Starbucks Sustainability Report free essay sample

They do not mind about using chemical products that destroy the nature or exploiting workers. Thankfully, more and more companies are aware of this kind of situation and try to change. This is especially the case for companies producing and retailing beverages. Coffee beans and tea leafs are mostly produced in Asia, Africa and Latina America. It is difficult for companies which want to be eco-friendly to be sure that important exploitations respect their workers and the environment. That raises some questions: Do coffee companies can manage to know where their raw materials come from? Is it possible to reduce their impact on the environment on a fair and honest base? To answer these questions our group decided to study the biggest coffee brand of the world: Starbucks Coffee Company. evaluated and commented. present and future eco-friendly operations are analyzed, Starbucks is known as an organic retail store offering a range of coffee, tea and other products. We will write a custom essay sample on Starbucks Sustainability Report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since a couple of years, Starbucks has cooperated and supported its farmers in a way which does not only benefit the company itself, but also helps farmers and their communities to develop and receive basic services like education or clear water provision. The coffee company has developed its own sustainability report in 2008 and consistently went for improvement since then. Its detailed report shows its current status and its future goals with exact strategies how to reach them. Based on its experiences, partnerships and commitments, Starbucks was able to create a global network by serving ethical sourced coffee and supporting its communities. Nevertheless, global crisis and the increasing struggle to satisfy basic needs on the on hand but operate a business on the other hand, changed Starbucks perspective on the world and its strategic tools. The company had to find an honest and sustainable way to protect the environment and be responsible for the society in the long run. 3|P age 2. Company A nalysis 2. 1 Foundation and Development The story begun in 1971 and offered some of 40 years ago. The first Starbucks Coffee opened in -roasted whole bean coffees. In 1982, Howard Schultz, the current chairman, joined the company as the director of retail operations and marketing. In 1983, he travelled in Italy and was impressed by the coffee bar popularity in Milan. Back to USA he wanted to develop the same coffee culture in Seattle. For him, you can create connection between people with a tasty coffee. Starbucks one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a (Our Starbucks Mission Statement, 2012). The company continued to grow and in 1987, II Giornal acquired Starbucks and became Starbucks Corporation. The same year, stores opened in Chicago and Vancouver, Canada. This step stresses the beginning of Starbucks Company. The coffee served in Starbucks using ethical sourcing practices. In 2002, the company made an agreement with F airtrade. 2. 2 Internationalization Starbucks Starbucks stores. n started in 1987 with its first shop in Vancouver. In 1996, the s first store in Europe in 1998. One company opened its first stores in Japan and Singapore. There were a total of 1,015 stores. year later, Starbucks entered the Chinese, Kuwaiti and South Korean markets and owns 2,485 The number of stores more than doubled each year. Nowadays, with more than 17,000 stores in 55 different countries, Starbucks is an interactive and comfortable (Our Heritage, 2012) 2. 3 Products and Services Starbucks Corp. Best Coffee, Tazo Tea and Torrefazione Italia Coffee. Four product categories are offered in Starbucks stores: Coffee, Handcraft Beverages, Fresh food and Consumers Product (see Figure A). 4|P age 2. 4 Recognition and A wards Thanks to its implication, Starbucks Corp. won unique awards in different business aspects as ethical business, sustainability in business and many others. According to Starbucks its rewards and recognition, the following titles can be attributed to the company: o o o o o o -2011) 1998-2000, 2002-2012) -2012) -2012) 3. E thical Sourcing 5|P age 3. 