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Research Proposal on Layout Restriction in Food Processing Unit of an Organization

Layout Restriction in Food Processing Unit of an Organization Introduction Entrepreneurial activities are not only focusing on how to improve the business and being competent in the industry. Often, entrepreneurship is discussed according to the manifestation in the market. Most of the organizations, openly operate to showcase the activities, and thereby, prove that the processes are safe and composed of elements that are desirable for the market. Supposedly, plant layout are not only well deigned and well functions but also restricted among the other unauthorized personnel. Background of the Study and Problem Statement On a food processing hall of an organization, this is quite big area for food processing and analysis. A client took the advantage of no restriction note and entered the hall the food processing hall through the back door. The area has different division for different processing job, with so many machines. She brought out camera started taking pictures of equipment, with an intention of fabricating them. She left the back door open and a raptly enter the hall. A staff on duty enter the hall to she surprise saw the raptly and than, the lady. This incident might have case the organization so much. There are flexible conditions that client can be train and machineries fabricated for a fee and follow up teams visit them occasionally. She might even attempt to open a machine in motion which will be very bad. The processing area has 10 doors and 28 windows so they should be utilized well suggestion: one door for booking; another for raw products receiving, another for finished products receiving and waiting place can also be crated. What would be the applicable layout restriction that can help both worker and client in a food processing unit of an organization? Research Aim and Objectives The main aim of the study is to describe the layout restriction that might be involved in the food processing unit of an organization to avoid any intruders. There are three objectives that the study needs to satisfy that are also essential in organizing the ideas. First is to describe the ideal layout that can be restricted from the unexpected visitors. Second is to find solutions on how to resolve the incidents in food processing area of an organization. And third is to determine of security and other organizational policies in holding the customers under their regulations. Literature Review The plant layout and design of an area should be based on the utility equipment. This is adopted by most of big manufacturers to ensure the safety in operation, and measure the economic viability of the process plant. The business leaders are very optimistic in terms of the organizational plans and decisions, and because of their attitude, the future expansions are part of the long-term plan. The plant restrictions are applied to control the technical, operational, and economic factors. Even the development and structural design are well planned and built allows the safe distance between the units that can facilitate the safety while operating or servicing. The layout restrictions were design to utilize all the machineries and create a balance in the operation which is considered to be important in the performance of an employee. However, the layout restrictions that are available for the customers are considered to be part of the organization’s security features and minimizing the causes of errors and fabrication of information that might ruin their credibility in the industry. In order to acknowledge the hazards that might occur during the operation, there are many technological features that concerns in delivering control measures. The monitoring, security, and accessibility such as the processing, storage, and receiving areas, should be protected because they are within the organization’s premises. Furthermore, it is recommended that personnel (employees) and visitors (like the contractors, salesperson and others) can use the identification cards in order to monitor all their activities within the organization. Visitors can be also monitored through escort. Methodology The suggested method in the study is the use of the case studies. The case studies that are presented in entrepreneurial context might be helpful in discovering the advent of another regulation and policy. In addition, through the information and facts presented in the case studies, the researcher/s can describe the effective way in layout restriction and the techniques that can be applied to avoid the drastic situation. All of the issues involved in the food processing activities are recognized to be part of controversial issue that might destroy the reputation of the business and reduce its profitability in the market.   Works Cited: Kumar, A., (2007) “Plant Location and Layout”, Accessed 21 June 2010, from http://www.du.ac.in/coursematerial/ba/esb/Lesson_7.pdf Mamen, K., (2007) “Facing Goliath: Challenging the Impacts of Supermarket Consolidation on our Local Economies, Communities, and Food Security”, Policy Brief 1(3), Accessed 21 June 2010, from http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/pdfs/facing_goliath.pdf SQF Institute, (2006) “Guidance for Developing, Documenting and Implementing an SQF 2000 System – General Food Processing”, Accessed 21 June 2010, from http://www.scscertified.com/docs/SQF_2000_Guidance_Gen_Operations_Level_2.pdf

Research Proposal on Layout Restriction in Food Processing Unit of an Organization

Layout Restriction in Food Processing Unit of an Organization Introduction Entrepreneurial activities are not only focusing on how to ...

Karen Legge argues that evidence shows “that the integration of strategy and HRM is at best a lengthy, complex and iterative process and, at worst, that there is little evidence to suggest that widespread integration is achieved”

