Climate Change Mitigation Strategies: UNFCCC and India

Climate Change Mitigation Strategies: UNFCCC and India From UNFCCC Goals to India Abstract: Climate Change has the potential to alter the ability of the earths physical and biological systems to provide goods and services essential for sustainable development. Recognition of Climate Change as a significant global environmental challenge has a recent origin. International efforts to address the climate change formally began only a decade ago with the adoption of United Nations Framework Convention to Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. India is a party to UNFCCC and the government of India attaches great importance to climate change issue. India is a vast country covering 3.28 million Km2 with diverse surface features and supports 16.2 percent of the global human population. Endowed with varied soils, climate, biodiversity and ecological regimes, under diverse natural conditions and over a billion people speaking different languages, following different religions and living in rural and urban areas, India is an example for a complex yet successful democratic system. Decentralization of powers through local government, to benefit the grass root level is another significant feature of Indian Government. The 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts, 1992, of the Constitution of India have endowed vast powers to local governments at rural and urban levels respectively. Indias commitments to mitigate climate change are reflected in the essence of these two acts and the working and powers given to the local government. This paper explains and brings to picture how climate change mitigation strategies are filtered in Indian System right from the UNFCCC goals to The Government of India and further to smaller levels of local governments. The paper will explain the hierarchy and working of Indian governance system and highlights the climate change initiatives within this system. The paper will also analyze the constraints and gaps in the institutional setup at local level, which, if rectified, would give more successful results in Climate Change Mitigation Mission of the Government of India. Introduction: Over a decade ago most countries joined an international treaty- The United Nations Convention on Climate Change so as to consider the impacts of climate change and to work for adaptation and mitigation initiatives for secure future and sustainable development. The convention, commonly known as the UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. The ultimate objective of The convention is stabilizing green house gas emissions at a lower level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate systems. Under the convention the governments- Gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices Launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries. Cooperate in preparing the adaptation to the impacts of climate change. In 1997, the Kyoto protocol came into being, which shared the conventions objectives, principles and institutions and also significantly strengthened the convention by committing the parties to individual and specially; â€Å"legally binding targets† to limit or reduce climate change. The text of the Kyoto Protocol was adopted unanimously in 1997; and it entered into force on 16 February 2005. India is signatory to various multilateral environmental agreements, including The Montreal Protocol, The convention on Biological diversity, the United nations Convention to combat desertification ,including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) .Government of India attaches great importance to climate change issues. Eradication of poverty, avoiding risks to food production, and sustainable development are three principles embedded in the Convention. At present, information provided in the Indias Initial National Communication to the UNFCCC is in terms of guidelines prescribed for Parties not included in Annex I to the UNFCCC and the inventory is prepared for the base year 1994. India is a vast country. It covers 3.28 million km2 of area having diverse surface features. Also, it occupies only 2.4 percent of the worlds geographical area, but supports 16.2 per cent of the global human population. The country is endowed with varied soils, climate, biodiversity and ecological regimes. â€Å"Under such diverse natural conditions, over a billion people speaking different languages, following different religions and living in rural and urban areas, live in harmony under a democratic system†( India NATCOM,2004). Climate Change Negotiations Global warming issue became a part of the international agenda in 1988. The climate issue, initiated by the small island nation Malta, came up at the UN General Assembly in December 1988, as part of a discussion on the common heritage of mankind. The resolution set up a preparatory committee to work towards an international agreement. The concern for global warming particularly by the industrialized countries geared up since then and climate politics came into being and were refined with a series of international conferences and formal negotiations that followed. The momentum culminated in the signing of a Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and opened for signatures at the Rio Earth Summit in June, 1992. The FCCC aims at stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Subsequently, the parties to the FCCC adopted the Kyoto Protocol in December, 1997. However, the developing nations see the Protocol as burdened with loopholes because of the fact that it emphasizes on the economic concerns, rather than ecological or social justice. The main area of dispute between the developed countries and the developing countries lies in the sectors pertaining to equity and sustainability. However, the operational details of the Kyoto Protocol have now been finalised after intensive deliberations at Marrakech, on November 10, 2001, which was participated by 171 countries . The protocol has been guided by Article 3.0 of the FCCC, and marks the first global attempt to place legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries. The Protocol calls for 5.2% reduction from their 1990 level of GHG emissions by the developed countries during the period 2008-2012. It also specifies the amount each country must contribute toward meeting the reduction goal. Nations with the highest CO2 emissions like the United States, Japan and most European nations are expected to reduce emissions by a range of 6 to 8 per cent. By 2005, all industrialized nations that ratify the accord must also show demonstrable progress toward fulfilling their respective commitments under the Protocol. Some issues that add to the complexity of the Kyoto Protocol: Considerations for baseline and its effects The target of 5.2% reduction beyond 1990 level in the commitment period 2008-2012, were dependent on 1990 emissions. This meant that if a country which had high emissions in 1990 and had reduced them between 1990 and thereafter, then it could actually increase its emission once again, or only stabilize these, and not carry out any reductions. As an example one can analyse the case of Australia. In 1990, as much as 30 percent of the emissions were from deforestation, which eventually became a blessing for the country for, instead of penalizing for creating the