Robie House, University of Chicago,Frank Lloyd Wright Essay

Robie House, University of Chicago,Frank Lloyd Wright - Essay Example as his profession and this was the right decision he made, that is which resulted in his successful career of building a lot of famous civil, commercial and public building. From his child hood aspiration of natural beauty he adopted prairie style of architecture. And for a lot of period before he got inspiration from Japanese art of architecture he built number of famous buildings the most famous among them are Robie House and Unity Temple in Oak Park. He brought a revolution in the field of architecture by building these places. Robie house was completed in the first decade of twentieth century. Other famous buildings that he made was his own house Taliesin which caught due to different reasons many times and rebuilt it again and again. The Taliesin was mixture of the prairie and modern style of architecture he obtained from his long experience. In 1915 he went to Japan on the request of Japanese emperor for building Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. He spent 7 years of his life here and a natural style Imperial Hotel was constructed in this period. The feature that become the reason of fame for him was that this building was â€Å"earthquake proof†. This was acclaimed by Frank Lloyd Wright after completion of the construction and was proved right after the earthquake struck of Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. The whole city was devastated except this building in the whole city. He in his life gave idea of new thinking in the field of architecture. The novelty of his ideas was the key to his successful works. He was a nature lover and believed in construction for pleasurable life of man. This fact is evident from his works all the buildings he constructed in the symbol of simple beauty. He was considered retired from profession after construction of Taliesin, but he came back to the profession dramatically by constructing Falling Water Residence in 1935 which was one of the masterpieces of his works. The social conditions that influenced Robie House was that it is situated

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Abstract Starbucks opened its first location in Seattles Pike Place Market in 1971. Now Chairman Howard Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982 as Director of Marketing. Schultz visited Italy and noticed the popularity of espresso bars there. He thought this would be a great idea in the Seattle area and convinced Starbucks to open a coffee shop in downtown. Schultz founded his own coffee company and acquired Starbucks name and assets from its founders in 1987. The company had just 17 stores but would soon grow quickly and went public in 1992. Starbucks popularity soared as it opened coffee shops within Barnes and Noble bookstores. It also provided coffee for United Airlines and shops in Starwood hotels. The companys focus on quality and commitment to social causes and the community have made it one of the worlds most admired businesses. Starbucks made the cutting-edge step of having its second Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report verified by an outside auditor, so readers can be assured the facts and figures it presents are accurate. One of the revealing statistics in the report is that Starbucks purchased 74 percent of its green coffee at outright negotiated prices, independent of depressed commodity prices in 2002, up from just 12 percent in 2001. Starbucks also paid an average of $1. 20 per pound at a time when coffee was trading on the commodity market for $. 40 to $. 50 per pound. The end result: higher income for farmers, which translates to a better quality of life for farmers. Introduction: Starbucks began 36 years ago as a single store in Seattles Pikes Place Market, and today is the worlds leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee. The company has experienced extraordinary growth: its number of stores has more than doubled in the past ten years, with close to 6,000 coffeehouses in over 27 international markets. More than 19 million customers visit a Starbucks coffeehouse each week. When Starbucks considered its ambitious expansion plans for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, executives knew that the location they chose for their new roasting plant and support centre would be critical to their success. In fact, the decision was so important that the company spent close to three years looking at various sites across Europe and the International market. Main discussion: 1. Starbucks product’s competitive priorities As we know the competitive priorities is operating advantages that a firm’s processes must possess to outperform its competitors. In this part, we are going to define each possible competitive priorities of Starbucks for operation process as cost, quality, time and flexibility †¢Cost: Market indicators show a potential