Identify a corporate situation that could disturb you as a manager Essay - 1

Identify a corporate situation that could disturb you as a manager. Evaluate the situation and use marketing research methodolo - Essay Example , What attitudes do these buyers hold towards MAC products?, How does in-store experience affect these women’s experiences of the make-up purchase process at MAC stores?, What strategies do these women use to cope with a gap in the cosmetics markets, if any?. The paper involved 105 participants from 15 different MAC stores who were all black and representative of different complexions. They responded to structured questionnaires containing 15 questions, which were documented by the investigator. The research hypothesis was proved. MAC does not cater to black women’s divergent needs. Key recommendations include expanding the product range to meet their needs, training in-store makeup artists and assistants as well as creating marketing plans that target this demographic group. Outline Executive summary 2 Outline 2 Introduction and problem definition 4 Research methods and limitations 7 Conclusion and Recommendations 13 References 15 MAC Cosmetics and Black Female Consume rs Introduction and problem definition The company under consideration is MAC cosmetics; it is an offshoot of Estee Lauder (EL), which is a conglomerate of over 23 brands. MAC has about 1,000 stores worldwide and dozens in the UK. The brand contributed to a 13% profit margin at EL in 2012. MAC’s input was equivalent to $274.8 million worth of profit (Castleberry, 2001). It has marketed its products as high-profile, through the use of celebrity endorsements and artists. Most times, the company gets makeup artists to work with famous actors or singers, and thus uses this platform to market their products. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for the personalised service offered by makeup artists in their stores. Regardless of these successes, the company is need of new marketing strategies. It needs to expand its customer base so as to avoid slow growth (Wilson, 2011). The corporation may be making money but its profitability has not been increasing significantly over the pas t few years. It needs to redefine the way it sells its products. Any marketing process often starts with identification of the target group. Here is where the problem lies for MAC cosmetics. The organisation has relied on the same set of consumers for as long as it was established. Most of them are young and Caucasian. There may be a need to redefine their demographic groups in order to expand their market base. The group that needs to be embraced is black women. In the United Kingdom’s metropolitan areas, black women account for slightly more than 15% of the population, and represent 7% of the entire UK population (Isokariari, 2013). They are quite enthusiastic about beauty products as seen through their purchase of hair extensions, weaves and other hair products. However, a problem exists in the cosmetics industry because regardless of these women’s enthusiasm for beauty products, makeup companies do not respond in kind. MAC Cosmetics may pride itself in the diverse range of its products. Its eye shadows come in a variety of colour pallets. Additionally, it has been marketed as a product for women of colour owing to its wide range of colour selections. However, these options are still not adequate enough to cater to black women’s makeup needs. Black women have some of the most divergent skin tones in the world, yet the colour choices that dark concealers and foundations have are quite limiting

Starbucks Customer Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Starbucks Customer Service - Essay Example An enterprise that has succeeded in the beverage business by providing superb customer service is Starbucks. This paper analyses the customer service at Starbucks Incorporated. At Starbucks customer service is not just a business function it is integrated into the corporate culture. This company whose core business is selling quality coffee beverages has become a global icon of popular culture in the United States and worldwide. At Starbucks coffee is not just a drink, it is a complete experience. Starbucks has expanded worldwide and currently has operations in 41 countries with a total of 10,295 outlet stores operating as wholly owned or licensing agreements (Starbucks). People go to Starbucks because it offers an eccentric comfortable atmosphere that is created by the company’s partners (employees). Starbucks offers a variety of the best tasting top quality coffees in the world. The clients are enticed to stay around the stores and hangout to enjoy some of the company’s other products and services such as coffee merchandise, fresh foods, consumer and entertainment products which include high speed wireless internet access (Starbucks). Customer service is a strategy that is integrated in the entire supply chain. At Starbucks the customer service philosophy starts with the coffee farmers & makers and its suppliers of materials. Starbucks builds close relationships of mutual benefit with its suppliers to ensure the company obtains the possible price and on time delivery. The company gets involved in the farming operation of its producers of coffee to assist and ensure the crops of coffee are produce at the highest possible worldwide standards. â€Å"The farmers, millers, exporters, and importers who grow process and or supply coffee to Starbucks share the same uncompromising commitment to quality we value† (Corporate Social Responsibility 6). Customer service at Starbucks also means serving the needs of the communities in

