Dissent vs. Disagreement Essay

In agreement to Daniel J. Boorstin’s theory, one can recall several events in the history of America’s democracy when disagreement paved the path for discussions and solutions but dissent only produced greater separation. Disagreement is the basis for democracy because each citizen has a choice to agree or disagree and try to make a change. For example, in the 1950s, Brown v. Board of Education was a product of constant disagreement between Americans about whether segregation of schools is constitutional or not. Because of these ongoing debates, the decision was made to end segregation in schools. Similarly, a tragic genocide in Sudan causes many arguments between the American people as the problem worsens and Americans must decide if they should step in. Again, the disagreement of the American democracy acts as its foundation for success and unity, while in Boorstin’s words, a democracy is â€Å"killed by dissension†. If in the 1950’s, the African Americans chose to go on living with dissension, or deciding to forever â€Å"feel apart from others†, then perhaps America would not have a black president today. Because many people disagreed with the harsh racial segregation and discrimination of that time, they were able to act on their opinions and make a change that influenced the future of America. African Americans fought for equality by disagreeing, instead of dissenting, and their efforts are evident in today’s unsegregated society. In Boornstin’s words, â€Å"A person who dissents is by definition in a minority†. The African Americans did not want to be known as the lesser minority, but by equal citizens of the American democracy, and the way they succeeded in making their struggles known was by debating and arguing against segregation and discrimination. Brown v. Board of Education was an outcome of one of their acknowledged actions. Because of this decision, segregation in schools were finally deemed unconstitutional. An improvement was made in the American democracy, and it was because of the â€Å"life blood of democracy†, which in Boorstin’s words, is known as â€Å"Disagreement†. Unlike the Brown v. Board of Education Decision, the American government mostly used dissension to deal with the genocide in Sudan. Some call it, â€Å"The Silent Genocide†, because there were many, many, casualties but there was no awareness for the issue. Although many recognized that the issue was appalling, few took action and produced debates and disagreements, causing the issue to linger instead of improve. The regular disagreement which â€Å"a liberal society thrives on† was overshadowed by dissension and ignorance. The genocide in Sudan was not able to be fully helped, or helped at all at first. As Boorstin says, â€Å"dissension is its [democracy’s] cancer† and this is evident in this case because Americans chose to dissent and feel apart from this problem, which only caused it to get worse. Boorstin recognizes the differences between dissension and disagreement in a way that makes evident that dissent is unproductive to our society’s conflicts whereas disagreement serves as the first step to reaching a solution. While Brown v. Board of education is an example of how disagreement led to improvement, the issue of the genocide in Sudan showed how a great amount of dissension and a lack of discussion, disagreement and knowledge, can turn out to be a democracy’s â€Å"cancer†.

Is Saltwater Desalination the Best Solution to Water Shortages in the United States?

