Mike Nichols Film, Regarding Henry Essay -- Film Movies

Mike Nichols' Film, Regarding Henry Life can change in an instant. One second you are a successful and ruthless lawyer, the next you’re a simple man with absolutely no memory of who or where you are. The film â€Å"Regarding Henry† shows this perfectly as it travels through the life of a man named Henry Turner. The main focus of the film is how important family life is. Before the accident, Henry hardly even knew his daughter and almost never spoke to her. At the start of the film the father-daughter relationship was very weak, he would never speak to her when he came home from work because he didn’t have time, but when he did he lectured to her - like when she spilled grape juice on his â€Å"prize piano† and yelled at her. His life revolved around the courtroom, where he spent most of his time. Sarah, his wife told him to apologize to his daughter, which he finally did after arguing with her. Even when he tried to apologize to her after a party, he found it difficult to express his feelings and just talked about the case he had won that day. Before the accident Henry was always working, even when he came home, he would still continued to work. Henry was a self centered and arrogant man who was only interested in winning a case, working and smoking. Henry loved his eggs and was always at parties, celebrating or mocking his clients, which he was very good at. He was excellent at what he did and would go to any extent of lying to win â€Å"like the Matthew’s case.† He was also ext...

American Beauty Film Critique Essay

There are few films that achieve the high level of quality exhibited by that of the 1990 beautiful tragedy, American Beauty. The film is a true masterpiece in both content and how this content is delivered to the viewers. It excels at being an enlightening and relevant drama about American life, and never fails to keep the audience entertained by providing many instances of well-placed humor. Every scene is filmed including metaphoric elements that not only show great stylistic and aesthetics, but also create a mood and feeling for the theme of the movie. American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes, is a film that is set in suburban America, in a normal neighbourhood, following the everyday life of the central protagonist, Lester Burnham, who is living the typical ‘American Dream’. He appears to have a great job, big house, loving wife and daughter and even a white picket fence. However, all is not as it seems as appearance can often be deceiving; if we just â€Å"look closer†, we as audience members soon see that he realises both his wife, over bearing and controlling Carolyn and jaded teenage daughter, Jane think that, in the words of Jane, he is â€Å"this gigantic loser† and they’re right. The character of Lester is initially portrayed as a depressed, sad and lonely forty-year-old man, deprived of freedom and struggling to find anything worth living for. However as the film progresses Lester’s persona as a character is dramatically developed with the introduction of an equally intriguing character, Angela Hayes. Everything changes for Lester the night he is forced by his wife to his daughters school to see her perform as a cheerleader. There on the floor, engrossed in a pompon routin, parading and dancing around the court, he sees his ‘angel’: Angela his daughter’s high-school classmate. Angela fulfills the stereotypical idea of what beauty physical beauty is. She is thin, blonde, big blue-eyed and immediately catches Lester’s attention; Angela is not Lester’s highway to bliss, but she is at least a catalyst for his freedom (Ebert, 1999). His thoughts, and the dissatisfaction they stimulate, blast him free from years of emotional torture and bring him right back to his youth. It is from this moment on that Lester transforms into a spontaneous hormone-driven teenage boy, who smokes marihuana, works out, and uits his job all in order to impress his Angel-a. American Beauty uses Angela as the image of Lester’s broader want; that being his underlying desire for freedom and evidentially beauty. However, she symbolizes the potential underlying superficiality of physical beauty that is slowly revealed towards the end of the film. The film portrays many of the hidden problems within the white picket fence American dream along with addressing the problems many Americans have with feeling free and accepting their own identity. The film shows the vastly different worlds that people can live in whilst still living on the same street, and the disorder and frenzy that lies veiled in a society that we all try to portray as being as perfect as possible. In doing so, American Beauty reveals that the only way to calm the chaos is to find beauty in everything. To â€Å"look closer† is a must for truly understanding and identifying with the continuous bombardment of symbolism that is constantly being illustrated in this film. American Beauty portrays such themes as the falseness in lust, power and appearance and that we need to remind our selves â€Å"†¦of all the beauty there is in the world†, as beauty is a matter of opinion. Beauty however, is the most significant and explored theme in American Beauty. Another prevailing theme is the notion of the characters journey and transformation throughout the film. Lester’s journey can almost be compared to one from childhood from adulthood, figuratively speaking as evidentially, he steps into a mature, paternal phase where he takes responsibility and finds meaning in life, as an adult. Many techniques were used to portray these themes and influence audiences opinions of characters and events, including film techniques of cinematography, soundtrack as well as such visual techniques of symbolism, colour and contrast and both aesthetic and stylistic elements. American Beauty is a complex film that relies so heavily on mis-en-scene and cinematography to portray its message. In particular this is showcased during one scene that truly puts the ‘American Beauty’ into perspective; the opening scene or as it is often referred to as, the â€Å"High Point Scene†. The film explores the concepts of what true beauty really is and as suggested in the title of the film, the American Dream and how far this ‘dream’ really goes and what it actually means; this is explored further from the films tagline â€Å"look closer†; to think about perceived desire and to analyze more what these wants are. Through the