Western Legal Tradition Essay Example

Western Legal Tradition Essay To what extent did the concepts and institutions of the western legal tradition influence the colony of New South Wales and, ultimately, the development of the Australian legal system? Australia inherited a legal system and a system of government from its colonial power, Britain. An understanding of Australian law requires tracing of development of law and legal institutions in England. Britain shares many of the basic concepts of law found in other parts of Western Europe. The underlying concepts and principles of law of Western Europe are generally referred to as Western Legal Tradition’.Western legal tradition along with English law greatly impacted the legal system in the colony of New South Wales. This essay will explore the influence of western legal tradition on the legal system of New South Wales leading to the development of Australia’s own legal system. Overview of the western legal tradition and its significance to Australian law There are two distinct systems of law in the western legal tradition despite sharing similar philosophical underpinnings. Britain follows the common law and the continental Europe follows civil law.These two systems represent a single western tradition, with a shared understanding that law has a central role to play in all social organisations. We will write a custom essay sample on Western Legal Tradition specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Western Legal Tradition specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Western Legal Tradition specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It has three main characteristics, a) the autonomy of law it remains differentiated from politics, religion and morality; b) the centrality of law law as a means of social ordering and change pervades in all aspect of society; and c) moral authority of law law is respected, i. e. law should be obeyed as a positive obligation and not for fear of punishment. British concepts and institutionsMany of the legal concepts and institutions like the rule of law, trial by jury, parliamentary sovereignty, representative and responsible government (the parliamentary democracy), judicial independence and many more originated in medieval English history following the Norman invasion in 1066. This conquest impacted on the subsequent development of law and legal system in England. The administration was feudal system. The empire was divided into a number of fiefdoms and each fiefdom had its own law courts. Good governance required unified system of administration and a unified legal system.Unification of legal system was achieved through sending judges around the country deciding civil and criminal cases. These judges applied the law consistently by developing a common set of principles and procedure replacing different customary laws of individual fiefdoms. The body of rules from these rulings became known as common law. Judges applied a principle created in the previous case in future cases with similar facts, and developed the doctrine of precedent. The application of these precedents required a system of reporting and publications.Thus the common law is the by-product of an administrative triumph, the way in which the government of England came to be centralised and specialised during the centuries after the conquest. In 1215 through the Magna Carta many limitations were placed on the authority of the King with the aim of curving arbitrary abuse of power. The King had to agree to rule with a committee of barons. The king also lost the power to tax. No new tax can be levied without the consent of the curia regis. The Westminster model of parliamentary government eventually evolved from this. Development of the Australian legal systemThe acquisition of the Australian continent in 1770s resulted in the introduction of English law in these colonies. The legal system introduced was dependent for its legal validity on a number of British statutes, including the Australian Constitution Act 1900. Between 1855 and 1890 the British Parliament granted a limited right to set up a local system of government (granting of responsible government) to individual colonies within Australia. During the late 19th century efforts were made to create one state out of six independent colonies, and a series of conventions were held in the 1890s to draft a constitution agreed by all colonies.Following a referendum in each colony to approve the draft constitutio n the British Parliament passed this Constitution paving way for the independence of Australia. The removal of British Parliament’s power to enact laws for Australia was formally done through the Australia Act 1986 (UK) passed by the British parliament. This Act also made the High Court of Australia the last court of appeal in Australia. This meant final independence from Britain. Development of a distinct legal system in AustraliaThough the Australian law has originated and developed from English law but due to local circumstances it was impracticable to transplant English law in New South Wales as demonstrated in Kables case. Henry and Susannah Kable were prisoners being transported to Australia. They deposited money with their ships captain but the money disappeared. Under English law, the Kables, being prisoners, were considered attainted and therefore were unable to sue people in civil matters. However, they were allowed to sue in New South Wales, as it was realised that this law of attaint is impractical in a new penal colony where everyone is a prisoner.This case marked the beginning of departure of application of English law paving the way for a new distinct system of law to evolve in New South Wales. However, in line with the western tradition the Australian legal system is based on a fundamental belief in the rule of law including equality before law, the independence of the judiciary. Many safeguards exist to ensure that people are not treated arbitrarily or unfairly. Principles such as procedural fairness, judicial precedent and the separation of powers are also fundamental to Australia’s legal system.Along with these western traditions clearly there were many distinguishing features separating Australian system from English system as manifested in the Australian Constitution of 1901. Unlike Britain Australia has a written constitution. Australia follows a federal system contrary to British unitary system. In a federal system the cons titution distributes the powers between the federal government and the states whereas in a unitary system there is no need for a distribution of powers. The states and territories have their respective government with independent legislative powers.Each of the federal and state governments has three separate branches of government—legislative, executive and judicial. The British Parliament enjoys Parliamentary Sovereignty, i. e. it has the right to make or unmake any law, and a law passed by the parliament cannot be overridden or set aside by another authority. In Australia, the powers of the parliament are limited by the constitution and the Australian High Court can declare a law passed by the parliament invalid if it is unconstitutional. Moreover, the British constitution is flexible whereas the Australian constitution is rigid.The British Upper house, House of Lords, comprises of non-elected nominated members whereas the upper house in Australia, the Senate, comprises of directly elected members representing their respective states and territory. Voting in Britain is voluntary though compulsory in in Australia. From the above discussions it is clear that the Australian legal system and the institutions of governance were influenced, created and shaped by the British law. Despite, these influences due to Australian distinct historical and political needs there emerged a separate legal system in Australia.

