Research paper based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe Essay

Research paper based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe - Essay Example aware of his life story realize that he was orphaned at a very young age and was never able to achieve any sense of connection to his foster parents, the Allans. The author is also famous for his marriage to a young girl. At the age of 27, Poe decided to marry his 13-year-old cousin Virginia, the only girl he ever truly loved and who tragically died while still considered a young girl. Contributing both to his despair and his alienation from his foster father, Poe is known to have also engaged in a number of poor personal habits such as drinking, gambling and using opium, perhaps even as an addict. Despite these issues, he was able to find early commercial success as a writer. He published his first book of poems at the age of 19 and began publishing his short stories by the age of 23. Unfortunately, though, he never achieved the kind of financial success he felt his innovation and talent were entitled to and he remained a mostly disillusioned and miserable man through most of his li fe. Setting the rules for the art of the short story he’d brought into popularity, Poe said â€Å"If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression† (Mowery, 1997). Like many writers, though, Poe wrote of what he was most intimately familiar with, in this case his own inner demons, and his stories were thus themed primarily around the concepts of sorrow and loss. By examining works such as â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† or â€Å"Ligeia,† one begins to understand much about the author’s personality and inner character through the revelation of his anima. The term anima was introduced by Carl Jung’s work on dream analysis as a means of understanding the psyche on a different level than what had been proposed by Sigmund Freud. According to Neumann (1954), â€Å"the Anima is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies within a man, the

Geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Geography - Essay Example Spain was the first one to establish colonies in Florida followed by other Europeans. England made its attempts to form colonies in the seventeenth century and these attempts were successful. At this time, there was no official intention to form colonies in America but the motivation among the people was to explore and live in a richer environment. The main stage of European settlements was in the eighteenth century when the thirteen fully formed European colonies started a rebellion against the British rule and soon afterwards declared themselves as independent and became the United States of America. The migration pattern, as mentioned above, was as follows; initially Spain formed settlements followed by Mexico, France, Netherland, Sweden, and then England. Short Paragraph 1 Not everyone shares equally in the economic bounties of North America. This fact can be traced back to the colonial period. The European settlers were industrially developed and they had developed different way s of farming and producing goods. All these European cultures brought these techniques with them to America and thus the economy of America developed.

Enhancing Customer Experience at McDonalds

Enhancing Customer Experience at McDonalds Summary: A number of researchers have identified a tremendous change and increase in competition and market transparency. However it has been proved that the cost of selling a product to a new customer is much higher than selling the same product to an old customer. There is a growing trend for every organization that exists in the market, to pay increasing attention to the experience of their customers as they interact with the company. In todays competitive market it is clear that delivering the ultimate and world class customer experience will win more customers and retain more customers. In this research I have brought into account the history of McDonalds and eventually how it started growing and at the current stage how it became a restaurant for providing world class service to its customers. I have also mentioned various methods and ways how McDonalds has adopted to achieve this. The way it started its franchising Employee training Management training How their world class customer service increased their sales and maintained customer loyalty. ABSTRACT An abstract of the dissertation of Poonam Arora for Masters in Business Administration: Presented April 2010 Title: Enhancing Customers Experience at McDonalds Todays market is known to be more competitive and customer oriented. The purpose of my study on this topic is to find out how McDonalds enhances its customers values and experiences through various Quality, Service, Cleanliness Values (QSCV) and how McDonalds has achieved this over the years. I have started my dissertation with the History of McDonalds. The purpose of writing the history was to get a perspective of how McDonalds over the years achieved success and increased the number of its customers and customer loyalty. I have also written down how McDonalds, with the help of excellent training, to its staff, and franchising its restaurants, increased its customers in the list and gave them an excellent customer service. I have also tried to gather information on how the management team, marketing team, and staff work together as a team to enhance customers experience at every visit. To conclude with my topic, I have taken 2 sets of interviews, first from the management team of McDonalds, and the second interviews, from the customers themselves. These sets of interviews have given a clear picture of how the different departments of McDonalds work as a team to provide excellent customer service. The other set of interviews helped me to find what and how customers feel about McDonalds. This information has helped me to find out how customers really feel value for their money, and value for wanting to visit McDonalds again and again. To use their catchphrase: â€Å"I am loving it† CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Analyse and define the concept of customer satisfaction and identify the relation between customer experience and customer loyalty Examine the condition under which customer satisfaction has enhanced profitability Promoting loyalty programs along with customer satisfaction and building favourable customer relationships. Evaluate the extent to which â€Å"Customer Experience Marketing†, makes its contribution to McDonalds success and identify key areas where McDonalds outwits its competitors Assess whether enhancing customer experience should form a part of a food industrys overall business strategy. To highlight the difficulties and challenges involved in product offering enhancements SCOPES AND PURPOSE This study examines enhancing customer experience at McDonalds. McDonalds has a short term outlook and is positive as it has responded to consumer demands to broaden its range and variety and it offers exclusive low cost takeaway options for those hit by the recession. McDonalds has worked hard to address its image problem and appeal to a wider range and variety of consumers, offering scope for increased turnover through sales over a period of years. Expansion is planned through developing its existing markets and providing a more exclusive service rather