Linguistic Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Linguistic Commentary - Essay Example As Professor Christopher John Poutain (2005) explains it, there can be three types of linguistic acceptable variations: "Acceptability may vary with a number of factors, including place (DIATOPIC variation), social group (DIASTRATIC variation) or time (DIACHRONIC variation)." In the present case, we have a diastratic variation as the boss represents a social group a lot different from the workers' group. We can see that their Spanish is quite different even though they seem to understand each other very well. As we know, the concept of linguistic competence means in pragmatic terms that there is no register better than others as long as communication is established among them. In this fragment we can note a great difference between the boss' Spanish and the workers' Spanish. Spanish is a language of constant changes as Professor John M. Lipski (n. d.) stated in one of his papers: "Spanish -a language spoken on every continent- is the product not only of its Peninsular heritage and of internal evolution, but also of a variety of language contacts, with indigenous languages, languages of forced immigration (the slave trade), and of voluntary immigration." The present fragment is a good example of the many changes that Spanish has experienced along the years. Another distinctive feature of this fragment is the vocalization and th... The boss also uses some of this broken Spanish words when he changes his register. An interesting feature is the pejorative language used by the administrator: "rotos de michica" (l. 7), "fuerino sinvergenza" (l. 17), "sinvergenzas" (l. 18). As he is mad, he uses this kind of language as a way of getting even on the workers. On the other hand, the use of colons speeds up the narrative in lines 25, 26 and 27. The narrator is omniscient. It is narrated in the third person singular. The register of the narrator's speech is standard Spanish. In lines 20 and 21 the narration is very agile: "como un mvil punto obscuro que alejndose se empequeeca". It is also very graphic as we can see the little dot getting smaller with the precise wording of the narrator. This fragment has two distinct parts: one narrative part and one dialogues part. The narration is very concise and explanatory as it gives interesting details of the motives behind the dialogues. It is also very descriptive, especially when it says in lines 12-14 the following: "hablaba ahora a Segundo, que entontecido por su mirada roja de ira, con movimiento de pndulo mova acompasadamente el cuerpo." In these lines we can see the use of a very appropriate metaphor: "pendulum's movement", when referring to the oscillating movement of Segundo's body. The narrator also makes emphasis on the wrath of the administrator. He says that his "glance was red by the wrath" (l. 13), and this image is very graphic and quite appropriate to describe the mood of the boss. But it is relevant to note that there is a change in the color of his glance due to the same wrath. In line 13 it is red,

Arthur Miller creates dramatic tension Essay Example for Free

Arthur Miller creates dramatic tension Essay The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It starts when Parris, the local- and rather unpopular- reverend in Salem discovers his daughter Betty, niece Abigail and many other young women from the village dancing and chanting in the forest, led by his slave Tituba. Tituba is from the West Indies, so has a set of traditions and beliefs which seem very alien to the Puritan citizens of Salem. When Betty and another girl involved in the dancing dont wake up the next day, and just lie in a trance-like state, there are rumours of witchcraft afoot. With the arrival of Hale, an open- minded but overly righteous witch- hunter, Abby and Tituba claim to have been possessed by the spirits of witches in Salem. Abby, along with some other girls, start accusing many people. Those who confess to devil worship are saved; those who do not are charged to be hanged. In court, the girls faint, and claim to have terrible pains and see horrific visions, all induced by the witch on trial. Their tactics are powerful, so those conducting the proceedings do not really consider they may be faking. Also, no one dares express sympathy for those charged, for fear of being accused themselves. As Abby and the other girls become court officials, people are wary of crossing them. Abby is a very overpowering character. She is seventeen and ravishingly beautiful. Whilst working as a maid for Elizabeth Proctor, she had an affair with her husband John. Abby still has feelings for him, and consequently despises his wife Goody Proctor. In the forest, she cast a spell to try and kill her. The affair has created a lot of tension between the married couple, and it seems John has never quite won back his wifes trust. When the couples maid, Mary Warren, reveals that Elizabeths name has been mentioned in court when witchcraft was being discussed, Goody Proctor is desperate for John to appeal to the court before she is formally charged. This is because Abby revealed to Proctor there was no witchcraft involved in Bettys trance-like state, claiming, She just took fright, is all. Proctor is a highly passionate man, who can be hot-headed. He has to live with the terrible guilt of his affair, which he greatly regrets. He still has feelings for Abby, but he is too ashamed of his weakness in character to do anything about them, seeing what the initial affair did to his relationship with his wife. He still loves Elizabeth, but succumbed to the beautiful girl who had been a temptation to him whilst his wife was ill. When Hale arrives at their house to question the couple, Proctor questions Hale to see whether he has considered the fact the girls might be lying, and reveals what Abby told him. This appears to send Hale into turmoil. Before Proctor has a chance to make an official complaint, Cheever arrives with an arrest warrant for Elizabeth. She is one of sixteen arrested, along with other respected women like the godly Rebecca Nurse. Giles Coreys wife, Martha, is arrested because he informed Hale he found it difficult to pray when she was reading. Proctors servant Mary knows Abby is making false accusations, so he forces her to tell the court officials of this the next day. Act Three takes place in a courtroom. It is the site where many have been condemned to die and many horrific accusations have been made, so there is already an ominous atmosphere. It is then that we are introduced to Danforth, a court judge with a very rigid view. Proctor, Corey and Frances Nurse, husband of the condemned Rebecca, are all anxious to prove their wives innocence. Mary Warren has come to admit she was faking, but she is petrified about speaking out against Abby and the possible consequences. When it is revealed Elizabeth is pregnant, and therefore will not be hanged for around a year at least, Proctor is given the option of accepting this and doing no more. However, he feels he has to save the others who have been charged as well. To Danforth, this seems to suggest Proctor is just trying to undermine the court rather than just save his wife, as he initially claimed. To us, it is evidence of Proctors bravery and conscience. Hale, who has in the past acted quite righteously and tried to root out witches, finally sees that Abby may be lying. He decides to support Proctor, which might put pressure on Danforth to accept that some of the condemnations were untrue. If Danforth admits this, however, he will be publicly disgraced, as he will be seen as responsible for the deaths of many innocent citizens, based on juvenile, callous accusation. The climax of the scene is brought about by Abbys quick- thinking. She is relieved when Elizabeth lies about the affair, and sees the moment as her chance to turn the situation to her favour. She, and subsequently the other girls, claim to see a yellow bird, possessed by the spirit of Mary Warren. Abby does this to pressurise Mary into lying again, to avoid being condemned as a witch. The scene becomes highly charged as Proctor and the others struggle to convince Danforth the girls are faking, Abby becomes more hysterical and Mary is in a dilemma about whether she should listen to her conscience and risk being condemned or lie to save herself. There is conflict between Mary Warren and Abby. Before all the witchcraft incidents, Abby was very dominant in her relationship with Mary, possibly resenting the fact Mary took her job when Elizabeth discovered the relationship between Abby and John. As Mary is used to be treated like an inferior, she is scared to speak out against Abby. Abby seems to be the more intelligent and powerful of the two, and Mary is afraid that if her claim against Abby is deemed a lie, then Abby will find a way to get back at her. Tension is created as Mary is under pressure from Proctor to admit she and the other girls lied and contributed to the execution of innocent villagers. In contrast, Abby is desperate for Mary to keep lying to avoid being exposed. As the audience, we are tense to see if Mary will overcome or succumb to the peer pressure. When Abby claims to see a yellow bird, this forces Mary into a decision to support her rather than Proctor. She is close to being tried as a witch and has to find a way to shift the blame, which is basically the foundation of all the trials. There is also a sense that her will is simply overpowered by Abbys will. The characters in this scene are all very important, and all contribute to the tense atmosphere. There is lots of conflict between them, causing a feeling of suppressed emotions that are being forced out. In particular, there is conflict between Proctor and Abby, and this is complicated by the fact that we know that Proctor is both physically attracted to and yet hates Abby. When Proctor admits to the affair he has so strenuously kept secret before, it shows the depth of the battle between him and Abby. Miller uses dramatic irony in this scene. We, as the audience, know that Proctor, Corey and Nurse are telling the truth and so we see through Abbys act and want the truth to prevail. However, characters such as Hale and Danforth have no evidence either way, but are perhaps pre-disposed to believe Abby as they have executed people on her word (and would lose face if it became known she was lying). Miller plays with us, and builds up the tension, by alternately giving us cause to hope that the truth will be revealed and to fear that it will not. For example, there are times when we are led to hope that Danforth will give credit to what he is told by Mary, as, contrary to what Parris advises, he does hear her out, and, in response to Parris immediate denunciation, states, it strike hard upon me that she will dare to come here with such a tale. Similarly, there are times when Hales response gives hope. He admits to always having had doubts about Abby. However, we lose hope when Danforth orders that those who signed Giles petitions must all be arrested, when Abby convincingly protests her innocence, and when the girls claim to be affected by witchcraft. Proctors dramatic revelation of his adultery with Abby looks at one point as if it may sway Danforth, but our hopes are dashed when Elizabeth denies he is a lecher, believing she is doing so in his best interests. When Mary is won over by Abby, we see that Abby has decisively triumphed. After the drama of the girls hysteria, we are left feeling deflated. To conclude, Miller uses a variety of tactics to create tension. He uses theatre techniques like dramatic irony to do so. The conflicting characters are also a major contributor. The scene is a battle between good and evil, and the constantly changing winning side makes us tense. There are moments where everything looks hopeful but then the evidence is turned around to go against what it proves.