As a matter of scientific fact, the vast majority of the surface area of our planet is covered in water; ironically enough, however, a great deal of this water cannot be consumed by human beings in its natural state, as it is salt water, which could only be consumed by human beings after undergoing desalination. This is a process through which the ions that make water saline are removed through various means and technologies, chief among them reversed osmosis (RO), thereby making the water suitable for humans to drink. Desalination is a process that is undertaken in sea or ocean water which by in large contains the most saline of all the water in the world. Desalination is an increasingly popular process, necessitated by shortages in domestic and industrial water supplies. For all of its present day popularity, desalination is not a new concept; rather, it is a technology that has been in use since the 18th century in southern Florida, which to this day hosts desalination units. Currently, this technology is the method of choice for gulf nations that are found within dessert terrains that rarely produce any fresh water supplies for consumption, as evidenced by recent reports showing a major water crisis looming in the horizon. These reports forecast that in the next five years, at least 36 states face substantial water shortages, supported by the shrinking water levels of major dams across the states and the shrinking of the Great lakes. Fresh water sources can no longer stand up or match up with the demand of the constantly increasing population of the US. This is most acutely felt in marine ecosystems where there is a problem in reducing the levels of salinity and also the brine discharge system, causing an imbalance in marine ecosystems (Tonner 11). History of Water Shortage All over the world, water that is mainly found in reservoirs like dams, lakes and waterways like rivers is relied heavily upon for replenishment of municipal water supplies; these supplies provide water for both commercial and residential use. All these are regarded as fresh water sources since the water comes naturally, mostly through rainfall. With the advent of global climatic changes, there has been a decline in the amount of rainfall; the patterns of the rains have become irregular and they rarely conform to expected time frames or the duration. The other factor that has not aided the water shortage debate is the general rise in global temperatures. This has led to increase in the rates of water evaporation from water reservoirs. Since rainfall in most cases is declining or there is a general atmosphere of drought griping the sphere in general, meaning that the rate of water uptake from the sources (through evaporation and uptake by man) and the rate of replenishment by rain do not match. It is quite obvious that with declining input of water into the reservoirs and the increasing abstraction of water, water levels will keep declining exponentially, creating a huge problem (Tonner). Temperature problems do not end there, because rising sea levels have been occurring through melting of glaciers in the arctic and Antarctica sub-continents. Increasing water levels serve to push saline water into the underground water supplies, thereby increasing the amount of saline in circulation and decreasing fresh water. With growth in industrialization, enormous environmental challenges present themselves. Waste products from industries are degrading the environment at an alarming rate, with these waste products usually finding their way into fresh water sources and catchments areas. The end result is unusable water and a host of other problems. Industries themselves require enormous amount of water to operate and at the same time their effluents also requires a lot of treatment so that it can be discharged into the water ways without modification of the marine and water ecology in general. Population growth and explosion does not lessen the burden therefore it is bringing more troubles. The number of persons globally is increasing but the sources of fresh water are not increasing thereby exerting great pressures on the existing water sources. Real estate development in general is also a part of the problem, which can be seen in the way many buildings are constructed over water catchments, leaving very little land that can allow percolation of water into the underground aquifer, which encourages the driving of the little available rain water to the ocean in order to avoid flooding. With the advent of these severe climate changes and dry spells, water levels began shrinking at an alarming rate. This alarmed local authorities, leading them to warn the general public to conserve water and use it wisely. In order to make their pleas to be understood by the public, they resorted to the extreme measure of water rationing. When water rationing started, it was a clear warning; it was then that the general public awoke to the reality that a global crisis was at hand (Tonner 6). After looking into all viable options of providing water to many thirsty citizens, the only option that guaranteed a steady supply and cheap means was desalination. This was preferred after looking closely at the cost of infrastructure in terms of pipes and the cost of maintenance of the dams. In the recent times, those centrally placed states that were endowed with large water resources, used to share their water with their unfortunate neighbors in the arid regions of the south west areas. The cost of pumping that water and the maintenance of the complex piping system proved a too much burden to bear and its viability with time almost impossible. The dwindling resources of water also were not showing sustenance of the venture in the long term. All these when combined, were pointing to desalination as the only viable option and that was current with prevailing economic circumstance. The advancement in the technology and its easy implementation has been one of the motivating factors towards its adoption as a major solution to current crisis of water shortage (Tonner). This process is drought-proof, thereby making it operational all year round, despite the dramatic climatic changes. All that is necessary is availability of sea water and sufficient power to drive the machines that are involved in this process and which usually require a lot of energy (Tonner 11). Participants in this Venture On the fore front of desalination efforts is the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) which is involved with maintaining a clean environment. Support of this venture comes from the motivation of providing water to a thirst planet. Since this organization is involved with the environment, it is in the organization’s best interest to make sure that all the technologies that are enacted for use in providing essential services will not lead to the biodegrading of the environment and adding of more problems rather than solving the already existing problems. This institution will be involved in putting down the necessary legislation that will act as the guideline when it comes to issues that are pertinent to the environment and its preservation. Closely following the proceedings and implementation of this program is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) which knows very well the side effects of the climatic change and the need to address the shortage of water around the globe. For the process to gain popularity around the world, IPPC has to do a lot of campaign on the viability of the project and trying to silence the proponents that will argue in the favor of the impacts that the project it would have on the environment and the ecosystem especially the marine ecosystem. Ocean conservancy is another very instrumental organization that has to be consulted in order to give the project a go head as the proposed project would be drawing its raw material (water) from the ocean, the negative impacts on the ecology and marine organisms notwithstanding. At the top of the list of concerns is whether water is a basic human right or it will be turned into an economic resource, only available to those few members of the society who can afford it (Tonner). The program will see the disruption of the normal saline environment for marine organisms which may lead to loss of endemic species that are unique to that area. However big the reward of this proposed project is, the negative impacts on other organisms cannot be overlooked because the reality would soon hit home and would therefore end up in creating a bigger problem than the one that is there. The other organizations involved in this venture fully are the Water Management Boards of respective Counties in the individual states. These boards are at the centre of the storm since they must provide water to the thirsty masses. Innovation comes as the core business of the boards in order to look into neo ways of circumventing the problems bedeviling them (Tonner 7). Resolving the Water Shortage Issue Clearly, as the research has indicated, there is a massive water shortage that will have an increasingly negative effect on the people of the world, especially in light of growing human populations, increased use of water by households and industry, and pollution which is harming the environment and decreasing available water supplies. Therefore, the question of how to resolve the water shortage issue is an increasingly important one to answer. Of course, the water supply on the earth is limited, in both fresh and salt water varieties. Therefore, the focus in stopping water shortages is to simultaneously make as much fresh and salt water available for both industrial and home users, which is possible through a variety of means (Tonner). First, the fresh water that is available on the planet must be conserved, which can be achieved through several different methods. Conservation starts with every home and business water user; simple steps to avoid wasting water in the first place will go a long way in terms of reducing the amount of water that literally goes down the drain every day. This, however, is not enough. In both homes and businesses, it is essential that the equipment that uses water be kept in prime working condition, with broken or inefficient equipment being replaced in favor of equipment that will not waste water. Also, as discussed earlier, there are environmental steps which can be used to prevent the wasting of fresh water, including smart real estate development, the prevention of the pollution of water supplies by individuals and industry, and the like. All of these steps will in fact help to save fresh water supplies to a large extent. Another water supply which has been discussed in this paper is desalinized salt water which can be used for human consumption once it has been properly prepared via the many desalinization plants that are found across the US today. Since there is vast salt water to be found on earth today, if it is properly desalinized, there is a great deal of available water. Once again, however, this must be conserved for the good of the growing society. Preserving the Environment In any case, wherever water comes from, the environment must be protected at all costs, for if there is no planet left for people to enjoy, there is little point in trying to do anything with water, as the human race will not be around to reap the benefits of the water itself. This reflects back to the previous discussion in regard to fresh and salt water supplies; there are in fact ways to be able to provide sufficient water supplies without destroying the environment. This will, of course, require the involvement of international, national, state and local authorities all working together. This is especially important considering the fact that pollution from other parts of the world certainly affects the US, and vice versa. Therefore, the world community must in fact act as a sort of environmental police force so that those who would cause damage to the environment are held accountable, not only for the sake of the planet but also for the sake of the water supplies that are now in the process of being conserved (Tonner). Overall, what is seen in the relationship between a safe environment and clean water supplies is the fact that neither can exist without the other. If people abuse water supplies, the planet will eventually be unable to sustain human life. On the other hand, if the planet is destroyed, water availability immediately becomes a non-issue. As such, this immediately becomes everyone’s problem, and of course, everyone must play a role in the solution of the problem. These solutions are both big and small, but all important just the same. Conclusion Water desalination is the only way out for the water crisis that is facing US and the rest of the world at large. However there are underlying issues that need to be addressed before the implementation of national projects. These issues range from environmental to human health issues. Fundamental questions have to be addressed as to why should our solution to the current water problem lie in the seas and oceans whereas there are waivers that are granted according to the clean water act which allows agriculture to continue polluting our water catchments areas with fertilizers. Before moving our pollution to the ocean, we must address the mess that we have caused on land, as this problem will not go away by itself. The most common excuse that has been circulating around is that cleaning of pollution is very costly and expensive. However this pollution has been caused by man and before handing the mandate of polluting the ocean now to the private sector, first we should deal with the mess on land. Is Saltwater Desalination the Best Solution to Water Shortages in the United States? As a matter of scientific fact, the vast majority of the surface area of our planet is covered in water; ironically enough, however, a great deal of this water cannot be consumed by human beings in its natural state, as it is salt water, which could only be consumed by human beings after undergoing desalination. This is a process through which the ions that make water saline are removed through various means and technologies, chief among them reversed osmosis (RO), thereby making the water suitable for humans to drink.Desalination is a process that is undertaken in sea or ocean water which by in large contains the most saline of all the water in the world. Desalination is an increasingly popular process, necessitated by shortages in domestic and industrial water supplies. For all of its present day popularity, desalination is not a new concept; rather, it is a technology that has been in use since the 18th century in southern Florida, which to this day hosts desalination units.Curren tly, this technology is the method of choice for gulf nations that are found within dessert terrains that rarely produce any fresh water supplies for consumption, as evidenced by recent reports showing a major water crisis looming in the horizon. These reports forecast that in the next five years, at least 36 states face substantial water shortages, supported by the shrinking water levels of major dams across the states and the shrinking of the Great lakes. Fresh water sources can no longer stand up or match up with the demand of the constantly increasing population of the US.This is most acutely felt in marine ecosystems where there is a problem in reducing the levels of salinity and also the brine discharge system, causing an imbalance in marine ecosystems (Tonner 11). History of Water Shortage All over the world, water that is mainly found in reservoirs like dams, lakes and waterways like rivers is relied heavily upon for replenishment of municipal water supplies; these supplies provide water for both commercial and residential use.All these are regarded as fresh water sources since the water comes naturally, mostly through rainfall. With the advent of global climatic changes, there has been a decline in the amount of rainfall; the patterns of the rains have become irregular and they rarely conform to expected time frames or the duration. The other factor that has not aided the water shortage debate is the general rise in global temperatures. This has led to increase in the rates of water evaporation from water reservoirs.Since rainfall in most cases is declining or there is a general atmosphere of drought griping the sphere in general, meaning that the rate of water uptake from the sources (through evaporation and uptake by man) and the rate of replenishment by rain do not match. It is quite obvious that with declining input of water into the reservoirs and the increasing abstraction of water, water levels will keep declining exponentially, creating a huge problem (Tonner). Temperature problems do not end there, because rising sea levels have been occurring through melting of glaciers in the arctic and Antarctica sub-continents.Increasing water levels serve to push saline water into the underground water supplies, thereby increasing the amount of saline in circulation and decreasing fresh water. With growth in industrialization, enormous environmental challenges present themselves. Waste products from industries are degrading the environment at an alarming rate, with these waste products usually finding their way into fresh water sources and catchments areas. The end result is unusable water and a host of other problems.Industries themselves require enormous amount of water to operate and at the same time their effluents also requires a lot of treatment so that it can be discharged into the water ways without modification of the marine and water ecology in general. Population growth and explosion does not lessen the burden therefore it is bringing more troubles. The number of persons globally is increasing but the sources of fresh water are not increasing thereby exerting great pressures on the existing water sources.Real estate development in general is also a part of the problem, which can be seen in the way many buildings are constructed over water catchments, leaving very little land that can allow percolation of water into the underground aquifer, which encourages the driving of the little available rain water to the ocean in order to avoid flooding. With the advent of these severe climate changes and dry spells, water levels began shrinking at an alarming rate.This alarmed local authorities, leading them to warn the general public to conserve water and use it wisely. In order to make their pleas to be understood by the public, they resorted to the extreme measure of water rationing. When water rationing started, it was a clear warning; it was then that the general public awoke to the reality that a global crisis was at hand (Tonner 6). After looking into all viable options of providing water to many thirsty citizens, the only option that guaranteed a steady supply and cheap means was desalination.This was preferred after looking closely at the cost of infrastructure in terms of pipes and the cost of maintenance of the dams. In the recent times, those centrally placed states that were endowed with large water resources, used to share their water with their unfortunate neighbors in the arid regions of the south west areas. The cost of pumping that water and the maintenance of the complex piping system proved a too much burden to bear and its viability with time almost impossible.The dwindling resources of water also were not showing sustenance of the venture in the long term. All these when combined, were pointing to desalination as the only viable option and that was current with prevailing economic circumstance. The advancement in the technology and its easy implementation has been one of the motivating factors towards its adoption as a major solution to current crisis of water shortage (Tonner). This process is drought-proof, thereby making it operational all year round, despite the dramatic climatic changes.All that is necessary is availability of sea water and sufficient power to drive the machines that are involved in this process and which usually require a lot of energy (Tonner 11). Participants in this Venture On the fore front of desalination efforts is the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) which is involved with maintaining a clean environment. Support of this venture comes from the motivation of providing water to a thirst planet.Since this organization is involved with the environment, it is in the organization’s best interest to make sure that all the technologies that are enacted for use in providing essential services will not lead to the biodegrading of the environment and adding of more problems rather than solving the already existing problems. This institution will be involved in putting down the necessary legislation that will act as the guideline when it comes to issues that are pertinent to the environment and its preservation.Closely following the proceedings and implementation of this program is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) which knows very well the side effects of the climatic change and the need to address the shortage of water around the globe. For the process to gain popularity around the world, IPPC has to do a lot of campaign on the viability of the project and trying to silence the proponents that will argue in the favor of the impacts that the project it would have on the environment and the ecosystem especially the marine ecosystem.Ocean conservancy is another very instrumental organization that has to be consulted in order to give the project a go head as the proposed project would be drawing its raw material (water) from the ocean, the negative impacts on the ecol ogy and marine organisms notwithstanding. At the top of the list of concerns is whether water is a basic human right or it will be turned into an economic resource, only available to those few members of the society who can afford it (Tonner). The program will see the disruption of the normal saline environment for marine organisms which may lead to loss of endemic species that are unique to that area.However big the reward of this proposed project is, the negative impacts on other organisms cannot be overlooked because the reality would soon hit home and would therefore end up in creating a bigger problem than the one that is there. The other organizations involved in this venture fully are the Water Management Boards of respective Counties in the individual states. These boards are at the centre of the storm since they must provide water to the thirsty masses. Innovation comes as the core business of the boards in order to look into neo ways of circumventing the problems bedevilin g them (Tonner 7).Resolving the Water Shortage Issue Clearly, as the research has indicated, there is a massive water shortage that will have an increasingly negative effect on the people of the world, especially in light of growing human populations, increased use of water by households and industry, and pollution which is harming the environment and decreasing available water supplies. Therefore, the question of how to resolve the water shortage issue is an increasingly important one to answer. Of course, the water supply on the earth is limited, in both fresh and salt water varieties.Therefore, the focus in stopping water shortages is to simultaneously make as much fresh and salt water available for both industrial and home users, which is possible through a variety of means (Tonner). First, the fresh water that is available on the planet must be conserved, which can be achieved through several different methods. Conservation starts with every home and business water user; simple steps to avoid wasting water in the first place will go a long way in terms of reducing the amount of water that literally goes down the drain every day.This, however, is not enough. In both homes and businesses, it is essential that the equipment that uses water be kept in prime working condition, with broken or inefficient equipment being replaced in favor of equipment that will not waste water. Also, as discussed earlier, there are environmental steps which can be used to prevent the wasting of fresh water, including smart real estate development, the prevention of the pollution of water supplies by individuals and industry, and the like.All of these steps will in fact help to save fresh water supplies to a large extent. Another water supply which has been discussed in this paper is desalinized salt water which can be used for human consumption once it has been properly prepared via the many desalinization plants that are found across the US today. Since there is vast salt water to be found on earth today, if it is properly desalinized, there is a great deal of available water. Once again, however, this must be conserved for the good of the growing society.Preserving the Environment In any case, wherever water comes from, the environment must be protected at all costs, for if there is no planet left for people to enjoy, there is little point in trying to do anything with water, as the human race will not be around to reap the benefits of the water itself. This reflects back to the previous discussion in regard to fresh and salt water supplies; there are in fact ways to be able to provide sufficient water supplies without destroying the environment.This will, of course, require the involvement of international, national, state and local authorities all working together. This is especially important considering the fact that pollution from other parts of the world certainly affects the US, and vice versa. Therefore, the world community must in fact act as a sort of environmental police force so that those who would cause damage to the environment are held accountable, not only for the sake of the planet but also for the sake of the water supplies that are now in the process of being conserved (Tonner).Overall, what is seen in the relationship between a safe environment and clean water supplies is the fact that neither can exist without the other. If people abuse water supplies, the planet will eventually be unable to sustain human life. On the other hand, if the planet is destroyed, water availability immediately becomes a non-issue. As such, this immediately becomes everyone’s problem, and of course, everyone must play a role in the solution of the problem. These solutions are both big and small, but all important just the same. ConclusionWater desalination is the only way out for the water crisis that is facing US and the rest of the world at large. However there are underlying issues that need to be addressed before the imple mentation of national projects. These issues range from environmental to human health issues. Fundamental questions have to be addressed as to why should our solution to the current water problem lie in the seas and oceans whereas there are waivers that are granted according to the clean water act which allows agriculture to continue polluting our water catchments areas with fertilizers.Before moving our pollution to the ocean, we must address the mess that we have caused on land, as this problem will not go away by itself. The most common excuse that has been circulating around is that cleaning of pollution is very costly and expensive. However this pollution has been caused by man and before handing the mandate of polluting the ocean now to the private sector, first we should deal with the mess on land. Work Cited Tonner, John. ‘Desalination in America’ Water and Waste Digests. November 2002. 7 May 2009.