Karen Legge argues that evidence shows “that the integration of strategy and HRM is at best a lengthy, complex and iterative process and, at worst, that there is little evidence to suggest that widespread integration is achieved” (1995) Critically Evaluate this Argument and suggest why this should be the case.      Human Resource Management   Human resource management (HRM) comprise the entire gamut of knowledge and practices that describes the nature of work and regulates employment relations (2000). HRM is also an approach geared towards the achievement of organisational goals by directing the organisation systems so that human resources and talents are utilised efficiently and effectively ( 2006). HRM is most considered as a generic term that covers the entirety of a work-based organization, working terms and conditions, and representational systems ( 2003). HRM covers the five functional activity areas, which are: 1) staffing—getting people with the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to work in vacant positions in the organisation with the entire processes broken down into HR planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection; 2) rewards—development and implementation of reward systems covering work evaluation, performance appraisal, benefits; 3) employee development—analysis of training requirements by identifying the skills and capabilities of employees; 4) employee maintenance— administering and monitoring of work standards and organisational policies to develop a competent workforce; and 5) change and relationship management—monitoring employment relationship issues and adjusting to changes. (2000) Human resource management covers the knowledge and experience, approach and process involved in the establishing, developing and maintaining the relationship between the company and its human resources based on the premise that the members of the businesses organization are valuable contributors to the achievement of the goals of the company. Human resource management has always been important to all organizations because of the shift in the characteristics of personnel needs of organizations. Employment requirements are now shifting towards knowledge-based work requiring highly qualified and skilled people. Due to this reason, management of valuable human resources becomes the driving force for most industries. Based on labour economics, this trend implies that the limited number of highly qualified and skilled people empowers them to choose the organization where they want to be employed. This further implies that organizations have to develop and implement human resource management strategies that are not only appropriate to the organization but also competitive relative to other organizations requiring the same level of skills and experience.    Strategy             Strategy refers to the “deliberate search for a plan of action that will develop a business’s competitive advantage and compound it” ( 1991). As such the search involves a repetitive or cyclical process that starts with recognizing the current status of the company in terms of its financial viability and competitive goals together with the resources that the company currently holds. Assessing the status of the company in terms of competitive goals means that it should be able to recognize other businesses closely similar to the business so that the determination of the differences between the business and its closest competitors comprises what competitive advantage the business holds.             Strategies also refer to the “unique and sustainable ways by which organizations create value” (2001). This is in recognition of the trend in organizations of operating through decentralized departments or business units that closely work with customers. Modern organizations recognize that a company’s competitive advantage emanates from the intangible knowledge, capabilities and relationships created by employees relative to the market rather than from investments in material assets or access to capital. Strategy implementation then requires for all business units, support divisions, and employees to be linked and aligned to the strategy. In the context of rapid technological changes, aggressive competition and strong regulation the formulation and implementation of strategies should become a process of continuous participation. In line with this business context, organizations need a language or channel for communicating strategy together with processes and systems helpful in the implementation of the strategy that also enables the business to gain feedback regarding the strategy. Thus, the success of a strategy comes from having strategy become everyone’s every day job. In relation with human resource management, strategy integrates all human resource functions into a cohesive endeavour directed towards the achievement not only of human resource functions but also the overall financial and competitive goals of the business.       Strategic Management             Strategic management is the process involving three key elements: 1) mission and strategy—due to the recognition that an organization need to determine and establish a reason for its existence while at the same time develop ways of conveying information and materials for people to effectively carry out the company’s purposes; 2) formal structure—involving the organization of people and tasks in the implementation of the strategies of the organization covering the formal structures of information dissemination and financial accounting; and 3) human resource system—since human resource recruitment and development are directed towards the accomplishment of jobs as determined by formal structure of the organization, performance need to be monitored and rewards allocated to develop and maintain productivity. ( 1984) In relation to the link between strategy and human resource management, this indicates the basic elements that the organization should consider in achieving the goals of strategic human resource management.     Strategic Human Resource Management   Strategic human resource management is a concept that has been in existence for several decades but there is yet no established theoretical or working definition for this business concept. This means that the relationship of strategic human resource management with other business concepts depends upon the perspectives of the parties considering this idea so that its application also becomes subjective. However, the concept has persisted for several decades indicating that despite the lack of clarity in its definition and applicability, it still comprises an important issue in business management necessitating the aggressive determination of these issues in order for more business firms to experience the benefits of the concept. A definition of strategic human resource management regards the concept as the general approach in strategically managing human resources in line with the organization’s intentions for this resource relative to its future business direction (1999). As such, this approach is largely concerned with long-term people issues together with macro-level concerns regarding the organizational structure; quality of human resource environment, relations and output; organizational culture and values; and the level of commitment of its resources towards the achievement of the immediate and long-term objectives of the firm. Another definition for strategic human resource management considers the concept as the aggregate of the activities that affects the behaviour of individual members of the organizations in their exertion of efforts in formulating the implementing strategic business needs (1992). This definition focuses on the human side of the concept giving stress to the role of human resources in contributing towards the achievement of the goals of the company. Still another definition considers strategic human resource management as the pattern encompassing the planned human resource assignments, deployments and organization together with planned human resource activities intended to empower business units to achieve specific and overall goals (1992). Similar to the previous definition, this also centres on the manner of accomplishing human resources tasks in a manner directed towards the predetermined goals of the company. Lastly, another definition looks at strategic human resource management covers the explanation of the manner that human resource management influences the performance of the organization so that strategy becomes differentiated from strategic plan. While strategic plan refers to the formal process selectively engaged in by organizations in defining the manner of accomplishing tasks, strategy is innate to every organization defining the behavior of the firm and the ways it can cope with existing and expected business environment. (Boxall & Purcell 2003) This means that strategic human resource management comprises the principles incorporating strategy. This further implies that if human resource management already comprises a coherent approach to managing human resources, strategic human resource management encourages human resource management to be accomplished in a planned way that involves the integration of organizational goals with business policies and human resource action sequences. A common theme in these definitions is the link between human resource management and strategic action. This implies that strategic human resource management is generally perceived as an approach, process or guide that facilitates action towards the achievement of organizational goals. This means that while human resource management covers human resource needs, deployment, organization and maintenance, strategy directs these efforts towards goal-driven action. Without strategy, human resource management may not necessarily be aligned with the achievement of the financial and business goals of the company in a manner that solicits actual realization. Another theme derivable from these definitions is the recognition of the expanded scope of strategic human resource management because this involves not only human resource functions but also the accomplishment of human resource tasks aligned and integrated with the overall goals of the company. This implies a level of cohesion between human resource management and strategy determined by the level of nature and extent of integration of human resource functions with business goals.   