Managing Non-Traditional Inventories Essay

Within the service industry, companies will typically have two types of inventory, traditional inventory and non-traditional inventory. For a restaurateur it is essential that they have certain management systems in place, which assist with the management of both types of inventory. These inventory management systems for traditional and non-traditional inventories are critical for a restaurant to be successful and profitable. When dealing with a restaurants traditional inventory, managers are focused on the challenges of dealing with a highly perishable product, food. Since the raw materials for restaurants have a limited shelf life and usually expire within the first week, restaurant managers must have active control systems that assist with food costs, the largest expense for all restaurants. If restaurants are able to successfully manage their traditional inventory, they are most likely a profitable business; however, restaurants could still be passing up opportunities if they do not manage their non-traditional inventories. The non-traditional inventories for restaurants are the â€Å"products available for sale†, which are the space for customers to sit at tables. Restaurant owners should consider each table space as their main product, because without the table space full-service restaurants will not exist. In order for a restaurant to be not only profitable, but also successful, managers should monitor their tables as if their customers were temporarily renting the space for a meal. For them to manage the tables, they should scrutinize the turnover rate of tables. This refers to the number of times a table is used to serve new customers, therefore, the higher the turnover rate of the tables, the greater the cash flow for the restaurant. This is the reason the fast food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, as they have an exceptionally high table turnover rate compared to a fine-dining restaurant. For any full-service restaurant, restaurant owners should not pressure their customers to eat faster in order to improve their table turnover rate. Instead, restaurateurs have to properly manage their staff and the service that they provide to achieve a higher turnover rate. Owners should encourage their staff to work together as a team, so that they can improve the efficiency of the restaurant by assisting each other’s customer requests. The most effective practice for improving the cohesiveness between staff members is to encourage the servers to â€Å"pool their tips together and divide it up evenly† (Restaurant Guide). Apart from generating stronger teamwork between staff members, owners must ensure that the kitchen is fully optimized for speed and efficiency. By ensuring both the quality and the speed of the kitchen, restaurants can drastically improve the perceived service as well as the turnover of tables. In addition, staff members should be able to indicate when customers are ready to order, as well as finished with their dishes, since having fewer items on the table is generally a positive aspect of a good restaurant. Lastly, owners in the start-up phase of running a restaurant should avoid purchasing large tables, as small tables can help save space as well as seating capacity. If large parties were to request for a larger table, the restaurant will still be able to accommodate the varying sizes by combining small tables together. Therefore, if restaurant owners are able to manage their food costs, as well the table’s turnover rate and has the correct combination of sizes of tables; they can decrease the wait time for customers, maximize seating capacity, and increase profits (Petersen). Works Cited â€Å"How Better Inventory Management & Weekly Food Costing Can Lower Your Food Cost.† How Better Inventory Management & Weekly Food Costing Can Lower Your Food Cost. Restaurant Owner. Web. 27 May 2012. . â€Å"Managing Table Turns.† – Restaurant Customer Service. Starting a Restaurant Guide. Web. 27 May 2012. . Petersen, Kurt. â€Å"Tables: What Size Do You Need?† Tables: What Size Do You Need? Petersen Furniture, Inc. Web. 27 May 2012. .

Henry V: Ideal Christian King and Royal Bearing Essay

In King Henry V, King Henry is a man of Christian values and a solid foundation of moral principles. Through careful analysis of the entire play, one is able to confirm that he conducts himself with royal bearing. King Henry is â€Å"no tyrant but a Christian king† who is â€Å"a true lover of the Holy Church†. This highlights the idea that King Henry is of royal bearing as he acts in accordance with good Christian values. He questions whether he â€Å"may [†¦ ] with right and conscience make [a] claim to the throne of France†. Surely a man who only takes what he believes belongs to him is of an elevated moral standing and Christian divinity. King Henry says to his men at Harfleur that â€Å"[I]n peace there’s nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility†. A ruler who practices and preaches such Christian values conducts himself with royal bearing. King Henry insists that â€Å"[he] would have all such offenders cut off† when news of Bardolph’s inexcusable crime reaches him. Executing a soldier and countrymen is no pleasant task. However, King Henry once again clearly demonstrates royal bearing and acts according to strong Christian values when making a decision regarding Bardolph. When [King Henry] speaks, [†¦ ] the mute wonder lurketh in men’s ears to steal his sweet and honeyed sentences†. He inspires his men at Harfleur to â€Å"imitate the action of the tiger [and] conjure up the blood†. Only a man of royal bearing preaching Christian values can arouse such patriotism in the hearts and minds of his followers. King Henry makes several references to God to ensure that he â€Å"delivers [his] puissance unto God†. He strongly believes in the idea that â€Å"God [is] before [†¦ ] and beside him in all his action†. Everything â€Å"lies [†¦ within the will of God†. These open references to God establish King Henry’s character as one of Christian spirituality and royal bearing. King Henry believes that â€Å"if you will France win, then first with Scotland begin†. He refuses to go to war with France unless England and its people are protected in his absence. Once again, King Henry proves he is of royal bearing. Therefore, through carefull analysis of the entire play, one is able to confirm that King Henry is a Christian king who conducts himself with royal bearing.

The power of the Asantehene

The Ashanti people constitute one of the major tribes in Ghana. Sustainable Development is synergistic with political stability in Africa. Currently, Ghana is trying to bring a balance between traditional leadership which still exists as one of Africa’s richest and oldest monarchy and the modern democracy that has been successfully achieved after the turbulent political past.Most African communities held traditional posts before annexation by the European, but they discarded these roles after independence, adapting instead, the office of a state president. The presence of the Ashanti king also called the Asantehene, is of controversy because Ghana also holds democratic elections and elects a president who is expected to lead the country.The Ashanti king is the symbol of unity for the Ashanti tribes who are the most influential and populous in the country. Past governments have supported the role of the Ashanti king and have supported the revenues and royalties that are given t o him by the different clans. As such, the Ashanti king has remained economically powerful.This thesis will seek to determine the role and the political power of the Ashanti king in Ghana and his influence in the local and regional politics as opposed to the president. The thesis will also evaluate his significance to the Ashanti people and the power and allegiance the people pay to him.I will seek to demonstrate his position in the international community as compared to the elected presidents’ role.Theoretical discussionDuring the fifteenth century, the Europeans were competing for resources to fund their military expansions as well as to take meet the needs of their growing populations. Different empires from Europe explored to different regions including Africa and discovered the vast resources that the continent had to offer. Their interests changed from those of merely exploring the regions to wealth acquisition (Jackson, 154).West Africa had their initial contact with t he Portuguese in 1470 when the first group landed on the shores of the gold coast forming a trading post for the regions timber, gold and ivory and then converting it to the more profitable slave trade.The region became a hot spot with various countries clamoring to secure the unexploited resources for themselves. The French, the British the Swedish and the Danish communities all rushed to the area competing for trade in any of the resources in West Africa.Ghana’s Ashanti people led by Opemsuo Osei Tutu had already established a growing empire before colonization. The origin of the Ashanti monarchical kingdom arose out of a coalition of the people occupying the Pra and Ofin basins. These basins are located in the Twifo and Adanse regions.The specific clans that formed the coalition to come up with the formidable kingdom were the Aduana, the Asene clan, the Oyoko, the Ekoona and the Bretuo clan. The Denkyiras were among the clans that joined the coalition later after being def eated in warfare. The kingdom was established who succeeded in his attempts of forming a unified force of all the Ashanti states (Goldstein, 238).These states were brought together through a common allegiance to the Golden Stool which is also referred to as the Sika Agua Kofi. It is the symbol of a common soul and heritage for the Ashanti people.Social and cultural changes have been evident in many African communities. African communities had established different political systems that were mainly tribal. After colonization and independence, they developed more unifying political positions which were not founded on tribal tenets but were representative of the whole state.Modernization led Ghana to implement a central democratic government after independence in 1957. This was initially led by Kwame Nkrumah and represented the interest of the country at the international arena.Ghana has continued to support and hold its traditional governance roles while it has also adapted modernity trends by implementing a state position for a democratically elected president. Even after independence, Ghana did not dispense with the traditional role of the Ashanti king and though his main role was leading the people into war, his office has remained mainly ornamental, but the royalties and the revenues he collected are still being demanded from the people of Ghana (Ward, 242).The power of the Ashanti kingdom can be traced back to the colonization era when they formed a common empire in their attempts to resist the British. The power and skills that they held allowed them vast dominion over Ghana allowing them expansion in the area.They entered in to endless wrangles with the British who were more interested in amassing the residents’ wealth for themselves and in 1873 Kumasi which was the epicenter of the Ashanti was captured. After unsuccessfully trying to ward of the British, the British managed to exile King Prempeh.They however realized that they still did have cont rol over the Ashanti since the power and authority was symbolized by the stool which was still with the people. The British mandated the people to hand over the golden stool and this was met with a resistance that even the British had not foreseen (Davidson, 182). This led to wide uprisings and the eventual treaty that saw the area being declared as part of the British protectorate, gold coast.The reign of the Asantehene symbolizes a neo-colonial African government which was able to establish itself as an empire within the region and assume control over a lot of populations in Africa (Jackson, 180).It amassed vast masses of wealth and went on to use these resources to establish one of the best military forces in Africa that successfully posed a challenge to the colonization by the British.Though the political system of the Ashanti has been accused of marginalizing its people by leading them into religious sects and exploiting them by dictatorial rule it is still significant in today ’s society and the values and cultures of the kingdom are inculcated in the day to day affairs of the government and the people (Gocking, 163).In the past, the king was mainly responsible for positioning his people in battle and to this end the king established a strong military force which was responsible for the resulting victories at over other governments as well as in ensuring the entire kingdoms security.The continual overthrow of neighboring territories ensured that the kingdom expanded and increased its pool of resources over all other governments in the region. The king also established a national holidays for example the Odwira festival which is celebrated annually.The role of the king has changed with time (Goldstein, 238). The current king of the Ashanti, who is called Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, committed his reign to improving the national unity of the Ghanaian people. He has committed himself to, issues regarding education, improving land reform and enriching the env ironment. The kings’ role is merely that of implementing a seemingly traditional justice within the Ashanti territory.The relationship between the king and the government has been supportive as evidenced by the relationship between the support that the president of Ghana Ignatius Acheampong gave to the Asantehene Opoku Ware in 1970’s after Ghana acquired independence over the disputes which emerged due to the costs of constructing the kings palace.This is mainly because the Ashanti people have amassed great wealth over the years and currently constitute majority of the governments’ opposition wielding a lot of political power and affluence (Ward, 253).The Asantehene has demonstrated support for the democratically elected president, John Kofuor who is the first president to be elected without violence in the country. The king recently warned the former president Mr. Rawlings and his party against uttering derogatory comments aimed at the current president Kofuor and his government (Davidson, 115).

