Comparing Organizations - Coursework Example

Comparing Organizations Comparing Organizations Introduction Different organizations normally have different features depending on different aspects. The difference ranges from the main purpose of an organization to its structure. Organizations have different objectives that they aim to fulfill in their endeavors. In this effort, they also have the heights they would want to attain at a future time in the form of vision. This is also particular to each organization. This paper is, therefore, aimed at comparing several of such particular features of two organizations; Aldi and Starbucks. Aldi Aldi began in 1914 as a small food store in a mining town of Essen in Germany. It was founded by Anna Albrecht as a sole owner. The store was then taken over by his sons in 1948 who opened it in four more locations in Germany. They then opened the first self-service store in 1954 at Essen, Germany. The name ALDI was from the names of the original owner, Albrecht, where AL was from ALBRECHT and DI was for DISCOUNT. Hence, Albrecht Discount. In 1967, already more 200 ALDI locations had been opened and in 2011, they were targeting over 4000 stores worldwide. Aldi is therefore t recognized as a leading low-price grocery, currently with over 9000 stores in over 18 countries. The store model at Aldi is built on creating efficiency at every level. This includes distribution, construction and specific stocked products. The store had every aspect of its operations rethought and reinvented in order to ensure maximum quality of products every time and offer savings for the customers. The first store in the United States was started in 1976 at the Southeastern lowa. The stores have since then spread to 1,300 in 32 states making the US branches alone to grow to a multi-billion dollar retail business. Due to the continuous effort of the store to integrity, customer satisfaction and high quality provision, it has since become the low-price grocery leader in the United States as well as in the UK (ALDI, 2013). Purpose The core purpose of Aldi is to provide value and quality to all their esteemed customers through being efficient and fair in all that they do. The purpose of this company tells more about what they are there to do and how they are doing it. Their main focus is for their customers to obtain value and quality for their money. They, therefore, ensure that this is achieved through applying fairness and being efficient in their operations. At least through being efficient, they will have to cut on the cost of operation to provide quality products to the customer at fair prices. The business is, therefore, based on consistency, simplicity and responsibility to aim at achieving its purpose (ALDI, 2012). Aims and Objectives The main aim of Aldi is to provide its customers with the products that they purchase regularly and ensure that the products supplied to customers are always of the highest quality possible and guarantee those customers low prices on those products. Aldi, therefore, tries to achieve this aim by obtaining its products from hand-picked suppliers who sell their products who sell their products under the brand label of Aldi. Because of this aim, the company has, since the initiation in 1913, established itself as a remarkable retailer in the global market that provides quality and high-value products at fair prices. The main objective of Aldi is to grow its market share within and beyond the UK grocery market. After the economic crisis, consumers have been very keen about increased demand for value for their money. It has been identified that 80% of Aldis customer base also shops at their supermarkets. This may show that the customers receive increased value for money at Aldi stores and supermarkets. The main marketing strategy of the store is therefore to build on their customer loyalty. They do this by encouraging the customers who are already familiar with their products to keep buying Aldi brands (ALDI, 2013). Forms of Ownership Aldi was started and run as a family business. The ownership was taken up by the two brothers, Albrecht and Theo, who are now both dead. Their families still claim ownership of the stores in the UK while other stores in the other 18 countries globally are owned in the form of franchise and mergers (David, 2014). Organizational Structure ALDI has a very simple organizational structure that helps in efficient decision making. Divisional structure of Aldi is headed by a president with five directors reporting to him. There is the director of warehousing and transportation, director of real estate, director of operations, director of purchasing and director of administration. Under the director of warehousing and transportation, there are warehouse supervisors and warehouse employees respectively. Under the director of operations, there are three district managers followed by store management teams and store employees in that order. Under the director of administration, there are divisional office support staff (ALDI, 2014). Starbucks The story of the Starbuck begun back