Psychology (Systems and Theories) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychology (Systems and Theories) - Essay Example The science acquires knowledge through systematic study of observation, experimentation of an event or a phenomenon of interest. The hypothesis developed which is based on observation is investigated thoroughly by designing and carrying out series of experiments. Then, the experimental results are analyzed and explained in a systematized manner. The conclusions of the result verify the theory proposed related to observed event. Thus, in a scientific research, hypothesis is verified and a theory or the principle of the phenomenon is established. Every psychological research is evaluated as science. The scientific methods are applied to study human behavior to get accurate understanding of past, present and future behavior. The psychology scientifically studies emotional processes related to perception, cognition, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships. The psychologist scientifically intervenes a particular behavior by playing with the parameters and tries to get expect ed results through predicted behavior. The problems faced are structured according to a particular theory or scientifically acceptable principle. The experiments are designed by manipulating a situation. In the experimental procedures, the individual’s response to a particular condition is observed. The individual’s reaction is a data in scientific terms and is a measure of effect when subjected to a particular cause. The dependable parameters are varied to get set of data which is further analyzed. Likewise, the sample is also exposed to different circumstances to create a databank of situation and responses. Standards and controls as used in scientific research are also used to compare the results in psychological research. The control groups are exposed to neutral condition and sample groups are exposed to manipulated condition. Sometimes double blind studies

Managing Scope Change Essay Example for Free

Managing Scope Change Essay After successfully planning and organizing the AD High Tech online store project, project manager Chris Johnson was promoted to vice president of e-business. Eric Robertson returned from his leave and assumed the position he had left as the project manager for the online store. In late summer 2003, Johnson began hearing whispers from his colleagues that the project was in trouble. On August 20, CIO Matt Webb frantically approached Johnson in his office. He had just fired Robertson and wanted Johnson to serve as the interim project manager. For more than three months, Robertson had told Webb that the project was on track, but suddenly he changed course and told Webb that he â€Å"guessed† it would be at least one month late and that costs would overrun by more than 20 percent. This was hardly acceptable, since it was imperative that the project be completed in time for the holiday shopping season. The project had strategic importance to the company and was integral to its holiday promotion strategy. Webb explained to Johnson that there was an additional challenge: the vice president of marketing wanted to create â€Å"promotional bundles† for the holiday season. Promotional bundles are a collection of items bundled together and sold at a lower cost than if the items were purchased individually. AD’s trial promotions with some retailers had shown an increase of 10 percent in sales with the addition of these promotional bundles, and the marketing plan called for them to be rolled out nationally. Thus, in order to maintain consistency in all sales channels, the bundles also needed to be available in the online store. Once again, Johnson was asked to quickly troubleshoot the project. He needed to analyze the true state of the project and gather his projections for cost and schedule. Johnson also needed to assess the possible impact of adding promotional bundles. Although deterred from his transition into his new job  as vice president, Johnson was nonetheless excited to once again put his project management expertise to use. Promotional Bundles The promotional bundles and the tasks associated with implementing them represented the only functional or scope change for the online store as Johnson set out to troubleshoot the project.  ©2006 by the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. This case was prepared by Derek Yung ’03 and Alex Gershbeyn ’03 under the supervision of Professor Mark Jeffery in the Center for Research on Technology and Innovation. Cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Some facts within the case have been altered for confidentiality reasons. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 800-545-7685 (or 617-783-7600 outside the United States or Canada) or e-mail [emailprotected] No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Kellogg School of Management. This document is authorized for use only by Vivekanandan Thangamani in IDS 507: Advanced Systems Analysis and Design Project taught by Dr. Matthew Liotine from September 2012 to March 2013. The promotional bundles did not necessarily present a technical design challenge for the project. The product catalog from Microsoft Site Server had the flexibility to handle complex rules in dealing with different pricing schemes. However, since MS Site Server had to be configured and  tested, a new set of tasks not originally planned or estimated needed to be factored into the project plan. Sales planning called for a total of twelve promotional bundles. The technical lead on the team, Marc Sanders, estimated that after two to three days of training per person, ten to twelve â€Å"person-days† would be needed for his team to configure the pricing rules in the system. The testing lead estimated twenty to twenty-five person-days would be needed to test the new features and to regression-test the existing products in conjunction with the promotional bundles. Sanders was a bit worried about the size of his development team, since he was barely keeping up with his duties managing the existing tasks on the project. AD was currently charging shipping as a flat percentage depending on order size. The online store, however, was to be built to handle percentages and to specify shipping charges on a per-item basis. In the project outline, the baseline estimate of the Submit Order tasks for design and build included the work for the extra shipping functionality. Sanders estimated that he could reduce 50 percent of the work on the Submit Order tasks if the per-item shipping charge feature was removed. Doing so would likely free up a developer who could potentially work on the ERP interface. Project Staffing As far as Johnson knew, the IT staff was running at full capacity, which meant that any additional resources for the project would have to be contractors. AD did not traditionally use contractors for testing. The market rate for a contract developer had risen to $175 per hour, with an overtime rate of 150 percent. Johnson’s best guess was that it would take one week for a new developer to get acclimated and trained on the procedures of the project. Microsoft could provide consultants who were fully trained with the expertise to configure the pricing engine to accommodate the promotional bundles. Sanders had experience working with these consultants, and he estimated that they could do the configuration work and train another developer to maintain the rules in the system in no more than two to three days. The Microsoft consultants charged $500 per hour and required a minimum  of two weeks to arrange for the visit. Thus, for planning purposes, Microsoft consultants could be hired for two to three days’ work but required two weeks’ lead time to schedule. Review Meeting After reviewing his new assignment with Webb, Johnson quickly gathered all the online store project leads to get their input on the state of the project. He learned that there had been no measurement—and hence no evaluation—of project management metrics. This came as a surprise to Johnson, since Robertson had been known to be meticulous in measuring projects quantitatively in the past. KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT This document is authorized for use only by Vivekanandan Thangamani in IDS 507: Advanced Systems Analysis and Design Project taught by Dr. Matthew Liotine from September 2012 to March 2013. For the exclusive use of V. THANGAMANI KEL158 AD HIGH TECH (B) After working with the leads for more than a week, Johnson painstakingly pieced together the historical data and got the actual time spent working for all relevant tasks as of August 26. See Exhibit 1 for the project â€Å"actuals.† He also had the earned value template from a previous assignment that could be used to analyze the project plan, if he could figure out how the earned value data could be extracted from the project software. See Exhibit 2. The project was originally scheduled to be implemented by mid-November, before the Thanksgiving weekend. The vice president of marketing and Webb agreed that it was possible to delay implementation until December 1 and still reap some of the benefits of the holiday season. Johnson realized that this was far from the ideal scenario, since the  project would miss the Thanksgiving shopping weekend. However, he needed to provide Webb with an accurate assessment on how and when the project could be completed. Johnson realized that he first needed to update the original Microsoft Project document. He was not sure what, if any, problems existed within the original project. In addition, he was not sure exactly how to incorporate the promotional bundles into the project plan. Johnson’s experience told him that something would need to be fixed, and that the last-minute scope change was going to cost the company. KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT This document is authorized for use only by Vivekanandan Thangamani in IDS 507: Advanced Systems Analysis and Design Project taught by Dr. Matthew Liotine from September 2012 to March 2013.

