Ocean Liner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Ocean Liner - Essay Example The Vice President of Finance for Ocean Carriers has received an attractive proposal from a prospective customer who wants to lease a ship for the period of three years from the company. The customer, his offer and contract terms are all feasible, but the problem is that the company does not have any ship available at that time to meet the customer’s unique needs. Therefore, the company needs to urgently purchase a new ship so as to fulfill the customer’s request on time, or on the contrary reject the customer’s proposal. The problem underlying the case is not merely concerning the acceptance or rejection of the lease proposal by the customer. As the company cannot meet the customer’s demand simply with any of the available ships, it either needs to purchase a new ship matching the customer’s needs or to reject the proposal altogether. This does not concern the company with a single moment of thought regarding a new investment. The problem basically lies in investigating and analyzing the attractiveness of the customer offer against the investment that the company needs to make in this project. The crux of the issue is whether or not the company should purchase the new ship, which is necessary if Ocean Carrier wants to accept the proposal of this customer; otherwise the company will have to forego the attractive return offered. Secondly, the customer is willing to contract the ship for a period of three years, while the life of the ship would be 25 years. However as per the company’s policy, it utilizes a ship for no more than 15 years of its operations. Therefore, the investment in this new ship exclusively for this customer’s request needs to be analyzed in the perspective if the market environment is feasible for the purchase of new ship and that the ship can be used to generate returns for the company

Reform Proposals & the Ideal Legislature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reform Proposals & the Ideal Legislature - Essay Example Attempts at radical reforms, however, have so far been futile. For example, the slow pace of policymaking and legislation has so far remained. According to Robert Harrison (2004), Congress is a constant and neutral marketplace in which contending parties negotiated terms and contracts that shape America as a state. (9) Its plurality and the norms within it becomes an open entry for gridlock and partisan legislation. Specifically, the political parties in Congress retained a pronounced tendency to stick together even when confronted by the new issues of progressive reform. In contrast to the executive department who could make immediate decision or policy stand, the Congress must undergo a process of conflict, consensus and indecisiveness that slows down any effort of reform. The legislative leadership is very important in getting the job done in Congress essentially because it controls the legislative agenda especially in cases where the leaders’ party has the comfortable lead in numbers. For instance, the leadership can appoint leaders to various legislative committees and hence control their historic roles of refining legislation. For example, according to Gary Cox and Matthew McCubbins (2007): Complex logrolls that require a sequence of legislative enactments on the floor are†¦ dependent of the goodwill of the majority leadership. At a minimum, the leadership must agree to schedule all the pieces of the legislative bargain. Otherwise, whoever goes first (votes first, reports out a bill first, etc.) has no guarantee that the other side will be given the opportunity to uphold its end of the bargain. (228) Needless to say, an active Congressional leadership is pivotal in substantive legislation. Leaders of the Congress will have few problems if they belong to the party that has the majority. Party discipline can ensure the smooth proceedings and passage of laws because the party organization will dominate the legislative activity. However, the

Employment Business Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Employment Business Law - Coursework Example Firstly, eliminating redundancy amongst individuals and departments increases the overall productivity per employee (Lewis, 2014). As a result, employees’ full potential is fully exploited in order increase output. To achieve this, maximum supervision is fundamental. Secondly, employers should encourage sharing of work amongst employees to finish tasks in a timely manner. Thirdly, automating departments and outsourcing minor tasks would reduce the available work and save money that would be paid as overtime to employees (Lewis, 2014). Several measures can be adopted to structure the above arrangements. Firstly, appointment of supervisors helps in ensuring that employees work to their optimal level. Secondly, sharing work amongst employees is achievable through exchange programs amongst the workers and training the employees on different fields. Office automation involves the increased use of machines to simplify work. As a result, more machines should be purchased. It is important that all employees be covered under the 401(k) plan. The plan is a profit-sharing plan through which employees contribute a certain amount of their wages to individual accounts. In addition, it acts as a retirement benefit plan. As a result, all employees should be enrolled as long as they serve the business. The plan is dependent on performance and age difference. For instance, aged employees should be encouraged to be part of the plan since their service period to the business is relatively less. In addition, young employees should be incorporated in the plan since they ought to serve their employers for long a time. The situation leads to accrual of more individual benefits in the

Policy Memo to an elected state or federal offical Assignment

Policy Memo to an elected state or federal offical - Assignment Example Nurses form the largest group or component of the health care work force and are the front-liners and first responders in most medical cases. As such, they are often in the best position to advise on how to further improve the delivery of health care services and enhance patient safety. All of these desired changes can be achieved if an appropriate law is passed allowing nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training, similar to the way physicians services today are covered under Medicare. This was one of the four recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its 2011 report that is entitled â€Å"The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health† and in particular that of Recommendation No. 2 (Expand opportunities for nurses to lead and diffuse collaborative improvement efforts) requires legislative support to amend certain state laws and provisions in this regard. Reforms in the health care system under Obamacare likewise mandate thi s change. Background – the recent passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare in 2010 was to initiate comprehensive reforms in the American health care system to provide safer, higher-quality, more affordable, and easier accessibility health care services to increasing diverse populations of America with its changing demographics towards more elderly citizens. Intention of these reforms is to provide wellness and disease prevention programs that will enhance overall health outcomes and at the same time provide for compassionate health care across the entire life span of an individual patient by improving the quality of life (Institute of Medicine, 2011). The ACA is expected to bring into the formal health care system an additional 32 million Americans (ibid.) which will further put pressure on the resources of the present health care system to

