucks, led by Schultz, advocate the disciplined expansion of store bases and focus on real, sustainable growth. 4.3. Value chain analysis Michael Porter (1998) states that acquiring competitive advantages can be done through an analysis of the companys value chain. Companies can attain competitive advantage when the value chain is optimised by coordinating these activities to create value for its products or services that exceeds the costs of performing the value activities (Porter, 1998). In other words, a company can create additional value without necessarily increasing costs. A companys value chain system can be classified into two categories; (1) the primary activities, which involve the physical creation of the products, marketing and delivery system, and after sale service and support activities; and (2) the secondary activities, wherein company infrastructure and inputs allow the primary activities to take place (Porter 1998). When these activities are already defined, the value chain system can be analysed in order to aid the development of a strategic goal and gain competitive advantage or, in our case, to understand the current downfall in the Starbucks business model. Below is the current value chain of Starbucks with international and technological developments. The upstream value chain allows the development of new products that suit international markets better, e.g. green Tea Latte in Starbucks Japan. The downstream is the online storefront customization, which allows customers to order online and create new drinks etc. The newly-added mobile app could locate Starbucks locations and order drinks. Product Distribution Bean and Ingredient Selection Local Adjustment Product Development Take-home products Online Storefront Customization Mobile Apps Storefront Starbucks value chain creates additional value for its products, which the customers are willing to pay for. Hence, the customer is not reluctant to pay above-market prices for Starbucks coffee. In fact, its customers are not looking for the price of the coffee but they are seeking for the quality of the products and the brand image that the company offers. For a company to achieve or maintain competitive advantages and add value to its products or brand, it is necessary to link these activities and optimise the companys value adding activities (Porter, 1998). In the case of Starbucks, as stated earlier, its value activities were at first effective in the co-ordination between its primary and secondary activities. For example, the setting up of stores was well planned. Each location was carefully studied, taking consideration of irrelevant details such as traffic flow, density of people and demographic characteristics of an area, and careful selection of personnel to be deployed in each outlet (Clark, 2007). These aimed to deliver good quality coffee products and exude an ambiance of luxury and comfort for its consumers (Clark, 2007). However, gaps in the value chain activities occurred in recent years. An example is the rapid expansion in several locations across Asia. The company failed to maintain the companys brand image of luxury and exclusivity. The company rapidly expanded by opening an average of a store per week, which resulted in the downgrading of the Starbucks experience that its customers have been looking for (Velta, 2008). In fact, the customers have not seen any noticeable improvements in their experience (Jennings, 2009). Analyst Andrew Barish also commented that Starbucks operations have slipped and longer lines, more complexity and less-than-stellar looking assets could be causing a modest decrease in sales in this challenging consumer environment (Moore, 2007). As a result, Starbucks strategic competitiveness is slowly disintegrating and its rivals are eating up some of its customer base (Rushe, 2006). 4.4. Business model analysis The business model concept is defined as the value a company offers to customers and the architecture of the firm and its network of partners for creating, marketing, and delivering this value in order to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams (Osterwalder and pigneur, 2002). It also consists of a narrative of both how the business works and how it makes a profit. Schindehutte and Allen (2009) developed a framework in order to define the core competencies of a business model from an entrepreneurial perspective. The most important component of the framework is concerned with value creation. Starbucks creates unique value through great customer experience and interactive service. The unique value proposition of Starbucks is best described by Howard Schultz: The idea was to create a chain of coffeehouses that would become Americas third place, a place where people could go to relax and enjoy time with others, or just be by themselves. Starbucks enhances the coffee experience for the customers by creating a relaxed environment within the store whilst offering consistently rapid and on time delivery. Many companies pursue a resource-based strategy which attempts to exploit company resources in a manner that offers value to customers in ways rivals are unable to match (Piercy, 2008). Starbucks customer value proposition is also based on its unique resources and capabilities. Starbucks capitalizes on intangible resources like brand power and image as a high quality coffee provider to attain its objectives. Starbucks also utilizes its immense human capital and expertise in product innovation, location selection, and its marketing ability to stand out as the premier coffee brand. Particularly, Starbucks utilizes technology extremely well, e.g. the heavy use of internet capabilities, social network marketing, rechargeable payment cards, and even new mobile apps help to ease and speed up the payment and ordering. Moreover, Starbucks has