Reflective Journal Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflective Journal Assignment - Essay Example The success of this stage in growth leads to the virtue of hope which often goes a long way in determining how a person would view the world and/or tackle real life crises and problems that are ever existent. Being of a middle age compared to the other of our siblings, I was never accorded the utmost care that the others had and this I believed strengthened my resolve greatly. I become more independent and assertive and this enabled me too to recognize my abilities and skills. Taking part in groups, organizing class events at schools, sorting out fellow children quarrels and disagreements enabled me to recognize my special talent in counseling at a tender age. Ages 10-20, regarded by most scholars as the age bracket that makes or breaks an individual were rather hectic for me. This is where self actualization occurs when one starts to learn the roles he would want to play as an adult. At an adolescent age, I got to learn a lot about myself and the surrounding. This is the age where I got to re-examine my identity and who I really was both in our family and to the society at large. This period came to pass with a lot of challenges that defined who I became. I decided to set myself on a career path and developed a greater sense of fidelity and tolerance. My later advanced ages presented to me the worst times I ever had. Before making any considerations on the need and motives, I decided to have a partner in my early 20’s. As described in the eight stages of development by Erikson, this is the period in the lifespan of an individual when one yeans for intimacy and a certain level of commitment. I got married at a comparatively younger age and this came with its share of problems. I had a marital relationship that that took turns at every face of difficulty and disagreements. This stage gave me a lot of insight into the issues that couples face on a daily basis and opened me up more to the counseling profession. At the

Review of the Service Setting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Review of the Service Setting - Essay Example The organization also sells various types of confectionary as well as pastry items along with equipment for coffee such as coffee beans, travel mugs and other such coffee related items. The company has further grown and ventured into several other options such as selling its coffee beans in retail stores operated under the name of Starbucks. Moreover, Starbucks also produces premium quality ice cream along with Frappuccino as a labeled specialty drink through its subsidiary parties. In addition, Starbucks has a sister concern by the name of Tazo Tea Company that sells premium quality tea products in retail. Starbucks works under the premise that each country and each neighborhood should know the name of Starbucks and associate it with positive feelings particularly towards the food products that the company sells. The paper will focus primarily on the customer service elements of Starbucks coffee retail outlets that focus on selling hot and cold coffee drinks along with food items su ch as pastry items (History of Starbucks, 2003). Review of the Service Setting Starbucks is a global organization with its retail outlets in a large number of countries across the world. The root of success for Starbucks has primarily been the quality of service it provides to its customers, which has helped the company to gain loyal consumers in the longer term. The channels that Starbucks uses are critical in developing a holistic customer experience thus gaining the company loyal customers (History of Starbucks, 2003). As a customer, the service experience that I had with Starbucks included several elements including a greeting, listening to my order and noting down the details about what I specifically wanted, and providing me with the service and my coffee with a smile wishing me a good day. As a customer I believe this was very important because it made me feel that they were taking time out to understand my order and make me feel involved and a part of Starbucks. Verheof et a l. (2009) believe that retail stores particularly service related retail stores consider service quality towards consumers extremely important because it helps in keeping customers involved, allowing for a stronger customer base that can bring in larger amounts of revenue. Management of customer experience is now becoming part of organizations’ longer term vision and mission because products, channels and services can become brands with their own personality through effective management of this customer experience (Michelli, 2007; Badgett, Boyce & Kleinberger, 2007). Frow and Payne (2007) suggest that the effective management of customer experience is through exceptional customer service and this can only be done if the correct touch points of the customer are managed effectively. At this point, the Starbucks staff tried to greet me nicely and wished me a good day which I felt was important as not many people are inclined towards it; as most people are too busy with their wor k. Thus I feel that Starbucks did cover some of the touch points which are important to a customer. The key touch points of the customer’s experience have to be noted for each scenario in case of a service setting and then targeted in such a manner that the customer experience can be enhanced positively towards the service or retail brand. Starbucks is one such popular example that many scholars and authors (Enquist et al., 2007; Fang & Yu, 2009) try to

