Comparison of three areas of law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparison of three areas of law - Essay Example On the other hand, the UK legal systems are stricter and protect the plight of traders, employees and members of contracts. The EU laws provide a clearly approach to define relationships within contracts and encourage foreign investors by providing a friendlier tax system as compared to the situation in the US legal system. From this perspective, it is crucial for both legal structures to harmonise their regulations to provide a better legal framework for its public. In the UK, there exists a written contract of employment that puts obligations both on the employee and the employer. The contract of employment requires that both parties the conditions implies in the contract letter. The UK is one of the countries that offer protection to its employees. The employer is answerable to court if he or she breaks any term implied in the contract. For instance, an employer must issue a notice before terminating an employee.2 On the other hand, the US government provides no statutory protection to employees. Hence, the employer can fire the employee any time. Unless there is a personal offense, the court does not protect the employee From a close observation, there exists a wide range of similarities and differences within the UK and US Employment laws. The two legal systems are similar in the sense that they seek to end discrimination within the employment sector. Hence both laws have clauses that prohibit employment discrimination in terms of gender, origin, race or even color. This appears to be an effort to embrace diversity management within these nations. However, the UK and US employment laws differ in a great way. To begin with, the US Laws provide no contract stipulations for employment. Therefore, issues of termination, salary, holidays and allowances all depend on the agreement between the employee and employer. This is much different from the UK legal

Security and Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Security and Privacy - Essay Example By information we indicate data that have been produced into the structure that is consequential and useful to the human beings (Kenneth, 1999). Modern technology poses innovative confronts to the protection of individual privacy which existing (Kenneth, 1999). This section will provide the basic insight in to the problem situation that leads to development of this information policy. It is observed on numerous occasions, personnel working late observed the cleaning staff reading discarded printouts. This is really wrong client information exploitation. The administration at St. John’s Hospital takes pride in its sound policies and procedures for the protection of confidential client information. In fact, it serves as a model for other institutions in the area. There is need for the protection of the information and development of the effective information policy. Privacy is the declaration of individuals to be theft alone, free from observation or intrusion from other individuals of organizations as well as the state. Declarations to privacy are also caught up at the place of work. Information technology and system pressure individual declarations to privacy by making the incursion of privacy inexpensive, cost-effective, and efficient (Kenneth, 1999). The information security risk can be defined as the concentration of affect on organization processes (encompassing operational tasks, illustrations, or status), organization possessions, or individuals ensuing from the procedure of an business information arrangement offers the possible influence of a hazard and the probability of that intimidation occurring (Rebecca, 2007). In the above section the possible hazard situations are presented. Such situations can lead us towards lot of possible information exploitation cases. For instance, several workers can take information regarding any patient and blackmail him for

People and Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

People and Organisations - Essay Example Additionally, the paper analyzes the changes that are required to make the 21st century project leadership authentic. The authors argue that the environment for conducting projects in the 21 century have changed from that of 20th century. There has been increased alliancing between companies for project purposes. Therefore, the authors suggest that there is need for development of new leadership style that suits the current as well as future environment. The authors are persuasive and believable. By making use of previous study findings, the authors compare the past and present project environments. The comparison depicts changed environment, which supports the authors’ argument on need for changes in leadership style to enhance authentic leadership. LIoyd-Walker & Walker (2011) provide empirical data to show the different attributes required by project leaders in the 21st century that were unnecessary in the 20th century. Toor and Ofori (2008),Thiry & Deguire (2007), Avolio & Gardener (2005), and Sirias, et al., (2007) agree that the project environment for 21st century is different from that in the 20th century. Additionally, their views are similar to those of LIoyd-Walker and Walker (2011) who argue that there is need for modification of transformational leadership to make it an authentic leadership style for the 21st century. Just as Alvolio and Gardener (2005) had suggested, LIoyd-Walker and Walker (2011) argue that trust and commitment are among the most important feature of authentic leadership and they distinguish authentic leadership required for 21st century from that in the previous years. LIoyd and Walker state that authentic leadership entails enabling or empowering the followers to self-regulate their activities b y supporting their development. As opposed to leadership in business alliances, project alliances require collaboration between the participating teams. This requires that the team members