exploration of the opening scene and a study of how the cinematography, mise en scene and sound foreshadows plot points in the rest of the film, the underlying messages and symbolism will be uncovered. The movie opens with a grainy shot of Jane Burnham reclining on a bed, complaining about her father. The scene begins with what is referred to as a flash forward, in cinematic terms. The line â€Å"Someone really should just put him out of his misery† is a hint towards the mid life crisis that the father Lester is currently going through and the ways in which she is aware of the pain he is dealing with, not knowing what he truly wants. Through the mise en scene and cinematography displayed throughout the scene, the audience is enabled to receive a glimpse into the events that have just occurred. Through the use of a lesser quality picture, shaky footage and dimmed lighting the audience is able to identify with the fact that the imagery being presented has that of a ‘home movie’ feel. The utilization of ‘raw footage’ within this drama genre of film gives the audience a sense of reality towards the character, hence making the dialogue seem more legitimate and believable. The addition of a pause into the characters dialogue helps to support and express the sense of ‘reality’ further, as it is as if she is really thinking about what she is saying. The rather ambiguous approach to the delivering of the line â€Å"You want me to kill him for you? † helps to draw attention to Jane’s reaction as apposed to the interviewers own intensions. This poses both Jane Burnham, the daughter and the unidentified interviewer as suspects to her father’s upcoming murder. However the abstruse approach from the interviewer combined with the daughters reply is foreshadowing what is to come later in the film, as each character related to the father is set up to be the possible murderer of his death. By using the body language as a primary tool for communication, the reply of â€Å"Yeah, would you† to the previous statement, suggests that she is almost daring the interviewer to kill him. This is expressed through the dominant changing of levels when she sits up, almost creating a shift in power, and looks down and straight into the camera, but at the same time also insinuates some sarcasm on her part. The audience learns in the very first lines of the movie that Jane’s dad, Lester, is not the father that she wants. The opening credits roll, and the shot switches to an aerial view of a neighborhood. The exact location is not specified, and that is very intentional. It is important that this not be a critique of a specific area, but of American culture as a whole. The scene begins with an aerial shot of a suburb, with Lester Burnham introducing the audience to his life and informing them that â€Å"In less than a year, I’ll be dead,† and â€Å"in a way, I’m dead already. † This dialogue is heightened through the following shots of Lester lying alone on a bed in a very dull coloured room, thus signifying the meaninglessness life in which he is leading. The utilization of an aerial shot here creates the idea that the world is looking down on him. The dominant use of bright lighting also indicates that it is the morning, however through the use of shadowing casted over Lester, it expressed to the audience that he is still in ‘the dark’; he is yet to be enlightened. Visual techniques are a constant feature in American Beauty, including the use of colour, contrast and symbolism. The primary recurring prop that is introduced at the beginning of the film is a rose, in which the audience first sees in a close up before Lester’s wife Carolyn Burnham picks it up. The first shot of the rose seems out of place, beginning with the flower filling the frame and then moving down to focus on the thorns before Carolyn’s clippers cut it. The rose symbolizes the impotence of not only the love life between Lester and Carolyn but the idea of the American Dream. This shot not only draws attention to the rose as a recurring object in the film, but it also serves as a metaphor for the Burnhams: on the outside they appear perfect, like the flower, but underneath they are rotten and broken (represented by the thorns). In this shot the character of Carolyn is also introduced and is instantly perceived as a cold, workaholic who is obsessive about how they (the family) is presented. This portrayal is demonstrated through the line â€Å"See the way the handle on those pruning shears matches her gardening clogs? That’s not an accident†, thus showing the audience what level she will go to, to maintain order and control. What is also noticeable about this shot is the mise en scene, in particular the red roses, white picket fences and the blue painting on the house. These colours in specific represent the American flag and therefore the American dream. These objects are most perceived to be included within the American dream as well as stereotypical figure of Carolyn, the suburban housewife. This ideology however, creates contrast with the cinematography. Many scenes are metaphoric in how they are shot, and what is in the frame symbolizes a higher, deeper meaning. This is demonstrated when, Lester looking out the window of his house at his wife, and the blinds on the window represent jail cell bars. Even the blocks of text on his computer screen at work, (shown later in the film) represent jail cell bars. Lester is â€Å"in jail† because his life at this point is so empty and missing substance. This cinematography technique often used in film nior is utilized to convey the emotions of disassociation and distance which in this case, is the way in which Lester feels towards his wife; he is no longer associated with her. American Beauty† is more than a biting satire on suburban life. This somewhat contrived story is meant to be an allegory. Alan Ball’s richly textured screenplay, brilliantly executed stylistic and aesthetic elements such as cinematography, mise en scene and symbols are effectively demonstrated throughout this masterpiece of a film. Every single shot is so carefully taken and layered with such vast significance that it is a marvel to behold. â€Å"Look closer,† the film’s tag line tells us. Look closer at the beautiful things we yearn for and spend our life chasing. There isn’t a single example of a film done better. Not only is the content top-notch, but the technical aspects of the movie are excellent as well. American Beauty truly demonstrates the power of film.

