Rainforest Cafe, Inc: Outline to Rainforest Cafe Research Report
CORPORATE BACKGROUND
History
Formation
Rainforest Cafe, Inc. was incorporated in Minnesota on February 3, 1994 to own and operate restaurant and retail facilities under the name of "Rainforest Cafe
- A Wild Place to Shop and Eat."
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Election. Lyle Berman was elected Chairman and CEO of Rainforest Cafe at its inception in February 1994.
Background. Berman has been Chairman and CEO of Grand Casinos, Inc. and its predecessor since October 1990. He is also CEO and a director of Stratosphere
Corporation, and a director of G-III Apparel Group Ltd., Innovative Gaming
Corporation of America and New Horizon Kids Quest, Inc. He previously was the
President and CEO of Berman Specialty Stores, Inc. ("Bermans") from 1978 until
November 1988 when Bermans was acquired by Wilson Suede and Leather, a subsidiary of Melville Corporation.
President and Chief Operating Officer
Election. Martin J. O'Dowd was elected in May of 1995. He is the first to hold this position. As of November 18, 1996 O'Dowd has taken a 30 day leave of absence for personal reasons. Dennis Nielson, analyst for R. J. Steichen, predicts that if the leave is only 30 days there should not be a lasting impact on the company (Nielson, November 18, 1996).
Background. O'Dowd is a director of Elephant and Castle Group, Inc. He was previously the Corporate Director, Food & Beverage Services for Holiday Inn
Worldwide from July 1987 to May 1995. From August 1985 to July 1987, O'Dowd was
Vice President and General Operations Manager for the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.
Management Philosophy. Berman and O'Dowd stated that they are committed to identifying and acquiring the resources that will allow them to continue their high rate of growth.
Main Activities
Rainforest Cafe has two areas of each facility, the restaurant and the retail area. Restaurant
The company believes that its large menu selection is an important factor in the appeal of its restaurants. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner entrees which range in price from $7.95 to $15.95. The theme of the company is mirrored on the menu with all food and beverage selections including a jungle reference
(Annual Report, 1995).
The restaurant derived approximately 74 percent of the companies total revenue during the 52 week period ending December 31, 1995.
Retail Area
In order to enter the restaurant, all customers must pass through the retail area. The inventory includes apparel and gifts with the Rainforest Cafe logo and other items with a rainforest theme such as toys and educational games.
The retail area derived approximately 26 percent of the companies total revenue
As strategy consultants of McCormick & Associates, we use Porters Five Forces Model as a framework when making a qualitative evaluation of a firm's strategic position (Appendix 1.2). These five forces determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. These forces affect the ability of a company to serve its customers and make a profit. A change in any of the forces normally requires a company to re-assess the market place.
The larger serving size of Great Cups of Coffee is perhaps the most apparent gage that will improve appeal for the company’s customers. Receiving extra of a proportionately quality product for a comparable price obviously works as an enticement for customers to prefer Great Cups more than the opposition. While customers identify with a better quality and superior taste with fresher coffee, Great Cups supports its effective model of serving coffee that has been roasted no more 72 hours ago and that is blended and ground right at the store. Great Cups also provides as an unintended marketing method community bulletin boards and assists with book club gatherings as well as
Then in 1969 Warren Burger was named Chief Justice. That is when the Court started to lean more to the conservatives. By 1989 during William Rehnquists leadership, which runs from 1986 to the present, the conservatives held a majority on most issues. One other Major thing that happened to the Supreme Court in the 1980’s was the appointment of the first lady Justice: Sandra Day O’Connor.
Speaker Saxl served a full tenure of four terms in the Maine House of Representatives. First elected in 1995, he became Majority Leader in his third term and Speaker of the House in his fourth.
Due to bed government, Smith was eventually elected president of the local council in September 1608.
