The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver - 2015 Words

The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, details the experiences of a missionary family in the Congo, narrated by the Price women. Multiple questions are introduced over the course of the novel, some being answered and others not so much. One important theme in the novel is the influence of surroundings on the characters, specifically Leah Price. Leah Price arguably went through the most change and development as a result of her surroundings and environment. Her moral, psychological change is noted throughout the entire novel with subtle inclusions of doubt in her narrations and finally outright outrage and disgust. She develops in many aspects, with the most important being the changing views of her father, Christianity, and†¦show more content†¦She aspires to be a perfect copy of her father, someone she has looked up to since she was little. It’s easy to see his influence on her through her narration and thoughts. Everything he says, she soaks in, like a sponge willing to accept an unlimited amount of water. When she says of Brother Fowles that â€Å"I heard them saying he was a New York Irish, which tells you a lot, as they are notorious for being papist Catholics† (38), her father’s effect on not only her personality but views towards people is evident. Because of his impact on her youth, she looks up to him with fierce intensity, even desiring â€Å"his wholehearted approval† (42). Underneath this adoration for her father, however, lies a distinct fear of disapproval, having never â€Å"contradicted [her] father on any subject, ever† (66). Here, it is apparent his authoritative influence on her, resulting in a deep-seated anxiety that Leah feels. Furthermore, with Leah’s initial love of her father, it is easier to see the contrast of what she feels towards her father as the book progresses, something that changes directly as a result of her time in the Congo. Her views towards religion are also an aspect that can demonstrate how she has been inclined to feel specific ways. Leah’s most important value in her religion is the sense of justice, something she believes that Christianity is about with every particle on her body. She considers â€Å"God’s scale to be vast

Coca Cola Water Neutrality Initiative free essay sample

What was the issue facing The Coca Cola Company in this case? What stakeholders were concerned and how did their expectations differ from the company’s performance? The major issue facing The Coca Cola Company is the availability of water. Because all aspects of the production are dependent on this resource, from the company’s perspective water is the key component of profitability. Other stakeholders, such as residents of the surrounding area and organizations such as the World Wildlife Foundation and other environmental groups had a different point of view; profitability was not a concern. These stakeholders were concerned with long term effects of demand on the water supply and contamination of water runoff. 2. If you applied the strategic radar screens model for this case, which of the eight environments would be most significant and why? The Coca Cola Company (TCCC) seemed to that it did not do deep environmental analysis before they operated in the state of Kerla. If we applied the strategic radar screens model for this case, we believe that the Geophysical and Social environments would be most significant. The plant was surrounded with villagers that would need the water to live, and the mass production capacity for the soft drinks deprived the local villagers of supplies for drinking and irrigation. However, TCCC was not concerned with the physical surroundings of the company’s plant and the effects it would have on the village. In addition to the lack of geophysical analysis, TCCC forgot to study the social environment. The India Resource Center seemed to have an influence on the people in India and a non-profit organization with one full-time employee was able to impact the sales of the company and shut down its plant. We believe that a company must scan and analyze the environment surrounding its operations for potential threats. 3. Apply the issue management life cycle process model to this case. Which stages of the process can you identify in this case? The Coca-Cola Corporation utilized four out of the five processes within the management life cycle model. The first step in the life cycle is to identify issues. Coca-Cola completed this step and identified that they were in fact using up too much water and at a faster rate than it could be replenished. The company came to the conclusion that if they did not have access to a ready supply of water, than they couldnt operate. The next step was to analyze the issue. Coca-Cola completed a comprehensive study of its national and global operations with regards to its water management and practices as well as its impact. The corporation continued within the life cycle and generated some options for its company to undertake. Coca-Cola reached out to many different stakeholders, including government agencies, and conversation groups. Ultimately Coca-Cola took action by engaging the government agencies, conservation groups, and stakeholders to determine solutions that were agreeable to all. They also developed web-based tools for their suppliers and bottlers to benchmark and share best practices. Ultimately, they decided on a water neutrality program that would allow TCCC to return the water consumed to the communities and the environment. 4. How did TCCC use stakeholder engagement and dialogue to improve its response to this issue and what were the benefits of engagement to the company? The company reached out to stakeholders and various academic experts to seek advice to best resolve the water issue. Extensive studies were performed through surveys of its global operations to assess the current water management practices. In order to better understand the impact of water on production, TCCC engaged its top bottlers and all operating groups in one on one session to thoroughly access process. By reducing, recycling and replenishing, the company set a goal of returning to nature and communities an amount of water equal to what was used in the beverages and their production. It partnered with World Wildlife Fund, an environmental group, to support projects such as river conservation, rainwater collection and efficient irrigation. The dialog with stakeholders was successful on many levels; many new initiatives were started, including the web-based tools to for benchmarking and best practices of peers. The partnership formed with World Wildlife Fund to address stakeholder concerns about its impact on water quality and access, gave credibility to this new process. By engaging the various stakeholders, TCCC was able to understand society’s expectations, capitalize on outside expertise, generate creative solutions and ultimately neutralize critics and improve the company’s reputation by implementing the water neutrality initiative. 5. In your opinion, did TCCC respond appropriately to this issue? Why or why not? The Coca-Cola Company responded appropriately once they believed a serious issue was brought to their attention. However, hey waited until they were forced to react to address an already known problem. They knew their water consumption was depleting availability and contaminating reserves yet, did nothing. It wasn’t until The Center for Science and the Environment, the India Resource Center and other activists aired TCCC’s faults, that action was taken. Now that TCCC has experienced such repercussions for faulty business procedures, it seems they will not react so slowly in the future. With their new â€Å"water neutrality† stance they have addressed the issue and are going beyond what is needed of them to â€Å"reduce, recycle and replenish† water. Not only have they improved on their water usage but have established projects to improve water conservation outside of their environment. By continually maintaining an interactive stance with its stakeholders, TCCC will hopefully avoid future issues. As an added step, they should create an internal issue management department to proactively address future issues.

