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Questions : 1.A Critical Assessment of The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)You are required to- (a) Describe the Capital Asset Prici...

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Analysis Of Wagyu Beef In Australia Economics Essay

Analysis Of Wagyu Beef In Australia Economics Essay This paper presents the strategic adviser specializing internationalization recommendation to company which pursue to grow their businesses overseas. First of all, this paper explains the business problem of this case that is the basis of expanding the business to the global market. Second, analyze the Wagyu beef with the consumer behavior in the US. And then present the policy and legalization in the US for Australian exporter. Next section is the basis and information of the ABC Company that needs to expand the business to the US. After that, the table presents the trend of value in the US and trend of import beef to the US. Moreover, this paper confirms the channel to expand the product, SWOT analysis, and PESTEL Framework. Lastly, this paper illustrates the approaches that can expand the product to international market. Introduction Nowadays, the beef market in Australia is limited because there are over suppliers in the market. Australia is the second largest farming to produce beef in the world, therefore many companies in Australia try to expand market share to international market. The US market is interested to export the product. There are three principle reasons to attract the exporter such as the number of people in the market, customer behavior and the culture and tradition. However, many companies get the failure from global business because they have the shortage knowledge in the cross culture and customer behavior. This paper analyzes the environment to expand the business to the US. The Business Problem ABC Company is the company that produces Wagyu, which is the premium beef. Australian beef market is growing to be the largest agriculture in 2009. Information from Australian Natural Resources Atlas confirms that Australia use the space to make the cattle farm approximately 220 million hectares that is the most area to spent in the agriculture industry. Therefore there are over suppliers in Australia. People in the country have many choices to choose beef in the domestic market. Moreover, beef market in Australia has the high competitive, so many cattle farmers try to find the markets that still have the power to purchase product. However, the companies have the good relationship with the customers because the companies produce the quality of product in order to make the loyalty of customers and repeat to purchase product with the companies. Market in the Australia has over suppliers and the limit customers, therefore the companies need to expand its product to the US that the large st market to consume beef. The beef market in the US is increasing to consume beef and the largest market in the world. Furthermore, most of people in the US eat beef that is the main food, so the number of beef is the second of all kind of meat. Indeed, the companies have more power to produce Wagyu beef, but the requirement in Australia has the limit because there are number of people in Australia approximately 22 million people that less than the US about 290 million people. The companies can expand the product in 10 times of the people in the domestic market. The companies should learn about the culture, legalization, behavior of the consumers, environment and more. Before the companies invest to expand business to there. However, this is the opportunity to extend the product to the large country.The US is the worlds richest market and Australias second biggest export purpose with a nine per cent share of Australias export market. The US is Australias only biggest market and ass et partner. Australia is the 14th biggest export endpoint for the US and the eighth biggest foreign investor in the USA. Analysis Wagyu Beef in Australia Wagyu or Kobe beef is the famous beef in the Japan. Wagyu has the good feather such as inherent marbling ability, softer fats enhancing meat flavor, high nutrition, finer meat texture, back fat not excessive.The beef industries produce and develop beef products for domestic and export markets especially the US market. Australia is one of the biggest exporters of beef in the world, trade that is very appreciated to its economy.Beef cattle production is extentthrough the country, and carried out under sodifferentsituations. While beef is a top farming export earner, there is increasing interest in other meat product such as pork, game such as deer, goat and buffalo (Australian Government, 2009). For Australian beef is guaranteed the quality by customers in Japan that the original country to produce Wagyu beef. Australia Wagyu Association is the organization that improves the quality of Wagyu beef to the global standard. Likewise, this organazation gives the knowledge to the farmers tha t the factor to produce the quality product. The good quality beef will get the good feed in all of their life. The food of them is the importance factor to build the good health for them and create the strong point to the product from Australia. Many countries accept the product from Australia USA business and economy and trade policy and custom regulation Kidane (2003) mentions that the United States is frequently established as one of the leader of destinations for foreign direct investment. Unquestionably, the legalization systems strengths point contributes to this case. The United States is the first country partial self-government on the base of morals. The legalization system in the US contains of three measures: executive, legislative, and judicial. It has been showed essentially that this construction can guarantee the legalization systems effective