How to Write an Admissions Sample Essay

How to Write an Admissions Sample EssayAs in any other degree program, the Post Baccalaureate admission is one that requires your essay. You are encouraged to write a convincing and competent essay for this admission. Your essay should reflect your interests, talents, and values.Once you have written your essay, it is crucial that you format it in a way that it can be read easily by the admissions committee. The purpose of your essay should be to persuade the committee about why you deserve to go to University College, and not just any University College. Your essay should be as convincing as possible, so that the admissions committee believes in you and gives you the admission you deserve.Since there are several essays to be completed on admission test, this means that the student has to organize all the information to make his or her essay easily readable. So, be sure to organize your essay in a unique way. You should make it appear clean and neat with all the facts in it properly arranged to the point that you will find reading it very easy.Your essay should come from your own thinking and insights. Make sure that your essay makes you stand out from all the rest and stands above others and provide the admissions committee with an answer that it has been looking for. Your essay should also be one that you yourself would like to see and is sincere and worth reading.After writing your admission paper, make sure that you do not throw away the points you want to put forth. These points may be helpful to the admissions committee in deciding which college you should get into. Use your essay as a guide to what you wanted to say and what you want to say. If your essay does not read well, then this also means that the admission committee did not get what it wanted to see in the application and you got the admissions that you deserved.Keep in mind that the admissions committee does not take the essay seriously. The students who have essays that are grammatically correc t and informative are those who have a good grasp of grammar and are clear in their minds of what they want to say. These students also have the ability to communicate with other people and convey their ideas in a different way.These are only some guidelines to help you write an essay that is both grammatically and logically sound. There are other things that can help you improve your essay writing skill such as using a thesis statement and analyzing the data points of the essay.

Sami essays

Sami essays Light gleams into the tent and shines into his eyes transferring a reaction to his brain telling him its time to wake-up. Stepping outside he feels the brisk wind bite at his toes sending a chill up his spine which in turn awakens every hair on his body. Its 26 degrees outside, and he is about to start another days work. This is the way the Sami, one of the most indigenous peoples of Europe, live their lives. There are over 75,000 Sami, who have their own economy, religion, communication, social organizations, and way of life. Throughout the Samis history their ancestors inhabited the area before the present borders were drawn. The Sami are divided into 3 subgroups: Mountain Sami, Forest Sami, and Coastal Sami. Each of these subgroups are distinguish primarily on the basis of their subsistence economies. These subgroups are often at times comparable to the 3 subgroups of the American culture: the rich, the middle class, and the poor. Which sequentially are distinguished primarily on the basis of their subsistence economies also. The cultures of Americans and Sami have many similarities and differences. The similarities and differences are based on their environment, economic activities, religion, communication, social organizations, and change. Sami culture is based on the diverse and maintainable use of their territory in order to fulfill the basic needs of the people. Reindeer herding, fishing and hunting as well as gathering natures products and making handicraft are traditional Sami sources of livelihood (Lapps 253). Due to the northern latitude and moderate elevation, winters are long and severe and are followed by short mild summers. In the summers, the Sami grow a few hardy crops, harvest berries, protect their reindeer from clouds of insects, and sell goods to growing number of tourists. Each subgroup has their own use of knowledge on the behavior of nature and animals. The Mountain Sami spend thei...

