Is it possible to say why Anglo-Saxon kings and queens (and their courts) were willing to accept Christianity Essay Example

Is it possible to say why Anglo Is it possible to say why Anglo-Saxon kings and queens (and their courts) were willing to accept Christianity Paper Is it possible to say why Anglo-Saxon kings and queens (and their courts) were willing to accept Christianity Paper Essay Topic: History In 596, Englands network of small Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was universally pagan. A century later it was officially Christian. The conversion to Christianity, fronted by St. Augustines late sixth-century mission, was completely bloodless and apparently voluntary, in stark contrast with the forced conversion of the continental Saxons by Charlemagne. However, exactly how this conversion came about is, to a certain extent, shrouded in mystery. Our main source, Bedes Ecclesiastical History, was written over a hundred years after the events he is describing and is undermined as reliable historical evidence by its didactic and propagandist nature. Unfortunately, the missionaries that came to England did not write testimonies. However, we are able to look at the advice given to later continental missionaries such as Boniface. Through a combination of Bedes writings, the continental experience, archaeological evidence and intelligent guesswork, it may be possible to build up some sort of a picture of why the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy were willing to accept Christianity. With any voluntary conversion, we would expect the main reason behind it to be the success of missionary persuasion. Yet equally important is the willingness of the person who is being persuaded to be converted. As we shall see, openness to new ideas can be perceived either as a prerequisite for successful conversion or as a result of intelligent persuasion techniques. It is necessary, therefore, to look both at what was said or implied by the missionaries and at why the Anglo-Saxon kings accepted their arguments. It is important to remember that the impetus behind St. Augustines mission which resulted in the first conversion (that of King Aethelbert of Kent) came from Rome. The kings of England did not ask to be converted; rather it was decided by Pope Gregory that they should be. Thus before we consider the possible attractions of Christianity, we must examine the Churchs motives behind the conversion. Bede and other Christian writers would have us believe that they were entirely spiritual. This is not far from the truth: Christianity is a proselytising faith, the followers of which believe their religion to be eminently superior to all others. However, Christianity in the early Middle Ages was also associated with the resurgence of Rome as an imperial power, albeit in barbarian hands. It was in Gregorys interest to extend his Christian empire by renewing control of a former Roman province such as England. Having the support of powerful Christian kings was important both to the spread of Christianity (mass baptism would have been impossible without the backing of a king) and to the security and prosperity of the new Christian empire. 1 Missionaries too had material as well as spiritual incentives behind their work. Augustine and others were given privileged, official status and the protection that came from operating under the aegis of a powerful patron (Gameson). The determination of the pope and individual missionaries to win the support of the Anglo-Saxon kings influenced how they put their message across. Both Gregory and his missionaries understood that their presentation of Christianity was crucial to its acceptance. The spiritual benefits from conversion would have to be explained alongside a subtle demonstration of the material benefits associated with conversion. To put it bluntly, distilling the true message of the gospels was not the sole task of the missionaries. Christianity had to be presented to the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy in a way specifically designed to appeal to them in order for them to accept it. What was important was that the Anglo-Saxon kings became nominally Christian and believed themselves to be Christian, not whether they were true Christians. Hence the conversion process was to be gradual and its methods flexible. The spiritual arguments for conversion were based on the idea of rationality. Bishop Daniel of Winchester (d. 745) writing to the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface (d. 754) listed various arguments the latter might use to convert pagan Germans. 2 Many were rational, in particular the logical fallacy of worshipping as gods beings who were born as humans. It is probable that missionaries wishing to convert the Anglo Saxons in the previous century will have used similar tactics. Bede tells us that Sigbert, King of Essex, was persuaded by Oswy of Northumbria that manmade idols could not possibly be gods as God was invisible and omnipresent. As Richter points out, this story is unreliable, but demonstrates the methods of persuasion that were used. An account by the Whitby Anonymous describes how Paulinus preaching to Edwin of Northumbria and his court used the shooting of a bird to demonstrate that idols were useless and could be destroyed without danger. This type of image-based persuasion would have been essential if we bear in mind that missionaries probably did n ot speak the same language as the people they were trying to convert; clearly, it could be just as powerful as oral persuasion. As well as highlighting what was claimed to be the illogical nature of paganism, the missionaries may have emphasised the potential spiritual fulfilment that could be gained from converting to Christianity. Bede describes how one of Edwins followers compared earthly existence with the flight of a sparrow through a lighted hall and suggested that if Christianity could dispel some of the darkness before and after, it was worthy to be considered. This is one situation where intelligent persuasion techniques come first; that is to say, in creating a need for adopting a new faith where there was not one before by causing people to doubt that the old faith successfully answered the most fundamental questions on existence. In addition to these theological arguments, Bede attributes the acceptance of Christianity to the fact that the Anglo-Saxons (in this case, Aethelbert) were impressed by both the pure lifestyle of the missionaries and the miracles that they performed. The second reason, explains Gameson, is a great deal more plausible. He makes the point that the emissaries came from a more sophisticated and materially advanced culture and therefore may have been able to do things that seemed extraordinary by Anglo-Saxon standards. It is not difficult to imagine the Anglo-Saxons being impressed by the prestige and superior material culture of the missionaries- something that the missionaries themselves were well aware of. St. Augustine arrived bearing a silver plate and an icon of Christ on a wooden board. Queen Etheburga (wife of Edwin) was sent a silver mirror and a comb ornamented with gold. Daniel of Winchester, perhaps