other competitive advantages based on its skills and specialized expertise, and valuable alliances (Piercy, 2008). Starbucks has a skill set in creatin g and introducing innovative products into the market. These skills give Starbucks a competitive advantage to be an innovation leader, but not a copycat follower. It is essential to differentiate itself from rivals in the coffee industry. Last but not the least, Starbucks has abundant free cash flow and physical assets to fund and drive its strategic initiatives. Without these physical assets, Starbucks would not be able to aggressively expand in the market or fund further product research and development. Another important component of the business model is the firms core competence. Core competencies are defined as a proficiently performed internal activity that is central to a firms strategy and competitiveness (Piercy, 2008). The core competency can also lead to sustainable advantages. To be a sustainable advantage, the core competency must be hard to imitate or copy by rivals (Piercy, 2008). For Starbucks, its core competency can be defined as high quality coffee and products at accessible locations and affordable prices, providing a community the coffee drinking experience. Its sustainable advantage resides in the intellectual capital of defining and leading the market. Starbucks stands out as a leader, mainly because of its good business model that can generate innovative products that consumers desire. Starbucks is able to leverage its resources, both tangible and intangible, to create competitive capabilities and core competencies to form its business model. Starbucks achieves this by utilizing its human capital and expertise to constantly strive for excellence in product innovation. Furthermore, Starbucks is able to internally fund its growth strategy from sound financial performance. However, Starbucks needs to take more efforts to innovate its business model. Specialty coffee shops copy or adopt the Starbucks model, which leads to Starbucks competitive advantage shrinking and this poses a serious threat to the company. In addition, the gap between customers expectations and perceptions of Starbucks is bigger. Many customers are not satisfied with Starbucks offerings as they were before. They think Starbucks charges a premium for coffee and experience, but actually it falls behind its promises. This may be because customers become more demanding while Starbucks ability to innovate value offerings is weak. Therefore, to keep its popularity and consistent growth, Starbucks needs to innovate its value-adding activities so as to innovate its business model. SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis is a powerful tool to evaluate a firms resource strengths, its competitive deficiencies, the opportunities that exist in the market, and the external threats to the organizations future well-being (Gamble and Thompson, 2011). The strengths of Starbucks come from an internal origin and are designated as helpful to Starbucks reaching its target objectives. The weaknesses of Starbucks are categorized as operational areas and activities that reduce Starbucks being able to achieve strategy execution. Starbucks needs to leverage these strengths to overcome their weaknesses and realize potential opportunities. Threats are areas of concern in the external environment that can affect how Starbucks, and the coffee industry as a whole, will do business. Diagram x: SWOT Matrix for Starbucks Internal External Strengths* Weaknesses* à ¢- Brand image is extremely important to Starbucks. à ¢- Good ambiance and convenience are two of the foundations that Starbucks grew on. à ¢- International Markets offer lower risk investment and innovation opportunities. à ¢- Cheap alternatives like McDonalds threaten the convenience factor. à ¢- Founders of premium coffee and an industry leader à ¢- Product diversification à ¢- Excel in product development à ¢-  Valued and motivated employees, good work environment à ¢- Strong financial foundation à ¢- Lack of internal focus (too much focus on expansion) à ¢- Self-cannibalization à ¢- Overdependence on the US market à ¢- Aggressive expansion leads to managerial or financial problems (e.g. customer experience is watered down) à ¢- Pricing is relatively higher than customers expectations Opportunities* S-O Strategy W-O Strategy à ¢- Co-branding with other famous brands à ¢-  Increasing need of premium coffee in emerging markets à ¢- Rising awareness on CSR issues à ¢- Capturing new markets (retailing) and new consumer groups à ¢- To increase market share in emerging markets à ¢- To make full use of cross-broad marketing à ¢- To revamp brand image and work on brand extension à ¢- To be a more socially responsible brand à ¢- To coordinate and adjust expanding speed à ¢- To innovate its business model so as better deal with new challenges à ¢- To think about new ways to differentiate itself à ¢- To integrate distribution channels Threats* S-T Strategy W-T Strategy à ¢- Stiffening competition à ¢- Possible saturation in the coffee market à ¢- Volatility of coffee price à ¢-  Blamed by green lobby and ethical lobby à ¢-  Recession would affect customers willingness to spend à ¢- To consider further vertical integration à ¢- To consider creating a sub-brand to provide less pricey coffee à ¢- Continue to use fair trade coffee as ingredients and pay more attention to environmental and ethical issues. à ¢- To shrink product lines and wash out less favourable products à ¢- To provide customized products and combinations à ¢- To close down less profitable locations *Source: Dataminitor and http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/business-resources/swot-analysis-database/starbucks-swot-analysis/ Being a leader in the coffee industry, Starbucks is powered by its constant