Explain and discuss the golden rule of accumulation and assess the Essay

Explain and discuss the golden rule of accumulation and assess the implications for macroeconomic policy - Essay Example All such factors are considering by policy makers while implementing macroeconomic policies for the country. The savings investment behavior of the economy can be captured through neoclassical economics including the golden rule of accumulation. The golden rule is adopted to move towards optimum consumption. The golden rule determines the desired level of savings since under this level all profits are saved and then reinvested (Baumgartner and Meredith, 1995, p.6). Thus the current paper tends to discuss the golden rule of accumulation and its implications for macroeconomic policies. The production function of a country depicts how the country utilizes the available resources and inputs for producing output. Land, labor, capital and organization are termed as factors of production. We mainly use capital (K) and labor (L) as the two factors. It is given as, Equally important as production is the concept of consumption which is the difference between income and savings. The consumption function depicts the relation between consumption and disposable income (Consumption Function). It is given as, Attainment of steady state means that an economy has gained stability. A country has attained steady state either due to increase or decrease in growth. It occurs when production rates or the country’s investment equals depreciation. Such a phenomenon is shown in the diagram below: B B depreciation (ÃŽ ´k) Here it is seen that under the steady state output labor ratio becomes stagnant as investment becomes equal to depreciation at point A. production function determines the output- labor ratio at point B. Away from A the economy is converging towards steady state. Under the steady state the government requires to choose that level of

Production plan Essay Example for Free

Production plan Essay Student #2: Vanessa Mijares ORGANIZATIONAL: Costed Recipes COOKING: Focaccia Bread and Torta Caprese Student #3: Juan ORGANIZATIONAL: Food Requisition COOKING: Braciole Calabresi and Action Plan Components 1. Cover sheet 2. Table of contents 3. Descriptive Copy MENU – MUST include salable descriptions of menu items. (Prepare a second copy for framed presentation. ) 4. Requisition 5. Daily Preplist and Transfer Task List – one per student per day with a time line (Great detail required) Or a threaded production list with timeline. 6. Daily prep lists cont. 7. Daily prep lists cont. 8. Daily prep lists cont. 9. Written Recipe Cards on 3X 5 or 4 X 6 Notecards – 1 per recipe Daily Preplist and Transfer Task List Weekly Topic: Southern Italy Student: Vanessa Mijares Team Members:Cassey Dodd, Greta Schmidt, Juan Vasquez DISHES ON WHICH I’M WORKING Focaccia Bread Torta Caprese TASKSStart Time:Completion Time: Make sponge for focaccia bread330335 Make batter for torta caprese, and bake335350 Make dough for focaccia bread, rest350405. Slice up strawberries for compote405415 Stretch out dough, rest415430 Bake bread430445 JUST BEFORE PLATING and TASKS AT PLATE UP Saute strawberries with sugar Daily Preplist and Transfer Task List Weekly Topic: Southern Italy? Student: Greta Schmidt ?Team Members: Vanessa Mijares, Juan Vasquez, Casey Dodd DISHES ON WHICH I’M WORKING Peperonata Orechietti Pasta with Artichokes TASKS Clean artichokes, clean peppers, peel tomatoes, Mise en place all ingredients. Start Time: 3:30 3:30 3:40 3:40 3: 50 Completion Time: 3:35 3:40 3:50 3:50 3:53 Boil pasta water, season with salt cook al,dente cool. Sautee Panchetta, add onions, artichokes add water cook ? Artichokes until tender. For the peperonata: saute sofrito, tomatoes Sautee peppers, add sofrito and capers? JUST BEFORE PLATING and TASKS AT PLATE UP Reheat pasta and toss with artichokes sauce, herb and cheese Correct seasoning on both dishes Heat plates, present dish Daily Preplist and Transfer Task List Weekly Topic: Southern Italy Student: Casey Dodd. Team Members: Greta Schmidt, Juan Vasquez, Vanessa Mijares DISHES ON WHICH I’M WORKING Insalata di Seppie, Calamari, e Gamberi Tunnu a Palirmitana TASKSStart Time:Completion Time: Ask Chef for wine from the store room330335 Get two big pots of boiling water going335350 While water heats up fabricate all seafood350405 Make tuna marinade as soon as possible405415 Make sauce for the seafood415430 Grill the tuna430445 Finish both procedures445545 JUST BEFORE PLATING and TASKS AT PLATE UP Clean all dishes and clean worktable. Stay organized!

