Copy right and plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Copy right and plagiarism - Essay Example The resources are the book CAE and the documentary presspauseplay. The documentary presspauseplay relates with the CAE in that they are talking about the existence of the same phenomena. The documentary talks about the internet and technology in relation to artistry, creativity and talent. It poses the question as to whether the use of technology in the art world is a development or the beginning of the end of the talent world. The CAE on the other hand talks about plagiarism and its usage before, now and the future and whether it is good for the art world as well. There is a similarity in the thinking of the two works of art in that the documentary interviews world renowned and influential creators of the digital era who talk about the goodness of the digital technological advancement even if it infringes on the copyright issue. Musicians like Lykke Li and Robyn think that technology is a blessing. Robyn says that â€Å"several years ago it was hard to even produce a song since you needed to be older, have a little recording money and know the crà ¨me de la crà ¨me of the industry and it took months to do what can now be done in five minutes†(Press Pause Play). Lykke Li also thanks the internet and technology because she says, â€Å"I would not be here I’m here because of the Internet. I would probably not be here without the Internet†. CAE also talk about some influential people who thank the internet and technology as being the factors to placing them where they are at the time. An example from the book is Theodor Nelson who studied computer programming in the 1960s say, â€Å"over the periods I came to realize that although programmers structured their data hierarchically, they didn’t have to. I began to see the computer as the ideal place for making interconnections among things accessible to people†(CAE). This was also seconded by Vannevarbush and his

Analysis of Dividend Policy Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Analysis of Dividend Policy - Literature review Example If the debt-to-equity ratio is in favor of the former the manager would have greater dispersion in determining the dividend policy. More debt means less tax liability and less dividend payout. When debt holders power increases vis--vis equity holders dividend policy becomes an instrument in the hands of the manager to play each group against the other (Pike, & Neale, 2003). The dividend policy and the capital market structure of the firm can be examined with reference to a number of theories. The Modigliani-Miller Theorem is the earliest of such theories to consider the relevance of capital structure to determine the value of a firm (Ross, Westerfield, & Jaffe, 2002). In recent times these theoretical constructs have been developed in line with an ever increasing tendency to consider the leverage issue of the company. Leveraging by managers to achieve exclusive personal goals is nothing new. In fact, it's the conflict of interests between the principals or owners (or shareholders) and the agents (or managers) that have thrust the issue of leverage to the fore. In other words, the complex issues revolving around the capital structure of the firm are basically influenced by this conflict in which managers tend to have more information about the probable outcomes of future investments than shareholders. Thus this information asymmetry leads to a series of other problems.Disagreement between managers' behavior on the one hand and the shareholders' behavior on the other gives rise to a series of other related problems, e.g. information asymmetry, agency costs, taxation and bankruptcy costs. Information asymmetry refers to the manager's ability to control the flow of information in his favor so that the principal or the owner would have less access to information (Jonathan, & DeMarzo, 2007). Agency costs are related to the principal-agent relationship. For example, when a principal hires an agent he does so with the intention that the latter would act in conformance with certain rules to bring about what the former wishes.However, the motivating factor behind such performance is monetary compensation such a good salary to the manager. Therefore such behavior on the part of the manager would not be in his best interest. His tendency to deviate from what is expected of him is common among all managers. In order to reduce such negative be havior, the manager must be adequately compensated. However, the principal does not know what the agent would do to ensure that his own interest prevails. Costs that are associated with this behavior are known as principal-agent costs or the principal-agent problem.(a). Asset substitution effect Assuming that projects are riskier, there is still a fairer chance of success against failure thus obliging both debt-holders and shareholders to condone such risky investment decisions on the part of managers. However, in the long run with new projects rising, the value of the firm is bound to decrease while a net transfer of wealth from debt-holders to shareholders is more likely.

Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Population - Essay Example From these projections, we can see that the future population growth seems to slow down as compared to the past growth which accounted for most of the increase in food demand. However, although the population growth in developing countries shows promising reduction rate, it will still be slightly higher than that of developed countries. This could be mainly because of higher fertility rates in the developing countries than the developed countries. There is always the threat of a society overtaxing the available agricultural resources thus returning to a subsistence level of existence. This is the Malthusian catastrophe which depends on the fact of exponential human population growth and arithmetic growth of agricultural resources. To prevent the possibility of a growing human population with demands that surpass agricultural capability, there should be a way to avert radical social changes such as a decline in population. One such solution is the reduction of fertility rates by promoting the use of birth control methods especially in the developing countries. This is because they have higher fertility rates thus higher population growth rates. This method would substantially reduce the growing difference between the developing and developed nations thus avert the Malthusian

The Australian Automobile Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Australian Automobile Market - Essay Example Videos of new launches and product features should be hosted on YouTube which would draw an attractive viewership. Traditional mass media advertising has to be maintained through TV, radio, Billboard advertising and outdoor advertising. Distribution channels should be both direct and indirect. The direct channel should be through the internet which would allow the customers to place orders, make suggestions, see the presentations, and customize their own vehicles. The indirect channel through the dealers is necessary as many would first like to physically see the product before ordering it. Thus a change in the marketing mix can help the company to face the challenge of the downturn. The car sales in Australia have been steadily decreasing throughout 2008. Recorded sales of the automobile industry in November 2008 were lowest for five and half years. As such the current position of Holden SS Ute would help to suggest recommendations for its future marketing mix. The Holden SS Ute was launched in Australia in August 2007. It is a coupe utility built by Holden, the Australia subsidiary of General Motors. This car-truck hybrid range has a number of models in its series and is a sports utility vehicle. It comes with 6-Disc CD Audio system with MP3 compatibility and its safety and security system are in place. It also has side curtain and side-impact airbags for the safety of the passengers and the crew. The vehicles have 17† alloy wheels and Sports Suspension. Customers find the interiors extremely comfortable and the service costs are very cheap (Product Review, 2009). Overall it is a premium performance product with high-end performance. Customers have more choice, more flexibility, and more features. The vehicle integrates sports car performance, ride, and handling, together with a functional load carrying capability.