Grammar Should be Secondary for Composition Teachers Essay -- informati

I have a knack for creating a series of run-on sentences and calling them an essay. I have a knack for beginning sentences with And or But. I also have a writing degree. I still have not mastered the use of the comma and somehow the Academy granted me that little piece of paper anyway. You, reader, may be wondering my point. My point is this: that despite my ill-formed paragraphs and run-on sentences I have existed and prospered within the formal writing environment. And so, I was elated to read Patrick Hartwell’s essay that contests that teaching grammar has a negligible effect on the development of a student writer (183). Clearly, there are different types of grammar, which Hartwell distinguishes in his essay. Borrowing from Francis’ â€Å"The Three Meanings of Grammar,† and his lengthy definition of grammar in three parts, Hartwell extends to the five categories of grammar. In dissecting grammar, Hartwell divides and conquers the argument that formal grammatical training is of great use to a developing writer. Instead, Hartwell sees grammar as a recognition tool, a way to keep the writer and reader on the same page. It is a tool of orientation rather than a prerequisite for â€Å"good writing.† Harvey Davis, an author I found by way of Hartwell’s end-notes, makes a great distinction between the necessity of grammar texts for educators and students. In his book, Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered, Daniels recognizes that grammar books, â€Å"while they may be good for the publishing business, and may comfort anxious teachers, they are unlikely to help students much† (241). Books devoted to the teaching of grammar or the integration of grammar into writing programs simply create names for lessons and rules alread... ...n of all threads of thought, with a process of shaping afterwards. Grammar lay waiting for the guillotine in the arena of composition. The main concern of any composition teacher, as well as his students, should be the production of writing. Since the rules are so flexible and easily changed for matters of style, grammar should be an afterthought, rather than a pre-writing tool. To take writing time away from our students and force them to familiarize themselves with formal grammar does them a disservice. Bibliography Daniels, Harvey. Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered. Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. Hartwell, Patrick. â€Å"Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.† Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. ed. Victor Villanueva, Jr. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997. 183-212 Grammar Should be Secondary for Composition Teachers Essay -- informati I have a knack for creating a series of run-on sentences and calling them an essay. I have a knack for beginning sentences with And or But. I also have a writing degree. I still have not mastered the use of the comma and somehow the Academy granted me that little piece of paper anyway. You, reader, may be wondering my point. My point is this: that despite my ill-formed paragraphs and run-on sentences I have existed and prospered within the formal writing environment. And so, I was elated to read Patrick Hartwell’s essay that contests that teaching grammar has a negligible effect on the development of a student writer (183). Clearly, there are different types of grammar, which Hartwell distinguishes in his essay. Borrowing from Francis’ â€Å"The Three Meanings of Grammar,† and his lengthy definition of grammar in three parts, Hartwell extends to the five categories of grammar. In dissecting grammar, Hartwell divides and conquers the argument that formal grammatical training is of great use to a developing writer. Instead, Hartwell sees grammar as a recognition tool, a way to keep the writer and reader on the same page. It is a tool of orientation rather than a prerequisite for â€Å"good writing.† Harvey Davis, an author I found by way of Hartwell’s end-notes, makes a great distinction between the necessity of grammar texts for educators and students. In his book, Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered, Daniels recognizes that grammar books, â€Å"while they may be good for the publishing business, and may comfort anxious teachers, they are unlikely to help students much† (241). Books devoted to the teaching of grammar or the integration of grammar into writing programs simply create names for lessons and rules alread... ...n of all threads of thought, with a process of shaping afterwards. Grammar lay waiting for the guillotine in the arena of composition. The main concern of any composition teacher, as well as his students, should be the production of writing. Since the rules are so flexible and easily changed for matters of style, grammar should be an afterthought, rather than a pre-writing tool. To take writing time away from our students and force them to familiarize themselves with formal grammar does them a disservice. Bibliography Daniels, Harvey. Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered. Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. Hartwell, Patrick. â€Å"Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.† Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. ed. Victor Villanueva, Jr. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997. 183-212

Blacks Attempt To Achieve Equality :: United States History Historical Essays

Blacks' Attempt To Achieve Equality The second amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right of American citizens â€Å"to bear arms shall not be infringed† by the United States government (2nd Amendment). Robert Williams understood how significant this right was to the protection of Black lives which were targets of racism and violence. He advocated the use of violence as a means of self defense and organized local blacks into a â€Å"rifle club with a charter from the National Rifle Association† (60). Skip Curtiss defends this position saying, â€Å"any steps that (Williams) had to take in order to prevent his family and his people from being slaughtered like cattle were completely within his rights† (Curtiss). This is certainly true regarding Williams right to own guns, as explained above, but below the surface of Curtiss’ statement, lie many questions regarding the results the threat of violence has produced. Retaliating against racism with violence actually produces effects whi ch are detrimental to the integrationist movement. Whites felt threatened by Williams militaristic statements, which caused them to hold onto their power with a increasingly tighter grip. Non violence has moral superiority to, is more logically sound than and has produced much more favorable results than armed self defense, and is thus a much better method in the struggle to achieve equality. The most famous advocate of non violence was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his essay â€Å"A Letter From a Birmingham Jail† he articulates the position of non violence. Justified is King in his civil disobedience because certain laws treat people unequally, and are therefore immoral. He demonstrates out of protest of these laws, but knows that by breaking laws he must accept certain penalties. King feels that resorting to violence only equates the abused with the abuser. Thus in the fight for a morally just cause, Blacks must not resort to immoral tactics else they becomes victims of hypocrisy. The major problem with armed resistance to protect Black’s lives is that it is does not have a means to produce the ends, which is equality. Williams Asserts that â€Å"the basic ill is an economic ill, (Blacks are) denied the right to have a decent standard of living† (40). No one can logically disagree with this, but threatening to use violence is not a solution. As Williams found out, his position actually made matters worse. Blacks' Attempt To Achieve Equality :: United States History Historical Essays Blacks' Attempt To Achieve Equality The second amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right of American citizens â€Å"to bear arms shall not be infringed† by the United States government (2nd Amendment). Robert Williams understood how significant this right was to the protection of Black lives which were targets of racism and violence. He advocated the use of violence as a means of self defense and organized local blacks into a â€Å"rifle club with a charter from the National Rifle Association† (60). Skip Curtiss defends this position saying, â€Å"any steps that (Williams) had to take in order to prevent his family and his people from being slaughtered like cattle were completely within his rights† (Curtiss). This is certainly true regarding Williams right to own guns, as explained above, but below the surface of Curtiss’ statement, lie many questions regarding the results the threat of violence has produced. Retaliating against racism with violence actually produces effects whi ch are detrimental to the integrationist movement. Whites felt threatened by Williams militaristic statements, which caused them to hold onto their power with a increasingly tighter grip. Non violence has moral superiority to, is more logically sound than and has produced much more favorable results than armed self defense, and is thus a much better method in the struggle to achieve equality. The most famous advocate of non violence was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his essay â€Å"A Letter From a Birmingham Jail† he articulates the position of non violence. Justified is King in his civil disobedience because certain laws treat people unequally, and are therefore immoral. He demonstrates out of protest of these laws, but knows that by breaking laws he must accept certain penalties. King feels that resorting to violence only equates the abused with the abuser. Thus in the fight for a morally just cause, Blacks must not resort to immoral tactics else they becomes victims of hypocrisy. The major problem with armed resistance to protect Black’s lives is that it is does not have a means to produce the ends, which is equality. Williams Asserts that â€Å"the basic ill is an economic ill, (Blacks are) denied the right to have a decent standard of living† (40). No one can logically disagree with this, but threatening to use violence is not a solution. As Williams found out, his position actually made matters worse.

