Incentives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Incentives - Essay Example As much as incentives are meant to encourage workers some end up living them in a worse condition than they were before. Provision of incentives in firms In the efficiency wage theory, incentives ensure that workers are able to acquire benefits than what the market wages offer them (Prendergast, 1999, pp 14). Workers receive such rents mainly because it acts as a security even though they have stable jobs. Another encouraging thing about the incentives is that the contracts can always be reviewed basing on the past performances of the workers (Prendergast, 1999, pp 24). Though the workers do not have to fill the change immediately, it is evident that the good performance will always improve their bargain power in order to move his contract to greater heights. What happens to the firms? There are three major theories that are used to give an overview of different form of incentives in firms (Haltiwanger, 1998, pp 330). The theories include the human capital theory, incentive theory an d the matching theory. Incentives are basically the main cores of the economy. However, they have not been fully introduced to most of the companies yet. Incentives work very well in employment according to the case study of it’s important by various organizations. ... tives cannot be compared to those with lesser incentives; this is mainly because the pay-for performance has always increased the work ratings as most of the employers get to fill the pinch after hiring unprofessional workers (Haltiwanger, 1998, pp 336). As if that is not enough the performance of workers in the entire nation can also be positively affected by the introduction of incentives. However some experts argue that the introduction of incentives should be based on individuals rather than the teams mainly because most of workers would end up being joy riders. For instance a research on the doctors showed that most of them have a higher overhead cost sharing while those who share the costs end up as joy riders. That is why perhaps the effects of incentives in teams are dominated by individuals. Perhaps such benefits should be more technological instead of incentives (Haltiwanger, 1998, pp. 338). Data is vital in any research to prove the importance of incentives that is why the re was need for performance contracts. In the urgency theory, it is predicted that most workers face similar problems in productivity that is why such problems are compared to one another. Executive’s data find minimal evidence of the said relative performance evaluation (Haltiwanger, 1998, pp 340). On the contrary, most firms compare the performance of their senior managers to the performance of stock market when determining rewards for them. These firms are more likely to use stock market than competitor’s performance when doing comparison. Another implication of agency theory is, managers who are close to retirement should sign contracts with incentive provisions, which are steeper, and rewards directly tied to performance due to the fact that reputation concerns are not quiet

Production and Operations Management. Lenzing AG Case study

Production and Operations Management. Lenzing AG - Case Study Example The company had its base in the town near Salzburg since long and never felt the need to spread out far from there. The company was content with its operations and business till the year 1978 when the zeal to spread out internationally was initiated in Lenzing. The initiation or the possibility was triggered by a phone call which was made by an entrepreneur of Indian origin named Ashok Birla. The Indian entrepreneur came up with an idea of structuring a manufacturing unit in Indonesia. Initially, this proposal was turned down by the management of Lenzing owing to their lack of experience in foreign joint ventures as well as investments. However, with time Lenzing was able to identify the immense potential of the enormous and unexploited market of textile in Indonesia which made the Chairman ultimately initiate a joint venture with Birla. The outcome of the venture was a new firm named South Pacific Viscose (SPV) which was also the first foreign associate of Lenzing (Spar & Et. Al., 2 008). Problem Statement or Issues The joint venture resulted to be quite successful and in a short period of time the firm SPV started earning huge profits by being a contributor of rayon fiber to the flourishing textile trade of Indonesia. It was found that there was a huge demand of the rayon fiber in the country and the firm efficiently exploited this opportunity which resulted in the augmentation of their profits by around 15 percent every year. In the year 1988, another production plant was set up by Lenzing due to the impressive profits. The second plant was established so as to enhance its production ability from 32,000 to 73000 tons each year. With the taste of success in Indonesia, Lenzing started spreading even out of Europe by way of initiating quite some fresh projects. The experience achieved with the help of its joint venture, SPV assisted Lenzing to expand. In the year 1992, a third plant for the purpose of rayon production was acquired by the company at Tennessee. It also started its manufacturing operations in China in 1994 by way of entering into a contract with the government of China to build a manufacturing plant of rayon around Beijing. These various investments and expansions helped Lenzing acquire the reputation of the sole rayon company across the world which boasted of a factual global presence (Spar & Et. Al., 2008). The company’s joint venture with Birla in Indonesia was functioning quite productively and profitably by the year 1994. This made the company Lenzing think yet once again of expanding more with the help of starting a third manufacturing plant of SPV which would facilitate to enhance up the production to 109,000 tons. It was also planned by the company that the third plant would focus on manufacturing rayon fibers of the most exceptional quality. The company was aware of the fact that with the addition of the third manufacturing plant, the firm SPV would be placed amongst the biggest facilities in rayon manufacturi ng and would be ranked in the second position after the Austrian plant owned by Lenzing (Spar & Et. Al., 2008). Along with the profitability factor, there were other important factors too which were considered to be significant as they would majorly contribute towards the expansion. The other aspects that were measured to facilitate the expansion were the strong recognized associations with the firm’s downstream customers and also the admirable working association with the Indonesian local partner. The location of the firm in Indonesia was considered to be the major inducement behind the expansion owing to the country’s potential of turning into a motivating force for the international textile industry. Apart from the advantages that triggered the

Norman Conquest 1066 Essay Example for Free