than moving into new territories, with opportunities in emerging economies due to, for example, increased car usage making drive-through restaurants more viable to the people for easy access. Overall, McDonalds has good scope to expand its commercial operations and to engage previously ambivalent segments through broadening its service and offers. CHALLENGES In spite of its great offers and service, McDonalds is still associated in the UK with unhealthy food, an increase in obesity, and jobs without prospects, requiring long term image-building by the organisation. It helps to develop its staff training through nationally recognised diplomas. McDonalds has also been the target of critical books and films which publicise negative aspects of the organisation. The companys ‘healthy options have been criticized by some people, for example the high fat content in salad dressings. Litigations instigated by the organisation have been seen as overly aggressive by the public because of the companys financial power in legal proceedings RATIONAL The interesting perception with qualitative and quantitative thinking with regards to Loyalty to customers in retail and enhancing customers experience has aroused sufficient interest in me to go in for a research into this elusive concept. The most important aspect of the retail business, are the customers. The business should be molded to understand that business depends on customers and not customers on business. Respect involved in this study and value for the customer made me choose this topic. METHODOLOGY In order to approach the above mentioned research objectives, I chose to use both qualitative and quantitative research strategies. Qualitative and quantitative research is applied, both using primary and secondary information that is gathered and assembled specifically for this purpose by the means of survey and interview, which can be found in chapter 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATATION As it says in the McDonalds value statement; â€Å"We will be the best restaurant experience by far! We will be people focused and customer driven passionately! We will inspire people with our can-do attitude always!† McDonalds evolves in its strategic thinking, from being and outstanding food retailer, and an outstanding customer service, to being an information-driven business, constantly searching for different ways and new concepts to act as the value-adding for its customer and making its customer a value-added customers. CHAPTER 2 LITRATURE REVIEW INDUSTRY OVERVIEW The Fast Food Industry is another name of Quick service restaurant, food that can be cooked and served very quickly means Fast Food Industry. The Term fast food was recognised by Merriam-Webster in the year 1951. Such types of restaurants must have a balance between the flow of the food and the expected numbers of customers. This helps to avoid discarding the food after time, also helps in better customer satisfaction by providing them quick and easy service, as the customers, is the whole point of the business. Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, in other words it can be a eat-in or take-away one or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants). Every franchises operations which are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs delivered to each restaurant from central locations. The fast food restaurants industry includes about 200,000 restaurants on an average with combined annual revenue of about $120 billion, major companies include McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut and KFC. According to National Restaurant Association (NRA) a typical fast food restaurant on an average can generate $670,000 and a franchised fast food restaurant can generate $1 to $2 million annually. A 2008 research was conducted worldwide for counting the number of fast food restaurants owned per person. The UK has claimed this title with Australia as second and the United States on third. England alone accounted for 25% of all fast food restaurants. The UKs overall fast food industry has benefited from the recession, with the sector increasing its presence by more than 8% in the last year, research has found. While the leisure sector on a whole has seen a closure rate of 10%, fast food restaurants in the UKs top 10 cities have risen by 8.2% to more than 1,450, according to a sur vey by market analyst the Local Research Company. Products, Operations Technology Most Fast Food restaurants specialize in a few main dish categories, including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chickens, milkshakes, pizza/pasta, Mexican food, Asian food or some other snacks. Among the major fast food chains hamburger restaurants cover almost 50 per cent of the market. Fast food restaurants include National and regional chains, franchises and independent operators. Most fast food restaurants have a food preparation area which adheres to health and safety, hygiene and food safety policy, dining area, car park lot, drive-thru also some restaurants may have childrens play area. History of McDonalds The McDonalds concept was first introduced in Saint Bernardino, California by Dick and Dude Macdonald at Manchester at New Hampshire. Their business partner, Ray Kroc, of Oak Park, Illinois, modified and expanded their business. He later got out the business interests of the two McDonalds brothers in the concept and found McDonalds Corporation 1927: Two brothers Dick McDonald and Mac McDonald opened a hamburger stand in Monrovia, California called â€Å"The Airdrome† at the airport. 1940: McDonalds Bar-B-Que opens. Two brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened the Bar-B-Que restaurant at The Airdrome building 40 miles from San Bernardino, California, U.S. on Route number 66, at the 14th and E St., on 15th May 1940. It had features of a large menu. Its menu consisted of 25 items, mostly barbecue. They employed around 20 carhops. It became popular and with huge profit and a hangout place for teenager, which was directed Eric VanDemark. 1948: Two brothers then realized they earn maximum in fact all of their profits from hamburgers, the brothers then decided to close the restaurant for three months for implementation of their innovative idea of, â€Å"Speedee Service System†, a streamlined assembly line for hamburgers. The restaurant then opened in December that year and with absolutely new features. There were no more carhops, they all were fired, and when the new concept restaurant reopened it sold only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, soft drinks, milkshakes, coffee potato chips and slices of pie. At the price of 15 cents, the burgers were almost about half price as it was at standard diners, and they were served quickly. The restaurant achieved its fame and became extremely successful, and it spread by word of mouth. 1949: in 1949 world famous French Fries was introduced. French Fries replaced Potato chips. Also, the triple thick milkshake made a debut in the same year. 1953: Multimixer salesman Ray Kroc visited McDonalds in San Bernardino with the clear intention of selling more multimixers(a machine that makes milk-shakes) to these two brothers. Ray Kroc was very much fascinated with the operation and learnt that the two brothers were looking for a nationwide franchising agent; he also learnt that his profitable future would be in Hamburgers. McDonalds began to franchise its restaurants, with Neil Fox the first ever franchisee. The second McDonalds opened in Phoenix, Arizona at N.Central Ave. Special about it was that, this was the first restaurant to feature the Golden Arches design; later in the same year i.e. 1953 McDonalds original restaurant in San Bernardino was torn and was rebuilt in the same style. 