Analysis of a news story Essay

The article that I am analysing shows how a newspaper presents a story. The article I am studying is about ‘The War on Terror’ the article, being about a man named Kerim Chatty, whom was caught, whilst under a routine security check, with a gun in his wash bag was published in The Sun paper. Kerim Chatty is believed to have been planning on hi-jacking the flight air-born from Sweden to England, Stanstead. The Sun paper is a tabloid, which is more suited to people who enjoy reading ‘dramatic’ and ‘over-exaggerated stories. ‘ The Sun is aimed at people who prefer ‘easier reading. ‘ By this I mean that the papers stories are short, too the point and simple. The newspaper has sensational stories, which attract readers between the age group of 16-30. The tabloid uses interesting pictures and eye catching headlines. Also by using emotive language, it grabs the readers’ attention. The headline consists of the title ‘War on Terror,’ as the reader I was attracted to this article immediately as I wanted to see what it is about. The sub-heading reads, ‘Face of Jet Hi-jack Thug’ this is where the story begins. A good publisher knows that you should never tell your audience what the piece of writing is about, in the headings because if you do then they may not want to continue reading your story. The first sub-heading is used to briefly tell the reader of what is going on. The following sub-heading leads you onto more information, but still doesn’t give the story up. ‘Violent Crook Obsessed by Weapons. ‘ By using emotive language such as; crook, obsessed and thug, the readers build a self image of Kerim Chatty as being even more of a criminal and horrid man, this is what the tabloid paper wants you to do. The first section of the article is based on the hi-jacker and what he had done and in the main picture it shows the scene of the crime. The picture has a lot going on it; you can see the hi-jacker with his weapon, walking towards the armed police who appear ready for any sudden action from the hi-jacker. Also in the background of the picture you can see the hi-jacked plane, from a leading company Ryannair. There is a smaller caption below with a clear face of Chatty; this is put there so the readers can see who the hi-jacker is. Analysing the Picture If I saw the picture of the man without knowing he had committed an offence, I wouldn’t look at him as though he was a ‘thug’ or ‘crook’ instead Id see him as being a perfectly normal guy, who could of maybe been in the paper having been involved in a racist attack.. Below the picture of Chatty is a caption stating: ‘Gangster†¦. Kerim Chatty’ Once you see this you start to imagine an evil side to him and then turn against him. Emotive Language & Formal Language The paper immediately wants the reader to turn against Kerim, even before they manage to read the whole article, so emotive language is used to slip in words such as Crook, Thug, Violent, Obsessed and Gangster to enhance the stories features. The Sun uses informal language such as; Cops and Common Nuts! The more informal the English is the easier the article is to read and understand. ‘Simple Reading’ is what I believe The Sun is known well for. Summary: The presentation of the story is smart and The Sun did very well to express and explain the story. It has done well on telling the story, using typical tabloid tools. I don’t think Kerim Chatty, would really appreciate how The Sun have spoke about him and no doubt some of it may not be true. The Sun is a good tabloid newspaper but the stories are exaggerated in a big way, although the exaggeration does bring excitement to the story, Kerim probably wouldn’t enjoy reading it.

Barack Obama or Socrates for President

The United States of America’s presidential election is always been the major political event in the entire nation, on which set of prominent, outstanding and powerful politicians in the whole American nation are set to challenge each others capabilities. Under the unified goal, the list of clever American politician showcases their profound abilities and qualities to become the next president of the United States of America and rule the country for the succeeding years of their term, as the new head of entire states.United States presidential election, on the hand, is arguably he most significant event of the entire United States of America, as it is the critical episode in the whole country, on which the people and the entire American society is up to decide whether who to entrust the future of the whole nation and the entire American dreams. The 2008 United States presidential race is one of the historical elections, the Americans will have, on which it is the first time to happen that there are no incumbents from both presidential and vice-presidential position, since the 1928 presidential election.Technically, all the running politicians for presidency are equal, on which every running candidate have definite advantage over the other and has a fair share possibility to be the next head of the influential American nation. (Rate It All, Inc. ) Among the political person running for the 2008 United States presidential election, Barack Obama is one of the most politicians to receive positive feedbacks among the American public.Barack Obama, as one the United States presidential had been phenomenal to his political campaign, on which Obama had garner positive feedbacks on votes from most of the states in the entire United of America. In most of the political rallies Barack Obama, he often says America, as a united country must stand together and work together, on which everyone has a fair share of obligation to make the country productive and strong econ omically as well as socially.This is how Barack Obama envisions the United States of America should be, on which he carry the tag-line â€Å"change, we can believe†, together with his supporters in all of his political rallies. (Barack Obama. com) In ancient politics, however, the Greek classical philosopher, Socrates, is one of the most popular political advocates of their own definition of ideal government. As a philosopher, Socrates has a bunch of in-depth insights about many forms of government, on which he as a thinker has a profound definition of government.In principle, Socrates is an oppositionist of many forms of government, more specifically the democracy. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Just like Barack Obama, Socrates advocates his own version of an ideal government, on which he consistently pursue up to the last drop of his blood. Relating this to the current political situation of the United States, this classical argumentative paper will claim who would b e the better candidate for the United States of America’s presidential election in the year 2008, between one of the prime democrat candidate Barack Obama and the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.Technically, Barack Obama and Socrates differ with each other on their explanation of ideal state government. As an oppositionist of many currently existing form of government, Socrates’ representation of an ideal form of government is more strict and profound, on which the structure of his ideal governance in state government is totally an antagonism to the entire principle of democracy. In his ideal Government, Socrates states that his principle structure of perfect government is divided into three major parts, on which are Gold, Silver and Bronze.The Gold being the head of the state or government that their primary role is to rule and lead over its people: the silver is the army or soldier, on which their primary purpose or responsibility is to protect the welfare of the head of state or the government: and the last is bronze, as the common people who is classified by Socrates as the Laborer and the lowest least priority or part in his ideal government. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Essentially, Socrates’ model of his ideal government for the state disagrees with the principle of democracy, on which most of the people, most especially those who belongs in the least bronze category do not have the same human rights as compare to the two more prominent division of Socrates’ ideal government. Nevertheless, the Greek philosopher Socrates’ model of ideal government do not cater to the needs and priority of the common people or the public of the state.Barack Obama, on the other hand, as one of the United Sates presidential candidate for the 2008 election, uses the principle of democracy for the entire United States of America, as his personal definition of ideal state government. As a contradict to the ideal government principl e of Socrates, the democrat prime candidate Barack Obama is an advocate of the so called democracy, as his primary definition of an ideal state government.A true democrat that he is, presidential contender Barack Obama believes that every American has its fair share of right to help the entire country of the United States grow bigger and stronger, economically and socially. (Barack Obama. com) Moreover, the ideal governance of Barack Obama for the entire United States of America caters the needs and prioritizes the sake of the people in the entire states of America.Barack Obama believes that every American or citizen of the state has its profound capability to protect and contribute to the future of the entire United States, on which the ideal government of Barack Obama gives every individual an equal share of freedom and right to do their share for the betterment of the entire American Nation. Nevertheless, Barack Obama’s ideal state government for the whole America centers to the good and better sake of all the Americans, towards the reconstruction of unified, strong and competent future of the whole United States of America.(Barack Obama. com) In every state or country, government head or leader is important. He or she is the one in-charge to take care of the future and welfare of the nation as well as to its people. Essentially, the leader of the state is the one in driver seat to further achieve and enhance the dream or the American dream for the United States. However, between the democrat leader Barack Obama and the ancient Greek leader Socrates, the American democrat Barack Obama is more deserving to be the best and the next country leader of the entire United States of America.I argue that Socrates as a philosopher and an oppositionist of the principle of democracy, his type of leadership is not suitable for a democratic country like the United States of America, which is better known for its outstanding freedom and equality in its states gover nment. More likely, the Leadership of Socrates is comparable to a dictatorial governance, on which he is the type of a leader that only practice personal self growth and motives, as against to the priority and sake of the entire country.Nevertheless, Socrates, as a leader is selfish in away he does not believe to the equal right or freedom of every people on a state, regardless of their status and role in life. Barack Obama, on the other hand, is the type of leader who believes and relies to the support as well as significance of the entire American people in rebuilding the nation and dreams of the whole United States. Barack Obama, as a leader is an advocate of equality of citizenry, on which he have the faith for the people to make their fair share to build and achieved to together the bright future of the entire United States.As the nation’s favorite democrat candidate for United States presidency, definitely Barack Obama is the deserving and best leader for the United Sta tes against Socrates, on which Barack Obama’s faith in the American people, as a critical player towards the change and improvement of the whole nation is a superb quality of a best leader to lead the country for the next generations. Nevertheless, Barack Obama is the type of leader whose goal is not for his own personal growth or sake, rather he centers more for priority of his people and nation.In every form of government, the people or the person in the state plays a significant role, no which the public or the people hold the key towards the success of the politician and its government in general. In Socrates’ ideal form of government, he depicts the primary role of the common people or person as the laborers or the least division in his ideal governance, on which his version of ideal government gives the least priority for the person in his government.Barack Obama, however, depicts the role of person in his ideal form of government as one of the important aspects towards the achievement of strong and bright future of the entire United States of America. Moreover, Barack Obama illustrated the person role as the primary way to change the current political situation and dilemma of the United States of America at the moment. Nevertheless, in Obama’s form of government, he believes to power of equality and significant of the person, as the catalysts of change in the state governance, towards the social and economical growth of the entire American nation.In the end, social contract is the best type of government for the United State of America, on which it has the profound capability to effect and implement equality on its people, regardless of their status and position in life. Social Contract, it is definite that no one is above the law or constitution of the land, with this it is fair enough to say social contract is the best for the entire United States of America to ensure fairness and equality of every Americans. Works Cited Rate It A ll, Inc.(2007), United States presidential election, 2008 – Candidates Reviews: Retrieved May 22, 2008 from http://www. rateitall. com/t-23139-united-states-presidential-election-2008–candidates-reviews. aspx Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2003), Plato's Ethics and Politics in The Republi: Retrieved May 22, 2008 from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/plato-ethics-politics/ Barack Obama. com (2008), Im Asking You to Believe: Retrieved May 22, 2008 from http://www. barackobama. com/index. php

