Fast food industry Essay Example for Free

Fast food industry Essay Fast food industry has been in existence for the past years. The growing popularity of the industry gave way for many businessmen to put up many branches or chains in different parts of the country. This leads to the birth of fast food chains, by which Jollibee, McDonalds, KFC, Mang Inasal, Chowking, WOK Express and Greenwich are few examples. People prefer to go into fast food chains not just because of their food preference but because they serve their customer in a quick manner. Since their products are in demand to the customers, they need to maintain a specific level of inventory in order to respond to the needs of their customers. Because of the unpredictable demand of customers, management of fast food chains is struck in a dilemma of ordering the right level of their raw materials for production. That is why it is important that fast food chains know the policies in determining their inventory level or size. The size of inventory stocked by fast food chains depends on forecasted requirements and product popularity as demanded. Inventory shortage or erratic delivery of ingredients for production can prevent the manufacturer from completion of its finished products. The importance of the study includes knowing if low or high level of inventory will have great effects on production of fast food industry. Studying the inventory levels of fast food chains and their effects on production will allow the researchers to venture more into the depth of the inventory process of each business.

Drama assignment Essay Example for Free

Drama assignment Essay Hale is one of the most important characters in The Crucible. All of the characters contribute to the problems in Salem to some extent. But Hale is the catalyst to the hysteria beginning and it is how is awareness of this increases through the play that causes the major changes we see in his character.  Hale himself, as we are told by miller, nearing forty, a tight skinned eager eyed intellectual. He feels great pride at being asked to come and identify the signs of witchcraft and sees it as a compliment to his experience in his chosen field. Unlike the other characters his experience gives him no reason to jump to the immediate conclusion of the involvement of the devil. Because of this he is perhaps the most common sense of the officials in Salem. Hales entrance in act 1 creates a big change in the direction of the scene, but it is important to remember he is unaware of this. How miller uses Hales entrances effectively is that he calms down the situation between Giles and Putnam when they cease their argument at his arrival but eventually he will excite the scene even more with his powerful redemption of Tituba and Abigail.  After his initial entrance in act 1 Hales attitude is reasonably light hearted as he greets the other characters, he refers to the devil in an of hand way as the old boy. Yet he still treats the situation in all seriousness as he listens to the Putnams talking about their daughters ailment, picking up clues from what people say. When Hale is investigating the supernatural, leafing through his books, asking questions and listening to the other characters etc, it should be shown that he does not treat this as a chore or just his job, but that he is genuinely interested and eager, his investigations are what drives him.  His attitudes to the other characters in the early part of act 1 are interest in meeting people he has heard of, and his respect for the more distinguished company. who are there. His use of the phrase shows a wish to make a good impression with those who are higher in the village, but his interest in meeting Rebecca Nurse and talking to Giles shows that he is in no way biased to position. As we enter the increasingly hysterical ending to this act, Hales role in causing this is obvious. His quickening questioning of her is perhaps caused by his anger at her apparent lack of concern for Bettys condition and her attempts to evade answering his questions. (grasping Abigail): abigail it may be your cousin is dying. Did you call the devil last night? you cannot evade me, Abigail.  Hale is excited at the end of act 1 because he believes he has got to the root of the problem when Tituba and Abigail redeem themselves and pass the blame to Good and Osburn. Because of this both hale and Parris see the problem as ending not beginning. Hale has obviously seen the situation last a lot longer than he expected when he enters in act 2. he is different now- drawn a little, and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now. This shows us the beginning of his realisation of the consequences of the accusations that he has caused to be made.  This is the second time Hales entrance changes the course of events in both this act and for the rest of the play without him knowing it, his entrance has stopped John Proctor from leaving just when he had built himself up to confront Abigail to stop the accusations, so he makes things worse again, but still unintentionally. His attitudes to the Proctors in this act are mixed. He sees them as good and honest people, but knows that there is evidence that would say otherwise even if none of its serious enough to entirely incriminate them. His nervousness is also caused by him being unsure how to tell them Elizabeth has been accused, without making it sound like he is accusing them himself.  We last see Hale in the final scene of Act Four we see the total change in his opinions to the authority of the court, the guilt of those charged and in his faith. His motivation is now to try and save proctor from his fate. He is confused and wrought because of how his faith has caused so many problems. To conclude, Hale changes most of all the characters, yet like the others he changes in that his main characteristics are strengthened. His honesty and sense of public duty are there throughout the play, how they change is to which end theyre directed. He is initially convinced of the presence and existence of witchcraft, and works vigorously to combat it in the only he knows how. Yet he is the only of the prosecutors who is convinced of the innocence of the accused, he still believes his first duty is the protection of others, but loses his principles to do so at the end. He is more open minded and humane than the others, but the message of the play tells us to reject the position to which he finally comes. He doesnt reject just the religious fanaticism of the times but rejects religion itself. His attempts to save John Proctor ultimately fail, because in turning his back on the church, he has turned his back on what Elizabeth believes is right, and so his argument is worthless to her.  Perhaps Millers idea in Hale is that where the simple farmer sees the mistake in preferring life over personal integrity the learned Hale does not.