Services Marketing

Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Australasian Marketing Journal journal homepage: www. elsevier. com/locate/amj How the local competition defeated a global brand: The case of Starbucks Paul G. Patterson *, Jane Scott, Mark D. Uncles School of Marketing, Australian School of Business, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Americanised the coffee tradition. Keywords: Service brands Service quality Global branding International business Starbucks Coffee The astounding growth and expansion of Starbucks is outlined, both on a global scale and within Australia. The focus then shifts to the abrupt closure of three-quarters of the Australian stores in mid 2008.Several reasons for these closures are described and examined, including that: Starbucks overestimated their points of differentiation and the perceived value of their supplementary services; their service standards declined; the y ignored some golden rules of international marketing; they expanded too quickly and forced themselves upon an unwilling public; they entered late into a highly competitive market; they failed to communicate the brand; and their business model was unsustainable.Key lessons that may go beyond the speci? cs of the Starbucks case are the importance of: undertaking market research and taking note of it; thinking globally but acting locally; establishing a differential advantage and then striving to sustain it; not losing sight of what makes a brand successful in the ? rst place; and the necessity of having a sustainable business model.O 2009 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction ‘‘Shunned Starbucks in Aussie exit† (BBC News, 4 August 2008) then shifts focus to describe the extent of the store closures in Australia, before offering several reasons for the failure and lessons that others might learn from the case. 2.Background ‘‘Weak coffee and large debt stir Starbucks’ troubles in Australia† (The Australian, 19 August 2008) ‘‘Memo Starbucks: next time try selling ice to Eskimos† (The Age, 3 August 2008) ‘‘Taste of defeat for the mugs from Starbucks† (Sydney Morning Herald, 31 July 2008) ‘‘Coffee culture grinds Starbucks’ Australian operation† (Yahoo News, 3 August 2008) When the announcement was made in mid 2008 that Starbucks would be closing nearly three-quarters of its 84 Australian stores there was mixed reaction. Some people were shocked, others were triumphant.Journalists used every pun in the book to create a sensational headline, and it seemed everyone had a theory as to what went wrong. This case outlines the astounding growth and expansion of the Starbucks brand worldwide, including to Australia. It * Corresponding author. Tel. : +61 2 9385 1105. E-mail addresses: p. [email  pro tected] edu. au (P. G. Patterson), [email  protected] com. au (J. Scott), m. [email  protected] edu. au (M. D. Uncles). Founded in 1971, Starbucks’ ? rst store was in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.By the time it went public in 1992, it had 140 stores and was expanding at a breakneck pace, with a growing store count of an extra 40–60% a year. Whilst former CEO Jim Donald claimed that ‘‘we don’t want to take over the world†, during the 1990s and early 2000s, Starbucks were opening on average at least one store a day (Palmer, 2008). In 2008 it was claimed to be opening seven stores a day worldwide. Not surprisingly, Starbucks is now the largest coffee chain operator in the world, with more than 15,000 stores in 44 countries, and in 2007, accounted for 39% of the world’s total specialist offee house sales (Euromonitor, 2008a). In North America alone, it serves 50 million people a week, and is now an indelible part of the urban lands cape. But just how did Starbucks become such a phenomenon? Firstly, it successfully Americanised the European coffee tradition – something no other coffee house had done previously. Before Starbucks, coffee in its current form (latte, frappacino, mocha, etc. ) was alien to most US consumers. Secondly, Starbucks did not just sell coffee – it sold an experience.As founding CEO Howard Schultz explained, ‘‘We are not in the coffee business serving people, we’re in the people business serving coffee† (Schultz and Yang, 1997). This epitomised the emphasis on customer service such as making eye contact and greeting each customer within 5 seconds, 1441-3582/$ – see front matter O 2009 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. ausmj. 2009. 10. 001 42 P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 leaning tables promptly and remembering the names of regular customers. From inception, Starbucks’ purpose was to reinvent a commodity with a sense of romance, atmosphere, sophistication and sense of community (Schultz and Yang, 1997). Next, Starbucks created a ‘third place’ in people’s lives – somewhere between home and work where they could sit and relax. This was a novelty in the US where in many small towns cafe culture consisted of ? lter coffee on a hot plate. In this way, Starbucks positioned itself to not only sell coffee, but also offer an experience.It was conceived as a lifestyle cafe. The establishment of the cafe as a social hub, with comfortable chairs and music has been just as important a part of the Starbucks brand as its coffee. All this came with a premium price. While people were aware that the beverages at Starbucks were more expensive than at many cafes, they still frequented the outlets as it was a place ‘to see and be seen’. In this way, the brand was widely accep ted and became, to an extent, a symbol of status, and everyone’s must-have accessory on their way to work. So, not only didStarbucks revolutionise how Americans drank coffee, it also revolutionised how much people were prepared to pay. Consistency of product across stores, and even national boundaries, has been a hallmark of Starbucks. Like McDonald’s, Starbucks claims that a customer should be able to visit a store anywhere in the world and buy a coffee exactly to speci? cation. This sentiment is echoed by Mark Ring, CEO of Starbucks Australia who stated ‘‘consistency is really important to our customers . . . a consistency in the product . . . the overall experience when you walk into a cafe . . the music . . . the lighting . . . the furniture . . . the person who is working the bar†. So, whilst there might be slight differences between Starbucks in different countries, they all generally look the same and offer the same product assortment. One way this is ensured is by insisting that all managers and partners (employees) undergo 13 weeks of training – not just to learn how to make a coffee, but to understand the nuances of the Starbucks brand (Karolefski, 2002) and how to deliver on its promise of a service experience.The Starbucks formula also depends on location and convenience. Starbucks have worked under the assumption that people are not going to visit unless it’s convenient, and it is this assumption that underlies their highly concentrated store coverage in many cities. Typically, clusters of outlets are opened, which has the effect of saturating a neighbourhood with the Starbucks brand. Interestingly, until recently, they have not engaged in traditional advertising, believing their large store presence and word-ofmouth to be all the advertising and promotion they need.Starbucks’ management believed that a distinctive and memorable brand, a product that made people ‘feel good’ and an e njoyable delivery channel would create repeat business and customer loyalty. Faced with near-saturation conditions in the US – by 2007 it commanded 62% of the specialist coffee shop market in North America (Table 1) – the company has increasingly looked overseas for growth opportunities. As part of this strategy, Starbucks opened its ? rst Australian store in Sydney in 2000, before expanding elsewhere within New South Wales and then nationwide (albeit with 0% of stores concentrated in just three states: NSW, Victoria and Queensland). By the end of 2007 Starbucks had 87 stores, enabling it to control 7% of the specialist coffee shop market in Australasia (Table 1). By 2008, consumer awareness of Starbucks in Australia was 90% (Shoebridge, 2008), with each outlet selling, on average, double the number of coffees (270 a day) than the rest of Australia’s coffee shops (Lindhe, 2008). 3. Expansion into Asia Starbucks currently operates in 44 markets and even has a sma ll presence in Paris – birthplace and stronghold of European cafe culture. Beyond North America, it has a very signi? ant share of the specialist coffee shop market in Western Europe, Asia Paci? c and Latin America (Table 1) and these regions make strong revenue contributions (Table 2). It is in Asia that they see the most potential for growth as they face increasing competitive pressure in their more traditional markets. Half the international stores Starbucks plans to operate in the next decade will be in Asia (Euromonitor, 2006; Browning, 2008). Indeed, Starbucks has done well in international markets where there has not traditionally been a coffee drinking culture, namely Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and China.In effect it has been responsible for growing the category in these markets. The ? rst Starbucks outside the US opened in Tokyo in 1996, and since then, Starbucks’ Japanese stores have become twice as profitable as the US stores. Unsurprisingly then, Japan is S tarbucks’ best performing overseas market outside North America. More than 100 new stores open each year in Japan, and coffee is now more popular than tea in terms of both volume and value (Lee, 2003; see also Uncles, 2008).As opposed to their entry into the Australian market, Starbucks made small changes to its formula for the Japanese market; for example, the invention of a green tea frappucino, and the provision of smaller drinks and pastries to conform to local tastes. Starbucks arrived in China in 1998 and by 2002 had 50 outlets, and 165 outlets by 2006 (BBC News, 2006), quickly becoming the nation’s leading coffee chain. Starbucks now sees China as its key growth market due to the size and preferences of the emerging middle class. In the Asia–Paci? region, Starbucks command of the specialist coffee shop market grew from 15% in 2002 to 19% in 2007 (refer to Table 2). The total market for cafes in China grew by over 135% between 1999 and 2004 to reach US$2. 6 billion. It is projected to grow another 144% by 2008 to reach US$6. 4 billion in sales. More specialty coffee shops are opening across China as a middle class with strong purchasing power emerges, although this rise in coffee consumption is highly concentrated in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Starbucks has said that it xpects China to become its biggest market after the US and the plan is to open 100 stores a year (Euromonitor, 2006). Signi? cantly, certain Western brands are valued by Chinese consumers and Starbucks appears to be one of them. A growing number of China’s 500 million urbanites favour Starbucks for its ambience, which is seen as an important signal of service quality, Table 2 Starbucks’ regional sales performance by outlets and value 2006. Region North America Asia Paci? c Western Europe Australasia World % of company sales (outlets) 79. 0 13. 6. 7 1. 1 100. 0 % of company sales (revenue in $US) 80. 5 10. 8 7. 7 1. 0 100. 0 Tab le 1 Starbucks’ share of the specialist coffee shop market in each major region. Region North America Western Europe Asia Paci? c Australasia Latin America Source: Euromonitor (2008b). 