Select and critically appraise a policy document that is relevant to Essay

Select and critically appraise a policy document that is relevant to your area of practice. Critically analyse the evidence bas - Essay Example The Trust also guarantees that slips and trips and falls experienced by staff visitors as well as contractors are reported and then managed by the Trust. The National Health Services white paper has established plans in order to secure savings from their delivery of health services, allowing these savings to be reinvested in the primary care services of the agency. The Department of Health (2012) has declared that the health care system in general is being challenged to improve the quality of their health services while still trying to reduce its cost and financial impact. As such, savings can be secured by changing the practice and the NHS system. Possible savings which nurses can provide to overall services represent millions of pounds a year (Gainsbury, 2009). Such potential must therefore be explored and expanded. Through the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, there are several high impact actions which come from data suggested by nurses and midwives in the UK. Falls p revention is one of these HIAs which seem to call for new processes in management (Power, 2009). The nursing profession is one which has, from the very start been focused on securing quality care for the patients (Fabre, 2009). I am a nurse working fulltime and in the unit where I am assigned to, fall risks are one of the problems identified, and its prevention seems to merit more improvements in the current existing policies on slips, trips, and falls. Slips, trips, and falls prevention and management managed to provide an updated standard in the management and prevention of falls. The policy impacts on all in-patient admissions as well as staff members. As discussed by Andersson, et.al., 2006 there have been identified issues in the planning and implementation of the policy. Andreoli, et.al., (2010) points out that the implementation of policies seem to be removed from reality, especially as many policy-makers and recipients often do not understand or appreciate the processes whic h are needed in order to make the policy work. Kubler (2001) highlights that fact that the passage of legislation of policy is not necessarily associated with the achievement and accomplishment of policy goals and objectives. In the hospital where I work, the top-down policy implementation process is being implemented. This has allowed for the implementation of the policy from the management level down to the employee level. Based on the data gathered by the NHS, the issue of slips and falls is a significant one and the NHS has understood the importance of prioritizing falls prevention and management (Laurance, 2012). Based on a review of the present data on slips, trips and falls, specific changes were made on its implementation (Laurance, 2012). The goal of preventing and managing falls and its risks is to improve the safety of patients and health professionals who are exposed to risks of falling (NHS, 2010). The policy is mostly related to the assessment of data, the implementati on of preventive measures, as well as the implementation of multi-disciplinary working. It also secures guidelines for the staff, giving standards which seek to manage the unit’s prevention strategy, to reduce inpatient falls, and consequently decrease

Security and idententy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Security and idententy - Essay Example In the modern society, security does not refer to the state as a government or a territorial entity, but relatively as a collective identity of the nation. This indicates that, security in a society may be compromised by anything that compromises their identity (Panic 30). On the other hand, societal security relates to the capability of a society to preserve its essential characteristics in the face of variable circumstances despite of the potential and actual threats. In this case, security is compromised when a community perceives a threat as a hazard to its identity since identity is defined as a set of ideas and practices that recognize particular individuals as members of a social group (Panic 30). Moreover, nations are imaginary communities and national identities, which are the most important references object of the societal security. National identity, therefore, involves some forms of political community, common institutions and one code of duties and rights for all member s of the community. This identity also suggests a definite social space and demarcated territories, which are easily identified by members of the community (Panic 31). This means that community members have a feeling of belonging into this identity. This will, therefore, give a clear definition of a state as a group of people obeying similar rules and institutions within a given territory. According to David Campbell, there are two conceptions of a nation, which includes the civil model and ethics (Campbell 24). These are two predominantly conceptual territories, which need to be protected by the nation. This is due to the fact that nations have to possess compact, well-defined territories. Campbell indicates that territories cannot be just anywhere but must be... It is clear that security and identity have a deeper meaning rather than protecting the affairs of a country since, after the Cold War that appeared in European countries in early 1940s, there emerged new and complex security models of states and individuals. These new approaches were considerably divergent compared to traditional, narrow concepts since they indicate that something can be a security issue despite having no threat to the state. Different from traditional phenomena, other factors such as migrations and cultural identity challenges can contribute to identity securitization in a country. The identity of social group is the object of societal security concept. Social security is thus something concerning individuals and its nature in the prevailing economy. On the other hand, societal security relates to the collectivity of identities and actions undertaken with the aim of protecting such identities in a country.