McDonald’s and Its Crisis Essay Example for Free

McDonald’s and Its Crisis Essay What should a company do when its core product is considered â€Å"unhealthy† or even â€Å"harmful† by the public? Is it even possible for such a company survive and thrive; or will it have to shut down its business? McDonald’s fast food has for a long time been considered unhealthy by the public. In recent years, the health conscious trends have become increasingly popular. Moreover, many scientific studies and findings have surfaced and successfully confirmed that children’s increasing intake of fast food, which often contains high sodium content, sugars, saturated fats, and calories, for a long period of time would lead to childhood obesity. Moreover, obese children have a much higher risk of many health problems such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain cancersall of which are fatal if left untreated. In 2010, a mother from California sued McDonald’s over the company’s marketing practice of Happy Meal. The mother claimed that McDonald’s used alluring toys to lure kids into Happy Meal. This lawsuit, which might be viewed by many as senseless and absurd, was one of McDonald’s biggest cases. In order to come out of the lawsuit ahead, this largest fast food chain had to undergo some major organizational changes. In this paper, we would like to use the knowledge learned in the class to analyze the event (the lawsuit) and its effects on McDonald’s. The paper will have four main parts. In the first part, we provide a brief introduction of the company, McDonald’s, and the lawsuit. In the second part, we will use the concepts learned in class to analyze Happy Meal’s influencing strategies and the organizational changes during and after the suit. We believe that Happy Meal’s influencing strategies deserve our attention as they were the main causes of the crisis. Since its Happy Meal’s influencing tactics were so effectively and successfully executed, McDonald’s became the obvious target of the mentioned legal dispute. In the third part, we will offer our evaluations, pros and cons, of McDonald’s strategies and tactics in handling the crisis. Finally, in the fourth part, depending on our evaluation of how McDonald’s control of the situation, we want to offer our recommendation to parts of the company’s strategies which in our opinions could have been improved. Also, since we overall felt that McDonald’s managed the crisis extremely well, we recommend its strategies to be implemented to Jack in the Box, which faced a similar situation to McDonald’s. However, unlike McDonald’s which vigorously fight for the continuation of its using toys to push Happy Meal sales, Jack in the Box decided to drop toys in its Happy Meal when it was faced with the pressure from the public. We believe McDonald’s implementation of strategic changes could have helped Jack in the Box to put toys back to its Happy Meal. I Introduction McDonald’s Corporation is the worlds leading food service organization. The corporation started out as a small drive-through in 1948 by two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald. In 1961, Raymond Albert Kroc, a salesman, saw a great opportunity in the market at the time and bought the business from the McDonald brothers. By 1967, McDonald’s began its first business expansion to countries outside of the United States. This unyielding expansion resulted in the opening of 23,000 McDonalds restaurants in 110 countries in 1994. Today, McDonalds, the leading fast food chain, had twice the market share of its closest U.S. competitor, Burger King. In fact, McDonald’s market share represented 7 percent of total U.S. eating-out sales (Cohen, 2009, p8-2, p8-3). There are several major influences and factorssuch as government, customers, social trends, and so forthwhich play an important role in shaping organizational behavior.In the recent years, McDonald’s corporate image has been negatively affected by adverse publicity. For example, McDonald’s has been criticized of paying its employees low wages and enforcing an aggressive anti-union policy throughout its fast-food empire. Furthermore, the corporation was heavily condemned by the public for exploiting children market and causing childhood obesity. Indeed, McDonald’s has been using advertising which mainly targeted children. As a result, according to the survey to American school student in 1996, 96 percent of all children could identify Ronald McDonald (Cohen, 2011, p8-5). How was McDonald’s able to achieve the above result? McDonald’s children marketing strategies were very simple but extremely effectiveto give small toys as a treatment to children in order to appeal to their interests. With the repeated uses of this psychological influencing tactic, children would subconsciously make a connection between McDonald’s and toys. Therefore, children, who were under the influences of McDonald’s marketing strategies, could not help to think of McDonald’s whenever thinking of toys. The plaintiff, Monet Parham, a California mother of two, sued McDonald’s overly exploiting children market on Oct 2010 (Dan, 2011).She claimed that McDonald’s gave out alluring toys that come with the meals in order to lure kids into unhealthy diet. The mother also stated that â€Å"McDonald’s make it so much harder to say no to her kids when they are really want those toys† (York, 2010). The CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) confirmed that â€Å"kids do not have the cognitive maturity to understand the persuasive intent of advertising† (York, 2010). Later on, the ban of serving Happy Meals with toys was easily passed by the Board of Supervisors in an 8-3 vote, which would take effect on Dec 1st, 2011 if McDonald’s didn’t meets the nutritional standards of meal in San Francisco till that time (San Francisco Happy Meal Toy Ban Takes Effect,2012). McDonald’s quickly made response to this event. The fast food chain’s spokeswoman, Bridget Coffing, told the LA Times newspaper: We are confident that parents understand and appreciate that Happy Meals are a fun treat, with quality, right-sized food choices for their children that can fit into a balanced diet, (York, 2010). McDonalds said that it would defend itself against the lawsuit. Meanwhile, it started offering apple slices and milks in the new Happy Meals. Eventually, the San Francisco judge dismissed the suit since McDonalds was able to meet the required nutritional standards.†¨ In the next part, we will assess this problem relate to the concept of influence and organizational change. II Course Concepts Related To The Event Influence â€Å"Influence is any communication which produces a change in an action and/or an attitude in one or more people.† Influence is one of the most important management strategies in any organization. A strong influence tactic includes role of planning and dialogue, establish credibility, frame goals and common ground, vividly reinforce your position and connect emotionally (Wong, Influence and persuasion, 2012). In this case, although McDonald’s was sued by alluring children, they indeed occupied the children market successfully. In order to establish an influence, one must first establish communicationexchanges of dialogue. McDonald’s did good at emotional influence and ingratiation. The company created a clown character named Ronald and featured it on local TV in early 1960s. Then, people were employed to perform live Ronald McDonald clowns at children’s birthday parties held in restaurants. Ronald McDonald had a magic touch with children giving McDonald’s an important advantage over its competitors in the children market (Cohen, 2011, p8-5). With Ronald McDonald mascot so successful as a communication tool, McDonald’s went one step further to establish its credibility in children’s minds. This was not hard for the leading fast food chain as it is a common notionand quite truethat children are in most cases easy to influence. Then, how did McDonald’s make children trust it? The answer is easymake the children happy. For example, children were happy when gifts such as Ronald dolls and wristwatches were given free with every purchases of Happy Meals. McDonald’s also used toys of characters from popular movies appeal to children. In this aspect, they used influence of ingratiation effectively. Ingratiation means do something what the person likes. For example, a recent and very successful Happy Meal promotion was a tie-in with the popular DreamWorks Animation film Shrek Forever After. The meals included toy watches fashioned after the movies characters Shrek, Donkey, Gingy and Puss in Boots (Dan, 2011). Furthermore, McDonald’s needed to create a common goalas to what it stands forwith children. With free toys and the always smiling Ronald McDonald, McDonald’s convinced children that the company and its restaurants stands for happiness and enjoyment. However, just establishing common goal and credibility is not enough to make an effective influence, the communicating message and/or idea must be vividly reinforced and emotionally connected with the target audience. According to the Fast Food FACTS Report, young people viewed enormous amounts