.......................................................................................................................... 9 Critical Thinking Means Business Introduction When more than 400 senior HR professionals were asked in a survey to name the most important skill their employees will need in the next five years, critical thinking ranked the highest – surpassing innovation or the application of information technology.1 Such a response reflects how the nature of work – and the skills required – have been changing dramatically. With globalization and the increased speed of business, employees at every level are facing an increasingly complex flow of information. Work settings are changing rapidly, and employees are moving into new roles, often with limited...
Words: 3880 - Pages: 16
...9-808-019 JUNE 6, 2008 NANCY F. KOEHN MARYA BESHAROV KATHERINE MILLER Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century On the morning of March 19, 2008, 6,000 Starbucks shareholders gathered at McCaw Hall in Seattle for the coffee company’s annual meeting. The first in line appeared outside the building’s glass-fronted façade while it was still dark, and before long, the performance hall was packed.1 As the crowd streamed inside, one team of Starbucks employees handed out cups of hot coffee, while another wrote down shareholders’ comments about the company on stacks of white cards.2 From the early morning Seattle skyline to the crew of green-aproned workers, the annual ritual was steeped in Starbucks tradition. But for the iconic coffee company, this had been no ordinary year. Starbucks got its start as a Seattle-based coffee roaster in 1971. At this time, the larger coffee market was dominated by supermarket brands such as Folgers and Maxwell House, and per-capita coffee consumption in the U.S. was on the decline.3 During the next two decades, however, sellers of specialty, high-quality coffee beans began to attract a niche following.4 In 1987, entrepreneur Howard Schultz bought Starbucks with an eye toward introducing European-style coffee culture to the American market. Under Schultz’s aegis, Starbucks spread the gospel of high-quality, customized coffee drinks to urban areas around the country. The enthusiasm of Starbucks customers helped the company grow its revenues...
Words: 24348 - Pages: 98
...Power Shifts: The Digital Era and Publishing Power Shifts: The Digital Era and Publishing | University of South Carolina | University of South Carolina 2014 2014 Introduction The digital era has led to a slew of technological changes that are drastically changing the norms of the publishing industry which in turn impacts our literary culture. While attempting to avoid a techno-determinist argument this paper attempts to examine the manner in emerging technologies have shaped the publishing industry. The initial focus on the areas of the publishing industry that are most affected by the changes in technology and then examining how these changes ripple through the industry and eventually to methods used by publishers to adapt to the change. The initial focus is one consumer behavior and how it is affected by new technologies then there is a shift to how this shift effects the supply chain that was previously in use and the ways in which the publishing model has been changed. Traditional publisher are then examined to understand how the industry as whole can effectively manage the changes. Finally trends that are currently being implemented as well as the changing demographics and their demands are discussed in order to bring the conversation full circle. Consumers When looking at consumer behavior and how it has been shaped by the innovations of the last 20 years a psychology based perspective is important. Technology has not drastically changed consumer attitudes...
Words: 3736 - Pages: 15
...Week 1 TCOs A, B, C Marketing, Strategies, and Research Chapter 1: Defining Marketing for the 21st Century Chapter 2: Developing Marketing Strategies and Plans Chapter 4: Conducting Marketing Research and Forecasting Demand, pp. 88-105 A. Given information gathered through applied business research, develop a Marketing Plan for a product or service of your choice consistent with its position in the market. Understand how this Marketing Plan would fit into a complete Business Plan for the product or service. Key Concepts: Define marketing and how it evolved and why marketing is important to our society. Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. How it evolved has 5 phases on page 2 of notes. 1. Production concept of marketing, 2. Product concept, 3. Promotion selling concept, 4. Marketing concept, 5. Holistic marketing. A social definition shows the role marketing plays in society; for example, one marketer has said that marketing’s role is to “deliver a higher standard of living.” Here is a social definition that serves our purpose: Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others. Explain the Marketing Concept as one of several company orientations towards the marketplace...