Classify the business according to its ownership †McDonalds Essay

The business I have decided to choose for this assignment is McDonald’s. McDonald’s ownership is a franchise. McDonald is a large business with more than 30,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, serving more than 38 million people each day. * Overseas comparisons indicate that franchising is the fastest growing form of retailing and McDonald has grown quickly by granting franchises. The term franchising has been used to describe many different forms of business relationships. This form of business ownership was first introduced in the U.K. It is a form of business organisation that is becoming increasingly popular in the United Kingdom. * A franchise is an agreement between two parties. An entrepreneur (franchisor) and franchisee. The franchise agreement grants to the franchisee the right and authorisation to operate a specific McDonald’s restaurant, at a single address. The franchise term is usually for a period of 20 years. These franchise rights include the use of McDonald’s trademarks, restaurant dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½cor designs, signage and equipment layout, the formula and specifications for menu items, use of McDonald’s method of operation, inventory control, book-keeping, accounting and marketing. * A separate franchise lease covers the right to occupy the restaurant premises. In returns, the franchisee agrees to operate the business in accordance with McDonald’s standards of quality service, cleanliness food safety and restaurant safety. The franchisee is expected to take a ‘hands on’ role in operating the business, and to be involved in local civic and charitable activities. * Throughout the franchise term, the franchisee’s sole business interest should be McDonald’s. Franchising is really the ‘hiring out’ or licensing of the use of ‘good ideas’ to other companies. A franchise grants permission to sell a product and trade under a certain name in a particular area. For example if I have a good idea, I can sell you a licence to trade and carry out a business using my idea in your area. McDonald’s is a big example of brand franchising. McDonald’s has grown its business in the United Kingdom through franchising outlets. Explain the benefits and constraints of the type of ownership. In order to succeed it is necessary to consider the benefits and constraints involvement in franchise. There are clear benefits to this: * You don’t have to come up with a new idea. Someone else had it and tested too! * Large, well-established franchise operations will often have national advertising campaigns and a reputable, well established trading name. * Good franchisors (BFA) will offer comprehensive training programmes in sales and indeed all business skills. * Good franchisor can also help secure funding for your investment as well as e.g. discounted bulk-buy supplies for outlets when you are in operation. * If you are aware that you are running a franchise customers will also understand that you will be offering the possible value for money and service – although you run your ‘own show’ as a part of a much larger organisation. Benefits for franchisor: * Low capital expenditure — franchising is an excellent method of expanding your business with a limited amount of ready capital. Franchisor takes a share of profit without taking risk. Low risk route to expansion. * Personal commitment and motivation from franchisees is greater than from employees, the reason being that they have more accountability and responsibility than an ordinary employee. * Reduced daily involvement — it is a method of obtaining conscientious and dedicated personal who work hard to a safeguard their investment. Benefits for franchisee: Some of the advantages of franchising to the franchisee are that it gives them the opportunity of sharing some of the benefits of a large business such as: * An established reputation * A known brand name and image * Skilled management * Large scale advertising programmes which are usually paid for by an advertising levy * Economies of scale, producing on a large scale is termed economies of scale. McDonald’s does this by trying to keep low cost through economies of scale. They try to select suppliers, which will give the company value for money. * Franchising also offer much of the independence of a sole proprietor In this way a small business benefits from the economies of scale That comes from being part of a large company organisation. Constraints of franchising * Limits on product price – they can’t change their product price up to wherever they want. They have limits for price. * Limits on variety of product – they can’t have variety of products. Customers get confused if they’ll keep variety of product they have to keep certain products. * Limits on freedom- they can’t do whatever they want. They have to follow owner’s instructions to run their business. Franchisees have not much freedom. * Limits on the title of their business- they can’t even change the colour of their title. As you can see they have same colour and title style wherever their branches are. Task 2: A Clear description and explanation of the objectives of the business. The objectives of businesses can vary enormously. Companies may have a number of objectives. In general, the objectives pursued by a business tend to vary according to its size, ownership and legal structure. Small businesses are more likely to focus on survival as an objective as they tend to lack the financial resources to cope with adverse trading conditions. Larger businesses may aim to maximise profits. As being one of the larger businesses McDonald has the following objectives: * Profit maximisation * Survival * Market share * Growth * Providing exceptional customers care * Remaining an efficient and quality producer offering high value to customers (according to company’s policy) Profit maximisation: Profit maximisation is likely to be an important objective for most companies which shareholder including McDonald’s owns. Profit refers to the extent to which revenues exceed costs, so profit maximisation occurs when the difference between sales revenue and total costs is greatest. Companies such as McDonald’s seek to maximise profit to cover up their costs and to provide high returns for their shareholders. McDonald’s does this by trying to keep cost low through economies of scale. They try to select suppliers which will give the company value for money. In order to maximise sales they have various sales promotion throughout the year. The basis for their profit is low cost rather than high price. Survival: Survival is an important objective for many businesses. According to the business writer Peter Drucker: It is the first duty of a business to survive. The guiding principle of business economics, in the other words, is not the maximisation of profits; it is the avoidance of loss. Business enterprise must produce the premium to cover the risk inevitably involved in its operation. And there is only one source for this risk premium: profits. Most recently established businesses like McDonald’s have survival as objectives. This is because often they have intense competition in the market so they have to spend heavily on their advertising to attract customers. They have to ensure that they remain the Market leader in their industry. Growth: Growth occurs for the company when there is an ongoing increase in an economy’s production of goods and services. McDonald’s pursues growth through selling more franchises all over the world in order to have a presence in most countries in the world. They can achieve this by increasing the overall size of the business by merging or joining other firms of buying them out through a take-over. McDonald’s recently went into a joint venture with prà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½t a manager in order to enter another segment of the U.S market and gain a greater share of the market Increasing sale or market share: Growth occurs when there is an ongoing increase in an economy’s production of goods and services. Many businesses pursue growth strategies because their managers believe that this essential for survival. If the firm grows, it grows with more customers, earn higher profits and begin to establish itself in the market. Growth offers: * Increased returns for the owners of the business * Competitive salaries ( and more job security ) for employees of the business * A wider range of products for the business exists and potential customers it is increasingly common for mangers’ pay packages to successful managers can earn substantial incomes if that is reflected in the company’s share price. Increasing market share is an important objective for McDonald’s. It is likely to be a key objective any business operating in a market which is not growing. For example, the market for traditional beers in the U.K is not growing – indeed there are signs that it may be declining. As the market is not increasing the size, brewers of traditional ales can only increase sales by taking market share from competitors. Market share is also important for McDonald’s because that considerably from producing on a large scale. They use expensive equipment and the financial advantages of producing on a large scale are termed economies of scale. Where these economies exist, firm will attempt to take a greater share of the market. This allows them to sell their product at lower price, increasing their competitiveness. Task Three: Every organisation will need to acquire, use and change factors of production in order to produce goods and provide services. McDonald’s has several functional areas that exist in the business to help the business meet its objectives and to provide goods and services as well. And each of which is supported by a particular administrative office. The administration of each function is based on its offices. There are many administrative offices each with a specialist responsibility and function. The functional areas McDonald’s has are as follow: * Finance * Production * Human resources * Marketing * Research and development * 1) Finance Function: The finance director George Mackay is responsible for finance department. The main activities of finance function are: * To keep record of all business transactions, keeping of cost and revenues and setting target through budgeting. * To provide information about services. * To develop new product that satisfy customer’s expectations. * Quality assurance * Supply chain * Measure the financial performance of the business. * Increase market share so they can make profit and give money to their shareholders. * Control the finances and cash flow so the business stays solvent, i.e. does go bankrupt. * Take timely decisions by comparing the predicted performance with actual performance. This chart shows the structure of finance department. Finance Director Finance Information services New product development Quality assurance Supply chain According to McDonald’s finance director accurate financial information allows them to achieve their most important goals to increase profits by expanding, sustained growth and charitable objectives. McDonald’s not only invests much of its profit in extending its own business but also set aside millions of dollars each year to fund charitable activities. Not only this, McDonald’s also provides different type of support to other organisations and schools. * McDonald’s has invested considerable sums in restoring old buildings, often putting back architectural details that have been lost. * McDonald’s supports the Groundwork Trust, an environmental urban regeneration programme. * McDonald’s is a major sponsor of international football. * McDonald’s donates million of pounds towards community, educational and charity programme. * McDonald’s also provides salary and benefits to its employees and reviewed on regular basis. As for most of the time McDonald’s made consistently high profits around $3,633 million and have grown successfully by making good profit and still planning to grow more further (according to the McDonald’s book). 2) Production Function: The function of the production department is to change inputs into outputs, which means produce goods and services are to be brought by the customers. McDonald’s is committed to maintaining and developing the best food products in the quick service restaurant market. And this is what production department is responsible for. In order to deliver on this, the company has made commitments: to food safety, food quality and to nutrition. Company systems and procedures must be continuously updated to ensure the highest standards of hygiene and safety. All staff receives proper training in food safety. McDonald’s food is made from the basic commodities: red and white meat, fish, eggs, milk, grain and vegetables. All raw ingredients are produced to exacting specifications and the highest possible standards and quality and safety. McDonald’s highly trained workers work with suppliers to maintain and develop product quality. McDonald’s recognises the importance of a balanced diet, lifestyle and health therefore provides hot, less fat and fresh food to their customers. McDonald’s invest a lot of money in new technology. Thus, improving the quality food preparation and helps achieving company’s aim of growth in the fast food market. * Controlling production methods and planning the scale of production * Controlling costs and working efficiently * Meeting the specific needs of customers McDonald’s is working hard to develop their products and provide their customers a variety of differentiated products, which helps to meet another important objective satisfying customer needs because increasingly customers expect to buy the product that meet their exact needs. Developing efficient methods of production to reduce cost is helps to make profit and growth because a fall in the cost of production resulting form an increase in the size of a business, which is called economy of scale in the language of business. When outputs rises, the cost of production per item-the unit cost-falls, and the business can reduce the price of its goods. With the lower price, it will get more customers and so benefit from the even lower unit costs. This will make it more competitive and can easily increase market share. McDonald’s has raised standard through out the food processing industry. 