drawing on the experience of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons advised Boniface to get his audience to reflect on the circumstance that while the Christians possess fertile lands, and provinces fruitful in wine and oil and abounding in other riches, they have left to them, the pagans that is, with their gods, lands always frozen with cold. 4 David adds that Boniface must bring before [the pagans] the might of the Christian world. Similar techniques are likely to have been used to convert the Anglo-Saxons, who, bordering Gaul would have been well aware of this might and probably were slightly envious of it. B. Yorke describes how Frankish culture was very fashionable in Kent in the late sixth and early seventh centuries, the kingdom being the first area to adopt the status symbols of the Frankish royal court such as gold and garnet jewellery or the crystal balls which women worse suspended from the waist. Interestingly, she goes on to explain that other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms soon followed suit, citing the a rich female burial of the late sixth century from Chessell Down cemetery in the Isle of Wight, which includes a crystal ball and a brooch worn on the shoulder that had been imported from Gaul. Campbell mentions how pottery of a Frankish origin has even been found round the northern shores of the Irish sea. Anglo-Saxon kings must have been impressed by the wide influence of their Merovingian counterparts and may have associated the Frankish conversion Christianity (which brought with it links with Rome) with their domestic and foreign power. The missionaries, too, may have realised that they could play on the Anglo-Saxon kings pride, lust for fame and desire to augment their own power. Pope Gregory compared King Aethelbert to Constantine in advising him to convert for He whose honour you seek and maintain among the nations will also make your glorious name still more glorious even to posterity. Christianity, we must remember, was not simply a religion: it was an entire package. With it came culture, stone buildings, and, perhaps most significantly, Latin and literacy. Writing was associated with administration, in particular, codes of law. In these law codes, the king was deliberately connected with God. For example, Ine in his code of 688 styles himself by the grace of God king of the West Saxons. In Rome, the pope was becoming more imperial; perhaps the Anglo-Saxon kings hoped to follow in that mould. Higham goes so far as to assert that religious conversion was a deliberate and calculated tool designed to augment royal tradition. Certainly, conversion to Christianity led to an increase in power (and wealth in the form of tax and monasteries- something that Bede is reluctant to mention) of the Bretwalda. Claims of divine right to rule, however, were nothing new. Before the arrival of Augustine, kings were already using Woden and other gods to underpin their authority, for instance, in alleging that they were descended from them (Yorke). Furthermore, there may have already been substantial royal involvement in ritual before conversion, something which Bede chooses to ignore, presenting paganism as something controlled almost entirely by priests. However, as Yorke points out, the lack of archaeological evidence for temples and the fact that in pagan Sweden in the ninth century kings performed rituals in halls, indicate that Bede may have been mistaken. We have to admit that we know very little about Anglo-Saxon paganism. We also know next to nothing about whether there was any survival of Romano-British Christianity. A familiarity with Christianity from the survival of Romano-British Christianity could explain why the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was so quick to accept conversion. There is some evidence for continuity. For example, near Aylesford there is a settlement called Eccles (via British, from the Latin ecclesia) which indicates that a pocket of Christians survived there long enough for the name to have been adopted into German speech. Also, Aethelbert put at his new (Frankish Christian) wife, Berthas disposal a church built in Roman times near Canterbury. This suggests that there were people in Kent who could identify a Christian church in the late sixth century. Possibly it even indicates the presence of a Christian community at Canterbury. Bertha is the first Frankish-Anglo-Saxon queen we know of (there may have been other before her) and highlights the importance of marriage in conversion. Berthas family insisted that Aethelbert let her practise her religion and bring with her a bishop, Liudhard. Edwin of Northumbria had been allowed to marry his wife, Ethelberga on the condition that he converted to Christianity (Paulinus, would-be missionary, arrived in her entourage). Having a Christian wife would have encouraged a king to be well-disposed towards Christianity. Once converted, the hierarchical nature of Anglo-Saxon kingship (the concept of over-kings and subject-kings) meant that kings could also convert each other. For example, Aethelbert persuaded Sigbert of Essex to convert. Bearing in mind how the spread of Christianity in Kent corresponded with an increase in Aethelberts power (not to mention the floundering of Christianity on his death) we could say that the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England was advanced by kings wishing to assert hegemony over their neighbours. The importance of feud to the Anglo-Saxons is also crucial in this respect. This king-on-king conversion was made possible by the fact that there was a lot of movement and communication between kingdoms. P. Wormald describes how the situation in Beowulf (where there are always messengers and guests moving between courts) probably reflects the situation in real life. Beowulf is also significant in that it shows a continuation of some pagan beliefs and practices (such as cremation and, more broadly, a heroic tradition) alongside Christian beliefs. The Christianity that the missionaries introduced was of a deliberately flexible nature, which enabled the values and structure of Anglo-Saxon society to stay the same. Anglo-Saxon aristocrats continued to trace their lineage back to the pagan gods, while Raedwald apparently worshipped Christian and pagan gods in the same temple. An important example of assimilation is the alleged transformation of a pagan festival into Easter. Since assimilation is not inherent in Christianity in itself, the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kings owes a great deal to how the religion was presented by the missionaries. Above all, the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy converted not simply for spiritual reasons, as Bede (whose task, we must not forget was to compile a catalogue of good examples for Christians of his own day) would want us to believe, but out of a desire to keep up with the rest of Europe, and especially Gaul, a country they had become close to in many respects. In explaining why non-spiritual reasons for conversion was so significant, the experiences of converting the continental pagans (in particular the advice given to Boniface) prove invaluable.