1 C . A. F. E . Practices In the course of Starbucks Conservation International (CI), the C. A. F. E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity) have been developed in 2008 and focus on product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility and environmental leadership. In terms of product quality, the coffee must meet standards of high quality; economic accountability includes financial transparency regarding fair payments to farmers; Starbucks social responsibility guidelines include human working conditions, minimum wage, living conditions and labor requirements on third-verified standards; those standards manage water and energy conservation, recycling, the reduction of agrochemical usage and the protection of biodiversity as well. Generally, C. A. F. E. impacts are evaluated by grouping its guidelines. The classified indicators include social (people), environmental (planet) and economic (product) factors. For example, the results of the C. A. F. E. Practices are measured in Guatemala and Colombia where annual results assessments concerning farmers, workers and conservation take place. So far, higher income and sales, higher health rates due to fewer pesticides and herbicides, better education systems and a valid biodiversity have been observed (Starbucks, 2012). C. A. F. E. erified producers exist in 20 countries with cultivating their coffee on 102,000 hectares each year; for instance in Papua New Guinea, Zambia, Panama and China. In 2011, 86% (367 million pounds) of its total coffee purchased has been C. A. F. E. verified coffee (Starbucks, 2012). 3. 2 Coffee Purchasing By 2015, Starbucks aims to purchase 100% ethical sourced coffee (Starbucks, 2012). That means, the coffee must be verified by either Starbu cks C. A. F. E. Practices, F airtrade or another third-party program. For C. A. F. E. Practices 3. 1 C. A. F. E. Practices. Starbucks has offered F airtrade coffee since 12 years. Lately, it purchased 34. 3 million pounds F airtrade coffee which presents 8% of its coffee amount bought in 2011 (Starbucks, 2012). By that, Starbucks contributed $26 million to the F airtrade program comprehending environmental protection, fair treatment of farmers and F airtrade awareness building. In 2011, the company purchased 9. 6 million pounds of organic coffee accounting for 2. 2% of its overall coffee purchases (Starbucks, 2011). Organic grown coffee beans can be found in Organic Yukon Blend and other local special reserve coffees, for instance. Organic cultivation maintains the 6|P age iodiversity by protecting the soil health, abstaining from admixtures and using agriculture methods which have a low impact on the nature. Starbucks uses the Green Coffee Pricing Model . This involves purchasing coffee at premium prices in order to foster price stability and support relationships with suppliers. Starbucks paid $2. 38 per pound of unroasted coffee in 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). 3 . 3 F armer Support Starbucks supports its farmers by providing access to credits at reasonable terms and helping them in their risk management. In 2011, Starbucks invested $14. 7 million in famer loans to Root Capital , Verde Ventures and the Calvert Foundation famers in seven countries (Starbucks, 2012). non-profit social investments funds. By 2015, this amount shall be increased by 26. 5% (Starbucks, 2011). Currently, Starbucks supports 45,000 Starbucks F armer Support Center opened in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 2004. Those F armer Support Centers help agronomists and quality experts to improve the coffee quality and simultaneously to find sustainable cultivation practices needed for the long-run. Today, you can find F armer Support Centers in Kigali, Rwanda (opened in 2009), Mbeya, Tanzania (opened in 2011) and Guatemala (Starbucks, 2012). In 2012, Starbucks is expanding to China to serve the Asian communities. 3. 4 Forest C arbon Programs Due to the climate change and the decreasing biodiversity in regions like Mexico and Indonesia, Starbucks started to launch its Forest Carbon Programs to decrease the polluting impacts, improve facilitate farmer access to forest carbon markets in coffee2011, p. 8). The pilot was implemented in North Sumatra and Aceh Tengah, Indonesia and focused on trainings on composting and pruning and simultaneously, motivated 14 communities to sign conservation coffee agreements. The first program was set up in Chiapas, Mexico, in 2010. Forest fire management and reforestation plans have been established. Furthermore, 13 communities are now trained on strategies regarding the mitigation of the climate change. In 2011, 3 nurseries have been built which then supplied about 92,500 seedlings for the reforestation activities (CI, 2011). As the carbon credits are sold on voluntary markets, Starbucks was able to sell 5,042 tons of CO2 at $9 per ton (CI, 2011). The Forest Carbon Programs are conducted by CI with whom Starbucks is planning to launch its third program in Brazil in 2012. |P age 4. G reen Store Design 4. 1 E nergy Conservation Most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be traced back to Starbucks -store energy usage. In 2011, 23. 3% of 979,963 metric tons of CO2 presents direct emissions from store operations and assets (see Figure B). The rest (76. 7%) is attributed to the electricity usage (Tackling Climate Change, 2012). Although, GHG emissions ha ve been reduced by 2. 7%, Starbucks focuses on energy conservation and renewable energy usage (please refer to 4. 