Baroque Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Baroque Drama - Essay Example One of the distinguished aspects of Baroque painting was its offbeat usage of colors and ornamentations. Such extravagances of expressionism were central to the spirit of the age. The Catholic counter-reformatory impulses resulted in a synthesis of abstraction and reality, which manifested itself poignantly in the works of Artemisia Gentileschi, the most celebrated of Roman painters in this epoch. In the purview of our study, we will now examine her famous painting entitled Judith Slaying Holofernes. Themes of women liberation and mystic illusionism are beautifully dramatized in this particular paintwork (Kleiner 662). Gentileschi derived her narrative content from one of the biblical episodes involving the beheading of the Assyrian general Holofernes by Judith (Spielvogel 477). It might be noted that the Roman painters were handsomely patronized by the English monarchs of the time. Hence, there was a sense of freedom and commitment to perfection on the painters’ part. Judith Slaying Holofernes is no exception to the liquidizing mobility that typifies the florid rendition of the Baroque taste. Francesco Borromini played a pioneering role in intensifying the architectural grandiose of the Italian Baroque. His neatly crafted San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, which is imploring in terms of its dramatic appeal, is also emblematic of the quintessential Baroque style of architecture. Quite typically, the Baroque architecture was demarked by a naà ¯ve yet peremptory feel of actuation and spaciousness.

888 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

888 - Essay Example Said traces most of his perceptive from the colonial era at a time when America had not become the world’s superpower. At this time, the British had colonies in the East and the French was also on the verge of establishing dynasties in the same location. The paper identifies, interprets and analyzes some of the proponents of the Said for use as a lens in the analysis of a primary text. Said pinpoints some assumptions made by the West about the Orient. He assumes that the West perceives Arabs as dishonest, menacing, anti-western and irrational. The text reveals that the thoughts presented in it are in opposition to how he considers the West to think of themselves (5). Therefore, he outlines his broadly projected image of the people of Arabic nature as they feature in the minds of the Western people. Specifically, he acknowledges that the Arabs exist in the western minds as â€Å"others.† According to them, anyone who is not one of them belongs to the category of others. The author addresses his issues using assumptions that one may risk considering to be truthful (7). If one takes such a positive stance, his ideologies and relations with the Arabs may be jeopardized. Hence, while considering Said’s arguments one should be cautious to avoid bias. The call for a new perception and treatment of â€Å"the Orient† that permits the independent representation of authors who belong to the Orient as opposed to the reliance on the second-hand representation is valuable. In respect to the profound dependence on other personalities for ideas, it is significant to notice the widespread use of the word â€Å"orient† on almost half of the world. The mentioning of a greater part of the world as orient expands the bracket of disparity and intensifies the divide on ideology and identity. However, making such broad generalization is unwarranted in the modern day as nations such as Egypt and the Chinese that have achieved a significant level of

Understanding the bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Understanding the bible - Essay Example The books of Kings were originally written by many people from the oral as well as the written traditions. In the written tradition, we should also include the palace annals including the Book of the Acts of Solomon, the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. An extended narrative called the Succession Narrative about David’s reign might have contributed heavily towards the first two chapter of the beginning of the book. The story of Elijah, as well as that of his disciple Elisha, was originally oral. The book must have taken its form mainly during the eighth century BC and late seventh century BC. The book of Kings may be considered to be a part of the Deuteronomical history, including books of Joshua, Judges and Samuel. This is because the style of writing followed in the book is mainly as that of Deuteronomy. The book of kings is narrative, historiographical and didactical in nature. It tells the story, not the complete history and also tries to teach us its version of the Truth. The story gives importance on how and when such and such a monarch ruled, how he failed or succeeded in following the path of Israel [and Judah] as the chosen people of God, how they fought and won or faced defeat . The didacticism lies in reiterating that The Lord God of Israel is the only God and he controlled the weather, the whole of creation and history. The prophets describe the future before God brings it about. It is He and not the kings, or prophets or even the gods that the kings worship who is in control. This is the main theme of the two books of Kings (Coogan, Brettler, Newsom, & Pheme, 2007.). Another repeating theme in the book is that the wrongdoer is always punished. The image of God here is that of a judge and crimes are always punished. Even though the judgment may get held up but in time, without repentance it gradually comes upon the sinner [I kings 21. 25-28.] The books of Kings come right after the books of

War on Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

War on Drugs - Essay Example On the one hand, the "war on drugs" helps criminal justice system to control illegal drug trade and reduce a number of drug addicts. The creation of the threat estimate is a logical and orderly examination of all the factors which when combined give shape to the threat. The circularity of effects should be dear. As American communities changed, fear of the unfamiliar and unknown, and consequently that of crime, rose. As a result, when people encounter illegal acts they are more likely to call the police, out of fear, whereas in the past, when the situation did not contain the element of unfamiliarity, the issue would be handled informally. So increasing fear is a cause of acceleration in reported crime when the actual incidence of crime has remained stable. In contrast to this view, "many critics claim that current drug control strategy is not only unnecessarily punitive but also largely ineffective". The majority of survey respondents str not satisfied with the present situation, ch aracterizing information/intelligence exchange as being "hit or miss," with actual "intelligence business" being conducted by personal contact and investigator meetings-in short, on a case by case basis. They cited limited connectivity between existing and planned networks and limited integration of federal efforts with those of state and local. Some investigators query systems but are reluctant to provide information to input. Fears of 'claim jumping' lucrative cases have prompted previously cooperative agencies to act much more cautiously." Additionally, "guarding drug intelligence and concealing major. â€Å"The current "prosecute-or-extradite" system functions through national prosecutions aided by ad hoc international cooperation. It leaves the enforcement of narcotics laws to individual nation-states, as nations may choose to assert jurisdiction and prosecute drug traffickers within their national justice systems, to extradite them to a requesting state, or to avoid taking an y action" (Mcconville 2000, p. 75). In addition, "the war on drugs" becomes a real burden for criminal justice system and prisons. Crowding in penal institutions may produce the most volatile situation of all. Many prisoners do not have a chance to be put on parole, so the effects of crowding apply steady pressure on them. That pressure is exacerbated by the violence, racism, and sense of hopelessness found in prisons. Crowding affects prison life in two ways: control of the prison population is more difficult as individual disciplinary problems and major disturbances increase, and individual deterioration is fostered (Miller, 2004). Prisoners living in crowded facilities for sustained periods commit suicide, die, are murdered, create disturbances, become ill, and have interpersonal problems more often than inmates not living in crowded surroundings. Both the actual amount of living space available to each inmate and the total number of men or women incarcerated are related to the negative impacts of imprisonment. Larg e institutions produce more severe physical and psychological effects than smaller facilities (The War on Drugs

Security and Loss Prevention Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Security and Loss Prevention - Assignment Example Second, the internal control program will discourage the fraud-minded employees and management staff from implementing their illegal acts. Third, the company’s usual fraud and error occurrences will be reduced or even eliminated. Fourth, investors will have more confidence in a company that has a comprehensive internal control program in place. Last, companies can prepare more realistic financial statements will be prepared to the different stakeholders of the company (Hillison, 1999). There are several specific benefits of implementing the comprehensive control program. First, implementing a control program that includes allowing only authorized persons to enter the accounting office will prevent unauthorized persons from manipulating the accounting data in order to present false financial reports. False reports include presenting fraudulently presenting a higher sales amount compared to the actual sales figure. Second, one can specifically advise the company to implement pas swords to access all computer database and other computer software programs. For example, the use of passwords will similarly prevent the marketing manager from increasing the sales figure in order to show management that the sale management’s monthly sales quota was achieved. ... The use of passwords will identify to the person who altered accounting entries such as inventory amounts and sales amounts. Third, one can specifically advise the company that internal control will ensure financial statement balances are more reliable. Internal control will indicate the inventory balance is presented in the financial statements are more reliable compared to inventory reports where control programs are absent. Internal control procedure includes comparing the physical count of the inventory as basis for correcting reported inventory amounts shown in the inventory records. Internal control of having another person check the recording of the receivables accounts by comparing the sales invoices with the amounts recorded in the financial reports will ensure the accounts receivable balances are efficiently and effectively recorded on time and in the proper accounting periods (Bierstaker, 2006). Fourth, one can specifically advise the company that control program procedure s will ensure compliance with applicable government laws and regulations. For example, installing an accounting program that will automatically compute the taxes for each accounting period will prevent the accounting personnel from erroneously or fraudulently preparing a fraudulent or erroneous report. The erroneous or fraudulent report will indicate the company must pay a lower amount of taxes when compared to the computer generated higher actual tax liability. The internal control procedure includes ensuring the computer software is constantly updated to reflect the updated tax laws rates on income tax and other related business taxes (Bierstaker, 2006). In terms of detective control procedures, there are several procedures that must be