of fast food advertising. Every day, the average preschooler saw 2.8 fast food ads on television, the average child saw 3.5, and the average teen saw 4.7. Teens listened to approximately one radio ad per day. Children were exposed to more than 1,200 traditional fast food ads per year while teens saw and heard more than 2,000. (Harris, Schwartz Brownell, 2010, p132) Thus, with its spending of $900 million in media in 2009, McDonald’s made sure that the company’s image was vividly reinforced and emotionally connected in the minds of many children (Harris, Schwartz Brownell, 2010, p132). In sum, McDonald’s influencing strategies were so successful that 90 percent of the children go to McDonald’s once a month (Fast Food Marketing to Children, 2010). Nevertheless, McDonald’s effective influencing strategies made it a target for one of the biggest lawsuit in the fast food industry. In the next part, we will discuss how McDonald’s applied its strategic changes to overcome the crisis. †¨Organizational Change For years, critics have been criticizing McDonald’s and its role in America’s obesity problemspecifically the franchise’s aggressive marketing strategies toward children. As the lawsuit pointed out, McDonald’s used toys to lure children and in turn set kids up for a lifetime of health problems. The leadership and management of an organization must be prepared for a turbulent environment which demands more complex planning for the future. The phrase â€Å"organizational change† is about a significant change in the organization, such as reorganization or adding a major new product or service. In fact, there are six forces creating the need of change—the changing nature of the work force, technology, economics shocks, changing social trends, the â€Å"new† world politics, and the changing nature of competitions. (Stephen,1992, p.270) From this lawsuit, we could find evidences of a major force, changing social trend. As the health conscious became a more and more popular, people will be looking for healthy food that is low in calories, fat and sodium. In the American, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the last 30 years. Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control, seventy percent of obese children have higher risk for cardiovascular disease, and are at â€Å"greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem† (Centers for disease, 2012). The publics pointed a finger at McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast food company, who use of Happy Meal toys to lure children. This situation made McDonald’s under heavy criticism from public health officials, parents, lawmakers and so on because they are frustrated with rising childhood obesity rates and weak anti-obesity efforts from fast food restaurant operators. Oftentimes, organizations are confronted with problems in the environment or with internal contingencies suggesting that â€Å"current ways of doing things are not effective† (Miller, 2012, p180). When facing the changing forces, organizations often make changes gradually. Of course, the implementation of planned change is neither a simple nor a straight-forward process (Miller, 2012, p181). In fact, it took McDonalds six years (from 1984 to 1990) to react to pressure group tactics and litigation before starting to adapt its service offer to the dietary concerns of its customers. At the very beginning, the company just made some modestly changes, such as using light oil, adding 2% milk into the menu before actually launching new products such as the McVeggie, the McLean, and pizza in the 1990s (Joanne Caroline, 2006). If we consider McDonald’s step-by-step changes, in the above examples, organizational planned change in response to social trend, the fast food franchise’ reactions to the CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) lawsuit then can be defined as â€Å"unplanned change†. According to Coombs (1999, p.2), organizational crisis is â€Å"an event that is an unpredictable, major threat that can have a negative effect on the organization, industry, or stakeholders if handled improperly.† In other words, crisis is unplanned change that can rock an organization and all the people associated with it. In response to this lawsuit, on December 15 2010, McDonald’s posted on its website a Response to CSPI Lawsuit: We are proud of our Happy Meals and intend to vigorously defend our brand, our reputation and our food. We stand on our 30 years track record of providing a fun experience for kids and families at McDonald’s. We listen to our customers, and parents consistently tell us they approve of our Happy Meals. We are confident that parents understand and appreciate that Happy Meals are a fun treat, with quality, right-sized food choices for their children that can fit into a balanced diet. (Bridget, 2010) Later on, McDonald’s made it clear that the fast food chain had begun to make changes to the composition of Happy Meals in response to parental and consumer pressure. It also pledged to reduce the sodium content in all of its foods by 15 percent, with the exceptions of soda and desserts. Moreover, it set a deadline of 2015 for limiting salt, and said that it would spend the rest of this decade cutting back on sugars, saturated fats and calories and making adjustments to portion sizes. The new Happy Meals were introduced in September and launched across the company’s 14,000 restaurants on April 2012. They would all include apple slices, but in a smaller amount of three to five slices than the current eight to 10 offered as an alternative (Stephanie, 2011). McDonald’s will also offer a fat-free chocolate milk option, along with the option of low-fat milk or the traditional soda. The price is not expected to change (Andrew,2011). Furthermore, as part of an effort to provide better access to nutritional information about its foods, McDonald’s developed its first mobile application for the public. Additionally, in 2011, McDonald’s executives toured the country to hear directly from consumers about their concerns (Alex, 2011). In the next part, we would like to offer our evaluations, pros and cons, of McDonald’s strategies and tactics in handling the crisis. III Evaluation As we could image, the sales of Happy Meals have been a large contributions to McDonald’s daily revenue. Thus, if McDonald’s had lost the lawsuit, the company would have faced a really huge lost on its total profits and taken serious damage on its reputation. On the side of the organization change, we believe that McDonald’s did quite well in the face of the crisis. Organization crisis could be divided into three stages: pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis (Miler, 2012, p187). In the pre-crisis stage, an organization should protect or prevent possible problems. It should make employees have a kind of consciousness of crisis all the time. Indeed, McDonald’s has always been accused of selling unhealthy, greasy food to grownups, and exploiting children through advertising since 1960s (Cohen,2009,p8-6). As a leading company in fast food industry, adverse publicity always be the major problem for McDonald’s. Still, McDonald’s couldn’t find a way to solve this problem at all. It is necessary that a company grow with self-awareness against any problem. After all, McDonald’s had got unfavorable publicity in this event what had happened before. During the crisis stage, it is very important that the company should make correct and wise decisions in order to salvage the damaged reputation. As we said before, on one side, McDonald’s projected itself as a company which was proud of its products and would vigorously defend its reputation in order to calm down concerned customers . On the other side, McDonald’s announced that it would reduce the portion of French fries in every Happy Meal by half and replace them with apple slices. It even promised to start serving healthier food in the new Happy Meal to meet the nutrition standards. Indeed, McDonalds made very quick response to this event, and they also pointed out that parents could always choose not to buy happy meals for their kids instead of criticizing the corporation’s marketing strategies. After making the changes, McDonald’s operation was not impacted too much. Lastly, in the post-crisis stage, company should take lessons from this and establish backup plans for similar crisis which may happen in the future. Apparently, even after the crisis, Happy Meal was not banned. Furthermore, it has become a huge hit for McDonalds and even made the company one of the worlds largest toy distributors. As a result, more and more companies wanted to corporate with McDonalds. For example, many animation film companies wanted to team up with McDonald’s in order to take advantage of this fast food franchise’ huge market influence in promoting their movies. In sum, with its achievements overweight shortcoming, McDonald’s had a good handle on the whole crisis. Nevertheless, even the crisis had passed, this leading fast food chain suffered from public criticism regarding its products. In the future, we believe that McDonald’s should develop an effective strategy to help improve its brand image