problem in the first place, Australia has been able to use its emission to its advantage, by winning the right to count any improvement from its 1990 level as its national credit. And as its deforestation rate has been controlled, it actually can increase its emission above and beyond the figure of 8 percent it is expected to reduce. On the other hand, USA and Japan were lobbying hard to change the date of baseline from 1990 to 1995. The reason for this lies in the fact that both the countries have made a significant increase in carbon emissions between 1990 and 1995. Flexible mechanisms The Kyoto Protocol includes three mechanisms Art.6 (Joint Implementation), Art.12 (Clean Development Mechanism) and Art.17 (Emissions Trading), These mechanisms are meant to pave an explicit way for developed countries to meet their Kyoto targets easily. The cheapest and the most attractive option for meeting the emission targets of the North (i.e developed countries-Annexe I) being the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) that will be operated on the project basis invested in the South (i.e under developed countries). This implies that, as global warming is bound to be unsolved even by the end of this century, the South would have to pay a heavy price in future once they have reached a high level of energy efficiency through means like CDM. For by then the cost of carbon cutting will be very high even for the developing countries, which would eventually have to do the carbon cutting on their own. The next issue comes on the question of energy-efficient technology, which the North wishes to push to the South through CDM. As technology up-gradation is a continuous process, hence what is the most efficient technology at the time of implementation of the CDM project, may be obsolete within few years that follows. Principle of equity: the Kyoto Protocol does not define the rights and responsibilities of all nations within a reasonable frame. So long as the world remains within a carbon based energy economy, equitable sharing of the atmosphere shall remain a critical issue, especially for poor developing countries who need a maximum space for their future economic growth. The Kyoto reduction, by itself, is inadequate to achieve a stabilization of climate change by 2100. A continual and larger reduction, similar to that stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol for the 2008-2012 period, will be needed in the future in order to begin to stabilize long-term greenhouse gas emissions. Even if stabilization of greenhouse gases is achieved, global warming will still continue for several decades and sea levels will continue to rise for several centuries. This is because Even if the emissions from the developed countries were reduced to zero in the near future, the current trends of growing emissions from developing countries alone could force the atmospheric concentration to exceed stabilization levels of 550 ppm ( Parivesh, CPCB,2006). Thus, participation of all countries, including the developing countries such as India, is essential for a successful worldwide effort to arrest the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. India and Climate Change- The Threats and Vulnerability Climate Change is a major global environmental problem and an important issue because of diverse impacts not only ecological, but economic, social, political and physical in nature and content. It is a matter of great concern especially for developing countries like India who have limited capacity to develop and adopt strategies to reduce their vulnerability to changes in climate. Global, national and local level measures are need of the hour to combat the adverse impacts of climate change induced damages. â€Å"India being a developing country has low capacity to withstand the adverse impacts of climate change due to high dependence of majority of population on climate sensitive sectors as the agriculture, forestry and fisheries†,( Shukla, et.al, 2003). This is coupled with poor infrastructure facilities, weak institutional mechanisms and lack of financial resources. This is the reason why we are seriously concerned with the possible impacts of climate change. The possible impacts of climate change are mentioned below: Water stress and reduction in the availability of fresh water due to potential decline in rainfall. Threats to agriculture and food security, since agriculture is monsoon dependent and rain dependent agriculture dominates in many states. Shifts in area and boundary of different forest types and threats to biodiversity with adverse implications for forest-dependent communities. Adverse impact on natural ecosystems, such as wetlands, mangroves, grasslands and mountain ecosystems. Adverse impact of sea-level rise on coastal agriculture and settlements. Impact on human health due to the increase in vector and water-borne diseases, such as malaria. Increased energy requirements and impact on climate-sensitive industry and infrastructure. One of the various reasons for vulnerability of India depends on its typical and diverse climatic conditions. India is subject to a wide range of variation in climatic conditions from the freezing Himalayan winters in the north to the tropical climate of the southern peninsula, from the damp, rainy climate in the north-east to the arid Great Indian Desert in the north-west, and from the marine climates of its vast coastline and islands to the dry continental climate in the interior. The Indian summer monsoon is the most important feature in dictating meteorology of the Indian subcontinent and, hence, its economy. Almost all regions of the country receive entire annual rainfall during the summer monsoon (also called the SW monsoon), while some parts of the south-eastern states also receive rainfall during early winter from the north-east monsoon. Therefore, India could be more at risks than many other countries from changes in temperature and sea level. Models predict an average increase in temperature in India from 2.3 to 4.8  °C for the bench mark doubling of carbon dioxide scenario (Lonergan, World Bank Technical Paper No.402, 1998). Temperatures would rise more in Northern India than in Southern India. In the North Indian Ocean, under a doubling, the average number of tropical disturbance days could increase from 17 to 29 a year (Haarsma et.al Climate Dynamics, Vol.8, 1993); while, without protection, approximately 7 million people would be displaced, and 5,760 Km2 of land and 4,200 Km of road would be lost (Asthana, JNU, New Delhi, 1993). Further, in the Indian context, climate change could represent an additional stress on the ecological and socioeconomic system that are already facing tremendous pressure due to rapid urbanization, industrialization and economic development. Options for Mitigation â€Å"The ability to adapt to climate change depends on the level of income and technology, as well as the capacity of the system of governance and existing institutions to cope with change. The ability to mitigate GHG emissions depends on industrial structure (the mix of industrial activities), social structure (including, e.g., the distance people must travel to work or to engage in recreational activities), the nature of governance (especially the effectiveness of government policy), and the availability and cost of alternatives. In short, what is feasible at