McDonalds Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

McDonalds Marketing Plan Essay I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY McDonald’s Philippines is a subsidiary of the Filipino-owned Golden Arches Development Corporation. The first Filipino McDonald’s to open for business was in the Morayta university districts in Manila during 1981. These days McDonald’s is operating over 150 restaurants throughout the islands of the Philippines. Being a 100% Filipino-owned franchise allows McDonald’s Philippines to be more agile and take quicker actions, making them an even more competitive force in the Filipino fast-food market. It is one of the leading fast-food chains internationally as well as in the Philippines, with a rapidly developing consumer brand and growing customer base. . It is a place for family togetherness organized around a common love of the traditional food. Its operating system is characterized by focusing on uniformity for consistent quality, the formation of partner relationship with its franchises and supplier to improve operating system innovatively and last but not least the introduction of new products. With its steady drive for improvement and consistently high quality, McDonald’s revolutionized the entire supply chain. Instead of regimenting its supplier and franchisees, McDonald’s expected commitment from them in terms of adherence and experimentation. The implemented, smooth operating chain of suppliers, McDonald’s corporate management and franchisees balances each other, creates an entrepreneurial spirit that added value, innovation, economics of scale, the bargaining power for advertising and purchasing, as well as new product and process ideas to the company. Additionally, all involved parties maintained a collective emphasis on disciplined quality standards. As years passed by, McDonald’s needed to adapt to industry changes by accomplishing some process design innovations in fruitful collaboration with its suppliers and franchisees. In this context, McDonald’s improved the chain’s chicken and fries’ quality and consistency by switching from raw to frozen delivered fries as well as the productivity of employee. Another major process enhancement was the introduction of the breakfast at McDonald’s. In this way, the corporation expanded its operating hours since it had to pay for rent, utilities and insurance 24 hours a day, anyways. The generation of a totally new business came along with the nice side effect that it again distinguishes itself from its competitors. This marketing plan is used in outlining the product, pricing, and distribution and promotion strategies to be implemented and executed during this time. It proposes a revitalization of the McDonald’s philosophy so as to focus on the quality of products and services for customer’s value and a healthy lifestyle, healthy eating habits, smart choices and education. The plan also outlines the structural issues that may arise during its implementation and execution, tactical initiatives to turn strategy into action. II. CHALLENGE Problem: Before, the company use grilled direct system. Which becomes the problem of the company because the customer always complaining about the quality of the product like chicken mcdo, when it is served to the customers it is not crispy because it stays longer in the warming bin, and also the patty of the burger, it is not juicy because it is not hot. The access of McDelivery to the call center is another problem of McDonalds because some times the information about on the location of the customer is wrong. Solution: Now a day the McDonald’s uses the Made for You (MFY) system. †¢ Food is made or prepared to actual customer demand, providing each and every burger only when it is needed just in time (JIT). †¢ It standardizes assembly of all sandwiches to one or two at a time. †¢ Requires minimal Human Decisions Making. †¢ It requires Behavioral change ⠝â€" Quality ⠝â€" Complete waste ⠝â€" Equipment ⠝â€" Standard procedure III. SITUATION ANALYSIS Company Analysis †¢ Goals – Develop a solution to improve kitchen layouts, people positioning and operational procedures for a better guest experience. In simple terms: our goal is to have a happy and satisfied customer. †¢ Focus – the company should focus on products and services. McDonald’s is a customer-oriented company that strives to offer Filipinos a combination of great tasting, quality food productions at value prices with excellent service. †¢ Values – Customer – driven, Malasakit, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellent. †¢ Strengths ⠝â€" Quality of the product, services and cleanliness of the store. ⠝â€" The service of the company is fast and accurate, and we believe that taking good care of our customers is the first vital step toward effective sales building. ⠝â€" Patents and Trademark ⠝â€" Branding such as through the use of logos, colours, slogan and other images. A key part of the McDonald’s brand is its ‘M’ logo otherwise known as ‘The Golden Arches’. †¢ Weaknesses ⠝â€" The competitors like Jollibee, Mang Inasal, Burger King etc. ⠝â€" Lack of cooperation between the management and in the crews. †¢ Market Shares – McDonald’s has captured more than 40% share of the hamburger market in the Philippines. Customer Analysis †¢ Number – 30% is ages 60 and above, 20% is ages 1-15, 50% is ages 16 and above. This is the percentage of customer who are eating at the McDonald’s everyday especially during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. †¢ Type – Class B C †¢ Value Drivers – a part from our product and services. McDonald’s gives back to the community through the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). RMHC supports children’s development and well being through Bahay Bulilit and Bright Minds Read (BMR). Every happy meal purchase gives 50 centavos to RMHC. †¢ Decision process – The customer have a lot of decision making it is base of what they needs and wants, also the customer decide to buy a discounted product like in coupon and the mcsaver meals. Competitor Analysis †¢ Market Position No. 1 (Jollibee) No. 2 (McDonald’s) †¢ Strengths Lasang Pinoy Raw materials are environment friendly †¢ Weaknesses Jollibee has a poor service †¢ Market shares – Jollibee has captured more than 52% share of the hamburger market in the Philippines. SWOT ANALYSIS Strength †¢ Risk diversity †¢ Large market share †¢ Strong supply chain †¢ Promoting ethical conduct †¢ Competitive fast-food chain †¢ Attentive and friendly staff/crew’s †¢ Rigorous food safety standards †¢ Good reputation among customer †¢ Decentralized yet connected system †¢ Strong brand name, image and reputation †¢ Strong financial and performance and position †¢ Affordable prices and high quality products †¢ Nutritional information available on packaging †¢ Strong global presence and performance in the global marketplace †¢ Specialized training for managers known as the Hamburger University †¢ McDonalds Plan to Win focuses on people, product, place, price and promotion Weaknesses †¢ Unhealthy food image †¢ High staff turnover including top management †¢ Customer losses due to fierce competition †¢ Lack of access to the best natural resources †¢ Lack of access to key