Society and Social Groups Assignment free essay sample

Assignment 2 Question 1 The first key concept I chose Is society, which Is described as people who Interact In a defined space and shared culture. This definition of society states clearly which variables are used to define and Judge something as a society which make up part of the social world. The second key concept that I chose Is sociocultural evolution, which is the process of change that results from a societVs gaining new information. This term showed me the importance of social change and creates separate social periods which the world went through. The third key concept is New Industrializing Countries (NIC), which are lower-income countries that are quickly becoming high- income ones. This showed me how fickly our social world is and that it is relatively easy to change your ways, if you are able to get the means and have the will power. The fourth key concept I chose is bureaucracy, which is the model for modern business, government agencies, trade unions and universities. We will write a custom essay sample on Society and Social Groups: Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I have heard this term my whole life, but never realized, until now, the Importance and influence of bureaucracy In the world. The last key concept that I chose Is rationalization of society, which Is the historical change from tradltlon to rationality as the dominant mode of human thought. This concept helped me understand the humongous changes the social world has gone through. Also that the transition went slowly but surely, that every step we made helped us grow. Question 2 Marx expressively stated historical differences in productive systems for the emergence of the modern world, but also pointed out the persistence of social conflict in the human history. Weber tells us that modern societies are guided by ationality Instead of tradition which guided the pre-industrial societies. Durkenheim says that In the modern Industrial societies, mechanical solidarity, based on moral consensus, Is overtaken by organic solidarity, which Is based on productive speclallzatlon. I like bits and pieces of all three theories to be honest. The way we started thinking for ourselves from Webers theory, the thought that society influences us more than we thing from Durkenheims theory and how Marxs theory was one of the first to state the differences between the social classes. I prefer Marx the most, ecause his theory says that the economy dominates all other social institutions when it comes to giving direction to society, which I am realizing more and more. Organizations and seemingly governments are making decisions based more on how to earn or save money, than instead on what is the best option or solution. Question 3 An Important part of our society are the social groups In which we find ourselves. Social groups consists out of people with shared Interests, experiences and loyalties. embers share personal and enduring relationships, and secondary social groups, arge and impersonal social groups whose members pursue a specific interest or activity. Even though we do not like to believe it, most of us conform to fit in a group. The power of peer pressure shapes our behaviour from a young age throughout our adulthood. Most of the time, we use these groups as our reference groups, a social group that we use as a reference in making evaluations or decision s. Formal organizations are secondary groups that want to perform hard tasks in the most efficient way. They can be grouped in utilitarian, normative or coercive organizations. Bureaucracy is a organization model created to perform complex tasks efficiently. There are six key elements to an ideal bureaucratic organization: hierarchy of offices, rules and regulations, technical competence, impersonality and formal, written communications. However, there are some problems with bureaucracy; alienation, inefficiency and ritualism, inertia and abuse of power. Humanizing bureaucracy is to recognize people as the greatest organization source there is. We are part of the network age. Social networks are used to link people all over the world. These developments are chancing group relations. Question 6 McDonaldization of society should be resisted in terms of a social world. The four principles of McDonaldization (efficiency, calculability, uniformity and predictability, control through automation) are great for organization as McDonalds, from which we expect quick results. However, as stated in the book, a lot of things are becoming automated to make actions happen quicker, with a smaller error margin. This decreases the intervention of humans, decreases human creativity . We are interacting less and less because of the increasing use of machines instead of humans.