trouble for the entire coffee industry as a whole, namely the rising cost of coffee beans and farmer’s tendency to switch to other profitable crops. First, rising cost means lower profit margins. Second, the fact that farmers are switching to more lucrative crops such as vegetables, fruits, and even illegal crops foreshadows the scarce supply of coffee beans. Hopefully Starbucks’ competitive prices for its coffee subcontractors are lucrative enough to retain and deter its suppliers away from abandoning the coffee production. Economic trends should not influence. Starbucks pricing strategy greatly, because gourmet coffee, or any other coffee, is measured on quality and availability, and not so much on price. Furthermore, in times of economic downturn, the business is actually performing better, since people are fixated on the idea that if we cannot afford something as grandeur as a new car, then at least we would treat ourselves to a nice cup of coffee. Hence, economic trends should not greatly influence the performance of coffee sales. †¢Quality -high performance design for quality control, Starbucks has a specialized process for roasting the perfect coffee bean. It is implemented with the roaster determining by sight, smell, hearing, and computer, if the beans are perfectly done. Additionally, the colour of the beans is tested in an Agtron blood-cell analyzer. If the sample is deemed imperfect in any of these processes, the whole batch is discarded. Starbucks’ departmental systems are organized into functional and production divisions such as Supply Chain Operations, Human Resources, Accounting, etc Starbucks employs approximately 15,000 individuals to operate its retail stores and regional offices, and 1,600 individuals to work on administrative, sales, real estate, direct response, roasting, and warehousing operations. -consistent quality: measurement of quality products and services that keep customer’s retention. Its competitive strategy is to rapidly expand to a market and dominate it completely before moving on. In the process, it hopes that these rapid expansions would create a higher barrier to entry, discourage competitors from expanding, and eventually acquires weak competitors who wants to exit. †¢Time: three competitive priorities deal with time fast delivery time, on-time delivery and development speed. -fast delivery time: starbucks saves costumers’ time by offering self-service to the costumers. -On-time, delivery by processing orders in efficient time, which guarantees no costumer delay on service. -development speed starbucks’ consumers have tried its product, but not through advertisement, but through promotions such as gifts introducing new products to the market. †¢Flexibility: the customization of starbucks has the ability to satisfy the unique needs of costumers by changing products and services designs. Starbucks volume flexibility is accelerating the rate of production quickly to handle large fluctuation in demand because of the unique service to the costumers. 2. Starbucks critical analysis, services and manufacturing strategies In order to identify the critical analysis of the company services and manufacturing strategies we will start analysing the corporate strategy as it follows: †¢Goals The Companys goal is to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world. To achieve this goal, the Company plans to continue to rapidly expand its retail operations, grow its specialty sales and other operations, and selectively pursue opportunities to leverage the Starbucks brand through the introduction of new products and the development of new distribution channels. , as well as: -Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity. Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business. Apply the highest standards to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee. Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time. Contribute positively to our communities and our environment. Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success. †¢Core competencies: starbucks considers the unique resources and strengths when formulating strategy as workforce, facilities, market and financial, and system and technology as they follow: †¢ Culture and employees who support values and missions of the organization, who have a stake in the performance of the company. ? Market domination in the U. S, allowing economies of scale, creating high barrier to entry, and impeding competitors’ growth incentive. ? Sufficient return on equity, which means proper management of company’s resources †¢Low supplier’s and customer’s power, and low influence from economic trends †¢Quality product and customer service, established brand name Environmental responses ?Economics Trends – Market indicators shows a potential trouble for the entire coffee industry as a whole, namely the rising cost of coffee beans and farmer’s tendency to switch to other profitable crops. First, rising.