SWOT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

SWOT - Essay Example The patriarch of the firm had built a culture of intricate customer service; they went deeper by understanding their customer’s needs completely Culture of intricate customer service; Through innovative means of handling their customers such as the delivery service Evergreen established its pedigree in customer service compared to its competitors. Customers and market: Their market comprised of highly educated, upper income, health conscious and informed; this means that they were able to sell easily their natural and organic foods to them. The company prided itself on immaculate service and superior and fresh products, meaning that were able easily convince their target market to buy those goods from them. The market for natural products in Rocky Mountain States had the highest rates of growth in terms of market expansion, given as 11.4 percent against a Midwest rate of merely three percent. Original marketing expertise: Their marketing technique even though simple, but it ha s been effective over the years, as the customers have grown accustomed to it. The quirky, original hand painted signs displayed both outside and indoors had a remarkable success in imprinting the company’s brand name. Strong brand and reputation: The founder had built a strong brand name through provision of quality products over a long period luring many people to the image of the brand; this in fact aided the company in the process of acquisition. Effective and efficient management: Their acquisition strategy and general management style and decentralized system of control had achieved considerable results for the firm. Their style of management was very sophisticated for such a relatively small firm; as such, styles were typical of large firms, the company introduced comprehensive appraisal of their operations. The firm holds on to their staff especially those who occupy important decision-making roles. The overall strength of the stores and the firm itself is the company ’s CEO; she is the rock of the company making important decisions that have propelled the company to its heights from the humble beginnings that it was founded upon. Norton oversaw acquisitions that contributed to a considerable degree to the company’s overall gross profits; the growth in the company’s profit is the foundation of its growth. Weaknesses: Risky acquisition style: The Company has lost money before in its mergers and acquisitions in the past three years; this process of investing in loss making enterprise was not properly thought out. Non-prime Location of the company stores: The company was located in areas that were lower in prime compared to rival supermarket chains in the same region; this might affect its level of comparability and growth potential. Lack of superior access to distribution channels compared to competitors: Larger competitors in the same area had the advantage of own branding of their own goods unlike the case study, whose produc ts were perishable and therefore unlikely to be branded. Opportunities: Political/Legal A new cross regional market: By moving out of the Rocky Mountain West region, the company had expressed its thirst for a market far away from the region of its establishment. The acquisition of the Arugula Grocers is

Review of the Service Setting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Review of the Service Setting - Essay Example The organization also sells various types of confectionary as well as pastry items along with equipment for coffee such as coffee beans, travel mugs and other such coffee related items. The company has further grown and ventured into several other options such as selling its coffee beans in retail stores operated under the name of Starbucks. Moreover, Starbucks also produces premium quality ice cream along with Frappuccino as a labeled specialty drink through its subsidiary parties. In addition, Starbucks has a sister concern by the name of Tazo Tea Company that sells premium quality tea products in retail. Starbucks works under the premise that each country and each neighborhood should know the name of Starbucks and associate it with positive feelings particularly towards the food products that the company sells. The paper will focus primarily on the customer service elements of Starbucks coffee retail outlets that focus on selling hot and cold coffee drinks along with food items su ch as pastry items (History of Starbucks, 2003). Review of the Service Setting Starbucks is a global organization with its retail outlets in a large number of countries across the world. The root of success for Starbucks has primarily been the quality of service it provides to its customers, which has helped the company to gain loyal consumers in the longer term. The channels that Starbucks uses are critical in developing a holistic customer experience thus gaining the company loyal customers (History of Starbucks, 2003). As a customer, the service experience that I had with Starbucks included several elements including a greeting, listening to my order and noting down the details about what I specifically wanted, and providing me with the service and my coffee with a smile wishing me a good day. As a customer I believe this was very important because it made me feel that they were taking time out to understand my order and make me feel involved and a part of Starbucks. Verheof et a l. (2009) believe that retail stores particularly service related retail stores consider service quality towards consumers extremely important because it helps in keeping customers involved, allowing for a stronger customer base that can bring in larger amounts of revenue. Management of customer experience is now becoming part of organizations’ longer term vision and mission because products, channels and services can become brands with their own personality through effective management of this customer experience (Michelli, 2007; Badgett, Boyce & Kleinberger, 2007). Frow and Payne (2007) suggest that the effective management of customer experience is through exceptional customer service and this can only be done if the correct touch points of the customer are managed effectively. At this point, the Starbucks staff tried to greet me nicely and wished me a good day which I felt was important as not many people are inclined towards it; as most people are too busy with their wor k. Thus I feel that Starbucks did cover some of the touch points which are important to a customer. The key touch points of the customer’s experience have to be noted for each scenario in case of a service setting and then targeted in such a manner that the customer experience can be enhanced positively towards the service or retail brand. Starbucks is one such popular example that many scholars and authors (Enquist et al., 2007; Fang & Yu, 2009) try to