1953: McDonalds third franchise restaurant opens in Saginaw, Michigan at the corner of State Street and N. Center Road, it was rebuilt in the year 2006 but was at the same location since opening, and it was directed by Silvia Gonzales 1953: McDonalds fourth franchise restaurant opened, in Downey in California at Lakewood Blvd and Florence Avenue, which is known to be the oldest McDonalds restaurant in operation. 1954: The milkshake-mixer salesman Ray Kroc was fascinated by the McDonalds restaurant during his sales visit; he found the first day overall sales visit was $316.12. He learnt the extraordinary capacity and its popularity. There were many others who had visited the restaurant and were inspired are James McLamore, founder of Burger King, and Glen Bell, founder of Taco Bell. After finding the restaurant in operation, Kroc approached the two brothers, who had already started franchising, with a proposition on letting him to franchise McDonalds restaurants outside the companys home base of Arizona and California, with himself to be the first franchisee. Ray Kroc worked hard to sell McDonalds. He even tried to prevail on his old acquaintance with the man Walt Disney, but unfortunately his hope of opening a McDonalds at the soon-to-be-opened Disneyland failed. Ray Krocs first ever franchised restaurant, which was the tenth-ever location was rebuilt twice in Fresno, California. 1955: â€Å"McDonalds Systems, Inc.† on 2nd March 1955, was found by Ray Kroc, which was a legal structure for his planned franchises. Ray Kroc opened his ninth McDonalds restaurant on 15th April 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois, in suburban Chicago. 1956: Ray Kroc hired Fred Turner, CEO and Chairman, as a grill man in his store in Des Plaines, Illinois. Fred Turner soon became head of the McDonalds operation defining the quality, service and cleanliness for the restaurant. 1958: McDonalds got a great achievement in its hamburger business, by selling its 100 millionth hamburger 1959: Very soon it got another great achievement, in opening the 100th McDonalds restaurant in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. 1959: McDonalds started billboard advertising. 1960: Krocs company was renamed as â€Å"McDonalds Corporation†. 1961: The two brothers agreed to sell Kroc their business rights to operate for $2.7 million, Kroc borrowed money from a number of investors, including Princeton University; Kroc considered the sum extreme, which strained his relationship with the brothers. In a handshake agreement with Kroc, the two brothers would also receive a royalty of 1% on the gross sales. At the closing table of this handshake agreement the Ray was told by the two brothers, that they were giving the real estate and rights to the original unit to the founding employees. Ray Kroc closed the transaction, and then he refused to give the royalty portion of the agreement because it wasnt in writing. The two brothers then decided to keep their original restaurant; they failed to retain the right to remain a McDonalds franchise and were forced to rename it as â€Å"The Big M†. Ray Kroc opened his own McDonalds just one block in north. 1961: Hamburger University was opened in this year in the basement of the Elk Grove Village, Illinois. 1962: McDonalds published its first national magazine advertisement in Life magazine. 1962: This was the first ever restaurant which have a seating facility. The first ever McDonalds restaurant which has seating opened in Denver, Colorado. 1963: Advertising McDonalds hamburgers to families and childrens, was one of Krocs marketing thoughts. John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein, franchisees from Washington D.C. named as Gee-Gee Distributing Corporation they sponsored a childrens show on WRC-TV called Bozo the Clown, Willard Scott, who played franchised character from 1959 until 1962. Soon after the show was cancelled, Franchise Oscar Goldstein hired Scott to portray McDonalds new mascot, named Ronald McDonald. After changing its characters first name to â€Å"Ronald† and replacing Scott with a new actor, and giving him the more familiar red, white, and yellow clown features, the character eventually became popular to the rest of the country through an advertising campaign. 1963: The world famous Filet-O-Fish was introduced in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a restaurant located in a neighborhood dominated by Roman Catholics where meat was avoided on Fridays. It went nationally the following year, with fish supplied by Gortons of Gloucester. 1963: McDonalds sold its one billionth Hamburgers. 1963: McDonalds opened its 500th McDonalds restaurant in Toledo, Ohio. 1964: First annual report was issued by McDonalds. 1965: This was the year when McDonalds celebrated its 10th Anniversary with the first public stock offering at $22.50 per share. 1966: Ronald McDonald appears in his first national television commercial. He appeared on his flying hamburger in 35 one minute color spot on the NBC and CBS networks. He got wide TV exposure in the year 1966 at Macys Thanksgiving parade. Ronald McDonald was an instant hit. 1967: The first McDonalds international restaurant outside the United States opened in Canada and Puerto Rico. Today with the success ladder it is proudly open for business in 118 countries around the world. 1968: The Big Mac was first introduced by Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Krocs earliest franchisees, in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market in 1967. The Hot Apple Pie is also introduced this year. 1968: The achievement of opening 1000th McDonalds restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. 1969: McDonalds decided to change its logo, the massive logo change and remodeling of restaurant did away with the old red and white buildings and more emphasis was placed on the ever-more-famous Golden Arches. 1971: Hamburglar, Grimace,Mayor McCheese, Captain Crook and the Big Mac join Ronald McDonald in McDonaldland. 1971: Asias first McDonalds opened in July in Japan, in Tokyos Ginza district. 1971: On 21st August, the first European McDonalds outlet opened, in Zaandam (near Amsterdam) in the Netherlands. The franchisee was called as ‘Ahold. 1971: The first McDonalds in Germany (Munich) opened in December. This was the first McDonalds to sell alcohol, as it offers beer. 1971: The first Australian McDonalds opened in Sydney suburbs of Yagoona in December the same year. 1972: McDonalds generated $1 billion in sales from 2200 restaurants. An amazing and early-1970s McDonalds sign in Austin, Minnesota, which displayed the number of burgers sold. From the year 1969, the number on its board was displayed in billions, which increased with every 5 billion. In 1993, the signs of this era were changed to display 99 billion permanently. 1972: In Des Plaines, Illinois McDonalds opened its 2000th restaurant 1972: In Strasbourg, France McDonalds opened its first restaurant. 1973: McDonalds opens its first Swedish restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, 23rd October. 