distribution channel Opportunities †¢ Growing health trends among consumers †¢ Joint ventures with retailers †¢ Consolidation of retailers likely, so better locations for franchisees †¢ Respond to social changes by innovation with in healthier lifestyle foods †¢ Strengthen its value proposition and offering, to encourage customers who visit coffee shops into McDonalds †¢ The new â€Å"formats†, Mccafe, having wi-fi internet links should help in attracting segments. Also installing children’s play-parks and its focus on educating consumers about health, fitness. †¢ International expansion into emerging market’s of other country †¢ Growth of the fast-food industry †¢ Low cost menu that will attract the customers †¢ Providing many promotional activities Threats †¢ Health professionals and consumer activists accuse McDonald’s of contributing to the country health issue of high cholesterol, heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity †¢ McDonalds competitors threatened market share of the company both internationally and domestically †¢ Global recession and fluctuating foreign currencies †¢ Affordability of the competitors products †¢ Similar flavors and products of the competitors †¢ Competitors endorsers are much popular when it compares to McDonalds IV.Market Segmentation Market Segmentation is the process of splitting customer in to different groups, or segment within the customers with similar characteristics have similar needs. Geographical Segmentation Mcdonalds offered their services based on certain country basic food. Like Philippines McDonalds realized that Filipino basic food is rice which with fried chicken as its local basic food. Demographic/Psychographic Segmentation Demographic segmentation divided the market into groups based on variables like gender, age, nationality, religion; family life cycle and family size McDonald offered their services by segmented their customer base on age, religion and family life cycle. To offer the best service McDonalds still concern about variations due to differing tastes and cultural issues for their customer over the world. Behavioral Segmentation Behavioral segmentation focuses on dividing consumer based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses, benefit sought, or responses to company’s product. One of the best forms of segmentation is to divide buyers according to the different benefits that they want to get by purchasing the product. Usually people who look for in their product class or look for each benefit. For example, McDonald provide McDelivery for 24 hours, this is the only one delivery service that not stop even once in a while a day by just call it and order, after that within a minute it comes to your place with the food that still hot and fresh. V. Alternative Marketing Strategies McDonalds has seen recent success through a careful implementation of its â€Å"Plan to Win† strategy, which focuses on several key aspects of the business, namely increasing traffic to restaurants, providing everyday value to customers, innovating the company through the creation of new menu items, re-imaging the company’s look, as well as its marketing campaigns. McDonald’s Plan to Win is based on a core set of four main goals: †¢ Acquire more customers †¢ Get these customers to eat at McDonalds more often †¢ Develop more brand loyalty for the McDonalds brand †¢ Ultimately become more profitable Increasing restaurant visits Current market condition help the appearance of McDonalds as a low cost alternative to eating at more expensive restaurants in the minds of customers, which has consequently led to an increase in foot traffic at McDonalds franchises. McDonalds has addressed these conditions through an increase in advertising, specially displaying the company’s attention toward a diversified menu of low cost items. Such advertising serves to satisfy all four of goals of Plan to win program, drawing customer interest through a short display of the plethora of new menu options recently added, while also helping to change the look and feel of McDonalds in the minds of customers. Providing everyday value In order to create an overall feeling of value for customers to experience, McDonalds has released a modular value meal, where customers have the benefit of both low prices coupled with increased freedom when deciding on a meal. While traditional menu options emphasize a trade-off between ordering freedom and price, the McDonalds value menu provides customers with both all at once, helping customers associate the brand with good value. Innovating new menu items At the same time as their menu choices have become modular and less expensive, McDonalds is also creating value for customers by providing a diverse menu with many more ordering options. Customers can now expect an increase in health-conscious options by adding some vegetables in the burger and also they provide some dessert like apple pie or pineapple pie. McDonalds also provide a mccafe like ice mocha, ice latte, and cappuccino, Americano to provide some different variety of coffee to satisfy the customer. Marketing campaigns As well as considering the important of keeping customers informed of the continuing changes to the company through advertising media and social media dialogues, McDonalds also recognizes the value of maintaining an ongoing support system and training structure for each of its franchise operators. As mentioned above, McDonalds uses well defined, and measurable milestones to help their constituents meet company goals with as few inconsistencies as possible. McDonalds’ training programs have been continuously recognized for their excellence, and with the continuing changes being carried out throughout the company, this attention to the value of training is a terrific asset to the company. Re-imaging the restaurant Directly benefiting the company’s goals of brand development for the company, McDonalds is reenergizing their brand through an understanding of â€Å"brand power†, which is built on the cultivation of four key areas of the brand, brand identity, familiarity, specialness, and authority. Brand identity is defined as the set of characteristics that customers recognize your brand by; in McDonalds’ case these are speed, consistency, value, and variety. Brand identity works with brand familiarity, helping to expand the message that symbols of the company, or even the overall impact of advertisements themselves in reinforcing the identity of the brand in the minds of customers. If carefully managed, McDonalds can use their brand identity to make their investments in advertising go much further. Beyond this, brand specialness and authority continue the process, representing the perceptions of McDonalds as the company appears to customers. Ideally, McDonalds should leverage brand specialness and authority to clearly stand out as a distinct and trustworthy source of value, allowing customers to increase the value of the McDonalds brand through their positive interactions with the company. McDonald’s adopts different strategies to attract customers of different age groups, but still the main target remains to be children. So in order to attract them, McDonald’s use a key tool: the Happy Meals, which