Types of Abortion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Types of Abortion - Research Paper Example Miscarriages happen when the person has some health issue or gets into a situation that may shock her body physically (Walter, 2011). There is also the type of abortion induced at will. This is the most common form with the term abortion. With these types of abortion, there are the safe ones carried out in medical institutions and there are the unsafe ones carried out that often bring in various complications and in the worst cases death. There are very many legal and ethical issues involved with the issue of abortion and it is important to review all of them to familiarize. Types and Issues in Abortion Many of the abortions over the years have been due to unwanted pregnancies. Many of the people that get pregnant unwillingly are overcome by guilt to a point where they cannot handle bearing a child. There is also the factor that they may not be old enough to handle the responsibility of having a child. This mostly happens in underage teenagers who do not observe ethics upheld by soci ety and engage in unprotected sex. However, for the abortions carried out clinically, various issues lead to their effectiveness (Stotland, 2010). One of the major reasons as to why a doctor may advice for the carrying out of an abortion is a condition at which the mother is at a risk of health if she continues bearing the fetus in the womb. As stated, there is also the spontaneous type of abortion. This is where the mother loses the pregnancy due to physical and health issues unwillingly. When the embryo bursts earlier than expected, a miscarriage may occur or a premature birth. It all depends with the health condition of the embryo around that time. When a miscarriage happens, it has many implications on the mother. This is because the mother had expected the child to be born in a healthy matter only to lose it (Stotland, 2008). One of the ways through which the mother may be affected by this form of abortion is emotionally. In this state, the mother may get stress because of over -thinking the issue and to an extended state may get depressed. This may also affect the mother physically. This is because the mother may suffer several wounds from the manner in which the blood from the miscarriage flowed from her body. These wound may be external which are easily treated. However, the situation may be as bad as to the injuries being internal and thus the patient may require surgery. One of the issues to observe when dealing with the issue of abortion is the safety observed when carrying out of the procedure. There is both the safe and unsafe ways of carrying out abortion. For the save ones, licensed practitioners carry out the procedure. However, for unsafe abortions, the process often tends to carried out by unskilled practitioners or even fraud doctors. Unsafe abortions cater for one of the highest number of deaths in women around the world. The World Health Organization has been a very effective ambassador for the end of ill-advised abortions all over the worl d (Potts, 2010). This is witnessed from the efforts that it has made in advertisements at hospitals and other social places that show the dangers of abortion. Developing countries are worst hit by the issue as research shows that 97% of the abortions happen in these countries. Different Sides on Abortion Abortion being one of the greatest and pressing issues in society has lead to a great number of debates unto whether or not it is necessary. The different sides of the matter are viewed from a social, legal and medical manner. The first groups of people are the people that lie on the acceptance side. These are the people that do not view abortion as a poor process. The number of people with this

Moral Skepticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Moral Skepticism - Essay Example Illness of the mind causes brain dysfunction (Graham). Graham’s view of antirealism is that the term mental and disorder are separate and must always be viewed in dualism. Mental cannot be viewed in a disorderly form since they are always arranged in a particular way. Thus, it is a state of mind function that can be used to describe how a person behaves. Moral anti-realism is the denial of the fact that mental disorders bring almost the moral change of a person. A fact that has been forwarded is that mental illness is a dualistic activity that the physicians call metaphysical scepticism. They also argue that mental illness is indefensible and thus cannot be argued against it. Therefore, an ill person will have to behave in such a way that he does not respect other people in the society (Graham). The argument is that the person’s brains are not medically fit and cannot be questioned. The state of questioning lacks because it is the brain that controls the behaviour. Given that the person mind are alright, it is the sickness of the brain that will transform a person to behave the way he or she does. Thomas Szasz argues that determining and terming a person as mentally disordered is disrespectful. Indeed. He argues that the idea demoralises their dignity as human. The reason of his argument is that the mental illness can be likened to physical illness thereby exposing the sick to various contestable experiments in terms of the values of the person. The social-political character that the person get exposed to be unfairly judged since mental disorder or sickness cannot be compared with the physical destruction of the body. The mentally ill people are thus considered as a lesser human being who do not attract respect from the society. Therefore, it is the moral procedural that they lack, but not sickness as the no medicine can be administered to restore the order of the brain. The idea is

The Services Offered By Barclays Internet Banking Information Technology Essay

The Services Offered By Barclays Internet Banking Information Technology Essay In this report I seek to look at one of the big worldwide financial provider called Barclays and concentrate very much on its internet banking. Barclays has got 300 years of experience in banking (baclays.com 2010). Barclays bank offers internet banking and serves a large number of customers in the world. The report will also give an outline of the services offered by Barclays internet banking and a deep explanation will be given on how this internet banking is beneficial to the society. There are several services offered by Barclays internet banking. The internet banking services offered by Barclays are not different from the services offered by other banks which are involved in internet banking. Some of the transactions which can be done through internet banking are as follows (lawyerment.com); Furthermore, Barclays online banking allows the user to open his bank account, do savings and investments, pay loans and mortgages, pay insurance as well as to contact international banking. Barclays internet banking also allows students to have their students account, approve their loans, share trading and many more services. Extend to which internet banking is beneficial to society In order to give a judgment on the extent to which internet banking is beneficial to society, two things are to be considered. These are advantages and disadvantages of internet banking to society. The services offered by Barclay internet banking are advantageous to society and detrimental in another way. So in order for me to give a judgment on the extent to which this internet banking is beneficial to society , I will also use the advantages of internet banking as given at (Barclays.co.uk) as well as the general advantages and disadvantages of internet banking. ADVANTAGES OF INTERNET BANKING Convenient and easy Barclays bank provides free online banking and the services are given any time needed. With internet banking, the users can pay their bills, transfer their money, and check their balances while they are home. Whenever something urgent arises for example in paying the bills, users will not need to go to the bank but they can do their transactions right from their homes whenever they have access to internet. For some other people who go to work away from their bank branches, it becomes easy for them to access their accounts everywhere they are. It is also possible to use your mobile phone to access your bank information. Time efficient When opening an account, a lot of time is taken in doing the paper work. But using internet banking, the necessary procedures are clearly provided for users. In the case of Barclays, the necessary information for users is provided on the necessary websites. This makes it easy for business people because they dont waste most of their time standing on queue or finding where the bank is. Barclays provide information on how to get an online account. Safety Barclays provides safety for users of its internet banking services though many ways. These include making their regular checkup of their systems to make sure there are no problems, provision of security measures like automatic logoff, systems which can sense and protect the account from attack by internet hackers. The bank maximizes its risk management to make sure that every protective measure is done to ensure safety of the accounts. Furthermore enough information is given to people regarding how they should keep their login information- for example they should not send their login information to some people via some unnecessary and unprotected mails. Barclays takes its full responsibility in protecting the privacy of the users information. These include some warnings if the user does use the service unnecessarily. International banking With the globalization that is taking place in a fast growing world like this, people need everything to be fast. People now are contacting their business beyond their borders without any limitation. Internet banking allows users to access their banks accounts and do whatever transactions they want even though they are outside the country where their banks are. It is now easy to contact business from outside your country. In general, not all business has their braches all over the world but with internet banking it becomes possible to do everything from wherever you are. Accessibility With the fast growing world and technology, internet has become accessible to large parts of the world. Internet services are offered 24 hours every day in many parts of the world. Provided the availability of internet access, all users can log into their respective accounts. Value Internet banking is beneficial to people in the sense that the running costs are less. When using other banking ways, will need to pay a certain amount of money to go to a bank to transfer money, or to go where there is an Automated Machine to make a transfer. But using online banking all these can be performed while lying on your bed. DISADVANTAGES OF INTERNET BANKING Forgery Many cases are reported about the forgery that takes place in online banking. With the advancing technology many people have devised some websites they can use to access other peoples user names and passwords. As a result if the banks do not have strong safety measures against this many people would lose their money as a result of hackers. However as I said reputable banks like Barclays have also devised safety measures against hackers. These include automatic log off, sites which detect hackers, protection of users privacy, teaching users how to protect their computers from hackers and so on. Less trust People in general do not put much trust in machine than they put on people. So the reason why there are only few people doing online banking, its because less trust is given to the way these machines operate. So many people will not want to take risks by doing online banking. CONCLUSION I have used Barclay bank as one of the major financial provider using internet banking. With the information that I obtained from the Barclays websites as well as other reputable websites in an effort to find out to what extend internet banking is beneficial to society. I have included several services offered by internet banking which included paying of bills, making of transfers and so on. Then in answering to what extend online banking is beneficial, I searched the advantages and disadvantages as shown above, some advantages included how easy it is to do all your transactions anytime , anywhere as covered in convenience . For disadvantages I also included the risk of forgery that can be done by other people to obtain other peoples login details and use them to steal their money. However after weighing the advantages and disadvantages I discovered that there are more benefits than disadvantages of internet banking to society. In conclusion, internet banking is beneficial to the society to a greater extend.