process. Some of characteristic features should be disturbed by the global investors. Anevaluation from the World Bank difficult 181 countries shows the United States ranks third for luxury of doing business overall, first with esteem to employing workers, and sixth in terms of enforcing contracts. In addition, the high quality of the U.S. legalization system overall is protected by the open investment policy, which is based on the standard of national management specifically, that international investors should not be preserved differently from domestic investors. Although no system is impeccable in all esteems, the United States is justifiably satisfied of the overall high quality of its legalization system and the level of international investment subject to its protection. Basic customer profile There are many kinds of consumer behaviors because the people in the US come from several countries. They have the difference ages, genders, races, regions, and incomes. Moreover, income levels in totally difference in the social that the factor to define the customer level in the company market. The target of ABC Company is the high income because the Wagyu beef has the high price and high quality. In terms of age and gender, there are the difference kinds of beef to eat as the number of consuming consist of male teenager had over 50 pounds per person in the ground beef. Moreover, there are the men ages between 20 and 39 old having about 30.35 pounds love to eat stake beef. Overall in female eat beef approximately 56.23 pounds per person. In stake category, there were only 3.96 pounds per person that means the female do not prefer to eat stake. The conclusion of statistic with the people in the US is the men love to eat beef more than the female approximately two times of total beef in the US market. On the part of geographic and income, residents of the Midwest expended the highest beef of any section, consuming at 72.92 pounds per capita. In the other word, American in the Northeast had the least beef, only 62.53 pounds per person (allbusiness.com, 2009). Value of U.S. beef industry statistics for last five years in The US Year Value of U.S. beef industry 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 $70 billion $71 billion $71 billion $74 billion $76 billion Year U.S. cattle imports 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 1.371 million head 1.816 million head 2.289 million head 2.495 million head 2.284 million head Follow this table (United Department of agriculture, 2009) there was a continue increasing in the consumer beef in the US. Then, the customers has expanded in this country, ABC Company can the import the product to support the needs in this market by using the appropriate strategy to present the product. In the part of quality, the company has the strength point to compete because the company develops and control cattle farm follow the law of Australia that guarantees the quality from the customer around the world. Moreover, the company has many experiences to make the business success in the Australia. In the other hands, the company does not have the experience in global market that has difference culture and customer behaviors. Firstly, the farmers in the US have the efficiency to produce the beef. Furthermore, they do not have the tariffs about the policy and legal system. The government supports the farmers in the country. However, ABC Company still has the premium product that has the niche market that is people love the premium beef for good healthy. Second, beef from Japan is the original country for Wagyu beef or Kobe beef. However, Japan has the limited areas to produce the product. Therefore, Most of Wagyu beef is imported from Australia because the quality of beef is quit same with beef in Japan. This point is the strong point to guarantee the beef that produce in Australia. Marketing and distribution channel to reach customers ABC Company should find the company that is the premium restaurant to make a joint venture. Joint venture means a prescribed contract joining together two or more groups for the objective of performing a specific business task. All of the groups accept to share in the benefit and damages of the enterprise (investword.com, 2009).This approach will help the company to distribute its product in the US. Moreover, joint venture is short term strategy in order to open the new market. First time in other market has high risk about the culture, and consumer behaviors. This way, the company reduces risk because the partner company has the knowledge and experience in this market. ABC Company should make the presentation only part of product and the belief to the target groups. Besides the partner company has the channel to distribute the products; therefore the company just adds the capacity to distribute the product and the ways to keep the quality of product to the customers. SWOT analysis Strengths Firstly the research to develop the quality of product is the Australian Natural Resources Atlas. From the research, Wagyu beef which produce in Australia is accepted in the several countries and push Australia to be the second exporter in the world. Secondly, Wagyu beef that produce in Australia has the good quality for healthy because the fat in beef is softer fats enhancing meat flavor, high nutrition, finer meat texture, back fat not excessive. It is the best beef quality and reduces the risk of fat excessive. Lastly, ABC Company has long term experience in domestic market; hence the company has the knowledge in requirement of product and the standard of quality. Weakness First, ABC Company does not have the experience in the US market that has the difference customer behaviors from Australia. Moreover, the culture in purchasing, distribution is totally difference from Australia. No one knows the ABC brand that popular in Australia; the company has to make the advertising