Competitive Advantage of First Mover and Late Mover

Competitive Advantage of First Mover and Late Mover Abstract Nowadays due to technology advancement, the way of how businesses were conducted has evolved to be more globally attributed and dependable to technological innovation aids. Furthermore, technology could help a firm to be sustained by having competitive advantage, and this especially true in the situation of where firm had the strong dependency towards technology innovation. Technology had becomes more important to specific firm or business when it has the ability to significantly affect their competitive advantage or industry structure. Thus, it is important for firms to choose and execute their strategy systematically to stay competitive and sustainable in the market. In this report, the strategy of how firms enter a new market will be discussed in term of first-mover and late-mover, taking into account on the creation of how a firm could be either first mover or late-mover, the advantage and disadvantage of being first-mover and late mover, and lastly giving conclusion and insight of what strategy could be better to be implemented in particular situation. Discussion will begin with explanations and definition of what constitute first mover and their advantage and disadvantages. In this part, researcher Marvin B. Lieberman and David B. Montgomery, 1988 in their article survey about first-mover advantages were referred. They enlighten that there are 3 ways of how first-mover could achieve their advantages. The first sources of how first-mover competitive advantage could be triggered are (i) technological leadership, (ii) preemption of assets, and (iii) buyer switching cost. Technological leadership will benefit first-mover in term of leadership in innovation, which ensure the sustainability in technology. Being the first in the market, provide sustainable cost advantage could be achieved if learning curve could be maintained exclusively. This due to the unit production of cost will fall with cumulative output as explained in standard learning-curve model. As learning curve could be made exclusively, this could also make advantage to the first-mover by setting up extensive barrier to entry. Moreover, preemption of assets help first-mover to achieve advantage in term of domination of market shares. As first-mover could controlled the market shares earlier, this provide a barrier for late entrants to seize an amount of market shares which dominated by first-mover. First-mover also could gain the advantage by preempting the scarce asset. By having the control over existing and available assets, first-mover could deter rival in scarce assets acquisition. Preemption of location in geographic and product characteristics also could lead to advantage for those firm which is first-mover. Being the first-mover, advantage could be achieved through preemption of locations in geographic by entering most viable and profitable market earlier than the rivals. Thus, by implementing strategic action to secure and dominates the market, late-mover will find it is so difficult and viewed it as unprofitable to enter the market. This consequently could deter the subsequent entrants. Furthermore, Research and Development (RD) and patents also secure the first-mover advantages. By having extensive and effective RD, this could lead to discovery of new technology, which could be patented. Thus, as patents exist, this could serve as trade secrets. By doing business as the first-mover, this also provide head start for them to do research and exploit all possible potentially new technology, hence provide numerous patents to protect them from patent-race by future rivals. Buyer switching cost, affect first-mover firm advantages in term of time and resources which will be spent by late-movers in qualifying as a new supplier. Whenever late-mover settle in within firstly occupied market by those first-mover, late-mover had the obstacle and resistance in order to be familiarized by the customers or buyer. This will drop profit margin hence, increase operating cost. This will bring harm to late-mover as the costs incurred are higher compared to the first-mover. Besides, switching cost could surface due to supplier specific learning by the buyer or customer. In this situation, when customers are familiar enough with one specific supplier, they will embrace the brand, and become loyal. Therefore, it is quit difficult for new entrants or late-entrants to steal that loyal customer or buyer from the first-mover firm. Moreover, research by Tariq Malik, 2012 which study the advantage of first-mover for a firm when doing strategic alliances with host companies has showed that there is significant advantage for the first mover. (Malik, 2012) The result of this study has support the hypothesis which are first-mover firm in forming an international alliance in China would perform better than late-mover. This finding seen consistent with literature by Lieberman and Montgomery, 1988, and this is due to first-mover creating an environment which is disfavor by late-entrants. For example, when the first-mover has established relationship between China (Joseph G. Nellis, 1997)firms, through strategic alliances, first-mover has the advantage as they will know on how to do business with China government, organization and media. Moreover, first mover also had the edge over late-move in acquiring strategic location, hired and training the human resources, locked in strategy partner, and has created many consumer loyalties for its technology, products and services. Another empirical study could be seen in Thomas Cleff et. al research of Are there any first-mover advantages for pioneering firms? Lead market oriented business strategies for environment innovation. In this research, it has been found that a successful innovator is not necessarily become the