1973: The Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with cheese was introduced to the menu. 1973: McDonalds opened its first every Playland in Chula Vista, California 1974: McDonalds opens its first restaurant in the United Kingdom on October 12th in Woolwich, southeast London. This was companys 3000th restaurant. 1974: McDonalds opens its first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1973, Fred Hill, a football player with the Philadelphia Eagles, had the need for such a facility at childrens hospital in Philadelphia, where his child was being teated for Leukemia. Hills dilemma led to the first Ronald McDonald house. 1975: The Egg McMuffin, was introduced to the menu by owner and operator of Santa Barbara franchise, Herb Peterson. 1975: The first McDonalds in Salverland open in Bay City on Mayteon Street on July 2. 1975: McDonalds introduced its drive thru in January in 1976: McDonalds paid its first cash dividend. 1977: First McDonalds All American High School Basketball Team is selected. The roster included former NBA superstar Earvin Magic Johnson. They played against the capital All Stars team chosen from Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia area in the McDonalds Capital Classic. 1978: McDonalds restaurant opens its 5000th restaurant in Kanagawa, Japan. 1978: McDonalds celebrated the graduation of its 15,000th student in Hamburger University 1979: The Happy Meal was introduced in the U.S. with a circus wagon theme. 1979: McDonalds opens its first restaurant in Southeast Asia, in Singapore. 1980: McDonalds introduced its first poultry item, the famous McChicken sandwich. It flops, and was removed from the menu, but was later reintroduced after the success of Chicken McNuggets. Chicken McNuggets became successful by early-1983. 1980: McDonalds restaurant opens its 6000th restaurant in Munich, Germany. 1980: McDonald celebrates its Silver (25th) Anniversary. 1981: McDonalds opened its first restaurant in the Philippines, in Morayta, Manila. 1982: McDonalds opens its first branch in Malaysia, at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. 1983: This was the year when McDonald opens in 32 Countries worldwide. There are 7,778 restaurants at the end of the year. 1984: This was the year of the great loss. Ray Kroc, founder and Chairman of the Board of McDonalds, died on 14th January 1984. 1985: on April 15, McDonalds celebrate its 30th year of operation. 1985: McDonalds opened its first restaurant in Italy, Bolzano. 1985: McDonalds opened its first restaurant in Mexico City, Mexico. 1987: Freshly tossed salads were added to McDonalds menu on May 15. 1987: On August 12, a Piper Cheyenne, which started in Augsburg, Germany, the plane crashed into the McDonalds restaurant in the Wasserburger Landstrasse. Fourteen people died in the incident: 4 in the plane, 3 on the street or in a bus, which was also struck by the plane, and 7 in the restaurant. The McDonalds has since been rebuilt. 1988: McDonalds opened its first restaurant in a communist country, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Budapest, Hungary follows in the same year. McDonalds in Saint Petersburg, Russia A McDonalds in a Toronto, Ontario, Canada Wal-Mart store. McDonalds in Barcelona, Spain McDonalds in Sanya, Hainan (China). This one was the soft drink/ice cream stand. First McDonalds restaurant in Zamboanga City, Philippines which opened on February 28, 2005 1990: 31st January 1990, the first Soviet McDonalds opened, in Moscow. At the time it was the largest ever McDonalds in the world. In this year many other McDonalds restaurants opened in Eastern Europe. 1990: In October 1990, the first McDonalds restaurant opened in mainland China, in the city and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. 1992: McDonalds restaurant opened in Warsaw, Poland, breaking a record of opening day sales. 1992: The first McDonalds opened in Africa, in Casablanca, Morocco. 1992: Derek Wood, an employee of McDonalds, and his two friends robbed a McDonalds in Sydney River, Nova Scotia, killing three and severely injuring another. 1992: On 23rd April 1992, the worlds largest McDonalds opened in Beijing, China (over 700 seats). 1992: The fried apple pie was replaced with a baked apple pie (fried pies can still be found today in some restaurants) 1993: The Company launched its first sea-going restaurant aboard the Finnish cruise ferry Silja Europa, sailing between Helsinki and Stockholm. 1994: McDonalds was given Catalyst Award in honor of their program to foster leadership development in women. 1995: The new advertising theme came into picture â€Å"Have You Had Your Break Today?† 1995: McDonalds launched the Arch Deluxe sandwich with a massive advertisement campaign, but was discontinued due to its failure. 1995: McDonalds opened its first restaurant in South Africa. 1996: McDonalds Corporate Internet siteMcDonalds.com was launched. 1996: McDonalds opened its first restaurant in Belarus, marking its chains of 100th country 1996: The first McDonalds opened in India. 1997: The McFlurry (Ice-cream in a cup) was invented by a Canadian franchisee. 1998: Jack M. Greenberg succeeds Michael R. Quinlan as CEO. 1999: McDonalds opened its first Restaurant in Tbilisi, Georgia in Eastern Europe. Jack Greenberg was elevated to Chairman and CEO. 2000: Eric Schlosser published Fast Food Nation, a book critical of fast food in general and McDonalds in particular. 2000: The Company opened its 1000th British restaurant, inside the Millennium Dome. 2001: McDonalds new premiere lettuce and tomato Big N Tasty sandwich launches on February 16. 2002: McDonalds was ranked 15th by a survey in Restaurants and Institutions magazine in food quality among hamburger chains, highlighting the companys failure to enforce standards across its franchise network. 2002: McDonalds posts the companys first quarterly loss ($344m), for the last quarter of 2002. It responds to the tough competition from other fast-food restaurants, which offered higher quality burgers and more variety, by attempting to move more up market and by expanding its menu and refitting restaurants. It announced it is withdrawing from three countries (including Bolivia) and closing 175 underperforming restaurants. 2002: McDonalds this year opened the first of 2 corporate stores in Lincoln, Nebraska to test concept restaurant called â€Å"3N1†. The concept incorporated a â€Å"Sandwich Platter† casual dining area, a â€Å"bakery and ice cream† area featuring gourmet coffees, and a traditional McDonalds into one building. The second store was launched approximately six months later. The concept was spearheaded by Tom Ryan, who was Executive Vice President and Chief Concept Officer at the time. The concept was abandoned in less than a year, and Ryan left McDonalds to join Quiznos Sub. 2003: McDonalds premium salads were added to the menu. 2003: James Richard Cantalupo was elected as the Chairman and Chief Operating Officer (CEO), succeeding Jack M. Greenberg. Just prior to assuming his post Cantalupo shuts down Project Innovate, a global consulting project that had already spent $170 million of a projected 5-year budget of $1.2 billion. 2003: McDonalds started a global marketing campaign which promotes a new healthier and higher-quality image. The campaign was tagged as â€Å"Im Lovin It† and started simultaneously in more than 100 countries around the world. 