Norman Conquest 1066 Essay King Edward had taken a vow of chastity, so upon his death in 1066 there was lack of a clear heir to the throne. There were 3 contenders: * William of Normandy – nephew of Edward, claimed that Edward promised him the throne and that Harold II of had sworn agreement to this. * Harold II – riches and powerful of the English aristocracy. * Harald III of Norway – based on previous agreement between Magnus of Norway and the earlier Danish King, where if either died without a heir to their throne, the other would inherit England and Norway. Harold II was immediately elected as King by the pro-Saxon Witan as they feared there could be invasions from abroad. Harald III of Norway invaded Harold II in the Battle of Stamford Bridge(28th September 1066). Harold II won but lost many in battle. Just days later, William of Normandy invaded Harold II in the Battle of Hastings (14th October 1066). Here Harold II died in battle with an arrow through his eye, leaving the throne to William of Normandy. William became King in 1066 and the Norman Conquest left the Saxons conquered by the Normans. * Prior to the conquest, all law was written and spoken in English, whilst after the conquest law was to be written in Latin and occasionally French. Slowly English returned to the courts, but many French and Latin terms were adopted. Hence why today, the English language is closer to French/Latin that Old English. * Stronger central government – courts of the King began to take many of the functions that were traditionally used by the hundred moots and shire moots. Legal recordings were taken much more seriously with legal practices being written down and recorded in the Doomsday book. * Feudalism/land ownership – King became the ultimate ruler of all land in England (Crown owned all land). Anyone who owned land, owed their allegiance to the King and if you weren’t loyal to the King, he could take away your land. If you owned land, you really just owned a title to that land which the King lends you. Today Crown still owns all land. * Trial by Battle was introduced – women, King, elderly, could choose a warrior to fight for them. If the warrior was still standing when the stars came out it was seen as not guilty. It rested on the assumption that a divine power would intervene and whoevers case was just would triumph. Over time, people became skeptical and it was abolished. Norman conquest is seen as the traditional starting point of English Common Law. It ensured that both common law and civil law systems remained. NZ uses this common law system that William retained from Harold. Today in NZ we still buy land in ‘fee simple’ to the Crown. Our legal system still contains some the Latin and French words that were adopted after the Norman Conquest. Magna Carta 1215 King John was not a popular king as he treated his people very poorly, he was seen as a tyrant. He also caused serious arguments amongst Pope Innocent III and the English Barons. Pope Innocent III wanted Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury but John wanted John De Grey. As John would not accept Langton, the Pope placed England under interdict (suspends all religious life) and declares John’s kingdom forfeit and encourages King Phillip of France to invade. John eventually accepts Langton and surrenders the kingdom back to the Pope and receives it back as a fiefdom. King John is now under the Pope in hierarchy. King John was also unsuccessful in battle, having lost land back to France. This meant less money flowing into England, so John started taxing people of England. It had always been customary that the King consult with the Barons before raising taxes. The Barons agreed to make war on King John if he didn’t sign a charter affirming the rights of the Barons. After attempting to break up the Barons from bribery, John eventually signs. The Magna Carta included promises to protect freedom and rights of the church and to consult with the Barons more closely on taxes, and to guarantee certain rights to all free men. Immediately after this, John asks the Pope to declare Magna Carta null and void. The Barons encourage Prince Louis of France to invade. King John suddenly dies of dysentery, and Henry III becomes King. Every new king from then on will reissue/sign the Magna Carta. So much of the common law was based upon the Magna Carta that is was seen as one of the constitutional documents of England. Courts began citing Magna Carta to support principles and concepts that did not exist when it was created. It influenced the content of other documents that protect people’s rights such as America’s Bill of Rights, and NZ’s. It was the first document in English history that limited the power of the monarch. Until then there was the belief that the Monarch could do whatever they pleased. This established the rule that no one is higher than the law. It marked that power was being shared by more people. The Magna Carta also stated that a council of 25 Barons would be created to advise the King which some people argue is the start of Parliament in common law. Petition of Right 1628 King Charles upset Parliament during his reign from 1625 – 1649. He married a Roman Catholic called Henrietta, protected anti-protestant writers and sought to wage was in Europe on behalf of his Roman Catholic in-laws. It looked like he was favouring Roman Catholics and letting them into the monarchy. When Parliament refused to give Charles the money he needed to fight a battle in Europe, he started taxing the people of England without the consent of he Parliament. This went against a principle established nearly 300 years ago. Parliament responded by issuing the Petition of Right in 1628. It outlined the abuses the King had committed and formally requested that the King rectify his abuses. The Petition of Right was just a soft, light not harsh piece of legislation. Just a set of rules that the King was meant to follow. Charles essentially ignored the Petition of Right and ruled without a Parliament from 1629-1640. This led to the English Civil War where Charles eventually lost and was executed by Parliament. The Monarchy was abolished until 1660. Ruled without Parliament for eleven years. Along with the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right are the constitutional foundational documents of England. The Petition of Right and most important aspects of the English Bill of Rights are still part of NZ law and is still in force today. English Civil War After the Petition or Right was issued to King Charles in 1628, he dissolved Parliament in 1629 and refused to call it for eleven years. But in 1640 he needed money again to ward of the threat of a takeover from Scotland so he reconvened Parliament to ask for the funds. Parliament only agreed to give Charles the funds if he agreed to discuss the abuses that had occurred during his reign as ruler by himself. Parliament took in Henrietta (Charles’ Roman Catholic wife) for questioning under the fear that Roman Catholicism was creeping into power. In retaliation Charles stormed an armed sitting of Parliament with his own army and the English Civil War ensued between the Monarchists and Parliamentarians. Charles was defeated as King in 1645 and escaped to the Island of Whit. He was recaptured in 1647 and sent to permanent exile. The House of Commons passed a special statute that created a special court to trial King Charles for treason. Charles was executed in 1649, being the first and only monarch to be executed which was revolutionary. It showed that Power was shifting upwards and showed that everyone is subject to the law – even the King. Another main consequence was the Parliament was now supreme with a shift in power from the Monarchy to Parliament. This allowed for the responsibility of law making and then came Prime Ministers. Glorious Revolution 1688 King Charles II had no legitimate children, so when he