Thursday, March 19, 2020

Mcdonalds Research Paper Example

Mcdonalds Research Paper Example Mcdonalds Paper Mcdonalds Paper Innovations at McDonald’s Indoor seating (1950s) Drive-through window (1970s) Adding breakfast to the menu (1980s) Adding play areas (late 1980s) Redesign of the kitchens (1990s) Self-service kiosk (2004) Now three separate dining sections Innovations at McDonald’s Indoor seating (1950s) Drive-through window (1970s) Adding breakfast to the menu (1980s) Adding play areas (late 1980s) Redesign of the kitchens (1990s) Self-service kiosk (2004) Now three separate dining sections Six out of the seven are layout decisions! McDonald’s New Layout Seventh major innovation Redesigning all 30,000 outlets around the world Three separate dining areas Linger zone with comfortable chairs and Wi-Fi connections Grab and go zone with tall counters Flexible zone for kids and families Facility layout is a source of competitive advantage Strategic Importance of Layout Decisions The objective of layout strategy is to develop a cost-effective layout that will meet a firm’s competitive needs Layout Design Considerations Higher utilization of space, equipment, and people Improved flow of information, materials, or people Improved employee morale and safer working conditions Improved customer/client interaction Flexibility We open Chapter 9 (Layout Strategies) with the story of   the 7 strategic changes at McDonald’s since 1950. All   but one have been major layout redesigns (eg. , indoor seating, drive thru, play areas, self-service kiosks, etc. ). Adding breakfast foods to the menu (in the 80? s) was the one product change–until now. The front page article in The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 27,2010) details two brand new strategies–the 1st  a product decision and the 2nd yet another layout change. Under pressure from market-share competitors of all types–from 7-Eleven  and Starbucks to smoothie outlets  and gas stations– the 14,000 US McDonald’s have broadened their fare. As of now, there are  Ã‚  fruit smoothies, oatmeal, carmel-mocha drinks, flatbread sandwiches, and â€Å"garden† snack wraps. This new product development strategy (Ch. 5) has created so many choices that the company has been running ads reminding us it still sells Big Macs. Using manufacturing technology, McDonald’s has made many new items from existing items’ ingredients. Chicken wraps use Chicken Selects’ meat and breakfast burrito tortillas. This simplifies preparation and lowers costs. But new layout costs have   blunted  franchisee enthusiasm. The food assembly line (see Figure 9. 12 in the text) had to be changed to make wraps. And an  even bigger modification was the addition of the $100,000 McCafe  drink stations– one of the most expensive changes in years. (The corporation picks up $30,000 of that cost). Stores had to be redesigned to make room for space next to the pick-up window to accommodate the 4 pieces of drink equipment. Some franchisees balked at the price tag and low drink sales volumes, claiming â€Å"we are not even paying for the electricity to run the machines†. Discussion questions: 1. Why did McDonald’s make these two strategic changes? 2. Ask your students to rank the importance of the   9 changes, referring to the Global Profile in Ch. 9. 3. How has the average McDonald’s   changed in the past decades? Are all of the layout strategies still in place? OM in the News: Product Enhancement and the McDonald’s Happy  MealJuly 27, 2011 tags: Ch. 5, Happy Meals, McDonalds, product enhancement y Barry Render Under pressure from 550 health organizations to stop marketing   â€Å"junk food†Ã‚   to children and to retire Ronald McDonald (the clown mascot), McDonald’s has chosen the path of product enhancement (Ch. 5) as a preemptive strike. The New York Times (July 27, 2011) reports today that the firm will start to fill its Happy Meal boxes with apple slices  and smaller portions of french fries this September. By next April, the new menu will be rolled out to all 14,000 restaurants. The food industry overall has come under increased scrutiny as childhood obesity levels have risen. San Francisco last year banned the inclusion of toys in kids’ meals unless there is a fruit and vegetable included. New York City has a similar rule in the works. Instead of developing all new kids’ products (or including vegetables), McDonald’s is responding with 1/2 the number of fries and a 20% lower calorie count. The new Happy Meal, containing 4 chicken nuggets and a small Coke, weighs in at 410 calories (vs. 520 in the older product), 17 grams of fat (vs. 23 g), and 58 grams of carbs (vs. 69 g). The firm decided against making apples a total replacement for fries when only 11% of customers showed an interest in that option. While some critics praised the changes  (Mrs. Obama called them â€Å"positive steps†), one NYU prof called the move a â€Å"sham†, in part because McDonald’s is not limiting sodas. In fact, sugar levels go up with the Coke and apple together. Discussion questions: 1. What are the operations challenges in changing the Happy Meal? 2. Do students believe legislation is an appropriate means to make menus healthier? 