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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

A Mother-Daughter Relationship Essay

The publication had the rarest of chances and of course, a bit of luck, to have the honor of reading from Mrs. Jane Bingley excerpt at her house near Longbourn. We have come to speak with the former Ms. Bennet about her mother, who sadly passed away five years ago after a period of ill health. After being supplied by a generous amount of tea and sweets, Mrs. Jane Bingley was more than accommodating. She had welcomed us graciously into her home and had agreed a few weeks before to conduct this interview. Clearly, there were some unresolved issues before their mother’s death. I asked whether there were some specific issue. Yes, the whole affair was a fiasco. Men came strolling down our lawn, some high-society people, right old snobs by the way, and of course my mother, who I daresay was in the middle of it all. Indeed, it was quite a fiasco for the Bennet family. Miss Jane Bennet-Bingley was the eldest of five children of the Bennet family. Their mother, as she narrates, was highly-obsessed with the idea of accomplishing her self-sworn duty to see all her daughters to get married. She used to send my sisters and me to social gatherings, and such. It was the popular thing to do back then and consequently became a symbol of social stature. We were just middle-class, or more appropriately, preferred to linger between in the middle with menial social associations. This proved to be a factor toward their marriages which, by some sort of instances, was provoked by a high-class society member: the late Lady Catherine. She was arrogant, just like any aristocrat back then. She especially gave my sister, Lizzy (Elizabeth) a hard time since her husband was a nephew of hers. She did not want some sort of low-class society girl with his well-bred nephew. But then, the way things turned out surprised everybody, including me. About my mother’s personality (with expression of momentary soft happiness), I did not hate nor despise my mother. My father would probably scorn at the thought, but then again, my father talked little. He cared for us and for the family very much but he would just sit sometimes in his study and let our mother do all the talking. Mrs. Bennet was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervously. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news (Austen). Mrs. Bennet’s proudest moment would be the marriage of her two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, to both respectable and hard-working men. We had our own marriage. My mother did not have any part of it; though I like to think that she did try to impress upon everybody else that she did have a part of it â€Å"on our marriage†. She was always fussy, kind to people, especially our husbands. She tried everything to put us in our good name, just to get married. Indeed, the social status during Mrs. Bingley’s time was centered on the idea that women had only one goal in their lives—that is, to get married. Quite ludicrous actually; in changing times, the status of women have elevated to a more distinguished level. But my mother, if she were alive today, would not understand that. Mrs. Bingley, according to their narration, lived for the purpose of seeing her daughters married without any preamble or consideration for their feelings. Her obsession for marriage blinded her real nature. She was a good mother though; she never failed to uphold her duty as my father’s wife or our mother. I was indeed surprised that my father did not react in such a way that he was displeased with my mother’s behavior back then. But I suppose it was really just her nature to be so. To summarily put forward a remark, I did not like the way my mother handled our affairs when she was still alive. She often embarrassed us and the family with her superfluous attempts of raising the name of the family even though it wasn’t needed. She was much concerned with the way we compose ourselves that she had started to ignore her own behavior. She acted like most mothers would do, though in a different case. And if she did not do what she did, I might still be single anyway. We loved her and we still do. Reference Austen, J. (1995). Pride and Prejudice.

Difficult Times Always Lead To Better Days

Every cloud has a silver lining means that you should never feel hopeless because difficult times always lead to better days. Difficult times are like dark clouds that pass overhead and block the sun but after some time the cloud shines much brighter than previous time. Life is full of challenges and the longer we live, the more we face new events or challenges in life. Some pass easily and others not.So there are two kinds of people in this world; one who works hard and overcome the situation and the other are those who gives up rapidly. The world we live in is not perfect, and we will never ever find a world which is perfect in itself. Every day there will be things that make us cry or feel sad about ourselves. People who will stand in front of the difficulties which they face, they will be able to improve themselves and let their dreams come true. They are known as brave people and the entire world respect them.In contrast, there are people who watch their steps carefully, they st udy their books and do what their bosses, parents, or teachers tell them to do. But if they, for example, could not solve a math problem they will close their books and stop studying. Furthermore, if there is a problem between a husband and a wife, and this husband or wife is one of those people who give up easily, they may get divorced from the first difficulty but if they stand against the problem and face that problem, it may possible that they will win the situation. Difficult Times Always Lead To Better Days Every cloud has a silver lining means that you should never feel hopeless because difficult times always lead to better days. Difficult times are like dark clouds that pass overhead and block the sun but after some time the cloud shines much brighter than previous time. Life is full of challenges and the longer we live, the more we face new events or challenges in life. Some pass easily and others not. So there are two kinds of people in this world; one who works hard and overcome the situation and the other are those who gives up rapidly.The world we live in is not perfect, and we will never ever find a world which is perfect in itself. Every day there will be things that make us cry or feel sad about ourselves. People who will stand in front of the difficulties which they face, they will be able to improve themselves and let their dreams come true. They are known as brave people and the entire world respect them. In contrast, there are people who watch their steps carefully, they s tudy their books and do what their bosses, parents, or teachers tell them to do.But if they, for example, could not solve a math problem they will close their books and stop studying. Furthermore, if there is a problem between a husband and a wife, and this husband or wife is one of those people who give up easily, they may get divorced from the first difficulty but if they stand against the problem and face that problem, it may possible that they will win the situation.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Mcdonalds Operating Strategy Essay