Illegal immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Illegal immigration - Essay Example However, such immigrations adversely affect the economy and society of the United States. The thesis statement for this paper is, ‘economics and social costs of illegal immigration outweigh the number of associated benefits’. Social and Economic Cost of Illegal Immigration Illegal immigrations put a damaging impact on the economy of a country. Some of the main effects on the economy of a country due to large-scale illegal immigrations include increased poverty, less job opportunities for local people, and decreased foreign investment because of increased fear of crimes in immigrant-populated areas. Immigrants are cutting down the wage levels for local Americans (Porter, n. p.). Reports show that many companies in the United States prefer to hire illegal immigrants because they are willing to work for low salaries as compared to the salaries that local people demand. Such situations result in decreasing the number of job opportunities for local people because companies fi ll many job positions with people who demand less money in exchange for job and confidentiality about their legal status in the country. Such situations also cause an increase in the graph of poverty in a country because when local people will not have jobs, they will face shortage of money, and their spending power will decrease as well. Overpopulation in the host country is also an effect of illegal immigrations. The demand and supply system also gets affected due to illegal immigrations because economic analysts cannot count the presence of illegal people accurately. In the United States, increase in the number of crimes is also associated with large-scale illegal immigrations. Some percentage of illegal immigrants start engaging in criminal activities when they do not get proper job opportunities even in the developed countries. Increased drug trafficking in the United States is also associated with large-scale illegal immigrations. As Go states, â€Å"the US suffers an annual loss of about 70 billion dollars due to drug-related illnesses, death, and drug related crimes.† Along with high economic impact, crimes and violence also affect the society. Crimes cause threat and terror in the minds of local people because of which they start thinking negatively about all immigrants. Benefits of Illegal Immigration Although there are no apparent benefits of illegal immigrations, if we analyze the positive effects of presence of illegal immigrants deeply, we come to know that they do play a little part in keeping the system running. For example, they do low profile jobs from which legal citizens usually keep themselves away, such as, sanitary jobs, waiter jobs, and petrol filling worker jobs. Illegal immigrants do such jobs to earn their livings by hiding themselves from the law enforcement agencies. As Mauriello states, â€Å"one of the perceived benefits of illegal immigration is that of filling in of low wage jobs that a regular American would not be wil ling to accept.† Rights of Illegal Immigrants Basic rights of a person remain the same wherever a person lives and in whatever way a person arrives to the other country. In the U.S. constitution, the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments protect the basic rights of all individuals living in the United States. The law grants protection to every individual and applies law for illegal immigrants. Although illegal immigrants

Absalom Absalom and Love Essay Example for Free

Absalom Absalom and Love Essay Many of the novels we have read this semester contain prevailing themes that provide insight into American society. One of these themes that we have closely examined throughout the semester is a person’s right to love. Love is undoubtedly a powerful force in one’s life. As we have seen through our readings, however, this force is often obstructed by the need to conform to social standards. Whether or not a couple is ALLOWED to be in love says a lot about what is socially acceptable for that particular area and time period. Although love is technically a right given to all, American Literature shows how it is often denied by social standards and therefore ceases to exist. William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! tells Rosa Coldfield’s version of how Thomas Sutpen was the demise of her and her family. As the story progresses, it becomes known that Thomas’s son, Henry, kills Charles Bon to prevent him from marrying his sister, Judith. One would infer that Henry’s reason for his desperate need to prevent their marriage was because Charles was their half-brother, and therefore their marriage would be considered incest. We come to find out, however, that this is not exactly the case. In Chapter 8, in response to whether or not Judith will marry Bon she says â€Å"Yes. I have decided. Brother or not, I have decided. I will. I will (283). † As the chapter progresses, however, Quentin and Shreve accept that â€Å"it’s the miscegenation, not the incest, which (they) can’t bear (285). †In this case, two socially unaccepted taboos prevent Judith from pursuing her relationship with Bon. The fact that it is worse in the eyes of her family that Judith may be marrying a man with black blood than a man who is her relative, however, says a lot about how strong racial prejudices were in the south during the 1800s. Judith’s right to love Bon is forcefully obstructed by social norms, and is a perfect example of Southern culture during that time period. Another instance of love being obstructed by social standards is seen in F.  Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, a resident of West Egg and a symbol of new wealth, falls in love with Daisy, a resident of East Egg and a symbol of established wealth. Daisy and her husband, Tom, are described to have lived in â€Å"†¦a rather distinguished secret society (17)† to which members of old money had often tried and failed to become a part of. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Daisy had married Tom for his â€Å"†¦person and his position (151)† rather than for love. Yet when Daisy finally accepts that she had never loved Tom and was currently in love with Gatsby, the class divides remain too prevalent for her to pursue a relationship with Gatsby. Tom quotes â€Å" Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white (130). † From this quote and the happenings throughout the novel, the force obstructing the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy is the social condemnation of new money marrying old money. The Great Gatsby shows how in our society, is often difficult for people of different economic backgrounds to pursue a relationship. T. S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an examination of a typical man’s psychological struggle to express himself emotionally and conform to social standards. Throughout the poem, the narrator shows insecurity in almost everything he does, fearing that his moves will be frowned upon. He says â€Å"There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet† and often asks â€Å"Do I dare?  Ã¢â‚¬  and thinks about what â€Å"they will say. † His insecurity prevails in an encounter with what seems to be a woman he loves. He seems afraid that the woman will deny him because of his balding hair and thin composure, and thinks about what he should say in order to impress the woman; â€Å"And how should I then presume? How should I begin? † In the end the narrator concludes that â€Å" It is impossible to say just what I mean,† and he drifts into a fairytale by the sea until â€Å"human voice wake us, and we drown. † Eliot’s poem is an example of a man’s love for a woman being obstructed by his own need to conform to what is socially acceptable of a man. He refuses to open up and share with the woman his feelings in fear that he will be mocked and denied. â€Å"The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock† shows the struggles of maintaining masculinity, and the fear a man has of loosing his composure. While the last stories had similar circumstances and outcomes, love doesn’t always have to be between a man and a woman, and social norms aren’t always successful at obstructing love’s powerful force. In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the love shared between Huck and Jim leads to a powerful revelation in Huck’s life and a groundbreaking relationship considering the South’s intrusive social standards. When Huck begins his journey with Jim, he is overcome by an instilled guilt for assisting in the runaway of Miss Watson’s slave. Huck says â€Å" It would get all around, Huck Finn helped a nigger get to his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again, I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame (226). †As their adventure progresses, however, Huck begins to realize how much he enjoys Jim’s company, slave or not; â€Å" But somehow I couldn’t seem to strike no places to harden me against him, just the other kind (227). † Huck struggles internally with this realization, but cannot get over the feeling in his heart telling him to keep Jim around. Finally, Huck decides that he would not turn in Jim, and that he would go to Hell if that were what it meant. In this instance, Huck valiantly goes against what is socially acceptable, and the force of love prevails. Huck and Jim remain friends even though it is extremely frowned upon. Although love is a freedom, one can see how easily and often this freedom is taken away due to what is acceptable in the eyes of others. The circumstances involved in the obstruction of love shows a lot about the society in which these characters live, and the values held by the people who lived there.

