Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Strategic management - Essay Example It is currently the largest coffee house globally with its current size satisfying a customer base of more than 40 million weekly. It operates 16,635 stores in 50 countries whereby 11,068 are located in the United States. The company operated 9,031 stores and 4,776 licensed stores as of 2011 fiscal year. The company has three operational segments namely the Global Consumer Products Group (CPG), United States (US) and International (Quelch, 2006). Its product lines include beverages such as coffee, soda, juices and Tazo tea, pastries, whole coffee beans and merchandise such as CDs and mugs. Its three largest overseas markets are Japan (more than 180 stores), England (more than 370 stores) and 120 stores in both China and Taiwan. Starbucks is currently the fastest growing food chain. It is planning to boost earnings by 20% to 25% in the preceding five years and increase its global storefronts to 40,000. The company attained a 14% increase in revenue to $13.3 billion in the fiscal year 2012. The company is optimistic that the revenues will further grow in the fiscal year 2013 at a range of 10% to 13% following the growth in store sales, new store openings and advancement in channel development business. The US segment includes both company-oriented and licensed stores. The US segment sells coffee and other beverages, whole bean coffee, complementary food and other selected merchandise through stores. Its financial management goals are conservative in that the existing stores pay for the new store installations. To ensure customer satisfaction, Starbucks focuses on value chain development, market development and penetration, horizontal integration and concentric and conglomerate diversification. This paper is a strategic analysis of Starbucks Coffee Company with focus on its United States business segment. Market Environment Analysis for Starbucks Coffee Company PESTEL Analysis The PESTEL analysis contains five factors (political, Economic, Social, Technological, E nvironmental and Legal) that affect the external business environment of the company (Appendix 2). The three most crucial factors affecting the US business segment of the company are political, economic and technological. Political/legal The political/legal environment of Starbucks is of high significance because the company imports all their coffee beans; international laws must apply. The high taxation rates in coffee producing countries makes the company hike the prices of their commodities. This implies that any fluctuations in the taxation rules will be passed to the consumer. Increased prices affect the consumption rates of customers. Trade issues will predominantly affect Starbucks when importing or exporting goods. According to Dlabay, Burrow and Kleindl, (2011), imposition of tariffs leads to losses as well as large income transfers that can become inconsistent with equity. The local elections may also have negative effects on the business due to the change in administratio n that may alter the business laws. Economic Increase in the international or local interest rates tampers

The Incarnation of the Word, based on the Classic writings of Essay

The Incarnation of the Word, based on the Classic writings of Athanasius - Essay Example On the other hand, Trinitarianism was the theological approach that Athanasius advocated for that defines God as being three divine persons constituting of the Father, Jesus as the Son and the third person as the Holy Spirit. In one of Athanasius’ recognized literature, this theologian sought to explain the principle reasons why God incarnated in the flesh, which was the purpose of the converting the sinful to holiness. With this, this essay will summarize the main points embedded in Athanasius’ theology and also give an insightful analysis of the principal points that Athanasius discussed about incarnation. One of the key concepts that v communicated in his doctrine was the fact that man could never understand the ways of God despite him being created in His divine image. However, man has the opportunity of understanding how his maker functions through His grace and in this knowledge, man is able to live and prosper. Principally, Athanasius intimates that it is Godâ₠¬â„¢s desire for man to know Him and for man to revere in His delight in which the creation of the universe was for the sole purpose of self-revelation. In essence, God’s word is an eternal factor in which everything that God created was because of the word in which God allowed the word to be flesh in order for it to accomplish purpose on earth1. Further, God’s undying love for humanity led him to incarnate into the human form as this was a sign that he cared for the souls that were to die in eternal damnation because of the separation that existed between man and God. A known fact is that God is an invisible, but omnipotent because he exists in nature, but man cannot term Him as nature because is His own creation and He cannot be created. According to the theory of creation, everything that God created was a result of a command by word of mouth and it became existent meaning that His word can command things to be existent. Therefore, God used the creation through His word to allow man to try to get an insight about the nature of God meaning that His works speak for Him because of His invisible nature. The hidden meaning of this statement is that an artist’s work tends to stand out even in his absentia in which no man should argue should argue that He is not there because He is invisible. Subsequently, God created nature and all that is in it in order for man to have the knowledge of whom God is and His nature making Himself known to men of all walks. Another significant aspect that Athanasius discussed in his doctrine was the fact that man could understand God’s nature in His invisible state through the order that He used when creating the universe and everything in it. In essence, God did not create the animals on the first day of creation but on the six because He is a God of order hence creating the earth and light on the first day. This means that to God things do not just happen, but they do occur because it is His plan hence allowing man to have the knowledge of how exactly God operates. The obvious doctrine that Athanasius did not stand for was the one in Aranius intimated that Jesus stood in between the deity while Athanasius advocates for the fact that Jesus is the mediator between God and His creation2. Theologists that came after Athanasius argued that Jesus had come to substitute the word, which was not true as Jesus became flesh through the word in order