The Bargaining Power of Supplier of Mcdonalds

Supply Chain Management ADM 4620 Group Project- McDonald's Lecture Name: DR. ERNESTO DIMACULANGAN Student's Name: Li Yi Yang (1006D3UBA002) Zhang Heng (0901D3UBS008) Li Bo (0706D1UBS003) Li Jie (1006D4UBA002) Due Date: 06th, September, 2010 Table of Context Introduction 3 McDonald's Background 4 McDonald's Strategy 5 McDonald's Business Process 6 Customer service management 6 Procurement process 6 Product development and commercialization 7 Manufacturing flow management process 7 Physical distribution 8 Outsourcing/ partnerships 8 Performance measurement 8 Supply Chain 9 McDonald's Supply Chain 9 McDonald's Supply Chain in Indian 12McDonald's Supply Chain Challenges and its Potential impacts 14 Even stronger focus on freshness and quality 14 On-going product innovations 15 Strong customer demand fluctuations based on promotions 16 Order- and inventory management restaurant – DC – supplier – raw material supplier 18 Bull Whip effect 19 Change Management in a de- c entralized structure 20 Methods for Solve Problems 20 Build the quality supervised system 20 Build the detailed R&D process 22 Improve the level of marketing promotion and forecast 23 Build the direct supply system 25 Build the decentralized structure 26 Recommendation 27 Conclusion 28 References 29Introduction In this report, our team chooses to delve into the success of the global company- McDonald's. McDonald's is one of the most well known brands in the world. The objective of this report is to understand how supply chain management applied into real business in McDonald's. We will through the problems mainly analysis supply chain in McDonald's and its significance in real life and also will explain the successful reason of McDonald's how to use supply chain in their business. McDonalds are a multinational firm and their subsidiary company throughout all over the world, so McDonald's should have a perfect supply chain.McDonald's Background McDonald's is one of only a handful of brands that command instant recognition in virtually every country in the world. McDonald's is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 47 million customers visiting it per day through more than 31,000 restaurants in 119 countries worldwide. McDonald's sells various fast food items and soft drinks including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, salads, fries, breakfast items and ice cream desserts. Many McDonald's restaurants have included a playground for children and advertising geared toward to children.Company has expansion of McDonald's into many international markets; the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. It also expanded the McDonald's menu in recent decades to include alternative meal options like salads and snack wraps in order to capitalize on growing consumer interest in health and wellness. Each McDonald's restaurants is operated by a franchisee, an affiliate or the corporation it self. The corporation's revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company- operated restaurants.McDonald's Strategy McDonald's marketing strategy is concerned with the internal resources, external environment and its basic competencies along with its share holders. McDonald's strategy to develop its global workforce is designed to be aligned with and support the execution of its over- arching strategic business goal, which is ;amp;quot;to become everyone's favorite place and way to eat". McDonald's current strategy is to further promote the image of healthy food that can be found at ;amp;quot;New or Re- modeled McDonald's. amp;amp;quot; McDonald's new strategy of presenting its restaurants as the convenient place where healthy food can be found is in line with its recent attempts to create a healthier image for itself. The corporation is planning other menu changes, such as switching to a cinnamon roll and a sausage burrito as its core breakfast offering, while bagels would become an alternative item. Some chain that individuals ;amp;quot;confront a future of accelerating McDonaldization. ;amp;quot; These changes are part of its strategy to offer a range of choices that support a balanced lifestyle, thus to attract new clients and retain old ones.McDonald's Business Process Supply chain business process integration involves collaborative work between buyers and suppliers, joint product development, common systems and shared information. According to Lambert and Cooper operating an integrated supply chain requires continuous information flows, which in turn assist to achieve the best product flows. However, in many companies, management has reached the conclusion that optimizing the product flows cannot be accomplished without implementing a process approach to the business.The key critical supply business processes in McDonald's will comb following processes: Customer service management Customer relat ionship management concerns the relationship between the organization and its customers. Customer service provides the source of customer information. It also provides the customer with real- time information on promising dates and product availability through interfaces with the McDonald's company's production and distribution operations. Procurement process Strategic plans are developed with suppliers to support the manufacturing low management process and development of new products. In firms where operations extend globally, like McDonald's it sourcing should be managed on a global basis. Activities related to obtaining products and materials from outside suppliers requires performing resource planning, supply sourcing, negotiation, order placement, inbound transportation, storage, handling and quality assurance, many of which include the responsibility to coordinate with suppliers in scheduling, supply continuity, hedging, and research into new sources or programmes.Product dev elopment and commercialization Here, customers and suppliers must be united into the product development process, thus to reduce time to market. The appropriate products must be developed and successfully launched in ever shorter time- schedules to remain competitive. Manufacturing flow management process The manufacturing process is produced and supplies products to the distribution channels based on past forecasts. Manufacturing processes must be flexible to respond to market changes, and must accommodate mass customization.Orders are processes operating on a just- in- time (JIT) basis in minimum lot sizes. It also changes in the manufacturing flow process lead to shorter cycle times, meaning improved responsiveness and efficiency of demand to customers. Physical distribution This concerns movements of a finished products or service to customers. In physical distribution, the customer is the final destination of a marketing channel, and the availability of the product or service i s a vital part of each channel participant's marketing effort.It is also through the physical distribution process that the time and space of customer service become an integral part of marketing, thus it will link a marketing channel with its customers. For example, links manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Outsourcing/ partnerships This is not just outsourcing the procurement of materials and components, but it also outsourcing of services that traditionally have been provided in- house. Manage and control partners and suppliers require a blend of both central and local involvement. Hence, strategic decisions need to be taken entrally with the monitoring and control of supplier performance and day- to- day liaison with logistics partners being best managed at local level. Performance measurement Experts found a strong relationship from the largest arcs of supplier and customer integration to market share and profitability. By