died his brother James became King King James II. King James II did a number of things that upset Parliament, reminding them of King Charles I (Petition of Right and Civil War). He was a Roman Catholic and baptized his son as a Roman Catholic. He gave Catholics a number of prominent jobs in Government. He proclaimed religious freedom for non-Anglicans and suspended Parliament when it criticized him on the above topics. Members of the House of Lords invited Dutch nobleman William of Orange to invade and become new king. William of Orange was married to James II daughter Mary, so they could argue that the throne was staying in the family. William easily defeated James who fled to France. Parliament declared that James had abdicated the throne and it was vacant. In 1689, Parliament appointed William and Mary as joint sovereigns and issued the Bill of Rights. Consequences - Bill of Rights 1689 In the Bill of Rights, Parliament makes the appointment of William and Mary as joint sovereigns conditional on the following principles; Without Parliament, the sovereign cannot suspend or create laws, make new courts, impose new taxes, create or maintain an army in peacetime etc. Along with Magna Carta and Petition of Right, the Bill of Right is a constitutional document for the English legal system. About 100 years after the English Bill of Rights was drawn up, the American Bill of Right was passed. The most significant parts of the Bill of Rights are still part of the NZ Bill or Rights, which is still in force in NZ today. Equity Refers to the separate evolution of the Equity Courts. During the reign of Edward I, he formed three great courts; 1. The King’s Bench 2. The Court of Common Pleas 3. The Exchequer The Exchequer court was a governmental office split into the Exchequer(fiscal) and the Chancery (secretarial). Along with administering writs, the Chancery had to â€Å"reflect a reserve of justice in the King† by trying to incorporate fairness into the legal system. Equity worked by allowed a person to succeed against an individual for a moral or religious wrong, even if that same person was legally in the right. The Chancellor initially administered justice to people who came to him under the Maxims of Equity – he who comes with equity must come with clean hands. Equity worked (examples of son taking money and neighbors tree) by the Chancellor deciding what was right in the eyes of the church and the eyes of clarity. Over time, Equity as a means of obtaining justice became popular enough for the Courts of Equity to be established. In 1616, King James I, ruled that equity was to take precedent over common law, allowing the King to exert some control over his supposedly separated judges. This system was very flexible as to how the law was applied to different situations. The point of equity was that each individual case was to be decided on the points of that case alone so the most just outcome could be reached. Thus it became clear that the Court of Equity was not bound by precedent, giving rise to the aphorism â€Å"equity varies as the length of the chancellor’s foot†.

Western Style Fast Food In China

Western Style Fast Food In China In this section, we first apply Five Forces model to investigate all kinds of competition facing western fast food industry in China which contains competition between western fast food enterprises and Chinese fast food enterprises. The markets of tableware and beverage are both competitive, and the purchasing rate of raw materials is relatively low compared with other materials, therefore these suppliers are poor at capability of pricing. As for other raw materials like chicken and potatoes and so on, since that the prices of agricultural products have been rising in recent years, suppliers of these materials gain more power on pricing. (2)Competitors: the other western fast food brands in China are McDonalds and so on. All these brands enjoy their own reputation, and are operated in chain. The food and service they offer are of high quality. Particularly, they all expect huge potentials in fast food industry in China, so they are willing to invest larger amount money opening more restaurants in China. Therefore the competition between them tends to be more intensive in the future. (3)Consumers: at present, if one Chinese consumer is willing to buy western fast food it means that he (or she) has already accepted the price. Generally, the bargaining power of one single consumer in western fast food industry is weak. But it does not hold for those group consumers. For now, most western fast food enterprises focus on discrete consumer, and if they want to occupy a fraction of group consumers market, They should also apply flexible pricing strategies and enhance their bargaining power with consumers. (4)Substitution: in recent years, more and more Chinese begin to pay attention on diet health, which promotes the development of Chinese fast food. The reasonable price and rich varieties of Chinese fast food has press the expansion of western fast food in China. (5)Potential entrants: relatively speaking, the entry barriers of western fast food are high. Because these western fast food requires large funds input, great brands reputation, economies of scale and so on. But we should also predict that with capability of investing strengthened and management improved for Chinese enterprises, they probably enter western fast food market and enjoy great success in it. Through Five Forces mode we can find that western fast food industry in China is still of great profitable potential, and the competition between western fast food enterprises and Chinese fast food enterprises will intensify, which implies that both of western fast food enterprises and Chinese fast food enterprises should cultivate their own competitiveness 4.2Brief introduction about KFC in China As one of the most popular western style fast food brands, KFC(Kentucky Fried Chicken) belongs to the worlds largest food group -Yum food group . This largest food group includes about 30,000 KFC Dining-room, pizza hut and TacoBell restaurants which are distributed in more than 100 countries and regions of the world. On November12, 1987, KFC entered into Beijing, which is the capital city of China. After that, more KFC chain restaurants have been established in more cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen etc. And even people who live in those small towns can also have the access to western style fast food. Until now, there are about two thousand one hundred KFC chain stores distributed around almost hour hundred and fifty cities except Tibet. KFC has been the largest fast food chain restaurant in China at the greatest speed of expansion(www.kfc.com.cn). 