Accounting for strategic management & control - Research-based Case Study

Accounting for strategic management & control - Research-based Assignment - Case Study Example Last, two mind maps presenting the Hotel’s problem and the article’s main arguments are also included. The above mind (appendix 2) map shows the key problems facing Boutique Hotel, which could be blamed for the recent decline in the financial performance. First, lack of interaction between the organization and the financial department, situated in the parent company, is a sign of ineffective management. A company’s financial manager should maintain constant interaction with the organization’s manager in order to facilitate a deep analysis of the organization’s current financial situation (Case study, 2014). Ave-Co’s financial department has failed to conduct a deep financial analysis using various methods such as ratios. The current key performance indicators used in the organization are occupancy percentage and the return on investment. From economic and financial point of view, the two performance indicators are overly weak. The occupancy rate for the year 2011 to 2014 were 266.45, 277.4, 295.65 and 299.3 respectively, showing an increase in the occupancy rate. on the other hand, the return on investments for the same years were 6.665%, 9.483%, 13.84%, and 11.95 respectively, showing an increase followed by a decrease in the asset utility rate. Some critical aspect of the company’s performance, such as costs and liquidity is left unevaluated (Case study, 2014). Therefore, both the occupancy and asset utility rate represent a skeleton analysis of the company. The absence of the financial analysis of the company has clouded both the management’s and the financial department’s view to realize the insufficiency of the performance indicators implemented in the company. Consequently, the same old strategy has been in action leading to the decline of the company’s financial performance (Case study, 2014). Second, the preparation of budget is important for planning and controlling, coordinating, communication

The channels of communications Essay Example for Free

The channels of communications Essay Media is the name given to the channels of communications, which a society uses to speak to itself. It includes newspapers, magazines, adverts, television, cinema and radio. In fact, it is a mass of individual contact points between communication tools and human beings. As you see, a large part of media products are playing a key role in our life. However it hasnt been identified whether it is good or bad, and as we begin to understand the media, we realise that it can be as equally useful as well as worthless sometimes. The media provides information to educate, to inform or simply to entertain its audience. The importance of the media is to publish the message worldwide, so that it can become popular. This is achieved by certain key concepts such as presentation, language and audience. A well presentation is brought up by using techniques through working on colours, style, format, font, size and so on. Looking at language, we explore the words and images that the medium uses to communicate with its users. It is essential to choose the right words and images in order to attract the audience. Media uses its powerful strength on the audience, through what is known as audience positioning. Different types of media have their own-targeted audience. They all have a way of addressing, their purposes to their viewers to encourage them to believe what its says. For instance a mens lifestyle magazine aims at a reader who is 35 years old, middle -aged. A fashion magazine focuses mainly at women and teenagers because those are the people that are interested in their issues. From this you can see that articles can be about the topic of work, marriage life, cars, and driving and maybe about care of young children. There are thousands of newspapers published in the U. K and all over the world. They can all be divided into different categories to what information they cover; such as National daily papers, National Sunday Newspaper, Regional papers and Specialist newspaper. National daily papers, everyone is familiar with the Sun, Guardian, Mirror, Times and so on. They are published each night and are on the news stands every morning expect on Sundays. They can also be separated into two groups such as Broadsheet newspapers and Tabloid newspapers. Broadsheet newspapers are targeted at those who like more realistic approaches to news. Their articles focus more on including political and foreign items. However their publication is less popular than the tabloids. Tabloid newspapers are aimed at people who are just expecting amusement from newspaper. Although they do cover some news, they tend to contain more gossip, personality issues, shorter articles and more pictures than text. Moreover they often refuse and neglect the idea of publishing political and foreign news. By investigating these issues this essay will be based on how language, content and presentation has been conveyed in newspaper. Most newspapers are either broadsheet or tabloid in format and I will use this to explore the difference between Tabloid newspaper s and broadsheet newspapers. The Guardian and the Sun, by analysing and concentrating their front covers. Presentation takes the form of words, images or symbols. The process of working on an image or a symbol is to convey our understanding of media message. This presented differently in each newspaper, simply because there are different types of audience that they have to target. For example, broadsheet papers have more text on the front page than tabloid paper. This is maybe because they have wider pages. However the design and layout of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers are very different in many ways. The Sun paper tends to be brasher in presentation. They use large headlines and big pictures. The masthead is represented by bold enormous writing on red back round. Using red colour, which connotes a sense of danger, and so in effect we become exited and attract. The title Sun suggests that the paper will shine as the sun does bringing us a scene of happiness and enjoyment. The headline why did she have to die? refers to a young girl beaten to death. It uses rhetorical questioning to convey a message in order to market the product, to the readers of the newspaper. They typed the title as a question to attract the audience so that they will read on to find the answer. As well as, this dramatic question appeals to those who like to read tragic stories. Yet again, they present the headline as in white, bold letters on black background to draw the readers attention. Subheadings use bold writing to suggest that she was let down. They have also typed in capital letters whereas the Guardian uses small letters. This gives readers more information about the event and also influence them to find out more. There is just one column of text in the Sun article and a large photograph of the young girl dominates the article. The girl has a little smile on her which conjures the image of the sun shining, then when u realise that this pure little sun shine has lost her life, it brings up a sympathetic value in readers mind. At this point the reader becomes emotionally involved arousing their interest. Further more the photographs have been used partly because they are visually interesting rather than because they are newsworthy. As we see, the front cover of the Sun paper has been designed to people who want to scan the news quickly, in order to have a good idea about the events happening around them without giving up great amount of time to read lengthily articles. The presentation of the article in the Guardian is less effective than the article in the Sun at attracting the readers attention. They give very little importance to eye catching the audience, but they are more standard and are strict on providing the news rather that some sort of gossip. It is controversial. The masthead is in bold black writing on white back round. The black and white colour is there to give a formal and serious look. The name Guardian suggests to look after the needs of its audience. The headline: You can hide, general, but you cant run is longer, therefore the powerful message is no as quick. Despite this, the headline is straight to the point and creates shock. It takes more time to make the audience read on. As we see it is more informative rather than startling. Yet they use black and white handwriting to make the thought simple. The subheadings are presented in bold and very small writings and not capital letters as well as that they help you to understand what the article is about. The Guardian uses two photographs whereas the Sun only uses one. The first picture is very big and it helps the reader to visualise the scene of how General Augusto Pinochet appear. It expresses the feelings of tension and sadness on his face. This brings up the interest and causes readers to become emotionally involved. This picture obviously draws, peoples attention to agree with. The other picture is quite small and it also relates to the article. In fact the photographs are used to illustrate the story rather that used as stories in their own right. As we see the Guardian paper concentrates more on delivering accurate information, than presenting it in a way that will instantly attract the attention of readers. The content also takes an important place of targeting the individuals audience. Newspapers develop their own nature through the type of story they print. The Sun paper has chosen a tragic story for its front page, which is a death about a five-year old girl Lauren. She has been horribly abused by her mothers lover, which result in death. The officials spent three months holding a meeting about saving her. This story is obviously interpreted as shocking, tragic and dramatic. The opening paragraph, immediately engages the readers, and makes the feel empathy. It makes readers feel extra concern, as the fact that a young girl from their country has died makes the tragedy feel closer to home and brings the thoughts of their own problems. In effect they feel more emotional. As we can see there are more opinions than facts. The article is biased against her mothers lover because of the owners personal opinion supports the young girl. The Guardian paper has chosen a political story about the general leader Pinochet, who has been forced to move from the country. As we see this topic is very serious and informative, also the article is very detailed. At a glance, they provide more facts than opinions, as well as that the article is not biased because the argument is not only argued for one side. The article in the Sun is the only article on the front page; this ensures that another does not distract the reader. But in the Times, there are several other articles with the main article; this draws the readers attention away from the main headline into the others. The Sun uses a bold, thick border around the article, making it stand out further. The Times doesnt have a border, use colour boxes above and underneath the articles, to make it impressionable, yet is less effective as it doesnt apply around the whole page. The Sun article has aimed at very broad audience. Its simplistic enough to reach a wider audience, with short simple facts about the situation. Other than, it requires more information and more informal in sequence to meet the needs of a more intellectual people. In whatever circumstance media does not communicate with only words but with pictures and images. A large part of a newspapers identity is the language that it uses in its stories. The type of words used in the articles play an important role in the way it addresses its audience. The Sun paper uses very casual and shortened words, which help create a chatty, friendly tone. Also the language is very informal, as how people use language through a conversation; moreover they tend to use onomatopoeia, for example, cruel instead of badness, and punch and slapped instead of hurt, as an advantage to alert readers as the text becomes alive creating musicality in a sense. They refer to characters by nicknames, like her mothers evil lover, her mother and a neighbour. They often fail to extant the language in grammar or standard. Since they want to hold the attention of the readers without using long sentences or either difficult vocabulary, for the reason that, it has to be understand by lower educated people as well as to the intelligent people. The language used in Guardian tends to be formal. They contain more long and complex sentences. Headlines are in straight forward, in that they rarely use emotive or humour words. Use of difficult vocabulary is to put together the paper more standard. People in the stories have been given their proper titles such as Gen Pinochet, Mr Straw and Mr Artaza. The Guardian has aimed towards a more intellectual people. This is mainly because of the language, the language and word structure is much more good. In addition, the simple layout and the story with more facts and information for the content make the paper brighter.