Garment Workers of Bangladesh

Garment Workers of Bangladesh Mackenzie Dickson The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights is a non-profits human rights organization that recognizes and defends the basic human rights of labor workers globally. Originally as the National Labor Committee, the organization was founded in 1981 and has locations in numerous locations in the United States as well as South Asia. The main organizations mission is to end the exploitation of factory workers than produce goods exported to the United States. There are several campaigns under the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, one of which is the Bangladeshi Garment Worker campaign. This campaign aims to raise awareness of the garment workers struggles. According to the organizations website, Bangladesh is the third largest exporter of garments in the world to the U.S Bangladeshs garment workers are among the hardest working women and men in the world, but also the most exploited and earn the lowest pay in the world (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights). Bangladesh is a country east of India known for its poverty and having the highest population density in the world. The countrys population density is about 1,101 persons per square kilometer (Stotz). According to the World Bank, 31.5% of Bangladeshs overall population is living below the poverty line in 2010; that is roughly 47,759,285 people living in poverty (World Bank Group). Based on the previous patterns, this number has likely increased considering the most recent poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines is about seven years old. In 2015 the World Bank reported Bangladeshs Gross National Income (GNI) as roughly $1,190; United States GNI is about 47 times that.   (World Bank Group). Bangladeshs garment industry was worth about 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, making it the second largest clothing supplier of the world market, following China (Stotz). Bangladeshs economy is based on the success of the garment industry. The business garment factorys have with U.S . corporations like Wal-Mart, Disney, Gap, and Old Navy are crucial to the countrys economic growth and free trade. These large wealthy corporations do not want to pay, hence why the corporations employ factories in poverty stricken countries like Bangladesh. The four-part short series Hidden Face of Globalization created by The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights interviews the women of Bangladeshi garment factories and asks the question: Why are the basic human rights of the women who made the product and maintain the global economy not protected? The series focuses on the young women between the ages 16 to 25 who make up 80% of the 1.8 million garment factory workers in Bangladesh (Hidden Face of Globalization). The young women work from eight in the morning until ten or eleven at night, seven days a week. Overtime is mandatory and the workers are often forced to work up to twenty hours when there is a rush to produce an order. The women are not allowed to speak while working, are allowed only two trips to the bathroom, and are fired around the age of 30. If the workers question their inhumane treatment, unsafe factory conditions, or unionizing the women are at risk of verbal assault, physical abuse, imprisonment, and/or losing their job (Hidden Face of Globalization).Garment workers bargain; they train themselves to be faster than the rest and often times report on others thinking about unionizing to achieve a higher pay (39, Ahmed). However, questioning wages and worker benefits has proven ineffective because the commission was made up of state representatives who were supposed to advocate for worker interests. The spatial segregation of the sexes in the factory is an outward expression of gendered wage segregation with the few men at the top having jobs with more control and higher wages (Ahmed, 40). After recognizing they have fallen subject to gender hierarchy, the women drop their concerns and attempts to unionize in fear of being sexually assaulted or harassed and give up searching for a voice on the factory floor (Ahmed, 40). The job takes a toll on the womens home life. Because of their grueling days at work, they do not have time for themselves or their families; the children are often left alone for long hours at a time and the women dont have time to maintain healthy relationships with family members (Hidden Face of Globalization). The extreme poverty the workers return home too is discussed in the series. The women make as little as 11 to 17 cents an hour, well below the minimum wage; as a result, they and their families are forced to live and share will others who live below the poverty line. Privacy is non-existent. The small rooms are full of sometimes as many as ten people and are built from scraps. The whole community shares a small gas stove, water pump, and a single out-house (Hidden Face of Globalization). The 70s brought an increase of women into the work force, specifically export-based industries such as the garment industry and other labor-intensive industries that rely on low-cost produc tion to maintain competitiveness (Beneria, 114). Corporations like Disney and Wall-mart are dependant of womens labor to sustain their part in the world market. Labor-intensive industries are reliant of countries like Bangladesh that are sustained by patriarchal gender norms and are reproduced in the workplace by the concerted efforts of employers and government policy (Beneria, 114). The factory workers that supplied Disney garments appealed to Disney asking for a pay raise. The women said if they were paid 35 cents rather than the 11-17 cents their quality of life would increase significantly, letting them live in poverty instead of below the poverty line (Hidden Face of Globalization). The women asked Disney to respect their basic human rights; the women wanted safe working conditions, basic pay raise, days off, and regulated hours. As a result the women lost their jobs. Some women chose to write to Disney corporations asking for their jobs back, explaining how multinational corporations like Disney are able to afford the costs of giving their employees basic human rights. Works Cited BeneriÃÅ' a, Lourdes, GuÃÅ'ˆnseli Berik, and Maria Floro. Gender, development, and globalization:  economics as if all people mattered. New York: Routledge, Taylor Francis Group, 2016. Print. Fauzia Erfan Ahmed. The Rise of the Bangladesh Garment Industry: Globalization, Women  Workers, and Voice. NWSA Journal, vol. 16, no. 2, 2004, pp. 34-45. www.jstor.org/stable/4317051. Hidden Face of Globalization. Dir. Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. Institute for  Global Labour and Human Rights, 3 Apr. 2007. Web. Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. About. Www.globallabourrights.org. Institute  for Global Labour and Human Rights, n.d. Web. Stotz, Lina, and Clean Clothes Campaign. Facts on Bangladeshs Garment  Industry. Bangladesh Factsheet. Clean Clothes Campaign, n.d. Web. World Bank Group. Bangladesh. Bangladesh Data. World Bank Group, 2016. Web.

