The history of ligers dates Essay

The history of ligers dates to at least the early 19th century in India. In 1798, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844) made a colour plate of the offspring of a lion and a tiger. In 1825, G. B. Whittaker made an engraving of liger cubs born in 1824.[3] The parents and their three liger offspring are also depicted with their trainer in a 19th-century painting in the naà ¯ve style. Two liger cubs born in 1837 were exhibited to King William IV and to his successor Queen Victoria. On 14 December 1900 and on 31 May 1901, Carl Hagenbeck wrote to zoologist James Cossar Ewart with details and photographs of ligers born at the Hagenbeck’s Tierpark in Hamburg in 1897. In Animal Life and the World of Nature (1902–1903), A.H. Bryden described Hagenbeck’s â€Å"lion-tiger† hybrids: It has remained for one of the most enterprising collectors and naturalists of our time, Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, not only to breed, but to bring successfully to a healthy maturity, specimens of this rare alliance between those two great and formidable felidae, the lion and tiger. The illustrations will indicate sufficiently how fortunate Mr. Hagenbeck has been in his efforts to produce these hybrids. The oldest and biggest of the animals shown is a hybrid born on the 11th May, 1897. This fine beast, now more than five years old, equals and even excels in his proportions a well-grown lion, measuring as he does from nose tip to tail 10 ft 2 inches in length, and standing only three inches less than 4 ft at the shoulder. A good big lion will weigh about 400 lb [†¦] the hybrid in question, weighing as it does no less than 467 lb, is certainly the superior of the most well-grown lions, whether wild-bred or born in a menagerie. This animal shows faint striping and mottling, and, in its characteristics, exhibits strong traces of both its parents. It has a somewhat lion-like head, and the tail is more like that of a lion than of a tiger. On the other hand, it has no trace of mane. It is a huge and very powerful beast.[4] In 1935, four ligers from two litters were reared in the Zoological Gardens of Bloemfontein, South Africa. Three of them, a male and two females, were still living in 1953. The male weighed 340 kg (750 lb) and stood a foot and a half (45 cm) taller than a full grown male lion at the shoulder. Although ligers are more commonly found than tigons today, in At Home In The Zoo (1961), Gerald Iles wrote â€Å"For the record I must say that I have never seen a liger, a hybrid obtained by crossing a lion with a tigress. They seem to be even rarer than tigons.† Size and growth The liger is often believed to represent the largest known cat in the world.[1] Males reach a total length of 3 to 3.5 m,[6][7] meaning they are the size of large Siberian tiger males.[8] Imprinted genes may be a factor contributing to huge liger size.[9] These are genes that may or may not be expressed on the parent they are inherited from, and that occasionally play a role in issues of hybrid growth. For example, in some dog breed crosses, genes that are expressed only when maternally-inherited cause the young to grow larger than is typical for either parent breed. This growth is not seen in the paternal breeds, as such genes are normally â€Å"counteracted† by genes inherited from the female of the appropriate breed.[10] Other big cat hybrids can reach similar sizes; the litigon, a rare hybrid of a male lion and a female tiglon, is roughly the same size as the liger, with a male named Cubanacan (at the Alipore Zoo in India) reaching 363 kg (800 lb).[11] The extreme rarity of these second-generation hybrids may make it difficult to ascertain whether they are larger or smaller, on average, than the liger. It is wrongly believed that ligers continue to grow throughout their lives due to hormonal issues.[citation needed] It may be that they simply grow far more during their growing years and take longer to reach their full adult size. Further growth in shoulder height and body length is not seen in ligers over 6 years old, same as both lions and tigers. Male ligers also have the same levels of testosterone on average as an adult male lion, yet areazoospermic in accordance with Haldane’s rule. In addition, female ligers may also attain great size, weighing approximately 320 kg (705 lb) and reaching 3.05 m (10 ft) long on average, and are often fertile. In contrast,pumapards (hybrids between pumas and leopards) tend to exhibit dwarfism. Hercules and Sinbad[ Jungle Island, an interactive animal theme park in Miami, is home to a liger named Hercules, the largest non-obese liger, who is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest living cat on Earth, weighing over 410 kg (904 lb).