2003: A market research firm, Technomic, researched that McDonalds share of the U.S. market had fallen down by three percentage points in five years and was at 15.2%. 2003: A $126M USD loss was reported for the fourth quarter. 2003: McDonalds added their premium salads, the McGriddles and the chicken selects to the menu. 2004: Happy Meals celebrates its 25th year from 1979-2004. 2004: Morgan Spurlock directs and stars in Super Size Me documentary film in which he ate nothing but McDonalds food for 30 days to the great detriment of his health. 2004: After the release of the film â€Å"Super Size Me†, McDonalds did away with their Supersize options. 2004: Chairman and CEO Jim Cantalupo died at the age of 60 in his hotel room of an heart attack while attending the annual franchisee convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19. A 30-year veteran of the organization, Cantalupo had previously served as President and CEO of McDonalds International. He was credited with introducing the premium salad line and reformulating Chicken McNuggets to include leaner, all-white meat. Andrew J. McKenna, Sr., a prominent Chicago businessman and a McDonalds director, is elected Nonexecutive Chairman and Charlie Bell of Sydney, Australia was elected President and CEO of McDonalds Corporation. A month later Bell was diagnosed with colorectal cancer during a physical exam required for his new post and passes away in January the following year. Like retired chairman and former CEO Fred L. Turner, Bell started his McDonalds career as a crew member. He was promoted frequently, serving as the corporations Chief Operating Officer and as President of both M cDonalds Europe and of the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa Group. (APMEA) 2005: Jim Skinner was elected President and CEO. Skinner started his McDonalds career as a trainee restaurant manager at a McDonalds in Carpentersville, Illinois in 1971 after serving nearly ten years with the US Navy. 2005: McDonalds experiments with call centers for drive-through orders. 2005: McDonalds celebrated its wonderful 50th Anniversary 2005: Owing in part to competitive pressure, McDonalds Australia adopts â€Å"Made for you† cooking platform in which the food was prepared from pre-cooked meat after the customer orders (as opposed to the firms normal procedure since 1948, in which the food was cooked then sold as needed). The practice had earlier been tested, and abandoned, in the U.S. 2005: McDonalds in Singapore started their McDelivery service: customers placed their orders over the phone, and it was delivered to the customers wherever they were. The service was available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 2005: McDonalds opened a Wi-Fi service in some restaurants with Nintendo for Nintendo DS. 2005: Ronald McDonald got a leaner, and a sportier look. 2006: The snack wrap was introduced to the menu. 2006: McDonalds announced that it will include nutritional information on the packaging for all products beginning from March and that its upcoming menu changes will emphasize chicken, salads, and other â€Å"fresh foods† rather than just hamburgers. 2006: McDonalds and Disney ended their 10 year promotional partnership. Split allegedly with a mutual understanding although the generally accepted reasons was that, McDonalds no longer saw any benefit from being with one studio; due to the increased competition from other studios, as well as having to promote flop films, and Disney no longer wanted to be associated with a company so strongly tied to childhood obesity. 2006: McDonalds started their â€Å"forever young† branding by redesigning their restaurants. 2007: The 42-ounce super-size soda was reintroduced under the new name Hugo. 2007: McDonalds introduced its new packaging features 24 faces from first-ever global casting call. 2008: McDonalds introduced the McSkillet burrito. This larger breakfast which consists of scramble eggs, red green bell peppers, onions, potatoes, salsa and sausage wrapped in a flour tortilla. Later in the year, Chicken was added. 2008: The Chicken Biscuit and the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich was introduced. 2008: In November, McDonalds started phasing in new designs for their containers. They also introduced a new menu board designed that featured warmer, darker colors, more realistic photos with the food on plates and drinks in glasses. 2009: Lattes, Cappuccinos ad Mochas were added to the menu on May 5. 2009: McDonalds introduced its three versions of Angus Burgers. 2009: McDonalds in Papakura, New Zealand had opened it first car wash in the Country named a UWASH 2009: Nickname â€Å"Dub† was given to the McDouble

Welton College in Dead Poets Society Essay -- essays research papers

Dead Poets Society positions the audience to see Welton as a rigid, oppressive and destructive place. Throughout the unravelling of Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, the audience are often faced with the reality that attendance at Welton College would be undesirable. The physical and mental stresses endured by students due to the harshness and unforgiving nature of the school is underlining in many instances. Strict and unyielding authoritarian figures compel pupils to live in a damaging and caustic world, and to be placed under immense levels of anxiety and tension. The cruel world in which our impressionable young characters are forced to live in results directly in the tragic death of Neil Perry. During the screenplay, Welton is repeatedly shown to be a school where pupils are entrapped. Religious followers of the â€Å"Empty Vessel Theory†, Welton’s authority confine students to the four walls of their school building, and to the four wall of their mind. This theory reinforces the feeling of imprisonment Neil felt before his suicide. The boys are educated by books, and rely heavily on note-taking and on the blackboard. Classrooms, illuminated by single bulbs and devoid of natural light, give definite impressions as to the students’ state of mind. The lack of luminosity illustrates the deficiency in vigour, vitality and vividness of the boys, and similarly defines the students’ attitude to school life in general – gloomy, mournful and depressed. Similarly, the boys’ faces are usually shrouded in darkness, emphasising the deficiency in cheerfulness, and in the ending of their free spirit and will. Imprisoned physically, mentally and sp iritually, the boys are unable to wander on the path to self-discovery, and instead are forced to ... ...boys are forever compelled to do as adults say. The lack of trust and love for the boys is telling in many scenes and the constant disregard for their opinions and views brings about the untimely death of a youngster driven to the edge. Throughout the screenplay, Weir proves that it is the horrendous surroundings of the boys which cause the death of Neil Perry. Young students, especially in their adolescent years, need to be supported and encouraged and to feel value in society. Welton’s authority confirm on many an occasion their inability to cater to such demands. They succeed only in quashing mental, physical and spiritual sustenance of their students. Parents, who sent their children to such an austere academy, should have thought twice. The scars inflicted at Welton last a lifetime – and drastically reduce the length of Neil Perry’s young life.