and a better risk management methodology to help mitigating coming crisis. In the next part of the paper, we want to offer our recommendation to help McDonald’s better handling similar situation. Also, since we overall felt that McDonald’s managed the crisis extremely well, we would like to recommend its strategies to be implemented to Jack in the Box, which faced a similar situation to McDonald’s. However, unlike McDonald’s which vigorously fight for the continuation of its using toys to push Happy Meal sales, Jack in the Box decided to drop toys in its Happy Meal when it was faced with the pressure from the public. We believe McDonald’s implementation of strategic changes could have helped Jack in the Box to put toys back to its Happy Meal. IV Recommendation and Implementation Recommendation for McDonald’s Obviously, McDonald’s managed the crisis really well. In fact, the nutrition of Happy Meal was improved as the calories were reduced substantially. Because the lawsuit was dismissed, McDonald’s continued sell Happy Meal with toys. In the end, McDonald’s didn’t have to change its children’s influence strategy. Even though McDonald’s made its Happy Meal healthier, we believe that their changes to the meal could be bigger, such as change the cheeseburger to a healthier burger with vegetable inside and make chicken nuggets with real chicken instead of minced meat. Also, McDonald’s could reduce the attraction to children or change a different way. For example, the fast food chain could design an advertisement to advocate children to eat healthy, such as drink milk and eat fruit. Furthermore, McDonald’s could optimize the influence aspect. For instance, McDonald’s could use influence strategy to encourage more people to do char ity and educate children to eat healthy and exercise frequently. Recommendation for Jack in the Box In 2011, under heavy public’s criticism, Jack in the Box decided to stop giving out free toys with the purchases of Happy Meal. Obviously, the scale of the crisis faced by Jack in the Box was much smaller than that faced by McDonald’s. However, we felt that Jack in the Box could benefit greatly by learning from McDonalds way of handling its crisis. We also have some recommendations for Jack in the Box based on the successful influence strategy of McDonald’s. According to the survey, McDonalds Happy Meal accounted for about 10 percent of the chain’s U.S. sales in 2010. The sales of McDonalds Happy Meals alone were more than Jack in the Box’s total sales (Maureen, 2011). This fact showed us that the influence strategy used by McDonalds was extremely effective. A spokesman of Jack in the Box said that the franchise’s target customers were â€Å"the frequent fast food consumer† or adults from 18 to 34. Therefore, we recommend Jack in the Box to use the same influence strategy to their target customer. The fast food chain could also use emotion and/or ingratiation influence to attract customers. For example, Jack in the Box could design online games for adults who gained access to the games with free codes offered with purchases of Happy Meals. Moreover, the company could design a discount card for the customers who accumulate a certain sum of consumption. Unlike McDonald’s which vigorously fight so that it could continue using toys to promote Happy Meal, Jack in the Box decided to drop toys in its Happy Meal when it was faced with the similar pressure from the public. We believed that many of the McDonald’s organizational changes could be copied and apply in Jack in the Box. This would allow Jack in the Box to continue selling its Happy Meal with toys. For example, Jack in the Box could change the composition of Happy Meal toward a more healthier trends—such as reducing the sodium content, sugars, saturated fats, and calories to its foods; including vegetables and fruits in the menu; and offering tea, juice, and milk as alternatives to the traditional soda beverages. Jack in the Box also needed to let its customers know of its commitment in making its products healthier. The reason provided by Jack in the Box regarding its letting go of Happy Meal’s toys was that it waned the Happy Meal to appeal to parents. Brian Luscomb, Jack in the Box’s spokesman, commented: â€Å"Rather than promote a toy weve focused on the quality of products in our Kids Meals, like a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough, grilled or crispy chicken strips, or a hamburger. We believe that providing these kinds of options is more appealing to a parent than packaging a toy with lower-quality fare†(Bernstein, 2011). However, we believed that Jack in the Box could benefit greatly from expanding its Happy Meal’s target market to include children. To achieve this, Jack in the Box would need to facilitate strategic change†the process of formulating, implementing, and evaluating decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives† (Wong, Organizational change, 2012). In this case, the strategic plan would include extensive products innovation. For example, Jack in the Box could use popular toys and online games to attract children to its Happy Meal. The burger franchise chain could also build playgrounds inside its stores. This offered children with fun and healthy exercises. Implementation for Jack in the Box As we discussed above, Jack in the Box could drew on McDonald’s successful tactics to appeal more customers to consume their products. We found McDonald’s influence tactic could be successfully implemented on Jack in the Box due to two main reasons. The first reason is the industry similarity. Jack in the Box is one of the nations largest hamburger chains with more than 2,200 restaurants in 19 states. Also, just like McDonald’s, Jack in the Box is also a member of the fast food hamburger restaurant (FFHR) industry. This is an industry characterized by high competitiveness and risk. Although Jack in the Box is concentrated on the West Coastprimarily in California, the competition is still intensive. In this industry, McDonald’s is the only fast food chain to occupy nearly 13 percent of the US market (McDonald’s Report, 2010). There is no reason that Jack in the Box could not benefit from learning from the market leader, McDonald’s. The second reason is the easy-to-influence target customers. As we mentioned before, Jack in the Box’s target consumer are youth, aged 18 to 34. This group of customer is the most active part. They are independent buyers. This means that they could choose the thing they want without asking their parents’ permission or admission. Another character of this customer group is economic dependent. This group of customer typically has incomes and also can take charge of their money. The situation is much better than McDonald’s children market. Also, this group customer of Jack in the Box likes keeping pace with the trend. We think if Jack in the Box could use the influence tactic cater to its target consumers, they could further expand their market share in the future. However, in implementing aggressive marketing strategies, Jack in the Box would certainly be criticized by the public. Still, we believed that if Jack in the Box continues making its Happy Meal healthier and supporting the surrounding community through various charity activitiessuch as donating part of its Happy Meal’s profit to children hospitals, giving free Happy Meals to the homeless, and so forth, it can enjoy increase profit and at the same time maintain good public image. Reference: Alex, M. (July 26, 2011). McDonalds Happy Meal to include sliced apples, less fries. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/mcdonalds-happy-meal-to-include-sliced-apples-52867/#gKDYWvXCIJGSO8g1.99 Andrew, L. (July 28, 2011). McDonalds adds apple slices, reaction to Happy Meal lawsuit?†¨Retrieved from http://chicagopersonalinjurylegalblog.com/2011/07/mcdonalds-adds-apple-slices-reaction-to-happy-meal-lawsuit.html Bernstein, S. (2011, June 20). Jack in the Box stops including toys in kids meals [updated]. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/06/jack-in-the-box-toys.html Bridget, C. (December 15, 2010). Response to CSPI Lawsuit. Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/newsroom/mcdonalds_statements_and_alerts/response_to_cpi_lawsuit.html Centers for disease control and prevention: Childhood obesity facts. (2012, June 07). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm Cohen, I. (2009). McDonald’s and its critics, 1973-2009. Dan, L. (2011, April 19). McDonalds grimaces at Happy Meal lawsuit. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/19/us-mcdonalds-lawsuit-idUSTRE73I4P820110419 Harris, J., Schwartz, M., Brownell, K. (2010). Fast food FACTS: evaluating fast food nutrition and marketing to youth. Research report, Yale Rudd Center For Food Policy and Obesity, Retrieved from http://www.fastfoodmarketing.org/media/FastFoodFACTS_Report.pdf Joanne, R., Caroline, B. (2006). Corporate Identity and Strategic Change: The Case of McDonald’s Miller, K. (2012). Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes. 6th ed. Boston: Wadsworth. Molland, J. (2010, December 15). California mom sues McDonalds over Happy Meal. Retrieved from http://www.care2.com/causes/california-mom-sues-mcdonalds-over-happy-meals-video.html Stephanie, S. (July 26, 2011). McDonald’s trims its Happy Meal. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/business/mcdonalds-happy-meal-to-get-healthier.html?_r=0