[12] Hercules was featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper 360, Inside Edition and in a Maxim article in 2005, when he was only three years old and already weighed 408.25 kg (900 lb). Hercules is healthy and is expected to live a long life. The cat’s breeding is said to have been a complete accident. Sinbad, another liger, was shown on the National Geographic Channel. Sinbad was reportedly similar in weight to Hercules. Longevity[Shasta, a ligress (female liger) was born at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on 14 May 1948 and died in 1972 at age 24.[citation needed] Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsin had a male liger named Nook who weighed around 550 kg (1,213 lb), and died in 2007, at 21 years old. Hobbs, a male liger at the Sierra Safari Zoo in Reno, Nevada, lived to almost 15 years of age before succumbing to liver failure and weighed in at 410 kilograms (900 lb). Fertility The fertility of hybrid big cat females is well documented across a number of different hybrids. This is in accordance with Haldane’s rule: in hybrids of animals whose sex is determined by sex chromosomes, if one sex is absent, rare or sterile, it is the heterogametic sex (the one with two different sex chromosomes e.g. X and Y). According to Wild Cats of the World (1975) by C. A. W. Guggisberg, ligers and tigons were long thought to be sterile: in 1943, a fifteen-year-old hybrid between a lion and an ‘Island’ tiger was successfully mated with a lion at the Munich Hellabrunn Zoo. The female cub, though of delicate health, was raised to adulthood.[13] In September 2012, the Russian Novosibirsk Zoo announced the birth of a â€Å"liliger†, which is the offspring of a liger mother and a lion father. The cub was named Kiara. Appearance Colour plate of the offspring of a lion and tiger, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Ligers have a tiger-like striped pattern that is very faint upon a lionesque tawny background. In addition they may inherit rosettes from the lion parent (lion cubs are rosetted and some adults retain faint markings). These markings may be black, dark brown or sandy. The background colour may be correspondingly tawny, sandy or golden. In common with tigers, their underparts are pale. The actual pattern and colour depends on which subspecies the parents were and on how the genes interact in the offspring. White tigers have been crossed with lions to produce â€Å"white† (actually pale golden) ligers. In theory, white tigers could be crossed with white lions to produce white, very pale or even stripeless ligers. There are no black ligers. Very few melanistic tigers have ever been recorded, most being due to excessive markings (pseudo-melanism or abundism) rather than true melanism; no reports of black lions have ever been substantiated. As blue or Maltese Tigers probably no longer exist, grey or blue ligers are exceedingly improbable. It is not impossible for a liger to be white, but it is very rare Ligers in the wild: It is unlikely a mating of this type would ever occur in the wild, for a number of reasons. Firstly, lion and tiger habitats do not meet, though you’ll often hear claims that they overlap in one area of the world, this being the Gir National Park and Lion Sanctuary in Bangladesh. The truth is tigers are not found within 100 miles of Gir Forest. Within the sanctuary itself is the only lion subspecies found outside of Africa. This is the very rare Asiatic lion (only a few hundred remain and they face extinction). The lion rules in Gir Forest and no tigers are found there. Tigers are not found in Africa, and are restricted to Asia. Though it is conceivable that a tiger may cross into lion territory, both species are so rare that it is highly unlikely the two would ever meet. On top of this, the Gir Forest is surrounded by farming and agriculture. The lions within the sanctuary are effectively captive in the wild and tigers do not like to cross large stretches of open ground. What would happen if the two species did meet? The very solitary tiger would be little inclined to join in with the more social pride of lions. Apart from periods of mating, tigers even go out of their way to avoid their own species. The Tigon is a hybrid cross between a male Tiger and a female Lion WHY ARE LIGERS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN TIGONS? The large size of the liger and small size of the tigon is due to â€Å"genomic imprinting† – the unequal expression of genes depending on parent of origin i.e. whether certain growth genes are inherited from the male or the female. This is linked to the species’ lifestyle and breeding strategy – whether the female mates with only one male while in heat (non-competitive) or whether she mates with many males (competitive). This results in â€Å"growth dysplasia†. The following explanation is greatly simplified as a number of other genes are contributed unequally by the male and female parents and also affect the general health and longevity of the offspring. Lions live in prides led by several adult males. The lionesses mate with each of those males. Each male wants his offspring to be the ones to survive, but the female’s genes want multiple offspring to survive. The father’s genes promote size of the offspring to ensure that his offspring out-compete any other offspring in the womb at the same time. Genes from the female inhibit growth to ensure that as many offspring as possible survive and that they all have an equal chance. By contrast, tigers are largely solitary and a female on heat normally only mates with one male. There is no competition for space in the womb so the male tiger’s genes do not need to promote larger offspring. There is therefore no need for the female to compensate, so the offspring’s growth goes uninhibited. When a male lion mates with a tigress, his genes promote large offspring because lions are adapted to a competitive breeding strategy. The tigress does not inhibit the growth because she is adapted to a non-competitive strategy. Therefore the offspring (liger) grows larger and stronger than either parent because the effects do not cancel each other out. Ligers take several years to reach full adult size, but it is a myth that ligers never stop growing. When a male tiger mates with a lioness, his genes are not promoting large growth of the offspring because he is adapted to a non-competitive breeding strategy. However, the lioness is adapted to a competitive strategy and her genes inhibit the growth of the offspring. This uneven match means that the offspring (tigons) are often smaller and less robust than either parent. Growth dysplasia has other effects: the size of the placenta may be affected (causing miscarriage), the embryo may be aborted at an early stage due to abnormal growth, the cub may be stillborn or may only survive a few days. In some rodents, mating Species A males with Species B females produces offspring half normal size, but mating Species B males with Species A females cause the offspring to be aborted as they try to grow to several times the normal size. Because of the impossibility of a gene being inherited from only females, there is a competing hypothesis. This hypothesis (allthough not tested) is that the Lion’s sperm is damaged somehow during fertilization and that a growth inhibiting gene is typically destroyed. It is impossible for a gene carried on a chromosomes to be passed along only from the mother. The reason for this is there are no chromosomes that only a female can have. Female Tigons and Female Ligers both possess a tiger X chromosme and a lion X chromosome, yet only the female Ligers will grow large, this means something must happen to either alter the genes or that the cause of the growth dysplasia lies at least partially outside of the genes. Another possible hypothesis is that the growth dysplasia results from the interaction between lion genes and tiger womb enviroment. The tiger produces a hormone that sets the fetal Liger on a pattern of growth that does not end throughout his life. The hormonal hypothesis is that the cause of the male Liger’s growth is his sterility – essentially, the male liger remains in the pre-pubertal growth phase. This is not upheld by behavioural evidence – despite being sterile, many male ligers become sexually mature and mate with females. In addition, female ligers also attain great size but are fertile.

Organizing for uncertainties in a dynamic market Assignment

Organizing for uncertainties in a dynamic market - Assignment Example The author further argues that dynamic environment provide the best opportunistic environment in the corporate world. However, dynamic environments need proper management since they are accompanied by many uncertainties. Many project portfolios fail due to dynamic environment. The article describes how dynamic environments can easily destroy a project portfolio. From the evidence provided in the article, one project out of five ventured in a dynamic environment have failed due to poor management. Coming up with project portfolios require a lot of consideration with the type environment a project location is based. The issue behind dynamic environment is the management of the uncertainties presented by this environment. In words by Yvan (2012) the richness in opportunities the dynamic environment presents are the same uncertainties resented by the same environment. Characteristics in a dynamic environment include high level of profits in one season while the fate of other financial ye ars is unknown. This uncertainty makes it essential to have programs and strategies to manage their project portfolio. To curb this problem the article involves the use of dynamics capabilities frameworks. These frameworks are aimed at studying project portfolios in dynamic environments. ... The dynamic capabilities frameworks are aimed to achieve three prospects: Provision of a better understanding on the management of projects facing uncertainties. Analyzing the relationship between the measures put in place by organizations to minimize the impact caused by uncertainties and the sources of uncertainty in dynamic environments. Provide recommendations and possible improvements in the standards and models of project portfolios. From the author of the article these three objectives can secure an organization’s assets in any case of an occurrence of an uncertainty. If the assets are not completely secured they effects of the uncertainties are also minimized. Project managers are therefore advised on how to ensure a proper implementation of the dynamic capabilities frameworks. In some cases these frameworks only involves means of insurance in any occurrence of risk. In the dynamic environment, the frameworks are more important since projects require total quality mana gement. According to Yvan (2012) the completion of projects depends mainly on the ability of the project manager to foresee the transition from and to each face of the project. This is made easier by the implementation of the dynamic capabilities framework. From the article, there are claims that project management in dynamic environments. Organization and project doing enough to ensure that project portfolio are being managed effectively. This is after many approaches have been developed. Do project managers have the intent of making projects suitable for the dynamic environment? Having successful projects portfolio also includes having proper organizing mechanisms in the organization. Proper organization mechanisms include the methods of

Compare and contrast the regional variations that are prevalent in the Research Paper

Compare and contrast the regional variations that are prevalent in the Romanesque Church architecture of Lombardy, Germany and the Low Countries, and Tuscany Give examples - Research Paper Example This style of construction and building can be identified in almost all parts of Europe. The most notable buildings that are still standing presently are the churches, with some of these being the large cathedrals and abbey churches (Jackson 32-34). According to Fletcher (25-27), the church was the ultimate emblematic structure of the Romanesque architecture, and since they were constructed to meet specific needs of liturgy, their construction was depended on the needs. These churches had similar architectural designs that included the thick walls semi-circular arches, towers, roofs and round arches in arcades, doors, windows and vaults (Jackson 36). However, these churches differed in the ground plans, the shape and position of towers, shape of columns, piers and the east end, and the building materials (Fletcher 28). This paper seeks to give the similarities and differences between the Romanesque Church architecture of Germany and the Low Countries, Lombardy and Tuscany. The Romanesque architects constructed myriad buildings with most of them being abbey and village churches, castles and cathedrals (Itcher 23). All these churches were constructed to shelter, welcome and hold the faithful in an environment that was dignified and gave a sense of depth and an ambulatory apse (Flecher 31). The Romanesque churches were built with an interior that was complex and with a densely molded material typified by strong chiaroscuro differences that strengthened the plastic outlines of the columns and heightened the sense of encrusted distinctive thickness and spatial depth (Jackson 44-45). From a structural standpoint, this was successful due to the implementation of the system of anchorages taken as longitudinal units; they were made to be spatial bodies that were added to the next one in a symmetrical manner (Icher 49). The buildings had an isolated crossing that was a normal aspect

