Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Starbucks has been the most successful coffee chain using their aggressive expansion strategies to surpass its competitors. Through its expansion, Starbucks has focused on creating a dense network of stores all around US, while also opening up new locations all around the world. However, Starbucks’ aggressive expansion strategies have posed major threats to its financial health such as tight cashflows, increase debts, poor liquidity ratios and etc. In addition, this approach can exacerbate competition among close Starbucks stores. Due to the aggressive expansion, Starbucks has lost its internal focus in its core business coffee and its unique â€Å"Starbucks Experience – third place†. The issues are how Starbucks can stay profitable in the future and at the same time sustain its dominant position in the gourmet coffee industry. We have examined the industry analysis that focuses on the industry trends, the firm competitive environment and followed by a SWOT analysis on Starbucks. Finally, we look at the company strategy analysis that focuses on the Starbucks’ strategic intent and its strategic position. From these analyses, we recommend a few options where Starbucks should pursue moving forward in order to avoid further decline and sustain its dominant position. .:Company Background History:. Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice was established in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zey Siegel and Gordon Bowker in Seattle to sell roasted coffee beans and coffee machines. (See Exhibit 1 for timeline) At that time, the founders’ philosophy was to provide high quality coffee and educate the public the art of appreciating fine coffee. It was the founders’ passion and strong commitment on educating the public that attracted Howard Schultz to join Starbucks in 1982 as the head of the marketing department, overseeing the company’s retail stores. On one of his business trips to Milan, Italy, Schultz stumbled upon an opportunity to revamp Starbucks and shift its focus from its original business activities. Schultz’s new business proposition for Starbucks was to serve freshly brewed coffee at their outlets which he sold to the founders without success. After many unsuccessful attempts, he left the Company. In 1987, Schultz acquired Starbucks from the founders and changed its name to the more abbreviated ‘Starbucks’ and modified her logo to what we see today. After the acquisition, he introduced the idea of ‘The Starbucks experience’ to all Starbucks’ outlets; that is to create a comfortable atmosphere for patrons to relax. From then on, every Starbucks outlet was the perfect duplicate of this concept. In 1992, Starbucks had launched an IPO and its common stock was being traded on the Nasdaq. In 1995, Starbucks venture overseas and formed a joint venture with SAZABY Inc to open Starbucks stores in Japan. In 1996, Starbucks first oversea outlet was opened in Tokyo. Today, Starbucks has a total of 7,087 Company operated stores and 4,081 License stores in US. Additionally, it has 1,796 Company operated stores and 2,792 Joint Venture and License store operating in other 43 countries. .:Definition of the Industry, Competitors and Scope of Analysis: Generally, Starbucks is in the Food and Beverages industry. However for the purpose of this paper, we would define Starbucks to be in the gourmet coffee industry with the following competitors : †¢Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; †¢Costa Coffee; †¢Caribou Coffee. (See Exhibit 2 for a brief write up on reasons for the choice of these competitors and some background information of them) For the purpose of this paper, our analysis will be focusing on Starbucks in US and Australia. The next section provides an overview of the gourmet coffee industry and the competitive environment in US and Australia. .:Overview of the Industry:. .:Political Forces:. Generally both the US and the Australia political situation appeared to be well established and stable. This will provide a good platform for both current businesses and new businesses to operate in. In US, despite the current verge of recession, the political mood is still likely to favour increased regulation of businesses. In addition, even though international tensions are likely to remain but their impact on political stability and economy will remain minimal. Similarly in Australia, the political climate is likely to remain relatively stable. Although the relationship between the federal government and the states had been rocky in the past; it has improved after the introduction of a more stable formula for revenue distribution..:Economical Forces:. US: Real economic growth is expected to slow from an estimated 4% in 2008 to 3. 8% in 2009. The modest slowdown reflects the impact of lower demand from its trading partner. As these exists imbalances in the economy and the poor short-term outlook for growth, it is assumed that conditions in the US are now recessionary and that growth will remain very weak in 2009. This will in turn affect the GDP and the disposable income of its residents. Australia: Traditionally, rapid growth in Australia has been slowdown recently due to recession. Improved monetary and fiscal management have reduced macroeconomic volatility, but risks and imbalances are present. The low domestic savings rate renders the banking system dependant on foreign financing. The current account deficit is large, and international financial markets may start to worry about the underlying causes. Bubble conditions also seem to exist in the housing market. .:Socio-cultural Forces: Consumers’ Perceptions and Disposable Income:. US: There had been an increase in coffee consumption in the US market though the rate had slowed down in 2005 posing threats to coffee retailers. Recently, US consumers had increasingly opt for healthier hot drinks such as tea and RTD beverages which affect coffee consumption rate. The trend is likely to continue, leading to decline in coffee consumption. Australia: Coffee sales had experienced quite lukewarm growth from 2000 to 2005. The culture of cafe had caused more people to opt for on-trade sales coffee at the cafe instead of home-brewed coffee. According to BIS Shrapnel, people increasingly tend to go to cafes for their coffee and there is an increase of 50% within 2 years in coffee consumption. .:Technological Forces: Technological Developments:. Technological changes have created many new products and processes. It helps to reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovations which in turn benefits consumers as well as organizations. Many organizations in the gourmet coffee industry had recognized the importance of providing wireless internet access and Wi-Fi hotspots to its patrons. These technology advances had created a leisure place for patrons to surf net or hang out after home and work. Most of the organizations had also introduced automated coffee machines to speed up the brewing process so as to shorten waiting time. To further improve business operations and efficiency, some organizations have also make use of information technology systems to help them run their businesses more smoothly. .:Environmental Forces:. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming, many organizations in the gourmet coffee industry had increased their environment awareness by reduced the usage of disposable cups to serve coffee and increased the use of ceramic mugs. Furthermore, the organizations had also reduced the size of their paper napkins, paper bags and in store garbage bags. The organizations were also encouraged to purchase Fairtrade certified coffees so as to promote responsible environmental and economic efforts. The following section presents our analysis of gourmet coffee industry with the aid of Michael Porters 5 Forces model. .: Analysis of Gourmet Coffee Industry- Porter 5 Forces:. Please refer to exhibit 3 for the criteria used for the scoring of each forces and an analysis of each forces. Force #1: Threat of New Entry:. †¢Threat of new entry is high. †¢High start up cost involved in purchasing equipments, sourcing for coffee beans and training barista. †¢Strong brand identity leading to high switching cost for consumers Score: 10 Force #2: Threat of Substitutes:. †¢Substitutes are gourmet coffee of a different brand †¢Current gourmet coffee industries is saturated †¢High switching cost †¢Threat of substitutes considered to be relatively high Score: 6 Force #3: Bargaining Power of Suppliers:. †¢Majority of commercially available coffee beans come from a few industrializes countries. †¢Increase the cost of coffee houses in sourcing and gaining access to these high quality coffee beans. †¢Bargaining power of suppliers is relatively high Score: 5 Force #4: Bargaining Power of Consumers†¢Bargaining power of customers is relatively neutral. †¢Current player gained brand loyalty †¢Product differentiation helps to retain current customer and attract new customers. †¢However price sensitive customers might seek for cheaper alternative. Score: 0 Force #5: Rivalry between Competitors:. †¢Intensity of rivalry is moderate. †¢Brand identity and high switching cost is relatively unfavorable to new player that has just entered the market. Score: 3. Conclusion:From the above analysis, we noted that the threat of new entry, the bargaining power of the supplier and threat of substitutes are relatively high. On the other hand the bargaining power of the consumers is neutral and the intensity of rivalry is moderate. Hence from the above analysis we concluded that even though there is high intensity of rivalry in this industry it is still considered to be attractive. This is because, according to report from Mintel, there is still potential for growth in the coffee industry as the number of coffee houses in US itself had increased by 70% from 200 to 2005. .:Key Success Factors:. The key success factors in the gourmet coffee industry includes: -ensure product quality by applying the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of coffee; -provide a cozy atmosphere where people relax and chill out; -recruit passionate people who love coffee and equipped them with skills to provide upscale customer service; -reduce customer waiting time by implementing many innovations to speed up the process; -accelerate innovation in producing products of a much superior quality than that of its competitors; and -locate stores at high traffic, high visible locations.