Social Media Marketing Marketing Essay

Social Media Marketing Marketing Essay The rise in popularity of social networking Web sites and other social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and individual blogs has grown subsequently during these recent years. This literature review shall demonstrate on how the social media networks have an impact on businesses; following an introduction of what is exactly the social media marketing, secondly what are the networks for and thirdly the impact of the social networks on consumers. Some studies have been made by several researchers and authors about the impact of social media in businesses which will be evaluated in this research proposal. Social media networks are fast becoming the infrastructure of the Web as all of our personal data and connections are being aggregated into databases. The value of Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter is part how much of our personal information they store and part how useful they can make this information for companies, advertisers, marketers, and consumers. The more information social networks know about us and our connections, the more targeted they can make their advertising and ultimately their business value (Levitt 2010). Tuten (2008) described social media as communities which include forums, virtual worlds , social news organisations, social- opinion sharing sites and social networks. In addition to this, Tuten (2008) remarkably suggested that social networks are built with a platform that enables users to create or identify profiles with the ability to interact with other members and participating in various site activities. With memberships that are growing daily and the amount of people interacting with these various sites, marketers and businesses have found a tool that can make money likewise Tuten (2008) argued that marketers in the USA spent $920 million on social network advertising which showed a net progression of businesses implementing social media into their businesses. On the other hand Bowman (2010) investigated that social media is expanding at a sophisticated business tool because it provides businesses a unique opportunity to target customers and its prospect. For instance, the mas sive social network facebook.com which has millions of subscribers is one of the most appreciated site for businesses can create fan pages on offering instructional videos to show people how their products are reliable. Further research demonstrated that social networking sites are promoting rapidly through the internet acquiring users around the world; the more quickly social networking sites grow, the more quickly they spread. It has been argued that; it is a vital source of revenue for some businesses to market their products and services for example the retail industry and as a result many advertisers have conducted consumer promotions involving social media to generate attention to and participation in their promotions; for instance (Otter 2010) suggested that some companies in the recruitment sector have placed social media in their planning, companies such as Microsoft, Roundchard and CH2M Hill have successfully achieved in implenting this process which has been cost effectiv e, faster to hire and improved candidate quality. In the UK the large retailer John Lewis has invested in a research project to monitor the consumers point of view, it is part of their strategy to develop new skills in their advertising programme; in brief The Gazette the company trade magazine quoted Social media can also help generate a buzz about product or brands(cabinet-marker.co.uk). Equally Starbucks have seek digital and social media marketing investment in their channel in the UK, their success has involved a global campaign in releasing new product online via the social networks. Starbuck`s strategy was to involve customer loyalty via facebook, the company has also planned to integrate activities across a number of iniatives including the Starbucks Card, public affairs, customer care and shared planet across social media channels with its 9million fans on facebook and 1million followers on twitter (nma.co.uk). Similarly, Twitter has reached the middle east for example Gulf Air; the Gulf Airs website gulfair.com has become the No.1 airline website in the Gulf region by number of followers on one of the most popular social media networks, this trend has enable the company to promote its image in their specific service sector on How to utilise digital and new media to reach customers, ommunities and special interest groups (gulfair.com). Nowadays employers and employees understand the power of social media networks in creating real business value and relationships with customers the press, analysts, and all other stakeholders ( Businessweek.com 2010). In addition to this, many employers have been managi marketing their personal brand together by promoting their company. It argues that employees participating in social networks have already developed a network that can help them in the long term within their development and promotion in regard to their progress in a company for future prospects.( Businessweek.com 2010) . DENNISoneil.com 410.343.9090

The Environmental Factor Impacting On Mcdonalds Commerce Essay

The Environmental Factor Impacting On Mcdonalds Commerce Essay McDonalds Corporation is the worlds leading food service organization. The corporation started out as a small drive-through in 1948 by two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald. Raymond Albert Kroc, a salesman, saw a great opportunity in this market and advised Dick and Mac to expand their operation and open new restaurants. In 1961 Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers. By 1967 McDonalds expanded its operations to countries outside the U.S.A. This unyielding expansion led the Corporation to open 23,000 McDonalds restaurants in 110 countries in 1994, producing $3.4 bn in annual revenues. In addition, McDonalds opens a new restaurant every three hours. Also, McDonalds has twice the market share of its closest U.S. competitor, Burger King, representing 7% of total U.S. eating-out sales. Similarly, McDonalds serves about 1% of the worlds population on any given day through its 23,000 restaurants internationally. Big Mac, the worlds most sold hamburger was developed by Jim Delligutti in 1967 t o feed construction workers. Big Mac is the biggest attraction and backbone of the corporation. Moreover, McDonalds maintains its competitive advantage by constantly creating new items to add onto its menu. This shows us that McDonalds practices an analyzer type of strategy, introducing new items and defending its existing ones. McDonalds Corporation (NYSE:  MCD) is the worlds largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving nearly 47 million customers daily. At one time it was the largest global restaurant chain, but it has since been surpassed by multi-brand operator Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell and others) and sandwich chain Subway. In addition to its signature restaurant chain, McDonalds Corporation held a minority interest in Pret A Manger until 2008, and owned the Chipotle Mexican Grill until 2006 and the restaurant chain Boston Market until 2007. The company has also expanded the McDonalds menu in recent decades to include alternative meal options, such as salads and snack wraps, in order to capitalize on growing consumer interest in health and wellness. A McDonalds restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporations revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonalds revenues grew 27% over the three years ending in 2007 to $22.8 billion, and 9% growth in operating income to $3.9 billion. McDonalds primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. In response to obesity trends in Western nations and in the face of criticism over the healthiness of its products, the company has modified its menu to include such healthier alternatives as salads, wraps and fruit. McDonalds MISSION AND VISION: They serve people with good quality food, fast and at low cost. McDonalds vision is to dominate the global food-service industry. Global dominance means, setting the performance standard for customer satisfaction and increases market share and profitability through successfully implementing our convenience, value and execution strategies. McDonalds brand mission is to be our customers favorite place and way to eat. Our worldwide operations have been aligned around a global strategy called the Plan to Win centering on the five basics of an exceptional customer experience People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. We are committed to improving our operations and enhancing our customers experience. Main Body Analysis: Environmental Factor Impacting upon MacDonalds: The impact of environmental factors is far-reaching upon the Macdonalds