Business can be learned in many different ways. One of the best ways to learn how to run a business is through experience. Even if that experience is just a simulation, it helps to give new perspective and helps one see how a business might be run in actual life. The BizCafe simulation is one such tool that is useful for acquiring knowledge and experience of how a business is run in the real world, rather than just reading about it. This simulation required for a group of four or five people to run a simulated cafe. The team together had to make various decisions from how they wanted the cafe to be run to what kind and how much coffee to sell. My team and Express Espresso, overall did quite well and I learned a great deal from this experience. Express Espresso had many key accomplishments and a few weaknesses. The key accomplishment that it achieved was being in first place through ten out of the thirteen decisions consecutively. Also it was rated to have the best ambiance and customer satisfaction compared to the other teams. Another accomplishment was that Express Espresso was the first café to get out of debt and have a positive cumulative net income.We also ended up with the highest customer satisfaction of 88.7 compared to the other teams. Also there was a significant increase in sales from 1,684 to 40,776 cups sold over the course of the simulation. However this was a great deal lower compared to our number one competitor, The International Café who for the last decision sold 51,378 cups, 10,602 more than our cafe did. Some of the weaknesses were the cafe ended in second place for the last decision. The second place was the fault of the management team not paying close attention to the competition, mainly The Internation... ... middle of paper ... ...e performed quite well as did my team that managed it and overall I learned many valuable lessons that I can bring into the workplace. The simulation experience was helpful in just allowing a person to use what they learned in class and apply it to their simulation work. It is helpful for any person to have some kind of experience in the field they wish to study. This simulation helps people to prepare for the trials and tribulations they might go through working in a group, but also what they will gain from doing so. It is important to work as a group since most businesses will expect you to be able to do so. This simulation helps prepare students to work in the real world whether it is a job or an internship. In any kind of setting, it is helpful to know how to work and communicate well in a group and know the basics of everything that goes into running a business.
As making a decision is a critical behavior, Biz café was absolutely a practical learning experience because it provided me make decisions based on the significant factors of running a business. Moreover, what I have learned from my experience of doing biz café simulation can be divided into two parts such as identifying business essential factors and clarifying the importance of group effects. To begin with, I have become familiar with the significant aspects of managing and running a business although it was difficult to comprehend how to consider the aspects work together at the beginning of the simulation. For instance, vital factors to decide such as managing, marketing and accounting influenced me that I should spend money on acquiring my customers to increase sales and satisfactions as they directly make up a large part of the revenue and net income.
Tim’s Coffee Shoppe is a well established business that has been running as a sole proprietorship for over 30 years. The business needs to improve on its management strategy in order to perform optimally in its present environment. The purpose of this paper is to provide the owner Tim with suggested improvements on managing the human as well as financial resources of the coffee shop so as to remain competitive and increase profits. The Coffee house is conveniently located close to several metro stations, ensuring a steady flow of traffic. It is also situated near a University, presenting the business with a steady clientele of college students. The business is facing stiff competition from Queequeg’s coffee with 7 shops located near Tim’s. However, the restaurant seems able to hold on to its market share judging from the reported sales revenue of $ 400,000, and increasing sales. The Shoppe recently underwent a remodeling of its interiors and exteriors, and has purchased several new equipment including computers and a freezer. Tim’s is however facing challenges in staff management.
Coffee is a growing part of people’s daily lives. Just before the 9-5 weekdays, and even during the 9-5, it is common for the working class to drink a cup of coffee. To support this accustomed part of our culture, it involves a complex supply chain that allows those coffee beans to turn into a cup that can be consumed. This paper is structured on how Starbucks, the top coffee supplier in the world, can supply its stores, from raw materials to manufacturing, right to the start of someone’s day.
...ition, and faster decision-making. Because the simulation is experiential learning what I took home is an objective that are higher levels of creating and evaluating real hospital situations, for example, rather than simply understanding or remembering I end up analyzing the scenario thoroughly in a clinical mind frame.
In 2002, unexpected findings of a market research showed problems regarding customer satisfaction and brand meaning for Starbucks customers. The situation was unacceptable for a company whose overall objective is to build the most recognized and respected brand in the world. Starbucks was supposed to represent a new and different place where any man would relax and enjoy quality time, alone or with others. But the market research showed that in the mind of the consumers, Starbucks brand is viewed as corporative, trying to expand endlessly and looking to make lots of money. This huge gap between customers' perception and Starbucks' values and goals called for immediate action.