3) Human resources: Human resources department deals with staff recruitment, training and development. Human resources is a very important function for the business because it selects the workforce (the right people for right job), provides training and development of staff, which improve their skills, performance and relates to the aim of McDonald’s, which is the best service for its customers. Efficiency helps a business run more smoothly, effectively and profitability. Efficiency begins with developing ways of working that are easy to understand and do not waste time or energy. Division of labour, in which each workers carries out a specific job, increase speed and the more people you serve each day the more profit you make so it helps to maximize profit as well as expand the business. McDonald’s have their employment policies. McDonald’s employs some of the best, most ambitious people on the job market. Whether they join as hourly paid staff or management trainees through gradua te or a high standard recruitment, they have the opportunity to develop a career, which can take them to the very top. Above all, McDonald’s values people with a positive attitude towards customers, themselves and other employees, and strive towards delivering the highest standards of quality, service and cleanliness. The ability to understand and adopt McDonald’s customer-led culture is as worth as the more usual career entry requirements of GCSE and university degree. The company is an equal opportunity employer and 1992 set up an equal opportunities group to help foster a diverse workplace and highlight equal opportunities as an important part of the company’ s ethos. McDonald’s commitment to equal opportunity extends beyond race, gender, ethnic origin, marital status, colour, nationality or disability, to compass people with very different backgrounds and experience. Whether university graduates and those without formal qualifications, first jobbers or those who have worked for decades, what binds employees is the knowledge that the opportunities are as great as an individual’s ambition and ability allow. And if employees are happy with the opportunities they are getting form the company they work hard for the company and try to provide best service in the world. It is important to retain talented staff and staff who have become skilled through training. By recruiting quality staff who are committed to the business, thus reducing recruitment costs by not having to recruit too often. McDonald’s also provide benefits with salary to its staff. Hourly paid staff benefits: * Free meal allowance * Paid holidays (4 weeks per annum) * Free life assurance (value dependent upon service) * Private health care (for employees aged 19+with 3 years service) * Sponsorship Programme * Stock purchase scheme * Employees discount card * Service awards (at 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years service) * Stakeholder pension Apart from good rates of pay, McDonald’s try to provide good working conditions and incentives. This also helps McDonald’s to meets its objective of expanding and providing best service to the community. 4) Marketing: According to the research about McDonald’s marketing is the whole process by which goods get from producers to buyers. More people work in Marketing than in production. Marketing involves marketing research, distribution, pricing and promotion. As last week McDonald’s was offering 2 normal fries, hamburger, drink for only à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2 and that offer was only for limited period. Marketing department deals with advertising, promotion and improving the image of the product and services to attract more customers. The fast food industry is in which many companies compete for customers. McDonald’s provide a better product, give better value for money, provide a superior service, better at distributing and selling its good and services and making them known through advertising and publicity. There is no doubt that McDonald’s do a lot of advertising and promotion activities. One of them is mentioned above. Recently McDonald’s announced that Kay Napier, Procter & Gamble marketing veteran, vice President/General manger, has been hired as a senior Vice President of marketing. McDonald’s marketing director said, â€Å"I am delighted to add this kind of marketing talent to our team at McDonald’s. This is another step in elevating one of the world’s great brands to an even higher level of marketing strength and value. This will also help them to achieve their objective, which is growth. Customer can be attracted through good eye-catching advertisement, advertisement has this tremendous ability to shift demand curve to the right. As customer increase income rises which helps achieving company’s aim of making profit so that they can cover their cost more easily. McDonald’s also meets its objective which is satisfying customer need by knowing what customer want and how much they are willing to spend on their food. To achieve this objective marketing department employees special research team for the test products do surveys with customers to taste new product and answer questionnaire about them. According to McDonald’s policy McDonald’s will not work with any supplier who does not adhere to the standards required by UK and EU legislation regarding animal welfare, transportation, husbandry, inspection, and quality & hygiene. This policy helps McDonald’s to meet its o bjective of Providing best food, beat competition and improve the company’ image. 5) Research and development: The purpose of R & D is to enable business to compete successfully and achieve permanently sustainable competition over its competitors by becoming more efficient and/or profitable and giving customers’ added value. To achieve this McDonald’s always and will continue to develop new products that satisfy customer’s expectations for great taste and great value. The company’s new product and development team works with suppliers to expand the menu with new core and promotional food items. The team helps to ensure that all new food items meet McDonald’s high quality and safety standards. As with the existing product range, McDonald’s solicits and carefully listens to customers’ view on any new or promotional products. * McDonald’s offer more and more choices for breakfast by developing new products as more and more customers eat breakfast out rather than at home. * Changing existing products McDonald’s uses conventional food chemicals or additives that add flavour and colour that helps to maintain freshness and make changing in existing products by listening to customers’ views. * Collecting data from worldwide research McDonald’s has special research team to find out what customers want and how much they can spend. McDonald’s also has restaurant development policy: When McDonald’s has local knowledge which is a key to choosing new locations, McDonald’s on discussion with local managers who are closely involved at roots level with their local communities. By keeping customers convenience McDonald’s develop new restaurants. Company is committed to responsible and works closely with local planning and community groups when developing new restaurants. Every bullet point and information is written there helps McDonald’s to achieve its objective of providing good service to the community by attracting more customers and making profit. There are advantages and disadvantages with every functional areas but each functional area helps McDonald’s in one way or another to meet its objectives. Task Four: There are three types of management style and they are: * Democratic * Autocratic * Consultative Management style will describe the different ways that the managers treat their employees and also the way the in charge of the employees. Democratic management style: This type of style involves empowerment. Individuals and team are given responsibility to make decisions, usually with a given frame. The team is then responsible for the decisions that it makes. A manager with this style will feel comfortable allowing others t make decisions. Autocratic management style: This style is where manager gives out instructions, telling people what to do rather than asking employees. The manager is the only person who contributes to decision making. Consultative management style: Consultative mangers are ones who seek to consult other to implement decisions. This type of style wants to draw on more sources of opinion than just her or himself. The purpose of management style is to remember where we started. Business exists to satisfy demand for particular goods and services and in order to do this they need resources; the factor of production. Being the fast food company McDonald’s exists to provide catering service to the community. Management is concerned with planning, controlling and co-ordinating the acquisition and use of these resources. In large concerns like McDonald’s, managers run the business by using people and information. The term ‘managing’ comes from the Latin word for hand, as does the word ‘manual’. It originally meant ‘handling’ things’ but did not originally apply to people. McDonald’s Management is responsible for the preparation, integrity and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements and financial comments. The financial statement has been audited by independent auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, who was given unrestricted access to all financial records and related data. The audit report of Ernst & Young LLP is presented herein. The Board of Directors, operating through its Audit Committee composed entirely of independent Directors, provides oversight to the financial reporting process. Ernst & Young LLP has unrestricted access to the Audit Committee and regularly meets with the Committee to discuss accounting, auditing and financial reporting matters. McDonald’s has an autocratic management style. A manger takes entire responsibility for decisions and, having set objectives and allocated tasks to employees, expect them to be carried out exactly as specified. Employees are told exactly what, how and when work must be started and finished. It is the kind of management style associated with a corporate culture centred almost exclusively on production. Power is focused at the top, and the centralised decision making is geared to getting the goods out of the company and to customers. The culture of a business can be widely affected by its attitudes, values and beliefs. There are different types of culture McDonald’s is very close to customer driven culture by keeping this culture in its mind McDonald’s works and as it is described before that McDonald’s first priority is its customers. Attention is focused on improving all aspects of the production process down to the minutes detail for the customers’ benefits. Technological culture is focused as well. To improve its technology and develop new products they listen to its customers as well as to their staff. An autocratic style does have some advantages and advantages for McDonald’s. Disadvantages are: * Workers may want some flexibility, freedom, little contact workers therefore little teamwork, can be demotivating. * Disadvantage of having a hierarchical structure is that messages can get distorted or lost from one manager to the next. * There is also poor communication between the different functions. Advantages are: * Need quick decisions, health and safety, clear and consistent approach helps employees * Advantages of the hierarchical structure are that every one knows whom they are responsible to and whom they are responsible for. * This can also shows where specialists are needed in their divisional groups The organisation structure McDonald’s has is hierarchical structure, which you can see on next page. The benefits McDonald’s gets are clear management structure, clear lines of responsibility and control and functions are clear and distinct. Of course where there are advantages there are disadvantages as well. The disadvantages McDonald’s has are many layers of communication and many layers of authority and decision-making. The relationship between structure, management style and culture Structure Management style Culture Hierarchical, many levels Autocratic Based on routine procedures of management, e.g. in and job roles, decisions are large business like McDonald’s centralised. Being a huge company McDonald’s has an Operations Director (Peter Sullivan), Development Director (Peter Richards), Finance Director (George Director), Marketing Director (Matthew Howe), HR & Training Director (Carmel Flatley) and chairman and chief executive (Andrew Taylor) are the most important people in the company. Together with the other directors, they oversee the work of the company’s five vast departments: Operational, technical, real estate, financial and marketing. There are also regional manager senior supervisor and superior supervisor, restaurant manager and assistant manager. The board of directors have senior jobs in the company, overseeing different divisions. These are the executive directors. The board also includes non executive directors, who do not work for the company. They help the board make decisions and look after the interests of the shareholders. McDonald’s also have training and careers or its employers. McDonald’s employs local people in their own community. It is an equal opportunity employer, and women and people from ethnic minorities are represented at all levels. Young people accepted for a position on McDonald’s career programme can quickly climb the promotional ladder. Trainee managers go through a series of training courses at centres set up in their own community. They receive even more important on-the-job training at a McDonald’s restaurant. McDonald’s has an open door policy, which allows staff access to managers from the chairman down. Everyone is welcome to make suggestions or complaints. McDonald’s also holds a frequent meetings called rap sessions where staff can voice their complaints to someone from headquarters or air grievances to a member of management from another restaurant. McDonald’s now has a bureaucracy; senior staff is not even treated with the awe they command in some companies. Even the chairman is approachable. The staff and the public have open access to him through the company’s open door policy. There is a McDonald’s management structure on next page. Task 5: A description of the use of ICT for internal and external communications of the business. Businesses need to communicate with a range of individuals and other organisations including their customers, their suppliers, as well as their own employees. Every organisation will need to be able to communicate effectively with staff at all levels for it to function smoothly and efficiently. These are the reason why communication is important for a business or an organisation whether it is internal or external. The business I have chosen for this assignment is McDonald’s. McDonald’s also has internal and external communication to run its business effectively. McDonald’s has an IT strategy. Information technology is important where it enables a business to achieve its goals. However cost is always important and evidence seems to show that IT is more expensive than firms realise. According to Management Consultants, support cost can be five times the amount estimated. This includes help from other staff and time spent on security and back-up procedures. Other costs can include: * Staff training * Introducing health and safety measures * The need to maintain efficient security Two recent trends in keeping down IT costs are: Downsizing: when we look at human resources management then downsizing means is lying off employees. However in IT it simply means using smaller systems, such as a mini-computer instead of a mainframe, or a PC instead of a mini. This is possible because hardware is becoming more powerful. The other recent trend is outsourcing. Outsourcing: This again is a term used in human resources management Internal and external communications: Internal communication: Internal communication is communication that takes place within the organisation. The three main ways of communicating information inside McDonald’s are intranet, McNews and MDUK and High levels. Methods of keeping In touch with staff: * Intranet Launched in the year 2000, McDonald’s UK intranet provides a fast and up-to-the-minute source of information for McDonald’s restaurant management and office staff. It is a single point of reference administrative requirements, news and marketing materials. * McNEWS