Non verbal communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Non verbal communication - Essay Example Therefore, non-verbal communication will always be a part of our lives whether intentionally or unconsciously. Non-verbal communication helps us unfold what a person has not told us. This is referred to as judging of internal states. Through non-verbal communication, an individual can express his or her feelings, emotions, attitudes and perceptions (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2009, 244). For instance, an individual may not admit that they are shy, but through their nonverbal communication, another person will be able to realize their shyness. It is thus essential in helping us understand people much better. Through non-verbal communication, an individual is also able to know when another is lying or when the information being told through speech is false. Therefore, non-verbal communication helps us understand the inner part of a person. This is also because; unlike verbal speech, which can be falsified, non-verbal communication cannot be faked. Thus, it expresses the true feelings and emotions of a person. Non-verbal information is also beneficial in creating of impressions (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2009, 245). This application is mainly applied during interviews where by an interviewer can judge the interviewee from the impression created even without being told. For instance, a fidgeting interviewee will be judged as timid and shy even if that is not the case. Non-verbal communication is also crucial in helping us to manage our interaction with different cultures. This mainly helps to eradicate misunderstandings among individuals of different cultures since different cultures translate non-verbal signals differently (Wolters, 2010, 1). In addition, with non-verbal translation, individuals from different cultures are able to communicate with each other by use of non-verbal signals. Elements of Public Speaking Public Speaking refers to the addressing of a multitude of persons on a certain topic. Different individuals use different skills to ensure that the ir message is well understood by their audience. However, the major elements of public speaking identified by scholars include: Preparation An individual should be fully prepared before giving a public speech. This includes ensuring that information to be presented is well organization and put in a basic form that will be easily understood by the audience. Preparation also assists the speaker to ensure that the information presented is relevant and useful (Lenny Laskowski, 1997, 1). Staying relaxed Public speaking can only flow smoothly when the speaker is relaxed and composed. Contrary, the speaker is likely to mix up the ideas without giving the required explanation. Scholars also assert that the audience is likely to believe in the speech of a confident person than of person who does not believe in themselves (Evans, 2012, 1). Use of a good sense of humour, correct grammar and proper pronunciation A public speech that is full of grammatical mistakes will usually be rated as poor and of low quality. Good sense of humour in a public speech also ensures that the audience stays alert and is not bored (Gupit, 2011, 13). Audience awareness An important element of public speech is being aware of the audience being addressed. This is because; different types of language will be used for different levels of audience. For instance, an audience composed of young people may entertain some jokes that an aged audience will not entertain (Evans, 2012, 1). Audibility and Clarity It is

The Human Resource Environment Essay Example for Free

The Human Resource Environment Essay Section 1: The Human Resource Environment Role of Human resource management and Competitive Advantage Smit, 2006 recommends the idea of gaining competitive benefit to organizations wishing to engage in strategic activities that would be tricky for competitors to copy or reproduce fast Smit, 2006 suggest that firms can use HRM to add competitive advantage for the reason that it is tricky for contestants to duplicate. (Smit, 2006) That is, while knowledge and capital can be gained by almost someone at any-time for a price, it is tricky to obtain a ready pool of extremely qualified and very motivated staff. It is more and more difficult to plan policy in an era of irregular change. In todays intensely spirited and worldwide marketplace, sustaining a competitive benefit by becoming a low-cost leader or differentiator puts an intense premium on having a greatly dedicated and competent labor force. (Smit, 2006) Devoted workers play a strategic role in a company attaining its competitive advantage. In a growing number of corporations, Human Resources are observed as a source of competitive benefit. There is great recognition that characteristic competencies are obtained through extremely developed worker skills, characteristic organizational cultures, Management procedures and systems (Smit, 2006) Read more:  Human Resources Investigation What role does quality initiatives play in that area? Total Quality Management is a quality-initiative all-pervasive thought and spans all the purposes, procedures and activities assumed in an organization. It spotlight on