Deviant Society Behavior

The world of humans is oftentimes unpredictable, changing and wondrously exciting. However, when these attributes become extremely bizarre and painfully detrimental, humans become sick and worried about to what extent can other humans afford to inflict harm against them. Suicide bombing is, if not the most, one of the most gruesome acts anybody can commit. It is outright crazy and stupid. One must be beside the normal to be entertaining such a thought in mind.Ironically, fanatics who have committed and attempted suicide bombings in the past, were deemed normal until the day when the execution of their ultimate plans were made public whether foiled or completed. People who are afflicted with mental disorder may, as other people, travel for the same reasons – vacation, visiting friends or relatives, business, recreation, and sometimes for religious or spiritual focus (Miller & Zarcone, 1968). Others indeed may travel for reasons other than the normal – for reasons trigger ed by malformed mental state such as the men who carried out the 911 attack of the Twin Towers in New York.Along the 911 attack, suicide bombing through aircraft came to prominence resulting in the stirring of the awareness among the international public of the fact that the regular traveler might not be that â€Å"regular† anyway. It is probable that some of them are driven by excessive anger or motivated by utopic hope as taught in the communities wherein they have pledged their life allegiance (Silke, 2003). In a recent turn of events in Pakistan, upon the return of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to her home country, 124 were killed and 320 plus got injured as a result of another suicide bombing.The bomber threw grenades among crowds of people and afterwards blasted himself to death (CNN update, Oct. 18, 2007). It’s difficult to think of sensible reasons why a sane person (if that person was ever considered sane by his colleagues) has committed such an act in the first place. To spend and expend one’s self for a noble cause is commendable only if they benefit people outside one’s own community. It’s never an ideal to advance a religion’s cause at the expense of the lives of other people. A suicide bomber is demented in that even in the logic of religion, all religions presupposed a benevolent god who is both powerful and loving.There must be distortions somewhere within the suicide bomber’s mind to have associated the act of delivering a bomb and acts of piety. Understanding mental health: Factors that contribute to a Suicide Bomber's Behavior The majority of theories and models of human behavior fall into one of two basic categories: internal perspective and external perspective. The internal perspective considers the factors inside the person to understand behavior. People who subscribe to this view understand behavior as psychodynamically oriented. Behavior is explained in terms of the thou ghts, feelings, past experiences and needs of the individual.The internal processes of thinking, feeling, perceiving and judging lead people to act in specific ways. This internal perspective implies that people are best understood from the inside and that people’s behavior is best interpreted after understanding their thoughts and feelings (Jourad, 1963). The other category of theories takes an external perspective. This focuses on factors outside the person to understand behavior. External events, consequences of behavior, environmental forces to which a person is subject, are emphasized by this external perspective.A person’s history, value system, feelings and thoughts are not very important in interpreting actions and behavior. Kurt Lewin for instance considered both perspectives in saying that behavior is a function of both the person and the environment (Tiffin,& McCormick, 1958). Man is a social being and as such his personality is viewed from the society and c ulture where he belongs. A society represents a geographical aggregate and has boundaries, similar government or a group of persons in meaningful interaction and engaged in social relationship.Personality is the individualizing traits of man which constitute his singularity and differentiate him from any other human being. The three determinants of personality: 1] biological heritage which has direct influence on the development of personality. This includes musculature, the nervous system, and the glands; 2] E. Q. factor describes qualities like understanding one’s feelings, empathy for the feelings of others, and the â€Å"regulation of emotion in a way that enhances living (Gibbs, 1995);† 3] environmental factors.Taking everything normal, environment plays an important role in personality development. Environmental factors are cultural environment, social environment, home and family, culture, status and role and social agent. Many of men’s pronounced stirred -up state of mind such as fear, anger, disgust, and contempt, have posed the question, why? What has caused such a reaction? What has brought a change to his/her behavior? What is the frustration that has brought about such behavior? In the world of a suicide bomber, he/she contemplates on various input or stimuli from the world he/she evolves in.There are frustrations of every form and even without these, his/her psyche or mental state functions on the basis of anything he/she receives (actively or passively) from the milieu. Life’s problems are numerous and as long as one is alive and kicking he will always be faced with problems, be they big or small. Such problems stir-up one’s emotions or feelings which maybe pleasant or unpleasant. Physiological problems, environmental problems, personal deficiencies and psychological concerns bring on a variety of responses; some predictable, others are not.Disorganization of family life, disintegration of personality brought ab out by depression, great personal suffering, any of these may take any person beyond the limits of his tolerance. Man is born in a social environment surrounded by cultural norms and values. He is faced with cultural taboos and acceptable social behavior. Numerous environmental factors come to the fore which may or may not be easily overcome. One of the most difficult problems in this area is one’s cultural dos and don't s. Environmental frustrations cannot be avoided, for there are always certain factors in a person’s growth and achievement.Psychological or internal problems are the most difficult to resolve as they are within the inner feelings of a person. One may not be able to detect his/her concerns/anxieties through his /her overt behavior. It may only be inferred from what his/her inner thoughts and feelings are but will not know what caused such a feeling. Psychological concerns of various forms represent a more serious threat to the personality of the individ ual than do environmental pressures. If severe enough, they may create considerable emotional tension with accompanying behavior disorders.Reacting to pressures and other concerns such as frustration varies from person to person because of their personality differences. These reactions maybe defensive, neurotic or psychotic. Most people are sympathetic to people who develop physical ailments, but regard an individual with mental disorder as â€Å"crazy. † At this juncture, does a suicide bomber then be considered a person with a mental disorder or deemed as â€Å"crazy? † definitions of mental health vary considerably. Freud when asked what he thought a normal, healthy person should do well replied â€Å"love and work.