product innovation, customer service aptitude, ability to expand globally. Apart from the basic strategies used by Starbucks, the external environmental conditions and the internal characteristics of the Starbucks organisation present a favourable condition for growth. Even though Starbucks profit has declined in the previous year, due the growing intensity of competition and the economic crisis aggravating the situation, Starbucks is still the dominant player in the specialty coffee sector through its years of experience and brand reputation. Thus, the company can use this position to leverage itself and put pressure onto its competitors. Nevertheless, strategic change is the call for Starbucks. Perhaps, it is the time for the company to revisit its existing business models, practices and strategies and to examine whether these models still conform to the conditions of the market. Since market conditions cha nge as evidenced by current events and the continuing globalisation of markets, the company may need to reform its strategy. The PSETEL and Porters five-force analysis show that coffee firms are very sensitive to the macro environment. The overall competitive pressures are moderate and firms can be successful if they are efficient and effective in the execution of strategies execution. Starbucks achieves its mission through a decentralized leadership that emphasizes distributed decision making and information sharing to promote product innovation and customer service. One concern about Starbucks organizational culture is that Starbucks over relies on Schultzs talented leadership. Schultz was able to turn the company back by several strategic moves, but without Schultz and his leadership capabilities, Starbucks may have fallen into a disaster. Overall, it might be a pitfall for Starbucks; Schultz is to Starbucks what Jobs is to Apple. The SWOT analysis of Starbucks reveals that the strength of Starbucks lies within their strong financial performance. The weakness of Starbucks is an over reliance on the saturated U.S. market with a declining market share as a result of intensified rivalry in the marketplace. This weakness can be overcome by utilizing Starbucks strong finances to realize the present opportunities to expand into emerging markets. Overall, Starbucks has maintained a competitive advantage since it created its original blue ocean of bringing quality, bistro-style coffee choices to the masses. The key issues facing this firm were its attempts at massive expansion and creating new value innovation. The aggressive expansion could cause the company to become over exposed and adversely affect its ability to change. In order to enhance sustainable growth, it needs to focus on its core competencies. Facing fierce competition with McDonalds and other coffee chains, Starbucks needs to create new value innovation by enhancing the customer experience and investing in online content and interactivity. Rather than creating more new products, it is better to enhance the connection with their loyal customers and to differentiate it from its rivals. 6. Recommendations Viable recommendations must be able to solve Starbucks greatest issues. One is the increasingly saturated US market and another is the need to penetrate attractive foreign markets. Furthermore, degrading customer perception must be prevented both in the US and overseas. Here, a great challenge is how to re-establish a positive customer attitude towards the company in the US and retai

Supply and Demand of Labor in the US

Supply and Demand of Labor in the US Melanie Canady I choose to do my research paper on the supply and demand of labor in the United States. I will attempt to illustrate the change in supply and demand in the labor market over the last 10 years. I will also explore the different effects and share many views on how this has played a significate role on the economy in the United States. Supply and Demand is categorized as the forces that make the economy work. The supply of labor is defined as the number of workers who are willing and able to work. The labor demand is the number of employers who are willing and able to hire those workers. Supply and demand of labor differs based on the jobs or occupations that are available. Over the last 10 years the supply and demand of labor in the United States has dropped significantly, while other countries has increased, this is because US based companies are moving jobs or operation overseas, because of different types of incentives that they are taking advantage of in order to make their busine ss more profitable. Since 2000 the labor market has been declining, therefore causing increasing poverty in the United States. This is because of our weak and unequal labor market which began before the great recession. This rising inequality is because of the declining average earnings and the number of workers with the below average wages have grown over the years. There have been many groups affected by this inequality, but one group that has the greatest impact is less educated men. We have seen that this group has experienced a decline in their earnings in the past decade. Because of this it has reduced the income in their families and therefore caused much higher poverty numbers. Why has this happened? First of all today’s labor market puts a greater premium on workers education levels and skills than it did a generation ago (Holzer). With the growing technology advancements in our economy it has reduced the demand for the less skilled workers especially in production workers in the factori es. The supply of well educated workers has not kept up with the growing demand. There has been a gap in the percentage of young people earning some kind of college education. Many years back when factory work in the United States was in high demand, there