first but one of the first-movers within the competition of different innovation design. Concluding from this study, there is advantage from being the first-mover, however it is depending on the environmental circumstances. This describe that first-mover has higher risk compared to late-mover. Furthermore, through this research, it also found that first-mover advantages are not available and very risky if in condition where suddenly technology changes abruptly. Moreover, increase in market dynamic increases potential of first-mover, however does not guarantee it. It also could be learned that, in order to achieve first-mover advantage, it has to acquire the ability in developing dominant design , so that can be market leader. Lead-market approach also crucial for the first-mover to compete with late-mover, as late-mover could diffuse faster than expected if first-mover does not take lead-market approach. Lead-market approach also crucial in faster and widespread diffusion of new technology, so that could not be surpassed by late-mover. (Thomas Cleff, 2012). In emerging economy, first-mover also has the ability to expand business without attracting much attention from the incumbents from the domestic firm. First-mover also should have the necessary human capital, physical and monetary resources in order to stay in advantages zone, if do not want to be outperformed by the late-mover. To wrap up, in order for first-mover to maintain its profit and advantages, they should be one step ahead of its competitor, however as consequences this will require a high rate of innovation in term of technical and new product development. (Joseph G. Nellis, 1997) First-mover advantages could be seen in various areas such as technology leadership, the domination of asset, and also the switching cost. However, first-mover also could posses several disadvantages, which indirectly will explain as the late-mover advantages. Disadvantages of being the first-mover in the market includes the (i) free-rider effects, (ii) resolution of technological or market uncertainty (iii) shift in technology or customer needs, and (iv) incumbent inertia. Late-mover could have advantage in free-rider effect, as late-mover can imitate where first mover innovate. They can imitate in various part involving the Research and Development (RD), buyer education and infrastructure development. As consequences, they have advantage in cost reduction as imitation is less costly when compared to innovation cost. This ability to imitate then, leads to could reduction of the profitability to first-mover. Resolution of technological or market uncertainty is also one of the advantage of late mover. How late-mover can benefit from this factor is by being late to enter a certain unknown market. This will reduce the risky selection of market, as being first in the unknown market, will serve many challenges and risk to be overcome. As late-mover could delay their time to enter unknown market, they could avoid any unwelcome problem or issues. Shifts in technology or changing in customers need also affect the first-mover and this will be taken advantage by late-mover. Marvin B. Lieberman and David B. Montgomery in their journal has review many literature on how shift in technology or changing customer demand can cause advantage to the late-entrants, which relate to creative destruction model introduced by Schumpt (Schumpter, 1961)er (1961). Through creative destruction model, existing product were said to be obsolete by the emergence of innovation of new firms. This late-entrant then will exploit technological discontinuity which by eliminating and replacing existing incumbent. While customers need something new and this will create dynamic condition. This will create loophole where late-mover could take advantage, unless the first-mover are very fast to alert and respond. While in incumbent inertia, late-mover could be in advantage as late-mover can evade from being locked in specific set of asset. First-mover disadvantage in incumbent inertia also could probably become organizationally inflexible, thus they cannot respond to environmental changes or competitive threats. (Montgomery, 1988) Reviewing from marketing perspective, late mover could be seen as having the potential to leapfrog those first movers at least in two ways either by beating them in their own game, or secondly by surpassing them using innovation as the tool. In term of beating first movers in their own game, late movers approach could start by providing consumers preferences in the category of product positioned by first mover. This could be the source and anchor for competition to start, hence late movers could take the opportunity to see any gap, overlooked superior product positioned, compete on price, or even could take the action to flood the market hence liquefy first mover’s distribution. Whereas, in term of innovation, late mover could innovated their products or strategy, hence could bring the competition between late entrants and first mover come to intense, providing late entrants to surpass first mover. (Venkatesh Shankar, Gregory S. Carpenter and Lakshman Krishnamurthi, 1998). Moreover, study conducted by Venkatesh Shankar, Gregory S. Carpenter and Lakshman Krishnamurthi, 1998 shows that innovation lead to the key of late mover advantage when compared to first movers entrants. First mover or also known as pioneer has the advantage in experiencing higher potential market compare to those late mover. Furthermore, the diffusion and marketing mix effectiveness are unaffected by diffusion of non-innovative late entrants. However, when compared with that late mover with innovative, which is stated as innovative late mover, even higher market potential could be achieved with higher repeat purchase rate compared to first mover. Moreover, innovative late mover claimed to create asymmetry in diffusion