which is being discussed below followed by environmental factor. Environmental Factor: The notion of environment in general systems thinking is a wild, all-embracing and woolly concept. Everything is in the environment. The environment is all yet we are interested in specifics. It is people who decide what is significant in the environment and what is not what the forces are that must (imperative language) be attended to. Thus prevailing pictures of what the environment is are socially constructed. Various definitions and concerns assume the characteristics of propaganda. They are not necessarily neutral definitions and the nature of the elements that supposedly are acting on us in the environment, are difficult to define and measure. Similarly environmental events have to be interpreted and we will often refer to environmental forces of various kinds in our post hoc rational and justification of the decisions we have made. We blame the environment for action we have taken and the results of that action. Finally people e.g. government and powerful decision-makers in business organizations, may intervene to influence and shape events in the environment to their own advantage e.g. speak to the press, lobby for a change, buy up a rival, try to tickle the equities market up and even cooperate with others to ensure that information on the environment is accurate rather than uninformed and misguiding decisions by others than can affect the companys position (vested interests). John Childs concept of strategic choice, and its manifestation in terms of managerial behavior, is significant in this regard. So environment is not what it may seem. Certainly if we here the green lobby speak about environment, they will hold particular values and positions dear to their hearts, some of which others might accept but some of which others might also rebut. However a typical, neutral and managerial description of environmental factors and pressures would cover the following areas (and more). Environmental factors include social-cultural, technological, economic and financial and political-legal events and possibilities. These are often referred to by the mnemonics S.T.E.P. (social, technical, economic and political factors) also PEST or S.T.E.E.P.L.E (social/demographic, technical, economic, environmental (natural), political, legal and ethical factors) The biological and adaptive metaphor comes into play when we argue for business change. Typically, if the business cannot respond to the pressures and influences of its environment then it may not survive. It has to adapt. If it serves the needs of clients or stakeholders and satisfies for example its market mission then it may prosper. A dominant theme in the study of business is that of competition in the market-place. A businesss relationship with its environment is typically founded on its service to key customers and their satisfaction with its performance revealed by buying patterns, new legislation, party conferences, annual general meetings and stock market prices. Learning and adaptation occurs in response to stimulus across organizational boundaries. Any organization that is too inward looking becomes atrophied and can stagnate. In the language of general systems theory any system is subject to the process of entropy. Environmental factors can be political, social, ecological, cultural, technological and ethical in nature. Any organization that develops a product or service that they want to market domestically or globally must consider what the impact each of these factors may have for them. Not considering these factors can result in the failed attempt to market a product, which may be successful domestically, in other countries where there is a significant market potential. Impacting upon MacDonalds: Mainly there are 2 types of factors affecting international business like MacDonalds. 1) Internal factors 2) External factors. 1) Internal factors:- Internal factors of international business include political parties, suppliers, buyers, competitors and consumer of respective country. 2) External factors: External factors of international business are those where you need to examine the whole criteria these are political environment, legal environment, socio-cultural environment, demographic conditions of respective country. Figure: Environmental Factor Analysis the environmental factors impacting upon MacDonalds: To have a clear picture of McDonalds corporation we need to look at its Task Environment, which includes its: .Customers .Competitors .Strategic Allies .Suppliers .Regulators CUSTOMERS: Customers are those who pay money to acquire an organizations goods or services. For many years McDonalds mostly targeted the young people, however this has changed in this decade; McDonalds has turned towards a more general market. By doing this McDonalds concentrates on the family, targeting a diverse market which includes consumers ranging from children to elderly people, using products such as the happy Meal for children and Egg McMuffin for the elderly. McDonalds also realized the changing world we live in and the need for healthier food, since there is an ever changing demographic group, who demand fast, top quality food that is low in calories. McDonalds responded to this opportunity and introduced a new and innovative product. This new product was a regular hamburger that tasted like the real thing but was made of plant material like Soya beans. This same product also targets another demographic group, vegetarians. McDonalds mostly uses psychographic segmentation targeting th e working and middle classes. These are the people that are more susceptible to enter a fast food restaurant, since these are the people that lead a fast moving life and thus require a fast meal. In brief McDonalds customers are of all classes, but largely working and middle classes, and people of all ages. COMPETITORS: A competitor is an organization that competes with other organizations for resources. In our findings, McDonalds has two types of competitors in the Lebanese market: Indirect Competitors: Indirect refers to firms producing one or two products that compete with McDonalds products and therefore be a threat to the company. We have identified four indirect competitors: Henry J. Beans, T.G.I. Friday, K. F. C. and Popeyes. Henry J. Beans offers hamburgers and fries on its menu, therefore competing with McDonalds for customers of these products. However, Henry J. Beans also known as Hanks is a more of a bar restaurant and therefore a hang out place, as a result charging more money for its products. Hanks targets middle to upper class customers, so where most of these customers overlap are in the middle class. T.G.I Friday is another indirect competitor reflecting the same characteristics as Henry J. Beans. Other indirect competitors are K. F. C. and Popeyes, both competing for the chicken nuggets and fries customers. In brief, Hanks and T.G.I. Fridays competes with McDonalds by offering hamburgers and fries, whereas K. F. C. and Popeyes compete with McDonalds by offering chi cken nuggets and fries. Direct Competitors: Direct competitors refer to firms producing the same products or services as McDonalds does. Here we found that McDonalds has three direct competitors: Burger King, Wendys and Hardees. McDonalds closest rival is Burger King, which operates a total of 9644 restaurants in 110 countries. Wendys is McDonalds second largest rival, which is also in the fast food business, where Wendys operates 6776 restaurants in 32 countries. Hardees, McDonalds third largest rival is also in the fast food business and is the only direct competitor apart from Juicy Burger in the Lebanese market. Hardees operates 3080 restaurants in 20 countries. As we have illustrated McDonalds faces stiff competition from three major competitors, Burger King, Wendys and Hardees. Suppliers: Suppliers are an organization that provides resources for other organizations. McDonalds has practiced a backward vertical integration, by replacing most of its suppliers. It has done so for two reasons, 1) To reduce costs, and 2) To ensure that its products are of top quality. These supplies include beef and milk to be used in its products, which it gets from its farms. Other suppliers include local grocery stores that supply McDonalds with fresh vegetables. Soft drinks are supplied exclusively by Coca-Cola, which is also its ally. McDonalds supplies also include raw material such as flour, sugar, yeast, etc.,. Strategic Allies: A strategic ally is an organization working together with one or more other organizations is a joint venture or a similar arrangement. McDonalds has formed a strategic alliance with: Walmart, Chevron, Amoco, Disney and Coca-Cola. Walmart, which is a large shopping mall chain in the U..S. and several neighboring countries, is allied with McDonalds, which offers great opportunities for both companies. McDonalds has restaurants in each Walmart, offering its customers conveniences and excellent fast food at a low cost ease of accessibility. McDonalds corporation describes it best in this scenario: Imagine a busy shopping day at your local Walmart and