Public Service Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Service Management - Essay Example After giving a brief picture f the values I shall go into detail about each element so as to give a broader view f the topic. An important question, which has to be addressed before moving on, is whether there is so much need for a public service. We are in an era where most f the services offered by government through its public service are already being offered too by the private sector. May I say, most f the times the private sector supplies these services in a more efficient way. People who follow the laissez-faire ideology argue that governments have been involved in activities which are inappropriate and that the size and role f government needs to be drastically cut back. The role f the government and the way it intervenes has always been highly debatable by the various ideologies and surely will remain highly debatable also in the future. (Parsons 1995) As we have mentioned before, most f the activities carried out by government can be allowed to occur through the market system without the need f government intervention. There are a series f circumstances where this does not apply. Such situations include government regulations securing free entry to producers in the market, securing that the consumer is given all the product information, controlling competition, and protecting and regulating all the contractual arrangement set up within the market. The market system does not necessarily bring high employment, price stability and the socially desired rate f economic growth. Public policy from the government is needed to deal with these factors. Adjustments in the social values due to redistribution f wealth through the market system have to be catered for too. The same thing applies also when speaking f market failures resulting from public goods, externalities and situations f natural monopolies or where there is imperfect informa tion. Thus we have seen that a certain level f government intervention is always desirable. The degree f this intervention also depends on the political and social ideologies f the environment where this occurs. If for example we take Malta, there has always been a paternalistic approach to government. The way in which government acts, reflects also in the size f the public sector. In order to deal with education, health care, national defense, environment, public transport, law and order, welfare services etc governments need to have an efficient public service which in turn inevitably becomes f large proportions. Even if nowadays with Malta's future entry in the European Union, government is moving towards a direction where it seeks to reduce the size f the public service in order to operate in the most efficient ways by means f privatization. If we start looking at the values f the public service, the first thing that comes to mind is the bureaucratic way in which it operates. Bureaucracy most f the times is mistakenly associated with a bad image. Bureaucracy is a system f administration in which the horizontal divisions between various elements or departments are complemented by vertical divisions f authority, and filled by professional career specialists. The bureaucracy can be considered as being the

Love and a Roller Coaster Essay Example for Free

Love and a Roller Coaster Essay Being in love is a lot like being on a roller coaster, it is scary, thrilling, and can sometimes be painful. It’s the feeling of excitement going up the first hill; learning things about each other. Learning what makes them smile, their fears, or what keeps them awake at night. It’s the pain of your first fight, not knowing if you’ll make it through. The same kind of pain you get being whipped around a sharp turn, or the lap bar digging into your gut as you roll down a hill. There’s a distinct difference between the two though, on a roller coaster you can always see what’s ahead. Love is between two people, two brain waves, and two completely separate people. There is no telling where you are going to end, or if the ride will come to a complete stop before you jump. With love there is no set value, no admission, or any right or wrong turns. There is both fear and risk, you may get hurt, and you may not enjoy it but you put yourself on the line for someone else. You chose to put your heart in the hands of something, someone else. In the end the ride was still worth it, you learned something along the way. Whether you feel joy, or pain you learned something. Riding a roller coaster over and over loses its excitement, but with being in love there is always a new hill on the way. There is always something to be excited over, from just seeing them again, to meeting their family and learning where they grew up. When you love somebody you experience a full range of feelings such as anger, calmness and annoyance, jealousy or happiness. You have difficulties of controlling these feelings, because you understand that you are depending on the person you love. You understand that you are not just one person, you are two as a whole.

Rose :: Personal Narrative Drawing Art Papers

Rose I am accustomed, now, to being in a room with seven men who are drawing my pubic hair. I have been on the other side of the drawing board, and I know that bodies are reduced to shape, distance, and shadow: hold up the pencil. This is how far the nipple is from the armpit. Squint. It is not even a nipple anymore, not to them, though my nipple has not changed any since I took off my clothing. The first time I posed naked in the basement of the man whose ad I answered there were only two artists. The host would grimace and then relax his face in quick succession like a broken smile doll while he sketched. The other rubbed my shoulders over the thick blue robe during a break. The music was incredible: blues, and old music from 1940's Japan. Bad luck for the band, my host comments, because then Hiroshima happened. I found something to focus on so my body would hold still and steady. One time it was a finished drawing. Something about the light on the woman's breast made it look like the shape bread dough takes before rising. When I arrived I asked for the bathroom. Perhaps because I come from a place where basements and attics are rare I love them, and his basement smelled pleasant and damp, pastel and cardboard everywhere, with a cat who wound round the artist's legs. But the kitchen and bathroom betrayed the smell of the five cats who live there total. I have five cats also, but they spend their time outside accruing foxtails. The wife had headphones on and didn't look at me as she hurried into the car he had taken to pick me up from campus. He spoke to her as if he didn't know she had tuned him out. I stood bare under the hot lamp unsure of whether I was welcome, holding onto the curtain so my arm would catch the light, staring into the face of the clock until it became an object representative of nothing important, bread, an elbow, skin, scattered records. I do not know why there are no women in this group. I wonder sometimes if I would feel differently about shedding my clothing for a woman. I do no t think I would; though I am using my naked body in a way a man dictates, I have sanctioned this and am making forty dollars in three hours.

