Sunday, January 26, 2020

Starbucks Target Market

Starbucks Target Market Starbucks open its first coffee store in Seattle, Washington and at the end of 1990 Starbucks expand its headquarters in Seattle and also build a new roasting plant. In 1990s Starbucks opens 60 retails shops in United Kingdom. At the end of 2000s Starbucks total branches was 3500. Coffee is one of the rapidly growing industry in this world. According to national coffee association, USA 49% of American age 18 and more drink coffee beverage every day. Coffee industry was in peak of its success at the end of 1990s. Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sold them along with fresh brewed coffees, Italian style espresso beverages, gold blended beverages, a various complementary food items, coffee related accessories and equipment. TARGETED MARKET AT THE TIME OF LAUNCHING At the time of Starbucks launching the target market was upper income class. But during 1990s Starbucks realise that the growth of Starbucks depends on the middle or lower class incomes because these two classes are more motivated and go to the discounted products. Starbucks also focus on consumer habits and share its speciality of coffee with the buyers. In the end of 20th century there are many changes in market that helped Starbucks getting successful. The most important change of the last twenty, thirty years is the changes of economic policies over the world. Starbucks target market was 18 years to 24 years young professional because they are not yet been loyal with coffee industry. Starbucks strategy comprises to locate its stores at picky places such as the first floor of blocks of offices, underground main entrance and urban areas. An addition to sales through its company-operated retail stores and licensed retail operations, Starbucks sells coffee and tea products through ot her channels like distribution targeting restaurants, hotels, colleges and universities and other work places. Starbucks stated goal is to become the leading retailer and brand of coffee in each of its target markets and it aims to achieve this goal through continued aggressive expansion of Company operated retail locations. STARBUCKS STRATEGY Starbucks adopt different type of strategy to build its branding in the market. Starbucks has numbers of capabilities likes market leadership and its outlets as customers means its locations which means it is the place where customers can relax from work or home and its supply chain management. To try to keep the coffee taste in the stores clean, Starbucks banned smoking and asked employees to refresh from draining perfumes. Prepared foods were kept covered so consumer would smell coffee only instead of other food. Starbucks is culture oriented company who introduce new techniques like commuter mugs and T shirts in different regions of USA that was in keeping with each citys culture(like peach shape coffee mugs for Atlanta State, Paul Revere picture for Boston State and the Statue of Liberty for New York city). To make sure that Starbucks stores reach the maximum standards, the company used mystery shoppers who posed as customers and rated each location on à Ã‚ ° number à Ã‚ ¾f criteria. Starbucks internal operations can be divided into two parts: Retail and Specialty. The Retail division is governed directly by Starbucks Corporation. The Specialty division includes foodservice, licensing agreements to overseas outlets and revenue from foreign joint ventures. STARBUCKS AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Starbucks main objective was to launch itself as the most renowned and respected brand in the world. The company main objective was to the expansion of its branches all over the world, to broad its retail business, develop new techniques, product and introduce new distribution channels in order to achieve its goals. The company another aims was establish its brand as a leading brand in coffee market by selling high quality products, providing better services and build relationship between customers and the Starbucks. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS OF STARBUCKS Starbucks is good at taking advantage of opportunities. Starbucks is internationally recognized and has a global presence Starbucks has strong ethical values. WEAKNESSES Reliable on beverage innovation Starbucks 50% business is in USA from last three decades. Starbucks need to spread its business all over the world to spread its business risk. Starbucks is dependent on a main competitive advantage, the retail of coffee. It could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise. OPPORTUNITIES Company has the opportunity to expand its business around the globe In 2004 the company created a CD burning service in their Santa Monica (California USA) cafe with Hewlett Packard, where customers create their own music CD. THREATS Starbucks are increasing the cost of coffee and dairy products Consumer taste might be change in future. Consumer can replace coffee with other cold beverage or leisure activity. CONCLUSION Starbucks is a leading company around the globe. Starbucks used  a very simple strategy, connecting links between treating employees with dignity and respect and producing à Ã‚ ° good product and services. That was the major factors that differentiate Starbucks from others and bring the successful to Starbucks.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Marketing Enviroment Essay