2002 (%) 44 17 15 6 0 2007 (%) 62 21 19 7 18 Source: Percentage of company sales in each region is calculated from retail sales within this market in 2006, with sales data drawn from Euromonitor (2007). P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 43 nd Starbucks’ design concept rests easily with China’s consumers, who tend to lounge with friends while sipping coffee. Its outlets in China frequently maintain larger seating areas than average outlets in other countries, and plush chairs and davenports are provided to accommodate crowds that linger. However, success for Starbucks in China is not a given, and they will face several challenges in the coming years. China’s accession to the WTO has led to the gradual relaxation of the policy gove rning foreign-owned retail outlets, and this will lead to more foreign investment and thereby competition (Lee, 2004).Several multinationals are engaged in selling coffee (including KFC, McDonald’s, Yoshinoya, and Manabe), and a number of local brands have recently emerged, some even imitating Starbucks’ distinctive green and white logo and its in-store ambience (notably Xingbake in Shanghai). Furthermore, the reduction of import tariffs on coffee will also encourage foreign investment in coffee. 4. The Australian retail coffee industry Australia’s taste for coffee is a by-product of the waves of immigrants arriving on the country’s shores following World War II. European migrants, predominantly Greeks and Italians, were the ? st to establish the coffee culture, which was later embraced more widely in the 1980s. For decades Australians enjoyed a variation of the ‘lifestyle coffee experience’ that Starbucks created from scratch in the US. Aust ralians did not need to be introduced to the concept of coffee as many other countries did. Savouring a morning cup of coffee was already a ritual for many consumers. It is fair to describe Australia’s coffee culture as mature and sophisticated, so when Starbucks entered Australia in 2000, a thriving urban cafe culture was already in place.This established culture saw Australians typically patronise smaller boutique style coffee shops, with people willing to travel out of their way for a favoured cup of coffee, especially in Melbourne where coffee has developed an almost cult-like following. For Australians, coffee is as much about relationships as it is about the product, suggesting that an impersonal, global chain experience would have trouble replicating the intimacy, personalisation and familiarity of a suburban boutique cafe.Furthermore, through years of coffee drinking, many Australians, unlike American or Asian consumers, have developed a sophisticated palate, enjoying their coffee straighter and stronger, and without the need to disguise the taste with ? avoured, syrupy shots. This love of coffee is easily quanti? ed. The Australian market is worth $3 billion, of which $1. 8 billion relates to the coffee retailing market. For every cup of coffee consumed out of home, two cups are consumed at home (AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association, 2006). Per capita consumption is now estimated at 2. kg-twice as much as 30 years ago. Whilst Australians are among the highest consumers of instant coffee in the world, they are increasingly buying coffee out of the home (Euromonitor, 2008c). More than 1 billion cups of coffee are consumed in cafes, restaurants and other outlets each year, representing an increase of 65% over the last 10 years. Even between 2000 and 2005, trade sales of coffee have increased about 18%. In 2007, the growth in popularity of the cafe culture resulted in trade volume sales growing at an annual rate of 5%.Some 31% of the coffee so ld through foodservice is takeaway, and it is thought that ‘fast coffee’ will be a growth area in future years (Euromonitor, 2008d). There is also a trend towards larger takeaway sizes, with 400 ml cups increasing in popularity (Euromonitor, 2008d). One might argue that Starbucks drove these trends, especially in regards to larger sizes. There are almost 14,000 cafes and restaurants serving a variety of coffee types in Australia, and during 2006/07, they generated $9. 7 billion in income (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008).However, despite these statistics, the coffee business does not guarantee success. As Paul Irvine, co-founder of Gloria Jean’s notes, ‘‘Australia is a tough retail market and coffee retailing is particularly tough†. According to of? cial statistics, the cafe business is not always pro? table, with the net pro? tability of cafes falling to about 4%. For a cafe to be successful, it has to offer marginally better coffee than local competitors, and do so consistently. Coffee drinkers in Australia are discerning, and they will go out of their way to purchase a good cup of coffee.They are not as easily persuaded as people from other countries simply to visit their nearest cafe. Secondly, for a cafe to make a pro? t, it needs to turn over 15 kg of coffee a week. The national average is 11 kg, so a cafe has to be above average to begin with to even make a pro? t. Any newcomer needs to understand this before entering the market. The other signi? cant constraint on pro? tability is the cost of hiring baristas, with a good one costing between $1000 and $1500 a week (Charles, 2007). However, it seems that this is a necessary cost in order to deliver a superior product.The question that then begs to be asked is: How well did Starbucks understand this existing coffee culture? Did they under-estimate the relational aspect of coffee purchasing in Australia, as well as the importance of the quality of ingredients and the skills of the person making each cup? Did they overestimate the value consumers attach to the in-store experience and the ‘third place’ concept? Or did they just look at the statistics regarding coffee consumption and think that operating in Australia was a license to print money? Did they simply see Australia as the next logical step to global domination?Starbucks has 87% of the US specialty coffee shop market, and only now is it beginning to feel pressure from non-traditional competitors such as Dunkin Donut, 7 Eleven, McCafe and Krispy Kreme (Burritt, 2007). However, in Australia, the competitive landscape is different. Gloria Jean’s dominates the high-street part of the coffee retailing market and McCafe dominates the convenience end (Shoebridge, 2008). Other signi? cant competitors include The Coffee Club and Wild Bean Cafe (an add-on to BP petrol stations) and Hudson’s Coffee (see Table 3).All offer a similar in-store experience to Starbucks, wi th McCafe from 2007 onwards refurbishing many McDonald’s stores to imitate the Starbucks’ experience, albeit at the economy end of the market. 5. Growth grinds to a halt . . . store closures In recent times however things have started to go wrong for Starbucks. Internationally, company earnings declined as cashstrapped consumers faced record petrol prices and rising interest rates meaning they have had to pull back on gourmet coffee and other luxuries. Sales fell 50% in the last 2 years, the US share price fell more than 40% over the past year and pro? s dropped 28% (Bawden, 2008; Coleman-Lochner and Stanford, 2008; Mintz, 2008). Consequently, Howard Schultz, the founder and chairman of Starbucks, resumed the position of CEO in 2008 with the aim of revitalising the business. He slowed the pace at which stores were opened (and in fact closed more stores than he will open in the coming year), introduced key performance targets (KPTs) and an employee rewards system in the US, and simultaneously shut down every store in America for three and a half hours of staff training (Muthukumar and Jain, 2008).Customer-oriented initiatives have included the addition of more food, the launch of the Starbucks card and Starbucks express, and the provision of highspeed wi-? internet access (Hota, 2008). Notably, Schultz acknowledges that the company’s focus has been more on expansion than on customer service – the very thing that was at the heart of its unique value proposition. 44 P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 Table 3 Competition in the Australian specialty coffee chain market (chains arranged in order of the number of stores operating in Australia).Number of stores in Australia Gloria Jean’s 500 Year established in Australia 1996 Business model Price of an espresso coffee (e. g. , ? at white, cappuccino) Regular $3. 25 Small $3. 25 Standard $3. 40 Regular $3. 40 Small $3. 10 Tall $3. 60 Perform ance highlights and lowlights Franchise  Overall Winner, 2005 Franchisor of the Year  Sales rose 18% to an estimated $240 m for 07/08 driven by new stores and growth from existing stores  The fastest growing cafe brand in Australia and NZ  Number of stores up from 60 in 2002  Winner, 2008 Food Franchisor of the Year  The number of stores reported here includes NZ  Plans to open more sitesMcCafe Coffee Club Wild Bean Cafe 488 220 105 1993 1989 2004 Some store-owned, some franchise Franchise Part of a franchise with Wild Bean Cafe (BP) Connect Franchise Store-owned Hudson’s Starbucks 45 23 1998 2000  Plans to expand store numbers by 20–30% 08/09  Prior to closures in August 2008 there were 84 stores had a perceived lower quality product Sources: Various company reports as at the end of 2008. However, it seems that these measures were too late for the Australian operation. On 29th July 2008, Starbucks announced that it would be closing 61 of its 84 Australian sto res (i. . , 73%) by August 2008, resulting in a loss of 685 jobs. All of these stores had been under-performing (8 were in SA, ACT and Tasmania, 28 in NSW, 17 in Victoria and 8 in Queensland). This decline of Starbucks in Australia was not as sudden as many would have us believe and in fact some reports (Edwards and Sainsbury, 2008; Shoebridge, 2008) indicated that by late 2007 Starbucks already had:      accumulated losses of $143 million; a loss of $36 million for that ? nancial year; lost $27. 6 million the previous ? nancial year; loans of $72. million from Starbucks in the US; was only surviving because of its US parent’s support. Whilst the troubled economy might seem an easy scapegoat, with people tightening their belts and eating out less, it is unlikely that this was the core problem as evidenced by the continuing growth of their competitors. Indeed, coffee is no longer considered a luxury item by many Australians, but rather an affordable part of their daily ro utine. Instead, there is substantial evidence to suggest a number of factors combined to bring about Starbucks’ demise. . 