Organizational Introduction : Joe Whinney

Chocolate was previously considered a “delectable symbol of luxury, wealth, and power” (Klein) in the 1500s. Using modern technology, it is now easily produced. While

The premium chocolate industry is a large market in the United States and continues to grow around 10% annually. It is also populated with very strong

While Europe and the United States account for most chocolate consumption, the confection is growing in popularity in Asia and market forecasts are optimistic about the prospects in China and India (Nieburg, 2013, para 9). According to the CNN Freedom Project, the chocolate industry rakes in $83 billion a year, surpassing the Gross Domestic Product of over a hundred nations (“Who consumes the most chocolate,” 2012, para 3).

Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.

Founded in 2000, Cocoa Delights is one of the youngest gourmet chocolate manufacturers in the industry. However we do not view our youth as a weakness, on the contrary, our youth is associated with our two most valued attributes: creativity and innovation.

Moreover, consumers and employees are also demanding chocolate companies to follow good corporate social responsibility practices in addressing the environmental concerns in terms of how to design its packaging, procurement and operational decisions. Human rights concerns are also high in terms of consumer expectations of chocolate companies with respect of forced child labour in West Africa. All of these driving forces - societal concerns, attitudes and change in lifestyles, are strong enough to shape up the competition and impose the constraint on chocolate industry profitability and competitive survival.

In modern day business, leadership has become an issue that is given far more attention and investment than ever before. Leadership involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realise that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholder. This essay will discuss whether leaders are born not made, with varies of theories being compared and contrasted and the strengths and limitations of leaders itself. Further this essay will analyse the future aspects of theories which would establish whether a leader was born with leadership qualities or made into a successful leader.

Leadership is a process of influencing activities of a particular group of people with the aim of attaining certain stipulated goals. In defining leadership there is need to consider a particular group, the common goals and the duties that are allocated to specific members of the group depending on their abilities (Fiedler 1976). Leadership therefore cannot successfully occur unless members of the group are given different considerations in terms of personality, traits and responsibilities. In considering leadership, it is important to look at the leader, the group or organization they are leading, the members as individuals and the situation; these are

The premium chocolate market has been growing at 20% annually, showing that buyers are willing to pay more for a better tasting and better quality chocolate. The declining growth of the overall chocolate market and rapid growth of the premium chocolate market is positive for current producers of premium chocolates in that the decline

Leadership has been studied extensively and many varying definitions exist. Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015, p.4) review many of these definitions and consequently describe leadership as ‘the process of influencing an organised group towards its goals’. Leadership involves the interplay of a range of different factors, not least the leader themselves, the followers and the situation. For

Theo Chocolate was first established in March 2006 by Debra Music and Joe Whinney in the Fremont- neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (theochocolate.com, our story). For Theo, they want to do more than just chocolate. It is about the land, the people, the dedication, and the interconnected relationships that bind all of them together. That is why Joe Whinney- Theo’s founder- first pioneered the supply of organic cocoa beans into the United Strates in 1994. Traveling and working in the tropics of Central America and Africa, Joe fell in love with the land and

As of October 2012, Andrea Torres, director of new product development at Montreaux Chocolate USA, needs to recommend whether or not the company should pursue a new product launch in the United States. The new product, a 70% cocoa dark chocolate with fruit product, has been tested because of “its heightened revenue potential, better alignment with health and wellness initiatives, and strong consumer acceptance of the proposition” (Quelch 7). This memo will address the

By October 2012, it had been over 15 months since Apollo Foods, a global consumer packaged-goods firm, had obtained the rights to distribute the well-known European chocolate company, Montreaux, in the United States. Andrea Torres, the director of new product development at Montreaux Chocolate USA, is presented with the

The word ‘leadership’ often times triggers a preconceived image of an ideal leader—typically accompanied by the aura that the effective leader should be at the top of the hierarchy, ready to produce the solutions to complex problems. However, this is not true of leadership, given that effective leadership is not achieved by position but rather through style and situational awareness. Examining leadership requires the consideration of the catalysts for different types of leaders. Popular leader development theories tend to focus on the natural servitude of the leader, his or her capability to manage, and leader behavior.

The natural environment involves Cocoa beans that are needed by Whittaker’s to produce their chocolate products. Over the next few years, the world is expected to face a chocolate ‘drought’, leading to soaring prices of cocoa beans due to insufficient consumable cocoa to chocolate manufacturers. (Western farm press, 2011)