† Karl Menninger’s (1956) definition is quite similar to Freud’s. He states: â€Å"Let us define mental health as the adjustment of human beings to the world and each other with a maximum of effectiveness and happiness. Not just effi ciency, or just contentment, or the grace of obeying the rules of the game cheerfully. It is all together. It is the ability to maintain an even temper and happy disposition. This, I think, is a healthy mind. † When we therefore, try to define mental health, we have in mind the adjustment process which an individual brings into force when he is faced with a problem situation.Adjustment is defined as an individual’s manner of reacting or responding adequately to a perceived problem. From the standpoint of mental health, adjustment refers to a happy and socially acceptable response to life’s situations. Mental health therefore, is the ability of the individual to function effectively and happily as a person in one’s expected role in a group and in the society in general. It is a condition of the whole personality and is not merely a condition of the â€Å"mind† as is often supposed.It is an out-growth of one’s total life and is promoted or hind ered by day-to-day experience, not only by major crises as some assume (McCllelland et al, 1973). Mental health is the capacity to live harmoniously in a changing environment; to face and solve one’s problems in a realistic manner; to accept the inevitable, and to understand and accept one’s own shortcomings as well as the shortcomings of others. In this sense, people who develop and encourage Jihad or any â€Å"terroristic† ideas and brainwash others to do the same, are seen people who do have unrealistic way of looking at life and their experiences.They are commonly classified as people having delusions of grandeur among others. This term refers to people who experience a bloated sense of importance or missions and oftentimes associated with corresponding persecution complexes (Jourad, 1963). They therefore harbor also a sense of anxiety that some people are out there to cut off their goals and obstruct their missions. Their resolve to deliver their target aim s is even stronger the reason for their methodical and systematic way of doing things.Since they cannot accept that they must co-exist with people whose beliefs radically differ from theirs, they accept the notion that annihilation is a solution and dying a martyr’s death to ensure this goal is the ultimate sacrifice. This kind of mindset comes only from a frame of thinking that has been exposed only to a few options; in fact, only very narrow options. That option is the radical Islamic alternative and nothing else. When living in this world, co-existence is not just something that is talked about inside the halls of the academe: co-existence signifies a mindset that is healthy as well and free from disorders.Mental health is a matter of degree. There is no hard and fast line that separates health from illness. It is not a simple matter to divide the population into two distinct groups-those who should be institutionalized and those who should not be. Many of us at one time o r another exhibit traits and pattern of behavior which if, accentuated and continuous, would necessitate psychiatric care (Jourad, 1963). Though radical a thought this may seem, and naturally sounds unrealistic, the ideal place is to set monitoring and evaluation of mental hygiene at some point in time. How to do this is going to be a big issue, expectedly.However, terrorism and the likes of suicide bombing can probably be controlled in some ironic way: by referring to them as idiosyncratic, delusional or even possessing mental disorders. Another way of classifying them is through the Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV (DSM) classification system; these people are versions of psychopaths or psychotics; because the symptoms are there and they cannot function normally among any general population. Conclusions The difficult but frequently asked question is that â€Å"Will suicide bombers be able to wreak havoc again as they did in 911 in New York?† The possibilities are largely an d unsurprisingly high that it might happen again. People are people: as indicated in the opening statement, we are unpredictable, inundated with problems and those extremists have come to the point in their lives that their choices of so-called â€Å"martyrdom† that they do for religion and their god is close to pleasurable, fulfilling and the dream of their lifetimes. What can probably compel them against that? What can possibly move them away from doing what seemed to be â€Å"heroic acts?†What is being done in the United States today like tightening security and vigilance that other countries had been doing (e. g. , Israel) and for which others are also implementing (i. e. , United Kingdom/England), is by far the best that they can do. But that is as far as any human or groups of individuals are also capable of doing. The bottom line is that when a certain person intends to kill or murder, it is just time that they are running against with. Somewhere, some how, some people will be able to make themselves explode and duplicate 911.

Allure Cruise Line

Since the days of antiquity, Seas and Oceans have always fascinated the human being as the great wide open to explore for the unknowns. Many a miles have been sailed, many oceans have been crossed, and now at this hour humans are circling ocean for leisure tours using the most advanced and sophisticated water transport industry, the Cruise Liners. The history of this industry has three folds as Early, Jet and Modern Age. It started with the introduction of the Ocean Liners as humans plunged into the adventure of exploring new lands and further propelled by the foreign trade of the early time.Following the suite; in 1818 the Black Ball Line operating from New York became the first scheduled passenger service provider shipping company sailing from the United States to England. During I and II World War the cruise industry has done the task of transporting troops and displaced refugees too. Post war the industry recovered rapidly as the US government offered heavy subsidies in cruise sh ip building operations (Cruiseworking, 2009).In this Case Study of Allure Cruise Line (MS Allure of the Seas), the sister ship of the world's largest passenger ship, the Oasis of the Seas, the expansion plan of the â€Å"Project Genesis† will be addressed by the paper with study of dynamics, major players and the challenges of this industry in detailed subdivided structure (Asklander, M. (2008). Today the cruise liners are no more just passenger carriers or voyage ships, rather floating hotels of its own kinds; owned by various companies across the world. They are the off shore version of the hospitality management.To focus on the case, the major players of the North American Cruise Industry take the first 20 places in no time. But some of them are the flagship operators to be reckoned on. They are Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America, P&O, Cunard, and Norwegian Cruise Line (Pain, 2006). To look deep into the business specification of the players; their statistics of the profile reveals a comparative understanding of the expansion measure to â€Å"Allure†.To ponder on Allure’s own player, Royal Caribbean International is a Miami, Florida based brand owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. whose organisation type is Public. It also holds the subsidiaries of Azamara Cruises, founded by the Greek Chandris Group (Plowman, 2006). As on 2007, the company asset listed as Revenue: USD $6. 