Aztec History essays

Aztec History essays Aztecs started out as a small group of barbarians that called themselves the Mexica. The Mexica was believed to first appear in the Valley of Mexico about A. D. 1200. Although, according to folk legend it is believed that the Aztecs original homeland was an island called Aztlan. The Aztecs migrated from their original home land sometime during the early twelfth century settling in the Valley of Mexico later in the twelfth century. Teotihuacan ame of the This is where the name Aztec originated from. During this migration they held an image of Huitzilopochtli, which is their patron deity. They arrived in the Valley of Mexico towards the end of the twelfth century. They believed that their homeland would be marked by an eagle alighted on a cactus with a snake in its beak. When they came upon an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, they supposedly they came across the eagle and the snake.# Since they lacked the sophistication of their neighboring communities, they had to seek all iances with the stronger city-states. The Aztecs were great worriers. In the early fifteenth century the Aztecs had become the leading city-state. They established their capital at Tenochtitlan. Their capital was on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Because of their dominance, they set out to take control of the entire region. By taking control over an area that is known today as modern Mexico, they were able to grow in size as well as power. They were able to take over the land that stretched from the "Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and as far south as the Guatemalan border"#. During their time of power the Aztecs had many great rulers. From 1440-1469 Moctezuma I was the Aztecs ruler. He built many things including botanical and zoological gardens. During his reign there was a severe drought that caused a famine throughout the empire#. Some Aztec people had to sell themselves into slavery, which was one of the only ways out...

Alternate vs. Alternative

Alternate vs. Alternative Alternate vs. Alternative Alternate vs. Alternative By Maeve Maddox One of my favorite DWT commenters took me to task for my use of alternate instead of alternative in this passage: in modern English writing, kn is an alternate spelling for the sound /n/, and igh is an alternate spelling of the long i sound I value his comments, so I have examined his criticism carefully, including the quotation from a previous DWT post that seems to support his belief that neither British nor American usage permits the use of alternate in the way I have used it: There was also a note about the difference between the use of â€Å"alternate† and â€Å"alternative† in American and British English – anyone writing for both markets should be very well aware of this distinction – it’s a very important linguistic distinction and is not to be ignored. Hugh Ashton The note Ashton refers to is from the New Oxford American Dictionary entry he consulted when his mother objected to his use of â€Å"three alternatives.† His original purpose was to find out if a person could speak of more than two alternatives. According to his mother and other traditionalists, one can speak of only two alternatives. According to the NOAD, however, speaking of more than two alternatives is â€Å"normal in modern standard English.† Ashton mentions â€Å"the difference between the use of ‘alternate’ and ‘alternative’ in American and British English,† and urges freelancers writing for both markets to be aware of the distinction. I do not think that he is saying that British usage and American usage do not differ. But even if he is saying that, I have to disagree. For one thing, American speakers use alternate as a noun meaning â€Å"a person designated to replace another in the event the other person is unable to fulfill his duties.† British usage does not use alternate as a noun. It is an easy step from using alternate as a noun meaning â€Å"a substitute,† to using alternate as an adjective meaning â€Å"substitute,† or â€Å"alternative,† as in alternate juror or alternate route. The following examples will illustrate that alternate used in this sense is common in standard American English: To avoid having to retry a case when a juror is excused before the end of trial (for example, because of illness), the court may seat a few extra or alternate jurors to hear the trial and be available to replace any juror who is excused. Regular and alternate jurors sit together during the trial. Some judges do not tell jurors which ones are the alternates until the jury is ready to deliberate. State law limits how many alternate jurors the court may seat. Oregonlaws.org/. The Alternate Route program is a non-traditional teacher preparation program State of New Jersey Department of Education Alternate plans allow landowners to apply for more site specific management flexibility than the standard Forest Practices Rules allow. State of Washington Natural Resources site. U.S. speakers save alternative for such things as alternative medicine and alternative rock. They also use the adjective alternate in the sense of every other. For example, parking might be allowed in a certain area on alternate days. Meetings might be held on alternate Mondays. British grammarians recognize the fact that American speakers do not use alternate in exactly the same way as British speakers do: In American English, alternate is widely used as an adjective in the sense of alternativeand as a noun to mean ‘a deputy or substitute’. Penguin Writer’s Manual, p. 56. For an American writer, to refer to â€Å"an alternate spelling† is no more erroneous than to write honor for honour. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of PhrasesProved vs. ProvenPreposition Review #1: Chance of vs. Chance for

Role of Labor in Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role of Labor in Texas - Essay Example Labor is not only composed of the citizen of a certain city or country. Labor is a mobile factor of production, which migrates from one place to another for better opportunities, adding to the productive capacity of their new society. However, there is also a downside to the migration of labor. While they may satisfy the labor needs of their new place and may also improve the quality and quantity of labor and products (by increasing competition for the existing labor), their migration may aggravate housing, sanitation, and health problems. Their presence may also give rise to tensions and riots between the locals and migrants. Agriculture is one of sectors of US economy that is highly dependent on migrant labor. This is because the native-born Americans are not attracted to this sector due to its seasonal nature and physical requirements. One of states, where this phenomenon is most evident is Texas. Migrant labor controls the agricultural sector in Texas. They fulfill the fruit and vegetable requirements of the country. Because of the latest fears about in-land safety, the American government has tightened its immigration policies. However, this may have dire consequences for agricultural sector. ... America will have to import what it previously produced, if the migrant labor is send back or the cut down. Thus, the migrant labor play an important role in American agricultural sector and their absence will be felt greatly by society, agriculture and U.S. economy. (Stallman) Cultural Imperialism: Cultural imperialism is the process of promoting and injecting culture of one country into another. This usually happens with one powerful nation injecting its culture into a less powerful nation. Dominating another country's, influencing its people, language and media for political and economic gains. United States of America has been the Super Power since the fall of Soviet Union. It is, at present, the largest economy and the biggest military power in the world. Through the chants of " globalization", it has been injecting its ideas into the less-developing countries; to promote its interests and prevent them from growing economically, militarily, culturally etc. This has been done through media, multinationals, Internet and lately in the name of " war on terrorism." Though there has been a number of organizations that are working to promote the culture and languages of less developing countries, however they have not be very effective. Secondly, one of most prominent feature of these organizations is to promote better understanding between United States and the developing countries. Thus, in a way they have been reinforcing the very phenomenon they are fighting against-Western Imperialism. By targeting "Islam", promoting it as "a terrorist's religion", by attacking Iraq and Afghanistan, by capturing endless innocent Muslims for being "Jihadis", America and the West has been trying to culturally, politically, economically and militarily suppress the