AND MDUK McNews was the award-winning magazine published bi-monthly for all restaurant staff. In 2002, McNews was re-launched as MDUK – a lively people-focused magazine, it covers news, activities and events from restaurants around the country. * High levels Published bi-monthly for all management and office staff it is a showcase for best practice, recognising individual’s outstanding practices and achievements, as well as highlighting internal and external awards. * An email system operates in all offices and company-owned restaurants. * Regular staff communication sessions are held in the offices. * Employee satisfaction surveys for both office and restaurant staff are held annually. This is how McDonald’s communicate with its staff. The purpose of internal communication is to communicate with its internal customers, which are employees to run business effectively and smoothly. Provide them information they need time to time. External communication: External communication takes place between the organisation and the outside world. McDonald’s needs to communicate with a range of stakeholders including shareholders, customers, government, suppliers and the community. Communicating with suppliers and customers: * Telephone: The most frequently used form of external verbal communication is telephone. McDonald’s uses this form of external communication to contact with their suppliers. Apart from this McDonald’s has answering machines to keep in touch with customers. Phone answering machines tape callers’ messages, which can be played back from a distance by calling the number and typing in a code. * Business letter: McDonald’s has its address available on it’s every website for their customers and also to obtain your copy of the pack you can contact them by sending a letter. * Website: Most companies have an internet website including McDonald’s. McDonald’s uses this for all external communications purposes and for public relations activities. I also used McDonald’s website to do research for my assignment. * Fax: Fax is a form of external communication. Fax machine is used to transmit and receive suppliers to communicate. The purpose of external communication is to communicate with its customers, suppliers and community. Provide them information about the business they want. Benefits: The benefits of using internal communication are: * The benefit of using intranet to business is that it provides a fast and up-to-minute source of information for McDonald’s restaurant management and staff. * McNews magazine covers news, activities and events from restaurant around the country. * E-mail system is faster and efficient. Information and reports are confidential. The same message can be sent immediately to many people. * Employee surveys helps to get employee views. The benefits of using external communication are: * Telephone is fast and its great benefit is that it allows people who would find it difficult to meet to converse. And a person who can’t read or write can talk over the phone to get information. * The use of business letter saves time for the person whom you are writing to and you can explain in detail. Not everyone has access to internet so if somebody who needs information about the organisation can write a letter to them. * Fax does the same thing its transmitting speed is fast and saves time. Again if somebody need information about the organisation can contact them through fax if has no access to internet. * Website provides a lot of information about the organisation and in detail with pictures and graphs make easier for you to understand. It saves time of both who wants information and the one who is giving. For example if you asking the manager of McDonald about the company but he hasn’t got enough time to give you information in detail so when you have time you can go on to McDonald’s website and look for the information you need in detail. In order to achieve business objectives McDonald’s has created communication channels which all allows the company to communicate effectively both internally and externally. Due to successful communication when looking at the McDonald’s UK financial profile form 1998 to 2001. One can clearly see a substation increase in profit during this period. By using effective communication McDonald’s meets a range of organisational objectives which are crucial for the business such ads being a market leader, no 1 fast food retailer in the world which is due to the excellent reputation built throughout the year by maintain strong relationships with customers, adapting to new environment investing in new technologies and continuously up-grading systems and improving staff training. All this reflected in McDonald’s ability to maximise sales profit and revenues. ICT has an enormous impact on McDonald’s business internally and externally. E-mails replaced the old fashioned methods of communication such as letters and phone calls. The company has a very sophisticated network database which replaced the traditional systems of filing, storing information. Computers are used every where in the business to replace a range of standard operations such as maintaining stock levels, organising deliveries, preparing invoices and recording payments etc. The use of the internet website enables McDonald’s to reach any place in the world and is a very latest link with the global market for example every body can obtain the information from the website in a matter of minutes. The global net exchange enables McDonald’s through electronic data interchange (EDI) system to arrange financials transfer dramatically reducing time, paper work and costs. Poor communication results in mistakes, anxiety, low morale, inadequate control and aggression. Not surprisingly there is concern to improve the quality of communications. First this means improving the communication skills of people within the organisation. Second, it means developing systems of communication. We can identify the skills required by individuals as: o Patience o Discretion o Understanding o Assertiveness —— where necessary. A clear explanation of how the production process and quality assurance / control system employed by the business help it to add value to its product or service. McDonald’s production is a very important process in McDonald’s business activities and it involves: o Processing o Manufacturing o Assembly o Craft-based production Processing: Most of the McDonald’s products are created by processing which includes food and drinks. Processing involves treatment such as washing, cutting, salting, weighting, heating, grilling and frying etc. The raw materials such as meat, chicken, fish and vegetables etc are passed through a series of processes until the desire form product is produced for example chicken fillet is processed into chicken burgers, grilled and then assorted with salad cream. Manufacturing: Manufacturing involves making boxes, cups, sticks and different children’s toys which McDonald’s has special facility to produce techniques include for example producing plastic toys from plastic granules called â€Å"Polietilen† which is put into a machine which is heated and under pressure different shapes are made for toys. The same thing applies for the plastic cups for hot and soft drinks. Assembly: A typical assembly operation for example putting together big Mac and French fries with a cup of soft drink in a paper bag to serve the so-called big meal for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4.99. Another example for an assembly is when staff is in the workshop assemble kid’s toys, which go together with the kid’s happy meal. Craft-based production: Craft based production involves making individual products by hand for example a birthday cake for McDonald’s birthday parties where the parent can request a special shape and decoration for the child’s birthday cake. So McDonald’s takes individual offers for special cakes. Especially trained staff has the ability and skill to create imaginative and attractive design that suits the individual needs of customers. Craft production in McDonald’s for example involves working with material such as icing, chocolate, cream, coco powder and baking powder. Quality assurance: McDonald’s is committed to maintaining and developing the best food products in the quick service restaurant market. In order to deliver on this, the company has made a number of other commitments: to food safety, food quality and nutrition. McDonald’s first is always the health and safety of customers. The company believes that the food safety standards required by law are only a minimum and the company continually seeks to go beyond this. Because of this belief, McDonald’s has developed a food safety policy to help keep the focus of the company’s absolute commitment to food safety and quality. – All raw materials delivered to McDonald’s restaurant must be consistently produced to the highest standards of hygiene and safety. – Company systems and procedures must be continuously updated to ensure the highest standards of food hygiene for all customers at all time. – All staff receives proper supervision and training in food and safety. – The equipment used must be the appropriate for the needs of each restaurant, and must be carefully maintained and carefully calibrated. Following its launch in early 1998, McDonald’s continues its programme of sponsoring research grants in food safety. The grants are particularly aimed at supporting the work of researchers in the early stage of their independent research careers, who are working in established UK-based departments and institutions. McDonald’s is committed to serving hot, fresh, great tasting, great value food to all customers, every time that they visit a restaurant. McDonald’s food has made from the basic commodities: red and white meat, fish, eggs, milk, grain and vegetables. All raw materials are produce to exacting specifications and the highest possible standards of quality and safety, The Company will not use any ingredients unless it is clear exactly where it has come from and that it compiles with all relevant regulations and McDonald’s own high standards. Additives are only used to ensure that high quality standards are maintained. Additives are removed or replaced wherever possible, as long as this does not compromise food safety or quality. McDonald’s has a highly trained team of quality assurance whose job includes verifying the company’s supply chain through audits and site visit. These employees also work with suppliers to maintain and develop product quality and to ensure that restaurants consistently serve hot, fresh food. Independent food safety auditors re also used to assess their key suppliers partners. In 1984 McDonald’s became the first UK restaurant company to publish detailed nutritional information on all core menu items. McDonald’s highest priority is for the safety of its customers. The company will not any product or ingredient that does not meet their high standards of quality and safety, or has not received the necessary approval by the relevant UK authorities. McDonald’s will not work with any supplier who does not adhere to the standard required by UK and EU legislation regarding animal welfare, transportation, husbandry, inspection, and quality & hygiene. McDonald’s always and will continue to develop new products that satisfy customers’ expectations for great taste and great value. Around the country, thousands of people form a network of dedicated suppliers involved in the day-to-day operation of McDonald’s business. The responsibility of serving more than 2.5 million customers each day makes quality a consistent goal. McDonald’s work with leading suppliers across the UK – from potato farmers in Lincolnshire and Norfolk to dairies in the south and midlands-to bring the customers the tasty products they expect from McDonald’s. It is McDonald’s policy worldwide to purchase supplies from local producers wherever possible, providing that they can meet exacting product and hygiene regulations, operate responsibly and humanely and are competitive. McDonald’s strives to ensure quality from crop to counter. To that end, McDonald’s requires the highest standards and specifications, not just product ingredients every detail of production, transport, delivery, preparation and service is also exhaustively monitored. McDonald’s also recognises the importance of a balanced diet and lifestyle and continues quality new products, which satisfy customers’ expectations for taste and value. A focus on quality permeates every aspect of the business. McDonald’s standards lead the industry, and will continue to work with government and health officials to investigate improvements. Quality control: Quality control in McDonald’s involves all kinds of inspection system for checking the raw materials, the food processing, customer service and management. The company carries out different types of testing the raw materials as well as the ready made meal and drinks for example the cooking oil in which the French fries are cooked is changed twice a day. Each restaurant manger and supervisor inspects daily the premises, the safety of the equipment and the expiry date on stored product such as milk, cream etc and general hygiene on the premises including McDonald’s car park and the neighbouring areas. In the company mission statement different policies are allocated such as health and safety, food hygiene, manual handling, customer service, litter control, recycling and environmental policy for example McDonald’s is a member of the environment council, the corporate responsibility group of Earth watch Europe, the industry council for packaging and the environment (INCPEN), and greeting the high street, a group of retailers who have come together to develop recycling in the high street. Another example is that McDonald’s takes a sensitive approach to its built environment, working closely with planning and conservation officers to preserve buildings of architectural merit and to improve the townscape. In many towns, McDonald’s has invested considerable sums in restoring old buildings, often putting back architectural details that have been lost. York, Chester and Stratford-upon-Avon are prime examples. McDonald’s has supported the tidy Britain Group’s annual ‘National clean’ activities. Since 1988 and support its campaign ‘just Bin it’. In addition to corporate funding, restaurant throughout the UK organise and support activities to clean up their local environment in conjunction with local youth groups. o McDonald’s is one of the country’s leading sponsors of council litterbins. o All packaging carries the Tidy Britain Group’s ‘Tidy Man’ symbol. o Many McDonald’s restaurant organise litter-related competitions with local schools and youth groups. o McDonald’s was a founding sponsor of ‘Going of Green’, a nationwide awareness campaign for sustainable growth. In 1997 at the TIDY Britain Group’s Queen Mother’s birthday Awards for environmental improvement, McDonald’s received the top award, the Queen Mother’s Birthday Trophy. o 100% recycled used for happy meal boxes, take away bags, take away trays, napkins, kitchen rolls and toilets. o All McDonald’s tray liners are made from 100% fully recyclable and biodegradable materials. o All McDonald’s suppliers have to use minimum recycled content of 50% in their corrugated containers. o All McDonald’s offices recycle waste paper and also use recycled paper. o The majority of McDonald’s restaurants recycle their cardboard and used cooking oil.