Business case for Franchise of McDonalds

Business case for Franchise of McDonalds This business case is mainly designed for planning about the franchise of Mc Donald Company while this company has been franchise from 1955 and the franchise of this company brings the success in many times. Mc Donald considers franchise is one of the predominant ways of doing business. At present, the Mc Donalds franchise is one of the greatest food service retailers which have 30,000 restaurants placed in more than 100 countries. For purchasing Mc Donalds franchise I have to purchase existing restaurant of franchise. By purchasing this, I can save 15% of the cost because initially I have to come up with 25% costs for existing one where new one purchasing cost will be 40% that means the profit of 15% can be gained. Mc Donald never provides the financial support for franchise and fund must be gained from the non-borrowed personal source. And the statistical figure might be come up to about $3, 00,000. The key objectives of taking the plan of Mc Donald franchise to achieve profitability. Because the brand image of Mc Donald is already existed in market and it is more recognized. So, I can expand the market easily and profit can be achieved. Business opportunity: There is the opportunity to operate own individual or more than one store. For this reason, I choose the place for establish the franchise of Mc Donald i.e. in Ilford station. Near to this station, any branch of Mc Donald is not placed. Not only this, there is the potentiality of huge customers and highest profitability because the product or menu of Mc Donald are already recognized to the whole world. Benefits: For Mc Donald franchise, there is no need to think about new menu and the cooking employees are already extremely efficient and used with all tasks. In Mc Donald franchise, risk is reduced to set up my own business where division of labour and turnover intensity of fixed menu grants for appropriate economies of scale. Another benefit is that any new products are no need to develop and dont require to conduct any kinds of market analysis. And also no need to think about brand name or image. Costs: The franchise cost of Mc Donald might be  £3, 00,000 where I have to provide 25% of the worth which is considered as unencumbered finance and the rest 75% will be collected from the bank as a loan in order to favourable funding terms. Another cost is one-off franchise fee of  £30, 000 and franchiser training program fee is  £5, 000 which is returned after finishing the training program. Miscellaneous cost: rent which will be paid monthly on premises related to profitability and sales will 12%. A fee will be paid for use of the Mc Donald system-5% of sales. National marketing expenses contribution-4.5% of sales. Returns: in a year, a cash flow will be made where the cash inflow and outflow will about  £70, 000 to  £98,000 per year. But this statement will not certain because it will be made before debt repayment. The return can be more. The return on investment will currently about 10% which shows the profitability rate of this business. Implementation plan: Paid initial franchise fee: 26th March 2010 Franchiser training program: 27th March 2010 (start) Go down payment to Mc Donald: 28th March, 2010. Service providing will be started from 1st April, 2010. Task 2: 1.2 Literature review: The report is mainly done on the business plan of Mc Donald franchise. I take the business plan of franchise of Mc Donald, because of several reasons. Todays business world are very much competitive and its become tougher and tougher for successful in the business market. If a person want to start his business as an entrepreneur it may be impossible to become profitable in the business market. Because establishing the new business or enter the market as a new, it is quite impossible to set up his business or become successful. But if we take the plan of establishing the business as a franchiser then it will be easy to achieve profitability in our business. Because, in franchise business, a recognized brand is already existed and all thing are readymade in before. Just spend some money to buy it and start the business. Franchising can be defined as the exercise of using another companys brand image and their successful business model. Through this kind of business, we can avoid investment and liability over a chain. The key factors of adopting franchise the business are that we can get the business with a good track record of profitability and that business is easily imitated. Here, for making business plan, I adopt the Mc Donald franchise because I want to be my own boss in my business, can trade a well established and high quality of product, continuous support, benefits from national marketing carried out by Mc Donald and they receive excess to business forecast information. The best example of franchising is the brand franchising of Mc Donald. Mc Donald allows peoples to establish their own business as Mc Donald franchiser and grant the rights to set up their business. Under the Mc Donald franchise, the franchisee purchases the equipments, fittings and the permission to run the franchise for 20 years. All franchisees of Mc Donald use standardized branding, menus, design layouts and administrative systems of Mc Donald. The Mc Donald franchisees also use the same standards and operating methods or manufacturing and maintain the quality of products. Any company, when they bring new products or service in the market they have to consider about the customer demand and their choice. They have a huge number of options of spending their money and places to spend it. However, McDonalds places considerable importance on the improvement of their menu in order to customer need. For this reason a market survey are conducted for analysing the customer demand. Thus, customers demands change time to time. Therefore, Care is not only taken to impact negatively the sales of the option of one by recognizing the new option, which will cannibalise sales from the old one (trade off). McDonalds knows that items on its menu will vary in popularity. Action of marketing undertaken and the resources invested will be different depending on the stage a product as reached. For example, a new product launch will typically relate to television and other advertising support. In any time a company will have a products portfolio, where each in a different stage of its cycle. It is accepted that Big Mac are now in the stage of maturity where the options Mc Donald are increasing towards the popularity. Task 3: Information about market Mc Donald is recognized as the one of the best known brands around the whole world. Branding is the term which formulated an image of an organization, service or product. The image of the brand focuses on the customers view on the organization. Brand image is mainly used while an organization shows their loyalty towards their customer through their products or services. A brand can be recognized by marketing communication methods such as: promotion and advertising which is used for developing the designs, colours and images. Similarly, Mc Donald is popular by its most familiar logo- the Golden Arches. The brand image is a significant factor for franchising. Because