Definition and Examples of Maxims

Definition and Examples of Maxims Maxim, proverb, gnome, aphorism, apothegm, sententia―all of these terms mean essentially the same thing: a short, easily remembered expression of a basic principle, general truth or rule of conduct. Think of a maxim as a nugget of wisdom―or at least of apparent wisdom. Maxims are universal and testify to the commonality of human existence. It is often difficult to tell whether a maxim means something, or something means maxim.   -  Robert Benchley, Maxims from the Chinese Maxims, you see, are tricky devices. As Benchley suggests in his comic chiasmus, they generally sound pretty convincing at least until a contrary maxim comes along. Look before you leap, we say with conviction. That is, until we remember that he who hesitates is lost. Examples of Dueling Maxims English is full of such contrary proverbs (or, as we prefer to call them, dueling maxims): The bigger the better / Good things come in small packages.Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. / One mans meat is another mans poison.Birds of a feather flock together./ Opposites attract.Actions speak louder than words. / The pen is mightier than the sword.Youre never too old to learn. / You cant teach an old dog new tricks.All good things come to those who wait. / Time and tide wait for no man.Many hands make light work. / Too many cooks spoil the broth.Absence makes the heart grow fonder. / Out of sight, out of mind.Its better to be safe than sorry. / Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As William Mathews said, All maxims have their antagonist maxims; proverbs should be sold in pairs, a single one being but a half truth. Maxims as Strategies But then, we might ask, what is the nature of proverbial truth? In his essay Literature as Equipment for Living, rhetorician Kenneth Burke argued that proverbs are strategies designed for dealing with situationsfor consolation or vengeance, for admonition or exhortation, for foretelling. And different situations call for different proverbs: The apparent contradictions depend upon differences in attitude , involving a correspondingly different choice of strategy . Consider, for instance, the apparently opposite pair: Repentance comes too late and Never too late to mend. The first is admonitory. It says in effect: Youd better look out, or youll get yourself too far into this business. The second is consolatory, saying in effect: Buck up, old man, you can still pull out of this. ( The Philosophy of Literary Form, 3rd edition, Louisiana State University Press, 1967) Maxims in an Oral Culture In any event, the maxim is a handy device, especially for people in predominately oral culturesthose that rely on speech rather than writing to pass along knowledge. Some of the common stylistic features of maxims (features that help us remember them) include parallelism, antithesis, chiasmus, alliteration, paradox, hyperbole  and ellipsis. The Rhetoric of Aristotle According to Aristotle in his Rhetoric, the maxim is also a persuasive device, convincing listeners by conveying an impression of wisdom and experience. Because maxims are so common, he says, They seem true, as if everyone agreed. But that doesnt mean that all of us have earned the right to use maxims. Theres a minimum age requirement, Aristotle tells us: Speaking in maxims is appropriate to those older in years and on subjects of which one is experienced, since to speak maxims is unseemly for one too young, as is storytelling; and on matters in which one is inexperienced it is silly and shows lack of education. There is an adequate sign of this: country folks are most inclined to strike maxims and readily show themselves off. ( Aristotle On Rhetoric : A Theory of Civic Discourse, translated by George A. Kennedy, Oxford University Press, 1991) Finally, we might keep in mind this bit of proverbial wisdom from Mark Twain: It is more trouble to make a maxim than it is to do right.

Public Information Officers Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Information Officers Report - Essay Example CSR is not a new concept in the corporate world. The business organizations across the globe, both small and big have realized the significance of being socially responsible from the past experiences of many socially unsuccessful companies such as Enron. It has been well acknowledged by the corporate community that companies that seriously take care of CSR are more likely to sustain than those who do not. In fact, it takes into account the interest of all stakeholders. The benefits of being socially responsible are manifold. Some of the main include: Conforming to the social and ethical corporate practices results in not only corporate citizenship but it offers a numerous benefits as well. Consumers always prefer to buy products of those who are at the helm of CSR. In an article from Practical advice for Business, the relevance of being CSR conscious is illustrated as, "sales of environmentally friendly" products continue to grow - and these products often sell at a premium price. Ben & Jerry's ice cream became as famous for its approach to responsible business as for its products" (Business Link, n.d.). The benefits of CSR companies as an entity of society are manifold. They include economic, social, and ecological benefits. Besides, company's overall performance including financial performance can have a multiplier effect Corporate Financial Performance and CSR The closeness of corporate economic performance and CSR has been a topic of debate among the scholars and practitioners for years. Many studies have been conducted across the globe since the inception of the concept CSR to find whether any relationship exists between financial performance and CSR. Perhaps, all might have come out with positive results, though a very few responded in the negative. Majority of the studies argue that there is a positive correlation between corporate financial performance and CSR (Doran, 1994; Berkhout, 2005). When companies become CSR conscious, they are offered a plenty of benefits (reported above) that eventually contribute to augmented profit. Apart from this, many Studies have been done to analyze whether there is any relationship between the stock price and the economic performance. Recovery after a crisis is typically easier One of the challenges faced by a company that wants to operate under the principles of CSR is that how to balance its social and environmental responsibilities with its more clearly defined economic responsibility to earn a profit. It is important for promoters of CSR to acknowledge that at some point the cost of being socially and environmentally responsible outweighs the benefits. When this happens, most firms will cease to engage in new initiatives. In