The HR Consultant Essay Example for Free

The HR Consultant Essay Introduction Texas Roadhouse is a chain restaurant throughout the United States. There are approximately 340 locations in over 46 states, and they are quickly expanding. Its menu specializes in steaks and ribs, as well as adding a western atmosphere for guests to enjoy. In the restaurant business, there are many different positions held by a variety of different people. There are cooks, dish washers, bus boys, hostesses, bartenders, servers, and also nightly management. On average each night, there are approximately 19 servers, 6 bus boys, 6 hostesses, 3 bartenders, and large amount of kitchen staff. All of these different positions are crucial in the nightly success of the company. Without any of these positions, the restaurant would not be able to run as smoothly. Objectives of The study In this report we are trying to find out the way to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the restaurant using five models:- 1) Self-Efficacy Model 2) LMX Model 3) Job Characteristics Model 4) Goal Setting Model Strategic Mapping Using Models Self-Efficacy Model The term self-efficacy is used to describe an individual’s perception of how competent they find themselves and their abilities to achieve complex tasks. People with strong self-efficacy are more likely to accept more responsibility and accept more challenging tasks. They also believe that no obstacles can get in the way from stopping them achieve their goals. Individuals with low self-efficacy are more apt to looking as difficult tasks as intimidating and do not believe they that are capable of achieving personal success. Overall, self-efficacy plays an important role in influencing the tasks that people perform and how well they perform them. The most important factor that is impacting through self-efficacy is persistence. This is found important because the higher the person perceives themselves on the scale, the more persistent that they will be with performing a complex task. Analysis and Recommendations as per Self Efficacy model Self-efficacy is something that is important in any organization. However, it is important at Texas Roadhouse to hire individuals who have a High level of self-efficacy so that employee perceives themselves capable of achieving many complex tasks. This could prove to be an issue within the organization because individuals could become bored or feel not challenged by the tasks designated in their position, which could lead to frustration for the employees and employer. Hence, Challenging tasks should be given to such individuals. 1) The individuals with moderate level of self-efficacy provides opportunity for the organization to designate tasks to that are challenging but also still attainable. It is good to hire large no. of employees in this category. There were three individuals who scored close to the lower end of the self-efficacy scale. 2) The individuals with low self-efficacy can pose a problem for Texas Roadhouse as they might hinder the productivity and success of the organization. Hence, in order to ensure more confident and driven individuals, Texas Roadhouse could moderately delegate more difficult tasks to these individuals in order to boost their confidence and the way they perceive themselves. Also, they could provide more positive feedback in their jobs and reinforce that the individual is doing well at their job. 2) Leader-Member Exchange The leader-member exchange (LMX) is a model that suggests that leaders develop different relationships with each of their subordinates through a series of work-related transactions. There are two important groups to consider that a subordinate may fall under depending on which phase they fit into. The in group is defined as a low number of subordinates with high LMX relationships. The second group is known as the out group in which the number of subordinates is large and contains relatively low level LMX relationships. Employees who find themselves in the out-group are likely to face high job turnover. This should be important to all management because high turnover is a very large investment for the organization. The level of LMX has a significant relationship to subordinates satisfaction with their manager. Employees with low-quality LMX are more likely to become dissatisfied, less motivated, and more prone to quitting. Whereas employees with high level LMX are likely to be satisfied with their work, more motivated, and committed to staying and contributing to the organization. LMX has three critical components which are mutual affection, contribution to work activities, and professional respect. When a subordinate has high mutual affection for a superior, the subordinate likes the superior as a person and will often come to the superior’s defense if attacked. High contribution to work activities comes into play when a subordinate goes above and beyond their job description to help the superior out. High Professional Respect is when the superior admires the subordinate’s knowledge and competence of the job. Analysis and Recommendation as per LMX 1) The Texas Roadhouse management does take steps to increase the mutual affection score of its staff else they will likely to enter the realm of the out group which could potentially lead to the employee leaving the organization because Why stay at an organization if you’re not happy with your manager? 2) One way management can increase the mutual affection is to take a more active role and listen to the complaints of the employees and to take the time to establish supportive and trusting relationships with the employees. 3) Another suggestion might be to engage the staff in team building activities and icebreakers. We can conclude that the superiors and managers of Texas Roadhouse are not providing proper support to their staff and needs to make a drastic change soon because the organization as a whole could be affected. 4) Some possible solutions include taking the time to reassess what kind of support is needed for staff. One way to do this is anonymous comment cards. Have all the employees fill out comment cards anonymously and identify specific instances where an employee failed to receive support. This must be down anonymously by the employer because the employee might be unwilling to respond for fear of termination. 5) The manager may have a tendency to interact with other employees in an unprofessional manner. The manager can decrease this perception by keeping to policy or by adjusting his/her interactions in front of employees. 