without strong brand image, it is impossible to become successful in franchising business. Mc Donald faces competition from other forms of businesses in all its market. In addition, there are some factors such as: economic, legal and technological changes and social factors and many other ingredients may affect the success of Mc Donald. Mc Donald franchising marketing consists of identifying the needs and requirements of customers and tries to meet theses demand in a better way than its competitors and by this the company can get loyal customers. Mc Donald has some competitors which are Burger King, KFC, Subway, Star Bucks etc. But among them Burger King is the main competitor. And in my new Mc Donald franchising place, these entire competitors branch are existed. If we focus on Mc Donald and Burger King then we can see the first difference between these two is that the Big Mac and the Whopper. But both are concentrating on customer health and taste. Mc Donald creates the achievement place for children. From this sector, Mc Donald earns a get percentage of their profits. And it is seen that children are requested to their parents to take them to Mc Donald, while Burger King doesnt give any response to this. They are used to have a sad kids clubs with B-grade promotion, where Mc Donald shows promotional activities through the childrens hit such as: Mattel, Disney and Barbie. Another strategic difference between these two is adult advertising. Mc Donald mainly advertises their salads shows to pacify the mothers who bring their kids in the sign of Golden Arched restaurant where Burger King uses other promotional strategy that is the advertisement of Stacker Sandwich which is made with the layer of cheese and meats which is stacking up to four burgers high. Sub way provides 265 calories in its meal, while Mc Donald provides a gluttonous 1230 calories. Mc Donald promotes the healthy side of foods by providing salad and water; they are still promoting the Big Mac and Pounder, that doesnt really help the matter. On other hand, Subway promotes the fresh salad and 5 a day veg. Subway provides either sub with a cookie, crips and/ or drink. Where, Mc Donald provides small chips, medium chips, and large chips, drink and a salad which probably is not much healthier than the chips. Mc Donald which is treated as a fast food company also gets competition from Star Bucks. Though Mc Donald has the strong marketing growth in fast food business, but the intention of doing competition against Star Bucks carries some risk. It can shown from the research analysis that Mc Donald restaurant has the slow down services where the Star Bucks serves the customer speedy services. But on the other hand, because of slower marketing growth, Star Bucks stock has lost about half its value since last January. Chances of success: In case of Mc Donald franchising, I have to meet so many competitors like as: Burger king, Starbucks, Subway etc and may be there create tough competition in the fast food market. But as a Mc Donald franchisee, I can say that there is the possibility of huge success and can be got reasonable returns from this business because Mc Donald is already market recognized brands and it also famous for its healthy foods which bring child, young people in the Mc Donald store. Mc Donald franchise business is one that can be beneficial for both franchisor and franchisee. So, while the Mc Donald franchisor is benefited through the brand becoming more and more visible and gets franchise fees from the franchisee, the franchisee that is me, take advantage of working with recognized brand, on there chances of success will be more. Assignment 2: Task 1: Project resources: Mc Donald is mainly recognized for its delicious burgers and milk shakes. In annual, Mc Donald plan to continue expansion. It is considered as a more suitable place for franchising to own. For becoming successful in Mc Donald franchising, I have to take care about franchising business requirement that is its required resources such as: financial resources, human resources, business experience, ongoing fees, training, raw materials, considerations, growth, and equipment etc. These resources are described below: Financial resources: Mc Donald franchising headquarters fixed the financial franchise requirement which should be minimum $ 3, 00,000 of non- borrowed personal resources. It is also said that since the cost of each restaurant does vary, the fee of franchise would also different, but the 3, 00,000 is a standard requirement. Among this requirement, 25% is coming from the franchisee and 75% is coming from bank loan. Human resources: Mc Donald often wants to recruit high experienced people for joining its bandwagon. As a Mc Donald franchiser, I have huge business opportunities but for using these opportunities I need the high skilled and experienced people who are the efficient on managing or owning business units, low level workers who have the experience of serve the customer and also dealing with the customer. Store equipment: In case of Mc Donald franchising, franchisor has to be made a contract with Mc Donald for 20 years. And this contract indicates that building ownership consists the property used for example: equipments of kitchen, seats, decorator, fittings are all possessed by McDonalds and are carried on lease by the franchisee. So, there is no need to spend money on purchasing these equipments because these equipments are already provided by Mc Donald. Budgeting of Mc Donald Franchising Financial Requirements: Liquid assets: N/A Net worth: N/A Franchisee fee:  £ 30,000 Required owner capital: 75,000 (25%) Bank loan: 2, 25,000 (75%) Total investment: 3, 00, 000 Budgeting: Total investment: 3, 00,000 Franchise fee: 30,000 Training: 5,000 Rent: 72,000 Service fee: 30,000 Contribution to national Marketing spend 27,000 _________________________________________ Total cost:  £ 4, 64,000 Total sales per day: number of customer ÃÆ'- per day selling = 200ÃÆ'- 100 =  £20,000 Monthly sales=  £20,000ÃÆ'-30 =  £ 6, 00, 000 N.B: 5 of the 10 people average 50 sales a day, thats over 200 sales per day. If it converted into Pound it would be around  £20,000 in sales per day and  £ 6, 00,000. Here, rent is 12% of sales Service fee is 5% of sales Contribution to national marketing spend is 4.5% of sales. So, profit= total sales total cost =  £ 6, 00, 000- 4, 64, 000 =  £ 1, 36, 000 Task 2: Staff cost: Staff training and development: As a franchisee, I take the existing store of Mc Donald which is placed on Ill ford. So, there is need to train myself as a franchisee and for this purpose Mc Donald provides training to franchisee for being able to run the business efficiently. For becoming a franchisee, every franchisee has to complete a full time training program for which franchisee pays money to Mc Donald after completing the training program this money is refunded to franchisee. This program is lasting for nine months. It is very much important for a franchisee to start work with Mc Donald, wearing the staff uniform and learning all things from cooking and making food to serving customers and also learn cleaning. Training is held on regional training centre focuses on areas such as: leadership skill, team building, business management and handling customer enquiries. The franchisees will have to recruit, train and motivate their work force, so they must learn the skill of human resource management. At the end of the training program, they learn about stock control and ordering, profit and loss accounts