Behavior Towards Fast Food Mcdonalds In Malaysia

Behavior Towards Fast Food Mcdonalds In Malaysia Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction 1.1.1 The Nature of Fast Food From French fries to Big Mac burger, fast food can consider as one of the food types that growing in a fast mode (Goyal et al, 2007). According to Bender and Bender (1995), fast food meant food that has limited choices in the menu which being created under production line technique. Besides, fast food also defined as food likes hamburgers, sandwiches, or pizza which are food that supplier be likely to specialize (Davies et al, 2004). In simple words, fast food also being defined as food purchased by self-service in counter and then take the food to own dining table without any services by waiter (Association NR, 2003). The rise of fast food can be traced back to the early 1900s when Automat opened the first ever fast food restaurant which sell foods and drinks by using machines. Then white castle introduced hamburgers to fast food outlets and this brings the culture until today. After some years, the concept of fast food is so attractive and successful and this attracted many companies such as McDonalds, KFC, Wendys and Burger King joined the fast food industry (Chavadi et al, 2008). Since the early stage of 1970s in US, fast food has become part and partial of Americans and the frequency of eating fast food has rapidly increased (French et al, 2000). Fast food outlets imbued almost every corner in the world, different fast food restaurants is in your eyesight (Jayna et al, 2009). National Restaurant Association claimed that there are three out of ten customers said that eating fast food is their own way of life and it is important for their daily life (National Restaurant Association, 2008). Moreover, fast food successfully dominates away-from-home food expenses during the last few decades (Sharkey et al, 2011). To add more on this, the trend of eating away from home is more and more common and the frequency of visits to fast food outlets even increase rapidly. In 1970, there is about 25% of total spending for away-from-home foods and the spending rocketed up to 53% for the total spending for away-from-home foods (Clauson A, 2000). This showed that more consumers prefer to eat fast food rather than home cook foods. In addition, there are decelerating for the path of the industry when the economy crisis hits the world with a low point of 3.1% two years ago. Nevertheless, there are sign of recovery for the industry when there is expected accelerating of growth rates showed in the forecast period. The fast food market had $201.1billion of total revenue in 2009 which correspond to 4.8% of compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the year 2005 to 2009. In Europe, the markets raised about 4.7% of (CAGR) while Asias market grew about 6.1% of (CAGR) in 2009. The fast food market of Europe and Asia respectively values about $34.2 billion and $71.6 billion. Furthermore, the market consumption volume is expected to increase to $248.7 billion at the end of 2014. The most profitable in the industry is QSR segment where it earned about $142.6 billion or 70.9% of the markets overall value (Data Monitor, 2010). 1.1.2 History of McDonalds The history of McDonalds began in 1940 when Dick and Mac McDonald started their business by opening McDonalds Bar-B-Que restaurant in California which offered large menu to customers. After that, they closed down the restaurant and reopen another restaurant which is a self service dive in restaurant. This time, they only provide limited choices of foods for customers such as burger, coffee, soft drinks, potato chips and milk. In 1949, the world well-known French fries were introduced and replaced potato chips on the menu. After a year, a salesperson called Ray Kroc met up with McDonald brothers and purchased the franchising right from them and planed to operate the restaurant. Few months later, Kroc opened his first ever McDonalds restaurant in Illinois and the world famous Golden Arches also started to use as the symbol of McDonalds. History was made and new records to be created from time to time since McDonalds started its operation. Today, McDonalds is the world largest organizat ion in the world with more than 32000 fast food outlets in 117 countries which serves more than 60 million customers everyday (About McDonalds.com, 2011; McDonalds Malaysia.com, 2011). McDonalds also the largest buyer of materials such as potatoes and beef (Steyn NP, 2010). The brands mission is to be McDonalds customers favourite place and way to eat. Besides, the company promises to supply Simple Easy Enjoyment to every customer when they visit to the restaurant and let customers enjoy the feel of having meal there as well as like having meal in own sweet home. The company hold tied to the value of serving quality food, giving superior service and cleanliness of environment to delight every customer and hope customers were treated like VIP (McDonalds.com.my, 2011). Furthermore, the annual report of McDonalds for the year of 2010 reported that the company earned about $24,075 million in 2010 which higher 6% of the sales compared to the previous year which earned about $22,745 million. The revenues of the company in US for year 2009 and 2010 are positively increased because of the high achievement in new products, iconic core products and good focus on everyday value of the company. Additionally, the continually increasing of currency exchange in Europe, sales increased in UK, Russia and French, as well as the good expansion achieved in Russia had driven the revenues raised (Annual report, 2010). 1.1.3 McDonalds in Malaysia In December 1980, McDonalds Corporation, USA approved and gave license to Golden Arches Restaurants Sdn Bhd to run McDonalds restaurants in Malaysia. The first ever McDonalds Malaysia restaurants was opened at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur which is in the heart of the big city on 29 April 1982. Now, there are 204 restaurants situated nationwide and currently there are about 20 to 25 restaurants will be opened annually as it is expanding steadily. Moreover, McDonalds employed almost 10,000 local citizens in different states to success the restaurants and 120 support staffs at its head office to handle day-to-day operation of the McDonalds business (McDonalds, 2011). So, it is obvious that McDonalds is very successful company and leader in the fast food industry in Malaysia which attracts million of customers visits to the restaurants everyday. Thus, this research is basically about the consumer behavior towards fast food especially McDonalds. Objective of the research: To discover the factors that influence consumer behavior to choose fast food as their meal. Research Question: What are the factors that influence consumers to choose fast food as their meal? Hypothesis 1: There is a relation between service qualities towards consumer behavior. Hypothesis 2: Place factor has relationship towards consumer behavior. Hypothesis 3: Price factor has relationship towards consumer behavior. Chapter 2: Literature Review According the report of Technomic about the status and future of fast food, the perceptions of consumers towards fast food have been changed. Now, consumers think that fast food is no longer limited to quick service, fast food restaurants, or drive-thru restaurants. Instead, there are risen of dual concept which formed the traditional fast food concept and the new concept of food fast which food can be served quickly with a superior quality, flavor, taste and ambiance. The report also claimed that consumers are seeking for faster, convenient, better and quality foods and services from all type of food service organization (Restaurant News Resource, 2010). Moreover, the report findings showed that about 49% among 2000 consumers have visit to fast food restaurant at least once in a week (Technomic, 2010). The new concept of perceptions totally will affect the consumer behavior towards fast food including McDonalds. In addition, Kara and Kucukemiroglu have studied about the consumer perceptions and favorites for fast food restaurants in USA and Canada. The research showed that the young consumers between the age of 12 to 24 hunt for different type of foods, better delivery service, lower price and good location in USA while Canadian teenagers look for novelties and price. Then, for the middle age group of consumers who are 25 to 45 years old, Americans looked for better service and better speed of serving food while Canadian considered quality, service and speed. More to the point, consumers above 46 years old to 55 years old, American preferred taste, cleanliness, quality and nutritional value whereas Canadian adults wanted better services, food quality and speed. Furthermore, young consumers have to be concerned and to be taught of the nutritional awareness and fast food preferences during the teenager years (Brown et al, 2000). In London, Davies and Smith have listed down the importance for t he nutritional value for fast food and fast food companies also printed the information of the value in its restaurants. 2.1 Consumer Behavior Analysis According to Solomon, consumer behavior can be defined as a study of selected consumers either in individuals or groups in buying, using or disposing of products, ideas, services or experience to satisfy own desires and needs. The satisfaction of desires and needs are closely related to hunger, personal status and thirst to love as well as spiritual fulfillment (Solomon, 2007). Consumer behavior has been defined as the the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, environment, and the behavior from human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives (Peter et al, 2008). More on this point, during the consumption processes, the action performed, feeling and thought of own experience by consumers will affect the consumer behavior. Everything that surrounds the consumers and environmental factors such as advertising, product appearance, comments from friends, price information and packaging totally will influence the consumer behavior (Peter et al, 2008). There is for sure that consumer will buy something after they have a good expectation and satisfy towards the product. Nevertheless, researcher has to go deeper and questioning consumer in which circumstances and what reason for buying a product (Blackwell et al, 2001). According to Peter, the consumer behavior consider as dynamic because the changes of perception, feelings and activities of individual purchaser or a group of consumers. There are various type of marketing strategies is the answer to the question of consumers response. This doubt is always being answer by using the stimulus-respond model (Refer to Appendix 1). Furthermore, researchers have to find out from the buyers black box which is the essential point that other actors and companies in the market wants to know (Kotler, 2007). Determinants of Consumer Behavior Analysis Consumers have to analyzed by focusing to three objects which is behavior, environment, affect and cognition and then about their relations between each other. Every single aspect can affect other aspects and all of the aspects must be considered when planning for the marketing strategy (Peter et al, 2008). Consumer affect and cognition represent different type of the mental responses from consumers demonstrate toward particular stimulus and event around them. Affect refers to the feeling of consumers whether they like or hate a product. For example, affect includes strong personal emotion of anger or love, moods of happy or sad and feelings of frustration or satisfaction. As a result, marketers should build up suitable strategies to create positive affect among consumers about their brands and products to become consumer first choice to purchase. On the other hand, cognition is about the thinking of consumers or their belief towards a product. It involved consumers perception, understanding and interpreting the events and stimuli. Consumers gain their knowledge, beliefs and experience from their daily life and this will help them to be more sensitive and alert when buying a product so that it will be a good buying decision (Peter et al, 2008). 2.1.2 Consumer Motivation Solomon claimed that motivation is the processes that bring people to behave themselves when there is a need generated that they hope to satisfy. Consumers will find their way to attempt to decrease or to remove the needs. Once consumers successfully end the desire, then consumers goal is achieved. Consumer behavior is started up by motivation and directs to achieve goals. Normally, a motivated person will be involved more to an activity compared to unmotivated person (Solomon, 2007). 2.1.2.1 Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Moreover, during the last few decades, psychologists have studied about the motivation and its essential towards consumer behavior in different ways. The most famous and familiar ideas is propounded by Abraham Maslow in year 1943 (Kotler, 2007). Maslow initially created this approach is to know about people personal growth and the accomplishment of some difficult tasks. After some time, marketers adapted this theory to understand the consumer motivation. Then, Maslow developed a hierarchy which is the combination of psychogenic and biogenic needs which specifies on different level of needs by people (Solomon, 2007). In the pyramid of needs, there are at least five sets of basic needs which are physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization needs. The order of needs in the pyramid structure is fixed and certain level must be obtained before go for the next. Maslow believed that people is aspire to become self-actualization (Stephens, 2000). The hierarchy is started from physiological drives which are the basic needs of human such as water, food, air or sleep. For instance, a person who is hungry definitely will craving for food much stronger than anything else (Stephens, 2000). After the physiological was fulfilled, the safety needs will be demanded by people. People needs a place that is safe and security for them to have meal, rest or enjoy. When both of the physiological and safety needs are perfectly gratified, the third needs which are social needs to be considered. Social needs are included love, friendship, parents or acceptance by public. Human have to build up their own relationship with others so that their life will be better and successful (Stephens, 2000). Furthermore, everyone hope to have respect and high evaluation from others toward self-esteem. People may seek for self satisfaction when they are promoted higher position in their company, attaining the educational distinction, or being honored by govern ment. This level of needs basically is about people feeling of self-confidence and satisfactoriness. The last needs is self-actualization which is about to know ones potential and this level of need will never be satisfied because there are new challenge and opportunities to come across when people growing up (Stephens, 2000). In addition, physiologist Sigmund Freund claimed that people will not aware of their buying behavior which is formed by own physiology. Everyone have different dream and wishes which are hope to be fulfilled, however, some of the wishes are cause of incited which brought to negative effect. For example, a person said that he enjoy the wind when driving is the main reason that he buys a sport car. On the other hand, in psychological level, he might just want to show off or want to let others respect him (Kotler, 2007). 