the national level depends significantly on what can be done at the subnational, local, and various sectoral levels†(Climate Change 2001: Working group III: Mitigation; IPCC,2001).The challenges of climate change mitigation involve diverse issues economic, political, social and environmental. Governance is one of the prime issues in mitigation of climate change impacts. A structured governance system is the only tool through which any policy framework or initiative can be achieved. The importance or role of governance in mitigation thus can be described through its three pillars: Organizational Structure- Through governance the qualities of organization participation, transparency and accountability can be achieved in the mitigation exercise at all levels.. Financial Mobilization- This involves ensuring financial commitment globally, at national levels and also at local levels of the government Legal Framework- It ensures empowerment, enforcement and compliance of mitigative strategies and supporting environmental laws. As the National GHG inventory for India shows, the major increase in GHG emissions over the next 20 years would be related to energy consumption. As India has abundant coal deposits, it is beyond doubt that coal will be the dominant source of energy. Therefore, energy efficiency measures in this sector remain our prime concern. Power generation in India is expected to reach a peak demand of 176 GW by 2012, and the total energy requirement will be 1058 billion units (Parivesh, Central Pollution Control Board, 2006). This is why; increasing the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the form of low carbon options are the two main measures that can greatly reduce GHG emissions. We will now simultaneously specify what scientific mitigation tools for climate change are available for various sectors and the corresponding governance measures to actually target the process of mitigation. The energy sector: Fiscal incentives and taxes, voluntary emission reductions, green rating, and capacity building etc. Another area of importance is the transmission and distribution losses, which is energy loss. There is considerable scope of reducing losses, meant to translate into a large mitigation potential. Two major categories of Barriers hinder adoption of electricity conservation and demand management in India. a) Macro-level barrier At the level of governance system; either policy induced or due to lack of appropriate policies and; b) Micro-level barriers related to the consumers and the economic environment they face.This can be equated to lack of awareness about possible alternatives on the part of the consumers and lack of awareness drives on the part of the government. The forestry sector: IPCC Second Assessment Report categorizes three broad options for abatement viz. Conservation management: This strategy attempts to conserve the existing carbon storage capacity of forests by halting or slowing down forests deforestation and forests degradation. Storage management : This strategy attempts to increase carbon strategy in woody vegetation and soil in existing degraded forests, as well as to create new carbon sinks in areas where forests do not exists or have been cleared. These may be achieved by promoting natural regeneration, reforestation on deforested lands, aforrestation of non-forest lands and agro-forestry on crop and pastureland. Substitution management: This strategy attempts involves the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable fuel wood or other biomass products. Here, governance plays an important role based on it a capacity to generate and bring about changes in the management of forests and augmentation of use of renewable products. The agriculture sector: Methane emissions from rice cultivation remain the major contributor of GHG emissions. Other sources being enteric fermentation, manure management, agricultural soils etc. Abatement strategy in this sector in India can be achieved given the scientific expertise available in India, but require gearing up by proper governmental intervention at the level of ministry of agriculture, as far as policy initiatives are concern, and through local governments for implementation and monitoring. The industrial sector: As the national inventory of GHG shows, major contribution came from energy intensive sectors like iron steel, fertilizer, cement, aluminium, paper pulp etc. A few option available for energy efficient options in power, industrial and domestic sector are given as follows: Source: Teri, New Delhi. These can be supported by further subsidizing use of energy efficient options and where required made mandatory by the government under the periphery of the existing environmental laws of the country. Mitigation through sinks: Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by a number of processes that operate on different time scales, and is subsequently transferred to reservoirs or sinks. The Kyoto Protocol through its Ariticle 3.3 allows afforestation as a sink to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Further, Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol states that additional human induced activities in the agricultural soils and LULUCF categories may be added to the three mechanisms (Joint implementation, Clean Development mechanism and Emission trading) subject to certain conditions. In India, forestry is dominated by government based institutions. These institutions need new insight so that they can effectively incorporate mitigation policies and measures in their resource management activities. According to the central Pollution Control Board, India has been persistently implementing one of the largest reforestation programs in the tropics with over one million hectares planted annually. Nearly half of this reforestation is on degraded forests and village common land. It is estimated that the carbon uptake in forests, degraded forests, and plantations is estimated to offset the gross carbon emissions from the forests sector. Carbon dioxide emissions in India are projected to increase from no-net emissions in 1990 to 77 million tonnes by 2020( Parivesh, CPCB,2006). Barriers to mitigation: Greenhouse gas mitigation measures are compounded by several barriers inherent to the process of development. In India, inequitable distribution of income and wealth forms a core feature of barriers to effective implementation of any type of intervention in India, leave apart climate change. Available instruments to limit domestic GHG emissions can be categorized into market based instruments, regulatory instruments, and voluntary agreements. For the developing countries, however, domestic structural reforms and policies on trade liberalization and liberalization of energy markets act as barriers to GHG reduction. These policies coupled with macroeconomics, market oriented reforms, set the framework in which more specific climate policies would be implemented. The IPCC Special Report on technology Transfer (IPCC, 2000) identifies various important barriers that could impede environmental technology transfer, such as: lack of data, information, and knowledge, especially on emerging technologies; inadequate vision about the understanding of local needs and demands; high transaction costs and poor macro economic conditions; insufficient human and institutional