was jobs available and they paid a decent salary. Obtaining a college education was the last thing that was thought of. As companies moved away to other countries, we all experienced a decline in earnings because we had to accept jobs that was available, and without some kind of college education the jobs were a few to none. We can see that the well-paying production and clerical jobs are going away, therefore making the way for jobs requiring some technical training or work experience. In order to improve the labor market we need to improve our education and work-force system and to develop a skilled workforce. This will help to eliminate the high levels of poverty and inequality in the United States. The United States must continuously improve the workforce to be able to compete with other nations. We need to develop a strong workforce and employers need to be able to offer a good pay scale. The demand of labor had decreased in the United States because business value short term profits over making the workforce more efficient. The federal government must address the unemployment and underemployment that we have facing in the United States and to realize that the United States is stuck in the worse economic and social crisis since the Great Depression. It is clear that the labor market had failed to generate enough jobs to support the growth. The demand of labor is just like any like any other goods or service, it can be classified as both supply and demand. Labor is considered to be elastic if the wage increase causes a decline in the rate of employment and it is inelastic if the employers do not decrease employment to respond to the wage increase. If the supply of labor becomes more limited, especially with highly skilled workers, the cost of employing these workers rises. The labor in these skilled jobs may become less elastic, because these jobs cannot be easily filled. The demand of labor is declining in the United States because employers are becoming more focused on profits than investing in the workers. The labor market failure is a result of our government not asking the United States corporations or their leader to help build the productivity in American instead they are providing benefits for them move to other countries or off shore. For a business in the United States it make economic sense for them to close a plant or a business and send jobs offshore where they will perform more efficiently and at a lower cost. They will not invest in the workers in the United States to make them more efficient in supplying the up to date equipment or providing training that will lead to accomplish the goal of the business. America has a two dimensional job crisis: a persistent deficit in the number of jobs that are being created and an insufficient percentage of high quality job. (Kochan) One of the job crisis that the United States economy faced was that they needed 7 million jobs to get back to the levels that was reported before the great depression and another 5 million to account for the growth in the same time period. The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness estimates that there will be a need for 20 million jobs by the year 2020. With these number the United States economy has never created jobs at this rate, therefore setting America up for a serious job deficit for the rest of this decade. The second job crisis that was evidential was that employment benefits represented a key to job quality. Going back to at least World War II, the United States workforce relied on the business to providing health care and retirement benefits. Since the 1980’s this benefit had been shrinking. Employer-provided benefits has been proven to be a play big factor in the workforce in the United States for decades. This benefits gives an employee job satisfaction. In lieu of the employer provided benefits such as health care, pension plans and 401k plans declining, the workers are reporting that they are not satisfied with their jobs anymore. Being provided these benefits has proven to be a piece that has given workers the motivation to perform their jobs at the highest level. That is being proficient and efficient that exceed the level that the business is asking for to be able to achieve the goals of the company. To be able to create 20 million high quality jobs in the United States by year 2020 we must pull together business, labor and government representatives to develop a plan of action. This group needs to determine which issues should be tackled first and what resources will be required. First they should determine what to do to jump start job growth, with this determination it will prevent the jobs and economic crisis from worsening. Another discussion that would be of interest would be to find a way to recapture the lost manufacturing. Some manufacturing jobs could be recaptured if businesses would take into account the total cost of producing goods offshore and shipping back to the United States. The HBS summit should make a proposal on what should be done to bring home millions of jobs over the next several years. Many business that moved jobs offshore came under attack by many because it seem to be a slap in the face for many that lost their jobs to other countries. This caused the government to establish programs that helped the American people to overcome some of the obstacles that they faced with losing their jobs. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) is the primary Federal program that supports workforce development (Congressional Digest). This program provides education and training services for people that has lost their jobs because of layoffs or the closing of a business. This program also will help prepare a person for the next chapter in their lives by allowing them improve their skills and prepare them for skilled jobs by providing them with secondary and postsecondary education, on the job and employer-provided training. It also will provide funding for on the job training and employment services. This means that they will pay for the persons training to a company that will potentially hire them for a position. The Federal government provides workforce development activities through WIA’s programs and other programs designed to increase the employment and earning of workers (Congressional Digest). The programs that are offered are job search assistance, career counseling, occupational skill training, classroom training or on-the-job training (Congressional Digest). The WIA programs are funded through the state and federal and it administer by the U.S. Department of Labor and is available to unemployed or under employed individuals. In 2012 the programs funds was $4.9 billion dollars, this included $2.6 billion for state grants that was obtained for young, adult and dislocated worker training. WIA Title 1 programs provide employment and training services and also a One-Stop system. This system is required by each state and includes a core service and access to an intensive training service, provide programs and activities that are carried out by a One-Stop partner, and provide access to all labor market information, job search, placement, recruitment and labor exchange services that are authorized under the Wagner-Peyser Act. Each state is required to have a One-Stop center that is accessible either remotely or electronically. In order to fill the gap, businesses needs to find a way to attract and help develop a skilled workforce for today’s labor market. Although there are programs in place to assist and help to develop these skills, businesses should also help. If businesses would get involved it will show that they are committed to helping with the job shortage and skills development. Although community colleges offer vocational programs to fill specific jobs, if the businesses would work with the college to develop programs that is specific to their business it would help them obtain a better workforce. This year there will be about $450 million in grants available to help promote and develop a skilled workforce this year. We are in an economy that simply needs to create and get more jobs. The lack of job growth is killing the United States. We are encouraging the young people to go to college and to get their education, but they are graduating and not able to find work. This is because there is a no jobs to offer them after graduation. The United States government should stop and take a look at what is in the United States instead of looking abroad. There is a Work Cited Kochan, Thomas A. A Jobs Compact For Americas Future. Harvard Business Review 90.3 (2012): 64-72. Business Source Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2014 Workforce Investment Act Overview. Congressional Digest 93.3 (2014): 2. MAS Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2014. HOLZER, HARRY J. Upgrading Skills, Upgrading Opportunity. American Prospect 23.6 (2012): 26. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2014 HIGGS, ROBERT. Worrisome Changes In U.S. Labor Force And Employment Since 2007. Independent Review 18.3 (2014): 471. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2014 Bridging The Skills Gap. Smart Business Pittsburgh 21.4 (2014): 20. Business Source Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. Mankiw, Gregory. â€Å"Principals of Microeconomics† How Market Works Seventh Edition Chapter 4

lucy stone :: essays papers

lucy stone In the history of women’s rights, and their leaders, few can compare with the determination and success of Lucy Stone. While many remember Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony for being the most active fighters for women’s rights, perhaps Stone is even more important. The major goal for women in this time period was gaining women’s suffrage. That is what many remember or associate with the convention at Seneca Falls. However, Stone was not only trying to gain women’s suffrage, but also to give women other rights that they did not have at this time. In the mid-1800’s, women were almost on the same social level as slaves. The slave owners were husbands. All of the women’s earnings went to men, they could not legally write a will unless all of her belongings went to her husband. The husband was the sole owner of the children, and could do anything he wanted with them. There was a case where a man gave away a child to a complete stranger before the baby was even born. The husband could even legally beat his wife. This was the background for Stone’s and other women’s rights leaders’ anger. Stone grew up watching her mother beg her father for money. With this in her background, Stone began her crusade for Women and Slave’s rights. A college education is something that women take for granted today, but in the 1800’s it was an extremely rare thing to see a woman in college. During the mid 1800’s, schools like Oberlin and Elmira College began to accept women. Stone’s father did a wonderful thing (by 19th century standards) in loaning her the money to pay for her college education. Stone was the first woman to get a college education in Massachusetts, graduating from Oberlin College in 1843. Her first major protest was at the time of her graduation. Stone was asked to write a commencement speech for her class. But she refused, because someone else would have had to read her speech. Women were not allowed, even at Oberlin, to give a public address. She started out as a guest lecturer speaking out against slavery. Stone was a known as a major abolitionist in the pre-civil war period. At this time, the other Women’s rights leaders wondered if her abolition speaking would take away from their cause.

