Why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather Essay

Why there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather than India - Essay Example theories therefore inform that FDIs may be attracted to India as a result of its relatively lower labour costs, lower political risks and its closer proximity to developed OECD states. China on the other hand, may appeal to FDIs as a result of its large consumer market and its more impressive trade with developed OECD countries.3 This paper conducts a comparative analysis of FDI appeal in India and China with a view to demonstrating that there may be greater potential for FDI activity in China rather than India. In order to demonstrate the greater potential for FDI activity in China, this paper analyses TNC theories and the determinants of FDI inflows and outflows and examines these determinants in the context of India and China’s economy. This paper is therefore divided into three parts. The first part of this paper provides an analysis of TNC theories and the determinants of FDIs. The second part of this paper examines India’s economy and the final part of this paper examines China’s economy. Since the 1960s several theories of TNC have emerged helping to explain the factors that weigh in favour of or against TNCs investing abroad.4 Traditional neoclassical theory usually represented by eclectic or OLI theories (ownership, localization and internalization advantages) are typically used to explain and predict the â€Å"determinants of FDI†.5 The eclectic theory arose out of J. Markusen’s reconceptualization of John Dunning’s neoclassical theory of investment and trade. Dunning’s neoclassical theory takes the position that FDIs are selected by TNCs as a result of a â€Å"combinations of transport costs, factor endowments and country size.†6 Eclectic theory explains why a company would elect FDI as opposed to producing locally and exporting locally produced goods abroad and where the TNC would most likely direct its FDI. In this regard, Dunning’s eclectic theory identifies the â€Å"why, where and when/how decisions in terms of ownership,

What are the Causes of Mortgage Fraud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What are the Causes of Mortgage Fraud - Essay Example Failure to apply the necessary underwriting guidelines comes in the form of deliberately refusing to apply the required mortgage control procedures, which in turn lead to the misrepresentation of facts regarding the ability of the borrower to repay the mortgage. Therefore, inadequate appraisal of the borrower has highly contributed to mortgage fraud, since if it is not done accurately at the initial stages of evaluation, the risks associated may not be identified, until it is too late, and the borrower has already started defaulting on the mortgage repayment (USRMR, 10). Thus, the major problem underlying mortgage fraud is not the provision of inaccurate records by the borrower. Instead, the major contributors to mortgage fraud are inadequate quality control application, poor underwriting practices and poor valuation of borrower’s assets (USRMR, 4). The regulators and specialists applied lenient measures in the mortgage underwriting standards in the name of innovation, seeking to make the process of acquiring mortgage loans easier and convenient for low income households (Liebowitz, 7). However, these innovations declined the mortgage underwriting standards and weakened the control policies. This served the purpose of making mortgage underwriting allow-income all income earners, increasing home ownership and raising the prices of houses (Liebowitz, 15). Therefore, speculators purchased and sold houses under minimal underwriting control, increasing their profits by a greater margin and then running away from the market when the crisis became eminent. This left the mortgage business with large debts owed by home owners who could not manage to repay the loans, thus causing the acceleration of the mortgage crisis (Liebowitz, 24).