Indian Women

TimelineThe steady change in their position can be highlighted by looking at what has been achieved by women in the country: 1848: Jyotirao Phule, along with his wife Savitribai Phule, opened a school for girls in Pune, India. Savitribai Phule became the first woman teacher in India. 1879: John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune established the Bethune School in 1849, which developed into the Bethune College in 1879, thus becoming the first women's college in India. 1883: Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly became the first female graduates of India and the British Empire.1886: Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi became the first women from India to be trained in Western medicine. 1905: Suzanne RD Tata becomes the first Indian woman to drive a car. [42] 1916: The first women's university, SNDT Women's University, was founded on 2 June 1916 by the social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve with just five students. 1917: Annie Besant became the first female president of the Indian National Co ngress. 1919: For her distinguished social service, Pandita Ramabai became the first Indian woman to be awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal by the British Raj.1925: Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian born female president of the Indian National Congress. 1927: The All India Women's Conference was founded. 1944: Asima Chatterjee became the first Indian woman to be conferred the Doctorate of Science by an Indian university. 1947: On 15 August 1947, following independence, Sarojini Naidu became the governor of the United Provinces, and in the process became India's first woman governor. 1951: Prem Mathur of the Deccan Airways becomes the first Indian woman commercial pilot.1953: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman (and first Indian) president of the United Nations General Assembly 1959: Anna Chandy becomes the first Indian woman judge of a High Court (Kerala High Court)[43] 1963: Sucheta Kriplani became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state. 1966: Captain Durga Banerjee becomes the first Indian woman pilot of the state airline, Indian Airlines. 1966: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay wins Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership.1966: Indira Gandhi becomes the first woman Prime Minister of India 1970: Kamaljit Sandhu becomes the first Indian woman to win a Gold in the Asian Games 1972: Kiran Bedi becomes the first female recruit to join the Indian Police Service. [44] 1979: Mother Teresa wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Indian female citizen to do so. 1984: On 23 May, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. 1989: Justice M. Fathima Beevi becomes the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India. [45] 1997: Kalpana Chawla becomes the first India-born woman to go into space.1992: Priya Jhingan becomes the first lady cadet to join the Indian Army (later commissioned on 6 March 1993)[47] 1994: Harita Kaur Deol becomes the first Indian woman pilot in the Indian A ir Force (IAF), on a solo flight. 2000: Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal (bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney). 2002: Lakshmi Sahgal became the first Indian woman to run for the post of President of India. 2004: Punita Arora became the first woman in the Indian Army to don the highest rank of Lieutenant General. 2007: Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman President of India.2009: Meira Kumar became the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house in Indian Parliament. Crimes against women Police records in India show a high incidence of crimes against women. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that by 2010 growth in the rate of crimes against women would exceed the population growth rate. [37] Earlier, many crimes against women were not reported to police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation. Official statistics show a dramatic increase in the number of reported crimes against women. [37] Acid ThrowingA Thomas Reuters Foundation survey [60] says that India is the fourth most dangerous place in the world for women to live in. [61] Women belonging to any class, caste, creed or religion can be victims of this cruel form of violence and disfigurement, a premeditated crime intended to kill or maim permanently and act as a lesson to put a woman in her place. In India, acid attacks on women[62] who dared to refuse a man's proposal of marriage or asked for a divorce [63] are a form of revenge. Acid is cheap, easily available, and the quickest way to destroy a woman's life. The number of acid attacks have been rising.Child marriage Child marriage has been traditionally prevalent in India and continues to this day. Historically, child brides would live with their parents until they reached puberty. In the past, child widows were condemned to a life of great agony, shaved heads, living in isolation, and being shunned by society. [35] Although child marriage was outlawed in 186 0, it is still a common practice. [65] According to UNICEF’s â€Å"State of the World’s Children-2009† report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, rising to 56% in rural areas.The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India. [67] Domestic violence Main article: Domestic violence in India The number of incidents of domestic violence is higher among the lower Socio-Economic Classes (SECs). [citation needed] The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 came into force on 26 October 2006. See also: Outline of domestic violence Dowry Main articles: Dowry, Dowry death, and Dowry law in India In 1961, the Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act,[68] making dowry demands in wedding arrangements illegal.However, many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides and murders have been reported. In the 1980s, numerous such cases were reported. [52] In 1985, the Dowry Pro hibition (maintenance of lists of presents to the bride and bridegroom) Rules were framed. [69] According to these rules, a signed list should be maintained of presents given at the time of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom. The list should contain a brief description of each present, its approximate value, the name of who has given the present, and relationship to the recipient. However, such rules are rarely enforced.A 1997 report claimed that each year at least 5,000 women in India die dowry-related deaths, and at least a dozen die each day in ‘kitchen fires' thought to be intentional. [70] The term for this is â€Å"bride burning† and is criticized within India itself. Amongst the urban educated, such dowry abuse has reduced considerably. Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion Main article: Sex-selective abortion and infanticide In India, the male-female sex ratio is skewed dramatically in favour of males, the chief reason being the high number of females who die before reaching adulthood.Tribal societies in India have a less skewed sex ratio than other caste groups. This is in spite of the fact that tribal communities have far lower income levels, lower literacy rates, and less adequate health facilities. Many experts suggest the higher number of males in India can be attributed to female infanticides and sex-selective abortions. Ultrasound scanning constitutes a major leap forward in providing for the care of mother and baby, and with scanners becoming portable, these advantages have spread to rural populations.However, ultrasound scans often reveal the sex of the baby, allowing pregnant women to decide to abort female foetuses and try again later for a male child. This practice is usually considered the main reason for the change in the ratio of male to female children being born. In 1994 the Indian government passed a law forbidding women or their families from asking about the sex of the baby after an ultrasound scan (or any other test which would yield that information) and also expressly forbade doctors or any other persons from providing that information.However, in practice this law (like the law forbidding dowries) is widely ignored, and levels of abortion on female foetuses remain high and the sex ratio at birth keeps getting more skewed. [71] Female infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent in some rural areas. [37] Sometimes this is infanticide by neglect, for example families may not spend money on critical medicines or withhold care from a sick girl. Continuing abuse of the dowry tradition has been one of the main reasons for sex-selective abortions and female infanticides in India. Rape Main article: Rape in IndiaRape in India has been described by Radha Kumar as one of India's most common crimes against women[72] and by the UN’s human-rights chief as a â€Å"national problem†. [73] In the 1980s, women's rights groups lobbied for marital rape to be declared u nlawful, as until 1983, the criminal law (amendment) act stated that â€Å"sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age is not rape†. Marital rape is still not a criminal offence. [72] While per-capita reported incidents are quite low compared to other countries, even developed countries,[74][75] a new case is reported every 20 minutes.New Delhi has the highest rate of rape-reports among Indian cities. [78] Sources show that rape cases in India have doubled between 1990 and 2008. [79] According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 24,206 rape cases were registered in India in 2011, although experts agree that the cases of unreported sexual assault is higher. [80] Sexual harassment Eve teasing is a euphemism used for sexual harassment or molestation of women by men. Many activists blame the rising incidents of sexual harassment against women on the influence of â€Å"Western culture†.In 1987, The Indecent Representation o f Women (Prohibition) Act was passed[81] to prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings or in any other manner. Of the total number of crimes against women reported in 1990, half related to molestation and harassment in the workplace. [37] In 1997, in a landmark judgement[ambiguous], the Supreme Court of India took a strong stand against sexual harassment of women in the workplace. The Court also laid down detailed guidelines for prevention and redressal of grievances.The National Commission for Women subsequently elaborated these guidelines into a Code of Conduct for employers. [37] Trafficking The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1956. [82] However many cases of trafficking of young girls and women have been reported. These women are either forced into prostitution, domestic work or child labour. Justice system In 2013 India's top court investigated on a law graduate's allegation that she was sexually haras sed by a recently retired Supreme Court judge. [83] Other concerns Social opinionsIn the wake of several brutal rape attacks in the capital city of Delhi, debates held in other cities revealed that men believed women who dressed provocatively deserved to get raped; many of the correspondents stated women incited men to rape them. [84][85] Health Main article: Women's health in India The average female life expectancy today in India is low compared to many countries, but it has shown gradual improvement over the years. In many families, especially rural ones, girls and women face nutritional discrimination within the family, and are anaemic and malnourished.The maternal mortality in India is the 56th highest in the world. [86] 42% of births in the country are supervised in Medical Institution. In rural areas, most of women deliver with the help of women in the family, contradictory to the fact that unprofessional or unskilled deliverer lacks the knowledge about pregnancy. [37] Eve te asing Eve teasing is a euphemism used in India and sometimes Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal[87][88] for public sexual harassment, street harassment or molestation of women by men, with Eve being a reference to the biblical Eve.Family planning The average woman living in a rural area in India has little or no control over becoming pregnant. Women, particularly women in rural areas, do not have access to safe and self-controlled methods of contraception. The public health system emphasises permanent methods like sterilisation, or long-term methods like IUDs that do not need follow-up. Sterilization accounts for more than 75% of total contraception, with female sterilisation accounting for almost 95% of all sterilisations. [37] Sex ratiosIndia has a highly skewed sex ratio, which is attributed to sex-selective abortion and female infanticide affecting approximately one million female babies per year. [90] In, 2011, government stated India was missing three million girls and there are n ow 48 less girls per 1,000 boys. [91] Despite this, the government has taken further steps to improve the ration, and the ration is reported to have been improved in recent years. [92] Sanitation In 2011 a â€Å"Right to Pee† (as called by the media) campaign began in Mumbai, India's largest city. [93] Women, but not men, have to pay to urinate in Mumbai, despite regulations against this practice.Women have also been sexually assaulted while urinating in fields. [93] Thus, activists have collected more than 50,000 signatures supporting their demands that the local government stop charging women to urinate, build more toilets, keep them clean, provide sanitary napkins and a trash can, and hire female attendants. [93] In response, city officials have agreed to build hundreds of public toilets for women in Mumbai, and some local legislators are now promising to build toilets for women in every one of their districts. [93] Notable Indian women See also: Category:Indian women and List of Indian film actresses EducationSavitribai Phule was a social reformer. Along with her husband, Mahatma Jotiba Phule, she played an important role in improving women's rights in India during British Rule. Savitribai was the first female teacher of the first women's school in India and also considered to be the pioneer of modern Marathi poetry. In 1852 she opened a school for Untouchable caste girls. Arts and entertainment Singers and vocalists such as M. S. Subbulakshmi, Gangubai Hangal, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and others are widely revered in India. Anjolie Ela Menon is a famous painter. SportsAlthough in general the women's sports scenario in India is not very good, some Indian women have made notable achievements in the field. Some famous female sportspersons in Indian include P. T. Usha (athletics), J. J. Shobha (athletics), Kunjarani Devi (weightlifting), Diana Edulji (cricket), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Koneru Hampi (chess) and Sania Mirza (tennis). Female Olympic medalists from India include weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (bronze, 2000), Saina Nehwal (bronze, 2012), and boxer Mary Kom (bronze, 2012). Politics Through the Panchayat Raj institutions, over a million women have actively entered political life in India.As per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, all local elected bodies reserve one-third of their seats for women. Although the percentages of women in various levels of political activity has risen considerably, women are still under-represented in governance and decisionmaking positions. [37] Literature Many women writers are prominent in Indian literature as poets and story writers, such as Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Surayya, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy, and Anita Desai. Sarojini Naidu is called the nightingale of India. Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize (Man Booker Prize) for her novel The God of Small Things.