Director Moore stated there was a complaint to the Union against DOH regarding time issues. The proper channel was not followed. Ms. Jones explained the policy on earning comp time/over time when a person takes Medical Leave on the same day. It is not earned at time and half, but rather it is earned as straight time. Ms. Jones suggested more training on how to handle the timesheets since Ms. Mahoney left, especially when Ms. Arrighi is out of the office. This is especially true for whenever a person works on the weekends. An e-mail is needed from management regarding time worked on the weekend, as this is important on the Monday after payroll week ends. It was decided that in order to expedite payroll, e-mail Ms. Jones about hours worked
Starbucks currently employs 191,000 employees world-wide. According to Starbucks International states website (2015), “with more than 21,000 stores in over 65 countries, it’s clear that our passion for great coffee, genuine service and community connection transcends language and culture” (para. 1). The Starbucks employees have accessibility to further their education and gain a higher career status if they desire.
Coffee is a worldwide cash crop of which demand has exponentially increased over the years. “Coffee is (after oil) the world’s second most important traded commodity” (Cleaver 61). Competing coffee brewing companies wage war on offering the freshest, best tasting coffee the market has to offer. With such stiff competition there must be enough coffee beans deemed to be good enough in quality to supply the increasing demand. Starbucks can be considered one of today’s top competitors if not thee top coffee manufacturer presently in business. This successful company has had a huge impact on the coffee industry as well as the world. They have gone through great length to provide consumers with an excellent product as well as create a legacy that shows how to best go about running a massive corporation while keeping the environment clean and healthy.
In 2003, Starbucks was listed as one of the Fortune 500. Despite the ongoing recession, the company had managed a 31% increase in net revenues for the year. This was reasonable, considering they only spent about 1% of total sales on marketing. All of this, coupled with the fact that they were popular with customers and employees, was a sure recipe for success.
“Starbucks was named after Starbuck, first mate of the whaleship Pequod in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick…Starbuck was pluralized for ease of use” (Burks, 2009, p. 1). Now President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Howard Schultz formed Starbucks Corporation in 1987 after purchasing the name Starbucks, six stores and a roasting plant from previous owners, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker (Burks, 2009). Starbucks operates under a successful value chain management strategy. Their value chain encompasses a systematic approach to the way business is done. Robbins and Coulter (2012) point out, “A good value chain involves a sequence of participants working together as a team, each adding some component of value” (p. 520). Starbucks continually reviews every aspect of their business; from the organizational culture to values and ethics to strategy, planning and operations, management control and finally human resources and performance management, searching for those items that don’t contribute to the “Starbucks experience” which is what makes the Starbucks Corporation a successful business model.
On the other hand, the rights of the employee must be expressly complied with to prevent possible cases of constructive dismissal. We have seen that employees still have the right to be paid their usual salary and benefits while they are out on garden leave, that the term for such should not be exceeded, that their lawful right to work is not infringed and that their statuory and contractural rights are not affected. It is not necessarily a dream way to leave a job as it can have many implications and complications on the employee when seeking future employment.
Caf? Expresso, as the first mover in the coffeehouse marketplace, which has expanded quickly and become one of the ?big three? players in the global coffee shops chain. However, recently this company is continuously facing a lot of problems in terms of its staff, easy-copied business model and product range, resulting this company lost its leading position to the number three. Therefore, its adjusted visionary goal is ?return Caf? Expresso to the number one position in the marketplace? (Beardwell, 2010). To achieve this goal, Caf? Expresso identifies ?the coffee drinking experience? is significant to achieve competitive advantage and customer value-added, which was delivered through three key elements (graph 1),
In 1997 the political party New Labour came in to power and one of the main
* the Aura café has a smoking and a non smoking area, which is a great
Preliminary Starbucks – one of the fastest growing companies in the US and in the world - has built its position on the market by connecting with its customers, and creating a “third place” beside home and work, where people can relax and enjoy themselves. It was the motto of Starbucks’ owner Howard Schultz and, mostly thanks to his philosophy, the company has become the biggest coffee drink retailer in the world. However, within the new customer satisfaction report, there are shown some concerns, that the company has lost the connection with customers and it must be taken some steps to help Starbucks to go back on the right path regarding customer satisfaction. I will briefly summarize and examine issues facing Starbucks. Starting from there, I will pick the most important issue and study it from different positions.