Strategic Management and Leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management and Leadership - Assignment Example Product mix of the company is essentially constituted of a larger percentage of beverage products followed by food items and also other exclusive coffee products. The company also exclusively works to sell equipments and accessories relating to the production of coffee thereby diversifying on its product mix. Moreover the company management works to administer the operation of the stores on their own rather than depending on franchisees. Success for Starbucks can also be measured by its market size and growth rate as the coffee brands has developed itself and become a global brands. Starbuck presently holds 30% of market share second to Costa Coffee in the UK market and market share of 74330.7% (Neate, 2012). Sales of Starbucks coffee generated 26.5million in 2012 and continued to introduce variants of different type and thus earn profits and increase market share (Restaurants Brands, 2012, p. 8) Starbucks also focuses on enhancement of market share and penetration of larger markets through focusing on conducting sales through other co-branded outlets. Similarly the company also focused on reaching to target consumer bases like youths and children in the form of conducting sales through use of kiosks. ... The marketing strategy of the firm greatly depends on activities like referrals in the form of word-of-mouth and also through the gaining in of support by other partnership companies and alliances in the industry. The company markets its message to the customers through the use of electronic mails rendered in by the people in their visits to the different stores. Further the company also works through the formation of strategic business and promotional alliances with other firms to gain on in distribution and marketing efforts (Larson, 2009, p.3-6). Another secret for the success of Starbucks in the global market for specialised coffee products counts on its enhanced social media marketing efforts. The social media networking activities of the company helps in gaining a large number of followers both in Facebook and Twitter where these people tend to post a large number of messages about their experiences on Starbucks’ products and services. The company through the use of soci al networking sites focuses on gaining a large number of potential feedbacks and recommendations. Through the use of such open communication networks the company tends to enhance its relationship with the consumers while operating in the global market. Similarly the company also encourages sharing videos and experiences on the web thereby focusing on to develop an emotional relationship with its target consumer base. Moreover the company through the use of different social networking sites focuses on empowering the consumers to render potential decisions about business, service and product development categories. These ideas being incorporated in its operational and service dimensions thereby create a sense of belongingness among the consumers relating to the

Planning Report for the Computer Forensics Lab Essay

Planning Report for the Computer Forensics Lab - Essay Example On the other hand, the second administrative employee would assist the first administrative employee and would also serve as a ready hand replacement when the first administrative employee is absent. In addition to the above, these administrative employees would also be responsible for the safety and privacy of the computer data being investigated (Anderson et al., 2003). The technicians hired to do computer forensics work would be trained and qualified computer personnel geared to deal with forensics work. However, not all technicians hired to deal with computer forensics work would have the same amount of experience. Two of the technicians would possess at least five years or more of computer forensics experience while another technician would possess at least three years of computer forensics experience. The last two technicians would be recently qualified and lightly trained computer forensics experts that would train under the more senior technicians. This distribution of employ ee structure on the technical side would ensure that senior technicians are available to deal with the more complex work while new technicians are being trained to deal with future work. In case that the senior technicians leave at a later stage, there would always be backup in the form of more junior technicians. 2. Lab budget planning (what kind of facilities you want to acquire?) The lab’s budget would be split into two major heads namely being set up expenses and running expenses. The set up expenses would cover one time installation costs such as buying hardware, acquiring a place for the lab, electrical fittings etc. On the other hand, running expenses would comprise of regular expenses that could be expected to occur at the month’s end such as paying the utility bills, paying employee salaries, buying new hardware and software etc. As far as the set up costs are concerned, the major part of the expense would be the acquisition of fitting hardware for forensic pu rposes. In order to mitigate the expenses, a mix of new hardware and customizations would be introduced. The senior technicians would assemble certain pieces of hardware such as read write blockers in order to lower the amount of overall expense (Prosise & Mandia, 2003). Work stations would be acquired from branded companies such as Dell or HP. However, one work station for heavy duty purposes would be assembled in house from market acquired hardware in order to lower costs (Dominguez, 2007). The other major setting up expense would be acquiring a place to set up the lab as well as acquiring the furniture and electrical fittings such as cables and extension cords etc. The typical running expenses of a forensics lab would include the salaries of employees, any new hardware or software purchases, utility bills and the rent of the acquired lab. When the lab is being set up, the running expense would be covered by having at least six months worth of running expenses in hand in order to deal with slow business at start up. 3. Certificate / training plan Previously there was little trend for proper certification and training for computer forensics work. However, the need for training and qualification in the computer forensics field has gone up significantly. At this point in time there are a number of