Gun control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gun control - Research Paper Example tance, Arne Duncan, the US secretary of education recently posted on twitter complaining that it is disturbing to admit the fact that many students will have lost their lives before authorities respond with lucrative measures to control gun-related violence in schools. Additionally, in a recent press statement, Obama stated that America should be ashamed of its failure to impose tough gun possession restriction laws. Carter (2006, pp 25), states that some states have legalized gun possession by students and this has posed a challenge in the fight against gun violence in learning institutions. Research has showed that authorities are not fully dedicated to handle illegal gun possession cases. For example, in 2010 a statute was passed in Nebraska State suggesting that legal gun owners to report cases of missing firearms to the local authorities but not underpinned by the federal laws. Gun laws in the United States require abrupt amendment in order to control gun-related violence and en hance peaceful relations among members of the public. Some people argue that gun-related violence is fuelled by both weak laws and the irresponsible character of people in possession of guns. For instance, Possession of guns by minors in learning institutions shows that the existing gun control regulations are weak and defective. Actually, the rise of gun-related violence in learning institutions across America can be ascribed to uncontrolled possession of guns by minors. It is estimated that gun shooting per school week amount to about 1.4 and at least 74 shooting have happened in schools since the 2012 shooting in Newtown. Federal or state laws are not the sole contributors to the increased gun violence in US. Irresponsibility of senior members of the community, especially those with legal rights to own guns, has also contributed to increased shooting incidents. For instance, after investigation of the Newtown shooting, the gun used by the culprit was found to belong to his 52-year

Standardization and Adaptation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Standardization and Adaptation - Essay Example Finally, in 1961, the McDonald’s brothers sold the whole share to Mr. Kroc for $2.7 million. In 1967, McDonald’s had opted for its first international venture in Canada. Shortly after that, the license of Eastern Canada’s business of McDonald’s was bought by George Cohon, who had opened the first restaurant in the year 1968. The key to international success of McDonald’s was the use of Franchising. By franchising through the local people, the delivery of the products and the interpretation of their US brands to the local people regarding product and services became much easier. In this context, the report focuses on the adaptation and the standardization conformed by McDonald’s and how it had led to their success. Standardization Standardization signifies creation of a consistent way for carrying out procedures and tasks. Standardization can be related to any process that is being carried out in the organization such as, machinery standardiza tion, operation standardization, drawing standardization, inventory standardization, communication standardization and clerical process standardization. Operation standardization signifies that the operation can be conducted by any one. ... This is implemented within the organization to ensure that the end product of the organization is of consistent quality and is easily comparable to other products of same class. Standardization is seen to be adopted by various business processes when the organizations aim to achieve consistent level of quality. For instance, in case of fast food franchises, detailed outlines are provided regarding the preparation of food so that the customers experience the same taste and flavour, regardless of the franchise of the chain that they are visiting. Adaptation related to the environmental demands often requires non-trivial changes related to the structure, ideology and technology of the organization. There are several dimensions along which the organizational adaptation are implemented; for instance, the changes in the core features such as, technology along with changes in more peripheral characteristics such as, changes in the advisory team. Adaptation Adaptation is defined as the alter ations made to the system due to the forces that lead to the changes in the business climate. Organizational adaptation is defined as the response that the organization generates through changes in ideology, technology and structure due to the changes in the environmental opportunities and demand. The performance of the organization is dependent on a large number of factors that are related to the business environment and therefore, adaptation becomes important for the organization. This does not imply that an organization requires constant adaptation to the environment because if the business environment is stable, then it requires very little adaptation (D’aunno and Price, 1985; Huq, et al., 2003; Kammerlander, 2013).

A response to the reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A response to the reading - Essay Example Doree symbolizes the traditional woman- the obedient daughter, the subservient wife, the careful female friend, and the loyal mother- because of her society that molded her into a passive, identity-less person, until she realizes that she has a much bigger purpose in life, to save someone because she wants to, and not because she is ordered to. Doree stands for the stereotypical woman, the one who leaves nothing for herself, and this begins in her childhood. At sixteen years old, she should be in school, preparing soon for her college life. Apparently, her mother has no other caregiver, but her daughter. Doree takes care of her mother, while neglecting her own dreams. She gives up the beginnings of her youth to be a good daughter. She makes her mother happy in the process, but not herself. Her puberty is spent on being the dutiful daughter that her mother wants her to be. Lloyd changes that, however, when he shifts the power of control from her mother to him. Without any other family members, Doree is vulnerable to manipulation, and devoid of a strong identity, Lloyd takes advantage of her youth and inexperience in life. Munro uses the