Annotated Bibliography Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Annotated Bibliography - Coursework Example The article is very relevant to the understanding of modalities of business operations today. The change from traditional diversification of operations within the borders of a country substituted with the vertical growth that extends to other parts of the world. According to the article, the improved performance of the business entities emanates from the shift in regulations and economic reforms that date back to early 1990s. The author is right in his assertion that the changes in the regulation and structures of the Indian business improve the integration of the Indian economy globally. The integration is in the form of the business making an investment in other countries across the world making them multinationals. The primary weakness of the article lies in its indication that vertical growth is effective and efficient compared to internal diversification. Compared to vertical growth through maintenance of a single line of business engagement, diversification is essential for an organization that seeks security so that a failure in one sector does not cripple the operations of a business organization. The study aimed at elucidating impacts of the individual employee and group efficacy in the execution of assigned responsibilities. The investigators also seek to understand the impact of perceptions of the employees on the management of contribution of the employees to the overall output in an organization.

Argumentation in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

Argumentation in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay At the beginning of the story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is constantly under the influence of a mother figure. That mother figure makes him feel guilty when he does something wrong, rewards him when he does something right, and also serves as a kind of protector of him. Although Huck does not realize it, he is always being looked after by something or other. At one point it’s the widow, and throughout most of the story it’s the river. In the story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the river becomes a provider of food, transportation, and refuge, metaphorically taking over the role as his mother when he runs away with Jim. At the beginning of the story, the Widow takes Huck under her wing and tries to teach him right from wrong. She makes him wear nice clothes, go to school, and say his daily prayers. Throughout his stay with the widow, Huck does not respond to the widow’s ways of teaching very well. When the widow asks Huck to do something, he does it, however, begrudgingly. She tries to teach Huck to become a gentleman and treats him as if he were her own son. When Tom Sawyer comes back into the picture, the widow takes on the motherly role of disapproval. She does not like the way Tom acts and makes believe all the time. This is why, rather than asking to see Tom, Huck usually snuck out when she did not know. The widow can not act as Huck’s mother for long though, because Huck is kidnapped by his father and fakes his own death to get away from everybody. After Huck’s â€Å"death,† he escapes to the river where he hides out on an island while his friends and family are searching for his body. During this time the river, without Huck realizing it, kind of takes over the role of mother. It provides protection from the elements when rain hits. It also hides Huck as the steamboat sails past with all his friends and family on board. Huck does not want the people to see him, or they will know he was just faking and will take him back to the life he is not fond of. Knowing this, Huck hides in the bushes and trees that grow along the river. When a mother knows that its child is in danger, she will hide it from the world so that it won’t get hurt. The river shows this motherly trait to Huck. The first thing a mother does for its child when it is a newborn, is to feed it. While Huck is a runaway, he needs food for survival. The river, in a way, provides this when Huck finds a loaf of bread floating down the river. Also later on in the story, Huck and Jim happen upon a house boat where they find many different types of fruit among other things.

The Costs of Racism Essay -- Essays Papers

The Costs of Racism The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines racism as â€Å"a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.† Racism is one of the deepest stains on the pages of American history. What began as feelings among whites of being superior to blacks turned into possibly the worst phenomenon the United States ever dealt with. Even 100 years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, many white people were still treating blacks atrociously. It took many decades before blacks were granted truly equal rights that white Americans were given. In Anne Moody’s autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, she discusses growing up in Mississippi. She writes about her memories of childhood, high school, college, and finally her courageous work in the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Moody offers readers a startling and remarkable story of he r life. She also gives great insight into the effects of racism on the victims of it, on those who practice it, and the effects on American society. The effects of racism on the victims differed depending on age and whether or not a person would withstand the abuse. Moody makes these connections in her book by realizing that when the civil rights movement picked up in the 1960s, older blacks usually remained dormant and never stood up for themselves by speaking out against the abuse they received. In contrast, younger black Americans, notably teenagers, were more likely to be fearless and take part in the Movement. This theme can be seen throughout the whole book, from when Anne was a young girl and never understood why her mother co... ...any whites could have believed so strongly that blacks were inferior to them, so mediocre that they would treat them like animals and murder them in cold blood. But this is a problem that still occurs today, though in a lesser form, and it is important to study our past in effort to keep from repeating the mistakes of our ancestors. By reading things such as Anne Moody’s autobiography, we can get an inside view into what really took place in the South, and we can be inspired by people like Moody who stood up to it. The negativities of racism against blacks taught us important lessons about ethics and how humans should treat each other because we can see the effects it had on people less than 50 years ago. And if we learn from the mistakes of our ancestors and move away from their supremacist ideals, then as the freedom song in Coming of Age goes, â€Å"we shall overcome.†