1. Starbucks overestimated their points of differentiation and customer perceived value of their supplementary services ‘‘I just think the whole system, the way they serve, just didn’t appeal to the culture we have here† Andrew Mackay, VP of the Australian Coffee Traders Association, in Martin (2008) Whilst there was initial curiosity and hype about Starbucks, after trying it, many Australians quickly found that it failed to offer a particularly unique experience that was not offered by other chains or cafes.Given the strong established coffee culture and discerning palates of Australians, the core product – coffee – was not seen as particularly different from, say, a latte or short black from a good suburban barista, Gloria Jean’s or Coffee Club. Its point of difference in Australia, where a coffee culture alr eady existed, had to be in its supplementary or value-adding services – i. e. , its unique servicescape, engaging customer service, brand image and so on (Lovelock et al. , 2007).But was this worth a premium price, especially as the competition began replicating Starbucks in-store experience? Starbucks has since been harshly criticised by Australian consumers and the media. Their coffee has been variously described as ‘a watered down product’, ‘gimmicky’, and consisting of ‘buckets of milk’. These are not the labels you would choose to describe a coffee that aspires to be seen as a ‘gourmet’ product. It has also been criticised for its uncompetitive pricing, even being described as ‘‘one of the most over-priced products the world has ever seen† (Martin, 2008).Even the idea of the third place has come under criticism – ‘‘why would you want to sit around a pretend lounge room drinking a wea k and expensive coffee when you can go around the corner and have the real thing? † (Wailes, 2008). It seems that Starbucks’ rapid expansion, its omnipresence, somewhat standardised store design and recent insistence on staff achieving various sales KPTs (key performance targets) such as serving ‘x’ customers per hour, all combined to diminish the instore experience. The introduction of sales targets for front-line These closures saw 23 stores kept open in prime locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.But this begs the question: can a 23-store chain be viable for the brand in the long-term? Based on the approximate numbers in Table 3, Starbucks had a 6% share of stores in Australia before the closures; this has now fallen to a share below 2%. Even before the closures, Australasia represented only 1% of company sales (Table 2) and now the ? gure is expected to be much lower. This may not make much commercial sense as it will be dif? cult to achieve econo mies of scale in terms of marketing and purchasing, and such small numbers are totally out of step with the clustering strategy adopted in its strongest markets – the US, Japan and China.However, it could also be argued that with Starbucks’ strategy of global domination, it is unlikely that it will ever close its Australian business entirely. Whilst Starbucks’ management have been keen to suggest that ‘‘this decision represents business challenges unique to the Australian market and in no way re? ects the state of the Starbucks business in countries outside of the United States†, the US market has also suffered. By September 2008, 600 stores had closed (or were due for closure), with about 12,000 workers, or 7% of Starbucks’ global workforce affected (Mintz, 2008).It should be noted that the situation in the US has only worsened as a result of the global ? nancial crisis. 6. So what went wrong? Opinions abound as to why Starbucks failed in Australia. Our research suggests there is some truth to many of these opinions. P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 45 employees, for example, meant staff and baristas had less time to engage with customers. It began to stray too far from its roots and the very values upon which the brand was built.Some of these actions were forced upon Starbucks by emerging competitors seeking to imitate the brand, and thus gain a slice of the ever growing lifestyle coffee market. Starbucks’ points of differentiation were systematically being eroded and, in a sense, the brand that taught the world that coffee is not a commodity was itself becoming one. 6. 2. Declining service quality The brand has also come under ? re for declining customer service as it continued to expand. For example, the quality of baristas is said to have declined as Starbucks widened its pool of applicants in order to meet demand at new stores.Can a 17 year old high school student really compete with a boutique trained barista with a passion for coffee? By not offering a better experience and product than emerging direct competitors, Starbucks found itself undermined by countless high street cafes and other chains that were selling stronger brews at lower prices and often offering better or equal hospitality. Whilst they may have pioneered the idea of a ‘third place’, it was an easy idea to copy, and even easier to better by offering superior coffee, ambience and service.Now, with so many coffee chains around, Starbucks have little point of differentiation, even wi-? internet access has become commonplace across all types of cafe. Furthermore, while customers were offered promotional rewards for returning to Starbucks, the card-based scheme is no more sophisticated than equivalent me-too cards at Gloria Jean’s, Coffee Club, Hudson’s and many independent cafes. And as noted earlier, one of the things that set Starbucks apart from the competition – i. e. , acknowledging customers (often by name for regulars) within a few seconds of entering the store and eriously engaging with them, began to unravel when Starbucks imposed both customer service and sales targets for its cafes. The imposition of these targets plus an ever widening range and complexity of coffees to remember and make to perfection, meant staff morale and inevitably customer service levels declined. In fact in the USA some staff were so disillusioned with the imposition of sales targets (because it meant they simply didn’t have time to engage with customers) they posted blogs openly stating that Starbucks had lost its way.Finally, it appears that Starbucks were not even delivering on their core promise of serving superior coffee in comfortable surroundings, thus justifying its premium price. By switching to vacuum packaged coffee, consumers are denied the store-? lling aroma of the coffee beans. The switching of traditional cof fee machines to automated espresso machines (which can make coffees 40% faster and move customers through the lines more quickly), has also resulted in a loss of ‘theatre’ (Grove et al. , 2000) for people wanting to see their coffee made that way and has also had implications for taste.In-store, it has been noted that there are fewer soft chairs and less carpeting, and Starbucks recently lost ground in the ‘service and surroundings’ category of the Brand Keys 2007 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (Cebrzynski, 2008). It seems that Starbucks is now less about the quality of the coffee, and is more about the convenience of faster service and being on every corner – whilst still charging a premium. 6. 3. Starbucks ignored some golden rules of international marketing Ironically, it seems that the very thing that made Starbucks successful in the ? st place, its ability to adjust the original (European) business model and coffee tradition to local (US) con ditions, is the thing that let it down. Whilst Starbucks has made minor changes to its menu in countries such as Japan and Saudi Arabia, it generally offers the same products all around the world. When the company came to Australia, it brought its ‘American’ offering, simply bringing what worked in the US and applying it here, without really understanding the local market.But with more than 235 ethnicities speaking more than 270 languages and dialects, companies wanting to get ahead in Australia need to be aware that they are not dealing with one homogeneous market. Unfortunately what worked in the US was ‘‘bitter, weak coffee augmented by huge quantities of milk and sweet ? avoured syrups. Not so much coffee, as hot coffee-based smoothies†. For the Australian consumer raised on a diet of real espresso, this was always going to be a tough sell (Mescall, 2008) As McDonald’s Australia chief executive Peter Bush noted, US retailers that have had tr ouble making it work in Australia (e. . , Starbucks, Denny’s, Arby’s, Taco Bell) are those that have ‘‘introduced formulae developed for US palates and for the US way of doing business . . . These formulae have, at best, modest relevance in Australia†. Peter Irvine, co-founder of Gloria Jean’s, also noted that ‘‘US retailers often arrive in Australia thinking the size of their overseas chains and the strength of their brands in other markets will make it easy for them to crack the local market. Their focus is on global domination rather than the needs of the local consumers†.Further, there is a strong sense in Australia of buying local, supporting the community, having relationships with the people you buy from, and supporting ethically-minded businesses. Starbucks clashed completely with that, whereas local stores can differentiate themselves as being local and non-corporate. Furthermore, some would argue that Starbucks has b ecome a caricature of the American way of life and many Australians reject that iconography. Many are simply not interested in the ‘super-size’ culture of the extra-large cups, nor want to be associated with a product that is constantly in the hands of movie stars. . 4. Expanding too quickly and forcing themselves upon an unwilling public In the US, Starbucks started in Seattle as a single store. In a nation bereft of a genuine cafe culture, that single store captured people’s imagination, and soon became a second store, quickly followed by a third. Before long, Starbucks had become a demand-driven phenomenon, with everyone wanting a Starbucks in their local area. McDonald’s grew exactly the same way in Australia, opening just one or two stores in each city – nowhere near enough to meet demand – thus creating an almost arti? ial scarcity, which created huge buzz around the brand experience. Krispy Kreme did the same. But when Starbucks opened in Australia, they immediately tried to impose themselves with multiple store openings in every city – adopting the US-model of expansion through store clusters. Australians were not given a chance to ‘discover’ it. As Mescall (2008) points out ‘‘they took key sites, hung huge signs, made us order coffee in sizes and gave the coffees weird names. Starbucks said to us – ‘that’s not how you drink coffee. This s how you drink coffee’†. They took the Coca-Cola strategy of being available wherever people looked, but this quickly led to market saturation. Their expansion did not hurt their competitors so much as themselves, and they found themselves cannibalising their own stores. Furthermore, by becoming too common, the company violated the economic principles of cultural scarcity and the novelty wore off. By having too many outlets, becoming too commercial and too widely used, it began to lose its initial appeal of status and exclusivity.It began to have a mass brand feel, certainly not the warm feeling of a neighbourhood cafe. Furthermore, they became more reliant 46 P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 on less af? uent consumers who now, with a worsening economy, are spending less, making Starbucks more vulnerable to economic ? uctuations. 6. 5. Entering late into a highly competitive market ‘‘In America, Starbucks is a state of mind. In Australia, it was simply another player. † Barry Urquhart, quoted in Delaney (2008) From Day 1, Starbucks got off on the back foot.They lacked the ? rst-mover advantage they had in the US and Asia, ? nding themselves the late entrant in an already very developed, sophisticated and competitive market. Indeed, the competitive landscape in the Australian retail coffee market is very different to that of other countries. Here, Starbucks found themselves competing with hundreds of independent cafes and special ity coffee chains (see Table 3), where the coffee was generally better and the staff knew their customers by name. Signi? cantly, they were also the last of the major chains to gain a presence in Australia. 6. 