Does Caribbean Poetry Reflect Our Shared History English Literature Essay

Does Caribbean Poetry Reflect Our Shared History English Literature Essay As a collective group, the Caribbean people celebrate an eclectic melding of the differences inherent in our ancestry with an appreciation of the influences wrought upon us by the history of the islands, and our development may be chronicled through an examination of the poetry and poetic styles of the poets who seek to give a voice to the diverse, yet collective identity of the Caribbean throughout our growth. The poetry of the region reflects the distinct composite factors which characterize the evolution of the people and the Caribbean islands: the difference is evident in the persons who composed the poems, the subject matter, form, style, the target audience, and the ideological interests which were served. Initially, in the eighteenth century, at one end of the spectrum there were poets who ascribed to the scribal traditions of the English verse as it had developed by that period. These poets hailed from the white master class and dealt primarily with a glorification of the adventure of colonization in the Caribbean. The target audience was the imperial Motherland England, and by extension the other European nations. The pattern of the poems followed the blank verse, pastoral modes, personification, and a poetic diction consistent with the European poets of the era, such as Milton. The subject matter praised an idealized notion of the natural beauty of the Caribbean islands as in Weekes Barbados (1754): When frequent Rains, and gentle Showrs descend, / To cheer the Earth, and Natures self revive, / A second Paradise appears! the Isle / Thro-out, one beauteous Garden seems; (Burnett [1986], 102). The poems therefore are typified by a grandiose, eloquent style, liberally interspersed wi th classical allusions which celebrated the supposed grandeur of the West Indies. Singleton, in his A General Description of the West Indian Islands (1767), illustrates this feature: There hollow noises, murmuring thro the vault, / Surprize the listning er; whilst from the deeps / The hoarse Cerberean yell dreadful ascends, / Three times full-echod from the distant hills. (106). Juxtaposed with the idyllic Caribbean scenes described, these poets, such as Weekes in Barbados (1754), represent in their works a form of superficial humane concern for the slaves, coupled with an acceptance of slavery as the ultimate lot of the slave: Close watch, ye Drivers! Your work-hating Gang, / And mark their Labours with a careful Eye; / But spare your cruel, and ungenrous Stripes! / They sure are Men, tho Slaves, and colourd Black; (102). The poems celebration of the grandeur of the tropics [italics mine] is really a celebration of the supposed grandeur of British colonialism in the Caribbean. In m ost cases the poems work to uphold the slave-based socio-political system of the West Indian plantation society. (Baugh, 227-228). At the other end of the spectrum, there are the anonymous, simple expressions of the black slaves their folk songs, ballads, chants and work songs which articulate their observations and emotions while enduring the slavery experience. For example, there is the poignant lament: If me want for go in a Ebo, / Me cant go there! / Since dem tief me from a Guinea, / Me cant go there! (3). In a frustrated tone, wracked with displacement and restriction of movement, the poem solemnizes the plea of the slave while voicing the collective strife of the slaves on the islands. Markedly contrasting with the poetry of the scribal tradition, the poetry of the presumably uneducated Negro slave appeared to be fresh, insightful and engaging in its simplicity. The poems celebrated the oral traditions of the Africans and were imbued with a creative potential which was forged from the melding of the English and West African languages. Thus, even though the poems were written primarily in English, there were distinct African qualities (for example, the folksong tradition), which was only enhanced by the combining of the European ballad tradition: Guinea Corn, I long to see you / Guinea Corn, I long to plant you / Guinea Corn, I long to mould you (4). Significant to note is that the poets focus is on the Guinea Corn of hie native homeland, and not on the sugarcane of the plantations which exploited his labour. Topically, the slave would not have thought to romanticize the natural beauty of the islands in which they now lived under such persecution. Rather, focal points of their poems may have been entrenched in the desire to retain their native identities and in finding ways of re-defining their identities in the new context of the Caribbean. While it stands to reason that the dichotomy shown here epitomizes the expected disparity of thought and should, in fact, highlight the distinctions among the Caribbean people, the evolution of the Caribbean towards the abolition of slavery gave birth to an innovative poetic voice, one which emerged as a spokesperson chronicling the debacle of the slave trade and the slave experience: Was there no mercy, mother of the slave! No friendly hand to succor and to save, While commerce thus thy captive tribes oppressd, And lowering vengeance lingerd oer the west? Yes, Africa! Beneath the strangers rodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦From isle to isle the welcome tidings ran; The slave that heard them started into man: Like Peter, sleeping in his chains, he lay, The angel came, his night was turnd to day; Arise! his fetters fell, his slumbers flee; He wakes to life, he springs to liberty. (Montgomery [1807], 1-5, 76-77). This poetic voice also interwove the African oral tradition into the fabric of the European poetic form, creating a new composite form which, for the first time, attempted to bridge the gap between the Standard English language and the language of the slaves. In