2.2 Factors that affecting Consumer Behavior 2.2.1 Service Quality In 1984, Gronroos defined service quality as the judgement from consumers evaluation of the service they received. He also proposed that service quality can be divided into technical quality or what is done and functional quality or how it is done. Then, the service quality also being further explained as two dependent variables which are perceived service and expected service. Expect service is referred to the consumers previous experience with a service which might influence the consumer behavior while the perceptions of consumer towards the service itself is called perceived service. In fast food industry, good service quality is very essential for every fast food company because it is one of the fundamental determinants of consumer satisfaction which directly influence the success of the company in the industry (Huam et al, 2011). At the present time, every fast food company has pay more focus on their service quality by different ways in order to boost up the satisfaction level of consumers and then raise the intention of purchasing as well as loyalty towards the fast food restaurant (Qin et al, 2008; Gillbert et al, 2004). Organizations that provide superior services to consumers also achieve the greater level of consumer satisfaction and favorable word-of-mouth (Gillbert et al, 2004). Once the restaurants successfully attain or go beyond the anticipation and expectation of consumers, definitely consumers will be satisfy with the services that provided (Huam et al, 2011). For instance, Fast food giant likes McDonalds, Burger King and KFC are attempting to pres ent exclusive, unique and special services to attract and to keep their consumers. As for many well operating companies, great service quality is a cornerstone to gain competitive advantage in the industry to increase sales. From times to times, the fast food industry had been forced to change from product-centric approach to customer-centric approach due to the high expectation from consumers and competition from other companies (Huam et al, 2011). For example, the fast food companies in Malaysia also experiencing the transformations and challenging from competition (Yap et al. 2007). 2.2.1.1 Measurement of Service Quality (SERVPERF Model) Since the service quality is very crucial for the fast food business, then the service quality measurement has to be done frequently and in a timely manner to obtain an accurate current level of service quality provided by the fast food industry in order to increase the customer satisfaction as well as to encourage the customer purchase intentions towards the restaurants (Gilbert et al, 2004). Besides, Zeithaml and Bitner recommended that consumers judge the service quality based on their own perceptions towards the provided technical outcome, the process of delivering the outcome and the quality of environment by delivering the service. Before this, there are researchers believe that quality is naturally hard to be determined and measure, so there will be better if there is a yardstick for consumer to measure their own service quality for certain things. Then, a standardized and better model called SERVPERF model was developed. Nonetheless, this model is a very wide-ranging concept and its modification is recommended to capture the framework in certain study (Olorunniwo et al, 2006; Andaleeb et al, 2006). Audrey stated that this model is created to give a substitute method to measure the perceived service quality and the important relationship between the service quality, purchase intentions and consumer satisfactions. This instrument contained five dimensions which are: Tangibility The condition of physical parts of the fast food restaurants, the equipments and utensils that serve the consumers as well as the physical environment of the restaurants (Yuksel, 2001). Moreover, it also expressed the arrangement and decoration of the restaurants layout which included the cleanliness of environment, nice design of the facilities, and the convenience offered to consumers (Subhash et al, 2000). Responsiveness According to Fetus et al, responsiveness is meant that willingness and readiness showed by employees to help consumers when there are problems occurred and offer prompt service directly to consumers (Festus et al, 2000). . Reliability The capability and attitude of performing the promises service truthfully and sincerely which can motivate consumer and gain confidence to the fast food restaurant. Furthermore, this also referred to the trustworthiness in business process, trustable, and the efficiency as well as the ability to fix or improve anything that goes the opposite way (Yuksel, 2001). Empathy This dimension is about consumers being cared and individualized attention by employees. This dimension consists of few components which are: (a) Access approachability or friendliness and ease of contact. (b) Communication communicate with customers with languages that they can understand and comfortable with and patiently listen to what consumers express. (c) Understanding Customers: put effort to know, understand and sensitive towards what consumers needs and expectations (Huam et al, 2011). (V) Assurance Defined as the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their skill to convey trust and gain confidence from consumers. Assurance consists of three main components which are: (a) Courtesy kindness, consideration, respect, and friendliness of every employee towards every customer. (b) Credibility Employees show that they are honest, trustable and believable towards every customer. (c) Security Customers feel safe when having meal without any risk of danger or doubt (Festus et al, 2000). Consumer Behavior Satisfaction Service Quality 2.2.2 Product Quality Product quality is a means of advancing peoples life expectancy and cut down the jejunity and mortality rate of society (Iwarere, 2011). As high competition and environmental influences rise internationally, obviously there are a lot of hard work of fast food companies on quality improvement and cost saving in order to satisfy consumers and protecting consumer behavior as well as increasing the organization profit and value (Iwarere, 2010). According to Iwarere, quality management is being judged as competitive weapon which can show the competitive advantages to consumers to attract more business. Product quality totally will influence the company profit since the quality of product mirrored out the reputation of the company (Dominici, 2009). The relationship between product quality and profit of company is that product quality that being enhanced will increase the reliability and production of certain product. Besides, the increasing in product reliability causes the price of the pr oduct being boosted up (Iwarere, 2011). Product quality is very important to a company and this can be showed from a study on brand preference of soft drinks in rural place to determine the factor influencing the rural consumers towards the soft drink. From the study, they found out that the product quality was ranked at the first place and then followed by price (Nandagopal, 2003). There is a group of quality assurance team in the restaurants and at suppliers for every stage of production which in charge in observing and examines the quality of McDonalds products. There is a specific process set by McDonalds to check and make sure every ingredient that they use is high quality and safe. The team will have a tight observation towards supplier manufactures and will take some samples of stock from distribution centers to undergo the quality checking. Every McDonalds outlets will only receive the delivery of materials and ingredients after quality and safety checking by the outlets employees. Every employee will be given complete training in hygiene, quality assurance, food safety, and procedures of food preparation (Vignali, 2001). In McDonalds, they intends to create the standardized the food items which still the same taste in most of the country likes Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, and most of the Europe country. Although they know that there are considerable cost saving by undergoing the standardization, being able to adapt to the environment and market will ensures success of the company in the country. Obviously, McDonalds has successfully adopted the concept of think globally and act locally into its marketing strategies to (Vignali, 2001). Moreover, there are a lot of reasons for necessity of adaptation such as the taste or preference of local people, local culture and laws as well as local traditions. There are many cases happened in different country where McDonalds change their menu to adopt for the local preferences and laws (Vignali, 2001). For instance, the famous Big Mac was served without cheese in few of their restaurants in Israel and in some of the kosher restaurants, the meat products and dairy products is separately placed. Plus, recently, McDonalds Israel launched a new hamburger which to improve the nutrition and taste of its famous product. The Big Mac in Israel is 30% fewer calories compare to Big Mac in US (Ron Friedman, 2010). In addition, in India, McDonalds serve vegetable McNuggets and a mutton-based Big Mac which called Maharaja Mac. Additionally, in Malaysia and Singapore, McDonalds also put effort on their product which is free of pork products and the outlets must apply for the halal certifica te to run the restaurants, which means is totally out of pork products and acceptable for Muslims consumers. In addition, good product quality also includes the taste of the foods. Every consumers want to eat tasty foods is consider as a general motive to satisfy their needs towards food and increase their appetite. Furthermore, the taste of foods also has to localize to suit the local taste and fulfill the needs of consumers (Gordan Chu, 2009). For instance, the taste and flavor of McDonalds French fries is magnificent and marvelous for a lot of consumers (Schlosser, 2001). There are various other examples of the successful of McDonalds adopted in different countries which has unique and special perspective and culture as well as local taste in order to satisfy the needs and preferences of consumers. For example, beer was sold in Germany as McCroissants, espresso coffee and pasta is on the menu in Italy and there are chilled yogurt drinks in McDonalds Turkey as well as in tropical countries, guava juice was the favorite items in the menu. There are vegetarian hamburgers sold in Netherlands while teriyaki burgers were the famous hamburger in Japan. In Thailand, the most well-known burger in McDonalds was called Samurai Pork Burger which serves with sweet sauce. Moreover, in Norway, grilled salmon sandwich which called McLaks are sold while hamburger with poached egg are top of the menu in Uruguay (Vignali, 2001). So, there are different products being introduced by McDonalds to adopt in the international food market. Some of the products already became the symbolic food of McDonalds for the local people. 2.2.3 Promotion Promotions normally are created by marketers to tell information about their products or service in order to attract consumers to buy them. The promotion strategies normally experienced by consumers which might influence consumer behavior due to the social and physical aspects from the environment factor. Every products and brands become famous and successful because of promotion strategies that developed to generate competitive advantage against competitors while show out the unique of the products and brands. There are four types of promotions which are advertising, publicity, personal selling and sales promotions (Peter et al, 2008; Ivy, 2008). McDonalds always put more effort to promote them as a global image and they concern about the people from the market they are entering. McDonalds has different types of advertising campaigns in different countries and globally to suit the culture and society of people from different background. For example, UK McDonalds appointed England legendary footballer Alan Shearer to promote their products while in French they used French world cup winner goalkeeper Fabien Barthez (Vignali, 2001). Besides, McDonalds also concern about the public relationship with customers which can know and understand more about consumers. For instance, Beijing McDonalds relies greatly on individual interaction with consumers in restaurants. There are at least one public relations employee works in every outlet to help and answer customers questions. Moreover, there are five to ten female staffs being assigned to every outlet to take care of consumers children and to communicate with parents (Vignali, 2001). This can help to improve the service level and to advance the management of customer portfolio (Fjerstad et al, 2003; O Learly et al, 2004). Another example is in 1997, McDonalds had broadcasted that they will corporate with Walt Disney which allowed them to share special marketing rights from food to films for the following ten years. This is the beginning of the producing toys which include in their happy meals for films likes Toy Story, Madagascar, Alvin and the Chipmunks and the lates t is the young justice series of superhero from Marvels. Furthermore, McDonalds, UNESCO and Walt Disney corporate together to launch a program called Millennium Dreamers Global Childrens recognition program which allowed young people from the whole world have the chance to express their dreams, ideas, and plans as well as hopes in the future (Vignali, 2001). 2.2.4 Place According to Kotler, place defined as the location where products and services being distributed for purchase by consumers. It can contain every physical stores and virtual stores on the internet. The choice of place has always an important factor to be considered when operating a store. For instance, fast food restaurants mostly being set up in place where there is a significant in number of moving people (Hossain, 2003). Normally, company location decision depends on few factors such as total cost, supplier, proximity of customers, and infrastructure (Chase, 2004). Currently, there are more than 32000 McDonalds restaurants in 117 countries all over the world. The company effectively manages its capital expends by strategic expansion in every country. Every year, McDonalds operate hundreds of new restaurants globally to undergo strategies that create a gap between its competitors in term of accessibility and convenience to consumers (Jekanowski et al, 2001). In the annual report of the company in year 1994, McDonalds had launched a strategy called in-your-face strategy. In the report stated that McDonalds wants to have a site wherever people live, work, play, or gather. Our Convenience Strategy is to monitor the changing lifestyles of consumers and intercept them at every turn. As we expand customer convenience, we gain market share. (McDonalds USA annual report, 1994). This is because McDonalds understand that consumers prefer to go nearby to buy food for saving time and cost. So, McDonalds wants that there are their outlets everywhere in the w orld which can bring convenience to consumers to buy foods. Moreover, most of the McDonalds outlets operate 24 hours everyday to serve their consumers and people may taste the foods of McDonalds whenever they want to (Jager, 2007). In addition, McDonalds also provide delivery service to consumers home which bring convenience to consumers who do not like to queue up in the crowed restaurants but prefer to eat in home while doing their works (Church et al, 2000). Drive-thru system also being introduced by McDonalds in most of the outlet to serve consumers who plans to take away the food (Fitzgerald, 2004).