Information based decision making Unit 5002 Essay

Information based decision making Unit 5002 - Essay Example Quality Business management is one of the most important business exceptionality of this century. It has added a thoroughly stranded manner to compact by means of imperfections in fabrication, focused attentiveness on clients, as well as painted participative organizational carry outs in business. In this research I will present the main ideas regarding effective decision making through the use of the organizational business information. This research is basically aimed to discuss the overall process and implementation of the business information regarding the effective decision making. The better decision in the organizational environment is very essential and its effectives provide the business better management and handling overall tasks. There have been efforts to reproduce its accomplishment in community services, run associations also information systems. Despite the fact that, business quality management has its main drawing out point in collection of the better and functional information for the better decision making and enhanced project management (Lillrank, 2003). A number of researches pointed out that deprived, defective, not on time or missing information is supposed as a the majority severe business quality crisis. It is emphasized that business information should not be handled the same as a plain by-product of a variety of actions on the other hand by means of the similar significance as products. Quality of information, though, appears to be a subtle theory (Salmela, 1997). Quality of the information is an expression to demonstrate the significance of the most important elements of the organizational information systems. It is frequently described as: â€Å"The potency for utilization of the business information present (Garvin, 1988)" Though this is working for the majority daily functions, experts frequently make use of additional complex models anticipated for business information quality. The greater part of

Environmental factors affecting the Starbucks company

Environmental factors affecting the Starbucks company The Starbucks is being affected by the environmental influences/factors and to analyze these influences, we need to apply the Pest Analysis and Michaels Porters Five Forces: PEST ANALYSIS1: POLITICAL2: The Starbucks business environment especially in Middle East and South Asia was changing rapidly and unpredictably towards worse for the company, due to the declaration of the war on Iraq in early 2003 by the United States. In July 2002, the Arab students called for a boycott of American goods and services, due to the close relationship between United States and Israel, caused the U.S Company Starbucks sales swift downwardly. Moreover, the Starbucks was boycotted at the top list due to Shultz close relationship to the Jewish Community and the rumours sponsoring the Jewish Community against the Palestine crisis. Thus, cause the Starbucks to closed down six stores in Israel for security threats. Starbucks had two class action suits pending since 2001. The lawsuits entitled Carr (Store Manager) and Sheilds (Assistant Manager) at California as exempt employees under California wage and hours laws. The Starbucks is ignoring all its liabilities in these cases, but the company has accepted to the settlement in regards to take care of all of the plaintiffs claims without involving in any protracted litigation. Starbucks is based on importing all their coffee beans, so other possible threat could be change in import laws, could affect the various areas of process and production for the company and could finally lead to change in price, which might impact the level of consumption or sales for the company. ECONOMICAL: The Starbucks also experienced the criticism from Non Government Organizations that wanted the company to get certified beans and those coffee beans should be grown and marketed under some economic and social conditions. In addition, the economic recession in European countries such as Switzerland, Germany, and Japan in the early 2000s and worldwide financial crisis affected the sales and revenue declining for the company. SOCIAL: In regard to the Starbucks Environment Mission Statement that Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business On the basis of their objective, the Starbucks has announced a list of principles that reflects the companys willingness to make sure its impact on the environment is positive as possible. These principles are: Understanding of environmental issues. Sharing information with our partners. Developing innovative and flexible solutions to bring about change. Striving to buy, sell and use environmentally friendly products. Recognizing that fiscal responsibility is essential to our environmental future. Instilling environment responsibility as a corporate value. Measuring and monitoring our progress for each project and encouraging all partners to share in our mission. The above Environmental principle reflects that the company is more conscious and interested in utilizing their resources in regards to the friendly environment operations. TECHNOLOGICAL: The Starbuck, to earn the profit rapidly and serve more customers quickly rather than focusing on the quality enables the management to replace labour operated machine La Marzocco (which required baristas to grind press coffee for every cup) with the Verismo automatic machine (where the baristas work was reduced to pressing a button) and later baristas grinding complained of being de-skilled. Thus, the coffee quality result in poor coffee house experience, customer experience and overpriced coffee than competitors led existing and potential customers coming through its doors felt down rather than rising. Shultz to achieve the best result spend ten millions of dollars on new coffee machine namely Clover (for making brewed coffee that requires both more beans and more labour) and another machine namely Mastrena (smaller and prettier than the Verismo