capabilities; inappropriate technology adopted and Poor legal institutions and framework. These hold good for the overall barriers of mitigation in Indian Context also. In terms of governance and its intervention, technology transfer can be traded off with some of our own indigenous technologies. This will ensure equitable exchange and also promote indigenous Indian Science. National Policy for Climate Change Mitigation We, as present generation have inherited this environment and atmosphere from our ancestors. Further the consequences of climate change will be faced by our children in the future. And so it can be said that climate change is an inherently different and irreversible problem as compared to other environmental problems. Also, the assumption that prior experience of problems like air pollution has failed at many levels as a good model upon which policy decisions on climate can be based. Options to mitigate climate change include actual emission reductions carbon dioxide sequestration and investments in developing technologies that will make future reductions affordable and easily available since cheap relative to their current costs. Since the inception of UNFCC in 1992, the Govt. of India has been an active participant in the climate charge negotiations. India being a party to the UNFCC was the 38th country to ratify it on November 01, 1993. The Ministry of Environment Forests is the nodal Ministry for all environment related activities in the country and is the nodal Ministry for co-coordinating the climate charge policy as well. The working group on the FCCC was constituted to oversee the implementation of obligations under the FCCC and to act as a consultative mechanism in the Govt. for impacts to policy formulation on climate change. To enlarge the feedback mechanism the Govt. of India has constituted an Advisory group on climate charge under the chairmanship of the Minister of Environment Forests. Development of National Guidelines Policy Options for reducing GHG Emissions The national guidelines or framework for monitoring GHG emissions and policy options for reducing GHG should emphasize not only on issues associated with climate change but also include the following: Emission Forecasting Setting goals Policy criteria Policy evaluation Organizational and political issues Climate change and GHG emission and sequestration may include many sectors of society and extend far into the future. Furthermore, policy measures to address GHGs overlap with many other public policy objectives, however in a complimentary way. Policy formulations involve: Understanding the issues at hand, Having a broad vision of the range of actions that governments can take to address those issues, Selecting from within this the approaches that offer the most potential far achieving multiple public goals. More importantly, the policy formulation process must respond to local circumstances and must address institutional, fiscal, political, and other constraints. The Govt. of India has nevertheless addressed a large number of local and regional environmental issues in its developmental strategy that are complementary to the climate change issue. Institutional Arrangements So Far For Climate Change Related Strategies In Area of Research The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Ministry of Science and Technology (MST), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Ministry of Non Conventional Energy (MNES), Ministry of Defence (MoD), Ministry of Health and Family welfare (MoHFW), are the main ministries of the Government of India which promote and undertake climate and climate change-related research in the country. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is also am important agency involved in working of this area and is under the direct governance of the Prime Minister.It supports all the above agencies with satellite-based passive remote sensing. The MoEF, MST, MHRD and MOA operate under the umbrella of many premier national research laboratories and universities. The most prominent being the 40 laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), an autonomous body under the MST; and the vast network of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the MOA. The CSIR is the national RD organization which provides scientific and industrial research for Indias economic growth and human welfare. It has a countrywide network of 40 laboratories and 80 field centers. The ICAR network includes institutes, bureaus, national research centers, The Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the MST coordinates advanced climatic and weather research and data collection over the Indian landmass. There are three premier institutions under DST that are solely dedicated to atmospheric science viz. the IMD, the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). Apart from the Indian initiatives, climate change research promoted by international organizations like the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), International Human Dimension Program (IHDP) and DIVERSITAS are being strongly supported by various Indian agencies like Indian Climate Research Program (ICRP) under DST, National Committee- International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (NC-IGBP) constituted by Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and Geosphere-Biosphere Program (GBP) of ISRO. Agencies like CSIR, also provides infra-structural and financial support to carry out research in the area of global change In Area of Development The single most important feature of our post-colonial experience is that the people of India have conclusively demonstrated their ability to forge a united nation despite its diversity, and to pursue development within the framework of a functioning, vibrant and pluralistic democracy. In this process, the democratic institutions have put down firm roots, which continue to gain strength and spread. A planned approach to development has been the central process of the Indian democracy, as reflected in the national five-year plans, state plans,departmental annual plans, and perspective plans of various ministries of the central and state governments. For the last five and a half decades, the guiding objectives of the Indian planning process have been sustained economic growth, poverty alleviation, food, health, education and shelter for all, containing population growth, employment generation, self-reliance, peoples participation in planning and programme implementation, and infrastruc ture development. The National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development, 1992, provides the basis for the integration of environmental considerations in the policies of various sectors. It aims at the achievement of sustainable lifestyles and the proper management and conservation of resources. The Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution, 1992, stresses the prevention of pollution at the source, based on the ‘polluter pays principle. It encourages the use of the most appropriate technical solutions, particularly for the protection of heavily polluted areas and river stretches. The Forest Policy, 1988, highlights environmental protection through preservation and restoration of the ecological balance. The policy seeks to substantially increase the forest cover in the country through afforestation programmes. This environmental framework aims to take cognizance of the longer-term environmental perspective related to industrialization, power generation, transportation, mining, agriculture, irrigation and other such economic activities, as well as to address parallel concerns related to public health and safety. The statutory framework for the environment includes the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Other enactments include the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, the National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995, and the National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997. The courts have also elaborated on the concepts relating to sustainable development, and the ‘polluter pays and ‘precautionary principles. In India, matters of public interest, particularly pertaining to the environment, are articulated effectively through a vigilant media, an active NGO community, and very importantly, through the judicial process which has recognized the citizens right to a clean environment as a component of the right to li

Starbucks Structural Frame Essay -- Starbucks Business Analysis

Starbucks initially was a small structure, run by three partners in a small shop in Seattle. The company then was restricted to selling only whole bean and ground coffee. It was typically a top down structure were the three people in the top management were the decision makers. In 1984, when Schultz suggested the idea of selling coffee and expresso drinks, the directors of Starbucks rejected the idea, in spite of the fact that the move would have made more profit for the company. This displayed the rigidity of the management towards any changes in the business. After taking over the operation of Starbucks in 1987, Schultz decided to expand the company's business. The next few years brought some positive changes to Starbucks. Starting with 17 stores in 1987, the company quickly expanded by opening stores in Chicago and Portland. With this period of expansion, Schultz hired some experienced people to help him manage the growth plans. In 1989, Schultz hired Howard Behar, who was familiar with opening and running several retail stores. A year later, Schultz brought in Orin Smith as the Chief Finance and Operations Officer. Both Behar and Smith were highly experienced in the industry and helped Schultz build the company's infrastructure.[1] The new structure of Starbucks was flat and it encouraged competitive ideas from all levels of the company. This necessarily depicted a lateral coordination c... ...ffman Neilson(2008), Strategy & Business http://www.relationalcapitalgroup.com/knowledge-center/TheBaristaPrinciple.pdf 2) Shultz, H. (2008) Starbucks makes organizational changes to enhance customer experience. Retrieved March 13, 2008, from, http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=831 3) George, J. and Jones, G. (2005). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior. (4th ed.)Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. 4) Gulati Hoffman Neilson, Strategy & Business, 2008 http://www.relationalcapitalgroup.com/knowledge-center/TheBaristaPrinciple.pdf 5) Barbero, Martin, Starbucks goal: Recapture its early buzz, Jan 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/30/business/sbux.php 6) Hoovers Database http://premium.hoovers.com/subscribe/co/overview.xhtml?ID=ffffrhkchrhhyjjrfk Starbucks' Structural Frame Essay -- Starbucks Business Analysis Starbucks initially was a small structure, run by three partners in a small shop in Seattle. The company then was restricted to selling only whole bean and ground coffee. It was typically a top down structure were the three people in the top management were the decision makers. In 1984, when Schultz suggested the idea of selling coffee and expresso drinks, the directors of Starbucks rejected the idea, in spite of the fact that the move would have made more profit for the company. This displayed the rigidity of the management towards any changes in the business. After taking over the operation of Starbucks in 1987, Schultz decided to expand the company's business. The next few years brought some positive changes to Starbucks. Starting with 17 stores in 1987, the company quickly expanded by opening stores in Chicago and Portland. With this period of expansion, Schultz hired some experienced people to help him manage the growth plans. In 1989, Schultz hired Howard Behar, who was familiar with opening and running several retail stores. A year later, Schultz brought in Orin Smith as the Chief Finance and Operations Officer. Both Behar and Smith were highly experienced in the industry and helped Schultz build the company's infrastructure.[1] The new structure of Starbucks was flat and it encouraged competitive ideas from all levels of the company. This necessarily depicted a lateral coordination c... ...ffman Neilson(2008), Strategy & Business http://www.relationalcapitalgroup.com/knowledge-center/TheBaristaPrinciple.pdf 2) Shultz, H. (2008) Starbucks makes organizational changes to enhance customer experience. Retrieved March 13, 2008, from, http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=831 3) George, J. and Jones, G. (2005). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior. (4th ed.)Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. 4) Gulati Hoffman Neilson, Strategy & Business, 2008 http://www.relationalcapitalgroup.com/knowledge-center/TheBaristaPrinciple.pdf 5) Barbero, Martin, Starbucks goal: Recapture its early buzz, Jan 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/30/business/sbux.php 6) Hoovers Database http://premium.hoovers.com/subscribe/co/overview.xhtml?ID=ffffrhkchrhhyjjrfk

Living in a city Essay

LIVING IN A HUGE CITY OR LIVING IN A QUIET SMALL TOWN What are differences between living in a huge city and living in a quiet small town? And living in a huge city is better or worse than living in a small town? Living in a huge city or in a quiet small town, each of them also has its advantages and disadvantages. If you living in a huge city, there are many opportunities for your job, education, entertainment†¦ These things do not have if you live in a small town. For example, you will have many choices when you find your job, there are many big companies in a huge city, that you can’t find in a small town. Or when you need to study, schools in huge city are often better than schools in small town. If you want to watch a new movie, or find a Japanese restaurant, you look for these things in a huge city is easier than in a small town. But living in a huge city also has many disadvantages, pollution, and traffic jam, noisy†¦ all of them can make you stress. Living in a huge city is always more stress full than living in a small town. Another problem of living in a huge city is price of life. Living in a huge city, you often spend more money than in a small town. Prices in huge city is costly. You would have spent more money for your house, your food, your serving†¦ Living in a huge city or in a quiet small town, it depends everybody’s personality. If you want to find the opportunity, you want to have an active life, you should choose live in a huge city. And if you like quiet, you want to have a peaceful life, you should live in a small town. Nowadays, people often work in a huge city and when they retired, they will come back to live in a small town.

Quality Management in Service Industries Essay Example

Quality Management in Service Industries Essay Example Quality Management in Service Industries Essay Quality Management in Service Industries Essay Part 1. Introduction In present time, there is a worldwide trend that service industry occupies a dominant position in the economy in the majority of developed countries and areas. Without a doubt, major changes in government policy and business transactions have a significant influence on the flourish of services industry. However, nowadays the increased value of services also brings big pressure on marketers to implement different strategies because there are big variances in the features of service and physical product. To start with, this essay will focus on the reasons why is quality such an important issue in the marketing of services. Furthermore, the reasons why is quality more difficult to manage in service industries than it is in the case of physical goods will also be discussed in this essay. Part 2. Basic Definition I. Quality In manufacturing, a measure of excellence or a state of being free from defects, deficiencies, and significant variations, brought about by the strict and consistent adherence to measurable and verifiable standards to achieve uniformity of output that satisfies specific customer or user requirements. ISO 8402-1986 standard defines quality as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. II. Services As one kind of products in the market, â€Å"services are deeds, processes, and performance provided or coproduced by one entity or person for another entity or person. Services as products represent a wide range of intangible product offering that customers value and pay for in the marketplace. †(Bruhn Georgi, 2006) For example, haircuts, consulting, training and travel are representative services. In present society, there is a staggering increasing rate in services industry, which is defined as â€Å"all economic activities whose output is not a physical product or construction, is generally consumed at the time it is produced, and provides added value in forms that are essentially intangible concerns of its first purchaser†. (Lovelock, Wirtz, 2006) III. Service Quality Service quality is defined as â€Å"the customer’s evaluation of a service, where they compared what the receive according to the service’s characteristics with their exceptions regarding these characteristics. (Bruhn Georgi, 2006) Therefore, it is apparent that delivering quality service is linked to customer satisfaction and retention, competitive advantage and long-term profitability. In general customers usually look at the quality of both the process and outcomes of services delivery, which means they take both of technical quality and functional quality into account. Part 3. The importance of quality in the marketing of services The biggest barrier for customers in evaluating service quality is the intangible nature of the service. Most consumers lack the knowledge or the skills to evaluate the quality of many types of services. Therefore, they must place a great deal of faith in the integrity and competence of the service provider. Despite the difficulties in evaluating quality, service quality may be the only way customers can choose one service over another. For this reason, services marketers live or die by understanding how consumers judge service quality. The following table defines five dimensions that customers use when evaluating the importance of service quality. They are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. (Goodwin and R. Radford, 2008) Reliability is the most important in determining customer evaluations of service quality of the five. Services managers pay a great deal of attention to the tangibles dimension of service quality. Tangible attributes, or search qualities, such as the appearance of facilities and employees, are often the only aspects of a service that can be viewed before purchases and consumption. Consequently, service managers must ensure that these tangible lements are consistent with the overall image of the service product. Except for the tangibles dimension, the criteria that customers use to judge service quality are intangible. For example, how does a customer judge reliability? Since dimensions such as reliability cannot be examined with the sense, consumers must rely on other ways of judging service criteria. One of the most important factors in the judgments of service quality by consumer s is service expectations. These are influenced by past experiences with the service, oral communication from other customers and the service company’s own advertising. For example, customers are usually eager to try a new restaurant, especially when friends recommend it. These same customers may have also seen advertisements placed by the restaurant. As a result, these customers have an idea of what to expect when they visit the restaurant for the first time. When they finally eat out at the restaurant, the quality they experience will change the expectations they have for their next visit and their own comments to friends and colleagues. This is the major reason why providing consistent high service quality is important. If the quality of a restaurant, or any services, begins to deteriorate, customers will alter their own expectations and oral communication to others accordingly. The most critical aspect of service quality specifications is managers’ commitment to service quality. Service managers who are committed to quality become role models for all employees in the organization. (Kasper, H. , van Helsdingen, P. , De Vries, W, 1999) Such commitment motivates customer contact employees to comply with service specifications. It is also important that all managers within the organization embrace this commitment, especially front line managers, who are much closer to customers than higher level managers. Consumers want to have a good shopping experience and the most important aspect of a consumers shopping experience is her quality of service. The most important aspect of a consumers decision on where to shop is going to be her perception concerning the quality of customer service she receives is congruent with the level of respect and courtesy required to earn and retain er loyalty as a contentious consumer. If an organization fails to provide quality customer service, the possibility of that customers continuing as a patron of the organization is highly doubtful. A customer shops at the locations where he or she feels comfortable and where the service provided is of the highest quality. Quality customer service is a important aspect of a shoppers experience and if this is overlooked at any time by an org anization, the companys ability to consistently provide continued value to the consumer will be seriously compromised. The customer service is an important aspect of any businesss ability to remain a market force in an increasingly competitive and diverse marketplace. Good customer service, above all else, is the primary factor in an organizations ability to remain growth and increase profitability over the long-term. (Mudie, P. Cottam, A. 1999) Consistently addressing the needs of the consumer through attention to detail, prompt and good-mannered assistance, and the providing of knowledgeable employees is the first objective in providing a memorable shopping experience. Effective customer service policies focus on providing the customer with customer service that is always consistent and focuses on the customer. When an organization creates a customer-centric and high-quality customer service policy, the organization will continue to create lasting value for the consumer. The key to providing good quality customer service and retaining a customer for the long term is providing the customer with lasting value during his or her shopping experience. A company should promote lasting value in the products it provides and in the quality of service provided to the customer by the organizations employees. Companies that continually focus on the best ways to provide the customer with lasting value and quality customer service compared to the services that the customer could expect to receive from a competitor are assured of the potential to create loyal repeat customers out of each customer that the organization assists. Providing good customer service is important to retaining customers against a competitor who sells the same or similar products. (Mudie, P. Cottam, A. 1999) When two competitors offer the same products at similar prices, the customer will consistently return to the location where they received the best ervice. In providing the best service available, an organization creates lasting value for the customer and any organization that focuses on providing lasting value and unsurpassed customer service will continually ensure that the customers the organization assists become customers for life. Adopting policies that focus on creating lasting value for the customer and pro vides him with unsurpassed customer service inherently gains long-term loyalty from that consumer. Part 4. Quality is more difficult to manage in service industries than it is in the case of physical goods The service industry alters the goods they provide, while the physical goods are presented as is. If you are buying a pair of jeans, for instance, then you get that as is. As long as nothing changes concerning those jeans, then it is easy to regulate and maintain their quality. But if you get a haircut, for instance, then no two will be alike and that increases the chances for mishap. Not only are you getting it from different individuals, but each person cutting the hair wont always provide the same type of service from one person to another. The service industry relies more heavily on human performance than that of the physical goods industry. In the physical goods industry, you can say a quality product is one that has certain measureable characteristics. For example, we could say a quality car is testing safely to a certain standard, getting a certain number of miles per gallon or attaining a certain number of miles per hour in so many seconds. In the services industries, this is much more difficult. We can not easily say what it is exactly that makes a service good for everyone, because it is subjective. For example, you might want to cut your hair, but someone else might like theirs long; or you might want quick customer service more than quality customer service, while someone else might have an opposite idea. Once an organization understands its customers’ needs, it must establish goals to help ensure good service delivery. These goals, or service specifications, are typically set in terms of employee or machine performance. For example, a bank may require its employees to conform to a dress code. Likewise, the bank may require that all incoming phone calls be answered by the third ring. (Zeithaml, V. A. , Bitner, M. J. Gremler, D. D. 2009) Specifications like these can be very important in providing quality service as long as they are tied to the needs expressed by customers. Physical goods are considered quality dependant only on the process of their manufacture. Services on the other hand depend both on the process and the customers’ opinion. Part 5. Conclusion To sum up, quality is an important issue in the marketing of service and it is more difficult to manage in service industries than in the case of physical goods. Quality customer service experiences are the driving force behind customer retention and customer satisfaction. Maximizing the benefits provided through sound customer service policies ensures that the satisfied consumer will express his satisfaction to others and assist the company in continuing to grow their client base through acquisition of customers who are dissatisfied with the level of service they get from the organizations competitors. Tapping into the ability of customer service to maximize this continuous opportunity for revenue is the single most important objective for any company looking to gain a competitive advantage in the highly diverse business environment of today. In order to create the maximized value and satisfy customers, the marketers need to pay more attention to the quality management in service industries. Part 6. References Bruhn, M. Georgi, D. 2006. Services marketing: managing the service value chain. Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times. C. Goodwin and R. Radford, 2008. â€Å"Models of Service Delivery: An Integrative Perspective,† in Advances in Services Marketing and Management, ed. T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, and S. W. Bowen, (Stamford, Ct: Jai Press) pp. 231-252. C. Hegge-Kleiser, â€Å"American Express Travel-Related Services: A Human Resources Approach to Managing Quality,† in Managing Quality in America’s Most Admired Companies, ed. J. W. Spechler (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1993), pp. 205-212 J. Reynoso and B. Moores, â€Å"Operationalising the Quality on Internal Support Operations in Service Organizations,† in Advances in Services Marketing and Management, Vol. 6, eds. T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, and S. W. Brown (Green-wich, CT: JAI Press, 1997), pp. 147-170 Kasper, H. , van Helsdingen, P. , De Vries, W. 1999. Services marketing management: An international perspective. Chichester: Wiley. Lovelock, C. Wirtz, J. 2006. Services marketing (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice? Hall. McColl? Kennedy, J. R (Ed. ). 2003. Services marketing: A managerial approach. Milton, Qld: John Wiley Sons. Mudie, P. Cottam, A. 1999. The management and marketing of services. Oxford: Butterworth? Heinemann. Pieter P. Tordoir (1995). The professional knowledge economy: the management and integration services in business organizations. p. 140. Zeithaml, V. A. , Bitner, M. J. Gremler, D. D. 2009. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm (5th ed. ). Sydney: McGraw? Hill Irwin.