Ellyday by Helen Oyeyemi

Ellyday is about two siblings, Sophie and Elly. The story takes place in Elly’s bedroom one cold Sunday morning, four days before Christmas. Sophie walked into Elly’s bedroom, because she was worried about her sister Elly, who is really skinny and she wanted to talk with her. While Sophie tried to figure out, how to ask Elly to pull her jumper up, Elly wanted to listen to a CD. Elly wouldn’t pull her jumper up and said to Sophie that she was only going to get angry.Then they discussed Elly’s weight and appearance and Elly said that she thought Sophie’s problem is in fact, that Elly is now as skinny as Sophie. After that Elly started to cry hideous and sank to the floor. Sophie told Elly that she can’t see properly how she can think it’s worth it, but Elly just answered that Sophie didn’t really care and that she saw it happening. Sophie also told Elly that she was actually sick and needed help and that it would be wise to talk t o someone. At this moment Elly listened to her sister and asked her when it’s okay to die.Sophie got shocked and realized that she didn’t know this person anymore. Elly elaborate on her question about if it was okay to die before you’ve ever kissed a boy, or ever been loved, or anything like that. While Sophie was going to explain that it was not okay to die, she just stopped speaking and stared brimming overwhelmed, because Elly had pulled up her jumper. Sophie and Elly are teenagers and I think that Sophie is the oldest of them. Elly has an eating disorder and is very skinny and looks like a scarecrow. She has fluffy brown hair and leaking, dead brown eyes.She’s mostly a silent girl, but when Sophie talks directly about Elly’s thinness, she goes into self-defense. Elly had no control over her words and stumble hesitates over every word that came out from her mouth. It’s painful for Elly to speak clearly and rounded, without a slur. She had pale skin tone and shaking hands due to her thinness. She wears baggy clothes and stuff like that so people can’t see how thin she is. Elly was fat before and has a serious psychological problem. She doesn’t feel well inside and asks questions like how it’s okay to die and when it will be a shame.It seems like that Elly feels she’s failed her sister, because she said to Sophie that she had seen what was happening with Elly and that she didn’t care. Elly struggled to stand up, talk and things like that. She’s very weak but unshakable, and wouldn’t pull her jumper up for her sister. But in the end of the story Sophie gets a surprise. Sophie is the big sister, and she feels a responsibility over Elly. She’s very worried about Elly but also very straightforward in the language. She forced herself to sound irritable over Elly, as she had so many times before when they were younger.She threatened to stop speaking to Elly if she didn ’t do what Sophie said. Sophie behaves like a bossy kind, like who always told Elly what to do, to protect her little sister. I don’t like the end of the story; because we don’t know what happened after Elly pulled her jumper up. We don’t know h ow Sophie reacted and why Elly had talked about when it was okay to die. I would do everything in my power to prevent anything from happening to my friends. Weather it was drugs, drinking, eating disorders or over eating. I wouldn’t leave them. What are friends for? Friendship for me isn’t just about having fun.It’s about taking the good and bad with each other. If I were a teenager I would probably get advice from some older wiser person who is more experienced in life. From there I would hope the best for them and let them know they have my support if they need me, because sometimes it’s not about to tell them what to do and such it’s more about support. Of course you have to t ell them that what they’re doing isn’t good and helping, but not being bossy. Keep in mind they didn’t always do this to themselves by no reason, so figure out the reason and then help them through it.

Lorenzo Ruiz essays

Lorenzo Ruiz essays Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila between the years of 1600 and 1610. His father was Chinese and his mother was a Filipino, just like him. His parents were Christian and he was baptized with the name of Lorenzo after a Martyr during the third century. His last name Ruiz was taken from the last name of his godfather. In his younger years, Lorenzo served at the convent of Biondo. He learned Spanish and Catechism from the Dominican priests. After several years he earned the title of notary. He became a member of the Confraternity which is an organization devoted to the Blessed Virgin. He soon married and had two boys and a girl. Lorenzo then went on a ship to Japan to escape the chance of being caught by authorities that thought he committed a crime. At this time there was a large amount of persecution against Christians. People who believed in Jesus were jailed or put to death. Thousands of people chose death over denying the belief in Christianity and of those people was Lorenzo. Lorenzo went through a lot of pain for not denying his love of God. He said, I am a Christian and I will remain a Christian to the point of death. He was told that if he didnt renounce his faith for God that he would be put to death. Lorenzo chose his love for God and death over being set free and renouncing his faith in God. On September 23, 1637 he died in the hanging pit, which was a form of persecution. He was blessed on February 1981, at Luneta. He was declared a saint on October 18, 1987 in Rome. His feast day is September 28th. I chose this saint because I read about his life story and I was extremely astonished by his faith in God. He inspired me to always have faith in God and never deny your love in Him. I also chose this saint because my brothers name is Lorenzo and he is my sponsor, so I thought it was appropriate to do a repor...

Marriage and Wilfred Owens War Essay

Marriage and Wilfred Owens War Essay Marriage and Wilfred Owens War Essay Explore the ways in which writers present disturbed minds in a selection of Wilfred Owen’s war poems and William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Hamlet† Throughout both Hamlet and Wilfred Owen’s war poems they both show the uncertainty of the nature of death and the afterlife which are triggered through deep contemplations which creates disturbance. However in Hamlet he is not merely disturbed by death, he is also disturbed by the marriage of his uncle and mother. In Wilfred Owen he is disturbed by the violence and destructive nature of war in which affects him mentally and physically. In one of Wilfred Owens war poems â€Å"Mental Cases† he presents the tortured minds of the soldiers in which are completely trapped in the war. Wilfred compares the soldiers to skulls when saying ‘Baring teeth that leer like skulls’ teeth wicked?’ this is because they are like the living dead with fixed smiles on their skulls as they have to put on a brave face. The word ‘wicked’ shows an evil image that mankind should not be faced too as there youth has been taken away from them. He describes the eyes of the soldiers as ‘fretted sockets’ which gives an image of black dark circles around the eyes as they have nightmares of the war and can’t sleep. Owen has had these experiences when being shellshock therefore he is one of the mental cases which creates a disturbed mind as he has already experienced this and it is happening to other people. In the second stanza Wilfred capitalizes ‘Dead’ to emphasis death in whi ch is personified through the poem. Death being personified means that it is a disturbing thing as the war is hopeless and is creating a loss of those close to him(like Hamlet losing his father). The ‘memory fingers in their hair of murders’ shows that the soldiers are having to live with bad memories as they have murdered people, although they do not like to see it as that as it is an act of duty. However they can’t get away from all the bad memories as it is stuck in there head hanging in the back of their mind. Also Wilfred describes how the air that created the chuckle and laughter is now gone which is an disturbing

Biography of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III

Biography of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III Anne Neville (June 11, 1456- March 16, 1485) was first married to the young Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales and son of Henry VII, and later became the wife of Richard of Gloucester (Richard III) and thus Queen of England. She was a key figure, if more or less a pawn, in the Wars of the Roses. Fast Facts: Anne Neville Known For: Wife of Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI; wife of Richard of Gloucester; when Richard became King as Richard III, Anne became Queen of EnglandBorn: June 11, 1456 at Warwick Castle in London, EnglandParents: Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and his wife Anne BeauchampDied: March 16, 1485 in London, EnglandSpouse(s): Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI (m. 1470–1471); Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, brother of Edward IV (m. 1472- 1485)Children: Edward, Prince of Wales (c. 1473–1484) Early Life Anne Neville was born June 11, 1456, at Warwick Castle in London, England, and likely lived there and in other castles held by her family while she was a child. She did attend various formal celebrations, including the feast celebrating the marriage of Margaret of York in 1468.   Annes father  Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was called the Kingmaker for his shifting and influential roles in the Wars of the Roses.  He was a nephew of the  Duke of Yorks  wife, Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV and Richard III. He came into considerable property and wealth when he married  Anne Beauchamp. They had no sons, only two daughters, of whom Anne Neville was the younger, and Isabel (1451–1476) the elder.  These daughters would inherit a fortune, and thus their marriages were especially important in the royal marriage game. Anne as Goods for Alliances In 1460, Annes father  and his uncle, Edward, Duke of York and Earl of March, defeated Henry VI at Northampton. In 1461, Edward was proclaimed King of England as Edward IV. Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464, surprising Warwick, who had plans for a more advantageous marriage for him. By 1469, Warwick had turned against Edward IV and the Yorkists and joined the Lancastrian cause promoting the return of Henry VI. Henrys queen, Margaret of Anjou, was heading the Lancastrian effort from France. Warwick married his older daughter, Isabel, to George, Duke of Clarence, a brother of Edward IV, while the parties were in Calais, France.  Clarence switched from the York to the Lancaster party. Edward, Prince of Wales The next year, Warwick, apparently to convince Margaret of Anjou that he was trustworthy (because he had originally sided with Edward IV in unseating Henry VI), married his daughter Anne to Henry VIs son and heir apparent, Edward of Westminster. The marriage was held in Bayeux in mid-December of 1470. Warwick, Edward of Westminster accompanied Queen Margaret as she and her army invaded England, Edward IV fled to Burgundy. Annes marriage to Edward of Westminster convinced Clarence that Warwick had no intention to promote his kingship. Clarence switched sides and rejoined his Yorkist brothers. York Victories, Lancastrian Losses On April 14, 1471 at the Battle of Barnet, the Yorkist party was victorious, and Annes father, Warwick, and a brother of Warwick, John Neville, were among those killed. Then on May 4, in the Battle of Tewkesbury, the Yorkists won another decisive victory over Margaret of Anjous forces, and Annes young husband, Edward of Westminster, was killed either during the battle or shortly after. With his heir dead, the Yorkists had Henry VI killed days later.  Edward IV, now victorious and restored, imprisoned Anne, widow of Edward of Westminster and no longer Princess of Wales.  Clarence took custody of Anne and her mother. Richard of Gloucester When siding with the Yorkists earlier, Warwick, in addition to marrying his older daughter, Isabel Neville, to George, Duke of Clarence, had been trying to marry his younger daughter Anne to Edward IVs youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Anne and Richard were first cousins once removed, as were George and Isabel, all descended from Ralph de Neville and Joan Beaufort. (Joan was the legitimized daughter of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and Katherine Swynford.)   Clarence tried to prevent the marriage of his wifes sister to his brother. Edward IV also opposed the marriage of Anne and Richard.  Because  Warwick had no sons, his valuable lands and titles would go to his daughters husbands at his death. Clarences motivation likely was that he didnt want to divide his wifes inheritance with his brother. Clarence attempted to take Anne in as his ward in order to control her inheritance. But under circumstances that are not fully known to history, Anne escaped Clarences control and she took sanctuary at a church in London, probably with Richards organization. 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On his death, his minor son Edward became Edward V. But the young prince was never crowned. He was put into the charge of his uncle, Annes husband, Richard of Gloucester, as Protector. Prince Edward and, later, his younger brother were taken to the Tower of London, where they disappeared from history. Its presumed that they were killed, although its not clear when. Stories have long circulated that Richard III was responsible for the deaths of his nephews, the Princes in the Tower, to remove rival claimants for the crown. Henry VII, Richards successor, also had motive and, if the princes survived Richards reign, would have had the opportunity to have them killed. A few have pointed at Anne Neville herself as having the motivation to order the deaths. Heirs to the Throne While the princes were still being held under Richards control. Richard had his brothers marriage to Elizabeth Woodville declared invalid and his brothers children declared illegitimate on June 25, 1483, thereby inheriting the crown himself as the legitimate male heir. Anne was crowned as Queen and their son Edward was made Prince of Wales. But Edward died on April 9, 1484; Richard adopted Edward, Earl of Warwick, son of his sister, as his heir, probably at Annes request. Anne may have been unable to bear another child due to her ill health. Annes Death Anne, who reportedly was never very healthy, fell ill in early 1485 and died on March 16. Buried in Westminster Abbey, her grave was unmarked until 1960. Richard quickly named a different heir to the throne, his sister Elizabeths adult son, the Earl of Lincoln. With Annes death, Richard was rumored to be plotting to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York, to secure a stronger claim to the succession. Stories soon circulated that Richard had poisoned Anne to get her out of the way. If that was his plan, he was foiled. Richard IIIs reign ended on August 22, 1485, when he was defeated by Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth. Henry was crowned Henry VII and married Elizabeth of York, bringing to an end the Wars of the Roses. Edward, Earl of Warwick, the son of Annes sister and Richards brother whom Richard adopted as heir, was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Richards successor, Henry VII, and executed after he attempted to escape in 1499. Annes possessions included a book of the  Visions of St. Matilda  which she had signed as Anne Warrewyk. Fictional Representations Shakespeare: In Richard III, Anne appears early in the play with the body of her father-in-law, Henry VI; she blames Richard for his death and that of her husband, the Prince of Wales, son on Henry VI. Richard charms Anne, and, though she also loathes him, she marries him. Richard early reveals that he does not intend to keep her long, and Anne is suspicious that he intends to kill her. She conveniently disappears as Richard begins a plan to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York. Shakespeare takes considerable creative license with history in his story of Anne. The time of the play is much compressed, and motives are likely also exaggerated or changed for literary effect. In the historical timeline, Henry VI and his son, Annes first husband, were killed in 1471; Anne married Richard in 1472; Richard III took power in 1483 soon after his brother, Edward IV, died suddenly, and Richard ruled for two years, dying in 1485. The White Queen: Anne Neville was a major character in the 2013 miniseries The White Queen, which was based on the novel of the same name (2009) by Philippa Gregory. Recent fictional representation: Anne was the subject of  The Rose of York: Love War by Sandra Worth, a 2003 work of historical fiction. Another Anne Neville A much later Anne Neville (1606–1689) was a daughter of Sir Henry Neville and Lady Mary Sackville.  Her mother, a Catholic, influenced her to join the Benedictines. She was abbess at Pointoise. Sources Gregory, Phillippa. The White Queen: A Novel. New York: Touchstone, 2009.  Hicks, Michael. Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III. Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2011.  Licence, Amy. Anne Neville: Richard IIIs Tragic Queen. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2013.

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Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Essay Example for Free

Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Essay Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Septtember 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Introduction Over the 46 years ending December 2012, Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) has achieved a compound, after-tax, rate of return in excess of 20% p.a. Such consistent, long term, out performance might be viewed as incompatible with modern finance theory. This essay discusses the Berkshire Hathaway phenomenon in the context of modern finance theory. Part 1 Modern Portfolio Theory Berkshire Hathaway’s investing strategies mainly differ with modern portfolio theory on two aspects. The first one is the attitude towards the undesirable thing in investment. And the second one is the perspective of diversification. As Harry Markowitz pointed out in Portfolio Selection, one of the assumptions is (Markowitz, 1952)â€Å"the investor does (or should) consider expected return as a desirable thing and variance of return an undesirable thing†. However, in Warren Buffet’s point of view, (Roberg G, 2005) the only undesirable thing should be the possibility of harm. He emphasizes on conducting fundamental analysis to work out a company’s future profits, so as to determine the intrinsic value instead of monitoring the stock prices. This is because in the long term, the investment outcome is mainly harmed by misjudging the business value, including misjudging of inflation rate and  interest rate etc. As such, risk is defined differently between Mr Buffett and Modern Portfolio Theory; one is defined by possibility of misjudging the  intrinsic value of business, the other being simplified to variance of expected returns. If we consider risk as a probability statement, then maybe Mr B uffett’s definition is closer to the original meaning. Also, the assumption of maximising one-period expected utility is not what Buffet focuses on in his investment strategies. (Roberg G, 2005)In this case, Justin Industries, which was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2000, can serve as a good example. During the five years prior to the acquisition, stock price of Justin Industries dropped by 37 percent, which should result in a huge variance of expected return. But Mr Buffett saw it as a perfect opportunity to purchase a well-managed traditional business with over 100 years of history. He offered a 23 percent premium over stock price at the time, and the stock price shot up by 22% on the day of announcement. It is also stated by Markowitz that, (Markowitz, 1952)â€Å"a rule of behaviour which does not imply the superiority of diversification must be rejected both as a hypothesis and as a maxim†. On the contrary, Mr Buffett has his famous quote, (Roberg G, 2005)â€Å"diversification serves as a protection against ignorance. If you want to make sure that nothing bad happens to you relative to the market, you should own everything. There is nothing wrong with that. Its a perfectly sound approach for somebody who doesnt know how to analyse business†. One can always argue that Berkshire Hathaway does not operate in only one industry, and they tend to invest in more industries in recent years. But as the business grows in volume, it is reasonable to be involved in new industries when there are few sound investment opportunities in the industries they already operate in, let alone that the technology industry was rarely in the list of holdings of Berkshire Hathaway, not even when Apple’s stock was soaring. The reason being, (Roberg G, 2005)â€Å"investment success is not about how much you know but how realistically you define what you dont know†. Chart 1 (Martin Puthenpurackal, 2007) Distribution of Berkshire Hathaway Investments by Industry The chart above shows distribution of Berkshire Hathaway’s investments by industry and firm size during the time frame 1976-2006. Judging by the size and number of investments, it can be concluded that a large amount of wealth was placed in manufacturing industry during the 30 years in study, although for diversification purpose, more weight could have been placed in the industry of agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction or retail trade. Having compared the differences, it is still worth noting that Markowitz did not rule out fundamental analysis in portfolio selection process, as is said in his foregoing paper,(Markowitz, 1952)â€Å"the process of selecting a portfolio may be divided into two stages. The first stage starts with observation and experience and ends with beliefs about the future performances of available securities. The second stage starts with relevant beliefs about future performances and ends with the choice of portfolio. This paper is concerned with the second stage†. Part 2 Efficient Market Hypothesis The strong form of efficient market hypothesis states that all information, no matter public or private, instantaneously affects current stock price. Semi-strong form is only concerned with public information, while the weak form suggests that current stock price reflects information in the previous prices. In short, they simply imply that in the long run, no one should be able to beat the market in terms of investment return. As is said in Fama’s paper in 1970, (Eugene F, 1970)â€Å"the evidence in support of the efficient markets model is extensive, and (somewhat uniquely in economics) contradictory evidence is sparse†. However, Warren Buffet has always criticised efficient market hypothesis as much as he could. The major  reason is that, as a fundamental analysis advocate, (Roberg G, 2005)he thinks analysing all available information make an analyst at advantage. He once said, (Banchuenvijit, 2006)†investing in a market where people believe in efficiency is like playing bridge with someone who has been told it does not do any good to look at the cards.† Also in his speech at Columbia University in 1984, he mentioned, â€Å"ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace, and those who read their Graham Dodd will continue to prosper.† (Roberg G, 2005)To illustrate, we can take Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. in 2009 for example. At the time, shares of Burlington Northern had dropped 13 percent in 12 months. Also, the market was soft during GFC, so the possibility of competitive bids was low according to Tony Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo Gardner, which holds Berkshire shares. If efficient market hypothesis does stand, the market would rebound quickly when GFC took place, and such opportunity of relatively low-priced acquisition would not exist. Even if it exists, other investor should anticipate quick upward adjustment of price and participate in bidding when they find out about this opportunity. However, this does not prove that fundamental analysis is superior, because intrinsic value is not yet clear defined, and how does Mr Buffet calculate the intrinsic value is still a mystery. Part 3 Capital Asset Pricing Model When examining assumptions of Capital Asset Pricing Model, it is obvious that Mr Buffett is at odds with almost every one of them. Firstly, the model assumes that all investors are Markowitz efficient, but as mentioned earlier, Mr Buffett does not treat variance of expected return as an absolute drawback, so the second rule that Markowitz Efficiency must follow does not stand. Secondly, the model is backed by the assumption that investors have  homogeneous expectations and equal access to opportunities, which suggests that everyone is supposed to have the same view of future profit stream. However, as a recent paper pointed out, (Frazzini, et al., 2013)Mr Buffett’s return is largely due to his selection of stocks. If everyone has the same view with Mr Buffett and the same access to the investment opportunities, then if not everyone, a large number of people should be as rich as Mr Buffett, when the reality is the opposite. So Mr Buffett would not agree with this assumption either. The third assumption is that capital markets are in equilibrium, which is practically what only efficient markets can achieve, which, as discussed above, is not in line with Mr Buffett’s view point. The final one, which is that Capital Asset Pricing Model only works within one period time horizon, is apparently against Mr Buffett’s long-term holding strategy. Apart from model assumptions, one of the strongest contradictions between Mr Buffett’s view point and Capital Asset Pricing Model is that the model is for short-term predicting purpose, which would clearly be categorised into (Roberg G, 2005)â€Å"speculation† instead of â€Å"investment† by Mr Buffett. In addition, â€Å"market portfolio† is not of practical use, compared with Mr Buffett’s way of only analysing businesses he is familiar with, because the market portfolio we use cannot truly represent the entire market. Part 4 Multi-factor Pricing Models Unlike Capital Asset Pricing Model, which has only one factor, in Multi-factor Pricing Models, such as Arbitrage Pricing Theory and Fama-French three-factor model, the rate of return is linked to several factors. As diversification is still suggested by the model, the same divergence on diversification exists with Mr Buffet’s strategies and Multi-factor Pricing Models. Moreover, differences also lie in the fact that multi-factor models usually take in some macroeconomic factors, which investors should not consider according to Mr Buffett, (Roberg G, 2005)the rationale being that if a single stock price cannot be predicted, the overall economic condition would be more difficult to predict. Despite the differences, some micro factors included in the multi-factor model, such as P/E ratio and book-to-market ratio, can also be used to conduct fundamental analysis to determine the intrinsic value and possibility of growth of a business. As such, the ideas of which factors to take into account can coincide within the two different approaches. Chart 2(Martin Puthenpurackal, 2007) Factor Regressions of Berkshire Hathaway and Mimicking Portfolios In a paper by Gerald S. Martin and John Puthenpurackal, they conduct a regression analysis using Fama-French three-factor and Carhart four-factor models on monthly returns of Berkshire Hathaway and mimicking portfolios. (Martin Puthenpurackal, 2007)The adjusted excess returns turn out to be significant with p-values 0.024; the excess market return and high-minus-low book-to-market factors are again significant with p-values 0.01. However, small-minus-big and prior 2-12 month return momentum factors are not significantly explanatory factors. As such, preliminary conclusion can be reached that book-to-value highminus-low can be a common factor in both multi-factor models and Mr Buffett’s fundamental analysis. In addition, the factors of firm size and momentum are not likely to be considered by Mr Buffett. Also, both Berkshire’s and mimicking portfolio’s returns outperform the multi-factor models in study. (Bowen Rajgopal, 2009)But as is pointed out in another thesis, the superior performance is attributed to the earlier years and they observe no significant alpha during the recent decade. Part 5 Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model According to Berkshire Hathaway’s letter to shareholders in 2008,(Buffett, 2008)their put contracts reported a mark-to-market loss of $5.1 billion, and this led to Mr Buffett’s â€Å"criticism† towards the Black-Scholes formula as is claimed by the media. However, the loss was in fact caused by inclusion of volatility in the formula when volatility becomes irrelevant as the duration before maturity lengthens. As Mr Buffett said in the letter,(Buffett, 2008)if the formula is applied to extended time periods, it can produce absurd results. In fairness, Black and Scholes almost certainly understood this point well. But their devoted followers may be ignoring whatever caveats the two men attached when they first unveiled the formula. As such, Mr Buffett’s comment on Black-Scholes formula is more of self-criticism than the other way around. This is reflected in his earlier comment on performance in the letter,(Buffett, 2008)†I believe each contract we own was mispriced at inception, sometimes dramatically so. I both initiated these positions and monitor them, a set of responsibilities consistent with my belief that the CEO of any large financial organization must be the Chief Risk Officer as well. If we lose money on our derivatives, it will be my fault.† We can understand why Mr Buffett gave this â€Å"fair† comment about the formulae when referring to the Black-Scholes paper,(Black Scholes, 1973)†if the expiration date of the option is very far in the future, then the price of the bond that pays the exercise price on the maturity date will be very low, and the value of the option will be approximately equal to the price of the stock. â€Å" Mr Buffett also commented that (Buffett, 2008)†The Black-Scholes formula has approached the status of holy writ in finance, and we use it when valuing our equity put options for financial statements purposes. Key inputs to the calculation include a contract’s maturity and strike price, as well as the analyst’s expectations for volatility, interest rates and dividends† and that â€Å"even so, we will continue to use  Black-Scholes when we are estimating our financial-statement liability for long-term equity puts. The formula represents conventional wisdom and any substitute that I might offer would engender extreme scepticism†. Despite Mr Buffett’s confession, a scholar studied the letter and reached a different conclusion why the loss was made:(Cornell, 2009)He first ruled out risk-free rate, inflation rate and drift and focused on volatility, which is consistent with where Mr Buffett thought he made a mistake. The lognormal diffusion assumption, which implies that volatility increases linearly with respect to the horizon over which it is measured, was discussed at length with controversial evidence. As such, its misuse is not a strong explanation regarding the absurd results. He then found out in the letter that Mr Buffett believed that inflationary policies of governments and central banks will limit future declines in nominal stock prices compared with those predicted by a historically estimated lognormal distribution. If Mr Buffet is right, then the Black-Scholes model will indeed significantly overvalue long-dated put options, to which a possible solution is making the left-hand tail truncated to reduce the value of long-dated put options. Summary Throughout this essay, we have discussed the common views and divergences between Mr Buffett’s investment strategies and Modern Finance Theories. Now we summarize the main points as follows: Common views Divergences Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model Modern Portfolio Theory Efficient Market Hypothesis Capital Asset Pricing Model Multi-factor Models Chart 3 Common Views and Divergences between Modern Finance Theory and Mr Buffett’s Strategies Modern Finance Theories Modern Portfolio Theory Divergences with Warren Buffet 1. Risk Defined as Volatility 2. Short Investment Horizon 3. Diversification Efficient Market Hypothesis Capital Asset Pricing Model Reliability of Fundamental Analysis 1. Markowitz Efficient Investors 2. Homogeneous Expectation and Equal Access to Opportunities 3. Markets in Equilibrium 4. Short Investment Horizon 5. Predicting Function Leads to Speculation 6. Impractical â€Å"Market Portfolio† 7. Diversification Multi-factor Models 1. Macro Factors 2. Diversification Chart 4 Detailed Divergences between Modern Finance Theory and Mr Buffett’s Strategies Bibliography Banchuenvijit, W., 2006. Investment Philosophy of Warren E. Buffet, Bankok: The University of Thai Chamber ofCommerce. Black, F. Scholes, M., 1973. The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities. The Journal of Political Economy, 81(3), pp. 637-654. Bowen, R. M. Rajgopal, S., 2009. Do Powerful Investors Influence Accounting, Governance and Investing Decisions?, Washington D.C.: University of Washington. Buffett, W. E., 2008. Letter to Shareholders, Omaha: Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.. Cornell, B., 2009. Warren Buffet, Black-Scholes and the Valuation of Long-dated Options, Pasadena: California Institute of Technology. Davis, J., 1991. Lessons from Omaha: an Analysis of the Investment Methods and Business Philosophy of Warren Buffett, Cambridge: Cambridge University. Eugene F, F., 1970. Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of THeory and Empirical Work. The Journal of Finance, 25(2), pp. 383-417. Eugene F, F. Kenneth R, F., 1992. The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Return. The Journal of Finance, XLVII(2). Markowitz, H., 1952. Portfolio Selection. The Journal of Finance, VII(1), pp. 77-91. Martin, G. S. Puthenpurackal, J., 2007. Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Reno: University of Nevada. Roberg G, H., 2005. The Warren Buffet Way. 2 ed. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons, Inc.. William F, S., 1964. Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk. The Journal of Finance, 19(3), pp. 425-442.

The Marketing Strategy Of Starbucks And Its Effectiveness Marketing Essay

The Marketing Strategy Of Starbucks And Its Effectiveness Marketing Essay Brand recognition is crucial factor in business growth where customers readily pay premium prices for robust brands. Consumers feel satisfaction while consuming a brand that attracts strong loyalty to them. Brand yields not only expression for external stakeholders but for internal environment as well. Employees feel pleasant to work hard for the success of company and consider companys achievements as their own success that enhances organizational efficiency (Ljiljana StankoviĆ¡, 2006). Marketing connects company with customers and influence on consumer consumption habits. Latest marketing trends and technologies make value addition and steady revenue stream towards company. Marketing communication means create demand of organizational goods and services. Chief marketing officers and brand manager designations are common in marketing departments of organization. Organizations deploy adequate marketing budgets for brand management and creation of sound customer base (Kotler Keller, 2009). Consistent change management is the essence of marketing management where stagnant position of company is its failure. Importance of marketing communications in globalized environment is potential cause of choice of this topic for the sake of research and analysis report. The Starbucks has positioned its brand in the market as a high quality customer experience brand. Starbucks sells its high quality products and services at premium prices. The high quality of products and good customer experiences are the main differentiators of its brand from other coffee brands in the market. The Starbucks has designed its stores on theme of Italian bars. The Starbucks provides a home like experience to its customers. The customers of Starbucks are very loyal to the Starbucks brand. The Starbucks gives very first priority to customer satisfaction in order to form a loyal customer base of its brand. The Starbucks focuses on customer relationship management by integrating communication with customers. Research report would analyze coffee retailing industrys marketing trends by making comparative analysis of Starbucks with McDonald. The marketing of brand is very important in order to promote products of brand among the target market. The Starbucks uses word of mouth marketing for promoting its products among customers. The customers appreciate the coffee taste and environment of coffee shops of Starbucks. Starbucks has used comfortable and elegant furniture design, soft music playing on background, messages on coffee cups and visual art in a coffee shop. The Starbucks is the name of comfortableness, fascination, satisfaction, smartness, and enjoyment of life (Hanft, 2005). Starbuck is recognized as a cultural brand because it connects itself with cultures of regions and countries. Cultural nature of Starbuckss brand is the reason of choice of company for the sake of review of marketing strategies of an organization and its effectiveness. McDonald is considered for comparative analysis. The report would conduct critical analysis of Starbuckss marketing strategies by making comparison with McDonald Company. Research Objectives The research report aims to discuss attributes of marketing strategies of Starbucks and its impact on the achievement of organizational goals. Starbuckss marketing is aligned with the cultural attributes of local market where company undertakes local marketing trends by accounting customers needs analysis. Starbucks brand adopt differentiation as market competitive strategies in spite of slow down economy. Company does not bother about price competitive tactics of competitors so the report would focus on brand elements that secure its leadership of quality. Research objectives are given below: To analyze cultural attributes of Starbucks brand and uniqueness from other brands. To examine corporate social responsibility campaign of Starbucks and its impact on brand building. To consider brand differentiation strategies of company and rapid expansion strategy analysis of organization. To assess long term objectives of Starbucks to aid its marketing strategies and achievement of company objectives. Research Approach and Research Questions What are brand attributes of Starbucks that make it differentiated from other brands? What is role of strong experience that company deliver along with taste of products? What are growth opportunities for Starbucks in emerging markets by virtue of its international marketing strategies? What is the role marketing in organizational growth and strengthening sound customer base? The exploratory and explanatory research approaches can be helpful to analyze market strategies of Starbucks while answering above described research questions. The explanatory research describes the process of marketing strategies of Starbucks (Johnson Christensen, 2011). The explanatory research describes variables in the context of a research study. The explanatory research describes the nature of research variables in the research study. In explanatory research first of all target population is defined, then the sample is selected from a target population, data analysis is conducted and then the conclusion is drawn. The explanatory research is very helpful in order to study behaviour, culture, demographics, attitudes and belief of Starbucks customers. On the other hand, exploratory research is used to study new dimensions of a research area. The exploratory research is more vibrant and comprehensive than explanatory research. In exploratory research qualitative research tools are used in order to conduct a research study. The primary data are used in order to conduct an exploratory research. A problem statement may be designed in order to conduct an exploratory research. However, inductive research design is feasible in answering the research questions and addressing research objectives. My area of research is coffee retailing industry so individual cases of Starbucks would be studied to generalize the marketing trends and tactics of company on overall industry. The philosophy of inductive research approach is to study particular cases and scenarios in order to generalize the conclusions on targeted population. Part B-Business Techniques used for data collection Research Methodology The secondary data collection techniques are used in order to conduct research study. The information collected by using primary data is picked from the source of information generation. The primary data collection methods are surveys, pilot studies, focus group studies, interviews and observations. The primary data is concrete and free from any bias. The research can get more relevant information by using the primary data collection technique. The primary data collection is more objective oriented than secondary data collection technique. The quantitative and qualitative techniques are used in order to interpret the primary data and conclude the findings of a research study. The disadvantages of primary data are that, it takes a lot of time to collect primary data. Sometimes, it is very costly to collect primary data. Substantial amount of resources are required in order to collect primary data so researcher avoids using primary data due to scarcity of resources. On the other side, secondary data collection resources pick up second hand information conveniently where information is already available in this case. It includes corporate reports, corporate websites, books, journals, articles, case studies, documented information. Above prescribed information sources would be used to analyze and review marketing strategies of Starbucks and its effectiveness in organizational goals accomplishments. In order to answer the research problems and questions, secondary information sources can be conveniently used. Although, secondary information sources are easily approachable and retrievable but challenging things include credibility of source, quantity of biased information, conflict of objective between author and researcher. Case Study Approach Case study is regarded as most convenient research methodology to review the marketing effectiveness of Starbucks. Case study would consider the best in class marketing communication tools including social media marketing to aid the organizational growth by Starbucks. It is evident that international marketing strategy of Starbucks is primary cause of success of organization being the essential tool of strategic management. Case study method defines and explores the research dimensions and research areas (Kotzab et al., 2005). Case studies of company and its competitors would be studied including annual reports and corporate website information to analyze and conclude best industry practices while recommending future directions to company. Starbucks heavily relies on unconventional marketing strategies like word of mount and social media strategies. Starbuckss brand strongly emphasizes on providing high quality to customers while delivering delicious taste at premium prices. In-store atmosphere is most important at Starbucks brand to deliver world class coffee experience. It means that area of research for case study approach is wider in analyzing different dimensions of Starbuckss marketing. Problem Statement Following problem statement is defined to consider different research dimensions for current research by case study approach. Objectives of company are related to provision of high quality and fresh coffee experience. Company always tries to satisfy customers, contribute in the community development programs, environmental campaigns, provision of pleasant and friendly work environment, business diversification, setting highest standards for purchasing raw materials (coffee beans). In addition, it improves the roasting quality to increase profitability, which enhances the shareholders confidence that is essential for the success of future development strategies (Khattab et al., 2008). All of the above stated objectives appear to have potentials of long term objectives. The company objectives seem to be acceptable, suitable, understandable and flexible in nature. However, there is a problem in its measurability and achievability because most of them are without any benchmark for assessment and are ongoing. Motivation of objectives is reduced by difficulty of progress measurement (Steiner, 2001). Application of Models SWOT SWOT analysis is used for assessment of the strategic position of the company in the current environment. The SWOT framework consists of four elements called strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors while opportunities and threats are considered as external factors (David, 2011). It is widely used strategic framework due to its simplicity and convenient application in almost every situation. SWOT framework would confirm how Starbucks utilizes cross selling (selling different product to existing customer) and up selling (selling upgraded or expensive version of same product to customer) marketing tactics to customers. It also analyzes the way Starbucks offers high class coffee drinking experience to its customers. Likewise, SWOT model reviews the company competitive advantages including offering best in class coffee experience by offering coffee drinking with inside store experience that act as unique selling proposition. Formulation of unique selling proposition is main point of our concern to apply SWOT. Starbucks is getting fame in Europe, US, Canada, and Japan that is being marketed and distributed by e-commerce retailing, foodservice accounts, merchandise stores, food and drug stores, which are opportunities at Starbucks. Opportunity analysis is the area of scope in SWOT where coffee appeals to youth having age range of 18-24 years that has strong proportion in Asian fast growing economies. Limitations of SWOT SWOT is too short and simple which unable to cover all aspects of the environment in which Starbucks operates that leads to strategic errors in the analysis. The decision based on SWOT analysis sometimes might be wrong but this limitation overcome by using other detailed framework with a SWOT (Pickton Wright, 1998). The SWOT framework used on the basis of assumption which sometimes might be untrue in the future. SWOT has an inherent limitation because there are rare chances that two people come up with the same results due to its subjective nature (Pehlchen, 2005). SWOT produces lots of information but all are not useful because sometimes one factor is a threat but at the same time it becomes an opportunity (Henry, 2008). SWOT is ineffective in the current dynamic environment where the pace of technology development change everything. Particularly, SWOT analysis may be conducted separately for emerging economies and developed countries in the regions of Starbucks. Dynamic nature of limitation might be reduced by conducting the SWOT on regular basis. Marketing Mix Marketing mix is widely used by organizations to understand the needs of customers which enable organizations to provide level of products and services as per expectations. In order to achieve success in the marketing campaigns, organizations need to understand their target market and their expected levels of products or services (Kotler et al., 2006). Starbucks has used aggressive strategies to sustain its position as a market leader due to intense competitive rivalry in the service industry. Starbucks has adopted branding strategy due to which it changed the logo that is more focused and highlights the sustainability of company policies. Seven attributes of marketing mix are demonstrated as product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical environment. (e-Marketing Mixology, 2012) The main objective of marketing mix program is to create communication and deliver value to customers. The Starbucks is using different marketing strategies like customer relationship management, integrated marketing communication, creating a good customer experience and social media marketing. The objective of Starbucks is to share its customer experience with consumers from low income groups and develops a long term relationships with them. The weak point of marketing mix strategy is that it focuses on short term goals and ignores the long term interests of a company. Research Ethics There are ethical issues involved in research like plagiarism and privacy of respondents. My project mentor has advised me to make your work original in order to avoid the plagiarism issue. I will use my own content in order avoid any plagiarism issue. The disciplinary committee of OBU will take action in case of plagiarism. I have given proper references of my research work in order to avoid any issues of copyright violation. I have used Harvard referring style in order to meet the guidelines of my university. Limitations of Research Primary data collection sources could not be used due to scarcity of time and required resources. Adequate methods of data collection, arrangement, processing and interpretation, analysis and conclusion could not be used. Researcher bias cannot be eliminated during research process (Creswell, 2009). Limited access to the confidential nature of information necessary for the sake of organizational analysis (Lancaster, 2005). Qualitative research design requires more information technology tools than quantitative one (Johnson Christensen, 2011). Conflict between the goals of researcher and author limit the credibility of research findings and analysis. Part C-Analysis, Conclusion, and Recommendations Brand Differentiation Strategy The Starbucks has adopted a brand differentiation strategy through product uniqueness and product differentiation in order to promote its products. Starbucks has used innovation in its products and services in order to gain competitive advantage in the market. The Starbucks has positioned itself best coffee brand in the market by providing attractive store design, unique environment, elegant taste and high quality coffee beans (Kotler Keller, 2009). The main target market of Starbucks is customers from professionals, businessmen, students, tourists and students of colleges and universities. The Starbucks customizes its products and services according to the tastes and culture of different regions and countries. Starbucks has opened its coffee shops in other countries in order to introduce its products and services to customers of international market. Recently, Starbucks has announced to open its first coffee shop in India. Marketing SWOT Strengths It delivers value added entertainment services as add-ons at its premises. Starbucks renders free Wi-Fi internet access in US and Canada the company owned chain of stores. Starbucks sticks customers at its stores to spend adequate time inside the store by offering web based internet portal and digital network. Its digital network allows subscribed editions of New York Times, Economist, ESPN insider, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today (Corporation, 2010). Starbucks services for in-store customers include particular download options of iTunes and e-Books. Up selling merchandise of company includes accessories, books, apparel, movies, and music. Company markets and sells its products through four channels as food service operations, consumer packaged goods, licensed stores, and companys owned chain of retail stores (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Companys competitive advantage regarding distribution strategy includes approaching customers while they are at shop, dining, travelling, and at work through formulating strong distribution network (Kotler et al., 2005). Manufacturing process of fruit juices and beverages is best in class than competitors. In order to retain natural ingredients, company prepares beverages by high pressure pasteurization (HHP) process to preserve nutrients of juices (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). In addition to stores experience and robust process of HHP, healthy beverages portfolio is also source of unique selling proposition. Starbucks has offered convenient purchase options through smart phone mobile apps. Mobile application payment option generates barcode to be usable in targeted stores. Purchasing is made by Starbucks card mobile app with the use of scanner. Customers can reload balance through PayPal. This payment option is considered as most flexible and convenient for customers because its processing is fast. Company has launched two iPhone applications for customers namely Starbucks card mobile and my Starbucks. Card mobile application allows enjoying the useful features of Starbucks card and mobile commerce features (Kharif, 2012). Company also launched mobile commerce features for Android smart phones. Company is gaining competitive edge in rendering mobile commerce transactions while leveraging technology to cater customers. On the other side, companys strong operating performance is aiding its global expansion strategy despite the poor consumer response due to weak economy. Weaknesses Company has been forced to close down 475 coffee locations of Seattles best due to impairment of assets (Thomson Reuters , 2012). Closing down of companys stores in significant amount would result in reduction in profitability. Starbucks has caused product recalls in 2011 where US food safety and agriculture department has reported bacteria issues in ready to eat chicken meals of Starbucks. Similarly, company has recalled its different products like glass water bottles causing laceration hazard whereas safety commission of consumer products ordered to close down 530,000 units of Starbucks (Scheunemann, 2010). Opportunities Starbucks is in strong need to establish robust distribution strategy to beat the competition. Most of Americans like natural ingredients in soft drinks including nectars, carbonated beverages and juices. Americans are getting more health conscious than ever. US organic food market is fast growing business segment where competitors of Starbucks are growing in wellness and health program (sustainable.org, 2012). Starbucks has decided to execute brand distribution strategy by retail stores of company and adoption of additional channels. New juice bars of company would sell fresh vegetables and fruit juices to deliver true captivating experience. Company is of the opinion that to reflect beverage natural ingredients and adopt new look of store (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). Inside walls of Starbucks contain entertaining and knowledgeable contents on juices and smoothies (sweetened beverage including peanut butter and chocolate). Starbucks is targeting the China and Indian markets that have largest population in world. China is getting fast paced economic development where disposable income of middle income people is increasing (White, 2011). There is great opportunity for Starbucks to meet growing demand of consumer products. Starbucks has formulated aggressive expansion plan in India and China (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Starbucks is targeting the demographic factors in its marketing strategy. Company is registering its strong operational performance in China that is quite positive symptom for brand marketing opportunities (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Situational analysis of India reveals that Indians are tea addicted. However, living standard and income level of middle income group of Indians is growing that is strong inclination toward coffee consumption. In India, there is 75,000 tonnes of coffee consumption as compared to 700,000 consumption of tea (AOL Inc., 2011). These statistics reveal that there is untapped market in India for coffee. Starbucks has made joint venture agreement with Tata group named as Tata Starbucks Limited and Tata Coffee Limited where Tata Coffee is supplier of Tata Starbucks (Starbucks Inc, 2012). Starbucks is creating local alliances in Asian markets to tap fast growing economies. Starbucks has entered into agreement with Courtesy Products to deliver on demand and in-room coffee service in more than 500,000 US luxury hotels (Starbucks Inc , 2011). Likewise, Starbucks made another agreement with Green Mountain for licensing, distribution, marketing, and manufacturing, and sale of coffee brands. Threats Starbucks operates in highly competitive environment that demands continuous improvement in quality from speciality stores and restaurants including strong competitor of McDonald (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Raw material prices of Starbucks may increase causing in enhanced prices of manufacturing costs (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Brazil and Columbia are largest producers of Arabica beans that have served limited production causing decreased supply (Walsh, 2011). Due to low supply, Starbucks may have to face challenges in meeting desired standards of quality (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Starbucks has offered espresso beverages at home where customers are becoming habitual to enjoy same quality products of company at home as quality of verismo is same like that of brewed coffee that is served for in-store customers (Starbucks Inc, 2011). It means they would visit stores in lesser numbers. In India and China, McDonald has already catered brand loyalty and customer coverage (Kotler Keller, 2009). Howard Schultz strategies are strongly criticized due to its announcement of closure of 600 US stores. It is argued that premium brand image of Starbucks is difficult to maintain where CEO may have to cut the prices and inside stores experience is no longer attractive to customers (Quelch, 2008). Rapid expansion strategy of company and new products offerings are blamed. Critics argue that McDonald has improved its coffee quality at substantial lower prices but it is challenging for Starbucks to maintain its offerings at higher prices. Marketing Mix of Starbucks Product The Starbucks product portfolio includes premium coffee, high quality tea, cold and Italian beverages. Iced tea, lattes, hot or cold tea and lemonades are the top flavours of Toza team. Starbucks uses cultural phenomenon in the development of product portfolio which is key to its brand success. Starbucks makes double shots; Starbucks discovers innovative product attributes whereas it has launched milk drinks in the UK market (Starbucks Inc, 2010). The company is always trying to enhance its product portfolio and diversified in complement products with its coffee, company also owned a number of bookstores in Canada and USA. The company has enough strategies but it should need diversification and innovation in its product portfolio to achieve further advancement in its objectives and goals. Price Starbucks charges premium prices for its products from customers as compared to its competitors (Lee, 2007). Starbucks believes in the brand differentiation strategy with quality and natural taste at premium prices and does not involve itself in price war strategies. Starbucks provides the pleasant environment and wonderful service attributes along with the taste of its product which enable the company to charge for that attributes also not just a cup of coffee at cafà ©s. All these attributes in one place and in one premium price add value to the customer experience and create loyalty. Overall the prices of coffee fall in the USA but not in the Starbucks stores and cafà ©s which shows how much company focused on premium prices (Fottrell, 2012). In comparison, McDonalds charged low prices as compared to Starbucks that creates a new rivalry and serious threat for the Starbucks (Krasny, 2012). Place The company has more than 17,000 stores in more than 55 countries (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Tokyo in Japan was the first international place for the Starbucks coffee house in 1996 (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). The company also has a virtual existence through its website. Starbucks acquired its rival the Diedrich Coffee chain of cafà ©s in 2006 to enhance its geographical presence and market penetration (Hirsch, 2006). In order to enhance its presence in North America, Starbucks struck a deal with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in 2011 (Ropes Gray , 2011). Starbucks coffee and other products are located at schools, movie theatres, business organizations, grocery stores, department stores, airports and railway stations etc. Promotion The company has used various means of communication with customers like print media, TV ads, social media and the companys website. The company also operates a website for its customers where they interact with each other and give new ideas and suggestions related to service improvements, which is the best medium for retention of customers. Company use print media ads like The Time ads to promote its products and coffee houses. The main focus of advertising channels is on the promotion of high quality of its products and services. Overall the company is successful in its growth strategies but in 2008 its sales has declined due to its excessive focus on expansion and growth strategies (BBC News Inc, 2011). Social media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and companys own website is used for creating virtual communities and forums which helps in the management of the customer relationship. Especially, the company website (www.community.starbucks.com) is used for customer feedbacks and suggestions regarding the products and service add-ons that help to keep in touch with its customers. The company also works with communities and sponsor the sports events for the sake of customer relationship management. In order to attract the sports lovers it struck an innovative deal with ESPN for developing sports learning centre. ESPN is famous worldwide among the sports lovers. This collaboration with ESPN further enhances the customer base of Starbucks (Kotler Armstrong, 2008). In order to sustain the huge campaign to attract new loyal customer bases, its needs integrated marketing communication methods. By using this approach, company is able to use various marketing channels at once that also provide most suitable use of advertising budget and resources. The company spent 1.6% of the revenue in the form of advertising and promotion expenses (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Processes The company has used various technologies in its processes and keep trying to improve them. Improvement in the product and service delivery is the main part in the process strategy of the Starbucks. Blue printing techniques like flowcharts and diagrammatic presentations are used for planning and improvement in processes for the customer services, which is based on forecasting, artificial intelligence and simulation concepts (Young Burgess, 2010). The company uses the proactive approach in the change management process of mapping the customer service process. Blue printing techniques are most widely used as feasible service tools in hospitality sector in which Starbucks operates to enhance the customer service experience (Woo Brotherton, 2008). People Starbucks has very good scope in the Europe because European people are coffee lovers. Starbucks is providing them a quality products and services at premium prices that are satisfying their expectations. Management has focused on expansion strategies to reach far in the whole Europe by opening a chain of coffee houses. Young age customers are the prime target of Starbucks. The company also tries to attract old age customers by providing them combination of different products and pleasant environment. Cultural values and attitude of people regarding the coffee provides an opportunity for Starbucks to deepen its footprint in the European market. The demand of coffee houses has increased from $8.9 billion to $10 billion in the Europe (Hilowitz, 2009). The company also focuses on its employees by providing them career development opportunities and training programs. Employees are also the part of its mission statement and considered essential part of the organizational strategy. Physical Environment The pleasant and friendly environment in all coffee houses provides a wonderful experience which helps to attract more customers. Free Wi-Fi access, entertaining music, unique combination of lighting, well mannered and trained employees, unique pieces of art collection and comfortable chairs are the add-ons with one cup of coffee or tea which attracts customers (Khattab et al., 2008). The Starbucks sitting environment is very much supportive to students, readers and researchers that provide a delightful experience. On the contrary, McDonald staff delivers best in class hospitality experience by time management, responsibility, customer service skills, teamwork, and leadership calibre (McDonald Inc, 2012). Social Media and other Marketing Tools at Starbucks Female class is more loyal customer of Starbucks than male where customer profile of company includes professional, educated, and wealthier than average Americans (Kotler Keller, 2009). As customers of Starbucks grow Starbucks experience also matures. Starbucks experience is more exciting to new customer than previous one. Although, McDonald and Dunkins donuts sell premium quality coffee but still Starbucks is preferable option for customer. Schultz never believes in competing with cost competitive coffee houses rather it aims to offer intimate and warm services at its stores. Starbucks lets the consumers believe that Starbucks is the only coffee destination sought by them. In order to meet the challenges of slow down economy, Starbucks had laid down its workforce to serve its cash strapped custome