Importance of Building a Relationship For a Salesperson, and What Organizations and Sales people do to Build Relationships With Customers

In the business world today, customers have not only become fastidious but also more demanding and unforgiving. This explains the reason as to why any salesperson needs to be more aggressive and make a good impression the first time he gets in contact with customers. According to Calvin (2007), getting good business sales is the natural outcome of an established relationship of trust between the salesperson and the customers. The closure of sales after the establishment of a good and trustworthy relationship becomes the easiest part in the sales process. Portraying a first good and perfect impression requires good communication and presentation skills for the salesperson. The salesperson is expected to please a first time stranger, and convince them that he is reliable. Most often, the salesperson is terrified and does not know what kind of response to expect from the first time client. This stage is very important as it is able to determine whether such a client will become a customer who can always purchase from the salesperson or not. If the salesperson is able to win the confidence and trust of the customers at the first instance, he is likely to enjoy a competitive advantage in the market over other business people. Goods sales trainings invests a lot of attention and time in teaching salespeople the required skills for building relationships. The skills mainly taught for the sales people include learning to listen to others, and creation of creation of confidence (Honeycutt, 2003). The salesperson should show that he understands the concerns and needs of a particular customer. By doing this, the customer is likely to create confidence in the salesperson and will often want to purchase any goods or services offered by the salesperson. A salesperson should be able to create trust by being able to communicate about information concerning a specific product that the seller is willing to offer and clearly linking this information to the concerns and needs of the customer. Teaching of presentation skills is done in the aspect of and in the context of creating a trustful and open relationship between salespeople and the clients. Techniques of closing stock should then be looked into briefly as part of the big picture of good presentation skills for sales people. According to Acuff and Wood (2004), the focus for building relationships as opposed to just concentrating on the sale of a product is important in the present world than ever before. Various reasons have been given to show why building of relationships is important. To begin with, the changes taking place in the world have necessitated the salespeople to take charge in the market, so as to win confidence for the customers. Sales people have realized that they should be leaders of the current changes taking place in the market, they do this by informing people about new products in the market and convincing them how such products or services are likely to meet their needs and concerns. By being able to win confidence from the customers, they are able to win more customers. A salesperson who does this will be able to absolutely convince customers that what he is selling is a safe and sure solution for the customers problem. Another importance of focusing on an open and trustworthy relationship is because of the need to enjoy a competitive advantage in the market. When a good product gets into the market, other competitors quickly come up with a similar product. A salesperson who has already established a strong relationship with his clients is able to retain them, despite the tough competition. The third reason touches on the development of technology. With the introduction of unique and complex goods in the market, customers have been having fears of buying some products which may cause them harm in future, or products they cannot be able to maintain. Salespeople should know how to win customers under this circumstances, by explaining about the usefulness of such products, and showing how well they understand such a product. Salespeople who focus on the creation of a relationship at the heart of their activities have been producing excellent results in their work (Baker, 2003). Sales Ethics, and Why The Topic is Receiving so Much Attention Today Honeycutt (2003) stated that sales ethics cannot be defined or explained with the exception of all other ethical values. Sales ethics in fact emanates from the entire organizational values which guide the day to day activities of the organization. There is actually no specific code in the area of business that has been separately dedicated to sales ethics. Therefore, the approach used to define sales ethics is the approach used to look at ethics in general. According to Baker (2003), sales ethics refer to those standards of conduct which a salesperson is supposed to observe while carrying out his business practice. A salesperson should carry out his duty with integrity, honesty and intelligence, with the ultimate goal of realizing the vision and mission of the company he or she is working for. Many corporations today are emphasizing on the practice of sales ethics among their salespeople. Researchers have argued that, salespeople are not required to follow a written statement of ethics because they are not ethical, but because they are placed in a working environment where they are faced by ethical challenges every now and then, unlike other people in employment. Researchers have sated that companies should take enough time to educate salespeople on how to approach ethical dilemmas in their areas of work. Unlike other workers who have their bosses to consult when faced with ethical challenges, salespeople often face the problem while on the road, they therefore lack anyone to consult and are left to tackle the problem alone. Sales ethics helps to prevent many loses that a company can get from unethical behaviors of the salespeople such as over promising customers, and failure to observe certain sales regulations like the FDA's rules for pharmaceuticals, which may lead to great loses for the company. It has also been claimed that ethics addresses and supports what some scholars call, â€Å"the gray areas of selling,† (Acuff & Wood, 2004). Though this areas may not have any legal implications, lack of knowledge and skills to address them may cause great damage to the company and to the sales career. They include the use of assets available in the company, this may involve misuse of expense reports, computers, cars, and other important equipments in the company. The handling of customer relationships, this may involve forms of abuse such as over promising, overselling, over telling, under informing, and overstocking. The handling of competitor relationships