2 Renewable Energy for renewable energy usage). The areas of lightening, operational equipment, heating and cooling are aimed to be efficiently reduced to conserve energy. Despite the fact that Light Emitting Diode (LED) light bulbs are dim and expensive and burn out quickly, Starbucks replaced its incandescent and halogen lightening with those LED bulbs. Installing the new lightening systems in more than 7,000 stores worldwide, its overall electricity consumption decreased by 7% in 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). Furthermore, it is aimed to replace existing machines like ice makers, ovens or blenders with high-efficient alternatives as soon as they reach the end of their useful life. In order to reduce heating and cooling consumption, Starbucks tested the new established EMS (Energy Management Systems) and by that, decreased its HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) intensity by 20% (Starbucks, 2012). Starbucks was able to reduce its total energy consumption by 7. 5% from 2008 on. To reach its goal of a 25% decrease by 2015, it works with companies to find sustainable energy alternatives. 4. 2 Renewable E nergy Starbucks aims to purchase 100% of renewable energy by 2015 (Starbucks 2011); In 2008, it has been 20%; in 2011, Starbucks was able to increase that amount by 30. %, so that the current energy consists of more than a half of renewable energy sources (Starbucks, 2011). As Starbucks is based on the use of energy, the company decided to support the generation of renewable energy by purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (REC) currently coming from wind farms in the United States. Each REC encourages the development of renewable energy sources and incr eases the revenue of wind farm owners, so that they stay competitive with the providers using fossil fuels. In 2011, Starbucks entire Conservation, 2012). By 2015, Starbucks wants to purchase RECs equivalent to 100% of its energy used and support solar energy and offsite renewable energy sources additionally (Starbucks, 2011). 8|P age 4. 3 W ater Conservation Water is an essential key ingredient for Starbucks needed for coffee, tea and to run machines like the dishwasher. 1,000 new filtration systems provide high water quality, save water and have decreased Starbucks waste water by 50% in 2011 (Water Conservation, 2012). Starbucks Energy and Resource Management commissioned analytics to find out in-store leaks. By that, leaks in toilets, floors and sprinkler systems have been detected. Millions of gallons have already been saved since a couple years. One of the main environmental-friendly replaces is presented by the low-use water faucets. The latter replaced Starbucks dipper wells used for cleaning spoons, but wasted 15% more water. The faucets have been mainly responsible that the water consumption decreased by 17. 6% (76. 2 liters) in 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). By 2015, Starbucks aims to present a 25% decrease in water intensity on a 2008 baseline (Starbucks, 2011). Through C. A. F. E. Practices and CI, Starbucks encourages its famers to conserve water for coffee processing, to protect the rivers and lakes in coffee-growing communities, so that they have access to clean drinking water continuously. 4. 4 L E E D ® C ertification and G reen Building Together with the U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Starbucks has established certification systems for retail projects. One of them is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ®) and has been developed in 2008 (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks is now building its new company-owned stores according to LE E D  ® standards to achieve the LE E D  ® certification. The first LE E D  ® certified store opened in 2005 and more followed. All stores show environmental improvements: Firstly, energy consumption decreased through LED lightening and energy saving heating and cooling solutions by 30% (Starbucks, 2011). Plus, less-toxic materials are used to improve the indoor air quality. Water has been saved by 60% due to conserving fixtures and waste could be reduced, because milk cartons and cardboard are recycled (Starbucks, 2011). Furthermore, all stores are built from only ecological-friendly materials sourced regionally and resulted in 60% less waste and consequently a lower carbon footprint (Starbucks, 2011). Lastly, Starbucks makes customers aware of the environment and informs about green alternatives in stores. In 2011, Starbucks built 75% (121 of 161 new stores) of its new company-owned stores LE E D  ® certified; the goal is to build all new company-owned stores to achieve LE E D  ® certification (Starbucks, 2011). Global Green U SA awarded Starbucks for its green building efforts with the Sustainable Design Award (Starbucks, 2011). |P age 5. Recycling 5. 