machine, for making espressos where baristas are still required to push a button for grinding and for each fresh cup of the coffee). The Starbucks needs to re-evaluate what the brand stands for, what it sells and what the consumer experience and values should be. MICHEAL PORTERS FIVE FORCES OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES3: THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS: Starbucks is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world operating about 40 countries in the world. The Starbucks key success is innovating, modernizing, aggressive store openings and strong product differentiation in the coffee industry that limits the new entrants entrance in the coffee industry. For instance, free Wi-fi access to enable customers to surf internet4, prepaid Starbucks card, card rewards and Starbucks gold card5 , improving its coffee line to offer smaller, cheaper cupsxiv w, using new technology that create one cup at a time individually so that the taste remains the freshxv. Whereas the Starbucks has the major threats from fast food chain like McDonalds, Burger Kings and Dunkin Donuts where the capital requirements are not the big problem could be the potential entrants. The economies of scale within coffee industry have risen as the size of fast food chains has varied. The fast food chains (McDonalds, Burger king, and Dunkin Donuts) have very low cost national distribution channels in comparison to the new entrants whose distribution system is not such developed. This group of fast food chain is able to maintain its economies of scale by negotiating long term contracts with farmer buying the coffee beans in the large quantities at discounted prices. There is various cost disadvantages for the new entrants. For instance, the stabilized company in the market tries to get the high quality coffee beans and for new entrants to access those distribution channels is very difficult. The favourable larger metropolitan store locations have already been occupied by the current specialty coffee industry (Adamy, Venti Changes at Starbucks, 2008). The specialty coffee company primary objective has entirely changed from their root direction and distinct in terms of taste of the coffee, stores availability everywhere and charging prices. Ambience of the store, social responsibility and brand identification are now the traits of the company. Due to these new traits the company have gained the loyal customers from their past experience, customer service and fulfilment of the objective i.e. product differentiation and aggressive opening of the store. Thus, all these factors make difficult for new entrants to gain customer loyalty (Gulati, 2007). To conclude, the threat of new entrants is low and barrier is high due to the no substantial capital requirement. BARGAINING POWER OF BUYTERS/CUSTOMERS: Starbucks set the price according to the purchasing power of its customer and the prices at their competitors coffee houses. At Starbucks the prices are not negotiable due to its high product differentiation, enormous selection of coffees, uniqueness and high quality perception perceived power. This is the reason the opportunity for the Starbucks may sell at higher prices (starbucks 2008 another file). Whereas, there is no switching cost to customers to switch due to enormous selection of coffee houses except the minor indirect cost and may take away the patrons from Starbucks. Secondly, the customers have the ability to make their own coffee and Starbucks is trying to remove this threat by offering directions on how to make the perfect brewed cup of Starbucks Coffee at home, known as the Four Fundamentals of Coffee (http://www.academicmind.com/unpublishedpapers/business/marketing/2002-04-000aag-catching-the-starbucks-fever.html) or (www.Starbucks.com) OR http://news.starbucks.com/about+starbucks/global-consumer-products/packaged-coffee-tea/how+to+brew+the+perfect+cup/. Starbucks 20% sales lowered by 2008 in the store located within surrounding area of mom-and-pops coffee store. (Review, Is Starbucks a Broken Brand? , 2008) (starbucks08full) Thus, it is clear that the customers bargaining power have been increased due to the availability of information in regards to market variables and Starbucks should focus on the product competition rather than focusing on the consumer demands to exist in market leadership (starbucks 2008 another file). BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS: The Starbucks being the world largest importer of the coffee beans may face the rise in prices of coffee beans due to the unmatched between the twin market forces i.e. high demand and low supply, overcrowded market and high quality coffee sought may result in favour of suppliers bargaining power. There is no substitute for the coffee beans that Starbucks may buy. For Starbucks, this is the huge threat because coffee quality sought by the Starbucks is high and previously Starbucks has paid premium on green coffee about $1.20 per pound (starbucks.com). In 2001, Starbucks announced coffee purchasing guidelines for suppliers, developed in partnership with The Centre for Environmental Leadership in Business (starbucks.com) and were based on the grounds of the quality baselines, environmental concerns, social conditions and economic issues. Recently in 2005, the company paid 23% more than the market price for the coffee xvii to abide by the rules and commitments in purchasing the Fair Trad e CertifiedTM Coffee (Farmers who sells the coffee are united by an initiative known as Fair Trade Certified Coffee, organized by the TransFair USA to assess the farmers are paid fairly for their crops and that has exert more bargaining power over the buyers). Thus, there are more substitutes available in the competitive saturated market for the coffee beans except the technological innovations (such as automated coffee machine, latte and espresso machines has more bargaining power) if Starbucks agrees to buy at different rates and this is true that the Starbucks power lies in the hand of the suppliers. THREAT OF SUBSITITUTES: The Starbucks has quite good range of competing substitutes in beverages and food product line like soda, juice, smoothies, fruit, beer, alcoholic drinks, burritos, sushi, burgers and snack food etc. It is necessary for the Starbucks to innovate and differentiate its coffee, beverage and food product line simultaneously in the competitive