to present the product to the customer in the US. Then geographic factor, the company has the import cost that add in the product. Besides, when the company has the problems in the other country, it cannot solve the problem immediately because of geographic concern. Opportunity The US is the largest market to consume beef; there is the number of people more than people in Australia approximately 290 million people or 10 times of Australian people. And the import policy for Australia exports product not too much conditions. The US beef market continues grow for the exporter. The customer in US considers the quality of beef in the first priority and concern about the customer healthy. Wagyu can response in the healthy topics of the customer behavior. Threats The domestic farmers are growing to compete with the exporter. The number of local farmer is increasing from supporting of government. In the part of price, the price of beef in the local is lower than the beef from Australia. That factor makes the weak point to Australian exporter. However, the target group of the company is the groups that love the high quality beef, so the price is not the main factor to make a decision. PESTEL Framework Political in the US concentrate in the free trade market, so ABC Company can get the competitive advantage. From this point, the law does not prevent the foreign company to invest in the US. The readjustment of American global free trade agreement device has an important consequence on the development of world economic incorporation. Economic part, as the worlds largest trading nation, the United States of America is the worlds principal importer. In 2008, the total U.S. trade shortage was $695.9 billion, which contains $2.5 trillion in imports (Willis, 2009). The US has a growing number of agriculture imported products from Australia, who appears to increase more chances in trades between the US and Australia. Australian beef is one of the most competitive beef products in the world. Social, American had beef for a long time both of the Native American and the people in the city. Many restaurants have the beef that is the main thing in cooking such as hamburger that the popular food uses ground beef in the main category. In term of kind of beef, most of people love to eat the beef that soft with the marbling that has the red meat switch a bit fat. Wagyu beef or Kobe beef has the quality both meat and fat color and especially for taste. Technology, Australia Wagyu Association is established in order to reaction a real demand and need for quality figures that improves from the marbling bulgy in the Japanese heredities. As the result, the company uses the information to make the good quality product. Environmental, most of people in the US eat beef approximately 70 pounds per person. Also there was a rapid increasing in the percentage of importer beef to the US from 1.38 billion pounds to 2.64 billion pounds between 2007 and 2009. From this information, ABC Company has the occasion to extend the market to the US; there are many demands in this market and the power to chase the premium beef. Legal, the US tries to support the farmers in domestic. As the result, the price of beef in the US decreases, so the competitive advantage of the foreign producer is falling because the foreign farmer has transportation cost and custom cost. Conclusions and recommendations ABC Company needs to expand the product to the international market because of the over suppliers in the domestic market. Therefore, the US market that still has the power to purchase the product is the target for ABC Company. However, the company should have the quality of product to attract the customers. The price of product should be defined by comparing with the competitors in the market. Moreover, the strategy to distribute the product is the importance factor to keep the quality and make the difference from other rivals. Promotion is the factor to create the competitive advantage to the company. In the first period, the company should reduce the price and make the advertising to present the product in the market and find the target in the luxury restaurant and premium market.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Analysis: Decision Making In Kava Essay

Decision making is one of the important and crucial aspects in running a business that business executives delegate to their subordinates, in the hope that those they think are qualified to make sound decisions indeed make very good decisions that will always be for the best interest of the company. Decision making is a privilege, but it is nonetheless a difficult task that cannot be avoided. Because of its importance and the difficulty that goes along with decision making, professionals over time managed to draft certain decision making techniques that can help those who find themselves in a great difficulty over the inability to produce a decision making process that will guarantee the providing of the best result possible for a particular business scenario. Decision-making technique to identify the solution – There are several business models of decision making techniques that anyone can utilize; there are no perfect techniques for decision making, what is important is that the person manages to identify the technique that suits his or her needs best. For the case that is being tackled in this paper, the decision making technique which will be utilized is the Measured Criterion technique. What is the Measured Criterion technique? In the Measured Criterion technique, the individual will have to create a table or matrix wherein important goals as well as options to attain the goal(s) is/are identified to allow the person/organization making the decision to look at the goal and the options they can take and decide which option they will resort to. Why is the Measured Criterion the ideal decision making technique