A Debate On Male And Female Gamers Media Essay

A Debate On Male And Female Gamers Media Essay The purpose of this report is to highlight the biasness which has become popular in the designation of most of games that are of much interest to almost everyone in the world. This report will encompass the game makers and who play games and how this is increasing attention in the current world. The report will address games that have been observed to present biasness between men and women in the world. Since there exist several sources of games, this report will have an over view of some sources that are popular and famous in the modern world. How the biased is present or perceived will be an area of interest in this report. The question â€Å"is game design gender biased?† will enable the report to succinctly explain the steps that should be taken in order to fight gender biasness in designing of today’s games. Effect produced by this kind of biasness in game field will be also an area of concern in this report. In order for this report to highlight the gender bias f ound in the designation of today’s games, it would be of much important to understand what gender bias is. Discussion Gender bias refers to a situation whereby one sex is favored over the other. For instance you might find that men are given more priority than women in certain activities. During 1970s, men were highly favored than women in most of career fields. For example only men were allowed to take part in economic activities while women were branded as housewives. This is to mean that the act of considering one sex over the other is what counts for gender bias. From different researches that have been conducted it is shown that game design is gender biased. Game industry has been faced by several questions based on girls and women in gaming. Questions such as why girls and women have been neglected by the game industry has captured the attention of many people in the world more so the game developers individuals. The emergence of pink games movement took its roots in la te 1990s whose emphasis was based on designing games around gender specification (Tavani 2010) The intention of this movement was to provide females; girls and women with what they desired. This was a way of encouraging girls and women to develop positive attitude toward games. The most popular games are computer games whose directory of playing is based on commands or set of instructions. The pink games movement had intent of motivating females to embrace the ever changing technology in the world. If girls and women are allowed to participate or play computer games, they would become active players of such games and also got involved in the advanced technology and also what today is known as computer science. Through games, girls would solve problems associated with disenfranchisement. This has enabled many games developers to understand the importance of equity or fair treatment when it comes to the issue of designing games. As per concern to this report, it is therefore crucial f or games developers to embark on or consider fairly homogenous and stereotypical ideas of gender. Games designing biasness have made games industry to experience a long period of recess. This has resulted from the fact that many of the titles of popular games have less taste to women. Only men are favored although they have been said to spend little time in playing such games. Games design is the only known product for the games industry and therefore in order to capture a diverse market for its product, it should therefore take into consideration various issues based on game designing. For instance it should ensure that the titles for the games are free from gender bias. These titles should also have same levels of taste to all sex this is to mean that they should be universal to all. The game developers need to focus on titles that are in a capacity to cater for a variety of tastes of people without catching a certain part of population and ignoring the other (Garner, 2004).

What are the other categories of persons in need of protection not Essay

What are the other categories of persons in need of protection not defined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol - Essay Example It dictates the available solution for refugees as exile. On the contrary, we are in a different era where refugees problems can be properly handled and rule out exile. In this regard, dialogue can rule out or provide alternative amicable solutions to refugees. The Refugee Convention of 1951 and the 1967 Protocol covers widely the rights of the refugees in the entire world (Miller, 2014). However, the convention and its protocol fail to cover other groups of the vulnerable and the disadvantaged. These groups are the victims of female genital mutilation, child hunger, child recruitment into illegal militia, sex abuse victims, among others (Antoinette, 2010). The convection states that it does not provide permanent protection to refugees. This implies that when the refugee status of a person expires, he or she is venerable to other crimes such as sexual abuse and hunger. The 1951 refugee convention and 1967 protocol are to be The convection however, has its fair share of limitations that emphasis more on the need to have the convection revised. For instance, the convection denies the refugees and ‘camp’ refugees equality (Miller, 2014). More preference is given to those present instead of preference being based on the neediest. Furthermore, the convection also does not take into account factors accruing to the refugees as a result of political, financial or social factors. The convection based asylum deemed to be most efficient during the Cold War (Miller, 2014). Applying the same convection today has proved futile in seeking to solve some of the challenges faced by the asylum seekers. The convection fails to factor in mass asylum seekers outflows as well as their migratory movement patterns. The 1951 convection is very clear on the persons it protects. The convection clear defines refugees as a person who has freed his or her country due to risk of facing prosecution because of race, political opinion or religion. The 1967

How do we train volunteers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

How do we train volunteers - Essay Example Much of the actual learning will occur on the job, as the individual works with more experienced members that will correspondingly show them how to carry out the tasks. Motivation is also a recognized concern, as the individuals are unpaid. In this way it will be the responsibility of administrators to continually remind the volunteers of how they appreciate the job they are doing. Volunteers generally involve themselves in such activities out of a desire to contribute and make a difference. It is then important to continually remind the volunteers that they are appreciated and are making a difference. Another important motivating factor will be to give the volunteers regular breaks and supply them with general amenities. The recognition is that if volunteers are required to work without breaks they will become discontent with the activities and their productivity will decline. Volunteers then will be regularly given things such as water and Gatorade. Additionally they will be given breaks where they can socialize with other volunteers and enjoy their experience together. Ultimately, these training and motivation steps will contribute to an active and productive volunteer

The Concept of Failed State, New War and New Terrorism Essay

The Concept of Failed State, New War and New Terrorism - Essay Example "Nation-states exist to deliver political goods-security, education, health services, economic opportunity, environmental surveillance, a legal framework of order and a judicial system to administer it, and fundamental infrastructural requirements such as roads and communications facilities to their citizens. Failed states honor these obligations in the breach. They increasingly forfeit their function as providers of political goods to warlords and other non-state actors. In other words, a failed state is no longer able or willing to perform the job of a nation-state in the modern world".( ) This means that a failed state is characterized by certain indicators like non-existent safety and security for citizens, crumbling health care, education, infrastructure, and economy. This sort of situation can give rise to "emerging anarchy" where : "Failed states" can be viewed as a problem of "emerging anarchy" where organized groups that lack many of the attributes of statehood must pay attention to the primary problem of their own security. In a state of emerging anarchy, or whenever the internal balance of power shifts, questions of control become pre-eminent. This strategic environment can cause hostile groups to fear extinction and yield to mob violence. In a failed state where the lack of a central agency to provide law and order gives rise to warring factions struggling to fill the power vacuum, state failure is involved in a vicious circle with the outcomes of "new war". The term "new war" took on a new meaning after the events of September 11, but in fact, the term had already been coined in the 1990s by Mary Kaldor, who went on to explain her theory in magazines like The nation in November 2001: These new wars have to be understood in the context of globalization. They involve transnational networks, based on political claims in the name of religion or ethnicity, through which ideas, money, arms, and mercenaries are organized.....In the new wars, the goal is not military victory; it is political mobilization. Whereas in old-fashioned wars, people were mobilized to participate in the war effort, in the new wars, mobilizing people is the aim of the war effort, to expand the networks of extremism. In the new wars, battles are rare and violence is directed against civilians. The strategy is to gain political power through sowing fear and hatred, to create a climate of terror, to eliminate moderate voices and to defeat tolerance. And the goal is to obtain economic power as well.