seem to fascinate children due to the toys included in the menu. In addition to this, they have a tie up with The Walt Disney Company for the Disney characters included in the menu, in order to make sure that they offer the kids a wide range of toy options. Moreover, McDonald’s provides the children with a special facility, unique for food venues and fast-food restaurants: a playground. This strategy is aimed at making McDonald’s a pleasant and fun environment for both kids and parents. Even the exterior of every restaurant is also strategically designed using bright colors to invite in the customer, especially kids who can easily be influenced by these aspects. So not only that the children like it, it is a chance for the parents to spend some â€Å"quality time† with their kids. Another aspect of their marketing strategy is the fact that every McDonald’s restaurant provides Wi–Fi facilities, a detail that adds to the attractive qualities and is aimed at teenage customers. In addition to this, what is representative for this chain is their clown mascot, Ronald McDonald, who is essential for creating the bond with children and entertaining them. They can even have private birthday parties in the facilities, again part of McDonald’s aim to induce happy memories in children’s minds, and to make them associate the McDonald’s brand and logo with happy moments. VI. Selected Marketing Strategy Product Suppliers are dedicated to providing McDonald’s with top quality material that is continually monitored for freshness and safety. McDonald’s uses regional suppliers to ensure that the freshness is delivered to customers in every product they buy. Food quality is keys at McDonald’s. They seek out fresh lettuce and tomatoes, onions and pickles, quality buns and potatoes, pure ground beef, select poultry and fish and wholesome dairy products. All of the beef, chicken and pork that are used are purchased from federally inspected facilities to ensure freshness, wholesomeness and peak quality when served to customers. Non-Vegetarian Ingredients Chicken The chicken products are made from high quality boned rib and leg meat and are covered in a specially seasoned, lightly battered coating. They are shaped in uniform sizes to ensure consistency in weight and value. Fish The fish products in McDonald’s Filet –O- Fish are 100% pure whole white fillets that are lightly breaded. Their exacting quality standards for fish surpass federal requirements. The ocean-fresh quality of Filet-O-Fish is a result of the process and ability to freeze the fish at sea to maintain freshness. Vegetarian Ingredients Vegetables McDonald’s use freshly shredded lettuce, onions, pickles and tomatoes in their restaurants. All their vegetable products are processed from high quality graded vegetables in a 100% dedicated vegetarian plant. Potatoes McDonald’s French fries are famous around the world. To make French fries, McDonald’s uses only the best potatoes available from their own potato farms. Their potato suppliers make many of the same nationally recognized brands of potato products to make customers feel that they are with their family at home. These potatoes are cut, blanched and processed on state-of-the-art processing lines to ensure maximum retention of nutrients. Their French fries and Potato Wedges are cooked at the plant in 100% vegetables cooking oil. Other Ingredients Cheese and other Dairy Products All dairy products like cheese, McShakes and Soft Serves are made from fresh dairy milk. All dairy products including cheese have a role to play in balanced diet because they contain a wide variety of essential nutrients such as protein, calcium, fat solubles, phosphorus, etc. McDonald’s uses a special blend of pasteurized American cheese to complement the flavor of their sandwiches. Buns McDonald’s uses buns made from locally grown wheat flour. They are baked locally and delivered fresh, several times each week to McDonald’s restaurants. Cooking Oil Food preparations are done in 100% refined vegetable oils at the restaurants plants. They use liquid oil and not hydrogenated oil. This means there are no TFAs or Trans Fatty Acids in the French Fries or any other products. Additionally, these vegetable oils contain some essential fatty acids necessary for growth. Quality Food quality is the crucial element at McDonald’s. Despite extensive and meticulous quality test at the suppliers end, all products are once again carefully scrutinized at the restaurant. Immaculate of quality allow for nothing but the best to reach customer’s tray. Their products are sourced from the highest quality ingredients, prepared hygienically and treated to regular quality checks such as the McDonald’s Inspection Program (QIP). Scope of Product Line Distribution (Place) Place, as an element of the marketing mix, is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. It encompasses the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. McDonald’s outlets are very evenly spread throughout the cities making them very accessible. Drive in and drive through options make McDonald’s products further convenient to the consumers. Intensive Distribution Distribution arrangements tend to be long term in nature. Because of this time horizon, channel decisions are usually classed as strategic, rather than tactical or operational ones. Many of McDonalds restaurants are open 24 hours per day which satisfies the customers needs and wants, especially for exists their hunger. This kind of distribution strategy is called intensive distribution, means marking the product available for sale through all possible channels of distribution. Intensive distribution is stocking the product in as many outlets as possible.† Promotion The promotions aspect of the marketing mix covers all types of marketing communications One of the methods employed is advertising, Advertising is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in the press for example in newspapers and magazines. Other promotional methods include sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, loyalty schemes, door drops, etc. The skill in marketing communications is to develop a campaign which uses several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. For example, TV advertising makes people aware of a food item and press advertising provides more detail. This may be supported by in-store promotions to get people to try the product and a collectable promotional device to encourage them to keep on buying the item. At McDonalds the prime focus is on targeting children. In happy meals too which are targeted at children small toys are given along with the meal. Apart from this, various schemes for winning prices by way of lucky draws and also scratch cards are given when an order is placed on the various mean combos. VII. Conclusion Since the problem of McDonalds is about the customer that keeps on complaining for the quality and freshness of the products that is being served. Therefore I conclude that the company should use the MFY (Made for You) system, so that the food is made or prepared for the customer just in time with a good quality for a reasonable cost. The company should also provide a large number of riders to avoid late delivery.