6.Failing to communicate the brand Worldwide, Starbucks rarely employs above-the-line promotion, and this was also the case in Australia. Instead, they maintained that their stores are the core of the business and that they do not need to build the brand through advertising or promotion. Howard Shultz often preached, ‘‘Build the (Starbucks’) brand one cup at a time,† that is, rely on the customer experience to generate word-of-mouth, loyalty and new business. But in a market as competitive as Australia, with a consumer whose palate is discerning and whose loyalty often lies with a speci? barista, advertising and promotion was essential to communicate the Starbucks message. The issue is not so much about building awareness – which, at 90%, is hig h – but to communicate what the brand means and to give consumers reasons for patronising Starbucks. Their lack of advertising made this branding issue even worse, with many people unable to articulate why they should be loyal to Starbucks. At the same time, competitors were communicating their messages very effectively – McDonald’s, for instance, is a heavy spending, award-winning, advertiser in the Australian market.Added to which, more subversive counter-messages were coming from those who saw in Starbucks a ‘brand bully’ riding rough shod over the nuanced tastes and preferences of local cultures (Klein, 2000; Clark, 2008). In other words, a range of strong contrary messages were undermining Starbucks’ own very limited communications. 6. 7. Unsustainable business model Starbucks’ product line is limited primarily to coffee. Sometimes a new product idea will be developed, such as the Frappucino, but these tend to have limited product life cycles and/or are seasonal.For example, the Frappucino has traditionally made up 15% of (summer) sales, but recently sales have been down, suggesting that customers are already bored with it (Kiviat, 2008). Furthermore, in the instance where other products were offered, people failed to purchase them as they only really associate Starbucks with coffee and generally seek food elsewhere. This is a very different model to The Coffee Club which has much more of a cafe feel to it, or McDonald’s which has a full range of breakfast and lunch/dinner items that can be complemented by a McCafe latte.Hence the average transaction value at Starbucks is lower than its competitors, and therefore more customers must pass through its doors to reach the sales and pro? t levels of its competitors. It also creates con? ict with the Starbucks ethos of the third place (and allowing people to sit around for 30 minutes sipping lattes and reading, talking or sur? ng) versus the need to get peo ple in and out quickly and not take up valuable ‘real estate’ (which in itself means that the average Starbucks store needs to be much bigger than the average cafe).Unlike most of the other retail coffee chains, Starbucks does not use a franchise model, preferring to lease and ? t-out its own outlets. This means more cash is being spent upfront, and in Starbucks’ case, more debt accrued. But adopting a franchise model would have numerous other advantages than just minimising this. It would mean that local investors, with a good sense of the local market, put their own money into the business and take an active role in running it and shaping its direction. 7. What are the main lessons from this case study?Several key lessons emerge that should be of interest to both domestic and international marketers. 7. 1. Crossing international borders is risky and clearly Starbucks did not do their homework, or ignored their homework Well conceived market research involving b oth primary and secondary data, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, would have uncovered the extent of the ‘coffee culture’ that existed in 2000 when Starbucks entered the Australian market. It seems inconceivable that Starbucks management, or at least its Australian representatives, were not suf? iently apprised of the extent to which many consumers were already well acculturated in terms of buying and consuming European styles of coffees such as short black, lattes and cappuccinos, nor the extent to which many customers were in fact loyal to their suburban cafe or competitive brands such as Gloria Jean’s. As a late market entrant, Starbucks clearly failed to do thorough homework on the market before entry – this is a failure in terms of due diligence. Alternatively, they chose to ignore the messages that were coming from any due diligence that they had undertaken.This may or may not have been due to some arrogance on the part of Starbucks, or due to the fact that they considered they had a strong global brand which would meet with universal acceptance. An example of where Starbucks did do its homework, and act on it, was in France when it entered that market in 2006, establishing a cafe in the middle of Paris. Research had clearly shown the American way of consuming and socialising over a coffee was an anathema to many French, so Starbucks held back from entering the French market and when they ? ally entered it was with great trepidation, expanding at a very slow pace and testing the market at every step. 7. 2. ‘‘Think global but act local† This familiar maxim in international marketing should be well understood. While Starbucks had brand awareness as a major global brand, it failed to adapt the product and the customer experience to many mature coffee drinkers in Australia. As noted earlier, all the evidence suggests that it simply tried to transplant the American experience into the Australian ma rket without any adaptation.In particular, it failed to adapt either its core product or its supplementary services to create the intimacy, personalisation and familiarity that is associated with established boutique cafes in Australia. 7. 3. Establish a differential advantage and then strive to sustain it A question of strategy that Starbucks perhaps failed to address was, ‘‘Is our product differentiation sustainable in the long term P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 47 and does it continue to justify a price premium? As noted earlier, it can be argued that the core product in this case, that is the coffee itself, is essentially a commodity, and that Starbucks’ coffee, according to many consumers, was no different to the competition, and in some cases inferior. Then Starbucks’ points of difference clearly revolved around its brand image and supplementary services. It was these supplementary services, such as its unique servicescape and excellent customer service, that they used to justify a premium price. However, as competitors (e. g. , The Coffee Club) quickly imitated the ‘Starbucks experience’ (i. . , their supplementary services, ambiance, etc. ), by providing premium coffee and an intimate casual experience, Starbucks’ value proposition began to fade. In other words, their key points of difference could be easily imitated and were not sustainable. Faced with this scenario, the onus was on management to re-fresh and evolve any lingering differential advantage that Starbucks might have had or, at the very least, give customers reasons to continue patronising Starbucks through its communications. 7. 4. Don’t lose sight of what made you successful in the ? st place As more and more competitors emerged, both individual cafes and chains such as Gloria Jean’s and The Coffee Club, competitive pressures forced Starbucks to impose rigid sales targets on their frontline staff including baristas to increase store productivity. However, the imposition of these KPTs and the pressure to serve more customers more quickly meant that Starbucks forgot the very thing that made it unique in the early days, namely, to provide a customer experience in an intimate casual setting that set it aside from competitors.As more pressure was placed on staff to have higher throughput, this meant that baristas and other employees had little time to engage with customers. In other words, Starbucks forgot about the very things that made it unique in the ? rst place. This is akin to the Wheel of Retailing hypothesis (Hollander, 1960) where a no-frills retailer gradually moves upmarket in terms of variety of product, price and more services and within several years ? nds itself competing with the more established premium supermarkets that were the very competitors that they tried to distance themselves from in the ? st place. The only difference with Starbucks is t hat it reversed the direction of the Wheel – by gradually moving downmarket it brought itself into direct competition with cheaper operators and lost sight of what made it successful in the ? rst place. 7. 5. Consider the viability of the business model It has to be questioned whether the Starbucks’ business model is viable in the long term, or even the medium term. A business model that uses a premium price to justify the excessive ? or space and elaborate servicescape, and allows customers to sit in this environment for an hour sipping one latte, has to be questioned. Given that Starbucks do not have the array of products that, say, a McDonald’s might have and, as documented earlier in this case, therefore do not generate the same sales volumes and revenues, it is hard to see how the Starbucks’ model is ? nancially viable. 8. Conclusion In summary, it appears on all the evidence that Starbucks not only misjudged the Australian coffee culture but also mi sjudged the extent of the competition, and failed to adapt its offering to the local market.Furthermore, with the advent of high quality barista training, the availability of premium coffee beans and the technology to produce a high quality cup of coffee (at a modest cost), sole operators who knew their customers by name, were able to set up business as viable competitors. Starbucks may have been responsible for growing the premium coffee category, but the emergence of Gloria Jean’s and the Coffee Club (and McCafe, a premium coffee shop embedded in McDonald’s restaurants) turned out to be serious competitors.Finally, questions have to be raised about Starbucks fundamental business model in a market where many small niche players can easily replicate the ‘Starbucks Experience’. References AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association, 2006. 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Girl Scouts Honor essays

Girl Scouts Honor essays Girl Scouts of the United States was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, its membership started in Savannah, Georgia. Members of Girl Scouts rose from 18 to nearly four million today. Its known as the world's largest organization dedicated to helping all girls everywhere build character and gain skills for success in the real world. Girl scouts members develop strong values, leadership skills, social conscience, and confidence about their own potential and self-esteem that will serve them all their lives. The Purpose of Girl Scouting is to inspire girls with the highest principles of character, conduct, patriotism, and service that they may become happy and resourceful citizens. All girls from ages 5-17 can participate in the fun, friendship, and power of girls together through the Girl Scout experience, including community service projects, cultural exchanges, building sport skills, and environmental preservations. The Girl Scouts launched a program last year titled "For Every Girl, Everywhere," and performed major outreach among its membership, particularly in terms of trying to reach more Hispanic girls(Taylor. 2002, Advertising Age). The Hispanic market isn't the only minority audience on which the Girl Scouts see a need to make an effort. The Girl Scouts first worked to identify the common ground between the Girl scouts and Hispanics, and then create the "Cultural Awareness Training Program," which would lead to more successful recruiting(Taylor. 2002, Advertising Age). The volunteers are given various ideas on what kind of events they can hold, such as "Pedicure Night" which a local volunteer sponsored to create a comfortable atmosphere for the girls. In the United States there are approximately thirty Girl Scouts Beyond Bars programs, most of them limited to providing only one service: once-a-month visits to the prisons(Freedman. 2003, Texas Monthly).That's because every girl in this troop has or has ...