Car industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Car industry - Essay Example choosing cars is because the automotive industry forms the economic sector that is most symbolic of the modern times as well as the environmental consequences of modernity. The effect of the automobile, as well as the auto-centered transport system on U.S.’s ecology and the world over has been large. From the production process to its end of life, automobiles consume resources; pollute land, air and water in addition to transforming space. The production of cars needs collecting many quantities of metals, plastic, glass and rubber plus other materials, and then assembling tens of thousands of vehicles through machine and human labor (McGranahan & Murray 2012, p. 45). This process of production itself uses gigantic amount of energy, plus the factory output creates its own range of pollutants. Once the automobile is on the road, they are the main consumers of gas and oil, which stimulates deeper drilling, transporting plus refining of petroleum products so as the meet the increasing demands. Because the internal combustion engine still dominates automobile propulsion, vehicles give out huge volumes of pollution in form of noise, air emission, disp osable parts and used oil (Melosi n.d., p. 1). Scrapped or derelict vehicles pile up once vehicles conclude their productive lives. Beyond their roles as artifacts and polluters, cars have transformed towns and the entire country more than any other technology ever created by human beings. In spite of their dramatic effect, the ecological history of automobile is hard to depict (Gasana et al., 2012, p. 36). This is because, over the years, vehicles have be considered both as a benefactor and also a threat, as a advantage to freedom, individualism and liberation and as the bane of contemporary society. By the turn of the 20th century what had only been a technical curiosity, a noise-belching menace to humans and a rich man’s plaything, started to gain acceptance (Melosi n.d., p. 1). Optimists touted the automobile as a

Epistemology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Epistemology - Assignment Example Empirical form of knowledge can determine truth based on the actual experience of an individual through events or things that happen around the environment. b.) EMPIRICAL claims there are the four different theories concerning the determination of the truth of empirical claims: Correspondence theory of truth Coherence theory Pragmatist theory Scientific Theory Describe each of these four theories for proving empirical claims to be true. Explain each one. Do not simply list them. Describe them and explain them. This will take more than one sentence for each one. Correspondence theory is an empirical theory of truth that was espoused by Aristotle that holds that truth is what propositions are consequent to a way things in the world are. In other words, this theory claims that a proposition is true as long as there are present and existing facts that correspond to it. Coherence theory accounts for a proposition’s truth that occurs from an association between that proposition and another proposition. In that way, coherence theory will assert that a proposition is true if it fits together and coheres with any other related proposition. Pragmatic theory holds that a proposition is true if it is practical to accept as true.  This concept of truth was formed by the American Pragmatic philosophers such as C.S Peirce, William James and John Dewey who believed that the mark of truth is based on its practical utility above anything else. Beliefs that result to the best outcomes, are justified best from actions, that advance practical achievement, are held as  truths. Scientific truth hold that knowledge can only be sought ascertained through various scientific methods or operations that can lessen the chances of uncertainty since it is generally held by scientists that truth at best can is only approximate and never absolute. For the scientific theory, the method on reaching a close-to-certain result is just as important as the outcome itself. For if a method is based on opinion alone, it would be considered nothing more than just subjective bias. 2.) Critical Thinking c.) What do you think of the theory that there can be simultaneous multiple truths concerning claims? Concerning all types of claims? Does it apply to claims that are semantic, systemic, logical or empirical? Comment on each type. Can there be multiple truths for each type of claim? For any type of claim? Please indicate your familiarity with the readings in your answer -this means use some quotations to support your answers. Subjectivism and Relativism would claim that there are various points of views regarding a certain truth. The reason due to this is because there are different situations and circumstances that happen that are sometimes overlooked, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by the objective forms of knowledge. This could also apply to semantic, systemic, logical and empirical forms of knowledge. Semantic knowledge is knowledge that is the result of learn ing the meaning of words which the knowledge of words is knowledge of definitions, and such definitions are set in dictionaries (Pecorino, â€Å"An Introduction to Philosophy†). It should be taken into consideration that there are various languages around the world, and each language has their own rules or way of inferring

Has the Arab Spring met the popular demands in North Africa A Case Thesis Proposal

Has the Arab Spring met the popular demands in North Africa A Case Study as Tunisia Negotiates an inclusive governance - Thesis Proposal Example Inspired by the social uprising in Tunisia, the Arab Spring caused similar impacts in other North African states like Egypt, Libya, etc. The extent to which the governments of the North African states have been able to meet the expectations of the Arab Spring and the demands of the people can be found in this thesis work. The thesis work has been conducted with the help of analysis on the secondary data and information on the North African states and the occurrence of Arab Spring that brought about the changes in those countries as desired by the common masses. The Arab Spring is a wave of mass protests and demonstrations that began in the Arab world for the time in the year of 2010. The wave of protests were not only limited to the Arab countries but also spread to the other parts and majorly in the North Africa. Tunisia which is the smallest country in North Africa and is a member of the Arab League has been in the forefront of the news with Arab Spring spreading to the country and other parts of North Africa. The uprising of the Arab Spring in North African States and Tunisia in particular has been mainly due to the discontent of the people in the region on the failure of their governments to establish an inclusive government that upholds the freedom and rights of the people (Perkins, 2013, p.57). The differential treatment of the North African governments on the different sections of the society and the lack of legitimacy of the Muslim brotherhood rulers in providing the basic infrastructure for the growth of the countries have led to the uprising of the people and opposition leaders against the ruling authorities. The North African government, namely Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, etc were unable to meet the rising demands of the people. There were lack of infrastructure for education, health, livelihood and investments. The availability of jobs in the countries was much below the demand for employments. Thus the income level of the people

Employee Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Employee Relations - Essay Example In order to support the topic a case study pertaining to the UK retail catering sector has been provided. The report is concluded through personal views and ideas that had been generated during the course of the research. 3 This report is intended to evaluate the extent to which the National Minimum Wage has been successful in bridging the gap between male and female workers in the retail catering sector of the UK. While undertaking extensive literature review and drawing ideas from relevant sources, the report has discussed the employment conditions prevalent in the nation and has also tried to throw light upon the element of equal employment opportunities. It has further analysed the British workforce, and while evaluating the provisions for equitable payment of wages has discussed the role that the National Minimum Wage. In order to support the topic a case study pertaining to the UK retail catering sector has been provided. The report is concluded through personal views and ideas that had been generated during the course of the research. Gender discrimination in workforce in UK has been in existence for many decades. Women workforce was primarily found in low paid, part-time and low status jobs. There were relatively less number of women working in managerial, higher levels of judiciary and politics and senior level jobs. The reason behind such low concentration of women was the fact that women were assumed to have a different role in the society. They are traditionally known to look after the family and rise up the child (Goldsmith & Nickson, 1997). However the numbers has changed drastically in the 21st and more and more women are joining the workforce which is a consequence of an increasing number of women pursuing higher education. In 2005 number of working women in UK was 70%. Work can be categorized as Part time and Full time. Women mainly undertake part time work. In UK the percentage of women and men

