Plans for Essay 2-02a

For our next essay, 2-02a, Mayu (Mayu's Blog), Rina (Rina's Blog), & I are going to review EXILE. We are going to compare their songs in terms of the period.  (30 words)

Importance of Corporate Identity

Do you like Starbucks? When I read Toyokeizai, I found a remarkable article about management strategy. Although each company should have each corporate identity, there are hundreds of firms which rationalize the management and lose ones. They usually experience a decline in performance. Starbucks was one of them. However, it’s becoming one of the most famous coffee shops in the world and everybody loves it. What happened to it? Why did it become popular again? I researched on the history and some simple strategies.

Around 2000, Starbucks had created a comfortable space and people coming there had spent a luxurious time with the sophisticated smell of the coffee. Several years later, there were a lot of Starbucks in many places. According to ZAi Online, the number of shops had been increasing all the time since the first one opened in Ginza. But what was most astounding is that whereas there were 854 Starbucks all over Japan in 2008, and the sales volume had increased by 100 billion yen, the profits were down by 55 billion yen from 2007 to 2008. Then, the sales are increasing and the profits are up now. I’m going to tell you why the profits were down and restored.

As I mentioned above, that’s the streamlining of management and taking back the corporate identity. For example, baristas had stopped grinding coffee beans at the shops and had started doing it in other places to serve a cup of coffee quickly. This change killed the nice smell of it. Also, the design in all shops looked the same, for they had opened here and there and the design could not help being simplified. Because of these strategies that promoted greater efficiency and productivity, Starbucks lost its appeal by itself. 

Luckily, Howard Shultz, the CEO of the company, knows the importance of Starbucks’ identity. First, he decided to drive prices up. He temporarily closed 7100 shops in the U.S. and gave training for the baristas again. Then the company developed the new menu of blend coffee and restarted the way to grind coffee beans in each shop.

To conclude, companies should not lose a corporate identity. As a result of these strategies, Starbucks was failing, but improving better. When I find a job, I’d like to check over each character of the company and choose the best one I can conform.                                                                                         (393 words)

My favorite vacation memory

This summer, I went to the U.S. for the homestay program and I had a very good time there. However, that was the 2^nd time to go abroad for a long time. When I was 16 years old, I visited Canada for studying English for a month. This time I make a point of writing this memory, for I’m tired of telling someone or writing about one in Minnesota. I applied for a scholarship to go to Prince Edward Island out of a whim. I had to write an essay about the reason why I’d like to go there in English and I won! All members of my family were glad to hear that, but they worried about my staying there by myself. After I took airplanes three times, I got there and my host mother called for me. She was so beautiful and kind. Though she didn’t have husband and children, she always took me somewhere after school.   [159 words]

My favorite slogan

I like this slogan, "TIME IS MONEY" the best. When I was in junior high school, my cram school teacher told me in his lesson. That means time is important, so you should think a great deal of it as money. In addition, if you manage your time with zero waste, you can save and gain more money. When I read an article on Rakuten and UNIQLO, their CEO also mentioned the similar things to this slogan. Although I’m not good at spending time meaningfully, I always remind myself of the importance of time. We need some recess between the daily hard works, but we have to do what we need, such as studying, doing assignments, and house works. Recently I’m likely to forget short sentence and indulge in using my cell phone and going out with others. However, this typing topic reminded me of what I have to do now. I need to do book reviews, English Central, and hit the books about tour management for my future.  [170 words]

My favorite animal

My favorite kinds of animal are dogs and bears. Though I have never had any dogs at home, I'm always fascinated with them. Particularly, I love toy poodle. It's a really popular kind of dog with soft and curly hair. I'd like to have one at home since I was a child, but I can't because my home is owned by others. My mother also likes this kind too, so she thinks she might have one in secret someday. On the other hand, when I went to Cuddly Dominion in Aso long time ago, I saw some bears waiting their feed from customers. They were holding up their hands at the sky and looking at us with their shoe-button eyes. It seemed they had a big appetite and they were so cute. That’s why I like these animals very much!   [140 words]

My favorite TV show

I don't watch TV so often, but I'll write about my favorite TV show. In the morning, I always watch Zip, a news and entertainment program. In particular, I watch Moco's Kitchen to learn some nice recipes from Mokomichi Hayami. He is a cool actor who is good at cooking. After that, I usually watch Sukkiri, the same type of the program as Zip. I like the main caster, Kozi Katoh. He is an outspoken comedian, so I like him. Also, when I turn on Sky Perfect TV, I love MTV so much. As I'm into foreign music, I sometimes watch US Top 50 or UK one. Those programs show me the latest songs in those countries. When I was a child, I watched some TV dramas, but now I don't have enough time to watch them due to my part-time job, so I lost my interests to them.   [149 words]

My favorite dish

I'd like to tell you about my favorite dish. Since I was a little kid, I really like soba. Do you know what it is? It's a kind of Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. When I was around 8 years old, my grandparents would often take me to Sobakoh. It's a famous soba restaurant located in Yamamuro, Kumamoto City and we used to live near there. Especially I like zaru-soba and tororo-soba, so I was happy to go there. They taste so good and they are healthy. However, after we moved to where we live now, I didn't eat soba so often. Now, in the university, I have some opportunities to eat one at the school cafeteria or Loson. That's why I almost always order hot soba there or buy zaru-soba and tororo-soba at Loson.  [144 words]

BR 2-01: Mother Teresa (Adrian-Vallance, 2006)

"She said goodbye to her family. She was eighteen years old."

This is a story of Mother Teresa. She is a world-famous nun, who saved a lot of poor people in India and received a novel peace prize. Although she died in 1997, she is still popular all over the world.

When I was 14, I took part in a recitation contest and its theme was about her. The more I recited the story, I found her brave and humble. Moreover, I have got interested in poverty and street children because I had joined a NGO group called "Free The Children" in high school. That's why I checked out this book as soon as I found it. 

What I respect her most is that she decided to be a nun when she was only 18 and she never saw her family. I think this action needed much bravery for her. When I was 18, I could only think about myself.

Reference

 Adrian-Vallance, D'arcy. (2006). Mother Teresa. Harlow,England; Penguin Books.

 

 (149 words)