1 Reusable C ups Starbucks is worldwide known for the great amount of take-away products which are served in their famous white cups. The struggle consists of the problem that the company produces a lot of paper and plastic cups which have a huge impact on the environment. In order to reduce this negative influence, Starbucks is working on solutio ns to reduce the waste they produce and sets a goal to make 100% of their cups reusable, so recyclable by 2015 (Starbucks, 2011). In order to create long-term recycling strategies, together with Peter Senge from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Society for Organizational Learning, Starbucks established the Three Cup Summits in 2008, 2010 and 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). The F irst Cup Summit examines that the cup material presents an enormous key contributor to recyclability. The Second Cup Summit resulted in a pilot project with International Paper and Mississippi River Pulp which came up with comprehensive reusing strategies of used cups. With the Third Cup Summit, in 2011, Starbucks started a partnership with the Foodservice Packaging Institute and formed the Paper Recovery Alliance (PRA) (Starbucks, 2011). This coalition develops and promotes recyclable solutions for single-used cups and other packaging. Starbucks also encourages its customers to use their own tumblers for the beverages they buy at the stores. To meet the goal of serving 5% in personal tumblers, the company offers a 10% discount in the U. S. and Canadian stores and creates campaigns like the ones in 2010 and 2011 in which customers bringing their own cups get a free brewed coffee (Starbucks, 2011). In 2011, Starbucks served coffee in personal tumblers more than 34 million times which shows a 1. % amount of all beverages served (Starbucks, 2011). The modified goal of 5% has to be reached by 2015 (Starbucks, 2011). Due to their constant effort to use reusable cups, Starbucks was able to save 1. 5 million pounds of paper in 2011 (Recycling Reducing Waste, 2012). 5. 2 Store Recycling Another main challenge involves the front-of-store recycling systems. As they differ from city to city, it is rather challenging to implement efficient recycling solutions. However, 18% of the Starbucks stores in the U. S. and Canada have now front-of-store recycling bins (Starbucks, 2011). It is the goal to install front-of-store recycling in all locations by 2015 (Recycling Reducing Waste, 2012). 10 | P a g e Due to the fact that the majority of the waste is produced behind the counter in their stores, Starbucks emphasizes its development of back-of-store recycling systems more and more. In 2011, more than 2,400 company-owned stores in the U. S. and Canada had recycled cardboard boxes and other back-of-store items for example. But Starbucks still experiences a lot of barriers such as limited space in the stores or a lack of strategic recycling services in some municipalities. 11 | P a g e . Corporate Social Responsibility 6. 1 Community Initiatives In every neighborhood in which Starbucks is present, it takes upon itself and does not only serve top quality coffee, but also contribute to the communities well-being. It helps the area to strive and progress. Both the staff, so called partners, and the community work together and dedicate extra time to create a change in that area. There are a couple of initiatives Starbucks participates in to implement this idea. For instance, they created the Global Month of Service in which volunteers help certain communities on satisfying basic needs. In April 2011, almost 60,000 volunteers coming from 30 countries contributed more than 150,000 hours of services in gardening and painting to refurbishing schools and parks (Starbucks, 2011). In water-stressed countries, the Starbucks generates $0. 05 with each bottle of Ethos ® water purchased. In 2005, 420,000 people benefited from a total grant of $6 million (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks has even created a community service website to connect partners and to invite customers to join events organized throughout the country. Events range from free thanksgiving meal for the poor to assistance to abandoned dogs. However, projects with the tea and coffee growing communities are mainly emphasized. Starbucks wants to encourage the economic and social development in those areas. In Guatemala in 2005 for example, the Guatemala Education Initiative supported educational programs for all villages in the highlands of that country. The investment of $1 million shall help children of farmers who consistently suffer from marginalized economy and from poverty (Starbucks, 2011). The sanitation (Starbucks, 2011). In 2011, Starbucks was able to mobilize partners and customers to contribute 442,353 hours of community service. This is more than double the amount of what the company has reached in 2010. Hence, the goal for 2015 is to engage people to participate in projects accounting for 1 million hours of service (Starbucks, 2011). According to Starbucks, Service, 2012). 6. 