Project on McDonald’s Corporation Essay Example for Free

Project on McDonald’s Corporation Essay Introduction and Background In 1940 two brothers Dick and Mack Macdonald opened their own restaurant. Eight years ago the first concepts and rules of fast food production and sales were formulated by them. Initially the business was created in a such way that everything should be very fast and effective. Brothers spent much time elaborating the layout of the kitchen in their first restaurant, so  they achieved the goal. Inspire of the fact that later they sold their business and their family no longer the owners of it, nowadays mcdonalds have the same efficient system of production and sales that it is able to introduce and maintain all over the world using different strategies and methods. External Environment External environment is a bunch of various outward forces that may have a great impact on the company’s performance. The external environment of every company comprises of three levels: the general, industry and competitor environments. The integration of information received from these environments helps to identify and shape the company’s strategies. Thereby, in order to understand what hindrances company faces or may encounter in the future, it is essential to analyze all the levels of its external environment. It was mentioned earlier that the headquarters of McDonald’s locates in the U.S. so we will analyze general and industry environments in this region. General Environment The general environment is usually examined by the analysis of 7 segments: demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, technological, global and physical environment segments. First of all, the demographic segment is concerned with the population structure and Ã' omposition. The USA’s population is estimated at 313 286 000 people in 2012. By analyzing population composition, it can be said that there is very high level of immigration. Moreover, it can be said that the birth rate is sufficient: 13.68 births/1,000 population in 2012, according to CIA World Factbook. Thereby, these statistics help to understand that the region is quite profitable and comfortable to operate in due to the large population size and excessive number of potential employees. Last but no least, according to U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income during period of 2006 to 2010 is $51914 which is quite high. Secondly, the political/legal segment is quite important for the analysis because the industry is highly contingent on the different kind of taxes imposed by the governments. McDonald’s  Corporation is obliges to pay business taxes, payroll taxes, Food Product Association taxes (19% of the total profit and 19% in the price of each product) and health and social insurance for the employees. The changes in government’s tax policy may utterly affect the company’s revenue. As regards the economic segment, one of the major challenge for fast food industry is that to keep the price is low for the customer. However, it is quite hard because nowadays the USA is still suffering from the financial crisis which can be a possible reason to decrease in outside food consumption in a whole. The dimension influencing the fast food industry the most is the sociocultural. The reason is that the industry is dependent on people’s preferences and opinions that’s why even tiny changes are crucial. From 2000 to 2002 McDonald’s profits dropped from $1.977 million to $893 million. It was caused by the increase of customer’s health-consciousness and fears of obesity, as a consequence, some customers prefer more healthier options which offer a greater variety of food for health conscious customers. Furthermore, it is quite important to devote attention to technological segment because the technologies always mean faster operation and cost minimization. McDonald’s uses different modern appliances to prepare its food without many dangers and in a quick way. Moreover, the majority of McDonald’s restaurants provides free Wi-Fi. In addition, McDonald’s improved the technology of its supply chain management. Regarding the global segment, it should be highlighted that most U.S. companies are focused globally which means that they operate in many different countries. McDonald’s is not an exception. It is located in 119 countries and is known as one of the most spread fast food restaurants’ chain. Last but not least, nowadays more and more companies are concerned with social responsibility and environmentally friendly policies. Industry Environment The industry environment is usually analyzed by Porter’s five forces model. Firstly, it is the Threat of New Entrants. The threat of new entrants in the fast food industry is high because there are no legal barriers which would keep them from entering the industry. The major barriers in which a firm faces in the industry are the economies of scale and the access of the distribution. In order for a firm to enjoy success in the industry, they must spend a large amount of capital on advertising and marketing. The industry is very competitive because firms are always attempting to steal customers from each other. Access for distribution is crucial in the restaurant industry because if the customer can’t see you or access you easily it’s possible that they won’t go out of there way to eat there. Franchise options also make is easier to enter the market, for example Subway has built their strategic plan around franchise options. Therefore, initially the only cost to enter the market is the starting capital required to open a restaurant. However, it can cost upwards of millions of dollars for all the equipment, licensing, and the property. This costly barrier is the most probable reason that people do not enter this business. The food-service industry doesn’t have any exit barriers, which allow firms to easily leave the industry if they’re not successful, at virtually only the cost incurred. The second force is Bargaining Power of Buyers. McDonald’s, and the industry, has attempted to gain market capitalization, by keeping the customer satisfied, due to the fact there are relatively no switching costs. For this reason, they have adopted the slogan, â€Å"the customer is always right.† The industry must try to maintain a hold on the market by conforming to a changing society as well as maintaining high quality. One of the industry’s most recent concerns is that of creating a healthier society and prevention of obesity. McDonald’s corporation has faced previous law suits on being held accountable for obesity, similarly following the litigation process of cigarettes and tobacco companies. The courts ruled against this issue in McDonald’s favor, making this a remote future risk factor. McDonald’s has had to paid legal fees in order to defend itself in this type of litigation;  however, even with this incremental cost they are still achieving a significant rate of earnings growth. In addition, McDonald’s, in it’s effort to be a more socially responsible corporate citizen by supporting a healthier society, has developed â€Å"light† and healthy menu items in order to give customers additional eating options and in doing so, broadening the array of its customer base while offering it’s existing customer base with healthier menu options. Thirdly, it is Bargaining Power of Suppliers. It can be said that McDonald’s has a large bargaining power because of the fact that they spend 4.852 billion dollars in food and paper in 2004. This can be argued that the companies that McDonald’s buys from could be largely dependent on McDonald’s business. Although in recent years the industry has had a small problem with beef, because of the outbreak of the mad cow disease. This problem raised the cost of beef in Europe tremendously but the cost actually went up around the world because of the beef shortage in Europe. In this case it can be argued that the suppliers of beef have a strong voice as well. The suppliers that sell to McDonald’s have a strong voice also because of the fact that the switching cost for McDonald’s as a whole would be so tremendous that they would not want to make that change, so any problems or disputes would be worked out with there suppliers. Also, with the competition and the number of buyers in the market place, losing a large company like McDonald’s could destroy any supplier but there are other prospects out there to buy that product like Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, Burger King and a few others that they may be able to salvage there losses. As for the paper goods that McDonald’s buy from the manufacturers, if McDonald’s were to change manufacturers the supplier could easily change there manufacturing to note book paper by just readjusting the machines but it would come at a great cost. The fourth force is Threat of Substitute Products. McDonald’s is known for their famous French Fries, Big Macs, and Happy Meals. Competitors of the industry also try to compete with similar products; therefore, leading to price wars. McDonald’s created a Dollar Value Menu, in response to competitors such as Wendy’s 99 cent menu. Overall, the industry has tried various product differentiations in order to accumulate greater market share, but most consumers are drawn to the classics for which the establishment is known for. However, growing concern  to achieve a healthier society has led McDonald’s, as well as other competitors, to make extensive menu changes, in order to conform to a more concerned society. McDonald’s is doing more and more to compete with health focused restaurants like Subway. Nutritionist and other leading experts have been hired to join the McDonald’s team in order to ensure that the correct items are added to the menu, while still keeping and improving the classics that they are famous for. For example, the chicken nuggets that we all grew up on are now 100% white meat. McDonald’s is flexible in their menu to conform to the changing tastes of society, but they always serve with a smile! The fifth and final force is Competitive Rivalry within an Industry. Currently in the fast food industry, there is intense competition for growth in the market. The market growth is rising because of the convenience factor and busy consumers not having enough time to cook a meal. The restaurant industry is also growing rapidly due to opportunities in other global markets. In McDonald’s case, they actually have a competitive advantage because they have already entered many different countries and are succeeding in these countries. Each firm within the food-service industry is susceptible to losing customers because there are relatively no switching costs for consumers, therefore the industry has to rely heavily on their brand image and quality of products. McDonald’s has a number of competitors; however they are currently the leader of the industry in market capitalization with a cap of $39.31 billion. Competitor Analysis It is almost vital to know the competitors in your industry in order to be able to overtake and surpass them. The top competitors of McDonald’s are Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC and Subway. Burger King Burger King is the second largest hamburger fast-food chain in the world and is the number one competitor for McDonald’s. Burger King has 11,400 locations in 58 countries and derives 55 percent of its revenue from the drive-through window. Burger King reported 1.72 billion in 2002 in revenue which is a 17 percent increase compared to a 4 percent increase reported by  McDonald’s over the same period. Burger King’s distinct assets include the unique Whopper with its one of kind charbroiled taste and the company policy of preparing the hamburger any way that the customer wants it. Burger King has distinguished itself over the years in many ways including being the first in the fast-food industry to enclose its patio seating in 1957 thereby offering customer indoor dining experience. Burger King also differentiated itself when it installed the drive-through window in its restaurants in 1975. In addition to the Whopper Burger King also offers a few set items on its breakfast menu that differs it from it competitors including the Croissan’wiches and french toast sticks. The rest of the menu also offered the unique veggie burger and chicken Caesar salad. Wendy’s Wendy’s is the third largest fast-food chain with 9,000 stores in 33 countries world wide. In 2002 they reported 2.73 billion in revenue which is up 14.2 percent from the previous year. Wendy’s offers several unique items including the Frostys and Spicy Chicken Sandwiches as well as healthier items such as salads, baked potatoes and chili. Wendy’s has also distinguished itself through the creation of the special value menu with all items on it under a one dollar. Wendy’s also owns several small companies including Tim Horton’s and Baja Fresh Mexican Grill. It plans on increasingly using acquisitions of smaller brands to further growth. In next decade Wendy’s plans to add between 2 and 4 thousand new stores worldwide. One important weakness of Wendy’s is the lack of easily recognizable product compared to McDonald’s Big Mac of the Burger King Whopper. KFC Strategic Objectives: KFC has the