Introduction McDonald?  ¦s, first started by Ray Krov, is now one of the most popular fast food restaurants across the world. They proudly serve more than 46 million customers in 59 different countries and have more than 30,000 different locations domestically and internationally (Food Service). The fast food industry is booming at a rapid rate, especially the healthy trend, with this in mind, McDonald?  ¦s has strategically plan to stay on top of their competitors by providing consumers with more options of healthy meals, cheaper prices, and better service. McDonald? ¦s is competitive in many categories; examples are price, quality, management and employee training, other categories will be explained throughout the preceding sections. Consumers trust McDonald?  ¦s products because they use many of the same trusted brands that families buy at local grocery stores. The only difference is that their shopping cart is a whole lot bigger. OPERATIONS COMPETITIVE STRATEGY McDonald?  ¦s Corporation competes in a challenging market segment by providing need-satisfying products to customers. In this segment, ineffective competitors often fail without proper strategies . To sustain its viability, the McDonald?  ¦s corporation employs an effective competitive strategy to make it stand out against competitors such as other fast food restaurants. McDonald?  ¦s competes on several bases, including cost, speed, and nutrition, their strongest priority is ?  §making customers happy (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 3). The company recently made drastic changes to its process by introducing the ?  §Made for You system (Chase). Competition Bases Speed McDonald?  ¦s competes on several bases mainly to ?  §make their customers happyby providing speedy, affordable, and nutritious foods. Through extensive market research and survey, the organization discovered that its customers desire speed as one of the restaurants?  ¦ top priorities. Therefore, McDonald?  ¦s vision aims to ?  §provide fast, friendly and accurate service (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 5). McDonald?  ¦s realizes that specific targets are necessary to measure the performance of speed, and continuously takes relevant measurements to compare actual performance with desired targets (measurements are detailed later in this report in the ?  §Quality Managementsection). To achieve efficient service times, the company utilizes proven, standardized training processes for its employees and new drive-thru layouts to reduce service times. Along with speed, McDonald?  ¦s also competes by offering prices at a low cost. Cost To offer high quality products at low cost, requires efficient processes throughout the entire McDonald?  ¦s organization. Once again, this goal is built into their vision statement when they claim that ?  §We will be the most efficient provider so that we can be the best value to the most people (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 5). McDonald? ¦s incorporates several avenues to provide great value to its customers: ? XOne strategy that the company has employed for many years is the value meal. The value meal allows customers to buy a sandwich, french fries, and beverage at a discount when purchased together. McDonald?  ¦s restaurants offer from seven to twelve value meals, both for their lunch menu and breakfast menu. ?XMore recently, McDonald?  ¦s began offering a value menu, consisting of many individual items costing only $1. 00 each. First tested in southern California, the value menu has proved to be very successful and has been since incorporated to the individual stores .? Some individual franchise owners choose to offer daily specials of special menu items, such as ?  §$0. 39 hamburger Wednesdays, or other similar specials. Big Mac Mondays are a popular regional promotion. Nutrition McDonald?  ¦s third main competitive base is nutrition. The organization understands that health trend is an increasingly popular trend therefore; the organization has recently focused extraordinary efforts to promote their new nutritious choices. Although not specifically built into the organization?  ¦s vision, McDonald?  ¦s has already introduced many options to achieve this goal: ? In the United States, ?  §Go-Active meals have been offered within the last few years. These meals include a salad, bottled water, and a ?  §step-o-meter to help customers keep track of how many steps they take a day. ?XOther countries have seen similar healthy options. The United Kingdom saw fresh fruit bags, containing apples and grapes, as an alternative to french fries (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 12). ?XNot only does McDonald?  ¦s care about its customers, but it is also considerate of its employees?  ¦ health. In Europe, the organization worked with external nutritionists to develop an ? Employee Guidebookwhich contains tips and nutrition information for healthy lifestyles (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 13). ?XMcDonald?  ¦s has assembled their Global Advisory Council on Balanced Lifestyles. This council consists of exercise & obesity specialists, environmentalists, and other professionals to ensure that McDonald?  ¦s takes appropriate steps in helping its customers achieve optimal health. ?XThe company is also utilizing technology to their advantage. The current McDonald?  ¦s website lets a user select any combination of menu items, place the items in the online bag, and conduct a nutritional analysis on their selections. The user can break down the analysis even further than a menu item, down individual condiments, including ketchup, pickles, etc. (?  §Bag a McMeal ). Not only has the company introduced many steps to ensure nutrition, but it will strive to continue the trend toward nutrition. McDonald?  ¦s plans to: add additional healthy menu options (fruits and vegetables); increase nutrition awareness among McDonald?  ¦s employees; conceive new ways to deliver nutrition information to its customers, and other actions (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 13). Strongest Priority ? §At McDonald? ¦s, making customers happy is what our business is all about. And we know it takes a lot to make that happen. We work hard to provide every customer with a choice of meals and an experience that exceeds their expectations. The preceding statement is the quote which introduces McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2004). Although the company strives to compete on several bases, their ambient goal is customer satisfactions. They reach this goal through a variety of efforts. McDonald?  ¦s visionary goal is to continually improve their organization. One example is the manager on duty task of completing a ?  §travel path every thirty minutes of his shift. During a travel path, the manager personally checks every aspect of the restaurant, including: the lobby area where customers eat; the restrooms; the grill area behind the counter; the walk-in refrigerators and freezers; the stock area; as well as the entire perimeter outside the restaurant (Phillips, Eddie). Through completing travel paths, management continuously checks every aspect of the restaurant throughout the day. In addition to short term continual improvement, McDonald?  ¦s organization also thinks ahead for long term improvement. To ensure that they serve 100% safe food, McDonald?  ¦s conducts food safety tests multiple times throughout the day. The corporation changes ?  §Food Safety book used by the managers several times a year, in efforts to think toward the future for the most appropriate variables to measure (food safety will be further illustrated in the ?  §Quality Management section). Along with internal improvement to the organization, McDonald?  ¦s also collects external information from its customers to discover which aspects the company performs well, and which aspects could be improved. The manager is supposed to talk to at least one customer during each travel path and the manager can immediately react to this direct face-to-face communication. On a larger scale, McDonald surveys its customers two times per year. To entice customers to submit feedback, the organization offers a free sandwich in return for a completed survey (Phillips, Kenny). In summary, McDonald?  ¦s strives to reach its goal of ?  §making customers happy through their normal competitive bases of speed, price, and nutrition, and they also ensure customer satisfaction through continual improvement of their operations. Strategy Changes Made for You McDonald?  ¦s organization recently underwent drastic strategy changes to better serve their customers. Under their ?  §old system, the company would make several sandwiches at once, and hold the sandwiches in a warming bin until purchased by a customer. Under this system, management had to precisely predict how much food had to be put on hold. Precise prediction had to be used because if there were not enough food placed on hold, this would create the problem of increase waiting times for customers, and too much food would cause waste of expired items. McDonald?  ¦s dramatically changed their strategy in order to stay competitive with other fast food organizations. In 1999, McDonald?  ¦s spent $181 million to introduce their ?  §Made for You system (Chase). Under this new system, standard food items are not held in a bin until they are sold. In the ?  §Made for You system, modern technology greatly assists McDonald?  ¦s operations. When a customer places an order, the sandwich items are immediately displayed on a computer monitor in the kitchen and a tone sounds to alert the kitchen staff. Upon a new order, an employee in the kitchen will toast the bun, and assemble the sandwich accordingly. Standard items simply list the name of the sandwich, while customized orders list the sandwich name and the desired condiments. Once the sandwich is assembled, it is presented to the food loading area, where a different staff person retrieves the sandwich and completes the order by adding french fries, desserts, etc. The system works the same for front counter orders as well as drive-thru orders (Phillips, Kenny). Unfortunately, the introduction of the ? Made for Yousystem did not come easily. McDonald?  ¦s watched its customer satisfaction drop for the three consecutive years beginning in 1999 (Chase). After further research, they realized that although the new system provided fresher food, it was not as quick as the previous system. Instead of reverting back to the old system, McDonald?  ¦s continues to fine tune ?  §Made for You and add new options to help the system work faster. Revitalization Plan In order to cope with the first ever quarterly loss that resulted from inefficient use of the Made for You system (Chase), McDonald? ¦s has devised a new plan to increase profits. Previously, the corporation emphasized adding more restaurants to increase sales, but the new plan places emphasis on increasing sales at existing restaurants. The new plan will reduce spending, to enable more cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases (Cantalupo). Specific goals of the revitalization plan are to: ? XAttract new customers ?XEncourage existing customers to visit more often ?XBuild brand loyalty ?XCreate enduring profitable growth The main goal is to increase sales by creating an exceptional customer experience. McDonald?  ¦s plans to achieve this goal by focusing on its people, products, places, prices, and promotions. Menu Along with changes in their process strategies, McDonald?  ¦s has flirted with menu changes as well. Last year, they offered a ?  §new taste menu, where they offered a new sandwich for one week. The purpose was to offer customers a variety of options to satisfy peoples?  ¦ desire for variety. However, the new taste menu proved to be ineffective. Some customers would fall in love with an item, but it would only last one week, and they would be frustrated that they couldn? ¦t purchase their new beloved favorite sandwich. More recent changes to the menu have proved effective. McDonald?  ¦s realized that many of today?  ¦s customers seek healthy food options, and the corporation has offered items accordingly. As mentioned under ?  §Competition Bases, McDonald?  ¦s now offers a wider variety of nutritious items and provides information to help its customers as well as employees make informed healthy choices. QUALITY MANAGEMENT McDonald?  ¦s Corporation incorporates many quality management factors in its business process. Some of the most important plans undertaken to ensure quality include speed measurements, the five P?  ¦s (People, Product, Price, Place, and Promotion), employee training, and other factors. Speed One of the major quality management control factors includes minimizing the time that processes are done; this ensures an effective and efficient operations. A lot of these processes are done through the use of the latest information technology, whether it was through calculating the time of the processes or even making a database to value and make improvement to their processes. For example, one measurement is called Total Time in Line (TTL) which calculates the total time customers spend in the McDonald?  ¦s line, from the time the customer begins ordering until the time they get their food. TTL measurements are calculated the same way, the target TTL differs because of the service provided through the drive through or inside the restaurant. McDonald?  ¦s considers the fact that drive through customers usually expects their order faster and therefore, the drive through target TTL is 90 seconds. The target is slightly higher for the in-the-store customers because of the extra time they are willing to spend in the store (Phillips, Eddie). Along with measuring TTLs, other programs are utilized to make the speed of the service more efficient. The ?  §Made For You system uses the Kitchen-Video-System (KVS) to support fulfilling speedy orders. The Made for You system allows the order taker to enter or delete the orders on a touch screen that lists sandwiches, as well as individual condiments, in a way that eases the data entry process for the worker. As soon as any food is ordered, from any register, the necessary food items are displayed on a computer monitor in the kitchen. The kitchen staff immediately begins to prepare the food, and then erases the orders from the screen as the food is finished. Similar to TTLs, the time is measured between when an item is first displayed on the monitor, to the time when it is served. McDonalds continuously monitors these kitchen times in order to ensure that the Made for You system is working as efficiently as planned (Phillips, Eddie). Technology not only measures performance values within the organization, but it also assists in the drive through area. When a drive through worker is taking an order, it is displayed automatically on a screen available to the customer outside, called the Customer Order Display (COD). The customer can review the COD and correct any mistakes, thus making the ordering process more precise. More precise orders eliminate time wasted from correcting mistakes (Phillips, Kenny). Maintaining the speed and accuracy of the processes in McDonald?  ¦s is also done through less technological techniques. McDonald?  ¦s uses different colored packages to help the employee recognize the different types of food; colored wrapped sandwiches makes it easier to distinguish what is wrapped beneath. For example, a cheese burger is wrapped in yellow colored paper and a fish fillet is wrapped in blue, while a hamburger is wrapped in white paper. Special ordered sandwiches without standard condiments come in red and white paper, with a paper receipt attached which details the items on the sandwich (Phillips, Eddie). Quality Inspections Food safety is one of McDonald?  ¦s top priorities. Every restaurant is required to check food temperatures, expiration dates, and other food safety hazards several times throughout each day of operation. The corporation sends a standardized Food Safety book to every store which includes a comprehensive list of every item that needs to be measured. Cooked food temperatures are measured to ensure that all food is cooked properly before served. Refrigerated and frozen foods are also checked to make certain that they do not get too warm and are not spoiled. Expiration dates are checked on foods frequently, if the item is expired than it is discarded. Equipment is also measured to ensure that it is functioning properly. Also included in the safety checks is the water temperature in the restroom sinks, workers must be caution because water that is too hot can burn customers. Food safety checks are performed throughout the day, often during one of the manager?  ¦s many travel paths, which were described earlier in this report under ?  §Competitive Strategy (Phillips, Eddie). Periodic corporate inspections are one of the major quality management controls at McDonald?  ¦s. The McDonald?  ¦s Corporation applies two major inspections on each restaurant per year. One is called Field Operations Review (FOR), and the second is called System Observation Review (SOR). Since the inspections are made periodically, restaurants have two opportunities to pass the test. If the store fails to pass the inspection the second time, corporate takes over the store and brings in better employees to ensure that the proper processes and equipment is being used properly. Both inspections are extraordinarily thorough and they are based on a point system, points can be taken off for many different reasons. For example, points can be reduced if the credit card system is too slow, the store? ¦s walls have cracks, or even if the restaurant performs processes that slows the serving time. Points will also be lost if employees are not dressed according to regulations, this includes wearing name tags (Phillips, Kenny). Mcdonald?  ¦s must also provide a food safety log of recorded entries to ensure that proper food testing is completed properly (Phillips, Eddie). The Five P?  ¦s Even though many of the quality management processes in McDonald?  ¦s are done through the use of information technology, other quality management factors such as maintaining the five P? ¦s forces (People, Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) are essential in any business. Consequently, McDonald?  ¦s Corporation uses these related forces in the sense that each P creates a chain affect on each other. The following is a list of methods using the P forces. The first force is the people working in the McDonald?  ¦s chains, which are represented by service, hospitality, and pride. The staff employed in McDonald?  ¦s are continuously trained and kept in the company to reduce the cost of training short-term inexperienced workers. Moreover, the training process has been improved to include online e-learning tools for the restaurant staff. Maintaining the workers in the company is very important to McDonald?  ¦s and the corporation rewards workers who do outstanding services. This form of incentive is motivational to the workers (Cantalupo 4). The second force is the products which include the quality, taste, and price of the goods sold. McDonald?  ¦s is trying to establish flexibility with the changing tastes and preferences in the market, Moreover, they are also seeing growing interest in premium product and wholesome food choices. The quality and safety of the food is a main entity in maintaining the quality of the food at McDonald?  ¦s (Cantalupo 4). The third force is place which is represented by the clean, relevant, and modern store environments. Whether it was in the main restaurant area, the kitchen, or even the restrooms, the company ensures the safety and comfort for the consumers and staff workers. The company intends on having the gold standards for cleanliness (Cantalupo 5). The fourth factor is price, which is presented in the productivity and value. The value of the product is increased when consumers gets high quality products for lower costs. Therefore, McDonald?  ¦s Corporation ensures that its customers receive the highest value of food for the price they pay (Cantalupo 5). The fifth factor is promotion which is presented in marketing, leadership, and trust. The company has already earned its reputation for good quality food so they just focus on customers cares. They do this through community involvement and their social responsible towards the environment. This process will gain the trust of loyal customers and keep them for life (Cantalupo 5). Training McDonald?  ¦s realizes that its employees must understand their duties in order to fulfill the organization? ¦s goals. To ensure that all employees properly perform their assigned duties, McDonald?  ¦s invests greatly in their training program. The company continues to receive prestigious awards for their leading-edge training, including the ?  §Employer of Choice Award from the Restaurant Business Magazine (?  §Restaurant Management ). New crew members go through a thorough orientation process consisting of several videos, followed by several days of direct one-on-one training by a trainer. After employees feel comfortable with the operations, they may be promoted to Crew Trainers. Crew Trainers undergo further training for specialized processes such as the grill area, front counter, drive-thru, and other areas. Shift supervisors are the next step in the organization, followed by Second Assistant Managers, followed by First Assistant Manager, and the top manager at each McDonald?  ¦s restaurant is the Restaurant Manager (Phillips, Eddie). Training never stops at McDonald?  ¦s, no matter which position an employee holds. Some current employees describe McDonald?  ¦s as the ?  §best training company in the world (Phillips, Kenny). To improve the Made for You system, McDonald? ¦s recently introduced a strategy called ?  §Shift into Overdrive,?  ¦ and this strategy focuses on helping shift managers work more efficiently. All McDonald?  ¦s restaurants are required to send at least one manager to participate in the new training program (Phillips, Kenny). This training mainly focuses on the human aspects of Made for You, this ensures that the system is being used as design. Since the new system requires seamless work from several people, the entire team must work together for the system to work quickly to provide food to customers. Finally, to ensure the quality of the operations, McDonald? ¦s does surveys periodically to get feedbacks from customers (Phillips, Eddie). As shown throughout this section, the McDonald?  ¦s Corporation has been doing a very good job at keeping the quality of its products and services, whether it was through using computerized equipment or to train their human resources. RAW MATERIALS The Arrival & Maintenance Through the intense process of choosing and manufacturing raw materials, McDonald?  ¦s customers can be assured of a quality product. Whether arriving via truck or train, raw materials are delivered fresh and ready to use everyday. To ensure that this freshness is passed onto the customer, each arriving package is personally inspected for damage during its travel. In addition, the condition of delivery trucks are also taken into account to make sure that meat was untainted due to a filthy meat cooler. The meat cooler should always be set at 10 degrees below zero and the meat should remain at a constant temperature of 34 to 38 degrees. While some inspections are known, others are random to ensure that quality is consistent from one delivery to the next. The promise of high quality for McDonald?  ¦s raw materials does not cease to end at the delivery trucks. Inside the restaurant, the temperatures of freezers and refrigerators are recorded twice a day to guarantee the highest grade of ingredient usage. These temperatures are recorded in a book which is required to stay on premise for 60 days. After such time span, the book is moved to a local record storage where all previous data information is held. Grade ?  §A Beef and Other Meats All beef cooked at McDonald?  ¦s is of Grade ?  §A quality and 80%-82% lean. McDonald?  ¦s not only supports humane slaughtering of animals and refuses to purchase dairy cows over 5 year old due to the toughness of their meat. Upon the arrival of meat, received from Otto & Sons, Inc. in Chicago, a two hour supply is taken directly to the grill side freezers which stand at a constant temperature of 0 degrees. Once placed on the grill, the meat is cooked at a specific temperature to assure the meat holds the proper internal temperature to meet the requirements of food safety and yet hot enough to hold its natural juices. Cooked hamburger patties and other meat products are stored in a humidity controlled cabinet until usage to ensure that patties remain hot and moist. The preparation time of a hamburger should not take longer than 90 seconds and only 35 seconds after the hamburger bun itself has been toasted. This allows each customer to receive his/her meal in the timeliest fashion. Produce It is a known fact that agronomists can spend up to two years assisting a farmer grow perfect russet potatoes, 6-inches long, that produces a finished fry which is appealing both in looks and taste. In addition many produce items, lettuce for example, have specifications that are two pages long. With this many guidelines in place, McDonald? ¦s can guarantee that they are delivering to their customer the best ingredients possible. The produce delivered from Condie?  ¦s in Salt Lake City to the Evans and Colorado McDonald?  ¦s restaurant arrives via railroad to ensure that freshness is maintained. Upon inspection, should any produce not meet the correct internal temperature, the refrigerator is either immediately altered or the items are discarded. Restaurant Inspection Since McDonald?  ¦s believes so strongly in high quality products, Licensees are expected to obtain their desired product needs directly from suppliers rather than the McDonald? ¦s Corporation. While this ensures that the best raw materials are purchased at a reasonable price, it often leaves the McDonald?  ¦s Corporation ?  §in the dark concerning the safety precautions and procedures of franchised restaurants. As a result, the McDonald?  ¦s Corporation makes both announced and unannounced visits to international McDonald?  ¦s restaurants to ensure that proper procedures are being followed. With each visit, the restaurant being inspected is graded on their proficiency and performance. Based on this grade, the corporation will determine eligibility for growth of new franchise locations. In addition, the failure to meet requirements can result in a default in your franchise agreement for the following term. FORECASTING Aspects of Forecasting McDonald?  ¦s has a continual means of receiving information from customers, employees, and the industry that effects short, medium, and long term decision making and forecasting. Different kinds of information are received from all levels of the corporation and are used to learn more about the market movement and advertisement structure, to basic everyday processes in production and packaging of goods for the targeted markets. Forecasting is done in large by the corporation, as part of their responsibility to the franchisee?  ¦s and McDonald?  ¦s shareholders. Through our interview with the owner, we learned a lot about the basics of McDonald?  ¦s business and hierarchy; we were not able to get more in-depth information that is used for their budgeting, marketing, advertising, forecasting, and innovations of new products to come because it contains confidential contents. This is due to the scrutiny from people looking for flaws, bad business conduct, and other degrading allocations of McDonald? ¦s. Everything that was recorded was cleared at the corporate level. Forecasts are vital to McDonald?  ¦s organization and significant management decisions. Forecasts provide the basis for budgetary planning, cost control, planning new products, process selection, capacity planning, and facility layout. Typically, McDonald?  ¦s uses a qualitative type of forecasting. The main information used in forecasting the stability and future growth of the corporation is by the number of customers going in and out the door and all voiced opinions. There are different medians of communication for customer to relay there ideas, opinions, concerns, and problems they have with McDonald?  ¦s. At the particular location, a customer has employees, managers, and owners to voice what?  ¦s on their mind and how they like what?  ¦s going on in the restaurant. Often, McDonald?  ¦s managers and owners use open ended questions to allow customers to expand on what they want to talk about. McDonald?  ¦s nationally offers an 800 number for customers to use when the corporation has fallen short of their expectations or when a location makes a mistake with their order. Internationally, McDonald?  ¦s has a website that is not only interactive and informative throughout the 59 nations they supply to, but is a place for customers to voice their opinions and complaints. And as an owner of the McDonald?  ¦s on the intersection of Evans Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, Ronald Lessnau exclaimed, ?  §We listen! At the corporate level, qualitative forecasting can be seen, even with limited information that was given. Market research department takes data from talking with customers to find out how they like or feel about a particular ad campaign or a specific commercial. And product development department uses input on developing a new product or changing how the new product is prepared, priced, or packaged. McDonald?  ¦s has been extremely accurate in forecasting trends or needs the customers want and request. Mr. Lessnau states, ?  §McDonald?  ¦s, in the past has helped customers deal with their changing lifestyles. An example of this is when the Egg McMuffin, the first hand held breakfast sandwich by Herb Peterson, was introduced for the first time. ? §It took 10 years for breakfast to be successful at McDonald?  ¦s and now McDonald?  ¦s cracks more farm fresh, grade ?  §A eggs daily than the largest institution in the United States, the US Military. As consumers, it is known that McDonald?  ¦s has gone through a lot and where not always correct in projections influenced by the greatest number of customers. Even with using a qualitative forecast, the future is not always so clear so see. 12 years ago, due to the strong focus group surveys responses to healthier products put into motion the making of McLean Burger. McDonald developed and marketed the McLean Burger. It had 7% fat and was the best low fat burger on the market, costing 53 cents a pound more then the normal beef. It did not sell! Customers later decided that the product was too expensive and did not taste as good as its?  ¦ fatty brother. And maybe decisions that are based on the idea that the history of occurrences over time can be used to predict the future, time series forecasting, can explain why McDonald?  ¦s is slow to react to the Atkins Diet trends. Ronald Lessnau also gave examples of when qualitative forecasting influences how he fixes errors of the passed business decisions at his establishment. Decisions he has made have been based on estimates and opinion from surveys, interviews, history of products, and questionnaires. That particular McDonald?  ¦s has extended their hours as a result of many comments. Also, years ago they reduced some of the seasoning in the chicken products in a test market, and based on interviews and focus groups they went back to the original product and did not take the change national. He also described that in Denver, Colorado locations went back to the 99-cent double cheese burgers years ago because of feedback they received in focus groups that were conducted as part of their normal market research. As Lessnau explained, ?  §Sometimes you can prevent a good idea from going bad by talking to those closest to the customer, your sales people. The data collected for these long terms and every day business decisions were from employees as well as customers. SUPPLY CHAIN Examination of Supply Chain. Food quality is the key at McDonald’s restaurant. That?  ¦s why they take pride in the foods they serve to their customers. They seek out fresh lettuce and tomatoes, quality buns and potatoes, pure ground beef, select poultry and fish and wholesome dairy products. McDonald?  ¦s ensures that their products are guaranteed to be the best quality before serving to their customers. McDonald?  ¦s has many suppliers in which each supplier plays a vital role in providing McDonald?  ¦s with their products. First, McDonald?  ¦s receives its raw.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Language development High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Language development High School - Essay Example This website takes into consideration the milestones that a child is supposed to by covering while moving forward year by year. The website gives a very detailed account of these step-by-step processes of the language development milestones in a child's growth. Moreover, this website addresses the parents of a child to pay attention to the language development processes of a child so that any discrepancy can be noted and compensated because according to this webpage, "Speech and language are tools that humans use to communicate or share thoughts, ideas, and emotions". The website is highly interactive as it elaborates on concerned points in question-answer format and provokes the reader to go through the simply put linguistic details about langauge development and its scope. Speech-language-therapy is a very technical website with regard to the issues of language development. The head-organizer of this website, Caroline Bowden (PhD, speech language pathologist) gives a detailed research account in connection with language development processes. The Dr. has listed a number of research-based articles on a number of issues with relation to early language development. ... http://speech-language-therapy.com/ Learner.Org It is a very sophisticated website basically focusing on human psychology the understanding of the complex psychological processes. However, this very website also examines in acute scientific detail the language development patterns in human being. It links the early language development of a child to the very complex psychological development and mental growth in humans. "Language is perhaps the most complex cognitive product we have"; as such one of the focuses of this research-based website is to study the organization of early language learning patterns in children so that organization of knowledge can be understood and transferred to adult learners. This appears to be the focal point of this website. http://www.learner.org/ Sldc.Net Speech and Language Development Center is another very useful website with regard to early language development and disorder in the speech patterns of children. Founded in the early 1955, the website is dedicated to the cause of developing better grounds for effective language learning in children. The major point of focus of this website is "on the abilities of the individual -- rather than the disabilities -- to provide all students the opportunity to succeed". Starting with the enrollment of only three young children, the organization has grown into a huge network of language facilitator. It now serves up to 300 students in the area of language development. As such the website provides a complete background about the progress of the organization. http://www.sldc.net/default.aspx]