Self-Employment Is the Best Way to Make Money

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for giving me the chance to make a presentation here. My name is Yan. Today, I’m going to talk about self-employment. I plan to be brief, and I want to proof that self-employment is the best way for people to make money. Please interrupt me if there’s something unclear so that I can explain it for you. OK, let's think about some questions. Have you ever thought about your job in the future? Do you admire those young and successful company owners because they have both money and good reputation [U]?And do you want to be self-employed as well? Maybe we can start with a simple definition. What is self-employment? Self-employment is working for oneself. Self-employed people are always divided into 2 kinds——freelancers and entrepreneurs. By the way, entrepreneur means people who have their own companies. Freelancer means people who work for themselves as writers, painters, actors, and so on. Both of them can decide th eir schedules and enjoy the freedom. And they could make more money than employees for they don’t have the stable salary.It’s a fact that most of the richest people in the world are also the founders of their own enterprises or brilliant freelancers, such as Bill Gates and J. K. Rowling. Besides a changeable schedule and a considerable income, self-employment can also be a good chance to improve working skills. It is true that working for oneself can have many difficulties. Employees can get payments by just finishing their simple assignments while employers have to control the whole project and make it be successful, so there’s no doubt that they can learn much more than those employees.That’s why common workers always buy the biographies written by great self-employed leaders to learn their experience. Furthermore, the governments have introduced many policies to encourage people to create their self-employed career. Let me show you some examples. In Ca nada, if you are a young person, aged 18 – 34, ready to start your own business, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) can provide courses, learning resources and business start-up loans. And self-employed Canadians can access Employment Insurance (EI) if they cannot work because they are pregnant or have to take care of their babies.It’s really helpful. As for old people, self-employment is the best way to make money after they retired. According to a market research, there will be 14 million full-time, home-based freelancers and independent contractors in America by 2015, up from 12 million in 2010. Between 2008 and 2011, the number of self-employed Americans from age 55 to 64 rose by 5 percent. (data) All those facts and data show that self-employment has been the best way to make money, so why not choose to be your own boss from now? That are all my ideas. Thanks for listening, and I hope you have found this useful.

Cantaberry Tales Compare To Inferno Essay

Canterbury Tales Compared to Dante’s Inferno This study will explore the themes of innocence and guilt in the â€Å"Hell† section from Dante’s Divine Comedy and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The study will focus on the uses each author makes of urban and more natural settings to convey messages about innocence and guilt. While both Dante and Chaucer make use of this motif in making their thematic points, a great difference exists between them. Chaucer’s primary purpose is to present a humorous and compassionate portrayal of human existence including innocence and guilt, or goodness and evil while Dante’s essential purpose is moral and instructional. Chaucer uses urban and country references in his portrayal of the human condition as a means of drawing a contrast between the goodness and evil of humankind. Again, we must keep in mind that Chaucer uses setting to reveal truths about humanity from an empathic perspective. He does not want to judge, but to entertain and perhaps inspire compassion for self and others as flawed beings. Therefore, when he uses natural or urban settings, he is not saying that human beings are good when they are in Canterbury, and evil when they are out in the countryside. At the same time, that is precisely the apparent truth of the matter. As Chaucer paints the picture of human desire and passion, there is an intimate connection between that passion (which can lead to a loss of innocence) and a natural setting: When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, Quickened again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and buds . . . And many little birds make melody . . . (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)— Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage . . . To Canterbury, full of devout homage (Chaucer 159). The clear suggestion by Chaucer here is that there is something very sweet but potentially very corrupting about nature, while the urban center of  Canterbury offers relief from the guilt and sinfulness which nature engenders in the weakness of human flesh. At the same time, Chaucer knows that the apparent differences in the behavior of human beings in the city, or in a sacred environment, and in the natural setting where passions are free to work their wiles, as they will, are indeed only apparent differences. The nature of humanity, as perceived and portrayed by Chaucer, is a thoroughly corrupted one. However, unlike Dante, Chaucer does not have much to say in judgment of humanity for that corruption. Chaucer accepts the sinfulness, selfishness and loss of innocence of humanity as an integral part of the history and development of the race. In other words, people may agree to behave righteously when they are in the holy city, but once they are free again to behave as they will, t hey will quickly be consumed by their personal passions. Nature is also shown in Dante to be full of powerful and dark forces, which can tempt a human being off the path of righteousness. Dante writes that Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wood, where the right way was lost. Ah! How hard a thing it is to tell what this wild and rough and difficult wood was, which in thought renews my fear! So bitter is it that death is little more (Dante 1). The â€Å"city† or the path of the true way is symbolized by the high hill, in contrast to the dark wood of the life of the passions and senses: â€Å"But after I had reached the foot of a hill, where that valley ended which had pierced my heart with fear, I looked upward, and saw its shoulders clothed already with the rays of the [sun], which leads man aright along every path† (Dante 1). Here we see the light of goodness contrasted with the darkness of sin or temptation away from the state of innocence. It is no coincidence that the phrases â€Å"city of lights† or â€Å"city upon a hill† are meant to stand in contrast to the â€Å"darkness† of the natural environment, a darkness which can bewilder human beings and lead them to take part in behavior which Dante clearly believes is both self-destructive and destructive to others. Dante’s depiction of Hell is not meant to entertain but to change the behavior of  his readers so that they will choose behavior which will lead them to the â€Å"city† of Heaven, rather than behavior which will lead to the dark wood and, eventually, damnation: A place is there below, stretching as far from Beelzebub as his tomb extends. . . . My Leader and I entered by that hidden road, to return into the bright world; and . . . we mounted up . . . so far that a round opening I saw some of the beautiful t hings which Heaven bears, and thence we issued for again to see the stars (Dante 52). In Dante, we read of the â€Å"wicked city† which represents hell (22), but it would be fair to say that human beings in Dante’s conception are subject to temptation, sin, guilt and the loss of innocence wherever they are on earth—in the city or in the country. Heaven is the only locale which offers human beings respite from such corruption. In Chaucer, we find little of the kind of solemn judgment offered by Dante at every turn. For example, Chaucer writes of a friar—a religious man—who was â€Å"a wanton and a merry, A limiter, a very festive man† (Chaucer 162). His ribaldry is not affected by whether he is in a town or in the countryside—he is always willing to have a good time: â€Å"In towns he knew the taverns, every one,/ And every good host and each barmaid too† (Chaucer 163). Despite the fact that Canterbury is seen as the goal of the pilgrimage and can therefore be said to be a city symbolizing goodness and innocence, or restoration of innocence through religious activity, this in no way suggests that Chaucer sees the city as the repository of goodness and nature as the repository of evil. Instead, Chaucer sees human nature as the abiding force at work in shaping the behavior of human beings. A human being can be good or evil in the city, just as he can be good or evil in a natural environment. The Clerk, for example, is shown to be a miserable creature, although he is full of the education and philosophy and sophistication, which the city of Oxford offers (Chaucer 164). Again, the basic difference between Dante and Chaucer cannot be deciphered merely by focusing on the uses of urban and country settings in their works.  The differences in the authors’ uses of settings do not shed essential light on the two texts without our awareness first that Dante means to judge and warn and Chaucer means to celebrate and understand. To Dante, all settings—urban or country—stand full of temptations which can deliver human beings into the pits of Hell. The fact that Hell is portrayed in urban terms merely means that there is much organization in Hell, rather than perhaps the chaos we might presume. Dante by use of the city as the setting for Hell means also to place it in stark contrast to the glorious city of Heaven. Dante wants to show that Hell is an essential part of the intricately organized and ordered machinery of the universe, and his use of the urban environment gives this sense of order and organization far more readily that would a natural setting. We must keep in mind the purpose behind this manipulation of setting—Dante wants to affect the behavior of his readers and he means to do so by warning them that a very carefully designed Hell—as carefully designed as a city—awaits them if they stray from the path of goodness. Chaucer, on the other hand, aims to portray humanity in all its passion and waywardness, with a sense of acceptance and celebration rather than condemnation or warning. Chaucer gives the reader the clear sense that—whether in the country or in the city, whether in the midst of sin or the middle of innocence—the author is one with the reader. It does not matter whether the action is taking place in the city or the country in Chaucer’s tales—there is a sense of empathy bonding the author, the characters and the reader. Even when Chaucer enters into a lengthy treatise on the different sins and their remedies, the reader has the feeling that he is not the kind of strict judge of humanity which Dante is or would like to be. The uses of setting in the two works is not particularly crucial to an understanding of the books overall, but such a focus can help us understand certain elements of the works, such as the organization of the city which  allows Dante to show that hell is an integral part of the universe created by God and not merely an imaginary place of punishment. In addition, such a perspective is useful in showing the apparent contrast in Chaucer between the city of Canterbury and its promise of absolution from sin, and the natural environment which leads to the free expression of the passions of human beings which in turn lead to the commission of those very sins. The city or country cannot be seen as symbolic of guilt or innocence in Chaucer, simply because Chaucer believes human nature to be susceptible to corruption in any environment. At the same time, whereas Dante judges humanity for its corruption, Chaucer tends to forgive and seeks ways to ease the suffering of guilt and sin. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. Troilus and Cressida and The Canterbury Tales. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1987. Dante. Divine Comedy. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1987.