NDT Robotic Technology

NDT Robotic Technology

With You Until The End Essay -- Oscar Wilde The Devoted Friend Essays

With You Until The End 1. The story, "The Devoted Friend", is a lesson to be learned. It shows how one can manipulate as well as how one can be manipulated. It also shows just how far some people will go for a friend. In this case, Hans gave up taking care of his garden to help a "true" friend and died doing so. Author Oscar Wilde gives good detail of the characters and sets up conflicts within the plot to emphasize on the theme, a devoted friend is one that is with you, and will do anything for you, until the very end. 2. In the opening scene of the story a few minor characters are introduced, including the narrator, the Green Linnet, a little bird with tiny wings. The narrator tells this story to a water-rat, an old rat with bright, beady eyes and stiff grey whiskers. He felt it pertained to the rat because of how critical the rat was being of the pure white mother duck that had bright red legs. All she was trying to do was teach her children, who looked like little yellow canaries, how to fit into society and the rat was making rude comments. 3. As the Linnet told the story, he told about Hans, a little man with a funny, round, good humored face. Hans had a very kind heart and was an extremely devoted friend. This was proven throughout the story in him neglecting his garden to help his dearest friend, Hugh the Miller. The Miller was a big man who was fairly well off, he had a hundred sacks of flour, six cows, and a flock of sheep. He took great advantage of Hans because Hans believed they were best friends and the Miller often reminded him of that. The Miller used guilt to manipulate Hans into doing whatever he needed done, without ever returning the favor. 4. The tone throughout the story is ... ...t have Hans doing things for him, he was taking from Hans’ garden his most beautiful flowers and best fruits. 10. The second most obvious conflict in the story was Thought versus Action. Hans was always thinking how much attention his garden needed and by helping the Miller he would be neglecting his garden, yet he always did exactly what the Miller asked of him without hesitation. The Miller also knew exactly how to manipulate Hans by using guilt, and he put that into action every time he needed something done for him. 11. "The Devoted Friend" was a perfect example of how much friendship means to some and how little it means to others. It showed how easy it was to manipulate others and be manipulated by others. But, the most important thing it showed was just how far a person would go to help a friend even though it means sacrificing many things.