his pioneer attempt, Moretons Ballad (1790) is an example of this: Altho a slave me is born and bred, / My skin is black, not yellow: (Burnett, 112). With this initial foray into the experimental Creole art form, the fact that poets of Caucasian descent were willing to both pen and publish poems in this native dialect spoke loudly to the impending communal focus of poetry in the Caribbean isles, and by extension, the duality of distinct peoples writing for the same purpose: to record a shared history and to give a unique voice to Caribbean literary works. That is not to say that all poems written in this time period were imbued with a humane outlook on the Africans. Many poets who were members of the privileged class ventured into this field, using the local vernacular in their scribal works, however the intent of poets such as Cordle and Mc Turk was a humorous depiction of the everyday life of the African in an attempt to appease the target audience which was still predominantly European. A prime example of Mc Turks use of the vernacular to poke fun at the African people can be seen in his poem, Query (1899): Da Backra one fo go a hebben? / Da Backra one fo raise like lebben? / Da wa a-we po Negah do? / Make a-we no fo raise up too? (13). It may be noted however, that poets such as Mac Dermot, whose work displayed a Tennysonian sound and feel, as was inevitable due to continued reliance on European form, in Cuba (1950s), showed the redemptive power of Caribbean unity: But we like lovers twain / Are one in joy and pain, (132). The poets and poems of this era depicted, in essence, informative social history documents, however their depiction did not negate the fact that, inevitably, two distinct histories were being interwoven through the medium of the poetry which was written. Without openly acknowledging the fact, the poets became a part of the discourse of history that they shared with historians and travel writers (Baugh, 230). The veer towards the vernacular in poetry which still embodied European forms, and also now American forms in the writing, was extremely valuable as a reflection of social realities which no longer distinguished between the people who populated the Caribbean islands, but rather reflected the shared nature of the their heritage. This fact became more noticeable as the Caribbean and its people continued to evolve. The turn of the century was earmarked by poets such as Claude Mc Kay and Una Marson, whose poetic content highlighted the didactic shift towards a focus on black consciou sness and, in Marsons work, a predominantly feminist interpretation of the social relations of the era. Although his later works were penned entirely in Standard English and exhibited the lineage of Milton and Wordsworth, the protest sonnets of Mc Kay, such as If We Must Die reflected both the black United States American situation and the Caribbean situation of the time; the racial theme is engaged poignantly, connecting the Black diaspora and speaking for the Black community generally, rather than singularly from the Caribbean perspective: If we must die, O let us nobly die, / So that our precious blood may not be shed / In vain; then even the monsters we defy / Shall be constrained to honour us, though dead! (Burnett, 144). If one examines Mc Kays Creole poetry, there is, in contrast to earlier works by Cordle and Mc Turk in which the African man was patronized, a definitive consciousness of the black people: I born right don beneat de clack / (You ugly brute, you tun you back?) / Don tink dat Im a come-aroun / I born right way in panish Town. (Brown, 7). The new female consciousness presented by Marson was also linked to black awareness on a holistic level. This black awareness fuses with class consciousness in Marsons simple diction and syntax, while her rhyme draws heavily from the Blues tradition of the American poetic form: I like me black face / And me kinky hair. / I like me black face / And me kinky hair. / But nobody leves dem, / I jes dont tink its fair. (Burnett, 158). What was seen to emerge was poets working conjointly to produce a new West Indian poetic tradition. Thematically the poets wrote in the context of the changing sociopolitical consciousness, exhibiting a new level of seriousness, characterized by a nationalistic slant, an exploration of the social realities of the time, and profoundly proclaiming a search for a shared Caribbean identity. The poems which grew out of the early to mid-twentieth century gave more attention to the search for a unique voice and although typified by derivations from the modern English and American poets of the time, for example, Auden, Eliot and Pound, there was a decided split from the European tradition. Nowhere does this split show itself to be more evident than in the secular works of Louise Bennett. Written entirely in the Jamaican Creole, Bennetts work legitimized the Creole in a way that no-one elses had as yet. Employing the primarily dramatic monologue, interspersed intermittently with the short narrative form, and with heavy reliance on the oral traditions, Bennett engages the reader vicariously in the grassroots wisdom of her personae. Her sharply probing yet objective eye exposes the naÃÆ' ¯vetà © of the Caribbean people. Her tone which is sometimes chastising, is at all times, even in the midst of her reliance on comedy as a medium of exposition, satirical as she figuratively holds up a mirror to societys foibles. Her ideas dwell on the peoples articulation of self and their place in the history of the Caribbean. Distinguishing identity becomes an inevitable condition as the people define themselves. In her works, for example, Colonization in Reverse, the reader can see how Bennett acts as a reporter and commentator on an event of both historical significance and psychological interest to the Caribbean people the exodus of Caribbean nationals to England during the post-war