as it has unequal response to marketing expenditure, market potential and repeat sales. For example, when first mover’s diffusion take place, consumers will shift to the late-mover products does not affected much due to market shares potential and also consumers preferences towards late mover still strong. However, when innovative late-mover diffuse, they will diffuse faster as they had the more superior innovation and lower price compare to the first-mover. In term of brand growth, pioneer will have to spend a lot of advertising cost, as to create awareness of brand for product and the product category. However, late-mover does not have to prepare such cost, or in other words they could enjoy less expenditure on creating awareness, but only focus on developing brand awareness and could depend on the first-mover to establish the category. They also find the implication of late-mover if, late-mover could not beat first-mover in their own game, which cannot defeat first-mover’s diffusions or marketing strategy, which in turn will cause late-mover will experience low repeats rates and also less effective marketing plan, another way of how late-mover could be in advantage should be discovered. In this situation, what late-mover could do is to lower the price, and spend more on marketing mix. However, it is effective for late-mover to refine their product in which category in compete with the first-mover in order to beat and compete more intensely. (Venkatesh Shankar, 1998). Conclusion In conclusion, being first-mover and late-mover has their own disadvantages and advantages. Thus, in order to implement an entry strategy, the requirement and deep understanding of each firm’s SWOT and the market where they would like to enter is required. To become first-mover in an industry, a firm should possess technological leadership, preemption of asset and also buyer switching cost. In order to maintain first-mover advantage to be sustainable, first-mover should be one step ahead of competitior or late-mover so that learning curve could be made exclusive hence slowing down the innovation process diffusion by the late-mover. In the other side, late-mover could have the advantage in term of free-rider effect, which focuses on imitation or refining of the first-mover product category. However, late mover must be aware that if first-mover is very fast in product innovation and development, hence slowing down product diffusion in the market, focus on quality and pricing cou ld be made. Finally, to choose either first-mover or late-mover is the best strategy is depending on the requirement, circumstances, market condition, assets and also firm’s capacity and capability. References Joseph G. Nellis, D. P. (1997). The Essence of Business Economics. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. Malik, T. (2012). First-Mover, Strategic Alliances and performance: Context of turmoil in China. Chinese Management Study, 647-667. Montgomery, M. B. (1988). First-Mover Advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 41-58. Schumpter, J. (1961). The Theory of Economic Development. New York: Oxford University Press. Thomas Cleff, K. R. (2012). Are there any first-mover for pioneering firms? Lead market oriented business strategies for environmental innovation. European Journal of Innovation, 1460-1060.

The New Bankruptcy Law Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bankruptcy has been the answer to extremely troubling and difficult financial times for many people in America. Many individuals, for one reason or another, have found it to be the new start in life that they desperately needed. Unfortunately, bankruptcy has also served as a crutch to many as well, allowing them to relinquish debt that they were completely capable, however selfishly unwilling, to pay. As with any law, or policy, Americans are forced to accept the good with the bad, choosing which outweighs the other. In an effort to combat the increasingly growing abuse of the bankruptcy laws in our system today President George Bush has signed into law a new bill that many hope will help to alleviate much of this.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bankruptcy laws began to surface in the United States in the early 1800’s. Initially being created to temporarily relieve bad economic conditions caused by land disputes, community panic, and then, finally, the Civil War. During this time there was little protection for the consumer that found their personal life in financial ruin. Prior to the creation of Bankruptcy laws debtors were severely punished by loss of property, or in some places imprisonment, if they were unable to repay a debt they owed. The idea of a Bankruptcy law was promising for society, however, these laws all did very little to protect the debtor and where repealed shortly after being created. As the need increased, more bankruptcy laws were later created that would better serve to protect the public debtor whether they were individuals or business that required aide for debt relief. It was the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 that was passed in 1978 that served substantially revamp bankruptcy practices. Two major changes occurred for the bankruptcy act; the first, Chapter 11, which would prove to be a strong business reorganization Chapter, and the second, Chapter 13, which replaced the old Chapter 13 allowing individual access to a more powerful personal bankruptcy. In general, the Reform Act of 1978 made it easier for both businesses and individuals to file for bankruptcy and to reorganize their assets. Of course, this wasn’t the end for reformation concerning the bankruptcy bill. Beginning with President Bill Clinton, in the mid 1990’s, a need for reform regarding bankruptcy policies has continuously been recognized... ...de. It is a great idea to place more stringent laws on bankruptcy codes, but