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) of Vodafone

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) of Vodafone Introduction Strategic Human Resource Management is a modern day business concept that has been now been widely used the organization; the crux of the concept is that all the human resource activities of the companies should be aligned with the organizational corporate objectives. In this assignment we are required to select an organization of our choice and then analyze their strategic human resource practices, we are required to see that how the practices and strategies of human resources department are aligned with the companys objective. What are the areas that are performing well and what the areas that need the improvement are? For this I have selected leading telecom company of UK. Vodafone has been the market leader with their continued growth in UK and other parts of the world. This paper will analyze two dimensions, one is their strategies for recruitment, selection, learning, development and training and I shall explain how these strategies are maximizing employee performance and are linked with corporate strategies. The second part of this paper will present the performance management processes of the organization we shall how this organization manages the performance of their employees and how human resource department is managing the employee relations. Introduction to the Company Vodafone is a leading telecom player in the UK and other parts of the world including India. The products and services they provide are of high quality and high standards and the market they are operating is highly competitive. The nature of competition requires the management of the company to have a strategic clarity and all the business operations should be working in same direction. Their service portfolio includes mobile phone connection including 2G and 3G networks, broadband internet in homes and on mobiles (www.vodafone.com, 2011). In order to understand the strategic human resource activities of the organization is very important to understand that what company all about is. Their vision values and business orientation are the key drivers that are driving the human resource management department (www.vodafone.com, 2011). Company Vision They see their future in outstanding data services and products backed up by the best customer experience in the business. Their journey has already begun, with things like Mobile Internet and Mobile Broadband. And their Vodafone at home fixed broadband service. And their targets are big, which means millions of customers using their data services every day (www.vodafone.com, 2011). Company Values Speed They are focused on speed to market, they relentlessly priorities and pursue the outcomes that matter to our business. Simplicity They make things simple for their customers, partners and colleagues. Trust They are reliable and transparent to deal with. They deliver for others, and trust others to do likewise Literature Review of Strategic HRM: Strategic Human Resource Management is a modern day business concept that is now being practiced in many of the organizations, its acceptability and practice is increasing with the time as organization have realized that this management philosophy is actually adding value to business profitability in many indirect ways . As we know that human resources are one of the most important resources of that a company can have, their ability to participate in development of companies sustainable competitive advantage is unquestionable, in past the human resource management has been a separate department with no influence and participation in strategic management of the company. Whatever have been the corporate strategies companies were not linking the human resources management with it. The result of which was the disintegration of companys objective and human resource management, this scenario made the human resource participation in sustainable competitive advantage limited. (Appleby Mavin, 2000). With the evolution of modern business era, that has started from 1980s, the management practitioners and commentators has been feeling the need of taking the companies to one direction, and they have also realized that it very important that human resource department should be made part of the strategy formulation process and their human resource strategies should be made while keeping in mind the business strategy of the organization. Therefore the researchers came up with the concept which is called the Strategic Human Resource Management, that enables the HR department to derive their practices from the corporate strategy and they are also made part while making the business strategy (Armstrong, 2006). Strategic Human Resource Management requires the dept being proactive rather than being reactive, they are required to adjust themselves according to the human resource need of the company. They are also required to foresee the upcoming needs of the company and then plan beforehand accordingly (McMahan et al., 1998). Strategies for Recruitment, Retention, Training Learning Vodafone is a market leader in their category, they have a competitive advantage because of their diversification in products, services and marketing strategies, therefore their corporate objective is to sustain their marketing leader position with the help of their diversification. Below is the snapshot of HR strategies for various HR functions of the organization that tells us the organization is linking their business strategy with their human resource strategy: Recruitment Selection Vodafones recruitment and selection process is aligned with their business strategy, as they are in the business of providing services and their market position is a leader with differentiations, therefore when they recruit individuals on different seats, they have set of core competencies that are required for each position and they check these while hiring someone(Armstrong, 2006). Their selection process makes sure that the right person with right set of capacities and attitude is selected, for example if they are hiring for the position of customer service they would make sure that person being hired has the soft skills, the empathic attitude and is not aggressive in nature. They have devised a set of such soft skills that are evaluated on each of the hiring and these skills vary from position to position. For managerial level position they make sure they hire someone with good analytical skill along with flare of leadership in them. So in Vodafone the entire selection process is linked with the corporate objectives (Armstrong, 2006). Compensation Benefits Vodafones entire compensation and benefits are also linked with business strategy, their remuneration systems and annual appraisal systems are derived from corporate strategy. Since our case company is working in highly competitive environment and they have to maintain their market leadership position therefore they have designed their compensation system that encourages the quality individuation to work in this organization. They provide they employees with state of the art facilities and salary packages so that the best in the industry are attracted to work in the company and then they play their part in making the organization a market leader (Armstrong, 2006). His annual appraisal system is also managed strategically, in Vodafone, every department has their quarterly and annual objectives, and these objectives are then used to make the individual and teams quarterly and annual objectives. Now when performance appraisal is done, Vodafones human resource department makes the objective achievement the part of the appraisal system and all the increments in salary and bonuses are linked with the objective achievement in teams and individuals. For their objective achievement calculation they make sure that performance objective are time bound, quantifiable and measureable (Armstrong, 2006). Training Development Training and Development is an important component of their human resource strategy. They keep on adding value in their human resources by training them on hard skill and soft skill whatever is required by the nature and role of the job. The processes start from indentifying the training needs of each of the department. They after understanding the objective of the each of the department for the coming year, asks the relevant managers to identify and evaluate the individuals in their teams that require the training and development in certain areas of their job. These training needs can be of soft skill and also can be of hard skills that are directly related to the job (McMahan et al., 1998). Once the training needs are indentified then human resource department manages the training calendar of the year, in which all the required training are mentioned and employees