and the legal side of hiring, and recruiting staff. As a result, no franchisee of Mc Donald would have to ask a member of his or her staff to do something that they couldnt do themselves. Knowing this can also be powerful motivator of the staff. Mc Donald is not only providing the training to it franchisee, it shows that the success and profitability of Mc Donald mostly connected to the success of the franchisee. An experienced and high skill full professional consultant team offers continuous support on all things from human resources to accounting and IT business controls. These field consultants may become valued partners of business and are a sounding board for ideas. In case of Mc Donald franchising, here for running business, I take the existing store of Mc Donald and in accordance to Mc Donald franchising business, in existing business there is no need to recruiting, selecting and hiring and train the employee. Because the old one store, there is already all staffs are recruited and trained. And these staffs are highly skill full for doing all types of restaurant jobs such as: customer service, cleaning and managing the store also. Because, Mc Donald, whenever recruit staff on its store they at first give 3 or 4 days training to new recruited person so that he will be able to do his work effectively and efficiently and he doesnt face any difficulty in sensitive work that is servicing the customer. Cost of staff training and development: I already mention that in case of old one store there is no need to recruit, hire, select and train the staff because on that store all things are available in readymade. Not only staff, equipment and store are also placed in right position. And there is the huge possibilities of achieving profit because the cost is only occurred from rent, service fee, franchisee training fee, contribution to national marketing spend. And franchisee training cost is: 5,000 and it is also refundable. Task 3: Sources of resources: Financial resources: An initial investment that is 40% of the total cost in case of a new restaurant and 25% for existing restaurant is needed to be paid to the company where rest of the money being paid in at least 7 years. In order to down payment, there also have to meet some specification. Mc Donald franchising financial resources are coming from non- borrowed and personal resources. It may be including of bonds, securities and debentures; cash in hand; real estate or business equity. In case of financing, Mc Donald doesnt provide any financial support though there is the possibility of getting the benefits of achieve loans at lower rates. In the time of franchise, Mc Donald has to be paid monthly rent and service fees. Source of financial resources: Obtaining finance for a new business is very difficult rather than obtaining funds for a franchising business. The key factors for easily getting funds for franchising business is previous track record of franchise business. Because brand and trademark is already established, therefore Mc Donald franchise is considered a lower risk investment. Franchise Bank Loan: A franchisee can get loan from commercial bank where this type of bank offer loan to franchise business with lower defaulter rate. In fact, most of the franchising industries expand by taking loan from commercial bank at an average rate of 10 to 12 percent per year. Mc Donald franchising is also expanding by taking loan. Here, as a Mc Donald franchisee I also take the loan from commercial bank. If a potential franchisor has enough capital and they think that they have the skill of operate the business successfully, franchisors will naturally assists with financing in any way that they can. Here, in franchising market, there is also seen that some of the franchisor provide loan application packages for helping the franchisee. A good number of franchisors offer financial help to the franchisee either by financing all or part of the franchisee themselves or by helping them in locating another lender. Other financial resources: I can also get financial help from limited partnership, taking loans from friends and family, and second mortgages on existing properties. In end, whatever means a franchisee motivates in financing their franchising, it is necessary to remember that they will need to pertain in making a detailed plan about a new business for showing to prospective lenders how the business will be run. Human resource: After considering about financial resources, I have to think about human resources that are about hiring, selecting and training employees. Without employees, a business operation cant run. Here, Mc Donald offer a limited scope for employee advancement to the level of management which may attract a few motivated persons, most of our work force will be young, inexperienced and just learning about job responsibility. High employee turnover must be expected as employees graduate from high school or college or move on to other work. Good management techniques can make a difference in keeping longer term persuade staff and present continuously. Assignment 3: Task 1: Implementation of the project: Before implanting my project that is Mc Donald franchising in Ill ford, there should be describe about leadership and motivation that is how Mc Donald leads and motivate employees to do their jobs. Leading and motivating employees on Mc Donald: Employees are considered as the most significant resources in Mc Donald. Basically, Mc Donald Company uses three different motivational techniques such as: financial encouragement, non- financial encouragement and social policy. These three factors are mainly described in Maslows hierarchy theory. According to this theory, all kinds of needs must fulfill one after another. The strategy and structure of Mc Donald Company represents that only the simultaneous fulfillment of employees needs will be enhanced an employees performance. In brief, for enhancing employees performance and companys productivity, Mc Donald uses effective motivational system. In order to present situation, Mc Donald administration staff use situational approach. On the basis of motivation theories, Mc Donalds administrators have used particular motivational techniques. Having using the procedure of assembly line in food preparation, Mc Donald has assures the standard of quality and high performance. Basically, ma nagers of different stores use different leadership management technique. But in Mc Donald store, every manager use their own management techniques, some managers are stiff and some are easy. And some use the both the hard and soft techniques of management. In fact, there is the mixture of lay back (laissez- faire) and autocratic styles leadership. Mc Donalds has achieved the status of one of the most recognizable franchises across the globe through a mixture of successful marketing, consistent service and product, and strong leadership. Mc Donald mainly uses the goal oriented and task-focused leadership styles that still exists in the corporation today. Project implementation: List of activities: Assess financial requirements. Meet the experience requirement as a franchisee. Fill up the franchise application form. Pay initial franchise fees and other fees. Make 20 years agreement with Mc Donald. Start the business. These activities are now shown on the critical path analysis: Task completion time Assess financial requirement 25.03.2010 Meet franchise experience requirement 28.03.2010 Fill up franchise application form 30.03.2010 Pay initial franchise fees 