Sustainability Operations in Restaurant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainability Operations in Restaurant - Essay Example In addition, sustainability is quite important to make sure that there lays the presence of water, minerals, and efficient resources for the purpose of defending human health along with the environment (Blackburn, 2007). In this paper, the conception of sustainability and the introduction of various sustainability related policies have been discussed. Various aspects that include the overview of a definite sustainable policy, i.e. introduction of organic food along with its overall analysis and its implementation, will also be considered in the discussion. Business Operation: Lemongrass Restaurant Lemongrass Restaurant was founded in the year 1989 with a set of four chefs and was recognised to be the first organisation to serve a variety of Thai dishes to the customers in Melbourne, Australia. In terms of sustainability of business operations, the organisation does not entertain any sort of packaged or processed sauces or pastes to be used in its various dishes. Each of the dishes of Lemongrass along with its ingredients are cautiously selected, cooked, and prepared for the ultimate customers, preserving the organic values of those recipes. The organisation believes that every dish and its preparation should be made with hands and that no packaged products should be utilized. This particular feature ultimately reveals the mission and the promise of the organisation. With these virtues, the organisation has attained numerous awards and recognitions that include the â€Å"Best Thai Winner† of 2003 according to the â€Å"Age Good Food Guide† and also â€Å"2 Stars Winner† of 2002 according to â€Å"Mietta’s Best Australian Restaurants†. Along with the Thai dishes, Lemongrass also serves Malaysian and Indonesian items in its wide assortment of menu list (Lemongrass, 2009). In relation to sustainable business operations, the major principle of Lemongrass is to deliver fresh and pure dishes to its customers; it can be regarded as th e dynamic move of the organisation towards the aspect of sustainability. From the above discussion, it can be apparently identified that the organisation remained intensely concerned with the sustainability issue along with the impact upon the environment while performing its business operations. Lemongrass usually serves its Thai along with other continental dishes to the customers by making use of its fresh handmade pastes. In this context and as regards making fresh as well as handmade pastes, it costs twelve times more to the company to prepare the pastes rather than buying any sort of manufactured pastes. Thus it can be stated that the crucial sustainable facets of Lemongrass is to deliver fresh, pure, and hygienic dishes to its customers (Lemongrass, 2009). With this concern, the online official website of Lemongrass and various other policy reports have been used in order to gather information regarding the current performances of the organisati

Liberal Arts Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Liberal Arts Studies - Essay Example His views have more to do with how one is perceived as opposed to how thing really are. As a result, morality and immorality is not as black and white as Cicero sees it. In a society where there is a lot of crime and strife, Machiavelli’s views could be seen as both ethical and practical. If a large majority of the people are immoral, it would seem that the moral minority would be constantly taken advantage of. Therefore, people may justify that in order to merely survive; a person must be willing to take advantage of those that would constantly take advantage of them. Morality is bended all the time in real life. Much of this bending is a result of a desire for money, influence, power, and fame. A professional usually won’t tell a big lie but will often tell what are known as little â€Å"white lies.† These lies are prevalent in business and society in general. Cicero would argue that a true professional would never bend their personal morality for gain, althoug h he does argue for the importance of self-interest as long as it doesn’t harm others. In this sense, one could justify telling a â€Å"white lie† as long as it doesn’t harm anyone. Machiavelli would view this behavior as ethical because he feels it is more realistic. Unlike Cicero, Machiavelli would say that the ends do indeed justify the means and that if someone is able to gain and maintain power the means they used to do it are justified.