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Water Quality; Wastewater Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Water Quality; Wastewater Management - Essay Example The wastewater having very high amount of dissolved BOD or COD would require either biological treatment processes, like activated sludge treatment, trickling filters upflow anaerobic sludge treatment, or chemical treatment units like coagulation techniques, filtration with ion exchange etc. These methods would not be adequate for complete elimination of the dissolved impurities. For example in the case of municipal wastewater, the secondary treatment would results in the reduction of organic part of the total contaminants dissolved in it. On the other hand, the pollutants like nitrates and phosphates or bacterial/microbiological contamination would not be totally removed using these methods. Hence, advanced treatment operations are additionally required for the removal of the aforementioned impurities (Malzer, 2002). The treatment processes employed in such situations are classified as the tertiary treatment. The techniques are usually nitrification and denitrification units which a re also biological methods undertaken with the help of bacterial mass. On the other hand, phosphates too need specialized treatment units for its removal. Further, if the objective is to eliminate the bacterial contamination, disinfection systems need to be provided appropriately as the tertiary unit operation. Thus the methods used under the secondary and tertiary treatment units are of multiple types and each having different purpose. Thus in a typical treatment system where the secondary operations are dependent on the activated sludge plants, the operations consist of a series of inter linked units having a settling basin where the sludge is separated from the treated water, following by sludge thickening, sludge drying and sludge disposal. The treated water from the settling tank marks the end of secondary treatment operations the water would still

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Pollocks Revolutionary Transgressions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pollocks Revolutionary Transgressions - Essay Example The essay "Pollock’s Revolutionary Transgressions" discusses what were Pollock's break throughs and innovations in Painting in relation to the painting of his time. The painter was very active in his painting, making observers appreciate the energy involved in the visual pieces as well as the idea of the oneness and physical interaction between the artist and his art. Harold Rosenberg, the art critique who coined action painting, remarked that Pollock’s work led to a movement wherein the canvas began to appear as an arena in which to act rather than as a space in which to reproduce, redesign, analyze or express an object. This is the reason why Pollock is credited to have influenced several modern abstract painters. One of those that benefited from Pollock’s innovation was Willem de Kooning, who explained that the painter broke the ice in abstract expressionism (Hess 7). Like Pollock, de Kooning became known for painting through gestures and actions. De Kooningâ €™s style, however, is different from that of Pollock’s since he is considered to be more conservative in his techniques and in his materials. For instance, he primarily used oil in his artworks and did not experiment on resins like Pollock. Pollock’s influence can best be identified when one examines de Kooning’s masterpieces in the context of the fact that they were created through a deliberate modification of artistic procedures. Another important painter that considers Pollock as an inspiration and major influence is Helen Frankenthaler.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Best Practices on Autism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Best Practices on Autism - Research Paper Example While the paper has focused on the best practices in the field but the limited diagnosis criteria and lack of emphatic treatment has greatly frustrated the parents and the scholars alike and presents a challenge for the medical fraternity as well. In the recent times, there has been extensive and wide ranging concern for issues relating to disability. The prognosis and the use of technology in the field has made tremendous advancement and the amendments in the constitutions, making special provisions to include all round welfare programs for the people with disabilities has facilitated equal participation in the socio-economic development of the country. Though the huge efforts made by the countries to facilitate and promote the participation of the people with disabilities has made significant mark, a lot more needs to be done in the field of developmental disabilities which have multifaceted and multilateral aspects that are not only complex by nature but they also need socio-psychological interventions, stretched over a period of time, involving extensive inter-personal communication. Of the various developmental disabilities, autism is significantly different and encompasses a wide set of communication problem. Autism and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) can be broadly defined as neuro-developmental disorder that affects social interaction and communication. There is decided lack of responsiveness to others that is accompanied by resistance towards any type of change. The studies have shown that autism is more prominent displayed amongst the children in the age group of 4-12 (Rutter, 1970; Wiug, 1988). The various studies looking for contextual variables have found that the demographic representation of autistic children was higher in the urban areas (DSM II criteria, 1980; DSM III R criteria, 1987). The incidence of autism was higher in the immigrant population from third world countries, especially Caribbean, Asia, south America, South-east Europe

Do judges in the Uk made political decisions Outline

Do judges in the Uk made political decisions - Outline Example In the part of the Judiciary, however, its intervention in the legislative is controversial. The participation of the Judiciary branch in political decision-making applies only to the making of a common law, but their primary duty is to interpret the law and make sure that anyone who goes against it will be punished. Separation of Powers The major institutions of the British state would include the executive, the parliament and the judiciary. Each branch works "in the name of the Crown" which is the ruling monarch. Much like the roles of other government types, the branches have the roles of law making, implementation, and evaluation, respectively. However, the influence of a monarch would be the difference. In the Constitutional Fundamentals, the executive "comprises the Crown and the Government, including the Prime Minister and the government" (Anon., n.d). Its duties are to formulate and implement policies that the state and the government itself should abide. The Parliament compr ises of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The members of the House of Lords were unelected and were only appointed by the Crown. The Judiciary, as the term suggests, enacts the law and makes sure that it is properly exercised by every citizen of the nation. The Judiciary is an independent body. The legislature and the parliament should not influence the decisions of the judges and in the same way that the judges are not ought to make political decisions except for common laws. A common law, as the term suggests, comprises of general beliefs of people inspired by tradition, custom, and precedent (Anon., 2008). The status of the U.K. judges nowadays has been vague in terms of enactment of specified roles. As reported by Press Association (2011), former home secretary Lord Michael Howard said that the judges have "too much power" over the ruling of the state. This friction began when the High Court intervened with the Government's plan to pursue the "multibillion-pound secon dary school rebuilding programme." Lord Howard said that the judges are expected to stick to their responsibilities as law interpreters and leave the policy making to the executive (Press Association, 2011). This is the same to what Stevens (2005, p.55) stated that since the judges have taken a "more central role in political decision-making," their role as an independent body which exercises "impartiality" is already unreliable. In this note, the roles of the judges should be clarified. However, Peretti (1999) points out three things about judges and their roles in politics (cited in Cross, 2000, p.18). Peretti (1998) argues that "1) judge makes decisions based on their politics and not on some neutral principles of law; 2) that judges are not particularly independent of the influence of legislatures and hence must tailor their decisions to congressional politics; and 3) that this situation is a very good thing† (cited in Cross, 2000, p.18). Clearly, Peretti (1999) discloses that there should be a point in which the law-making body and the Judiciary could merge. The law states that there is a definite separation of power in all three branches, where the Judiciary acts as an interpreter of the law. Because of this, â€Å"Judges are independent from the police and the government, and cannot be told what to do, or have their decisions changed by ministers† (Directgov, n.d.). In reality, the opposite of expected outcomes persists. The manner of being one of the

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Good Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Good Leader - Essay Example However, all leaders possess certain common qualities that help them to perform their role. If an organization has proper leaders with a vision that they can articulate and implement in various situations, their management is considered to be well-organized (Hesburgh, N.D). These are the essentials for an organization to succeed and reach new heights. The position of the managers, supervisor, lead etc. does not make a leader; it simply makes you the boss. A boss is the one who just assigns tasks for everyone; while a leader motivates each and everyone to achieve those goals and make them want to do a certain task given (Hakala, 2008). Leaders also do not restrict the employees or people working under them to follow the certain method prescribed by them; they give them a chance to brainstorm and use a method that is mutually beneficial for them and the organization. This augments the intellectual capabilities of the employees and the thrill of choosing to do whatever method they want, as far as it is appropriate, motivates them and increases not only their efficiency and productivity, but also their devotion and commitment to the organization. No doubt, a company is run by the company heads, CEOs, Managing Directors followed by general managers or department heads, but the work that is to be performed is to be carried out by the e mployees to a very large extent. Therefore, once their confidence and loyalty for the company is gained with enough stimulation within them, a company can run very smoothly and flourish in the future. The core functions of management are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning is to develop and design the goals of the company depending upon the objectives; organizing is to divide and assign tasks to every worker depending upon his rank; leading is to monitor employees and motivate them in different capacities required; and controlling is to bring about the change required within the management for the improvement of the company's performance. Thus, we can judge that leadership is a very crucial part of management. A company can be well-structured and reap profits if proficient leadership is available. It is a concept that good management is to resolve problems; however, good management is to be able to resolve problems in such a way that they are prevented in the future (Reh, 2006). If each problem is tackled following this pattern, an unsuccessful business can surely transform into a successful one. A good leader is expected to have certain qualities that benefit the organization directly or indirectly. Integrity is an important quality of a leader - the inner values and the outward actions are the same, that is, there is no hypocrisy involved. This will result in honest dealings that will augment the goodwill of a company, making it popular. A leader needs to be dedicated to his company; his passion and commitment to the company will motivate him to make arduous efforts for the enhancement of the company. Magnanimity is critical because the leader tends to give the credit for a good performance to the deserving person. Such rewards and acknowledgements becomes and incentive for the employees to struggle and work harder, indirectly benefiting the company. A leader should be down to earth and should have humility - this will prevent him to self-centered and

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Is it possible to distinguish between science and pseudo-science Is Essay

Is it possible to distinguish between science and pseudo-science Is there a satisfactory criterion of demarcation which can be employed to make such a distinction - Essay Example Pseudoscience is any body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that claims to be scientific or is made to appear scientific, but does not adhere to the basic requirements of the scientific method (Wikipedia). The word ‘pseudo’ implies that the science is fake or false just because there are problems with the testability criterion (Thompson, 1980). Pseudoscience is supposed to lack supporting evidence and plausibility (Goldstein, 2000). According to Muralidharan (n.d.) one is an experimented science and the other is an experienced science. Simanek (2005) emphasizes that the practitioners of all that is termed as ‘pseudoscience’ do not recognize the validity of this term. The boundaries of science and pseudoscience continue to be debated. With the help of a therapy in alternative medicine, namely Reiki, this paper will demonstrate that it is not possible to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. According to Lakatos (1970), the demarcation between science and pseudoscience is through inductivism. According to this theory only those propositions can be accepted into the body of science that describe hard facts or are inductive generalizations from them. An inductivist accepts a proposition only if it is proven true, otherwise he rejects it. If a proposition remains unproven, it is called pseudoscientific. He firmly states that science is based on hard factual propositions and inductive generalizations. The experiments of physics and chemistry are associated with this concept. The draw back here is that inductivism does not explain why certain facts rather than others were selected in the first place. How do the scientists get the inspiration to select a hypothesis? When a drop of water falls on our hand, the realization of hot or cold is an experience. Science merely explains the phenomenon of hot or cold but the heat and cold have existed even before the scientist made an a ttempt to study

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

It's about IAS 17 and details see in document file Essay

IAS 17 Proposed Changes in the 2013 Exposure Draft - Essay Example The lessees are advised against recognizing assets as well as liabilities that result from operating leases. That concept has over time attracted the attracted significant request from users of financial statements as well as others to enhance changes that will ensure that lessees are upheld to recognize liabilities as well as assets in the financial statements. The IASB, as well as FASB, engaged in a joint project that focused on developing the relevant measures to ensure that lease assets will be recognized in the statement of financial position. The two bodies deliberated on revisiting the 2009 Exposure Draft that was issued in 2009 to seek preliminary views and FASB accounting Standards update issued in August 2010 to enhance forming an Exposure Draft in 2013 (Ellis, 2014). The proposed Exposure Draft of 2013 will only affect entities that engage or are engaged in lease irrespective of some specified scope exemptions. The Exposure Draft 2013 would supersede IAS 17 leases in IFRS. The primary principle of the proposed requirements is that a company will ensure recognition of assets as well as liabilities that result from lease agreements. The proposed requirements serve as a way of improving the existing lease requirement that fails to require lease assets together with liabilities to be recognized by the majority of lessees. The principle will, therefore, require lessees to ensure recognition of assets as well as liabilities for leases that possess a maximum possible term of more than one financial year (EFRAG, 2013. A lessee will have to recognize the lease liability as well as the underlying asset for the lease term. In recognition, measurement as well as the presentation of an entity’s expenses.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Identify the Mission, Objectives, and Responsibilities of an Organisation Within It’s Environment Essay Example for Free