Sir Joseph John Thomson :: biographies bio

"Could anything at first sight seem more impractical than a body which is so small that its mass is an insignificant fraction of the mass of an atom of hydrogen?" -- J.J. Thomson. * Sir Joseph John Thomson was born December 18, 1856 in Cheetham Hill near Manchester, England. * His dad was a bookkeeper in Manchester who died with Thomson was 16 years old. * He entered Owens College, now known as the Victoria University of Manchester, at age 14. * There he took courses in experimental physics and math. * In 1876, he obtained a scholarship for Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and remained there for the rest of his life. * In 1890, he married Rose Elisabeth. * He and Rose had a son, Sir George Paget Thomson, Emeritus Professor of Physics at London University, and a daughter. * Thomson taught mathematics and physics at Cambridge, succeeding Lord Rayleigh as professor of physics at the age of 27. * He became director of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory to do research from 1884 through 1919. * For his involvement in the scientific community, he was appointed president of the Royal Society, a position he maintained from 1915 through 1920. * He was invited to be professor of natural philosophy at the Royal Institute of Great Britain from 1905 to 1918. * He served as master of Trinity College from 1918 until his death. * He was also very active in many other fields of interest other than science. He was involved in politics, current fiction, drama, university sports, and the non-technical aspects of science. * His greatest interest outside of physics was plants. He enjoyed walks in the hilly regions near Cambridge, where he searched for rare botanical specimens for his garden. * He died August 30, 1940 at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. He was given the honor of burial in the Westminster Abbey. * J.J. Thomson attempted to solve the argument on the nature of cathode rays in 1897. For these investigations he won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1906.

Inventory period and operating cycle Essay

Age of inventory will show the number of days that inventory of COSCO is being held before they are sold. Increasing or decreasing the same must be a guided by the objective of maintaining a good working capital condition. COSCO Wholesale has inventory period of 27 days. Before recommendation could be made whether its inventory period should be increased, said inventory period must be compared with the payment terms with suppliers. If the company’s payment terms (Bernstein, 1993) to supplier is 30 days them the age of inventory of 27 days is a good sign that the company is making sale of inventory efficiently, which means that it can sell faster than the next time the company orders and pays for these goods. For COSCO to maintain its 27 days inventory period, it must also tie this up with collection period since higher sales volume is normally associated with longer collection period. Increasing sales on credit with longer collection will decrease inventory period and the two will sum up to operating cycle (Meigs and Meigs, 1995). If the resulting operating cycle still allows a good and manageable working capital situation, then increasing sales on credit must be done up to such point, otherwise mismanaged working could turn the company unable to meet currently maturing obligations. Operating Cycle COSCO’S operating cycle is 30 says which consists of 27 days inventory period and 3 days collection period. To determine whether recommendations should be made whether the cycle could be increased or decreased should be tied up on it working capital situation. If its present working capital situation allows the company to meet it currently maturing obligations then its operating cycle is just right. As discussed earlier, the strategy on operating cycle is affected by decisions made on age of inventory and policy on making sales on credit. One could not just decrease operating cycle without basis like by decreasing age of inventory by underinvestment as this could mean not satisfying the demand for company’s products for the sake of shorter age of inventory and consequently shorter operating cycle. The company’s policy on sales on credit must be sufficient enough to meet realistic targets in terms of sales revenues and working capital requirements (Brigham and Houston, 2002).

