Social and environmental responsibility team- Humanities
Please read this assignment and answer the three questions below. Please make sure your grammar and punctuation is correct. Answer the questions below each of them.
Richard Foos of Rhino Records built a multimillion-dollar entertainment experience out of a pile of dusty old records, and did it by sticking to his ideals. Foos fosters ethical practices in Rhino’s day-to-day business, supporting numerous charitable groups and promoting community service by Rhino employees. See for yourself how Foos responds to social and environmental issues by going to Rhino’s website. Go to http://www.rhino.com to access the site then answer the following questions:
1. What is the social mission of Rhino Records?
As stated on the Rhino website their social mission is “to make a difference whenever we can.” They carry this out by being a strong supporter of social change efforts throughout Los Angeles and try and carry it beyond the Los Angeles demographic as well. The premise of their mission is to have Rhino customers and employees get involved in the community and make change happen.
2. What does the Social and Environmental Responsibility Team (SERT) do to implement this mission?
To implement the mission SERT hosts speaker lunches that are aimed to educate, inspire and inform its guests on social issues. At these lunches there are frequently donation bins for recycling purposes (items that are still functional but no longer used by their owner…thus passed on to those in need).
They also use advice from the Liberty Hill foundation on aspects of charitable giving.
3. How does Rhino Records encourage its employees to get involved in community service?
The collaborate with local organizations that serve the community and specifically assist populations that are at risk…consequently through their efforts are able to assist these populations and give them a healthy future. The devote time at the Al Wooten Heritage Center (helping children on Saturdays) …they have also helped with Katrina clean-up efforts and are part of the reading program for 2-4 graders through Disney.
There is also a community service program that Rhino employees can participate in and gain non-monetary benefits. For each hour volunteered they can earn
an half-hour off.
4. How do Rhino employees communicate the company’s social mission to their customers?
Rhino extends its mission through various public service announcements as well as including information in the products (cd booklets, box sets, etc) …they include information about organizations and the idea of working toward social change. They also have a specific video project where the proceeds benefit organizations.
Please read this assignment and answer the three questions below. Please make sure your grammar and punctuation is correct. Answer the questions below each of them.
Keeping the Air in Blimpie
In 1964, Tony Conza borrowed $2,000 to open his first sandwich shop with two of his old schoolmates in Hoboken, New Jersey. Three years later they had 10 stores. What they didn’t have was enough experience to manage the business. The growing losses pushed the partners out, but Conza’s self-confidence told him to stick with it. He hired an operations expert to help him learn management skills. As the business grew stronger, Tony decided that franchising might be a boost to the struggling company. He hired a lawyer to prepare franchise arrangements. By 1983, there were 150 franchises and revenues approaching $1 million a year. Conza went public (sold stock to the general public) that year, putting Blimpie stock on the open market.
Blimpie added only 50 new franchises in the next five years. This made Tony grow restless. He felt that he let the details of managing his business deflate his entrepreneurial passion. He vowed to change from a manager drowning in day-to-day details into a leader who could create a vision and inspire his employees and franchisees to maximize their talents. Conza chose a team of his senior managers to revise goals for the company and then delegated the new responsibilities of meeting those goals to his managers. Since then, Blimpie has grown to more than 1900 outlets. Now Blimpie sandwiches are served in such diverse places as on campus at the University of Texas at Austin; in a bowling alley in Collinsville, Illinois; on some Delta airline flights; and in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Conza adds a personal touch to Blimpie advertising by appearing in national radio and regional television ads.
In 1997, Conza hired a consultant to help find another food brand to franchise in combination with Blimpie. In 1999, some 100 Blimpie outlets installed Pasta Central franchises in their shops. The stores now offer lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and other pasta products on their menus. Conza feels that the combination will build dinner traffic and help the company compete for better retail locations. In the past, the company had to pass up some choice retail sites because they were too large for Blimpie outlets by themselves. With the two brands sharing space, more sites become feasible. Blimpie is not the first company to move to co-branding of franchises. Co-branding of franchise outlets has helped several franchises stand out in especially competitive and crowded fields. On a busy road in Columbus, Ohio, for example, an all-in-one Shell Oil/Charley’s Steakery/ TCBY caters to shoppers who want to fill their cars and their stomachs in one stop.
Conza’s business started as a partnership, changed to a sole proprietorship, changed again to a strict franchise operation, and finally changed to a franchise corporation. Each form of ownership has its advantages and disadvantages.
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1. What are the major advantages of franchising for a firm such as Blimpie?
The advantages are that the company will deal with the financial aspect of the business. The applicant to become a franchise pays a fee and possibly other fees in the future but the major portion of the assets are handled by the parent company. The parent company would provide training for employees, thus saving the franchiser money.
Blimpie franchisers can focus on their location and not in the overall company aspect.
2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages for a company such as Blimpie changing from private ownership to a corporate form of ownership?
Blimpie is now on the open market …they are not owned by one person. They are public, meaning that they have stock and market share options available to employees and public investors. When this happens decisions are made by a board of directors and the once owner is now a share holder which h means he shares his decision making ability with shareholders and investors… hw can make suggestions but not ultimate decisions. For example of he chose to institute smoothies in to the menu the decision would have to be approved before instituted. However, although this authority is lost there can be greater monetary gain because once the company branches out an franchises pop up the once sole proprietor will benefit because of their interest in the company.
3. What opportunities are created for firms such as Blimpie by entering into co-branding agreements with other franchises? What are the disadvantages of such a franchise union?
Co branding can lower cost and assist the company to stand out in a crowded market. One other co-branded example is Dunkin Donuts-Baskin Robbins. Together a co branded team is stronger and gives the customer more options than alone.
Please read this assignment and answer the three questions below. Please make sure your grammar and punctuation is correct. Answer the questions below each of them.
BMOC: Starting a Small Business at School
Many students do not wait until they complete school before they try to get their feet wet in small-business management. Quite a few go beyond the planning stage and actually run their businesses while still in school. For example, high school senior Jason Bernard runs his drawing firm, called Architectural Rendering, from his bedroom. Other young people look around, see thousands of students, and try to develop small businesses that would appeal to students. For example, some students assemble and sell “home emergency kits” for students returning in the fall. The kits contain items like pens, chocolate chip cookies, aspirin, and other college “necessities.” The kits are sold to the parents and distributed to students the first week of class as a start-the-year-right gift from home.
Some students produce and sell calendars with pictures of beautiful women or male “hunks” on campus. Others sell desk mats with advertising messages on the sides. Some students become salespeople for beer companies, cosmetic companies, and other traditional firms. They, too, feel as if they are in their own business on campus, because they have exclusive sales rights but don’t have to assume as many risks.
One student earns more than his professors by selling ice cream from a truck. Others try to learn the retail business by delivering pizza or other fast foods. Some students have started moving services, moving students’ goods from home to school and back.
Dick Gilbertson considered a number of options when he was a student at Indiana University. He felt students might enjoy having food other than pizza and subs delivered to the dorms. His research showed that students preferred McDonald’s hamburgers and Taco Bell burritos. Students said they were willing to pay $1.00 more for delivery of a Big Mac, fries, and a Coke rather than ride the mile or so to McDonald’s. Gilbertson’s company, Fast Breaks, now serves 13,000 students. Guess who his partner is? A professor of entrepreneurship at the university.
Jimmy Enriquez was busy getting a degree in accounting at the University of Texas when he started two companies. One is a construction-site cleaning business run by his sister. It has 15 employees, grosses about $4,000 a week, and has expanded to Dallas and Houston. The other business is a vending company that leases Foosball games. Foosball was dead when Jimmy and his brother Rocky set out. But they started Foosball leagues, let beginners play for free, and built a prosperous business. Jimmy’s advice to potential entrepreneurs: “If you wait until you’re out of school and working for somebody else, you’re going to get used to that big car-and you’re not going to want to gamble with that stuff. It’s better to start a company when you’re a student, while you’re still used to driving a junker and living like a dog.” Jimmy started a University of Texas entrepreneur club that now has 260 members. It is one of more than 350 entrepreneurship clubs on college campuses across the United States. The Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs published a list of the top 100 businesses started by people under 30. All are worth over $1 million.
College campuses aren’t the only places to find guidance in entrepreneurship. The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship to Handicapped and Disadvantaged Youth in Newark, New Jersey, trains former drug dealers, street toughs, and special-education students to sell goods and services. Their businesses range from sneakers and lingerie sales to manicures and car repair. Maybe you should consider getting started now, too.
1. What are the advantages and potential problems of starting a business while in school?
One primary advantage is gaining experience before plummeting into a business after school. The student is enrolled in business classes and has hands on advice for their businesses form professors, something they might have to pay for when out of school and starting a business (consultants are hired). Students also learn about a given business and then can decide whether or not to invest further in the undertaking…one disadvantage might be that there is competition at the university level…and hopefully the idea is not stolen and marketed beyond the university before the student can branch out to a larger customer base.
2. Though you do not take courses on a traditional campus, entrepreneurial opportunities surface in many areas of everyday life. What opportunities exist for satisfying needs at work or in your neighborhood community?
There are many plausible opportunities in the entrepreneur field. Some ideas include, gardening, landscaping, tutoring, and child/elder care. These business ventures usually star small and hand-on but can quickly become larger companies with a high profit margin depending on how far the entrepreneur is willing to market and advance their business venture.
3. Pick one entrepreneurial idea and answer the following questions:
Garden Clean up and design
A. What need would your business satisfy? Aesthetics of community homes and businesses (garden clean-up and design)
B. Who would be your potential clients? Elderly clients, busy homeowners, small businesses
C. How would you initially advertise your business? Word- of mouth, flyers, referrals
D. What would be the first five steps you would take in starting your business?
1. Survey community for need and assess if demographics will work within a specific neighborhood or community (if not seek out a neighboring community)
2. Secure proper equipment to begin first client (gardening implements, invoicing paperwork, etc)
3. Create a model yard for perspective clients to view…and or create a brochure with photos of services and fees.
4. Advertise business. Create flyers, posters, business cards, and etc. post advertising in key venues within the community where client demographic will read and notice. Hand out business card to area businesses to further promote.
5. Market! Create incentives and deals to expand and secure customer base. For example, a garden design will cost $50.00 and for that $50.00 you will get a illustration and step by step plan to achieve a aesthetically pleasing garden (created by the client) … However, if the company were to do the word as designed on the illustration then the $50.00 fee would be waived and the client would only have to pay for labor and materials to complete the design.