6) Management needs to do a better job of developing better relationships with its employees. Some improvement strategies include the use of assertive communication, appropriate communication openness, and constructive feedback with all of the subordinates. Job Characteristics Model The job characteristics model has to do with the idea of increasing the amounts of five job characteristics: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback in a job. Skill variety can be defined as the degree to which a job requires an assortment of skills in order for an employee to carry out the task at hand. Task identity is the extent to which a job requires an employee to complete a task from beginning to end with a visible, tangible outcome. Task significance is the extent to which an employee perceives the job as having an impact on the lives of other individuals, if it makes a difference in society, within or outside of the organization. Autonomy is the level to which a job provides empowerment and discretion to an employee by choosing their own way to complete and schedule a task. Job feedback is the clear information about how effective an employee’s performance is. The different levels of these five job characteristics affect three important psychological states. The first, to experience meaningfulness of the tasks performed, second, to experience personal responsibility for results of the task at hand, and last is the knowledge of the results of task performance. If all three psychological states are positive, strong work motivation based on self-generated rewards is triggered. If they are in the negative zone, meaning the job is not meaningful, lacks responsibility or feedback, the job is incomplete, which does not strongly motivate an employee. This model can be related to Texas Roadhouse since it looks into how well an employee has the opportunity to be motivated to work in the restaurant. It highlights the areas that need work in the restaurant and what the employees enjoy or dislike about working there. It also demonstrates which employees are content with working there for a while and which view it as a stepping stone towards another opp ortunity that has not yet befallen upon them. Analysis and Recommendations as per Job Characteristic Model 1) The model demonstrates a need for change in the structure of Texas Roadhouse in order to increase their employee’s motivation to continue their work there. Generally, there are two main approaches recommended to superiors for designing/redesigning jobs which are vertical loading and the formation of natural work teams. Vertical loading is when tasks that were considered reserved for management level staff are delegated to all employees. It includes the power to set schedules, decide work methods, breaks, and seek solutions to their own problems. Natural work teams combines individual jobs into a unit which are logical and meaningful including geographic location, types of business, organizational, alphabetical or numerical, customer groups. If Texas Roadhouse implemented vertical loading into their structure and gave their employees the opportunity to decide their own breaks and more flexible schedules, it could aid in their desire to maintain their positions at the restaurant. Most of the employees are pretty satisfied with the way things are run at Texas Roadhouse, however, according to the data, one of the biggest issues the employees have with Texas Roadhouse is the lack of variety, out of twenty surveys; eleven scored less than a four on the scale. The employees also feel that they do not have the opportunity to see projects through to completion which affects their task identity characteristic. This can be fixed with a simple solution, which is to allow employees to complete a task before assigning them another. Goal Setting Model Goal setting is a very integral part of any job. Whether you are attempting to better yourself or complete a project, setting goals is one of the most helpful tools to assist you throughout the process. Goal setting can definitely help a business such as Texas Roadhouse in raising their standards for employees which will end up helping the bottom line. The goal setting model that we used for our survey seems to have a big impact on job performance. According to the model, if employees felt good about the goals they set, they were better at their jobs. Five essential pieces must come together in order for the managers to gain benefits of a goal setting program. The first piece is that the person must be knowledgeable about the topic of the specified goal and have the sufficient capacity to attain the goal. The second step is that the person must be committed to the goal, especially if the goal is difficult. The third step is that people need feedback on their goals. According to the text, employees will raise their performance because they are afraid they will have past performance. The forth step is that complex tasks must be broken up into simpler more short term goals so that the goals can be attained. It is stated in the text that employees are more responsive when they know about their progress. The fifth and final piece is to have a situation constraint. One of the most important aspects of a leader is to ensure that employees have the resources to attain their goals and to help eliminate any troubles that may lie in the way. Now to discuss some of the benefits that goal setting can have on performance. One of the consequences of goal setting is that it motivates individuals to achieve high performance. Some of the benefits stem from developing difficult goals. When it comes to Texas Roadhouse, such goal setting can be setting goals for a certain dollar amount each table waited on per person. The benefits can be such as encouraging people to develop action plans to reach a goal, focusing people’s attention on goal-relevant action, and encouraging people to develop action plans to reach these goals. Having such goal setting systems in place, you will have to be able to adequately reward your employees. Such reward systems could be like the high-performance work system which is used to describe a well-established method of motivation with new technology that links pay and performance. This isn’t very easy to do, especially when considering the many factors. Such factors could ask questions such as, do you reward individually or as a team. Analysis and Recommendation as per Goal Setting Model Going through a few of the steps that go into goal setting and based on the results provided from the study, we have developed some recommendations for the restaurant. The first recommendation is to put groups of waiters and hostesses into teams in order to create an atmosphere of meritocracy. When there are teams, it’s easier to have tasks done and team members will have the mentality of â€Å"if I scratch your back you scratch mine.† Going along with more of the recommendations through the analysis of the process of effective goal setting, a proper high performance work reward system must be put into place in order to motivate employees. Our recommendation for the work reward system is a system that rewards waitresses on the amount of money per person that they serve. So for example if a team earns on average $15 per customer and another team earns $20 per customer, we reward the team with the $20 per customer with a bonus on top of their normal tips. To further develop their goals, we can get input for the teams on how they would like to improve the model because it is stated that the more input the employees feel like they are giving, the more they would buy into the program. To improve on that, we would also make the goals a little bit more challenging. For example we could expect a higher dollar amount per customer over last month. For example a ten percent increase could be viable. The last of our recommendations is to give each employee a step by step plan on how to achieve their goals and to give them a monthly review. These recommendations would help Texas Roadhouse by improving their trust between one another, their individual and team goals by giving them more input which leads to more buy-in and lastly, it helps them raise their revenue by setting higher goals for each customer. Works Cited Bernardin, H. John, Joyce E. A. Russell. Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach. McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2013.