Real ‘Angle of Mercy’ During the Crimean War Essay

Do you agree with the view that Mary Seacole , and not Florence Nightingale , was the real ‘angle of mercy’ during the Crimean War? During the Crimean war, both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale showed aspects of being angels. The word ‘angel’ suggests a heavenly person who is attentive to the soldiers’ needs, and ‘mercy’ means showing kindness and forgiveness, and the ‘angel of mercy’ basically suggests a compassionated and kind-hearted person who empathizes and helps soldiers in need. Although Nightingale had showed the aspects of being an â€Å"angel of mercy†, the amount of work and commitment Seacole had put in outweighs Nightingale’s; therefore I believe Mary Seacole deserves the title of the real â€Å"angel of mercy†. Florence Nightingale actions mainly focused on the hygiene and cleanliness, and the organization of the hospital since the majority of the death was due to neglect of sanitation. Source U is a lithograph of one of the wards in the Barrack Hospital in Scutari, where Nightingale was in charge of. It showed the hospital was clearly clean and organized with windows opened, clean floor, wide space between organized beds, suggesting that the soldiers’ conditions were getting better. Nightingale was also very hardworking, because even at night she used to walk around the hospital carrying a lamp to check on the patients, hence she is also known as the â€Å"The Lady with the Lamp† throughout the history, which shows her commitment in her work as a nurse. She certainly had â€Å"formidable gifts of organization† as it says on source V, and her involvement in the war had also made a huge impact on the death rate, which reduced from 42 per 1000 to 2 per 1000 in June 1855. Despite the fall of the death, 5000 men died in her hospital due to poor hygiene in the winter of 1854-1855 before the sanitary commission arrived, yet she refused to acknowledged that it was from the lack of sanitation and said the men were â€Å"half dead† when they were brought in, because at that time she didn’t know that the hospital was built on top of a cesspool. On top of that, it was revealed in the letter written by Lord Palmerston to Lord Panmore that the sani tary arrangement was actually done by Dr. Sutherland and Dr. Grainger, and still Nightingale took all the credit. Even though, Nightingale has made positive impacts on the course of the war and paved a way for improving in the nursing field, her actions aren’t enough to fit the image of an â€Å"angel of mercy†, since she was a harsh, cold woman who criticized her own nurses and only checked the patients from a distance, completely neglecting the importance of consoling and communicating with the soldiers, as it is also shown on the source U – on the lithograph Nightingale is seen leading the wounded; however, she keeps a distance inbetween. This shows that Nightingale is recognized through the image of the clean organized ward, rather than a kind-hearted and compassionated nurse treating the patients, and the ‘angel of mercy’ ought to provide both physical and mental needs to the soldier as the title says, since they will not only suffer physical attacks but will also be mentally affected by the war, and Nightingale failed to provide mental treatment. On the other hand, Mary Seacole’s engagements fit the image of the â€Å"angel of mercy† and source V praises Seacole and her involvement during the war, despite being rejected by the British authorities due to her race and background. She went to Crimea by herself to help the wounded, whereas Nightingale who went there in request of the Minister of War, Sidney Herbert, to go to help in the war. Seacole had no hospital to take care of the wounded, but she built her own â€Å"British Hotel† in Balacava by her money, unlike the government funded â€Å"admirable hospital† in Scutari, which took days of boat trip from the battlefield. In source v, it also tells how Seacole was â€Å"in the very front line† treating the wounded, which was truly a heroic act because during that time females were seen weak and delicate, let alone belong on the battlefield, but â€Å"she showed courage under fire†, â€Å"unlike some officers† and risked her ow n life to save others. This also links to the idea of ‘angel’ because like a guardian angel she was protecting them, and she may also have appeared physically like an angel to some of the soldiers as she drifted through the battlefields healing people. This shows the bravery and effort of Seacole puts in helping the soldiers, and the fact that she treated the wounded at the scene might have contributed with the drop of death-rate. Her â€Å"British Hotel† was also an important refuge to the soldiers, which again comes to the idea ‘mercy’, as it says in source V that the soldiers felt more at ease with â€Å"Mother Seacole† than in the hospital, because the hotel was more homelike. Unlike Nightingale, briefly checking the patient and ordering the nurses, Seacole was more socializing and hands on approach to the individuals, therefore she was closer with the soldiers since she ran the hotel by herself and did everything by herself, on the other hand Nightingale did ver y little nursing and more works on the running and organizing of the hospital, which shows that she was more of an administrator than a nurse. Seacole approach of treating wounded and â€Å"patients suffering from cholera and dysentery† was more effective than Nightingale’s method, showing that Seacole was more skilled and had more knowledge on medicine. Source V points out that, Seacole was certainly kind, caring, empathizing like an ‘angel of mercy’, because she was the figure of a ‘mother’ to the soldiers and â€Å"attentive to their practical needs†. She nurtured them, like a mother would for their children, providing physical and mental when they are away from home and family, and also providing them with pocket handkerchief for the winter. She was admired and loved by the soldiers and that is how she received the name â€Å"Mother Seacole†, and the soldiers also arranged an event after the war to thank her. However, media neglected Seacole’s achievement because of her race and attributed the title of â€Å"angel of mercy† to Nightingale. But there are evidences which prove that the hospitality that Seacole provided was better and more effective than Nightingale’s. Seacole not only treated the wounded because she was a nurse, but that helping soldiers was her passion; the strong, brave, determine, motherly characteristic of Seacole allowed her to provide the best for the soldiers during the war. She did everything from scratch on her own, whilst Nightingale was just appointed to run the hospital; on top of that Seacole put in more effort in taking care of the soldiers and was more compassionated than Nightingale. â€Å"Mary Seacole was on hand for the troops in the long months when nothing much appeared to be happening† just like a ‘mother’, which is figuratively close to an ‘angel’, showing that she was indeed the real â€Å"angel o f mercy†.