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In what ways does language shape our understanding of money and the economy - Essay Example When people speak about the future, they speak as if the future is more distinct from the past and feels distant. People get less motivated to save their money now in favor of the comfort of monetary value in future years (Holmes, 2009). Speaking a language that has no obligatory future markers such as Mandarin tend to stimulates people to accumulate more retirement assets. The national savings rates of a country are adversely affected by language. A country with smaller proportion of people speaking languages that does not have obligatory future markers tend to increases the rates of national savings. Evidence from research suggests that a person’s vernacular shapes the way he or she thinks about the various aspects of the real world, space and time. This has broad implications in the spheres of economics, politics and law (Reed 2009). Language structure affects our judgments and decisions concerning the future and this may have remarkable long-term consequences. From an economic point of view, people’s rates of savings are affected by various factors such as their income, age, education level, religious affiliation, their cultural values and their countries’ legal systems. Even though after all those factors were accounted for, language effect on the people’s savings rates turned out to be tremendous. Spoken language like English has obligatory future markers making people about 30 percent less likely to save money for the future use. People often counter certain economic policies as they disapprove on moral grounds of the assumptions on which they think the policies rest but not because they have been or would be economically hurt by such policies without even carefully calculating views about their economic worth (Reed 2009). There are over 7,000 languages spoken all over the world, which exhibit tremendous variance. Research has shown that language from verb tenses to gender to metaphors usually