Relationship Marketing By Mcdonalds Marketing Essay

Relationship Marketing By Mcdonalds Marketing Essay Relationship Marketing: The concept of Traditional Marketing which was mainly based on customer satisfaction has now totally shifted to Relationship building with the customers, customer retention and managing the relationships (Gronroos C, 1989). The marketing mix of 5 Ps has changed into 30Rs (Gummeson, 1996) due to the globalisation, modern business trends and ever changing consumers demand. (Webster, 1992) Now the businesses are not only focused on developing a marketing mix in accordance with the consumers demand but they need to sell their products and services in such a way that consumer should satisfy and return for making the next purchase which means maintaining relations with your customers and managing it in such a way tending the customers to stay with the business for a longer period. According to Gronroos, 1990, Relationship Marketing is to establish, maintain, manage and enhance relationships with the customers and other parties, at the profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is actually achieved by a manual exchange and fulfilment of the promises. It is very important to build a relation with the customer in order to find out his needs, preferences and the attributes he values in the product, so that the marketer can easily formulate the strategies to fulfil those needs to satisfy the customers. Now both the parties are mutually helping each other in earning profit as customers are telling the marketers, what to sell and marketers are giving them what they need. Thus close relationship with the customer have become the vital part of todays businesses. (Aijo T. S., 1996). Along with this the company should keep in mind that if they had made certain promises with the customers should be fulfilled (Egelhoff, 1998), as these promises ma de by the company for products and services given attract and persuade customers towards that company in return they will help in companys progression by positive word of mouth and on the other hand if it is not so then it can result in disloyalty of the customers and even losing them (Colonius, 1988) and customers trust will help to maintain and enhance the relationship. (Moorman et al, 1993). Mc Donalds Company: Mc Donalds is the global fast food restaurant chain most recognised and respectable worlds leading food service retailers (www.mcdonalds.com, 2011) with more than 32000 restaurants serving 60 million people across 100 countries. (Bramhall, 2009) The company is growing with the fast pace with the promise of quality service every time and in every meal, which differentiate it from the rest of the other restaurant chains. To achieve its motive of par excellence Mc Donalds has always focused on the fact that the market and consumers demand are ever changing and has managed to adopt the marketing strategies to satisfy the customers and become the leader in the fast food industry. (www.essaysample.com, 2011) Mc Donalds follows QSCV strategy (Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value) at all its stores all over the world and the quality of products and services offered at all the stores is also the same. Out of the 32000 restaurants all over the world, 80% are franchised ( www.aboutmcdonalds.com, 2011) with a belief of working global but acting local. To maintain and manage close relationships with the customers, Mc Donalds has paid attention to the changing markets and customers wants and needs such as introduction of breakfast menus, adult food, kids zone, internet (wi-fi), Prà ªt a manger, training for the staff all over the world, adaptation of the choice of food demanded by the people in different parts of the world etc. (www.mcdonalds.com, 2011) Relationship Marketing by Mc Donalds: The customers for Mc Donalds are from the kids to the older persons, everyone can be heard saying I am lovin it. For all the customers visiting Mc Donalds, the environment seems to be the same with the consistent services as in any other part of the world (Egelhoff, 1998). Companys worldwide operations are held around a global strategy Plan to win and according to this the customers are offered with the exceptional and improved services to enhance their experiences with the Mc Donalds. (www.aboutmcdonalds.com , 2011) This is the main strategy of the Mc Donalds to retain and maintain its customers as every restaurant they are visiting they will find the best QSCV means the best quality, services, cleanliness and value for their money. For this mc Donalds is having a series of suppliers providing the same quality of the raw material needed for the products and trained staff to serve the customers in the best and the same way everywhere. Along with this the adaptation of the menu with t he new places such as Maharaja Mac instead of Big Mac in India due to preference for chicken and avoidance of beef, Samurai Pork Burger with teriyaki sauce in Thailand, Kiwi Burger in New Zealand etc (Sabana, 1996) and the adoption of new changes with the time and customers demand such as Golden Archs Hotel in Switzerland, Menu variations for people with diabetes, obesity and health consciousness, wi-fi, Mc kids, coupons, Mc Cafe etc (globaloneness.com, 2011, Butcher D., 1996). The acquisition of other brands such as Chiptole, Pret a Manger, Donatos etc has also added new customers to the company. (Light Kiddon, 2009) Kids: For kids it has set up kids zone, toys with the meal, Ronald (it is said that when children sees Ronald, they think of French fries and Burger), chicken Nuggets etc and can say fun food for the kids. (www.customessaymeister.com, 2011) Adults: For adults such as students and youngsters, it has set happy price menu as these people have limited pocket money and they value for the money they spend. They are served with burger, French fries, Mc puffs etc with coke. RM model for Mc Donalds: Its clear from the above description that Mc Donalds is using QSCV strategy and glocalisation strategy i.e. global product with the local flair to attract the new customers and retain them for a long by coping up their ever changing demands. We can say that the company is earning great success with its policy but the Loyalty Ladder model is used to assess the customers loyalty towards the company. Loyalty Ladder Model: The loyalty model is the heart of the CRM, the marketers want their customers to climb this ladder and become their loyal customers (Sanchez, 1997).The model shows that when a customer is known about a product or services he becomes the prospect and would like to try the product or services, then his next move is to buy the product and becomes the customer of the company. In such case if he likes the product would repeat the purchase and if not then he can turn to be a disloyal customer who will speak against the poor experience of the product or service delivered at every opportunity. But if they liked the product would like to repeat the purchase and become the regular client of the company, in such a case company should see to it that these clients are thoroughly satisfied as they will turn as a loyal customers in the near future. Mc Donalds is keenly acting locally with the global products so that the customers would tend to buy the product every time the new variations in the me nu or the combinations of the meals such as Happy Price Menu, Extra Value meals etc are introduced in the stores. The quality of the services and the product offered are of the superior quality with the local tastes and modifications which makes the customers of Mc Donalds, a loyal customer or a advocate who will always speak about the best experiences and the fun related to the new introductions with the time. Critical Evaluation of the Mc Donalds RM strategy: The QSCV strategy followed by the company and the global product with the local flair are the main strategies attracting the customer and the superior quality and consistency of the services are retaining them for long. Mc Donalds has gained success with its great asset customers who shared their fond experiences as a child or parents taking their family to the stores. The company is marketing, innovating and renovating the brand by huge publicity through television and other mass media sources. (Light Kiddon, 2009) But with the time the company has faced criticism such as decline of quality of food, health problems such as obesity, unavailability of same quality of raw material all over the world, toy with the meal was attracting the kids for the toy not food, health conscious customers were demanding organic food instead of the fatty stuffs. The company has successfully overcome such criticism through continuous innovations but there is need to do more for the customers as Mc Dona lds has close competitions with Burger King, KFC, Yumm etc and they are also offering the best services and global products like hamburger, chicken sandwiches and French fries etc so there is a possibility that the customers if not served well can switch to other brand very easily. The unsatisfied customers can turn to be the disloyal customers harassing the brand image of the company. Conclusion and recommendations: We can conclude from the above description that Mc Donalds is the leading brand in the fast food industry and has managed to win the hearts of the customers all over the world with its exceptional services and quality of the food offered. It has been successful in managing and maintaining good relations with the customers in spite of the criticism faced by the company over the time. But here are some recommendations for the company so that it can move on with the same pace and win the heart of the customers. Now as we know that the world has become a global market and the strategy once followed cant be successful at all the time, there is a need to introduce some changes over the time. Along with the QSCV strategy, timeliness criteria should also be introduced that the customers would be served in the particular period of time. The variations introduced according to the regions can be carried forward to the other regions also to provide an internationa l taste to customers all over the world e.g. Coconut milk served in Brazil by the Mc Donalds can also be introduced in India or Srilanka, countries where coconuts grow to give a Brazilian flavour to the meals etc. Regular innovations and communication with the public is very necessary for the company to be the top leader as it is facing tough competition in the fast food industry market with the Burger King, Yumm and KFC etc as they are also having their food specialised in a way or another so regular innovations with the meals are very necessary to keep the customers in touch regularly. References: Aijo, T.S., (1996), The Theoretical and Philosophical Underpinnings of Relationship Marketing, Environmental factors behind The Changing Marketing Paradigm, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 2. Bramhall J. (2009), Mc Donalds Corporation, available at: http://www.hoovers.com/company/McDonalds_Corporation/rfskci-1.html Butcher D. (2010), McDonalds goes with Near Field Communications for sales lift, Mobile Commerce Daily, available at: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2010/07/14/a-merchant%E2%80%99s-argument-for-mobile-contactless-technology-celent Calonius, H., (1988).A Buying Process Model, in Blois, K., and Parkinson, S. (Eds), Innovative Marketing A European Perspective, proceedings from the 17th Annual Conference of the European Marketing Academy, University of Bradford. 