Cultural Diversity Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Diversity Paper - Essay Example Through his photographic and visual art, he tries to communicate the essence of equality among races manifested in the strengths and abilities of blacks in the society. Also, as portrayed by his sculptures, he significantly condemns injustices based on racial groups and expresses his concern on the smooth convergence among different ethnic and racial groups. Though his sculptures revolve around the apartheid regime in South Africa, they communicate significantly on behalf of the racially discriminated African Americans in the United States. For instance, Thomas sculptures the heads and arms of the black miners in South Africa. This sculpture contains the ten out of the thirteen miners, initially pictured by Ernest Cole, as they experience a humiliating medical inspection by the white doctors. Thomas captions the sculpture â€Å"Raise Up.† The imagery portrayed by the sculpture is not appealing. After undergoing through the humiliating experience, the sign later signifies the industry’s power to manipulate the worker’s body (Bmoreart.com). Then, the sculpture turns out to be a sign of insurgency that leads to exhortation and subsequent rebellion of the Black Americans against their oppressors. Rising of arms signifies surrender, but through the captioning by Thomas, it ignites and challenges the Blacks to fight again st the powers of slavery and racial discrimination Thomas’ work depends solely on the past rather than the present. The sculptures emphasize the past African experiences under the power of colonial rule, as depicted in pictures and photographs. Thomas converts a rather two-dimensional script into a tangible form reflecting the past. In his work, Thomas sculptures the captives’ poking of hands through the police truck as it drives away from the Supreme Court in South Africa (Bmoreart.com). Thomas designs a similar sculpture of a black hand clenching a fist through a wooden bar. Most

See below Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

See below - Coursework Example Fear of being shown up results when a person lacks brave as well as courage in her capabilities undertaking her job. She, therefore, finds it hard to give the job to her subordinate since they will outperform her. Managers may have difficulty in delegating duties as a result of the absence of trust. She gets a lot of sureties that the particular employee has all the knowledge and ability it needs to undertake a certain task as per the provided guidelines. A manager may have difficulty in delegating duties due to lack of time. When a manager gets overwhelmed with work, she always find herself not having the time to recollect herself and make a decision on the particular staff members to control certain tasks. Others find it difficult to delegate the duties due to the need for control. A manager with a higher sense of need for control prefers things to get performed with specific procedures. As a result of getting excessive controlling, she ends up having difficulty in delegating since she wants to remain in a certain position of command over her staff (Narayana Reddy, Appannaiah & Sathyaprasad, 2010). These difficulties can get overcome when the manager do away with the fear of getting shown up. In this case, the subordinates should not boast that they have outperformed their manager when given the chance to do so. These difficulties can get overcome if the manager builds trust with all the staff members. This will make the manager feel secure that all the employees have the capability of undertaking a task by following the set guidelines. The difficulties in duties delegation can get overcome when the manager creates time to recollect herself conduct a simple study and identify the specific employees who can undertake specific tasks. This will help the manager to pass on the some of the responsibilities to other staff members hence enhancing the delegation. A manager should reduce the tendency of having the need for control, and, therefore, accommodate

Managing Change in the Urology Department of a National Health Service Essay

Managing Change in the Urology Department of a National Health Service Hospital in England - Essay Example It is clear from the discussion that the events that caused the need for change in the hospital were the combined financial crisis and the newly introduced regulations on the number of working hours for hospital personnel. Improving the situation will require the application of effective strategies and techniques that would change the current situation. The strategies and techniques require efficient processes and procedures. The hospital should be prepared to apply efficient change initiatives that are inclusive and address the needs of all the stakeholders. Otherwise, resistance will arise among the stakeholders. The three crucial areas that require the change include stakeholder/employee relationships, management of technological change, and worker motivation. This report begins with the summary of the organization that paves way for discussion on the issues that require close attention. The mission of the National Health Service Hospital in England is to sustain continuous improv ement in the delivery of health care services. The management seeks to ensure a healthy working environment for the employees as well as other stakeholders. The Department of Urology is struggling to respond to external pressures for change that have threatened its ability to offer efficient medical care. The hospital works with five consultant surgeons, a few middle-grade and junior doctors, a range of nurses and other clinical personnel. The hospital infrastructure is not efficient enough to offer competitive and efficient health care services. The events that triggered a need for change in the hospital were the combined financial crisis and the newly introduced regulations on the number of working hours for the hospital personnel. The introduced regulations on treatment duration made the hospital sub-contract some of the treatments to a private hospital, leading to financial losses. The factor that contributed to the shortage of medical staff is the conflict in the regulations in volving the working hours. The management of the crisis is loaded with many challenges such as the tension between managers and clinicians and failure to agree on the staff capacity, allocation of extra beds, and operating theater. Others include information overload, ineffective problem solving, disagreement on the number and qualifications of new entrants, and inefficient data collection. The current challenges facing the Urology Department of the National Health Service Hospital in England are related to the incompetence of the stakeholders in managing the changes facing the health care industry. Change Management Change management is a structured process designed to deal intentionally and directly with human