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Ethics in Banking Essay Example

Ethics in Banking Essay Example Ethics in Banking Essay Example Ethics in Banking Essay Example Banks are financial institutions the main function of which can be generalized to the creation of wealth. The performance of any banking institution in the world is measured by their capacity to maximize the financial base. It means that banks are evaluated on how they set their monetary policies to maximize financial assets in the given periods of time. The banking industry is the most important industry in controlling every aspect of the world economy. The reason is that governments, non-governmental organizations, as well as the general population, entirely rely on banks for any financial operation. Banks simply control the world. Therefore, the question of ethics in the banking industry is essential to analyze their great responsibility. The essay seeks to examine ethics in banking in relation to the government. It is especially focused on the takeover of banking by the government. The paper also points out the consequences when banks do not follow the ethical code of conduct. Banking ethics simply refer to ethical or moral principles that a certain bank may choose to follow. These ethics guide a bank during its operations. In banking ethics, there is no one universal code of ethics that has been set. Thus, banks have the right to set up their own ethical conducts. It is then their task to try and appeal to customers, partners, as well as investors. Banks go through the verification of partners and investors to determine their ethical standing. Thus, investors venture into banks with ethics on mind. Ethical banking seeks to establish an ethical bank. Ethical bank is the one where investors should not run a business not taking bank’s ethics into account. It also means that a bank seeks not to compromise its ethical policies and standings. It does not accept any investment that is against ethics. Ethical banking promotes investment opportunities that encourage social and environmental enterprises. Ethical Banking and the Government The banking industry is faced with several ethical questions in its operations. There are also different consequences as far as these policies are concerned. There are a lot of economic, social, and environmental issues arising in this century. It means that the banking industry has to make a lot of ethical decisions, especially as far as government control is concerned. The financial crisis that occurred between 2008 and 2011 was caused by the banking sector. The reason is that it is a section of the economy that is responsible for controlling all financial investments in it. Governments all over the world were left collecting the pieces of a broken economic structure (Labaton Sucharow LLP, 2012). It raises great concern for ethical principles that governments should stick. Independence in the banking industry was responsible for this crisis because governments could lend and borrow money without any limitation from state banks. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the banking indu stry in detail as far as ethics are concerned. Much work has to be done to estimate ethics in banking for its effectiveness. Citizens of different countries have been left discussing on whether governments should apply monetary policies fully to control baking institutions across the globe after the financial crisis of 2008. However, there are many implications and factors to consider before one is to come to a proper conclusion. The survey that was carried out in the United States of America on whether governments should control their operations proves that employees have a different point of view on the problem. About 20 percent of employees in the banking industry feel that they would break the law if they can access insider trading that would make them millionaires. About 25 percent of all employees have experienced misconduct in the past and have not reported on it. The most astonishing statistics in the survey show that 40 percent of the interviewed employees said that to make it, the banking industry required illegal and unethical conduct. It specifically shows how those employed in the banking sect or feel about ethical banking. The statistics can still be applied today, but it was rather strong in the years prior to the financial crisis. Thus, the issue of ethical banking is critical (Wehinger, 2013). The scandals that have occurred in the banking sector in the past have further questioned the ability of the banking industry to stick to the ethical code. Such scandals include a serious scandal when several traders from banks across the world colluded to manipulate banking rates. These interbank lending rates determine what millions of people in different countries pay for their mortgages. They also determine profits that people receive from their savings in individual banks. Such a scandal plays a major role in creating a low level of confidence in the banking sector as unethical one. It also questions the role of the government in these matters. For such a scandal to happen, the supervision and regulation of an individual government must have been poor or even unavailable. The presence of scandals in these reputable financial organizations shows that the financial sector has performed cynical and even destructive actions. Too many of these actions actually threaten the lives of c itizens across the globe. The reason is that banks are responsible for the control of resources to individual citizens and even the government. It may lead to the misallocation of funds and resources, financial crises, as well as negative or low returns and interests of pension funds. The public has shown cynicism and anger towards the banking industry in the previous decades. Especially, it happens after the misappropriation of funds such as poor investment of pension funds to obtain negative returns. Different economic researchers have accused the banking industry of disregarding the clients’ interests and even denigrating them. Different clients have also noted that banks advised people to invest in products and stocks, of which other companies were trying to get rid. The reason is that the partners themselves and stakeholders undertake investment projects that have potential profits. Therefore, the code of ethics for banks in terms of putting their clients ahead of organizational gain is actually a hoax. It does not mean that banks should not be profit-making investments. However, they should not make money at the expense of their clients. The main objectives of banks are to assist clients in savings, investments, and lending. Therefore, they must make their profits from service charges and interest rates (Bryfonski, 2010). Rather than targeting the client’s savings, they should develop ways to assist the client in making financial decisions to invest savings in profitable ventures. Therefore, the concept of an ethical bank has not become a reality. Government intervention has taken place in the banking industry. In every economy, there are banks and other financial institutions that are privately owned as well as a central bank or a reserve bank is controlled by the government. The government bank or the reserve bank acts as a controller of interests and the flow of currency in the economy. For example, in the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank controls the lending rates of commercial banks. It determines the interest rates that commercial banks charge to their customers. Governments also control the flow of currency from commercial banks to the public. The aim of it is to control inflation as well as the value of currency. Government control is also available in specific banking institutions. The government sets specific laws for commercial banks, which they have to follow. The government is not engaged in the control of other banking operations. Thus, the banking industry is independent in terms of its dealing with clien ts. It is evident in the lack of uniformity in the industry. Different banks have different lending rates, mortgage interest rates, as well as the terms of service (Groarke, 1998). The lack of total control of the banking industry raises the question of public welfare. The public’s trust in the banking industry has been lost after the financial crisis. That is why banks have attempted to make several changes to gain it back. For example, several banks have tried to reduce their exposure to risks through deleveraging of assets, coming up with effective risk models, and reducing shadow banking activities. Banks are now focused on gaining back their home markets rather than competing with each other in the global market. In some countries, the government has intervened to create two separate banking entities, dividing into investment banking and retail banking. It has put retail banks away from the risks faced by investment banks. Thus, retail banks are now safely back, offering savings, credits, and other financial services. On the other hand, investment banks have focused only on offering investment advices instead of financial services. However, economis ts and bankers who support universal banking do not agree on this form of banking control (Reynolds Newell, 2011). They say that the fact that the government has separated these two activities does not necessarily mean better management in the banking sector. They believe that the solution lies not in government control but better risk modeling and financial signals. There are also different ways in which governments have decided to control banking operations. Several governments, especially in free trade areas, such as Europe, have joined to set new laws in banking. The main objective of these laws is to increase liquidity and capital requirements for commercial banks. Governments coordinate these requirements in an international setting. The laws are set to adopt more binding and tougher capital regulations in order to improve the risk management of these banks. Earlier on, before the financial crisis, the public saw the banking sector as a too big enterprise to fail. It was not the case of the financial crisis of 2008. Now, government efforts aim at reducing this threat. The laws are intended to make stakeholders in the banking industry realize that banking is an investment like no other and requires particular attention. The laws encourage individual banks to evaluate their ethical code of conduct to create a universal banking sector (Wehinge r, 2013). Other individuals in the banking industry have undertaken different programs to regulate banks. The main form of bank control is the limit of banks to home markets. It is done to prevent penetration from international markets. However, this form of control is not effective as banks are not free to invest in other regions. These regions could have scarce liquidity. Therefore, in this case, investment in other countries would be a flow of healthy capital. It is not an effective action in the banking industry that is struggling to recover after the financial crisis. The freedom of banks to invest in foreign markets has provided them a chance to stabilize due to the flow of healthy capital. Control weakens the banking system further. Government control in this case is safe, but it does not give the opportunity for investors to venture into new markets and take risks (Bryfonski, 2010). Total control of the banking industry is not quite effective. The government should not struggle to overtake private commercial banks and undertake banking operations itself. The main essence of private banking in the global market is to undertake investments. The meaning of investment is a venture