An Unwinnable War Essay -- American History, The War on Terrorism

As America find herself in today’s â€Å"War on Terrorism,† one can easily find a number of similarities between today’s situation and the war in Vietnam. As the Taliban steadily loses control and power over Afghanistan, it becomes exceedingly important to discuss potential replacement governments. Afghanistan is, like Vietnam in the 50’s and 60’s, a very volatile country full of a variety of people speaking different dialects and practicing different religions. It is very important, then, that the government that is installed is one that is capable of maintaining some type of control or authority over its diverse people. On July 7, 1954, Ngo Dinh Diem came to power as the Prime Minister of South Vietnam (Fishel 107). Diem was backed by the United States as the best man for the job to prevent communism in South Vietnam. The problem is that while â€Å"every foreign power to intervene in Vietnam eventually attempted to install some group of Vietnamese figures to prevent a Communist victory,† many of them failed to consider that by installing a government that continued to exploit and alienate its people, they were driving the population more toward Communism because at least it seemed to be a government for the people (Gettleman 134). Likewise, the U.S. was concerned with its own interest and unfortunately overlooked the interests of the Vietnamese. In the first five or six years of Diem’s reign, the United States was quite pleased with its choice of Diem. Proponents of Diem praised him as an advocate of human rights who worked to uphold a democracy. Others who were not quite as flagrant in their approval simply stated that he was the best man among the limited choices being that he was strongly anti-communist. Many, includin... ...enerals who don’t even command a company. He lives in an ivory tower surrounded by his family† (Behind 150). Diem was also said to have given the Catholic regugees â€Å"preferential treatment in land redistribution, relief and assistance, commercial and export-import licenses, government employment, and other GVN largess† (Buddhist 217). The U.S. constantly pressured Diem to issue land reform in order to win some support from the peasants because, as his American advisors recognized â€Å"an exploited and impoverished peasantry provides fertile soil for communism, as in China; therefore, intelligent land reform, preserving private property and simultaneously creating a new middle class of farmers, is a necessity for ‘free world’ objectives† (Behind 142). This idea plays into the aforementioned assertion that America focused too heavily on their own interests (

Motivation and Empowerment Paper Essay

Introduction The criminal justice field is one that centers on motivation and empowerment amongst employees. These are concepts that not only guide, but also maintain constructive behaviors. Motivation and empowerment are that force every professional needs to preserve their goals and ambitions. This paper will provide three academic theories of motivation including an explanation on each theory. It will also define empowerment and its components. Next, it will compare and contrast motivation and empowerment. In this paper there will also be an evaluation on the implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization. Lastly this paper will outline the theory of Transformational Leadership and contrast the roles of motivation and empowerment in leadership style. Define and state at least three (3) academic theories of motivation In any organization the key role of managers is the motivation of their personnel. This can be done in many different ways. This section will discuss three academic theories on how to properly motivate employees. The first theory is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. This theory states that certain needs have to be met before an individual will work towards fulfilling other needs. The first set of needs that need to be met our survival needs; they include things such as food water and air. Until these needs are met an individual cannot focus on anything else the second set of needs would include safety and security. After these two sets of needs are met a person will work towards being accepted by their peers. Once a person has met these first three levels they can then concentrate on obtaining power and status. After person has gained some level of status they can then work towards self-fulfillment and doing things that make them feel complete. The next theory on motivation was developed by Douglas McGregor. His theory X and theory Y give two different ideas on how management deals with motivating employees. Theory X has a dismal idea that humans dislike work and will work hard to avoid if possible. A manager using this theory will use coercion of punishment in  order to ensure that tasks are completed in a timely manner and properly. It makes the assumption that the vast majorities of people are self-centered and lazy and have to be micromanaged. They rely