involve spying and tampering on the affairs of the customers outside the scope of business and disparagement. Sales ethics also enable the salesperson to handle relationships with supervisors and peers and to avoid certain acts like false reporting or abuse of territory poaching. Being able to avoid conflicts of interest while working including improper disclosure, and to avoid offering of entertainment and gifts in excess of customers and corporate policies. Where companies have established formal policies to guide the behavior of sales people, they have been able to create good customer relationships and competitive sales. Salary, Commission and Combination Pay Plans, Their Advantages and Disadvantages. According to Calvin (2007), salary refers to the amount of money which an employee is entitled to receive at the end of the month. The employee as long as he or she performs his obligation is entitled to get the set amount of money, whether the company incurs looses or makes profits. This mode of payment has been deemed to be favorable to the employees due to the fact that, they are protected against any unforeseen looses that may occur in the company. Companies which offer employees a permanent salary have the advantage of retaining their workers for a long period of time. Such workers feel secured in the company, and are stable in their operation. This allows the company an opportunity to train their workers, specifically salespeople on the necessary skills, such as building of healthy relationships with clients. This in turn promotes production and maximizes profits for the whole organization. On the other hand however, employees who get a constant salary can relax and refuse to offer the best of their output, since they are sure sure to get their pay whether the company makes profits or not, this is disadvantageous for the company. Acuff and Wood (2004) expressed that commission payment is a payment plan where the employee is entitled to a certain percentage of money from the sales he or she makes. For instance, an employee selling an item whose price is 10 U. S dollars may be entitled to10% as his commission. Many studies have shown that this is an appropriate way of motivating salespeople. Such employees put much of their effort to ensure a maximum sale, so as to earn more commission. With this type of payment plan, an employee can earn as much as they want depending on their performance. This system in fact ensures maximum performance in a company. However, it has been argued that employees in such payment programs are often faced with the challenge of job insecurity and tend to keep changing jobs. A company is likely to loose employees every now and then. This undermines the efforts of establishing a good relationship between salespeople and the customers. In effect, the organization may not be in a position to maximize the sale of its products. The combination plan involves employees getting a certain amount of money as retainer, and then getting the additional compensation as a commission. According to Baker (2003), this is the most effective way of compensating salespeople. By considering the nature of a sales job, it is important that a salesperson is protected against uncertainties especially when sales are so low, by giving them some amount of money as a retainer. The additional commission works as a motivator. This method is therefore said to be the best for salespeople because it serves both sides, securing an employee who can through this plan be retained by the company for its benefit, and motivating the employee to produce the best for the benefits of the company. Critiques however argue that this plan can in certain circumstances be expensive for the company (Honeycutt, 2003).

Observations From the Box Office

Observations From the Box Office Free Online Research Papers Personal traits, tastes, and opinions influence our every day lives. From the places we shop to the classes we take, our personalities affect our choices. This is also true for the movies we choose to see. For the past few weeks four movies, Superbad, Hot Rod, The Nanny Diaries, and the Bourne Ultimatum show how our personalities as people attend these movies. I had my assumptions about what movies they were going to see. Sensation and passion are two of the strongest emotions that a movie can give a person. People might go to see a movie for different reasons. One might factor in laziness while another individual might go watch the same movie to disappear in thought and get sucked into the main characters life. There is so much you can learn about people by studying their behavior. For the past few months, I worked a premier movie theater. Krikorian Premier Theater is located in downtown San Clemente, California. Working there gave me an opportunity to snoop and pry into my customers’ minds. I was able to stand aside, hidden in a corner and watch, just observe. Superbad, though being out in the theaters for a while now, still possesses the title of the most popular movie on Friday nights. Teenagers are the primary audience for this movie because of the premise, getting alcohol while being underage. Even though this movie is marketed towards the older teenage population, many older people go to see it as well. I asked one of them what compelled him to watch a movie. He looked at me, laughed, and told me the reason was that he wanted to feel like he was in high school again. He told me that his high school years were the best in his life and that he connected with the characters in the movie because he tried hard to get alcohol while he was underage with his friends. This movie is filled with comedy and crude humor. making any adolescent or child at heart laugh until they cry. Hot Rod is another simple yet entertaining movie. This is a straightforward movie about a teenager named Rodney Kimble and his dreams to become a stuntman. He accomplishes his dream to jump fifteen buses to acquire money for his abusive father’s surgery. This movie I would consider to be one of â€Å"brainless† funny movies I have ever seen besides Super Troopers. There is not a moment in this movie where the audience is not laughing. Crammed with teenage comedy, witty remarks, and crude humor classifies this movie into the young teenage section. It is mind-blowing how many movies target the younger generation gap. Many of the adults that went to see this film informed me that this movie was imaginatively good, but it would not appear in their personal movie collection. In other words, they probably will not see it again. Teenagers for the most part, told me that it was hilarious and that they will probably see it at least once more in the theaters alone. Their humor is a bit excessive for my taste. The next movie is The Nanny Diaries. I saw nobody coming to this move during the Friday night rush. For the most part, this movie was a date