Social Issues In South Africa Management Essay

Social Issues In South Africa Management Essay In society, the population of the world is affected by social economic issues. This research analysis will focus mainly on South Africa, showing a list of the different issues found in South Africa, as well as listing the ways in which they affect the country in both the business and environmental sectors. The different types of social issues found in South Africa are listed below: Poverty- is an economical condition in which people do not have sufficient income to obtain minimal levels of health services, food, housing, clothing and education. These minimal levels are generally recognized as being necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living. The Causes of poverty are: Individuals who find it difficult to earn an income. Members of large families, where the breadwinner of the family is either unemployed or works for low wages. Lack of educational opportunity and an education of a poor quality. A high level of unemployment. Unemployment- population and employment play a big factor as part of the social economic issues. As technology increases, more technical knowledge and experience is needed in South Africas industries, even in farming, mining, manufacturing and service industries. Unemployment affects businesses by causing poverty. HIV/AIDS-the constant spread of this disease throughout the country plays a contributing factor to the social economic factors in South Africa. HIV/AIDS decreases the life expectancy of the population and effects businesses negatively because if one of their staff members has passed away from this disease, they must spend money on finding, and training new staff, which can be time consuming and decrease the work ethic within the business. Increase of population- the greater the population, the greater the demand is for resources and raw materials. Uncontrolled settlement development can also result in problems of pollution, health hazards, and inadequate housing and service provision, contributing to informal sector activities and crime.(4) Natural resources in areas surrounding settlements are generally under greater pressures than those in areas of less dense human habitation.(1) Water supply- with the increasing population, the use of water is starting to become limited. Scientists are already looking for alternatives to supplying water, such as the desalination of sea water, which is so far an expensive exercise. The issue of poverty relating to South Africa Summed up all together, most of the issues mentioned above relate back to poverty. Poverty leads to people who are not able to afford an education, or can only afford a poor quality education. The lack of education causes unemployment, and unemployment leads to crime. Besides that the uneducated populations are prone to make uneducated decisions relating to starting a family when you are not in the position to afford children, and this leads to unsafe sex, which causes the spread of HIV/AIDS. The impacts of poverty on the environment include deforestation from excessive collection of wood for fuel, soil degradation through cultivation of unsuitable soils, and exploitation of rare and endangered species to supplement incomes. An inability to adequately provide for the basic needs of the population will lead to collapse of the natural ecosystem services and deterioration in the quality of life. (2) Poverty also has a large impact on businesses. As a result of low or no education, lack of training and working skills, inability to access various services, poor people dont contribute much to their local community and can retard or hamper economic growth in the area. Poverty means that potential business markets are reduced and can therefore decrease the businesses ability to make profit. It may be wise for businesses to team up with government to alleviate poverty and to uplift the poor in their business environments as this will help broaden the consumer base for itself and all other businesses and benefit them in the long term. Woolworths limited What is corporate social responsibility? Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as the continuing commitment by companies to behave ethically and to contribute to economic development, while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families, as well as the local community and society at large.(5) Woolworths is one of the leading food retailers in South Africa, as one of the largest public companies they are aware of the social, environmental and economical impact they have on the communities in which they operate. As a result of this, Woolworths is big into corporate social responsibilities. They design and implement certain strategies to enable their company to run better, as well as benefit the environment around them. Woolworths is a company with a good ethics and morals base system, where their employees must obey the values of the company. Below is a diagram drawn up by Woolworths to show the distribution of their corporate social responsibility model. (7) Figure 3.1: Corporate social responsibility model of Woolworths. Woolworths has a responsibility for, and is committed to, the implementation of effective and efficient long term management strategies which address issues arising from the companys impact on the environment in which it operates. Woolworths is aware of the impact their company has on the environment and it is important for them to have certain strategies in place to solve the problem. An example of Woolworths contributing to the environment is by implementing the green bag which is not as harsh on the environment as the traditional plastic bag. Woolworths is also associated with the community and have a lot of fund raisers where 100% of funds go to providing food for the poor or it is donated to certain hospitals. Woolworths also participates in the efforts to tackle problem drinking. They have voluntarily introduced a range of measures (above the license requirements) to assist local communities to better manage alcohol related issues. (7) The one issue which Woolworths concentrates the most on is the impact that they have on the environment. Woolworths has realized that their company has effected the environment in 4 ways: Electricity consumption and associated green house gas emissions. Store waste going into landfills and recycling. Packaging used in their operations and by their consumers. Fuel consumption and associated green house gases in their vehicle fleet. Electricity consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions Woolworths looked at the following aspects in order to reduce their electricity consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Refrigeration Woolworths three major refrigeration service providers were asked to undertake a program to cost-effectively improve system energy efficiency while maintaining product temperature and system up-time. By identifying high output sites and those that could be tuned remotely, substantial improvement was noted in the performance efficiency of many supermarket refrigeration systems. Lighting Woolworths spent their efforts on replacing their original light bulbs in their stores with energy efficient light bulbs, and by putting special lighting systems in place to reduce the amount of energy used. Below is a breakdown of the savings delivered in a sample of their supermarkets once controlled lighting had been introduced. Table 4.1: Table showing the amount of energy used in stores before and after the new lighting systems were installed.(7) Temperature control most of the Woolworths stores have implemented a change in their temperature control. Instead of having a heavy on energy air-conditioner, they have installed an extremely efficient 6-tiecase fan which in the long run will benefit the business positively. Store waste going into landfills and recycling Key to this program is for Woolworths to implement various recycling programs within the stores to minimize the amount of general waste produced. Woolworths is involved in recycling most of their waste such as: Cardboard Green waste (recycled to fertilizer) Chicken oil Packaging used in their operations and by their customers Woolworths has managed to transform their packaging to environmentally friendly. They have trained their staff in efficiently packing purchases so that not as many bags are used. They have also implemented a green bag which is heavy duty, can be reused and is healthy for the environment. Fuel consumption and associated greenhouse gases in their vehicle transport fleet Woolworths has put a lot of insight to this issue and has come up with certain ideas to help alleviate the problem. They have discovered that by planning their trips they can be more efficient by making many stops at once and not going back and fourth the whole time. They have also invested in fully efficient cars which save on their fuel prices and the amount of green house gasses they emit. Woolworths is also investing money into a program for developing other forms of fuel that they might be able to use in the future. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. Below is a SWOT analysis table that Woolworths designed to plan and evaluate their project. Table 8.1: SWOT analysis Strengths Open door policy to the press CERES guidance and co-ordination active CSR Selective supply chain strategy careful food safety standards reasonably priced and high quality products Nutritional information available on packaging Decentralised yet connected system Innovative excellence program Promoting ethical conduct Profitable Weaknesses Inflexible to changes in market trends Difficult to find and retain employees Drive for achieving shareholder value may counter CSR Promoted CSR meat imports in error Opportunities Attractive flexible employment Positive environmental commitments Higher standards demanded from suppliers Corporate Responsibility Committee Honest and real brand image Threats Fabricated stories about the quality of their food Health concerns surrounding Beef, Poultry Fish Possible Labour exploitation CSR at the risk of profit loss Contributor to global warming (3) Sustainability Ecology is a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in the very long term. (6) The most important way in which Woolworths project is sustainable is in the fact that it is saving the environment and thus helping the world last longer and slowing global warming. Their whole project is sustainable as they are planning for the future and helping their business to be continuous. It is sustainable in the fact that the business will save money in the long term, and contribute to the end of global warming.