There are two(2) main elements in marketing environment which is microenvironment and macroenvironment. Microenvironment is the actor close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors, and publics. For the first one we start with the company. In designing marketing plans, marketing management takes other company groups into accounts, group such as top management. All of these interrelated groups form the internal environment. Other departments have an impact on the marketing department plans and actions. Next is the suppliers. Supplier also plays an important roles in marketing environment because supplier will form an important link in the company overall customer value delivery system. Supplier also will provide the resources that are needed by the company to produce its products or services. If the supplier face any problem , this will seriously affect the marketing. Next is marketing intermediaries. Marketing intermediaries actually help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers or can be said easily as firms that help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers. After that is competitors. Competitors will affects the marketing environment because when there are many competitors in the market, the company will always upgrade or improve their product or services to make sure that their products or services are the best one. For publics, public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organizations ability to achieve its objective. There are seven types of publics that can affect the marketing environment which is financial publics, media publics, government publics, citizen-action publics, local publics, general publics, and internal publics. And finally is the customers. Customers is the important actors in the companys microenvironment. The aim of the entire value delivery system is to serve target customers and create strong relationships with the cutomers. For the second element which is the macroenvironment. Macroenvironment consist of he actors that operate in a larger macroenvironment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. Macroenvironment consist of demographic, economic, natural, technologies, political, and cultural. Demographic is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupations, and other statistics. Any changes in world demographic environment have ajor affects for business. Next is economic. Economic environment is the factors that affect consumer buying power and spending pattern. Marketers must pay close attention to major trends and consumer spending patterns both across and within their world markets. Natural environment is a natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. Marketers should be aware of several trends in the natural environment. The first involves groeing shortages of raw materials. Next technological environment, technological is forces that create new technologies, creating new product and market opportunities. Technology has released such wonders as antibiotics, robotic surgery, miniaturized electronics and many more. For political environment, political consist of laws, government agencies, and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals in a given society. Even the most liberal advocates of free-market economies agree that the system works best with at least some reegulation. Lastly cultural environment. The cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society basis value, perceptions, preferences, and behavior. People grow up in a different society that shape their basic beliefs and values.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Meiosis and Genetic Diversity in the Model Organism

4 November 2013 Section 24 TA- Erik Ohlson Meiosis and Genetic Diversity in the Model Organism, Sordaria flmicola Introduction Research groups from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and the Institute of Evolution at the University of Haifa have been studying the model organism, Sordaria fimicola, in regards to controlling cross over frequency in response to environmental pressures. Sordaria fimicola is a good model organism because it has a fast life cycle and elongated asci that are easily seen under a microscope.In addition, there are multiple different combinations of ascospore olors due to recombination during meiosis. Evolution Canyon is the research model for this experiment because of its exceedingly differing slopes. The South facing slope (SFS) receives high temperatures and droughts due to the high solar radiation. On the other hand, the North facing slope (NFS) exhibits shadier, cooler, and more humid climates. Asexual filaments were collected from e ither slope and grown in the lab.Wild type spores(black spores) were acquired from self-cross between the asexual filaments and spore color mutants (tan spores) were obtained from wild type trains that produced non-black spores that arose spontaneously within each population. They made crosses with wild type vs. tan spores from differing slopes (NFS-SFS) and found that cross over frequencies between the differing slopes was great (Hass and Ward, 2010). Contrary to previous belief, cellular mechanisms were influenced by environmental conditions; this tells us that differing environments can lead to different recombination frequencies.In our part of the experiment, we created a control where the spores were grown under the same optimal lab conditions. The combinations of ascospores we observed include, 4:4, 2:2:2:2, and 2:4:2. During meiosis, 4 ascospores are produced after crossing over occurs. Then the spores undergo a series of mitosis where 8 spores are then created. In a 4:4 reco mbination, there could either be 4 tan then 4 black or 4 black than 4 tan. In the 2:2:2:2, there could be tan, black, tan, black or vice versa. In the 2:4:2, there could be tan, black, tan and so on.Therefore, 6 different combinations asci classes can occur. Our goal for this experiment was to identify the different spores, cross over frequency, and mapping distance. However, there were challenges in preparing the squashes, and then identifying the different spores. Methods We divided the petri dish into four sections, where the wild black type samples were diagonal from each other and the tan type samples were also diagonal from each other hyphae side down onto mating agar to increase the possibility of crossing over to occur.After two weeks, using an inoculating loop, we scraped some perithecia from the center of the dividing lines where we believed crossing over occurred. We then placed them on slides with a drop of water to observe the crossing over requencies under a microscope . Pressure was applied to the coverslip in order to release the asci from within the perithecia in order to count the frequency of each asci type. To calculate cross over frequency and map distance, we used the formulas: 1. % Cross Over=( # of recombinant asci/ total # asci) x 100% 2.Map Distance= % cross over/ 2 *Note that map distance accounts for all spores, but in our experiment only half crossed over, we divide by 2. Results Table 1. Individual Data. This illustrates the number each recombination found within our picture we were provided. Non-recombinant Recombinant Total # of Asci Total # Recombant Asci (B+C) # of Type A Asci # of Type B Asci # of Type C Asci 8 5 3 4 Table 1 illustrates the number each recombination found within our picture we