Let's Be Lefties For a Day Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Let's Be Lefties For a Day - Assignment Example ch ensures that employees maximize their contribution to the organization while enabling them to reach their own potential; creating a win-win situation for all. Diversity in the workplace refers to the variety of employees in a given work environment. Every organization today is made up of employees from a variety of ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds, add to this diverse group a mix of genders. Managers and professionals in such settings are responsible for molding this diverse group into a cohesive unit that benefits the organization, while ensuring that every employee is enabled to reach his/her potential. The idea of diversity is acceptance of differences and respect for them. In essence this means accepting that each individual is unique and is different from another in certain respects. These differences can be in a wide variety of spheres ranging from cultural and racial to religious and gender. Exploring these dimensions and understanding them can lead to an enriching experience – the ability to not just make allowances for but to appreciate them and celebrate the unique qualities they contribute. Diversity does not mean just physical diversity in outward appearance or speech. People who grow up in differing environments or come from different educational backgrounds also think and respond differently. The difference lies not only in how they are perceived but also how they perceive others and themselves. This also affects the way they interact with others especially those they perceive to be different from themselves. The result can be discrimination where those who ‘belong’ are at an advantage while those who do not are at a disadvantage. The challenge for the manager or professional in a business setting is to build bridges across differences and strengthen bonds to enable a work environment sans discrimination. The simple experiment of using the left hand instead of the right for ordinary activities like turning the pages of a book or

Review of Related Literatures and Studies Essay Example for Free

Review of Related Literatures and Studies Essay The proponents reviewed several related studies and literature. This was done to clarify different ideas from other studies and literature. Relevant ideas of some students who developed some software were also reviewed. Related Literature The proponents understand that the program to be made without intellectual development could crash and might not be attracted to the uses and beneficiaries. The communication between the target user and the programmer should be clear, and sharp. According to George Gerard G. Mendoza (2005), two reasons why people use computers regardless of their profession. First, they are fast. Second, they are accurate. To improve the current grading system, manual and duplicative tasks need to be computerized. Computerization of tasks will also pave the way for the unification of the grading system with the enrollment system and student information system. Josefina Estolas in the book Fundamentals of Research (1995). A major purpose of a database system is to provide users with an abstract view of data. That is the system hides certain details of how the data are stored and maintained as stated by Abraham Silberschatz, Database System Concepts (1999). A database is an organized collection of facts and information. An organizations database can contain facts and information on customers, employees, inventory, competitors, sales information and much more. Most Managers and executive believe a database is one of the most valuable and important parts of a computer-based Related Literature Foreign Study According to Ms. Barbara Riggs and Mr. Jacob I. Lee (1994) of the University of Maryland as they perceived from their study as regards with the old grading system of their university and the problems encountered. It is a daunting task to process 130,000 grades in a timely let alone painless manner every semester. Add to this the collection of Early Warning grades and there is a tremendous amount of work for both†©our administrative staff and the faculty. Therefore, it was no surprise when several faculties voiced concern over the traditional time-consuming grade collection process. Our established method of grade collection was similar to other universities during the mid 80s. Scannable grade sheets were produced for each course section and distributed to the faculty. Over 8,000 grade sheets were created every semester and then hand carried to academic departments by R R support staff. The departments were then responsible for delivering grade sheets to the appropriate instructor. After all this routing, it was not unusual for a faculty member to request a new grade sheet because the original had been lost or damaged. Once the grade sheet made it to the faculty members hands, they were required to write the grade and then fill in the corresponding bubble with a #2 pencil on the scanning form. If mistakes were made the faculty member had to be sure to erase the incorrect mark completely. Erasures often led to scanner misreads and recording of incorrect grades. Faculty were also required to return all grade sheets to the Records Registrations office within 48 hours of their final exam. Grade sheets were not permitted to be returned by mail because they could not be folded, but, more importantly, because mailing created security issues. Obviously, the scale of organization and centralization of grade sheet distribution and collection was enormous. Because of security concerns, controls had to be foolproof. Grade correction was very tedious and time-consuming. So, as technological capabilities and services were successfully developed for students, both faculty and administrators saw the potential to automate the existing grade collection process.