Words: 2360 - Pages: 10
...Learning Objectives Chapter 1 1 Distinguish between business and not-for-profit organizations. 2 Identify and describe the factors of production. 3 Describe the private enterprise system, including basic rights and entrepreneurship. 4 Identify the six eras of business, and explain how the relationship era—including alliances, technology, and environmental concerns—influences contemporary business. 5 Explain how today’s business workforce and the nature of work itself is changing. 6 Identify the skills and attributes managers need to lead businesses in the 21st century. 7 Outline the characteristics that make a company admired by the business community. iStockphoto The Changing Face of Business S nuggie: The Break-out Blanket Hit I f the first thing you do when preparing to curl up with a good textbook like this one is to reach for your Snuggie, you have plenty of company. Sales of the funky blanket with sleeves were expected to reach as high as 20 million units in just the second year the cozy accessory was available. Combined with the 5 million blankets sold in the first year, that volume will bring the value of total retail sales of the Snuggie to more than $300 million. That’s a respectable profit for an inexpensive product whose unique design and ungainly shape have made it the butt of YouTube parodies and late-night talkshow jokes. It means Allstar Marketing Group, which markets the Snuggie, is obviously doing something ...
Words: 18153 - Pages: 73
...years now. It has always been the place to find the world's best coffees. Its first store was founded at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It has given a positive outcome so they serve consumers all over the world. The success of Starbucks coffee had come this far because they expand their operation and services and didn't limit their products. They sell not just coffee but tea, pastries, frappuccino, beverages and smoothies as well. Starbucks is the largest coffee house company in the world ahead of UK rival Costa Coffee, with 22, 551 stores in 65 countries and territories, including 12, 739 in Canada, 1,117 in Japan and 830 in the United Kingdom. From Starbuck' founding in 1971 as Seattle coffee bean roaster and retailer, the company has expanded rapidly. Between 1987 and 2007, Starbucks opened on average two new stores every day. Starbucks had been profitable as a local company in Seattle in early 1980's but lost money on its late 1989's expansion into the Midwest and British Columbia. Its fortune did not reverse until the fiscal year of 1989-1990, when it registered a small profit of $812, 000. By the time it expanded into California in 1991 it had become it trendy. The first store outside the United States or Canada opened in Tokyo in 1996, and overseas stores now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores. The company planned to open a net of 900 new stores outside of the United States in 2009, but has announced 300 store closures in the United...
Words: 9092 - Pages: 37
... RECOMMENDATIONS 18 11. CONCLUSION 18 12. References 19-20 Terms of Reference This report strives to evaluate the effectiveness of Choppies Enterprises Limited ERM, using the ISO 31000 Risk Management framework as a standard, documenting the findings and making appropriate recommendations. The main tasks are to: 1. Explain the importance of a risk management policy, and outline a proposed policy that complies with ISO 31000 guidelines that would be suitable for our organization. 2. Document the risk management architecture of our organization, clearly showing the roles and accountabilities of each of the key parties, and making...
Words: 5858 - Pages: 24
...behaviour, Marketing strategy, Product variety, Success Abstract Among the range of strategies available to a company, line extensions are an important way to keep a brand alive and to realize incremental financial growth. In order to be successful at introducing new extensions managers should understand line extensions' key success factors. In this study three market-related factors' impact on line extension success were investigated, i.e. the level of competition in the market place; retailer power; and consumers' variety seeking behavior. Data collected from 49 marketing and product managers in the fastmoving consumer goods industry showed that line extensions have very little added value over existing products, and that cannibalization is very much related to a line extension's success. Of all line extensions, those involving new flavors and new packaging/sizes were most successful. Extensions that improved product quality were found to be unsuccessful. The market-variables: level of competition; retailer power; and variety seeking behavior all had a negative influence on line extension success. Dominant brands were hurt more by variety seeking behavior's negative impact than less dominant brands. Edwin J. Nijssen Introduction During the past two decades, takeovers and research have proven that brands are among a company's most important assets (Keller, 1993; Rangaswamy et al., 1993). Brands help differentiate and position a company's products (Park et al., 1986). They also...