landscape. Whereas the majority of coffee consumer does not easily substitute away from coffee or coffee related beverages like blended drinks or espresso and the closest substitute of coffee is the tea which is being sold out by Starbucks under Tazo Tea Brand. Moreover, the Starbucks is offering its own branded coffee at many grocery stores locations to hedge the threat of substitutes. The recent study has shown the consumer preference that the beverages like carbonated soft drinks consumption has declined in contrast to the coffee. This gradually gained preference over carbonated soft drinks shows the health concerns and coffee is healthier choice (Harding, 2000). To conclude, Starbucks focus on fresh and tastier baked goods and Starbucks does not need to diversify its food selection as its enough to satisfy the customers (starbucks 2008 another). COMPETATIVE RIVALRY: Porters first force that Porter describes is current rivalry among existing firms. In the specialty eateries industry, Starbucks current and direct U.S competitors are Diedrich Coffee, Seattles Best Coffee, and Einstein/Noah Bagel Corporation (hoovers.com). The competition, however, is not equally balanced. Diedrich Coffee operates 370 coffeehouses in 37 states and 11 countries (hoovers.com). Seattles Best Coffee operates 160 coffee cafes and 20 Italian coffee cafes in 17 states and 8 countries (hoovers.com). Einstein/Noah Bagel Corporation operates 460 bagel cafes in the U.S (hoovers.com). Starbucks has 4,709 locations in over 20 countries (hoovers.com). It is clear that Starbucks has few major competitors, and the competition has nowhere Starbucks volume of operations. Starbucks is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. Smaller competitors, however, pose potential threats to the company. For example, the average Starbucks location draws on a popul ation base of 200,000 (msn.com). In San Francisco and Seattle, Starbucks draws on population bases between 17,000 and 19,000 (msn.com). In cities where Starbucks does not draw on small population bases, smaller competitors can attract some of Starbucks 200,000 person population base. A slowing industry market growth is another threat facing Starbucks. According to the market research firm Allegra, compound market growth between 1997 and 2001 was 57% (hoovers.com). From 2002 to December 2004, the market it estimated to grow 14%. (hoovers.com). Competitors are selling similar products, including specialty coffees as well as high quality foods. In this slowing market, competition is high.   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Other coffee chains. Examples include Coffee Bean Tea Leaf, Gloria Jeans Coffee, Peets, and San Francisco Coffee House à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Smaller privately owned coffee houses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Secondary coffee providers. Examples include McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts As the specialty beverage industry only grows more competitive, Starbucks dominant positioning with a large market share is continuously under pressure. Since its inception, Starbucks has stimulated the overall market, creating a positive spill over effect that increased the demand for quality coffee beverages. Therefore, even though Starbucks has rapidly expanded, so have local coffeehouses and momà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ pop stores. Thus, elasticity has increased with the variety of substitutes available to consumers offering the same product: premium coffee, friendly staff, and a comfortable milieu. For this reason, recent trends indicate industry stagnation within the domestic market as coffeehouses are now ubiquitous. Though the trend has peaked domestically, coffee and coffeehouses are still ingrained in the American culture leaving this market profitable. Fragmented rivalry is due to the nature of the industry, which is split between national, regional, and local competitors domestically and abroad. Within the U.S., key national competitors include Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, and other fast food chains sprucing up and diversifying their beverage menu. However, the targeted customer base differs as Starbucks caters to highà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ end customers with its gourmet drinks. Nonetheless, the Starbucks Corporation must be conscious of its price point, so as not to exclude too many potential patrons. Regionally, the industry may be divided as follows among top rivals: West coast: Coffee Bean Tea Leaf and Peets Coffee and Tea Midwest: Caribou Coffee and Panera East coast: Tim Hortons These companies are better direct competitors to Starbucks than the national fast food chains as they appeal to the same consumer base and offer similar product selections. Caribou Coffee is the second largest corporation within the domestic specialty beverage industry. However, as of September 30, 2007 Starbucks operated 6,793 stores domestically and 1,712 stores internationally while Caribou Coffee operated 447 stores domestically and 17 internationallyxi. Lastly, local competitors such as siteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ specific proprietorships and momà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ pop coffeehouses vie with Starbucks as well. While they are not threats to general empire Starbucks has created, they do reduce profit margins as they appeal to many coffee drinkers with their more personal character. These smaller proprietorships are Starbucks greatest competitor abroad, which is Harkness Consulting 6 why recent expansion plans have focused on capturing international markets. Clearly, there are a large number of rivals within the specialty beverage industry creating a rather competitive landscape. Customers do not incur a monetary switching cost in the specialty beverage industry; nonetheless, an emotional attachment to image and reputation keep them loyal to certain brand names. Even though only a superficial difference exists between coffeehouses, firms differentiate their products to capture customers from rival brands. The Starbucks name has acquired a significant status and has ranked as one of the most influential brand names in the American culture. With its wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ trained baristas, comfortable atmosphere, and quick service, Starbucks has incorporated