Identify the Mission, Objectives, and Responsibilities of an Organisation Within It’s Environment Essay An organisation is defined as ‘A group of people working together’ (Collins Dictionary 2001). An organisation is generally accepted as a unit working together to achieve the same goals. Concurring with this statement, Mintzberg (1997) defined goals as ‘the intentions behind decisions or actions, the states of mind that drive individuals or collectives of individuals called organisations to do what they do’. In order for an organisation to work, set guidelines have to be put in place for both short and long term aspirations, to ensure that the organisation is moving as a whole, a unit, to avoid separation, miscommunication, and misunderstanding. This can be achieved by administering a meaningful and worthwhile strategic plan consisting of a progressive, hierarchical set of aims. This will give each individual, as well as the organisation as a whole, a purpose. A set of aims can be as follows (Business Essentials 2010); An example of this would be my current place of employment. Their Vision Statement is as follows; ‘We are committed to providing a modern, efficient, and cost effective service focused on meeting our customer’s needs in a friendly , timely, and accurate manner, and will provide the necessary resources to enable achievement of our objectives. We will be readily accessible to everyone in the community to maximise social inclusion, minimise barriers to work and assist people to live in decent housing. We will process claims quickly and accurately, while actively reducing the incidences of fraud or error through investigation. Where fraudulent intent is proven, we will seek to apply appropriate sanctions as a deterrent against future activity. Where we seek to collect money, we will issue bills promptly and correctly. Where recovery action is required, we will act quickly, fairly, and impartially, but with due regard to social welfare and human rights of our customers.’ (Heather Tiso, 1995) However something so unobtainable may not be in the forefront of people’s minds. This is summed up in the following article statement ‘Mission statement in some companies has a huge influence in all management levels of the firm, but in others it is still just addition on the wall and usually what’s forgotten.’ Values of an organisation are more likely to be remembered, as they are more relatable to people within. The values upheld by the people within my organisation, are that of trust, respect, pride in work, ability to take ownership, two way communication – to give as well as to receive, to maintain excellent customer service at all time, to help each other out if need be, to feel comfortable and confident enough to speak up if they have any ideas for improvements, to strive for fairness, equality, and diversity, versatility, flexibility, taking responsibility for their own development, to be open minded as our line of service is ever changing. This encourages a culture of people that are able to pull together against constant adversity, and still achieve excellent results, as well as continually exceed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The key objectives of my organisation, can be broken down in to the following examples; †¢Operational Goal – to increase revenue (Objective – decrease number of incorrect subsidy claims by 10%) †¢Non Operational Goal – to modify behaviour of customers (Objective – to get customers to act and think in a productive manner) †¢Primary Objective – to maximise revenues with as little expenditure as possible †¢Secondary objective(s) – to maintain excellent customer service, to strive for 100% accuracy, to maintain excellent working relationships with stakeholders. †¢Corporate Objectives – To increase customer satisfaction, to minimise risk, to ensure a glide path is in place for these objectives. †¢Unit Objectives – to answer all calls within 20 seconds, to deal with all work items with a turnaround of 9 days, to see all customers visiting the offices within under 5 minutes, to identify and understand our customer’s needs, to maintain a very high level of service, to develop personal/professional relationships with stakeholders. The influence of stakeholders Identifying Stakeholders is a process of integration within the said organisation. This can be summarised with a statement from a World Bank Group article – ‘All parties should be listed which are likely to be affected by the development, both positively or negatively, directly or indirectly.’ Stakeholders in our company are highly valued and important, and therefore our relationships with them are maintained to a very high standard. Our organisation has numerous companies identified as Stakeholders. This is not just on a professional level, as on top of Internal Stakeholders (i.e. staff) we recognise a number of Connected Stakeholders (customers, suppliers,) and External Stakeholders (local community, the government). Therefore, overall Stakeholder influence is vast, extending way beyond just making a customer happy. The knock on effects of the positive or negative experience of that customer may affect my organisation greatly. As different Stakeholders have different interests, it is not possible to focus on all of them at once with a blanket gesture in the hope of satisfying all their needs. Their needs have to be prioritised by looking at individual objectives, and balancing important/urgent needs with needs that would not have an adverse effect or affect relationships by waiting to be dealt with. Examples of Stakeholders in my organisation, are employees, customers, and the Government. As staff are immediately and intimately connected with the organisation, their influence is going to possibly be the strongest influence. It has been said numerous times that employees are the most influential. Motivated employees are highly likely to be more productive in producing work, ideas, and meeting objectives. Coincidently, the objectives of staff, are to be treated fairly, be given equal opportunity, be recognised for the consistently excellent work they produce when the odds are stacked against them, feel secure in their job and working environment, and have a sense that they are achieving. These objectives are met in the most part, however, as the organisation as a whole has a hierarchy , and it tends to be the senior managers setting objectives and deciding whether these have been met. This can lead to the human element being lost, and people judged by numbers, as other factors aren’t always taken into consideration. This can affect morale, but ultimately, our nee ds are met. Achieving objectives of stakeholders One of our Connected Stakeholders, our customers, are generally the focal point of our work. The bottom line, is customers want a service provided with their individual interests in mind, with the least possible output from them. The saying ‘The Customer is Always Right’, is incorrect in my opinion. The customer may not know what they need, they need to be asked open and closed questions in order to ascertain exactly what service they require. Customers wish to be heard, treated with respect, and for a positive experience with whatever organisation they deal with. The needs of our customers are met, as they are one of the most important stakeholders. Failure to meet these needs may result in loss of business, complaints, and repercussions from higher management if objectives are not met. The Government is an example of our External Stakeholders. This is due to the fact we are a public sector organisation, and a direct derivative of Central Government. The Government’s objectives are mainly that their Corporate Objectives influence our Unit Objectives, as well as Primary/Secondary Objectives. We meet the requirements of the Government by adhering to their laws, policies, procedures, and implementing them whilst maintaining a professional forefront to other stakeholders, such as the general public.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Appropriate Future Strategy For A Given Organization Commerce Essay