Words: 8574 - Pages: 35
...Human Capital Trends 2014 Engaging the 21st-century workforce A report by Deloitte Consulting LLP and Bersin by Deloitte Contents Introduction | 2 | 7 Global Human Capital Trends 2014 survey: Top 10 findings Lead and develop Leaders at all levels | 25 | 35 | | 45 55 Corporate learning redefined Performance management is broken The quest for workforce capability Attract and engage Talent acquisition revisited Beyond retention | 75 | | 87 97 | 65 From diversity to inclusion The overwhelmed employee Transform and reinvent The reskilled HR team | 107 | 117 Talent analytics in practice Race to the cloud | 127 The global and local HR function Editors | 145 | 146 | | 137 Acknowledgements Global Human Capital leaders Human Capital country leaders 147 | 148 Global Human Capital Trends 2014: Engaging the 21st-century workforce Introduction Engaging the 21st-century workforce S we begin 2014, global organizations have left the recession in the rear-view mirror and are positioning themselves aggressively for growth. Sluggishness has given way to expansion. Retrenchment has been replaced by investment. The need for caution has been superseded by the need to take action. Yet as the economic recovery takes hold, businesses realize that the workforce today has changed. Skills are scarce, workers have high expectations, and Millennials are now in charge. Enter the 21st-century workforce. The 21st-century workforce is global, highly connected...
Words: 45459 - Pages: 182
...The Big Idea: 21st-Century Talent Spotting by Claudio Fernández-Aráoz Claudio Fernández-Aráoz is a senior adviser at global executive search firm A few years ago, I was asked to help find a new CEO for a family-owned electronics retailer that wanted to professionalize its management and expand its operations. I worked closely with the outgoing chief executive and the board to pinpoint the relevant competencies for the job and then seek out and assess candidates. The man we hired had all the right credentials: He’d attended top professional schools and worked for some of the best organizations in the industry, and he was a successful country manager in one of the world’s most admired companies. Even more important, he’d scored above the target level for each of the competencies we’d identified. But none of that mattered. Despite his impressive background and great fit, he could not adjust to the massive technological, competitive, and regulatory changes occurring in the market at the time. Following three years of lackluster performance, he was asked to leave. Compare that story with one from the start of my executive search career. My task was to fill a project manager role at a small brewery owned by Quinsa, which then dominated the beer market in the southern cone of Latin America. In those days, I hadn’t yet heard the term “competency.” I was working in a new office without research support (in the pre-internet era), and Quinsa was the only serious beverage industry player...
Words: 4776 - Pages: 20
...Reinventing Retail Banking Series Evolving Models of Retail Banking Distribution Capitalizing on changes in channel usage Produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions Reinventing Retail Banking Generation Y Reinventing Retail Banking Series Consumer Trust Reinventing Retail Banking Series Catalysts for Change The Implications of Gen Y Consumers for Banks Building Consumer Trust in Retail Payments Laying a Solid Foundation Produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions Produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions The traditional retail bank is at an inflection point. The needs and expectations of customers are changing as quickly as the competitive landscape. Customers are demanding seamless, multi-channel sales and service experiences and not consistently receiving them. Simultaneously, other financial institutions and non-traditional players are looking for opportunities to invade this space or to redefine it through disruptive innovation. The result is forcing banks to examine a more balanced, integrated approach to the customer experience and growth. In this series, entitled Reinventing Retail Banking, the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions looks at how banks must move beyond simply meeting their profit and growth goals to delivering more completely on the customer experience. Specifically, these articles will focus on: understanding customers needs; identifying emerging and profitable customer segments and strategies...
Words: 12004 - Pages: 49
...Reinventing Retail Banking Series Evolving Models of Retail Banking Distribution Capitalizing on changes in channel usage Produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions Reinventing Retail Banking Generation Y Reinventing Retail Banking Series Consumer Trust Reinventing Retail Banking Series Catalysts for Change The Implications of Gen Y Consumers for Banks Building Consumer Trust in Retail Payments Laying a Solid Foundation Produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions Produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions The traditional retail bank is at an inflection point. The needs and expectations of customers are changing as quickly as the competitive landscape. Customers are demanding seamless, multi-channel sales and service experiences and not consistently receiving them. Simultaneously, other financial institutions and non-traditional players are looking for opportunities to invade this space or to redefine it through disruptive innovation. The result is forcing banks to examine a more balanced, integrated approach to the customer experience and growth. In this series, entitled Reinventing Retail Banking, the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions looks at how banks must move beyond simply meeting their profit and growth goals to delivering more completely on the customer experience. Specifically, these articles will focus on: understanding customers needs; identifying emerging and profitable customer segments and strategies...
