obesity rates were 5% higher among the ninth graders whose schools were within one-tenth of a mile of a pizza, burger or other popular fast-food outlet, compared with students attending schools farther away from fast-food stores" (Rabin 2009).
This indicates that proximity increases weight over time -- again, incrementally, through exposure, not necessarily in a self-imposed binge. By using a wide range of test subjects, the reliability of the results has greater controls than either Spurlock's experiment, or even the experiments by the European Space Agency and the Swedish "Supersize me" study. Its validity is also enhanced by using actual fast food consumers, without trying to replicate 'average' fast food behavior, by stuffing normal weight subjects and forcing them to exercise. Even if one believes that a large proportion of the test subjects have a propensity to be overweight because of genetic factors not controlled by the experiment, the study indicates…...
mlaWorks Cited
Bergouignan a., D.A. Schoeller, S. Normand, G. Gauquelin-Koch, M. Laville M. (2006).
Effect of physical inactivity on the oxidation of saturated and monounsaturated dietary fatty acids: Results of a randomized trial. PLOS Clinical Trial 1(5): e27.
doi:10.1371/journal.pctr.0010027
Blomkvist, Marten (2006, September 7). Only another 5, 500 calories to go. The Guardian.
Fighting Obesity in the Courts
Super-Size Me
Legal Issues 101
Fighting Obesity in the Courts
The 'obesity epidemic' has garnered much attention by the news media and western governments over the past decade. Their concern is well founded, because there has been a three-fold increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States since 1980 (reviewed by Gleason and Dodd S118). According to the results of a survey conducted in 2009 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approximately 12.0% and 15.8% of all school-aged children were judged to be either obese or overweight, respectively ("Surveillance Summaries, 28). That's close to 30% of all K-12 students in the United States having a weight problem. Should a weight problem become entrenched in that child's life, their academic performance will suffer and they are at an increased risk for developing significant mental and physical health problems as adults (reviewed by Gleason and…...
mlaWorks Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Overweight and Obesity: A Growing Problem." cdc.gov. 2011. Web. 9 Sept. 2011.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Surveillance Summaries: Youth risk behavior surveillance -- United States, 2009," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 59.SS-5 (2010):1-142.
CNN. "Obesity: 'Cheeseburger Bill' puts Bite on Lawsuits." cnn.com. Oct. 20, 2005. Web. 9 Sept. 2011.
Gleason, Philip M. And Allison Hedly Dodd. "School breakfast program but not school lunch program participation is associated with lower body mass index," Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109.2 (2009): S118-S128.
Super Size Me is a documentary film from 2004 by Morgan Spurlock. It focuses on what it would be like to consume nothing but McDonald’s fast food for an entire month. That is the outlandish premise of the film—and it is more than likely to appeal to two types of people: 1) the health-nutritionist type of person who will approach the film with type of confirmation bias, expecting his or her point of view about how bad for one’s health fast food is to be fully validated, and 2) the extreme spectator type of individual—i.e., a person who is interested in alternative or fringe experiences, things that go against the status quo, experiences that challenge the establishment, and so on. This documentary appeals to a niche market in this respect; however, in another respect it also tackles one of the fundamental tenets of modern America: fast food is a pillar…...
integrons has been driven by the alarmingly rapid appearance of antibiotic resistance among a number of bacteria liked to widespread disease in the last century. These bacteria have become an increasing threat to human health, and have often been featured in the media as "super bugs" that may evade any attempts to control their effects using antibiotic treatments. As a result, research into the genetic mechanisms that these drugs use to acquire genetic resistance has been followed with growing interest. The discovery of integrons may well therefore become known as one of the most important stepping-stones in this research (Rowe-Magnus).
Integrons are simply bacterial systems that allow the bacteria to capture and express DNA from other bacteria. Integrons capture foreign gene cassettes that code for important metabolic functions. Many of these gene cassettes contain genetic material that confers resistance to antibiotic drugs. There are over 70 different antibiotic resistance genes…...
mlaWorks Cited
Rowe-Magnus, Dean. Faculty Research Focus, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology - Faculty
of Medicine, University of Toronto. 13 February 2004.
http://icarus.med.utoronto.ca/patho/faculty.asp?FacultyID=208
Rowe-Magnus, Dean A., Guerout, Anne-Marie, Ploncard, Pascaline, Dychino, Broderick,
McCourt" Is in Session Again
Court is just another day in the life of the McDonald's Corporation as they have spent a good portion of their time in court since 1990. The purpose of this paper is to explore the "McLibel" case in its' different aspects as well as examining the "Super-Size-Me" issue made controversial by the movie entitled just that, "Super-Size-Me. Further, to examine the issues that Australia is presently handling in the educational system in relation to the McDonald's Corporation. Finally to compare and contrast all of these cases or in their various attributes either the same or different.