strategic objectives of expansion along with profits and sales growth. KFC has also been applying its strategies at improving services and making them more and more customer friendly. It has not only been customizing its menu according to the countries that it has been operating in, it has also been trying to cater to different ethnic groups like African Americans and Hispanics. Such types of strategies are focused on increasing the customer base by better customization of products. Other than the  traditional eat-in restaurants, KFC has also been expanding into non-traditional facilities like shopping malls, hospitals, universities, stadiums; office buildings etc and a number of strategies have been formulated to aid this kind of expansion. Competitive Advantage: A very strong financial background is one of KFC’s competitive advantages. KFC has been functioning as a multinational corporation for several decades. As a result, the company is familiar with the logistical and quality problems which accompany operating an international food operation, and has demonstrated that it can work with host countries and businesses within the host country to develop a strategy which works in the most cost effective way. With the passage of time, KFC has developed another very important competitive advantage for itself — Environmental Friendliness. In March 2009, the first eco-friendly green KFC was opened in Northampton USA. The restaurant is designed according to environmental goals that include cutting energy and water consumption by 30 percent and reducing CO2 emissions. Operations at the new site are also expected to reduce waste and the amount of rubbish sent to landfills; the restaurant composts and recycles other waste, grease and used cooking oil. Other than this, in an effort to reduce its packaging by 1,400 tons, KFC is now switching from cardboard to recyclable and biodegradable paper wrapping for some of its products. Subway Strategic Objectives: The strategic objectives of Subway focus on creating a global strategic plan to enable Subway restaurants to succeed internationally. Other than this subway is intent upon introducing the concept of ‘healthy fast food’. Sandwiches of Subway have been included in diet plans by experts. Subway’s stand regarding obesity in children is not new to its customers. Strategies at Subway are not only about a really ambitious increase in franchises all over the world but they are also about making the food more and more appealing to the health conscious customers because health conscious attitudes, according to the experts, are here to stay now. Competitive Advantage: One of the greatest competitive advantages that Subway was born with is its healthy menu. The salads and sandwiches appeal much more to the people as compared to fried chicken, burgers, fries and pizzas. With its advertising and promotion, Subway has long been highlighting its healthy food in advertising and promotions and with the passage of time, it has established itself as a healthy brand. Another competitive advantage that subway enjoys is the fact that along with traditional locations, Subway restaurants can be found in more than 4,000 non traditional locations such as food courts, health clubs, hospitals, universities, amusement parks or just about anywhere. In fact, Subway restaurants can even be found in automobile showrooms and Laundromats! This global presence is indeed a sustainable advantage for Subway and needs to be managed properly. Subway’s fresh food is also a competitive advantage because unlike its competitors like McDonald’s it allows its franchisees to choose their own food suppliers, to ensure they can access the freshest ingredients. Resources, Capabilities and Core Competences Resources †¢ Human resources McDonald’s is does its best to reward outstanding employees for exception work. It is also putting more emphasis on its hospitality training to ensure a friendlier and customer focused support staff. †¢ Brand loyalty The long queues to McDonald’s in food courts is the best illustration of high level of brand loyalty, that company continues to develop. In advertising campaigns McDonald’s uses the slogan â€Å"I’m lovin’ it† which it there attempt to make McDonald’s an easy choice for families. They have also started using popular music to appeal to youth population. †¢ Real estate It may be surprising, but real estate ownership is one of the significant Mcdonalds resources. It is estimated that McDonald’s generates more money from its rent than from its franchise fees. One of the ways in which  McDonald’s receives funds from its franchises is in rent money. McDonald’s owns all property in which a McDonald’s outlet was built regardless if the location is a franchise or company owned. Capabilities McDonalds used to have several capabilities, among them hiring process and employees training and product innovation.  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Hiring process  It is complicated and systematic. It comprises of 3 main stages. 1. Initial interview and psychometric evaluation. On this step the candidates undergoing simple interview and tests evaluating their verbal and critical reasoning 2. Job evaluation. On this step candidates have 2 days practice in a restaurant that allows them to look at McDonalds as a future employees and HR team to assess candidates performance 3. Final interview. The last stage of hiring process includes overall interview and decision about the candidates is made. Taking into consideration staff training, McDonalds has many training programs on every level of restaurant. Training forums are made for basic workers and they start from the very beginning of working in the restaurant. They are designed to help employees with their communicational skills and encourage growth in the company. Other programs are created for managers of the restaurants, such as Basic Shift Management, Advanced Shift Management, and Systems Management Course . Their main objectives are: providing information about internal standards and procedures, teaching data analyses and strategies of identifying and solving different problems. For higher levels employees McDonalds has internship programs for students and recent graduates. Programs let them practice in different spheres of companies performance such as Information technologies, Marketing, Finance and others. Other McDonald’s project Leadership Development program is based career planning, Individual Development plans, career maps, succession planning, learning activities and others. †¢ Product innovation The main resource developing product innovation strategy are full-time chief working in studios in Munich, Hong-Kong and Chicago. Moreover, localization of products also plays important role in development of innovative products. For example, in India Beef and pork products are not offered due to Indian religious beliefs. What is more, meat and vegetarian meals are prepared in separate areas of the restaurant again as a result of religious laws about preparation of food for vegetarians and meat-eaters. There is an Indian version of the Big Mac in India is called the Maharaja Mac and made with two grilled chicken slices, onions, tomatoes, cheese and a spicy mayonnaise. In Taiwan company introduced kao fan (literally baked rice), that resembles a burger with rice patties in place of buns. Finally, in Philippines McDonalds serves even spaghetti with in sweet tomato sauce, topped with cheese. Core Competences †¢ Produce quick cheap food to large number of customers With this concept, they are able to expand into many countries be the largest fast-food chain in the world. The process of production is the company core competence. Initially it was designed in such way as to be fast and very effective. There is precise guidance of how to do every activity. Mcdonalds pioneered in the systematization of its processes. Efficiency of operations and synchronization is the basis for success of the company. Also, it may be said, that burgers and fries are themselves McDonalds core competences. McDonald’s classic burgers has always taste the same in any outlet in the world. This consistent quality assures customer’s trust and loyalty to the product. It also provides an assuring brand experience. †¢ Structure Some specialists consider the unique organizational structure of McDonalds as its core competence. McDonalds never used rigid hierarchical organizational structure, that company managed to sustain over the years. It uses â€Å"freedom with framework† mantra, keeping structure decentralized. It allows local managers to make decisions by themselves. It also plays significant role in localization of menu due to local needs. Business-Level Strategy The business level strategy McDonalds uses integrated cost leadership and differentiation. It means the products of mcdonalds is the cheapest on the market and more over McDonalds does its best to make them absolutely different from what others produce, using localization and launching new products almost every year. So the target of its strategy is to meet the needs of buyers whose preferences are distinctively different from others. So MD deals with the costumers who want very fast service with good quality. And it is different from the visitors of not fast food restaurants. The product line is customized to meet their needs. The marketing emphasis is put on communication and market analysis again to satisfy their needs. Finally the way to sustain strategy is remaining dedicated to serving one niche and be better than competitors in everything and do not dilute the brand image entering other niches. Corporate-Level Strategy Corporate-level strategy is a strategy which is aimed at the long term position of a business. A corporation or business can use plenty of methods to develop a corporate level strategy, however, basically, there are four main strategies that almost all businesses use which are: †¢ Concentrate on a single business, other words, business stays on the same industry on purpose to create a strong competitive position within the industry. †¢ Diversification; which is to move to a new business to provide a new good or service. There are two kinds of diversification, related diversification which is to compete in similar area/industry of activities to build a  synergy and unrelated diversification which is to enter a new industry to compete and build a portfolio strategy. †¢ International Expansion. This means some competition in more than one market to serve the needs of the other markets/countries.  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Vertical Integration. This is a way to cut costs by providing your own ways of inputs, backward vertical integration and your own channels of distribution and selling outputs by forward integration. Therefore, now let’s move directly to McDonald’s corporate-level strategy. Nevertheless, before we start to consider all the main points of this particular type of strategy, some overview details will be given. Mc Donald’s is a fast food restaurant operating on a global basis. It is operating on 119countries world wide. Mc Donald’s was opened for the first time in Cyprus in June 1997 and by now there are 16 Mc Donald’s restaurants in Cyprus. So, Mc Donald’s uses corporate level strategies like all other global basis corporations in order to reach corporate goals to be cost effective. MC Donald’s is a business which only concentrates on a single task which is the fast food business industry as stated by Dr. Weber, (2000). This special issue someday will help a lot the business to concentrate directly on one single task and get not only more power and market share, but consumer loyalty also in result. This happens because of the fact that they will run many strategies to find the best solutions of the consumer needs and preferences. However this can be very risky if the business fails to meet the right needs of consumers and therefore will not be profitable and as a result will close down due to the possible bankruptcy. Firstly, as it was stated in Washington post (2005) MC Donald’s diversifies its operations in many ways. Thus, the company uses related diversification in order to produce the same products which are burgers and salads basically, but they provide just an enormous number of choices, such as: Big Mac or Mac chicken, different kinds of salads. Moreover, McDonald’s operates in more than one geographical area but still performing the same task. Also it has opened MC cafes all around the world. McDonald’s gets many advantages by doing related diversification, firstly, if there are two Mc Donald’s restaurants in a city, then the two firms can build a synergy by co-operating with the right to use some special facilities such as the advertisements, suppliers and sometimes events, for instance, charity events. Secondly, as stated by Ricky, W (2003), the firm depends less on a single product, so it’s less vulnerable to competitive or economic threats. Other words, Mc Donald’s having variety of products like burgers, salads, ice creams and drinks is not being threaten of competition because this particular company has diversity in its products, for instance, Mc Donald’s Greek Mac makes it more stable and steady than