Concepts of Operations Management to the Fast Food Industry

Concepts of Operations Management to the Fast Food Industry INTRODUCTION: The ability of every organisation to make profit and sustain in this competitive world revolves around its competency to perform its operations accurately. Hence although the term Operations Management seems to be recently evolved. It has oriented with the industrial revolution itsef. In a lay mans language, operations management is the effective and efficient running of the various resources within an organization. The work below looks at the various theoretical concepts of operations management and how these are applied in the practical from in the various industries. It looks the interrelation between operations management and strategic objectives of an organisation. It can be rightly said that if these two concepts have to merge appropriately for a company to survive and make profit. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:   Operations management can be explained as providing the finest service at the lowest possible prices. This objective can only be achieved if each and every operation within the organisation is managed optimally. The various operations within an organisation that needs to be managed are  financial operations, capital management and human resource management. The legitimate and accurate management of these valuable resources results in successful operations management according to Stevenson 1993, Operations Management can be described as follows management of systems and processes that create good sand/or provide services(  Ã‚  as cited in J.Bicheno and B.Elliot,1977,p9). A more detailed definition of operations management is given by J.Bicheno and B.Elliot 1997, a field study that focuses on the effective planning, scheduling, use and control of a manufacturing or service organisation through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, management infor mation systems, quality management, production management, accounting and other functions as they affect the operations. (J.Bicheno and B.Elliot,1977,p9).According to Mahadevan, Operations Management is a systematic approach to address all the issues pertaining to the transformation process that converts some inputs  Ã‚  into output that are useful and could fetch revenue for the organisation.(B.Mahadevan,2007,p5).Thus a detailed study of both the definitions states that Operations management is concerned with the accurate management of the various operation within any kind of organisation so as to maximise results by minimum use of resources. Thus for any organisation to perform successfully, it is mandatory to strictly monitor the smooth functioning of the various operations within the organisation. Thus in brief the role of operations management is to  transform the input into output in an  efficiently  manner.   Following are some of the benefits of effective operations management: Improves the productivity of the organization.    Minimizes the cost of the organizations.   Ã‚  Helps in forecasting the various trends within the market.   Ã‚  Avoids duplication of work.   Ã‚  Helps in intelligent use of resources.   Ã‚  Guides the company to provide excellent services and products.   Ã‚  Helps in developing solutions for the various problems faced by the organization. (B.Mahadevan,2007,p6,7) (C.Vidler, 2001, p7). INTRODUCTION TO MCDONALDS Every organisation that exists in the market has a goal set that has to be achieved by it within a given frame of time. These are goals can also be called as strategic objectives. Each organisation before entering the competitive market sets its strategic objectives and also develops a strategy to achieve the same. The organisation that is being studied is a famous chain of Fast Food Restaurants, McDonalds Corporation US. Its an organisation that started in 1940s by two brothers Dick and Mac McDonald. They stared a small restaurant in California in 1940s.Another personality that completely changed the fate of this organisation is Ray Krocs. A combined effort of all these three entrepreneurs resulted in an organisation which is one of the leading fast food  restaurants. (web-1) .Some of the objectives of McDonalds Restaurant is To cater good quality food to the customers in an environment that is benevolent and  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  enjoyable. To keep their shareholders happy by providing good returns to them consistently. Their aim is to serve food at a faster pace which has value for money and impeccable taste and quality. They are also aim in perform their corporate social responsibilities in an effective manner. They are also doing their duties by being an eco friendly organization. A look at the  various strategic objectives it can be concluded that McDonalds has set up a defined set of objectives. They also have developed various strategies to achieve these objectives. The three features that the organisation concentrates on are quality, speed and satisfying customers. The  restaurant  has carried out many training programmes for the crew members so as to achieve the best customer service. They also focus on the  ambience  of the  restaurant  and put a lot of effort to maintain it. They also have special kids section in some restaurants so that the children and parents can have a quality time at one place. Cleanliness is not only maintained within the restaurant areas around the restaurant also cleaned up on a regular basis. They also perform corporate social duties judiciously. They support a  charity which helps the old people. McDonalds has also stopped using plastic bags and promotes the use of paper bags. They also propagate the idea of re cycling. There are many operations within the organisations. The main operations within McDonalds are  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Procurement of raw materials and machinery  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Production and Quality Maintenance  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pricing  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Advertising and Marketing  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Customer Service  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Corporate Social