Free Essays - Escape from Reality in The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays

Escape from Reality in The Glass Menagerie In life we face many obstacles in which we must deal with in order to move on. Many times we unattach ourselves from reality in order to keep our hopes up. In The Glass Menagerie, every character but that of Jim O'Connor experiences a loss of reality due to the difficult situation they live in. To some degree, Jim also does but he is the most realistic character in the play. We as human beings always seem to look back on our youth as the "glory days" of our lives. Amanda Wingfield, Tom and Laura's mother, frequently recalls her youth to the point that Tom knows exactly what story is coming. Her lust to relive the past and her hope that Laura will one day follow in her footsteps controls most of the plot of the story. Amanda regularly speaks of the seventeen gentlemen callers she received while living in Blue Mountain (Gale 127). She describes the men as if they are either wealthy or have died tragic or heroic deaths; but the man she married is regarded as unsuccessful and irresponsible (Gale 128). The fact that he left them plays an important part in developing the story. Mr. Wingfield is viewed as the cause of the misery they live in and Amanda is often worried that Tom will follow in his father's footsteps. It seems whatever it was that drove Mr. Wingfield away was destined to finally drive Tom away. While there are those who view their past as the best days of their lives, you will find many who focus on the future and what happiness it shall bring. Tom has many dreams he wants to fulfill but he is held down by having to care for and support Luara and Amanda. Free Essays - Escape from Reality in The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays Escape from Reality in The Glass Menagerie In life we face many obstacles in which we must deal with in order to move on. Many times we unattach ourselves from reality in order to keep our hopes up. In The Glass Menagerie, every character but that of Jim O'Connor experiences a loss of reality due to the difficult situation they live in. To some degree, Jim also does but he is the most realistic character in the play. We as human beings always seem to look back on our youth as the "glory days" of our lives. Amanda Wingfield, Tom and Laura's mother, frequently recalls her youth to the point that Tom knows exactly what story is coming. Her lust to relive the past and her hope that Laura will one day follow in her footsteps controls most of the plot of the story. Amanda regularly speaks of the seventeen gentlemen callers she received while living in Blue Mountain (Gale 127). She describes the men as if they are either wealthy or have died tragic or heroic deaths; but the man she married is regarded as unsuccessful and irresponsible (Gale 128). The fact that he left them plays an important part in developing the story. Mr. Wingfield is viewed as the cause of the misery they live in and Amanda is often worried that Tom will follow in his father's footsteps. It seems whatever it was that drove Mr. Wingfield away was destined to finally drive Tom away. While there are those who view their past as the best days of their lives, you will find many who focus on the future and what happiness it shall bring. Tom has many dreams he wants to fulfill but he is held down by having to care for and support Luara and Amanda.

The Slums :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being raised in the slums of New York City there were not many role models for me to take after. At seventeen years old, I dropped out of school to pursue my only chance of success; long distance running. My dream would be to win the marathon that will be held in Chicago next month. If I win this race, I will receive $50,000 and hopefully a contract with Nike. There is only one problem that I face; there are a few women that are faster than I am. I am in constant training, and I have placed amongst the top ten women in the Boston Marathon, but I have never won a major race. How am I going to win when there are other people that can out run me?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While I was talking to one of my friends, who happens to be an athletic trainer, I told her of my worries. She informed me that there is a new experimental drug that can help to improve my endurance by preventing the build up of lactic acid in my muscles, and she had access to these pills. The drug has not yet been tested on humans, yet when animals were given the drug they had no series side effects. My friend offered me a one months sampling of the drug in return for $5000 if I win the race and nothing if I loose. She swore to me that it is not on the list of drugs that are banned and it will not show up on a blood test. What should I do?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main issue that I ask myself is whether or not I should take the drugs. All of my life I have dreamed of being an Olympic runner and if I take these pills I may get my chance. These pills can help build up my muscles and endurance which will give me a better chance of taking home the gold. If these pills do work than I will be able to take the $50,000 I win and move myself out of this hole I am living in. If I am in a better environment, I may want to do something with myself; perhaps I could get my GED and take college courses. If I take these pills, I could possibly be the best runner there ever could be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the contrary, I have also come up with the down sides of taking these pills.

Atheistic Existentialism †Life Domains Essay

Directions: Complete the â€Å"Atheistic Existentialism† column in the table below by filling in the cells from information provided in the textbook. Atheistic Existentialism / REALITY The only reality for an AE is the one they create for themselves†¦everything is matter – everything is connected as some form of matter or energy and in a cause and effect relationship Atheistic Existentialism / KNOWLEDGE The only knowledge comes from our own senses. Atheistic Existentialism / HUMAN NATURE To an AE – humans are allowed free-will, personalities and consciences – but don’t have any reason to do anything with it Atheistic Existentialism / HUMAN PROBLEMS Their problem is that they can’t deal with the fact that they have human personalities and tendencies – but don’t know why, or what to do with it Atheistic Existentialism / SOLUTIONS TO HUMAN PROBLEMS Humans alone have the only solution to their problem and the more they evolve the better they’ll be at fixing them, so live as if your inner desires do have some meaning and try to make an impact on the world. Atheistic Existentialism / HUMAN VALUE Truly there is no ultimate value of a human life, but Humans can have value because they create their own reality by making their own choices – good or bad. Atheistic Existentialism / HUMAN PURPOSE Our only purpose – according to an AE is that of making yourself into who or what you wish to be, otherwise there is no purpose. Atheistic Existentialism / ETHICS Ethics – Schmethics†¦As long as you make a conscience choice to do something – good or bad – you are determining what your ethics are. not living by the laws of man, or any other guide. Atheistic Existentialism / SUFFERING Nothing good comes of it – there is no purpose for it – so don’t do it. Atheistic Existentialism / MEANING OF LIFE. There is no real meaning – each individual is able to determine what life means to them by their choices to be or not to be, do or not do, etc. Atheistic Existentialism / HUMAN DESIRE Kill it! Don’t be led by your inner needs, wants, voices, it is absurd to follow these â€Å"accidental causes† of evolution – because you don’t need anything more than the basics to survive. Personal Reflection Directions: Briefly summarize your personal reflection on the information that you have entered into Tables 1 and 2 in this assignment. It is interesting to see the â€Å"evolution† of these 3 worldviews. From the Naturalist who views everything as natural in it’s existence – you exist based on your senses and experiences alone to the Secular Humanist with their realization that humans are wonderful – great creatures with personalities and determinations, but it doesn’t matter†¦to the Atheistic Existentialist (AE) – who finally realizes that the innermost feelings and desires we have as humans do exist, but would be better off â€Å"killed† or cut out than to be nurtured and followed. To me – It is just man’s way of not wanting to give credit where credit is do! So many people feel they have to â€Å"give up† so much to follow God. The only way Satan can â€Å"win† is to have more souls in his army than God. He finds our weaknesses and zeroes in on them to keep us from realizing the truth. Man’s ego and sense of self is historically his ruination. It’s easy to see how in these days, these 3 views – all making humans the only thing that matter and by crossing out God, satan is able to lead many astray.