Short response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short response - Essay Example The capitalists of all countries forced their workforce to wage for the issue through massive wage cuts and layoffs. At the same time, the issue drove the high-class persons to construct protectionist alliances to protect their destabilized economies. Britain constructed its Sterling alliance, while America passed the Smoot-Hawley statement to wall off the American economy from competitors. As anticipated, economic competition, become an open war to grab opportunities and regions from rival nations. The exploration of sustenance stretched extraordinarily throughout WWII. In the United States, researchers attempted to recognize which vitamins and minerals were most fundamental to a sound body and in what sums. Studies were led to figure out what number of calories were smoldered doing different exercises. Legitimate sustenance arrangement, stockpiling and taking care of, and conservation turned into a top necessity for the military. Troopers proportions were deliberately detailed to supply the greatest measure of nourishment and vitality, while accommodating mixed bag and taste2. Meeting these tests implied working first in the research facility before working in the kitchen. The advancement of the D-proportion gives an extraordinary case. The "D" proportion was a high-calorie crisis apportion that came as a strengthened chocolate bar. A three-share bundle of these bars might furnish a fighter with 1,800 calories of vitality. Once the military settled on a chocolate bar for thei r crisis proportion, researchers set about making it, with the accompanying prerequisites: it needed to weigh 4 ounces, it must be high in calories, it must have the capacity to withstand high temperatures, and it needed to taste "a bit superior to a bubbled potato." This last necessity was forced to keep officers from nibbling on their crisis proportions in non-crisis circumstances.

Adopting Strategy and Operations Management Essay - 30

Adopting Strategy and Operations Management - Essay Example The author of the paper states that for the company’s operational perspective, they would be losing millions from the sales due to this market stagnation, but they must also augment it and continue and salvage what profit that could be had. Their target customers should be well informed of which stores are still operational so that somehow profits could still be derived while even offering discounts to entice the market. Business is always a gamble; it is something indefinite, uncertain, and ever-changing. It is important to be readily flexible in shifting and adapting operations should a profitable venture present itself. In an article by Sam Grobart for Bloomberg, he cites that mobile ads are garnering much profit for the companies that engage in it. In this age of social media and smartphones, the bridge of communication to the consumers can be easily bridged, which is why many companies should be shifting their attention into this. Google, which garners the most profit out of this, has also adopted its operations in a way wherein Android devices could also benefit. With the introduction of mobile-payment schemes, they have enabled their advertisers to have more of a monopolized attention to the consumers through their smartphones

Personal Values Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 13250 words

Personal Values Development - Essay Example For employees to be productive in an organization, they need to hold positive attitudes toward the elements of organizational life. For example, one should view such factors as work, authority, taking risks in decision making, the need for control, and the need for change in a positive way. I try to avoid a negative attitudinal posture toward these factors because they will keep one's job satisfaction continually low as well as stimulate considerable resistance to many normal organizational processes and activities. Someone with the wrong attitudes shies away from high effort because the performance it yields is not perceived as worthy. It is not "real" performance from the viewpoint of the employee (Langan, 1994). Personal values develop during a long time and are influenced by work environment and communication. I pay a special attention to understanding of my colleagues and effective communication, high standards of work performance and personal growth. Strong ethical principles help me to solve problems of daily life and behave morally in difficult situations. Problem-solving skill is the ability to identify, define, and resolve difficulties. One with this skill has an inquisitive mind, an ability to reason, and a desire to search for truth. These employees know how to investigate and analyze a problem situation and to diagnose sources of trouble. This skill also involves creative ability--ability to generate novel ideas and to derive multiple ways of attacking a problem (Mayer, 2000). Problem-solving skill