Thursday, January 2, 2020

How Can We Help Our Veterans - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1995 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/04/15 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Veterans Essay Did you like this example? I live in a community built to house veterans and their families, both my mother and my father served in the United States Army, and I have seen how the systems they attempted to use often failed them or simply just did not function as needed, this isnt the case for all veterans but for more than a few it is a real issue that causes those who pledged to serve and protect undue pain. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is responsible for the care and aid services provided to the United States Veterans, for a long while their care and accessibility have been to say at the least suboptimal.. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "How Can We Help Our Veterans?" essay for you Create order There is a disproportionate number of veterans that are without adequate health and financial aid, the individuals who have sworn to serve and protect our country are without a support structure once they leave the armed forces, the VA is the organization meant to fill that void, yet they are severely lacking due to poor outreach and funding, leaving many veterans without proper care. If there is to be any hope of helping our veterans regain their footing and making sure they get the proper care they require then the VA is going to need massive changes, such as better outreach, application process, as well as securing more funding, and working with the military to make better separation procedures, which will all help restore it into working order. Veterans are very different than active service members, although people tend to think that a veteran is simply an ex-soldier who is injured or retired, but that just isnt the case. An active service member is conditioned through the military to never show weakness or ask for help, because of this mentality, they will hardly ever seek special treatment for their perceived weakness and will continue to do their duty while injured or in severe pain. While this is admirable from certain perspectives, it is detrimental to themselves later when they become a veteran. Veterans, on the other hand, are encouraged to do the very things they were discouraged to do while they were active service members, which is show their perceived weakness and seek aid. Ann Cheney a researcher whose focus is the barriers associated with VA care use said this, Veterans expressed concern over stigmatizing labels such as ?crazy and ?mental health patients as well as military attitudes (e.g., ?suck it up) fostering feelings of weakness and failure. Such attitudes contributed to veterans anxiety and alcohol and drug use and impeded mental healthcare services use (5). If they are hurt, mentally or physically, society tells them to go to the VA and request assistance, this is completely against everything they were instructed on during their service as such they often dont attempt it. This scenario also presents a glaring flaw in the system: injuries and conditions that are related to an individuals time in service are treated for free at the VA, but if the veteran never reported their ailments during their time of service, there is no way for the Veteran to prove that their condition is related to their time in service. So, for the veteran, these conditio ns are problems that are obvious, urgent, and have plagued them for years, but for a VA claims-processor, the question obviously then becomes if this has plagued you for so long, why did you never seek treatment? As such, claims get denied constantly for this reason. The VAs methods of record keeping are outdated, slow, and prone to errors or mistakes. As stated by Timothy Roberts, an author who has researched the VA extensively, The issue of wait times for VA healthcare is not new. Approaches to providing timely access to care for veterans enrolled in VA health care have included the use of non-VA care reimbursed by the VA. The need to rely on non-VA care in some cases has raised questions about the VAs capacity to provide services to the veteran population now and in the future (53-54). The current system that the VA employing an antiquated, slow system, there should be a seamless experience from the individuals military service to their burial however, a veterans medical record is printed out and retyped into the VA system. This method of book keeping is detrimental to the experience of veterans at the VA, after all this system is the backbone of every veterans experience with the VA. To make matters worse many veterans dont know what services they are entitled to use or what the eligibility requirements are, so there is a lot of frustration when they get denied after applying for a specific benefit. However as seen from another light, most veterans are old and are often inept in terms of their ability to use computers in the same way others might be able to. Furthermore, many veterans live in rural areas with no internet access or are simply homeless, these veterans need access to services as much as or even more than anyone else. Just simply removing the ability to apply for benefits through paper would limit their ability to access these crucial services, although a compromise lies in using document scanners and less error prone documents. The military is not helping the VA in any way when it comes to combating and reducing the spread of misinformation. As it is currently, according to many veterans in the community, it seems every single base has some sort of strategy about how to manipulate the VA claims system, an unfounded, false rumor about how the claims system works, or a deeply rooted belief that the VA and the military were somehow one and the same. The point of this is not to say that all of the service members use these practices or hold these beliefs, but that There seems to