Rbi Organisational Chart Essay Example

Rbi Organisational Chart Essay Example Rbi Organisational Chart Essay Rbi Organisational Chart Essay RESERVE BANK OF INDIA : ORGANISATION CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS GOVERNOR Dr. D. SUBBARAO DEPUTY GOVERNORS Dr. K. C. CHAKRABARTY Dr. SUBHIR GOKARN SHRI ANAND SINHA SHRI H. R. KHAN Co-ordination Work Executive Directors Department of Currency Management (Dr. N. Krishna Mohan, CGM) Financial Markets Department Shri V. K. Sharma Rural Planning Credit Department (Smt. Deepali Pant Joshi, CGM-inCharge) Customer Service Department (Shri Rajesh Verma, CGM) (G. Mahalingam, Chief General Manager) Financial Stability Unit (Dr. Rabi. N. Mishra, CGM) Secretarys Department (Smt. Grace E. Koshie, CGM Secretary) Central Vigilance Cell (Shri Kaza Sudhakar, Chief Vigilance Officer) Department of Communication (Alpana Killawala, CGM) Right to Information Department of Expenditure Budgetary Control (Smt Deepa Srivastava, CGM-inCharge) Shri V. S. Das (also First Appellate Authority under Right to Information Act) Shri G. Gopalakrishna Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Monetary Policy Department (Dr. Janak Raj, Adviser-in-Charge) Department of Economic and Policy Research (Shri B M Misra, Officer-inCharge) Department of Statistics Information Management (Shri A. B. Chakraborty, Officer-inCharge) Shri D. K. Mohanty Urban Banks Department (Shri A. Udgata, CGM-in-Charge) Shri S. Karuppasamy (also Alternate Appellate Authority under Right to Information Act) Premises Department (Shri K. R Ananda, CGM) Legal Department (Shri G. S. Hegde, Principal Legal Adviser) Department of Administration and Personnel Management Shri R. Gandhi Central Security Cell (Major General (Retd. ) Soli N. Pavri, Security Adviser) Internal Debt Management Department (Shri K. K. Vohra, CGM) Department of External Investments Operations (Smt. Madumita Sarkar Deb, CGM –in– Charge) Department of Non-Banking Supervision (Smt. Uma Subramaniam, CGM-inCharge) Department of Government Bank Accounts (Shri A. K. Bera, CGM) Inspection Department (including Internal Audit) (Shri Karunasagar, CGM) Department of Payment and Settlement Systems (Shri Vijay Chugh, CGM) Foreign Exchange Department (Smt Meena Hemchandra, CGM-in-Charge) Human Resource and Management Department (Shri Sandip Ghose, CGM in – Charge) Rajbhasha Department Shri P. Vijaya Bhaskar Department of Banking Supervision (Shri G. Jaganmohan Rao, CGMin-Charge) Shri. B. Mahapatra Department of Banking Operations and Development (Shri Deepak Singhal CGM-inCharge) Shri G. Padmanabhan Department of Information Technology (Dr. A. S. Ramasastri, CGM)

College education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College education - Essay Example There is justification to have the taxes used for the benefit of the state dwellers and it should not be seen as a burden. I believe that if the students have the means to pay for tuition, then they should pay for it and it is their responsibility. If in the event the students do not have the means to pay for tuition, it is the responsibility of the state to pay for the tuition fees of those in need so that they are able to pursue a higher education degree. The difference of in and out-of-state tuition is appropriate because the out-of-state students, in general, will be living in the state while they go to school. Meanwhile students that live in Texas and are residents, in general, will stay to continue living in the state. Upon graduation, the students that stay will become taxpayers with full time jobs, if they have not already become taxpayers. Generally speaking, the majority of the students receive some kind of financial assistance (loans, grants, and scholarships) to pursue a higher education degree. Since this is the case, this would mean that if students do not receive financial assistance, they would not be able to continue their higher education degree. In most cases, these students are first generation college students. Everyone should be entitled to a college education. If public education is available for all students, then why leave them without a college education because they are not able to pay? If financial support is available (meals at school, transportation, books, tuition) for students from kindergarten up till high school graduation, we should continue to help them so that they may fulfill their goal and objectives in obtaining a higher education degree. Let us live in a state where we are able to continue helping those in need. Let those that have more, continue to help those in need. Let us continue a state where education is free of charge since the beginning till the

Aspects of Psychology Unit4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Aspects of Psychology Unit4 - Essay Example They do not consider physical traits of human beings as part of their intelligence. Sternberg’s Model Robert Sternberg (1988) proposed a theory of intelligence called as ‘triarchic theory’ as according to him, intelligence consists of three aspects interacting with each other (Davidson & Downing, 2000, p.42). The fist aspect is the internal skill of information processing which helps the human being to behave intelligently (Davidson & Downing, 2000, p.42). The second aspect is the ability of human being to create a match between the internal skills and the external environment in the best possible way (Davidson & Downing, 2000, p.42). The third aspect is the ability to take the help of past experiences to tackle the new or unfamiliar information, successfully (Davidson & Downing, 2000, p.42). Sternberg’s theory shows that intelligence is the ability to use different internal and external aspects to achieve success and to realize potential. Spearman’s Model Spearman’s model of intelligence is called as a ‘two-factor model’ of intelligence. ... The results revealed that children who scored well in one test also scored well on other tests (Pyle, 1979, p.7). Spearman noticed that there was a positive correlation between the tests designed to measure different mental abilities like memory, reasoning, creativity etc (Pyle, 1979, p.7). Spearman concluded that even though the tests were aimed at measuring different mental abilities, they had one factor common in them, which was getting measured in all the test results (Pyle, 1979, p.7). He concluded that this common factor was ‘general intelligence’ and named it ‘g’ (Pyle, 1979, p.7). However, he also realized that even though intelligent children scored well in all the tests, their scores were not exactly the same in all the tests (Pyle, 1979, p.7). This is because every test was designed to measure a ‘specific’ ability of a child and hence, it displayed the specific skill set of a child (Pyle, 1979, p.7). Spearman named this factor as â₠¬ËœSs’, indicating that even though ‘general intelligence’ was a common factor in children scoring well in the tests, their specific abilities were different from each other (Pyle, 1979, p.7). As Spearman’s model of intelligence is based on the two factors of ‘general’ and ‘specific’ intelligence, it is called as ‘two-factor model’ (Pyle, 1979, p.7). According to Spearman’s model, ‘intelligence’ is the mental energy or the ‘general ability’ of human being which ‘flows’ and guides him in most of his activities (Pyle, 1979, p.8). Spearman believed that all human beings have ‘g’ to some degree but as there is a difference in the level of their general intelligence, their mental abilities are different (Pyle, 1979, p.7). People differ from each