in the 1971. At that time, the company was majorly involved in the roasting and retailing whole and ground coffee. Other products they got involved in included tea, spices and they began with a single store in Seattles Pike Place Market. Currently, Starbucks serves millions of customers each day with exceptional products at their 20,000 retail stores in 65 countries globally (Starbucks, 2014). Purpose Starbucks has a purpose to inspire and nurture the human spirit-One person, One cup and one neighborhood at a time. This statement of purpose makes the company passionate about their products. They are, therefore, driven to sourcing the finest coffee beans which they then roast with great care. They have struggled with their strategy to create a third place for people to go to a part from home and work. Here, they create a relaxing and unique atmosphere where people particularly students and young urban people may come and relax. Therefore, Starbucks has become a very convenient and nice place for people to have coffee (Starbucks, 2012). Aim and Objectives The main aim of the Starbucks is to bring the finest quality coffee to where it is convenient to meet their customers demands. Starbucks has always achieved its aim through ensuring that they stock only the highest quality, keenly selected coffee beans in all their branches all over the world. They have also maintained their appealing convenience and a unique and relaxing atmosphere in all their retail stores to help in achieving their aim. Starbucks also has a custom tailored coffee program to all their business partners globally. This is majorly aimed at ensuring that quality and value is maintained in all their retail stores globally. The company, therefore, has a consultative relationship, which is based on a proven success, expertise in the industry and the overall quality commitment (Starbucks, 2013). Forms of Ownership The chain of stores, Starbucks, does not operate under a franchise system. However, there are licensed storefronts by the company. Many of the Starbuck retail stores are company owned. The stores that deal in coffee and other beverages are majorly owned by the company. However, the other stores of Starbuck that deal in groceries, book stores, airports and such like, are licensed by the Starbucks. The licensed stores have a hard task since they are all controlled by the Starbucks Corporation that requires them to the strict guidelines of the Corporation. The Starbucks Corporate offices go ahead to approve all items and products that are stocked and sold at all the licensed stores. Starbucks also has a total institutional share of 73.71%. Under the institutional shares, there are a total of 1,041 holdings who hold a total of 552,445,416 shares. The top five holding institutions in Starbucks include; FMR LLC with a total of 51,224,089 shares, Vanguard group Inc. with 36,844,326 shares, Price T Rowe Associate Inc. /MD/ with 32,043,858 shares, State Street Corp with 29,395,740 shares and Barclays Global Investors UK Holdings LTD with 19,489,963 shares (Starbucks, 2014). Organizational Structure Starbuck organizational structure is not such an uncommon one. It, however, has a unique structure where the executives have to oversee all the operations at the headquarters, situated in the city where it was first initiated, in Seattle Washington. From the executives, there are the district managers who oversee the regional groupings of stores all over the country. The district managers are expected to report directly to the Starbuck Corporation directly. They, therefore, report to the executives based at the Corporation headquarters. There are store managers at every store who act as the chiefs. The store managers report directly to the district managers who oversee regional groupings. Under the store, manager is the number of shift supervisors who act on behalf of the store manager whenever they are not available at the store. The supervisors then report directly to the store managers. There are other employees at the store below the supervisors including the attendants, accountants, cashiers and the rest who are called baristas. The baristas report directly to the supervisors of the stores (Erin, 2012). Bibliography ALDI, 2012. Corporate Social Responsibility. Me Digital Journal, I(1), pp. 2-4. ALDI, 2013. About Aldi. Aldi International, p. 1. ALDI, 2013. Creating Value Through the Marketing Mix. Ward Howell International, I(1), pp. 1-2. ALDI, 2014. Divisional Structure. [Online] Available at: http://aldiuscareers.com/about-aldi/divisional-structure [Accessed 13 November 2014]. David, R., 2014. German Supermarket Tycoon. Florida Times, 22 July.pp. 1-3. Erin, S., 2012. Starbucks and Its Organization Design. The Chron: Small Businesses, pp. 1-2. Starbucks, 2012. Starbucks Mission Statement. Rapid Business Intelligence Success, pp. 1-3. Starbucks, 2013. Starbucks Proudly Brings the Coffee Experience to you. For Business, p. 1. Starbucks, 2014. SBUX Ownership Summary. Nasdaq Journal, p. 1. Starbucks, 2014. Starbucks Company Profile. Starbuck Coffee Company, pp. 1-4. Read More