According to a report from AC Newsnet Online,
one-thirds of Australians are either overweight or obese. The plan for a ban on advertising of junk food during children television hours is expected from the Government as a strategic effort in reducing childhood obesity. According to the report at least one out…...
mlaBibliography Continued:
"Super Size Me: Eating McDonald's, Making Millions" (2004) CNN News Report [Online] available at: .clickability.com/pt/cpt? action=cpt& title=CNN.com+-+Eating+McDonald%27s%2C+making+millions+-+Jun+9%2C+2004& expire=06%2F23%2F2004& urlID=10707525& fb=Y& url=httphttp://cnn.entertainment.printthis
%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FSHOWBIZ%2FMovies%2F06%2F09%
Ffilm.spurlock.reut%2F& partnerID=2010
Tober, Bruce (2004) "McDonalds Breaks Agreement in McLibel Suit" Albion Monitor [Online] available online at: http://www.monitor.net/monitor/9-2-95/McLibel.html
S. that is no reason to sue the fast food franchises. These lawsuits "are an embarrassment to our legal system, and an embarrassment to the people who are saying they were so dumb not to know they might get fat" (Abrams, 2004). In fact on the day that Abrams wrote that piece for MSNBC the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called "Cheeseburger bill" which was legislation to "protect the fast food industry from frivolous lawsuits." (Abrams).
Abrams attacked John Banzhaf, the lawyer that has launched some of the suits against the fast food industry. Abrams says that Banzhaf is wrong to link the suits against tobacco with the need to sue junk food companies. In the case of tobacco companies, Abrams continues, "people were misled about what was in cigarettes" but the same deception doesn't apply to fast food. "People should know fast food isn't good for you," Abrams writes.
The…...
mlaWorks Cited
Abrams, Dan. "Lawsuits against fast food companies are ridiculous." MSNBC. Retrieved May
18, 2011, from http://www.msnbc.com .
CNN. "House bans fast-food lawsuits." CNN Justice. Retrieved May 18, 2011, from (2004).http://articles.cnn.com.
Ebert, Roger. "Super Size Me." Retrieved May 18, 2011, from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com .
The energy it stores (?180 Wh kg?1) at an average voltage of 3.8 V is only a factor of 5 higher than that stored by the much older lead -- acid batteries. This may seem poor in the light of Moore's law in electronics (according to which memory capacity doubles every 18 months), but it still took a revolution in materials science to achieve it. Billions of lithium-ion cells are produced for portable electronics, but this is not sustainable as cobalt must be obtained from natural resources (it makes up 20 parts per million of Earth's crust). (Armand & Tarascon, 2008, p. 653).
Fu investigated the lithium-ion conductivities of glasses and glass-ceramics in the LI2O-AlO3-TiO2P2O5 system. Fu's samples revealed high conductivity, albeit when Abrahams and Hadzifejzovic similarly investigated the LI2O-AlO3-TiO2P2O5 glass and glass-ceramic systems, their findings revealed "a maximum room temperature conductivity of 3.98 x 10-6 S/cm in their crystallized…...
mlaREFERENCES
Armand, M & Tarascon, J.M. (2008). Building better batteries. Nature. Volume 451. Retrieved
April 17, 2010 from http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/kjemi/MENA5020/h08/undervisningsmaterial
BATTERIES.pdf
Battery power. (2010). Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). Retrieved April 17. 2010 from http://www.rsc.org/Education/EiC/issues/2008Mar/BatteryPower.asp
Change
Using Kotter's 8 steps, the three most significant errors made out of all the change stories presented were: McDonald's failure to create urgency when it implemented its initial menu changes; Kodak's failure to communicate its vision for change; and Fiorina's failure to form a powerful coalition prior to the merger between HP and Compaq Computer Corp. However, it is important to keep in mind that Kotter's approach may not best describe organizational change; its popularity may be more attributable to its usable format than from any evidence that Kotter's approach to change management is superior to competing approaches (Appelbaum et al., 20120).
McDonald's made half-hearted efforts to respond to consumer demands for healthier menu options. However, at that time, it had not seen any reduction in profits because of the perceived lack of nutritional value of its offerings and was not committed to expanding beyond its traditional fast-food repertoire. This…...
mlaReferences
Applebaum, S., Habashy, S., Malo, J., & Shafiq, H. (2012). Back to the future: Revisiting
Kotter's 1996 change model, Journal of Management Development, 31(8), 764-782.
Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Akin, G. (2009). Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach, 2nd Ed. McGraw-Hill.
Parker, D., Verlinden, A., Nussey, R., Ford, M., & Pathak, R.D. (2013). Critical evaluation of project-based performance management: Change intervention integration, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 62(4), 407-419.
And one cannot stop wondering: in a world where there are enough dangers among which drugs, murders etc., do we really want our children to become addicted to some product even from infancy? In a world where there are other addictive factors such as TV, computer games, fast-food, and which, combined, produce illnesses (both physical and psychical) are we to let our children drink coca cola? Are we to add another product to the list of things which tend to destroy our children health?
eferences
Adams, Mike. "The unauthorized history of Coca-Cola (satire)." January 14, 2005. NewsTarget.com. June 2007. http://www.newstarget.com/003228.html
LaBudde, obert. "Is Coke really bad for you, if so what are the ingredients that make it?" Mar 6, 2001. MadSci Library. June 2007 http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2001/983940377.Ot.r.html
Leland, Elizabeth. "Addicted to Coke." Sep. 28, 2003. Charlotte.com. June 2007. http://www.acs.appstate.edu/~kms/classes/psy5150/DietCokeAddict.htm
Madison, Josh. "Coke Experiment." 14 December 2003. Joshmadison.com. June 2007. http://joshmadison.com/misc/projects/coke_nail/
Martini, Betty. "Diet Coke and Aspartame." The…...
mlaReferences
Adams, Mike. "The unauthorized history of Coca-Cola (satire)." January 14, 2005. NewsTarget.com. June 2007. http://www.newstarget.com/003228.html
LaBudde, Robert. "Is Coke really bad for you, if so what are the ingredients that make it?" Mar 6, 2001. MadSci Library. June 2007 http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2001/983940377.Ot.r.html
Leland, Elizabeth. "Addicted to Coke." Sep. 28, 2003. Charlotte.com. June 2007. http://www.acs.appstate.edu/~kms/classes/psy5150/DietCokeAddict.htm
Madison, Josh. "Coke Experiment." 14 December 2003. Joshmadison.com. June 2007. http://joshmadison.com/misc/projects/coke_nail/
McDonald's strategic issue is a fundamental policy question or challenge affecting an organization's mandates, mission, and values; product or service level and mix; clients, users, or payers; or costs, financing, structure, or management (Bryson, 1995). This paper describes a strategic issue faced by fast food giant McDonald's, which is fighting to maintain its position as a market leader.
McDonald's has built one of the most successful fast food franchises in the world, with incredible growth for over three decades. The company's long-term strategy has focused on uniformity in its product, service, and the consistency of its information systems. However, with a slew of recent challenges, McDonald's learning that times are changing. The company's main new concern is portraying their sense of healthy eating habits and staying ahead of the competition.
McDonald's reached a low point in 2001, when customer-satisfaction surveys revealed that the company was falling well behind its competitors, Wendy's and…...
mlaReferences
AP. (March 3, 2004). McDonald's Scrapping 'Supersize'. Associated Press.
Bryson, John M. (1995). Strategic Planning for public and non-profit organizations. Jossey Bass.
Green, Alison. (October 14, 2004). Big Mac's makeover. The Economist.
Tsao, Amy. (October 10, 2004). Salad Days for McDonald's? Business Week.
Internal Supply Chain at a Local McDonald's
Description of the company from an Australian market perspective, the products offered in the store visited, and the supply chain in which the store operates
The Australian McDonald's corporate Web site indicates that the company opened its first restaurant in an Australian suburb in 1971 and there are currently almost 800 McDonald's restaurants throughout the country, employing approximately 85,000 people (About us 2011). Although Australian McDonald's typically feature a majority of the standard fare offered at the company's restaurants around the world, some also feature regional specialties as shown in Table 1 below.
epresentative products from a Sydney-based McDonald's restaurant
Meal
Product
Breakfast
Boston deli bagel
NYC benedict bagel
Bacon and egg McMuffin
Bakehouse brekkie roll
osti brekkie wrap
Assorted beverages
Lunch/Dinner
Hamburger/cheeseburger permutations
French fries
Baked fruit pies
McChicken sandwich
Chicken McNuggets
Filet-o-Fish
Various "combo" meals
Various family "dinner box" meals (available 5:00 P.M. -- 11:00 P.M. only)
Assorted beverages
Competitive priorities that the company is trying to achieve
Beyond the competitive priorities the company…...
mlaReferences
'About us.' (2011) McDonald's Australia. [online] available:
Addictive Virus" -- later to become the thirteenth chapter of their bestselling book Affluenza -- John De Graaf, David ann, and Thomas H. Naylor engage in a highly rhetorical comparison of addictive shopping to physical addictions such as alcoholism and drug addiction and behavioral addictions like compulsive gambling. It becomes clear shortly into their paper that their purpose is largely alarmist and moralistic, rather than medically or therapeutically intended: none of the authors has any medical or psychiatric credentials. I hope by addressing three aspects of their paper -- their rhetorical strategy, their shifts in focus, and in particular their examples presented as evidence, particularly their closing example -- that I may show the ways in which their thoughts actually confuse rather than clarify issues of behavioral addiction.
The title alone of the essay gives, in miniature, a fair taste of De Graaf et al.'s rhetorical strategy: the phrase "the…...
mlaWorks Cited
Boyer, Peter J. "The Deliverer: A Pizza Mogul Funds a Moral Crusade." The New Yorker Feb 19, 2007. Accessed 10 Feb 2011 at: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/02/19/070219fa_fact_boyer#ixzz1DejZemmm
De Graaf John, Wann, David, and Naylor, Thomas H. "The Addictive Virus." In Maasik, Sonia and Solomon, Jack, Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Sixth Edition. New York: Beford St. Martin's, 2008. 71-5.
McDonald's: Total ewards
Introduction to and purpose of the organization
Historically, the fast food industry as a whole has a very high rate of employee turnover. Employees tend to be quite transient in their loyalties to these organizations, in part because fast food corporations often make very little investment in their workers and strive to give employees minimal benefits and pay. McDonald's has struggled in recent years with criticism for how it treats its employees. "A reliance on cheap labor has been crucial to the fast food industry's success. It's no accident that the industry's highest rate of growth occurred during a period when the real value of the U.S. minimum wage declined by about 40%…The chains are willing to put up with turnover rates of 300 to 400% in order to keep their labor costs low. It doesn't really matter to them who comes or goes, since this system treats all…...
mlaReferences
Getting to know us. (2014). McDonald's. Retrieved from:
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company.html
Interview with Eric Schlosser. (2012). Readers Read. Retrieved from:
Kotters 8-Step ApproachIntroductionWhen Eric Schlossers (2001) Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal hit the stands at the start of the 21st century, it sparked a new need for the fast food industry to reassess itself and make itself more appealing in the wake of the fallout of the books claims. One company that failed to take the publics newfound aversion for the baby-boomer industry was McDonaldsthe restaurant that received most of the books criticism and the restaurant that served as the focal point of the 2004 documentary Super Size Me. Other restaurants like Wendys revamped their menu, their look, and their strategy by introducing a fresher, more wholesome approach to food and food service, offering home style fries, more organic options and more variety in their meals. McDonalds on the other hand doubled down with its commitment to the status quo of fast food. Its stock,…...
mlaAssociated Press. (2014). McDonald’s tries to change its image. Retrieved from
Choi, C. (2014). McDonald’s is trying to shed its junk food image. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-is-trying-to-change-its-image-2014-8 Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.toolshero.com/change-management/8-step-change-model-kotter/ Schlosser, E. (2001). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. NY: Houghton Mifflin.Sinek, S. (2010). How great leaders inspire action. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 Sutton, D. (2015). McDonald’s unhealthy image and why it can’t shake it. Retrieved from https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865628840/McDonalds-unhealthy-image-and-why-it-cant-shake-it.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2727939/McDonalds-confronts-junk-food-image.html
Brand Reinvention: The New, Old McDonald's
The name McDonald's is virtually synonymous with the idea of 'branding.' The idea of McDonaldization seems to imply the standardization and Americanization of both culture and food. However, the brand image of McDonald's has in fact gone through a number of reincarnations, over the company's long history. One of the most notable shifts occurred when the company shifted from its slogan of "You deserve a break today," or "It's a good time for the great taste," to "Mmm...I'm lovin' it."
During the 1970s, when more and more women were becoming 'liberated' from the stove, and going to work in record numbers, the idea of being not having to slave over a hot stove was seen as a positive benefit of eating McDonald's hamburgers. The idea that it's always a good time to eat burgers and fries similarly stressed the ease and convenience of fast food. During…...
mlaWorks Cited
Dreams." YouTube. Retrieved 11 Feb 2008 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5184llMCDwA
School is Hard." YouTube. Retrieved 11 Feb 2008 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtdrjt_1zUU
McDonald's Recital Commercial." YouTube. Retrieved 11 Feb 2008 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2yklZeEbFE&feature=related
McDonald's 1996 Winter Olympics Commercial." YouTube. Retrieved 11 Feb 2008 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHiVhCqqvUw
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