taking advantage of supplier capabilities and emp hasizing a long- term supply chain perspective in customer relationships can be both correlated with firm performance. Supply Chain Supply chain is one of the critical factors for the smooth functioning of any business.Supply chains most- often show where different product components are sourced. There are two key components to the fast food industry supply chain. On the one hand, raw materials are essential to the ultimate product. More importantly, though, the value- added component of the supply chain comes primarily from the services provided by quick, convenient, and quality establishments. The value- added from the supplier to producer right through to the retailer and the final customer. The most important aspect of the industry supply chain is that it is driven by the consumer.The consumer has what seems to be an endless amount of fast food chains to choose from every day. The best example is Burger King and McDonald's they all have excellent marketing departments and that i s why they are all on the rise in today's market. The main goal of their marketing is to make the consumer drive that extra two blocks past the competitor to eat at their chain. McDonald's Supply Chain McDonald's was aware that supply chain management was undoubtedly the most important factor for funning its restaurants successfully.McDonald's supply chain is extensive and complex. It's very efficient, which is why McDonald's are able to consistently offer their customers safe and quality food at an affordable price. But there's more to the equation. McDonald's supply chain contributes positively to the safety, quality, and availability of their final products. They also want their product ingredients to be produced in ways that can contribute positively to the development of sustainable agricultural and food manufacturing practices. McDonald's have a large umber of direct suppliers- companies that make or deliver final products for their restaurants- even McDonald's have larger num ber of indirect suppliers- companies and farms that grow or process the ingredients that are eventually delivered to their direct suppliers. (Figure1. 1) Figure1. 1 Supplier performance index Import Breath of supply process control equipment No direct control over issues, positive influence by raising questions, bring people to the table and encouraging improvement the McDonald's supply chain.A supply chain driven by point- of- sale date needs a consensus forecast for all stakeholders in the chain- including suppliers, distribution centers and restaurants. Indirect suppliers are primary processing; direct suppliers belong to distribution centers. The distribution centers are the second stage (second echelon, thus making more than one echelon, hence the name, multi- echelon) where safety stock is held. Distribution centers have optimized inventories, and increased product availability and freshness. For example, Quaker, Kraft, Keebler, Carnation, Keystone Foods, J. R.Simplot Co, Coca Cola and Tyson Foods all these suppliers will ship to a distribution centers. These distribution centers include everything from food products to cleaning supplies to replacement parts. Individual stores only make one phone call to re- stock the entire store. When all these suppliers ship to distribution centers and the final step is ship these items to McDonald's restaurants. (Figure 1. 2) Figure 1. 2 McDonald's so successful and their supply chain so efficient is that they then take that technology and share it with the rest of their suppliers so that they can all grow together and create better products.McDonald's Supply Chain in Indian McDonald' initiative to set up an efficient supply chain and deploy state-of-art technology changed the entire Indian fast food industry and raised the standards of performance to international levels such McDonald's has worked in the supply chain, their first to open the joint first in McDonalds, brand overseas, which are trying to make, inroads in India's development partners in a manner that will be with companies from the beginning of the success of McDonald's India successfully by providing all he necessary products from domestic to ensure this McDonald's develop local business that can provide the product quality now. McDonald's has a dedicated supply chain in India and the success of McDonalds India was achieved by sourcing all its required products from within the country. McDonald's success in India had been built on four pillars: limited menu, fresh food, fast service and affordable price. Intense competition and demands for a wider menu, drive- through and sit- down meals- encouraged the fast food giant to customize product variety without hampering the efficacy of its supply chain.Today, McDonald's India works with 38 different suppliers based on a long term and several multiple other stand alone restaurants for the needs of many McDonald's distribution centers in India comes in the following order Noida and Kal amboli (Mumbai) in 1996, Bangalore in 2004 and the last one in Kolkata (2007) McDonald's entering the first distribution cooperation agreement in food- related service business. Between 1992 and 1996, when McDonald's opened its first outlet in India, it worked frenetically to put the perfect supply chain in place.McDonald's spent a few years setting up a unique Cold Chain and it was one of the unique concepts of McDonald's supply chain in India, on which it has spent over six years to get systems into place. It trained the local farmers to produce lettuces or potatoes to specifications and worked with a vendor to get the perfect cold chain in place. This system brought about a veritable revolution, immensely benefiting the farmers at one end and enabling customers at retail counters get the highest quality food products, absolutely fresh and at great value.The adoption of clod chain in India could increase the integrity of processed food value chains and reverse post harvest deterio ration, which currently sees 40% raw material wastage on an annual basis. McDonald's expands in India, gives the provider the opportunity to expand its business, access to the latest food technology, exposure to advanced agricultural practices and have the ability to grow or export. The Cold Chain is necessary to maintain the integrity of food products and retain their freshness and nutritional value.McDonald's Supply Chain Challenges and its Potential impacts Even stronger focus on freshness and quality To make sure the materials' fresh and quality is the biggest challenge for fast food industry. Especially for McDonald's this famous brand that customers will have higher expectation than others. If you get any mistakes on the freshness and quality that will make customers sensitive to take the doubts and do not want to purchase. It will lead our sales and stocks get one big shock. Hence, we are facing the stress that to ensure our products keep freshness and good quality in sustain able.As the potato contingency above suggests in France, the supply chain is one of the most difficult areas to monitor. McDonald's exerts 80-90 percent of its impact on the world from a social responsibility standpoint through its supply chain that they innovative the sustainable supply chain model and use it in the business. When McDonald's purchases beef, for example, it doesn't buy it from a cattle rancher. Typically it is purchased from a supplier—one who takes in raw beef and forms it into beef patties.However, some of suppliers for minimize the costs that try to use the frozen storage of beef to do the beef patties. McDonald's always want try to solve this problem, but it isn't so easy. The company doesn't have any direct business dealings with the rancher. It has to exert influence through intermediaries. On-going product innovations