Incremental and nonstop improvement that is oriented and directed towards the attainment of Customer approval. (Smit, 2006) This is of special relevance during financial Downturns when the retention and pleasure of existing clientele is of great value. TQM helps by not only growing Productivity and making procedures and Personnel more and more effective and well-organized, but also by given that cost effectual and competitively valued products to the client. (Smit, 2006) therefore Total Quality execution through Human Resource Management have an effect on the entire gamut of all activities, strategy, procedures and plans that an organization employs throughout the path of its business. It attempts to streamline and decrease redundancy, incompetence and waste. It institutionalizes the procedure of Change Management and maps a path for the company to put systems in position that will permit it to adapt itself to any shifts in the Internal or external surroundings. (Smit, 2006) Improving Capital Efficiency enhanced through Restructuring of Debt, a procedure in itself. Total Quality involves improving all procedures inside an organization. Hence, improving cost efficiency through improved utilization of Debt capital or negotiations for lesser interest rates can be distinct as a procedure development. (Smit, 2006)    Section 2: Assessment and Development Most important compensation challenges in the modern workplace Strong monetary compensation and monetary rewards is the most significant compensation challenges in the contemporary workplace. The workers compensation system in the United States, includes of independent state based and countrywide programs for federal workers, covers about 125 million workers and has evolved and developed since its inception in 1911. Coverage has considerably broadened in range to allow for the addition of most work-related injuries and illnesses. The cost of workers compensation care has also improved. Several of the cost drivers have been recognized, and many approaches have been taken to address medical cost containment. (Smit, 2006) There is a need to stability cost manage with ensuring advantage adequacy and excellence of medical care. It is probable that managing workers compensation costs will carry on to be a challenge in the predictable prospect. The cost of workers compensation care affects all stakeholders comprising workers, employers, providers, state workers compensation controllers, legislature, and insurers. A continued promise to excellence, accessibility to care, and cost repression, and being alert to rising issues that can affect these elements, will assist make sure that workers are afforded available, high quality, and cost-effective care. (Smit, 2006) Changed Compensation practices According to some description, compensation practices have freshly been undergoing marked changes, with a growing number of firms said to be alternating lump-sum payments for usual pay increases, allowing for greater changeability of remuneration across persons or groups, and making greater use of profit sharing or stock choices. Lots of these practices are outside the scope of the characteristic measures of economy-wide recompense growth. furthermore, intensified use of these schemes must to heighten the receptiveness of overall compensation costs to trade conditions and could also, in theory, increase productivity. (Smit, 2006) Section 3: Topics in Human Resource Management Corporations in U.S. will face five mainly critical HR challenges in the near future: organization talent, organization demographics, becoming a knowledge organization, managing Work-life equilibrium, and managing change and cultural change. (Smit, 2006) Talent shortages emerge, both in U.S and in fresh markets overseas, and companies must take steps now if they anticipate to address these shortages—and prevent disaster. numerous companies already have important actions   planned: Our investigate indicates that the number of   U.S companies that move to new locales such as Pakistan in order to add access to burgeoning groups of gifted workers will roughly   triple during the next eight to ten years   (Smit, 2006)    Managing the Loss of Capacity and Knowledge One of the most successful ways to reduce a company’s exposure to demographic Risk is applying a complete system of job families across the corporation. Such a system Clusters workers whose skills and exact experience generate opportunities for job exchanges Across numerous levels (Smit, 2006)    Managing the Aging of the Workforce An aging labor force will have suggestion on among other issues—productivity, the aptitude of the labor force to work in shift surroundings, the need to inspire employees in a dissimilar way, innovation probable, illness-related absenteeism and labor costs (Smit, 2006) References Smit, (2006). HR, Show me the money; Presenting an exploratory model that can measure if HR adds value. New York

Evaluating Change Management and System Implementation