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It will show that how the strategy has been formulated and used in different countries with a view to acquire the knowledge of the local markets and deploy this knowledge for the integration and acquisition in the global markets. B2B Marketing: Unlike B2C where businesses are directly exposed to the end users, B2B marketing is held between the businesses and it is very necessary for the businesses to maintain and manage the relationships with their suppliers, distributors and the retailers who are helping the company to not only produce a product but also transfer them to the end users. Cemex Company Overview: The Company has been established in 1906 in Mexico and from a local company it has grown to a top leader in the field of producing, distributing and marketing cement, ready mix concrete, aggregates and building related materials nearly all over the world. The company has annually 97 million metric tonnes cement production capacity, 54 million cubic metres of ready mix concrete and 168 million metric tonnes of aggregates production capacity (Kotler, 2001; Cemex.com, 2011). To provide the best products to its customers it is using local markets knowledge, combining it with the international networks and thoroughly satisfying the customers by providing integrated offering which are more reliable, of higher quality and consistent. The company has applied IT and e business ideology to gain and integrate worldwide knowledge on products, operations and customers and this has helped it a lot to provide the customers what they needed and use this knowledge for the global operations. The compa nys business model is based on the following principles: Focus on its core business of cement, ready mix concrete and aggregates Effective allocation of the capital Improving the operating efficiency and productivity continuously. Providing the customers with the best value propositions and satisfies their needs to the optimum. (Kotler, 2001) Along with these principles the dual branding strategy and acquisitions and mergers with the different local brands are helping the company to grow its empire all over the world. B2B relationship of the company: For maintaining the strong relationships with the business customers, the company is following dual branding strategy which means different local brands are operating under parent or umbrella brand. This is done to expand the business operations to the other nations and improving the brand image. The dual branding of the Cemex includes: 1. Transnational brand: this brand operates in different countries uniquely in accordance with the local market; the offerings and the operations are customized to fulfil the local conditions. Along with the local brand the main corporate brand is also advertised to make it familiar to the business consumers or the end users. (Kotler, 2001)But as it is said that it is very critical for the individual brand to cope up with the corporate brand as it is the strong brand having positive perception in the consumers mind if the individual brand fails to serve the consumers as its corporate brand then can harm the image of the main brand also. For this reason, Cemex first all work to make the individual brand or the subsidiary company successful and in accordance with the vision and mission of the corporate brand and if it is so then renamed it with the Cemex brand. For example: Cemex Thailand was bought in 2001 but renamed in 2002 after proper reconstruction and reorganisation and Cemex Sp ain in 2002 after refurbishing and making it quite successful. (Kotler, 2001) 2. Corporate brand: The corporate brand covers all the products and services offered by the company representing the corporate vision, personality and value in all its offering. Under this umbrella brand, other sub brands and individual brands are established and operated.(Esch, Tomczak, Kernstock Lengner, 2004) The prestigious brand name has an equity associated with it serving as a intangible asset for the company to leverage it.(Roll M., 2005) The main corporate brand is Cemex under whose name the main products of the company are sold. The company Cemex is rapidly growing in the cement industry across the world. It is operating in the countries like Mexico, Spain, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Venezuela and many Asian nations. (www.cemex.com, 2010) Cement market has growth potential in these countries as they need regular infrastructure and reconstruction carried out by the governments or the local contractors. Here the brand Cemex is sold in the bags not the cement, as the brand na me is associated with the strength, durability, prestige and stability distinguishing Cemex from the other cement. Along with the brand the promise to provide the customers the best value has enhanced the customer loyalty towards the brand serving as an intangible asset in such volatile economies and providing competitive edge to the company. 