As we know McDonald's has its R&D department for research the new product menu and provide to the customers. The innovation at McDon ald's it is extremely unique, while it may be spurred by one of our suppliers, is always shared information with the other suppliers.However, McDonald's has to polling the risk on reveal supply chain management information by these suppliers. However, it is one part of the makeup of our relationship based on trust and mutual respect. There is a lot of pride that goes with being the creator of any particular innovation. Another part reason is for the fast food innovation is very important it not only needs to match the features of the fast food industry and also should use the special characters and tastes to attractive consumers. However, it needs the long lead time and high costs.It will make McDonalds' sales goes down and take the fluctuation on the profitability. This is one big challenge in the supply chain that is how to minimize the period of the new emerges out of the old. Strong customer demand fluctuations based on promotions At the above we can find these three pictures sh ow the promotion's effects on the sales and indirect to reflect the correlation between demand fluctuations with McDonalds' promotion. McDonalds uses the McToys as a sales promotional tool to drive interest and Sales.In their product of Happy Meal among the young children the primary target market of McDonalds gets a sales and demand. Even take the out of stock situation in some periods. The desired marketing effect of offering these toys is to renew interest in the Happy Meal product among young children. The toy serves as a special ;amp;quot;surprise;amp;quot; for this market upon consumption of the primary contents – the food. However, after these periods the customers especial for the young children will feel boring about our products.Because of the younger always like the fresh things, hence, sometimes it will lead the McDonalds' demand take a fluctuations. It not only affects McDonalds' sales and also will take the big challenge on the holding costs or loss profits by t he out of stock. Order- and inventory management restaurant – DC – supplier – raw material supplier McDonald's has one big order and inventory system and supply chain. If want make them in a high efficiency and properly operation, that it needs McDonalds have one correct managerial models and strategies.For example, they need based on the per 100 item sales data to forecast the demand. McDonalds is facing a real stress on the system revolution to make it comes with is very useful farmers at one end and the customer over the counter products sold to the highest quality fresh and value complete. And how to use the laser cooling identity, to make the operation run properly to maintain the freshness and nutritional value of raw materials and processed foods. This involves the purchase of inventory, transportation and food retailers all died under temperature control.And they also should know how to calculate the orders accurate. Hence, is one core challenge in the s upply chain management? Bull Whip effect Bullwhip is the Key challenge in McDonalds' supply chain. The Bullwhip Effect is a main reason for higher costs and problems in supply chains. It describe how small fluctuations in demand at the client level are augmented as orders pass up the supply chain through distributors, manufacturers, and suppliers. In great variety supply chains, the upstream activities react to forecasts, while somewhere on the downstream part the chain waits for orders to be ade. Think about these two former fast food mottos: ;amp;quot;We Do it all for you;amp;quot; proposed by McDonalds and ;amp;quot;Have it Your Way;amp;quot; by Burger King. McDonald's makes finished hamburgers "to forecast" – McDonalds doesn't know when people would come in for consumption, but they make burgers in anticipation. Burger King prefers to wait until customers actually place (customizable) orders before the burgers are made.This is more frequently known as th e ;amp;quot;Build-to-Order;amp;quot; (BTO) model, while McDonalds' strategy up to now is called "Build to Stock" (BTS). Hence, how to utilize this model solve the fluctuation is the real challenge of they need to consider. Change Management in a de- centralized structure McDonald's supply chain system is so simple system that McDonald's supply chain is based on the three-legged stool concept Company – Franchisees – Suppliers. Hence, sometimes it leads the react on the problems more slowly compare with other fast food competitors.Hence, Jack Greenberg, the former accountant who last year was named chief executive of McDonald's Corp orchestrated a management realignment that broke up some of the company's internal cliques and divided the organization into five more autonomous regions, which theoretically will be able to react more quickly to local market conditions. It not benefit for them to expand their global market and react in one short time. The r ealignment also led to the company's first layoffs ever, which reduced some of the bloat that had built up during the chain's aggressive domestic expansion.In mid-1990s the American had taken the things like this. Hence, how to realign the structure and solve the problems taken by this decentralized activity are the key points we need to facing in this part. Methods for Solve Problems Build the quality supervised system Quality has always meant ensuring that our customers receive food products that are the result of the best ingredients, strict standards, and proven preparation procedures to guarantee a safe, great tasting product. Currently, McDonald is facing the challenge on sustainable development on he products' freshness and quality. Even they have a well down on this part work; however they still cannot ignore the problems always taken in their working process. Hence, we think McDonald can make one supervised system (as in most areas around the world), McDonald's restaurants always use the network of independently owned distribution centers that buy products from ‘direct' suppliers – those suppliers who are involved in the final stage of the food supply chain and provide McDonald's restaurants with finished food products like hamburger patties and buns.These direct suppliers buy the raw ingredients they use to produce our food products from a far more dispersed network of suppliers. Hence, we need to make the three-stage supervised system. Firstly, we can build the department to supervise the original materials that came from our indirect suppliers and set up the direct connect style to keep communicate with them. Secondly, we can set up the supervisor in the logistic department to make them give us feedback about our direct suppliers' information and help us to supervise their materials' quality and transportation process.Finally, we can hire the professional supervisor in each of restaurants to check the finish goods and deliver goods, if or not match our standard. McDonalds' inspection program(QIP) to investigate the quality of more than 20 points the difference in the Cold Chain setting of Cold Chain to enable them to reduce the loss of operating Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is the system to focus on food safety protection in place, suppliers and restaurants rather than check on patients or checking status.Information microorganisms according HACCP, control points and control points important for all McDonald's plant food major department stores in India have been identified; Ltd. has been established for those followed by the audit record and correct the deviation. Build the detailed R&D process Consider the McDonald's situation that should pooling the risk with share the innovation information with suppliers and need one long lead time and high costs. Hence, we