Evaluating Change Management and System Implementation Introduction Rapid growth in the alignment of IT into business process to remain competitive in an unhealthy global market has intrinsic change involved in every aspect of business. To handle these changes the change management is required. In my views change management cannot be defined in a single definition because strategy and acts vary differently based on the project needs. Change management is the integral part of project management. Change management draws expertise decision from the both internal and external factors of an organisation. These plans are fabricated within the project plan and reviewed from time to time. According to Dunleavy et al (1993), it is inevitable for an organisation to manage the emotional up and downs of the people, if there is a massive change under taken by an organisation. According to the recent survey conducted in 2005 by the McKinsey company relieved that only 30% of the change management projects are successful. Dunn CIO of nestle company said (Worthen, B. 2002); Moving to SAP brings the change in peoples working style. It acts like challenging their main beliefs, philosophy, and things which they had perused in the past. And he also says that Change management is the influencing factor of all major IT implementation independent of the software. My views abstracted from my past experience in SAP implementation (two complete life cycles and two support projects) and resume attached in my first blog. System Implementations Huge investments are made system implementation in the industry and it is said to delivery business efficiency as a result. To produce these improvised results there need to be change process involved. Lets consider the example of SAP implementation, these implementations requires the business process reengineering in order to adopt the business to SAP systems. Business process reengineering (BPR) triggers change within the organisation. Implementation methods There are four different implementation methods that are commonly used. They are Big bang all at once Pilot Phased Parallel process Best practice (SAP) In my experience SAP implementation has the first three methods in complete life cycle process. When the company shows the interest towards the SAP then the provider provides the IDES version software to check and make them comfortable with SAP business process. (Pilot method at initial stage after PID). In all the case of my experience ERP implementation happens in a big bang phase but there was one different proposal to go with parallel process and it was dropped because more number of data operators where required to feed both the systems(i/o). When the project moves towards the support phase of the life cycle then the project follows the phased implementation methods. In ECCI the top management decided to Implement ERP to setup a control over the different value chains this triggered the change. ERP implementation in this organisation had a major impact of the work force, so the ITIL framework was followed to handle those change. Request for Change RFC Analysis Change Prioritization Categorize Change Advisory Board Change Schedule Build Test Change Implementation Top management prioritised ITIL framework the most when the BPR was processed. The ERP team analysed the critical factors and consequences towards ERP implementations by carrying out a force field analysis. The driving forces and restrain forces where identified in force field analysis. At the initial stage of the project, there was more number of restraining forces rather than the driving forces. We used a little strategy to trim down the strong points of the restraining forces. E.g. coordination between departments increased by explaining the benefits for each department and how it benefits its process. Other example culture of organisation where managed with the involvement of top management. Force field analysis was a continual process until the equilibrium reached the desired state. During my work I didnt realise it was a Lewins Model of Change, in reality process which we where following was Lewins Model of Change. (Unfreezing, change process and refreezing). In an unfreezing state we found out the elements that can reduce the strength of each restraining forces. Change process, those indentified elements where changed using ITIL framework process. Refreezing state was maintained by a continuous monitoring process. The management in Priya Creations was not flat structure which followed the old classical approach. I was designated a business analyst in this organisation and found various issues relating to organisation structure that affects the performance of the organisation. Top management decided to change structure to flat and a modern structure. It aimed at empowering of employees and fast learning organisation to compete among the competitors. According to Burnes, (2009:100-154), the organisation that follows the Culture-Excellence and becoming a learning organisation will benefit there operational value chain and their strategy. According to Mintzberg et al, (2009), 10 school of strategy define the 10 different values for a modern organisation and how they behave to the success of the organisation. These ten different schools where consider while restructuring the organisation. According to Nicolai,(1997), strategy is the pattern of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purpose or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals and defines the range of business the company to pursue, the kind and nature of economy