are sent for on job and off job training. Human resource department also have the eye on the upcoming expansions and technological developments in the market so the relevant employees can be trained before the time and they are ready to work when there is any technological advancement and change in the organization. Learning Human resource department of the organization put special emphasis on developing the learning culture within the organization. Employees are encouraged to share their experiences and learning with each other so that team members can have a learning culture in the organization. Since Vodafone is working in different geographical regions of the county, therefore they make sure that employees are encouraged the learnings regarding technical and marketing knowledge with each other, so that employee of one region can learn from the experience of the other region (Armstrong, 2006). As discussed above they also send employee on training, they also send different employees of different department to their different geographical markets so that they can have the training of various situations and have the understanding of various markets, that rotation also helps employees and increase the learning within the organization. Career Building Since attracting and retaining the quality employee is challenge for the organizations working in todays competitive market, therefore Vodafone have the policy of having a clear and well defined career path for each of their employee. This clarity of career path makes it clear for employee that where they should see themselves after spending different number of years in the company. The department also makes sure that all the career advancement of the employees are based on their performance and every top performing employee should have the advancement in their career, this policy helps to control the employee turnover and encourage employees to work hard and perform as they would have the chance to grow (Armstrong, 2006). Empowerment Vodafone is working in competitive environment and to stay ahead of competition it is very important for organizations to have the fast and correct decision making. Therefore the human resource department put the special emphasis on empowering the employee for timely decision making. For this purpose they have worked in devolution of power, decentralization of decision making and flatter organizational culture. They have been working on the dimensions on giving the employee the power of making the less critical decisions and top management should only be making decision that are or critical nature are of strategic importance. This empowerment of employees gives them sense of responsibility, increases their commitment towards the organization and save the precious business time that is required to take the decision from top management (Armstrong, 2006). Retention As it is very important for organizations working in competitive business environment, Vodafones human resource practices also work in the same way, they try to retain their quality employees to go to the competition. Their retention strategies revolve around the good compensation and benefits, pay per performance, rewards and increments on good performance and then having the well defined promotional system that gives the chance to every employee to perform and build their careers and then grow. Their retention policy is derived from the strategic objective of the organization to be diversified in their business, and same is the case in their human resource management (Armstrong, 2006). Performance Management Employee Relations Below we shall see that performance management is done in Vodafone, these lines will presented the different methodologies and practices that are being adapted in the performance management section of strategic HRM of company. Determination of Performance Targets The first step in strategic performance management of the organization is to determine the required performance targets of the organization for the year. These targets are derived by combining number of activities, first of all market analysis is done; the management analyze the external environment so that market growth trends and competitors market share can be understand. Once this step is done management have the background information for dominating the organizational performance for next year, then the next step is to decide and agree upon the performance targets, once the corporate level targets are decided then these targets are divided into department level targets. These department level targets are then reflected in individual level targets and objectives.(Wall, 2007). Encouraged Individual Commitment Vodafone has realized the importance of encouraging the employee commitment towards organizational objective, as without this commitment employees will not be able to achieve the performance that organization is expecting them to achieve. Once organization is able to make the organizational objectives the target of the individual then we can see the success rate of achieving this objective is high. Therefore Vodafone increases the employee commitment to the organizational objectives by involving them in the objective making process (Rheem, 1996). It has been the practice in the Vodafone that managers and teams decide their performance targets themselves and once these are approved by the management their personal commitment to these targets is high. They strive and struggle more to achieve the targets that has been made in consultation with them (Wall, 2007). Delegation, Mentoring and Coaching There are some other activities that play their role in strategic management of the performance of the organization, Vodafone on the also using the three of the activities that are delegation of power with responsibility, proper mentoring and feedback system, and coaching (Wall, 2007). Vodafone believes in delegation of power to the employees that are responsible for achieving certain targets, as responsibility comes with authority, same is the philosophy that is applied throughout the Vodafone. Their culture is devolution of power so de-centralization, they try to give maximum power to their employees so that they can achieve their responsibilities with given authority. Vodafone also believes in mentoring and coaching of employees, managers are encouraged to act as mentor for their team members, this also involves on job training for the teams, this systems encourages learning environment in the organization(Armstrong, 2006). Monitoring and Feedback Monitoring and feedback system is an important part of the organizational performance management; same is the case with Vodafone. They have proper monitoring and feedback system that helps us monitoring the performance and individuals and teams. They have a quarterly performance management system that relates the performance of the employees with their objectives of that quarter. After the evaluation and monitoring of the performance of teams then feedback is provided to them. That system helps the organizational performance on the track and helps the organization to stay on their performance objectives throughout the year (Wall, 2007). Handling Under-Performance Vodafone handles the underperformance of their employees by having a proper monitoring system, they first evaluates the performance of the employees, then if team members are found to be underperforming then they see that if there is any training needs. If there are training needs then employees are sent on training, after the trainings their performance is again monitored. If performance is found satisfactory then it is ok, if again performance is not found satisfactory then employees are replaced to other jobs. Employee Relations Vodafone puts special emphasis on managing good relations with their employees; they believe that their employees are their more important assets, their human resource policies are more focused towards managing their employees relations with the organization. Their performance evaluation, benefits and compensation system is targeted towards retaining their employees and maintaining their motivation with the organization. Conclusion Strategic human resource management is the modern concept that is in practice by different by different organizations, in this paper we have observed the strategic human resource management practices by one of the leading organization in UK. We have observed their organizational objectives with relation to their human resource management activities. The focus of the paper has been on the recruitment selection, training and development and learning functions and their relationship with organizational strategy. It has also been observed that how performance management system is working on strategic guidelines provided by the organization and how it is playing role in competitive advantage.

Lunch With God :: essays research papers

Lunch With God A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie. He gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, he smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man and gave him a hug. He gave him his biggest smile ever. When the boy opened t he door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." And before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen." Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and asked, "Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." And before his son responded, he added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected." Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Why a President Must Persuade

According to Richard E. Neustadt, ‘The power of the American president is to persuade. ’ I am going to analyse this statement in my essay, by answering why a president must persuade, looking at the relationship between the president and government, giving examples of when persuasion has worked and when it hasn’t, focusing on other ways the president can influence and finally ending with a conclusion. Firstly, why is it important for the president to persuade? The power to persuade is seen as an informal power as it is not clearly expressed in the constitution. It is important as presidents need to persuade other branches of government to influence policy; they even have to do this in their own branch (the executive) e. g. influencing cabinet secretaries. Due to all the branches of government, it means that power is dispersed and concentrated in different places; this can make it complex for the president to exert his own influence especially if there are opponents. Without the support of the Senate or the House of Representatives the president has only slight power, due to the checks and balances imposed on the president, power is reduced. Persuasion needs to take place in order to influence all sectors of the government so they can facilitate their policies, this supports the conception that the power of the American president is to persuade. Where has persuasion worked? When Bush was justifying the Iraq war, Colin Powell spoke in his favour and he furthered bi-partisanship with Democrats, who was the opposing party at the time. By showing this alliance, it meant that policies would have no problem going through Congress (reducing deadlock), this supports Neustadt. Where persuasion has not worked? An example was when President Eisenhower failed to persuade a governor. At the time were African-American students were not allowed in a school, which lead to a Supreme Court case (Brown vs. The Board of Education) and it resulted to the students being allowed to attend. Sadly, the governor did not agree and so Eisenhower had a meeting with him and failed to persuade him to allow them to attend, this showed that Eisenhower was not even good at persuading those in his own government, showing he was a ‘weak’ president. If persuasion is not acquired, it means that power is reduced, which reflects how the president is portrayed. For the president to be persuasive they must be charismatic and have the ability to influence the voters and those who can make their legislative goals happen. If a president has the ability to influence then it shows great leadership. Neustadt focuses on three traits a president must have to be successful: having the power to persuade, a good professional reputation and public prestige, with all these components put together they would be seen as a strong president. Professional representation, the term Neustadt used was ‘Washingtonians’ who are people in government (governors, military leaders, congress etc). The better the reputation of the president, the easier they will find it to negotiate, pass legislation and implement policy. I mentioned earlier that power is dispersed everywhere due to the separation of powers, meaning that it could be possible that someone may have great power and influence other than the president, which can be a problem for the president this means he must always be aware of them.

Women in Business essays

Women in Business essays The Glass ceiling is an unacknowledged discriminatory barrier that prevents women from rising to positions of power or responsibility, within a corporation. This obstacle is faced by thousands of women trying to fulfill their career goals and objectives. The following article will explore how the glass ceiling works, who it affects and what can be done to minimize this problem. Women account for 43% of the total Australian Workforce, yet an estimated 5% of the directors of Australia's 500 largest companies are women. From our 50 biggest listed companies only 2 have female chief executives. This gender imbalance is not an indication of the ability or professionalism of women, but is a testimony to the power, influence and prejudice of men (Jory, 2003:1). Men have always detained the most senior ranking positions in Australia, and there's still a big factor of the old boys club in the corporate world. All of these factors contribute to the shatter proof glass that for so long has confined women to the lower ranks of the corporate world. As mentioned the issue of the Glass Ceiling is due not to the capability or aptitude of women, but one reason that is repeatedly knowledge lack of there experience. Recently there have been calls for women to increase their line experience. This is yet another attempt to explain the glass ceiling, it is suggested the prerequisite was just another form of discrimination against women, because most male directors been chief executives. "Only about 35% of men currently on boards have CEO experience. What do the remaining 65% have? When will the excuses end?" (Heilemann, 2003:1). Therefore, there is no merit in this explanation of the glass ceiling. One of the difficulties facing women is attributed to taking time out to have and raise children. After raising children women find it difficult to re - enter the work force and to be promoted. Women for some reason find it easier to progress t ...