Responsibilities Procurement of raw materials and machinery: The main strategies used by McDonald have to maintain the inventory is JIT, Just in Time. According to Modem, JIT can be defined as a production system to produce a kind of unit needed, at the time needed and in the quantities needed (W.Jedlicka, 2009). The idea behind this is to reduce the cost of inventory management. This also helps in providing fresh food to the customers. This stragey is successful since the mangers in the restaurants do a daily stock count at the end of the day to keep a track of the avaiable things and things that have to be ordered. This also helps to double check the sales that are performed by the restaurant. Another strategy that is used by the restaurant is the First in First out (FIFO). According to this startegy the make it a point to sell product that have arrived earlier first and then the latter ones. The whole stock management process is designed in such a manner that this principle of Just in Time and First in First Out is strictly followed. Production and Quality Maintenance: In this phase the raw materials used are converted into finished products that are presented to the customers. This is a very important step. The kitchen crew is trained to produce the products by following a standard protocol. Every product that is created in the McDonalds kitchen has to follow the protocol so as to maintain the standard and quality of the products. Handling the production bin is a very important task. Every item that is produced has a certain shelf life after which it is declared to be unfit for consumption. Hence the food items are produced sloley on the basis of demands. During the busy hours there is always a manger on the production bin who manages the bin. It is only during this period that food is created a little in excess based on the expected crowd of customers. This is a strategy used by the restaurant to avoid long ques and to provide fresh food at a faster pace. Another measure that is taken by the company is the use of labels. Every ingredient with the kitchen has a label on it. This label states the time by which this product should be used and when the product should be discarded. Such a system helps in maintain the quality of the food served. The company also has the program of Mystery Shopper. In this program a member from the companys head office visits the individual restaurants as a regular customer to check the various aspects. This visit not only checks the quality of the food, it also checks the service provided to the customers, cleanliness within the  restaurant  and the overall experience in the restaurant. Thus we can see that effort is done by the individual restaurant and the company as well to maintain high standards in terms of quality of food. Pricing: The fact that McDonalds was making a good profit even during the time of recession is a clear reflection of the fact that they have a well developed pricing  strategy. They are one of the few restaurants that have a very well established 1 £ menu as well. This pound menu not only includes only one item it has a mix of all products that can be bought. Thus it is not only cheap but also provides variety for the customers to choose from. Even the  regular meals are priced rightly. Hence the customers do not hesitate. Thus in short one can surely say that dining at McDonalds is not a good experience that is not too heavy on the pockets.   Advertising and Marketing: McDonalds uses many channels of advertising like print media, bill boards, television advertisements and also sponsorship. Any new product that enters the menu is well advertised and marketed by the company. They create a great amount of awareness of the product that is being launched. Thus  attracting  the customers to their outlets.  Ã‚  Vouchers are also provided to the customers. It has been noticed that this startegy of providing vouchers is one of the major attraction for the customers. They also have promotional activities. Some of the promotional activities that are done by the restaurant are providing Coca-Coal glasses with every purchase of a large meal. They also play the game of monopoly in this every product that is sold to the customer has a sticker which may either be a part of the monopoly game or will be a coupon for a free product from their menu. Another marketing strategy that is used by the company is the use of loyalty cards. This helps in compelling their customers to come back to the same place. They also use the strategy of innovation. In this there will  able a particular range of new products that will be  available  for stipulated period of time. Once this time period is over they will have a new  product that  takes it place. Hence there is something new every time a customer walks- in. This helps in retaining the customers. Customer Service: This operation forms the base of the organisation. The aim of the company is to make the experience at the restaurant a unique one. This is only possible by providing excellent customer service. The company trains the newly recruited employees for providing excellent customer service. The crew members are asked to be sensitive to the needs of the customers. Although they have a protocol to treat the customers the employees are given the liberty to act according to the need of the  situation. Especially in the case of senior employees and mothers.  Ã‚  The company strongly believes that only if a customer is comfortable at the restaurant will they come back. Hence all measure is taken by the store employees to make sure that the customers are  completely  satisfied when they leave. They also have crew training programmes on a regular basis to upgrade the service and to develop new skills. Regular meetings are conducted to deal with any issues that are faced by the employees. T he company also promotes the crew members to take part in the various programmes that are conducted by the company. Thus motivating the employees. The company does annual appraisal in terms of salary as well as position based on the employees performance.   