there must be room for adjustment when special circumstances arise in a case. Rarely is the cause of a situation of financial difficulty that a family endures either viewable in black or white, and the new bill must take this into consideration. Although many, I’m sure, abuse bankruptcy laws, there is an overwhelming amount of proof that many more have used the law in the manner that it was created for. I guess you could say that I have no real solution to the problem and I can only suggest further study in the matter. We as a nation must remember that the decisions we make, or allow others to have the authority to make on our behalf, effect everyone in our society, and not just a select few so they must be well thought out, and above all, FAIR. References: http://www.bankruptcylawfirms.com/History-Bankruptcy.cfm http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7494698/ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4597532 http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/18/pf/saving/willis_tips/ http://www.ftc.gov/ http://www.firstgov.gov/ www.abiworld.org http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/business/z1/04-10-05_z1_busi_1.html

“Be Strong,” the psycho woman said

â€Å"Stuart you must learn to look on the bright side.† What bright side? I'm a sixteen year old lad and my cat has just died. Big deal you might think. But you weren't the one in the washing machine, spinning round ten times a second! Poor cat. Dad thinks I'm mad. That's why he sent me to the psycho woman in the first place. Well she's a psychologist, and ok that wasn't the only reason. My real mom had an affair and ran away with the postman. He just happened to be my dad's brother, that's all. Which sent me â€Å"Off the rails.† Or so they told me. I mean I'm not a train. I kept getting into trouble at school. You know, mixing with the wrong people, skipping classes at school, Stealing sweets, that kind of thing. Nothing really. What did they expect? Me to just except my moms gone and that I probably wont see her again. Plus the fact we wont get our mail delivered any more! No, I shouldn't joke about it. There is a bright side! I'm laughing about it already. I've just realised I come from a broken home. Prison here I come! That was four months ago, and dads already got a new woman. ‘Ginger Gill!' Bet you can't guess what colour her hair is? There I go taking the mick again. Dad said I shouldn't: â€Å"It'll come back on you one day,† he bellows. Anyway I have a right, who calls there kid Stuart? I hate my name. After thinking long and hard, I have decided I am a tiny bit crazy. But only a bit. Who isn't? Talking of crazy people: we live in front of a once nice green field, in Cornwall. I say once because ‘travellers' moved in last week. Actually they are gypsies, but ‘travellers' is the more polite way to say they are scruffy, no-hopers. I'm too cruel. Also, of course that's what they call them on the news, so it has to be more polite. I kind of got talking to one of the gypsy girls, whilst walking my aunties dog, Bessie. She's around my age (the girl not Bessie!) and quite good looking. But also a bit weird. She can't pronounce her ‘R's', which is amusing. She was telling me about her grandmother, Rose. Or â€Å"Wose†, as she pronounces it. She said Rose could see into the future, and has been known to predict peoples' lives. Very likely. She thought I should see her grandmother, as she could help me, more than any head doctor could. As if I need help. She was fascinating I thought. That's a lie. It was boring. She was boring. The only thing she said that remotely interested me was that one of her other ‘gypo' relatives, held the world record for the loudest burp. Now that was fascinating! It was when I got home, that I really took what the girl had said to me in. (‘the girl'-I didn't catch her name! Oh well, ‘gypsy girl' will do.) Maybe Rose could help me? After all I would like a few questions answered: Where is my mom? How could she leave me? Why did Casper (the cat) get into the washing machine? Why doesn't ‘Ginger Gill' dye her hair? There I go again! And most importantly, why is abbreviation such a long word? The next day, I wagged school. The psycho woman is really helping, don't you think? Anyway I paid my gypsy friend another visit. This time I was introduced to her grandmother ‘Wose'. I mean Rose. I suppose I hoped she would be scruffy looking, with a crystal ball and a glass eye. But no, she looked pretty normal. As normal as a gypsy can look. Someone stop me! She was in her early sixties, I would say. She had long dark brown hair, covered in hair clips and beads. There had to be over one hundred. How did she hold up her head? She had a deep, manly voice, which was freaky. Disappointingly, both her eyes were real. I didn't have chance to speak to her, as she had a headache, and went to bed. I'd have a headache, with all those hair accessories on my head. Me and Crystal, that was her name, I discovered, spoke for hours after. Today she didn't seem so boring and dull. She said she hates living in a caravan. Who wouldn't? She told me that her mom had died of cancer the previous year, and really missed her. Which made me feel stupid. I was upset that my mom had left, and the cat had died, well killed. She made me realise I should be grateful for who I am and what I have. See I can be serious. Crystal had arranged for me to visit ‘Gypsy Rose', for one of her fortune-telling sessions. I really didn't know what to expect. What if she told me my mom had become a stripper and was living under the sea? Ok, so that was not exactly going to happen. But she could tell me somethings I don't want to hear. On the other hand, she could tell me Casper is ‘cat heaven's' answer to Brad Pitt. Either way I knew from tomorrow, my life would change. Who knows? I might even find out why abbreviation is such a long word!