4.3 Core competitiveness of KFC in China During over twenty years development in China, KFC has been always and constantly integrated and taken advantage of limited resources and capability in China, and have gradually cultivated its unique abilities during the business operation, which are not easily imitated by its rivals but also could bring it extra profits. Abilities like that are named core competitiveness of KFC by our researchers. This kind of competitiveness can make one or several business operations are of first rate in the world or of greater advantages over its competitors(Aaker,1989). (1) Standardization of management. The research by KFC on their standardization management is amazing. In order to ensure that people around the whole world can enjoy the food of exactly same taste, KFC investigated in detail into every single processing program to obtain corresponding quantitative standard. There is no doubt that standardization is KFCs core knowledge competitive ability(Stephen,1992). (2). Localization. KFCs franchise mode is quite special, with unique Chinese characteristics. Its not starting from zero joining way is acceptable by those Chinese investors. In addition, KFC applied material resources integration into its management. From the very day when it entered into China, KFC has been determined to provide food which is right for Chinese taste. For now, KFC purchase the raw material fully from local providers. (3). Great brand power. These days, the internet is highly developed and information is commonly shared by people around the world, which makes it a good way to publicize KFCs brand more easily and efficiently. Based on parent companys terrific and strong brand reputation, KFC in China are as well known by almost each household, even for those who have not been to KFC. (4). Reasonable Location of restaurant. Same as McDonalds location, every time, KFC restaurants location is successful. No wonder that these two famous and popular western style fast food restaurants are usually located besides each other. 4.4 Competitive strategy of KFC in China Enterprises usually choose those strategies which can bring them competitive advantages. According to Potter theory(Porte,1997), ones competitive advantage is either from less cost than competitors or from obvious differentiations from its rivals. So competitive strategies include the following three types: cost leadership strategy, the differentiation strategy and centralization strategy. If enterprises through their innovative design, technical potential ability or outstanding brand image and so on seek to provide different products, unique services, this strategy is called differentiation strategy which is based on a broader market comparing with centralization strategy (Prahalad, Hamel,1990). Here, we highlight the differentiation strategy as it is the major and most important strategy not only for KFC but also for other successful western style fast food restaurants such as McDonalds. By its definition, it means that according to their own product positioning, one develops its o wn new products and establishes its competitive strategies in terms of supplier management strategy, brand strategy, talent strategy and so on. (1) Product strategy: product localization. On KFCs menu, there are some main varieties which not only in China, and even around the world are standardized and unified. But, in aspect of product innovation and uniqueness, KFC spares no effort to meet the different needs of customers in China. Since the mid 1990s, it was determined to build KFC as an influent brand which fulfills Chinese demands. To ensure the execution of this thinking and working direction, In 2000, KFC sincerely invited 40 national food nutrition experts to establish the Chinese KFC health consulting committee(www.kfc.com.cn). In 2004, due to KFC products innovation and localization strategy, it broke the boundaries between the western style fast food and traditional Chinese fast food, resulting in more new consumer market. At present, of more than 30 new products in Chinas regional market launched by KFC, at least half of them are of the Chinese characteristic. Some varieties even hit the consumer market since they learned from eight famous Chinese cuisines . For those products aiming at Chinese people , such as fresh vegetarian soup, cold rice, corn salad, old Beijing chicken and etc enjoy a wide popularity among people for its deep Chinese flavor. On summer of 2004, Guangdong province, the traditional old cool tea named WangLaoji, which is a traditional drink brand originated from Guangdong province, formally appeared on KFCs counter. This is the first time for KFC to introduce completely and directly traditional Chinese product into its food menu rather than indirectly improve these traditional food. Besides the deepening of localization strategies, KFC is now studying on consumers preferences within a region, in order to promote the regional localization strategy in the future. It has been over 20 years since KFC entered China. Now, KFC ranks first in fast food industry in China, largely owing to its localization strategy. In the Chinese market, KFC launches 1.5 new products per month averagely, and the turnover from KFC in China a lready is the powerful and main support for the headquarters profits. (2)Target strategies: focusing on families For fast food industry, the most commonly used method for target market positioning is to divide the consumer market based on demographic factors. Other factors such as region factors, customer psychological factors and customer consumption behavior factors are less taken into account(Emerson,1990). Of demographic factors, western fast food industry mainly considers age as market positioning variables. KFCs target markets are families, which mainly include consumption of young people and young parents with their children(Gould,2002). Dining environment aims at providing family reunion, warm dinner atmosphere. And because of its product diversification and the localization of taste, KFC managed to attract more people of all ages, particularly, with elders included. A few years ago, KFC launched the family meal, which is quite enough for a whole family to eat. In addition, being different from McDonalds publicity and dynamic advertising, or inviting stars to join the advertisement, the feature of the image of KFC is its simplicity and implicative style, the warmth and love. (3)Brand image strategy: localization With more attention is paid to brand image individuation by the enterprises, KFC in China have paid more attention to Chinese consumers psychology. Not only the information into life they would like to spread, but also the concept change for China to make a new fast food. In each brand image details, KFC is characterized by obvious Chinese culture features. KFC restaurants in China use a new mark and adornment concept. Not only a very smart appearance, all visual elements like dining-room design, advertising, food packaging, staff uniforms, public goods have been armed with new visual marks. Even the KFC grandpa also changed into traditional Chinese costumes on Chinese traditional festivals. By doing this, KFC publicized its brand and marketing. Since people like to focus on changes or fresh things, while invariable things easily cause visual fatigue, failing stimulating people sensory and becoming the focusing centre naturally. Hence, from the strategic height, KFC sent signals of c hanging to the media as well as consumers. KFC successfully made itself the social attention centre by gathering the public attentions, eventually smoothly spread its brand strategy and tactics to the public. SuJingShi, China regional President of Yum KFC once said: Since the entry into China in 1987, KFC has always been able to insist on the concept of Chinese brand building, and devote every effort to make it. Under this localization concept, the distance between KFC and Chinese customers is continuously getting closer. Building Chinese brand means putting Chinese flavour into its brand building. In this way, it will definitely leave a more obvious trace of localization. (4)Talent strategy: localization. KFCs talent