The Case Backgruond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Case Backgruond - Essay Example A large or small business organization’s survival and business growth generally depends upon the ability to successful implementation of organizational change process. The following part of the study will provide the definition of organizational change process. Moreover, the study will discuss why the multinational organization is trying to implement organizational change process in their business process. Organizational change can be defined as the process of change that has a significant impact on the business and organizational performance. Moreover, this change process has a significant effect on the employees and every organizational aspect (Malopinsky, 2007, p.244). There are several types of organizational change process. From these, two major categories have been discussed below (Stickler, 2011, p.38). The subsystem organizational change include removal or addition of a good or service, new process implementation, certain department’s reorganization in order to propose effective and quality product or services (Khedher, 2009, p.151). On the other hand, organizational wide change comprise of major collaboration, rightsizing and restructuring. Incremental change includes systematic improvement of quality management considering the operational process or applying new computer system in order to increase the efficiency. On the other hand, transformational organizational change includes structure or culture changing process of an organization, such as hierarchical structure, organization’s top-down structure and many more (Collns, 1998, p.71). Critical Review It is identical from the case study that, the multinational company was into a retailing business. It is very much justified that, being a multinational company, it tried to expand business as improved system. Moreover, it is identical from the case to focus on the customer development strategy in order to make a strong presence in the global competitive market. The organization is suffering from several problems such as, over capacity of production, lack of effective HR policies and marketing support, inadequate organizational structure, lack of flatter and virtual organizational hierarchy. In order to improve these organizational issues, the organization has decided to employ organizational change process. Effective organizational change process will help the organization to achieve their global business goals and objectives. Major objective and aim of the study is to offer an effective organizational change process strategy in order to overcome the problematic issues of the multinational company. This project will determine the critical analysis of challenges. Kurt Lewin’s organizational change process has been discussed in order to implement the change process in the multinational organization. An effective management and communication plan for the multinational organization can be formulated in the succeeding parts of this assignment. Critical Anal ysis It is identical from the case study that, the organization is suffering from several problems. First of all, the organization is suffering from the over production capacity problem. It is one of the major concerns of the organization. Over capacity of production generally addresses excessive production considering the required market demand. Moreover, the

SS402B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

SS402B - Essay Example tion procedures to be followed, procedures of assessment reporting, requirement documenting, confidentiality, procedures of recording, policies and procedures for continuous improvement, assessment cost, links with industrial system relations, link with quality management system, procedures of assessment appeal, policies in support of grievances of candidates, and arrangement s of partnership. In order to test and tag the electrical equipment to be used for assessment, there are a number of steps that shall be followed to ensure that this is done appropriately. First, the assessor will identify the equipment that needs to be tested then have them recorded in the register of electrical testing. The technical assistant needs to have calibrated the equipment within at least twelve months. Secondly the assessor would take a risk assessment of the equipment to find out the relevant testing frequency. The time frames for the equipment would also be set. A person who is competent would be engaged in the equipment testing. Thirdly, the tags and grant for electrical testing should be provided to the sites so as to help in the portable electrical equipment testing. The number of host sites would be identified, and resourced by testing tags and testing appliances. The training would then be organized for the electrical testers that are nominated. Fourthly, the individual sites would engage the trained staff members to take part in the testing. This trained staff member contacts the host sites so as to make an arrangement of access to the tags and testing equipments. From the hazard assessment and evaluation of risks in the work place of the assessment candidates, there were different types of breaches in the health and safety of the site. The common breaches found were that key precautions of the site were missing. The edge protection for the prevention of falls from a given height was missing managers of the site were poorly trained, the workers on the site had no