3. How are other restaurants responding  with children’s menu options. Mc DonaldsOne of the most important strategic decisions made by a company like McDonalds is where to locate their operations. Location options include maintaining current sites while adding another facility elsewhere. (Heizer, 2001)    Their facilities are located all over the world due to their franchising system. In the early 1990s, McDonalds began working with major oil companies to pioneer a new format for developing a restaurant, convenience store and fueling facilities on a single site. By co-developing sites, fueling facility operators and McDonalds could offer the busy consumer the ultimate in convenience ? one stop shopping for great food, branded fuel and convenience store items. According to Operations Management, McDonalds has revolutionized the restaurant industry by inventing the limited-menu fast-food restaurant. Some innovations it has made are the introductions of indoor seating and drive-through windows, which were strategic issues of facility layout. By adding breakfasts to the Is this Essay helpful? Join OPPapers to read more and access more than 460,000 just like it! get  better  grades menu, they incorporated a product strategy. Another layout decision was the addition of play areas. McDonalds continues to improve their operations by innovating a new layout to facilitate a mass customization process. Some of the restaurants now have the Made for You kitchen system, where sandwiches are assembled to order and production levels are controlled by computers. This new layout is intended to both improve the taste of food by ensuring that it is always freshly made, and to facilitate the introduction of new products. Total production process time was shortened and other adjustments were made to save even more time and to work in conjunction with the new layout. This new layout will be more efficient, and save more time and money. It achieves a higher utilization of space, equipment, and people. A process strategy that may apply to McDonalds is a repetitive process. They moved from process focus to repetitive focus. They are now trying to add more Facility Layouts Of Mcdonalds- India, Pizza Hut-India ; Dominos Pizza- IndiaINTRODUCTIONIn order to maximizing the effectiveness of production processes and meeting employee needs ; desires Facility layout and design plays a key role in businesss overall operations. It entails in determining the placement off departments, work group within the departments, workstations, machines stock holding points within a production facility. DEFINITION: â€Å"The physical arrangement of everything needed for the product or service, including machines, personnel, raw materials, and finished goods. The criteria for a good layout necessarily relate to people (personnel and customers), materials (raw, finished, and in process), machines, and their interactions. â€Å"- Howard J. Weiss and Mark E. GershonFACTORS IN DETERMINING LAYOUT DESIGN: There are many operational factors which need to consider while construction or renovation of a facility for maximum layout effectiveness. It includes:    * Ease of future expansion or change: Facilities should be designed so that they Is this Essay helpful? Join OPPapers to read more and access more than 460,000 just like it! get  better  grades can be easily expanded or adjusted to meet changing production needs. * Flow of movement: The facility design should reflect recognition of the importance of smooth process flow. The flow need not be a straight line. Parallel flows, U-shaped patterns, or even a zig-zag that ends up with the finished product back at the shipping and receiving bays can be functional. However, backtracking is to be avoided in whatever pattern is chosen. * Materials handling: It is essential to ensure the facility layout makes possible to handle materials (products, equipment, containers, etc. ). It should be in an orderly, efficient- and preferably simple- manner. * Output needs: The facility should be laid out in a way that is conducive to helping the business meet its production needs. * Space utilization: This aspect of facility design includes everything from making sure that traffic lanes are wide enough to making certain that inventory storage warehouses or rooms

Monday, March 2, 2020

The Top 9 ACT English Strategies You Must Use

The Top 9 ACT English Strategies You Must Use SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The ACT English section can be intimidating. You have to know grammar rules that may seem obscure to you, and the ACT folks even expect you to know how to properly use commas. Not only do you have to know your grammar, but also you have to to know how to analyze ACT English passages, and you have to know how to organize them. You're tested on a wide range of skills and you don’t have much time to answer each question. If you’re wondering how to possibly go about studying for ACT English and improving your score, then this is the post for you. In this article, I’ll give you my top 9 strategies to help you ace the ACT English section. These are meant to be study tips that will require time and diligence. The most important advice I can give you is to keep practicing. Focus your studying on areas that need improvement. However, that's advice that anyone can give. If you can successfully execute the following specific strategies, I guarantee your ACT English success: Know the Format Determine the Best Way for You to Approach the Passages Learn the Grammar Rules Use Official Practice Tests Categorize Missed Questions Carefully Review and Analyze Real ACT Questions Simulate Test Day Conditions Use Your Target Score to Focus Your Study Plan Think About the Differences Between Answer Choices #1: Familiarize Yourself With the Format If you know the format of the ACT English section well, you'll be more comfortable with the test and can reducetest day anxiety. You should know that you have 45 minutes for 75 questions. There are five passages. The questions test your knowledge of standard written English and