2 Youth G rant Actions The Starbucks Corporation strongly believes that the youth can influence and lead innovative and positive solutions for local needs and future ecological improvements. In order to support this 12 | P a g e (CHAI) supports tea-growing regions like India for instance, in order to increase the level of education and ese achievements are a powerful (Community development, the company created the Youth Action Grants in 2008. In 2012, this project supported peace programs in northwest Pakistan, microcredit poor entrepreneurs in Brazil and provided livelihood skills training in Uganda (Starbucks, 2011). In 2011, Starbucks awarded over 100 grants accounting $2. 6 million (Engaging Young People, 2012). Furthermore, Starbu cks set the goal to mobilize at least 50,000 young people to support their communities through innovative projects by 2015 (Starbucks, 2011). The company has exceeded that goal in 2010 and again in 2011: 53, 000 young people took action in their communities in 2010 and 50,050 in 2011 and generated more than 2 million hours of community service (Starbucks, 2011). 13 | P a g e 7. Conclusion At the beginning, our group was interested in how coffee companies can improve their impact on the environment. Thanks to our studies on Starbucks we are now able to figure out strategies to preserve the nature and help communities, but also their environmental impacts. The importance of sustainable reports has been established while researching for and writing on our report. In order to serve ethical sourced coffee beans, Starbucks has established its own C. A. F. E. Practices and produced under F airtrade and organic standards. These latter organizations limit the sourcing, production and selling process to not only have good quality products which processes respected the environment, but also to protect labor ri and the necessity of environmental protection. Reducing energy and water consumption is also extremely important for Starbucks. The company developed LE E D  ® certified stores that use renewable energy, LED light bulbs and others alternative systems mentioned in the report in order to save water and energy. Starbucks fixed longterms goals and used accreditation as a proof. Recycling and reusing is an essential action to preserve the environment and energy consumption. Starbucks was able to reduce its wastes through recycling or reusing mugs. It could further mobilize customers to bring their own tumblers which did not only result in a lower water and energy areness of adequate recycling. Furthermore, Starbucks is enrolled in many programs and social project to help communities to improve their living situations. This part can be considered as a basic CSR activity, because Starbucks purchases and works with farmers and people in developing countries like Guatemala where their rights are trembled and basic needs not yet fully satisfied. Concluding Starbucks ethical sourcing and water and energy saving solutions, it can therefore be observed, that the company has a distinctive and well established sustainable report including strategic future toolkits. Nevertheless, Starbucks has created a strong global network consisting of farmers, communities and customers. It depends on its consumers loyalty and farmers growing experiences. Especially Starbucks farmer relation is rather controversial as the farmers are now dependent on Starbucks high farmer loans in order to keep their living standards. Nonetheless, Starbucks ecological footprints are steadily decreasing and the company has exemplary strategies for operating its business in a sustainable way in the long-term. 14 | P a g e 8. A ppendix Figure A: Coffee 30 blends and singleorigin premium Arabica coffees H andcraft Beverages fresh brewed coffee, hot and iced espresso beverages, coffee and non coffee blended beverages Merchandise coffee and tea brewing equipment mugs and accessories, packaged goods, music, books, gift items Consumer Product (only available in 13 countries) Coffee T ea whole bean and ground (Starbucks tea filter bags, tea latte concentrates Ready-to-D rink bottled Frappuccino, coffee drinks, chilled cup coffees, Iced Lattes, bottled iced and juiced teas Ice C ream super premium coffee and coffee free flavors F resh Food baked pastries, sandwiches salads, oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, fruit cups Starbucks, 2012 References: Ballou, Brian, et al. The future of corporate sustainability reporting. Journal of Accountancy 202.6 (2006): 65. Argenti, Paul A. Collaborating with activists: How Starbucks works with NGOs. California Management Review 47.1 (2004): 91-116. Kiron, David, et al. Sustainability nears a tipping point. MIT Sloan Management Review 53.2 (2012): 69. Dauvergne, Peter, and Jane Lister. Big brand sustainability: Governance prospects and environmental limits. Global Environmental Change 22.1 (2012): 36-45. Bridges, Claudia M., and Wendy Bryce Wilhelm. Going beyond green: The â€Å"why and how† of integrating sustainability into the marketing curriculum. Journal of Marketing Education 30.1 (2008): 33-46. Peloza, John, et al. Sustainability. California Management Review 55.1 (2012): 74-97.