localization, not only embodies in grass-roots employees, but more importantly, in the high-level management. From the first store in China until now, KFCs talent localization strategy have never been changed and even enhanced. KFC cultivate and promote and use local talents, giving full play to their comparative advantages due to their more familiarity with policy environment and local market features. At present, KFC has employed eight general managers from Mainland Chinas total managers who are responsible sixteen markets in China respectively. Those senior management personnel who are directly responsible for the operation of restaurant such as operation manager, regional manager and Hall manager are recruited locally. Those local management personnel can better understand the local demand, master the local consumer psychology and consumption habits, quickly discover local market growth point, more accurately grasp the market pulse and timely make strategic adjustment (Caudron,1991), which helps KFC to win out competing against others. In order to better implement talent localization strategy, KFC creatively put forward the framework with great Chinese characteristics of double departments: the operation department, HR and training department. This framework has a nickname two HR departments. ChenYaqing, the operating training senior manager of Yum China introduced: the case that a special independent department is established from human resource training operations department is not common in the world. The importance of the Chinese market determines the necessity to do so. We can see from this the great determination of talent strategy of KFC. (5)Supplier management strategy: humanization KFCs raw materials are all provided by local enterprises, so KFCs rapid development also stimulates the development of various related raw material supply industries in China. Currently, about 95% of food and packing materials are provided by suppliers in China. Based on principle of common interests, KFC introduces local suppliers brand new management concepts and advanced technologies, and offers them active training programs and generous help especially for those suppliers who are sometimes in difficulty. Through this, KFC has formed strategic partners with local suppliers in China. Firstly, expanding the scale of the domestic suppliers. KFC took active measures to make its twenty five domestic suppliers who are distributed in the twenty seven cities and regions are now the most outstanding in industry. For example, Zhucheng Foreign Trade Corporation in Shandong province, being in relationship with KFC for more than five years has become the largest county foreign trade corporatio n. Secondly, localization of overseas suppliers. KFC has been actively encouraging foreign suppliers to enter into China to establish local factories. For the past few years, KFC have succeed in promoting seventeen products localization which originally have to be imported from overseas suppliers. KFC Continuously integrated suppliers around itself, and established a strategic cooperation partnership with them. The attitude KFC treated with suppliers reflected the humanistic concern and Chinese characters. 5. S.W.O.T analysis of Chinese fast food enterprises Taking KFC as a typical example of western style fast food enterprises, we have showed the competitiveness and competitive strategies they adopt. To compete successfully against with them, what strategies should our Chinese fast food enterprise adopt? To answer this question, an S.W.O.T analysis may be effective. And when it comes to analysis on external opportunities and threatens, we could also apply PEST analysis. 5.1 External Opportunities (O) 5.1.1 Economical factors: (1) Economy of China grows at high rate. Since the policy of Reform and Opening-up in 1978, Chinas government has constantly taken economic development as the center, persisting in Reform and Opening up. For a recent decade, Chinas economy increased at an average rate over 10%.(www.stats.gov.cn) Even during the Southeast Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 and financial crisis recently, under the impact of world economic shock , Chinas economic performance is the best among the world. (1)Industry has a huge potential for development. Although with peoples living standards improving, the proportion of the third industrys output to GDP is increasing, but compared with the western developed countries, China is still low in proportion of the third industry to GDP. While the third industry is a good way to increase employment, social wealth as well as peoples effective living standard, so there must be a huge potential for development of third industry in China. As part of the third industry, the output of the fast food industry in China has increased at average rate of 16%, even during bad times like the Southeast Asian Financial Crisis, it enjoyed the rate over 16% (www.stats.gov.cn). In fact, the national bureau of statistics in China considered the fast food industry as one of the industries with the greatest economic growth, which revealed that the fast food in China would become a promising industry in the future. 5.1.2 Political factors: (1)Great policy support. In order to support Chinas fast growth, in march of 1997, Foreign Trade Department in China issued à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  the Chain Stores Operating Normsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹, later à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Development Program of Fast Food Industry in Chinaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹in September of 1997, and à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  The Commercial Franchising Management Measuresà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹(for trial implementation) in November of 1997. All these documents pointed out the guiding principles, development target, the main task, organization in the implementation and measures. (2) Political stability The good investment environment, huge market and abundant tourism resources, attracted a large number of investors and tourists, thus making fast food become a indispensable need for businessman, tourists and other people who are occupied by outdoors activities. (4)Chinas entering into WTO promotes development of fast food industry. Firstly, the fast food industrys raw material costs would decline and the quality would be improved. According to the agreements between China and American, China would open part of its grain market after entering into WTO. China would import 30million tons grain with high-quality, accounting for about 6% of Chinas whole grain market. These imported grain included One thousand tons of wheat, seven hundred tons corn six hundreds tons of rice, five hundred tons of soybean meal, four hundred tons of soybean and three hundred and thirty tons of soybean oil, meanwhile some special breeds of certain fruit and meat .Because of the low price and good quality of import products, this will push domestic enterprises to reduce costs and improve quality. Secondly, it is helpful to expand the use of foreign capital and improve manufacturing processing equipments technological level. According the principle of national treatment, foreign investors will be treated as same as Chinese domestic enterprises. Further more, the Chinas legal policies are becoming more transparent, it is easier for foreign investors to