period: Wat a joyful news, Miss Mattie, I feel like me heart gwine burs Jamaica people colonizing Englan in reverseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Oonoo see how life is funny, Oonoo see de tunabout? Jamaica live fe box bread Out a English people moutà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Brown, 32). The delivery is characterized by a high degree of verbal and gestural expressiveness however the irony and counter-irony of the situation chronicle the poem. The dialect which is used as the medium of delivery serves mainly to highlight the unfolding drama of West Indian consciousness as the speaker debates the issue of a counter-colonization of England, and the West Indian nationals search for an identifiable history. To many of the West Indian poets such as Bennett, the tradition of English poetic form which was inherited as a part of our colonial history became progressively constrained and oppressive as the islands and their people moved towards self-realization. The need for a Caribbean poetry which encapsulated the essence of the Caribbean peoples shared history and drive towards progress and self-actualiaztion became the fore-runner of thematic influence for the poets topics. The desire for a poetry which spoke of, to and for West Indians was begun by poets like Bennett and realized in poets such as Derek Walcott and (Edward) Kamau Brathwaite. Their poems expressed a possibility for the creation of a new Caribbean world differentiated by its very divergence from Europe and America. Walcotts vision essentially delineates the social realities which have to be transformed in order for a new world vision to transcend into reality. His poetry reinvented the Caribbean landscape through the languag e which defined the qualities of the Caribbean life and people. The vision, which was also influenced by the plight of the Middle Passage extends to all races that comprised the Caribbean. Walcotts poetry did not highlight distinctions among the people, rather when he speaks of race he refers to all Caribbean people, and this vision further extends to embrace all human suffering and the need for survival. The Native Americans tragedy served only to deepen his concern for the Black diaspora, his outrage and lament not singularly focused on the Cherokee Trail of Tears nor the Gulag Archipelago, but a lament for the injustice of all systems of abuse and slavery which prioritized the financial gain of the enterprise above the inhumanities inflicted on the individual. Walcotts poetry can be said to subsume the whole history of grief inherited by the Caribbean people. History itself, for him, becomes a centrally comprehensive theme, such that the gnarled, sea-almond trees on any Atlantic- facing Caribbean coast represent for the poet the resiliency of the people, their capacity to endure, and to build a culture out of a common catastrophe: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦their leaves broad dialect a coarse, / enduring sound / they shared together. (Walcott, 23). Brathwaite shared Walcotts vision as he clearly established [a] single-minded pursuit of an alternative tradition for West Indian poetry. He grounded it in the retrieval and recognition of African cultures and of communal knowledge lost or submerged in the Middle Passageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Baugh, 255): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦memories trunked up in a dark attic, he stumps up the stares of our windows, he stares, stares he squats on the tips of our language black burr of conundrums eye corner of ghosts, ancient his- tories; (Brathwaite, 165). For Brathwaite, his poetry utilizes black musical expressions from both sides of the Atlantic and combines them with black vernacular and Standard English to re-enact or evoke significant moments of Black experience. His goal may be seen as to renew a sense of community and shared purpose among the dispersed African peoples. Brathwaites poems are simultaneously a lament and a celebration of the black diaspora, his heroes and speakers composites of all the changing faces and voices of the new Caribbean. Renewal and community emerge as the desired home out of a legacy of exile and fragmented identity. For both Walcott and Brathwaite, their representations of contemporary society resound with the understanding of the colonial legacy bequeathed to the Caribbean people. The latter half of the Twentieth Century heralded the emergence of yet another poetic voice. This voice was that of the West Indian feminist who sought to establish the importance of the contribution of the female figure in the West Indian community. Poets such as Merle Collins and Lorna Goodison spoke out forthrightly against male-dominated power structures and engaged questions of the womans role in issues of history, class and race. Goodisons poetry for example resonates with a deep sense of history, generates a sense of creativity and focuses on the multi-dimensional roles of women in the society, sharing with Brathwaite and Walcott that vibrant sense of identity evident in her works which characteristically display Caribbean and African-American people music within a social and native consciousness that this type of music includes: Mother, there is the stone on the hearts of some women and men something like an onyx, cabochon-cut, which hung on the wearer seeds bad dreams. Speaking for the small dreamers of this earth, plagued with nightmares, yearning for healing dreams we want the stone to move. (Goodison, 4). Poems such as this encapsulate the breadth of the female form, claiming the womans place as the cultural regenerator of the people. Also extending the range of artistic use of the oral tradition into the current century, infusing it with the urgency of new, deprived generations and speaking the language of the street, the poetry of poets such as Linton Kwesi Johnson gained