Linking Strategy & Human Resource Management             According to (1995), integrating strategy and human resource management requires a lot of time, involves complex processes, and constitutes repetitive or cyclical activities. These seemingly negative and irrational descriptions of the integration already constitute the best that can be derived from the integration. On the worst side, integration lacks sufficient and reliable evidence of the achievement of integration. The author provides a negative description of the viability of the integration of strategy and human resource management into the concept of strategic human resource management. This is not entirely without basis. As mentioned earlier, despite the existence of the concept for several decades now there is yet no standard theoretical or practical definition for this idea. This means that the understanding of the concept is largely subjective limited only to particular business context without actually deriving a generalized understanding and conception of this idea. Lack of a standard definition defining the elements of strategic human resource management as well as a generalized understanding of the applicability of this idea may indicate problems over the viability of the initial integration of strategy and human resource management. On the extreme integration may be impossible but on the other side of the spectrum integration may be viable. However, the persistence of strategic human resource management over the past years as applied by different organizations indicate that integration is possible and it is only the nature and extent of the integration that draws question. Moreover, strategy and human resource management are not incompatible or opposing defeating the idea of integration at the least and effective integration at the most. Succeeding discussions consider the possible integral links between strategy and human resource management based on the previous discussions.     Links between Strategy & Human Resource Management             The links determined from the definitions and conceptualizations of strategy and human resource management were derived based on the manner that strategy and human resource management relate in the context of the quest towards the achievement of the business goals of business firms.             The first link involves the necessity of matching business activities to the resources of the business firm in order to determine the capability of the company to support its planned business activities increasing the likelihood of actualizing the business activities ( 2000).             Determining the capabilities of the company includes the consideration of the human resource capabilities of the business firm. Learning this information involves the intervention of the human resource management, which encompasses the knowledge over the number of people involved in the organization, the concentration of deployment of people to the different working units, and the collective capabilities of the group. After learning information over these factors, decision-makers can then determine whether the planned business activity stands to receive sufficient support from the members and different units of the organization. It is only when it has been determined that the business activity is fully covered by the aggregate capabilities of existing human resources that the company is ensured of the viability of its endeavours. However, if the capability of the organization cannot sufficiently support the viability of the business activity, then the company has to decide whether to reconsider or abandon the project or enhance the capabilities of its human resource. The process of planning, evaluating and reconsidering of the consistency between the human resource capabilities of the company and the project goals is strategy. This means that strategy and human resource management meets at the point that the business firm is matching its human resource capabilities with its business objectives.               The process of matching human resource capabilities with business objectives creates a complementary relationship between strategy and human resource management. On one hand, strategy provides the plan, guidance and the steps through which the company is bale to direct the activities of its human resource towards the achievement of financial and competitive goals. It is strategy that links human resource management with the overall objectives of the company. On the other hand, human resource management assures the business of accomplishing its planned activities through the management of human resources inevitable to the survival of the organization. Human resource management ensures that the members of the organization are duly informed of their role in the organization and motivated to develop commitment to the accomplishment of their roles. This means that the link between strategy and human resource management lies in the areas and the ways that both are able to complement the other towards the financial viability and/or the establishment of a competitive advantage by the firm in the industry where it belongs.             The second link is the contribution of strategy towards the organizational consciousness of performance centred towards the sources of profitability ( 2002). Human resource management on its own is indirectly linked to the quest for profitability. This is because human resource management focuses on ensuring the efficient organization and utilization of human resources with the result comprised of the achievement of the desired level of output from the members of the organization. The desired output only pertains to the existing profitability targets of the company without identifying other areas of profitability. Moreover, human resource management involves the balancing of the interests of the employer with that of the employees in order to facilitate a good working relationship between the parties in order for the employer to meet its business goals and the employees to obtain their work-related and personal goals expected from their contributions to the company. The process of balancing interests and facilitating good employment relations supports the current level of profitability but it does not necessarily open new sources of profitability or ways of enhancing the current level of profitability of the company. Strategy contributes to the redirection of human resource management to give greater consideration for sources of profitability.     Strategy is geared towards improvements in the operations of the company and the determination of future sources of profitability. This involves the development of a plan of action directed towards the financial and competitive goals of the company followed the assessment of the viability of the plan based on the capabilities of human and other resources, with the result determining the implementation of the plan. Strategy compared the company’s current status with its greater potential for future realization. As such, strategy is able to fill-in the limitations of human resource management in considering future financial and competitive goals of the company. This means that the link between human resource management and strategy is determined by the contribution of strategy towards directing human resource management towards the enhancement of existing sources of profitability and discovering new sources of profitability particularly from the actual and potential capabilities of the human resources of the company. This further implies that strategic human resource management involves directing current human resource capabilities towards the achievement of present financial and competitive goals and the realization of planned sources of profitability.             The third link is the recognition that strategy cannot be separated from implementation (1999). In modern business organizations, the importance of human resource is enhanced by the recognized shift from industrial to the information age. This means that although the scale of operation of most industries would decrease this is replaced by greater reliance upon human resource competitiveness. The change in organizational direction means that the success of plans for improving the organization depends upon its implementation by the members of the organization. Despite the rationality and viability attached to a plan but without the cooperation of the members of the organization, the project would not succeed. The link between strategy and human resource management lies in the ability of strategy to direct the efforts of human resources towards the desired change with human resource management ensuring the motivation of the people to cooperate for the success of the company.   Conclusion              Strategic human resource management remains to be unclear and subjective resulting to questions regarding the possibility and viability of the integration of strategy and human resource management. With regard to possibility, the persistence of this concept or approach and the attempts at its application by many companies over the years indicates that the integration of strategy and human resource management is feasible. In terms of viability, a consideration of the definitions and conceptions of strategy and human resource management indicates three general links between the two. However, the lack of best practices on strategic human resource management supports Legge’s view that there seems to be little empirical support for the integration. This means that greater effort by the academic and business sector to clarify the integration issue in order to actualize the benefits offered by strategic human resource management.