04.04.2010 Make 20 years agreement 10.04.2010 Start the business 15.04.2010 3 2 5 5 44 6 Task 2: Marketing strategy: Strategic groups: For becoming successful in Mc Donald franchising, there are some key factors which I have to consider. These key success factors are described below: Price: People can get the facility of food started from breakfast to meal in the price sector. Whenever any person feeds his family to Mc Donald, he first thinks about its cheap price with delicious and healthy items. In case Mc Donald franchising, it should be considered by a franchisor about its competitive price advantage. Quality: Mc Donald is one of the greatest food retailers that has reached new peaks at what can be achieved out of a global business market. The burger and French fries of Mc Donald are prepare to look, taste and smell very similar across the globe, despite all the variations in environmental differences. And in Mc Donald franchising, standardization of quality is also important. Location: Location is very important factor for set up the franchising the business. For selecting the location, any franchisor should have to consider its competitor, its marketing environment and consumer forms. For that reason, as a Mc Donald franchisee, I choose place of Ill ford, where the store of Mc Donald are already established and its marketing also going good. Opening hours: Generally, stores opening hour is very necessary for set up a business. But it depends on different stores and different place. Numbers of Mc Donald franchisee stores are 198 and these stores have different opening time and end time. In my Mc Donald stores, the opening time is 8 am. I think this opening time is better because it is the right time of taking the breakfast and on that more customers can come to the restaurant. In case of considering strategic group, Mc Donald is now in group 2 i.e. the main market food retailers- compete on price, offer better ranges and better customer services. Selected marketing strategy: There are several strategies such as: Strategy 1: all unnecessary attributes are removed, leading to lower costs Strategy 2: offer a range of products but change a lower price. Strategy 3: hybrid strategies; combination of differentiation and price based strategy. Strategy 4: the product must be differentiated in a significant way that buyers are prepared to pay extra. Among these strategies, I take the strategy 3 that is hybrid strategy. This strategy is already used in my Mc Donald store and this strategy includes: Successful use of price or differentiation strategy can lead to opportunities to develop other strategy. Superior cost advantage of Mc Donald, which generates profit that are invested in differentiation without destroying the cost advantage. Differentiation may lead to high sales volume, economies of scale, and lower cost. But in Mc Donald, differentiation leads to lower cost. Implementation of marketing strategy: Marketing strategy is basically planned by considering the basis of competition and the standard of quality. Different marketers such as: niche, leader and followers select and implement different strategies in different ways. As a market leader, Mc Donald may choose to consolidate their position in a number of ways to help them achieve competitive advantage. They may: Exploit their superior cost structure. Raise barriers through marketing expenditure, blocking access to distribution channels. Buy competitors and close down their capacity. Among these ways, Mc Donald use the first one that is exploit their superior cost structure. Marketing mix: Product; While providing the option of new menu item, the most necessary thing is to consider that the customer also have more option to choice their demanded product. Generally, they have a lots of options of their money spending and also spending place. However, McDonalds places considerable importance on developing a menu which customers want. Market research establishes exactly what this is. However, customers demands change time to time. The products which are now interesting, fashionable and attractive in present may be through away in future. Marketing continuously consider customers demand. For meeting these changes, McDonalds should bring new menu items and leave out old ones, and will continue to do so. Price Value of customers perception is an important factors of the price charged. What a product is worth customers draw the picture of product on their mind. A product is a physical item and it has psychological connotations for the customer. There are some difficulties of using products low price as a marketing tool is that the customer may feel that a low price is symptom of compromised quality. It is very much important when deciding on the price to be fully aware of the brand and its integrity Promotions It includes marketing communication such as advertising which is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in the press. Other promotional sectors are sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, telemarketing, exhibitions, seminars, loyalty schemes, door drops, demonstrations, etc. Marketing communications skill is to develop a campaign which applies several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. Place: The most important element of the marketing mix i.e. price is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. Price gives emphasis on the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. Task 3: Monitoring controlling: Majority of the chain of franchising are controlling under both the outlet of company- owned and franchised. In previous, a manager was ran the business and in return he got the salary when the chain is the remainder of the profit. After the time change, franchisee keeps the profit after paying the applicable fees to the chain. Thus, when product is decentralized, then franchisee give incentives as a high amount which are very much significant for a large organization. As a franchisee, I have to monitor my franchise business because whether it is new or existing one business, every business should monitor by its owner, whether it is run properly or not, whether it gains profit or not, or whether it can satisfy the customer expectation or not. There also has the reason for monitoring the business. Such as: I have to see whether my business is going according to my plan or not also have to detect and react appropriately to deviations and changes to plans. As an owner of Mc Donald franchising, I have to monitor only its quality and its money. Because, other significant things such as: human resources, machines, materials, space, time, task etc. after monitoring these things, the output such as: progress, costs, job starts, completion, engineering or design changes and variance order also have to monitor. But in case of Mc Donald franchising, there is no need to monitoring the human resources or machines or materials these things. Because, in case of existing store franchising, there all ready all resources and material are ready. For my franchising business, I can visit the store from my head office on logically basis that means on the basis of specific reason. Monitoring technique: There are several techniques through which I can monitor and control the franchising business and these techniques are: Through meetings with clients, parties involved in project (contractor, supplier etc.) For schedule -update CPA, PERT charts, update Gantt chart. Using earned value analysis. Calculate critical ratios. Milestones. Tests and inspections.