is in part manifested in one's capacity for critically evaluating potential solutions to problems and for making decisions. Many employees simply do not understand how to make a quality decision. Indeed, many fear making decisions because of the risk of choosing the wrong course of action. The quality decision maker knows how and does not shy away from the task. He or she has likely mastered the scientific method as applied to problem solving and, because of this, likely has a high measure of self-confidence relative to decision making. Problem-solving skill is critical for every employee at every level in an organization. Every employee faces problems daily. Machine operators need to diagnose causes of breakdown and then get their machines fixed. Department managers may need to diagnose why customers may be disgruntled and then attempt resolution. Top-level managers have to diagnose such things as the causes of declining sales, poor employee performance, and flaws in organizational communications systems. A strong sense of duty guides my behavior and decision-making. My actions are guided by judicial action based on the Judeo-Christian teachings that are the foundation for most of the moral and ethical direction of business and government. In the meantime in the moral-ethical area, more emphasis is being placed on psychology and the philosophies (everything is relative; nothing is absolute; everything is constantly changing, so set your own morals and ethics based on the times). Broad issue orientation has given way to sharper focus not only on issues but on social awareness, social responsiveness, and on social responsibility implementation of these issues. I agree that employees need to hold values compatible with organizational life. Strong economic,

Gentrification and Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gentrification and Class - Essay Example In these circumstances, two sides to the debate exist that include the non-gentrification residents and the gentrified residents. However, the upgrade tends to come with a price attached in which the resident that were pre-gentrified may not afford the new pay rates or property taxes. Driving out those cannot afford to pay the new rent rates and property taxes may be the most acceptable practice as the argument is that they could decrease revenues. In many cases, the transformation may include the conversion of old buildings to developed shops and areas of living, which translates to increased rents. However, John Arena negated this process in his book Driven from New Orleans in which African-Americans had to pave the way for the advancement of New Orleans after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. After Katrina, the African Americans that were of local income levels did not receive financing to build and repair their homes, but instead demolitions took place (Arena 87). In his book, John Arena argues that the plan to demolish the old buildings in New Orleans began in the 1980s, long before the Hurricane hit the area meaning that the White Republicans conceived the gentrification plan before. Reasons why Arena says that the battle for public housing in New Orleans was a long struggle As the local community had named it, â€Å"the Negro removal† began in the 1960s in which the elite in New Orleans sought to upgrade the public houses at the cost of the low-income earners residing there (Arena 37). In essence, this neo-liberal economic activity is of the view that the low-income earners lived in impoverished states and it was their duty to help them. However, the residents of New Orleans viewed this to be a federal disaster as the hatching of this plan was national, but the implementation had to be at the federal level. Ideally, New Orleans became a city with the African American population being the highest in the late 1970s because of agricultura l mechanization through those that were on their way route to Crescent City. From that time, New Orleans became significant in the fight against racial inequalities and protecting the rights of the poor hence making the demotions on the public houses to be a vital setback to the advancements that this population had managed to achieve. The white and the black elites saw the move to demolish the old buildings in New Orleans as the only way to eradicating poverty, but the African American population did not share the same views. The impact of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans city leaders’ desires to progress private development According to Arena, the African American elite and the leadership failed the residents of the New Orleans as they were not vocal enough to reverse the decision to demolish the old buildings that belonged to the people. The arena’s argument is that the non-governmental organizations, the elected officials from the African-American community, an d other foundations had a hand in displacing the African American population of New Orleans. Many lost their homes because of the devastating Hurricane, but this did not deter the white Republicans from bringing down these structures in an attempt to establish modern day complexes. The arena’s view is that the demolition of the old buildings in New Orleans did not intend to benefit lower income earning African Americans from its onset, but it was rather immoral (Card & Raphael 112). The low income earners

Starbucks in China Essay Example for Free

Starbucks in China Essay Why did Starbucks fail in the Forbidden City? Zane lee (Ziang Li) ESLI PMP Why did Starbucks fail in the Forbidden City? Introduction Nowadays, economic globalization is becoming an irreversible tendency; therefore, different multinational corporations always want to extend their branches to other countries, especially for the food companies, such as, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Burger King. In recent years, the world has also witnessed that China’s economy has developed to a higher level since China has reformed and opened for more than 30 years. According to Lardy, in the middle of 1990s, China had become one of the largest world’s trading nations (Lardy, 1995, p.1). Now, Chinese customers have more desire and abilities to enjoy western food. Therefore, many multinational food corporations, such as, Starbucks, KFC, and Krispy Kreme, want to enter in Chinese market, and these companies treat China as an emerging market because of the development of Chinese economy and consumption ability. However, China has thousands years of history, and its market situation is complicated. It is hard for western companies to be adapted to the situation. Now, some western food companies, to some extent, have achieved success in China, such as, Starbucks, KFC, and McDonald’s. There were also many companies, such as Dunkin, Krispy Kreme, and Burger King failed in China (Rein, 2012). Starbucks is one of the few that has successfully entered the Chinese market, but it is still facing many challenges, and it also failed in the most traditional areas in China, such as in the Forbidden City. In the past ten years, Starbucks has achieved much success in general business areas in China. Starbucks is an international coffee retailers which was founded in the early of 1970s in Seattle, U.S. It sells both a variety of coffee and other related beverages all over the world (Marketline, 2012, pp.3-4). Starbucks entered in Chinese market in 1999 (Wang, 2012, para.3). As the Trefils team (2012) shows that with the development of Starbucks, â€Å"Starbucks has successfully opened more than 570 stores in 48 cities since it first entered China twelve years ago. Building on this momentum, it plans to open 1500 stores by 2015† (Trefils team, 2012). To achieve the succe ss,  Starbucks’ marketing strategies have exerted a big influence in this process. According to Rein (2012), Starbucks introduced â€Å"coffee experience shop† to give customers an opportunity to experience Starbucks’ culture, and Starbucks developed some tea-flavor coffee to be adapted to Chinese flavor. Moreover, Starbucks chose wonderful shop location to promote its brand image and avoided using advertising or promotions to make direct conflicts with the Chinese tea culture. Furthermore, Starbucks also collaborates with local companies to spread Starbucks’ business and to reduce Starbucks’ cost (Rein, 2012). Through taking these strategies, Starbucks, to some degree, has overcame the challenges from both the traditional culture and the local competitors, such as U.B.C and Dio Coffee. However, Starbucks still failed in the Forbidden City. According to Netzley, Digantral, Wong, Tan, Hee (2011), at the Yale CEO Leadership Summit (2006), China Central Television’s news compere Chenggang Rui asked Jim that â€Å"Do you have plans to open stores in the Taj Mahai, Versailles, or Buckingham Palace?†. Half year later, Rui posted a blog in Sina blog to against Starbucks’ existence in the Forbidden City, and he thought that Starbucks existed in the Forbidde n City was a kind of erosion for Chinese culture. Even though in 2007, the internet was an infancy in China, it was growing fast. There were tens of thousands of people following Rui’s blog at that time. â€Å"In January 2007, Rui, an experienced media personality from CCTV turned this communication channel on Starbucks. The effort to remove the iconic western brand from the centre of the Forbidden City quickly became global news† (Netzleym, Digantral, Wong, 2006). Several months later, Starbucks closed the coffeehouse in the Forbidden City. By analysing Starbucks’ failure in the Forbidden City, this paper will help Starbucks to know how to control the risks, such as entering in some special areas in China, in the future and help other international companies to understand the Chinese culture. In recent years, Scholars have analysed how Starbucks can achieve success in the general areas in China. For example, Starbucks has two main business strategies: License and Joint Venture (Harrison, Chang, Gauthier, Joerchel, Nevarez, Wang, 2005, p.281), and Starbucks also uses HR strategy, which is offering good salary for staff, to maintain the quality workforce (Zhang, 2009, p.18). Scholars also have discussed some culture factors on cross-culture brand extension. For instance, â€Å"consumer s in several East Asian countries have higher levels  of self-construal. Therefore, the likelihood of brand extension success is expected to be higher in respect of these group† (Henseler, Horvà ¡th, Sarstedt, Zimmermann, 2010, p.8). Even though Starbucks’ marketing strategies made it success in general business areas in China, this does not mean that there is no potential risks for Starbucks in China. Starbucks is still facing challenges in the most traditional areas, such as in the Forbidden City, because the Forbidden City’s imperial culture excludes foreign culture, Chinese people’s nationalism could not accept Starbucks’ existence in the Forbidden City, and Starbucks’ fashion culture contradicts to the Forbidden City’s classic culture. This paper will discuss Starbucks’ failure in the Forbidden City from these three parts. The serious culture shock in the Forbidden City One of the most important reasons why Starbucks failed in the Forbidden City was Starbucks and the Forbidden City had different cultures, and they were different symbolisms. China has five thousand years history, and its traditional culture was handed down by each generation. Nowadays, Chinese traditional culture has exerted a big influence on modern business, especially on multinational companies which have set up business in China but have different cultures with Chinese. If multinational companies want to run their business to be more successful in China, it is necessary for them to understand Chinese traditional culture, especially for the company, like Starbucks, which want to set up its business in the most traditional areas in China. Starbucks’ symbol of western country could not combined with the Forbidden City’s imperial culture The Forbidden City is the symbolism of the imperial culture (Han Zhang, 2009, p.397). According to China. Org (2005), the Forbidden C ity (Imperial Palace) is setting in the center of Beijing, and it is the largest and most complete imperial palace and ancient building group in China. The buildings of Forbidden City was started to be built in 1406 and was finished in 1420. Since Ming dynasty, there had been twenty-four emperors lived and ruled China in this palace (China.org, 2005, para. 1). In the Forbidden City, yellow is the primary, and almost all roofs of buildings were decorated with yellow glazed tiles. During Ming and Qing dynasty, yellow was the color that only emperors could use. This kind of color â€Å"represents the emperor, the central figure of China, and also  represents land, the root and origin of all earthly creatures† (Han Zhang, 2009, p.397). Moreover, in ancient China, besides servants, only the people who had direct relationship with emperor could live in the Forbidden City. Therefore, the Forbidden City can be the symbol of the imperial culture. Starbucks is the symbolism of western culture. Starbucks is American company. Now, drinking coffee in Starbucks coffeehouse has become a normal living style for many American people. Moreover, Starbucks’ branches have spread to all over the world. On the one hand, according to Curtin and Gaither (2009), â€Å"In the eyes of many Chinese people, the image of Starbucks is encoded with a meaning that might convey, like many other western fast food brands which introduced from U.S., ‘America, western value’ in China† (Curtin Gaither, 2007, p.85). On the other hand, in or der to entering in Chinese market, Starbucks has developed its coffee flavours to be adapted to Chinese taste, and Starbucks also sells tea and moon cakes which are the traditional Chinese food in its coffee house (Rein, 2012). These product, to some degree, can implicate traditional culture. The supreme imperial culture of the Forbidden City excludes Starbucks’ culture. The imperial culture is a traditional Chinese culture, and it has thousands years of history. In the ancient time, normal people could not use the stuff that emperor used and also could not enjoy the food that emperor enjoyed, which means that the imperial power was supreme and had the feature of exclusiveness. According to Chiu and Cheng (2007), when Starbucks opened its coffeehouse in the Forbidden City, these traditional Chinese food were also sold in Starbucks Forbidden City Shop, and on the surface of its products, Starbucks still used its English logo (Chiu Cheng, 2007, pp.85-86). As Bzelova shows that moon cakes, which have thousands years of history, are treated as the symbol of family reunion and the round harvest moon. Initially, moon cake was invented by soldier. In Ming dynasty, the mood cake was introduced into the Forbidden City and became a kind of specialized food for emperor at one time (Bzelova, 2013). Another fact is moon cakes