environment to illustrate the weakness of Doree as a woman with no identity. Munro says in her story that the snow is gone and â€Å"it was hot enough to go bare-armed† and â€Å"sunlight was pouring down through naked branches† (Munro). Nature assaults people with its warmth. In the same way, people around Doree try to control her, and she is easy to control because she has no will of her own. She is like a leaf that lets the wind carry her to any direction. As a husband, Lloyd is an authoritarian who always makes important decisions; he is the unbearable wind in Doree’s life. He decides that their children should be home-schooled. He also demands that Doree breastfeed their babies, even though she wants to feed them on bottles already. Doree cannot control her own body because Lloyd must have the final say in that. By making decisions on family planning and breastfeeding, decisions that should belong to Doree too, Lloyd conditions his wife to be purely submissive. Furthermore, Lloyd does not want to Doree to say anything against him. When Doree calls him silly, he says: â€Å"Careful. Don’t call me silly† (Munro). He uses a threatening tone when Doree tries to have a small argument with him. Lloyd does not accept insubordination. Doree appears to be one of his slaves, a slave who should follow orders without hesitancy and who should never point out his mistakes. Doree has become a good female friend, which is typical for female friends, but unlike most women, she keeps her life secret. Maggie seems to be her only real friend, but Doree does not say anything about her marriage problems. Maggie appears to know better and that is enough for Doree. Their relationship affirms personal beliefs about women-women friendships. They understand one another without speaking. The mai n concern for Doree is that she has a misplaced sense of loyalty. She thinks: â€Å"[Lloyd] was still the closest person in the world to her, and she felt that everything would collapse if she were to bring herself to tell someone exactly how he was, if she were to be entirely disloyal† (Munro). Lloyd is a psychologically abusive husband who isolates his family and controls them

Starbucks Strategy Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Strategy Essay Starbuck’s Coffee is a multi-billion dollar company. It was founded in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. It was a single store located in the Park Place Market area of Seattle. The idea started with three friends, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker. They opened a small shop and began selling fresh-roasted, gourmet coffee beans and brewing and roasting accessories. The company’s total revenue for 2013 was $14.8 Billion Dollars. Today, they have more than 21,000 stores in 65 countries and is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. The company expects to expand to more countries and open more stores in the future. In this paper, I will discuss Starbucks Organizational Culture that has led to its phenomenal success, the effects of managements’ decisions on the company, the one key management competency of the company, and the success of the current CEO and whether Starbucks would be successful without him. Starbucks has many key elements in its cultural organization that has led to its phenomenal success. Some of these organizational cultures include: Legendary service, diversity, organizational structure, and organizational ethics. In today’s society a company must have adaptable organizational cultures in order to be successful. One of the major reasons that Starbucks has maintained its ability to be successful is that it maintains the ethical culture within its organization. The company’s business Ethics and compliance programs has helped the partners (employees) in taking ethical business decisions as it provides guidelines in the Standard Business Conduct, which help partners make ethical decisions. Starbucks is committed to providing legendary customer service, they even hired an cultural anthropologist, Barbara Perry, to help strengthen its foundations for customer care. (Schreiner, 2011). Starbucks has three ways in which it provides legendary service, they include: knowing the Running head: Starbucks’ Strategy  customer, decreasing wait time, and being on the customer’s side. Legendary services offered by Starbucks include: giving the customers respect by knowing their name and type of drink, reducing wait time by acknowledging a customer and keeping the line moving and finally being on the customer’s side. Starbucks diversity and inclusion are a central part of Starbuck’s corporate strategy. It embraces diversity as an essential component in the way they do business. Twenty-four percent of the top corporate officers are women. Thirteen percent of the top executives are people of color. The most impressive statistic of Starbucks is the company’s continued commitment to its supplier- diversity program, which tracks spending with minority-and women owned businesses. The projected spending with these companies is expected to jump to $140 million dollars this year. Organizational structure is the hierarchical arrangement of lines of authority, communications, rights and duties of an organization (Schreiner, 2011). Starbucks does not operate under a franchise, however, they do license storefronts. Even though the stores are licensed storefronts, they are still controlled by Starbucks Headquarters. It overseas all of its stores and this allows for more control over how the individual stores are run. It leaves little room for stores not to performing according to company guidelines. Organizational ethics is the way an organization should respond to external and internal environments (Schreiner, 2011). Starbucks is considered one of the world’s most ethical companies (Screiner, 2011). The company makes a conscience effort to be a responsible company and conducts their business in an eithical manner. It uses its resources, such as; community, sourcing, environment, diversity and wellness. It openly displays its commitment to being a socially responsible company by letting the customers know what  they are doing and displays their mission Running head: statement in each store, prints facts on its coffee cups and puts information on its company’s website. Starbucks as earned this reputation through its actions in all phases of its business and live out the commitment through both its mission statement and values. Starbucks has business ethics program that is used to protect its Missions’ Culture. It is used to assist the partners to make ethical decision at their jobs. The decisions of the management and its choices for the company has a tremendous effect on employees, customers and the business. Starbucks has created an environment that is very relaxing to customers. It is a one of a kind coffee shop. There is no other coffee shop of this kind. Everything within the Starbuck’s environment is relaxing, calming and tension relieving. They make it the perfect comfort zone. One key management competency that Starbucks manager is like to have is Leadership Abilities. An individual must have great leadership skill in order to lead others. Leadership is the Process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task (Schreiner. 2011). There are very few people that can become leaders. It takes a very special individual to become a leader. Leaders lead in ways that serve the greater good of the organization. Starbucks demonstrates servant leadership and goes beyond the needs of its customers to the needs of the community. At Starbucks, the company’s values and missions are inspiring. They always put customers first. They empower their partners and help develop their full personal capacities. Starbucks help develop their partners to also demonstrate servant leadership. The partners feel far more committed to this company and their values and mission. When the individual that run companies show concern, respect and care for their employees Running head: they get better performance from them. It can clearly be seen that Starbucks Leadership is exceptional, they take the time to understand the needs of their employees. Many can see the difference in the Leadership of company’s such as Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. They have poor Leadership skills. They do not respect their employees. The employees of Wal-Mart and McDonald’s do not respect their jobs, because leadership is bad. If they respected their employees, then one would not always see the protest for more wages, benefits and hors. It is clear that Starbucks is doing something correct. There has never been any protest of kind with Starbucks. Other company’s should follow the Leadership Skill of Starbucks. Starbucks most likely would not maintain its long term sustainability without its current CEO, Howard Shultz. Howard Shultz has been the CEO of Starbucks since 1987. As the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Shultz made changes to the company at the beginning, that help set the path to its success today. The first change was to turn Starbucks into a coffee bar. He came up with this idea after vacationing in Italy and sitting at a coffee bar in Milan, Italy. He saw that it was a place where the coffee shop played an intregal role in the social life of most of the Italians (Wong, 2013). It was a focal point for the neighborhood, where friends met, mingled and stayed all hours of the day. Hence, this became the idea for Starbucks coffee. They later opened their first coffee bar in Seattle, Washington. He also introduced exotic coffee beverages such as espresso, cappuccino, cafà ©-latte, iced coffee and cafà ©-mocha. This was the first coffee shop to introduce these types of coffees. He also made the atmosphere clean, well-lighted, where people could relax and enjoy their coffee in comfort. The most effective change that Shultz made to Starbucks brand was to change the way the company delt with its employees, he implemented an crucial company employment training Running head: program. Starbucks is aware that the employee can make or break your company. Shultz stated that â€Å"friendly, effective service would boost sales (Wong, 2013). He instituted a training program designed to groom knowledgeable employees who would enjoy working behind a counter. â€Å"Service is a lost art in America. It’s not viewed as a professional job to work behind a counter† says Shultz. We don’t believe that. We want to provide our people with dignity and self-esteem, so we offer tangible benefits†Ã‚  (Wong, 2013). Some of the benefits Starbucks offer are complete health insurance for both full and part-time workers and stock options. During a brief 8 year hiatus, Starbucks had a new CEO Jim Donald. During this time Starbucks stocks dropped to 42% and they closed more than 700 stores and layed off more than 700 employees. After this downfall of the company, they re-instated Howard Shultz as CEO. He has made changes to the company that has made it more successful. These include calling their employees partners instead of employees, redesigned stores, introduced breakfast foods, implemented luxuries such as charging stations and Wi-Fi and most of all, he more than doubled the number of stores opened since he was reinstated as CEO. It can be seen that Starbucks would not be as successful today without the current CEO, Howard Shultz. Most other companies can take a good example from this Leader. References Daft, R. (2012). Management (10th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Schreiner, E. (2011). Starbucks and Its Orgaizational Design. SmallbusinessWong, V. (2013). Starbucks takes Over Your Life, Boots Sales. Businessweek.