Analysis of Young People’s Buying Behaviour

Analysis of Young People’s Buying Behaviour 1.0 Introduction In a very conservative and traditional context, businessmen used to focus on the consumers lying between the age group 30 and 45. However, things have changed in the last two decades, in the sense that more and more young people are entering the markets as potential buyers (Michman et al., 2003). One simply cannot accept the fact that consumerism and the material aspects of life are confined merely to the older generation. Actually, the young people of today are much more in tandem with the varied aspects of consumerism and materialism. In this context, it has become imperative for the businessmen to understand and have a pragmatic insight into the buying behaviour of the young people, so that they can target their marketing strategies and business plans as per the needs and aspirations of this potent and influential consumer segment. It is a must for the businessmen to understand as to how the young consumers perceive and value their products and services. Realistically speaking, th e more competition oriented and proactive businessmen are already in the process of narrowing down their focus on the young consumers. Yes, to a great extent, the young people of today are more receptive of and vulnerable to varied promotional and advertising approaches (OShaughnessy OShaughnessy, 2003) . Also, the youth in the current times does have an access to disposable income, which it prefers to spend on luxury and consumer goods. Still, this in no way justifies the utterly simplistic conclusion that the young consumers are sitting ducks. Actually, the young consumers are not merely lured by the expensiveness of a product, commodity or a service. The young people, like any informed consumer segment, do intend to desire value for money and are open to only those products and services, which add to their sense of well being and individual identity (Simpson et al., 1998). With the rise in the numbers and purchasing power of the young consumers, the businessmen not only need to know about this consumer segment, but must also put in efforts to orient their business strategies and promotional activities, as per the expectations of this consumer base. 2.0 Mega Trends Shaping Young Consumers May sound strange, but, the expectations and aspirations of the consumers in every age and time tend to change and alter? Each age has its own concept of individuality, family, identity and social status, and the preferences of the consumers do respond to these mega trends. 21st century being the age of information and the internet, the young people of today should not merely be expected to be cognizant of the mega trends unravelling in their age, but also that they being young are more likely to suit their buying preferences in consonance with these rampant trends (Manolis, 1999). Businessmen who are oblivious of the mega trends influencing the young consumers are more likely to be left behind in the race for survival and sustenance (Rotfeld, 2001). In that context, it will be really interesting to touch on the mega trends to which the young buyers of today are exposed to. 2.1 Fading of Age Barriers Changing consumer values are influencing the buying behaviour of young people. So it is necessary for the businessmen to understand as to what ticks the contemporary young consumers. The consumers of today have an age defying approach towards consumption (Fine, 2002). People no more consider age to be a marker of personal identity. On the one side the consumers affiliated to the older age groups are getting more open to the products designed and marketed with the young people in mind (Lancaster Reynolds, 2005). On the other side, in case of young people, not only their buying power has considerably increased, but they are being extended a greater autonomy, as far as their buying decisions and aspirations are concerned (Roberts, 2002). Todays young consumers acquire brand awareness and develop brand loyalties at a very nascent stage (Lunt, 2002). So, the businessmen who are cognizant of this trend can expand their customer base, by altering their marketing and promotional strategies, so as to make them age neutral and focused more around the values and aspirations that are common to all age groups. This way then can reap double benefits from their advertising investments. They can woo the young people, without alienating their mature consumer base. Any businessmen who is competition minded simply cannot afford to ignore the trends shaping the buying behaviour of the young buyers. 2.2 Health and Fitness Going by the augmenting trend towards fitness and mental well being, the young consumers today are immensely health conscious (Iacobucci, 2001). The young buyers have a holistic approach towards consumption and do believe that physical fitness and mental well being are of paramount importance. It is not a wonder that most of the advertisements one comes across in media publications and broadcasts feature young and healthy people with a positive and fun loving approach towards life. Businessmen do need to take cognizance of this trend, actively moulding the buying behaviour of young people. Today, a significant number of young consumers in Europe and United States believe that their consumption patterns should be such that, they should insulate them against the life style diseases (Sirgy Samli, 1995). Consumers groups are increasingly taking steps and measures to assure that the vendors and companies adhere to the established health standards and regulatory norms (Mazis Raymond, 199 7). Hence, the most logical conclusion will be that a businessman who chooses to target this trend towards health and convenience and alters ones manufacturing and promotional strategies to highlight this trend is bound to reap manifold benefits and profits. On the contrary, ignoring such consumer aspirations or simply failing to highlight them, are bound to alienate young buyers, who may then chose to transfer their buying potential to the businesses that are more sensitive and responsive to their expectations and needs. 2.3 Changing Family Values One more trend that is impacting the buying behaviour of young people and of which businessmen need to take cognizance of is the changes in the life stage cycles and family structures in the modern society (Dizard Gadlin, 1990). Though it is a fact that most of the young people do prefer to stay in their nuclear families, but there exist a significant proportion of young buyers who prefer to leave their families and live alone, on their own. Also the young people of today prefer to spend a significant part of their lives as singletons (Nathan, 2007). Hence, this trend is destined to shape the buying behaviour of young people. They are more likely to prefer products and services that are not manufactured, packaged or priced with the family consumer in mind, but are rather customized as per the requirements of the single young people. Businessmen do need to keep an alert watch over the altering social trends and must customize their service procedures, manufacturing plans, packaging s trategies and pricing policies, with an eye on the mindset of contemporary young and single buyers (Alhabeeb, 1999). May, sound funny, but good businessman by necessity needs to be a demography and sociology expert. It is next to impossible to attract the young buyers, without having an insight into the social and cultural trends that shape their buying behaviour. 2.4 Time Constraints The young people of today, including the young women are career oriented and do not have the time and patience to indulge in elaborate household chores and responsibilities. The time at the disposal of the young people of today is more scarce and dearer then what it used to be two decades ago. In every aspect of life, be it fitness, entertainment, personal grooming, nutrition, etc, the young buyers place a high premium on convenience and economy of time (Michman Mazze, 2001). The entire fast food industry is to a great extent dependent on the patronage of young buyers, who do not have the time and patience to wait long for elaborate meals. So, if an enterprising businessman who is aware of this trend towards convenience and could offer products and services that could extend the desired benefits while assuring convenience and economizing on time, is destined to own a booming business. 2.5 Mixing of Gender Roles The other thing that is bothering the young consumers of today is the fading of the gender roles (Fulton Maddock, 1996). Just two decades ago, the varied aspects of Western culture, be it education, cinema, media, arts, etc tend to focus on defining as to how a boy or a girl should look or behave like. However, the role models available to the contemporary young buyers are oft gender neutral. The young women of today by necessity are required to develop male attributes like assertiveness, aggressiveness and confidence (Fulton Maddock, 1996). Similarly, the young men in the contemporary Western society exhibit female attributes as being conscious about looks and personal grooming, dieting to improve health and fitness and spending more time at home and not being averse to indulging in household chores and responsibilities (Fulton Maddock, 1996). Thus, the type of products and services that the young buyers of today prefer to subscribe to are definitely not the same that they used b e just twenty years ago. Businessmen need to learn from this shift in the buying preferences of young people and must respond appropriately. 2.6 Need for Connectivity In the modern times, marked by high divorce rates, breaking families and loosening of social bonds, young people do look for products and services that fulfil their need for connectivity (Roberts Foehr, 2008). If this is not so, then how can one explain the success of social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter (Tassel, 2006). The revolution in telecommunication technology could also be attributed to the need of the young people and aspiring professionals to remain connected. At an emotional level, young people tend to cherish business organizations, products and services that endow them with an opportunity or a portal to bond or connect with their friends, loved ones and likeminded people. Therefore any business aspiring to be a rage amongst its young clientele simply cannot afford to overlook this fact. Businessmen determined to influence and convert the young people need to add a connecting element to their products and services. Varied mega brands like McDonalds and St arbucks, to a great extent owe their success to their ability to create venues where young people can feel comfortable to mingle with the people they like. So the businessmen of today are not only required to know about the buying habits of young people, but are also required to be able to think like their young clients, at least conceptually if not intellectually. 2.7 Redefining of the Concept of Luxury Most of the aware and astute businessmen do know that as far as the markets for young people are concerned, they are witnessing a new egalitarian trend in the demand for luxury goods (Eun-Jung, 2008). Just three decades ago, the young people affiliated to different socio-economic strata desired different goods and products. However, today it is not the same. With the rise of the urban middle class, most of the young people hailing from middle class families demand and desire the same commodities as enjoyed by their young counterparts (Eun-Jung, 2008). The premium brands have already taken a hint from this upcoming trends and have started coming out with product ranges that are affordable to their low-income or middle-class young customers (Eun-Jung, 2008). The young consumers of today across all economic segments seek products that extend to them, comfort and indulgence. No more the notion of luxury or comfort is regarded as an attribute that is affordable only to the rich. The democ ratization of education and professional training has created a new breed of young professionals, who may not afford a personal Jet or a Limousine, but when it comes to their culinary preferences, entertainment avenues and the gadgets they possess, they are not very different from their rich friends. Any businessmen simply cannot ignore these socio-economic developments. If one does so, then one will soon lose to the competitors who are shrewder at deciphering socio-economic trends. The young consumers are more than ever ready to look for new experiences and qualities in the products and services they avail. Besides, courtesy the onset of globalization, the young consumers are also immensely willing to try exotic products and services from faraway locations and countries around the world (Lukose, 2005). It would certainly not be too exaggerated to claim that it is the young people who are the primary trend setters in the contemporary markets, and any businessman oblivious of the immense power of young customers in the modern economies, simply could not hope to do well or eventually survive. Look at any new innovation or any new product, be it the Apples iPhone or iPad, first of all it was introduced and tested on the young buyers, before it was targeted to the more mature users (Kahle, 2008). Besides, considering the logical conclusion that the young buyers are likely to stay in the markets for a longer time, it makes sound business sense to convert them while they are young and hence relatively more impressionable. Also, the well connected young people do have a tendency to spread the news about the products and services they like. Hence, understanding and targeting a young clientele assures ample word of mouth publicity and free promotion. 