Karen Legge argues that evidence shows “that the integration of strategy and HRM is at best a lengthy, complex and iterative process and, at worst, that there is little evidence to suggest that widespread integration is achieved”

Karen Legge argues that evidence shows “that the integration of strategy and HRM is at best a lengthy, complex and iterative process and,...

Essay on Evaluation and Suitability of Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies in Undertaking an Empirical Study into Procurement Practice

Procurement Research Methods Evaluation and Suitability of Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies in Undertaking an Empirical Study into Procurement Practice Introduction In research, there are procedures that should be followed in order to capture the essence of the study. Usually, the beginning of the investigation starts in recognizing the questions ascertained to the main topic and then finding responses. Because of the technologies and availability of large amount of information, there is significant reduction of burden in research studies. In the meantime, the ongoing process of research should be explored, such as the use of the book and online-published studies (websites and Internet). There are two recognized effective strategies that are part of a researcher/s’ study – quantitative and qualitative methods. However, in what ways did the two methods are effective, in terms of its application in a same practice. In order to answer this question, the paper will adopt the studies prepared by the various writers regarding the features of quantitative and qualitative methods. This is provided to be a simple guide for the future researchers by exploring the appropriateness of a method. Quantitative Method In general, the quantitative method is focused on the statistical process in which the study promotes the sample and then, matched to the study population. This is for the aim to ensure the comparability of demographic characteristics. The sample population is however, assumed to represent the entire population (Horsburgh, 2003). It is based on the positivism perspective and because of the strict formula or procedures, the judgment are created (Dray, 2004).  Quantitative method is described as a powerful technique applied in research, particularly in human issues and geography because it can provide the valuable and accurate insights. However, the researcher/s must understand that this method should be appropriately used with the provided limitations (Marshall, 2007). Scientific methods are used as an approach in science oriented cases, and formal systematic process in terms of data findings. Clearly, the quantitative method possesses the ability to generate an analysis by describing, testing, and examining (cause and effect relationship) the subjects. The combination of the knowledge and developing the hypotheses the outcome can be determined.  Apparently, both methods are using the sampling as their reference but must meet the criteria of data collection strategy. The difference is that quantitative method demands from the random selection of sample population. The advantage is that the findings are generalized. However, the random selection process is time consuming which is one of its drawbacks (Charoenruk, 2006). Qualitative Method In general, the qualitative method is focused on the participants who were chosen through the means of theoretical sampling. The process of selection is based on the ability of the participants to provide information. Furthermore, the application of theories and academic findings are also applied in this process, which is suitable to provide the explanations in terms of comparison of experiences or situations. This method is commonly used in nursing studies, managerial approach, communication issues, etc (Horsburgh, 2003). Qualitative research is also considered as interpretive research, naturalistic research, phenomenological research and descriptive research (Dray, 2004). Qualitative research method has a characteristic to develop the theory according to its findings. Usually, the qualitative method is used as a vehicle to study the various perspective of the subject. It has a system of enquiry which is concerned with the humans (for an instance) and the environment. It creates the understanding regarding the relationship of human and the associated aspects such as work, transactions, social being, and many others. This action is through the purpose of describing the empirical aspects that can be in a phenomenon and explaining the subject itself. The data can be obtained from the wide arrays of academics such as history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and psychology. In the deeper investigation of qualitative method, the historical foundation is recognized as one of its great disadvantages (Charoenruk, 2006). Conclusion The methods, qualitative and quantitative although with the obvious differences, compliment with each other. Because of this fact, most of the researches are facilitated with the combination of two methods in order to capture the true essence of their study. The use of the methods depends on the way on how to obtain the information; therefore, it is important to create decisions on what research method is suited for the paper, as well as the particular requirement that should be considered (Dray, 2004).  In addition, it is important that the method is according to the complexity of the research and the generated analysis is based on the interpretation of the facts or data presented.   References: Charoenruk, D., (2006) Communication Research Methodologies: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodology [Online] Available at: http://utcc2.utcc.ac.th/localuser/amsar/PDF/Documents49/quantitative_and_qualitative_methodologies.pdf [Accessed 12 July 2010] Dray, L., (2004) Research Methods [Online] Available at: http://www.lamp.ac.uk/mit/pdf/report6.pdf [Accessed 12 July 2010]. Horsburgh, D., (2003) Evaluation of Qualitative Research, Journal of Clinical Nursing, Vol. 12 [Online] Available at: http://www.ruralhealth.utas.edu.au/gr/resources/docs/horsburgh-qual-research-evalution.pdf [Accessed 12 July 2010]. Marshall, A., (2007) A Critique of the Development of Quantitative Methodologies in Human Geography [Online] Available at: http://www.radstats.org.uk/no092/marshall92.pdf [Accessed 12 July 2010].

Essay on Evaluation and Suitability of Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies in Undertaking an Empirical Study into Procurement Practice

Procurement Research Methods Evaluation and Suitability of Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies in Undertaking an Empirical Study ...

A Business Report on McDonald's Marketing Management

MCDONALD’S MARKETING MANAGEMENT   by   [your name]     Presented to [your professor] [class/subject]   [name of university] [states] [date]   	 	 	 	Executive Summary McDonald’s is considered as one of the most popular and well-loved brands in the world and it can be reflected on the growing size and improving financial performance of the company. The said success can be attributed to the strong brand of the company, because of the different activities and strategic movements that have been done by the management for the past 69 years. It includes the long history of the company, which enables McDonald’s to be well experienced regarding the changing environment of the business which resulted to the company to innovate and strive for continuous development.             The strong brand of McDonald’s benefited the brand owner as well as the customers. For the brand owner, it had helped to maintain the position of the company in the market because of the growing number of loyal customers, which reflect on the financial aspect. Furthermore, because of strong brand, the company enables to become a global business, which helps to increase its size. On the other hand, it had helped the customers in the process of deciding about where to eat.   	 	 	Contents  TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary. PAGEREF _Toc232423682 \h 2 Introduction.. PAGEREF _Toc232423683 \h 3 Background of the Company. PAGEREF _Toc232423684 \h 4 Strong brand and brand owners. PAGEREF _Toc232423685 \h 6 establish customer loyalty. PAGEREF _Toc232423686 \h 6 Financial Aspect and Profitability. PAGEREF _Toc232423687 \h 7 Attract quality internal customers (Employees) PAGEREF _Toc232423688 \h 8 strong brand and customer PAGEREF _Toc232423689 \h 8 How Mcdonald’s established strong brand. PAGEREF _Toc232423690 \h 9 Long History and experience. PAGEREF _Toc232423691 \h 10 Media Support and Advertisement PAGEREF _Toc232423692 \h 11 Differentiation and Innovation.. PAGEREF _Toc232423693 \h 12 Conclusions and recommendation.. PAGEREF _Toc232423694 \h 14 Bibliography. PAGEREF _Toc232423695 \h 14 Appendices. PAGEREF _Toc232423696 \h 16 Appendix A: Top 10 Most Powerful Brands. PAGEREF _Toc232423697 \h 16 Appendix B: How Strong Brands General Greater Profitability. PAGEREF _Toc232423698 \h 17   	 	 	 	Introduction As of now, the world of business is facing different challenges, particularly the increasing competition due to the changes in the lifestyles and demands of the customers. As a result, more and more business are becoming aware that applying effective marketing management will be very beneficial to the competitive advantage and position of a given product or service in the market. Brand is defined as the translation or conversion of the strategy of a business into the experience and practice of the consumers which suggests the specific behavior of the consumer (Van Gelder 2003, p. 15). It can also be considered as the promise that the level of quality people expect from a brand will turn to loyalty of the customers. Thus, the process of applying different marketing strategies to a given product, product line or brand is called brand management. In addition it can help to increase the perceived value of the product to the customers, which result to the increase in the franchise and equity of the brand (XPFLOW Software, Inc. n.d.). Therefore, it can be said that strong brand has positive impact on the performance of the company as well as the different entities or stakeholders that are directly and indirectly connected to the company.             This paper will focus on examining the different benefits of the strong brands to the business and the consumers by using the case of McDonald’s. Furthermore, it will also tackle issues that are related on the different processes that are involved in establishing strong brand.   	 	 	 	Background of the Company McDonald’s is the leading food service organization in the world. It generates more than $40 billion in terms of Systemwide sales. It operates in 31,000 restaurants in more than 120 countries over six continents in the world. The company claims that they have the benefits that are from the scale and strong financial position; the most recognized and respected brands; unparalleled global infrastructure and competencies in terms of restaurant operations, real state, retailing, marketing as well as franchising; leader in areas of social responsibility; sharing knowledge and expertise in terms of food safety; and committed in protecting the environment for future generations (Funding Universe 2003). The restaurant chain of McDonald’s of today began its humble beginnings in San Bernardino, California as a renovated barbecue car-shop restaurant by the McDonald brothers Richard and Maurice (Briggs n.d.). The business was later on developed by Ray Albert Kroc by convincing the McDonald brothers to open more restaurants under his management, which later on lead to the opening of Des Plaines, Illinois restaurant, the current McDonald’s museum. (Parris Kraus 2006). During 1960s to 1970s, the company experienced a phenomenal growth due to the dependency of Americans towards fast services (The Wall Street Journal 2003). Due to the different strategic movement, particularly with the aspect of marketing and R&D, McDonald’s had been able to maintain its position as one of the most popular and loved brands in the world, as well as in each nation where it operates. The study of BrandZ and Newsweek positioned McDonald’s as the 8th most powerful brands in the world, with the total brand value of US$49,499 million, increased by 49%, compare with the last year (see Appendix A) (BrandZ 2008).   	 	 	Strong brand and brand owners Strong brands have become a vital part of the asset value of a company. In the case of McDonald’s, its brand is one of the primary reason why it had survived on the different challenges that were encountered by the company regarding the changing lifestyles and demands of the customers, together with the different problems that are related with the economic aspect.   	 	 	establish customer loyalty             Due to the popularity of the McDonald’s, it can be said that its brand name is synonyms to fast-food, burgers, fries etc. Because of that, the company had been able to established more than 31,000 restaurants around the world, and enables to serve more than 47 million customers around the world (McDonald’s 2009). The said number can be considered as loyal customers who came from different geographic, age and economic status that became used to McDonald’s and considered the company as part of their fast-food consumption. Due to that, it can be said that one of the most important asset of the company is its brand name and image. A product or retail establishment has many aspects which combine in order to form its total impression. There are many studies which show that consumers form impressions of brands, and that these impressions later exert a major influence on the choice of products or brands, and the said impressions serve as major factors which influence on the buying behaviors of the customers (Porter & Claycomb 1997).  Furthermore, when the brand equity is high, customers are often more willing and prepared to pay a price premium for the product and more likely to engage in favorable word-of-mouth communication about the firm and its brand (Beverland 2005)                 The effort of McDonald’s in maintaining their position as one of the strongest brands in the world is considered as intensive because just like other companies, the company believe that the brand is considered as a vital aspect of the company.   	 	 	Financial Aspect and Profitability For many financial analyst, a key consideration when looking at companies with strong brands is that they present less risk. Strong brands generally remain strong, and this assumes the likelihood of a solid income steam. The said strong income stream reflects the interaction of different factors. With a strong market share, usually comes connected with higher price points, coupled with lower price elasticity compare with the competitors. As a result, it will help the company to have a better margins and a higher return on investment. Aside from that, well-known brands are much more likely to enjoy good distribution, which helps maintain high market share. These factors will result to greater profitability (see Appendix B) (Elliot & Percy 2007). In the case of McDonald’s, the fast-food industry, where it belong is experiencing problems that are connected to health issues which resulted for the said industry to lose market share against the fast casual dining restaurants (Eligon 2008). However, even though the industry is facing problem, the company still maintain its position as the most favorite fast-food chain the world. As a matter of fact, beside of the said factor, together with the ongoing problems about financial crisis, the company had been able to report 6.9% increase in sales during April 2009, and 5.1% in May of the same year (McDonald’s 2009).   	 	 	Attract quality internal customers (Employees)             According to McDonald’s one of the most important factors behind the success of the brand is the people who are working together in order to offer high quality services and products towards the customers. Organizations that have a strong brand can use its brand in order to attract and retain employees (Elliot & Percy 2007). Increasingly companies are allocating more money on the employee or employer brand, because strong employer brand can help to attracts better applicants (Slaughter & Zickar 2004). In the end, according to Ritson (2002) strong employer brand image can help to reduce the cost of employee acquisition, improve the relations between employees and employer, at the same time extend the average length of the employee retention and allow the companies to attract high-caliber staff at lower salaries than the competitors with weaker employer brands (cited in Elliot & Percy 2007).   	 	 	strong brand and customer Although strong brand primarily and immensely beneficial towards the brand owner or company, it also play a vital aspect towards the customers. Brands play a vital role in the process of the decision-making of the customers (Bendixen 2004).  Different research in psychology has shown that the name recognition alone can result in more positive feelings toward nearly everything, whether it is music, people, words and even brands.             In one study, the sample population was asked to taste each of the three samples of peanut butter. One of these samples contained an unnamed superior (preferred in blind tests 70% of the time) peanut butter. Another contained an inferior  (not preferred in taste test) peanut butter labeled with a brand name known to the respondents but neither purchased nor used by them before. The result showed that 73% of the respondents selected the brand name (inferior) as being the best-tasting peanut butter. The said result shows that the power of brand-name recognition. Mere name recognition will make people feel an inferior peanut butter tastes butter than the actually better-tasting peanut butter (Yang 2005). According to Davis (2000), the said consumer psychological reaction to brand names is called PATH or the acronym for promise, acceptance, trust and hope. A strong brand makes the intangible feelings of promise, acceptance, trust and hope tangible (cited in Yang 2005).   	 	 	How 	Mcdonald’s established strong brand             According to Aaker (1996) developing the strength of a brand is not deemed to be easy (cited in Schroeder & Salzer-Morling 2006). Different branding literature suggests that more advertising does not always create a strong brand, especially those brands that are badly positioned or connected with the inferior products or services (Schroeder & Salzer-Morling 2006). According to Aaker & Biel (1993), in order to establish a strong brand, it is important to consider the different factors which influence brand strength: Longevity, product category, quality, media support, personality and imagery, continuity, renewal and efficiency.   	 	 	Long 	History 	and 	experience             McDonald’s is already serving its customers and been in the industry for 69 years. Thus, the longevity of the brand can be considered as one of the most important aspect which enables the company to build a strong brand. It can be observe that majority of the firms that were included in the top most powerful brand have been in their respective industry for 25 – 50 years and even longer. Just like financial equity, brand equity is built up over time. Thus, those brands that have maintained a consistent presence over the years are better able to utilize the familiarity and understanding a customer has with their products in order to establish a momentum and power (Aaker & Biel, 1993).             In addition, brand loyalty cannot be built in a short period of time. It is important to connect the idea that the behavior of the customers can be affected by different factors including social factors from family, friends and society. Because, McDonald’s had been there for a long time, it had created a strong relationship with the customers, particularly with the families and group of friends, which enables them to be familiar and loyal to the brand. In addition, the company also enables to gain the trust of the customers because despite of the different challenges and hindrances towards the operations of the company, it had maintained its best performance.             The company is also focusing on the corporate social responsibility (CSR). The strength of the brand is not because of the strength of creating a difference in the perceptions of the customers but because of the meaning that brand creates (Kay 2005). Thus, brands can be powerful symbolic products, having considerable social impact and provoking considerable loyalty (Muniz & O’Guinn 2001 cited in Kay 2005).   	 	 	Media 	Support and Advertisement             The company also focuses on implementing different media and advertising activities by creating different messages that will strengthen and support brand to be connected with the customers, particularly families and young adults. In addition, the company also focuses on integrating the corporate social responsibility in marketing in order to build bonds of trust with the customers and the community where in the company performs its business. In 2003, the I’m Lovin’ it is considered as one of the most important marketing move and campaign of the company in order to target the changing behavior of the customer (Thompson & Strickland 2005, p. C-299). Visibility plays a vital role in establishing a strong brand, because it enables the customers to have a recall. Aside from advertising, McDonald’s gains visibility by strongly branded location. Furthermore, in order to come up with the current technological dependency of people, McDonald’s is one of the companies which established their presence over the Internet, and later on enables their customers to order online. The website serve as a communicating channel for the customers and stakeholders and the company by presenting news and archives about the company, at the same time, serve as a marketing tool that is used in order to entice customers (McDonald’s Are “Lovin’ It” 2005). In connection, the company had been able to show a strong message continuity by the evolution of its advertising slogans from one campaign to another, where in each theme is executed towards a range of customer targets around a single core message, where in the said message does not change radically from year to year (Aaker & Biel, 1993).             In connection, the company had been able to categorize their customers based on their demands. For instance, McDonald’s had been able to include products in the menu for those premium and price sensitive customers. Furthermore, the company also focuses on focusing on the demands of children, tweens as well as adults.   	 	 	 	Differentiation and Innovation              McDonald’s also focuses on their products by becoming responsive on the changing tastes, demands and preferences of the customers by focusing on the growing interests of the public towards wholesome food choices and other premium products in different part of the globe (Thompson & Strickland 2005, p. C-228). One of the major problems which are being faced by the company is the changing preferences of the people towards healthy diet. Because of the advocacy of different organizations towards health problems, particularly obesity, McDonald’s and its competitors are facing veto vote from mothers, tweens as well as kid. Because of that, the company focuses on food and menu innovation. One of the results is the Chicken McNugget which is made from pressed chicken that is equivalent of hamburger or different miscellaneous parts that were combined and pressed into an easily workable whole. Aside from that, the company also introduced the premium chicken nugget made with breast meat only and offers salad and replaces the shaken salad which is composed of shredded iceberg lettuce with a mixed salad that contains sixteen different lettuces. Furthermore, varieties of fruit and yogurt parfaits, new soup selections, McGriddles and other crispy-spicy options were added in the menu (Silverstein & Butman 2006, p. 177).             The said movement is important because it enables the customers to feel that the company is considering their demands and references in the process of deciding about the products and services to be offered. Aside from that, it also enables the company to change its image into healthy one, which will help to capture the hearts of those figure and health conscious people in the different parts of the globe. Thus, it helps to create a new meaning that the company will show to the current and possible customers.   	 	 	 	Conclusions 	and recommendation             Strong brand plays a very crucial role in maintaining competitive advantage of any company. In the case of McDonald’s, its strong brand had been one of its important assets, which enables the company to have a strong position in the market. The success of the brand can be attributed to the different factors including the process of marketing, R&D or innovation and human resource.             McDonald’s had been able to focus on the different factors which are influencing the behavior of their customers, and uses those information in order to offer new or improve products and services which will ensure satisfaction and loyalty from the customers. At the same time, the company also focuses on the different marketing strategies which will improve their visibility, particularly the aspect of real state, which enables the company to locate their restaurants in feasible places and the advertising activities, including online.             In order for the company to maintain the said position, it will be important to maintain the current strategic practices including the process of introducing products that will meet the needs and demands of different market segments such as premium and cheap products, and those for adults, tweens and children.             Above all, it is crucial for the company to maintain its connection with the society by the fully integrating the aspect of CSR in their entire system. This can help to maintain the brand meaning and image of McDonald’s which is considered as one of the most important marketing strategies today.   	 	 	Bibliography Aaker, D & Biel, A 1993, Brand Equity & Advertising: Advertising’s Role in Building Strong Brands, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Bendixen, M, Bukasa, K A & Abratt, R 2004, ‘Brand Equity in the Business-to-Business Market’, Industrial Market Management, vol. 33, no. 5, p. 371 – 380 Beverland, M B 2005, ‘Creating Value for Channel Partners: The Cervena Case’, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 3, pp. 127 – 135 BrandZ 2008, The 100 Most Powerful Brands08, Millward Brown Optimar, viewed 10 June 2009, <http://www.millwardbrown.com/Sites/optimor/Media/Pdfs/en/BrandZ/BrandZ-2008-Report.pdf> Briggs, M, The History of the McDonald’s Restaurant Chain, Helium, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.helium.com/items/867501-the-history-of-the-mcdonalds-restaurant-chain> Eligon, J 2008, Where to Eat? A New Restaurant Genre Offers Manhattan More Choices, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/nyregion/13casual.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=fast%20casual&st=cse> Elliot, R & Percy, L 2007, Strategic Brand Management, Oxford University Press Funding Universe, 2004, International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63, St James Press, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/McDonalds-Corporation-Company-History.html> Kay, M 2005, ‘Strong Brands and Corporate Brands’, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 40, no. 7/8, pp. 742 – 760 McDonald’s 2009, McDonald’s is Firing On All Cylinders, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/investors.html> McDonald’s Are “Lovin’ It” 2005, Strategic Direction, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 21 – 23 Parris Krauss, C 2006, The History of McDonald’s, Associated Content (September 22), viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/61904/the_history_of_mcdonalds.html?cat=22> Porter, S & Claycomb, C 1997, ‘The Influence of Board Recognition on Retail Store Image’, Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 6, no, 6, pp. 373 – 387 Schroeder, J & Salzer-Morling, M 2006, Brand Culture, Taylor & Francis Silverstein, M & Butman, J 2006, Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Global Consumer, Portfolio Slaughter, J E,  Zickar, M J, Highhouse, S, Mohr, D C 2004, ‘Personality Trait Inferences About Organizations: Development of a Measure and Assessment of Construct Validity’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 89, pp. 85 – 102 The Wall Street Journal 2003, What was News 2003, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://online.wsj.com/documents/info-yemr03-frameset.html> Van Gelder, S 2003, Global Brand Strategy: Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries, Cultures & Market, Kogan Page XPFLOW Software, Brand Management, viewed 10 June 2009 < http://www.xpflow.com/pdf/Articles/Brand%20Management_XPFLOW.pdf> Yang, K 2005, Design for Six Sigma for Service, McGraw-Hill Professional   	 	 	Appendices 	 	 	Appendix A: Top 10 Most Powerful Brands   	 		 		 		 		Position 		 		 		 		Brand 		 		 		 		Brand Value (US$m) 		 		 		 		Brand Value Change 	 	 		 		 		1 		 		 		Google 		 		 		86,057 		 		 		30% 	 	 		 		 		2 		 		 		GE (General 		Electric) 		 		 		71,379 		 		 		15% 	 	 		 		 		3 		 		 		Microsoft 		 		 		70,887 		 		 		29% 	 	 		 		 		4 		 		 		Coca-Cola (1) 		 		 		58,208 		 		 		17% 	 	 		 		 		5 		 		 		China Mobile 		 		 		57,225 		 		 		39% 	 	 		 		 		6 		 		 		IBM 		 		 		55,335 		 		 		65% 	 	 		 		 		7 		 		 		Apple 		 		 		55,206 		 		 		123% 	 	 		 		 		8 		 		 		McDonald’s 		 		 		49,499 		 		 		49% 	 	 		 		 		9 		 		 		Nokia 		 		 		43,975 		 		 		39% 	 	 		 		 		10 		 		 		Malboro 		 		 		37,324 		 		 		-5% 	 Source: (BrandZ 2008)   	 	 	Appendix B: How Strong Brands General Greater Profitability Source: (Elliot & Percy 2007)

A Business Report on McDonald's Marketing Management

MCDONALD’S MARKETING MANAGEMENT by [your name] Presented to [your professor] [class/subject] ...

An Article Critique on Teaching Vocabulary Items through Contextualization and Picture to Elementary Iranian EFL Students

Omid Akbari.  Teaching Vocabulary Items through Contextualization and Picture to Elementary Iranian EFL Students.  Volume 10.  Issue 3, Article 3. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary items through pictures and contextualization to elementary Iranian EFL students. The subjects were divided into three groups of 32 male learners within the age range of 12-15 for a total of 96 male participants.  The subjects were assigned to three almost homogeneous groups, based on their scores on an initial standardized test which was validated beforehand.  The linguistic backgrounds of the students are the same as were the teachers and teaching materials utilized .  The sample numbers are not large enough.  A larger sample size would have yielded better data for analysis.  Also, female students were omitted in the testing.  This leads to a very gender biased outcome. In one class, vocabulary items were presented through pictures. The experimental groups received different treatments.   In another class, simply contexts and model sentences.  The third class, which is the control group, new words were presented through definitions and synonyms.  The study took 10 sessions. Prior to starting the study, two similar tests were created for the pretest and the posttest.  The test was validated based on the book “A new Generation” by Colin Granger and Diby Beaumont (1987) which is used at the institute.  The pretest was a vocabulary test prepared by the researcher as a 100 vocabulary items selected from the students` textbook. The researcher made a one hundred-item multiple-choice test and did a pilot study on a smaller group. 10 items were discarded and some changed. The reliability of the test was calculated to be 0.94. To make the test valid, the researcher made a correlation between the students` grades on their final exam of the preceding semester and their grades on the researcher’s test in the pilot study. The correlation was 0.8116. The ninety-item multiple-choice test was split into two equal halves based on odd and even numbers. One part was considered as the pretest, and the other one as the posttest. The aim of the posttest was to reveal the efficacy of the treatments provided to the experimental groups during the semester. During the initial session, the pretest was administered to all the groups to determine if there were any significant differences.  A one-way ANOVA technique was utilized.  The result was that the three groups were almost homogeneous.  At the conclusion of the term, a posttest was administered.  One-way ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the collected data.  The result yielded that in the posttest there were significant differences between the picture group and the context group as well as a difference between those two groups and the control group.  Both picture and context methods enhanced vocabulary development of the learners, however the group who used pictures did better than the group who used context alone.  The picture group outperformed the other two groups significantly.  The conclusion to the study was that the contribution of the pictures in teaching vocabulary items to elementary Iranian EFL students led to a higher level of vocabulary improvement. The limited number of test subjects, the fact that it was restricted to males only, and that the test was only administered to elementary school level children would need to be expanded upon to confirm the findings of this study.  However, the techniques utilized could be used in other settings such as secondary schools and universities and can be used to determine if the same applies to other nationals studying English as a Foreign Language.

An Article Critique on Teaching Vocabulary Items through Contextualization and Picture to Elementary Iranian EFL Students

Omid Akbari. Teaching Vocabulary Items through Contextualization and Picture to Elementary Iranian EFL Students. Volume 10. Issue 3, A...