How does Starbucks deal with 5 management principles Essay Example

How does Starbucks deal with 5 management principles Essay Example How does Starbucks deal with 5 management principles Paper How does Starbucks deal with 5 management principles Paper Management has been defined in various ways by different authors and scholars; however most of these definitions converge towards one definition. Management is the process that entails planning, organising, leading and controlling all efforts of members of an organisation and the use of other organisational resources to accomplish organisational goals. Management is, therefore, a systematic process that utilizes resources efficiently through the effort of others to achieve specific stated goals (Dale 4). Managers whether chief executive officers, departmental heads or supervisors must perform certain functions and process which pertain to management. These functions also known as principles include: planning and strategy, decision making, organizing and control, leadership, communications, teamwork, HR and employee motivation, global management, organizational change and ethics. This paper aims to discuss the application of these management principles to Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks Corporation began in 1971 with a single store undertaking as a retailer and roaster of ground and whole bean tea, coffee and spices. Currently, it has millions of customers in over 50 countries world wide. Starbucks mission is ‘to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time. ’ Starbucks specialises in coffee and believes in serving the best quality coffee possible through ensuring high standards in coffee growing and rich flavouring of coffee beans at its roasting plants. Its range of products include: coffee, merchandise, hand crafted beverages, fresh food and consumer products. It is listed on NASDAQ as common stock (Starbucks 1-3). This large corporation which has existed successfully over the decades would form a good case in the analysis of how management principles are applied to the organisation which has seen its successful growth and survival. Planning and Strategy The planning and strategy formulation processes of organisations are closely intertwined. Planning is the process of setting objectives and putting in place strategies to ensure the fulfilment of the set objectives. Starbuck has a clearly set mission statement which forms the starting point in planning or strategic management process. Its mission is ‘To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time. ’ Being a global brand, planning occurs at the corporate level head quarter and at the level of the specific stores. The top management sets the global overall strategy, which is copied across the continent while taking into consideration particular needs of each licensee store and their operating environment. The strategies set by the top management include site selection, design and creative concepts for their global stores. Organization and Control Managerial organization is the process of grouping organisational activities and forming the relationships of authority among them (Kuttyta par. 3). Starbucks is organised by having a top management then managers of various business units like Digital ventures. The top management whose chair is the Chief executive officer (the company president) is the ultimate authority. There are two managers after the CEO one responsible for Starbucks US and the other responsible for Starbucks Coffee International. The main functions of Starbucks stores are managed centrally for all its global outlets. The management consists of a global: marketing manager, supply chain manager, human resources manager, administrative and finance manager and public affairs manager. These managers liaise directly with regional store managers. Its global presence makes it almost impossible for employees to interact personally with the senior managers (Starbucks). Control on the other hand entails process and practices that managers use to ensure that performance is congruent with before stated plans (Kuttyta pars 4). The main control mechanisms at Starbucks are governance principles, committee policies and charters that guide decisions made in the organisation. Performance reviews done on all stores and regions also ensure compliance to strategic objectives. Human Resources and Employee Motivation Human resources and employee motivation involves the decisions and activities that enable an organisation to attract and retain qualified personnel in the organisation. These activities include selection, training, development, compensation and appraisal (Duening and Ivancevich 5). To begin with, in 2009 Starbucks was ranked among the 100 Best Companies to work for by Fortune. Employees are highly valued and as known as partners due to the open and direct relationships with them and Starbucks. Partners are offered comprehensive benefits such as health care benefits and flexible working hours. The optimal scheduling program implemented in 2008 allows partners to work for regular schedules and more hours. Additional benefits include savings plan and stock purchase plan. The selection process is open and acknowledges workforce diversity. The most qualified people are hired in an open process that allows competitive selection. Being an equal opportunity employer Starbucks looks at qualifications regardless of the race, origin, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status. The same policy applies to transfers, compensation, promotion and termination benefits. Team work is an essential part of employee motivation as well as an element of organisation. Team work satisfies the employee’s need of wanting to belong to a group or a team, on the other hand it promotes good decision making in an organisation. At Starbucks team works is applies from top management to employees. Decisions are made and work assignments done in a team to promote the spirit of community and team work which is a core value of Starbuck. Leadership Leadership is a means of inspiring organisational members to achieve organisational goals, because the leader makes the members believe