Innovation and Technology Strategies of Mcdonalds

Innovation and Technology Strategies of Mcdonalds McDonalds is the largest fast food restaurant chain that serves approximately 47 million customers daily. The fast food restaurant is operated by many types of business venture like franchisee, affiliate or the corporation itself. Through continual innovation technology research and upgrade, McDonalds have transformed itself from a small bar-b-que restaurant to a fast food restaurant chain serving mainly burgers, chicken products, fries, beverages, desserts, salads, wraps and fruits for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In this report, we will discuss on how McDonalds manages its innovation technology and the strategies employed by McDonalds in gaining its competitive advantage. We will be using SWOT analysis to analyze the internal strength and weakness and external opportunities and threats of McDonalds innovation technology process and also discuss the innovation technology concept adopted by McDonalds. Some concepts that are discussed are stated below. Innovation Concept:- Kids gadget (eg. Happy Meal that comes with toy) Food safety and quality standards (Nutrition facts on the food they serve) Being Green (eg. Unbleached paper napkins used from recycle material, One Meal, One Napkin, McRecycle) Events (eg. FIFA 2010, Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010) Mc Cafà © Technology Concept:- Drive-Thru, where customers can order McDonalds meals on the go, Online/Phone ordering delivery 24/7 EZlink payment over counter and credit card payment for online and phone ordering Free Wi-fi connection at all McDonalds branches Online Networking (Facebook) The report will also recommend some approaches McDonalds can adopt to enhance the business. Introduction 1.1 Company Profile McDonalds is the leading restaurant brand with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million customers in more than 119 countries each day. Approximately 70 percent of McDonalds restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent, local businessmen and women. Their rich history began with their founder, Ray Kroc. The strong foundation that he built continues today with McDonalds vision and the commitment of our talented executives to keep the shine on McDonalds Arches for years to come. McDonalds serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes, and desserts. McDonalds also modified its menu to healthier alternatives like salads, wraps and fruit due to obesity trends in western nations and criticism over healthiness of its products. 1.2 History of Company McDonalds started as a humble Bar-B-Que restaurant in the year 1940. Below states McDonalds achievements through the years. (McDonalds, 2010) 1940 Dick and Mac McDonalds open McDonalds Bar-B-Que restaurant in San Francisco. It is a typical drive-in with featuring a typical menu with car-hop service 1948 Dick and Mac McDonalds closed their restaurant for 3 months and reopens as a self-service drive-in restaurant with reduced menu serving hamburgers, cheeseburger, soft drinks, milk, coffee, potatoes chips and a slice of pie with the 15 cents hamburger as the staple of the menu 1949 Potato chips are replaced by French fries on the McDonalds menu 1954 Multimixer salesman, Ray Kroc(52), visit McDonalds in San Bernardino intending to sell more multimixer to the brothers but is fascinated by the operation and learns from the brothers that they are looking for nationwide franchising agent. Kroc has an epiphany and determined that his future is in the hamburgers. 1955 Kroc opens his first McDonalds restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 15. The restaurant is designed by architect Stanley Menston in 1953 with red and white tile and Golden Arches 1959 The 100th restaurant opens in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin 1962 McDonalds in Denver, Colorado becomes the first indoor seating restaurant 1963 The 500th McDonalds restaurant in Toledo, Ohio 1965 McDonalds first public offering in celebration of its 10th year anniversary 1966 First National Television Commercial of Ronald McDonald who appeared on his flying hamburger in 35 one minute color spots on the NBC and CBS networks 1967 McDonalds first international restaurant in Canada and Puerto Rico 1969 Remodeling of McDonalds logo which emphasis more on the ever-more-famous Golden Arches 1978 The 5000th McDonalds restaurant in Kanagawa, Japan 1979 Happy Meals are introduced to the national menu featuring a circus wagon theme 1984 McDonalds founder and Senior Chairman, Ray Kroc, dies on Jan 14 1985 April 15, McDonalds celebrates 30th years of operation 1988 The 10,000th McDonalds restaurant in Dale City, Virginia 1996 McDonalds Corporate Internet site launched 2003 McDonalds launched its first global advertisement campaign, Im lovin it, in Munich, Germany 2006 McDonalds added nutritional info on its packaging at the Torino 2006 Olympic 2007 McDonalds Packaging updates that features 24 faces from first-ever global casting call 2009 McDonalds being awarded for Being Green 2010 McDonalds offers visitors with free Wi-Fi in over 11,000 restaurants 1.3 Vision Statement and Values Vision McDonalds envision a supply chain that profitably yields high-quality and safe products without supply interruption while leveraging their leadership position to create a net benefit by improving ethical, environmental and economic outcomes. Ethical McDonalds envision purchasing from suppliers who follow practices that ensure the health and safety of their employees and the welfare and humane treatment of animals in their supply chain. Environmental McDonalds envision influencing the sourcing of their materials and ensuring the design of their products, their manufacture, distribution and use minimize lifecycle impacts on the environment. Economic McDonalds envision delivering affordable food, engaging in equitable trade practices, limiting the spread of agricultural diseases, and positively impacting the communities where their suppliers operate. McDonalds view this vision and its responsibilities holistically. As sourcing decisions are made, they consider their priorities for food safety, quality and costs, as well as ethical, environmental and economic responsibilities. Values McDonalds place the customer experience at the core Customers are the reason for their existence. They demonstrate appreciation by providing them with high-quality food and superior service, in a clean, welcoming environment, at a great value. Their goal is Quality, Service, Cleanliness Value for each and every customer, each and every time. McDonalds are committed to the people They provide opportunity, nurture talent, develop leaders and reward achievement. They believe that a team of well-trained individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, working together in an environment that fosters respect and drives high levels of engagement, is essential to their continued success. McDonalds believe in the their system McDonalds business model, depicted by the three-legged stool of owner/operators, suppliers and company employees, is their foundation, and the balance of interests among the three groups is key. McDonalds operate the business ethically Sound ethics is good business. At McDonalds, they hold themselves and conduct their business to high standards of fairness, honesty and integrity. They are individually accountable and collectively responsible. McDonalds give back to the communities They take the responsibilities seriously. They help their customers build better communities, support Ronald McDonald House Charities, and leverage their size, scope and resources to help make the world a better place. McDonalds grow their business profitably McDonalds is a publicly traded company. As such, they work to provide sustained profitable growth for the shareholders. This requires a continuing focus on our customers and the health of their System. McDonalds strive continually to improve Being a learning organization that aims to anticipate and respond to changing customer, employee and System needs through constant evolution and innovation. 2 SWOT Analysis Let us look at some of the strengths that McDonalds hold for it to be so successful and what opportunities did they took advantage of. Strength With billions of investment spent on training annually, McDonalds have succeeded in motivating its staff to provide better customer service. The brand reputation of McDonalds increased when the Fortune Magazine 2008 listed McDonalds as one of the most admired food service companies. The Golden Arches and spokes character, Ronald McDonald the clown is one of the worlds most recognizable logos. Source: Images obtained from flickr.com and Palm Beach County Library System McDonalds is a global company operating in 109 countries. By spreading out in different regions, they can withstand economic fluctuations and operate effectively during an economic downturn. McDonalds restaurants are able to adapt to each countrys cultural differences. For example, lamb burgers are served in India instead of beef and pork. As most of the McDonalds restaurant businesses are owned and operated by franchisees which are independent they are able to reach out to global locations like major airports, and cities, tourist locations and theme parks. McDonalds developed an efficient, assembly line style of food preparation. In addition, they maintained a systemization and duplication of all their food preparation processes in every restaurant. McDonalds uses 100% pure inspected beef with no fillers or additives added. The produce is farm fresh. McDonalds serves 100% farm raised chicken, no fillers or additives and only Grade-A eggs. To ensure only safe and tastiest food are produced, McDonalds purchased their ingredients only from certified suppliers. The frequent food inspections conducted also ensured food quality and freshness. McDonalds only serves name brand processed items such as Kraft Cheese, Nestle Chocolate, Heinz Ketchup and Minute Maid Juice. McDonalds treats food safety very seriously. Checks are performed at every stage of the food processing to ensure that the food is produced from a clean, contamination free environment. McDonalds have printed their food nutritional information on the serving mat that was placed on the serving trays. It enables the consumers to understand what the nutritional levels of individual food they are consuming are, at the same time, enjoying their meal. This information was published on McDonalds Internet site. For consumers who were health conscious, McDonalds have gone the extra miles to offer salads, bottled water and other low fat / calorie food as alternatives. To build publicity, McDonalds sponsored various main events. The recent sponsorship is the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010. McDonalds have incorporated free Wi-Fi in the restaurants to encourage consumers to come for their meal. 2.2 Weakness McDonalds tried to market into the pizza line but failed thus leaving them not able to compete with fast food pizza chains yet. The employment of temporary staffs and part-timer lead to high employee turnover in their restaurants. This will increased the amount of money being spent on training new staffs. While promoting health living, McDonalds had yet to explore the trend towards organic foods. 2.3 Opportunities McDonalds can create a healthier version of the hamburger to cater for the health conscious society today. They can do it by replacing the ingredient with those that are organic. They will be the first in the fast food industry to have an organic hamburger. McDonalds can provide optional allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free. McDonalds can look into introducing new food items, like sandwich wrap to cater for new taste buds. 2.4 Threats McDonalds uses subliminal perception to attract children as young as one year old into their restaurants with special kids meals, toys, playgrounds and popular movie character tie-ins. Children end up enjoying McDonalds through childhood to adulthood. Hence, many parents criticized their marketing practices towards children which are seen as not ethical. McDonalds is considered as unhealthy food, allegedly with addictive additives that contributed to the obesity in consumers. Competitors are a threat. Major competitors include Burger King, Starbucks, Subway and KFC and any mid-range sit-down restaurants. 3. Innovation Concept Kids Gadgets Source: Happy Meal http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/parents/happy_meal_choice.html McDonalds Happy Meal toys for kids have undergone an evolution. The toys were first design with mechanical moving parts that simulate the movement of the toy character. Over the years, McDonalds have incorporated digital games with the toys. Example is the Rocking Horse. The LCD displayed the movement of the horse when the child put a rocking action on the toy. Quality Food Source: http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/trends_innovation/barbara_booth.html Culinary Innovation Meet Chef Dan Coudreaut, McDonalds Director of Culinary Innovation Chef Dan as he is known to millions has been the Director of Culinary Innovation at McDonalds headquarters for over four years. His background and training is in fine dining, and he gets huge job satisfaction being a part of McDonalds. Coudreaut began working as a dishwasher when he was 14 years old. He earned an associates degree in business administration and