be misinformation spread by seemingly trust worthy sources. It could also be argued that the military takes responsibility out of the hands of its active service-members by providing them with housing, education, training, employment, and healthcare without the service members needing to even apply. However, every single VA benefit must be applied for individually and nothing is simply automatically opt-in. Many service members just expect the VA to simply review their medical record and notify them of their disability percentage, without checking whether that their condition or conditions have either improved or worsened. Daniel Bertoni of the US Government Accountability Office wrote in a statement about the effectiveness of the VA outreach programs, Some have raised questions about whether individuals fully understand the range of benefit options and whether they need assistance in determining the program that best fits their needs. (2). The truth is that there is not enough explanation about the benefits and programs offered by the VA, as such many veterans do not know what they can and cannot apply for or even sometimes what the scope of what they have applied for is. All of this is merely misinformation that could be easily cleared up by the military and by better outreach from the VA. The VA is by no means a normal healthcare system, while that might not seem like an issue to most, it turns out to be a large issue for the VA. For example, WWII and Korean War veterans are now in their 90s and need long-term care measures that come with the effects of aging. Then there are Vietnam veterans whom are 65 or older which makes them eligible for more VA services, in addition to the fact that they were the least likely to report health problems during their service. Also, multiple changes to regulations over the last several years have entitled Vietnam veterans to several additional benefits due to exposure to defoliants (Chemicals to kill of leaves and other small plants, ex. Agent Orange). The VAs healthcare system is now responsible for hundreds of thousands of veterans with long-term conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancers which were never thought to be service-connected conditions. These conditions require far more specialized care and resources on top of being added to the VAs list of responsibilities without additional time or funding to get things ready ahead of time. According to Philip Roberts whose work looks at the care for female veterans, the number of women veterans has grown substantially, doubling from 4 percent of all veterans in 1990 to 8 percent, or an estimated 1.8 million, today (2). That is adding approximately 2 million female veterans who need specialized care for womens health who simply did not exist a few decades ago, also congress was not proactively approving funding by for this care. We now also have just over 2 million veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who are now eligible. These veterans are different from the WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam veterans because many of them survived injuries that would have been fatal during their respective time periods, these veterans have unique healthcare needs which are distinct and costly, they too require specialized care. This issue can be summed up as an organization that cannot raise prices, change eligibility criteria, or increase its own funding, to put it simply, there is not a lot the VA can do with its own power to change the variables going into providing care and benefits to their patients aside from just pushing their staff to work harder. The solutions for the issues plaguing the VA are simple, there is a lack of information and awareness, more individuals just need to care enough about implementing these. The VA needs better outreach, this could be achieved at a county level by providing better or more training to county veteran service officers, these are county employees who help veterans, but receive some training and support from the VA. There needs to be more intensive training for them and they should have direct contact numbers for VA personnel who can offer more detailed assistance when necessary. Then there is the military, it needs to change its separation procedures to force their service members to either apply for disability compensation when they retire or sign a statement showing that they have no service connected disabilities. If the service member applies for disability compensation, they would be given an exit exam immediately by a VA physician. Furthermore, Congress needs to increase funding for VA medical centers as to allow for new construction and more specialists to support the care of the diverse needs of the ageing, female, and modern war veterans. In the meantime, veterans could receive private care at the VAs expense, if their wait time is higher than the standardized threshold. Applications should be able to be done completely online, the VA is almost there as is, but there are still some parts which are not as simple to submit or upload. Finalizing ebenefits will put VA on the right track, but this must be done alongside a simplified claims process for older veterans who are unfamiliar with the innerworkings of the website. Finally, claims submissions should also be accepted at VA medical centers instead of only regional benefits offices, this will help increase accessibility and reduce confusion. Overall, there are great issues that affect millions of Americans that stem from the same organization, these issues include a lack of support, an outdated system, widespread misinformation, and an aging population. In reality, if some seemingly minor improvements were made to the VA such as a better application process, more prominent outreach, as well as securing more funding, and working alongside the military to reduce misinformation and help veterans get set up with the VA, then many of the proposed problems plaguing the VA would be drastically alleviated. The only remaining issue is that the VA does not hold the power to initiate these changes itself, as they are only a part of the federal government, so there will need to be a greater amount of support for change in the VAs practices among the more prominent groups in politics.