in what they are doing. The style of leadership in an organisation is a determinant of staff morale and is key to effective communication (Wanish pars 3-4). The managers of Starbuck are transformational leaders who believe in change and in the value of their employees, the reason why they consider their employees partners. The transformational nature of leadership has enabled the organisation to embrace environmental friendly practices like in monitoring their supplier farmers and to be socially responsible for the communities affected by their business. Changes in the organisation originate with the managers who support the change and help their partners to effect change (Starbucks). Globalization  Starbucks has a global presence in over 50 countries. Globalisation has brought a number of challenges to managers; the advances in technology have made it possible even for small firms to compete in the universal arena. Starbucks is a Multinational Corporation having significant operations each of it’s over 50 countries. The need to increase sales drove the company to China with population of 1. 3 billion many of which prefers tea. According to Degree Dictionary (pars1-2), global management is the capacity and business value needed by a multinational to operate effectively and efficiently. To properly manage its diverse staff, due to its policy of inclusion, equity and accessibility, Starbucks has created global communities and networks which serve the specific needs of its employees (partners). The partner networks help promote inclusion amidst diversity and foster professional and personal development, an example of its partner networks is Starbucks Black Partner Network, whose role is to reinforce connections among the community and assist in the professional development of partners of African descent. Starbucks operates licensing agreements for its global business. It licenses its brand name, coffee manufacturing technology and trademarks to business in air travel, retail, health care, college/ university, recreation, lodging and healthcare (Starbucks). Starbucks has global operations and products for its licensee stores. The stores have standardized operations worldwide in terms of beverage and food preparation. Decision Making A typical decision making model has six steps: problem definition, objective and criteria setting, generation of alternatives, analysing and selecting the best alternative, planning and implementation of decision and controlling the decision (Lussier 53). Decisions at Starbucks are made at various level of management. Strategic decisions are made by the top management who in turn allow business unit and operational managers to make decisions for their various units. The governance principles, committee policies and charters dictate that decisions are made after gathering sufficient information and generating alternatives. The policies are a mechanism to ensure decisions are made in the best interest of Starbucks (StarBucks). Ethics Business ethics are standards of right and wrong that influence behavior. Starbucks is concerned about its ethical behavior and has put in place ethical standards to ensure its compliance with ethics. It has long term relationships with its coffee supplier farmers worldwide to ensure the maintenance of quality and ethical standards in growing and trading by 2015. The ethical philosophy at Starbucks states that, they are aiming for a better cup of coffee which also aids in the creation of a better future for farmers and a more stable climate. By partnering with Conservation International, Starbuck have been enabled to develop guidelines on ethical sourcing which helps in purchasing coffee that is grown responsibly and traded in an ethical manner. Starbucks works closely with farmers in developing growing methods that are responsible as well as investing in coffee production communities for sustainable supply of coffee. Tea and cocoa sourced by Starbuck is also monitored to ensure ethical standards. For instance El Triunfo Reserve in Mexico is home to some of the rare bird species in Latin America at the same time the source of coffee for Starbucks. At this forest farmers protect the biodiversity and birds by using traditional shade growing and organic agricultural methods. Further the ethics campaign extends to the procurement of store products such as aprons, shelves and tables. Consideration is given to the manner in which such products are manufactured in comparison to the Supplier Social Responsibility Standards for goods. Goods and services are procured from suppliers who comply with the ethical standards and who share in Starbucks’ commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Just to show the seriousness of Starbuck to ethics by the end of 2009 they had assessed 114 factories to determine their performance as well as engaging in 37 improvement programs. Starbucks through Starbucksâ„ ¢ Shared Planetâ„ ¢ partners with non-governmental organizations to realise its objectives of community involvement, environmental stewardship and ethical sourcing. The NGO’s that are associated with Starbucks include: Conservation International, Earthwatch Institute, Fair Trade, United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Sustainable Food Lab, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Ceres, Save the Children, Product (RED) â„ ¢, International Youth Foundation (IYF), Ashoka Youth Ventures and Mercy Corps (Starbucks). Starbucks is an organisation with global presence and has embraced the principles of management. The planning and strategy formulation process starts with senior management then tickles down the organisation. The employees are a valued asset; they enjoy various benefits and their diversity is taken into consideration. The company is organised to have top management and business unit managers that are supported by functional managers based at the head quarters. To ensure that the organization meets its objectives periodic appraisals are carried out as a control mechanism. The transformational leadership at Starbucks has spear headed the inclusion of business ethics and social responsibility among its corporate strategies.