Please use Biblical context

our threads, (initial post and replies to peers’ posts) synthesize course material and
demonstrate critical thinking, graduate-level writing skills, and reflection.
 Cite the textbooks and scholarly articles from professional accounting and business
journals.
 Use at least 3 journal articles for the Discussion: Cost Management, Strategy,
Technique and at least 2 for the Discussion: Cost Estimation and Profit Planning.
 In your presentation, place the primary focus on the management accounting technique
with secondary focus on the chosen company.
 Include Biblical integration in response to each question posed and in the analysis of
each peer’s post
In your replies, demonstrate analysis, synthesis of all course materials, tact, and insight. For each
reply, reference the textbooks, at least 2 journal articles, and the correlated thread. Opinion is
worth little unless it is supported by quotes and/or paraphrases from the textbooks and
professional journals.
Adhere to current APA format in all posts. Note that management techniques must not be
capitalized.

Please respond to post below.

Discussion: Cost Management, Strategy, Technique

Prompt: Select a well-known company with which you have some familiarity (specify the type of industry). Then, select 1 of the contemporary management techniques listed in Chapter 1 of the Blocher & Hicks text. Why and how do you feel that the contemporary management technique selected would be a positive force in helping the company achieve its critical success factors?

Starbucks is a trademark company – created as a symbol of quality and an overall grand gesture of prosperity and finesse by those who consume products from the coffee industry. Undoubtedly – as immense as Starbucks has grown to be – it likely implemented most, if not all 13 contemporary management techniques during its evolution, but the one that would present itself as the most helpful toward growth is “business process improvement (BPI)” (Blocher et al., 2022, p. 16).   As a non-financially based “critical success factor (CSG)” (Blocher et al., 2022, p. 13), the reason BPI would prove invaluable to Starbucks is due to the advantage that it has progressed far enough into its business life-cycle that consumers are critical of changes – otherwise known as “total quality management” (p. 16) , expectant of near perfection  – and willing to voice their dissatisfaction when the product fails to meet that standard.  There remain countless studies on different marketing techniques, but nearly all have proven one truth to be evident – that “brand loyalty (BL)” coincides with overall satisfaction, and customers are willing to create habits correlating with this (Chang, 2020, p. 209)– and habits create consistent profit. When these habits are disrupted by poor quality or lack of consistency – profits will drop.

A method of measuring current satisfaction from Starbucks comes from a study of nearly 400 customers visiting a “flagship” Starbucks location in China, and it was demonstrated from this study that the “service quality” played a massive role in satisfaction (Ge et al., 2021, p. 1).   Data from another study of over 300 students in France determined that dislike of the company is escalating alongside its growing franchises – going from 1 to 120 stores between 2004 and 2019 – but the reasons for these unsatisfactory ratings vary in level of dislike (Bryson & Atwal, 2018).   Bryson and Atwal (2018) determined that the main reasons for Starbucks’ dislike came from the overall perspective of the company’s integrity – stemming from bad publicity or as simple as poor coffee experience.

By working to improve the current quality of service, the company can restore its once-pristine “brand value” (Ge et al., 2021, p. 2) now degraded in a proven decline. Colossians 3:17 exhorts “[a]nd whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (BibleGateway, n.d.). While Starbucks does not advocate Christian values, the advice would prove to prosper them and assist them to get past these current financial slumps.  A prime example of Starbucks’ profits improving from overall BPI is by looking at a recent case in India where coffee shops were going out of business despite the country’s gaining interest in coffee due to influence of Western popularity (Bhattacharya, 2019). “Tata Starbucks” (Bhattacharya, 2019, para. 1) – a “joint venture” (para. 3) between two beverage companies, was not gaining traction in India, so in an attempt to save the many franchises built to support the “progressive [coffee] trend” (para. 2), the CEO implemented policies and procedures to be applied to all stores and monitored aggressively.  In a single year, the improved management style and implementation of standards would make the joint effort break even by 2019  (Bhattacharya, 2019). A prominent factor in profitability for the Indian company has proven to be that 90% of the franchises are now company run – improving the overall consistency of products and services (Bhattacharya, 2019).

The case in India proves that Starbucks has the ability to improve itself – or more precisely – rebrand itself as a consistent, high-quality coffee experience.  The Word reminds all in 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (BibleGateway, n.d.). Currently, Starbucks uses its notoriety and marketing tactics to survive, but it is vividly clear that that the company’s lackadaisical approach is beginning to catch up with the brand, hence the need to always remain on guard against deteriorating quality standards while actively improving service and quality.

References

Bhattacharya, S. (2019). A case study on past performance and futuristic game plan of Tata Starbucks. IAHRW International Journal of Social Sciences Review, 7(6-I), 2062–2063. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fcase-study-on-past-performance-futuristic-game%2Fdocview%2F2617204252%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D12085

BibleGateway. (n.d.). New King James Version Bible (NKJV). https://www.biblegateway.com/

Blocher, E. J., Juras, P. E., & Smith, S. D. (2022). Cost management: A strategic emphasis (9th ed.). McGraw Hill LLC.

Bryson, D., & Atwal, G. (2018). Brand hate: The case of starbucks in France. British Food Journal, 121(1), 172–182. https://doi.org/10.1108/bfj-03-2018-0194

Chang, W.-J. (2020). Experiential marketing, brand image and brand loyalty: A case study of Starbucks. British Food Journal, 123(1), 209–233. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-01-2020-0014

Ge, Y., Yuan, Q., Wang, Y., & Park, K. (2021). The structural relationship among perceived service quality, perceived value, and customer satisfaction-focused on Starbucks reserve coffee shops in Shanghai, China. Sustainability, 13(15), 8633. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158633