new popularity as dub poetry, a poetry which could trace its lineage to the oral inventiveness of the tenement yards and ghettos. However, although the poetry is at times interspersed with impressions of violence, it affirms the deep cultural significance and identification of the Caribbean people with social protest: dem is awftin decried an denied dem is awftin ridiculed an doungraded dem is sometimes kangratulated an celebrated dem is sometimes suprised an elated but as yu mite have already guess dem is awftin foun wantin more or less dus spoke di wizen wans af ole dis is a story nevvah told (Brown, 274). The writers explored here are not all of one and the same generation. Nonetheless they identify in crucial ways the Caribbeans origins; their sense of location is creatively problematic and their postcolonial sensibility appears uneasily chronicled. However the idea of a divided immigrant to the Caribbean does not hold true. Rather, one can literally trace the development of the Caribbean, and its continuing development, through the voice which these poets give to their works of art. There is a specially defined relationship of the Caribbean national to his home and identity, however multi-faceted it may appear to be. His colonial redefinition is still incomplete but the process, however delayed, is inevitable. Poets of the West Indies, through their thematic content, their use of language, their adaptation of form and their ability to acquire a target audience which was, in effect, a locally appreciative entourage, all shared in the singular rhetoric which captured the shared experi ence of the Caribbean people and gave to the islands a unique form of identity. As Eric Roach notes in his poem Love Over-grows a Rock (1992), the hope for the Caribbean peoples future lies summarily in transcending insularity through a shared regional identity and dream: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦So, from my private hillock / In Atlantic I join cry: / Come, seine the archipelago; / Disdain the sea; gather the islands hills / Into the blue horizons of our love. (Rohlehr, 284).

kodak brief review :: essays research papers

Note: The examination will be in two parts. Part 1 will comprise a set of multiple-choice questions designed to check your understanding of all of the lectures material. Part 2 will concern this case study, with the examination paper including a set of questions about it. The case study describes a situation, which you need to research further and resolve. In preparation for the examination, you should analyse this case study and relate it to the lectures so that you arrive at the examination with an understanding of how you might proceed. CASE STUDY Kodak, based in Rochester, New York, where it pioneered the use of photographic film 100 years ago, has been facing weak profits and job cuts as it struggles to turn round its business. Wednesday, 21 June, 2000, 11:26 GMT 12:26 UK Kodak looks to digital salvation by BBC News Online's Steve Schifferes The world's most famous film company is hoping that the digital film revolution will come to its rescue. Dan Carp, Kodak's chief executive, told BBC News Online that he was "very frustrated" by the low share price for his company which is trading at around 10 times earnings despite five quarters of record profits. "There is no question that digital imaging is going to expand the use of photography and make it more user friendly," he explained to News Online during a whirlwind tour of Europe. "What's holding us back is some scepticism that the digital revolution is yet to be finalised," he said. Fresh investment Mr Carp told the BBC that the company would invest two-thirds of its $900m research and development budget in digital technologies. It was also spending over $1bn in buying back its own shares in order to boost their price. Analysts say the share buybacks are needed to boost the company's earnings per share which have been diluted by employees cashing in some 20m stock options last year. Mr Carp said he was not worried by the threat of a takeover. However, he admitted that the marketplace for digital imaging technology was likely to be more crowded than traditional photography, with companies like Sony vying with Kodak, Fuji, and Olympus. Kodak had been slow to introduce full digital technology, fearing that it would hurt sales of existing photographic products. But it now aims for 45% of its sales, and 27% of profits, to come from digital sales by 2005. Mr Carp said that the introduction of broadband and other high-speed internet connections would speed the take-up of digital technology. There were more than 4m digital cameras sold in the USA, and 1m in Europe, last year, and

Customer Relationship Management Starbucks Corporation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document included a survey about Starbucks. I went to a Starbucks on Xinhua road as a mystery shopper. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries. (starbucks, 2011) In this report I will tell you my experience of being a mystery shopper. I will analysis my scenario as a mystery shopper and what I did at the starbucks. I will describe starbucks’s customer service with my knowledge of Pet peeves and 14 factors of company culture.And also, I will suggest some solutions to improve the retail starbucks’s customer servise. CONTENTS Cover page†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Executive summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Discussion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Question 1†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Question 2†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 Question 3†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Question 4†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Question 5†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 Reference list†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 INTRODUCTION Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries.That’s why I chose starbucks. Starbucks is still inadequate, still need to strengthen and improve. In this experience, I was very carefully to record every detail, and try to remember them. I believe that no matter how perfect management system they have there still has a loophole. This report will bring starbucks great benefits. I will analysis my scenario as a mystery shopper and what I did at the starbucks. I will describe starbucks’s customer service with my knowledge of Pet peeves and 14 factors of company culture.And also, I will suggest some solutions to improve the retail starbucks’s customer service. DISCUSSION Question 1 Explain about the retail store. You need to look for company’s information on internet. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is an international coffee and coffeehouse ch ain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and over 150 in Turkey.Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, coffee beans, salads, hot and cold sandwiches and Panini , pastries, snacks, and items such as mugs and tumblers. Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of the company's products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand ice cream and coffee are also offered at grocery stores. From Starbucks' founding in later forms in Seattle as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, the company has expanded rapidly.In the 1990s, Starbucks was opening a new store every workday, a pace that continued into the 2000s. The first store outside the United Sta tes or Canada opened in the mid-1990s, 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 900 store closures in the United States since 2008. The company is named in part after Starbuck, Captain Ahab's first mate in the novel Moby-Dick, as well as a turn-of-the-century mining camp (Starbo or Storbo) on Mount Rainier.According to Howard Schultz's book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, the name of the company was derived from Moby-Dick, although not in as direct a fashion as many assume. Gordon Bowker liked the name â€Å"Pequod† (the ship in the novel), but his then creative partner Terry Heckler responded, â€Å"No one's going to drink a cup of Pee-quod! † Heckler suggested â€Å"Starbo†. Brainstorming with these two ideas resulted in the company being named after the Pequod's first mate, Starb uck.And also, starbucks’s logo had changed three times. The first Starbucks was opened in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker. The three were inspired by entrepreneur Alfred Peet (whom they knew personally) to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment. The name is taken from Moby-Dick; after Pequod was rejected by one of the co-founders, the company was named after the first mate on the Pequod, Starbuck.From 1971–1976, the first Starbucks was at 2000 Western Avenue; it then was relocated to 1912 Pike Place, where it remains to this day. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from Peet's, then began buying directly from growers. The Starbucks Center, Seattle. The company HQ, in the old Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog distribution center building Entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 as Director of Retail Operations and Marketing, and after a trip to Milan, advised that the company should sell coffee and espresso drinks as well as beans.Seattle had become home to a thriving countercultural coffeehouse scene since the opening of the Last Exit on Brooklyn in 1967, the owners rejected this idea, believing that getting into the beverage business would distract the company from its primary focus. To them, coffee was something to be prepared in the home, but they did give away free samples of pre-made drinks. Certain that there was money to be made selling pre-made drinks, Schultz started the Il Giornale coffee bar chain in April 1986. (starbucks, 2011) Question 2 Explain why you chose the retail store.Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries. Yeah, it's rather unremarkable. Starbucks is everywhere. What is remarkable is how successful they are. I believe that no matter how perfect management system they have there still has a loophole. I go to sta rbucks not just as a coffee drinker, but as someone who was pleased with both the service, and quality of my request. The number of choices one has almost makes it impossible to be dissatisfied with whatever you get, and get this; you can have them make it over or how you want it specifically if you are dissatisfied.Starbucks has taken the opportunity that other small business haven't yet. This is why so many people drink it. It's everywhere, convenient, and practical as a beverage seller. If you personally don't like the coffee, they have entire menu with things that are not coffe. I definitely love starbucks. It is a cool place to relax and hangout. I don't only order coffee there anyways. I love their pastries and lattle . I love how they give a calming aura. It gets my stress off. And really coffee is delicious depends on the taste buds of the person. Question 3Explain about your scenario as a mystery shopper and what you did at the outlet. I went to starbucks as a mystery shopp er for three times. For the first time,I walked into starbucks, the waiter said hello to me, and asked me what do I want to drink, so, I ordered a cup of lattle. The waiter asked me whether I need any dessert or not. I ordered a piece of cheese cake. And I paid for both of them, the waiter handed me my order. He smiled warmly and wished me a nice day. For the second time, I just sit here ,and didn’t order anything. Luckily ,they didn’t push me away.For the third time, I ordered a cup of Mocha Frappuccino, but I found a hair in it. I was very surprised and I told the waiter about it. He changed my drink to a