Free Essays on Mr. Pirzadas Lilia

Mr. Pirzada’s, Lilia The many characters, of â€Å"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,† by Jhumpa Lahiri, view the non vocal antagonist (the war in Pakistan) differently. The central character, or protagonist, is a ten-year-old girl, whose name is Lilia. Lilia is curious, inquisitive and compassionate. She becomes aware of the similarities and the differences among people not only in her household, but also, in her day-to-day life. She tries to understand the matters of war torn Pakistan, and how it relates to her, her family and the family’s friend, Mr. Pirzada. Lilia, is born and so far, raised in America. She participates in American customs, and learns American history without any clue that there is another culture that she is linked to other than being Indian. She takes note that her parents, often complained that the social customs and courtesies familiar to them in their native India, do not exist here. Thus creating a need to interact with others that are familiar with and have a desire to practice these customs. Lilia, became most aware of Mr. Pirzada’s presence, when she found out Mr. Pirzada was not, indeed, Indian but Bengali. This small discovery became a major turning Pearson-2 point for Lilia’s character because this is when she begins to develop into a round character. She gets an impromptu geography lesson from her father. He goes in to explaining the reasons why Mr. Pirzada is not Indian and shows her, what he thinks she needs to know for clarification. Lilia, on the other hand, doesn’t get it. She notices he looks the same and is the same religion as her and her family, but still wonders what makes him different. She began to pay more attention to Mr. Pirzada and to the situation in Pakistan. She became aware of his mannerisms and became more aware of the conversation amongst the adults. Lilia begins to feel sorry for Mr. Pirzada. Lilia be... Free Essays on Mr. Pirzada's Lilia Free Essays on Mr. Pirzada's Lilia Mr. Pirzada’s, Lilia The many characters, of â€Å"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,† by Jhumpa Lahiri, view the non vocal antagonist (the war in Pakistan) differently. The central character, or protagonist, is a ten-year-old girl, whose name is Lilia. Lilia is curious, inquisitive and compassionate. She becomes aware of the similarities and the differences among people not only in her household, but also, in her day-to-day life. She tries to understand the matters of war torn Pakistan, and how it relates to her, her family and the family’s friend, Mr. Pirzada. Lilia, is born and so far, raised in America. She participates in American customs, and learns American history without any clue that there is another culture that she is linked to other than being Indian. She takes note that her parents, often complained that the social customs and courtesies familiar to them in their native India, do not exist here. Thus creating a need to interact with others that are familiar with and have a desire to practice these customs. Lilia, became most aware of Mr. Pirzada’s presence, when she found out Mr. Pirzada was not, indeed, Indian but Bengali. This small discovery became a major turning Pearson-2 point for Lilia’s character because this is when she begins to develop into a round character. She gets an impromptu geography lesson from her father. He goes in to explaining the reasons why Mr. Pirzada is not Indian and shows her, what he thinks she needs to know for clarification. Lilia, on the other hand, doesn’t get it. She notices he looks the same and is the same religion as her and her family, but still wonders what makes him different. She began to pay more attention to Mr. Pirzada and to the situation in Pakistan. She became aware of his mannerisms and became more aware of the conversation amongst the adults. Lilia begins to feel sorry for Mr. Pirzada. Lilia be...

How Do You Become a Pharmacy Technician

How Do You Become a Pharmacy Technician a pharmacy technician is responsible for assisting the pharmacist on duty to help patients or customers and fill prescriptions. you’ll need a keen eye for detail, a great deal of patience, and training that covers basic pharmacology, medication dispensing, and an understanding of pharmacy law and ethics. education and trainingyou will need a high school diploma or a ged equivalent to qualify for on-the-job training- many aspiring pharm techs find getting such  training is easier after post-secondary training at an online certification program or vocational school, community college, or technical institute. it may take anywhere from 3 months to a year.vocational school and community college coursework will emphasize commonly used mathematics, chemistry, and medication orientations to familiarize aspiring pharm techs with names, side effects, interactions, and dispensing protocols. some training programs even offer internships for hands-on experience, a great way to get to kno w a pharmacy before committing to the 6 year process of becoming a pharmacist.certificationsthe pharmacy technician certification board (ptcb) requires you to have a diploma and pass a certification exam. the national healthcareer association (nha) requires you to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma, a formal training program, and a year of work under your belt.you’ll be required to re-certify every 2 years because of the rate of change in healthcare policies and advances in the field. pursuing 20 hours of continuing education will keep you up-to-date. many pharm techs report that this process of staying current (along with the patience of keeping up with a busy pharmacy) are the most challenging parts of the job.employersmost pharm techs are found in hospitals, retail pharmacies, assisted living and education institutions, and veterinary offices. the bureau of labor statistics predicts employment growth of about 20 percent for the field through  2022- faster tha n the average growth rate for all occupations. those stats amounts to  70,700 new positions to be filled during that period.here are some of the biggest current employers in the field:salarythe average salary is $38,600 nationally, with rates increasing with seniority, specialty certifications, and competitive institutional pay scale policies. the metropolitan areas that offer the highest compensation are all located in california, including the metropolitan areas of oakland, napa, san francisco, san jose, and madera.sample job postingpharmacy technician,   orlando, flunder the direct supervision of the pharmacy services call center supervisor, the pharmacy call center technician is responsible for providing knowledgeable and courteous customer assistance and response to members, providers, and pharmacy call center technician inquiries.position qualifications/requirementseducation and training:  high school diploma or the equivalentexperience:  2 years pharmacy technician ex perience in a healthcare, long term care or retail environment; minimum 35 wpm typingrequired experience:  pharmacy tech, high school, national pharmacy technician certification: 3 yearslicenses, registrations or certifications:  national pharmacy technician certificationprincipal accountabilitieshandles calls and correspondence regarding pharmacy issues from providers/physicians and members. documents calls in inquiry tracking system. facilitates problem resolution and acts as customer advocate.performs initial research of pharmacy issues. reconciles plan information utilizing department-generated procedures and reference materials. utilizes internal pharmacy systems to update, modify and extract member information.assists network pharmacist in processing prescription claims. reviews claims for accuracy and adherence to contract guidelines maintained.assists with entering prior authorizations when required; provides follow up assistance for prior authorization requests, follows up with requests from physicians for denial letters, provides assistance in gathering historical claim information as required.discriminates between routine and significant matters; apprises management of issues which can negatively affect service and business. identifies provider/physician/member issues and refers to appropriate departments.maintains a balance of productivity, quality, and timeliness of job accountabilities.demonstrates flexibility and cooperation when faced with changing priorities to meet shifting needs.creates and supports an environment which fosters teamwork, cooperation, respect, and diversity.assists with training of new hires. attends required training as requested. develops and maintains desktop procedures.apply here: pharmacy technician

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Empowering Employees on Team Processes Research Paper

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Example of a Small Business Performing a SWOT Analysis Essay Example for Free

Example of a Small Business Performing a SWOT Analysis Essay Learn more about performing a SWOT analysis before reading the case study. Background The three members of the leadership team at a small marketing consulting firm were interested in expanding their offerings to their clients. Currently the firm has 20 employees (including the three members of the leadership team) many of whom are consultants with the balance being administrative and marketing staff. The last time the company had done a SWOT analysis was when they were first starting up in business and were working on their business plan. The SWOT session enabled them to develop their business plan by having them think through their business goals and objectives for viability and feasibility. At the time, the three of them, plus a few members of their Advisory Council participated in the SWOT analysis. The goal of this SWOT session would be to: * Determine ways to better position the company in marketplace. * Determine new products and services to offer clients to better compete in a crowded marketplace. Preparing for the SWOT session The leadership team wanted to set aside 3 hours for the SWOT session. Given that the business was small, the leadership team felt that everyone should participate. The following decisions were made: * All 20 employees would participate in the SWOT session * A Friday morning in mid-summer would be set aside for the session (and†¦as a â€Å"thank you† for participating – employees would be given the balance of the day off to spend with family and friends) * The focus of the SWOT session would be toward determining products and services to offer to clients and that information would be provided to participants beforehand so they can begin to think about it * A professional facilitator would be brought in to lead the session since this SWOT exercise was essential to the company’s continued growth and success Additionally, the leadership team was going to provide all participants with a copy of the SWOT analysis done at the very beginning – before the business venture began. While it had a different purpose, it would be valuable for the SWOT session participants to view it and, from the leadership perspective, it would be interesting to compare then to now. The SWOT session Brainstorming was used during the SWOT session to gather data for the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The facilitator led the group – starting with strengths and working through to threats. An hour was allocated for this task. Each participant spent time writing on sticky notes their thoughts, ideas, opinions, beliefs and known truths regarding the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. When done, all of the information was posted on the walls under the appropriate heading (e.g. Strengths, etc.) Prioritizing the information The next hour and a half was spent reviewing the data with an eye toward: * Looking for themes/commonalities – combining similar sticky notes under themes (e.g., Customer Service) * Prioritizing based on: * Significant information/data provided by large numbers