Trade Area Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trade Area Analysis - Essay Example The site selected should also be strategic and make accessibility of other utilities like energy easy. Closeness of a business to the market is also an important factor to consider as this will ensure good accessibility of the commodities by the customers. A good site will lead to the success of the business. There are several factors that one should consider in order to come up with the best site of the business to be started. The main factor to take into consideration is the kind of business venture that one wants to start. The site selected should favor the efficient production activities like the good transport of goods in and out of the business premises. The production costs should be minimized and this will lead to the success of the business. The accessibility of the business premises is vital due to the transportation of the goods to the customers. According to Gitry (1996), the selected site should be easily accessible to both the buyers and suppliers (Norton, 2011). In Tor onto area, transport has been well established for the accessibility of the new stores to be set. Before selecting the best site, it is advisable to look at the transport means available in the area. There are good roads in Toronto area and this favors the flow of goods in and out of the stores in Toronto area. The good roads in the area are vital in the transportation of goods out of the stores in the region to the customers. The transport also ensures the accessibility of the stores by the employees in the region. This ensures the employees get to their places of work on time. For transportation purposes, one of the best sites to set a new store in Toronto area is along the Wilson Avenue. This site is best due to a number of factors the main one being the good transport network around the area. The good transport network will favor the flow of goods in and out of the new store to be set. This will ensure the goods reach the customers on time and inn then right condition. The good transport in the region can act as a good attraction factor to potential customers in the area. This is because the good roads make the site selected accessible to many buyers in the region. This will increase the revenues and lead to expansion of the stores. The good transport also favors the accessibility of the public utilities like the banks. This will favor the flow of business activities in the region. The accessibility of the stores is also vital in case of an emergency like fire outbreak. The good transport will ensure that emergency services reach the stores on time to avoid huge losses in case of an emergency (Glenn, 2009, pg 118). Population an area is another important factor that one should consider when coming up with a business site. Customers should be in plenty in the area selected. Thus a densely populated area is a good site to choose as customers will be available to buy the goods in the stores. In Toronto area, there are some regions that are suitable to set up new stores because they have a considerably high population (Norton, 2011). The big population will create a good pool of labor hence smooth flow of activities in the stores. The high population will also ensure there is a good number of a potential customer to purchase goods from the stores. This will ensure a continuous flow of activitie

Westminster Model and the Government System in the UK Essay

Westminster Model and the Government System in the UK - Essay Example This development has seriously undermined the notion of a strong nation-state. Another challenge to the Westminster model is the New Public Management standard, and this has wrought basic changes to the relationship between civil servants and Ministers. Perhaps the greatest influence has been that of the European Union, which has seriously weakened the notion of Parliamentary Sovereignty (Lapsley, 2008, p. 10). This situation has been worsened by the devolution of responsibilities to elected assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Parliament in Scotland. These latter devolutionary changes have posed a serious challenge to the supremacy of the Westminster executive. In addition, these have shown the Westminster model as being inappropriate in a polity that enjoys greater decentralization (Lapsley, 2008, p. 10). The Westminster model is distinguished by unhindered executive superiority. This makes certain that parliamentary majority enjoys undisputed control over the central institutions of the government. Consequently, authority and political power are central to the state. In this system, governance is restricted to the elite who are seized with the public good. Such governance functions in a self – adjusting and balanced constitutional system (Diamond, 2010). The Glorious Revolution of 1688 destroyed an attempt to perpetuate a Catholic Monarchy. This was achieved by William of Orange and his wife Mary II, and it firmly established the supremacy of the Executive. Such dominance of the Executive has remained the hallmark of the political tradition of the UK. This excellent system is characterized by an unbiased civil service and shared ministerial accountability (Diamond, 2010). This perspective regarding the UK government is not unanimous and has been subjected to considerable doubt. It is believed by a significant number of authorities that the longstanding authority of the government has been gradually eroded. In fact, there has been a shift in power, both horizontally and vertically. Thus, the vertical shift has seen the transfer of power to the European Union and international institutions. Furthermore, the horizontal shift has witnessed the transfer of power to civil society and private corporations (Diamond, 2010). There has been an undeniable establishment of new territorial power centers. These are located outside the UK and have resulted from constitutional reform and decentralization. Due to these momentous developments, it is difficult to view the Westminster model as a true reflection of empirical reality. There has been a transformation from the government to governance, and this has drawn in a vast array of networks and individuals (Diamond, 2010). To a major extent, the government of the UK has retained considerable consistency in its structure and function. This has prevailed, despite the advent of collectivism and the monumental changes that its society has been subjected to. The government is decisive an d accountable, with a scant change in the institutions of Westminster and Whitehall. It has been the established practice for politicians of the various political hues to consider themselves as responsible and influential arbiters of national interest (Diamond, 2010).

Nursing research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Nursing research - Essay Example Healthcare practitioners are ill-equipped to manage pain in children as a result of these factors. Despite these challenges, healthcare practitioners identify the important role that they should play in effective management of pain in children. Importantly, effective pain management influences a hospital’s HCAHPS scores with effective management promoting the quality of care offered in a healthcare facility. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Pain Society (APS) noted, acute pain in children â€Å"is associated with increased anxiety, avoidance, somatic symptoms, and increased parent distress† (p.793). Consequently, these factors underline the importance of implementing intervention programs that enhanced effective management of pain in children. Moreover, effective management of pain will not only improve the quality of care provided by a healthcare facility, but it will also restore the overall health of children. On the other hand, it is the res ponsibility of healthcare practitioners to eliminate or lessen pain and suffering among their patients when possible. Moreover, it is common knowledge that all children deserve to have the best practices that managed their pain in an approach that ensured effective prevention, assessment, and control of the pain. In order to ensure that the healthcare facility managed pain effectively, it is pertinent to come up with an intervention program that was effective in pain management. In line with this, the objective of the program will be the implementation of interventions that ensured the achievement of the best practices to manage, assess, and control pain in children using an approach that was clinically viable and based on research. In this case, the program will involve training nurses in the pediatric ward about detection, assessment, control, and effective management of pain in children. In addition, a pain nurse will be visiting the pediatric ward three times in a day. Moreover, nurses will involve parents in the process of pain management. A pain nurse who will be visiting the pediatric wards each day will be essential in providing support for nurses, which will effectively reduce the stress associated with pain management in children. The pain nurse will assess the approaches that the nurses used to assess, control, and manage pain in children

Compare how the theme of loss Essay Example for Free

Compare how the theme of loss Essay As he was inexperienced and had childlike thoughts and imagination, he was unaware of what situation he put himself in, which once again outlines the innocence of his youth. However, it does mention several times that â€Å"He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg† which refers back to the idea that he is only to blame, as whatever position he is now standing in, was completely his decision. He had also been taken away by the persuasive black propaganda. This makes his loss feel more pointless and very regretful. So this defies his argument about blaming Meg. Whilst comparing these characters together they, as well, blame their faults onto somebody else. We, as a reader, understand this, because when he mentions the reasons why he joined up for war, he mentions how it was â€Å"to please his Meg†, and this sounds sarcastic to us that he threw his life away at such a young age for a girl who doesn’t even care enough to visit him anymore, instead leaving him lonely in a â€Å"wheeled chair, waiting for dark†. He is more or less blaming her for making his life futile. Also, again in proximity with the poem ‘Out, Out-’ where he blames it on the â€Å"snarling† saw that appeared to attack at him. Frost personifies the saw repeatedly throughout the poem, how the saw â€Å"leaped out at the boy’s hand† and how it had â€Å"snarled and rattled in the yard†. Giving the image of an animal, waiting to pounce. These two characters are forced to be independent about their lives because they are both rejected by others. In the poem ‘Out, Out-’ he complains about how once he died nobody had taken much interest when he died â€Å"since they were not the one dead†, they â€Å"turned to their affairs†, and this compares nicely within ‘Disabled’ where he talks about how â€Å"women’s eyes passed from him to the strong men that were whole†, as well as having rejection hit at him, it also makes him feel dehumanised, that he is now labelled â€Å"Disabled† and now he has stripped of his masculinity. This again alludes to the idea of loss as he is being abandoned by everyone. He had a massive crowd of people chanting him off to war, whereas â€Å"only some cheered him home†. This gives a lonely, isolated and unloved atmosphere. Furthermore, these two poets have created a contrast between idyllic working environments with the beautiful setting coming into contrast with horrific events. Robert Frost has created a perfect example of this in the poem â€Å"Out, Out-† when mentioning the â€Å"Five mountain ranges one behind the other Under the sunset far into Vermont† and also describes the â€Å"sweet, scented stuff†. The sibilance on the â€Å"sweet† and â€Å"scented† exaggerates the pleasant atmosphere. By mentioning these notes about how everything was delightful, and how all of his five senses are all sensational and pleasurable, it creates a sense of danger in a way that everything at the moment is perfect and it is making the reader predict that it is just leading up to something more hazardous and dangerous. Another example of the use of this effect would be in the poem ‘Disabled’ where Wilfred Owen describes how the disabled soldier listens outside from his hospital bed how the â€Å"Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn† and also their â€Å"Voices of play and pleasure†. The use of this anaphora gives the effect of an echo and how the children’s happiness haunts him. Also the plosive used on â€Å"play and pleasure† gives it a harsh tone to possibly show that he is jealous of the freedom of the children as he barely had any youth himself so he envies those who have. What sounds to the reader (which is mirrored earlier on) is a beautiful setting by which Owen has as well as Frost added a negative perspective to it. However, in this poem it is to show the emotions of the angry and bitter disabled soldier, unlike in ‘Out, Out-’ where it is to show the building tension of a beautiful setting coming into contrast with a scene of horrific events. These characters are very remorseful about why they had made their stupid mistakes in the first place. This once again makes the loss wasted and valueless.