larger sized one, and apologized to me . I was very satisfied with their service. Check points ?Number of employees in the store on entering: 3. ?How long it takes before the mystery shopper is greeted: 3 second. ?The name of the employees: zhangqin machao zhangwei. ?Whether or not the greeting is friendly, or if they didn’t greet the customer : the greeting is friendly. ?The questions asked by the shopper to find a suitable products: the answer is very good. The types of products shown (if they suggest too expansive products): they just introduce me some new product. ?The sales arguments used by the employee(if you felt sales pressure): no I didn’t felt any stress ,they’re all very kind. ?Whether or how the employee attempted to close the sale: they didn’t close the sale, they just handed your order default to close the sale. ?Whether the employee suggested any add-on sales: yes. ?Whether the employee invited the shopper to come back to the store: yes. ?Cleanliness of store and store associates: the store is very clean. ?Speed of service: fast Store appearance, and grooming/presentation: the decoration is very fashionable, and in order to meet the Christmas, Christmas decorations are everywhere. ?Was it easy to find the store in a shopping center or in a street ? : yes, it’s easy to find starbucks on Xinhua road. ?Ask them if there are any kinds of student discount program. Did they reply to you in proper manner? :yes ? Ask them if refund or exchange is possible when you’re not happy with the product. How did they respond to you? : food product can not change, they feel sorry about this, they ask me some questions about the food so that they can improve.Question 4 Describe the retail store’s customer service with your knowledge of Pet peeves and 14 factors of company culture. Pet peeves I think starbucks’s service is very good, most details do very well. I didn’t feel being ignore, because they say hello to me, when I came in . And also, I didn’t feel high pressure sales, they just suggest me sincerely . But the second time I do this report , I was disappointedly with the poor quality work, I found a hair in my cup, they do not very well about the cleaning. But they changed my drink to a larger sized one, and apologized to e . I was very satisfied wit h their service. In short, I was satisfied with the customer service. 14 factors of company culture ?Greeting customers: do very well ?Initiating conversation : do very well ?Sincerely complimenting customers: do very well ?Calling customers by name: I don’t know ?Establishing and maintaining eye contact: good job ?Ask for feedback: just so so ?Listening skillfully: do very well ?Say polite words: do very well ?Smiling: good job ?Using good telephone techniques: just so so ?Using appropriate touch techniques: just so so Enjoying people: do very well ?Being positive about selling: do very well ?Watching your workplace attractiveness: good job The good service with The old chairs and table, friendly barista, soothing music and the aroma of the coffee makes you feel relaxed and at home. Starbucks gives us the feeling of relaxation and belonging. We feel it because Starbucks is true to its values and it shows. And because we believed in what â€Å"Starbucks† offers us, we give value to it by being loyal. Question 5 Suggest some solutions to improve the retail store’s customer service.A few of the Starbucks coffees are not so bad but the problem is that they often sit for a very long time before being served. Usually, the better coffees are not available brewed. My biggest personal gripe with Starbucks is that they replaced all of the espresso machines with automatic versions over the past few years. The quality and strength of the espresso has gone down substantially and the price is no longer even partly justified since it no longer takes time, effort, or skill to make espresso beverages. most of their drinks have so much sugar and calories, and they have this fancy complicated lingo to place a coffee order†¦. hat should be so simple! I believe most people like Starbucks is because is in style! even though they don't really know what they are drinking. Starbucks should care more about our healthy! And also, the employees need to be more carefull. CONCLUSION That’s What They Serve. There’s no greater purpose in life than service to others. And indeed, Starbucks are one of those company who are living and being true to this famous line. In its book entitled â€Å"It’s Not about Coffee†, the author and previous CEO, Howard Behar, have mentioned that Starbucks is all about People.From their employees to its customers and suppliers, they give priority to people and relationships. And to prove it, they do not call their employees as â€Å"staff†, which most of us are being called by our bosses. Instead, they call all employees from below to top as â€Å"partners†. Because they truly believes that each and everyone is contributing to the success and growth of the Company. They believe that each and everyone can be a great contribution to an organization’s success, and the world for that matter. Amazing isn’t?And that reason alone is why a lot of people is giving back the value that this Company is providing them. (starbucks, 2011) Three Important Lessons From Starbucks ?If we have vision it creates magic. ?When we are sure of our value it creates direction and feeling on what we offer others. ?If we prioritize on people, we do not need to look for the reward and recognition, it comes to us. REFERENCES LIST http://www. starbucks. cn/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Starbucks http://www. ihatestarbucks. com/why. php

Evaluating a Hiring and Variable Pay Plan