well predict market risk and profit condition. We have great confidence that foreign investors will invest in fast food industry. This can solve domestic capital insufficient contradiction, also can improve food Industry processing technology and management level, to produce scientific and modern Chinese food. Thirdly, it is advantageous for Chinas fast food enterprises to compete in the international market. Under the framework of WTO, each members of WTO reduce tariff rate and eliminate barriers, and open services trade market. Our domestic fast food enterprises can enjoy national treatment, which helps to create opportunities for them to walk towards the world. Chinese food, especially the various cuisines, enjoy high reputation and consumers big welcome. If the traditional crafts with modern scientific technology can be perfectly combined, with good quality and reasonable price, Chinese fast food will be bound to succeed In the international market. Fourthly, it is helpful to accelerate the strategic reorganization of Chinese fast food enterprises. The large restaurant brand enterprise groups, with the establishment of fair market competition system, the competition among domestic fast food enterprises and between domestic fast food enterprises and foreign ones will tend to be more intense. After that, however, some large restaurant brand enterprise group, with the appropriate scale and regional across, will be formed. 5.1.3 Social factors: Although more young people love to enjoy western style fast food, most of adults still prefer Chinese fast food. It is no doubt that in the future, people will definitely pay more attention on diet health. And since Chinese people are rooted on their profound diet culture, it is not easy for them to shift away from tradition. Moreover, this advantages over western style fast food can be enhanced as long as Chinese fast food enterprises develop suitable strategies to assure the quality, tastes, service as well as to improve the management. 5.1.4 Technological factors: In fact, a great of the success of western style fast food should attributed to technological progress which also do good to Chinese fast food enterprises. Owing to more advanced and sophisticated cooking equipments, it costs less time to provide and offer Chinese food. Additionally, the cooking process can be divided into small pieces and each piece can be controlled, which ensures the finest quality of food and make standardization feasible. 5.2 External Threatens (T) (1) Fast expansion of western style fast food in China. In 1987 on November 12, the first KFC restaurant was established in Beijing .about 20years later in 2007, the chain stores of Yum KFC group in China has amounted about two thousand and one hundred. During the period of time , McDonalds, pizza hut, Japanese, Italian pizza all entered into China In succession, in order to share the huge Chinese consumption .not only did these western style fast food occupied consumption market, they also changed gradually the diet concept of Chinese people. (2) The competitive advantages of western style fast food enterprises are strengthened. Based on competition principles of fairness, openness, justification, the foreign enterprises in China usually implement localization strategy to reduce the cost. In China, however, there are many and serious defects in talent incentive mechanism and income distribution system, so the foreign enterprises with good training mechanism, and competitive compensation And scientific personnel management mode, will attract large quantities of outstanding management and professional talents. Until the end of 2000, the total KFC staff in China is 2.4 million, of them, More than 5,000 members are restaurants managers or function managers. During the early period time after KFCs entering in to China, the raw materials were fully imported abroad. But nowadays, being fully provided locally, resulting in KFCs operating costs further reduced, the competitive advantages further strengthen. (3) Competition between industries is intense. In the past, hotels and restaurants confined their consumption market to people with median or high income level. Because this market has been saturated, now the restaurants shift their attentions to a broader need of the public. Usually, in order to attract more consumers, the restaurants nowadays provide the food at a very reasonable price. Further more, to satisfy different tastes of different kinds of consumers, more varieties and flavors of food have been developed. More and more restaurants begin to operate their business in a chain and systematic way, which lowers the operation costs quite a lot. (4) A large number of potential entrants From the perspective of investment capital, the general financing volume is not very high. According to the à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Chinese Fast Food Industry Research Reportà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹, to invest one fast food store, the minimum investment capital requires 100 thousand Yuan, and the maximum investment capital is 1million Yuan. Usually, the former which need a smaller volume money are Chinese fast food chain enterprises, while the latter which need a larger volume of money tend to be western fast food chain enterprises. Investment above includes training fee and decoration expenses and so on. From the view of technology, the technologic barriers of fast food industry are not very high neither. From the view of the market situation, diet is an important competent of social activities for people and also serves as a main way for intercourse among people. Especially, the long history of thousands of years of the diet culture determines that the consumption market of fast food industry is huge. Factors like high return on investment, stable consumption market make fast food industry the investing hot, with a large number of investors in. (5) Diet culture changing. Over the world, it is impossible that the food demand structure of one country keep invariant, without being influenced by foreign food culture. This even applies to countries like China, France and Italy which all have a proud diet culture. It is inevitable that new varieties of food and cooking methods from other countries or regions will affect another nation food demand structure(Shone, Nobuhiro, Kaiser, 2000). The more open of one nation, the easier the food demand structure of itself tends to be affected by foreign food culture. Not only have Western fast Food culture promoted the development of Chinese fast food, but also have cultivated a certain group who have a preference for western fast food(Jussaume,2001). Since the youth are the target consumption market for KFC, the youth are mostly affected by western fast food culture. They think of eating western style fast food as a new and fashionable life style rather than simply satisfying their appetites. 