are usually yellow. As above mention ed, in the ancient time, only emperor could use the color â€Å"Yellow†. However, Starbucks sold the moon cakes with English logo, it was a kind of contradiction to the traditional Chinese culture. Moreover, the English logo which was painted on the yellow moon cake was a kind of contradiction to the imperial culture. Even though emperor was disappeared  for almost one hundred year and the Forbidden City had also become a tourist attraction, the imperial culture still exist in the Forbidden City, which can be revealed from the Forbidden City’s main color—â€Å"Yellow†. Therefore, selling these products by a foreign company could emerge conflicts to the Forbidden City’s imperial culture, and the imperial culture of the Forbidden City, to some degree, prevented Starbucks to run its business in the Forbidden City. Chinese nationalism could not accept Starbucks in the Forbidden City Chinese people’s nationalism could not accept Starbucks’ existence in the Forbidden City. As Miscevic (2010) defines that â€Å"nationalism† is usually used to describe two phenomena: â€Å"(1) the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity, and (2) the actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to achieve (or susta in) self-determination† (Miscevic, 2010, p.1). Chinese people’s nationalism has hundreds years of history. In 1840, the first opium war happened in China, and Britain invaded in China by selling opium. For western countries, such as British, Spain, and France, after the first industrial revolution, their industries and economy were developed fast, and their domestic demands could not meet the requirements of their economic development; therefore, many of these countries wanted to invade to other countries to make profits, and China became one of the most important targets for western invaders. After the first opium war, China paid millions of silver for British and France and ceded territory to British. In the following one hundred year, Chinese people had experienced a series of invasions from western countries. Chinese people’s nationalism was set up during these disasters. According to He (2007), even though China is becoming more and more open, and people’s living condition is becoming more and more fortu nate, Chinese people still cannot accept that western culture exceedingly combined with Chinese culture (p.6). As above mentioned that Starbucks can be treated as a symbol of America. Even though in the history, China and America did not have direct conflict, U.S. is still usually treated as the representation of western power because America is one of the biggest and the most powerful country in the world (Cheng, 2012). However, Chinese people usually treat the Forbidden City as the most tradition area, and â€Å"[t]he presence of any foreign brands or products in this place may imply invasion of western culture assisted by western corporate power† (Hang Zhang. 2009, p.398). As these areas were destroyed by western invaders during the war; therefore, it is hard for Chinese people to accept western companies, such as Starbucks, which have strong culture to run its business in the Forbidden City. Starbucks’ fashion contradicts to the Forbidden City’s classic culture The Forbidden City is the symbolism of Chinese classic culture. This symbolism can be experienced from the Forbidden City’s design. According to Han Zhang (2009), â€Å"[t]he design of the Forbidden City, from its overall layout, as laid down in the Classic of Rites (Li ji), to the smallest detail of decoration, has symbolic meaning with underlying philosophical and religious principles† (Han Zhang, 2009, p.397). From Han Zhang’s analysis, we can find that the design of the Forbidden City’s buildings contains profound Chinese culture. As Wang (2010) indicates that â€Å"[t]he calligraphy tablets hung over each main gate and building, although often neglected by visitors, actually are special embodiments of traditional Chinese concepts either well known or maybe unexpected by their readers† (Wang, 2010, p.11). Taking the Confucianism â€Å"Harmony† for example, there are three great front halls in the Forbidden City, their names are â€Å"Hall of Supreme Harmony†, â€Å"Hall of Central Harmonyâ € , and â€Å"Hall of Preserving Harmony†, respectively. In ancient time, the emperor usually believed that he was the son of Heaven. â€Å"His highest goal was established to achieve harmony among Heaven, the Earth and the human being. Thus, harmony was repeatedly emphasized on the tablets to idealize the effectiveness of the court† (Wang, 2010, p.12). This is the one of the traditional cultures that can be found in the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City’s buildings also represent the theory of â€Å"syncretism between heaven and man† and the theory of â€Å"self-discipline and social commitment† (Zi, 1987, p.448). Therefore, the Forbidden City implies many great and profound Chinese classic culture. Starbuck is the symbol of