such rivals as Burger King because the rivals do not have such product. Thirdly, it allows the firm to use technology or expertise developed in one market, for example, fast food to enter a second market more cheaply and easily e.g. MC Cafà ©. However, the only disadvantage that Mc Donald’s faces, is the cost of coordinating the operations of the related divisions. In 2001, McDonalds launched a new venture by opening two hotels in Switzerland (Zurich and Lully) under the name â€Å"Golden Arch Hotel† Stefan, M (2005). This is a good example of an unrelated diversification because of the fact that Mc Donald’s is taking risks of its business from a single activity to many others like taking part in the Hotel industry. Unrelated diversification provides a portfolio for Mc Donald’s because it is operating on two absolutely different industries and the risk is reduced because if one of the two markets that the business has activity in fails to grow successfully, then the growth of the other market will cover the costs of it. Secondly, such strategy is less vulnerable to competitive threats because any given threat from a competitor is likely to affect only a portion of its total operations. However, unrelated diversification is very difficult to manage since the company has to deal with two markets and their strategies, plans and organization and coordination of each specific market which it is  dealing with. McDonald’s has introduced the American concept of fast food to many foreign Markets as stated by, Francine L, (2005). Moreover, the firm has by now, expanded throughout most of the world by operating on 119 countries. †¢ Thus, Mc Donald’s is known globally today because it is expanded internationally. †¢ Mc Donald’s is using multi-domestic strategy to serve each nations needs. It is customizing the fast food menus for each specific country/nation to suit the people’s wants. For instance there is Greek Mac in Cyprus and Greece. †¢ The advantage of this strategy is that the company is targeting a nation very effectively and gains market share by attracting the customers whereas, the cost of production will increase in order to add a new feature to the firm and the prices will rise to cover the costs. As stated in â€Å"Getting the Facts Straight† leaflet of Mc Donald’s, the firm is working with top suppliers and independent experts on health and safety. The Cyprus Mc Donald’s restaurants’ inputs such as meat, is ordered regularly from Italy with the highest quality and when they enter the island,  it is supplied to all the franchise branches on the island by Mc Donald’s vans and trucks. This shows that Mc Donald’s owns its inputs and has its farms to breed cattle and grow vegetable and potatoes. Therefore, this allows the company to diminish costs by doing vertical backward integration. Moreover, it maintains a guaranteed time, quality and amount of supply to the restaurants when required. The drawback of vertical integration is that, at the beginning of the integration huge amounts of capital should be invested in to the backward integration. Mc Donald’s business has been working since 1956 till now successfully and still operates under these corporate level strategies. Cooperative Strategy A cooperative strategy means interaction between two or group of companies which work together to achieve a shared objective. By measures which are  included in cooperation, companies can create value for the customer at a lower cost or with more benefits than it is able to do by itself. The primary type of cooperative strategy used is strategic alliances. Such kind of cooperations means that companies partly share their resources and capabilities between each others to produce new resources and capabilities, e.g. gain shared objectives. Such corporations as McDonalds, Coca-Cola and Disney are the biggest multinational corporation with outstanding profits.But how can they enlarge their profits with the same amount of resources? The answer to this question is cooperation. Lets look through some strategic alliances formed by McDonalds. Alliance with Coca-Cola McDonald’s alliance with Coca-Cola has  «no piece of paper to fall back on—just  «a common vision and a lot of trust », according to Mr Ivester (Coke’s chairman) ». On setting up in the burger business in the 1950s, one of Ray Kroc’s first successes was persuading a Coke executive Waddy Pratt to provide him with their drink. Cokes relationship with McDonald’s goes far beyond than just a supplier It has helped McDonalds to go to the new markets all over the world, because Coke is sold in almost twice as many countries as McDonald’s. Michael Quinlan, McDonald’s chairman,  «runs off a long list of areas of cooperation, from banking relationships to equipment design ». There is also very close relations between the members of this alliance at board level. When Coke’s chairman Robert Goizueta died, flags flew at half-mast at McDonald’s around the world. Alliance with Disney The alliance between McDonalds and Disney has moved way beyond doing only movie promotions with Happy Meal toys. Nowadays this alliance has made enormous amounts of progress, for example McDonalds being a sponsor of Dinoland, one of Disney’s attraction in Animal Kingdom, has built its restaurant outside this attractions park. This new smart McDonald’s is decorated in DisneyWorld style. The staff wear uniforms which is approved by  Disney, which demonstrates McDonald’s characters. Alliance with Master Card and Visa McDonalds has announced an alliance with MasterCard and another alliance with Visa USA to bring cashless payment options to McDonalds restaurants in the US. By this cooperation with MC and Visa, a company has provided more comfortable system of payment in McDonalds which attracts customers. Alliance with Malls and Gas Stations McDonalds latest expansion targets call for approximately 3,000 new restaurants world-wide both 2008 and 2009. Two-thirds of new restaurants will be built outside the USA. On the other hand, in the US approximately 600 new restaurants will be so-called satellite units mini-McDonalds found in malls and especially in nationwide retailer. McDonalds has formed alliances with Amoco Oil Co. and Chevron Corp. in the US to built restaurants in tandem with gas stations to cover more and more destinations all over the country. Global Strategy McDonalds has initially expanded to international markets in the conditions of strong regulations and overcrowded market in the USA. In the very beginning they offered a standardized products and attracted new clients with clean environment policy and brand equity. Recently the company adapt to new conditions by providing new product line and redesigning retail space in order to meet local needs and tastes. This strategy has allowed McDonalds to adapt quickly to new countries, but at the same time it created a long-term threat of diluting the brand and loosing its association with American culture. For instance, in Europe McDonalds becomes going beyond fast-food conception. In order to compete with coffee shops, McDonalds started offering more comfortable conditions, such as WI-FI and iPods for rent. Moreover, they created new healthier and locally adopted foods. Some specialists suggest, that if the company continue to expand with this strategy, it will be quite difficult to remain recognizable and meaningful brand.  Now it is time to consider McDonalds global strategy in more detail, taking China, South Africa, Brazil and Saudi Arabia as examples of strategy realization. But firstly, it is worth mentioning a few background facts. There is an incredible opportunity to expand in the world. McDonalds annual growth rate is about 1000-1500 restaurants and by 5-10 countries. According to the statistics, the company employed about 2 million people worldwide in 2000. The company adapts easily to new customers preferences by incorporating in the menu pommefrite sauce in Belgium and Holland and special mayonnaise based sauce in Iceland. China The McDonalds strategy in China is vary specific and it is aimed for adaptation to local culture. In comparison with the US, it was important for Chinese clients to focus not only on the food, but also on the restaurants’ atmosphere. That is why in China McDonalds restaurants are very similar to the American coffee houses with comfortable conditions for conversation and meetings. An other part of McDonalds strategy is introducing national tastes in its menu, such as the teriyaki burger. South Africa In South Africa McDonalds decided to focus on high populated cites. The point is to serve people where they eat, shop or play. The companies survey figured out that drive thru facilities are much effective then restaurants themselves, that is why there was made a decision on improving retail spaces. Moreover, McDonalds marketing strategy was concentrated on potential customers with different income level. In South Africa McDonalds has 90 branches spanning all nine provinces. It has 3 000 staff in just 39 restaurants, most working for franchisees. Each new restaurant opening creates as many as 80 new jobs, which is really important in current conditions. Brazil The eighth largest McDonalds market is concentrated in Brazil. Management team here is mostly focused on quality improvement and customer satisfaction and it was awarded for these efforts with Franchising Hallmark of Quality. Furthermore, McDonalds Brazil is one of the best employers and fifth among most admired companies in the country. Saudi Arabia and India The most characteristic feature of McDonalds in Saudi Arabia is that it closes five times a day for muslim prayers. McDonalds India offers aloo tikki and paneer. And it doesnt serve beef or pork at all. The Big Mac becomes Maharaja Mac in India. The company created special conditions for vegetarians with separate kitchen, cook and utensils. Moreover, in Ahmedabad the company decided to open an all-vegetarian outlet. Holding in respect Muslim tenets of belief, the company does not serve pork in all Islamic countries. There are two absolutely unique restaurants in the Holy City of Makkah, where Moslem customers are exclusively served by the staff, fully consists of Moslem employees, from the Service Crew to the Restaurant Manager level . And finally, McDonalds efforts have improved the local industries and national economy due to the fact that more than 50% of the products used are manufactured locally and in the gulf regions. Recommendations For Business-Level Strategy The main recommendation in terms of business-level strategy is to remain in the same niche. McDonald’s pioneered the whole concept of the fast food restaurant, that is why it should go to some other businesses, such as higher-level restaurant, because it can dilute their image of best fast food restaurant. For Corporate-Level Strategy Due to the fact that not every family has a direct access to McDonald’s cafes or just their place is too far from the restaurants, the idea to provide fast food to supermarkets. The products will be sold in the special vacuum package, so that it would have their original taste. This way the restaurant will loose nothing because there are only advantages which consist of making extra profit and gaining customer loyalty through spreading their production into the farplaced (far located) regions. For Cooperative Strategy As we have seen in the examples of McDonalds alliances – cooperation is very efficient way of development. In my opinion, McDonalds can cooperate with greater amount of companies. However, it should be very selective in choosing partner not to dilute its image. For example McDonalds can cooperate with Apple: McDs can provide free rechargers to Apple gadgets in its restaurants, while apple spread some apps by the AppStore. I think that McDonalds also should create alliance with some attraction park companies, as theyve made with Disney. Of course it would be more profitable for McDonalds because of the amount of clients concentrated in one place. On the other hand, ones park logo and symbolic in MacDonalds is worth it. For Global Strategy In spite of the fact, that McDonalds has great expansion opportunities, it is essential for the company to remember about its strength and to prevent brand dilution by means of concentrating on traditional American fast-food menu and including no more then 30% of specific dishes. Talking about the company’s pros, it is essential to continue developing and improving marketing campaign towards children and adults in foreign countries. In addition, such fresh ideas as creating vegetarian restaurants should be adopted in more countries in order to give customers alternative choice. Moreover. It would be a great idea to install Internet access terminals in each restaurants in order to reduce the amount of lag time between a customer’s orders and pick up of the order. This will show the innovative company level and improve its brand image for customers. Conclusion In the conclusion it is worth mentioning that the best prove of fantastic effectiveness of McDonalds strategy is the fact that its competitors trying to copy its standards and processes to become more competitive at the market where McDonald’s still remains the leader. View as multi-pages