management. To pursed his dream as a Chef, Coudreaut worked in New York City at Quatorze Bis, a French bistro, as the PM Sous Chef. Later, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1995. Coudreaut with his team created up to 1,800 new recipes annually but only a few selected recipes that are wholesome, tasty and easy for McDonalds crew members to prepare to launch. The most recent innovation was to produce the famous Fruit and Walnut Salad as well as the Premium Chicken Sandwich line. Customers increasingly want higher-quality items, which is a reality that allows me to take more risks and make flavors bolder, says Coudreaut. My fine-dining background and McDonalds desire not to stifle creativity helps me develop products customers can really enjoy. The Birth of the Egg McMuffin A legacy of  innovation from within It was 1970. Legendary McDonalds franchisee Jim Delligatti, still fresh from his historic success in developing the Big Mac sandwich, began experimenting with simple breakfast items. Exploring new business opportunity for his restaurant during the morning hours, the usual Opening at 11:00 A.M. was changed to 07:00 A.M. instead. Delligatti started selling coffee and other simple items like doughnuts, and sweet rolls. Pancakes and sausage were added to the menu a year later. Even with limited selection, Delligatti was by that time was able to obtain 5 percent of his business during breakfast. But a significant dilemma remained: while Delligattis innovation had increased business at his store, other McDonalds operators balked at the prospect of extending their already-backbreaking 11:00 P.M.-midnight shifts. Unless a new breakfast item was found that could deliver double-digit sales gains, the McDonalds breakfast line would have to wait. That product, which was to completely transform the McDonalds experience, came in late 1971 on the vision of a man named Herb Peterson. After managing the McDonalds account for Santa Barbara, California-based DArcy Advertising, Peterson decided to join the increasing ranks of McDonalds franchisees. Having identified the same breakfast opportunity that Delligatti had seen, Peterson focused his creative energy on launching an entirely new product that could be eaten like the rest of the McDonalds line: by hand. A solution arrived when he began to modify an Eggs Benedict sandwich that was being marketed by Jack-in-the-Box, a West Coast chain. Experimenting with prepackaged Hollandaise, which he rejected as too runny, Peterson combined a slice of cheese with a hot egg, producing the exact consistency he had been aiming for. Since poaching eggs didnt fit into the McDonalds assembly line production process, Peterson invented a creative new cooking utensil a cluster of six rings that was placed on the grill to form the eggs in the shape of an English muffin.  When he complimented the egg and muffin with grilled Canadian bacon, Peterson had a finished breakfast item that was perfect for a sandwich-oriented fast-food chain. Convincing McDonalds founder Ray Kroc of the new creations brilliance turned out to be easier than expected: Peterson invited Kroc to stop by a store over the Christmas holiday, and even though Kroc had just eaten lunch, he ate two of the egg sandwiches anyway. Petersons organized demonstration of the new product, complete with a flip-chart to explain its economics, wasnt what sold Kroc. It was the sandwich itself. Weeks later, Herb Peterson was in Chicago showing the new product to McDonalds senior management, who received it with excitement. Not long after, the final challenge naming the sandwich was tackled during a dinner conversation between the Krocs and the Turners (Fred Turner is now Honorary Chairman of McDonalds Corporation), when Patty Turner suggested it be called the Egg McMuffin. The name stuck, and roll out began. By 1976, McDonalds had perfected the breakfast menu, elevating its brand above the competitors, which didnt introduce commercial breakfast items until the mid-1980s. Thanks to the relentless creativity and innovation of its own visionary franchisees, McDonalds by then held a monopoly on breakfast. To this day, breakfast represents 15 percent of McDonalds sales. Thru SMS on 15 July 2010 All new Spicy Nuggets tangy Honey Chipotle Shaker fries. Being Green Recycle, Renew We start with a 3-pronged approach: reduce, reuse, and recycle; and were committed to diverting as much waste as possible from the solid waste stream. McDonalds has come up with countless small ways to make a big impact: Switching to unbleached paper napkins made from recycled materials. Examining how our suppliers package raw materials and cleaning supplies. Weve even created litter patrols to ensure were good neighbors in our communities. Less is More Currently, 82% of McDonalds consumer packaging is made from renewable materials, and were aiming for higher percentages in the future. In several countries, our restaurants are recycling their used cooking oil for re-use in a variety of products, including the creation of environmentally-friendly biodiesel. In some markets, McDonalds delivery trucks use our own re-purposed cooking oil as fuel. We call this a closed-loop solution, and were very proud of it. Our customers are also helping make a difference. McDonalds restaurants inside WalMart stores saved an estimated 170 million napkins (equivalent to 497 tons of wood) in just one year through the One Meal, One Napkin campaign. McDonalds Global Environmental Commitment Effectively managing solid waste We are committed to taking a total life cycle approach to solid waste, examining ways of reducing materials used in production and packaging, as well as diverting as much waste as possible from the solid waste stream. In doing so, we will follow three courses of action: reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce. We will take steps to reduce the weight and/or volume of the packaging we use. This may mean eliminating packaging, adopting thinner and lighter packaging, changing manufacturing and distribution systems, adopting new technologies or using alternative materials. We will continually search for materials that are environmentally preferable. Reuse. We will implement reusable materials whenever feasible within our operations and distribution systems as long as they do not compromise our safety and sanitation standards, customer service and expectations and are not offset by other environmental or safety concerns. Recycle. We are committed to maximum use of recycled materials in the construction, equipping and operations of our restaurants. We are already the largest user of recycled paper in our industry, applying it to such items as tray liners, Happy Meal boxes, carryout bags, carryout trays and napkins. Through our