Cell Phone Use Should be Banned While Driving :: argumentative persuasive

Cell Phone Use Should be Banned While Driving In 2005 in the UK 13 deaths and over 400 injuries were attributed to accidents where drivers were using cell phones, deaths which could have possibly been avoided. There are 4 main reasons for banning cell phones at the wheel: Research has proven that it is difficult to concentrate on driving and talking at the same time. A recent British study showed that talking on a mobile phone while driving was more hazardous than operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Tests conducted by scientists for UK-based insurance firm, Direct Line, involved 20 subjects using a driving simulator to test reaction times and driving performance and compared this to when drivers had too much to drink. The results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk - and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. The tests also showed that drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front. Speaking on a cell phone is an anti-social activity because it puts the lives of others at risk. It doesn't matter how well we drive, if another driver is not being as professional or as careful, especially using a phone and splitting his/her attention, we are put in danger by their actions. Talking on a phone while driving reduces the competence level to control the vehicle as well as increasing the response time to any danger. It is a huge responsibility to drive a car and one which should not be taken for granted because it is associated with the lives of others. By speaking on cell phones while driving, such a responsibility is treated with impunity and the dangers ignored. Cell Phone Use Should be Banned While Driving :: argumentative persuasive Cell Phone Use Should be Banned While Driving In 2005 in the UK 13 deaths and over 400 injuries were attributed to accidents where drivers were using cell phones, deaths which could have possibly been avoided. There are 4 main reasons for banning cell phones at the wheel: Research has proven that it is difficult to concentrate on driving and talking at the same time. A recent British study showed that talking on a mobile phone while driving was more hazardous than operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Tests conducted by scientists for UK-based insurance firm, Direct Line, involved 20 subjects using a driving simulator to test reaction times and driving performance and compared this to when drivers had too much to drink. The results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk - and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. The tests also showed that drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front. Speaking on a cell phone is an anti-social activity because it puts the lives of others at risk. It doesn't matter how well we drive, if another driver is not being as professional or as careful, especially using a phone and splitting his/her attention, we are put in danger by their actions. Talking on a phone while driving reduces the competence level to control the vehicle as well as increasing the response time to any danger. It is a huge responsibility to drive a car and one which should not be taken for granted because it is associated with the lives of others. By speaking on cell phones while driving, such a responsibility is treated with impunity and the dangers ignored.