having the ability to sit down with the kids and enjoy many of our McDonalds favorites, like Big Mac sandwiches, world famous fries and kids favorite Happy Meal. McDonalds understands your busy lifestyles and the demands on your time. Thats why we are making it easier for you to do more things in less time. McDonalds is engaged in an allianc e with two petrol companies, Chevron and Amoco. This alliance represents the ultimate in convenience. At these locations, one finds a full-menu McDonalds restaurant with dining room service. Nothing can be more convenient, because one can fill up the car with gas and get a meal all in one stop. Another important alliance that McDonalds has is with Disney. Here McDonalds has the sole right to sell fast food in Disneys theme parks around the U.S., and other Disney operations in the world. Under the terms of the agreement, McDonalds will operate restaurants and Disney will promote its films through McDonalds. Regulators: Regulators are groups or governmental agencies that can control and influence the organizations policies and practices. An example is Lebanon a few years ago when the U..S. government banned all U..S. citizens and organizations to come or operate in Lebanon. Another good example would be the embargo imposed on Iran where U..S. organizations were banned to operate in this country. Another group of regulators called interest groups can and have influenced McDonalds to treat its animals (cow and chickens) in a much more humane manner, which resulted in the restructuring of McDonalds farms throughout its operations around the world. The summary of the task environment which is by definition a specific organizations or groups that affect the organization, which includes competitors, suppliers, customers, strategic allies and regulators. Here we described the task environments importance to McDonalds, where McDonalds faces both opportunities and has threats in its environment. Emphasis on the key driver of MacDonalds: We shall also explore McDonalds Workforce Diversity and its Total Quality Management to emphasis on the key drivers. These are given below: Workforce Diversity: Diversity exists in a group or organization when its members differ from one another along one or more important dimensions such as age, gender, and ethnicity. Diversity is very important for McDonalds. Here millions of teens start out by working at McDonalds. Here some of the teenagers move on to get various jobs such as movie stars, skilled workers, famous athletes, management positions and other educated positions in society. At McDonalds two thirds of middle and upper management started out as crewmembers in a McDonalds restaurant. There are opportunities for everybody in McDonalds from teenagers to elderly workers, and from people just entering or reentering the job market. Moreover, McDonalds offers special jobs for people who have disabilities, such as people who are in wheel chairs and those who must use crutches permanently. Furthermore, McDonalds offers their workers flexible working hours. For example, hours for people seeking just a few hours of work per week and those wh o seek full time positions. The work force at McDonalds also have some say in their working hours, such as if they prefer the morning, mid-day, or evening shifts in the restaurant. So, McDonalds uses diversity to create a good atmosphere in their work places among workers and management. Here they offer work to all kinds of people without discrimination and the workers have flexible hours that provides customer satisfaction. Top Quality Management: Quality is the entirety of features and distinctiveness of a product or service that stand on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. For McDonalds, total quality management (TQM) involves that the employees are at work on time, are neatly dressed, and are clean. The employees must make sure that the customers constantly receive safe food, which implies that the employees must wash their hands often to remain clean. Moreover, the employees must follow certain Standard Operational Procedures, so the customers always receive exceptional quality and service. This includes the employees using plastic gloves when they prepare the food, that the meat and fries are properly fried, and that the vegetables are thoroughly washed when used in the food. Another TQM is that the employees rely on teamwork and high energy to get the job done, so that the customers do not have to wait long for their food. Furthermore, McDonalds management emphasizes that their restaurants should be clean. Th is involves that the restaurants are tidy, sparkling and spotlessly clean. As McDonalds illustrates the quality is that the employees delivers fast, accurate and friendly service with a smile. External and Internal Factors Affecting McDonalds The purpose of this paper is to discuss external and internal factors affecting McDonalds management functions. This will be accomplished by explaining how McDonalds deals with each of the external and internal factors. There were three factors that were chosen to outline the success of McDonalds corporation. The first factor is globalization, which is define as closer contact between different parts of the world, with increasing possibilities of personal exchange, mutual understanding and friendship between world citizens. Diversity, the difference among people and cultures, is the second factor discussed in the paper. The final factor is ethics, which can be defined as a set of principles of right conduct. This paper explains how the McDonald Corporations uses the factors to conduct business around the world. In todays society, corporations and enterprises are expanding their businesses in the global markets. Globalization is necessary for success and survival in the worldwide market; however, global competition is not easy (Bateman Scott, 2004). By the end of the twentieth century, the list of Fortune 500 companies was no longer only United States corporations due to an increase in international companies joining the list (Global Capitalism, 2005). As a leading food service retailer, McDonalds joins those corporations with restaurants in 119 countries (McDonalds, 2004). Important strategic decisions are a key factor to their success with consideration for both internal and external factors. When considering the foreign market, companies need to consider there are risks. There must be local marketing to appeal to the local consumers and also to build relationships and trust (Bateman Scott, 2004). Therefore, the strategic planning for marketing has to be effective. McDonalds caters its m enu in other countries to the cultures of the regions. For example, in India, the non-vegetarian menu includes chicken and fish items only (Welcome, n.d.). Beef is not on the menu in India because are considered sacred. Global marketing decisions are no different than those made domestically but the decisions are unique to each country (Sister Sister, 2005). Furthermore, operating on a global scale allows a companys employees to experience working in different cultural environments. This is a good marketing strategy for recruiting employees. McDonalds has a global core curriculum for its restaurant management (McDonalds, 2004). Paula Doherty, a general manager states, Ive had incredible experience in different countries andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦culturesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as a trainee manager from Poland to Israel to the Philippines and more. Doing the job successfully has given me a real sense of achievement This business strategy speaks to their commitment to a diverse workforce. McDonalds commitment to diversity is established on the foundational belief that diversity is not just a moral and ethical issue, but also a business issue (McDonalds, 2005). Due to the global expanse of McDonalds business, diversity has become an integral part of the internal company culture. McDonalds has over 30,000 restaurants around the world, which means franchise owner/operators, employees, and customers represent just about every culture, religion or ethnicity on earth. In addition, McDonalds promotes the use of local suppliers and based on their policies of diversity, expects and retains suppliers that have a similar diversity culture. Knowing and understanding the local customs and traditions of the communities where McDonalds has established businesses, integrating people from these communities into the company, and adapting locally to the tastes and cuisines of the community, has made McDonalds the leader in their industry. In the United States alone, McDonalds has won numerous awards and received national recognition for diversity. According to McDonalds website, www.mcdonlads.com, awards include; PUSH-Excel Corporate Partner Award, Corporate Achievement and Image Award, Nullities Corporate Award, Corporate Vision Award, and the Circle of Inclusion Award. These awards and recognitions are not the result of a surface attempt to appease the critics. They are the result of McDonalds embracing and integrating diversity into their company ethos as an asset and