Role of Franchising in Business Growth

Role of Franchising in Business Growth CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Franchising has become one of the most recognizable business formats and an internationalization strategy for business practitioners globally and also in the United Kingdom especially in the way entrepreneurs are operating under other peoples business concept. It has emerged over the years as a popular expansion strategy for a variety of product and service companies. This research critically examines how franchising play vital role in retail business growth and expansion in the food industry, using the Strand Mc Donalds as a case study. The research looks at the importance of franchising, and will be very informative for organizations and stakeholders directly and indirectly involves in franchising business. This chapter looks at the research background, organization background, the research problem, the aim and objectives of the study, the scope and limitations, brief introduction of the study area and the structure of the research. RESEARCH BACKGROUND Franchising is basically a specialized form of licensing in which the franchisor not only leases intangible property (normally a trademark) to the franchisee but also insists that the franchisee agree to abide by strict rules as to how it does business. The franchisor will often assist the franchisee to run the business on an ongoing basis, (Hill 2008.pp 408). It is similar to licensing, although franchising tends to involve longer term commitments than licensing. Franchising is a method of distributing products or services. At least two levels of people are involved in a franchise agreement, namely: the Franchisor, who lends his trade mark or trade name and a business system; and the Franchisee, who pays a royalty and often an initial fee for the right to do business under the franchisors name and system of operations, technically, the contract binding the two parties is the franchise. Franchising has emerged in recent years as a highly significant strategy for business growth, job creation, and economic development at both local and international retail business arena, (Hoffman Prebble, 1995.p 80). It has moved from traditional product (trade mark) areas such as automobiles, petroleum and soft -drink bottlers to be a more proven format business concept. Over 80% of Mc Donald restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by local businessmen and women. They adapted Ray Krocs franchising business strategy of providing high standard of quality, friendly services, cleanliness and value, (QSCV). Also in the hotel industry, companies such as Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton and Accor have employed franchising as their primary growth strategy globally. Of course, the most well known restaurant franchise in the worlds is McDonalds. So much has been written about Ray Kroc and the McDonalds brothers that McDonalds and Crock have become an institution. The first McDonalds were opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955 and soon afterward, more McDonalds outlets continued to open. Today there are more than 30,000 McDonalds in 118 countries. There is no doubt that when it comes to franchising and fast foods in general, McDonalds is the leader of the pack. (Teixeira, 2005, p. 20). The international franchise association estimates that American consumers spend approximately 1.3 trillion dollars on franchise goods and services on an annual basis. (Teixeira 2005, p.19). This shows that the franchise strategy is one of the important aspects in expanding business and economic development. Different research methods will be used to analyze data/ findings for this research, and the sources of data will include observations and interviews. This research therefore, focuses on the importance of franchising as a business growth and expansion strategy from both the franchisee and the franchisors perspective. It also examines the relationship that exists between the franchisee and the franchisor .The benefits of franchising to Mc Donalds (franchisors) in expanding its business globally and its international market position through leveraging its brand name and business process through the utilization of the capital and local management of its franchisees will also be examine in this research. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND McDonalds Corporation (McDonalds) is one of the worlds largest foodservice retailing chain. The company is known for its burgers and fries which it sells through more than 31,900 fast-food restaurants in over 100 countries. The company originated and operates mainly in the US and has expanded globally to over 100 countries including United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois and employs about 400,000people. The company recorded revenues of $23,522.4 million during fiscal year ending December 2008 (FY2008), an increase of 3.2% over FY2007. The operating profit of the company was $6,442.9 million during FY2008, an increase of 66.1% over FY2007. The net profit was $4,313.2 million in FY2008, an increase of 80.1% over FY2007. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile, (Data monitor) June 2009, p.16) McDonalds restaurants offer a substantially uniform menu, although there might be geographic variations. In financial year 2008, the company operated more than 31,900 fast food restaurants in over 100 countries in the following geographic segments: the US; Europe; Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA); Latin America and Canada. The company is one of the worlds largest food service retailing chain, preparing and serving a range of foods. All McDonalds restaurants offer a standard menu, which comprise food items such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Filet-O-Fish, Chicken McNuggets, French fries, salads, milk shakes, desserts and ice cream sundaes. Some McDonalds restaurants offer additional food items to suit local taste and preferences and sell a variety of other products during limited-time promotions. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile (Datamonitor), June 2009, p.5) McDonalds generates revenues through company operated restaurants and franchisee restaurants where over 6,500 are operated by the company and over 25,400 are operated by franchisees and affiliates. The companys revenue comprises sales from company operated restaurants and fees as well as rent from franchisees and affiliates. Under the franchise arrangement, the franchisees invest in the equipment, signage, seating and decor, while the company owns or leases the land and building. Franchisees pay the company service fees and rent for premises. A service fee is set as a percentage of sales, while rent and other terms of occupancy are stipulated in the franchise agreement, which is drawn for a period of 20 years. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile, June 2009) The company and its franchisees as well as affiliates source purchase food, packaging, equipment and other goods from approved suppliers. The company maintains quality standards through assurance laboratories around the world. A quality assurance board, including the companys technical, safety and supply chain specialists, provide guidance on all aspects of food quality and safety. The major competitors of McDonalds include Starbucks corporations, Burger Kings Inc, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), and other upcoming high streets food restaurants worldwide. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile, (Datamonitor) June 2009) In October 1974, the company opened its 3000th restaurant and the first in the U.K in woolwich, south-east London, (Business franchise, 2009). The U.K headoffice was sited in Hampstead, North London.Web1 Also in 1986, the first U.K franchisee- operated restaurant opened in Hayes, Middlesex, (Business franchise,2009) and the first Drive-thru restaurants opened in U.K at fallowfield, Dudley, Neasden and Coventry. Web1 RESEARCH PROBLEM Research problem forms the basis of most academic research study. It is based on this that the aim, objectives and the research questions of most dissertations are formulated. There must be identified problems that the dissertation seems to tackle, mostly business problems. Despite the popularity of franchising among business organizations and entrepreneurs nowadays as a business expansion and development strategy, it has been unacceptable to some entrepreneurs because of its disadvantages and risks involved. To these groups of individuals, setting up and management of owned business is the best option, no matter which forms it take to start. The assumption is that franchising is a system of building, expanding and adding value to someone else existing business, which many entrepreneurs will always avoid, as Norman(2006) indicated Many conclude the time, effort, money and shift in emphasis from running a business to helping others run businesses is not right for their companies,(p3) On the other side, some individuals choose franchising as their best option to start up business because of its merits and less risk involved in starting business. To these pro-franchising entrepreneurs, it plays a major role in business growth and expansion, especially in retail food industry globally. This research, therefore critically examines these arguments and answer the question how is franchising vital to retail business growth and expansion according to the views of the pro- franchising business entrepreneurs. SIGNIFICACE OF THE STUDY Theoretically, a broad range of literature does exist on franchising concepts and in most instances, there seems to be gap between theory and practice in most business organizations. However, it is significant to find out the practicality of the literature in real life situations. It is essential therefore, to carry out this study in order to find out whether in reality the ideas provided by literatures are actually revolving around management issues and applied to business organizations. The findings of this study will assist a wide range of stakeholders interested in franchising business including the government, private sectors, and local authorities to increase the general understanding and knowledge of franchising particularly in the food sector. To the researchers, academicians, it helps deepen further research in business development who will be interested in franchising in the future. RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES The main aim of this dissertation is to investigate how franchising play an essential role in retail business growth and expansion in the food industry. Research Objectives In order to achieve the above stated aim, the following objectives will be specified: Analyze the impacts and importance of franchising (business format) on organizations (business) growth and expansion. Assess the benefits of franchised businesses on the socio-economic growth of the economy. To determine whether economic conditions affects the success of franchising as a strategy for business growth and expansion. Investigate the importance of the franchisee-franchisor relationship on the business growth and expansion. Examine the risks involved in the franchising relationship. Examine the effects/impacts of globalization on franchising as a business growth and expansion strategy. To make suggestions and recommendations based on the findings elicited by the study. THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study was carried out in London covering using one of the McDonalds restaurants as the study area. The content of the study was to understand how franchising contributes to business growth and expansion in retail business sector. THE STUDY AREA London is one of the cities of England; it is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It has 32 boroughs, of which 13 are in the inner London and 19 constitute the outer London. (Office for National Statistics Online). Web2cited. It is a growing city spreading out and swallowing many villages and towns in the south east of England. Because of this, there are many conflicting definitions of London and Greater London and the population of London varies accordingly. As the capital city, London occupies over 6,267 square miles (16,043km2). London population is heavily concentrated at about 4,539 people per sq km/ 11,568 per sq mi. Web3 According to the figure from the April 2001 census, London population was 7,172,000. This represents 14.6 percent of the total population of Britain. The population as of mid 2005 was thought to have been increased to 7,517,700 of which about half of this figure lives in inner and central London and the remaining lives in outer boroughs. Web 3 Londons population has grown every year since 1988, and it is likely that in the years to 2031, it will continue its steady growth. The study area lies in inner London borough of Westminster, which lies in the busy business environment of the city (central business district), It is very close to the seat of power, the parliament, and it is very close to many international business environments, busy London streets, tourist attractions like the London eye, Trafalgar square, British museum, National Gallery, National Art gallery, Covent Garden- since its redevelopment in the 1970s has become a popular piazza and nucleus for visitor activity in Londons cultural district with theatre, opera and ballet venues. (Page et al, 2001.p122). London is a multicultural city, where different people from around the world lives and study, it comprises of individuals with diverse cultural background. Because of the above description about the study area, it has become an important area to carry out this research, because of the concentration of other franchised business in the area. STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH Chapter One (Introduction): This state clearly the purpose of the dissertation, it includes the background of the study, significant of study, the statement of the research problems, organization background, the research aims and objectives, scope and limitations of the study. It also describes the study area briefly. Chapter Two (Literature Review): This section deals with the academic review of texts, journals, articles and so on, relevant to this research topic. It also discusses model and relevant theoretical ideas on the subject matter. Chapter Three (Research Methodology): comprises the methodology used for this study. It includes the styles and techniques chosen in collecting primary and secondary data/ informations for this research purpose. Chapter Four (Data Analysis/ Research Findings): The chapter that report and describes the findings of the survey to be undertaken, it describes both primary and secondary findings. Chapter Five (Conclusions and Recommendations): This chapter set out the main findings of the dissertations linking it with the literature reviews and the research findings. It also sets out clear recommendations which came out of the research work. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION This chapter provides a review of relevant literatures on franchising. It will be used as a base to throw more light on the importance of franchising concept and the roles it plays in business growth and expansion. The literatures were selected and critically evaluated in a bid to sift the relevant informations, and portray the opinions of relevant authors. It offers academic insight to research previously conducted by authors on the importance of franchising to retail business growth. Lastly, the section acknowledges the principal research questions for this study. DEFINITIONS OF FRANCHISING CONCEPT Hill, (2008) defines franchising as a specialized form of licensing in which the franchisor not only sells the intangible property (normally a trademark) to the franchisee, but it also insists that the franchisee agree to abide by strict rules as to how it does business, (p.408). It usually involves long term commitments than licensing. On the other hand, Business format franchising is a joint venture between an independent person (the franchisee) and a business owner (the franchisor) who wants to expand its activities. The venture is governed by a contract. This gives the franchisee the right to operate using the franchisors trade name/ trademark, in accordance with a business format or blueprint. All aspects of the franchisees business are strictly controlled including image, products or service, systems and administration. (HSBC Bank, 2009.p1) The franchisee pays certain amount of money for the right to use the franchisors trademark. Firms use franchise arrangements to extend scarce firm resources, because the franchisee puts up both an initial fee and much of the capital investment, franchisors are able to expand their markets without having to generate capital by themselves, and in most cases exploit on the knowledge of the local entrepreneurs in expanding their business. This is an attractive option, particularly in mass consumer services such as fast food that require the construction of many units to achieve brand name recognition and increased market share like McDonalds Restaurants. BRIEF HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT IN FRANCHISING Franchising is highly developed in the USA, although popular in the UK, but a recent phenomenon. Its development dates back to the end of the American civil war (1865), when the singer sewing company franchised exclusive sales territories to financially independent operators. In 1898, General motors used independently owned businesses to increase its distribution outlet. (Lancaster Reynolds, 2005, p160).At some point, there were some form of disagreements and arguments among historians in the United States regarding when the franchise system first started. According to Bythe Bennett,(2008), franchising began to gain acceptance as a viable business arrangement with the growth of automobile industry, and also in the petroleum industry during the 1930s, (p.234) Franchising became one of the fastest growing types of retailing business in the United Kingdom in recent years.It was introduced into the UK in the early 1950s and since those early days, has become respectable and often very profitable business concept as a result of explosion in the number of franchises being operated. Today franchising encompasses products from pipes to pastries and includes such well known names as Body Shop, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, and so on. (Lancaster Massingham, 1999, p269). For instance, Over 80% of Mc Donald restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. They adapted Ray Krocs franchising business strategy of providing high standard of quality, friendly services, cleanliness and value, (QSCV). Also in the hotel industry, companies such as Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton and Accor have employed franchising as their primary growth strategy globally. The first McDonalds were opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955 and soon afterward, more McDonalds outlets continued to open. Today, McDonalds has over 300,000 restaurants in 119 countries outside the U.S or in non-traditional site locations in the US. There is no doubt that when it comes to franchising and fast foods in general, McDonalds is the leader of the pack. Of course, the most well known restaurant franchise in the world today is McDonalds and so much has been written about Ray krok and the McDonalds brothers that McDonalds and Crock have become an institution. (Teixeira, 2005. p.20-21). Teixeira, (2005, p21), indicated that during 1960s and 1970s, the growth of franchise industry exploded and continued to gain appeal with a boom mostly in Europe, on an increased rate, and this has been supported also by welsh (1992) in Doole Robin (2004) franchising has grown rapidly during the 1990s due to the strong interest in a variety of franchise formats, (p.230). These successes remain an ongoing process. According to Ghauri Cateora (2005, p.280), franchising has become the fastest growing market entry strategy, it is often among the first types of foreign retail business to open in the emerging market economies of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China. It has become successful as it is evidenced in most retail food business, and it has now become a major business growth and development and marketing strategy globally. It can be viewed from these two perspectives. McDonalds is a good example of organization that has grown with franchising strategy, (Hill, 2008.p.408). Franchising explosion in recent years however has increasingly saturated the domestic market, where businesses are opening in airports, sports stadiums, colleges, hospitals, parks, casinos, pools and other strategic locations globally. (Kotler Keller, 2006.p508) Lastly, the surge in franchising has been underpinned by the efforts of different bodies who regulates the activities of franchised organizations, like the International Franchise Association, (IFA), British Franchising Association, (BFA) various franchising organizations globally, which has developed codes of practice for franchising entrepreneurs, and in doing so, has recorded progress and greatly helped to reduce the risks to both franchisees and the franchisors. (BFA NatWest Bank, 1991). TYPES OF FRANCHISING Monir (1999 pp.164) identified two major types of franchising in his book. These include: First Generation/Product Distribution Franchising simply sells the franchisors products and is supplier-dealer relationships. In product distribution franchising, the franchisor licenses its trademark and logo to the franchisees but typically does not provide them with an entire system for running their business. This is often common with soft drink-bottling industries, automobile, and in petrol retailing. Second Generation/Business format franchising by contrast, the franchisor transfers a much more comprehensive business package (the format) to buyers of the franchisee. This contains most of the elements needed by the buyer to establish and replicate the business. The buyer also receives detailed instructions and guidance on how to operate the franchise successfully, managerial expertise, training and perhaps financial support if need be. Diagram 1: Showing Two major types of franchising There have been other divisions of franchising as recognized by other authors identified as important for the understanding of this research. Justis Judd, (2007, p.56) identifies two major types of franchising namely: product and trade name and business format franchising. Nathan, (2008 p.54) also classifies business format franchising into six major groupings as follows: executive, job, investment, management, retail, sales and distribution franchise. Also, on the other hand, Murray (2006, p.23), identifies four major categories as, Job, Retail, Management and Investment Franchising. Franchise Arrangements Beshel (2001,p3), reiterated that because of the possibilities of so many franchisors, industries and range of investments, there exists different types of franchise arrangements available to business owner. Two types of franchise arrangements were identified: Single-Unit(direct) franchise Multi-Unit Franchise ( Area development and Master development franchise) A single-unit (direct-unit) franchise is an agreement where the franchisor grants a franchisee the rights to open and operate one franchise unit. This is the simplest and most common type of franchise. It is possible, however, for a franchisee to purchase additional single-unit franchises once the original franchise unit begins to prosper, it is then considered a multiple, single-unit relationship. A multi-unit franchise is an agreement where the franchisor grants a franchisee the rights to open and operate more than one unit. Beshel (2001, p3), also identifies two ways in which multi-unit franchise can be achieved: An area development franchise or A master franchise. Under an area development franchise, a franchisee has the right to open more than one unit during a specific time, within a specified area. For instance, a franchisee may agree to open 5 units over a five year period in a specified territory, while master franchise agreement gives the franchisee more rights than an area development agreement. In addition to having the right and obligation to open and operate a certain number of units in a defined area, the master franchisee also has the right to sell franchises to other people within the territory, known as sub-franchises. Therefore, the master franchisee takes over many of the tasks, duties and benefits of the franchisor, such as providing support and training, as well as receiving fees and royalties, (Beshel, 2001, p3-4). Blair Lafontaine (2005, p.90) and Philip et al, (2006, p.77) also identifies the above four classifications as forms of franchising where all the four were grouped together. Building a strong foundation for a successful franchising strategy A successful franchising concept needs an appropriate business strategy and lots of facts have been identified as making a business appropriate to be franchised and make it worthwhile to invest in. According to HSBC Bank, (2009, p1), a well established and proven business format franchise from the franchisee perspective should provide an established market for the franchisors products and services, proven sales, marketing and operational procedures, the benefit of an established business name, training (ongoing support and help in running the business), also, where appropriate, help in finding, fitting out and furnishing premises. Hoffman Prebble (2008, p.68) also add some factors that influence the appropriateness of a business concept using franchising including; valuable System to sell, proprietary process/ advantage for making the product in getting to the end customers, a satisfactory brand/ trade name like McDonalds which will be acceptable to the larger population, and high Profit Margin business. On the other hand, Murray (2004,p.67), shows some possibilities in which potential franchisee get a proven business format and support from the franchisor, which includes, an entire business concept with no bits missing out, with the aid of the operating manuals, trademarks, logos, patents, and standard designs for the layout of the premises, colour and pattern of staff uniforms, accounting and financial systems, training and help to set up the business, continuing help and back-up once the business is operating, legal right to operate in an exclusive territory and marketing, public relations and advertising support, decor in case of retail franchises, the franchisor will provide design and advice for the fitting and decoration of the shop and the installation of any equipment necessary, records, the franchisor will provide the franchisee with sales report and accounts forms to assist the franchisee maintain accurate financial report. On the franchisors perspectives, Sherman (2003, p414), explains that in order for business growth through franchising, a secure foundation from which companys franchising programme has to be launched. He uses the concept of the responsible franchising as the only way to avoid failure and to ensure a harmonious relationship with the franchisees. He outlines some of the key components of a responsible franchising strategy. These includes, proven prototype location/ chains of stores, strong management team, sufficient capitalization, distinctive and protected trade identity, comprehensive training programmes franchisees, proprietary and proven methods of operation and management, field support staff who are skilled trainers and communicators, set of comprehensive legal documents, demonstrated market demand for the companys products and services, set of carefully developed, uniform site selection criteria and architectural standards, genuine understanding of the competition, relationship s with suppliers, lenders, real estates developers, franchisee profile and screening system, an effective system of reporting and record-keeping, research and development capabilities, communication system, national, regional and local advertising, marketing and so on. Sherman (2003, p.417), went further to acknowledge that Responsible franchising starts with an understanding of the strategic essence of the franchising structure. He identified three critical components of the franchise systems from the franchisors perspective. The brand, which creates the demand, allowing the franchisee to initially obtain customers, the brand includes the companys trademarks and service marks, its trade dress, decor and all of the intangible factors that create customer loyalty and build brand equity, the operating system, which essentially delivers the promise, thereby allowing the franchisee to maintain customer relationships and build loyalty, the ongoing support and training that the franchisors provide, supplying the franchisee with the tools and tips to expand its customer base and build its market share. Sherman, (2003,) also acknowledges the importance of customers in any responsible franchising business concept. He mentions that the responsibly built franchise system is one that provides value to its franchisees by teaching them how to get and keep as many customers as possible who consume as many products and services as possible, as often as possible,(p.417). He concludes that the focus must always be on the customer, where the franchisor essentially licenses and delegates the task of local brand building and market expansion to the franchisee in its local territory. (Sherman, 2003, p.417) Importance of Franchising To Business Growth and Expansion Franchising has gained much popularity in modern business environment over the years, because of its success in contributing to business growth and expansion globally which is the primary aim of this research. This can be viewed from the perspective of the franchisee and franchisor respectively. Sherman (2003) acknowledges the growth of a business via business-format franchising in the United States. He maintains that The ability to obtain operating efficiencies and economies of scale are among the reasons for franchising and one of the key components of a responsible franchising strategy is a proven type of location that will serve as a basis for a franchising strategy, (p.411). Over the past three decades, franchising has emerged as a popular expansion strategy for a variety of product and service companies. Sherman,(2003), points to the importance of franchising, he states that recent international franchise association (IFA) statistics demonstrates that retail sales from franchised outlets comprise nearly 50% of all retail sales in the U.S, estimated at more than $900 billion and employing some nine million people in 2000. (p.411) Also in his view, Sherman,( 2003,p 411), points out to what has made franchising so popular in the U.S. and globally as a business development and expansion strategy, from the franchisors view, franchising represents an efficient method of rapid market penetration and product distribution, without the typical capital costs associated with internal expansion.On the other hand, from the franchisees perspective, franchising is regarded as a method of owning a business but with a less severe chance of failure due to the initial and ongoing training and support services offered by the franchisor. According to Shay (2009, p.6) franchising is the key to Global Economic Recovery and that franchise businesses represent some of the worlds best brands. He went on to explain the rate at which fra Role of Franchising in Business Growth Role of Franchising in Business Growth CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Franchising has become one of the most recognizable business formats and an internationalization strategy for business practitioners globally and also in the United Kingdom especially in the way entrepreneurs are operating under other peoples business concept. It has emerged over the years as a popular expansion strategy for a variety of product and service companies. This research critically examines how franchising play vital role in retail business growth and expansion in the food industry, using the Strand Mc Donalds as a case study. The research looks at the importance of franchising, and will be very informative for organizations and stakeholders directly and indirectly involves in franchising business. This chapter looks at the research background, organization background, the research problem, the aim and objectives of the study, the scope and limitations, brief introduction of the study area and the structure of the research. RESEARCH BACKGROUND Franchising is basically a specialized form of licensing in which the franchisor not only leases intangible property (normally a trademark) to the franchisee but also insists that the franchisee agree to abide by strict rules as to how it does business. The franchisor will often assist the franchisee to run the business on an ongoing basis, (Hill 2008.pp 408). It is similar to licensing, although franchising tends to involve longer term commitments than licensing. Franchising is a method of distributing products or services. At least two levels of people are involved in a franchise agreement, namely: the Franchisor, who lends his trade mark or trade name and a business system; and the Franchisee, who pays a royalty and often an initial fee for the right to do business under the franchisors name and system of operations, technically, the contract binding the two parties is the franchise. Franchising has emerged in recent years as a highly significant strategy for business growth, job creation, and economic development at both local and international retail business arena, (Hoffman Prebble, 1995.p 80). It has moved from traditional product (trade mark) areas such as automobiles, petroleum and soft -drink bottlers to be a more proven format business concept. Over 80% of Mc Donald restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by local businessmen and women. They adapted Ray Krocs franchising business strategy of providing high standard of quality, friendly services, cleanliness and value, (QSCV). Also in the hotel industry, companies such as Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton and Accor have employed franchising as their primary growth strategy globally. Of course, the most well known restaurant franchise in the worlds is McDonalds. So much has been written about Ray Kroc and the McDonalds brothers that McDonalds and Crock have become an institution. The first McDonalds were opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955 and soon afterward, more McDonalds outlets continued to open. Today there are more than 30,000 McDonalds in 118 countries. There is no doubt that when it comes to franchising and fast foods in general, McDonalds is the leader of the pack. (Teixeira, 2005, p. 20). The international franchise association estimates that American consumers spend approximately 1.3 trillion dollars on franchise goods and services on an annual basis. (Teixeira 2005, p.19). This shows that the franchise strategy is one of the important aspects in expanding business and economic development. Different research methods will be used to analyze data/ findings for this research, and the sources of data will include observations and interviews. This research therefore, focuses on the importance of franchising as a business growth and expansion strategy from both the franchisee and the franchisors perspective. It also examines the relationship that exists between the franchisee and the franchisor .The benefits of franchising to Mc Donalds (franchisors) in expanding its business globally and its international market position through leveraging its brand name and business process through the utilization of the capital and local management of its franchisees will also be examine in this research. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND McDonalds Corporation (McDonalds) is one of the worlds largest foodservice retailing chain. The company is known for its burgers and fries which it sells through more than 31,900 fast-food restaurants in over 100 countries. The company originated and operates mainly in the US and has expanded globally to over 100 countries including United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois and employs about 400,000people. The company recorded revenues of $23,522.4 million during fiscal year ending December 2008 (FY2008), an increase of 3.2% over FY2007. The operating profit of the company was $6,442.9 million during FY2008, an increase of 66.1% over FY2007. The net profit was $4,313.2 million in FY2008, an increase of 80.1% over FY2007. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile, (Data monitor) June 2009, p.16) McDonalds restaurants offer a substantially uniform menu, although there might be geographic variations. In financial year 2008, the company operated more than 31,900 fast food restaurants in over 100 countries in the following geographic segments: the US; Europe; Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA); Latin America and Canada. The company is one of the worlds largest food service retailing chain, preparing and serving a range of foods. All McDonalds restaurants offer a standard menu, which comprise food items such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Filet-O-Fish, Chicken McNuggets, French fries, salads, milk shakes, desserts and ice cream sundaes. Some McDonalds restaurants offer additional food items to suit local taste and preferences and sell a variety of other products during limited-time promotions. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile (Datamonitor), June 2009, p.5) McDonalds generates revenues through company operated restaurants and franchisee restaurants where over 6,500 are operated by the company and over 25,400 are operated by franchisees and affiliates. The companys revenue comprises sales from company operated restaurants and fees as well as rent from franchisees and affiliates. Under the franchise arrangement, the franchisees invest in the equipment, signage, seating and decor, while the company owns or leases the land and building. Franchisees pay the company service fees and rent for premises. A service fee is set as a percentage of sales, while rent and other terms of occupancy are stipulated in the franchise agreement, which is drawn for a period of 20 years. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile, June 2009) The company and its franchisees as well as affiliates source purchase food, packaging, equipment and other goods from approved suppliers. The company maintains quality standards through assurance laboratories around the world. A quality assurance board, including the companys technical, safety and supply chain specialists, provide guidance on all aspects of food quality and safety. The major competitors of McDonalds include Starbucks corporations, Burger Kings Inc, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), and other upcoming high streets food restaurants worldwide. (McDonalds Corporation Company profile, (Datamonitor) June 2009) In October 1974, the company opened its 3000th restaurant and the first in the U.K in woolwich, south-east London, (Business franchise, 2009). The U.K headoffice was sited in Hampstead, North London.Web1 Also in 1986, the first U.K franchisee- operated restaurant opened in Hayes, Middlesex, (Business franchise,2009) and the first Drive-thru restaurants opened in U.K at fallowfield, Dudley, Neasden and Coventry. Web1 RESEARCH PROBLEM Research problem forms the basis of most academic research study. It is based on this that the aim, objectives and the research questions of most dissertations are formulated. There must be identified problems that the dissertation seems to tackle, mostly business problems. Despite the popularity of franchising among business organizations and entrepreneurs nowadays as a business expansion and development strategy, it has been unacceptable to some entrepreneurs because of its disadvantages and risks involved. To these groups of individuals, setting up and management of owned business is the best option, no matter which forms it take to start. The assumption is that franchising is a system of building, expanding and adding value to someone else existing business, which many entrepreneurs will always avoid, as Norman(2006) indicated Many conclude the time, effort, money and shift in emphasis from running a business to helping others run businesses is not right for their companies,(p3) On the other side, some individuals choose franchising as their best option to start up business because of its merits and less risk involved in starting business. To these pro-franchising entrepreneurs, it plays a major role in business growth and expansion, especially in retail food industry globally. This research, therefore critically examines these arguments and answer the question how is franchising vital to retail business growth and expansion according to the views of the pro- franchising business entrepreneurs. SIGNIFICACE OF THE STUDY Theoretically, a broad range of literature does exist on franchising concepts and in most instances, there seems to be gap between theory and practice in most business organizations. However, it is significant to find out the practicality of the literature in real life situations. It is essential therefore, to carry out this study in order to find out whether in reality the ideas provided by literatures are actually revolving around management issues and applied to business organizations. The findings of this study will assist a wide range of stakeholders interested in franchising business including the government, private sectors, and local authorities to increase the general understanding and knowledge of franchising particularly in the food sector. To the researchers, academicians, it helps deepen further research in business development who will be interested in franchising in the future. RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES The main aim of this dissertation is to investigate how franchising play an essential role in retail business growth and expansion in the food industry. Research Objectives In order to achieve the above stated aim, the following objectives will be specified: Analyze the impacts and importance of franchising (business format) on organizations (business) growth and expansion. Assess the benefits of franchised businesses on the socio-economic growth of the economy. To determine whether economic conditions affects the success of franchising as a strategy for business growth and expansion. Investigate the importance of the franchisee-franchisor relationship on the business growth and expansion. Examine the risks involved in the franchising relationship. Examine the effects/impacts of globalization on franchising as a business growth and expansion strategy. To make suggestions and recommendations based on the findings elicited by the study. THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study was carried out in London covering using one of the McDonalds restaurants as the study area. The content of the study was to understand how franchising contributes to business growth and expansion in retail business sector. THE STUDY AREA London is one of the cities of England; it is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It has 32 boroughs, of which 13 are in the inner London and 19 constitute the outer London. (Office for National Statistics Online). Web2cited. It is a growing city spreading out and swallowing many villages and towns in the south east of England. Because of this, there are many conflicting definitions of London and Greater London and the population of London varies accordingly. As the capital city, London occupies over 6,267 square miles (16,043km2). London population is heavily concentrated at about 4,539 people per sq km/ 11,568 per sq mi. Web3 According to the figure from the April 2001 census, London population was 7,172,000. This represents 14.6 percent of the total population of Britain. The population as of mid 2005 was thought to have been increased to 7,517,700 of which about half of this figure lives in inner and central London and the remaining lives in outer boroughs. Web 3 Londons population has grown every year since 1988, and it is likely that in the years to 2031, it will continue its steady growth. The study area lies in inner London borough of Westminster, which lies in the busy business environment of the city (central business district), It is very close to the seat of power, the parliament, and it is very close to many international business environments, busy London streets, tourist attractions like the London eye, Trafalgar square, British museum, National Gallery, National Art gallery, Covent Garden- since its redevelopment in the 1970s has become a popular piazza and nucleus for visitor activity in Londons cultural district with theatre, opera and ballet venues. (Page et al, 2001.p122). London is a multicultural city, where different people from around the world lives and study, it comprises of individuals with diverse cultural background. Because of the above description about the study area, it has become an important area to carry out this research, because of the concentration of other franchised business in the area. STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH Chapter One (Introduction): This state clearly the purpose of the dissertation, it includes the background of the study, significant of study, the statement of the research problems, organization background, the research aims and objectives, scope and limitations of the study. It also describes the study area briefly. Chapter Two (Literature Review): This section deals with the academic review of texts, journals, articles and so on, relevant to this research topic. It also discusses model and relevant theoretical ideas on the subject matter. Chapter Three (Research Methodology): comprises the methodology used for this study. It includes the styles and techniques chosen in collecting primary and secondary data/ informations for this research purpose. Chapter Four (Data Analysis/ Research Findings): The chapter that report and describes the findings of the survey to be undertaken, it describes both primary and secondary findings. Chapter Five (Conclusions and Recommendations): This chapter set out the main findings of the dissertations linking it with the literature reviews and the research findings. It also sets out clear recommendations which came out of the research work. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION This chapter provides a review of relevant literatures on franchising. It will be used as a base to throw more light on the importance of franchising concept and the roles it plays in business growth and expansion. The literatures were selected and critically evaluated in a bid to sift the relevant informations, and portray the opinions of relevant authors. It offers academic insight to research previously conducted by authors on the importance of franchising to retail business growth. Lastly, the section acknowledges the principal research questions for this study. DEFINITIONS OF FRANCHISING CONCEPT Hill, (2008) defines franchising as a specialized form of licensing in which the franchisor not only sells the intangible property (normally a trademark) to the franchisee, but it also insists that the franchisee agree to abide by strict rules as to how it does business, (p.408). It usually involves long term commitments than licensing. On the other hand, Business format franchising is a joint venture between an independent person (the franchisee) and a business owner (the franchisor) who wants to expand its activities. The venture is governed by a contract. This gives the franchisee the right to operate using the franchisors trade name/ trademark, in accordance with a business format or blueprint. All aspects of the franchisees business are strictly controlled including image, products or service, systems and administration. (HSBC Bank, 2009.p1) The franchisee pays certain amount of money for the right to use the franchisors trademark. Firms use franchise arrangements to extend scarce firm resources, because the franchisee puts up both an initial fee and much of the capital investment, franchisors are able to expand their markets without having to generate capital by themselves, and in most cases exploit on the knowledge of the local entrepreneurs in expanding their business. This is an attractive option, particularly in mass consumer services such as fast food that require the construction of many units to achieve brand name recognition and increased market share like McDonalds Restaurants. BRIEF HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT IN FRANCHISING Franchising is highly developed in the USA, although popular in the UK, but a recent phenomenon. Its development dates back to the end of the American civil war (1865), when the singer sewing company franchised exclusive sales territories to financially independent operators. In 1898, General motors used independently owned businesses to increase its distribution outlet. (Lancaster Reynolds, 2005, p160).At some point, there were some form of disagreements and arguments among historians in the United States regarding when the franchise system first started. According to Bythe Bennett,(2008), franchising began to gain acceptance as a viable business arrangement with the growth of automobile industry, and also in the petroleum industry during the 1930s, (p.234) Franchising became one of the fastest growing types of retailing business in the United Kingdom in recent years.It was introduced into the UK in the early 1950s and since those early days, has become respectable and often very profitable business concept as a result of explosion in the number of franchises being operated. Today franchising encompasses products from pipes to pastries and includes such well known names as Body Shop, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, and so on. (Lancaster Massingham, 1999, p269). For instance, Over 80% of Mc Donald restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. They adapted Ray Krocs franchising business strategy of providing high standard of quality, friendly services, cleanliness and value, (QSCV). Also in the hotel industry, companies such as Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton and Accor have employed franchising as their primary growth strategy globally. The first McDonalds were opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955 and soon afterward, more McDonalds outlets continued to open. Today, McDonalds has over 300,000 restaurants in 119 countries outside the U.S or in non-traditional site locations in the US. There is no doubt that when it comes to franchising and fast foods in general, McDonalds is the leader of the pack. Of course, the most well known restaurant franchise in the world today is McDonalds and so much has been written about Ray krok and the McDonalds brothers that McDonalds and Crock have become an institution. (Teixeira, 2005. p.20-21). Teixeira, (2005, p21), indicated that during 1960s and 1970s, the growth of franchise industry exploded and continued to gain appeal with a boom mostly in Europe, on an increased rate, and this has been supported also by welsh (1992) in Doole Robin (2004) franchising has grown rapidly during the 1990s due to the strong interest in a variety of franchise formats, (p.230). These successes remain an ongoing process. According to Ghauri Cateora (2005, p.280), franchising has become the fastest growing market entry strategy, it is often among the first types of foreign retail business to open in the emerging market economies of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China. It has become successful as it is evidenced in most retail food business, and it has now become a major business growth and development and marketing strategy globally. It can be viewed from these two perspectives. McDonalds is a good example of organization that has grown with franchising strategy, (Hill, 2008.p.408). Franchising explosion in recent years however has increasingly saturated the domestic market, where businesses are opening in airports, sports stadiums, colleges, hospitals, parks, casinos, pools and other strategic locations globally. (Kotler Keller, 2006.p508) Lastly, the surge in franchising has been underpinned by the efforts of different bodies who regulates the activities of franchised organizations, like the International Franchise Association, (IFA), British Franchising Association, (BFA) various franchising organizations globally, which has developed codes of practice for franchising entrepreneurs, and in doing so, has recorded progress and greatly helped to reduce the risks to both franchisees and the franchisors. (BFA NatWest Bank, 1991). TYPES OF FRANCHISING Monir (1999 pp.164) identified two major types of franchising in his book. These include: First Generation/Product Distribution Franchising simply sells the franchisors products and is supplier-dealer relationships. In product distribution franchising, the franchisor licenses its trademark and logo to the franchisees but typically does not provide them with an entire system for running their business. This is often common with soft drink-bottling industries, automobile, and in petrol retailing. Second Generation/Business format franchising by contrast, the franchisor transfers a much more comprehensive business package (the format) to buyers of the franchisee. This contains most of the elements needed by the buyer to establish and replicate the business. The buyer also receives detailed instructions and guidance on how to operate the franchise successfully, managerial expertise, training and perhaps financial support if need be. Diagram 1: Showing Two major types of franchising There have been other divisions of franchising as recognized by other authors identified as important for the understanding of this research. Justis Judd, (2007, p.56) identifies two major types of franchising namely: product and trade name and business format franchising. Nathan, (2008 p.54) also classifies business format franchising into six major groupings as follows: executive, job, investment, management, retail, sales and distribution franchise. Also, on the other hand, Murray (2006, p.23), identifies four major categories as, Job, Retail, Management and Investment Franchising. Franchise Arrangements Beshel (2001,p3), reiterated that because of the possibilities of so many franchisors, industries and range of investments, there exists different types of franchise arrangements available to business owner. Two types of franchise arrangements were identified: Single-Unit(direct) franchise Multi-Unit Franchise ( Area development and Master development franchise) A single-unit (direct-unit) franchise is an agreement where the franchisor grants a franchisee the rights to open and operate one franchise unit. This is the simplest and most common type of franchise. It is possible, however, for a franchisee to purchase additional single-unit franchises once the original franchise unit begins to prosper, it is then considered a multiple, single-unit relationship. A multi-unit franchise is an agreement where the franchisor grants a franchisee the rights to open and operate more than one unit. Beshel (2001, p3), also identifies two ways in which multi-unit franchise can be achieved: An area development franchise or A master franchise. Under an area development franchise, a franchisee has the right to open more than one unit during a specific time, within a specified area. For instance, a franchisee may agree to open 5 units over a five year period in a specified territory, while master franchise agreement gives the franchisee more rights than an area development agreement. In addition to having the right and obligation to open and operate a certain number of units in a defined area, the master franchisee also has the right to sell franchises to other people within the territory, known as sub-franchises. Therefore, the master franchisee takes over many of the tasks, duties and benefits of the franchisor, such as providing support and training, as well as receiving fees and royalties, (Beshel, 2001, p3-4). Blair Lafontaine (2005, p.90) and Philip et al, (2006, p.77) also identifies the above four classifications as forms of franchising where all the four were grouped together. Building a strong foundation for a successful franchising strategy A successful franchising concept needs an appropriate business strategy and lots of facts have been identified as making a business appropriate to be franchised and make it worthwhile to invest in. According to HSBC Bank, (2009, p1), a well established and proven business format franchise from the franchisee perspective should provide an established market for the franchisors products and services, proven sales, marketing and operational procedures, the benefit of an established business name, training (ongoing support and help in running the business), also, where appropriate, help in finding, fitting out and furnishing premises. Hoffman Prebble (2008, p.68) also add some factors that influence the appropriateness of a business concept using franchising including; valuable System to sell, proprietary process/ advantage for making the product in getting to the end customers, a satisfactory brand/ trade name like McDonalds which will be acceptable to the larger population, and high Profit Margin business. On the other hand, Murray (2004,p.67), shows some possibilities in which potential franchisee get a proven business format and support from the franchisor, which includes, an entire business concept with no bits missing out, with the aid of the operating manuals, trademarks, logos, patents, and standard designs for the layout of the premises, colour and pattern of staff uniforms, accounting and financial systems, training and help to set up the business, continuing help and back-up once the business is operating, legal right to operate in an exclusive territory and marketing, public relations and advertising support, decor in case of retail franchises, the franchisor will provide design and advice for the fitting and decoration of the shop and the installation of any equipment necessary, records, the franchisor will provide the franchisee with sales report and accounts forms to assist the franchisee maintain accurate financial report. On the franchisors perspectives, Sherman (2003, p414), explains that in order for business growth through franchising, a secure foundation from which companys franchising programme has to be launched. He uses the concept of the responsible franchising as the only way to avoid failure and to ensure a harmonious relationship with the franchisees. He outlines some of the key components of a responsible franchising strategy. These includes, proven prototype location/ chains of stores, strong management team, sufficient capitalization, distinctive and protected trade identity, comprehensive training programmes franchisees, proprietary and proven methods of operation and management, field support staff who are skilled trainers and communicators, set of comprehensive legal documents, demonstrated market demand for the companys products and services, set of carefully developed, uniform site selection criteria and architectural standards, genuine understanding of the competition, relationship s with suppliers, lenders, real estates developers, franchisee profile and screening system, an effective system of reporting and record-keeping, research and development capabilities, communication system, national, regional and local advertising, marketing and so on. Sherman (2003, p.417), went further to acknowledge that Responsible franchising starts with an understanding of the strategic essence of the franchising structure. He identified three critical components of the franchise systems from the franchisors perspective. The brand, which creates the demand, allowing the franchisee to initially obtain customers, the brand includes the companys trademarks and service marks, its trade dress, decor and all of the intangible factors that create customer loyalty and build brand equity, the operating system, which essentially delivers the promise, thereby allowing the franchisee to maintain customer relationships and build loyalty, the ongoing support and training that the franchisors provide, supplying the franchisee with the tools and tips to expand its customer base and build its market share. Sherman, (2003,) also acknowledges the importance of customers in any responsible franchising business concept. He mentions that the responsibly built franchise system is one that provides value to its franchisees by teaching them how to get and keep as many customers as possible who consume as many products and services as possible, as often as possible,(p.417). He concludes that the focus must always be on the customer, where the franchisor essentially licenses and delegates the task of local brand building and market expansion to the franchisee in its local territory. (Sherman, 2003, p.417) Importance of Franchising To Business Growth and Expansion Franchising has gained much popularity in modern business environment over the years, because of its success in contributing to business growth and expansion globally which is the primary aim of this research. This can be viewed from the perspective of the franchisee and franchisor respectively. Sherman (2003) acknowledges the growth of a business via business-format franchising in the United States. He maintains that The ability to obtain operating efficiencies and economies of scale are among the reasons for franchising and one of the key components of a responsible franchising strategy is a proven type of location that will serve as a basis for a franchising strategy, (p.411). Over the past three decades, franchising has emerged as a popular expansion strategy for a variety of product and service companies. Sherman,(2003), points to the importance of franchising, he states that recent international franchise association (IFA) statistics demonstrates that retail sales from franchised outlets comprise nearly 50% of all retail sales in the U.S, estimated at more than $900 billion and employing some nine million people in 2000. (p.411) Also in his view, Sherman,( 2003,p 411), points out to what has made franchising so popular in the U.S. and globally as a business development and expansion strategy, from the franchisors view, franchising represents an efficient method of rapid market penetration and product distribution, without the typical capital costs associated with internal expansion.On the other hand, from the franchisees perspective, franchising is regarded as a method of owning a business but with a less severe chance of failure due to the initial and ongoing training and support services offered by the franchisor. According to Shay (2009, p.6) franchising is the key to Global Economic Recovery and that franchise businesses represent some of the worlds best brands. He went on to explain the rate at which fra

Review of Sublime video :: essays research papers

The music video that I chose to write my paper on, is called "Date Rape" and it is performed by Sublime. I've seen the video plenty of times and I taped it back in 1993 when I first got their album 40 oz. to Freedom. The song is about a man that picks up a lady in a bar and rapes her. He winds up going to court and the judge finds that, "he was full of shit, and he gave him twenty-five years." Then it talks about the man going to jail and even getting "butt raped by a large inmate." The video is much like a movie in the way that it is displayed. As the song goes on and on the video accompanies the lyrics by showing what the man looked like (which in the song was with "a double chin and a plastic smile"). At the beginning, the video shows the man go into the bar and getting the attention of the lady. He convinces her to take a ride in his van and forces her to succumb to his will by saying, "if it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid." After he is finished he lets her out and she files a police report and then "she took the guy's ass to court." She goes to court and low and behold, the judge is the great Ron Jeremy (of porn fame). Ron sentences the man to twenty-five years of imprisonment and later it shows a depiction of the guy being raped in prison. The video says a great deal for women and actually won a couple of awards for their "anti-rape message." Although Sublime's lead singer, Brad, claims that it was just a song he wrote when he was high, it received a rather large acceptance by many women's groups. The video sends this message out to the viewer as well. Any man that will rape a woman will almost definitely hate getting butt slammed in jail by a large Review of Sublime video :: essays research papers The music video that I chose to write my paper on, is called "Date Rape" and it is performed by Sublime. I've seen the video plenty of times and I taped it back in 1993 when I first got their album 40 oz. to Freedom. The song is about a man that picks up a lady in a bar and rapes her. He winds up going to court and the judge finds that, "he was full of shit, and he gave him twenty-five years." Then it talks about the man going to jail and even getting "butt raped by a large inmate." The video is much like a movie in the way that it is displayed. As the song goes on and on the video accompanies the lyrics by showing what the man looked like (which in the song was with "a double chin and a plastic smile"). At the beginning, the video shows the man go into the bar and getting the attention of the lady. He convinces her to take a ride in his van and forces her to succumb to his will by saying, "if it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid." After he is finished he lets her out and she files a police report and then "she took the guy's ass to court." She goes to court and low and behold, the judge is the great Ron Jeremy (of porn fame). Ron sentences the man to twenty-five years of imprisonment and later it shows a depiction of the guy being raped in prison. The video says a great deal for women and actually won a couple of awards for their "anti-rape message." Although Sublime's lead singer, Brad, claims that it was just a song he wrote when he was high, it received a rather large acceptance by many women's groups. The video sends this message out to the viewer as well. Any man that will rape a woman will almost definitely hate getting butt slammed in jail by a large

Walmart Facing Discrimination Lawsuit

American retail giant Walmart was going to face the largest class-action employment lawsuit in U.S history when a federal appeals court was ultimately allowed the combined multiparty litigation to move ahead to trial. After that, Walmart decided to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling of the federal appeals court. And the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The lawsuit was first filed by Betty Dukes, a store greeter in Pittsburg, California, along with five of her co-workers in 2001. In that case, Walmart is accused of paying women on salary and those hourly wages less than men for the same jobs and giving them fewer opportunities for promotion. The workers also said that women workers made up more than 70 percent of Walmart’s hourly work force, but made up less than one-third of its store management in the past decade. The plaintiffs wanted back pay and punitive damage. Now the question for the U.S Supreme Court is not if there was discrimination but if the claims by the individual employees can be combined as a class action. If the previous ruling stood, the case would cover about 1.5 million-plus women including all current and former women workers, and their claims could amount to billions of dollars. And this case will become the biggest private gender-bias case in U.S. history. This case is a very important business issue for Walmart, and any senior manager of the organization should care about this. Not only because of the billions of dollars Walmart might have to pay out, but also the impact and damage it would cost on the company’s image. The plaintiffs in this case was seeking back pay and punitive damage, and due to the fact that over 1.5 million walmart female workers could be involved, the claim could be up to billions of dollars. This would be a big loss to the company. Also, Walmart tried to project an improved image for the organization, and this case could be a big blow to the company’s image. Moreover, the case might also lead to drop in company’s stock price. And most importantly, if this case ultimately proceed to trial, it might lead to a lot more similar cases against the company. In this issue, there are many stakeholders involved. First of all, Walmart’s shareholders are one of the key stakeholders. Because if the case get proceed, there is a very big chance in dropping in the company stock price. And if Walmart utimately lost the case, the company would need to pay billion of dollars. In both situations, the company’s shareholders would have direct financial loss. Although the shareholders might have no interest on company’s image, they would still hope the company can solve the issue as soon as possible and in an efficient way. Though they are the shareholders of the company, they had not much power regarding to this issue. There are not much they can do to help the company. They might sell their shares if they thought the future of the company is uncertain. Another key stakeholder is the management of Walmart. They are one of the main reasons why Walmart is facing the discrimination issue. The female workers filed a lawsuit since they thought Walmart management treated them unfairly. If the case get proceed and Walmart ultimately lost the case, the Board of Directors might want to review and lay off part of the managment to prevent similar issues from happening again. Since the issue is now already in stage 4, there is not much the management could do. Walmart’s Board of Directors are surely one of the key stakeholders. The issue directly affects the company’s revenue and earning, therefore it had direct impact on the Board of Directors. Also, since the company’s managment was responsible for this issue, and the managment was chosen by the Board of Directors, therefore, they were responsible for the issue too. The Board of Directors would try to solve the issue as soon as possible but in an efficient way. They would want to solve the issue soon in order to protect the company’s image and substain the customers’ confidence. However, they would not settle the issue easily since they need to act in the best interest of the company. The last key stakeholders are the workers of the company, especially the female workers. Because this case had a big influence on the benefit of the company’s workers. No matter how the case go, Walmart’s managment would adjust the way they treat their workers. And if the ruling is favor of the workers, they would get back pay and claim for the punitive damage. And if that is the case, the company’s workers will have more power to them. This case could be seen as an example for any similar cases. To solve this action, the company would want to protect and improve the company’s image as a good corporate. Also, Walmart would not mind pay some claim to settle the lawsuit, since they would like to settle the issue quickly in order to gain back customers’ confidence. However, they would only settle for some reasonable amount. In my opinion, Walmart should face the lawsuit and wait for the result from the U.S Supreme Court. It is because this case could affect far more than this case. If the company settle for the issue, there is a big chance that more similar cases would come up in the future. And that is not good for the company future development. The key decision maker of Walmart should not settle easily in this particular case. Other than this strategy, Walmart could try to settle with the workers with compromises. In order to aviod the lawsuit, the company could negotiate with the workers and try to settle by paying a significate amount of dollars. The amount could be a very huge number considering the case involved over 1.5 million female workers. However, this strategy might lead to more of the similar cases and more lawsuits against the company. Therefore, I would recommend Walmart’s ket decision maker to take the first strategy. Walmart should wait for the result from the U.S. Supreme Court and let the court to determine the result, it is the best interest for the company’s future and development.

Counselor’s failure to connect with client

â€Å"There is also some current there, you feel hurt because, in some ways you’re saying to me that you can’t love her as full as you really love her, you can’t show her. † The counselor failed to connect with the client when the client is told thatâ€Å"there is always going to be a conflict. † The client was in the course of sharing her thoughts to which the counselor mutters the word â€Å"anytime† thrice. The client seems to be distracted by the constant response of â€Å"anytime† to which she simply said â€Å"okay†. Then the counselor proceeds with periodic interruptions and said â€Å"conflict in you so the relationship with the daughter can be as full as it can.† The client wanted to state something but the therapist continues to elaborate on what she thinks the client wants to say. Another part that the counselor did not connect to the client is when counselor stated to add reinforcement schedules, or intellectu al, other intellectual strategies to start where the client is the strongest. The client replied by asking if her tears will control of the reinforcement schedules, or intellectual strategies which were ignored by the counselor. The counselor continues to advise the client to â€Å"build her heart to your head and not from your head to your heart, that’s a personalized view.† It is clear that the session is not client-centered towards the end of the conversation. The client spoke in soft voice saying â€Å"yeah yeah. † While the counselor continues to elaborate her piece of advice by saying â€Å"It would make sense and it would be an area of strength there† and â€Å"it makes sense. And it’s just that I had it in the wrong† without acknowledging the client’s question. The counselor also finished the client’s sentence when he or she said the word â€Å"order† indicating that the counselor did not let the patient say what she needs to say.It failed to promote understanding given the need for the client to reiterate what she heard from the counselor to confirm mutual understanding. Overview of the session The session was about the dilemma of the client on teaching her daughter to sleep in her separate bed. The mother reinforces this behavior but easily succumbs to the cries of her daughter to let her sleep beside her mother. The mother wants to teach her daughter how to be independent enough to sleep alone. There was a significant progress of this reinforcement when the daughter is promised to have rewards during birthdays and Christmas.The mother has frustrations on how she surrenders and let her daughter have her own way. In addition to, the mother has trouble sleeping when her daughter cries until she is transferred to her mother’s bed. The main issue of the client is that she feels angry with herself more than she feels angry toward her daughter. The client thinks that she is the one to bl ame for allowing her daughter to get some leeway thus allowing herself to be weak to stand by her own rules. A non-evaluative overview of what happens in the sessionThe session allowed the client to express her trouble and feelings with regards to reinforcing her daughter to sleep in her own bed. The client opened up her problem at the first half of the session while the counselor rendered her opinions and suggestions on how to view the disciplinary actions applied to the client’s daughter as well as how to approach the issue by taking â€Å"small, increment† steps. How did you feel while reading about the session? (no more than half a page) While the reading the session, it struck me how important it is to share burdens or worries.Issues such as parenting or reinforcing good behavior of children can be a battle of emotions and will. Thus, a parent can be torn between following her mother’s instincts to let her child have her or his desires but at the same time should be a disciplinarian. After all, the role of parents is to rear their children to be responsible and productive individuals. I also realized that the conflict between being too lenient and strict when it comes to parenting is often a battle of emotions for most mothers.Motherly love often gets in the way on instilling discipline on the child as pity gets the better of a mother upon seeing her child showing signs of distress such as crying, throwing tantrums, or helplessness. Lastly, there is a need for making appropriate responses during counseling. The responses made should be oriented in a manner to further explore a client’s feelings by expressing acknowledgment, accepting by letting the client talk, exploring with additional questions, and validating the client’s responses by asking the client to further elaborate her or his thoughts.My opinion of this counseling session Based on what I read, the counseling session has its good and bad points. Counseling is c onsidered a good therapy for clients who need to talk their problems out. Thus, the client in one way or another expressed her pent up anger and frustrations. The counselor was able to listen and give suggestions to the client and her problem. Counseling skills that the counselor attempt to use and list some examples using your transcript.The counseling skills employed by the counselor are verbal attending behavior include things such as your tone of voice, rate of speech, sighs, and uhms. The classic â€Å"uhum† is a verbal sign of interest that encourages a client to keep talking. What do you see as the counselor’s main strengths or good qualities? The main strength of the counselors is having the ability to form interpretations and use of empathetic comments. The counselor expressed his or her own interpretations when the client narrates her struggles on reinforcing her daughter and the need to sleep in her bed.The act of nodding your head or being silent while the client is talking serves as a powerful message to encourage the client to express his or her feelings. This therapeutic form of communication can only be used on specific instances thus should not be used all the time since it shows disinterest. The counselor made empathetic comments such as â€Å"so, but, but you’re still left with a, holding your breath. † and you’re really testing your own patience with the three days, four days, two weeks, then back. † Thus it validates clients’ reactions as acceptable, normal, or understandable.