Appropriate Future Strategy For A Given Organization Commerce Essay One of the first things that you will need to do when you start up a new business is to create your business strategy. The strategy that you decide up will be incredibly important for the future of your business since it will influence many of your future decisions and shape the nature of your university business. It is, therefore, its essential to take the time to make sure that you choose the right strategy for you and your new business. Making the right choice now will affect the chances of your university business becoming a success. When you choose your business strategy, you will need to make sure that it is one with which you will feel comfortable, but you will also need to ensure that your strategy is compatible with the type of business you want to run and the industry in which you will be working. You need to choose the strategy that will be right for your particular business. Your business strategy will be the overall strategy that you use to shape and run your business. It may incorporate a number of smaller missions, plans or goals that set out what you want to achieve with your business. These may relate to your business focus, the differentiation of your business from its competitors, or the other factors that will determine what makes your business a success. A pioneer business is one that is creating a new product, or developing something new, and, which is therefore based upon innovation. If you want to follow this type of strategy, then you will need to continue creating new products and offering new services in Leeds University, so you will need to make sure that you have the necessary resources for this kind of innovation. If your business strategy will be to set up a business as a follower rather than a pioneer, you will be entering into a field that has already been established by other businesses. This will offer certain advantages since you will be able to exploit services which have already been created and proven successful. However, it will mean that you will need to be ready to take on the competition. In order to increase your chances of success as you enter an established market as a follower, you may want to focus your business strategy on a particular niche. You can choose to offer a broad range of products or services, although this will open you up to a large number of different competitors and it is likely to require more resources. Alternatively, you can focus on a particular, specialized niche or area of business, such as the sale of a particular service. Another important consideration when you are choosing your business strategy is the type of market which you would like to target. The types of products and services that you want to offer and the customers you will need to appeal to may vary a great deal in value, from high end to low end products. You should decide which end of the market you want to target, taking into consideration your skills, experience and resources as well as the characteristics of each type of market. In order to make the right choice of business strategy, you will need to consider a number of different factors, such as the resources that you have available, the opportunities that are available in the market and the types of skills and experience that you are able to take advantage of, both in yourself and in your employees. When you are choosing your business strategy, you should consider the future of your business as well as your current resources and situation. You may want to think about the long-term potential of your business strategy and how it may develop and change as your business grows. Your business strategy can change over time, but it is still important to ensure that you choose the right strategy for the present, in order to ensure that you achieve the success you need now before you can think about growth and expansion into new areas of the market. 4.1 Compare the Roles and responsibilities for strategy implementation? Task: Evaluate the function and the day-to-day job for plan execution of Leeds University. The key to a successful execution is alignment. Strategy, people, and day to day work processes need to be effectively linked. The strategic plan must be understood by the entire organization, the right people need to be in the right jobs to allow for maximum work performance, and action plans must be developed, implemented, and reviewed. A common issue is that individuals within the various departments in an organization may view the goals and objectives of the company very differently. Where a communication vacuum exists, Sales, Manufacturing and Finance may view a singular priority very differently. This miscommunication between functional silos can be very counterproductive. To effectively align strategy, people, and the tactical action plans that lead to a successful execution, a lot of hard work and diligent communication must happen. We cannot communicate too much guiding an entire organization to the same place takes consistent repetition for the message to stick permanently in the minds and hearts of employees. Another critical point is that plan execution is a process, not a specific step. There is no discrete beginning or end. Markets and competitors are ever-changing. Although the broad strategy and direction should not waver, what things get done, and in what order, will evolve due to changing conditions in the world around us. Then we evaluate and adapt and to gain traction and ground on the competition. As the world changes, communication, once again, is very important to minimize any confusion within the ranks. The bottom line is that effective execution is difficult. There are formidable roadblocks, hurtles, and changing dynamics that get in the way and can injure the implementation of a good strategy. But well run businesses do this all the time, although there is no singular process to manage the execution of a business plan, there are basic processes and fundamentals to be followed. 1) Once the broad Mission, Vision and strategy for the organization has been established, focusing on its core competencies, specific quantifiable goals to support the strategy must be formulated. 2) The organization must be evaluated. Do you have the right people with the right skills in the right jobs? Should human resources be reallocated? Do you have the right number of employees in the appropriate departments? 3) Identify the key initiatives and broad actions that must be accomplished to achieve this strategy. Identify the transitional issues, or the gaps, between where you are today and where you plan to be. Push the initiatives throughout the organization. They must be consistently understood in all functional departments. Every employee needs to understand their individual role in accomplishing some aspect of the plan. 4) Develop a budget to support the plan. This may be an iterative process until the right combination of strategy, tactics, and financial prudence is achieved. 5) Communicate! Get the message out to the entire organization. Develop compensation and reward systems to support the future Vision of the organization. Create decision filters that help guide the organization through a thought process for those times when the organization wrestles with a concept that may stray from its strategy. 6) Establish a review process. As the markets, customers, competitors, government regulations, economy, etc. evolve, some priorities, and possibly some goals, may change. Go back to the beginning, review each step, and determine if further changes are necessary. 4.2 Evaluate resource requirements to implement a new strategy for a given organization? Task: Assess what type of resource requirements are needed to implement a new strategy for the Leeds For Leeds University which have a plan in place, wasting time and energy on the planning process and then not implementing the plan is very discouraging.   Although the topic of implementation may not be the most exciting thing to talk about, its a fundamental business practice thats critical for any strategy to take hold. The strategic plan addresses the what and why of activities, but implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how. The fact is that both are critical to success. In fact, companies can gain competitive advantage through implementation if done effectively.   In the following sections, you discover how to get support for your complete implementation plan. All components must be in place in order to move from creating the plan to activating the plan. People The first stage of implementing your plan is to make sure to have the right people on board. The right people include those folks with required competencies and skills that are needed to support the plan. In the months following the planning process, expand employee skills through training, recruitment, or new hires to include new competencies required by the strategic plan. Resources You need to have sufficient funds and enough time to support implementation.   Often, true costs are underestimated or not identified. True costs can include a realistic time commitment from staff to achieve a goal, a clear identification of expenses associated with a tactic, or unexpected cost overruns by a vendor. Additionally, employees must have enough time to implement what may be additional activities that they arent currently performing. Structure Set your structure of management and appropriate lines of authority, and have clear, open lines of communication with your employees. A plan owner and regular strategy meetings are the two easiest ways to put a structure in place. Meetings to review the progress should be scheduled monthly or quarterly, depending on the level of activity and time frame of the plan. Systems Both management and technology systems help track the progress of the plan and make it faster to adapt to changes. As part of the system, build milestones into the plan that must be achieved within a specific time frame. A scorecard is one tool used by many organizations that incorporates progress tracking and milestones. Culture Create an environment that connects employees to the organizations mission and that makes them feel comfortable. To reinforce the importance of focusing on strategy and vision, reward success. Develop some creative positive and negative consequences for achieving or not achieving the strategy.   The rewards may be big or small, as long as they lift the strategy above the day-to-day so people make it a priority. 4.3 Discuss targets and timescales for achievement in a given organization to monitor a given strategy? Task: Discuss the targets and timescale needed for the University of Leeds to achieve its vision of securing a place in the top 50 universities of the World by implementing the above strategy. A key strategic objective for the University of Leeds is to secure a place among the top 50 universities in the world by 2015. To achieve this, the University will have to develope a number of initiatives to support the further development of core activities such as research, learning, teaching and knowledge transfer. Supporting each of these core activities are university staff and resource, whose further development is critical to enabling the Universitys primary objective can be achieved effectively. According to Leeds university official website, The University has engaged in a wave of modern expansion since 2008, and has invested more than  £300  million in transforming its campus over the coming years, resulting in new state-of-the-art educational, research, residential and leisure facilities with a further  £80  million being spent to improve current assets. The programme of this expansion being one of the biggest capital investment projects in British higher education. Its overarching vision is to provide staff and students with a world-class campus which is integral to the universitys ambition and vision of securing a place among the worlds top 50 universities The University of Leeds, having selected Jadu Content Management following an extensive formal tendering process, are currently implementing enterprise web content management across the Universitys faculties. The Jadu CMS system, which has been integrated with the Universitys LUMINIS student portal system and Google Search Appliance (GSA), will form the basis of all online publishing at the University over the next 10 years. Scenario: A manager might want to speed up the process of team development to the performing stage. Given the uncertainties and conflict of the storming stage, it might also seem apparent that team spirit and solidarity should be developed as soon as possible. So how do you build a team? Question 5: (Covers some elements of assessment criteria 4.1 and getting merit M2)) Read the following statements and decide to which category they belong (forming, storming, norming, performing, doming and justify your answer with reasons. -Two of the group arguing as to whose idea is best. Storming Storming is characterized by competition and conflict within the team as members learn to bend and mold their feelings, ideas, attitudes, and beliefs to suit the team organization. Although conflicts may or may not surface as group issues, they do exist. Questions about who is responsible for what, what the rules are, what the reward system is, and what the evaluation criteria are arising. These questions reflect conflicts over leadership, structure, power, and authority. Because of the discomfort generated during this stage, some members may remain completely silent, while others attempt to dominate. Members have an increased desire for structural clarification and commitment. In order to progress to the next stage, team members must move from a testing-and-proving mentality to a problem-solving mentality. Listening is the most helpful action team members and the team leader can take to resolve these issues. -Progress becomes static performing The performing stage is not reached by all teams. Those teams that do reach this stage not only enjoy team members who work independently but also support those who can come back together and work interdependently to solve problems. A team is at its most productive during this stage. Team members are both highly task-oriented and highly people-oriented during this stage. The team is unified: Team identity is complete, team morale is high, and team loyalty is intense. The task function becomes genuine problem solving, leading to optimal solutions and optimum team development. There is support for experimentation in solving problems, and an emphasis on achievement. The overall goal is productivity through problem solving and work -Desired outputs being achieved. Norming When the team moves into the norming stage, they are beginning to work more effectively as a team. They are no longer focused on their individual goals, but rather are focused on developing a way of working together (processes and procedures). They respect each others opinions and value their differences. They begin to see the value in those differences on the team. Working together as a team seems more natural. In this stage, the team has agreed on their team rules for working together, how they will share information and resolve team conflict, and what tools and processes they will use to get the job done. The team members begin to trust each other and actively seek each other out for assistance and input. Rather than compete against each other, they are now helping each other to work toward a common goal. The team members also start to make significant progress on the project as they begin working together more effectively. -Shy member of group not participating. Forming The forming stage takes place when the team first meets each other. In this first meeting, team members are introduced to each. They share information about their backgrounds, interests and experience and form first impressions of each other. They learn about the project they will be working on, discuss the projects objectives/goals and start to think about what role they will play on the project team. They are not yet working on the project. They are, effectively, feeling each other out and finding their way around how they might work together. During this initial stage of team growth, it is important for the team leader to be very clear about team goals and provide clear direction regarding the project. The team leader should ensure that all of the members are involved in determining team roles and responsibilities and should work with the team to help them establish how they will work together (team norms.) The team is dependent on the team leader to guide them. -Activities being allocated. Forming During the forming stage, team members not only get to know each other but also familiarize themselves with their task and with other individuals interested in the project, such as supervisors. At the end of the forming stage, team members should know the following: The projects overall mission The main phases of the mission The resources at their disposal A rough project schedule Each members project responsibilities A basic set of team rules Scenario: The Griswold cutlery Company is an old established firm, selling high quality stainless steel cutlery to markets in the UK, France and Germany. It is based in Sheffield. The managing director, Mr. Paul Griswold, great grandson of the firms founder, has just taken over from his father, Matthew Griswold. Matthew Griswold was a manager of the old school. As the boss, he liked to exert power and employees were afraid to disagree with him. He encouraged strict conformance to company procedures: rules are rules, they are there to be followed, and I dont like changing them. Question: 6 (Covers some elements of assessment criteria 4.2 and getting merit D1)) Paul Griswold wants to introduce MBO. Do you think this will be an easy task? Justify your answer with reasons. I will give my opinion at the end of the answers but first the Definition of MBO: MBO is one of the rational school of managements successful products.                                                                                                       The Economist Management by objectives (MBO) is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources. It aims to increase organizational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organization. Ideally, employees get strong input to identify their objectives, time lines for completion, etc. MBO includes ongoing tracking and feedback in the process to reach objectives. Management by Objectives (MBO) was first outlined by Peter Drucker in 1954 in his book The Practice of Management. In the 90s, Peter Drucker himself decreased the significance of this organization management method, when he said: Its just another tool. It is not the great cure for management inefficiency. Features of MBO: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Management by Objectives is a philosophy or a system, and not merely technique. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It emphasizes participative goal setting. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It clearly defines each individual responsibility in terms of results. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  If focuses attention on what must be accomplished (goals0 rather than on how it is to be accomplished. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It converts objective needs into personal goals at every level in the organization. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It establishes standards or yardsticks (goals) as operation guides and also as basis of performance evaluation. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a system intentionally directed toward effective and efficient attainment of organizational and personal goals. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  MBO process (or management by Objective cycle or key elements of management by Objectives or minimum requirements     of        management by objectives. Steps in MBO: What are the steps involved in the process of MBO? The basic steps that are common in all the processes of management by objective (MBO) are:- 1. Central goal setting: defining and verifying organizational objectives is the first step in MBO process. Generally these objectives are set by central management of the organization but it does so after consulting other managers. Before setting of these objectives, an extensive assessment of the available resources is made by the central management. It also conducts market service and research along with making a forecast. Through this elaborate analysis, the desired long run and short run objectives of the organization are highlighted. The central management tries to make these objectives realistic and specific. After setting these goals it is the responsibility of the management that these are known to all members and are also under stood by them. 2. Development and individual goal setting: After organization objectives are established by the central management, the next step is to establish the department goals. The top management needs to discuss these objectives with the heads of the departments so that mutually agreed upon objectives are established. Long range and short range goals are set by each department in consultation with the top management. After the department goals are established, the employees work with their managers to establish their own individual goals which relate with the organization goals. These participative goals are very important because it has been seen that employees become highly motivated to achieve the objectives established by them. These objectives for individuals should be specific and short range. These should indicate the capability of the unit of the individual. Through this process all the members of the organization become involved in the process of goal setting. 3. Revision of job description: In the process of MBO resetting individual goals involves a revision of job description of different positions in the organization which in turn requires the revision of the entire structure of the organization. The organization manuals and charts may also have to be modified to portray the changes that have been introduced by the process of MBO. The job description has to define the objectives, authority and responsibility of different jobs. The connection of one job with all other jobs of the organization also needs to be established clearly. 4. Matching goals: The establishment of objectives cannot be fruitful unless the resources and means required to achieve these objectives are provided. Therefore the subordinates should be provided required tools and materials which enable them to achieve the objectives efficiently and effectively. Resource requirements can be measured precisely if the goals are set precisely. This makes the process of resource allocation relatively easy. Resource allocation should be made after consulting the subordinates. 5. Freedom implementation: The task team of manager and his subordinates should be given freedom in deciding the way to utilize their resources and the way to achieve their objectives. There should be very little or no interference by the seniors as long as the team is working within the framework of organization policies. 6. Establishing check points: The process of MBO requires regularly meetings between the managers and their subordinates to discuss the progress achieve in the accomplishment of the objective established for the subordinates. For this purpose the mangers need to establish the standards of performance or check points to evaluate the progress of their subordinates. These standards need to be specified as for as possible quantitatively and it should also be ensured that these are completely understood by the subordinates. This practices needs to be followed by all managers and these should lead to an analysis of key results has the targets are represented in terms of the results. The analysis of key results should be recorded in writing and it generally contains information regarding : (I) the overall objectives related with the job of subordinates. (ii) The key results which must be achieved by the subordinate to fulfil his objectives. (iii) The long term and short term priorities, a subordinate needs to adhere to. (iv.) The extent and scope of assistance expected by a subordinate from his superior and other departmental managers and also the assistance, the subordinates is required to extend to other departments of his organizations. (v.) Nature of information and the reports receive by the subordinate to carry out self evaluation. (vi.) The standards use to evaluate the performance of the subordinate. 7. Performance appraisal: An informal performance appraisal is generally conducted in routine by the manager; a periodic review of performance of the subordinates should also be conducted. Periodic reviews are required as the priorities and conditions change constantly and need to be monitored constantly. These reviews help the mangers as well as the subordinates to modify the objectives or the methods whenever require. This significantly increases the chances of achieving the goals and also ensures that no surprises are found at the time of final appraisal. Periodic performance appraisal needs to be based on measurable and fair standards so that these are completely understood by the subordinates and there are also aware of the degree of performance required at each step. 8. Counselling: Periodic performance review helps the subordinates in improving his future performance. Advantages of MBO: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MBO programs continually emphasize what should be done in an organization to achieve organizational goals. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MBO process secures employee commitment to attaining organizational goals. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motivation Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing employee empowerment increases employee job satisfaction and commitment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Better communication and Coordination Frequent reviews and interactions between superiors and subordinates helps to maintain harmonious relationships within the enterprise and also solve many problems faced during the period. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Clarity of goals With MBO, came the concept of SMART goals i.e. goals that are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Specific 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Measurable 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Achievable 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Relevant, and 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Time bound. The goals thus set are clear, motivating and there is a linkage between organizational goals and performance targets of the employees. Disadvantages of MBO: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It over-emphasizes the setting of goals over the working of a plan as a driver of outcomes. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It underemphasizes the importance of the environment or context in which the goals are set. That context includes everything from the availability and quality of resources, to relative buy-in by leadership and stake-holders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Companies evaluated their employees by comparing them with the ideal employee. Trait appraisal only looks at what employees should be, not at what they should do. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It did not address the importance of successfully responding to obstacles and constraints as essential to reaching a goal. Conclusion: The use of MBO needs to be carefully aligned with the culture of the organization. While MBO is not as fashionable as it was before the empowerment fad, it still has its place in management today. Because in mbo the objectives are discussed and agreed, based upon a more strategic picture being available to employees. Engagement of employees in the objective setting process is seen as a strategic advantage by many. So in my opinion its very different process from how The Griswold cutlery Company used to be managed and I dont think I will be an easy task, but if achieved it will be very rewarding Scenario: Hall Faull Downes Ltd has been in business for 25 years, during which time profits have risen by an average of 3% per annum, although there have been peaks and troughs in profitability due to the ups and downs of trade in the customers industry. The increase in profits until five years ago was the result of increasing sales in a buoyant market, but more recently, the total market has become somewhat smaller and Hall Faull Downes has only increased sales and profits as a result of improving its market share. The company produces components for manufacturers in the engineering industry. In recent years, the company has developed many new products and currently has 40 items in its range compared to 24 only five years ago. Over the same five year period, the number of customers has fallen from twenty to nine, two of whom together account for 60% of the companys sales. Question: 7 A. (Covers some elements of assessment criteria 2.1 and getting merit D2)) Give your appraisal of the companys future, My personal opinion of Hall Faull Downes future is the we will see: #1 a decrease in profit over the next few years which will lead to the lowering the average of 3% growth per annum #2 the company will lose of its customer base over time therefore It will lose even more substantial market share #3 the company is in risk if both or one of the two customers that account for 60% of their business sales decided to pull out from trading with hall Faull Downes #4 the number of clients may continue to drop and we might see the business offer even more products in its range which could mean that the business may become non-specialized, finally the company could branch out from producing just components in the engineering industry. And if the business doesnt make some changes, it might run into major financial problems, which in this economy state could mean bankruptcy for Hall Faull Downed And suggest what it is probably doing wrong #1 the decreasing market share, Market share is the number one health indicator for your company. If it is flat or worse yet falling, you have a serious problem on your hands. So you need to develop techniques that can help you reverse this problem and ensure that this trend does not surprise your company again. #2 the increase in the range of products the company produce, While carrying a wide range of products may at first sound like a great idea because your business may appeal to a variety of customers, chances are this will backfire unless you have a business model that is designed to carry lots of products (think variety stores or stores such as Wal-Mart or Target). Most companies have specific business models when they are launched and if your business isnt designed or marketed to be non-specialized, carrying a wide range of products is likely going to have the opposite desired effect and put your business at a huge disadvantage. A business that attempts to sell a plethora of products is going to need a strategic plan to support the rationale for carrying a wide range of products. Most of the time, this reason doesnt exist. The reason for this is because by offering too large a variety of products, you eliminate the specialization factor and this is usually one of the best strategies to increase business and grow your customer base. A business that tries to gra