McRecycle program, we maintain the industrys largest repository of information on recycling suppliers and will spend a minimum of $100 million a year buying recycled materials of all kinds. We are also committed to recycling and/or composting as much of our solid waste as possible, including such materials as corrugated paper, polyethylene film and paper. We will change the composition of our packaging, where feasible, to enhance recyclability or compostability. Conserving and protecting natural resources We will continue to take aggressive measures to minimize energy and other resource consumption through increased efficiency and conservation. We will not permit the destruction of rain forests for our beef supply. Encouraging environmental values and practices Given our close relationship with local communities around the world, we believe we have an obligation to promote sound environmental practices by providing educational materials in our restaurants and working with teachers in the schools. We intend to continue to work in partnership with our suppliers in the pursuit of these policies. Our suppliers will be held accountable for achieving mutually established waste reduction goals, as well as continuously pursuing sound production practices which minimize environmental impact. Compliance with these policies will receive consideration with other business criteria in evaluating both current and potential McDonalds suppliers. Ensuring accountability procedures We understand that a commitment to a strong environmental policy begins with leadership at the top of an organization. Therefore, our environmental affairs officer will be given broad-based responsibility to ensure adherence to these environmental principles throughout our system. This officer will report to the board of directors on a regular basis regarding progress made toward specific environmental initiatives. On all of the above, we are committed to timely, honest and forthright communications with our customers, shareholders, suppliers and employees. And we will continue to seek the counsel of experts in the environmental field. By maintaining a productive, ongoing dialogue with all of these stakeholders, we will learn from them and move ever closer to doing all we can, the best we can, to preserve and protect the environment. We value sustainable food and packaging McDonalds is committed to minimizing the environmental impacts of our food and other products in the supply chain. We are working with our direct suppliers to: measure and reduce water, energy, air, and waste impacts through our Environmental Scorecard, design our packaging with resource conservation in mind improve fishing practices through our Sustainable Fisheries program. green our distribution system through efforts such as using recycled frying oil as fuel   better understand the carbon footprint of our entire supply chain, based on work by McDonalds Europe We are also trying other things to make a difference upstream in the supply chain by working with other companies and NGOs.  Our sustainable land use efforts, such as protection of high-value conservation lands like the Amazon Rainforest, are ongoing.  We also support multi-stakeholder sustainable agriculture initiatives such as the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform in Europe.  It was created by the food industry to actively support the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide.   You can read more about our efforts to green our supply chain as well as some specific leadership steps taken by our suppliers in our catalogue of global environmental  best practices, the 2009 McDonalds Global  Best of Green. Tracking our performance the Environmental Scorecard and EcoFilter McDonalds Environmental Scorecard for suppliers was created to help make our food suppliers aware of the resources they are using and to help drive continuous improvements related to their impacts in the categories of energy, water, air, and waste.   In 2005, we began rolling out the current version of the Scorecard with a goal of reaching all of our bakery, beef, poultry, pork, and potato suppliers in our nine largest markets.  Last year, we decided to set a deadline of 2009 to reach that goal and are currently on track to achieve this before the end of the year. Many suppliers that have been using the Scorecard for multiple years have reduced their use of water and energy and their production of waste.   In Canada, for example: All direct suppliers of beef, poultry, potatoes, and bakery products located in Canada completed the 2008 Environmental Scorecard 45% showed a decrease in water used per unit of finished product between 2007 and 2008 64% showed a decrease in energy used per unit of finished product between 2007 and 2008 100% showed zero air emissions violations in 2008 64% showed a decrease in waste production per unit of finished product between 2007 and 2008 In 2010, some markets will continue to expand the use of the Scorecard.  Globally, we will focus our efforts on making the Scorecard easier to use and more impactful, through enhancements like online training and data collection.  We also continue to encourage our direct suppliers to help our indirect suppliers become more aware of their resource use and to explore options for reductions. Oil Opportunity McDonalds is finding ways to incorporate used cooking oil into their operations. The answer is biodiesel. In several countries across the McDonalds System, our restaurants are recycling their used cooking oil for re-use in a variety of products, including the creation of biodiesel an environmentally friendly diesel fuel made from recycling vegetable oils. We have a resource that can be put to good use, and weve been taking steps, to varying degrees across the System, to utilize it in the best interests of the business, says Brian Kramer, Senior Manager Corporate Social Responsibility. This is an exciting and relevant area for all of us and one where McDonalds is looking to make a greater impact. From Fryer to Fuel The oil-into-fuel effort is just one aspect of our larger environmental platform. With consumers ranking environmental protection as a top expectation of socially responsible businesses, McDonalds is continuously working on a variety of ways to go green from reducing energy use at our restaurants to creating a more sustainable supply chain. With regard to biodiesel, the way it normally works is that restaurants team up with a contractor who picks up the used oil in bulk and sells it to companies that specialize in refining the product into clean burning diesel for consumer use. McDonalds stepped into this arena about six years ago with a test run in Austria and the effort has gradually gained momentum. Today, biodiesel initiatives