important characteristics appealing to customers. In the Starbucks business model, customers are more important than product. However, even though Starbucks is able to sell its goods at a higher price point, it must be conscious of the elastic market. For example, after increases in dairy costs -an input good every coffeehouse model- Starbucks stores felt the need to announce the reason for price increases so a s not to shock customers. The company informed its customers of the pricing discrepancy because it did not want to lose their future patronage due to the economic circumstances at the time. This example illustrates the point that even though Starbucks has brand name loyalty, the company is still susceptible to the elastic nature of the market. Starbucks is able to remain competitive within the market due to its sheer size and business model. As Starbucks takes advantage of economies of scale and scope, it follows a different cost structure than other corporations in the market. First, Starbucks pays less for the products it is able to buy in bulk such as dairy goods, syrups, paper goods, etcxii. For this reason, the company reaps higher margins with its specialty drinks, which also help differentiate itself from other coffeehouses. As customers know they can customize their drinks and the quality of the drink is guaranteed based upon reputation, Starbucks is always in their evoke set. Next, as no cooperative pricing exists in this industry, Starbucks prices its drinks based upon the elasticity of its target customer. Appealing to conspicuous consumption, Starbucks prices are higher than its competitors, lending toward its high trend status. Last, Starbucks is able to differentiate itself due to its commitment to reduce its environmental impact. Again, its size enables the company to seek, incorporate and market these environmentally friendly endeavors. For example, the company replaced cups and cup sleeves with ones that used postà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ consumer recycled materialsxiii. Also, Starbucks adheres to purchasing guidelines, The Commitment to Origins, which promote economic transparency in not only buying the best coffee, but also at premium prices to help farmers. These practices further differentiate Starbucks from many of its competitors. The dynamics of the industry rivalry within the specialty coffee industry has changed dramatically since 1987. Unlike the early days of the specialty coffee industry when Starbucks competed primarily against other small-scale specialty coffee retailers they now compete against companies of varying sizes and different exposures to specialty coffee. Starbucks competes with a variety of smaller scale specialty coffee shops, mostly concentrated in different regions of the country. All of these specialty coffee chains are differentiated from Starbucks in one way or another. Caribou Coffee is a Minneapolis-based specialty coffee chain that competes with Starbucks. They are similar to Starbucks in their attempt to create a third-place but distinguish themselves by creating an entirely different atmosphere. Where Starbucks strives to create an upscale European atmosphere, Caribou coffee tries to implement a more American feel to their coffee houses. They do this by modeling their coffee houses after rustic Alaskan lodges. (Quelch, 2006) Often they will use knotty pine cabinetry, numerous fireplaces and soft seating. Also they offer a barrage of magazines and newspapers as well as the guarantee of speedy service and free refills. In addition, they offer free WiFi, drive through accessibility and meeting rooms for rent. Founded in 1992, Caribou coffee now operates roughly 500 stores, employs over 6000 people and grosses roughly $230 million in revenue a year. (Caribou Coffee, 2008) A Canadian-based company, A.L. Van Houtte, operates roughly 100 corporate out lets and franchises, serving nearly 3 million cups of coffee per day. Through their subsidiary VKI technologies, they have become the world leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of coffee making equipment and related products. They also operate the largest coffee services network in North America serving roughly 71,000 different workplaces in major cities throughout the United States. (A.L. Van Houtte, 2005) As the original inspiration for Starbucks, Peets Coffee and Tea Company which originated in Berkeley, California still poses a serious competitive threat. The three founders of Starbucks purchased Peets Coffee and Tea Company in 1984 from Alfred Peet and later sold the assets of Starbucks to the now CEO, Howard Schultz. Although much slower to expand than Starbucks, in fact, ironically Schultz originally separated from the then owners of Starbucks, later purchasing the company from them because he could not persuade them to undertake an aggressive expansion, Peets has recently opened a new roasting plant in Alameda, California which will enable them to double their current annual sales of $250 million. They currently operate 166 stores in the US and have recently moved into the Seattle metropolitan area, home of Starbucks headquarters and the original Starbucks store. (Peets Coffee Tea, 2008) In 2007, the three Peets locations in the Seattle metropolitan area outperformed all Starbucks stores in the nearby vicinity in same-store sales, store revenue and total customer receipts per store. Peets strategy is to differentiate themselves from Starbucks by creating a super premium brand by offering the freshest coffee in the market. They ensure the freshness of their coffee by delivering roasted to order coffee, which involves roasting small batches of coffee and shipping them to the retail shops within 24 hours of roasting. (Review, Despite Growth, Starbucks Cant Dislodge Local Rivals, 2007) In addition to these smaller scale specialty coffee companies, Starbucks must now compete against two of the largest companies in the fast food industry who have recently entered the specialty coffee segment. The first of these competitors is Dunkin Donuts, who claims to be the worlds largest coffee and baked goods chain. Currently, Dunkin Donuts operates about 5,500 franchises around the United States, 80 stores in Canada and 1,850 throughout the rest of the world. Dunkin Donuts had revenues of roughly $5 billion in 2007. In the past couple years the franchise has put enormous emphasis on their coffee beverages. They