Oral Reading And Reading Comprehension Performance English Language Essay

Oral Reading And Reading Comprehension Performance English Language Essay Reading ability has always been considered as a critical measurement in language education. It involves both reading behaviours and reading comprehension. Among all the different reading behaviours, there are many debates around whether oral reading has any influence on the reading comprehension performance or not. Hence, this study has been focused on the relationship between oral reading and the comprehension performance of second year students in Shandong Normal University, China. The grades of participants who participated in two reading comprehension tests, before and after a 6-week oral reading practice experiment had been measured and compared. Results had revealed a significant correlation between everyday oral reading practice and reading comprehension performance in late-teen and early-twenty EFL/ESL university students. The practice of oral reading showed significant influence on reading comprehension performance in the test. Most of groups showed that oral reading practic e had positive influence on the reading comprehension performance. Feedback suggested that oral reading experiment was successful because it helps in improving the scores of the reading comprehension test. It is recommended that English as foreign language or second language (EFL/ESL) teachers and students use oral reading as a practicing method and reading method during English learning. And also employ it as a reading method in reading comprehension outside examination. Beside the benefits of the oral reading method on reading comprehension performance, a clear bottleneck was also observed in this method during the investigation. As a consequence, to improve reading comprehension performance in EFL/ESL study, more factors such as vocabulary capacity, analysis ability of sentences and the understanding of the background culture would need to be taken into consideration, apart from the oral reading practice. 1. Introduction 1.1 Background Reading methodologies take an important part in both first language and second/foreign language learning (Alshumaimeri, 2005; Grabe, 1991; Jackson Coltheart, 2001; McCallum, Sharp, Bell, George, 2004; Prior Welling, 2001). In general, there are three reading methods used in language learning and teaching, oral reading, silent reading and subvocalization. Oral reading usually refers to the act of reading aloud, either to oneself or to audience. Silent reading, as stated in the phrase itself, it is the act of reading to oneself without pronouncing words out aloud. Subvocalization, which is similar to silent reading, however, is defined as the internal speech made when reading word, thus allowing the reader to imagine the sound of the word while reading (Carver, 1990). The term refers to the movement of muscles associated with speaking originally. But most subvocalization is undetectable even by the person using it (Carver, 1990; Rayner, et al, 1994). Reading comprehension refers to the ability of understanding of a written text or message (Keith, et al, 2001). This understanding of the writing comes from the words themselves, and the knowledge outside the written text can be triggered (Keith, et al, 2001). Reading comprehension performance is one of the essential criteria in language education (Bernhardt, 1991). There are many different methodologies of teaching reading comprehension throughout the centuries (Adams, 1994; Keith, et al, 2001). Modern methodologies usually stressed on using model strategies to analyse or interpret the passages (Pressley, 2006). There is no definitive set of strategies, but general ones include summarizing what you have read, monitoring your reading paragraphs, and analysing the structure of the text (Pressley, 2006). Some programmes teach students how to self monitor whether they are understanding and provide students with tools for fixing comprehension problems. These kinds of methods have also be en highly used in English education in China, in order for students to target high reading comprehension scores in the examination. This study was focused on the influence of reading behaviour on reading comprehension performance; hence, these technical strategies and their effects on the reading comprehension performance of EFL/ESL students would not be discussed further in this dissertation. 1.2 Previous literatures and researches on Oral Reading Previous studies on the effects of reading methods on the comprehension performance had shown significant differences between the different reading methodologies. Oral reading had the best effect on comprehension performance among the three reading methods (Alshumaimeri, 2011). In Alshumaimeris research, all groups stated that oral reading was the most preferred reading method with the most of students reporting it was the best method to support reading comprehension. Feedback suggested that this method was preferred because it helps in memorizing words and texts, concentration, and practicing and pronouncing words for real world encounters (Alshumaimeri, 2011). For decades, investigators have stressed the importance of oral reading to children in first language teaching situations in many cultures, not only as a method of encouraging children to read, but also of developing their reading comprehension ability (Alshumaimeri, 2005; Grabe, 1991; Jackson Coltheart, 2001; Juel Holmes, 1981; McCallum, Sharp, Bell, George, 2004; Prior Welling, 2001; Rowell, 1976, Yang, 2008). Oral reading has been considered as an essential approach in teaching pronunciation, vocabulary recognition and memorisation, during the early stages of foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) learning. There are many debated around the topic for decades. With the fast-developing technologies involved in the teaching activities, traditional teaching and learning strategies like oral reading, had been considered as an out-dated methodology, and discouraged by some EFL/ESL teachers (Amer,1 997). Hill and Dobbyn pointed out in their research that oral reading could be a waste of class time in 1979 (Hill Dobbyn, 1979). This situation is especially is especially critical in Chinas education system, since the focus is generally on improving the examination grades, rather than using a language practically. Another reason for oral reading has been overlooked by many teachers is because of lacking scientific instructions; consequently, students could not use oral reading as an efficient method to practice a foreign language after class in a non-native speaking environment (Yang, 2008). On contrary, researches had demonstrated that oral reading with scientific techniques could be beneficial in proof-reading, pronunciation practice, and fluency of conversations (Cho Choi, 2008; Gibson, 2008; Rennie, 2000; Reutzel, Hollingsworth, Eldredge, 1994; White, 1982). A survey conducted by BBC on the influences of oral reading on EFL/ESL at the EFL/ESL forum (Gao Xia, 2006), in which 98% of the 314 EFL teachers thought that oral reading had essential functions on English learning (Gao Xia, 2006) The majority of EFL/ESL teachers suggested oral reading as an essential English learning method based on teaching experiences (Gao Xia, 2006; Yang, 2008) 1.2.1 Oral reading in English Learning In China, or other countries where students learn English as a foreign language, the input of the target language is very low in daily life. The output of a language requires the understanding of large amount of the input first (Krashen, 2009). Oral reading is generally considered as an essential and effective way of the foreign language input. In China, the purpose of learning English as a second language has moved from understanding and using the language, to target high scores in various examinations in order to gain high grades, or get into and graduate from universities. As a consequence, the most of English teachers in China, especially the ones in secondary schools, colleges and universities, focus the English teaching and learning on the grammar, writing skills and reading comprehension test skills. Few teachers are actually taken oral reading or reading aloud as a regular teaching strategy during classes or as a regular practicing method for students. The lack of oral readin g practice in long term could result in a lack of the language input in a non-native speaking environment. Therefore, many students in China who have learnt English for many years have a good amount of vocabulary and well understanding of the grammar, and had passed many examinations including CET-4 and CET-6, still have troubles to use English fluently when needed. The lack of the language input during foreign language learning would result in lack of the scenes of the target language. Therefore, as suggested by many educators, oral reading is an effective, concentrated, and enhanced input route for language information. It could help EFL/ESL students to enrich their information pool of the target language and also provide the base of imitating and expressing the language for students language output. From imitating the reading material, the information in the texts would be converted into their natural and fluent expression and communication. Educators suggested that there are several reasons why oral reading takes an important part in English teaching and learning. Firstly, oral reading is a method to improve pronunciation and speaking ability. With the correct direction from English teachers, students could be benefit from oral reading practice for their pronunciation, voice tone. Additionally, during the oral reading behaviour, students eyes, mouths, and ears can all be involved. It can enhance the corresponding area in the brain to process the sound. So effective reading aloud practice is also a good foundation for listening. Thirdly, oral reading can improve the sense of phrase during foreign language learning in a non-native speaking environment. The process can also help student to concentrate on the text and memorise vocabulary (Alshumaimeri, 2011). With all the advantages of oral reading practice above, as suggested by Halliday in his An introduction to Functional Grammar, reading texts aloud would help the reade r to understand complicated contents (Halliday, 1994). Moreover, it has also been suggested that oral reading to help foreign language learners to improve their written communication skills. By imitating the language during oral reading, students could overcome the effect of their first language on the writing skills. Correct guidance of oral reading is essential in English learning. Reading aloud without wise strategies would not have any positive input in the learning process, which is a great waste of time and energy. As suggested by researchers, ESL/EFL teachers should pay attention to oral reading during the class to inspire students interests in oral reading. Teachers should also provide clear demonstration of the correct pronunciation and tone. And also explain the differences between the first language and foreign language. In addition, students are encouraged to practice oral reading regularly outside the class spontaneously. Furthermore, the reading materials should be well-selected. Articles, passages or books written by the native speakers of the target language with approximately 5% of new vocabulary are suggested to be suitable reading materials. To sum up, oral reading is an essential methodology that can improve many skills in English learning, including pronunciation, vocabulary, intonation, voice tone, and the sense of the language. Many researchers and educator believe that oral reading can improve the reading comprehension performance. Therefore, this study would like to investigate the relationship between oral reading practice and the reading comprehension performance of Chinese university students, through a series of designed oral reading practicing experiment. 1.3 Previous literatures and researches Reading Comprehension The research of reading comprehension has begun to increase rapidly in 1970s (Thorndike, 1973). It has then increasingly become the main standard in language understanding. As mentioned above, reading comprehension is described as the level of understanding of a content or text. In this thesis, the word text is used to refer to the written materials, which have specific meanings in semantics, informative in pragmatics, coherent in logic and cohesive in linguistics; it carries out the communication functions and conveys the interactive purposes between the writer and the reader; it depends on context, linguistic or non-linguistic, in which the textural meaning can be perceived by the reader. 1.3.1 Reading Comprehension of Text Reading comprehension is generally a fundamental mean for people to get information. Readers integrate and comprehend the text information on the basis of al parts of information. They complete their comprehension according to part and whole understanding of the text. Therefore, reading comprehension relies on the interaction of meaning between local and whole information. Text theory has become central to contemporary linguistic sciences. Text is considered as central to the construction of reality as entities are brought into existence, given meaning and significance. The purpose of reading is to uncover the meaning underlying in texts, and to examine the pattern of text and to link them to social backgrounds. Through the past few decades, the research on reading comprehension of text has been made more progress through the efforts of many text linguists (Gao, 2010). Reading comprehension of the text requires perceiving auditory and visual inputs, process these inputs in their highly complex cognitive systems (Anderson and Pearson, 1984). Reading comprehension began with the studies on memory and representation. The current researches of reading comprehension involve in the study on the retrieval of central concepts, different dimensions of situational models and different processing of text information. English reading comprehension theories developed from the earliest Grammar-Translation theory to current situational model theory. Through the empirical researches and English reading teaching theories, the above two research fields tend to draw together. Both fields had developed from linguistic micro aspect to semantic macro aspect. In the field of psycholinguistics, reading comprehension of text refers to the capacity to construct new knowledge from the written text (Anderson and Pearson, 1984) and apply the acquired information to new situations (Kinstch, 1998). The Propositional Theory, the Schema Theory and the Mental Models are considered as the three most influential psycholinguistic theories of reading comprehension of text (Gunning, 1996). 1.3.2 Brief Comparison between Reading Comprehension Theories The three main reading comprehension theories identified by Gunning in 1996 will be described and compared briefly in this section. Propositional Theory: According to Gunning, the Propositional Theory engages the reader constructing a central idea as they process the text. These central ideas are organised in a hierarchical pattern with the most important factors given the highest priority to be memorised (Gunning, 1996). Schema Theory: Schema, came from Greek which means shape or plan. The term has been introduced into education by Bartlett in 1932 (Bartlett, 1932). According to Bartlett, a schema was defined as a complex knowledge structure which groups all the information an individual knows about or associates with a particular concept. The term was linked with reconstructive memory by a series of experiments demonstrated in Bartletts work (Bartlett,1932). By presenting participants with information that was unfamiliar to their cultural backgrounds and expectations and then monitoring how they recalled these different items of information (stories, etc.), Bartlett was able to establish that individuals existing schemata and stereotypes influence not only how they interpret schema-foreign new information but also how they recall the information over time.(Wikipedia) The Schema Theory in had been studied and developed by many researcher ever since. In 1980, Rumelhart had taken an important breakthrough of the sche ma theory in reading comprehension, by portraying individuals understanding of tales and stories (Rumelhart, 1980). Later, the schema in text theory refers to content schema, where the the readers understanding of the text might depend on having a clearly established context for the text. Gunning (1996) defines a schema as the organized knowledge that one already has about people, places, things, and events. Kitao (1990) says the schema theory involves an interaction between the readers own knowledge and the text, which results in comprehension. This schema, as Gunning defined, can be very broad, such a schema for natural disasters, or more narrow, such as a schema for a hurricane. Each schema is filed in an individual compartment and stored there. In attempting to comprehend reading materials, students can relate this new information to the existing information they have compartmentalized in their minds, adding it to these files for future use. Based on the Schema Theory, depending on how extensive their files become, their degree of reading comprehension may vary. (website) For instance, the researches of reading comprehension sometimes term as formal schemata, which reveal previous experience of a certain text type. For instance, readers usually expect to see an abstract, a background review, a methodology and analysis and discussion of data in a scientific paper. This kind of schema provides the expectation about the style of the text. Schema could also be used to represent the meaning representation built up by a reader during processing a particular piece of text. People begin to read texts with expectations about the content, which can be derived from the title or from the purpose of the texts. These enable people to develop a text-specific schema even before reading. More information might be added to the original schema, or the initial schema might be revised during the reading. (Sample Paper) Schema is different between languages. There are three possible changes of schemata. The change is involved when small adjustment is made temporarily in order to confront immediate needs. Accretion modifies a schema gradually but when new information is acquired or repeated examples of contrary evidence are accumulated, the schema may be changed. Restructuring occurs when a sudden insight or new piece of knowledge leads to radical reorganisation of existing knowledge structures. (Sample Paper) To sum up, the schema theory, as the mental representations of typical situations, are used in text processing to predict the contents of the particular situation which the text describes. The idea is that the mind which is stimulated by key words or phrases in the text, or by the context, activates a schema of knowledge, and uses this schema to understand the text. Mental Model Theory (Dominican.edu website) Another major theory we would like to discuss is the Mental Model. This model can be thought of as a mind movie created in ones head, based on the reading content. Gunning gives a detailed description of this process, stating that a mental model is constructed most often when a student is reading fiction. The reader focuses in on the main character and creates a mental model of the circumstances in which the character finds him or herself. The mental model is re-constructed or updated to reflect the new circumstances as the situation changes, but the items important to the main character are kept in the foreground according to Gunning, (1996). Perkins (1991) identifies that sometimes misconceptions about important concepts reflect misleading mental models of the topic itself or the subject matter within which it sits. There are, however, interventions the teacher can do to help the reader to stay on track and create a more accurate picture. One suggestion is for the teachers to ask the students to disclose their mental models of the topics in question, through analogy, discussion, picturing, and other ways. This information gives the teacher insight on the students knowledge gaps and misconceptions, therefore allowing them to help students reconstruct a more accurate picture. 1.3.3 Reading Comprehension in Foreign Language Study Reading comprehension is one of the critical teaching objectives in all foreign languages education. The ability of reading comprehension is also an important factor to evaluate the learners language competence. Studies on first language learning showed that the comprehension performance is better when reading silently (Bernhardt, 1983; Leinhardt, Zigmond, Cooley, 1981; Wilkinson Anderson, 1995). Nevertheless, recently study from Teng suggested that reading comprehension results had no significant difference between oran and silent reading (Teng, 2009). In EFL/ESL learning, Al-Qurashi et al had proposed that oral reading was only beneficial in acquisition; for reading comprehension, silent reading is better strengthened (Al-Qurashi, Watson, Hafseth, Hickman, Pond, 1995). While researchers continue to explore the effectiveness of oral reading on both language acquisition and comprehension, many questions remain unanswered. Further research on the relationship between oral reading s and reading comprehension is needed in order to enhance EFL teaching methodologies and to improve learning outcomes. This research furthers understanding of the relationship between oral reading and comprehensio n performance at later stage of EFL/ESL learning. As such, findings would assist colleges or universities, the EFL/ESL researchers, educators and students. 1.3.4 The Previous Research on the Correlation between Oral Reading and Reading Comprehension Oral reading and reading comprehension are different reading activities that are related and interact to each other. Research had been done on the two aspects from various perspectives, including psychological linguistics, neurological linguistics, cognition and the functions in foreign language education. Oral reading is a reading activity that expresses the emotions using reading skills, such as stress, rhythm or tone, in the linguistic materials. It involves reading out aloud the words, sentences or passages, with eye sight focusing on the texts. It is different from a mechanical word-to-word articulating process. Oral reading is a more complex and cognitive process which engages not only pronouncing, reading, and listening, also language perception, comprehension and production of the reader. Previous research suggested that oral reading represented a complicated and dynamic performance that indicate the individuals sensorial skill at automatically recognising orthographical representations, unitising those components into recognisable wholes and automatically accessing lexical representations, processing meaningful connections within and between sentences, relating text meaning to prior information, making inferences to supply missing information, and his production skill the form ulation and execution of speech plan, the performance on which characterises the readers overall language proficiency (Gao, 2006). The psychological process of oral reading had also been investigated. During the activity of oral reading, the reader could formulate the phonetic plan and convert it into vocal sound after comprehending the text (Gao, 2007). Then the input of information could activate the lemma in the mental lexicon  ¼Ã‹â€ Yang, 2008 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. Text is a language phenomenon based on psychological activites and also a product of psychological process. Reading comprehension of the text involves how people recognise auditory and visual inputs, process and understand the input information in the highly complex cognitive systems. In the field of psycholinguistics, reading comprehension of the text refers to the capacity to construct new knowledge from the written text (Anderson and Pearson, 1984) and apply the acquired information to new situations (Kinstch, 1998).] Furthermore, the performance of reading comprehension is an indicator of the foreign language students competence. If one has difficulty in the comprehension of reading, his or her execution of phonetic plan, mechanisms of articulation and monitor cannot work together simultaneously and effectively. His or her oral reading performance could be stumbled and mistaken as well. Thus, the process of both oral reading and reading comprehension are relevant to cognition and psychology of human. 1.4 Significance and Aims of the Study The main aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between oral reading and comprehension performance. Previous literatures suggested that the oral reading method is correlated to the comprehension performance during language studies among young children and teenagers (Alshumaimeri, 2005; Rowell, E.H. (1976).). Alshumaimeri s research on the effects of different reading methods on the comprehension performance in 10th grade Saudi male students indicated that, reading comprehension performance could be benefited from oral reading method because it could help students to concentrate on the passages and memorise new vocabulary (Alshumaimeri, 2011). The research from Alshumaimeri was conducted among teenagers. Additionally, the experiment was designed to investigate the reading comprehension performance after oral reading the passages (Alshumaimeri, 2011), i.e. the immediate effect of oral reading on comprehension performance. However, the experiment was designed differently in th is study to investigate the long-term effect of oral reading on reading comprehension performance. Therefore, this study has been carried out among second year students in Shandong Normal University in China, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. This study has aimed to investigate the influence of oral reading practice on reading comprehension performance, in ESL/EFL students with relatively long English learning history and who already have relatively higher ability in English. Because with the development of English teaching and learning strategies, and the ability of self-learning and gaining resources by students, oral reading is more neglected with the age increasing as well, especially for college and university students, who despise oral reading as a leaning method because it is time consuming, childish and shows no immediate improvements in examination grades. Therefore, the ability of reading comprehension would be measured by two designed multiple-choice tests, before and after a 6-week oral reading practice experiment. The scores from both tests would be ana lysed to investigate the relationship between oral reading practice and the reading comprehension performance. Besides the quantitative data comparison from the reading comprehension tests, the opinions from both students and English teachers participated in this research on oral reading and reading comprehension would be collected by questionnaires. This aimed to investigate the attitude of oral reading and reading comprehension from both learners and teachers point of views during EFL/ESL education. These results would be valuable for future English as a foreign language education. Theoretical exploration and quantitative analysis would be illustrated in the thesis; experimental data would be processed with SPSS to support the theory as well. 2. Methodology The study mainly focused on discovering whether the students performance of oral reading would have any positive influence on students reading comprehension performance. Additionally, the work of EFL/ESL teacher in China put in teaching correct oral reading techniques to improve their ability in reading comprehension performance. In order to get reliability and validity data and results, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in this research. In the foreign language education field, quantitative research is objective, noticeable, and outcome-oriented, which can be generalised. On contrary, qualitative research is more subjective, contextual and process-oriented, during which the process is based on systematic methods. In this section, the key questions involved in this study would be discussed, followed by research subjects (university teachers and students), research procedures (experimental design, implement process and data collection), and measurements (pre-test, post-test, questionnaires and teaching experiments). 2.1 Research Questions The study was designed to investigate the influence of oral reading practice on reading comprehension performance, and the relationship between the two. The key questions in this study are as follows: How to use oral reading as an effective teaching method in English classes regularly? How often do students use oral reading as an exercise technique in their self-study time? What is the relationship between oral reading and reading comprehension performance? Would the oral reading experiment have positive influence on the reading habit of students? The research of these questions would be illustrated in the Results section, and the answers to these key questions would be discussed further in the Discussion section. 2.2 Research Subjects The experiment around the topic was carried out in second year student in Shangdong Normal University, China. A full-time university could be used to represent the majority of universities in China. A group of 120 non-English department students were chosen as the research subject in this study. They could represent most of the English learning students in China. As second year university students, they usually have a good understanding in English by passing the National Entrance Examination of China, and had leant English for approximately 9 years since the fourth grade in primary schools. The average age of the chosen students was around 19 to 21; and participants were selected from both genders. More importantly, they have similar education background and English level in the reading comprehension. The non-English-specialised College English Test Band 4 (CET-4), which is a national English as a Foreign Language test in China, could be used as a standard to measure the ability of t he participants in the reading comprehension study. The purpose of the CET is to examine the English proficiency of undergraduate students in China and ensure that Chinese undergraduates reach the required English levels specified in the National College English Teaching Syllabuses (NCETS). The level of CET-4 could be considered as around 5.5 to 6 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The 120 participants were selected from 300 non-English-specialised students from different departments who join the research on their own will. Their scores were fall between 25% and 40% in the pre-experimental reading comprehension test (details in the next section). This score range represents a group of students who have certain understanding in English but with lower level in the reading comprehension. As a consequence, there is a big gap to see the improvements in this study. After the selection, there were 79 female students and 41 male students were chosen for the next step experiment. The reason for the difference in genders was due to that the female student proportion was naturally higher in this University. However, since the purpose of this study was not focus on the effect of oral reading on reading comprehension performance between genders, this big difference could be accepted in this research. The gender proportion information is illustrated in Tabe.1 below. Gender Number Percent