Oil Crisis of 1973-1974: A Brief History with Documents Essay

During the fall of shah, massive crisis occurred especially in the oil resources, and the United States was not able to foresee such crisis. It is a well known fact that Iran served as one of the top most provider of world’s oil, and even Saudi Arabia proclaimed the initiation of Iran’s oil production. For the record, it is Iran who has been supplying the global oil requirement for at 5 to 7 percent . However, with such dependence on major oil suppliers, such as Iran, the dependency of oil companies, suppliers and consumers was turned down by the shortage and crises that occurred during 1970s. During this moment, the economic stability of oil supplies was shaken by the shortage; hence, different oil companies, suppliers and consumers stock up fearing that the oil costs might increase . During the two consecutive price shocks for oil products in 1970s, primarily, it was caused by the extensive decrease of oil supply in the market. The price increase even surged up to twenty fold compared to previous prices from 1960s . During this year, a considerable market panic occurred, which significantly marked the economic history of oil supplies. Hence, this even was termed as the Oil Crisis of 1973-1974 . Between hoarding and speculative buying, oil prices went up throughout 1979 and into 1980s. Iraq’s plot of invading Iran had significantly altered the oil supply present in the country during that time. lran War kept Iranian oil off the market and caused a 70 percent cutback in Iraqi oil exports as well . In this study, the primary issues to be covered are the events that occurred during the oil crisis of 1973 and 1974 wherein the oil crisis settled in and caused an economic turmoil on oil stocks. The study provides more emphasis on the effects of war in oil crisis, the oil crisis causing the economic panic, and the shortage causing market and civilian anxiety over price hikes of commodities. Discussion As the 1973 – 1974 oil crisis settled in the international world market, oil company profits surged upward during the new crisis and their critics cried foul. Various debates and conducted studies had been initiated during that point with the aims of determining the primary suspect for the cause of oil shortage; however, only contributory factors were obtained, but there were no exact data to pinpoint the cause of the oil crisis . To give an idea in terms of the oil price hike during this period, during 1960s, the barrel of crude oil cost only about US $2 per barrel. However, by the time the oil crisis struck the market in 1973 and 1974, the per barrel cost even reached up to U.  S $10, which is approximately 5 fold increase from 1960s . The reason for this development was that the resource countries claimed the property rights to the crude oil reserves in their soil. Due to the extensive shortage of oil production in the country, oil companies, most especially those supplying international market and small to large scale oil companies, were cut oil from their supply sources. Because of these, the shortage on oil supplies emerged rapidly and greatly and the price hike continued to surge in unexpected amounts. Added in these issues, the oil companies, particularly the internationally scoped firms, had to add the shouldered royalty . Even with the extended period of cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the conflicts in the Middle East, such as the Iran-Iraq war, and British conflict with gulf countries, had all contributed to the decline and shortage of oil production. The oil crisis dramatically changed the United States’ perspective among the countries in the Gulf region. During the manifestation of the crisis, the United States even had to pay an incredibly high toll, more than the European toll. Hence, the United States studied the policies on oil flow and therefore prioritized the determining of the hostile disruption on oil flow, then counters such predicament to solve the crisis on oil shortage . After the issues on oil shortage eased, the number of different companies who have been speculating on the reigning shortage of oil did not fade away. Suspicion among industrial firms and companies still rose and the conspiratorial perspective of oil industries and establishments were all firmly established. In addition, around 1960s, American confidence in business associations and political sectors had been declining due to the perceived incompetencies of these sectors to manage the crisis on oil . The effect of the oil shortage in the countries had caused tremendous economic panic in both public and private sectors. The introduction of new priced oil stocks with a very high price gap from 1960s had caused massive decline in capital, which in the end caused the decline in production, employment and growth. In addition, during the same period, the initiation of oil redistribution of real income in favor of the oil-producing nations took place. Due to the world wide shortage on oil reserves, industrialized nations had to give away export oil products in order to compensate the need of world market; hence, the value of appropriate trade further deteriorated . After the first crisis on 1973 and 1974, another came in on January 1979; however, majority of the public was not able to notice the initial effects of the second crisis. Moreover, it was only in March 1979 when the public began to feel the impacts of the second strike of the crises; although, this one accounts less disturbing compared to the initial strike of shortage . Conclusion In the conclusion of the study, the origin of the oil crisis from 1973 to 1974 was relatively indefinite, yet there were speculations on how the crisis became worst. Some of the issues that contributed to the increasing prices of oil were the Iran-Iraq war, the British arguments with Saudi Arabia, and the shortage of oil supply. The effect of these incidence caused tremendous price hike on all oil commodities, which initiated market panic and hoarding among oil suppliers and small to large scale companies. The second wave of oil shortage followed; however, it was not deemed as heavy as the 1973-1974 incidents.