want advice them to centralized this system and detailed the tasks of process.First of all, McDonald can build some R;amp;D centers in some important regions. Because of McDonald only have three R;amp;D centers (Hong Kong, Indian, American). For minimize the innovative lead time and react immediate about the market demand, I think they should set up two more centers in European and South American. Secondly, I think they should protect their innovative information to reveal to suppliers. Especially that some direct suppliers have the agreement with McDonald on the innovation part. It will help McDonald less opportunity to make our competitors to capture their achievements.At the restaurant level, McDonald can focus in three areas: Energy conservation – Find further ways to increase energy efficiency in their restaurants in order to save money and reduce our environmental impacts Sustainable packaging and waste management – Continue exploring ways to reduce the environmental impacts of McDonald's consumer packaging and waste in their restaurant operations Green building design – Enhance McDon ald's strict building standards to incorporate further opportunities for environmental efficiencies and innovation in the design and construction of McDonald's restaurants If R&D centers need to collect some market information and the materials data, can find the internal employees to take responsible on intelligent information collected. Even though, it looks like the costs will be goes high. However, McDonald will less the opportunity of loss and minimizes the fluctuation lead time to ensure the profitability in one stable level. It is indirect to help McDonald decrease the costs. Improve the level of marketing promotion and forecastFor avoid the bullwhip effects and the demand fluctuation by the promotional effects. I think McDonald should improve the level of marketing promotion and forecast. They can hire the promotional designer to plan their activities and promotion. They can base on the holiday and commemoration day to setup the activities and also can design different s eries Mac toys to do the promotion to meet the customers' needs. McDonald also needs to build the technical forecast system and use the reasonable methods to prevent the fluctuation in the sales lead time. McDonald can combine the ;amp;quot;build to order;amp;quot; and ;amp;quot;build to stock;amp;quot; these to system.Make their forecast more accurate and control the bullwhip effects in one small level. Build to stock is frequently considered as an appropriate solution for high volume products where the demand is either seasonal or easily predicted, or both. This model is more nearly about the McDonalds' current situation, because of McDonalds' demand is highly in usually. And by the long history experience McDonald has the ability to do the accurate forecast; however McDonald has to consider their special service -24hours. In the midnight there is only few people choice to buy as their midnight snack. Hence, if they follow the ;amp;quot;build to stock;amp;quot; in the midnight per iod will lead in excess of demand.It will make our costs get waste and cannot provide the fresh and high quality products for the customers who order in the midnight. Some firms build all their products to order while others build them to stock. Build to Order in an automotive context as a demand driven production approach where a product is scheduled and built in response to a confirmed order received for it from a final customer. The final customer refers to a known individual owner and excludes all orders by the original equipment manufacturer OEM, national sales companies [NSC], dealers or point of sales, bulk orders or other intermediaries in the supply chain. Hence, in the McDonalds' midnight service is most closed to these conditions.Given the widespread proliferation of products, there are a number of manufacturers taking a hybrid approach, where some items are built to stock and others are built to order. Hence, I think build these to models combine in the supply chain syst em will help get one sustainable demand and minimize unnecessary loss on costs. Build the direct supply system In MacDonald, there are many direct suppliers to provide the goods and materials that purchase from the indirect suppliers. It will lead the McDonald's costs goes high and the quality of the materials cannot ensure match the standard level. Hence, McDonald can setup the internal direct suppliers.Such as purchase the land to develop the agriculture on planting and farm. They can make the R;amp;D center to take responsible in this part. Go for this way will make McDonald can have one strong control on their materials' quality and also can decrease the lead time with the high costs in the supply chain process. By another way is it will immediate to react to the fluctuation in the marketing. The McDonald's Agricultural Assurance Programme (MAAP) is the tool use to assess the agricultural production standards employed in growing the farm products used in the menu. MAAP covers ou r core agricultural products; including beef, chicken, eggs, ilk, cheese, potatoes, wheat, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. The Flagship Farm project builds on our MAAP approach, by identifying some of the progressive farmers in our supply chain that exemplify good practice in their specific area, and are comfortable sharing those good practices. Use this tool to try and ensure the source more products from farms that work to higher standards. Build this direct supply system will contribute to McDonald to monitor and control the quality, safety and sustainability of the raw materials entering the supply chain. Build the decentralized structure By the reason of global integration that McDonalds' market is keeping expand.Build decentralized structure, and the variability of environmental issues across regions, there is no "one size fits all" approach. It will provide the breadth and scope of McDonald's supply chain operations at the same time. Compare with their curre nt business scale, the structure system especial for the supply chain part is more centralize. Hence, it will affect the working efficiency and increase the lead time. Hence, to build the decentralized structure in the supply chain system is necessarily. Firstly, they can build the supply chain information system to take responsible on collect the any feedbacks and intelligent information that stay in the supply chain.Secondly, build the network control system in different regions. Can immediate react on the problems taken in the supply chain. Thirdly, setup the communication center to ensure each hierarchy of supply chain can keep the communication just in time. Moreover, setup the transportation system and emergency center. If taken any problems on the supply chain allocate can change the original plan immediately. Finally, build the supervised network to make sure the safety and quality of the process and materials. Recommendation As far as we are concerned the manager should hav e a clear business philosophy. Supply chain is one very important part especially for the multinational company.The supply chain will decide what products or services of they can offered and which level of sales they can achieve. McDonalds is the famous brand in the fast food industry. Hence, the customers have the high expectation and demand on this brand. Hence, for the future McDonalds it is better to build the global supply chain network. McDonalds can use the advanced electronic tools such as the internet to make all the restaurants share the supply chain information. For different regions it can setup the department to take responsible to manage the problems taken in the supply chain. Normally, the McDonalds' products will have the fluctuation period from the promotion