Ownership and location of Tesco and McDonalds Essay

There are many different types of business ownership. The four main privately owned enterprises are: Sole traders – owned and run by one person. Partnerships – owned and run by two or more people. Private limited companies – often a business run by a family protected by limited liability. Public limited companies – large organisations whose shares are floated on the stock exchange. In addition there are two other types: Co-operatives – where a group of people run the enterprise together and share the profits or loses. Franchise – where a large organisation allows a person to sell its products and use its name in exchange for a fee and a share of the profits. All privately owned enterprises are able to be divided into two groups: Those with unlimited liability – sole traders and partnerships Those with limited liability – all companies, some franchise and some co-operatives. Unlimited liability means that the owners are responsible for all the debts. They may even have to sell personal possessions to pay them. If this is not possible then they will declared bankrupt. Limited liability restricts the responsibility of being responsible for all you debts. You only have to pay the debts to the limit of what was invested. Not usually do they have to sell their personal possessions. There are many different advantages and disadvantages to all different types of ownership: Sole traders – owned and run by one individual. Advantages: * The owner has full control of the business and all of its profits. * All profits go to the owner. * The owner can make decisions independently without the need to consult anybody else. * Can easily create a report with customer. * Has the ability to exploit niche market. * No Set up for procedures. Disadvantages: * The owner has unlimited liability. * The profits get ploughed back into the business. * To expand the business, financing needs to be found. Partnerships – Owned and run by two or more people. Advantages: * The responsibility of running and managing the company is shared between the two partners. * Access to a wider range of skills. * More ideas and strategies. * Capitals from the partners can bring in more capital and expansion is possible. * Greater ability to gain bank loans/ financial backing. * No need to file accounts for the public. Disadvantages: * Partnerships have unlimited liability. * If a partner leaves or he/ she is not for filling his/ her position it could affect the business. * A decision has to be made a partner can take it upon his/ her self to make the decision and not consult the other partners. Private limited companies – Often a family run business with the protection of limited liability. Advantages: * Shareholders who own the company may have limited liability. * Business finances and the owner’s finances are separate. * Can take more risks due to limited liability * Usually shareholders are closely involved with the running of the business. * Can raise capital more easily. * More professional appearance: more internal structure. Disadvantages: * Shares can only be sold with the permission of the shareholders. * Shares cannot be sold to the public. * Due to their internal structure more formalities arise. * Larger overhead costs of running the companies. Public limited companies – large organisations whose shares are floated on the stock exchange. Advantages: * Shareholders who own the company have limited liability. * Business finances and the owner’s finances are separate. * Shares can be bought and sold on the stock exchange. * Greater ability to raise further capital and expand resources. * Additional shares can be issued for more funding. * More professional appearance. Disadvantages: * There is a danger of being taken over by another company with the trade of shares. * Less flexible in structure. * More formalities when dealing with decision making. * Larger overhead costs of running the company. Franchise – this is a large company who you pay to use the name of. Advantages: For the franchisee * You will own a business that is already running which means it is nearly a guaranteed success. * You will own an already established company. * Capital should be easier to raise because you will be operating under a well known name. * The franchiser will give advice foe the business running and equipment. For the franchisor * They have the possibility to expand very quickly. * It is easier to expand in foreign countries because you would be selling a franchise to somebody that knows the location, language and people. Disadvantages: For the franchisee * Start up cost so you can use the branded name is very expensive. * A set percentage of your profit will go to the franchiser and you will have to buy your equipment and products from them. * You have to stick to the business’ core activities. For the franchisor * They do not have full control over the organisation. Ownership of Tesco. Tesco unlike McDonalds is a public limited company (PLC). Tesco is a PLC because it is on suck a large scale. A group of partners would not be able to afford funding the company and it is highly unlikely they could get big enough loans, because Tesco is a PLC the shareholders fund the company. The shareholders fund the company by simply buying shares. Investors buying shares in Tesco would feel safer buying because they will get limited liability. This means that only money that has been invested can be lost if Tesco fails. The shareholders do not get a profit from Tesco; they make their money buy selling that shares for more than they originally paid. The advantages that Tesco have of being a PLC are; there is a limited liability for Tesco and all shareholders and it is much easier for Tesco to raise funds. The disadvantages are; Tesco cannot make business decisions instantly because they need to confront company directors and major shareholders and the business can be taken over if somebody buy 51% of shares. I think that this type of ownership is the most appropriate for Tesco because they may need to raise capital fast and they don’t need to be making rash decisions. Ownership of McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a franchise company which is completely different to Tesco’s PLC ownership. A franchise company allows people who currently have nothing to do with McDonald’s to buy a restaurant and use the already well established McDonald’s name. This means that McDonalds do not need to fund their own company, the franchisees will do this. McDonalds have limited liability just like Tesco, meaning that McDonald’s and franchisees can only loose investments. The advantages of McDonald’s having this type of ownership for the franchisor are; having the possibility to expand rapidly and the advantage for the franchisee are; you will own a business that is already running which means it is nearly a guaranteed success, you will own a business that is already established, capital should be easier to raise because you will be operating under a well known name and you will have free business advice from the franchisor. The disadvantage for the franchisor is; you do not have full control over the business and the disadvantages for the franchisee are; start up cost so you can use the branded name is very expensive, a set percentage of your profit will go to the franchiser and you will have to buy your equipment and products from them and you have to stick to the business’ core activities. I think that this type of ownership is a good choice of ownership for McDonalds because they do not have to do research on locations because franchisees will do this. Also McDonalds will be expanding rapidly and they do not have the risk of failing their business. They will be making profits when they aren’t even setting up there restraints. Location. Tesco Location. To investigate Tesco’s location I am going to select a small town and a large city to compare how Tesco locate their stores under different circumstances. Some of the different circumstances I am going to look at are; the size of the area in hand and the population. The town I have selected is Pembroke Dock and the city I have selected is London. Populations: Population of Pembroke Dock: Population 8,676 Post town PEMBROKE DOCK Postcode district SA72 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembroke_Dock] Population of London. Population – Total – Density Ranked 2nd 7,512,400[1] (mid-2006) 4,758/kmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (mid-2006) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_London] Tesco locate their stores where there is a good ratio between population and competing stores. This is because it is highly unlikely Tesco could run a successful store next to an Asda store where the population of the town is 500 people. So it is important that Tesco choose their location wisely because building unsuccessful stores can be very expensive for Tesco. Tesco generally locate their stores on the outskirts of towns, as you can see on the below maps. Land in this area can range from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½60,000 for a plot of land where Tesco would not be able to fit a store on up to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250,000 where you still wouldn’t be able to fit a store. Offers in Excess of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½60,000 Building Plot at Cannons Lane, Pennar, Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Pembrokeshire à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250,000 Plot 15 Barnlake Point, Burton, SA73 Because I cannot find land that is big enough for Tesco to build a store on with adequate room for parking as well as loading bays I don’t feel as though I can comment on the cost of land in this area. Another Tesco stores location; when I typed in London on the Tesco store locator it came back with 110 stores. This tells me that Tesco locate many stores in big cities to meet the needs of big populations. McDonalds Location. McDonalds is a franchise so it is not actually McDonalds that choose the locations of all restaurants. But the franchisors will try to locate in busy shopping areas. I am going to pick a good and a bad example of McDonald’s location and explain why I feel they are bad. On the below maps I am showing where McDonald’s have recently set up a new restaurant in Pembroke Dock next to the Tesco store. On both maps on the previous page you can see that the locations McDonalds have chosen both are competitor free. By this I mean that in both locations there are no other competing restaurants. This is good because McDonalds do not have to worry about losing custom to other restaurants. Also on the maps on the previous page the McDonalds stores are in the middle a community. This means it should be relatively easy to find employees. This is because they are in the middle of two large populations. The populations of Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock are: Population of Pembroke Dock: Population 8,676 Post town PEMBROKE DOCK Postcode district SA72 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembroke_Dock] Population of Haverfordwest: Population 10,808[1] Post town HAVERFORDWEST Postcode district SA61, SA62 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haverfordwest] The populations of these towns are on a reasonably large scale, so I think that it would be easy for McDonald’s to find employees. As you can see from the maps on the previous page these stores are very close to raw material and have good travel systems around them. I think that they are in prime locations for travelling and raw materials. McDonalds will have a lot of choice for land because of the area in hand. It has a lot of undeveloped areas in the towns. In Pembroke Dock there is now a new plot that already has a building on that McDonalds could take up. I think that this would be a more suitable location because they will be attract the custom that comes across the bridge. The ring on the left of the above map is where McDonalds currently have a restaurant. The ring on the right of the above map is where property has become unoccupied. I think that McDonalds could relocate there restaurant here because there is a lot of traffic that come across the bridge and heads away from where the current restaurant is currently located. Although some traffic heads towards town more heads away. I have conducted my own survey to see how many cars that comes across the bridge head towards Carew and Pembroke and how many head toward Pembroke Dock over a one hour interval. Below is my table of results that I recorded. Towards Pembroke Dock. Towards Pembroke and Carew. [http://www.thedock.org.uk/Council%20Data/Pem_Dock_Traffic_Generators_2008%5B1%5D.pdf] Both Tesco and McDonalds could use this