are occurring in major markets across Europe, APMEA, Latin America and the U.S. The leader in this effort is McDonalds Europe, which recycles all of its used oil and sends approximately 80% to the production of biodiesel. Meanwhile, a growing number of U.S. restaurants are also directing their oil from fries to fuel. The bulk cooking oil delivery and retrieval program that McDonalds USA has been implementing with our supplier, RTI, over the past decade has achieved significant results as well. Currently, there more than 7,500 U.S. restaurants enrolled in the program, which includes delivery of the cooking oil to the restaurants in bulk via a portal on the exterior of the restaurant to a tank in the store. At the same time, waste oil is sucked out a separate tank and then sold to biofuel companies and other purchasers such as pet food companies. There are a range of environmental benefits to the bulk oil program. For example, every year it eliminates a significant amount of packaging that would normally be used if the cooking oil was delivered in smaller plastic jugs in corrugated boxes, or Jibs. This, in turn, reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfill. Fueling McDonalds Trucks Some markets, like Austria and the U.K., have taken things one step further and now use some of their reformulated oil to fuel their McDonalds delivery trucks. Its known in the environmental world as closing the loop taking your used products and putting them to good use back into your system. This really is a great story, says Sebastian Csaki, Manager Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility McDonalds Europe. The fact that were able to recycle so much of our used oil into biodiesel and use it in our own trucks truly shows our commitment to lessening our environmental impact in innovative ways. Greener Than Ever McDonalds strives to provide eco-friendly workplaces and restaurants that reflect our sustainability goals and demonstrate environmental stewardship in the workplace. In August 2008, McDonalds USA opened its first corporate-owned pilot green restaurant and received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification in April 2009. Some of the green attributes of the Chicago restaurant include energy-efficiency equipment and lighting, high efficiency plumbing fixtures, and permeable pavement and rainwater collection for irrigation. Were using this green building lab to help refine our green building strategy. Our second green restaurant was completed in North Carolina in early 2010. Green building strategies arent limited to McDonalds restaurants. Using the LEED rating system developed for Existing Buildings (LEED EB), we recently tackled our Global Headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. Our 20-year-old Campus Office Building (affectionately known as the COB) was granted Platinum Certification, the highest level possible. The COB is one of the oldest buildings to receive this certification. The sustainable building enhancements made during the certification process have resulted in clear financial and environmental benefits. Energy use is at its lowest level in five years, helping to offset rising utility costs

Career Opportunities in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Career Opportunities in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Introduction Given the continued volatility within the UK job market, the opportunities for a university graduate continue to evolve. Ultimately, the nature of the marketplace will continue to rise to meet social and economic challenges, thereby mandating that participants are aptly suited for the responsibilities of the future. Lau and Schaffer (1999) recognised that success in a career of choice offers personal needs fulfilment through long term evolution of workplace achievements and accomplishments, ultimately culminating in power acquisition for the properly situated professional. My long term objectives is to frame my career around such variables, supporting my professional goals and principles while at the same time ensuring that substantial growth and opportunity evolve through my career choice. The following five positions represent key industries within the current UK market, each challenging the participant to invoke a broad skill set to enhance their long term career objectives. Hotel Manager Given the variability within the hotel industry and the season-specific integration of tourism into an operating scheme, the potential for gaining logistical experience and expanding my management skill set within this environment is exemplary. The completion of my degree is an essential part of job acquisition within the hotel industry, and although the management position might not immediately avail itself to me, the long term goal of achieving this notorious job title will present motivational encouragement and strategy in my daily operations. As recognised by MacCannell (2002), the prevalence of tourist egoism in the hotel environment is one which challenges staff to bolster and support such powerful internal demand structures, aligning with tourist expectations to prospect for repeat business. As a hotel manager, my duties would include a coordination of all staff members affiliated with our guests, and therefore, exemplary service levels would need to be evolved from my directi on. The potential for substantial tourism growth considering the coming 2012 Olympic games offers opportunity for positioning within an expanding industry, one which would support my long term career objectives. Aligning my skills with an industry with such broad opportunities would also ensure that as alternate positions across the globe arise that I would be uniquely suited for that market by virtue of experience. Tourism Officer Perhaps the most widely sought opportunity for graduates and professionals of these five, this position entails an integration of a wide number of skill sets and strategic methods. Within the community, the tourism officer plays an essential role in guiding the expansion of tourist commerce and supporting local businesses and facilities through attractive event and festivals. In a recent study Desforges (2001) noted that financial reward is an extremely important variable within tourist endeavours, oftentimes relying on strategic politics to evolve into a socially beneficial medium. Optioning the personnel management abilities which I have learned over my brief, but well experienced positions in the UK work force, the officer position would require staff management, budget alignment, and full spectrum training programmes. This challenging, yet rewarding occupation would integrate my written abilities, planning foresight, and organisational skills to prepare and guide the tourist