start to finish. And it also effect by the local market and economic environment.Hence, this department can control the market information at any time and do the logistic job to the point. Another way McDonald c an complete the direct suppliers' relation to take the direct controlling on them, less the outsourcing from the external suppliers. It will ensure the materials' quality and also will decrease some costs on transportation and materials' waste. Moreover we think MacDonald can ask the R;amp;D center to research and develop the supply chain, that take care on how to do the right forecast to minimize the fluctuation and how to improve the working effectively? We believe by McDonald's advanced management system they will have the good development on their supply chain in the future. ConclusionIn this report we are mainly talk about the McDonalds' supply chain system that also includes their management process, strategy and implementation work. From the analysis we find some problems on the supply chain work that McDonald needs to challenge. Hence, we try to provide some ideas to help McDonald to solve the related problems on the supply chain management work. Thus, under analysis supply chain part, we mainly describe how supply chain used with a business, and introduce strategy and process in McDonald's. We also have a graph to explain how McDonald's use supply chain and use the real case to analysis how McDonalds uses supply chain in Indian and the reason of why it get success in Indian.Therefore, the objective of this seminar is to make a profound qualitative and quantitative case analysis within the context of sustainable supply and demand chain management. Finally, we try to base on the analysis we have down at before and support some methods to solve them. And we also provide the recommendation for the supply chain management; we believe by McDonald's advanced management system they will have a sustainable development on the business, especially for the supply chain management. References Holweg, M. and Pil, F. (2001), ‘Successful Build-to-Order Strategies start with the Customer', MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall issue, Vol. 43, No. 1, p. 74-83 Holweg, M. and Pil, F. 2004), ‘The Second Century: Reconnecting Customer and Value Chain through Build-to-Order', Cambridge, MA and London, UK: The MIT Press. Parry, G. and Graves, A. , Eds. (2008), ‘Build to Order: The Road to the 5-Day Car', London: Springer Verlag. Beamon, B. M (1996), "Performance measures in supply chain management", Proceedings of the 1996 Conference on Agile and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, NY Christopher, M. (1994), Logistics and Supply Chain Management, New York, NY Johnson, J. B. , Randolph, S (1995), "Brief: making alliances work – using a computer-based management system to integrate the supply chain", Journal of Petroleum Technology, Vol. 47 No. , pp. 512-13 Maskell, B. H. (1991), Performance Measurement for World Class Manufacturing, Productivity Press, Portland, OR Slack, N. (1991), The Manufacturing Advantage, Mercury Books, London McDonald's Corpo ration (2008). About McDonald's/McDonald's History (online). Available at: http://www. mcdonalds. com/corp/about. html. Retrieve April 28, 2008 McDonald's Corporation UK (2008). Eat Smart/What's On/Good News (online). Available at: http://www. mcdonalds. co. uk/ Retrieve April 28, 2008 Lee, Hau L. , and V. Padmanabhan. ;amp;quot;The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains. ;amp;quot; Sloan Management Review 38, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 93-103.Docstoc;amp;quot;McDonalds-Company-Background-Products-Competitors-And-Positioning;amp;quot; (online) http://www. docstoc. com/docs/9481476/McDonalds-Company-Background-Products-Competitors-And-Positioning [accessed at 24 AUG 2010] About McDonalds (online) http://www. aboutmcdonalds. com/mcd [accessed at 25 AUG 2010] About McDonalds (online) Report ;amp;quot;sustainable_supply_chain;amp;quot; http://www. aboutmcdonalds. com/mcd/csr/report/sustainable_supply_chain. html [accessed at 25 AUG 2010] SCRIBD ;amp;quot;McDonalds-INDAIN-supply-chain;amp;quot; (onl ine) http://www. scribd. com/doc/21803927/McDonalds-INDAIN-supply-chain [accessed at 23 AUG 2010] Essays Professors samples business

Barrack Obama Inaugural Speech Analysis Essay

Barrack Obama’s inaugural speech was in many ways similar to his predecessors, cleverly written, thoroughly rehearsed and immaculately delivered. However in many ways it was different, different in the colour of Presidents skin, different in the time the oath was taken â€Å"amidst gathering clouds and raging storms†, different in the state of Americas economy. America wanted change and barrack Obama was that change. His inaugural speech was the first time he didn’t need to win votes or fight his campaign, instead he needed to earn the respect of his people, and he did it masterfully. Obamas main aim at the start of the speech is to make a connection with the audience and gain their support. He does this by moving from singular â€Å"I stand here today† to the plural â€Å"We the people† which engages the audience to make them feel involved and significant with the use of personal pronouns. The following sentences continue towards this goal with the use of anaphora â€Å"they are† â€Å"they are† â€Å"they will be† â€Å"they will not be† he does this to instil the audiences confidence in Obama and show that he is in control of the situation by repeating the authoritative phrases. This also incorporates antithetic parallelism â€Å"they will not be† â€Å"they will be† this is used to give the impression Obama is overcoming a problem by first using the negative not implying an issue and then the positive â€Å"will be† showing it is overcome, furthering the audiences assurance in Obama. Addressing the audience as a nation is used to rouse feelings of loyalty and patriotism extending Obamas connection with the audience by establishing the common feeling of pride in their country, and consequently their president. Once Obama has established a bond and created a sense of community amongst the audience he begins the transition from past tense to future which is cleverly done with the use of repetition â€Å"so it has been. So it must be† which prepares the audience for hard hitting issues which Obama raises unambiguously â€Å"our nation is at war† â€Å"homes have been lost† â€Å"our schools fail too many†, the open manner Obama presents these issues in make the audience feel trusted and the use of the personal pronoun â€Å"our† makes the audience feel responsible and powerful in solving these predominant problems. When addressing these issues Obama use emotive and language and imagery such as â€Å"violence and hatred† and â€Å"greed and irresponsibility† which adds emotion and shows the audience that Obama is passionate about solving the problems he faces which adds impact and conviction to the line â€Å"know this America they will be met† which regains the trust and support of the audience by promising that he will solve these problems. Obama adds emphasis and effects on messages by drawing a contrast â€Å"rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace† compared to â€Å"gathering clouds and raging storms† by talking about the opposite in a positive manner â€Å"raising tides of prosperity† it makes the later, negative phrase â€Å"raging storms† even more powerful and impactful. Throughout Obamas speech he tries to appeal to all members of Americas â€Å"patchwork heritage† He tries to bond the all members of the country b y addressing â€Å"Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus† and bravely â€Å"non-believers† by addressing them all as a one nation.

The Political And Economic Factors Of The War On Drugs

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