Select an international organization with subsidiaries and examine the Essay

Select an international organization with subsidiaries and examine the operations of the firm in at least two different countrie - Essay Example Seattle, USA is the headquarters of Starbucks Coffee Company. The company operates in more than 60 countries where it has more than 18,000 stores and recording immense growth (â€Å"Starbucks Corporation† 1). The company has a corporate mission â€Å"to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time (Bruhn-Hansen 19). Starbucks Coffee Company offers various products and services, which include coffee, warm, and cold beverages, premium and sell salads, books, gifts among other accessories (â€Å"Starbucks Corporation† 1). The company enjoys a huge competitive advantage and positive going concern because it has a wide market network, provides a wide range of products, and abhors quality in its operations. More so, Starbucks Coffee Company is a significant player and has a wide customer base in the coffee other blend- drinks industry. The company appreciates corporate social responsibility through its strategy and practice s (Bruhn-Hansen 19). In addition, since the company operates in various countries, it is prone to cultural influence and affects the lives of many people across the globe. Starbucks Coffee Company operates in the global business environment where it specializes in the coffee other blend- drinks industry. ... Indeed, Starbucks Coffee Company has a corporate social responsibility that seeks to attain sustainability and enhance the lives of its immediate society. For instance, the Starbucks Foundation promotes literacy levels among children by building schools for the Starbuck’s community (â€Å"Starbucks† 1). Furthermore, the company has an environmental strategy that seeks to conserve the environment that holds the operations of the company (Bruhn-Hansen 42). In the global business environment, Starbucks adopts market segmentation where it prefers to compete on comfort rather than on convenience in the upper-scale of the coffee market (Mourdoukoutas, 2013, p. 1). The company has various stakeholders, which fall into three categories that include primary stakeholders, secondary stakeholders, and public stakeholders (Bruhn-Hansen, 2012, p. 19). Specifically, the stakeholders are the shareholders, governments, and government agencies in host countries, customers, suppliers, emp loyees, franchisees, and non-governmental organizations. The stakeholders define the company’s operations in the global business environment. Nevertheless, Starbucks Coffee Company faces many challenges in the global market just like other international organizations. Starbucks suffers and is yet to recover the huge losses accrued from the recent financial crisis in Europe (Cameron 1). Moreover, the company has been facing the challenge of closing various stores in 2008 where it estimated the closure of 600 stores in the United States (Cameron 1). This affected the goodwill and operations of the company. Most of all, Starbucks Coffee Company faces the challenge of significant competition in

Small business use of electronic commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Small business use of electronic commerce - Essay Example In an environment in which time is precious the advantage to the consumer is undeniable. Not only that, but the concept can reduce costs too. For instance, Pea Pod that stores the goods which a customer wants can sort and pack these goods considerably more efficiently than the store and can be located out of town in an industrial park or other area where cheap rents are available. Moreover, staffing requirements are lower, the incidence of in-store theft is reduced, and the hours of operation can be extended. For small business companies like KOA MART, the opportunities of Internet-based commerce seem considerable, but few companies have yet succeeded in exploiting them profitably. Such success is dependent on acquiring an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of the Internet and matching these with the characteristics of existing products or services. In contrast to Pea Pod, KOA MART proposes better catalogues and more vivid visual representation of its products. It is easy to find a product and its price. Pea Pod has poor design and simpler structure; it is difficult to navigate and use this site. The majority of sites linked to "small business +electronic commerce" are devoted to potential online resources and analysis of the market opportunities. Some of the sites propose technical assistance for small business while others highlight the main trends and e-news about developments within the industry. This information can also be used by small business organizations that want to sell as well as buy (Demery, 2007). Small business companies may see that competitor's price reduction appeals only to a certain type of customer (those, for example, who have easy access to the competitor's products; in other words, the discount is not sufficient to attract customers who do not have this access). In this case, proposal would be to restrict their own price reduction so that it applies only to those customers who have easy access to the competitor products. By doing this, they can minimize the impact of competitor's actions on overall margins (Demery, 2007). Thus companies may identify that if one of competitors reduces the price of a product, volume of sales will go down; if companies reduce price at the same time, volume of sales will remain static (assuming that companies also match competitor's price promotion or other marketing tactics). One of the key characteristics of the goods and services that are capable of being traded successfully on the Internet, therefore, is that they are recognized and understood by the consumer (Howlett, 2007). This means either that they must have a strong brand (so that the consumer knows what to expect) or that the goods must be of such a nature that the consumer knows what they will receive. There are many thousands of sites on the Internet, which makes it considerably more competitive than local shopping mall or high street. Getting people to enter a site is as difficult as, if not more difficult than, getting people to purchase goods from a retailer (Howlett, 2007). The Internet did not level the playing field between large and small businesses because large companies receive great opportunities to reduce prices and tattract global target audiences. While one of the major advantages offered by the Internet is that - as a manufacturer, for example - a small company no longer has to do battle with retailers and competitors to obtain the