Corporate Social Responsibilities: According to P.Kotler and N.Lee, Corporate social responsibility is a commitment to improve community well-being through discretionary business practices and contributions of corporate resources (P.Kotler and N.Lee, 2005). Thus it can be seen that CSR has to be a way of functioning of every business that  exists. This function has to be implemented in every activity within the business. McDonalds officially absorbed this function into their operation in 2007; it was at this time that they developed a Sustainable Supply Steering Committee (SSSC).this committee was responsible to keep a check on the supply chain activities within the organisation. The company adopted the  Three Es into their supply chain. These are Ethical Responsibility, Environmental Responsibility and Economic Responsibility. The idea behind adopting these were to make sure that all the operation carried out within the organisation follow a ethical pattern  Ã‚  (Web 2). The company has also developed a Global Advisory Council (GAC) in 2004 that provide advice as to how  create a menu that provides healthy nutrition and a balanced-diet to the customers. (Web-3) Thus we see that every operation within the organisation from the procurement of raw materials to the disposition of corporate social responsibilities is performed diligently by the organisation. A smooth co -ordination between this function is the secret to the success of the organisation. This individual operation has to be controlled in an effective manner for the overall stable performance of the organisation. QUALITY, RESOURCE AND TOOLS MANGEMENT: The word quality has different meanings based on individual perceptions. For some quality of product or service means. The nutrition value or standard of the product or service for some others quality is that the product or service should meet their requirements  satisfactorily. In some other cases quality means value for the money that has been spent. Hence there is no definite way in which quality can be described. However an official  definition  of Quality has been given by International Organization for Standardization ISO 2000, the extent to which a group of intrinsic features (physical, sensorial, behavioural, temporal, ergonomic, functional, etc) satisfies the requirements, where requirement means need or expectation which may be explicit, generally implicit or binding.  Ã‚  (A.Illy and R.Viani, 2005).Another pragmatic definition of quality is given by Harrington 1990, Meeting or exceeding customer expectations at a cost that represents value to them. (A.Illy and R.Vi ani, 2005). In any company quality of the product and service is based on resources, tools and systems used by the company. McDonalds serves beef patties, these patties are made from cows that are corn -feed  in the U.S and some of these are also imported from Australia and New -Zealand. These patties are instantly frozen to maintain the freshness and quality. This process of freezing is known as Individual Quick Freezing developed by Herb Lotman. Herb Lotman is the founder of the Keystones Company, which is one of the major suppliers of McDonalds. The French fries are cooked in Canola Oil which provide 0 gram of Trans Fats. Salads that are served at the restaurant are freshly prepared in the restaurant as per the request of the customer. No preservatives are used in the salads that are served in the  restaurant. Most of the fountain drinks that are served at the restaurant are regularly monitored to maintain optimum quality. All milk based drinks are well pasteurised and mainta in high standards and quality. McDonalds coffee which is very famous is obtained from Brazil, Gutaemala and Costa Rica. The equipment that is used in the McDonalds Kitchen is Grills, Microwave, Shake Machines and many more. The grills are standardised to cook a particular meat, so they automatically set the time for cooking the meat. These grills are cleaned on a regular basis at the end of the day with strong solvents to ensure its cleanliness. The shake machines and the fountain drinks machines are regularly cleaned to ensure quality of the drinks. The fries are cooked in the frying vat at high temperatures. The quality of the oil is checked regularly to maintain the quality of the food. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AN ANSWER TO ALL QUALITY ISSUES: The perfect way to imbibe quality as a part of the organisational culture is by adopting the principles of Total Quality Management. According to A.Rawlins, Total Quality Management is a way of managing to improve effectiveness, flexibility and competitiveness of an organisation as a whole. (R.A.Rawlins, 2008 p19). This concept of TQM proposes that quality is not a term that should be confined to the end product or service. Quality has to become a part and parcel of every operation within the organisation, thus making it an obligatory to maintain the same at every step. According to G.K.Kanji and M.Asher TQM can become a part of the organisation if its principles and concepts are applied accurately. They have given four principles of TQM and eight core concepts  for TQM.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Principles  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Core Concepts   Ã‚  I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Delight the customer:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Customer Satisfaction, Internal Customers are real   II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Management by Fact:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All work is process, Measurement   III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People-based Management: Team work, People make quality   IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continuous Improvement: Continuous improvement cycle, Prevention. If all the areas mentioned in the above diagram are well managed this will result excellent functioning of the organisation. In which quality is maintained at every step hence there will not be any quality related issue. (G.K.Kanji and  M.Asher, 1996, p1). Advantages of Total Quality Management: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Helps the organization to concentrate of the market trends. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inculcate a culture of quality in every aspect of the organization from top to bottom. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regularly assess all the process within the organization to eliminate outdated processes. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To  continuously  develop new strategies for the company to achieve the changing strategic objectives of the organization. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To work as a team and have problem solving attitude. 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To keep the goal and achievements of the organization well communicate d at every level. 7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To always involve in a continues development programmed.   (R.A.Rawlins ,2008,p20,21). SCOPE OF IMPROVEMENT: No organisation a be sated as perfect because there is room for improvement. An organisation that always updates or modified itself according to the need of the market is always successful. Carrying out a SWOT analysis is the best possible way to identify the weak links within an organisation. There is a lot of speculation on the companys role in providing nutritional food. As obesity is one of the major health issues in the current scenario. The company will have to reinforce as to how they are contributing to the society by providing food of the top most quality. It has been noticed that McDonalds faces the problem of high rates of attrition. This is a serious threat for the company as it is based on customer service. The reason this becomes a major issue is because it become an additional cost. As well the can also affect the companys sales and overall image. An unpleasant experience in the restaurant can be a major disaster. This can result in bad or negative marketing for the or ganisation. Another issue that is faced by the company is the health issue. The effect of this high turnover ratio on the organisation is as follows: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High  financial  cost in terms of training the employee every time. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lack of trained employees can result in downfall of the organization. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reduced productivity and interruptions in the workflow 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Loss of expert professionals. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Loss of business opportunities as the company is overwhelmed by the internal issues. 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Administrative issues within the organization. 7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Loss of job satisfaction of the other employees and insecurities among the employees. (P.P.Phillips, 2002) RECOMMENDATIONS: The major issue in McDonalds as mentioned earlier is the high rate of attrition. Below are some of the points that would help in retaining the employees. Another problem that is faced by the organisation is a health issue. Ø  Ã‚  Peers Reviews is one of the strongest methods that can be used for employee retention. Ø  Ã‚  Fostering trust and respect and reducing management employee conflicts by regular meetings.(J.A.Carsen, 2002). Ø  Ã‚  Doing timely performance appraisals. Ø  Ã‚  Continuous motivation to be done- by rewarding at achievements. Ø  Ã‚  Recognition given to good work. Ø  Ã‚  Regular meetings to solve any grievances. Ø  Ã‚  Training the employees accurately. Ø  Ã‚  Job rotation should be practiced avidly so as to increase employee knowledge and enrich his experience. Many a times there have been cases were the organisation has been blamed for being responsible for health issues like obesity. Although the organisation makes use of healthy food ingredients there are such speculations. The best way to deal with this is to market the right and more explicit information on their products. This not only allows the customers to have a clear picture but make healthy choices while ordering. They can also get their food certified by authorities in the health and food section. Such an attempt will only help to clarify these false allegations. Last but not the least a customer survey should be done to identify their opinion and bring about changes within the organisation in a manner which is helpful to the company and the customers. Such an effort on the part of the organisation will strengthen their relation with their customers. CONCLUSION: Quality can be defined as anything that has value for the money and energy spent on it. It is not a onetime attempt to set up a good system in action and then never bother about it. Every organisation should maintain its quality standards not for good sale and profit, but must develop quality as a culture within the organisation. This culture of quality has to be passed down into every process within the organisation. It is only then a company will never face failures in achieving its goals  and objectives.   REFRENCES: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Web 1:  http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcd_history.html 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Web2:  http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/about/sustainable_supply.html 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Web3:  http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/about/nutrition___wellbeing.html 4) J.Bicheno and B.Elliot (1997), Operations Management: an active learning approach, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, UK, p9 5)  Ã‚  B.Mahadevan(2007),Operations Management Theory and Practice,Dorling Kindersley(India) Pvt Ltd, India,p5 6)  Ã‚  C.Vidler(2001),Operations Management, Heinemann Educational Publishers, Oxford. 7)  Ã‚  W.Jedlicka(2009), Packaging Sustainability, John Wiley Sons Inc, USA,p303 8) P.Kotler and N.Lee(2005), Corporate Social Responsibility, John Wiley Sons Inc, USA,p3 9) A.Illy R.Viani(2005), Espresso Coffee: The Science Of Quality( 2nd  edn), Elsevier Academic Press, UK,p2 10)Web4:  http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/see_what_we_are_made_of/your_questions_answered/fresh_produce.html 11)  Ã‚  P.P Philips(2002), Retaining Your Best Employees, American Society For Training and Development,USA,p2 12) J.A.Carsen(2002), HR How to Employee Retention, CCH Knowledge Point, USA. 13) G.K.Kanji and M.Asher(1998), 100 Methods For Total Quality Management,Sage Publication Ltd, London, p1-2