2.8 The Advent of E-Commerce E-commerce is a natural outcome of the information revolution and the ubiquity of the internet usage. Businessmen opting for e-commerce oriented retail or owning online companies would commit a great blunder if they ignore the buying behaviour of their young clients. However, luckily, most of the e-commerce entrepreneurs do have a fair notion of the obvious advantages that a young customer base offers to an online company. Todays young people are to e-commerce what their parents were to cable television. Yet, unlike their parents, they constitute a market that still remains largely unexplored, going by the dearth of astute e-commerce entrepreneurs (Siegel, 1999). First and foremost, 16-30 years old constitute the largest chunk of the people who regularly use internet and go online (Rosen, 2001). Not to say, these young customers do have money to spend and also the discretionary power to freely decide about the products and services they need to avail (Rosen, 2001). A businessman if m anages to attract a tiny fraction of the purchase power at the disposal of the young surfers, it would amount to millions of green backs. However, if the e-commerce entrepreneurs lack an insight into the buying behaviour of the young customers, their websites are as good as an ugly picture on the wall. For example, very few businessmen know that young buyers who purchase online do not like to be overwhelmed with options (Youn, 2008). They desire to choose from a small collection of well selected product variations. May sound surprising, but the wired generation is also well aware of the leverage that online product selection and purchase endows them with and hence the uninformed businesses may often commit the mistake of testing their patience. The good thing is that the young online buyers are mostly willing to extend personal information in exchange of freebies (Youn, 2008). Yet, on the other side they greatly detest it if their vendor is not transparent and straightforward. Also, these consumers are very intolerant of poorly executed websites. Yet, they can easily be attracted by offering small incentives. So, in the realm of e-commerce, the crux of the game is to have a grip over the buying behaviour of young people. 3.0 Conclusion The generation X of today differs from its predecessors in the sense that it has the money to spend and the autonomy to make business decisions. Any worthy businessman aspiring to survive and grow simply cannot afford to overlook the purchasing power and buying behaviour of young consumers. Not to say, understanding the behaviour of young buyers is not as simple as it sounds. The buying behaviour of young people of today is an outcome of a wide range of mega trends that are influencing and shaping their consumption decisions. Therefore, the best approach for a successful businessman or a company is to keep a keen eye on the changes in the buying behaviour of young people and the trends that lie behind these changes. Young people constitute a very flexible and malleable market, and require a lot of patience and understanding on the part of potential sellers.

Steve to Stephanie Essay

1) How can Henrietta help Steve transition in a company where not everybody is supportive? Henrietta can help Steve transition in a number of ways. Because the idea of switching gender is abstract idea, not every person will be accepting of it. In fact most people will be unaccepting of it being that they are morally agaist the idea of switching gender. Just as people are hesitant to accept gays, the dominant male female role stereotypes have been long ingrained in most cultures and most people accept them as â€Å"normal†. I believe the first thing that must be done to help Steve and LaSalle with the gender transition is to educate people about the process. People need to be aware of the reasons someone would choose to do this so they can understand why and possibly make some sense of it on their own. However the timing of this education needs to be carefully planned as to what the company and Steve believe is best. After education the Human Resource team should be leveraged to carefully monitor the situation and help those who are struggling to accept Steve’s life choice. 2) Does Steve’s transition risk integration of CatalCon, or any stakeholder relationships? Be Specific! Yes Steve gender transition will more than likely affect CatalCon and Lasalle’s integration for a number of reasons. First being that Steve’s sales partner Alex already has a bad opinion of Steve due the fact that Steve was given the Sale’s Director position over Alex. Alex being the number two at CatalCon before the acquisition believes he is much more qualified for the position though his 20 years of experience. Because there is already residual resentment the news of this gender transition angers Alex because he believes it is morally wrong and doesn’t believe in such a thing. Also he thinks that many of the shareholders and customers who are mostly conservative will not like this announcement. Alex believes they will lose business because of this and there is nothing the company can to stop it because they cannot fire Steve due to gender discr imination state laws. Also Alex is a very respected sales man and losing him would be detrimental to the CatalCon acquisition. He is needed for his understanding of CatalCon products that sales people from LaSalle will just not have due to lack of experience. 3) How far should firms go to protect and accommodate employee differences in the workplace? The firm has an obligation to protect Steve’s privacy, as this is a medical issue. So while they might want to settle things in ways that will make the majority happy, there are laws that force you to look out for the little guy. Any firm has a human resource team that is obligated to mediate employee disputes. But no matter what type of employee is the majority they must take actions to provide an equal and safe working environment for everyone. I believe that Henrietta made a mistake sending out a memo to specific people in the firm. Memos can be misplaced and seen by the wrong eyes. This could lead to a privacy lawsuit and should be avoided by waiting to announce sensitive material until a time that is right for the subject and the firm. Some employees may have issues other than medical that need to be met such as religious differences and cultural differences where dress code must be bent. I believe if there are differences that need to be accommodated for they most likely have laws that protect those differences. Therefore you will have some sort of guidelines as to how you many attempt to accommodate them.