149 billion, Operating Income: USD $901. 3 million, Net Income: USD $603. 4 million. It has a fleet size of 21 ships, names ending with â€Å"of the sea†. Consisting of 6 different classes the total passenger volume is 69,736.The passenger to crew ratio of this liner company varies from 2:4 to 3:7. The organisation Headquarter is flagged at 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, Florida, USA (Reed Business Information, 2009). Among all the other players, Carnival Cruise Line (Carniv al Corporation & PLC) is the biggest of all, including 11 other cruise operators in it. It is a British-American-Panamanian corporation that includes other cruise brands like, Carnival Cruise Lines itself, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruise Line in North America.P&O Cruises, Cunard Line and Ocean Village in the United Kingdom; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Costa Cruises in Italy and P&O Cruises Australia; in Australia. Combining all brands of the organisation it has a mighty fleet size of 88 ships, touching more than 1,60,000 passenger volume and as an expansion plan 18 more ships due to deliver by 2012. The total asset size as on 2007 are, Revenue: $ 13,033 million, Operating income: $ 2,725 million and Net income: $ 2,408.The organisation type is public dual listed company, listed to NYSE: CCL, LSE: CCL, NYSE: CUK with Headquarters flagged in Miami, USA and London, UK. Though Carnival Corporation and PCL are separate listed companies having separate list of stak eholders, but own all its operating companies jointly in the group (Carnival Corporation & PLC, 2006). The crew to passenger ratio of this organisation is 1:1 (EDGAR Online, Inc. , 2009). Among other players; Disney Cruise Line is an American cruise line company, property of The Walt Disney Company.Its Headquarter is flagged in Celebration, Florida that operates 2 ships reaching a combined passenger volume of 4800, with a passenger to crew ratio 1:9. To its existing fleet, company is adding 2 more ships, which are two decks taller than the existing ones; thus expanding the business by four folds (Ship Facts, 2009). This private organisation runs by President Tom McAlpin as part of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division is counting a Revenue: $ 35. 51 billion, Operating income: $ 7. 827 billion and Net income: $ 3.832 billion, as on 2007 (The Walt Disney Company, 2007). Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) with the daughter company NLC America, jointly owned by Star cruises and Apollo man agement has 50% of NLC. It is a private company flagged in Miami, Florida. The company is famous for its freestyle cruising concept with no fixed time for meal, sitting arrangement or any formal dress code. 1 Its fleet size is 11 with a passenger volume of 24,807. Under expansion plan one more ship is set to sail by 2010 (Ward, 2006).As per observation, Royal Caribbean International, Carnival Corporation and PCL and Norwegian Cruise Line are thre main major players, have unique operational strategies that make them different to one another. Royal Caribbean retains a very compact business with large ships but small fleet size. In contrary Carnival has a huge brand basket with medium ships and deeper penetration. And NLC has a moderate market and fleet with no exceptional expansion. It is hard for Caribbean to overtake Carnival, but the concept of mega size ships of the former is creating extra niche.These cruise ships follow the Shipboard Structure with following positions: Commandin g Officer – CO, Executive Officer – XO, Command Master Chief – CMC, Department Head – DH, Division Officer – DO, Leading Chief Petty Officer – LCPO/Leading Petty Officer – LPO, Work Center Supervisor, Damage Control Petty Officer – DCPO, Command Career Counselor – CCC, Ship’s 3-M Coordinator, Ombudsman, Financial Specialist, Drug and Alcohol Program Administrator – DAPA, Quality Assurance Coordinator, Medical Department, Safety Officer, Divisional Safety Petty Officer and Security Manager (King, 2009).According to maritime law cruise ship are to follow the laws like, Maritime Statutes, Treaties, and Conventions, Medical Issues on Cruise Ships, Passengers with Disabilities, Injuries, Accidents, and Physical and Sexual Assaults on Cruise Passengers, Cruise Ship Fires and Collisions, Vessel Safety, Illegal Dumping, & Unsanitary Conditions (Cruise Law, 2009). For the cruise liner industry law is same in all the water body. As the cruise ships have become floating hotel, as leisure activity the industry is booming with more expansion plans despite of the economic slowdown.The only hindrance is the political instability that creates tension in regions and the companies have to cancel the port of calls for passenger’s safety, which makes many active crews inactive in affected zones. For Allure it is a big step ahead to compete, if not in numbers, but in size. One more sea will join the â€Å"Amada†. Reference Asklander, M. (2008). â€Å"M/S Allure of the Seas (2010)†. Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www. faktaomfartyg. se/allure_of_the_seas_2010. htm. Cruiseworking. (2009). The History Of The Cruise Line Industry.Retrieved February 23, 2009, from http://www. cruiseworking. com/history. shtml Carnival Corporation & PLC. (2006). Corporate Information. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://phx. corporate-ir. net/phoenix. zhtml? c=200767&p=irol-p rlanding Cruise Law. (2009). Links to Maritime & Cruise Line Related Sites. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www. cruise-law. com/links. html EDGAR Online, Inc. (2009). Edgar Pro. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://sec. edgar-online. com/carnival-corp/8-k-current-report-filing/2006/11/07/Section12.aspx King, K. (2009). SHIPBOARD ORGANIZATION AND ADMIN FUNDAMENTALS. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://members. tripod. com/~Motomom/104ship Plowman, P. (2006). The Chandris Liners and Celebrity Cruises. Rosenberg Publishing. Pain, J. (2006). Royal Caribbean orders $1. 24B cruise ship. The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www. boston. com/business/articles/2006/02/06/royal_caribbean_orders_large_cruise_ship_1139250670/ Reed Business Information (2009). Ships operated by Royal Caribbean International.Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www. search2cruise. com/cruise-operator-list-7043. html Ship Facts. (2009). Disney Cruise Line. Retrieved Feb ruary 24, 2009, from http://disneycruise. disney. go. com/dcl/en_US/onboard/about/listing? name=ShipFactsListingPage&bhcp=1 The Walt Disney Company. (2007). â€Å"The Walt Disney Company 2007 Annual Report†. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://amedia. disney. go. com/investorrelations/annual_reports/WDC-AR-2007. pdf Ward, D. (2006). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz