The competitive field that businesses compete within

The competitive field that businesses compete within Businesses exist in a very competitive environment and competition happens whenever two or more parties make every effort for a goal which cannot be shared. For example, supermarkets are in competition with each other to offer the best possible value for money goods, and to offer the most appropriate variety of products for their customers. Businesses battle in many ways. One of the most noticeable ways is over price. Within a market businesses are faced by direct competitors. These are firms that produce the same or very alike goods. However, most products are set apart in some way. For example, although soap powders may look highly similar each will offer some form of special ingredient that sets them apart. A direct competitor is a business that produces or sells a product or service that is the same or highly comparable to another in the same market. Indirect competition happens when firms compete for the same amount of spending, although they might be in different sectors of the same market or in different markets. Every growing or a successful organization has some competitors. If we take an example of McDonalds and Burger King: In making an analysis of McDonalds, the first issue we will examine is their company goals. McDonalds has a goal of one hundred percent total customer satisfaction. They do understand that this goal is not always achievable. If for any reason they do not meet that goal, they will do whatever it takes to correct their mistake. McDonalds has a second company goal that sets them apart from most of their competitors. One of there goals is the principle of giving back to the community and that remains one of their major goals today. If we take a look at McDonalds Guarantee states, food will be hot and your service will be fast and friendly. The customer service of McDonalds focuses on one customer at a time. They are much more concerned with the quality of the service rather than the speed. Employees usually take one order at a time and then prepare that order while the customers wait. After the current customer is satisfied, they move on to the next customer. This process allows great accuracy and quality but lacks speed. Employees in McDonalds work at a quick speed but it seemed like they had no time for customers. They acted as if it was a burden for them to stop and answer a simple question or refill a drink Where as Burger King Wants to individualize each customers order and provide the fastest service possible. Burger Kings policy is to give the customer many choices and to accurately and quickly provide whatever the customer chooses. This policy is reflected in their slogan which is YOUR WAY, RIGHT WAY. Operating under this rule makes it very easy to achieve their goals. Through the various choices they give it is easy to customize each order. Burger Kings procedures are also consistent with their goals. In order to individualize each order they provide customers with many options when ordering. Some options include fries or onion rings, cheese, bacon, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion. The customer can pick any mixture of these options that they wish. Burger King takes customer orders on a continual basis. One employee takes the customers order, the customer then moves down the line where another employee is preparing the order. Meanwhile, the original employee is taking another customers order. Customers also get their own drinks while they are waiting for their meal. This makes service much faster because employees do not have to prepare drinks. They also provided relaxing music for customers to listen to while dining. Burger King has got more than sufficient communication and leadership. Employees give the customers feedback on their orders. Each customer receives a receipt, which enabled them to double-check their order. The employees also read the order back to the customer before handing them the order. In terms of leadership, there is a manager to sort out things. Organizational Goals Both McDonalds and Burger King share the same basic organizational goals of profitability, sales volume, fast and courteous service, and cleanliness. There are slight differences to these goals by both companies. Organizational Structure When observing McDonalds and Burger king, the organizational structures of the two restaurants are very alike. There appeared to be a crew leader who was a non-managerial employee and, there was a manager who was present behind the counter. The managers of the restaurants seemed to be in command of every aspect of the whole food service procedure. Technology Both McDonalds and Burger King are on the cutting edge of technology. They both employ state of the art cash registers and both have electric timers built into their cooking machines. Although the cooking styles differ between Burger King and McDonalds, the method of production is the same. Large amount of food is cooked at once then placed under heat lamps or put in the microwave when an order is placed. Both stores have the same drive through technology with a speaker and a well-lit menu to relay the message to the cooks. Employee Motivation The motivation of both stores for employees to perform well is hard to ascertain from just observing, but it appears somewhat obvious. The people working in these establishments appear to have a lower social economic status, and the fact that a paycheck is coming at the end of the week may be the only motivation they have. Environment The environment at McDonalds and Burger King seems to be a simple, yet unstable one. It is apparent that the majority of people, who work there, are not choosing their employment as a career option. Therefore, the workforce is constantly changing and adapting to new employees and new situations. Leadership Style There was similar leadership style employed by the management at both stores. Task orientation was essential to meeting the goal of fast food. Each person had to be focused on the task at hand, because during certain hours of the day, both stores were very busy. There seemed to be little flexibility from management if it meant compromising their goals. McDonalds and Burger king have been competing with each other for several years now and theres no sign that its going to stop any time soon. As we all know that the economy is entering into a correction these two super-chains have to fight more and more to win business and defeat all there competitors. Burger King recently announced plans to drop the price of its double cheese burger from $1.99 to just 99 cents even though Burger Kings double cheeseburger is 30% larger than the version offered at McDonalds. This means that they are not making much profit on it. But they have to attract more customers towards them and defeat there competitor. On the other hand McDonalds is ready to drop the double cheeseburger from its dollar menu all together. Many franchisees are upset because the double cheeseburger is not a profitable item for the stores at a $1.00 price point. Complaints have been made that consumers will come in, order two double cheeseburgers and a glass of water and that means the store will lose money from that customer. The main fast food chains often offer special sandwiches and discounted prices on certain items as a way to draw customers back into their stores and keep them loyal to the company so they keep coming back. The method is very successful to draw in business, and as the economy continues to remain on unstable ground, we will likely see the fast food chains come up with better deals and more original food items to effort to draw customers in. http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2007/12/mcdonalds-and-burger-king-entering-into-new-price-war-competition.html Theyre continuously keeping an eye on each other and the competition, and making sure in McDonalds case, making sure Burger King didnt break in on its market share, and in Burger Kings case, finding ways to take away McDonalds market share. If we look at McDonalds versus Burger king 16 years ago, even with some of the challenges theyve had over that time horizon, McDonalds average U.S. sales per unit is up over 20 percent, while Burger King over that same time frame is down 8 to 9 percent. French fries have been a sore point for Burger King Operators for years. The company has tried new formulas in the last couple years, but Burger Kings fries are still considered by many in the industry to not measure up with McDonalds. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3957636/ The relationships between profits and product differentiation expose that both McDonalds and Burger King are better off avoiding close competition if the market area is huge enough. However in small market areas, McDonalds would be located together with Burger King. In contrast, Burger Kings profits always increase with greater differentiation. The balance depends on the markets size. In small markets McDonalds locates near the center of the market, and Burger King locates to the side of the market. In larger markets McDonalds and Burger King choose locations on opposite sides of the market although McDonalds locates closer to the best possible central location than Burger King. http://mktsci.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/6/792 One of the reasons why Burger King is so successful includes many factors but one of them was location. One of the best ways to explain it is Burger King has always found outlets where there is a large attention of people but that wasnt there only strategy because they also had the great idea of going head-to-head with McDonald across the street. By setting outlets in front or near a McDonald outlet they were guaranteeing visibility of their franchise.

Allen Ginsberg :: essays research papers

Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg was born in Newark, New Jersey on June 3, 1926. His father, Louis Ginsberg, was a published poet and a high school teacher. His mother, Naomi, was a radical Communist, paranoid, psychotic, and died in a mental institution in 1956. Ginsberg also had a brother who became a lawyer in Paterson, New Jersey. Ginsberg’s childhood was very complicated. Ginsberg’s mother only trusted him and thought that the rest of the family and the world was plotting against her. Ginsberg attended Columbia college to become a lawyer as his father had planned. However, Ginsberg’s new crowd at Columbia did not encourage him in his studies, and he got suspended from Columbia for various small offenses. He experimented with marijuana, and crused gay bars. Himself and his friends believed that they were working towards some kind of uncertain but great poetic vision, which he called the New Vision. But all of the joyful craziness with his friends it was symboliz ing the real craziness of his mother. Knowing that he was basically sane, Ginsberg embrassed a bizare lifestyle. This all changed as he entered a ‘straight’ phase after his arrest and imprisonment. Ginsberg started to date a woman named Helen Parker and began a job as a marketing researcher. However this ‘straight’ phase did not last long, as he met Carl Solomon in the waiting room of a psychiatric hospital. Ginsberg had many other occupations besides writing poetry. Such as a dishwasher, a welder, and an editor. He was the first Beat writer to gain popularity when he wrote his famous poem Howl. Ginsberg followed Howl with several other important new poems, such as sunflower sutra. Ginsberg had many influences on his writings. One major and very important influence was his mother. His mother was the main topic for the poem Kaddish, which describes his mother’s insanity and death. Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs also had an impact on Ginsbergâ⠂¬â„¢s writings. Ginsberg used Kerouac’s methods of spontaneous composition and expressing poems through music. Burrough’s introduced Ginsberg to the â€Å"druggy-gay-hipster† lifestyle. These three are said to be the founders of the beat generation. Ginsberg also borrowed Walt Whitman and William Blake’s ordinary and unrhymed style and made it his own. Another influence on his writing was the time period. The 1960’s were a period when people started to become aware of government doings. This led the people who disapproved to protest.

HR Training Class Essay

Customer demands and the rise in competition have caused many companies to focus on customer service and relations. The ability to provide great customer services has much to do with the success of many individuals and companies. Customer service isn’t about giving the customer exactly what they want. It involves skills such as problem solving, empathy, interpersonal skills, communication, and leadership abilities. Employee performance can be improved in many ways. Training is one way to emphasize employee performance. Each customer interaction is a representation on the company. How the employee handles the interaction is a direct determination of whether the customer will return. Justify the use of a needs assessment of your company’s proposed employee customer service training, stressing five (5) ways in which such an assessment would expose any existing performance deficiencies. When conducting a needs assessment, there are three areas that must be considered: organizational needs, occupational needs, and individual needs. Organizational assessment evaluates the level of organizational performance. An assessment of this type will determine what skills, knowledge, and abilities an agency needs. It determines what is required to alleviate the problems and weaknesses of the agency. Occupational assessment examines the skills, knowledge, and abilities required for affected occupational groups. Occupational assessment identifies how and which occupational discrepancies or gaps exist. Individual assessment analyzes how well an individual employee is doing a job and determines the individual’s capacity to do new or different work. Individual assessment provides information on which employees need training and what kind. A needs assessment is a wise investment for the organization. It saves time, money and effort by working on the right problems. Determining the needs of employees is a significant aspect of human resource management process. Knowing how many employees are in need of training and what particular training is needed are the keys to assessing the company’s need for the customer service training. The major objective of a needs assessment is to answer common questions such as who, what, when, why, and how. Who needs to be trained and who will benefit from the training? What type of training will be needed and what will be the product of the training? When does this training need to take place? Why is this training needed? How will the training be facilitated? Answering these questions will expose any existing performance deficiencies. Conducting needs assessment protects the organization from unnecessary training. A need assessment helps to know whether training is the ideal solution to a performance deficiency. If the training will not increase the employees’ knowledge and skill level, the deficiency problem will not be resolved and the training is irrelevant. Who receives training and who benefits from training? The people who deal with customers most will need to be included in the training program. These people are the face of the company. If they are unable to provide great customer service, the customers may leave the company. The frontline employees are often times the only employees that a customer will encounter. Once training is complete, not only does the company benefit but the customers do as well. What type of training is need and what will be the product of training? Determine what type of training is needed. Do the employees need training on resolving customer issues, showing empathy, communications, acknowledging customer issues, or owning the customer issues and resolutions? What is the expected outcome of the training? When does the training need to be provided? Determine what the earliest and latest date the training should be offered in order to be effective. If the training is not offered in a timely manner, the company may suffer from the lack of customer service. Should the training be provided to new employees before they ever begin to work with customers or should the training be offered only to employees who have been with the company for a while? Why conduct the training? â€Å"To tie the performance deficiency to business need and confirm that the positive outcome of training employees outweighs the problems inherent in performance deficiency† (Tobey, 2005). Why is this training needed now versus in the past? What factors have changed? How will the training be facilitated? Determine whether training needs to be online, in class, or on the job. Employees learn differently. The method of training should be determined based on the employees that will be receiving the training. A combination of methods may be needed for a group of employees that learn differently. Develop a customer service training implementation plan and determine the method of training (i. e. , presentation, discussion, case study, discovery, role play, simulation, modeling, or on-the-job training). There are numerous methods of training employees. These methods include but are not limited to simulations, on- the job training, presentation, discussion, case study, web based training, and mentor programs. For this customer service training, I will use web-based training. Web-based training has several advantages. †¢Convenience. Employees are able to take training at any time. They are not bound to a set schedule and can take the classes during times that production is not busy. †¢Employees are able to work at their own pace. If an area needs to be revisited, the employee can go back without holding up an entire class. Employees are able to reflect in greater depth on responses to questions or activities posed in training before making their answers. †¢Individuals are able to take advantage of lifelong learning without relocating or quitting their jobs. (â€Å"The benefits of,† ) †¢Web-based training is generally less expensive than other forms of training. †¢Web-based trainings often include simulations and case study exercises †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Individual characteristics such as physical disabilities remain anonymous to other participants, thus eliminating judgments and stigmas often associated with particular disabilities. (â€Å"The benefits of,† ) †¢WBT emphasizes a learner-centered approach to training versus simply logging the number of hours spent in training. Employees are required to participate in the learning in order to earn credit for the class, thus actually learning the information. Propose two (2) ways to motivate an employee who has no interest in attending a training class. Many employees are reluctant to attend training classes because they do not understand the purpose of the class or feel there is no need for any changes. The most obvious way to motivate employees to attend training is make the training mandatory. Mandatory trainings are often times coupled with merit increases and bonuses. If employees fail to take mandatory classes, they are not eligible for their merit increase or any bonuses that the company may offer. Though reluctant, employees will take mandatory training classes to ensure they are eligible for these incentives. Though making training mandatory is a likely way to ensure employees attend, it is not very likely they will listen and learn. If all they have to do is attend to get credit for the class, they will show up, but what will be the outcome? Another incentive to motivate employees to attend training is providing additional incentives such as certifications or extended lunch break on the day of training. Also, try to make the training fun and engaging. Grasp the audience’s attention. Provide refreshments. And allow the employee to determine what form of training they are going to attend (web-based, classroom, on-the-job). Reduce the amount of stress that may arise due to work piling up while away from the office. Many employees do not want to attend training because they are concerned with the amount of work they will have waiting when they return to the office. Management should shift work to other areas for those attending training so there is no pile up awaiting their return. This is done much easier in a call center setting where calls can be routed to a different area. Develop a survey to collect feedback from the employees who attend the training Customer satisfaction surveys are used to gather feedback as to whether the business is meeting the needs of the customer and whether the customer would recommend a friend to the company. The same should be done with employees who participate in training. Feedback is necessary in training to determine if the training was useful, if anything new was learned, if what was covered will be used in the daily tasks of the employee, and how the course could be changed to be more beneficial to the company. Survey should be anonymous to ensure the employee there is no retaliation from management if the feedback is negative.

Pros And Cons Of Stereotyping - 927 Words

Stereotyping is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Stereotyping can make people very self conscious, hurt, and sometimes people even commit suicide over the stereotypes people use on them. Stereotyping does have its advantages such as helping people to respond quickly to situations that people have been in before but there are also disadvantages, like making people ignore differences between individuals and then we think things about a certain person that might not be true. Everyone is affected by stereotyping no matter what religion, race, or gender everyday. Stereotyping happens everywhere no matter where you are. I also have had personal experiences with stereotyping.†¦show more content†¦Now if someone sees a Muslim walking around New York City they’re going to think that they are a terrorist just because they’re in New York and they are a Muslim. From where I live I have made Muslim friends an d I feel as though they are no harm unless they believe in terrorism. Based on race if someone were to see an African American guy walking around the city they would think he is going to rob or shoot someone. If you are white a lot of people think you are racist towards other races and think they stereotype their race. My personal experience of stereotyping is since I am on the bigger side people always said that they were scared of me. Also, since I have blonde hair they always thought I was a dumb blonde so they would make dumb blonde jokes. Where I live there is a road called â€Å"Stoudts Ferry Bridge Road† and the kids in my school always said that if you live near or on that street they you must be rich, so since I lived there everyone thought I had money. I also live near the city Reading and when I tell people that they usually are like oh where everyone gets shot and killed. But all they are doing are watching the news and seeing all the bad things but they never see any of the good that happens in Reading. I have also noticed that when I am with my friends who are African American or Latino people stare at me like I am not suppose to beShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Douglas Hartmann s Article Rethinking The Relationships Between Sports And Race979 Words   |  4 Pagesbroader than we actually think. He did not agree with the simple view of because racial discrimination happens in our society, thus racial discrimination also happens in sports (Hartmann 242). He further delves into two interesting problems in stereotyping and biasing. One of the problems that Hartmann addresses is that when scholarly critique sports take their points overboard over another (Hartmann 240). In other words, one will be supportive of one side while undermining the proponent ideas.Read MoreHy Dairies Case1044 Words   |  5 Pagesothers including Gilman which is why he believes he is rewarding her while she believes she is a victim of sexism/racism in the workplace. There has been no effort by HY Dairies to evaluate and identify Beauport’s personal career goals. Stereotyping There are many stereotypes within this case 1. Gilman has assumed that because he held the position and it had been beneficial in his advancement within Hy Dairies that this is the best route for all employees looking to achieve that goalRead MoreBenefits Of Single Sex Schools1004 Words   |  5 Pagesit, but in reality they can.(â€Å"Pros and Cons†). Females need a more nurturing classes and males need a more vital learning environment. This is another example of stereotyping boys and girls can learn in whatever environment they choose it’s an individual choice, it should not be based on what people think. 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Our government has recognized the inequality and using legislation such as ADA continues to strive toward balancing social injustice on the often over labeled disabled.Read More The Importance of Improving Communication Skills in the Business World998 Words   |  4 Pagesfinesse and respect with boldness and direct communication. As mentioned earlier, constantly conquering and rising above the barrier of co mmunication. To name some of the barriers that arise daily are stereotyping, language, showing approval or disapproval, and becoming defensive. In my opinion, stereotyping is the biggest obstacle amongst people. Stereotype is a label or typecast of another person based on an oversimplified standard idea. Stereotype makes it hard to be objective and not prejudicialRead MoreGroup Communication In 12 Angry Men935 Words   |  4 Pagestraffic from outside the courthouse, and uncomfortable wooden chairs. Internal noise included prejudicial views, anger, frustration, and heavy sweating. The pros include sharing of opinions, democratic voting, and sharing of feedback. Cons include a jury that was too homogenous in race and gender, a physically uncomfortable room, and noise. The cons may have been improved upon with different jury members and a comfortable jury room. The forming group development stage began when the jurors made politeRead MoreFeminist Theory1345 Words   |  6 Pagessocial relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of womens rights, interests, and issues. Themes explored in feminism include art history and contemporary art, aesthetics, discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy. The feminist theory dates back to as early as the 18th century and to this day is still around with women trying to fight for the rights women deserve to be treatedRead Moreme me931 Words   |  4 Pageshigher level of math and English than us. 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