movie. Typically, packs of girls went to see this movie. Very few males made the honorable attempt to watch this movie, unless accompanied by a girl. If not, they were going to see this movie to pick up the girls in those giant groups. My deductions proved me correct; these men were brilliant. Girls, for the most part, want to have a sensitive guy, and these guys were total beach bums. There is no way that they were even remotely interested in this movie. This movie was the slowest for the night and only sold about thirty tickets for the seven-thirty rush. The last movie on the list is Bourne Ultimatum. This movie was made for all ages. Bourne was jam-packed full of action and definitely the thriller of the summer. Jason Bourne learns about how he became a candidate for the Tredstone project. He begins to remember his training, mentors, and his initiation to the top-secret experimental project. I noticed that people of all ages going to see this movie. There were no specific age groups and no fads for this film. I was deeply impressed with the outcome of this one. This movie had a constant rush to it and I saw many teens and adults go to this one, which ranged from youngest being about seven and the oldest being around sixty-five. I am very proud of how this film marketed their movie. The producers brought everybody to the table. The movie makes the person. Everybody loves to go and watch a film or read a book. It takes you into another world another life. You don’t have any worries you get sucked in as if the characters life is really yours. Everybody wants their life to be exciting but due to my studies of ticket sales and observations at the box office, people like comedy more. Most Americans enjoy going to watch stupid comedies. It’s the simple truth. Research Papers on Observations From the Box OfficeWhere Wild and West MeetPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionHip-Hop is ArtThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito

Strategic Analysis SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Corporation The WritePass Journal

Strategic Analysis SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Corporation INTRODUCTION Strategic Analysis SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Corporation INTRODUCTIONOVERVIEW OF STARBUCKS COFFEEStore Expansion Strategy of StarbucksFINANCIAL CRISIS AND COMMODITIZATION OF THE BRANDIssue ReasonsSTRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT TO SOLVE PROBLEMSSWOT AnalysisRe-energizing Starbucks ProcessRECOMMENDATIONS  FOR FUTURE STRATEGYCONCLUSIONRelated INTRODUCTION Starbucks brand name is  one of most admired famous global business in the world (Moore, 2006, p.7). Moreover, in terms of marketing, Starbucks always is the case study for discussing about it successful marketing and branding strategies.  Because of the fall of the economy,  it  was  forced to close 700 stores that were  unable to make  enough profit  and cut thousands of jobs in America, UK, and Australia  after a drop in sales  in 2008.  The brand was  also facing the issue of their customers choosing a cheaper option over their higher coffee prices.  Starbucks  then  was  applauded  for their handling of crisis situations. This report will apply  relevant theory and practice of  strategic marketing  management to  explore the situation, contributing factors and management of marketing strategies in the financial crisis sector,  reflecting the happenings and identifying recommendations relevant to Starbucks International Coffee. OVERVIEW OF STARBUCKS COFFEE The Seattle-based Starbucks Corporation, which founded in 1971, is nowadays a multinational coffee and coffee house chain with over 15,000 stores in  in all 50 states and   43 countries outside of the United States  (Pham, 2008, p.8).  Serving consumers everywhere (Moore, 2006, p.12.), the aim of Starbucks is  to establish and leverage its powerhouse premium specialty coffee through rapid expansion of retail operations, new distribution channels and successful make it coffee a global product for millions customers. At Starbucks Coffee, the mission is []  to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time. (Clampitt, 2009). Starbucks  has been and always be  proud of their commitment to maintaining quality, integrity, and great taste of coffee through the course of its growth  and the high value placed on the employees/partners worldwide  (LeFort, 2008)  . Store Expansion Strategy of Starbucks Throughout the 1990s,  Starbucks  had started  developed a  Ã¢â‚¬Å"three-year geographic expansion strategy†Ã‚  (Clampitt, 2009) then  Starbucks store launches grew more successful  in revenue  (Creamer, 2007).  Ã‚  Not just selling the coffee,  Starbucks model  with opening new stores next to doors and inside shopping malls  caused them to increase in value  than all other competitors  (Cebrzynski, 2007)  Ã‚  In 2004, Starbucks announced to analysts that it had a  Ã‚  very aggressive target to  double its rate of expansion. Their stated goal was to grow to 15,000 stores in the US.  According to the report in an article,  Starbucks has more than 13,000 locations around the world, and has  overstretched itself with the  long-term goal of 40,000 stores worldwide  (Woodward, 2007,  Clark, 2008).  Appendix 4, 5, 6   There is a raised question that  whether it is a bad business decision for coffee chain Starbucks to expand its brand too quick.  (Cebrzynski, 2007) is also suspicious that  has  Starbucks lost its â€Å"Starbucks experience† by growing that big? (Business: Trouble brewing, 2007)   FINANCIAL CRISIS AND COMMODITIZATION OF THE BRAND A crisis, according to  Ã‚  (Brown, 2003)  is â€Å"a decisive moment†, â€Å"a turning point†, â€Å"a time of great difficulty†, then marketing cannot possibly be in crisis.  Mr Schultz, Starbuckss CEO, saw the crisis coming. He had discovered the problem of their own development strategies: Stores no longer have the experienced soul with the warm feeling of a neighbourhood store. At the beginning of 2007, he did warned about the commoditisation of the brand that the expansion from 1,000 to more than 13,000 shops over the past ten years, in order to achieve the growth, development, has led to a series of decisions that make a watering down of the Starbucks experience. (Businessweek. 2007). The decline of Starbucks is the result of over expanding previous years, has been criticized by those who oppose globalization such as ( Klein, 2009): Instead of opening giant stores on the outskirts of town, Starbucks chooses locations right in the range of the inner a rea already full with all kinds of coffee house. This strategy relies heavily on the cost reduction by purchasing multiple quantities at wholesale prices like Wal-Mar, however, affected more by the competitors† The rapid growth has obviously caused Starbucks some problems.  For the first time  in its  37-year-  history  Starbucks lost customers and profits collapsed 97% (Jagger, 2008)  during the fourth quarter of 2007  after the ubiquitous coffee chain was forced to absorb the effect of weakening demand.  The  footfall had declined in the UK,  where it has two other big coffee retailer: Whitbreads Costa and Caffà ¨ Nero as well,  -$6.7 million after tax,  compared with a $158 million profit for the same quarter last year. (Lee, 2008).  Although company officials still do not believe growth is an issue  (Cebrzynski, 2007),  first time in five years, Starbucks was  knocked out of first place in the coffee-and-doughnuts category by Dunkin Donuts  (Creamer, 2007). And it was the biggest faller in the index by 7 points to 42 out of a possible 100.  (Leroux, 2008) Issue Reasons As  (Schindehutte  et al.,  2008) argues that  [] something is clearly affecting the ability of firms and business units to sustain performance  ), suffering from a rough economy and its own strategic missteps,  Starbucks had to admit their own mistakes, much of which  is self-inflicted  (Ignatius, 2010)  In current economy,  as a  classic dilemma of any big business, while trying to expand, Starbucks not only have to deal with other factors like competitors and the mortgage crisis, they also competing with themselves.  Size may have brought success to Starbucks, but it has also led to issues of brand depersonalisation.  In the rush to open more stores, Starbucks is experiencing what all successful brands do when they move from being a small, niche firm to a global entity  (Golding,2009). Moreover, there are some extra affections from the environment, such as: The brands bottom line has been hit by the rising costs of raw materials. â€Å"[] now Starbucks isn’t for some people† said  Howard Schultz,  CEO of Starbucks (Not enough froth Starbucks, 2008). Fancy Starbucks coffee has also struggled to compete with cut-price rivals such as McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts, as these traditionally food-focused outlets have begun to sell their own premium and reasonable coffee offer (Clark, 2008).   As the financial crisis has spread to the real economy,  a perfect storm of negative factors affecting the consumer  (Cebrzynski, 2007).  The flagging economy and soaring gas prices are responsible too  (Leroux, 2008).  Ã‚  Consumers are worried of rising gas prices, energy bills,   declining home values, the weak dollar, tighter credit, therefore  giving hard consideration to how they spend their money. They even already  scale back on restaurant dining that made  restaurants are slowly creeping out of their thoughts. STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT TO SOLVE PROBLEMS Crisis management is much more than coping with a crisis, it is identifying, studying, forecasting, stopping and avoiding crisis as well. (Clampitt, 2009)  Continuous improvement and monitoring in business operation can detect and prevent an upcoming crisis (Rhee Valdez, 2009).   Effective marketing can contribute to a firms growth through better anticipation of market opportunities, calibration of risks, a tighter linkage of technological possibilities with market concepts, and faster adjustment to shifting market needs and competitive moves. (Day, 2003)   For their part, market-driving firms such as Starbucks is demonstrating how business model innovation results in sustainable advantage and superior long-term performance in a wide range of industries.  (Schindehutte  et al.,  2008).  When a crisis or disaster strikes, companies must analyze and choose from many strategic plans.   One way they do this is by using a SWOT analysis – a strategic planning tool u sed to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.    The goal of a SWOT analysis is to identify key internal and external factors that affect the desired outcome.    Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the company and include things like wage/benefits, corporate culture, leadership, marketing, and operations.   Opportunities and threats are external to the company and include things like government regulations, competition, and economic and social forces.  (Clampitt, 2009)  The focus for the strategic management to understand the market and industry processes of Starbucks and must be able to integrate valid and reliable SWOT analysis so as to determine future strategies for business development and growth in the global market. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis will provide enough awareness for the Starbucks and its business management and operations with regards to their strategic management implying relevant points for their resources as well as market approaches and processes in order to stay in shape and in control of their business environment.  Applying a SWOT analysis to Starbucks global expansion strategy shows why they have been successful overcome the crisis.  Appendix 7 The business strategy of Starbucks is identical to the corporate level strategy, focusing on coffee-related products as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world and maintenance of great environment for every staff member in its retail stores. Continual quality improvement is crucial to competitive success and the perfect symbol for the dilemma that faces world trade  (Schindehutte  et al.,  2008). Therefore, it is typical to give the promises to improve service, reduce growth and expand marketing efforts for responding to a decline in customer traffic (Business: Trouble Brewing, 2007).   Equally as important, company should not lose sight of their brand heritage (Cebrzynski, 2007).     A long term business strategy built upon the hundreds of little things on a daily basis  which is the key to customer relationships in the future  (Cannon, 2002). Re-energizing Starbucks Process When a decline in customer traffic  happens to any chains like Starbucks, its a signal that the company should re-examine their positions (Cebrzynski, 2007).  It is the market that provides signals both to the entrepreneur and marketer regarding what value is needed, when it is needed, and how it should be delivered  (Schindehutte  et al.,  2008). Starbucks needs to go back to its â€Å"roots† (Cebrzynski, 2007) and make its brand special again. Company brought back the original CEO, Howard Schultz to restore the companys shine. Starbucks knows it needs to do something new  (Skenazy, 2008). Re-structure: Back to basics Chairman Howard Schultz take back the reins from ousted CEO James Donald,  not only closed 100 unspecified, underperforming locations with weak sales but also closed most stores across the US simultaneously in order to retrain to improve customer experience at American stores and to â€Å"get back to the core  (Creamer, 2007). Besides, Geoff Vuleta, CEO of New York innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212, had a radical solution that open a chain of microstores devoted solely to making coffee. No travel cups, no music, no machines, just amazing beans and a narrow range of the best-in-the-world coffee drinks,, just moving brand back to the basics.   Resource-led Strategy: Focus on service quality experience Everyone should know that nothing is better for a business than a  satisfied customer  who can talk to others about their experience with our service (Cannon, 2002).   First of all, Starbucks really needs to refocus on the luxury coffee experience; the smells, the sounds. They also gained  customers positive experience in stores by well-trained staffs who were knowledgeable about the company’s products, who eagerly communicated the company’s passion for coffee, and who had the skills and personality to deliver consistently pleasing customer service (Whats Brewing at Starbucks, 2011).  Starbucks wanted to turn all Starbucks employees into partners, give them a chance to share in the success of the company and make clear the connection between their contributions and the company’s market value (Thompson Strickland, 2009). From its founding, Starbucks set out to be a third place to spend time, in addition to home and work.(Business: Trouble Brewing, 2007) To remedy that, the company plans to improve its service. Field managers will spend more time in the stores to make sure service really does get better, and new baristas will receive additional training.  (Cebrzynski, 2007). New breakfast line, featuring a proprietary baked and chilled food program was unveiled in September. Howard Schultz said the smell of the sandwiches overpowered the aroma of coffee, one of the chains signature features  (Jennings, 2008).  Following the lead of other coffee chains, Starbucks will also be offering a customer loyalty card for the first time.  (Ahmed Walsh, 2008)  Ã‚  In an attempt to rvetain loyalty in the UK, Starbucks has introduced free coffee refills for anyone buying a hot drink and has ramped up its hitherto negligible marketing activity  (Lee, 2008). Market-led Strategy:   Reputation management can take a while for a bad reputation to hit your bottom line, or a good one to increase profit (Cannon, 2002). As word-of-mouth is a primary marketing tool, Brian Collins, chief creative officer of New Yorks Collins design research firm, suggested company should better use its digital resources to learn the tastes of regular customers and reach target audience by creating social networking tools  Ã‚  like Facebook or Twitter and blog page.  They also used it both as a way to stay interacted, involved with their current customers and look for new ones.   According to TNS Media Intelligence, Starbucks spent $40 million in the first nine months of 2007 (York, 2008), launched its first national TV campaign to defend its ownership of the coffee segment from encroachment by McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts and other chains  (Cebrzynski, 2007). They also created the site â€Å"My Starbucks Idea† (http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/), which gives consumers the opportunity to post ideas, suggestions, to vote and discuss about what they want to see from Starbucks.  If they gain support, these ideas may be chosen to carry out to change the company in its business process, product development, experience development, and store design.(Jarvis 2008) Change will not happen overnight, Mr. Schultz said. It will evolve over time, but I ensure you a positive change will occur. I, along with our dedicated partners, will strive to exceed the expectations of our customers every day.  (York 2008) RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR FUTURE STRATEGY Some experts therefore believe  its unbranded stores  initiative is not only logical, but necessary. It needs to focus on the inherent values of being local; it needs to employ local staff; it needs to be suitably different from Starbucks corporate image.It is a phenomenally successful company that started off as a local brand but grew incredibly quickly, he says. The brand was originally loved and respected by everyone, but the corporate world decided it had become too big.As the company expands, the culture and corporate strategy must be maintained for success (Jennings, 2008).  For the recommendation, Starbucks should be able to sustain the companys growth and make the business become strong global brand. What could Starbucks do to make its stores an even more elegant milieu that welcomes rewards and give surprises to customers? What new products and new experiences could the company provide that would belong to and be associated with Starbucks? And how could Starbucks reach people who were not coffee drinkers? Starbucks must continue the fixed-price purchase commitments in order to secure an adequate supply of quality green coffee beans and to limit its exposure to fluctuating coffee prices in upcoming periods. (ThompsonStickland, 2009) However, David Anderson, director of Cada Design Group, argues that most consumers dont have issues with the brand.  Consumers are looking for a home away from home, and want it in an environment that isnt so heavily corporate branded.  They think customers are brand loyal or product loyal, but they are not. It comes down to convenience and providing a space people want to be in.  It wants to regain a community personality and the image of the neighbourhood coffee shop.(Golding, 2009) CONCLUSION Starbucks Coffees heyday was back when the corporation announced the business results in the first quarter this year reached U.S. $ 2.7 billion, with net profit of 242 million dollars (nearly 300% increase compared to same period in 2009). This is also the result of efforts to revive the brand had been likened to a giant. From the case of Starbucks, what is the lesson for business? Because development needs, the business diversified products and services is perhaps natural. A long time, Starbucks has gone with their own race shop system extension. This group has become the pride of American business people. The market strategy of Starbucks is a classic lesson in the textbook business. More services they desire to acquire a lot of customers. In fact, they have plummeted, but in time to edit. So go in-depth development (product quality, service key) to get a solid foundation for expanding business. But do not be too ambitious expansion width, expansion, missing the core. Marketing once again demonstrated its magic to bring Starbucks back to the track. The results of consumer research shows that of Starbucks, the main indicators in the business achieved a high level of satisfaction over a year ago. Although Starbucks enjoyed success in the past few years, there are a few obstacles looming. Since the popularity of the coffee house idea has grown, some cities wish to issue regulations on the coffeehouses due to complaints of late night patrons becoming uncontrollable.  