Gambling on the Internet Essay -- online casinos

Coming to Terms You roll the dice, you look at the cards, you pick a team then you pray. The whole idea is that you feel you have an edge over others, and that you are lucky. You think that you can beat the house, and in this new age of technology you can bring it all into the comfort of your home. This is how online gambling was created. In recent years online gambling has become more and more popular; a report released last year by a stock analyst said that online gambling revenues will nearly triple $3 billion by this year. To the many sports fan out there, how many times have you said, "Anyone could have predicted the outcome of that game." The truth is that gambling isn't easy. That is why it's called gambling, you are taking a calculated risk which you believe gives you a good chance of coming out on top. Often the people who decide that they want to start an online gambling account do not understand what they are getting into. There are two types of online gamblers. There are those who should be going to gamblers anonymous and those who think that online gambling is a quick fix to financial problems. To get started the user must give out an assortment of personal information including contact numbers and credit card numbers. For certain accounts they attract you with the promise free money. For example you may receive 10% free of your initial deposit. The entire idea of a deposit is to put a certain amount of money into an account and then you use this to gamble. After you have electronically signed away your credit cards and personal information you can start to have fun. Now you get to lose some money, maybe you will get lucky and break even. When sitting at a card table, in front of a slot machine or preparing ... ... million of dollars owed to investors. In the end you must realize that all forms of gambling incur a certain amount of chance. Work Cited Gilmour, Kim. â€Å"Viva Las Vegas.† Expanded Academic ASAP. March 2009. Internet Magazine. 31 May 2009 http://web5.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/431/916/34512188w5/purl=rc1_EAIM_0_A96304982&dyn=5!xrn_1_0_A96304982?sw_aep=viva_jmu Janower, Cynthia. â€Å"Gambling on the Internet†, Familiar Territory or Lawless Frontiers, September 1996. 28 May 2009 http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol2/issue2/janower.html#footnotes McDonald, Marci. â€Å"Betting the House.† Expanded Academic ASAP. 16 October 2000. U.S. News & World Report. 31 May 2009 http://web5.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/431/916/34512188w5/purl=rc1_EAIM_0_A65913404&dyn=3!xrn_3_0_A65913404?sw_aep=viva_jmu McGrath, James. Personal Interview. 2 April 2009