for the particular case being discussed in this paper? It is the ideal decision making technique for this particular case because the Measured Criterion style will allow Nik and Alex to plot and identify the particular goals that they need to accomplish so that they can achieve their ultimate goal – to act as catalysts in the island so that their company can have a greater and broader business presence in Kava. These particular goals will definitely open up options for both Nik and Alex, and when there are two persons deciding, there is a very good chance that they may not opt for the same course of action. But through the use of the Measured Criterion, every option is designated with a numerical equivalent that suggests the range and probable efficacy, practicality, comfort and other aspects and characteristics of a particular option, from which the decision will be based. This information will be used on how the decisions and options are considered and weighed. For example, Part 1 of Nik’s planning involved the human resources part. For example, during the decision making process on whether Nik and Alex should advice its head office on hiring Kava local’s to work for the company when its expands its operation and presence in the island, the decision can be based after consulting the Measured Criterion chart, which would reflect points represented in numerical significance – what are the points for opting for hiring locals and the probability that they will stay long and loyal to the company compared to using non-locals to work in Kava and the corresponding level or chances that these particular type of employees will stay long and loyal in the Kava office of the company? Having identified these issues and other issues involved in the decision making task of Nik and Alex necessary to accomplish the goal delegated to them by their company, there is a better guarantee that the option they will take are considered very well and that there are minimized chances that Nik and Alex left something out unintentionally. Steps in decision making – Following the guidelines necessary to undertake the Measured Criterion technique for decision making, the steps towards decision making of the company so that it can achieve its goal in Kava will include the following steps: identification of the course of action needed to be taken, identification of the existence of alternatives and wide variety of options present for every step or action to be taken, the providing of the necessary data and points consistent with the style of Measured Criterion so that every action that presents many different options will reflect the best and worst possible option for the company to take, and lastly, the deliberation on whether the best option as reflected in the Measured Criterion tables should be taken first en route to the actualization of the business plan. During the process of decision making to attain the goal of having the business expand in Kava, Nik will have to identify key information to aid his decision making and provide information in the measured criteria table for further deliberation and consideration. This is important since there are what Luo consider as â€Å"international expansion imperatives† that act as â€Å"building blocks on which a wide variety of international expansion strategies, decisions, and policies are based. They are imperatives because they cannot be unlinked from the decision making process during international expansion (Luo, 1999, p. 6). † Decision making technique analysis – Why is the Measured Criterion selected and used as the decision making technique to assist in the goal of Nik and Alex to undertake the creation of a business plan that will allow their company to grow in Kava? As explained in Virtualsalt. om about how Measured Criteria works, this particular decision makin g technique can help the task at hand (which is the planning of the company on how to have a greater business presence in Kava) by providing a way in which the target goals for the accomplishment of the business plan is already laid out and the corresponding alternatives and options of the company are weighed correctly. Nik, who is an important player in the effort of the company to expand in Kava, needs to be equipped with a decision making technique which would allow him to be able to sort things out and plot the objectives and goals he needs to accomplish, identify his options and plot the strengths and weaknesses of each and every option so that he can pick the best option, use it and contribute to the overall efforts of him and Alex in the achieving of the company’s business goal in Kava for which Nik was sent there for. The Measured Criterion can provide Nik with the style that will enable Nik to efficiently and systematically sort things out. The situation in Kava, with all the confusion that was illustrated in the case scenario, will take its toll on Nik’s ability to focus his mind and his thoughts, and using the Measured Criterion will help offset the negative impact of the messy surroundings in the place. Don Aslett, in his book The Office Clutter Cure, points out that â€Å"a poorly kept workplace makes everyone tense† and that â€Å"too much stuff around is distracting (Aslett, 2005, p. 20). Proposed Solution – The proposed solution for the expansion of the company in Kava includes the implementation of a business action plan that includes human resources, marketing and business strategy. The company should consider the hiring of locals and consider the socio economic and socio political impact of this action to the locals and the government of Kava, including ensuing empathy and support and stabilization of the company; the company should also realign its business strategy so that it will suit the diversity in culture and the heterogeneity of the people present in the island which will be affected in many different ways by the