Analysis of McDonalds

Analysis of McDonalds McDonald’s leads the food service sector globally, with its more than 70 million customers in more than 100 countries. It relies on 35,000 locations and uses a franchise model to sustain growth globally. The parent company owns 20 percent of the restaurants, while the remaining share belongs to independent businesses (McDonalds, 2014).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Analysis of McDonald’s specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More What kind of market does the company belong to? The market of McDonalds’s products is perfectly competitive because there are many rivals, who have equal access to the customers. At the same time, customers have adequate information about the products offered by all companies in the industry, and they are free to pick any of the products they see fit. Prices of the products depend on a business’s strategic positioning in the market. At the same time, prices are sensitive to any deviations from the market equilibrium position. For example, if the price of a McDonald’s burger increases substantially to be different from the ordinary price of burgers in a particular country, then consumers will prefer to buy burgers from the competing brands and shun the McDonald’s brand. McDonald’s belongs to the quick service restaurant industry, specializing in the delivery of easy to grab food menu items. What is the Price Elasticity of Demand for the goods that the McDonald’s sells? The price elasticity of foods and nonalcoholic beverages offered by the company is generally under one. Additionally, the inclusion of food away from home in the analysis brings the elasticity towards one. Typical scores for the price elasticity of fast food restaurant food are 0.7 to 0.8. An interpretation of this elasticity is that the demand for the food or beverage is very sensitive to price changes. If prices increase by one percent, then the expected reduction in demand will be 0.8 percent to 0.7 percent.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Is the demand elastic or inelastic? The demand for McDonald’s products is elastic. Changes in price, caused by the company’s decision or regulatory influences such as tax and subsidy policies, can lead to fluctuations in demand in the short term. Customers do not have to invest in the brand for long for them to be able to derive value. Moreover, they do not build significant attachment to foods and beverages offered, such that they cannot cut their purchases or shift to the substitute products. In fact, the presence of many alternatives contributes to the elasticity of the demand for the company. The elastic nature of demand for the company’s product places it in a risky market position. At the same time, the quality of food served by the company is a sourc e of concern for many stakeholder groups that seek to influence healthy food choices in society. Therefore, McDonald’s business remains vulnerable to factors that affect prices of its goods and the demand, as a result. Increased focus on healthy eating habits in society caused by a high prevalence of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, is causing consumers and health bodies in different countries to demand restrictions on the marketing of fast food restaurants and imposing taxes on the business to compensate for their negative influence on society. However, the application of recommendations is different in various countries (Andreyeva, Long, Brownell, 2010). McDonald’s is yet to face a radical shift in policy that severely handicaps its business strategy, but the company is aware of the potential danger that such as regulatory move would cause to its profitability. Overall, McDonad’s products face different effects of technological changes, socia l factors, the retail environment, government policies, and changing economic factors in the various countries where the company operates.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Analysis of McDonald’s specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More What kind of income elasticity the product(s) of the company face? The foods and drinks offered at any McDonald’s restaurant are normal goods whose demand and supply curves follow market conventions. A rise in the price influences an increase in the supply, when demand remains the same or increases. On the other hand, as the price elasticity of demand showed, a rise in price corresponds to a decrease in demand when other things in the market remain constant. Consumers increase their consumption of products from McDonald’s when their income increases. At the same time, during harsh economic conditions, when people lose jobs, or experience a slowdown in their businesses and have less disposable income, they only purchase essential quantities or skip some purchases. Therefore, the income elasticity of the products sold by McDonald’s is elastic. However, for particular foods like burgers that fill the dollar menu, considerable increases in consumer incomes only increase the consumption to a certain level before consumers choose other pricier menu items perceived for their healthiness. In this case, the burger becomes an inferior good and its income elasticity becomes inelastic. Who are their closest competitors? The closest competitors include Burger King Worldwide Inc., which offer various fast food menu items at an affordable price for most consumers, Subway restaurants, KFC, and Wendy’s Co. Both Burger King and Wendy ventured into the breakfast segment of the market as a way of differentiating themselves, and to increase their rivalry with McDonald’s. They also introduced menu items that are locally customizable to give consumers better matches for their tastes (Patton, 2014). Other than the main global competitors, there are country-specific competitors in every nation where the company has a presence.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Are there any close substitutes or complements? There are several products whose cross elasticity of demand with respect to the products offered by McDonalds is positive. Consumers can take on the substitutes when they do not have or do not want to purchase McDonald’s products. At the same time, the company’s products have compliments. The beverages sold at McDonald’s restaurants have substitutes in the form of other beverage brands sold by other restaurants. The price of a coke at McDonald’s is about the same as the price of a Pepsi at Burger King. McDonald’s sells numerous brands within particular beverage ranges, such as coffee or tea and soda. This includes its branded foods and drinks, which consumers can quickly find replacements in its rival stores. As for burgers and other foods, there is a slight difference in the ingredients used to make them. However, the taste of a burger and the size at a McDonald’s restaurant are similar to tho se available in other restaurants, such as KFC and Subway (Landsburg, 2014). Thus, customers can form preferences based on the location of the restaurant and brand association. However, they are free to pick a McDonald’s or any of its close competitors if they depend on a pure product basis. The company does not