The importance of economic indicators to the strategic planning process in any organization is the ability to benchmark economic conditions that contribute to improve profitability, business growth and market size. Leadership sets up the mission “to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world.” In doing so, they have created a set of industry-leading, comprehensive coffee-buying guidelines addressing coffee quality, financial transparency, social and environmental responsibility. Starbucks strategy is also expanding market in globally to provide high quality coffee in convenient and visibility locations. They are continuing to innovate and extend the business with imaginative new ready-to-drink beverages and expanded packaged coffee offerings (Starbucks Corporation, 2007).
Koehn, N.F., Besharov, M.A., & Miller, K. (2008). Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century. [Case study]. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Companies all over the world varies but yet shares a common challenge, that is to solve problem not only effectively and efficiently but also creatively. The P-O-L-C framework which stands for Planning, Organising, Leading and Controlling plays a major role in both the company’s survivability and success. The SWOT analysis looks at both internal and external factors that can affect the Starbucks’s performance. The purpose of this report is to define and analyse how Starbucks respond and should have respond to the change of its external environment on the cofee market,This report will also identify and disscuss how The P-O-L-C framework and can help starbucks to compete and reduce the loss of their failing peformance in the Australian market and how SWOT analysis helps to define some externalities that can be a threat to Starbucks.
Caf? Expresso, as the first mover in the coffeehouse marketplace, which has expanded quickly and become one of the ?big three? players in the global coffee shops chain. However, recently this company is continuously facing a lot of problems in terms of its staff, easy-copied business model and product range, resulting this company lost its leading position to the number three. Therefore, its adjusted visionary goal is ?return Caf? Expresso to the number one position in the marketplace? (Beardwell, 2010). To achieve this goal, Caf? Expresso identifies ?the coffee drinking experience? is significant to achieve competitive advantage and customer value-added, which was delivered through three key elements (graph 1),
I have gained knowledge in each of my classes, but the greatest piece of information I have gathered is from my Business Competition 109. This course is taught by professors Crawford, Huston, and Polito in St. Francis Hall. The courses goal is to teach us teamwork skills, small business skills (being able to start one and the ability to run it successfully), and the time management since the course is on a schedule. The idea to separate the students into groups, have create a business plan and present there idea to the professors and their fellow classmates. At the end of the semester we present to local business people who will then vote on the top four businesses, taking into account profitability, presentation skills, and the quality of the business plan.
One of the main problems that Starbucks is facing at the present time is the ability to maintain national competitive advantage (Monash South Africa, 2014). Due to their local demand conditions, Starbucks tries to satisfy all customers by trying “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks Corporation, 2014). Local demand conditons consist of a company trying satisfy needs of their closest customers and expanding their competitive advantage by upgrading their strategic management policies (Monash South Africa, 2014).
...ew it in different perspectives. The outcomes were surprisingly insightful and greatly enhance my contribution towards the development of our business plan. It allows me to look back on what has been done and learned from what did or did not work out. In other words, it helped me to see both the positivity as well as the negativity in our ideas and thus stimulate improvements. This assignment also cultivated a sense of team spirit through teamwork and boost creativity through the development of thinking outside the box. Therefore, this assignment has definitely aid my knowledge in developing skills such as writing up comprehensive critical reflection and evaluating the risks of certain business ideas. Aside from that, I have also managed to deal with people from different cultural background through teamwork and develop unique business ideas and market strategies.
As it is demonstrated in the previous factor, the coffee purchasing strategy is quite important for the company’s development due to they must do big efforts in factors such as marketing with the objective to attract new customers, and the company must investigate carefully the market where it is operating to analyze their competitors and their different
With clear core values towards providing quality coffee, the best service, and atmosphere, Starbucks has enjoyed great success since it was founded 30 years ago. The company has being doing very well for last 11 years with 5% or more store sales increase, even with the rest economy still reeling from the post-9/11 recession. However recent research, conducted to Starbucks, have showed some concerns regarding company’s problem meeting customers’ expectations.
A small café has grown up to the mark of ISO and HACCP certification. This has been possible because of the efforts of the managers in the management of the institution.