business; the company should also consider the logistics that the company will have to shoulder and address should the company expand operation and business presence in the island, with a back up study on the financial impact of such logistics adjustment on the overall performance of the company; and lastly, the company should plot a timeline to allow themselves the opportunity to measure the positive yield and impact this move will make to the company, so that in the event that the move is deemed as unproductive or lacks promise financially an d business-wise, appropriate remedies can be set up and implemented to cover losses and redirect expansion actions by the company. Examining the decision making model – The use of the Measured Criterion will work well in this particular condition with one consideration in mind: that both Nik and Alex make honest appraisals and put corresponding numerical symbolisms of the importance of each item presented in the matrix. Toney explains that â€Å"other researchers have shown conclusively that the most common reason for organizational failure is flawed decision making† (Toney, 2002, p. 21), and the only way for Nik and Alex to avoid having a flawed decision making is to make sure that the decision making process is free from personal agenda and other politics that go against the best interest of the company. As in the use of any decision making technique, the absence of honesty and objectivity in the part of individuals make human error a significant factor. If Nik uses the Measured Criterion in a way that there is a controlled outcome in numerical value because Nik wants the outcome to correspond with his personal wants and desires (i. e. to leave Kava since Nik expresses dislike in the island), the credibility of the Measured Criterion and the decision that was reached is jeopardized, as with the use of any other decision making technique so long as there is an effort to manipulate the outcome.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Competing through Operation: KFC Report Essay

INTRODUCTION The report focuses on KFC – the leading chicken fast food restaurant in the world, and one of the largest players in the fast food market. By using five performance objectives and various research methods, the report aims to  analyze how the restaurant perform and manage its operation capacity in order to provide qualified food and service to the customers. Besides, the restaurant’s capacity constrains and capacity strategies are discussed base on the primary data from KFC Union Street, Bristol City centre. It would link to the relationship between Capacity strategy and five performance objectives (Slack et al, 2004), as well as, how they support each other. COMPANY PROFILE KFC first starts in 1930s, when Harland Sanders opened his restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky. KFC now spreads out to more than 100 countries with around 15500 outlets worldwide. Of these, there are more than 800 restaurants located in the UK. The restaurant has concentrated on fried-chicken-on-bone products under the name Original Recipe and expanded the offers with other items include chicken sandwiches and chicken wings, as well as, biscuits, mashed potatoes, corn, potato wedges and desserts. The new line-grilled chicken with fewer calories, fat and salt than the Original Recipe- was launched in 2009. It was called â€Å"one of the biggest new product rollouts in the history of the company† by the KFC president Roger Eaton. Being tested in many regions included the UK; this new line has been well received as a healthier alternative which retains good in taste. The following part will discuss about how KFC applies five performance objectives (Slack et al, 2004) into its operation and which of the five objectives is concentrated on. FIVE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES The theory has been applied for many companies worldwide for over 10 years in order to manage operating performance. Due to the limitation of resources, each company tends to put only some of the five objectives in priority  during particular periods. It is considered as one of smart methods to maximize profits. Source: (Adapted from Slack et al, 2004) FIGURE1. FIVE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES Figure 1 explains the idea and meaning of five performance objectives (Slack et al, 2004) in general. QUALITY is the responsibility to always provide the good product or service that company has claimed. It also requires doing the right thing at the right time and meeting customer specifications, which give customer satisfactions. In KFC, main factors listed as Quality objective are quality of food (delicious, tasty, fresh, healthy, etc), quality of service (clean, supportive, friendly, etc)†¦ SPEED is defined as how fast the company responds their customers. This is one of the most important things required in fast food restaurant, especially in rush hours. Applying to KFC restaurant, speed objective is considered as the elapsed time between customers’ placing orders and the food or services being delivered. FLEXIBILITY measures how much variety in products, services, and solutions for a dynamic market environment in order to meet customers’ need. It is shown as KFC’s various menus, the launch of line â€Å"Grilled Chicken†, the more customization, etc DEPENDABILITY is doing things on time as promises. It not only gains customer’s trust but also has an influence on cost, which are saving money, saving time and giving stability to improve the efficiencies (Strecker, Ulrich, 2011). In KFC, it is on-time deliveries. COST is the product or service price that enables company compete the market, as well as ensure the return. The company aims to maximize their profit;  therefore, reducing the cost is necessary. Cost objective in KFC is measured by the cost of food, cost of manager and staff’s salaries, etc. The