In conclusion therefore, Starbucks was the only company with anything close to national market coverage. The companys efforts to greatly increase its sphere of strategic interest via its joint ventures and the move to sell coffee in supermarkets that represents such ongoing drive in order to continually reinvent the way Starbucks operate its business.  (Thompson Stickland, 2009) Amidst the environmental, social, and economic challenges and changes for Starbucks, its chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Howard Schultz, pledges Even during this time of change for our company, one thing that will never change is our long-standing commitment to conducting business in a responsible and ethical manner. Going forward, we will only deepen our approach by continuing to integrate social and environmental responsibility in every aspect of our business. With its various and numerous awards in Best Business, Most Admired Company, 100 Best Corporate Citizens, to name a few, Starbucks is becoming one of the most respected brands in the world.  (Clampitt, 2009)

Dont Be Negative About Negatives

Dont Be Negative About Negatives Don’t Be Negative About Negatives Don’t Be Negative About Negatives By Mark Nichol A site visitor called attention to a sentence in one of my recent posts and asked, because it has two negatives, whether it is grammatically correct. The sentence in question? â€Å"In case you hadn’t heard, I couldn’t care less.† The reader confused the appearance of two negative words with the concept of the double negative, which is not the same thing. In the sentence I used, each negative is located in a separate clause: Hadn’t appears in the dependent clause, and couldn’t is in the main, independent clause. Therefore, they don’t contradict each other. But even if they did, would that be wrong? Not necessarily. Two forms of double negative exist. One, referred to as two negatives resolving to a positive, is also known as litotes (LIE-tuh-tees), a rhetorical device in which emphasis is conveyed by understatement. For example, â€Å"I do not disagree,† a form of two negatives resolving to a positive, is an effective way to convey lukewarm concurrence. â€Å"He is not unattractive,† likewise, is not the same as â€Å"He is attractive.† By using the double negative, the writer intends to damn with faint praise. The double negative carries the euphemistic connotation that the man in question is only merely pleasant looking rather than handsome. The other form of double negative, known as two or more negatives resolving to a negative, is the one we associate with the grammarian’s admonition to avoid double negatives. Here are some examples of double negatives that are not considered specimens of proper English usage: â€Å"I ain’t no fool.† â€Å"She didn’t do nothing.† â€Å"They ain’t going nowhere.† â€Å"We don’t never go out.† â€Å"You don’t have no money.† Related examples employ a minimizing adverb instead of a negative: â€Å"I can’t hardly tell.† â€Å"He couldn’t barely see in that fog.† But are these sentences grammatically challenged? Not really. They aren’t exemplars of Standard English, but they’re seldom unclear, and they are appropriate in context, to authentically convey the substandard usage of uneducated speakers of English. To review, â€Å"In case you hadn’t heard, I couldn’t care less† is unimpeachable, â€Å"I do not disagree† and â€Å"He is not unattractive† are eloquent equivocations, and â€Å"I ain’t no fool† and similar constructions are entirely acceptable as expressions of dialect or of jocular usage. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of Phrases5 Lessons for Mixing Past and Present TenseHow Verbs Become Adjectives

Embarrassment and impression management Research Paper

Embarrassment and impression management - Research Paper Example His view underlined the importance of communication and suggested that identity of a person is no more than a reflection of the image of the self that is communicated to a person through his/her interactions with others. According to Cooley, people see themselves reflected in each others’ eyes and through their communications and interactions with others, gain messages about habits, physical attributes and personal tastes which influences their own judgments and perceptions about self. The control and modulation of the way in which a person chooses to present himself or herself to others is referred to as impression management. Self presentation in the context of impression management has been defined by Jones and Pittman as â€Å"the shaping of† a person’s â€Å"responses to create in specific others an impression that is for one reason or another desired by the actor.† (Jones and Pittman, 1982: 233). Every person therefore controls the kind of impression s/he wants others to gain by controlling what is revealed to others, i.e, the extent of self disclosure. Goffman(1959) supplemented Cooley’s theory about impression management by offering the view that individuals present themselves as a performance, choosing which role to play at any given time. Mets and Grohskopf (2003) have summarized the management of the presentation of the self as â€Å"the process by which individuals, more or less intentionally, construct a public self that is likely to elicit certain types of attributions from others, attributions that would facilitate the achievement of some goal, usually to acquire social rewards or advantages, or to prevent loss of self esteem when future failure seems probable (p 360). As may be noted from the above views, social integration implies a high degree of attunement to others’ perceptions about oneself, when this yields a positive perception there is pride and integration of the individual is promoted, but when the individual seeks a negative reflection/perception of the self as gained from the impressions of others, there is shame and a feeling of alienation, which produced embarrassment. One notable example of embarrassment is politician Sarah Palin, who was the Vice Presidential candidate in the American Pr esidential elections of 2008. During the course of the political canvassing, Palin in a radio interview with Glenn Beck, was asked about how she would handle North Korea and responded that we would have to stand by our North Korean allies. This was yet another in a long history of gaffes, such as for example, unable to demonstrate any understanding of the separation of church and state or name a single Supreme Court case, and her claim that she was qualified to handle foreign policy because she was from Alaska which is close to Russia. In responding to the realization that she had made a serious gaffe, Palin defended herself by going on to Facebook and attacking Obama’s gaffes instead.(Stickings, 2010). It may be noted here that a considerable amount of publicity was devoted