Movie review The Gods Must Be Crazy

Movie review The Gods Must Be Crazy Introduction Interpersonal communication has several meaning according to its application ranging from personality traits, interactional tools, and the mind orientation. To date, there has never been a universally accepted definition what it is thus challenging for one to define his/her meaning.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Movie review: The Gods Must Be Crazy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, through the life process one acquires a unique collection of experiences and ideas defining who or what they are, and in my opinion, this is a suitable definition of cultural origin and practice. Interpersonal communication trends entail those patterns that revolutionize and changes over time, which can be within days, months or years. Thus, this analytical treatise attempts to explicitly establish the effects of interpersonal communication patterns, perceptions, verbal codes, nonverbal codes, social episodes, and ro les on personal communication in the film The Gods Must Be Crazy by Jamie Uys in 1980. Interpersonal communication forms In the film The Gods Must Be Crazy, the director presents an interesting cultural interaction between the native San tribe living in the Kalahari Desert and the western culture. The plot of the film focuses on the San relatives headed by Xi who are ignorant of modern life outside the Kalahari Desert. Along the story, there is a blossoming love between a scientist and a teacher, poachers, and nature reflection. The San tribe has everything they need and the gods are fair to them until the Coca-Cola bottle threatens this unity (Uys, scene 18, 1980). The journey to return the Coca-Cola bottle ends up with a long search for two sons who boarded a water track belonging to poachers. Xi displays his survival skills to the modernized parties and the film ends with a happy reunion between father and his two sons. The cultural patterns in the San tribe directly affect their communication. Being a relatively primitive society, they seem to worship the sky and believe that the jet lanes in the sky are roads made by the gods who were very kind to drop for them a Coca-Cola bottle. Being a patriarchal hierarchy, the male is the head of the family cluster and makes the crucial decisions. For instance, Xi had to make the final decision to return the bottle since it was bringing a ‘curse’ to his household (Uys, scene 12, 1980).Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Being a communal living culture, the children are expected to play together and have to bow their heads when speaking to the adults. In fact, the communication of visual information and ideas for the last four centuries has been the function that has enabled science to advance, has it has helped people to see how things work. The members of this culture have different sounds for different occasions. For instance, hunting which is a preserve for the males is organized and executed in a unique communication signs. Whenever the hunting is successful, the young adult children would be the first to make it into the village and the adults would share the catch to all the households. The male adults have their special caucuses where they spit on the ground as an approval sign or sigh to reject an opinion. Thus, Visual representational meaning of the communication conveys the relationship between the parties and the depicted structuring. The creation of a visual representational meaning proposed the space-based model for analysis centered in the placement of objects within the semiotic space as controlled and regulated by culture of the parties involved. In the film The Gods Must Be Crazy, several events connote the nonverbal communication of the San tribe culture. For instance, when the younger son of Xi has to face the hyena threatening to kill him, he reaches f or a rod and places it on his head to extend his height probably because hyenas don’t eat adults. On the other hand, the throwing away of the Coca-Cola bottle by Xi could be translated as a sign of disappointment or anger. Besides, throwing food on the ground before and after eating would symbolize feeding the ancestors who provided for their daily needs. Across the film, Xi is fond of placing his left hand on either the forehead or the chest of the person he is communicating with to symbolize peace, blessings, or love for humanity (Uys, scene 16, 1980). Moreover, the marking of animal footprints would represent the nonverbal communication of tracking animals.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Movie review: The Gods Must Be Crazy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are several special features to the verbal and nonverbal codes used by the members of the San clan in the film The Gods Must Be Crazy. There is g radual transformation on the film. The only difference in culture lies on the degree and multitude under which it is applied and actively recognized by the community in their proactive reorganization for relevance and meanings of the codes used. For instance, the San culture has embraced dependence as families and adopts extended affiliations as opposed to nuclear family ties. As these families grow bigger and bigger, the majority has finally accepted every member of their families as equals when allocating resources, opportunities, and roles. This trend has necessitated the adoption of cognitive descent, which is a fusion between traditional and spiritual belief orientation that ensures continuity (Alder, Rolls and Proctor 2012). Basically, the verbal and nonverbal codes within this culture are controlled by a collective responsibly and common understanding of what is expected of each member who is assigned a unique role. There are three kinds of meanings that are concerned with bu ilding relationships between the communicating parties that clearly come out in the film The Gods Must Be Crazy: those of (1) attitude, (2) social distance, and (3) contact. Contact is one of the most important visual systems as it enables the viewer to distinguish between images that depict different objects, such as person or animal. Contact visualization is commonly achieved by use the plot that introduces the characters at the beginning of the story (Alder, Rolls and Proctor 2012). Being a predominantly conservative society, the San tribe in the film The Gods Must Be Crazy has distinct social episodes that are governed by specific cultural rules. For instance, in episode 12, when Xi finally makes it to the cliff top surrounded by low lying clouds, he automatically assumes that he had made it to the world’s edge and releases the bottle down the cliff (Uys, scene 19, 1980).Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He then makes it back to his family and the whole clan welcomes him with a warm reception. In this episode, it is apparent that making a journey to the edge of the world and coming back a live is equivocal to going to war and coming back alive. This symbolizes the blessings and protection from the gods and must be celebrated. In addition, the San clan believed that they are the only human being on that world and Xi reacts very strangely and assumes that the people he met outside the San clan are actually gods who seemed comparatively huge and had road vehicles. Unlike this uniform social structure of interpersonal communication exhibited by the San Clan, it is apparent that the same would not be possible, especially in the Middle Eastern social structure of interpersonal communication that functions in class system stratification though inclusive of hidden discrepancies associated with caste system such as discrimination of the minorities due to skin color, gender, race, nationality , and religion since it is a state acquired in life and not determined by birth. Being an intriguing idea, the film focuses on social norms as a mirrored reflection of what a society would like to visualize from a string of intertwining ideas. Social norms involve impersonal consciousness, stepwise process, and absolute necessity assumptions aimed at creating a sustainable, friendly, and acceptable irksome feeling (Alder, Rolls and Proctor 2012). The film seems to propagate the significance of culture in interpersonal communication. To begin with, the story line is thought-provoking. On the other hand, it has an interesting struggle premise taking the route of a thought-provoking to venture down the path of action and belief scenes. Reflectively, this creates a feeling of imaginative casting. Factually, the film The Gods Must Be Crazy is very fascinating in aligning beliefs to culture and how the same is interpreted in the interpersonal communication through symbols and codes. This is a vicissitude of life, items that Xi and his two sons turn about to be a necessity for their survival (Uys, scene 21, 1980). Conclusion Generally, the film The Gods Must Be Crazy has an interesting plot besides its richness in augmenting interpersonal communication as a component of culture. The director has fused a documentary approach and humor to present a favorable piece of art that would be of great benefit to an individual interested in exploring intercultural communication and its variable at micro and macro levels of a geographical setting. References Alder, R., Rolls, J., Proctor, R. (2012). Looking out/looking in. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers. Uys, J. (Producer). (1980). The Gods Must Be Crazy [Motion picture]. South Africa. 20th Century Fox.

Watson Surname Meaning and Origin

Watson Surname Meaning and Origin Watson is a patronymic surname meaning son of Watt. The popular Middle English given names Wat and Watt were pet forms of the name Walter, meaning powerful ruler or ruler of the army, from the elements wald, meaning rule, and heri, meaning army. Watson is the 19th most common surname in Scotland and the  76th most popular surname in the United States. Watson is also popular in England, coming in as the 44th most common surname. Surname Origin:  Scottish,  English Alternate Surname Spellings:  WATTIS, WATTS, WATTSON, WATS  See also WATT. Where Do People with the WATSON Surname Live The last name Watson is common in Scotland and the Border Country, according to WorldNames PublicProfiler, most especially the northeast English counties of Cumbria, Durham, and Northumberland and the Lowlands and East of Scotland, especially in the area around Aberdeen. Surname distribution data from Forebears concurs, placing the surname at the turn of the 20th century as most common in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Fife, Lanarkshire and Midlothian in Scotland, and Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, Northumberland, and Cumberland (a parent county of present-day Cumbria) in England. Famous People with the WATSON Surname John B. Watson: American psychologist, best known for his role in the development of behaviorismJames Watson: American molecular biologist and geneticist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNAJames Watt: Inventor of the modern steam engineEmma Watson: English actress and feminist advocate, best known for playing the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchiseTom Watson: American professional golfer Clan Watson The crest of Clan Watson is two hands coming from the clouds holding the trunk of a sprouting oak tree.  The Watson clan motto is Insperata floruit which means It has flourished beyond expectation. Sources Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia.  Bergenfield, NJ:  Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Hoffman, William F. Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings.  Chicago:  Polish Genealogical Society, 1993. Rymut, Kazimierz. Nazwiska Polakow.  Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich - Wydawnictwo, 1991. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Definition and Examples of Verbal Paradox

Definition and Examples of Verbal Paradox Definition A verbal paradox is a  figure of speech in which a seemingly self-contradictory statement is nevertheless foundin some senseto be true. Also called a  paradoxical statement. In  A Dictionary of Literary Devices (1991),  Bernard Marie Dupriez defines verbal paradox as an assertion which runs counter to received opinion, and whose very formulation contradicts current ideas.   Irish author Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was a master of the verbal paradox. He once said, Life is much too important to be taken seriously. See Examples and Observations below. also: ParadoxContradictory PremisesEnantiosisOxymoron Examples and Observations The old verbal paradox still holds tree, that blackberries are green when they are red.(Ezra Brainerd, The Blackberries of New England. Rhodora, Feb. 1900) It is the wonderful paradox . . . that the best way to achieve happiness for oneself is to give happiness to others.†(David Michie, The Dalai Lamas Cat. Hay House, 2012) Paradoxes of G.K. Chesterton- It is so easy to be solemn; it is so hard to be frivolous. . . .These articles have another disadvantage arising from the scurry in which they were written; they are too long-winded and elaborate. One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time.(G.K. Chesterton, The Case for the Ephemeral. All Things Considered, 1908)- There is nothing that fails like success.(G.K. Chesterton, Heretics, 1905)- It is of the new things that men tireof fashions and proposals and improvements and change. It is the old things that startle and intoxicate. It is the old things that are young.(G.K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, 1904)- The object of verbal paradox, then, is persuasion, and its principle is the inadequacy of words to thoughts, unless they be very careful ly chosen words.(Hugh Kenner, Paradox in Chesterton. Sheed, 1948) Paradoxes of Oscar Wilde- Lord Caversham: I dont know how you stand society. A lot of damned nobodies talking about nothing.Lord Arthur Goring: I love talking about nothing, Father. Its the only thing I know anything about.Lord Caversham: That is a paradox, sir. I hate paradoxes.(Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, 1895)- If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.(Oscar Wilde, The Chameleon, 1894)- Cyril: But you dont mean to say that you seriously believe that Life imitates Art, that Life in fact is the mirror, and Art the reality?Vivian: Certainly I do. Paradox though it may seemand paradoxes are always dangerous thingsit is nonetheless true that Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.(Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying. Intentions, 1891) More Verbal Paradoxes Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.(Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, 1762)â€Å"Im an atheist, thank God.†(Luis Buà ±uel)- Much is published, but little printed.(Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854)- Of course, what [Thoreau is] saying here is that with all of the flood of publishing, virtually none of it is ever imprintednone of it ever makes a difference.(Donald Harrington, quoted by Paul A. Doyle in Henry David Thoreau: Studies and Commentaries. Associated University Presses, 1972)[W]hereas a world rises to fall, a spirit descends to ascend.(E. E. Cummings, I: Six Nonlectures. Harvard Univ. Press, 1953)Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.(attributed to John Fowles)This statement is false.(Greek philosopher Eubulides, The Liar Paradox or pseudomenon) Paradox itself is paradoxical; that is what makes it paradox. It cannot be reduced to lowest terms, only deferred. But neither is it ever present before our eyes; it is always in a state of deferral. . . .Paradox is the form taken within the world of representation by the conflict that representation was created to avoid.(Eric L. Gans, Signs of Paradox: Irony, Resentment, and Other Mimetic Structures. Stanford University Press, 1997)