that involves risks. Banks are enterprises that can venture into any investment freely because they have available capital to invest at the right time. The only reason why partners decide to start a bank is to get into investment activities at any time in any region. There are no investments without risks. Banks are themselves a risky investment. Most citizens feel that investment banks attempt to find enough capital and the right risk models for the global market. Banks give the public a chance to invest in the global market. The government is supposed to act as a welfare agent for its citizens. In banking, the government aims at ensuring that it protects the public from exploitation by b anks. Therefore, it means that the government cannot encourage risky investments. If a client were to lose his/her money in an investment, the government as a welfare agent and the bank should cover the risks. It simply implies that the government cannot protect the public and advise them to risk their funds at the same time. Instead of fully control banks, the government should engage in a healthy bank regulation. It means that governments have to set a universal ethical code of conduct to guide all banks. Afterwards, governments should observe banks more closely to ensure that they adhere to the code of conduct. After all, the public is involved in risky investments in banking of own free will. The role of the government is to ensure that banks are not responsible for causing another financial crisis (Bryfonski, 2010). The government should employ the best economic analysts to give advice to commercial banks and the whistleblowers of illegal and unethical conduct at the same time. Thus, the government must act only as a regulatory body to maintain control on standards in banks. It will prevent the notion too big to fall that exists in the banking industry. This notion holds that the financial sector, especially commercial banks, has too much control over the international economy. As a result, it cannot fail without adverse effects on the economy. Therefore, the government always supports commercial banks on the brink of their collapse. The government acts as a bailout for these banks to avoid bankruptcy. Analysts believe that it would prevent the failure of the system. The government should have different regulatory measures to control the banking industry in order to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis, as well as the protection of public exploitation by bankers. The first method of control that has failed in the past is the minimum requirement. It is a method of regulation when the government requires commercial banks to maintain a minimum capital ratio. It is done to ensure that banks do not over-borrow or lend more money than they can maintain. At the beginning of the global economic recession, commercial banks held little money in their reserves. Somehow, banks in the US found a leeway to determine the one responsible for their supervision and regulation. The main aim of the minimum requirements is to promote the objectives of the regulatory body. In this case, the federal government should control the minimum requirement in order to control the exposure of certain sectors of commercial banks to risks. It acts as a protective measure. It ensures that commercial banks can maintain their capital ratios even in times of economic downfall. In this case, the government should not intervene to bail out collapsing banks. This method of regulatio n has failed for commercial banks in the country. For this reason, the government had to control some of the smaller banks, which had not maintained their capital requirements during the financial crisis (Wehinger, 2013). Large banks were controlling most after giving loans to the smaller ones. The government had to get money from the public reserve to bail out the banks. In regulation, the government should make sure that it will not happen in the future. They should engage in better regulatory and supervisory methods to ensure that every bank maintains its capital ratio requirements. The government also acts as a supervisory body. This method of regulation has failed in the past. The government issues a bank license to commercial banks so that they could carry out banking operations. The government also goes ahead and supervises the activities of a bank. When applying for a bank license, applicants present their ethical guidelines. Moreover, there are other requirements that banks should fulfill before procuring the license. The government as a regulatory body ensures that the requirements are met in different ways. They include giving directions on the right action, obtaining undertakings from commercial banks, revoking the banking license, and imposing penalties. The government has failed to supervise commercial banks effectively. It has led to non-compliance with the requirements. Banks have also found a leeway in going against the supervisory body. It has resulted in activities against their ethical code of conduct. The government ends up assisting banks with problems that could be easily avoided. Thus, the government should not seek how to control banks but rather supervise their operations effectively. This way, banks will adhere to their requirements, thus operating effectively (Reynolds Newell, 2011). The Federal Reserve Bank requires that each bank reports and discloses its annual financial information. This information and other details should also be available from the bank any time the Federal Reserve Bank requires it. Before the financial crisis of 2008, the government did not audit commercial banks. It trusted that their financial information was correct. It gave banks a chance to doctor their books of accounting. Later, the Federal Reserve Bank found out that banks were in different financial positions that they actually reported. It was a great risk for depositors and creditors who assessed wrong information in determining the level of risks when making investment decisions (Groarke, 1998). It means that banks could have a chance to go against a key ethical requirement, market discipline. Market discipline ensures that there is control over prices as well as lending rates in the market. Without market discipline, market prices are distorted. The market also lacks financial health. Besides, the government cannot use information on market prices to indicate the real financial health of commercial banks. In the process of regulation, regulatory bodies have made amends to secure commercial banks. The persistence of major financial scandals clearly shows that commercial bank regulation has a long way to go. The government has to develop new approaches aimed at bringing back trust in the banking industry. Commercial banks should also apply general logic in their operations. Most commercial banks do not adhere to their ethical code as far as compensation and pay are concerned. The government has made interventions in the industry to improve the economic situation that favor commercial banks. However, compensation and pay for bankers does not help make banking a better industry. Most people feel that bankers are unfairly rewarded rather than punished. The banking industry does not impose the right penalties for those in the industry (Reynolds Newell, 2011). The perfect example is a manager receiving huge bonuses in good times as well as bad times. Managers can reap maximum rewards in times of credit crunches that is unfair for the financial sector. It shows that the banking industry is ready to absorb any economic gains easily. However, they run back to the government in times of economic downfall to bail them out. The government has bailed out banks from the financial crisis. Among these banks, there are managers and directors who reaped millions from the crisis. In this case, governments should leave banks to collapse rather than bail them out. The reason is that investors in banks have given their management the chance to take advantage of their investments. Commercial banks should also regulate their operations to avoid running back to the government after their collapse (Groarke, 1998). The fact that regulators have focused on making banks more efficient and transparent shows that the financial sector can improve. However, the government has paid little attention to the improvement of the sector for maximum benefits to the society in general. Banking has failed to fulfill its social function. The government has only focused on the financial part of banking with financial models and investment advices. Nevertheless, ethical banking involves the society and the bank’s environment. Banks should base their evaluation on real outcomes in the society. These include safety, access, performance, fairness, trust, and accountability. It will ensure financial health as well as social welfare. Every commercial bank will struggle to understand the market not only in terms of the economy but also as a society. Policymakers and regulators should realize that failure in the market at the level of institutions affects the society as a whole. The question is not whether the go vernment controls banks fully or not. Rather, it is what the government is doing to improve the market at the institutional level, which will translate down to ordinary financial users (Reynolds Newell, 2011). The notion that banks are too big financial sectors to fall is particularly selective. Only three decades ago, the global economy did not depend on banking. Banking played a minor role in it. Financial institutions were not in the list of major industries in different economies. However, it has changed drastically with changes in investments. Today, every economy in the world fully depends on the health of its banking sector. Overreliance on the financial markets poses the question of whether banks should be listed as basic utilities, such as electricity or water. The response to this question is in the trust that people are ready to give to financial markets. It is vital for the systems, which depend on trust, to work. The public heavily relies on banks to take care of financial savings. Their importance cannot be overestimated. Therefore, it is the role of the government to come up with regulatory measures to ensure that the banking sector is healthy. It does not imply that the gov ernment has to take over banking entirely. Rather, it means that the government should give banks freedom to invest and, at the same time, regulate their operations to avoid collapse (Groarke, 1998). Regulators should support collapsing banks only when banks really require it. It means that the carelessness of managers and investors is not a reason for bailing out. The government must also provide investment advice to the public. Economic experts have recently come up with principles to guarantee that the government can protect the public from commercial banks. It will ensure that commercial banks run as independent entities and fully assist the society. These principles will also improve disclosure, transparency, as well as responsibility, as far as ethical conduct is concerned with providing financial services. Moreover, they will make certain that the public is not a victim of misconduct of bankers. The principles aim to restore trust that is not achievable unless investors and customers feel secure about the banking sector. It is now the role of the government and banking authorities to adopt and follow the principles. This way, the global economy will stay ahead in matters of development to prevent any other crisis. The point that the government should completely absorb commercial banks will not assist in providing financial health. It will discourage risky investment and healthy competition in the marke t.