an ally. McDonalds realizes that having diversity as an asset greatly enhances the profitability of the company. Diversity is a direct reflection of a companys interpersonal relationships. These relationships, if positive, result in a rewarding venture. Conversely, if the relationships are negative, the companys morale declines and if not addressed, leads to the deterioration of the company. This deterioration directly impacts the companys income and the communitys acceptance of the business. However, McDonalds leadership encourages diversity through their policies and programs. McDonalds proven success with leveraging the advantages of diversity can be attributed to their core value of ethics. McDonalds success is built on the foundation of personal and professional integrity (www.mcdonalds). From the beginning, McDonalds has based its reputation on trust and dependability, and their commitment to the community made them a household name. Founder Ray Kroc, believed in giving something back to the community in order to make the world a better place. Throughout the 1970s, McDonalds became involved with a lot of charity work. In 1974 established a charity called Ronald McDonald House. The purpose of this program was to provide temporary housing for the families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. Since the 70s, more than 10 million families around the world benefited from the comfort provided by Ronald McDonald Houses (www.rhmc). In addition to their community involvement, McDonalds has a long-standing commitment to environmental protection. Restaurants around the world have innovative programs for recycling, resource conservation, and waste reduction. The environmental achievements of this corporation have been recognized by organizations such as the Audubon Society, Conservation International, Keep America Beautiful, the National Recycling Coalition, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (www.mcdonalds). McDonalds is also an equal opportunity employer. As an equal opportunity employer McDonalds ensures that employees and job applicants are selected, trained, and promoted without discrimination to race, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability. The company promotes their employees based on their relevant skill, talents, and performance. In support of this McDonalds promotes and sustains a working environment, which is free from unlawful discrimination, harassment and bullying. Employees are regarded as members of a team where everyones opinion is valued and respected. The Human Resources department monitors the effectiveness of the discrimination policies at regular intervals and takes corrective action as necessary to ensure that they being complied with (www.mcdonalds). Employees who feel that they have been treated unfairly are encouraged to use the remedies outlined in the Companys handbooks. McDonalds ethical standards, as well as their strategies for globalization and diver sity are instrumental to the overall success of the company. The purpose of this paper was to discuss external and internal factors that have affected McDonalds. This was achieved by explaining what the factors are where and how McDonalds dealt with each of the external and internal factors. The factors discussed were globalization, diversity, and ethics. The paper illustrates how globalization is necessary for success and survival of McDonalds in the worldwide market. The paper also shows how diversity integrated people from different communities into the company, and adapted tastes and cuisines of the community. McDonalds showed ethics by being an active leader in the communities. There are many different values to the dollar around the world, many issues that have occurred in many of those regions/websites, and about 119 countries served by McDonalds that rely on the functions of management to succeed. Critical Evolution the current strategy of MacDonalds: The current strategy involve of SWOT analysis as well as SWOT matrix or strategies which is given below accordingly. SWOT Analysis Framework Environmental Scan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  / Internal Analysis  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  External Analysis /   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  / Strengths  Ã‚  Ã‚  Weaknesses  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Opportunities  Ã‚  Ã‚  Threats | SWOT Matrix Figure: SWOT Analysis Framework SWOT Strategies of Macdonalds: The SWOT Matrix A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities. Rather, it may have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying a fit between the firms strengths and upcoming opportunities. In some cases, the firm can overcome a weakness in order to prepare itself to pursue a compelling opportunity. To develop strategies that take into account the SWOT profile, a matrix of these factors can be constructed. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown below: SWOT / TOWS Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities S-O strategies W-O strategies Threats S-T strategies W-T strategies Figure: SWOT / TOWS Matrix S-O strategies: S-O strategies pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the companys strengths. As like MacDonalds expands their Chinese market and increasing advertising and restaurant location because Chinese population is increasing day by day .In addition their car ownership is growing rapidly which is another opportunity for MacDonalds to expand their market development. Horizontal integration is the another opportunity which is tuned into strength for MacDonalds because by acquiring Krispy Kren Corporation they captured the market of them .As well as the advantages of horizontal integration is expansion of a firm within an industry in which it is already active for the purpose of increasing its share of the market for a particular product or service. Cost minimization, raw material availability, quick delivery and others factors are the advantage of horizontal integration which is adopting MacDonalds as a current strategy. It can adapt to the needs of the societies and undergo an innovative product line which might be the good opportunity for MacDonalds to transform into strength. It would be the remarkable opportunities to turn in to strength. Researching green energies and green packaging solutions and incorporating these findings as a part of their marketing strategy and advertisements which would be another opportunity to transfer into strength. Create new product offerings. Continue to use technology to influence revenue strategy: possibly use text messages to deliver specials offers to individuals who sign up for such services .These also might treated as opportunity which can be concerted in to strength. W-O strategies: W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities. As MacDonalds weakness is lack of menu development so they have to work hard with this strategy and currently they are working with that as well which is being convert to pursue opportunity. They are currently doing menu development as well as product development of healthy lifestyle and Hispanic food lines which were weakness of them. In addition MacDonalds has several weakness which might be tune in to pursue opportunity if they overcome that weakness.Like- It uses advertising that mostly targets children. High employee turn-over. It has yet to accomplish going on the trend of organic food. Price competition with the competitors resulting in low revenue. Lack of innovative products. S-T strategies: S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. Macdonalds are increasing their number of restaurant as well advertisement in the Disney and Ocean Park as well as key markets to avoid the external threat of competitors like Burger King, Starbucks, Wendys Taco Bell, and KFC. Moreover there are numerous strength which can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. . It takes steps in adjusting the Ingredients and product offerings in order to comply with the upgraded health standards deemed necessary by the USDA. Its recognized as one of the worldss most recognized logos.It has branded menu items i-e Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, which further promote McDonalds. Active Childrens Charity: The Ronald McDonald House. It is recognized as a socially responsible and community oriented firm. Globalization: 31,000 restaurants serving 120 countries. Of the 31,000 restaurants at least14, 000 restaurants in the US. It has located itself in major airports, cities, highways, tourist locations, theme parks. Earns revenue not merely by fast food sales, but also as a property investor, a franchiser of restaurants. It earns revenue by fast food sales as well as a property investor and a franchiser of restaurants. W-T strategies: W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firms weaknesses from making it highly susceptible to external threats. As Macdonalds concentrate their development of product and redesign of website which is being user friendly. In addition they are increasing their sales promotion and advertisement to reduce external threat.