of participants (e.g, ineffective use of social media was mentioned 15 times!) * What could be â€Å"quick hits† for the company to start to effectively compete against the competition * Products and service ideas that can be created within a year’s time frame The table below is a small sampling of the data gathered during the brainstorming session. This particular data is selected as when they prioritized their efforts these were the areas of focus. STRENGTHS| WEAKNESSES| OPPORTUNITIES| THREATS| * Long-term employees committed to the company * Customers love the work done by the company * Customer retention is high * Well-known brand in the local area * Company has made a profit every year in business * Client base was growing| * No blog on the website * Ineffective use of social media * No global customers * The business hasn’t expanded in the last few years and seems stagnant. * No presence at trade shows or industry events/ conferences * No â€Å"new blood† bringing in fresh ideas * Client base not growing as quickly as in past| * Ask current customers to refer business * Use social media and blogging to build brand name and gain new customers * Expand business nationally * Target smaller start-ups who needed strong marketing to get their business off the ground * Provide sales support services for clients * Offer dashboards for tracking marketing| * Competition was increasing * A number of local competitors were already blogging and utilizing social media * Current customers wanted social media consulting and it was difficult to do so when the company doesn’t do social media themselves * Lots of individuals and other new small businesses â€Å"popping† up who do marketing consulting| Based on the information gathered during the brainstorming sessions and what the participants believed could be accomplished in a one to two year timeframe to have a significant impact on the business, the following was decided to meet the objectives: Objective: Better position the company for success in the marketplace | Objective: New products and services| * Develop a blog * Assign responsibilities for social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook * Ask current customers to refer business * Expand business nationally| * Develop and offer dashboards for customers to manage marketing initiatives * Provide services to start-ups who need a strong marketing initiative * Provide social media services and support| Next steps The company’s next steps were to take the projects they decided to accomplish toward achieving their goals and: * Assign responsibility for that project * Develop a project plan including a timeframe and budget needs * Prioritize the projects further * Begin work! A survey done of all participants after the SWOT session showed that they were excited about the process and the path they had developed to help meet company goals. By getting all employees involved, the leadership team showed that they valued all employees and wanted their contributions to help make the company a success. Once a month the leadership team would meet with each project lead to check on project status. It was decided that on an annual basis employees would participate in SWOT sessions to work on strategy for the upcoming year. As the company grew, employees would have the opportunity to participate on a rotating basis.

Essay of Comparison between The Tiger and The Lamb, poems by William Bl

Essay of Comparison between The Tiger and The Lamb, poems by William Blake "The Tiger" and "The Lamb" were poems by William Blake, a poet who lived in the 18th century. In this essay I am going to compare the two poems and examine links between them relating to rhymes, patterns and words used. Blake's background relates on the poems he wrote, and many of his works reflected his early home life. Blake in his childhood was an outcast, a loner, and didn't have many friends. His family believed very strongly in God and were extremely pious Christians but did not agree with the teachings of the church, so young William Blake often was made to think about God and his teachings during his studies. Because his parents were rebels against the Church of England, and most schools were affiliated with the Church in those days, Blake was made to find education somewhere else. He was educated from home by his parents, a practise not done much nowadays. Blake found he had a lot of free time to think about his many ideas, his poetry, life and the like, and also found that he had a very strong imagination. In his poems, many biblical and religious undertones are found as he often wove double meanings into his works. By the time he was an adult his active imagination allowed him to create vivid poetry and paintings, like the paintings that have recently been displayed at the National Gallery. Blake's most famous books of poems are entitled "Songs of Experience" and "Songs of Innocence", and the two most famous poems from these two books are the ones I am comparing in this essay. Poems from the "Songs of Experience" are all about the type of God who brought all the evil and suffering into the world, the vengeful God w... ... Industrial Revolution troubles) and would not have the time or money to take a trip into the countryside. So it too is like a dream, and a fantasy, and it is also a sign of hope and peace, because in those days the industrial revolution was taking place and fields and open space would be disappearing. In its place would be smoggy factories, slum towns and waste tips. This imagery by Blake I find is very effective in also making us remember the conditions most people (but not Blake) had to live in back in those days. "The Lamb" is obviously a poem of questions - the main difference form "The Tiger" being that "The Lamb" provides the answers for the reader and the metaphorical lamb in the second verse, whilst the latter's questions remain unanswered. I personally feel that the poem is asking one main question that is "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"