rhetorical skills. Most ACT English questions refer to underlined portions of a sentence within a passage, and you have to determine how to correct the underlined portion. Here is an example: Additionally, you should know the content distribution of the questions to help prioritizeyour studying. This is the general breakdown of the distribution of questions that appear in ACT English: Usage/Mechanics Punctuation (10-15%)- Commas, Other Punctuation Grammar and Usage (15-20%)- Subject-Verb Agreement, Faulty Modifiers, Verb Tense and Forms, Pronoun Agreement, Pronoun Case, Adjective and Adverb Errors, Idioms Sentence Structure (20-25%)- Parallelism, Faulty Modifiers, Run-Ons and Fragments, Relative Pronouns, Verb Tense and Forms Rhetorical Skills Strategy (15-20%)- Add/Delete, Relevance, Author Main Goal, Author Technique Organization (10-15%)- Macro Logic, Transitional Logic Style (15-20%)- Word Choice and Diction, Pronoun Agreement, Wordiness and Redundancy, Formality I put a few of the grammar rules in two of the categories because those rules can be tested in multiple ways. For example, a question testing pronoun number agreement would be a grammar question and a question about an ambiguous pronoun would be a style question, but you can learn about both of those rules in the post on pronoun agreement. Also, because most of the writing style questions are related to grammar concepts, the majority of the ACT English section is based on specific rules that you can master before you take your ACT. The organization and strategy questions test your reading comprehension and ability to analyze parts of a passage or the passage as a whole. It's very important that, before you take the ACT, you're comfortable with the content, the types of questions, and completing the ACT English section in less than 45 minutes. Get comfortable with ACT English. #2: Figure Out the Best Way to Approach ACT English Passages There are multiple ways to approach ACT English passages and you should determine the best approach for you well before test day. These are the possible approaches you can use: paragraph by paragraph, answer as you go, sentence by sentence, or passage first. For a thorough explanation of how to choose and test your method, check out this article on how to approach ACT English passages. Make sure to use your preferred approach on practice tests to hone it and determine its effectiveness. Using the same approach maximizes your efficiency; therefore, you need to use the same approach consistently. If you're not achieving your desired results on practice tests and questions, you can consider changing your approach. However, once you decide on the best approach for you, stick with it. Drill it enough so you use it without even thinking about it. #3: Know What Grammar Rules the ACT Tests The ACT tests the same grammar rules over and over, so knowing these rules will be crucial to your success on ACT English. Since the concepts also tend to appear in the same ways, it's also helpful to make sure you understand how the ACT structures the questions. Some of the more commonly tested grammar topics are commas, wordiness and redundancy, and verb tenses and forms. Read the PrepScholar blogs on each grammar rule: Subject-Verb Agreement Commas Punctuation Pronoun Agreement Pronoun Case Idioms Word Choice and Diction Errors Run-On Sentences and Fragments Parallel Structure Faulty Modifiers Adjective and Adverb Errors Verb Tense and Forms Wordiness and Redundancy Relative Pronouns If you understand the ACT grammar rules and how to apply them, you'll do well on the ACT English section. #4: Focus on Using Real Practice Tests to Study The best practice questions are those that come from actual ACTs. Those are most representative of what you'll find when you take your real ACT. Unfortunately, many unofficial materials aren't true to the test. The practice questions from many prep books or websites don't cover the right concepts, they're presented in a different format, and they're either much easier or more difficult than the questions on the ACT English section. Make sure you're using the best sources for ACT English practice. If you're using bad materials, you're not using your study time effectively, and your efforts are less likely to produce your desired results. If you want additional content review or explanation, check out our articles on the best ACT prep books and websites. Also, the PrepScholar program is written by experts who have extensive teaching experience and scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT. The practice questions are based on real ACT questions. #5: Categorize and Review Missed Questions This strategy may sound weird or hard, but it's actually extremely important. When you do ACT English practice, keep track of all the questions you miss or are unsure about. Then, categorize thesequestions by the grammar rule that's being tested or by the specific type of rhetorical skills question. Why You Should Categorize Questions Categorizing all of the questions you missor guesscorrectly on will help you determine where you have skill deficiencies. Then, you can focus your studying on the areas on which you have weaknesses. The ACT English section tests the same types of questions repeatedly. If you know how to correctly answer each type of question, no question should confuse you when you take the test. How to Categorize Questions Ideally, you should be able to categorize questions on your own. However, if you need help determining the type of question, there are some sources you can use that provide real ACT example questions and thorough