Critical Reading Of James Joyce Ulysses English Literature Essay

Critical Reading Of James Joyce Ulysses English Literature Essay James Joyces Ulysses, is generally regarded as a modernist novel. At the time when Joyce was: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦writing Ulysses he had set himself the task of writing a book from eighteen different points of view and in as many styles  [1]  . Historically, modernism is frequently linked with the rise of industrialization. The basic conflict was that modern life was different than the life of the past. Peoples lives had become increasingly complex at the time, and they were forced to play a number of different societal roles, the result was that life came to be fragmented and disjointed. In the modern world, language was being stressed upon as people tried to identify with one another. This essay will determine the modernistic ideas that James Joyces Ulysses presents, and the relation of it with Homers Odyssey. The essay will focus on the literary devices Joyce uses in his writing, and the effect of them on the readers and characters within the stories. In Ulysses, Leopold Bloom corresponds to Odysseus, however it is not easy to just read the story as a re make of the Odyssey as Leopold Bloom also corresponds to Leopold Bloom. Ulysses is in fact a particularly realistic novel, and Joyce makes sure he does not let the storyline be forced upon by allegory. Joyce turns a normal day in a mans life into a heroic tale by opening and analyzing his inner thoughts in depth. He attempts to bring in the motion of the story beginning with the sphere of conflict, and swiftly moving to the sphere of the mentality. There are many differences than similarities in the two stories of Ulysses and The Odyssey. While Odysseus goes from place to place, Joyce goes from style to style  [2]  . In many ways, Telemachus is simply a less formed version of Odysseus. He is shown to be a tad misogynist, while Odysseus is in many ways more womanly. He possesses several traits which only Homers female characters share, and he identifies with women in a way that no one else can, mainly with Penelope. In the Odyssey, Telemachus, the son of the hero Odysseus, grows up in a world of greed and disregard; he is one of the most significant characters throughout the whole story. During Telemachus journey to search for the news of his father, he is shown going through the development of growing up as an adult. From the start of the text he is conveyed as a simple silhouette of his father, however towards the end he is shown to become more like his father in terms of compassion and initiative. Although he comes into his adolescence at the beginning of the book, growing up without a father still makes Telmachus to some extent wretched without initiative. Telemachus was evidently younger than Odysseus, and he had less patience. Odysseus however, being older, had a more knowledgeable outlook to most things therefore he knew he had time. Telemachus is the first to attack without a thought, whereas Odysseus thought hard through his attack, and was better at protecting himself. There are many similarities and differences between both characters. Ulysses is a book in which countless characters are brought out and developed through a number of disparate ways. The most momentous development that occurs in the story is the development of Telemachus. Joyce illustrates his character as an incredibly complex person, and continues to develop his personality from beginning to end int he story.  At the start of the text he is shown to be a mere shadow of his father whereas towards the end he is considered just as audacious as his father use to be. Many factors influence Telemachus as he grows into a man, his name signifies far from battle,  this name in many ways can be seen and revealed to be ironic in the book as T elemachus ends by taking part in two battles. Not having any fatherly figure in his life as a child persistently affects Telemachus character in the book.   He develops into an apprehensive, withdrawn and weak individual who is to the uppermost scale spoiled by his one and only mother.   A number of literary techniques are evidently used in Telemachus. It is shown to be a journey of manhood, which through the use of a various number of literal devices transmits the significance of a respective society. The story is a narrative poem which presents us the readers with a traditional journey that the character undergoes. Joyce uses the method of using the flashback technique in order to portray readers when there is a change in the setting or when there is a change in the time frame. This technique is widely used by authors in modern day society to illustrate a surprising yet easier to understand storyline. The imperative change on the chain of events that takes place in the text adds to the complexity of the story. When this method is used it gives us the readers the power of time travel, allowing us to view events out of their given time structure. Flashbacks in many ways can help to make the story more interesting and help draw the reader in. They are normally used to give us the readers a better view and understanding of the overall story. Important information about the protagonists and elements of the story are revealed to the reader through the use of flashbacks. Homer makes use of this device in The Odyssey when King Nestor repeats the story of the Trojan War. This flashback in particular allows readers to grasp and identify with the character of Odysseus. This method is also used to tell the story of Odysseuss adventures as he fought his way home through a various number obstacles. The structure of the story is a narrative poem; it presents the storyline in a style which proves to be very flexible. This type of literary constitution allows for a difficult or even a straight forward poem to be either long or short. Narrative poems are normally passed down to the next generation by the continuous retelling of stories. Children in todays society grow up hearing different stories as a tradition; they then pass those stories down to their own children. Joyce presents his, stylistic diversityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦towards the truthful depiction of reality  [3]  . The Odyssey on the other hand, is a story in structure of a classical journey, the male protagonist in the story is shown to be on a mission suffering from encounters with supernatural beings, consisting of monsters and gods. Repetition is also a technique which is used in Ulysses to emphasize the descriptions, dialogues, and verbal communications in the story. The fact that repetition is used allows the story to be much easier told. By only having one narrative in the story really cuts down on the amount of things that need to be remembered by the readers. It also provides itself as a benchmark style that helps the narrator act it out, or even improvise on the spot. The use of repetition helps add to the exhilarating effect of the story. Repeating certain things over and over again allows readers to be familiar with the repetition and what is going on. When this repetition is presented, our minds as the readers begin to wander leaving our thoughts and imaginations open for submission. The Odyssey is a text that makes use of similar passages; however the main repetition Homer uses is in the portrayals of the images presented in the text. For example, Pallas Athena is continuously referred to in relation t o her eyes. She is usually referred to as the beautiful eyed goddess. In this case reiteration is used in order to highlight a specific point that Homer tries to put across about her character. The Odyssey makes use of brutal imagery to convey the theme of reprisal. This staggering imagery in reality catches the readers interest and is a great means of expression for the theme of revenge. In conclusion Joyce uses different characters in order to bring out a more modernist meaning and feel to his story. It is clear to identify the differences and similarities both Ulysses and The Odyssey possess, Joyce tries to convey a new adaptation by altering and modifying his characters, whereas Homers Odyssey exists only in the past. Joyce evidently brings out a more modernistic experience and surrounding to the text in order to relate it to the modern world, this therefore allows readers to relate to it and allows it exist in a more contemporary world. The literary devices Joyce chooses to use create enigmatic and realistic settings to his story, he specifically uses for example techniques such as flashbacks, and repetition in order to bring across a captivating setting by leaving an attractive impression on the readers. Word: 1646