Words: 12004 - Pages: 49
...quality, with incredible taste, so it should be fair that you pay a fair price for it. Horatio Hernandez Coobafrio Co-operative, Magdalena, Colombia January 2014 contents 1 Introduction 4 2 6 Executive Summary Britain’s Bruising Banana Wars 16 16 20 21 4 The banana value chain 4.1 The UK banana market 4.2 The retail price of bananas in Britain 4.3 UK banana imports 2002 – 2013 4.4 Changes in banana supply chain operations 4.5 The impact of supermarket price wars on producers 4.6 Producer prices vs costs of sustainable production 22 22 23 5 The market environment for bananas 5.1 Evolution of the global banana trade 5.2 Consolidation of retailer power and UK price wars 5.3 The impact of competition law on banana prices 38 6 Fairtrade’s alternative approach 6.1 General background to the Fairtrade system 6.2 Fairtrade bananas – scope and scale 6.3 airtrade: the benefits and F constraints for farmers and workers 2 3 About this report 3.1 Fairtrade’s involvement in bananas 3.2 Research objectives and approach 3.3 Methodological note 7 Achieving a sustainable banana industry 7.1 inclusive market An for smallholders 7.2 Thriving banana farming communities 7.3 Decent work 7.4 Living wages 7.5 Workers’ rights to unionise 7.6 Taking full account of externalities 7.7 A new approach to pricing...
Words: 31335 - Pages: 126
...Porter’s Five Forces Strategy Skills Team FME www.free-management-ebooks.com ISBN 978-1-62620-999-2 Copyright Notice © www.free-management-ebooks.com 2013. All Rights Reserved ISBN 978-1-62620-999-2 The material contained within this electronic publication is protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and treaties, and as such any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited. You may not copy, forward, or transfer this publication or any part of it, whether in electronic or printed form, to another person, or entity. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work without the permission of the copyright holder is against the law. Your downloading and use of this eBook requires, and is an indication of, your complete acceptance of these ‘Terms of Use.’ You do not have any right to resell or give away part, or the whole, of this eBook. Porter’s Five Forces Table of Contents Preface 2 Visit Our Website 3 Introduction 4 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 6 Competitive Rivalry 11 Threat of New Entrants 18 Threat of Substitutes 20 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 23 Bargaining Power of Customers 25 Summary 28 Other Free Resources 30 References 31 ISBN 978-1-62620-999-2 © www.free-management-ebooks.com 1 Porter’s Five Forces Preface This eBook describes Porter’s Five Forces Framework, a technique that provides a model for industry...
Words: 7444 - Pages: 30
...Chapter 1 Topic: The impact of new advertising media technologies on company performance. Author: Tendai T Chigwada (R10651V) 1.0 Introduction The researcher will carry out a research on the impact of new media technologies on company performance using Econet Wireless Zimbabwe as the case study to the topic under study. In this research proposal, the researcher is going to highlight the activities to be followed in coming up with this research. The researcher will briefly explain the background to the study, statement to the problem, research objectives and questions, significance to the study. Not be left out are the delimitations, limitations, review of the literature, research methodology, data presentation and the budget to be allocated for the entire research. 1.1 Background to the study Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe's largest provider of telecommunications services, providing solutions in mobile and fixed wireless telephony, public payphones, internet access and payment solutions. Econet launched its network on the 10th of July 1998 and listed on 17th September 1998. It is one of the largest companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. The company continues to upgrade its network to carry more subscribers, and further widen its geographical coverage, which is already the most extensive in Zimbabwe. www.econet.co.zw. The reason which motivated me to study this topic is that ,marketing problems often have far reaching effects...
Words: 7266 - Pages: 30