Isolation And The Individual I :: essays research papers fc

Nothing is more apparent in the genre of satire than the ridicule of the vices and immoralities of society. This focussing on the defects of society as a whole doubles as a function of this genre of literature and a framework within the plot or theme of the novel or story. The satirist emphasizes the ugly ramifications of society, but to do so the satirist needs a vehicle for the observation of society’s actions and effects as a whole. This society is often represented as a microcosm or series of microcosms along a journey and the vehicle for the observation of the presented society is an individual located on the outside. To ensure that the individual is fully isolated from society and thus capable of objectively observing the follies of the world, the individual is given characteristics of a distinctive identity. The concept of an individual may be summarized in a statement made by Rick Hoyle: â€Å"The human self is a self-organizing, interactive system of thoughts, feelin gs, and motives that characterizes an individual. The self is reflexive and dynamic in nature: responsive yet stable† (Hoyle 2). Therefore, the outsider must be an individual, fully capable of organizing his or her thoughts and emotions and the consequences of each upon the self and the world. Logically proceeding the definition of the individual outside of society is the definition of society; a term that â€Å"can be used to designate the specifically relational system of interaction among individuals and collectivities† (Sanford 219). By positioning the polarities of individual and society in a conflict of values the satirist has created an effective method for criticizing society. The major trends the satirist may attribute to the individuals separated from society are the inability to integrate themselves into society, a certain degree of naivetà ©, and have definite flaws. These trends are apparent in the protagonists of the satiric novels: Mark Twain’s Hu ckleberry Finn Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 and Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mark Twain’s satirical novel Huckleberry Finn has a main protagonist that is a precocious boy named Huckleberry Finn. Huck Finn’s initiation into society and society’s values is at Miss Watson and the widow’s home after his father’s death presents the civilized part of the society that Huck has not been exposed to before. It aggregates Huck’s education both as an individual and as a part of society up to the time when he sets out on a raft to Jackson’s Island; and his acceptance of Jim begins his exclusion from society.

Concert Review and Bio: Tchaikovsky Essay -- essays research papers

Classical Concert   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Who likes classical music anyway? That is a question that you may have found me asking a few months ago. As I have listened to the music in class and on my CD that came with the text book, I have noticed that I am growing a little bit more fond of this style of music. I had never really given it a chance until I started attending my younger sister’s concerts and really paying attention to the music. I have realized that classical music isn’t half bad. modern rock is still the music for me, but I have really learned to like and respect classical music over the last few months. The last classical concert I attended was a Christmas themed concert last week. Along with Christmas favorites and carols, they played a song called Trepak, by Tchaikovsky. I had heard of Tchaikovsky before, but had never seen any of his music performed live.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My first impression of the concert was that the players were all dressed in black slacks or skirts and white tops. Some of them were wearing festive Santa Clause style hats and some even had garland wrapped around their instruments. The orchestra played first. They were all seated in a very specific order, facing the audience with the conductor standing on a podium in front of them. As they began to play I was very impressed with the level of skill that they played with, being only in high school. It sounded as if I was listening to a...

Lydia Peelle †Mule Killers Essay

In this short story â€Å"Mule Killers† by Lydia Peele we meet three generations of a family, grandfather, father and son as well as the different women in the story. The story is told in present time by the son as a first person narrator, but almost everything in the story is a flashback of the father’s story about his youth. The story is constructed in parts; you get introduced to the lives of the father and the grandfather with no introduction of what has happened before, and then, the story jumps to the end in the present, without letting the reader know what has happened in between and what will probably happen after the story ends. The story takes place on a farm on the countryside near Nashville in the Southeast of United States. Though the story, you get an impression of an isolated society where the church is central and people has got quiet and ordinary lives while they work hard to make a living from their farms. The language in â€Å"Mule Killers† is observing, which we can see in the description of Eula: â€Å"(†¦)her hair swept up off her neck, thick purple-black and shining, the other girl’s hanging limply down, onion paper pale(†¦)† In the story we hear the father tell the son about the events that changed their lives: how he met the mother of his son and also had to give up on his dreams of love and how the lovestory of what should have been innocent turned out to be the thing that shaped his future. The tragic love story represents the way the farmland was changed in the future. Firstly, the shift from mules to tractors in the farming symbolises several things. For the grandfather, the shift to tractors and the following accident marks a new time that he does not accept and he does not take him. This we get an example of in this line: â€Å"you’re gonna see a future I can’t even stretch my mind around. Not any of it. I can’t even begin to imagine. † For the father, the loss of his mule Orphan, which was one of the things that he really cared about represents the end of his childhood. The mules is a symbol of the future and the killing of them is a bad sign for the future and also is the point of no return in this short story. The shift from child to grown-up is the main theme in this story, but also the fathers struggle to live up to his fathers ideals of what a man is, is an important aspect in the story. In his trying to be and act like a grown-up he supresses his fears and his sadness and also the things he love: music and the mules. So it’s like he cannot cultivate these interests any longer. Another important theme in the short story is time. During the story you get a feeling of time passing by. The father goes from being a young man to having a son, who is twice as old as the father was when the son was born, the farming changes and goes from using mulls to tractors.