5.3 Internal Strength (S) (1) A large number of varieties There are a large number of Chinese fast food varieties such as rice, noodles, dumplings, pancakes and so on, which are characterized by traditional national characteristics. It is rather difficulty for western fast food restaurants to offer such rich varieties of food. The diet culture with the history of five thousand years impresses every Chinese profound influence, which is the greatest advantage over western style fast food. (2) Flavours of diversification Due to Chinas vast territory and 56 ethnic groups in different regions, consumers in different regions have different diet habits. Even within the same region, the tastes vary across individuals. Although Western style fast food restaurants make some adjustment on tastes in different countries to satisfy the local taste, generally, the tastes of their food have not changed a lot for their slogan tastes the same over the world. (3) Moderate price China is still a developing country, in 2001, disposable income of urban residents per capita is 6860 Yuan. Price is still the major considering factor when they are planning to consume. The cost of western-style food consumption per capita each time is between 20yuan to 50yuan, which is still on the high side for general consumers. According to the statistical analysis, the average cost of Chinese fast food per capita each time is about 10yuan which is the consumption level that most Chinese people can reach. As a matter of fact, these people are the main consumption of fast food industry. (4) Loyal customers It is the cultural features of food consumption that assures the Chinese fast food enterprises stable and loyal customers. Food consumption is not only a mean which satisfies people the most basic physiological needs, but also cultural features by which a nation is distinguished from other nations. Whether you are one of the elders who are deeply rooted by prominent feature and traditional culture or of new trend-spotting generation, and whether you are one of the rich who pursuit life quality or of the low-income receivers who are mainly contented with physiological needs. As long as you are born in China, the diet culture is rather hard to change. Although other cultural features, such as the consumption idea, clothing, lifestyle is actually changing with the further development of Globalization, modernization. The Local feature makes the entry of the foreign enterprise into Chinese market more difficult than the entry into markets like financial market, insurance market, Consultin g and other services industry market. Compared with the enterprises into China, Chinese fast food enterprises have a objective advantage namely customer loyalty. 5.4 Internal Weakness (W) (1)The poor sanitary conditions in restaurants and instability of food quality The sanitary conditions of fast food industry is directly related to the health of customers. They are reflected in three aspects: sanitary conditions of the production of food processing, sanitary conditions of tableware and dinnerware and sanitary conditions of dining restaurant environment. The sanitary situation of most fast food enterprises in our country health situation is worrying, even if Equipped with the disinfection equipment according relevant regulations, the procedure of disinfection is often omitted when there are not enough dish plates. Chef and Staff are very in cleanliness, especially during summer. Such terrible sanitary conditions discouraged many customers from dining. KFC especially emphasis on internal cleansing, the company set rules about how to check the stores cleanliness. Items like food quality, cooking, cooking time and temperature and so on have to be evaluated by the following assessment: quality, service, health and value .the scores of the four asse ssments would decide whether you are eligible to join to apply for new stores. Chinese fast food restaurants are lack of quantitative criteria, because the chef cooks by his or her experience. It is difficult to guarantee quality of uniform standards, and food quality is not showing a great deal of stability, which has a negative effect on the inheritance of the traditional cooking and Chinese fast food track of modernization. Western-style fast food enterprises use advanced production equipment and technology, and strictly control the food-processing time, temperature, taste, which can prevent the food from the impact of human factors to ensure the quality stability. (3)Being Slow to provide food Summary of the main features of fast food is to provide catering services in the shortest possible time(Jekanowski, Binkley ,2001), thereby saving consumers time. For fast food enterprises, if they can not increase the service speed, it means that they are probably to lose their customers and market. It is estimated that the waiting time of Chinese fast food enterprises customers is a period of 15 minutes for 10, while KFCs is less than two minutes. (4) Marketing concepts left behind Food products include three parts: a core product to meet the appetite; the form of products of a delicious food, excellent environment, clean utensils; extension product of a satisfactory service. Chinese fast food enterprises are in the pursuit of foods colour, Smell and taste too much, and ignore the image of the restaurant, service norms, the waiting time, cleanliness of environment and extension of the form of products(Liu,2003). Therefore the overall product does not meet consumers expectations, resulting in failure in competition with Western-style fast food. The Chinese fast food enterprises are poor at brand awareness, people are more familiar with KFC an

Privacy of Personal Information on the Internet Essay -- French France

Privacy of Personal Information on the Internet United States Policy Living in the United States has its advantages. We are afforded many opportunities that are unavailable or unheard of in other countries. We maintain a limited right to privacy in the areas of education, marriage, procreation, contraception etc. In certain instances, government officials are allowed to watch, listen, search and/or seize a person's personal information. Warrants are usually needed in order to gain this type of information. The Bill of Rights states the provisions to our right of privacy. The Fourth Amendment is the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched. French Republic Policy The right to privacy is implicit to the French Constitution. The French Republic has had many acts regarding the privacy issues of its citizens. The growing popularity of the Internet has made it necessary to include the Internet in these acts. In 1994, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Data Protection Act In 1978 a Data Protection Act was brought into law to protect personal information of private parties and government agencies. Registration and permissions were needed in order to process personal data. Individual parties had the right to access, demand corrections and sometimes deletion about the information being kept on them. Violators of this act faced imprisonment and/or fines. Modifications to Act In 2003, revisions began to be made of the Data Protection Act. The new law would increase ... ...he portal that hosted the racial sites, the plaintiff was able to single out one French Citizen who also hosted the site. It is like picking a needle out of the hay sack. Which in this case didn’t seem to be that hard. Sources [1] Cedric Laurant, Electronic Privacy information Center, 2003, [2] Cedric Laurant, Electronic Privacy information Center, 2003, [3] Richard A. Spinello, CyberEthics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace Second Edition (Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2003) 85. [4] Sara Baase, A Gift of Fire Second Edition (New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003) 36-80, 141-186. [5] Steve McConnell, Software Project Survival Guide (Washington: Microsoft Press, 1998) 8.

