A Brief History of Starbucks

Starbucks is a business which was established by three friends in 1971 and has grown to become the largest business of its kind on the planet. It is one of the most recognizable brands globally and this has contributed significantly to its success in the market as well as facilitating its swift expansion all over the world. This company is can be found in about sixty two countries and has more than 20,000 stores all over the world, and in fact, in most of the developed world, it is one of the most recognizable brands and this has made it extremely popular with the consumers in these countries. Starbucks is a company which has throughout its history, displayed a high capacity for being able to manage the workforce within it, and the competent management of its staff in its different stores has enabled the company to become highly successful, as those who work for it are motivated by its management ability (Fitzgerald, 2013, p.2). The wide range of coffee and other products which this company has put at it customers’ disposal means that it has to hire and maintain a large workforce in order to be able to function effectively. Unlike other companies in the same industry, Starbucks tends to be very careful and selective with the management of its staff because of the need to continuously make a profit. As a result of the competence that has been shown when dealing with its multi-cultural workforce, and also being able to venture into countries which speak different languages, Starbucks has come to achieve success on the international scene where other companies take years to achieve the same.

The use of technological innovations have been found to be very important aspects when running a company such as Starbucks because it is these innovations which have enabled this company to get customers and to make them remain loyal for many decades. It was realized early by the Starbucks management that it has to be innovative in order to survive the very competitive market that is predominant in the world today. It has been found that the key to Starbucks’ worldwide success is that people everywhere know what to expect when they go to the stores that it owns but this does not mean that this company has made any resistance to any changes or that it has refused to adapt when local customs require flexibility (Day, G., & Moorman, 2013, p.18). In addition, it is a fact that this company has come to establish internal social networks to give its employees the opportunity to connect with the management and to support each other. This network has come to provide a space for the company’s stores to share ideas, best practices, as well as customer stories and there is also a forum section that is currently being used to encourage dialogue between Starbucks’ management and its employees as well as discussions between employees from the different stores within the chain. The use of such technology has been proven to be successful in getting the employees more involved with both the company’s management as well as fellow employees.

The introduction of new technology to aid its employees in their work is one of the most important policies that Starbucks has taken in hand. While in many other companies in the market it has been often been found that resistance to change is often related to the introduction of new technology in place of the old ones which many employees are used to, this has not been the case with Starbucks. In fact, the opposite is true because the introduction of new technology at Starbucks has become immensely attractive to the younger generation of workers, who are often quick to adjust to its use, and the older employees have surprisingly not been left out since they have embraced the new technology without offering any resistance to its use, as would have been expected. In order to encourage its employees have come to adapt to the new technological changes within their stores, the management of Starbucks organizes training in the use of the new technology annually for those who do not know how to use it. As the employees come to learn how to use this technology, and they find how much easier it is to use in place of the older system, the employees who have undergone training come to accept it as a fundamental part of their working environment (Crompton, 2013, p.20). With this acceptance the desired technological changes in the company tends to be done swiftly, ensuring that the employees retain their high capacity of production and efficiency. The efficient use of technology at Starbucks has come to enable its employees to feel well accommodated at work and this has created an environment where they are able to work without any need for close supervision, hence enhancing their creativity. The fact that the employees of this company are in a good working environment helps in the increase of their productivity and this can be used as a sign of its global success

One of the ideals of a company that works within a cross-cultural environment such as Starbucks is the empowerment of its customers and one of the ways to achieve this has been giving them forums to air their views concerning what they feel about the different products that are given by this company. The best strategy that Starbucks can adopt is ensuring that it places a lot of value in the consumers of its products and this can be achieved through the development of an empowerment program which ensures that the pool of its customers is maintained through the adoption of marketing strategies that appeal to their vanity (Simon 2008, p.193). Starbucks should work towards ensuring that its marketing staff have sufficient knowledge concerning how the market works and what the public wishes to consume so that they do not take a lot of time to make adjustments to marketing strategies. It can be said that the experience of its customers, after consuming its products, will work in the company’s favor when conducting its activities and it is very likely that Starbucks, through its efficient marketing strategy will be able to get to a global audience faster than rival companies.

It is necessary for Starbucks to work towards the acquisition of enough competent managers to manage its far-flung stores since this is one of the reasons why many companies in the world today have become successful and have been able to retain their success. Starbucks will continue to need competent managers because it is through the employing of such managers that the company will be able to ensure that it does not face any damaging issues because of the mismanagement of any of its stores. Despite the fact that previously it was a subject which was not taken based on merit, the selection of the most competent managers at Starbucks should now become a massive undertaking (Venkatraman, 2008, p.1010). This will increase the need for the company to have people of competence to working in its stores, since not doing so would likely bring about its failure. In addition, the store managers at Starbucks should adopt a strategy that is so well done it touches the emotions of its customers, both old and new so that as long as more people continue to appreciate and enjoy this company’s products, which come from the use of technology by its employees, then it is more likely than not that this company will continue to be a success story all over the world.