Rational Unified Process :: essays research papers

Introduction This paper has the intention to explain what Rational Unified Process (RUP) is like an IBM product and a CASE tool. After is explained what phases it has, what are the most common extensions thus what are its workflows more used. The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a software design method created by the Rational Software Corporation and now is part of IBM developer software. This paper describes how to deploy software effectively. The Rational Unified Process (RUP) use commercially proven techniques, and is a heavy weight process, and hence particularly applicable to larger software development teams working on large projects. Rational Unified Process (RUP) Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an object-oriented and Web-enabled program development methodology. RUP would be taken like an online mentor that provides guidelines, templates, and examples for all aspects and stages of program development. RUP is a comprehensive software engineering tool that combine the procedural aspects of development (such as defined stages, techniques, and practices) with other components of development (such as documents, models, manuals, code, and so on) within a unifying framework. The RUP defines the following guidelines and templates for team members to follow during a product’s lifecycle: Develop Software Iteratively Given the time, it takes to develop large sophisticated software systems it not possible to define the problem and build the solution in a single step. Requirements will often change throughout a projects development, due to architectural constraints, customer’s needs or a greater understanding of the original problem. Iteration allows greater understanding of a project through successive refinements and addresses a projects highest risk items at every stage of its lifecycle. Ideally each iteration ends up with an executable release – this helps reduce a projects risk profile, allows greater customer feedback and help developers stay focused. Manage Requirements A documentation framework is essential for any large project; hence, RUP describes how to document functionality, constraints, design decisions and business requirements. Use Cases and Scenarios, are examples of artifacts prescribed by the process and have been found to be very effective at both capturing functional requirements and providing coherent threads throughout the development and deployment of the system. Use component based architecture Component Based Architecture creates a system that is easily extensible, promotes software reuse and intuitively understandable. A component often relates to an object in Object Orientated Programming. The RUP provides a systematic way to build this kind of system, focusing on producing an early executable architecture before committing full resources on a project.