A Commentary on ‘Idols’ by Tim Gautreaux Essay

‘Idols’ is centered upon the protagonist’s amoral attitude towards life, which in turn causes him to experience loneliness as well as being unable to maintain the dream of living in his great-grandfather’s mansion. Gautreaux chooses Julian, the protagonist, to be an arrogant and envious character to demonstrate the sorrowful lifestyle as a result of unreasonably wanting too much and the act of being spiteful to others who are good-willed. His arrogance proves he is living in a fantasy because he only feels superior as a result of his â€Å"good fortune† but he is not appreciative of this fortune because he believes he will be with it forever – he lacks a sense of reality. Also, Julian’s self-superiority makes him inferior to others because he holds only a minimal amount of consideration and respect in himself. This is how Gautreaux explores the theme of worthiness in his story as he makes us question who is to decide somebody’s w orth. Gautreaux portrays Julian’s character to be a man of great arrogance. An exaggerated sense of self-importance is suggested as the protagonist â€Å"considered himself at least wealthy in knowledge, more so than the shopkeepers and record clerks he dealt with†. This notion proves to be far-fetched considering that Julian is merely a typewriter repairman of who has low competence in any other fields of work, including minor house renovations. He seems almost in denial about his true self and does not want to admit into consciousness that he is comparable to any ordinary man. In addition, Julian is depicted to be an envious person. Gautreaux communicates how his character normally â€Å"disparaged people who owned large houses† yet stored the memory of his ancestor’s mansion deep in his heart. Perhaps Julian held feelings of jealously for individuals who had a great deal of money because â€Å"the only extra money he’d ever had was a hundred dollar wi n on a scratch-off ticket†. Julian’s entire plan to restore the mansion â€Å"the way it was† is a flaw. He wants to â€Å"hire cheap help† which leads him to having a cheaply built house – one gets what one pays for. As a result, his house is unable to withstand bad weather as the toilet â€Å"had shattered and fallen away from the floor† and the light fixture â€Å"popped off in a shower of blue sparks†. This foreshadows Julian’s ignorance and fantasy as the house would not be able to look as glamorous and high-classed as it may have done in the past considering his lack of budget. Julian looks for a â€Å"broken-down old carpenter desperate for work†. When he finds Obie, it is apparent that the broken-down old man is actually Julian himself. He feels like he would be â€Å"granting a favor† to the carpenter but in actual fact Obie was better off not working for Julian hence when he departs without a word, Julian is the one calling and â€Å"begging† to speak to Obie. Obie is portrayed as a realist from these actions as he knows when it is necessary to move on, however Julian is overly concerned with making an image of himself to even realize that he is living in his imagination. Obie seems to be a powerfully built man who can endure physical pain very well considering all the tattoo work â€Å"from his shoulders down to his waistband†. He does not cause any trouble in the mansion and shows respect towards his employer even when treated poorly. For instance, when Obie asks Julian’s opinion on the railing just after Julian told him that he would only be willing to send him to his doctor’s appointment â€Å"if [Obie paid] for the gas†. He is depicted to be a thoughtful person and merciful towards his wife when she decides to â€Å"run him off†. His rather constant analysis of why the marriage went wrong and his questions to Julian if he has â€Å"ever been married† suggests that he is constantly thinking about her which shows a very soft side of a seemingly tough man. This is further emphasized when he uses â€Å"a soft and rhythmic voice† while he recites a section of the bible on the phone. He also shows respect to his wife as he does act superior to her in their relationship but rather allows her to â€Å"beat [him] with a broom†. This proves a sense of empathy within his personality as he allows her to express her feelings in the way she wishes and does not hold it against her. Overall, Obie is depicted to be a strong built but softhearted man who tries to be realistic about his decisions as he is living for the future. Similarly, Chance Poxley is a realistic man however he lives more for the moment as sees things come as they are. He is very direct and does not allow for Julian to be condescending to him. He replies, â€Å"unless I missed my guess, you can’t afford [Obie] anymore† to Julian when he is asked where the carpenter has gone to. This demonstrates he is not afraid to speak his mind to Julian. When Poxley first visits the mansion he observes the place and asks what Julian does for a living. With the answer, Poxley replies â€Å"for your sake, I hope typin’ comes back in style†, which suggests that Poxley is a man with a sense of humor but is also sensible in the idea of what can be achieved. Julian, out of the three, is a man living in imagination. He completely ignores sensibility and lets his desires take over him. He does not pay attention to others around him, even when they are trying to warn him of his own downfall. Julian’s character is similar to that of protagonists in traditional Greek theatre: a flaw in the character that leads to his downfall. At the beginning of the story, Julian confuses Chance Poxley’s sense of humor for brainlessness and â€Å"turned to walk out† because he had little patience with uneducated people. This proves that Julian is too concerned with himself to try to associate himself with or understand others. Julian’s self-superiority is simply illustrated from this, which almost makes him seem like a laughingstock as he is living in a complete dream world. Also, when Julian attempts to fix the mansion but later watches it fail, it indicates that his ignorance leads him to descent into some sort of psychosis – he seems to have a distorted perception of reality as he strives to convince himself and Obie that he’ll never leave the house â€Å"in a million years† even after a house-shaking crash. The character’s determination to make a statement in life through ownership of the â€Å"the only grand thing in his family’s history† is reinforced as he yells into the receiver in response to the idea that it â€Å"might be time to sell out†. This reaction highlights his desperation to maintain his ancestor’s dilapidated mansion. Julian is also depicted to be a man in great denial. This is conveyed through the rejection of his fate possibly being to lose the house and that maybe he truly belongs in the â€Å"sooty apartment next to an iron foundry†. Although Julian recognizes his â€Å"good fortune†, he barely shows any appreciation for it but is more obsessed with having it repaired, perhaps to make him feel godlier. He is an imprudent boss to Obie throughout the entire time of which they knew each other, charging him for the car’s petrol and phone calls to his wife even when he is in true despair. Despite the unjust treatment, Obie stays on the phone with Julian in effort to make Julian come to his senses and realize that he can not live in the past any longer. Julian’s occupation as a typewriter repairman echoes his desire to live in the past as it is apparent that he can not accept that times change. Also, the fact that he can bear to lose his wife to an impoverish job but is so desperate to keep the mansion proves his moral decline and his association to materialistic needs rather than true values. Gautreaux incorporates Julian’s heartless actions to illustrate his selfishness and greedy nature in order to emphasize his demise. There is a fundamental theme between reality and fantasy that is depicted through what each main character aspires to: Obie aspires to reunite with his wife whereas Julian aspires to maintain his position as the mansion’s homeowner. This signifies that Julian is confined in a materialistic world to make meaning of his life however Obie is simply content with finding spiritual meaning – religion and love. Obie is a realist as he recognizes his obligation to proceed with life, he removes the tattoos to express his change in identity, but Julian is still lingering in the past with his ‘typewriters’ unable to accept the nature of the real world. In addition, he considers altering his surname from Smith to Godhigh, which illustrates the character’s reverie because he is not thinking about what is real but only what he wishes for. He is not able to accept that time marches on therefore, may not ever be able to develop into a more complete person. Julian tries to complete himself through ownership of the mansion but does not realize that what he really needs to do is accept what’s in front of him. Another theme present in the story is mercy. Julian is an imperious character throughout the story and is condescending to his employee, Obie, thinking he has every right because he has more money. In return, his dream house is burnt to ashes. Although he does not believe in a god, perhaps this outcome was a sign to indicate that Julian has not been forgiven and therefore has not received mercy. However, Obie’s tolerance and patience to Julian’s imprudent treatment could be associated somehow to why he was forgiven by his wife and granted a new identity in life. Gautreaux titles his short story ‘Idols’ to express the admiration within the two main characters. The word idol denotes an image or representation of a god whom one reveres: both Julian and Obie revere something. Obie is covered in ‘fine-line tattoo work’ from his shoulders down to his waistband and his wife refers to these tattoos as idols. Perhaps she believes that the tattoos are of more importance to her husband than she is herself – that he worships them more. This is suggested as she tests his love for her by asking him to get rid of ‘all [his] idols’. In another sense, Obie’s tattoos could be his idols for he decided to engrave them into his body, thinking they would be with him forever (similar to constantly feeling the presence of a higher power with you). The pain he endures to get inked suggests a level of great devotion. However, Obie’s devotion to his wife is undeniably greater than that of his idols because he removes them as she wishes. He states that when one gets ‘older and older’, you need ‘less and less’ which indicates his contentment for his marriage and thinks it is all he needs. Whilst Obie makes this remark, he is looking ‘out the door toward the big house’. The big house, on the other hand, is Julian’s object of worship. Looking out the door symbolizes looking past the surface to find a deeper meaning in something. ‘Deep in his heart’ Julian had stored the memory of the old mansion which proves that the house is what he greatly admires and is to an extent his representation of a god. It is ‘the only grand thing’ and together with its Doric pillars, Julian somehow feels like a god living in it. Contradictory to Obie, Julian associates a god like figure – an idol – to his mansion, a materialistic want, which demonstrates the difference between values each character possesses. Obie seems to have found a new idol other than his tattoo whereas Julian, an old man who has experienced all of life, is still caught up in materialism and considers material possessions more important than spiritual values. This is further emphasized as Obie removes his idols with his own free will in order to â€Å"move on down the road† but Julian refuses to give up the mansion so looses it unwillingly from a fire which suggests both of their fate.