3. The core values of the company serving the business customers as under: Collaborations: Cemex operates its B2B relations through strong collaborations with the distributors, suppliers and the stakeholders. It licenses the brand to its distributors such as Consturama in Latin America, other than this it also offers competitive prices, training, best industry practise and marketing support with a view to build a smart world with all its collaborators and become a successful and competitive company with a positive impact on the world. (www.cemex.com,2010; Kotler, 2001) http://www.cemex.com/su/Su_lp.aspx For the successful collaborations with the distributors the company has made 3 commitments: 3.1.1 Competitiveness: Cemex believes in running business by increasing its competitiveness through improved operational efficiency, innovative products with high standards as demanded and liked by the customers. Impact reduction: Cemex is basically a cement company dealing in concrete, aggregates and other building stuffs which are more likely to be dangerous if not handled safely. Company strives to minimize the risks of fatalities at work place, noise pollution, air pollution etc to put a positive impact on the world. Stakeholders outreach: company deals with number of stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, customers and neighbours and always tries to manage good relations with them through training programs, dialog sessions, meetings and online services etc. This helps in overcoming the challenges faced for building strong relationship with the stakeholders. (www.cemex.com, 2011) Integrity: for leveraging the brand equity and making it a prestigious brand, the company is also engaged in social activities such as Patrimonio Hoy (www.cemex.com,2010, Letelier, Flores, Spinosa, 2003) which provides housing solutions to the low income families, using alternative sources of fuels to reduce carbon emission and making the world green such as Eurus, a wind farm project, supplying 25% of the energy needed by the plant in Mexico etc. Such activities makes the brand more familiar to the general public and their desire for the brand tend the suppliers and contractors to associate with the company increasing firms efficiency and profitability. Leadership: By integrating IT knowledge with its global operations, Cemex has strengthened its position for the global leader in the cement industry and acquisition of RMC has smoothed its path for success. The continuous feedback from the customers helps in regular improvement of the services, simplified business transactions and access to real time account has helped the company to improve its relationship. ( Kotler,2001) Cemex Capital: To enhance and improve customer relationships the company has launched a financial assistance body known as Cemex Capital, it is a credit branch of the company providing financial support to the business customers and partners. The assistance can be in form of credit for buying the products, to finance the working capital and allotting loans for construction projects. Besides this the loans are offered at the rates lower than the markets. Critical evaluation of the B2B relationships strategy of Cemex: The world leader Cemex in the cement industry has adopted dual branding strategy for managing business relationship. The corporate brand is associated with the reliability, stability and strength and the national brands are according to the local markets need fulfilling their unique needs and emotionally attached with the customers. The corporate brand has its brand equity providing value addition to the product and enhances consumers perception for the brand. ( Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993; Bendixen et al, 2004). But at the same time, all the products under the umbrella brand are expected to be as good as the main product and deliver the promise made by the company, to provide the best quality to the consumers. The mergers acquisitions and collaborations with the stakeholders subsidiaries need deliberate efforts to amalgamate with the international brand, having its own corporate abilities, styles and reputation. (Lambkin, 2009)Before rebranding any local subsidiary, proper reconstru ction and reorganisation is done, the managers run a focus group activity and commercial team effort to establish the local brand with the corporate brand. If the company fails to properly communicate with the new stakeholders, employees and integrate the corporate culture (Balmer Dinnie, 1999; Krishnan et al., 2007) than can cause decline in service quality (Urban Pratt, 2000) and also lacks the competition in the outer world. (Reichheld Henske, 1991). So, it is necessary for the company to leverage its brand equity with proper amalgamation and rebranding policy to avoid any negative consequences in the business. Conclusion and recommendations: We can conclude that through strong corporate brand image Cemex has successfully become the worlds leader in the infrastructure industry, it is not only engaged in the supplies of the basic materials but also provide the other utilities under its brand name through a channel of the subsidiaries and individual brands operating under the umbrella brand Cemex all over the world. The strong corporate brand creation has resulted in cost efficiency and brand building advantage for the company. The individual brands allow the company to fulfil the local markets need and the corporate brand is providing an international platform to the operations of the company and maintains strong B2B links with the clients, distributors and the end users. The company is earning great success but still it is recommended that B2B branding strategy serves a better platform for managing and enhancing relationships but if done with care such as employee involvement, stakeholders knowledge and market study then it will be more successful. The company can also diversify its operation such as media, entertainment or technology for the purpose of risk reduction and using its corporate brand in these fields to get cost efficiency and more B2B relations.