Business Research Methods Essay Example for Free

Business Research Methods Essay Starbucks (158) , Research methods (28) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints Starbucks grew as it attracted many people, leading to tripling its stores worldwide. It became part of every neighborhood, appearing on every street, in airports, supermarkets, and roadside rest stops all over America. This is when complaints began to surface that Starbucks is transforming into a fast-food restaurant and not a coffee house. The coffee industry was no longer dominated by Starbucks, for competitors began to put pressure on the business. In addition, the biggest dilemma to hit Starbucks was the 2008 economic crisis. This took a toll on the consumer who saw Starbucks as a luxury and searched for more affordable alternatives. As a result, Starbucks’ management was faced with the need to generate the right management question that would be the thread to making the best decision through its research design. An organizational dilemma can spark a research question. Once an organization determines a situation exists, research methods start to devise and eventually sample designs are implemented. When people think of Starbucks, do they think of great customer service, quality products, clean store, or great coffee? The organizational dilemma is: how should Starbucks go about keeping loyal customers while overcoming the old perceptions and changing with the times. According to Howard Schultz, â€Å"We are not in the coffee business serving people; we are in the people business serving coffee† (Starbucks Board of Directors, 2008). Marius Pretorius (2008) research infers Starbuck’s organizational dilemma, whether strategic or operational is not diminished when using Michael Porter’s (1985) generic strategies for competitive advantage. Declining sales require a turnaround solution that address strategic causes and cost relationship pressures that govern demand determinants. Which are â€Å"highly susceptible to external influences that are not clearly visible to the decision-makers† (Pretorius, 2008, pg. 21). Designing a two-stage exploratory study to identify the basis of distress and the key determinants is essential to a turnaround strategic plan. An exploratory study provides sufficient flexibility to address research costs, timelines, and development of clear constructs to address priorities and operational definitions (Cooper & Schindler, 2011). The first stage of the study will look to ascertain the causation of the organizational dilemma and postulate the asymmetrical relationships in declining sales by examining both internal and external independent and dependent variables. This research will categorize findings into four relationship types as stimulus-response, property-disposition, disposition-behavior, or property-behavior. This will refine the second stage of research and explore influencing factors in depth. Characteristics and Operational Definitions The research design will produce casual inferences upon which a complementary strategy will result. â€Å"Although they may be neither permanent nor universal, these inferences allow us to build knowledge of presumed causes over time† (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, pg. 154). Therefore, it is important to identify moderating or interactive variable dependencies. To ensure data validity operational definitions will challenge data to meet specific standards. These definitions may not exhibit the organization’s use but will establish a means to classify clearly an event. The main concern is to establish actionable information in which contributory or contingent effects on the original independent to dependent variable (IV–DV) relationship will provide empirical conclusions. References Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2011). Business research methods (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Porter, M.E., (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. New York, NY: The Free Press Pretorius, M., (2008). When Porter’s generic strategies are not enough: Complementary strategies for turnaround situations. Journal of Business Strategy 29(6): 19–28. Starbucks Board of Directors. (2008). Retrieved 2 2013, February, from Starbucks.com: www.starbucks.com/aboutus/environment.asp Starbucks, (2011) Our Company: Mission Statement. We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Starbucks - Essay Example The paper talks us the story of Starbucks from very begining. By 1992, Starbucks had its initial public offering with 165 outlets. Today, Starbucks has almost 17,000 stores in over 50 countries. It has also taken over several companies including Seattle Coffee Company, Seattle's Best Coffee, Diedrich Coffee and Coffee People. Starbucks has also reduced product cost and waste but at the same time improved customer satisfaction. The profitability of their international business continues to improve through supply chain efficiencies. The primary market risk that Starbucks will face in the coming year is the commodity price risk of coffee and dairy products. Foreign exchange currency risk is also a concern because of its international operations. After an analysis of the financials of Starbucks, we can say that it is very good investment for the future because of its growth potential. Although its US market may already be saturated, its overseas market is not yet saturated. Its 40-year history of providing exceptional coffee, world-class customer experience, commitment to its partners (employees) and dedication as a responsible corporate citizen is more than enough reason to invest in the company. We are sure we can go wrong with Starbucks! Go to the store and try a good cup of coffee!

History and interior design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

History and interior design - Essay Example ............................................................................10 Churchill War Rooms museum..............................................................................................12 Restoring old museums...........................................................................................................11 Modern Interior.......................................................................................................................12 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦..13 Bibliography†¦.........................................................................................................................14 Interior design has been able to establish history by its temporary qualities and emphasis on uniqueness in its practice. Although many have come out to define interior decor the right definition has not yet been established and there is a likelihood of never been a rightful answer (Britow, 1996, p.74). Interior decor in London has always been used to celebrate and mark history made in the country. How interior works can be understood by answering the question why interior design and this has made interior decor emerge as a tool to understand history. An approach has to be formed between history and interior to allow movement or change in establishing the interior. The concept of interior history is understood as a process that is taking place at a particular stage. The main idea of re-writing history today is to change people’s perception that interior design can only take place in enclosed spaces. This platform offers designers and student designers certain connection on the inside and outside connection. When people talk about interior design they only consider the interior form and leave out the design found outside. The interior design used on a building has always been influenced by technological advances resulting to rapid urbanization and deprivation of culture and regional identity. Interior designers sit in committees and attend world conferences to share and learn better concepts to incorporate in their work (Martin, 2009, p.72). Today this is not the case buildings that also have no enclosure are undergoing interior decoration. Therefore overtime the history of interior design has changed with establishments being analysed on the interior and exterior (McKellar & Sparke, 2004, p.135). One good example is the Millennium Dome museums found in London a major attraction and visited by many due to their interior designs. The interior designs are tools used to write history and explain some circumstances in the past. Take an example the millennium dome museum built to celebrate the end of the 20th century and to welcome the 21st century. Millennium dome museum had the interior and exterior design laid out by several designers. The museum had the material used on its exterior durable and resistance. The outside fabric has a reflective blue coating giving it a beautiful appearance. The museum at night reflections is very beautiful because the light fittings were strategically installed round the dome-shape museum. The good-lining fabric was meant to render good colour rendering. Today the millennium dome museum is widely known for its exterior design and attracts a number of visitors. (The image below shows the exterior design of the Millennium Dome museum from a bird view and on the right is the interior view of the museum) Most of the museums in London have a great exhibition of interior