The Murder of Emmett Till

This is a documentary which chronicles the account of Emmett Till, a fourteen year old African American young man who was viciously put to death by two Caucasian men for whistling at a Caucasian woman. His murder came about despite the fact that he was unaware of having broken an accepted law of the south at the time that African American men could not have any relations with Caucasian women. Emmett’s mother decided to place his body inside a Chicago church for four days so that the entire world could see the crime that had been committed against her son. It can also be said to have been a mother’s attempt to protest against the racism in the south and a bid to appeal for justice for her son. The news of Emmett’s death was spread by the media all over the world and this ensured that the story became quite common not only at the local level but also at the international level. The injustice of this story is that those who had committed this heinous crime were acquitted by an all Caucasian jury and as a result, there was no justice for Emmett Till. It is indirectly because of this incident that the civil rights movement came to develop and it can be said that it is due to Emmett’s sacrifice that this movement developed in strength.

African Americans have for a long time been depicted in a negative light in which they have been presented in a way which has made them to be considered to be a race of criminals, or worse, animals. African Americans, for instance, are portrayed as being some of the most violent people in the United States, and this has created a stereotype where all African Americans are often profiled as being potential criminals, an allegation which does not hold any truth in the reality of this nation. In addition, the view of African Americans in American society has been influenced by the long history of racial relations in the United States where the Caucasian dominated hierarchy tended to look down upon it. In addition, because of the unconscious Caucasian belief that African Americans are inferior, this has formed a mentality where individuals look upon this minority group as being the enemy of the public. It is a fact that the presentation of African Americans by the media has to be brought under control because at the moment, it has developed into a fierce social problem that has to be dealt with firmly. This is because of the fact that the development of equal rights for all human beings has become a fundamental aspect of human lie and to deny African Americans their own would be to go against the ideals of the society.

One of the most noteworthy cases that have raised the same emotions as that of Emmett Till that have developed in the current world is the Zimmerman case which, through the media, has gained the attention of people not only in America but also the entire world. Almost the same events which took place in the Emmett case recurred in the Trayvon Martin case where the perpetrator, Zimmerman, was freed by the jury despite the fact that he had murdered an innocent African American teenager. One of the issues that have been given prominence by the most of the individuals following this case has been the fact that this is not the first time that such a crime has been committed in the United States and the murderer has gotten away with it. Despite this being the situation, it can be said that these cases tend to be made more prominent than normal by the media and this has ensured that many of the people in the world have come to the realization that despite the development of Affirmative action, the racial situation in the United States has remained more or less the same. This situation has also developed into a negative one because of the media’s tendency to sensationalize  the news concerning the murders of such African American individuals such as Emmett Till and this has made it difficult for juries to provide justice because of the racial tensions that come about as a result. Therefore, instead of coming up with solutions to the murder of African Americans by Caucasians, the American media has become a means through which the perpetrators of this crime end up being set free by those who would otherwise have considered the facts before doing so.

Proactive Management of Risk at UPS

Since the founding of UPS, this company has come to face many challenges and many of these said challenges can be attributed to the way through which this company has come to manage risk. Conventional policies have been adopted by this company in ensuring that it not only provides the best services to their customers but it also ensures the safety of the goods that it transports. This has made a majority of its customers’ gain the confidence necessary for them to continue working with UPS in their day to day lives since it guarantees them against any profit losses.

Through the establishment of its proactive shipment monitoring scheme, has encouraged its customers to turn towards the acquisition of UPS policies because of the risks involved in the diverse number of shipments that they tend to move (Jaeger, 2010). The employment of this scheme has ensured that UPS has reduced the significant amounts of uncertainty with regards to their effectiveness hence proving the fact that its policies are farsighted.

Among of the most widely used strategies that have been implemented by many companies has been the introduction of new products to secure their customer bases, and UPS has not been an exception. In current business environment, the adoption of a proactive shipment scheme has become a practical necessity that has proven to be highly successful for UPS since it adopted it and it as ensured that it has continued to have more customers. It can, therefore, be said that the adoption of this scheme has enabled UPS to gain an edge over its competitor and has ensured that it remains the largest company, by the number of customers, of its kind in the world.

 The adoption of the abovementioned scheme by UPS can be said to be extremely prominent in nature and these have been put in place as a way of targeting those customers who are security conscious. This current scheme, therefore, has required that the company develop a strategy which will make the customers within its target market to wish to procure the services of UPS because they would feel that their shipments are not only safe, but would also be guaranteed that they are secured against any losses (Williamson, 2013).

The biggest benefit of this scheme is the fact that the company’s customers can introduce well-organized, inventive models and improve the services to their customers. Because of the development of this shipment scheme by UPS, a large retail company can now introducing an original model to increase inventory between the stores that it owns and ensure the provision of better product accessibility.

Among the benefits that can be acquired by customers is that there is regular insurance coverage. Thos coverage will cater for the selling price, expedited shipping fees and temperature-sensitive shipment intervention services.

In a competitive business environment, the task of bringing in customers who can create a profit has become a priority for many companies in the country and these include UPS. This is because there has developed the realization that UPS must provide acceptable returns to its shareholders or it might end up losing investors.