The eNotes Blog National Book Critics Circle Award FinalistsAnnounced

National Book Critics Circle Award FinalistsAnnounced This past Saturday, the finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced.   Among the finalists are   Johnathan Franzen for Freedom   and Siddhartha Mukharjee for The Emperor of  All Maladies. Along with the Pulitzer Prize (2010 winner, Tinkers by Paul Harding) and the Man Booker  Prize (2010 winner, The Finkler Question by Harold Jacobson), the NBCC Award is among the most coveted of literary prizes. The first NBCC award was given in 1974 at the historic Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where literatures illuminati  gathered in the 1920s. The goal of the NBCC is to extend that intimate conversation of the Round Table into a national conversation. There are six categories for which the prize is awarded: autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The winners are selected by critics, of course. There is an additional award called the Balakian which honors working critics. Here is a full list of 2010s finalist nominees: Fiction: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Knopf) Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (FSG) To the End of the Land by David Grossman (Knopf) Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson (FSG) Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Faber   Faber) Nonfiction: Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick (Random House) Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (Scribner) Apollo’s Angels by Jennifer Homans (Random House) The Emporer of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner) The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House) Autobiography: Half A Life by Darin Strauss (McSweeneys) Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco) Crossing Mandelbaum Gate by Kai Bird (Scribner) Autobiography of An Execution by David Dow (Hachette) Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens (Twelve) Hiroshima in the Morning by Rahna  Reiko  Rizzuto (Feminist Press) Biography: How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Questions and Twenty Attempts at An Answer by Sarah Bakewell (Other Press) The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography by Selina Hastings Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yuente Huang The Killing of Crazy Horse by Thomas Powers Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends by Tom Segev Criticism: The Posessed by Elif  Batuman (FSG) The Professor and Other Writings by Terry Castle (HarperCollins) Lyric Poetry and Modern Politics: Russia, Poland, and the West by Clare Cavanagh (Yale) The Cruel Radience: Photography and  Political Violence by Susan Linfield (Univ. of Chicago) Vanishing Point by Ander Monson (Graywolf) Poetry: One With Others by C.D. Wright (Copper Canyon) Nox by Anne Carson (New Directions) The Eternal City by Kathleen Graber (Princeton) Lighthead by Terrance Hayes (Penguin) The Best of It by Kay Ryan (Grove)

Assignment2-503 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment2-503 - Essay Example The officer has a responsibility of ensuring that schools are provided with sufficient financial resources to carry out their mandate as academic and social institutions. In regards to tutors, they are licensed by the City Council to operate. However, in private schools tutors are selected by the mandate of the school. In addition, the schools determine the level that a tutor may be viable for education. Public academic institutions in Ashland are limited in regards to their hiring mandate. The institutions do not directly hire tutors as qualified tutors are provided for the school. The role of the tutors is dictated by both the school administration and the council educational department. The main duty and responsibility of tutors is to provide educational experience to students as required by the curriculum and their institution. Other staff members in institutions are hired by the institution management. For instance, caterers, drivers, security personnel and secretaries are provided by the administration. However, the city council requires a free and fair employment system that would provide equal opportunities to all viable candidates. The mandate of these staff is also directed by the school administration. The district has also provided schools with specifications on ways to cope with bullying and safety. In regards to safety the district provides safe routes for student to use when going to school. Each school in Ashland City has an accessible website. The website is provided by the school and contains information about the school. Information provided include programs offered, fee structures, location, mission and objectives. Apart from these websites, the district contains a website that includes the schools located in Ashland City (City of Ashland, 2014). The website contains schools at all levels and provide their location. The rate of

Revenues in sports industry Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Revenues in sports industry - Term Paper Example Consulting company A.T. Kearney states that the sports industry in global scale is prospering, and today the industry is worth about 500-600 USD bn. (which includes sports events like simple games, national competitions, Olympiads etc., infrastructure and constructions, sports products and goods) (Collignon, Sultan, and Santander). Dynamics of sports industry revenues in global scale shows the overall growth of revenues for the past 9 years (table 1): expected revenue in 2014 is 36% more than it was in 2006 ("Changing the game. Outlook for the global sports market to 2015"). The constituents of Revenues are Gate revenues, Media rights, Sponsorships, and Merchandising ("Changing the game. Outlook for the global sports market to 2015") (table 2). According to the structure of revenues, the biggest portion of the total revenues belonged to Gate revenues (34% in 2006). The situation changed in 2014, when Sponsorship took the leading position (31%, which is 1% more than Gate revenues that year). The change of the structure shows that the representatives of other industries use sports industry to win new markets, gain new customers, increase their own rating among competitors and increase profits.Jonathan Jensen and Anne Hsu prove this with their research, which says that "net income at these firms (sponsors) grew faster than at S&P 500 firms in general (7.8% to 6.5% per year)" and "the top 16 (companies), which spent on average $160m a year on sponsorship, saw net income grow by 22.1% annually".