The BSC tells the technical story of its formulation Essay

It begins from the initiation of the strategy, to the high level business executives who would sponsor the program, to actual scheduling of it, and then to the allocation of resources to it, and finally to actual budget. The BSC has an inbuilt feature to enhance general strategic goals, and competition in the private industries, or a clear declaration of mission and better efficiency in the public sector. So it has beneficial features no matter what the individual sector. It enhances  financial goals in the private sector by helping the company capture bigger market share and therefore increases profit margin. It enhances productivity, and efficiency. It is equipped to achieve desired outcome by increasing customer satisfaction. The benefits from BSC is enormous, it allows the entire organization to put itself in a continuous learning process. By aligning all the strategy in one framework, it strengthens itself in time, even with resource allocation. It helps organizations to make better budgetary decisions, it improves performance, and communication, and enable the company to have  important data for its bench marking. It helps the company to develop management system that is based on facts. It can anticipate the future, and can help organizations reach beneficial cause and effect predictions. It supports accountability and makes it easier to implement necessary innovations. The BSC system makes it simple for organizations to follow, because the steps are clearly outlined. First the company would make an initial organizational assessment, to ensure itself that it truly is ready to embark on the BSC system, because even though the system  could be highly profitable, it is not cheap. The next important step would be the definition of the company’s strategic themes, or the area it needs to focus on. Then it would develop its objectives, and the strategic maps, and performance measures. The system would then be cascaded to the essential business units. The final step is usually the evaluation and then important adjustments. A decision by a company to undertake the BSC cannot be made lightly, it is a big business venture. So the company must ask itself what its missions are, if it is ready to embark in such huge application. The company must know what it wants to provide in terms of services or programs. It must be sure that those needs are required needs, service or program that would sustain the implementation of the BSC, the balance scorecard would not help a poor business idea. The company must ask itself how it could be more beneficial to its customers and to its stakeholders. And does it have the capacity to change and improve as the business environment would eventually demand. Would the organization be able to provide required satisfaction to both the customers and the stakeholders. On the implementation steps the process is also clear. Because it would not make sense to place team leaders into position of leadership without adequate training, BSC demands workshops and both leadership training and team training. And that would be followed by the assessment of the corporate objectives, and strategy developments, then a draft of those important strategies. It would be essential to have the corporate executives involved in these processes as much as possible. In the BSC the essential training are supported by computerization or automation of the strategies that were developed in  order to provide access to all concerned. There are some barriers that could adversely affect the implementation of the process if left unresolved. If the company is unable to clearly define its mission and vision, the BSC would not be able to effectively implement such poor visions. So to make the visions and missions actionable it ought to be very well defined. Also the corporate strategies, the budget planning process and the entire goals should be linked to the performance drivers. Employees involvement with reasonably positioned performance expectation must be  appropriate. It would not make sense to set them to high at the onset. The entire story ultimately returns to the fact that balance scorecard has the ability to give corporations a solid framework, i. e a good sketch in which to design its strategies and align them with excellent chances to pursue such critical elements as efficient customer service and better learning atmosphere for the employees. All indications are that this system has been effective for organizations that have applied it accurately, and Pepsi Saudi should benefit from the implementation as well.

The Dark Side Of Mexico - 1283 Words

Selam Hagos Hagos 1 Professor Daniel Horan English 1A 25 October, 2015 The dark side of Mexico El Narco, a nonfiction book, describes the drug war in Mexico that has continued and intensified in the past couple of decades. Criminal activities of drug traffickers have resulted in instability of Mexican citizens. Some casualties in the past decade have been more than 34,000 due to the drug war. The drug war is still ongoing between numerous Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican government. Because of Mexican drug war between the Mexican government and drug cartels many†¦show more content†¦Mainly, Medellin and Colombia Cali were known to be established drug cartels. Since their demise in the early 1990s, Mexican drug cartels dominated the illegal drug market and controlled more than 90% of cocaine supply in the United States. In 2006, government intervention against such cartels resulted in arresting key cartels such as Gulf and Tijuana, which ultimately resulted in drug violence. These cartels continued their fight for gaining co ntrol of trafficking routes into the United States against their Mexican government. â€Å"The ambushes triggered the nationwide violence and at present, the government is nowhere close to invading country’s cartels and drug traffickers. The situation has gotten even worse at the moment†(Grillo). Throughout this timeline, the government had kept an approach of arresting the high profile cartel leaders, but this ‘kingpin’ strategy has not been sufficient. It brought security at streets of Mexico. The strategy of taking down top level drug cartels contributed to the cartels’ fragmentation with divided leaders and same business. Which emerged to the rise of more violent, militaristic groups. These groups straightway targeted the Mexican military. Hence, cartel members and the Mexican military have continuously battled each other numerous times and resulted in mass homicides. From the perspective of government intervention techniques, the Mexican milit ary