The Success of the Firm
The employees of the two firms were almost in unison agreement that their institutions were on the right path of economic success. However, one respondent had serious reservations with the length of hours that he worked. According to the respondent, the success of the firm had negative implications on their health and social well being because they hardly had time for their families. Nonetheless, the near unanimous agreement gave an impression that the findings from these institution was worth implementing by an institution that is keen on positive results. Ideally, it is very hard to have employees endorse their firm because more often than not they either have a problem with the administration or are just uncomfortable with the pay they get at the end of the month. The fact that they all attributed the success to their personal involvement affirms the idea of democratization of decision making.
Accordingly, they said they worked for their firms as though it was their own (Bernard, 1990). I found from the research at Luby Cafeteria that the firm has built a large base of loyal customers both within and outside the state of Colorado. Indeed, most of civil institutions around had made it a culture to hold meetings at their business premises. However, they attributed this to the fact that the firm has a good reputation around in that they have a popular humanitarian project that helps orphans far away in Kenya. The fact that they often engaged the community in fundraisers to help these orphans has endeared them to the community. Besides, the success of their project has begun to manifest in the high number of students they have lately enrolled in universities across Kenya and America.
As such, these organizations seek to identify with their noble humanitarian project thereby improving their overall revenue collection. Indeed, this has put them ahead of their competitors (Stogdill, 1989). It was only at McLures Maple Syrup Limited where incentives were offered to the customers. They had point plan where customers accumulate points that they would redeem in form of products of the firm. However, according to most of the respondents from this institution, this was not the only reason McLures Maple Syrup Limited had been able to survive in the market for decades. The only advantage it had was the fact that it was an old program having run for several years and as such people trusted it more than those given by its competitors.
In particular, one respondent cited Green View Limited as the company’s competitor that had attempted the idea but abandoned it almost immediately because it did not get them as much customers as they had initially thought. In fact, Green View Limited fell among those businesses that had to close shop because they could not match the competition offred by McLures Maple Syrup Limited (Rowe, 2007). A significant number of responses conceded that they would seriously consider working for their institutions beyond their retirement age. I had put this question purposely to gauge their levels of commitment to their institutions. Indeed, the response suggested some degree of satisfaction with their kind of remuneration they got.
In particular, a respondent cited that his job has seen him take his kids beyond college level of education as the reason why he felt intimate with the institution. Essentially, a good remuneration has the advantage of retaining the staff so that they are not raided by the competitors. This is something I would proudly recommend to Starbucks Enterprises so that they have a competitive advantage over their competitors on the quality of their human resource. Although it would be costly to pay exorbitant rates to all employees, a good strategy that is based on the overall earnings for the month would suffice. For instance, the institution may opt to set aside a certain percentage of their monthly revenue to reward their staff.
This would serve as a motivational factor so that they all work hard to ensure that meaningful revenues realized by the firm. Ideally, this would not only ensure they retain their employees, but also assure them of good incomes at the end of financial year (Jago, 1982).The graph showing the annual incomes generated by the two firms indicated an upward trend in their incomes. That is a clear indication that they are properly formulating and implementing their policies. Besides, it serves as further testimony that decisions made on democratic ideals do not just stand the test of time, but also produces exemplary results. For instance, Luby has kept good economic records for the past four years.
The only year when their revenues slipped downwards was in the year 2009. However, this is attributed to the fact that economic recession was beginning to take toll in the food and allied industry at the time. On the other hand, McLures has had a near constant revenue collection for the last several years. Indeed, the analysis of their market share suggested that they had a considerable share of the American market especially in New Hampshire. As such, they make ideal examples whose policies would be used to advise a struggling company like Starbucks (Stogdill, 1989).
Although Luby did not have absolute control of the market, there is no doubt that they are strong competitors in the market. In fact, their closest rival, Blobal Traders, have been having it rough as their employees are always tempted to cross over (Bernard, 1990). On the other hand, McLures has a tight control of 59% of the market according to the data I was able to obtain from their boooks of accounts. This has been the trend for several decades. As such, it confirms earlier sentiments of the general manager that they are indeed the market leaders.
Indeed, a company like Green View no longer exists in the market in spite of the fact that they had tried to use incentives to induce loyalty amongst their customers. In view of this fact, I would not recommend the use of incentives to Starbucks as the best strategy of competition in the market (Northouse, 2007). Analysis of Findings and Recommendations The most trustworthy advice which I would recommend for Starbucks that would enable them compete favorably against their rival would be the establishment of a brand that the market associates them with. They may not necessarily have to do charity work in Africa to gain this because there are several things that they can do. For instance, in this era of environmental conservation it would really work for Starbucks Enterprises if they decided to sponsor environmental conservation efforts. Indeed, this would be a good project considering that the expenses like the purchase of seedlings to be planted and their watering are not that costly.
As such, Starbucks Enterprise would build a perfect brand that their customers would easily identify with so as to earn them their loyalty (Kouzes, James & Posner, Barry, 1987).The correlation chart above indicates the apathy that the market develops towards those companies that give back to the society. The more they engage in projects that directly or indirectly benefit the public or humanity, the better they look and the more popular they become in the market. Besides, they also earn favor of most civil organizations that value environmental conservation. It is a known fact that most of the revenues collected in restaurants and cafeterias are from room bookings for purposes of business meetings. In view of this fact, Starbucks Enterprises would be perfectly in order to bank on services geared to humanity as the best way to approach their market competition (Stogdill, 1989).
Conclusion The research has been able to give some important insights into just what the market holds for the players. As such, Starbucks does not need to worry any more about their competitors introducing incentives to induce customer loyalty. Instead, they should embark on a long term strategy that will ensure they stay relevant in the market for a very long time. Besides, services to humanity are everyone’s desire. By actively committing themselves to environmental conservation, they would both be laying foundations for their long term financial benefits as well as preserving life which is the most essential part of us (Jago, 1982).