takes more positive approach to motivating employees. Under this theory it is assumed that work and accomplishment can be satisfying in and of themselves. It assumes that people want to be successful and are willing to work for that success. No one theory will work for motivating every person. A quality manager will look at all three of these theories and apply them to individuals as needed. In practice a manager needs to know what level of the hierarchy of needs an employee is at. Once the manager knows where the employee falls in this hierarchy he can work to help the employee to achieve the next level. Employees that fall under the X theory are poison in any organization. If an employee does not want work and dislikes workers they are not going to get any fulfillment from their work and will generally drag everyone else down with them. Having employees that are motivated to succeed, as described in the Y theory are essential for the success of any organization. Work is not just about meeting our basic needs, front organization be truly successful they must have employees that are passionate about their work and rewarded for their accomplishments. Define empowerment and its components Empowerment can be viewed differently by all. It is what allows us as individuals to take charge of our lives. This refers not only to our personal lives, but also in the work place, school, emotionally, healthy wise, etc†¦ Empowerment focuses on gaining not only power, but also knowledge and understanding. In the work place empowerment can increase productivity and efficiency. According to Whisenand and McCain, â€Å"Feeling that we are empowered, that we are masters of our fate at work, is one of the strongest drives of career well-being and performance† (p.2). In the workplace empowerment involves the opening of external command-and-controls to include a person’s internal locus of control. Compare and contrast motivation and empowerment Motivation is predicated upon many different factors for different reasons. According to Spaulding (1995). People are motivated to do things predicated upon their personal wants and needs while this motivation can result in them  becoming emboldened and empowered if they achieve what their motivations were predicated upon. Internal and external forces are what motivate people as they are aroused and become enthusiastic about certain motivations that cause them to engage in persistence and endure whatever is necessary to achieve their goals (Spaulding, 1995). The first part of motivation is a need, which is a desire to attain something such as money, friendship, recognition, achievement, etc. (Spaulding, 1995). The person is motivated to engage in behavior that will satisfy their needs, which cause them to become motivated to conduct whatever actions are necessitated to ensure that they are able to attain what they were motivated to attain. This gives the personal internal satisfactions once they have attained their goals as they may be rewarded with either intrinsic rewards or extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards are personal rewards that the person gives themselves while extrinsic rewards are those that are provided by outside sources such as promotions, pay increases, or other forms of acknowledgement from others for the person attaining their motivational goals (Spaulding, 1995). In reference to empowerment, there are elements of empowerment that ensure that the person feels empowered. This entails a person feeling empowered by learning a new skill, that will assist them in gaining their job, relationship, or other ventures that the person is attempting to attain (Spaulding, 1995). The knowledge and skills that a person receives, empowers them in regard to attaining their objectives. Empowerment is predicated upon the ability to understand the meaning and impact of their purpose, and subsequently apply this meaning and purpose toward their lives to become empowered to achieve their goals and objectives (Spaulding, 1995). Competence or ability, especially a personal belief in one’s own competence is at the heart of accepted definitions of both empowerment and motivation (Spaulding, 1995). Analyze the implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization. The criminal justice system law enforcement officer have a tremendous responsibility and work more independently away from direct supervisors. They have to use their discretion daily. According to Grove, â€Å"independent decision making. Similarly, the potential consequences-including liability-of police-citizen encounters necessitate careful accountability (Grove, 2007).