serve coffee beverages in an assortment of types and styles including espresso, cappuccino and latte. They also serve their coffee in an assortment of flavors including French Vanilla, hazelnut, cinnamon and numerous others. When 37 Starbucks recently temporarily shut down 7,100 of their stores to retrain their baristas, Dunkin Donuts responded by extending their hours of operation and offering small lattes, cappuccinos and espresso drinks for $.99. (Adamy, Starbucks Upgrades Espresso Machines, 2007) The largest industry rival currently facing Starbucks is the McDonalds restaurant fast food chain. McDonalds originated from a single San Bernardino, California hamburger stand, which opened in 1948, and has turned into what is now the worlds largest restaurant chain with over 14,000 restaurants in the United States alone and gross revenues in excess of $22 billion. The key to McDonalds success has been the consistent quality standards they achieve for their food, coupled with their quick service and low prices. (Adamy, McDonalds Takes on Starbucks, 2008) 10 years ago Starbucks and McDonalds were at complete opposite ends of the spectrum in the restaurant industry. However, McDonalds, encouraged by the success of it s upgraded drip coffee, began testing numerous drinks sold under the name McCafe. Starbucks meanwhile, with its rapid expansion, was adding drive-through windows and numerous breakfast sandwiches, similar to the Egg McMuffins served at McDonalds, to their stores. These measures have drawn the two companies closer together as competitors due to an encroachment into the demographic consumer base made by each company. (Review, Is Starbucks a Broken Brand? , 2008) The McCafe, first conceptualized in Australia during 1993, was brought to the United States in 2001. The concept took a quarter of the typical McDonalds restaurant and added leather couches and a decorative counter on which cappuccinos and sweets were sold. The McCafes did not take hold initially, not making it past their first trial 38 period, primarily due to the poor conditions of the stores in which they were placed. Now, seven years later, McDonalds has invested $700 million in its plan to win strategy, initiated in 2003, which has led to the remodel of thousands of US locations. The project has led to the gutting of many dilapidated franchises by tearing out the molded plastic booths and replacing them with extra large leather chairs. The company has also improved the ambience and atmosphere in many stores by replacing the bright color schemes with more contemporary muted tones and softer lighting. (Adamy, McDonalds Takes on Starbucks, 2008) With a rejuvenated brand image, McDonalds is preparing for the biggest addition to its menu in 30 years. The company will be installing coffee bars along with baristas who will serve cappuccinos, lattes, mochas and the Frappe, a knockoff of the Starbucks ice blended Frappuccino, throughout 2008 and into the beginning of 2009. The initiative is expected to add $1 billion to McDonalds annual sales. McDonalds, which has never displayed food assembly devices, will place the Espresso machines at the front counters in an attempt to engage their customers with the theatrics involved in creating mochas and frappes. Unlike Starbucks, the baristas at McDonalds will not steam pitchers of milk and combine them with shots of espresso but rather will wait for a single machine to make all components of each drink. The competitive threat posed by McDonalds can be summarized by referring to the February 2008 edition of the Consumer Reports magazine, which rated the McDonalds drip coffee as better tasting than Starbucks. (Adamy, McDonalds Takes on Starbucks, 2008) The specialty coffee industry has experienced explosive growth over the past 20 years. As a consequence, many companies have recognized the potential for profit and 39 have tried to capitalize by entering the industry. This has resulted in a drastic increase in competition within the specialty coffee industry. The diversity among these competitors still remains very high but the grounds on which companies are differentiating themselves are changing. As larger and larger companies enter the industry the strategic stakes become higher, pushing some companies such as Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds to differentiate themselves through price superiority. (Adamy, At Starbucks, Too Many, Too Quick? , 2007) In summary, the current impact of the industry rivalry force created by the competition between specialty coffee retailers is very high, especially as contrasted to what it was at the time of Starbucks rapid expansion twenty years ago. The growth of the industry has slowed while the number of competitors within the industry has increased. Both of these factors, in addition to Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds high strategic stakes in the specialty coffee industry , have caused this change from weak to strong industry rivalry. The Starbucks is being affected by the following environmental influences/factors: Customers: Nowadays customers are more fastidious about their needs, requirements, experience and taste. The Starbuck, to earn the profit rapidly and serve more customers quickly rather than focusing on the quality enables the management to replace labour operated machine La Marzocco (which required baristas to grind press coffee for every cup) with the Verismo automatic machine (where the baristas work was reduced to pressing a button) and later baristas grinding complained of being de-skilled. Thus, the coffee quality result in poor coffee house experience, customer experience and overpriced coffee than competitors led existing and potential customers coming through its doors was falling rather than rising. The Starbucks needs to re-evaluate what the brand stands for, what it sells and what the consumer experience and values should be. Competitors: The competitors like McDoanlds and Dunkin Donuts both harmed the Starbucks deliberately by running the websites like dunkingbeatsstarbucks.com and unsnobbycoffee.com to draw the more customers by selling good coffee. Most of the people visited the website and soon Starbucks led to the caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Declining Sales: Economic Crisis: The Starbucks stock price drop to $7 a share and most of its stores in Australia faced closure and thousands of jobs were lost. B. C.