contribution to its customers, employees, shareholders and communities. According to Burnes, (2004), Emergent and planned approach are the two dominant category of organisational change that are generally agreed. He uses the 5 Ps to differentiate planned and emergent approach. In planned approach he describes Strategy as a plan, position and ploy. Strategy as Perspective and Strategy as pattern is described as emergent approach. In my view the emergent change arise spontaneously by a certain task which are not intended or anticipated for developing this change. Planned approach Planned approaches are task that are carried with the intention to trigger the change and planned well ahead. Lewin saw that planned change is principally targeted at operational excellence and human interaction through group outings and social programmes. (Burnes, 2004). Planned change can be easily handled by analysing the internal and external factors. The project team in ECCI has set up a team for the strategic planning process. Objective of that team was to make the project smother in the post go live stage. Team has to analyse various internal and external factors that could affect the process in the post go live. Internal factors were identified using SWOT analysis within the organisation. It determined the strength, weakness, opportunities and threat. The strengths that are identified where TOP Management commitments. High calibre project team. Good technical resources The opportunities that are identified where High competitive advantage with better reports Increase in operational efficiency The weakness that are identified where Skill level of employees Inadequate training The Threats that are identified where Employees reluctant towards change Technology at site Implementation cost External factors were identified using PESTEL analysis within the organisation. It determined the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal. There were some factors like political, economical and environmental didnt have much negative influences towards the post implementation side. Social ECCI is a construction company in which most of people in the site where semi skilled workers. They looked at the software as giant and there data was most crucial inputs for report analysis. Technology The internet connectivity in some of remote site where bad and most systems in site need to be upgraded. Legal SAP charges every company based on the number of user, So the limitation to number of user considered to be a problem. Assigning the authentication access to users was also questionable. Strategy as an evolution and selection of right technique was assigned the corresponding department heads. The operation of these techniques where monitored by the project team. Emergent change According to Carnall (2003), there is common thing that exist among the practitioner and theorists, the magnitude and greater frequency of change has made it less predictable in the recent past. In the present business environment change cannot occur from solitary even environment. (Garvin 1994). Emergent impacts can occur from a change program that is even planned and executed most carefully. Kotters (1996) framework for analysis of change eight steps used for the emergent change in the organisation. He empathised on the stand of staged and sequential approach. His framework looks carefully at all stage of change to avoid the pitfalls and it also go in hand with ITIL framework. (1) Establish a sense of urgency highlighted the needs of the change. (2) Form a powerful high level coalition to guide and lead the changes formed a team who can take a high level decision and act independently. (3) Created a organisational vision for the future. (4) Strategy that Communicate repeatedly and consistently vision to entire organisational structure. (5) Empower people in the organisation to act on the vision Doing the needful to achieve the vision. (6) Planed a visible performance improvement for a short-term. (7) Consolidate improvements and produce more change (8) Institutionalise new approaches Brief the new working process and encouraging the work force adopts the change. According to Burnes (2009:11), Cultural and political process derives the emergent change. The resources and capabilities of the organisation are matched with the opportunities and constraints posed by the business environment. Organisation culture was analysed through cultural web to avoid imbalance in the organisation. According to my experience the culture of the organisation determines the success of the project. It can either be positive or negative effects. If we take any example of ERP implementations, the people attitude towards the Project may vary based on their own benefits. The conflicts can arise based on the personal or cultural value of an organisation. From my experience, (Natarajan, November 27, 2010) the culture in the organisation can be easily managed in a proactive manner. The most of ERP implementation carry out the analysis of the organisational culture before start of the project internally. Johnson Scholes (2008), cultural web model has us to analysis the various aspect of the organisation. This analysis will have great contribution towards the change. From my experience a learning organisation can improvise the work culture within the organisation. An organisation is said to be learning if it convert the tacit knowledge to the explicit knowledge. In ECCI we set up issue log common in a common directory, it helps us in logging all issues thats been generated during implementation and this become a documentation for the further referencing. According to Mintzberg,(1989), Number of change that emerges unrelated to the decisions made by the managers. Therefore the change is not planned. These decisions were made on the basic of organisation behaviour and its environment assumptions. Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. (John Kotter, 1996) According to Mohrman et al,(1995), The style of traditional leadership in the is questioned in the rise of organisational flattening structure and empowerment teams. Self management and self leadership followers emphasizes the development of empowering leadership and suitable for empower leadership. They influence the team by encouraging the creativity, independent actions, team working, self-rewards. (Manz Sims, 2001). In my personal view rational are those who suit into the empowerment leadership. In my view the impact on change management based on The Temperament Matrix (Keirsey, 1987) and representing in terms of percentage. What is Whats possible? What Works Artisans (20%) Rational (40%) Artisans could be a problematic in the initial stage. Once the new process starts they will more productive because they believe on hands on experience. Troubleshooting attitude will encourage them towards the new process as complicity arises. Rationalist could have both extreme impacts (positive and negative) depending on the change impact towards their personal role because they strongly believe in supremacy. Whats Right Guardians (10%) Idealists (30%) Guardians are the derive agents of change. They take the ownership for the process to support the organisation for the change. Idealists acceptance to the change based on stages. They compare the real world entity with the theoretical study. Temperament Matrix In my view the persons who suits into change management based on The Temperament Matrix. What is Whats possible? What Works Artisans Rational Developers/ Executives Functional Heads Whats Right Guardians Idealists Project Manages / support executives Users Temperament Matrix Source: (Natarajan, November 10, 2010) Consultants In my view consultants (Natarajan, November 19, 2010) are the expertises who are brought in to do a specific task for a certain period of time in which the organisation has few or no experts. Consultants have wide knowledge about the specific field and give advice on that subject matter. Consultants can be recruited within the organisation or tie-up with a consultancy company which has a pool of consultants (eg IBM) and decision is left to the top management to decide whether to have internal or external consultants. Psychological thought makes us believe that the consultants are always right and organisation views report more seriously when compared to the internal reports. This is because they are independent variables, so is there is no control of superiors over them because suggest things not implement them and they look things differently. The CONSULT Model CONSULT models reminds me of the life cycle of the consultancy project which is unique for all consultancy projects. The problem with this model is identifying the issues, no of resource and the time line for the project. In my experience consultants life span is where short over a particular project, in which he need to get adjusted to the organisation standards, culture and nature of a job over a short period of time. Understanding the problem depends on the business analyst who does the knowledge transfer and the consultant has to map the business in the IT world. Relationship between clients and consultants Purchase of expertise The task is given by the client and consultant executes the task. Doctor/patient model The task is not given by the client but some information is given in the form of data where the solution should be given by the consultant. Process Consultation Here the problems and the task where indentified together. My experience at ford as a part time consultant. This was high prioritised task, when Process Integration system ford failed to react to one third party applications. The sense of urgency was maintained to handle that task. The ford top management had a serious concern over task as one important application failed. There was short time strategy to resolve within a short period of time. The group of PI consultant from different firms worked under a single team to handle this issue. There was a difference in the opinions, they where shorted out by project manager and the delivery manager. Return on investment (ROI) In my view budget for the IT projects very high, the investors needs to look into the cost which can be incurred certain duration of time. ROI is analysed before start of the project to decide whether every penny spent is worthwhile. (Natarajan, November 10, 2010) Benefits The objectives contribute towards the benefits of the project. Analysing the key benefits will help project team to encourage other members of the organisation towards the success of the project. Benefit