Polar diagram below shows how KFC restaurant performs in manager, staff and customer perspectives base on the data that was collected. (Adapted from Slack et al, 2004, p58) FIGURE2. POLAR DIAGRAM OF KFC RESTAURANT The Polar diagram is designed by the result of KFC manager’s interview, staff’s questionnaire and customers’ questionnaire (Appendix 1.0, appendix 2.0 and appendix 3.0). According to KFC manager, the restaurant is performing quite well in quality, cost and dependability objectives while speed needs to improve, especially in rush hours (16:00pm to 20:00pm). Staff and customers have the same opinion about improving speed objective in KFC. â€Å"Although we have 8 queues† – as the manager – â€Å"it is hard to serve a large number of customers at 19pm. However, we tend to give the staffs more training sessions to increase their speed in taking order and cooking. Focusing on people will push up dependability, flexibility and speed all.† (Appendix 3.0) It is the fact that most of the customers want a lower price for their food and services. However, with a fixed price tag, the restaurant tries their best to prove that the food and service offered to customers are worth their paying. The next part of report will focus on how the restaurant meets its customer’s fluctuating demand. CAPACITY The capacity of an operation is the highest level of value added after certain period of time that the process would be able to achieve under certain conditions (Slack et al, 2001). It includes: actual output, design capacity and effective capacity. FIGURE3. CAPACITY OF KFC RESTAURANT ON UNION STREET, BRISTOL Planned losses Avoidable losses Actual capacity 1929 people Planned losses Effective capacity 2331 people Design capacity 2680 people (Adapt from Slack et al, 2001) The figure is resulted from calculations below. DESIGN CAPACITY Design capacity is â€Å"the capacity which its technical designers had in mind when they commissioned the operation† (Slack et al, 2001, p335). The KFC restaurant on Union Street is the largest KFC outlets in Bristol which can serve maximum 100 customers a day (approximate number from KFC manager). Design capacity Daily 100 people Weekly 670 people (7 working days, less working hours on Sunday) Monthly 2680 people EFFECTIVE CAPACITY While design capacity is â€Å"everything according to a plan†, effective capacity helps to show what might happen if something not goes as a plan. Effective  capacity is calculated as design capacity minus planned losses, which is 13% (from KFC manager). Effective capacity Daily 87 people (100 – 100Ãâ€"13%) Weekly 582people (670 – 670Ãâ€"13%) Monthly 2331 people (2680 – 2680Ãâ€"13%) ACTUAL OUTPUT Actual output is the amount of a product that a production facility actually produces, as opposed to the amount that it could produce if it were to run at full theoretical capacity. It is calculated as design capacity minus planned losses and avoidable losses which is 15% (from KFC manager). Actual output Daily 72 people (100 – 100x[13%+15%]) Weekly 482 people (670 – 670x[13%+15%]) Monthly 1929 people (2680 – 2680x[13%+15%]) Planned losses: Public holidays (Christmas, New Year, etc) Human issues (Illness, pregnant †¦) The time customers waiting to be served Avoidable losses: Weather (Storm, heavy snow, etc) Machine failure. CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS Capacity constraints are considered as factors that limit the number of customers served by operation (Dettmer, 2003). For KFC, these are: number of staffs, number of queues, available eating space, speed of cooking and delivering. These factors would push the restaurant to its limit points of operation, which called Bottle necks. NUMBER OF STAFF: There are many shift of working hour a day in KFC. The maximum number of staffs that needed in rush hour is 12 people approximately (with 8 front-men taking customers’ orders and cleaning, 2 middle-men making burgers and chips, and 2 cooks in the kitchen working strenuously). At the busiest hour, the staffs face pressure of too many customers waiting in the queues, shortage of food available, and the mess in eating place. 2 or 3 front-men have to make burger and chips in order to provide food on time. NUMBER OF QUEUE: It often happens in the fast food restaurant that long lines of customers are waiting to be served. Although KFC Union Street has 8 queues, it does not mean that there are always staffs available. AVAILABLE EATING SPACE: It is hard to find a clean table in rush hours because of the large number of customers and the busy staffs. SPEED OF COOKING AND DELIVERING: To ensure the fresh of food provided to customers, the middle-men just make some available. Hence, if a big order is placed or many orders are placed at once, it will take time to make more burgers. Some constraint factors would be solved by staff’s working flexibility, some, however, could not avoid because they links to other factors. For example, KFC could make more burgers available to avoid customers’ waiting time and increase speed performance objective; however, the foods will not as good as the just-in-time one, which reduces quality performance objective. Therefore, it is essential for the restaurant to decide which objectives are priorities. The analysis of KFC’s capacity and capacity constraints lead to the following part which will discuss about which strategy it uses to manage the operation. CAPACITY STRATEGY (Sasser, 1976) There are 2 evidences from the data collected that shows Chase demand plan (Sasser, 1976) is the strategy KFC following. There are different staff numbers and the amount of food ready in a day. Due to staff contracts, the manager arranges a large number of staffs for rush hour, which is from 16:00pm to 20:00pm each day while reduce staffs at the opening (9:30am) and the closing time (22:00pm). In 30 minutes before closing, the kitchen stops working and the front-men focus on cleaning rather than standing behind order place. This arrangement is based on which time customers usually come to the restaurant. It helps reduce cost of staff salaries and avoid human surplus on the time not many customers. Besides, working flexibility is required for all the staffs, which are ability of working in different positions (front, middle or in kitchen), doing different tasks and even overtime, if needed. The other one – amount of food ready in a day – does show that KFC is applying Capacity leads demand theory (Sasser, 1976). KFC always provides the amount of food slightly over than customer’s demand so as to ensure available service in working time. The food left changes to waste because it could not be stored due to KFC’s quality standard. This waste, according to the manager, is not significant and enables to bear with. From the analysis above, it is clear to see that KFC is doing right because the strategy not only fits to identity of fast food market, but also expresses KFC’s customisation, which highly focus on satisfy its customers. After discussing about five performance objectives (Slack et al, 2004) and capacity strategy (Sasser, 1976), the final part will clarify relationship between those and how they support each other. THE RELATIONSHIP OF CAPACITY STRATEGY AND FIVE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES (Slack et al, 2004) Before having strategy, the objectives have to be set. It could be simply explained that objectives are the place you want to drive to while strategy is vehicle that helps to get there. For KFC as a whole, the company expresses its concentration on Quality objective through the slogan â€Å"Don’t worry. Eat happy† (http://www.kfc.co.uk/dontworryeathappy) and various actions to be healthier for the customers, such as â€Å"Get fresh inspiration from our Deli Deluxe Range†, â€Å"We’re fighting trans-fats, not flavour†, â€Å"We’ve done away with 25% of saturated fats†, or â€Å"Fitted out with green energy†, etc. Quality is known as the vital factor to compete with other big brands like Subway, MacDonald’s, Burger King†¦, and gain fast food market share when customer’s health concern is increasing more and more. (http://www.propertyweek.com, Domino’s pizza tops the market article) FIGURE4. FAST-FOOD MARKET SHARE IN THE UK However, for smaller scale, according to the manager of KFC Union Street, the  restaurant put Speed objective as their first priority to strive because quality standard as well as promotions is already fixed. â€Å"It is KFC Company’s job to upgrade and spread out how good the food is.† – Said the manager – â€Å"Our job is to provide food with the same standard, and serve the customers those come to our restaurant best services, and it is speed†. Hence, the restaurant tends to increase the factor it can control, which differentiates it among the others. Following the objective above, the Chase demand plan (Sasser, 1976) is decided to make it done. This strategy fits to fast food restaurant’s identity so as to utilize time, human, and money resources. Then, considering either capacity lags demand, which allows demand never less than capacity or capacity leads demand (Sasser, 1976), which is that capacity always meets forecasted demand, KFC Union Street chose the second one. The restaurant gives up waste in order to better its service for customers. Amount of food available reduces waiting time for delivering, as well as, waiting time to be ordered. The customers would be more satisfied thanks to fast service. CONCLUSION To sum up, the report is designed from result collected at KFC Union Street, Bristol. With five performance objectives (Slack et al, 2004), capacity, capacity strategy (Sasser, 1976) analysis, it clarified how KFC operates and how theories links to each other, as well as, are applied into practice with particular circumstances. REFERENCES Dettmer, H.W., 2003. Strategic Navigation: A Systems Approach to Business Strategy. ASQ Quality Press. James, P., Rowland-Jones, R., O’Brien, L., 2010. Operations and Business Systems management, 2nd Ed., Harlow: Pearson. Samuelson, Paul A., Nordhaus, William D (2009). Economics, 19th Ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Slack N, Chambers, S., Johnston R., 2001, Operations management, 3rd Ed., London: Pittman Publishing. Slack N, Chambers, S., Johnston R., 2001, Operations management, 4th Ed., London: Pittman Publishing. Slack N, Chambers, S., Johnston R., 2001, Operations management, 5th Ed., Harlow: Prentice Hall. Schoenborn, G., 2009, Personal Communication. Strecker, S., Ulrich, F., 2011. Information Systems and E-Business Management. A modelling method in support of the reflective design and use of performance measurement systems [e-journal] 7(1). Available through: Springer. http://www.kfc.co.uk/dontworryeathappy

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Los apellidos hispanos más frecuentes en EE.UU.

En la actualidad, 3  apellidos hispanos està ¡n entre los 10  mà ¡s comunes de los Estados Unidos  y 6 entre los 15 mà ¡s frecuentes. Este dato no debe sorprender ya que hay mà ¡s de 57,5 millones de latinos en el paà ­s, conformando el 17,8 por ciento del total de la poblacià ³n. En este artà ­culo se enumeran cuà ¡les son los apellidos latinos mà ¡s frecuentes, segà ºn datos del Bureau del Censo y, tambià ©n, su significado. A continuacià ³n se lista cuà ¡les son los 10 mà ¡s comunes, sin importar el origen à ©tnico o racial y, finalmente, se incluye informacià ³n relevante sobre derechos de los nià ±os nacidos en Estados Unidos y documentos que sirven para acreditar su ciudadanà ­a. Destacar que para el Bureau del Censo, los tà ©rminos latino e hispano pueden utilizarse como sinà ³nimos y que para esta oficina del gobierno son latinas las personas con procedencia en: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Espaà ±a, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Honduras, Mà ©xico, Nicaragua, Panamà ¡, Paraguay, Perà º, Repà ºblica Dominicana, Uruguay y Venezuela. Ademà ¡s, para otras agencias del gobierno, los brasileà ±os tambià ©n estarà ­an incluidos en esta categorà ­a. Apellidos hispanos mà ¡s frecuentes en Estados Unidos Estos son los 10 apellidos hispanos mà ¡s comunes, segà ºn datos del à ºltimo censo de 2010, en orden de frecuencia empezando con el mà ¡s numeroso, con especificacià ³n entre parà ©ntesis del nà ºmero que ocupa entre los 15 mà ¡s frecuentes del censo total, que incluye toda clase de apellidos. Garcà ­a (6) Rodrà ­guez (9) Martà ­nez (10)Hernà ¡ndez (11)Là ³pez (12)Gonzà ¡lez (13) Ademà ¡s, se encuentran entre los 100 mà ¡s comunes: Pà ©rez Sà ¡nchez Ramà ­rezTorres Flores Rivera Gà ³mez Dà ­az Reyes Cruz Morales Ortiz Gutià ©rrez Significado de Garcà ­a y Rodrà ­guez y otros apellidos hispanos   Garcà ­a es el apellido latino mà ¡s frecuente en USA. Se le atribuyen diversos orà ­genes y significados. Una de las interpretaciones mà ¡s aceptadas es que originalmente pudo significar oso. Lo que sà ­ es seguro es que ya aparecà ­a por escrito en documentos de finales del siglo VIII en lo que hoy es la provincia espaà ±ola de Navarra. En la actualidad es el apellido mà ¡s frecuente en Espaà ±a y es tambià ©n muy frecuente en Latinoamà ©rica. En concreto, en Mà ©xico es el tercero mà ¡s comà ºn despuà ©s de Hernà ¡ndez y Là ³pez.   En cuanto a Rodrà ­guez, su origen se encuentra en el reino medieval de Leà ³n y significa hijo de Rodrigo. En Espaà ±a es el tercer apellido mà ¡s comà ºn, mientras que en Colombia ocupa el lugar nà ºmero dos, despuà ©s de Gonzà ¡lez. En Argentina, Chile, Mà ©xico y Venezuela es, tambià ©n, muy frecuente y en Repà ºblica Dominicana es el mà ¡s comà ºn. Martà ­nez tiene tambià ©n un origen medieval en Espaà ±a, pero se le atribuyen distintos puntos de origen. Significa hijo de Martà ­n. Las familias que lo llevan, al igual que ocurre con los apellidos que acaban en -ez, no tienen un origen comà ºn, aunque provienen del antiguo reino de Castilla. Hernà ¡ndez sigue la misma dinà ¡mica que los apellidos anteriores, y significa hijo de Hernando.  Por su parte, Là ³pez significa hijo de Lope, un nombre que antiguamente era comà ºn y procede de la palabra latina Lupus, que significa lobo. Gonzà ¡lez y su variacià ³n Gonzales significan hijo de Gonzalo, un nombre muy frecuente en la à ©poca medieval en Espaà ±a. Pà ©rez quiere decir hijo de Pedro o de Pero. Esta à ºltima es la versià ³n aragonesa del mismo nombre. Por su parte Sà ¡nchez significa hijo de Sancho. En su origen era muy comà ºn en los territorios que hoy son las provincias espaà ±olas de Cà ¡ceres y Salamanca. Y Ramà ­rez significa hijo de Ramiro. Finalmente, Torres, el à ºltimo apellido hispano que se coloca entre los 50 mà ¡s frecuentes de Estados Unidos, tiene un origen distinto. Es decir, no significa hijo de, sino que està ¡ asociado con un lugar con torres. Este apellido en su origen està ¡ relacionado con poder. Cà ³mo es que hay tantos apellidos hispanos en Estados Unidos Sucesivos flujos migratorios a lo largo de la historia han cambiando notablemente la composicià ³n racial y à ©tnica de los Estados Unidos. En el caso de los hispanos, destacar que siempre ha habido presencia de latinos. Por ejemplo, Saint Augustine, en Florida, es la ciudad con ocupacià ³n continuada mà ¡s antigua en EE.UU. y es de origen espaà ±ol.   Ademà ¡s, la poblacià ³n de origen latino aumentà ³ significativamente despuà ©s de la anexià ³n de Texas en 1845, la ganancia de los territorios del suroeste americano y California tras la guerra entre Mà ©xico y Estados Unidos de 1846-1848 y la toma de posesià ³n de Puerto Rico en 1898. Pero lo que està ¡ detrà ¡s del espectacular crecimiento en nà ºmeros de latinos en las à ºltimas dà ©cadas es el aumento de la inmigracià ³n procedente de Latinoamà ©rica que ha convertido a  los hispanos en la primera minorà ­a del paà ­s, superando a los  afroamericanos. Muchos de los latinos son nuevos inmigrantes que adquirieron primero el permiso de residencia por peticià ³n de un familiar, pero en la actualidad incluso mà ¡s son latinos que son  estadounidenses de nacimiento al haber nacido en los Estados Unidos que emigrantes En los casos de personas nacidas en el paà ­s, es importante obtener cuanto antes el certificado de nacimiento. Si bien es cierto que en en algunos condados, como sucede en el sur de Texas, los padres indocumentados està ¡n teniendo muchos problemas para obtener este documento de sus hijos para acreditar la ciudadanà ­a del menor. Ademà ¡s, hay que tener en cuenta que tambià ©n pueden surgir problemas en casos de bebà ©s nacidos aquà ­ cuando los papà ¡s tienen visas de turista. Pero el censo refleja un gran aumento en apellidos latinos no sà ³lo por esos dos motivos –inmigracià ³n y nacimientos– sino tambià ©n porque a diferencia de lo que era comà ºn en à ©pocas pasadas, los inmigrantes actuales prefieren conservar sus nombres y apellidos y no hacerlos anglosajones. Esto era comà ºn en todos los grupos de inmigrantes para intentar evitar discriminacià ³n y demostrar asimilacià ³n al nuevo paà ­s, pero en la actualidad es algo infrecuente Los 10apellidos mà ¡s comunes en Estados Unidos Para las personas interesadas, esta es la lista de los apellidos mà ¡s comunes, sean latinos o no, segà ºn datos del à ºltimo censo, que es el de 2010 porque en Estados Unidos se actualiza sà ³lo cada 10 aà ±os. Hay listados diferentes pero en este artà ­culo se ha utilizado ese listado oficial: SmithJohnsonWilliamsBrownJonesGarcà ­aMillerDavisRodrà ­guezMartà ­nez Curiosidades sobre latinos en Estados Unidos Es muy interesante conocer estas  7 aportaciones de los hispanos a la cultura estadounidense  o estas 10 curiosidades que pueden sorprender y entretener. Este artà ­culo es informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso concreto.