Spreadsheet project Essay Example for Free

Spreadsheet project Essay The user of my spreadsheet is a games company owner who needs to collect and distribute data to predict capital expense of wages for the future. They need to be able to see the expenses of their company and how, if the input into the spreadsheet is altered, the output is changed also. My spreadsheet is a model that simulates the real thing. As a company owner, the user should be able to record the various categories of income and expense and decide their course of action depending on how the store is doing on the spreadsheet. It should allow the user to make comparisons of profit/loss for that particular week, month or year. However, I will be going through this product as though I were the user and make references to the actual user of real life at appropriate times. I will be presenting the worksheets over a time span of a month so as not to make it too complex to understand. The product is aimed at the soul user of the system, which will be the storeowner. The name of my company is called Nintendo Universe. My company designs computer games for a number of consoles that we build. We sell accessories along with toys and magazines. We are basically a wholesaler selling our components to other big businesses. Our main headquarters is in California, America. We have a second headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. We have various factories and warehouses that produce and store these products and export them to big businesses on request. I have a total of 480 employees, out of which 100 are employed for the headquarters. Two hundred staff members are in the two production factories. The rest of my staff works in the various warehouses. I am the sole owner of the company. As this is a large trading enterprise, I have chosen to have a board of directors who are assigned various shared responsibilities and they own percentages of share in the company. As the executive director I overlook at all aspects of the business and with the help of my associate directors we try to promote sale, reduce loss, supervise the role of our employees and ensure that the company is run smoothly. Therefore they have a rotating system that will benefit and make our employees job easier. They are currently doing very well financially and may soon have to expand my business. This will in effect mean more vacancies and hopefully in the long run more profit. The problem is that Nintendo have been using manual methods such as using pen and paper and storing staffs information in cabinets. Therefore I will be creating a new and improved method of storing information better than their previous manual methods. With the current system the company is unable to do this because it is impractical and will take a lot of time just to find out the results for one small criteria but with the new system answers to many criteria changes can be found instantly. The companys current situation will have to be taken into account, this will be achieved through an interview with the people concerned after which the advantages and disadvantages must be studied. Each cell in a spreadsheet has its own address. For instance the intersection with column D with row 4 will give a cell with the address D4. (As shown above) Spreadsheet grids are frequently very large and only a small section of the sheet can be viewed on the screen at any one time. One sheet can be linked to another, so that as data is changed in one sheet, the other sheet is automatically brought up to date. The Formulas entered in a spreadsheet can refer to absolute data (fixed data) e. g. the price of a can drink is fixed at any time or relative data e. g. the time taken to drink 1 can will vary from time to time. Spreadsheets also have Macros, which are a set of commands recorded by the computer, which then can be replayed whenever the user wishes. These are particularly useful for tasks that will over and over again. Excel (Spreadsheet program) is able to use database features such as querying this is called filtering. This is something, which only sophisticated spreadsheets have. Why you need to use a spreadsheet: A spreadsheet is a powerful tool for experimenting with different mathematical models and asking What if! It can calculate totals and averages in a matter of few seconds whereas a manual system will take longer and is more likely to carry a higher percentage of human error. A spreadsheet also has the ability of formatting and displaying the results in different ways. It also comes with a library of formulae and functions as part of the program. The formulaes assist us in financial calculations, handling dates and times, for mathematical and statistical work and for logical expressions (e.  g. the SUM function and IF statement). Recalculation in a spreadsheet can be set manually or automatically which is not possibly if we were to do this by a manual system. What spreadsheet offers the business? : Spreadsheets will offer the business a lot because it will be much easier and reliable than manual methods. Features such as being able to copy formulas, change data without redoing formulas or losing original figures, produce graphs and copy into other packages are just some reasons as to why my business will benefit from the use of spreadsheet programs. These programs will also be a great benefit to me personally seeing as I deal with the finances I will be able to do calculations much quicker than using manual methods i. e. calculators. I could also receive and give stock orders between the branches more easily by linking with the other branches via Internet or another networking system. Finally spreadsheets are a more accurate representation of real life unlike manual methods. This in affect means being able to view the data in forms of currency, weight, distance etc and also being able t print out this information for reference. Access: If you are going to run an organization like the one in hand then a database program will not be very help towards your purposes because it does not have the ability/function to work out in depth, sophisticated, long calculations which you the user will need to work out calculations e. g. wages, overtime, working hours, profits/losses. It is also hard to access and very complicated to use. However it does provide an easy access to every particular thing under any field. The table is accurate and neat and already created for you to use. It also prevents from time consuming in every area. Access is used for storing, sorting and being able to easily retrieve certain types of data, this type of software is used for compiling information on customers, items etc. and being able to track, change and even rearrange the data. Why not to use a Database: A database is a collection of related data items, which are linked and structured so that the data can be accessed. It is designed to hold information and extract the relevant information very quickly. This program is not fully designed to carry out calculations, which a spreadsheet can perform. Therefore both programs are highly specific in the type of jobs they are designed to do. Desktop publishing: This is used for designing templates and presentations, using colour, clipart, and photographs. In this application a mixture of word/writing and pictures or designs are used. This type of software is used mainly to layout newspapers or magazines and other presentations, it is also in use to design web pages.

Pierre Robin Syndrome, Narcolepsy and Traumatic Brain Injury

Pierre Robin Syndrome, Narcolepsy and Traumatic Brain Injury Patient Education Entries Pierre Robin Syndrome Pierre Robin Syndrome is usually referred to â€Å"Bird Face†. This condition was initially regarded as a single clinical entity but is now considered to characterize a specific result of an abnormal developmental process. Pierre Robin Syndrome’s exact cause is unknown. There is no connection between the activities of a mother that causes her baby to have this disorder (International Craniofacial Institute, 2014, n.p.). For paediatricians, the main short-term issues that need treatment are for breathing and feeding. Symptoms The lower jaw is abnormally small. Long tongue which causes its tongue to block the airway. Cleft palate Repeated ear infections Interventions (Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin, 2013, n.p.): Tongue-lip adhesion which is a temporary stitch of the tongue to the lip below. It heaves the tongue frontward to avoid obstruction on the airway. Mandibular distraction is a procedure to cut the lower jaw as pins are on the bone on either side. This technique corrects asymmetric jaws of patients. It pulls out jaws of patients with obstructive sleep apnea especially for those who suffer PRS. Tracheostomy is applicable if the first two ways dont work. This is a surgery creating a hole through the neck going to the trachea. This serves as a passage of air for breathing. In the long run, speech defect and palatal dysfunction are the effects. By 3 years old, most children with this disorder are taking an oral diet and do not have major difficulty in breathing if proper intervention in earlier years took place (Burton, 2010, para.17). Narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a disorder of having too much sleepiness during the day. It is also associated with abrupt temporary muscle weakness or cataplexy. According to a research in 2013, 1 out of 2000 people experience this disorder (UK Health Centre, n.p.). A cause of this disorder is the lack of neurotransmitter hypocretin (orexin). This is usual in the cases of narcolepsy with cataplexy. Another cause is the combination of genetics and impact of surroundings, such as hormonal imbalance, trauma, immune system problems, or stress. Narcolepsy is a life-long illness, but it does not persistently worsen. Over the time, its symptoms gradually decrease but they never totally disappear. As for adults, cataplexy lessens, but sleep disturbances can get worse. Below are the symptoms of Narcolepsy (University of Maryland Medical Centre, 2012, n.p.). Main Symptoms: Easiness to sleep during daytime even in an uncomfortable pose and few hours if they are lying down. 3 or 4 hours of drowsiness at daytime that often ends in short naps. Drowsiness isn’t noticed by the patient and they cannot clearly remember their behaviour at those times. Other Symptoms: Atonia is a condition of a sleeping person where he or she is conscious but cannot talk, move and while breathing deeply. Hypnagogic Hallucinations. These are dreams that come to mind during the onset of sleep which usually happen for 30 seconds maximum. Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. A condition where the leg muscles contract every 20 40 seconds as the patient sleeps. Interventions (National Sleep Foundation, 2013, n.p.): Light therapy helps keep a regular sleep and wake timetable. The patient is to sit in front of a light box flashing special lights for 10 to 30 minutes. The patient will somehow avoid feeling sleepy in the morning. Behavioural therapy – aims to relieve symptoms. With this therapy, patients should avoid heavy meals and alcohol given that these can disturb or induce sleep. Diet Therapy – For two months, patient is put on a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCKD) wherein there is a reduction on the intake of wheat flour and grain. The effect of this therapy results to 18% reduction on afternoon sleepiness. Positive Pressure Therapy – This type of therapy is usually prescribed to patients with sleep apnoea. During this treatment, it soothes the airway through therapeutic pressure. It uses a machine that can be used before sleeping. Traumatic Brain Injury Traumatic Brain Injury takes place when a sudden trauma results damage to the brain. It is caused by a sudden, hard blow or bump to the head. The damage is classified to focal and diffuse. Focal Injury is damage focused one part of the brain while Diffuse Injury involves more than one part of the brain. Its symptoms may not show until days or weeks after the injury. It usually causes headache or neck pain, vomiting, ringing in the ears, vertigo, and fatigue. Below are other symptoms that may arise (Alzheimers Association, 2013, para.6): Symptoms Concussion Worsening headache and it does not go away Nausea Convulsion or seizures Helplessness to awaken from sleep Inaudible speech Weakness or numbness in some parts of the body Dilated eye pupils Long term problems that may arise: Alzheimers disease is a neurological disease in which the brain cells doesn’t function anymore which results to memory loss and cognitive turn down. Parkinsons disease It is a progressive disease of the nervous system that affects the motor movements. It usually starts with a tremor in just one hand. It also causes inflexibility and slowing of movement. Dementia – decline and loss of intellectual functions such as thinking, memory, and logic that is severe enough to hamper with a persons every day functioning. It is usually caused by repetitive hit to the head. Interventions (Brain Injury Association of America, n.d., n.p.): Acute Rehabilitation – Skilled health professionals will help a patient to regain strengths in doing activities for everyday life. These activities pertain to eating, toileting, walking, dressing, speaking and others. Post-acute Rehabilitation. Helps patient recover his or her overall functioning. It restores a bodys natural healing abilities. Sub-acute Rehabilitation intended for those who require a milder level of treatment services for a longer period of time. This is also appropriate for patients who have made improvement in the acute rehabilitation programs and continue to progress. Day Treatment- offers treatment in a prearranged group setting during the day and lets the patient to go back home at night. References Alzheimers Association (2013).Traumatic Brain Injury | Signs, Symptoms, Diagnosis. RetrievedFebruary2, 2014, from http://www.alz.org/dementia/traumatic-brain-injury-head-trauma-symptoms.asp> Brain Injury Association of America (n.d.).Brain Injury Treatment BIAA. RetrievedFebruary1, 2014, from http://www.biausa.org/brain-injury-treatment.htm> Burton, C. (2010, April 20). Pierre Robin Sequence | Doctor | Patient.co.uk. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Pierre-Robin-Syndrome.htm> Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin (2013). Fetal Concerns Center of Wisconsin: Micrognathia and Pierre Robin Sequence. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/35570/Nav/1/router.asp International Craniofacial Institute (2014, January 27). Pierre Robin Sequence | International Craniofacial Institute. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.craniofacial.net/conditions-pierre-robin> National Sleep Foundation (2013).Narcolepsy Symptoms, Treatment Remedies National Sleep Foundation. RetrievedFebruary1, 2014, from http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-related-problems/narcolepsy-and-sleep> UK Health Centre (2013). Narcolepsy. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/sleep-disorders/narcolepsy.html> University of Maryland Medical Center (2012, September 29). Narcolepsy | University of Maryland Medical Center. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/narcolepsy>