Changing Gender Roles in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbet

Changing Gender Roles in William Shakespeare's Macbeth  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Much attention has been paid to the theme of "manliness" as it appears throughout Macbeth. In his introduction to Macbeth in The Riverside Shakespeare, Frank Kermode contends that the play is "about the eclipse of civility and manhood, [and] the temporary triumph of evil" (1307). Stephen Greenblatt emphasizes the same idea in The Norton Shakespeare, crediting Lady Macbeth for encouraging her husband through both "sexual taunting" and "the terrible force of her determination" (2557-58). Macbeth responds to his wife with "a clear sense of the proper boundaries of his identity as a male and as a human being, [telling her] 'I dare do all that may become a man;/Who dares do more is none' (I.7.46-47)" (2558). Both Kermode's and Greenblatt's notions focus upon how Macbeth's masculinity is recognized and defined -- by Macbeth himself as well as by the potentially influential people who surround him. The critics who introduce the play in these major anthologies perceive the same weakness in Macbeth's character as the apparently evil forces who play upon it do: Macbeth's masculinity becomes the psychological vehicle through which he becomes incensed, inspired, and finally incited to action. If Macbeth's "manliness" is to be questioned, it is not likely to occur within the male-dominated world of battlefields and military victories which Shakespeare introduces in Act I, Scene 2. In this passage, the bleeding Captain praises Macbeth's heroism, contending . . . brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name!-- Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour's minion Carved out his passage till he faced the slave, Which ne... ... Universities Modern Language Association 70 (Nov. 1988): 366-85. Dolan, Frances. The Taming of the Shrew: Texts and Contexts. Boston: Bedford, 1996. Greenblatt, Stephen. "Introduction to Macbeth." The Norton Shakespeare. New York: Norton, 1997. 2555-63. Hawkins, Michael. "History, politics, and Macbeth." Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. London: Routledge, 1982. 155-88. Kermode, Frank. "Introduction to Macbeth." The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton, 1974. 1307-11. Stallybrass, Peter. "Macbeth and Witchcraft." Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. London: Routledge, 1982. 189-209. Williamson, Marily L. "Violence and Gender Ideology." Shakespeare Left and Right. Ed. Ivo Kamps et al. New York: Routledge, 1991. 157-66. Winstanley, Lilian. Macbeth, King Lear, and Contemporary History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922.

Philosophy Essay

Fundamentally the term philosophy is the study of different natural phenomena that exists like knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, numerous languages. Anthony Quinton a well known author of his time declared it as thinking about thinking. It is quite dissimilar than mysticism or mythology that are also ways of addressing numerous dissimilar questions. This term has a particular definite meaning as this word is an origin from ancient Greek times and it means ‘Love of wisdom‘. In addition with this it is also segmented into numerous different branches like Metaphysics, Epistemology, Political Philosophy, Logic, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of language and several more This branch of philosophy is fundamentally used to study the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. Several well known scientists work on this segment of philosophy and gave there numerous theories as well as applications on this but still the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as the central issue in philosophy of mind. It was also explored that there are other issues too regarding relations with physical body that have to be resolved. According to research it was discovered that chronological mapping of the brain was the initial attempt, which correlates mental functionalities with different segments of brain. Many of us have a thought that the main defining characteristic of a person is either the person has consciousness, mind or soul. Not only this it was also a fact that almost all of us exactly know consciousness, but still there are several problem regarding this as having awareness of consciousness is not the end until we know what consciousness is. Several philosophers gave their thoughts and works in this field to resolve all issues of philosophy of mind. In 427 BC Plato one of the well-known and prominent philosopher of his time share his though and declare the fact that fundamentally what we are is our real soul, and that our real soul will survive after death, and after our death this soul will be release form our body. Similarly in 384BC Aristotle reveal the fact that soul and body are basically related with each other, in addition with this he also explore the point that our soul is not a part of other substance but it is directly related with our body as or material substance, of which the body is made. Beside this Aristotle once said, If an axe had a soul, its soul would be cutting. Furthermore in year 1825 T.H. Huxley gave his views regarding philosophy of mind. As according to him our mind is a product of brain. Not only this he also gave samples to prove his words as he states† if I think that I want some chocolate, this may be because my stomach is sending messages to the brain because my blood sugar level is low†. In addition with this he also explore that this term consciousness didn’t have any sort of power to cause anything, all such situations are reflection of biology as according to him till the time body is alive and is in working position but when body dies, mind will stop its functionalities and dies with it. Several philosopher work in this particular area to resolve mind-body problem, they define the fact that through which techniques and approaches a supposedly non-material mind can influence a material body and vice-versa. Besides philosopher also concerned this particular point that how someone’s propositional attitudes could become the result of that individual’s neurons to fire not only this how his muscles also contract in exactly the accurate behavior as well. â€Å"The diversity of our opinions does not arise from the fact that some people are more reasonable than others, but solely from the fact that we we lead our thoughts along different paths and do not take the same things in consideration.† To resolve above mentioned issues Dualism and monism are explored and declared as the significant thoughts to resolve all such problems of mind and body. Dualism if basically defined as a position in which both mind and body lie down in some categorical way which would separate them from each other. Not only this Dualism is also segmented into three parts as well. Similarly Monism is also a declared as a particular stage where both mind and body are not ontologically distinct kinds of entities. Furthermore many other related things are also completed and different techniques are also designed by philosopher to solve all such issues of mind and body. As the father of modern philosophy Descartes in year 1596 uses his famous writing â€Å"method of doubt† to explain the fact that he has no doubt on the existence of his mind. After Descartes master piece writing various more photosphere also contributes in this field and still many of the issues of mind-body problem are not resolved, and these philosopher are looking forward to solve all such issues and gave a clear concept of how this part of body actually works and what is the fundamental relationship of mind and body.