encourage customers to bring foods from external sources into its restaurants. Therefore, it does not have compliments. The exception is when clients take food from McDonald’s and go to eat together with food or drinks from other outlets. In many cases, the complimentary product will be a drink or food item that McDonald’s does not offer. However, a significant percentage of consumers do not rely on complementary products. They will either pick a McDonald’s product, such as its hamburger or one of its close rivals. Is the demand for the product of the company growing? The demand for McDonald’s foods and beverages has been plateauing for the last few years as rivals catch up with the company, and negative performances of economies affect it. However, the company still registers marginal growth as the overall demand for fast foods around the world increases. The main reason for the increase is the rise in population and the growth of the middle-income class in many emerging economies. A big influence for change in the demand is consumer preference. Many people are becoming aware of the health effects of eating junk food. Therefore, they are watching their fat and calorie intake. The negative publicity of McDonald’s foods does not make the matter better. The brand associates with bad food choices and consumers opt to look for rival restaurants to find healthy food, despite the interventions made by the company to increase healthy food menu items in its restaurants. As a result, the company has to invest more money in its promotion strategy to ensure that it continues to attract new customers and retain the existin g ones (Hirschey, 2008). Nevertheless, a focus on the dollar menu has been a key driver of growth for McDonald’s. The company seeks to provide consumers with the most affordable food in the market. It offers a dollar menu item that includes the essential daily nutrition elements for individuals. Thus, consumers who are busy and need a quick meal prefer to pick items from the dollar menu (The Associated Press, 2013). At the same time, those looking for the most affordable meal associate McDonald’s with inexpensiveness and frequent its restaurants. Therefore, the primary promoter of the increase in demand for the company’s products is the changing lifestyles of consumers, which make them busy. Moreover, the increase in the costs of living compels consumers to look for value for money deals when visiting restaurants. Growth in demand for McDonald’s faces two challenges. The first one is the reputation of the brand as a poor health choice for consumers. That reputation was further tarnished by reports showing that the company relied on wrong ingredient choices and used expired ingredients in its foods. Although the company has done several internal tests to correct the problem, the public perception of the brand has already suffered. Regulators also investigated the restaurant for sanitary standard violation across the European and Russian market. The restaurant business is sensitive to sanitary issues. Consumers expect to dine in premises that meet the minimum threshold of cleanliness. Therefore, any news of sanitary standards’ violation is going to affect the demand for the company’s products adversely. Despite the grave nature of the adverse effects highlighted above, McDonalds can overcome them in the long-term, as it continues to implement strategies that enhance its value to consumers. A more persistent problem in the company is its maturation. In many markets, the industry has matured, and there is no more room for growth. There are enough restaurants competing in the industry, and the only way for companies to expand is by merging or acquiring their rivals. Otherwise, companies are only able to introduce few restaurants per year, and the marginal return on the new restaurants is less that optimal. In the United States, in particular, the growth of McDonald’s and the rival businesses has stagnated in terms of the number of new restaurants opened annually. At the same time, sales for each restaurant are either the same or slowing down in their growth. Can the labor force of the company be trained further to increase productivity and lower cost of production? It is difficult to train the labor force to raise productivity because the practice is standardized. Employees are already trained in customer service delivery and specialized in various aspects of restaurant operations. They can serve in different departments in the same restaurant or various restaurants. They are aware of customer demands, as well as operational needs of the business. Additional training is less likely to increase productivity in the low-end level of employees, unless the training involves the use of technologically advanced equipment to ease service delivery. On the other hand, the management employees in the restaurants and the overall business can benefit from improvements in the management and leadership skills. The business performance relies on strategic implementation of its growth and sustainability plans. Its main actors in this area are its management employees. Therefore, any additional training on the use of appropriate business leadership and management tools, as well as awareness of industry variables will help managers improve the operation of their restaurants and their divisions in the company (Hirschey, 2008). However, training will not guarantee substantial improvements in performance because it relies on the matching of difference people skills and job demands. Standardize d training will work for some employees and fail to work for others. Therefore, in case the company goes ahead with any additional training plans, it must consider various factors that affect training effectiveness. These include the company tradition, prevailing economic and social influencing factors on employee productivity, the cost of training, and the expected margin of improvement in performance (Hill, Jones, Schilling, 2014). As a business, is the company profitable? Will it be able to sustain profitability? McDonald’s prides itself as more than just a restaurant; the company gives jobs to many people and acts as a community partner. It seeks to sustain its position as a model for other restaurants around the world. One way of sustaining its market position is by focusing on the quality of its product, delivering services that meet customers’ expectations and maintaining overall cleanliness. The company also nourishes its values across all its operations acros s the world. It seeks to define the lifestyle of its customers, in addition to its desire to become a place where customers will prefer to eat and drink. Therefore, it focuses on a marketing mix strategy that continuously improves aspects of its operations dealing with products, place, price, and promotions (McDonalds, 2014). McDonald’s has not been profitable in the last few years. Its primary market, which is the United States, has been experiencing slow growth, thereby affecting its overall profitability negatively. In 2014, the third-quarter profits dropped by 30 percent in the United States, which was due to the poor performance of the introduced deals and new items. An increase in the price of the burger, which many consumers preferred as an inexpensive meal also, led to a slump in demand and decreased profitability. The loss in profitability was attributed to increased competition, but it could also be a pointer to the decreasing popularity of the purely fast food chai n in developed markets (Patton, 2014). How can it make its profit grow? Consumers are increasingly scrutinizing the market for foods and drinks across the world. They are looking at ethical business conduct and corporate social responsibility programs of different companies to evaluate their brand values. Given that ‘eating out’ has become an acceptable lifestyle choice for Western cultures, customers prefer to explain their life choices by different issues, such as the restaurants they frequent daily. McDonald’s has to place itself in an excellent market position to capture the various market segments characterized by consumer preferences, economic conditions, and social factors (Goodman, 2009). As a public traded company, the company also faces demands from stakeholders and shareholders, which affect its ability to formulate and pursue different strategies. For example, it has to comply with market regulations against business monopolies and submit annual retur ns to the market regulator. It must provide its investors with a yearly report that details its performance and elaborates its strategies for the upcoming years. This information informs investors and other stakeholders about the company. At the same time, it provides the competitors with a basis for understanding the McDonald’s structure and the way of doing business. Thus, many rivals can quickly formulate business strategies to compete with McDonald’s and take its share of different markets. In view of these points, McDonald’s must rely on differentiation and the pursuit of capabilities that are difficult for its rivals to copy in various markets. This table demonstrates the income sources of fast food restaurants from different regions to highlight their growth and profitability prospects. It shows McDonald’s as the company with the most diversified sources of income, closely followed by Burger King (Jurevicius, 2015) 2013 McDonald’s[1] Yu m! Brands[2] Burger King[3] Wendy’s[4] Income from U.S. 31.5% 18.9% 58% 98% Income from Europe 40% 19.3% 29.3% 0% Rest of the world 28.5% 61.8% 12.7% 2% McDonald’s has an internal company value of constant improvement, where it seeks to respond to changes in customer, employee, and system needs effectively (QRSWeb.com, 2010). The company has to focus on its iconic brands that are responsible for most customer traffic into its restaurants across the world to maintain profitability. It also has to find incremental changes to its menu items that make the main foods and drinks relevant to changes in customer preferences. Relying on consumer research will be a good strategy for maintaining profitability. The company should build on its various customer intelligence platforms to know more about its customers and use its barbell strategy to manage its multiple revenue streams. These strategies will allow it to sustain a favorable market, even in times of economic rec ession when customers watch their spending. The company must invest in technology platforms that enable it to offer differentiated services. The restaurant experience can extend beyond the actual restaurant premises into people’s social lifestyles. The company should make use of the new media to stay in touch with the customers. It should also update its customer order display boards and its point-of-sale systems regularly so that it improves the speed of capturing details and the number of details obtained (Macke, 2015). Eventually, the new information should assist its employees in delivering personalized service to an industry that relies on standardization. A critical competitive advantage of the company will be its ability to personalize the McDonald’s experience, which makes it unique compared to customer experiences at rival restaurants. The franchise business model allows McDonald’s to retain control of its global image and promotion strategy, which is a n essential part of sustaining its profitability momentum (Ferrell Hartline, 2011). Recently, the company introduced new features in its branding strategy. It hopes that the new features will continue to make its brand relevant in the 21st century. At the same time, the new features such, as newly build and remodeled restaurants around the world, will be avenues for increasing customer focus. For example, the company is allowing new restaurants to have new designs in in-store graphics, furniture, and iconic features of the Ronald McDonald’s comical image. Other relevant factors The company’s profitability relies on a perfect execution of its long-term plan, referred to as the Plan to Win. Thus, it has to maintain a capable leadership and senior management team to ensure that all the parameters of the plan succeed. The main factor affecting growth and sustainability of the business is its ability to remain relevant and continue to enjoy high levels of customer trust. F or the company to achieve long-term growth, it has to differentiate the client experience. Differentiation requires investing in customer intelligence and research on preferences and market trends. It should also include the development of new products. However, the company must also ensure that additional costs introduced into the business do not erode its profit margins. The strategic plan of the company continues to affect the options for pricing, marketing, and promoting the business in different countries. An important point for McDonald’s to consider is to ensure that the company adapts to the cultural and social factors affecting its operations in foreign countries. In the past year, the company initiated various remodeling initiatives for its newer restaurants to improve the brand. Moreover, it has to look into making optimal capacity improvements so that growth in revenue comes from increased business of the existing restaurants, rather than relying on the developmen t of new restaurants. The biggest improvement in McDonald’s business will come from consistent reviews of its market performance. The company needs to scrutinize every management decision to determine its effect on the overall performance. For example, it can create performance benchmarks that follow non-monetary aspects of employee engagement, and then use them, together with management decision evaluation systems to evaluate the effectiveness of its strategic plan. The following is a SWOT analysis table of the internal business situation at McDonald’s and external factors that can influence its strategic choices. SWOT Analysis of McDonald’s Strengths Weaknesses Income diversification – the company relies on diversified income sources to sustain its business. It runs a fast food restaurant in many countries. In the particular markets where it operates, the company offers different menu items and targets differentiated consumers. Therefore, it ob tains revenues from different source as compared to its rivals that rely on the same products and consumer segments in every market that they operate in. While competitors rely on the incomes of a few geographical regions, McDonald’s gets revenue from the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world in well-balanced proportions. McDonald’s revenues will increase because income will come from different sources. Turbulence in one market can be offset by good returns form another market. Successful advertisement brand name – the company has invested enough funds to grow its brand reputation. It is known globally, even in markets where it does not have a franchise yet. As a result, customers who want fast foods or drinks prefer to dine in a McDonald’s than in other lesser-known brands. In many countries outside the United States, successful branding has allowed the company to enjoy favorable treatment as customers seek to embrace the Western culture. Col laborations – the company has also succeeded because it is collaborating with other firms to offer comprehensive menu items. For example, the partnership with Coke allows it to offer consumers value for money when they are picking its dollar menu items. It pairs each selection with drinks so that customers do not have to buy drinks separately. The company has also been providing clean environments and aims to follow high hygienic standards. Parents are assured that play areas for their children will remain clean always. Standardized service – customers can expect the same quality of service at all restaurants belonging to the company. McDonald’s invests in its employees by training and providing them with career development options. This allows them to remain committed to their work and deliver high-quality services to customers in every part of the world. Competitive pricings – in addition to the dollar menu items that target the bargain hunters, the oth er foods and drinks offered at the restaurant are priced competitively. The company understands the elastic nature of the demand for its goods; therefore, it matches the prices of products with market expectations. Weak product development – the time taken to come up with new products at the company is quite long. Rivals can introduce products faster and take up a significant share of the market in response to changing tastes and preferences of consumers. At the same time, McDonald’s relies so much on its successful products that it fails to pay enough attention to other products. This contributes to their huckster performance. Joint venture or franchise management – unlike its stores, the company does not have absolute control of its franchise businesses. It can only rely on the platform that it has created to ensure that global programs of the business and opportunities for growth are harnessed. However, in the case of country-specific challenges, the busi ness may take time to react appropriately due to the bureaucratic layers that are introduced to management by the franchise business model. Opportunities Threats Internationalization – currently, the business serves only one percent of the global population; thus, there are numerous opportunities for growth. It can increase its revenue by investing in emerging economies like India and Brazil, which are having a high growth of their middle-class incomes. At the same time, it may concentrate on its operations in developed countries and introduce variations to its key products to capture new market segments. Healthy foods – as the world becomes conscious of healthy eating, McDonald’s can partner with health companies to help it deliver better food and beverage choices to consumers (Hirschey, 2008). Changing consumer trends – much of the world is embracing the eating out culture, which presents excellent growth opportunities for companies that run res taurants in different market segments. Association with unhealthy habits – the company faces a reputation challenge as consumers become health-conscious and demand healthier menu items. If the company fails to address concerns from consumers, then it risks losing its business to rivals that offer healthier alternatives. Cultural backlash – in foreign markets, McDonald’s does not make substantial efforts to assimilate into the local cultures. While it prides itself as spreading the American culture, it also risks facing resistance for its failure to consider local cultural expectations of particular countries. There are many local competitors in different countries that have set their target as McDonald’s. The success of the company attracts scrutiny of its business strategies and acts as a hindrance to its differentiation strategy. Competitors are keen to copy its strategies and deny it a competitive advantage. This table shows the performance of McDonald’s and some of its close competitors in terms of income for the year 2013 and total the number of restaurants by the year 2014 (Bloch, 2015) 2013 McDonald’s Burger King Wendy’s % of income from the total number of franchises operated by the respective companies 32.85% 80.5% 12.9% Total number of restaurants (year 2014) 36,258 52 (company owned), 14,320 (franchised worldwide) 957 References Andreyeva, T., Long, M. W., Brownell, K. D. (2010). The impact of food prices on consumption: A systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for food. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 216-222. Bloch, H. (2015). Statistics and facts on McDonalds. Retrieved from statista.com/topics/1444/mcdonalds/ Ferrell, O. C., Hartline, M. (2011). Marketing strategy (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Goodman, J. A. (2009). Strategic customer service. New York, NY: AMACOM. Hill, C., Jones, G., Schilling, M. (2014). Strate gic management theory: An integrated approach (11th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Hirschey, M. (2008). Managerial economics. (12th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Jurevicius, O. (2015, January 6). McDonalds SWOT analysis 2015. Strategic Management Insight. Retrieved from strategicmanagementinsight.com/products/swot-analyses/mcdonalds-swot-analysis.html Landsburg, S. (2014). Price theory and applications (9th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Macke, J. (2015, January 29). 3 ways McDonalds New CEO can turn things around. Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-ways-mcdonald-s-new-ceo-can-turn-things-around-123627625.html McDonalds. (2014, April 23). McDonalds unveils new mission and image for brand ambassador Ronald McDonald. McDonalds Newsroom. Retrieved from http://news.mcdonalds.com/press-releases/mcdonald-s-unveils-new-mission-and-image-for-brand-ambassador-ronald-mcdonald-1109221 Patton, L. (2014, October 21). McDonalds profit dr ops 30% as U.S. sales slump. Bloomerg. Retrieved from bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-21/mcdonald-s-profit-drops-30-as-u-s-sales-slump QRSWeb.com. (2010, June 10). Skinner: McDonalds to launch oatmeal, more differentiation. QRSWeb. Retrieved from qsrweb.com/news/skinner-mcdonalds-to-launch-oatmeal-more-differentiation/ The Associated Press. (2013, December 9). McDonalds sales gain kept in check by slack U.S. demand. Daily Finance. Retrieved from dailyfinance.com/2013/12/09/mcdonalds-global-sales-rise-flat-traffic-us/

What Is the W Visa Program

What Is the W Visa Program Question: What Is the W Visa Program? Answer: One of the most contentious issues during the U.S. Senate’s debate over comprehensive immigration reform was the dispute over a W visa program, a new classification that would allow lower skilled foreign laborers to work temporarily in the country. The W visa, in effect, creates a guest-worker program that would apply to lower-wage workers, including housekeepers, landscapers, retail workers, restaurant staff and some construction workers. The Senate’s Gang of Eight settled on a temporary worker plan that was a compromise between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, industry leaders and labor unions. Under the proposal for the W visa program, which likely would start in 2015, foreign workers with lesser skills would be able to apply for jobs in the United States. The program would be based on a system of registered employers who would apply to the government for participation. Upon acceptance, the employers would be permitted to hire a specific number of W visa workers each year. The employers would be required to advertise their open positions for a period of time to give U.S. workers a chance to apply for the openings. Businesses would be prohibited from advertising positions that require a bachelor’s degree or higher degrees. The spouse and minor children of the W visa-holder is allowed to accompany or follow to join the worker and can receive work authorization for the same period. The W visa program calls for the creation of a Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research that will operate under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security. The bureau’s role is to help determine the numbers for the annual cap of new worker visas and identify shortages of labor. The bureau also will help develop labor recruiting methods for businesses and report to Congress on how the program is doing. Much of the dispute in Congress over the W visa grew out of the unions’ determination to protect wages and prevent abuses, and business leaders’ determination to keep regulations to a minimum. The Senate’s legislation wound up containing protections for whistleblowers and guidelines for wages that guarded against sub-minimum pay. According to the bill, S. 744, the wages to be paid â€Å"will be either the actual wage paid by the employer to other employees with similar experience and qualification or the prevailing wage level for the occupational classification in the geographic metropolitan statistical area whichever is higher.† The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave its blessing to the plan, believing the system for bringing in temporary workers would be good for business and good for the U.S. economy. The chamber said in a statement: â€Å"The new W-Visa classification features a streamlined process for employers to register job openings that can be filled by temporary foreign workers, while still ensuring that American workers get first crack at every job and that wages paid are the greater of actual or prevailing wage levels.† The number of W visas offered would be capped at 20,000 the first year and increase to 75,000 for the fourth year, under the Senate’s plan. The bill establishes a guest worker program for lower-skilled workers that ensures our future flow of workers is manageable, traceable, fair to American workers, and in line with our economy’s needs, said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The modernization of our visa programs will ensure people who want to come legally – and who our economy needs to come legally – can do so.

Marketing Trends Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Trends - Assignment Example Internet marketing is a broad field since it not only deals with marketing over the internet, but also incorporates marketing done through wireless media and e-mail. Electronic customer management and digital customer systems are also grouped together when it comes to internet marketing (Harris, 2011). Internet marketing also brings the technical along with creative aspects of the internet like design, development, sales and advertizing together. Consumer Movement Consumer movement refers to a marketing symptom, which indicates the changing relations between buyers or consumers and sellers (Dameron, 2012). The alerting and changing relationships in consumer attitudes are a long run and continuous character. A person needs to search beyond consumer attitudes in order to understand the consumer movement. Furthermore, it is only the current years that these consumer activities and interests have enhanced to such a point where it could be termed as a movement (Dameron, 2012). Consumer mo vement is known to affect marketing in various ways that will be discussed later in this article. Brand Identity A brand refers to the term, name, symbol, design or any other feature, which identifies one seller’s products from those of other sellers (Kinsley, 2009). Brand identity started as a way of telling one person’s goods from another. ... Unique items, which could only be formerly be located at flea markets, are now being auctioned over the internet with websites such as Amazon and eBay. The effects of putting a company ad over the internet are profound. Online marketing has a large impact on numerous industries including banking, music, flea markets, as well as advertising (McDaniel, 2009). As advertisers are increasing and putting more budget than before in the online world, online marketing is now overtaking other mediums such as radio advertizing in market share, in terms of market share. In the music industry, a lot of consumers have begun downloading music files with fee over the internet. The internet has provided a large platform for musicians to sell their music over the internet. Exceptional items, which were formerly located at flea markets, are now being sold over the internet on sites such as eBay and Amazon (Pearson, 2010). Consumers also tend to look at internet prices before they go to flea markets. It is, therefore, advisable for firms to consider internet marketing since it is proving to be beneficial. Consumer Movement The consumer movement is not a strenuous movement. It comprises of diverse elements with different interests and objective (Dameron, 2012). However, what unifies these groups is that they all advocate for consumer protection. Some fascinating developments that are assisting the consumer movement comprise of enhancements occurring in the field of consumer education and a number of noticeable changes, which have occurred among business organizations. Consumer protection is now being incorporated in educational courses at diverse levels