explanations to those questions. On the PrepScholar blog, we have written articles on every grammar rule and type of rhetorical skills question that appears on the ACT. Each PrepScholar article has example questions, explanations, and offers strategies for answering questions related to the topic. The ACT website has free English practice and explanations for the answers. Additionally, The Real ACT Prep Guide has 5 official ACTs with detailed explanations of all of the test questions. Learn from your mistakes! #6: Review Examples of Questions Related to Each Grammar Rule and Type of Rhetorical Skills Question This strategy will help you increase your familiarity with and comprehension of all of the different types of questions that appear on the ACT. Create a study guide of real ACT questions for each grammar rule and each type of rhetorical skills question. Compile questions fromthe PrepScholar blog, official ACT tests, and other quality source material in a notebook or computer document, and organize them according to question type (e.g. subject-verb agreement, relevance, etc.). For each question in this study guide, you should be able to understand and explain how to arrive at the correct answer.I recommend doing this in addition to keeping track of your missed questions, which you should also categorize and review. If you spend ample time reviewing these questions, you'll solidify your understanding of the concepts and be much more confident with the material on the ACT English section. #7: Take Timed Practice Tests Simulating Test Day Conditions Taking the ACT can be a mentally draining, pressure-filled experience. To alleviate your test day anxiety and build up your endurance, you should take 3 full length, timed practice tests prior to your real ACT. Use a timer and take only the ACT-allowed breaks. It's important to practice maintaining focus for such a long period of time. Also, taking practice tests will enable you to determine if you're having issues with time management. If you're running out of time on the ACT English section, monitor your time spent per question when you're doing practice questions. You should spend less than a minute on each question and easier questions should take less than 30 seconds. To complete the ACT English section in the allottedtime, you can spend no more than an average of 36 seconds per question. If you're finishing with more than 5 minutes left and getting more than a couple of questions wrong, slow down. You're rushing. Read questions more carefully and look at the answer choices more closely. With the time you have left over, review the questions you're unsure about. #8: Use Your Target Score to Focus and Inform Your Studying Knowing your ACT English target score can give you a better idea of how and what to study. Because your ACT score is an average of your section scores, your ACT English target score should roughly match your ACT composite target score. If you're particularly good at English or applying to a humanities program, your ACT English target score can be slightly higher. If you're better at math and science or applying to an engineering program, your ACT English target can be slightlylower than your ACT composite target score. Based on your ACT English target score, you can determine roughly how many questions you need to get right to reach your goal. Refer to this article for information on how the ACT is scored and a sample conversion table for the ACT English section. Typically, if you want to get a 36 on ACT English, you need to get every single question right. Therefore, you need to know how to correctly answer every type of grammar and rhetorical skills question. If your goal is a 25, you need to get about 58 questions right out of 75 (the exact number varies based on the scale for that edition of the test). To reach this target score, you should focus your studying on the most commonly tested rules. If you can master the basics and the most common types of questions, you should have no trouble reaching this goal. Make sure to review the article on the distribution of appearance of the grammar rules on the ACT. Use your target score to help you. #9: Consider How Answer Choices Are Different From Each Other For grammar questions, the answer choices can provide clues indicating the specific grammar rule that is being tested. When you're doing practice questions, consider how the answer choices vary from one another. If the only difference between choices is the presence and placement of commas, it's a comma question. If the answer choices only vary in that they're different tenses of the same verb, it's a verb tense question. Check out this real ACT example question: Just from looking at the answer choices, we can tell this is a verb tense question. In case you're wondering, the correct answer is J. The verb tenses in the first and second sentences should be consistent. Also, keep in mind that one question can test multiple grammar rules. For example, a verb question mighttest your knowledge of both verb tenses and subject-verb agreement. If you follow the 9 strategies I gave you in this post, you'll be able to ascend to the top of Mount ACT English. You'll be proud of your discipline, confident in your skills, and grateful that you read this article. What's Next? To supplement the information in this article, make sure to study the top tips for ACT English and the 5 critical concepts you must understand to ace ACT English. You'll also want to review the most common ACT English mistakes so you don't fall into the common ACT English traps. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial: