Global Challenges for Business, Management & Leadership Essay

Global Challenges for Business, Management & Leadership - Essay Example ................................................................ 7 2.3 Kraft Foods - Porter’s Five Forces ........................................................... 8 2.4 PESTEL Analyses .................................................................................... 9 2.5 Global Management Strategy .................................................................. 10 3.0 The Challenge - CSR ..................................................................................... 10 3.1 Impact of this Challenge on Kraft Foods ............................................... 11 4.0 Recommendation ........................................................................................... 11 5.0 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 11 Works Cited ........................................................................................................ 12 1.0 Introduction Within a realistic context, it is no t easy to define the term management. In the academic circles there exist as many definitions of management as there are the books on the subject. It goes without saying that there are many genuine reasons behind this dilemma. The first and foremost, management pertains to a very vast and expansive subject. It is indeed very extensive. It is, therefore, not possible to outline all the essential features of management in a single formula. Besides, management is a subject that has primarily to do with human beings, which in a behavioural context tend to be highly unpredictable. Moreover, management is a discipline that is still in the nascent stages of its development and, hence, the concepts associated with it are continuously changing. Yet, there is no denying the fact that the most of the definitions of management tend to emphasise one common idea that the discipline of management is concerned with the accomplishment of objectives through the efforts of people performing certain fu nctions. The primary function of the managers is to create conditions and environment that enable the organizations to survive, thrive and grow. In that context it will be really interesting to attempt a viable definition of management by taking into consideration varied theories of management. Boddy defines management as â€Å"Management is the activity of getting things done with the aid of people and other resources† (Boddy 695). The one attribute of management that pops up from Boddy’s definition of management is that management seeks to achieve certain goals. These goals may be economic or non-economic. For instance in a business organization the primary goal is to produce and distribute goods with the aim and objective of earning profits. On the contrary, in a service organization like hospitals, educational institutions, etc, the goal might be to extend customer service. Another salient feature of management embodied in Boddy’s definition is that manageme nt also happens to be a social process because it deals with people. To make the best use of human efforts, managers are required to give way to close cooperation and coordination amongst the employees in an organization. Managers are required to look after the interests of employees, shareholders, investors and the community at large. Also management happens to be a group activity. Management is concerned with getting things done through people. People join in groups in order to achieve results collectively. Management helps people in realising individual as

Evaluation of Starbucks Strategic Position In the Market Essay

Evaluation of Starbucks Strategic Position In the Market - Essay Example ?s customers are mainly coffee lovers from all walks of life and it can be noted that it has been pursuing a differentiation strategy by Porter (1985). Starbucks’ cornerstone value is to â€Å"build a company with a soul† and its broad mission is â€Å"To inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time.† The organisation broadly aims to be â€Å"a purveyor of fine coffees in the world while maintaining uncompromising principles.† Its intent has been to do the right thing and conducting its business in ways that earned the trust and respect of the customers, partners/employees, suppliers and the general public. The stakeholders include Howard Schultz, employees, customers, community members and the shareholders. 2.0 External analysis of Starbucks This section of the report seeks to analyse the external factors affecting the operations of the organisation. Two models namely PESTEL analysis and Porter’s five forces model are going to be utilised in carrying an analysis of the external factors impacting on the operations of Starbucks. Critical success factors will also be analysed in this section of the report. 2.1 PESTEL analysis A close analysis of Starbuck’s case study shows that there are various external forces obtaining in the macro-environment in which the organisation is operating and these have an impact on its operations. As such, a PESTEL analysis is going to be used to evaluate the external factors affecting the operations of Starbucks. Basically, PESTEL is an acronym for political, economic, social, technological, environmental as well as legal factors impacting on the operations of the organisation (McCarthy & Perreault, 1996). The table below outlines the analysis in detail. Table 1: PESTEL analysis for... This report seeks to analyse the external factors affecting the operations of the Starbuck’s organisation. Two models namely PESTEL analysis and Porter’s five forces model are going to be utilised in carrying an analysis of the external factors impacting on the operations of Starbucks. Critical success factors will also be analysed in this section of the report. A close analysis of Starbuck’s case study shows that there are various external forces obtaining in the macro-environment in which the organisation is operating and these have an impact on its operations. As such, a PESTEL analysis is going to be used to evaluate the external factors affecting the operations of Starbucks. Basically, PESTEL is an acronym for political, economic, social, technological, environmental as well as legal factors impacting on the operations of the organisation. In evaluating the strategic capabilities of the company, the following factors will be discussed in detail as they cons titute the internal environment of the company. Strydom posits to the effect that a key strategy should utilise the strengths of the organisation in order to gain a competitive advantage. These include human, physical and financial resources as they have a direct bearing on the performance of the company. The company’s value chain will also be discussed in this section. Since the period Howard Schultz assumed the CEO position of the company in 1987, it can be noted that it has harnessed on a number of strategic capabilities as going to be explained in brief below.