† Empowerment is defined as a way of activating an enabling decision making in others. Empowerment is currently a  popular concept with most police managers and supervisors but sometimes they are rather fearful of allowing employees to have completely open decision-making ability (Whisenand, 2014). Law enforcement officers have to be educated in many subjects and often will come from many different backgrounds which helps promote diversity. Because of the independent work that the law enforcement officers do they are groomed to make decisions on their own. If law enforcement officers were not given the opportunity to make these independent decisions they would lose their sense of self-worth and lose their motivation (Grove, 2007). Proper delegation in the criminal justice system results in better performing law enforcement officers in which benefits the community overall. With a better caliber of law enforcement officers available to a department’s disposal there will be more respect and support from the community. With the support of the community law enforcement officers will have a stronger commitment to their work and what they represent. Delegation allows for a police departments to build a stronger commitment, higher trust for the overall team, higher job skills and knowledge, and an improved timeline for prioritizing important tasks. The team overall benefits from delegation because they remain engaged in work, increased professional growth goals, better competency, higher self-confidence, and better top-notch officers retention (Whisenand, 2014). Define and describe the theory of Transformational Leadership and contrast the roles of motivation and empowerment in that style of leadership. According to Buisnessdictionary.com (2015), transformational leadership means the style of leadership in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the members of the group. Transformational leadership can be found at every level of an organization. According to Management Study Guide (2013), transformational leaders are ones that are daring, thoughtful thinkers, visionary, and inspiring. These types of people have a charismatic appeal. However charisma cannot alone change how an organization operates. In order for transformational leaders to make major changes, they must exhibit the following four factors. Transformational leaders must first exhibit inspirational motivation. This  type of person promotes consistent vision, mission, as well as a set of values to their staff members (Management Study Guide, 2013). A person with this type of vision knows what they want from every interaction, as well as the ability to provide staff members with meaning and challenge. They are also enthusiastic and optimistic regarding teamwork as well as commitment. Transformational leaders also exhibit intellectual stimulation. This type of leader will encourage others to be creative and innovative (Management Study Guide, 2013). This type of leader also encourages others to form new ideas and will never criticize them in front of other people. Intellectual stimulation leader focuses more on the â€Å"what† in problems instead of focusing on who’s to blame (Management Study Guide, 2013). Transformational leaders also exhibit idealized influence. Idealized influence leaders believes that they should practice what they preach (Management Study Guide, 2013). This type of leader acts as a role model, they also will put their follower’s needs over theirs, they will sacrifice their personal gains for their followers, and they will demonstrate high standards of ethical conduct (Management Study Guide, 2013). Transformational leaders also exhibit individualized consideration. This type of leader will act as a mentor to others and will most often reward them for their innovation as well as their creativity (Management Study Guide, 2013). Employees or followers are treated according to their knowledge as well as their talents. Leaders who fit into this group are usually empowered to make decisions as well as provided with the support that is needed to implement these decisions (Management Study Guide, 2013). Conclusion Employees who are motivated are the most important factor for the success of any business. Empowerment impacts motivation and motivation leads to better performance. To truly motivate employees to perform at their best, one must first provide a working environment that enables employees to have recognition, achievement, advancement, growth, and meaningful work. References Gove, T. G., M.P.A. (2007). Empowerment and accountability: Tools for law enforcement leaders. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 76(9), 8-13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204149069?accountid=35812 Management Study Guide. (2013). Transformational Leadership Theory. Retrieved from http://managementstudyguide.com/transformational-leadership.htm Peak, K. J. (2012). Justice administration: Police, courts, and corrections management (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Spaulding, C. (1995). Motivation or empowerment: What is the difference? Language Arts, 72(7), 489. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196844465?accountid=35812 Transformational Leadership. (2015). In BuisnessDictionary.com. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/transformational-leadership.html Whisenand, P. M., & Ferguson, R. F. (2014). Managing police organizations (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.