Social, Political and Economic Impacts of Thatcher

Social, Political and Economic Impacts of Thatcher There is little doubt that the Thatcher administration had a social, political and economic impact on Britain during its years of reign. The push for privatisation of the public sector, the subsequent unemployment, and the drive to divert housing away from the control of the state and into the control of private parties are, among others, the key events that shaped the influence that Thatcherism had on the British public. It has often been argued that the concept of Thatcherism goes against the grain of traditional Conservative political thought since the end of the Second World War in 1945, and that Thatcher’s â€Å"New Right† set out challenge the elements of classic liberalism that were traditionally embraced by the Tory’s up to her victory in 1979.[1] However, others have also argued that Thatcher’s New Right still embraced one key factor of traditional Tory political thought: the concept of tradition.[2] The most accurate definition of the New Right s chool of thought is the fact is combines elements of both liberalism (the need for freedom) and traditionalism (the preservation of concepts of heritage) into a new form of ultra-conservative thinking, which is said to have first come to prominence during Ronald Reagan’s election to the White House in 1980.[3] Thatcher’s foreign policy embraced the US as a close ally during Reagan’s presidency, and as such they shared political thoughts and ideas on certain issues.[4] The Thatcher government is attributed as being responsible for the reformation of the labour market during the 1980’s. One main method of achieving this was through the reformation of the income tax system, which dropped the top marginal tax rate for the extremely wealthy.[5] The basic tax rate was cut from 33% to 25%, and the top tax rate was reduced from 83% to 40%.[6] This reduction in taxes is said to have lead to an increase in big business and skilled workforce interest in Britain, rather than having to shift their operations offshore to avoid the high taxes. Having large business back in Britain, set up through the encouragement of a foreign skilled workforce to set up in Britain through lower income tax, meant that the economy would subsequently strengthen due to an increased import/export market and foreign trade deals, regardless of the fact that the government would initially lose up to half its revenue from the top marginal tax bracket. The labour market also faced a shake-up in terms of union involvement, with Thatcher legislating extensively to restrict their involvement in industrial relations, and effectively disabling their ability to call strikes.[7] This meant that the common man’s rights at work were severely challenged by the Thatcher legislative agenda, thereby effectively distancing government from the middle to working classes of British society. This is somewhat contradictory to her proclamation that, upon arriving to Downing Street, her vision was of an â€Å"open, classless Britain†.[8] Rather it could be argued that, in some areas at least, her agenda has somewhat reinforced the class system in Britain, and created a breed of ‘working poor’ class, where encouragement to own property and shares has lead to the inability to create free capital, on which a family can survive. Thatcher also believed that state ownership of many companies was hampering growth in other sectors. Famous firms such as Cable Wireless, British Aerospace, British Petroleum, Rover, British Airways, and British Telecom are now quite largely owned by the public, as well as basic suppliers of gas, electricity, water, telecommunications, road and rail.[9] With the transfer from public to private enterprise meant subsequent deregulation of those companies, allowing them to make changes to the company as their respective boards of directors saw fit. This also could be argued to mean that many employees would no longer be government employees that were provided with government benefits, such as generous superannuation contributions. Rather, superannuation would be at the discretion of the employer, and those that did not receive such benefits would be reliant upon the welfare of the state come unemployment or retirement. This is especially relevant where a mandatory retirement age is enf orced. Again, this further demonstrates the position of the Thatcher administration in terms of providing for middle to lower classes of British society, and only looking out for those that are wealthy enough to own stock in such privatised companies (20% of Britons in 1990, compared with 7% in 1979).[10] Interestingly, under Thatcher in 1980, the Royal Family was given an increase in its allowance from the British government by several million pounds, while cuts in expenditure were being made in most other areas![11] Britain began to pay a price for Thatcher’s cost cutting and privatisation during the 1980s. While the Thatcher administration had inherited high inflation from the preceding Heath Labour government,[12] methods still had to be put in place to control this. Within a few years, inflation was down to 5%, however as a result of strict money control as a method of control, unemployment had risen to around 3 million (or 6%) in the mid 1980s.[13] However, 70% of the British public now owned their own homes, which promoted Thatcher’s importance of personal wealth as a fundamental policy.[14] The economy was favoured over infrastructure and social welfare, with roads and railways showing â€Å"signs of neglect† and homelessness having â€Å"visibly increased†.[15] An example of Thatcher’s favouritism towards the economy is demonstrated by the Local Government Bill 1988, which would have made it illegal to promote homosexuality, or to promote the teaching of homosexuality in any school.[16] It could be argued that this Bill was introduced in the wake of a perceived AIDS epidemic that was striking Britain at the time[17] and, rather than spending money to combat this problem through social welfare programs, it seemed much more economically sound to eradicate the problem at a political level. This again demonstrates the distance between the Thatcher government and the social sphere of Britain, also considering proposals in terms of their ‘pounds-and-pence’ value, and not at a grassroots social level. Upon considering various commentaries and statistical data on the issue, it become clear that the success of the Thatcher administration from 1979-1990 can only best be judged in a two-pronged sense: economically and socially. From an economist’s (and upper class) perspective, it is clear that the Thatcher government achieved success in stabilising the British economy and made life in Britain generally more appealing for those of a higher socio-economic status. This was highlighted by the push for people to own their own homes, own stock portfolios and the ability for people in the highest tax bracket to retain 43% more of their earnings. This is in stark contrast to those of middle to working class populations, where the basic tax rate was cut by a mere 8%, union representation was cut and state-owned enterprise was sold to the public, creating a deregulated corporate anarchic sphere. This meant unemployment rates rose, due to the government having less ability to undertake r emedial programs in the formerly state-owned companies, such as job placement. Rather these people became reliant upon the welfare of the state, which was lacking due to the â€Å"classless† approach of the Thatcher government. In short, Thatcherism is critical of any form of post-war political thought in Britain up until the victory in the 1979 election, due to the ‘one nation’ approach of the New Right. From an economic perspective, it was a godsend. From a socialist’s perspective, it has its flaws. But there is no disputing the fact that Thatcher has left a lasting legacy in British political thought, one which continues in part today through Tony Blair’s New Labour. So what of the future? With the rise of big business, one would assume that corporate deregulation and denationalisation will continue in the future, putting more peoples’ jobs at risk. However, the Labour government have traditionally taken a kind view towards the working man and their union representations. So will this mean more rights for the common man? Only time will tell Bibliography Books Barker, R, Political Ideas in Modern Britain: In and After the 20th Century (1997, 2nd ed), Routledge, London. Hickson, K (ed), The Political Thought of the Conservative Party Since 1945 (2005), Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire. Marquand, D and Seldon, A, The Ideas that Shaped Modern Britain (1996), Fontana Press, London. Robertson, D, The Penguin Dictionary of Politics (1993, 2nd ed), Penguin, London. Journal Articles Hitchens, C, ‘This Thatchered Land, This England’ (1980) 231 Nation 3. Nelan, B, ‘A Legacy of Revolution’ (1990) 136 Time 24. Stelzer, I, ‘What Thatcher Wrought’ (1992) Public Interest 107. Legislation Local Government Bill 1998 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880009_en_5.htm Footnotes [1] Kevin Hickson (ed), The Political Thought of the Conservative Party Since 1945 (2005), 28. [2] Rodney Barker, Political Ideas in Modern Britain: In and After the 20th Century (1997, 2nd ed), 224. [3] David Robertson, The Penguin Dictionary of Politics (1993, 2nd ed), 348-9. [4] Ibid, 460. [5] David Marquand and Anthony Seldon, The Ideas that Shaped Modern Britain (1996), 154. [6] Bruce Nelan, ‘A Legacy of Revolution’ (1990) 136 Time 24, 66. [7] Nelan, as above n 6. [8] Ibid. [9] Irwin Stelzer, ‘What Thatcher Wrought’ (1992) Public Interest 107, 33-6. [10] Nelan, as above n 6. [11] Christopher Hitchens, ‘This Thatchered Land, This England’ (1980) 231 Nation 3, 72-3. [12] Hickson, as above n 1, 42. [13] Ibid. [14] Nelan, as above n 6. [15] Ibid. [16] Local Government Bill 1988 (UK), s 2A. [17] Stelzer, as above n 9, 49.

Social Psychological Experiments Essay -- Social Issues, Authority

Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist, conducted an experiment in 1963 about human obedience that was deemed as one of the most controversial social psychology experiments ever (Blass). Ian Parker, a writer for the New Yorker and Human Sciences, and Diana Baumrind, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, responded to Stanley Milgram’s experiment. These articles represent how the scientific community reviews and scrutinizes each other’s work to authenticate experiment results. Baumrind focuses on the moral and ethical dilemma while, Parker focuses more on the experiment’s actual application. The experiment’s original intent was to determine if society would simply obey to authority when put under pressure by an authoritative figure. Milgram put a twist on the experiment asking the age-old question of, â€Å"if the Germans during WWII were simply obeying to authority when carrying out the Holocaust or were they all acting on their own†(Blass). The test subject, or teacher, would administer electric shocks to the learner, a paid actor, when the learner incorrectly answered the word pairings. The teacher thought the learner was receiving electric shocks when in reality the learner was not receiving any shocks. An instructor, the authoritative figure, was sitting behind the teacher reassuring the teacher that the shocks may be painful but would not inflict permanent damage. Throughout the experiment, the teacher can be seen looking back towards the instructor for permission on whether to continue or stop (ABC).The teacher instructed the learner to continue even when the learner cried out in pain and begged for the experiment to stop (ABC). Sixty-five percent of the time, the teacher continued until he administered the ... ... Baumrind’s idea that if Milgram were to fully disclose the experiment would it still produces the same results as the original experiment? Milgram does arrange for a friendly meeting between the teacher and the learner after the experiment. The meeting was supposed to relieve all tensions that are burdened upon the teacher throughout the experiment. Baumrind does not believe that this simple meeting between the teacher and learner was enough to relieve all tensions of the experiment (227). She simply suggests that Milgram should have offered a psychiatric evaluation or therapy to the patients after participating in the experiment (227). The ethical treatment that Milgram showed towards his patients denied him his APA membership. â€Å"The ethical furor preyed on Milgram’s mind – in the opinion of Arthur G. Miller, it may have contributed to his premature death†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (234).

The Religious Dimension of Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe Essay

The Religious Dimension of Robinson Crusoe  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Robinson Crusoe’s discovery of the work ethic on the small island goes hand in hand with a spiritual awakening.   Robinson Crusoe is not a very profound religious thinker, although religion is part of his education and transformation.   He claims he reads the Bible, and he is prepared to quote it from time to time.   But he doesn’t puzzle over it or even get involved in the narrative or character attractions of the stories.   The Bible for him appears to be something like a Dale Carnegie handbook of maxims to keep the work on schedule and to stifle any possible complaints or longings for a different situation.   Still, the religious dimension is central to Robinson Crusoe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Robinson Crusoe’s interpretation of his life links the financial success directly and repeatedly with his growth in religious awareness.   This is not an intellectual conversion but, simply put, an awareness that he has, in some ways, received God’s grace and is under His care.   The growing profitability of his efforts is proof of such a spiritual reward.   This awareness fills him with a sense of guilt for his former life and a great desire to be relieved of that guilt.   The desire to be relieved from that feeling of guilt, in fact, is much stronger than Robinson Crusoe’s desire to be delivered from the island. Now I looked back upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of God but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all my comfort.   As for my solitary life; it was nothing; I did not so much as pray to be delivered from it or think of it; it was all of no considerations in comparison to this; and I added this part here to ... ... The inhabitants of the New World were there to be ignored, like Friday’s father, used as servants, like Friday, or killed, like the cannibals.   The important part of the Puritan encounter with the New World was what Robinson Crusoe shows us, the spiritual testing of the solitary Protestant spirit, a life-long ordeal in which he achieved success (or the closest thing to a manifestation of success) by stamping his will on the new land, staking out territory as his property through backbreaking toil, without any concessions to anyone or anything, least of all to the land or to its original inhabitants.   That was the Puritan’s calling; that was the reason God has placed us on this earth: to put to our personal uses the material and people available, to ignore what does not fit in with such projects, and to remove quickly and ruthlessly anything that stands in our way.

Compare and Contrast Texting vs Calling Essay

What would we do without cell phones? Have you ever tried to leave your phone at home just to see how much it’s really needed in your everyday life? I have and it’s a lot harder than you think. Technology has grown so much in the past ten years then you would ever know. From little black and white flip phones to tablets with apps, games, music and pretty much anything you could ever want just in the palm of your hand. In 1973 the first cell phone was invented, and it took twenty-two years after that, 1995, to invent text messaging. Now it seems as though text messaging is among the most popular way of communication. Although texting and phone calls aim to accomplish the same task, they both have their differences. Texting can be quick and easy, saves you time and battery life and lastly, it keeps all conversations private from the public. Calling makes conversations feel more personal and professional, takes less time to explain what needs to be done and saves on your monthly bill. Everyday someone new is signing up for cell phone services. Whether it be At&t, Sprint, Verizon, US cellular, and the list goes on, we are dealt with the decision of what is more important minutes or data plan. Minutes are the allowed time per month to receive incoming and outgoing calls. Whereas, Data plan is the allowed text messages and pictures that can be sent. Nowadays most cell phone plans come with unlimited text and call minutes due to high amounts of each being placed each month. Texting is the newest and coolest thing to do among young adults. Texting allows you to say what you have to say without carrying on a long conversation. It saves you time and battery life. We all know how important it can be to save battery life when there is no charger around or if out in public with nowhere to charge it. Texting can help with explaining something to a friend about a â€Å"cute shirt† you see while shopping. Easy as one, two, three, take a picture hit forward in a text message then hit send. They will be able to see it as soon as the message is delivered. Also, texting can save you from that embarrassing moment in public when having a private conversation about yourself or someone you know. With texting there are advantages, but they also come with disadvantages. Texting can be faster and get to the point, but, when you enter in a â€Å"no service area† your message won’t get delivered at that direct moment. Could take a few hours before the recipient receives it. Which could be a disadvantage to both calling and texting. Auto correct is a feature on your phone that changes words in your sentences making them different from what you meant. Therefore, could be the cause to a message being misinterpreted by the receiver and take it the wrong way then it was intended to be understood. Causing more trouble than it should have. A big problem around the world today is the distraction with texting and driving, causing you to take your eyes and attention off the road. Hearing a voice rather than seeing a text can make a phone conversation feel more personal and make an important call have a professional touch to it. If you are going to be late for a job or professional event it is always better to call rather than text. One feature with call phones, is when calling and the other end does not answer you are able to leave a voice mail to what you were calling about. Calling takes less time to explain what you are doing and what needs to be done. Therefore having a longer conversation in a less amount of time. Another advantage to calling is getting the quick response to a question you may have rather than wait on a response. The main advantage would be unlimited minutes for incoming and outgoing calls that could help save on your monthly statement bill. If you’re on a family plan this could definitely be a plus especially if you have a big family. Have you ever had to be put on hold by the cable company, for example, and you waited ten minutes for a representative to pick up, and that moment you are waiting for the solution and beep, beep, beep the call was dropped. Nothing can be more annoying than having to call back and start all over, worried it will happen again. Having no service, just like when texting, and a call is needing to be made can cause anger/frustration in a person. Driving while talking on the phone can be just as distracting as texting, having only one hand on the wheel engaged in your conversation can cause distractions to paying attention to other drivers around you. In some tates talking on a cell phone while driving can get you a ticket and fined. Texting VS Calling can only be judged by each individuals experience and preference. A teenager will most likely choose texting, to avoid awkward phone conversations, whereas, an old fashioned mom or dad would choose to call or vice versa, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Personally I enjoy using both, I will text when bored and want to prolong a conversation, and call if I need a quick and easy response.

Beliefs And Social And Political Influences That Have Shaped Contemporary Service Provision

This essay will give information about different pieces of legislation including Education Act (1944), The Mary Warnock Report (1978), and ‘Every Child Matters’ (2003). The essay is also going to discuss The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2007. In May 1940 Britain had been at war and shortly after Neville Chamberlain who was conservative Prime Minister was forced to resign due to the lack of confidence in his party. He was later replaced by Winston Churchill.In October 1940 Herwald Ramsbotham who was president of the Board of Education, met with senior officers to discuss the Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s ideal of; â€Å"establishing a state of society where the advantages and privileges which hitherto have been enjoyed only by the few, shall be far more widely shared by the men and youth of the nation as a whole† (Taylor (1977) cited in Gillard, 2011, p2). After discussions with Winston Churchill the board’s proposals became known as the à ¢â‚¬ËœGreen Book’ this was then formed a piece of legislation which is now known as The Education Act 1944.It was later discussed that there should be three stages of education which would be primary, secondary and further. Which is still in place in today’s society (Gillard, 2011). This is good because children are now taught through stages however it is also a bad idea because not all children develop through the stages, some children will understand one topic more than another or there may be a child who was to have a learning difficulty and then this would mean that the child will develop when they are ready and it may not be in stages they may take longer or they miss a stage and jumping to the next stage .Once this was brought out they then ended the existing differentiation between elementary and secondary (Gillard 2011). In 1941 Rab Butler who was president board of education introduced free secondary education which happened for the first time in the UK (Parli ament UK, 2012). Since the 1944 act has been brought out this has been reviewed three times since and there are now three Education Acts in place. Before the war there was no free secondary school education you had to pay and only the upper class families were able to pay for the facilities (Aldrich, 2002).However after the war the society had changed and the government wanted to try and make life better for everybody (Lowe, 1988). They did this by introducing free secondary education, and they also introduced council houses so that the lower class families were able to have a stable home for themselves and their children. The government also introduced free health care, so that if the children or adults needed any medical attention they were able to get this free of charge. At this time, the government introduced the 11 plus test.Most of the time the children who came from a richer background ended up in the private fee paid schools, and the children that were in the lower class fa milies ended up in the less advantaged schools (Lowe, 1988). The 1944 Act recognised that children’s education should be based on their age, talent and ability. However, as Childs ( 2006) points out: â€Å"the 11 plus came to be seen as a test that discriminated strongly, if not deliberately, against the working class† (p. 93) From discussing the Children Act this essay is now going to go on to discussing the Warnock Report.Mary Warnock was involved in Special Educational Needs (SEN). She is now known as Baroness Warnock. The Warnock report looked at the statementing of children and also looked at whether children with a SEN could be taught in mainstream schools. Putting this in place made it so that there was small specialist school provision available. This report highlighted that children who had a special education need, were more likely to be bullied in a mainstream school. However this isn’t always the case as not all children with an educational need will get bullied in a mainstream school.If the child had behavioural difficulties then there is a longer time for the statement process. However when the report was renewed in 2005, Baroness Warnock stated that statements aren’t a good idea and should only be retained as a safety net (Douglas Silas Solicitors, 2012). From discussing the Mary Warnock Report this essay is now going to talk about the Green Paper Act which is also known as ‘Every Child Matters’. Every Child Matters Green paper (2003) was published shortly after the death of Victoria Climbie and was put in place to change children’s services.This legislation has five key outcomes that will help children in child hood through to later life. The five key outcomes are making sure children: stay safe, enjoy and achieve, be healthy, achieve economic well-being and making a positive contribution. The framework made sure that the multi-agency partnerships such as health visitors and social services were p ut into place so that it gave children the best opportunity to succeed to their full potential and bring out the best in children. From the Every Child Matters Green Paper legislation this then led to the creation of Common Assessment Framework which is also known as (CAF).By bringing this in it made sure that all of the agencies working with children understand the individual needs for the children. CAF forms led to meetings which brought together the agencies which made sure the Ever Child Matters plan is met and followed (Department for Education, 2012a). Following on from the Green Paper this essay is now going to start discussing the Early Years foundation stage. The Early Years Foundation Stage was introduced in 2007 and was made compulsory from 1st September 2008.This was then revised in 2012. The aim was to set the standards for learning, development and care for children from the ages of birth to five years. This piece of legislation is in place to help children achieve the five ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes which were listed above. The EYFS does this by setting the standards and making sure that all children are achieving whilst they are in the care of the setting and makes sure that the children make progress and that no child gets left behind (Department for Education, 2012b).The EYFS addresses equal opportunities by making sure that every child is included and not left out because of their: ethnicity, culture or religion, gender, home language or family background and any learning difficulties the child may have or their ability. The EYFS aims to create the framework for partnership working. They do this by working with the children’s parents and professionals and they pass on information between the settings that the child attends.The EYFS also improved the quality and consistency for children by getting rid of the existing frameworks, and providing the basis for the inspection and regulation regime. Finally they laid a secur e foundation for future learning, this meant that the child care practitioners were planning to meet the individual needs of the children. They also carried out regular observations on the children so that they were able to recognise if there are any changes in the child’s development. It could be suggested that these outcomes have a big impact on the way the setting is run.Without these outcomes the nursery setting wouldn’t know where they are at with assessments. However it could be argued that there is some degree of difference between settings and practitioners as to how well the planning and assessments are carried out. The EYFS is a central part of a ten year childcare strategy that was bought out in 2007. This shows that legislation isn’t always going to work and sometimes will need reviewing so that it can be made better and more up to date. However sometimes they don’t change anything it is just a review to make sure that everything is still bein g run the same.Within the EYFS the work for all practitioners are grouped into four distinct but complementary themes which are: a unique child, making sure the children have positive relationships, having enabling environments which means that the nursery has to have bright displays up and look welcoming and also making sure that the children are learning and developing at the right stage of their development. Since the Early Years foundation stage has been introduced it is now known that children enjoy and learn more when learning through play (Pramling-Samuelsson and Fleer, 2009).It is important that the children are able to make their own choices and left to explore by themselves as long as they are safe this is how most observations are done, during the child’s natural free flow play. By this you are then able to see how the child interacts with other children, what they enjoy doing, the way in which they explore and also what they found out from playing/exploring. From this the practitioner is then able to plan and implement from this to encourage the children to learn.â€Å"A good free play session offers a rich play and learning experience for children. It allows each child to progress at his/her own pace, it gives children practice in choosing, and in dealing with the consequences of choice, and it encourages a more flexible and open-ended use of the group’s resources. Like all genuine freedom, however, it takes a lot of effort† (Henderson 2010, cited in Lewis, 2011, p 1). However some children are more advanced and would prefer learn at a faster speed doing written work rather plan playing.On the other hand it is good because it does give children chance to explore and learn at their own stage rather than them feeling like they are being rushed along. Which means the child will learn to be strong and independent which will be learnt through loving and secure relationships with parents/carers. Children also look at displays within the setting to support their development This essay discusses how The Education Act (1944) has made an influence on today’s society. The Education Act brought in the three stages of education; primary, secondary and higher.These are still in place in today’s society, it also brought in free education and changed the way children learn. The children went from not going to school unless they could afford to pay to now being able to go to school free of charge. In today’s society they don’t take into account your welfare and background which is a good thing as children don’t have anything in the way which could affect them from learning. In 1978 The Mary Warnock report was introduced which influenced on how children with a special educational need was assessed and it was then later reviewed in 2005.Another piece of legislation that has been discussed within the essay is Every Child Matters this piece of legislation looks at all frameworks working tog ether so that children; stay safe, enjoy and achieve, be healthy, achieve economic well-being and making a positive contribution. Finally this essay has talked about The Early Years Foundation Stage which was brought out in 2007, and made compulsory in 2008. It is still in place in today’s society and has been revised in 2012.