Evaluating a Hiring and Variable Pay Plan Include a brief summary of the situation. Effective Management Solutions (EMS) a small management consulting company divided into four areas: management systems, business process improvement, human resources, and quality improvement that are rapidly growing. The growth has expanded so quickly that, EMS has developed and is planning to execute an aggressive revenue growth plan. The goal is to obtain a 25% revenue increase each year for the next five years, in each of the four departments. A main element of this plan is growth in the staff. The reason for this is that the majority of the entry level associates are currently working at the maximum load of hours and clients. To accomplish this plan EMS predicts it will have to hire 100 associates of which 40 will be for replacements do to promotions, and associates who leave and go to other consulting firms. The additional 60 will cover growth with the new revenue increase plan. Knowing this will be a challenge and that the current hiring package needs to be updated to attract and keep good quality associates, EMS has tasked Manuel Rodriquez who is the one-man HR department to develop a job offer proposal, that will increase the offer rate, decrease the turnover rate of current associates and not create issues among the associates who are currently employed. Assess the attractiveness of the HVP program for both applicants and those who receive offers, deciding for whom it would be the most attractive. The hiring variable plan will be very attractive to both pools of people. And for applicants it would more then likely increase of even applying. And for those who receive offers it would at least bring the company on par with its top competitors and increase the number of accepted job offers. More than likely it will be most attractive to those receiving offers because if all other factors are equal with the company’s competitor’s candidates will be more likely to accept the offer and have a feeling of more ownership of their career path. Predict and justify if the HVP program will likely increase the job offer acceptance rate. The introduction of the HVP program will produce a significant increase in the job offer acceptance rate. The increased market competitiveness, applicant desirability and employees satisfaction would all not only increase the applicant pool but would also slow the outflow of employees. In addition the program would have a double benefit of an increased applicant pool as well as more accepted job offers that would drastically increase the acceptance rate. Predict and justify if the HVP program will likely reduce turnover. The adoption will also reduce turnover. The new found ownership over their career path as well as increased earning potential will significantly boost employee job satisfaction. In addition the variable pay plan will make the companies competitors look less attractive to unsatisfied employees. Give your opinion about how current associates will react to the HVP program. Current associates will mostly respond positively to the new variable pay plan. They will be pleased with option to join the new plan in addition to keeping their current salary. This may put them in a position to earn considerably more than their new peers and employees with their competitors. In addition they have even more earning potential because they may already train for the hot skills premium that is offered for rare skills sets. To the contrary there could be small levels of un-happiness if it seems that new employees have higher earning potential or if the security of the wages previously earned is put at risk. Suggest what issues and problems the HVP plan will create for Human Resources and for the hiring manager. The HVP plan will present several problems and challenges for Human Resources personnel and the hiring mangers. Some of those problems include re-training/ lack of knowledge to explain the program to new and current employees, lack of resources required to implement this new complex pay schedule and meet the new strategic hiring goals, the burden of developing a consistent way for the hiring manger to evaluate hot skills premiums as well as salaries. And whose responsibility it is to update and maintain employees pay plans preferences and lastly human resources receive and resolve complaints for plan participants who chose the high risk path. Human Resources personnel would need be re-trained, given appropriate tools or significantly revamped to handle such a substantial policy change. The may been seen as owners or experts of the new process. In addition a new method will have to be found to input, track, change, and calculate bonuses and weekly pay checks. This could include hiring additional staff, buying or over hauling existing software or out sourcing the process completely. The hiring may have issues determining what hot skills the company is looking for and which new hires possess them. Further more additional staff will be required to screen applicants, interview candidates, conduct background checks, completely develop or revamp the employees orientation, re-structure of each individual area will be needed. In addition protocols and processes will be created and put in place to insure that hot skills premium is fairly evaluated as well as the salary offer aligns with market average. Propose and justify changes in the HVP program. While the HVP program is still in its infancy, at later stage a process could be created to standardize market components of employee’s salaries. For one the hot skills premium and starting salary may be set to market standards or by upper management. This change would provide clarity consistency and fairness to this new compensation scheme. In addition the high risk plan could be mad less drastic so as to not cause a burden to employees in low peak times. The high risk plan as it stands may cause financial burdens to employees which could affect their productivity. References Heneman, H. G. , & Judge, T. A. (2009). BUS 335: Staffing organizations: 2009 custom edition (6th ed. ). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.