prog rammes of a particular local authority. The highly competitive nature of this position challenges me to fully develop my expectations and long term strategy prior to offering my CV for review. Ultimately, I believe that my creativity, local knowledge and interest, and resourcefulness will be assets in acquiring such a position. Over the course of the coming months at the university, it would be wise to participate in community events and begin to source industry relationships in order to ensure that opportunities arise upon graduation. Outdoor Pursuits Manager Perhaps the most interesting and personally rewarding position within this grouping is the one which would take me into the outdoors and fulfil my passion for adventurous activity. Requiring technical skill sets including budgeting, people management, and leadership, my commitment to these duties would be more than just job specific. In fact, assuming such a role, the physical challenges alone would encourage me to devise new methods of exercise and diet in order to maintain appropriate energy and stamina. Public speaking would become an inherent participle in this role, challenging me to step outside of my comfort zone and encourage participation through vocal support and direction. Forsyth (1997) recognised that sustainable tourism and environmental responsibility are essential factors in the new realm of eco-tourism. Through my role in outdoor pursuits, whether team building for groups or comporting a family reunion on a sightseeing hike, the need for environmental awareness and e ducation would be a skill set that must be further developed. While there is limited opportunity within this position to surmount a corporate ladder, the potential for entrepreneurism in the long term would enable me to pursue an objective of business ownership and coordination. Travel Agency Manager Perhaps one of the more intriguing positions listed here, this opportunity would rely on my knowledge of both the UK travel sector but international destinations as well. Ensuring that my breadth of venue understanding was at par with industry standards, familiarisation visits to new destinations would assist in developing my knowledge set. This job would incorporate a broad range of my skills including organisation, sales abilities, and management of a sales team. As targets become an increasingly important qualifier within this industry, recognising the methods behind sales and tourism opportunities will continue to enable my management of a team of sales professionals. Destination sourcing offers a unique perspective of consumer motivations and would continue to enable my utilisation of personal interests and professional resources over the long term scope of my career. Recognised by Gille and Riain (2002) the nature of globalisation entails a reorganisation of self and community, expanding horizons and encouraging international participation. In this role, it would be my responsibility to ensure that these connections are deeply entwined in the personal objectives of my clientele. Public Relations Account Executive The final career opportunity, and perhaps divergent from the others in terms of sector, the role of P.R. account executive would offer substantial opportunity to utilize my personality, range of communication skills, and intense drive for success to develop and support public relations campaigns. In this role, business to business sales and networking would become extremely important facets of my daily routine, encouraging a working understanding of purchasing motivations and the key challenges which face each industry in our society. Managing events and press conferences in addition to location coordination for photo shoots or media programmes would also integrate my organisational skill set as well as enhance my understanding of the workings of public scenarios. Hiring staff and event for these events would also challenge my human resource skill set and enable an organisational perspective which could translate into further career evolutions. Buck et al. (2003) challenge that the e mployment philosophy of a firm or corporation is â€Å"embedded within its organisational blueprint† thereby entailing a focus on strategy, media expectations, and client perspective when aligning staff with PR activities (p. 532). The public focus of this position is an exciting offering which would continue to involve my evolution as both speaker and participant within the scope of media relations and operations. This position would be both challenging and rewarding as the broad spectrum of daily operations would enable my participation in highly social and publicly visible events. Conclusion Each of these opportunities presents a substantially different perspective of how my post-university career could evolve. The nature of the UK job market is constant evolution; therefore, over the coming several months, there are many new positions which may develop and with them, the opportunity to enter at the cutting edge of industry. Regardless of destination, my path must be one which is both personally and professionally rewarding. From this expectation, I will carefully make my decision according to the merits of each position and their support of my goals. As long term career development is also an essential part of the reward spectrum, I must align myself with a strong industry in which I can continue to develop my professional skills. Networking and social development will further assist in identifying key participants who can offer sustainable choices in future career developments. While all five of these positions offer well suited principles for my inherent skill set, se veral such as hotel manager and travel agency manager and PR account executive are substantially more attractive due to their public focus and wide sphere of influence. While my future may remain uncertain, the opportunities afforded by my university graduation are not, and I look forward to their realisation over the coming year. References Buck, T; Filatotchev, I; Demina, N; Wright, M. (2003) â€Å"Insider Ownership, Human Resource Strategies and Performance in a Transition Economy.† Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 530-549 Desforges, Luke. (2001) â€Å"Tourism Consumption and the Imagination of Money.† Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 353-364. Gille, Z; Riain, S.O. (2002) â€Å"Global Ethnography.† Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 28, pp. 271-295. Lau, V; Shaffer, M. (1999) â€Å"Career Success and the Effects of Personality.† Career Development International, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 225-231. MacCannell, D. (2002) â€Å"The Ego Factor in Tourism.† The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, June.