fashion. From the surface of Starbucks, we can find that the meaning of Starbucks is represented by the green logo, â€Å"the fine coffee drinks, music, cozy in-store setting and free Wi-Fi† (Puel, Pons, Jin, 2007, p.2). According to Han and Zhang (2009), Starbucks is making itself to be a widely known brand in China. â€Å"Particularly, Starbucks is targeting affluent Chinese customers as well as the growing middle class, making itself ubiquitous in chic shopping malls†¦. Drinking Starbucks coffee has gradually become fashionable† (Han Zhang, 2009, p.397). Therefore, Starbucks’ fashion culture has deeply rooted in the heart of Chinese customers. Starbucks’ fashion culture contradicts to the Forbidden City’s classic culture. As Cha (2003) indicates that Chinese classic culture is dominated by the Confucianism, and in the Confucianism, â€Å"self-cultivation† is an important thought which means people should keep their bodies to be healthy and through self-reflection to improve their minds to reach an optimal state (Cha, 2003, pp.170-171). From the definition of â€Å"self-cultivation†, we can recognise that Chinese classic culture advocates the importance of having a peaceful living style, the importance of implementing self-discipline, and the importance of keeping on the rails. However, as Harrison (2005) shows that Starbucks’ fashion culture advocates the importance of freedom and the importance of materials (p.281). Therefore, Starbucks’ fashion culture could not combined with Starbucks’ classic culture. Objections Except the cultural factors, media influence is also a cause for Starbucks’ failure in the Forbidden City. In recent years, China’s internet media is developing so fast and is becoming more and more powerful on affecting business. According to Chiu, Lin, and Sliverman (2013), the most popular websites, such as Sina, Tencent, and Netease, are important media for companies to engage in the increasingly affluent online audience, and companies can also use â€Å"social media as a vital source of information for brand and product decisions. China’s social media landscape is a complex environment at huge scale† (Chiu, Lin, Sliverman, 2013, para.3). As above mentioned that Chenggang Rui posted a blog on Sina to against Starbucks. According to Han and Zhang (2009), â€Å"[s]ince September 2006, Sina launched a blogsphere, informally called ‘celebrity blogs (mingren boke),’ where most bloggers are well-known public figures such as performers, artists and writers. Using a ranking system, Sina promotes certain celebrities’ blogs and downplay others† (Han Zhang, 2009, p.397). After Rui posted his blog, his arguments were spread to many places quickly because of the tremendous internet users. â€Å"Without using Sina as platform, Rui’s voice would not have been so well received† (Han Zhang, 2009,  p.397). Therefore, the internet media, to some extent, made influence on Starbucks’ failure in the Forbidden City; however, the cultural problems is still the main cause for Starbucks’ failure because internet media is only a kind of medium for opponents to advocates the cultural problems. Conclusion This article shows the problems that Starbucks had experienced in the Forbidden City and analyses the reasons why Starbucks failed in the Forbidden City. With above mentioned analysis, we can draw a conclusion that Starbucks failed in the Forbidden City because of the serious Chinese culture shock. Even though Starbucks has achieved success in the general business areas in China, it still cannot thoroughly cope with the problem of culture shock in the most traditional areas in China, such as in the Forbidden City. The case that Starbucks failed in the Forbidden City is a good example not only for Starbucks itself but also for other multinational corporations in China to understand how serious the Chinese culture shock is, and Starbucks can also learn from this case to avoid making the same inappropriate decision in the future. References Bezlova, A. (2013). China’s traditional moon cake now a status symbol. Retrieved from http://www.culturebriefings.com/articles/chinmnck.html Cheng, D. (2012). The complicated history of U.S. Relations with China. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/the-complicated-history-of-us-relations-with-china Cha, S. H. (2003). Modern Chinese Confucianism: The contemporary neo-Confucian movement and its cultural significance. Social compass, 50(4), 481-491. Chiu, C. Y., Cheng, S. Y. (2007). Toward a social psychology of culture and globalization: Some social cognitive consequences of activating two cultures simultaneously. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1(1), 84-100. Curtin, P. A., Gaither, T. K. (2007). International public relations: Negotiating culture, identity and power. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Chiu, C. Lin, D., Sliverman, A. 2013. High influence: China’s social media boom. Retrieved from http://cmsoforum.mckinsey.com/article/high-i nfluence-chinas-social-media-boom