realisation will encourage the investors or board of directors and their contribution. Risk The risk can be handled but predicting risk in early stages can prevent damages. Risk analysis relives the dead spots in the project and these should take into consideration while implementing the project. Conclusion Change can be managed if the change process is controlled. The top management strategy and vision towards change should be empowered. References Burnes, B. (2009) Managing Change, (5th Ed), Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Burnes, B. (2004), Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: a reappraisal, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 41 No. 6. Burnes, B. (2004), Managing Change, 4th ed., FT Prentice-Hall, London. Carnall, C.A. (2003), Managing Change in Organizations, 4th ed., FT/Prentice-Hall, Harlow. Dunvely, Patrick and Christopher hood 1993. From old public administration to new public management.  Public Money and Management  14  (3):  9-16. Garvin, D.A. (1994), Building a learning organisation, Harvard Business Review July/August, pp. 78-91. Johnson, Gerry and Scholes, Kevan. (2008).  Exploring corporate strategy. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. 1. Keirsey, D. (1987) Portraits of Temperament (2nd Ed) Del Mar CA: Prometheus Nemesis Kotter, J.P. (1996), Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Manz, C. C., Sims, H. P., Jr. (2001). The new SuperLeadership: Leading others to lead themselves. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Mckinsey Company Organisation Practice, Building Exceptional Leadership Strength, 2005. Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (2009) Strategy Safari : Your complete guide through the wilds of strategic management, (2nd Ed) Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H (1989) Mintzberg on Management: inside our strange world of organisations, Chicago, Free Press. Mohrman, S. A., Cohen, S. G., Morhman, A. M., Jr. (1995). Designing team-based organizations:New forms for knowledge work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Natarajan, S. (2010-11) CMSI Personal Blog, hosted on Sheffield Hallam University Student Portal. Nicolai J. Foss.. (1997). The concept of corporate startegy.. In: 1Resources, firms and strategies : a reader in the resource-based perspective .. Oxford : Oxford University Press. 52. Breese, R. (2010). Change Management and System Implementation>Learning material > Week 8 > lecture slides > change processes. Retrieved 1 7, 11, from http://shuspace.shu.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=nullurl=/webapps/blackboard/execute/courseMain?course_id=_218582_1 Worthen, B. 2002. Nestles ERP odyssey. CIO Magazine, May 15.

Airframe :: essays research papers

Airframe For unknown reasons, the almost flawless N-22 Norton aircraft suffers severe turbulence during TPA flight 545. As a result of three fatalities and fifty-six injuries, a spiral of investigations, terrible apprehensions, and horrible threats plague the Norton Aircraft Plant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the first page, the seemingly dull plot of Airframe grabs the reader’s attention. With political trouble in the plant, a deadline for the investigation, and rumors of mutiny, the novel is filled with action along with a precise measurement of suspense. Crichton, one of my favorite authors, plans his novels superbly timing the chapters at the pinnacle of the action. By this method of writing, it was difficult to stop reading, which is the signature of an excellent book. It is one of the most interesting and intriguing novels I have ever read. Like most other Michael Crichton novels, it is extremely technical, yet, also thoughtfully written. This combination of plot and description is what makes all of Crichton’s novels so great. The technical description brings imagery and realism to the novel, while the plot’s twists and turns help to create suspense. The way Crichton writes gives the reader very detailed and vivid scenes, as seen in this random quote: “Mechanics in Melbourne noted that the fuel coupling was bent on the right wing, and the adjacent slats locking pin was slightly damaged. This was thought to have been caused by ground personnel in Java during the previous fuel stop.'; (pg. 149). As well as the writing, the characters were also a major factor in this novel. Unlike characters in most other novels, these actually seemed like real people. Crichton develops his characters giving them each individual attributes, emotions, and personalities. Also unlike most other characters, they were not totally perfect, and on the other hand, they were not totally flawed. They were human, and that was what allowed the reader to identify with them. Although good character development is expected from a talented and professional writer, it still amazes me how real they seem and how well they interact.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The page that I chose to photocopy, is the beginning of the conclusion. It is the end of the investigation, and Casey Singleton, the protagonist of the novel, is about to uncover what really happened on TPA flight 545. Along with her, is Jennifer, a reporter for “Newsline,'; on a task to unravel the secrets of the doomed flight.

Handout the American Civil War

Handout â€Å"A House Divided†: Towards the American Civil War, 1831-1861 Causes of the American Civil War 1. social-economic differences between North and South 2. regional conflict about over slavery in unorganized territories 3. break-up of national political party system; emergence of new party system based on region (i. e. North-South) (see also handout week 4) 4. ideological and cultural polarisation between North and South Constitution: three-fifth’s clause; fugitive slave clause; slave trade clause 820 Missouri Compromise: – Missouri admitted as slave state – Maine created as free state – Line of 1820 (36 . 30 ) 1828-1833 – South Carolina tariff nullification crisis 1831-1860 – antislavery activism (1831: William Lloyd Garrison –The Liberator) 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia 1845 annexation of Texas 1846-1848 Mexican War 1848U. S. victory over Mexico; territorial expansion (Californ ia, Utah and New Mexico territories) 1850 Compromise of 1850: California admitted as free state – â€Å"popular sovereignty† in New Mexico and Utah – slave trade prohibited in District of Columbia (Washington, DC) – Fugitive Slave Act 1852 Book publication Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act (â€Å"Bleeding Kansas†) 1854 splitting of Whig; foundation Republican Party (â€Å"Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men†) and American (â€Å"Know Nothing†) Party 1857 Dred Scott Decision of the U. S.Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Taney (pro-slavery) 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry (John Brown) 1860 Democratic Party splits into two (North vs. South) November 1860 – Lincoln (Republican Party) elected president December 1860 – South Carolina secedes from the union 1861- January: secession of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas – February: adoption Confederate Constitution and creation of Confederate States of America (South); pres.Jefferson Davis; capital: Montgomery, Alabama. – March: inauguration of Pres. Lincoln – 12 April: attack on (federal) Fort Sumter by door Confederate (Southern) troops; beginning of the Civil War 9 April 1865 – surrender by (Confederate) general Robert E. Lee (Appomattox) 14 April 1865 – assassination attempt on Pres. Lincoln; Lincoln dies on April 15. George Fitzhugh, Sociology for the South (1854) and Cannibals All! or, Slaves Without Masters (1856) John Calhoun, Disquisition on Government (1850)

Marketing and Starbucks Essay

1.0 Introduction: The Starbucks Corporation was founded by three entrepreneurs at the place called Seattle in 1971. Initially they were selling of whole bean coffee in one Seattle store and by the year 1982 the business had grown tremendously and has opened five stores selling the coffee beans, a roasting facility, and a wholesale business for local restaurants. When the Starbucks started its business it was only a small retail coffee shop as like the other coffee shops. The main vision of the Starbucks owners was to educate customers about the fine coffees and feel the smell of the Dark roasted coffee, selling just the coffee was not their aim as the coffee was sold in the USA since 1960’s (Starbucks case study). Howard Schultz was recruited as the manager of retail and marketing and it was Howard who brought new ideas to the owners, but he was turned down. Schultz in turn opened his own coffee bar was named Il Giornale in 1986 based on Italian coffee cafes, selling brewed Starbucks coffee. By 1987, Schultz had expanded to three coffee bars and bought Starbucks from the original owners for $4 million and changed the name of his coffee bars from Il Giornale to Starbucks. His intention for the company was to grow slowly with a very solid foundation. For the first two years, Starbucks losses doubled as overhead and operating expenses increased with Starbucks expansion. Schultz stood his ground and did not sacrifice long term integrity and values for short-term profit. By 1991, Starbucks sales increased by 84% and the company were out of debt. Starbucks grew to 20 stores by 1988. By 1996 it grew to 870 stores with plans to open 2000 stores by the year 2000. 2.0 Marketing stategyof Starbuks: Marketing strategy is carrying out segmentation, targeting and positioning. Doing the detailed understanding of the marketplace into strategic decisions and the targeting of appropriate customer groups. This targeting should emphasise on any differential advantages and adopt a suitable positioning within the target segments (Dibb and Simkin, 1996). Starbucks has adopted a Differentiation strategy it is a strategy which seeks to provide product or service that offer benefits and should be different from competitors that are widely valued by customers. The aim this strategy is to achieve advantage by offering better products or services at same or higher price. When Starbucks was launched there were many coffee bars in the United States at that time but Starbucks wanted to stand unique from the others. Marketing has powerful potential to contribute to the highly important aspects of the organisational competitiveness, namely innovation (Kerin, 1992) and competitive analysis (Varadarajan, 1992) and Schulz wanted to innovate and recreate the experience of the Italian coffee bar culture. Starbucks mainly focused on the strategy of new products, a stronger connection with the customers as the Third place and expanding store locations in the United States and abroad. Starbucks has followed the simple STP process (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning). 2.1 Segmentation: Market Segmentation is a process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics, or behaviour that might require separate products or marketing programs is called Market Segmentation (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). Initially Starbucks was based as a Socio-Economic segmentation base in consumer Markets as it has concentrated on social class particularly the business class people those who are working at the office and wanted to have a cup of coffee with a good atmosphere and facilities. Starbucks also had segmented his market by geographic and demographically by selecting the store location where they can find the educated and coffee lovers (Dibb and Simkin, 1996). 2.2Targeting: After a company has defined market segments, it can enter one or many segments of a given market and should make decision about how many and which customer groups to target (Dibb and Simkin, 1996). Target Marketing is a process of evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). The concept of target marketing is a logical implication of the basic philosophy of marketing (Lancaster and Massingham, 1993). A company should target segments in which it can profitably generate the greatest customer value and sustain it overtime. Starbucks wanted to develop a reputable relationship with the customers, Most of companies enter in a new market y serving a single segment, and if this proves successful than they add more segments, initially Starbucks did the same thing targeted the parents with the young children and it was hit concept and it has added more segments by including Teenagers and developed its product range also (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). 2.3 Positioning: Once the company has decided which market segments to enter it should decide what positions it wants to occupy in those segments. Market Positioning is arranging for a product to occupy clear, distinctive, and desirable place relative to competing products in the minds of target customers. A products position is the place that the product occupies relative to competitors in consumers minds. Here in this case the Starbucks has developed a unique market position for their products because if a product is to be exactly same like the others on the market than consumers would have no reason to buy it. Starbucks has positioned themselves in the market as a highly reputed brand (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). In this case Starbucks has planned his positioning in such a way that it distinguish their products from competing brands and give them the greatest strategic advantage in their target markets. Starbucks has a descriptively simple statement to inspire and nurture the human spirit-â€Å"one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time†. Starbucks positioning strategy was customer base so that it can give the best service more than what the customers expect. Starbucks has gained a competitive advantage over customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction as Starbucks had developed its positioning strategy based on the customer and provided the utmost facility in terms of layout, furniture to the music, and in terms of employee satisfaction Starbucks make employee as a partners and gave them a personal security with a freedom to participate in the every decision of the business and make it successful (Porter & Miller, 1985, Porter, 1998). 3.0 Developing Marketing Mix: One of the major concepts in the modern marketing is once the company has decided its overall marketing strategy than it should plan the details of the marketing mix. â€Å"Marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools (product, price, place, and promotion) that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market† (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). Starbucks has a made good decisions on marketing mix tools 3.1 Product: â€Å"Product means the goods and services combination the company offers to the target market†. Starbucks has used Brand name, Quality, Variety and Services as their Product tool which can be concluded by this statement, Starbucks with a good Brand name provides best Quality and with the Variety of Products, it has adopted Quality improvement strategy (Kotler and Keller, 2009). Initially Starbucks started with the coffee than it has included non-fat milk, cold blended beverages. Later on stated seasonal offerings such as strawberry and cream Frappuccino, gingerbread latte with some food items like cookies and pastries. Before launching the products Starbucks was getting the approval of the customers. 3.2 Price: â€Å"Price is the amount of money customers have to pay to obtain the product†. Though the Price of the Starbucks was higher than the other coffee shops, the customers were ready to pay the amount because Starbucks has developed a luxurious image with all the facilities inside the store. Starbucks as a good Brand have offered more benefits and facilities and the best quality of products to justify their higher prices (Kotler et al, 2006). 3.3 Distribution and Service: Starbucks has a good distribution channels initially it was selling coffee beans and doing wholesale business for local restaurants. In terms of service and location Starbucks opened the stores in a such a way that it can reach to targeted customers and it has also gave more stress on giving the best customer service by spending a lot of money by training its employees (Starbucks case study). 3.4 Promotion: Starbucks initially did not use the advertising tool for promotion but it was the Public relations and the Personal selling tool that helped the Starbucks to achieve its target