The Connection of God and Nature in Bryants Thanatopsis :: essays research papers

The Connection of God and Nature in Bryant’s â€Å"Thanatopsis†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Thanatopsis†, by William Cullen Bryant says that nature tells us different things at different times. When we are having good times, God and nature attribute to that. When we are having bad times, God and nature are willing to help us through our problems. In this poem, Bryant makes a connection between God and Nature through society, imagery, destiny, status, and trust.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although ‘Thanatopsis’ is the Greek word for meditation on death, it also can be seen as a meditation on nature. Nature is being portrayed as the main influence and supporter of the society: â€Å"She has a voice of gladness, and a smile/ And eloquence of beauty, and she glides/ Into his darker musings, with a mild/ And healing sympathy, that steals away/ Their sharpness, ere he is aware.† (4-8) More over, the poem indicates clear examples for a relation between nature and God. In fact, Nature is a direct connection to God: â€Å"[...] all the infinite host of heaven...† (46) Therefor reflecting back to the previous statement, God is always there for people, especially for those who are suffering.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The poem also is mainly based on thoughts about death. The following lines are descriptions and images of death: â€Å"When thoughts/ Of the last bitter hour come like a blight/ over the spirit, and sad images/ Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall/ And breathless darkness...† (8-11) But the three succeeding lines that no one should be afraid and that Nature and God have the power to reconcile: â€Å"Go forth, under the open sky, and list/ To Nature’s teachings, while from all around/ Earth and her waters, and the depths of air/ Comes a still voice.† (14-17)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even if you die alone the living will not live forever and eventually have the same destiny: â€Å"So shalt though rest, and what if thou withdraw/ In silence from the living, and no friend/ Take not of thy departure? All that breathe/ Will share thy destiny.† (58-61)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The death is there and cannot be ignored. However the message of the poem states that death is not bad, for it is a natural thing that is apart of everyone’s life. There is also no distinction among the status of people and all souls will be united in heaven: â€Å"Yet not to thine eternal resting place/ Shalt though retire alone, not couldst thou wish/ Coach more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down/ With patriarchs of the infant world-with kings,/ The powerful of the earth-the wise, the good/ Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages

The Importance of Leadership in Lord of the Flies :: Lord Flies Essays

The Importance of Leadership in Lord of the Flies There are always people who, in a group, come out with better qualities to be a leader than others. The strongest people however, become the greater influences which the others decide to follow. However, sometimes the strongest person is not the best choice. Authors often show how humans select this stronger person to give an understanding of the different powers that people can posses over others. In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos. Under Jack's rule, the boys become uncivilized savages. They have no discipline. Ralph, however, keeps the boys under order through the meetings which he holds. At these meetings a sense of order is instilled because the boys have to wait until they hold the conch to speak. When Ralph says, "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (Golding 36) he enforces his role of leader by making rules and gives the boys the stability of an authority figure, mainly himself. By doing this he wins the boys respect and confidence in his leadership abilities. Ralph uses his authority to try to improve the boys' society. By building shelters he demonstrates his knowledge of the boys' needs. When he says to Jack, "They talk and scream. The littluns.

Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club Essay -- Joy Luck

Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club Throughout Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, the reader can see the difficulites in the mother-daughter relationships.   The mothers came to America from China hoping to give their daughters better lives than what they had.   In China, women were â€Å"to be obedient, to honor one’s parents, one’s husband, and to try to please him and his family,† (Chinese-American Women in American Culture).   They were not expected to have their own will and to make their own way through life.   These mothers did not want this for their children so they thought that in America â€Å"nobody [would] say her worth [was] measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch†¦nobody [would] look down on her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (3).   To represent everything that was hoped for in their daughters, the mothers wanted them to have a â€Å"swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for,† (3).   This swan was all of the mothers’ good intentio ns.   However, when they got to America, the swan was taken away and all she had left was one feather. America was not everything the mothers had expected for their daughters.   The mothers always wanted to give their daughters the feather to tell of their hardships, but they never could.   They wanted to wait until the day that they could speak perfect American English.   However, they never learned to speak their language, which prevented them from communicating with their daughters.   All the mothers in The Joy Luck Club had so much hope for their daughters in America, but instead their lives ended up mirroring their mother’s life in China.   All the relationships had many hardships because of miscommunication from their different cultures.   As they grew older the children realized that their ... ... and in her hurry to get away, she (falls) before she even reach(s) the corner,† (87).   This foreshadows the relationship between the mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club.   The daughters can not understand the reasoning behind their mothers’ decisions.   However, the mothers realize their daughters are so much like them and they do not want this to happen.   The daughters grow up being â€Å"Americanized,† but as they grow older they begin to want to understand their Chinese culture.   All of the characters learned many valuable lessons that will be passed on to their own children. Work Cited Chinese-American Women in American Culture.   http://www.ics.uci.edu/~tdo/ea/chinese.html Roella. http://members.tripod.com/~Roella/AmyTan/ Tan, Amy.   The Joy Luck Club.   New York.   Ivy Books.   1989. Tavernise, Peter.   http://www.mindspring.com/~petert/tan.htm

Lost City of Z

Non-Fiction Literature Circle by Aidan Morrow Author: explained in presentation Audience: This book was written for an older audience of anyone who would love a good tale of adventure. This is because of the novel’s length and due to the fact of the death and sadness that finds its self in this book. Argument: A cautionary tale about over reaching ones personal limits, very much like the story of Icarus. Evidence: The evidence of the books truths are strewn upon the last 80 pages of the book.This novel has an extensive bibliography on many important facts in this novel. What’s left out: The rubber boom should have been explained more. It was the reason for most of the Indians death and would have played a part of the background story of the Indians. Most compelling quote: â€Å"Starvation sounds almost unbelievable in forest country, and yet it is only too likely to happen. – Percy Harrison Fawcett† Implications of your learning: Now after hearing this sto ry of Percy I care about finding him and the lost city of El Dorado (lost city of Z).With modern medicine and modern technology there must be a way to solve all the unanswered questions left by this book. Connections to other readings: One of the main connections to other readings I found was the story of Icarus. Icarus's father Daedalus, a talented and remarkable Athenian craftsman. Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for himself and his son. Daedalus tried his wings first, but before taking off from the island, warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea, but to follow his path of flight.Overcome by the giddiness that flying lent him, Icarus soared through the sky curiously, but in the process he came too close to the sun, which melted the wax. Icarus kept flapping his wings but soon realized that he had no feathers left and that he was only flapping his bare arms, and so Icarus fell into the sea in the area which today bears his name, the Icarian Sea near Icaria, an island southwest of Samos. A question for discussion: Do you believe that Percy could have found the lost city if he had Alexander Rice Jr. ’s funds for his exhibition?