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Ziv Siegl founded Starbucks in 1971. Their goal was to sell the finest quality whole beans and ground coffees (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). In 1982, Starbucks had grown to five stores and started serving coffee to restaurants and espresso bars. Harold Schultz was employed as the director of retail operations and marketing. Harold Schultz convinced the founders of Starbucks to open a downtown Seattle coffee bar, which opened in 1984. With the success of Seattle coffee bar, Schultz left Starbucks to start his own company named Il Giornale. In 1987, Il Giornale acquired Starbucks retail operations for 4 million dollars. In addition, Il Giornale changed its name to Starbucks Corporation and open locations in Chicago and Vancouver, B. C. (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). Starbucks continued its expansion throughout the late 1980 and beyond. In 1991, Starbucks became the first privately owned U. S. Corporation to offer stock options to part time employees (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). In the early 1990s Starbucks started setting up coffee shops in Nordstrom?  ¦s department stores, Barnes Noble bookstores and ITT/Sheraton hotels. In 1995, the corporation began selling compact discs and formed an alliance with the Canadian bookstore, Chapters Inc. In 2000, Schultz promoted Orin Smith to the position of CEO. Schultz remained chairman for the corporation. This allowed Schultz to focus on Starbucks?  ¦ global strategy. Starbucks operates and licenses more the 7,500 coffee shops in more than 30 countries. Coffee Industry In the United States, coffee is the second largest import (Roosevelt, 2004). Furthermore, the United States, consumes one-fifth of all the worlds?  ¦ coffee (Global Exchange, 2004). The present industry is expanding. It is estimated that North America? ¦s sector will reach saturation levels within 5 year (Datamonitor. n. d. ). According to National Coffee Association (NCA), 8 out of 10 Americans consume coffee. In addition, it is estimated that half of the American population drinks coffee daily. The international market remains highly competitive. It is estimated that 3,300 cups of coffee are consumed every second of the day worldwide (Ecomall, n. d. ). The latest trends included dual drinkers, an increase in senior citizens consumption and a shift in consumption away from home. There has been a significant increase in the consumption of dual drinkers (NCA, 2004). Dual drinkers are people who drink both traditional coffee and gourmet coffee. According to NCA, 54% of America?  ¦s coffee drinkers are dual drinkers. Gourmet coffee is experiencing substantial growth with senior citizens. According to NCA, senior citizens coffee consumption leaped from 9% to 13%. Another trend is coffee consumption is moving outside the home. Coffee consumption away from home increased by 6%. Mission Statement The current mission statement is ?  §Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow. This mission statement fits well with the general direction and the future strategies of Starbucks Corporation. Principles The following principles compliment both Starbucks mission statement and their strategies. Our recommendation is to keep the current mission statement and principles. ?aProvide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity. ?aEmbrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business. ?aApply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee. ?aDevelop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time. ?aContribute positively to our communities and our environment ? aRecognize that profitability is essential to our future success. SWOT Analysis StrengthWeakness ?aFinancial Resources ?aGlobal Presence ?aBeverage Innovator ?aReliance on US Domestic Markets ?aReliance on Beverage Innovation ?aInternational Expansion Problems OpportunitiesThreats ?aInternational Operations ?aContinued Growth of Gourmet Coffee Market ?aExpanding ? V Unit Clustering ?aSupply Risk/ Dependence on Trading Companies and Exporters ? aUS Market Reaching Saturation Levels ?aCompetition Internal Strength. A few of Starbucks strengths included strong financial position, name recognition and being creative beverage innovators. Starbucks has reported revenue from January to July 2004 as 409 million dollars, which gives the company a strong financial position. Starbucks has a strong global presence from its many stores and licensees units, which has made Starbucks a household name. Starbucks is known for their creative innovations of beverages. Starbucks is not afraid to experiment and test new drinks in their stores. Some of the beverages introduced are Fappuccino Blended Beverages or Iced Shaken refreshments. Internal Weakness Some of the weakness the corporation faces includes international expansion problems and dependence of the United States markets and beverage innovations. The corporation was forced to close a number of stores. These stores failed to entice potential customers and Starbucks was forced to end a joint venture due to the lack of success. Starbucks has a dependency on beverage innovation and US markets. It is estimated that 85% of the corporation revenues come from the United States (Datamonitor, n. d. ). Starbucks contributes its growth based on beverage innovations (Datamonitor, n. d. ). External Opportunities One opportunity deals with clustering its business units. Starbucks uses clustering to ensure domination in chosen geographical areas. This practice allows Starbucks to bring conveniences to customers and at the same time preventing new business from entering the market. The last two opportunities are profitability of international operations and the expected growth of the specialty coffee market. The profitability of international operations and the expected growth will give the company greater leverage into the world market and will promote new market expansions. External Threats. One major threat is the lack of superior coffee beans. The expansion of Starbucks operations and limited quantity of superior coffee beans may result in a shortage of supply. Other factors, which could affect the coffee beans, are weather, political and economic conditions. Organizations like Fair Trade could change or alter the coffee industry. Another threat to Starbucks is the dependence on trading companies and exporters for their supply of superior coffee beans. Although Starbucks has limited the risk by paying above average prices for the superior coffee beans, the risk is still there. The last threats are competition and market saturation. The success of the coffee industry will attract more competitors. A competitor with a serious financial backing and resources could compete against Starbucks (Datamonitor, n. d. ). It is estimated that if the current market growth continues saturation levels will be reached in five years (Datamonitor, n. d. ). Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction is defined as the measure or determination that a product or service meets a customers expectations, considering requirements of both quality and service (www. eglin. af. mil/46tw/StrategicPlan/glossary.htm). A customer?  ¦s expectations of product quality, service quality, and price, then a firm will achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. On the other hand, if the customer?  ¦s expectations are not met, the customer will be disappointed and this is likely to lower the satisfaction level. Due to lowered satisfaction, the customer could choose to stop buying from the firm/company. There have been many studies done that have shown that high customer satisfaction increases the likelihood of corporate profitability. It also showed that the costs incorporated with keeping an existing customer are five times that of getting new ones The Starbucks Customer The Starbuck?  ¦s Corporation is the leading retailer in the coffee industry. The market size of the coffee industry in the United States for 2003 is near 18 billion. The company?  ¦s sales have increased 23. 9% in the year 2003. These statistics show how many people in the U. S. are drinking Starbucks coffee. Starbucks attracts a cult-like following, serving 25 million drinks a week at nearly 7,000 locations worldwide. At one time or another, just about everyone has been a customer at a Starbucks retailer. Based on research done on the Internet, we have identified who the typical Starbucks?  ¦ customer is. A typical Starbucks customer is a male or a female, age ranging from 18 to 55. In most cases, the Starbucks?  ¦ customer is a college student, businessperson or someone in their mid to late fifties. A Starbucks customer tends to be very loyal to the company and will not accept substitutes. The usage level of a typical customer is at least three times a week, for some; it is every day. The benefits sought by customers range from enjoyment, relaxation, energy, and reward. Those who are not in a hurry like to sit down for a cup of coffee, listen to the relaxing songs played at the shops, enjoy a conversation with a friend, or just way to be alone and study. Another important characteristic of a typical customer is that most of the customers are financially stable enough to be able to afford to spend at least $2. 50 for a small cup of coffee. A typical Starbucks?  ¦ customer spends and average of $40 to $65 a month for coffee drinks. However, there are many customers who spend well over $65 a month. Improving Customer Satisfaction According to Schultz, ? §our success is based on their continued trust in our people and our environment over long periods of time. Redefining the industry youre playing in doesnt just mean hiring an agency to think up a fancy new slogan. To make it work, you have to offer high-quality new products and services that customers actually want, and that will reinforce the value offered by your core brand and expand the emotional connection your customers feel with it ( www. fastcompany. com from Issue 84 July 2004, Page 50 by:Alison Overholt). To continue the success that Starbucks had over the years, there must be ways to measure the customer? ¦s perceptions of the company. The customers are what make Starbucks what it is today, and to keep them we need to know what they expect from us. Based on research done on starbucks. com, it is evident that Starbucks values their customers. On the main page of the website there is a link to Customer Service; here the customer can ask questions or leave comments. This tool could be much more beneficial to the company if questions and/or comments could be asked by the customer. In the area of questions/comments-there is a drop down list of freqeuntly asked questions/comments, from this list the customer must pick. There could be many times when a customer has a question/comment, but it is not included on this list. The idea of having this link makes the customers feel that their opinions are valued, but there are a few areas that could be improved on that would be much more beneficial to the company. It is important that Starbucks asks for the opinions of their customers, but why only offer this online? Even though we have become such a computer savy world, there are still many people out there that are not computer literate. Many do not have access to computers, or some just do not know how to use them. This does not mean that these people don?  ¦t drink Starbucks coffee. To increase overall customer satisfaction, we should also incorporate a general product/service survey or some type of comment card in the retail stores. Surveys may seem tedious at times, but to help us find out information that could help our company in the long run, it is worth it. Surveys will give us an idea of how we can improve our product and service to satisfy the customer. Typical customer surveys are designed to measure: ?aOverall satisfaction ?aProduct-level satisfaction ?aImportance vs. satisfaction ? Timeliness of delivery ?aCustomer service process satisfaction ?aReturns and exchange process satisfaction ?aInterest in new potential products and services Included is sample survey that could be used to get a general idea of how our customers feel about our products and services. The main goal to achieve customer satisfaction needs to be: to find ways to deliver a great customer experience around your product or service. Customer expectations may be set, the idea is to exceed those expectations that they might already have. The recipe for a great cup of coffee includes four fundamentals, proportion, grind, water and freshness. Using the right proportion of coffee to water is the most important step in making great coffee. The shorter the brewing process, the finer the grind. The amount of time the coffee and water spend together affects the flavor elements that end up in your cup of coffee. Using fresh, cold water heated just off the boil is perfect for extracting the coffee?  ¦s full range of flavors. Use fresh ground coffee by grinding beans each time you brew the freshness is preserved. Starbucks quality is dependent on trading companies and exporters for its supply of green coffee. The company is looking to secure long term supply contracts, and in some cases has had to pay inflated prices in order to obtain such contracts. Starbucks responded to world coffee prices reaching 30-year lows during fiscal 2001 by offering suppliers more money to guarantee supply, and as such the risk of non-delivery on such purchase commitments is low. However, the nature of the business dictates that the company?  ¦s dependency on suppliers does put it at risk. Starbucks quality is at risk to the volatility of the supply and price of coffee. The company?  ¦s search for the superior standard coffee mean in can be adversely affected by multiple factors in the producing countries, including weather, political, and economic conditions. In addition, green coffee prices have been affected in the past, and may be affected in the future, by the actions of organizations and associations that have in the past attempted to influence prices of green coffee through agreements establishing export quotas or restricting global coffee supplies. The actions of these associations could cause a degree of costly disruption to Starbuck?  ¦s operations. Purchasing Guidelines Starbucks has also introduced coffee purchasing guidelines. The goal of these guidelines is to support Starbucks commitment to purchase coffee that has been grown and processed by suppliers who meet environmental, social, economic, and quality standards. Global coffee production can only be sustainable if it is economically viable, socially responsible, and environmentally sensitive at all levels of the supply chain. Over the past few years Starbucks has been working on the sourcing guidelines and they feel that is an important step that will help increase the production of high quality coffee and improve the health of the specialty coffee industry. With these guidelines, Starbucks is taking a leadership role in addressing the environmental and social issues surrounding the global coffee industry. This initiative is part of a long-term partnership between Starbucks and Conservation International to promote methods of coffee production that help to conserve global biodiversity. To launch these guidelines, Starbucks will enlist the support of coffee suppliers who are sustainable advocates. Starbucks has instituted a flexible point system that rewards performance in sustainable categories. Points will be accrued based on a supplier?  ¦s ability to meet sustainability guidelines, and suppliers who earn more points in the program will receive higher purchasing preference when Starbucks purchases green coffee. Starbucks has a long-standing practice of paying premium prices for coffee, and has always paid an average of at least $1. 20 per pound. As part of this practice, Starbucks will provide additional premiums of up to ten cents per pound to vendors based upon how well their coffee samples meet the standards. These financial incentives will help defray the costs incurred by participating suppliers. Suppliers wishing to participate will be required to provide independent, third party verification of their performance against the guidelines. Starbuck?  ¦s hopes that the success of this program demonstrates to the rest of the coffee industry that they can benefit by producing coffee in a way that protects global biodiversity and improves the livelihoods of coffee farmers. The Three Keys to Quality Coffee The three keys to quality coffee are: 1)Quality Green Arabica Coffee The best coffee beans produce the best cup of coffee. 2)Fresh Roasted Great tasting coffee relies on how soon the coffee is brewed, and consumed after roasting. For coffee to be fresh, and best, it must be consumed within five days after roasting, three hours of grinding, and fifteen minutes of brewing. The first sign that coffee is stale is a bitter taste. 3)Proper Brewing ? V Temperature and time, brewing is the extraction of coffee flavor oils from the roasted grounds using water. The best temperature for optimum extraction is water just off the boil (195 degrees to 205 degree Fahrenheit). This temperature will extract the full range of flavors from fresh roasted beans. Time is a function of brewing method and grind size. There are many ways to brew good coffee. Steeping and espresso are the two best methods. Financial Analysis Total net sales for Starbucks Corporation were analyzed for 2001, 2002, and 2003. The company had a total net sales increase of $639. 9M between the years 2001 and 2002. Another net increase of $786. 6M in sales occurred between 2002 and 2003. This is a positive sign because in a growing company, of course, we would expect a consistent increase in sales. A result of the increase in sales in part is due to a recent innovation of drive-throughs being added for the convenience of its many customers. Net income increased substantially to 215. 1M in 2002. This was due to the boom in sales and good control of its cost of goods sold. Net income increased to $53. 2M in 2003. The coffee giant acquired Seattle Coffee Company from AFC Enterprises for $72. 0M in 2003, as well. Income from operations took a boost up from $281. 0M in 2001 to $318. 7M in 2002, a difference of $37. 6M. Income from operations saw a considerable upturn of $424. 7M in 2003. In a growing company we would expect income from operations to grow from year to year. Cost of sales continued to increase $237. 2M between the years 2001 and 2002 and it peaked again $335. 9M between 2002 and 2003. This is normal when sales are increasing significantly. Management Strategies From cappuccinos to lattes to just regular coffee, the quality of Starbucks fine coffee beverages is worth the cost in dollars. An article from the Internet stated ?  §At $43 in mid-June, a share of Starbucks (SBUX) cost 47 times what Wall Street analysts expect the coffee-shop chain to earn per share this year. The typical stock in the SP 500 index trades at just 19 times earnings (Rosato, D. , 2004, p. 124). The article continued to state that management is projecting Starbucks earnings to grow to 20% every year for the next three to five years. With an amazing growth rate like that its no wonder that their growth far exceeds the typical SP stocks growth rate by as much as three times. Starbucks has a very strong balance sheet. It has little long-term debt and $380. 0M in cash. It continues to expand its long-term assets and finances them from its own cash flow. If a company is in a state of expansion, we would expect long-term assets to increase. The total current assets for the year ending September 29, 2002 for Starbucks Corporation were $847. 5M. For the year ending September 28, 2003 total current assets grew $76. 5M. This gives us a good indication that the company is expanding. Inventory increased from $263. 1M in 2002 to $342. 9 in 2003. In a growing company, we would expect inventory to increase. An article in the Internet stated that in November 2001, Starbucks offered their own Starbucks card. It was a convenient way for coffee drinkers to pay quickly and easily for their morning cup of coffee (Kuykendall, 2004, p. 7). Starbucks sold roughly $18. 0M of these gift cards. This strategy is a great way to increase volume and unlike other cards Starbucks said, ?  §It had never charged the fee noted on its cards $2 a month after on year ? V to anyone (Kuykendall, 2004 p. 7). Another vision to increase its financial strategy was the introduction of the Duetto combo prepaid/credit card in late 2003. An article on the Internet stated how the Chicago based Bank One Corp. called Duetto worked with Starbucks to generate a program where cardholders would receive rewards based on their spending habits. Starbucks conducted a survey to determine the gift that was most attractive to customers and Colette Courtion, director of Starbucks Global Card Services stated, ?  §Duetto cardholders receive a one-time $10 ?  §preload and 1% in so-called Duetto dollars that are automatically loaded on the stored-value side each month for every Visa purchase made. Starbucks also donates $5 to the Starbucks Foundation, after every customer?  ¦s first Starbucks Card Duetto Visa purchase (Martin, Z. , 2004, p. 22). A half-pound of coffee was one of the great appealing rewards, as well. Bank One and Starbucks were very well pleased with the markets positive response to the Duetto card. We are in agreement with these financial strategies and as a team, we concur that Starbucks Corporation should continue the card services as a strategic process that gives their company a great competitive advantage. A key strength of Starbucks is being a disciplined innovator. Frappuccino blended beverages and iced refreshments were new innovations and helped the growth of Starbucks. Starbucks should continue coming up with new kinds of beverages, as that is its core product. Perhaps a vegetable drink that is geared more toward the healthier population like a low calorie, low fat, and low sugar carrot drink that is actually providing the body with good vitamins and minerals. According to information retrieved from the Factiva database, Starbucks Price/Earnings ratio in the last twelve months was 56. 9 and its current ratio was 1. 8. Starbucks is on the right track with their strategies and they have done such an excellent job so far that we believe these strategies will continue to bring revenues for many upcoming years. Growth Starbucks Corporation has a good strategic growth plan currently to enhance their business and gain market share over their competitors. In this section of the report, it will go over Starbucks current ideas about their growth and give different recommendations in how some other ideas may increase their current and future growth. In the current high completive coffee market Starbucks has a good market share and are opening location across the world. Starbucks have opened their location in markets before any of their competitors has any of their location even around that market. Starbucks has a global brand name over their competitors. Starbucks Corporation has roughly 7,500 retail locations across the world, with majority are owned and operated in the United States of America. Starbucks currently has locations across 30 different countries to set their business in the market before any competitors due. Even with Starbucks aggressive move to open many locations across the world they have very little profit with their business. The reasons that Starbuck?  ¦s profitability is low because they?  ¦re trying to cease the market first. In the fiscal year of 2003, the company has a total of nearly 1,300 licensed retail stores, with 1,000 in Asia-Pacific region, 176 in Europe/Middle East/Africa and the remainder in America, excluding North America (Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru and Chile). Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle, derives approximately 85% of its revenues and substantially all of its profits from its domestic US market. The US market is the market that gives them the most profit of all markets. Starbucks started most of their locations at cold states based that more coffee drinkers live in cold states. With the new innovation of the cold flavored coffee drinks increased their chance to open more location in warm clement locations. Even with the rapid growth of coffee businesses in the US Starbucks has a large market share and with any change the Starbucks may due their competitors looks to target. Starbucks looks to enhance their brand image in the US market to increase their product sales from the stores that carry Starbucks coffee drinks, like Seven Eleven that carry only Starbucks coffee only. Starbucks reliance on the beverage innovation is important for the Starbucks future growth. With the increase for coffee store based on the need for coffee because of the new flavors, coffee market is growing but Starbucks looks to bring a new innovation to the market. The only problem at hand would be how long will the need and growth of the market last. In the international markets need less innovation then the US market based that there are less competitors in the market. International markets may need to have certain products for their taste. Most often different countries have different customs and life styles that could change the need for each custom. By the fiscal year of 2004, Starbucks international market will achieve profitability. About 23% of the company?  ¦s stores locations that are profitable are located in North America markets that include UK and Japan. Currently the specialty coffee sector accounts for 15% of the US retail market, and which is already worth $21 billion. By 2005, the retail coffee market will be worth $22 billion, and the specialty coffee will account for 41% of the market. Also Starbucks are looking to invent a coffee ice cream and ice cream coffee drink. All of the ice cream has many different flavors and if the newly product takes of like it?  ¦s planned on doing. The specialty coffee products are now sold even at retail store based on the growing need for it. Starbucks is looking to open coffee and ice cream combined stores in start a new market. Starbucks currently sees that more and more coffee business are opening threw out the US by small business owners, so Starbucks is selling more stores to lessen the opening of small businesses. Starbucks feels that if they sell their name that more small business owner would rather have a well-known name to enhance their chances in doing well. Starbucks owners will learn and gain from the innovation and marketing ideas that Starbucks will give. Starbucks will grow faster if they sell of most or all of their location because their will be less need in maintaining their stores and more need in bring new ideas to the market. Now their competitors are franchising their location to. Most of the Starbucks locations in malls or in strip malls across the world. Currently Starbucks are building freestanding locations and designing a drive threw so their customers can have a more convenient way when needing their service. With these newly developed locations will have a food line. They?  ¦re looking to have hot food and cold food to compete with the Tim Horton coffee business. They are also looking to stay open 24 hours, seven days a week. Starbucks is looking to carry donuts, breakfast sandwiches, bagels and other morning food. Starbucks interest to change to compete with Tim Horton?  ¦s may hurt their business or help their business based on the cost involved in the change. Starbucks has concerns regarding the US store growth potential. Currently if the growth continues, saturation levels within the North American retail division will be reached inside five years, the reasons why Starbucks has some concern is that about 75% of the companies revenue growth and a greater portion of its profit. Before the US market becomes saturated, the US market sales growth will grow slowly over the next three to five years. With this change of saturation point coming, the pressure will be on the international Starbucks division will need to grow faster. Currently Starbucks global coffee market is very competitive, and must compete against the likes of restaurants, coffee shops, and street carts. Any major competitors, with a large financial background and the same resources as Starbucks can enter the market at any time and compete directly against the company. Starbucks feels that they have a good market share and are aware of competition on all levels and can maintain its operational performance if its to maintain its status as the world?  ¦s leading specialty coffee retailer. Starbucks was one of the first coffee businesses in the market and will try to be one of the last to leave. The recommendation to Starbucks Coffee that if they are going to grow in the market faster than their competitors is not to change their business to be more like Tim Horton?  ¦s and have their own identity. Currently Starbucks started the wireless Internet access in their stores and now every competitor is doing it. Also, it will help Starbucks if they would enhance the online service to provide laptops and other computers at their locations. They should have online ordering of coffee so when business people need to go fast they can order online and pay online to have a faster way in getting there coffee. With the innovation of new products, Starbucks should think in expanding in creating a coffee machine that can be place at schools, hospitals, and other companies that may need coffee and late hours or that don?  ¦t need a store. They currently market their own coffee brand coffee to purchase at other store but they should have it accessible online to order. The best thing that Starbucks has going for them is that none of its direct competitors are selling their product at store and online. With the increase in people that drink specialty coffee, Starbucks should innovate more different flavored coffee to increase their potential growth currently and in the future. The international looks to be the best growth for their business and they should invest more into locations and countries. Summary In order to ensure future success, we feel that Starbucks should implement the following suggestions. To improve customer satisfaction, Starbucks should include a section where customers actually ask questions and/or leave comments both in store and at their website. In addition, Starbucks should incorporate a survey to measure customer satisfaction. To ensure quality, Starbucks should continue its current practices. The practice includes securing long-term contracts, paying premium prices for coffee and additional premiums to suppliers to ensure quality needs are meet. To guarantee financial security, Starbucks should continue its role as a disciplined innovator. Starbucks should continue to promote the use of Starbucks cards and Duetto combo prepaid credit cards. An important part of Starbuck continued growth is emphasizing their unique image and to continue to provide the latest technical advancements. Starbucks should start expanding by providing coffee machines at schools, hospitals and other similar organizations. These strategies will continue to promote Starbucks as a leading retailer in a highly competitive coffee industry. Starbucks Customer Survey Dear Customer: I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you. Please help us serve you better by taking a couple of minutes to tell us how we are doing. We appreciate your business and want to make sure we meet your expectations. Attached you will find a coupon good for 1 free coffee.