Marketing Mix Extended on Kfc free essay sample

KFC History Colonel Sanders Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken, was born on September 9, 1890. When he was six, his father died and his mother was forced to go to work while young Sanders took care of his three year old brother and baby sister. This meant he had to do much of the family cooking. By the time he was seven, Harland Sanders was a master of a range of regional dishes. After a series of jobs, in the mid 1930s at the age of forty, Colonel Sanders bought a service station, motel and cafe at Corbin, a town in Kentucky about 25 miles from the Tennessee border. He began serving meals to travelers on the dining table in the living quarters of his service station because he did not have a restaurant. It is here that Sanders began experimenting with different seasonings to flavor his chicken which travelers loved and for which he soon became famous. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Mix Extended on Kfc or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He then moved across the street to a motel and restaurant, which seated 142 people. During the next nine years he developed his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique which is still used today. Sanders fame grew. Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the states cuisine. And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines Adventures in Good Eating. A new interstate highway carried traffic past the town, which soon had a devastating affect on his business. He sold up and travelled the United States by car, cooking chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable Sanders entered into a handshake agreement on a deal which stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each chicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, from that humble beginning, Colonel Harland Sanders had 600 franchise outlets for his chicken across the United States and Canada. Later that year Colonel Sanders sold his interest in the United States operations for $2 million. The 65-year-old gentleman had started a worldwide empire using his $105 social security cheque. Sadly, Colonel Harland Sanders passed away on December 16th, 1980 aged 90. Every day, nearly eight million customers are served around the world. KFCs menu includes Original Recipe ® chicken made with the same great taste Colonel Harland Sanders created more than a half-century ago. Customers around the globe also enjoy more than 300 other products from a Chunky Chicken Pot Pie in the United States to a salmon sandwich in Japan. There are over 14,000 KFC outlets in 105 countries and territories around the world. KFC is part of Yum! Brands, Inc. , which is the worlds largest restaurant system with over 32,500 KFC, AW All-American Foodâ„ ¢,Taco Bell, Long John Silvers and Pizza Hut restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories. KFC In Bangladesh KFC stands for high quality fast food in a popular array of complete meals to enrich the consumer’s everyday life. KFC strives to serve great tasting, â€Å"finger lickin good† chicken meals that enable the whole family to share a fun. Uninhibited and thoroughly satisfying eating experience, with same convenience and affordability of ordinary Quick Service Restaurants. Transom Foods Limited, a concern of Transom Group is the franchisee of KFC in Bangladesh. The first ever KFC restaurant has been opened in September at Gulshan, Dhaka with a seating capacity of 178 persons. In the coming days, KFC plans roll out more restaurants in Bangladesh Colonel Harland Sanders Colonel Harland Sanders, born September 9, 1890, actively began franchising his chicken business at the age of 65. Now, the KFC ® business he started has grown to be one of the largest quick service food service systems in the world. And Colonel Sanders, a quick service restaurant pioneer, has become a symbol of entrepreneurial spirit. More than a billion of the Colonels finger lickin good chicken dinners are served annually. And not just in North America. The Colonels cooking is available in more than 80 countries and territories around the world. When the Colonel was six, his father died. His mother was forced to go to work, and young Harland had to take care of his three-year-old brother and baby sister. This meant doing much of the family cooking. By the age of seven, he was a master of several regional dishes. At age 10, he got his first job working on a nearby farm for $2 a month. When he was 12, his mother remarried and he left his home near Henryville, Ind. , for a job on a farm in Greenwood, Ind. He held a series of jobs over the next few years, first as a 15-year-old streetcar conductor in New Albany, Ind. and then as a 16-year-old private, soldiering for six months in Cuba. After that he was a railroad fireman, studied law by correspondence, practiced in justice of the peace courts, sold insurance, operated an Ohio River steamboat ferry, sold tires, and operated service stations. When he was 40, the Colonel began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Ky. He didnt have a restaurant then, but served folks on his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station. As more people started coming just for food, he moved across the street to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people. Over the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today. Sanders fame grew. Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the states cuisine. And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines Adventures in Good Eating. In the early 1950s a new interstate highway was planned to bypass the town of Corbin. Seeing an end to his business, the Colonel auctioned off his operations. After paying his bills, he was reduced to living on his $105 Social Security checks. Confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to the chicken franchising business that he started in 1952. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable, he entered into a handshake agreement on a deal that stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each hicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, Colonel Sanders had more than 600 franchised outlets for his chicken in the United States and Canada. That year, he sold his interest in the U. S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr. , who later was governor of Kentucky from 1980 to 1984. The Colonel remained a public spokesman for the company. In 1976, an independent survey ranked the Colonel as the wor lds second most recognizable celebrity. Under the new owners, Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation grew rapidly. It went public on March 17, 1966, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 16, 1969. More than 3,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants were in worldwide operation when Heublein Inc. acquired KFC Corporation on July 8, 1971, for $285 million. Kentucky Fried Chicken became a subsidiary of R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (now RJR Nabisco, Inc. ), when Heublein Inc. was acquired by Reynolds in 1982. KFC was acquired in October 1986 from RJR Nabisco, Inc. by PepsiCo, Inc. , for approximately $840 million. In January 1997, PepsiCo, Inc. nnounced the spin-off of its quick service restaurants KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut into an independent restaurant company, Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. In May 2002, the company announced it received shareholders approval to change its corporation name to Yum! Brands, Inc. The company, which owns AW All-American Food Restaurants, KFC, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, is the worlds largest restaurant company in terms of system units with nearly 32,500 in more than 100 countries and territories. Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting the KFC restaurants around the world. And it all began with a 65-year-old gentleman who used his $105 Social Security check to start a business. Original Recipe ® is Still a Secret For years, Colonel Harland Sanders carried the secret formula for his Kentucky Fried Chicken in his head and the spice mixture in his car. Today, the recipe is locked away in a safe in Louisville, Ky. Only a handful of people know that multi-million dollar recipe (and theyve signed strict confidentiality contracts). The Colonel developed the formula back in the 1930s when he operated a roadside restaurant and motel in Corbin, Kentucky. His blend of 11 herbs and spices developed a loyal following of customers at the Sanders Court Cafe. I hand-mixed the spices in those days like mixing cement, the Colonel recalled, on a specially cleaned concrete floor on my back porch in Corbin. I used a scoop to make a tunnel in the flour and then carefully mixed in the herbs and spices. Today, security precautions protecting the recipe would make even James Bond proud. One company blends a formulation that represents only part of the recipe. Another spice company blends the remainder. A computer processing system is used to safeguard and standardize the blending of the products, but neither company has the complete recipe. It boggles the mind just to think of all the procedures and precautions the company takes to protect my recipe, the Colonel said. Especially when I think how Claudia and I used to operate. She was my packing girl, my warehouse supervisor, my delivery person you name it. Our garage was the warehouse. After I hit the road selling franchises for my chicken, that left Claudia behind to fill the orders for the seasoned flour mix. Shed fill the days orders in little paper sacks with cellophane linings and package them for shipment. Then she had to put them on a midnight train. Little did the Colonel and Claudia dream in those days that his formula would be famous around the world. Pressure Cooker Colonel Sanders was always experimenting with food at his restaurant in Corbin, Ky. , in those early days of the 1930s. He kept adding this and that to the flour for frying chicken and came out with a pretty good-tasting product. But customers still had to wait 30 minutes for it while he fried it up in an iron skillet. That was just too long to wait, he thought. Most other restaurants serving what they called Southern fried chicken fried it in deep fat. That was quicker, but the taste wasnt the same. Then the Colonel went to a demonstration of a new-fangled gizmo called a pressure cooker sometime in the late 1930s. During the demonstration, green beans turned out tasty and done just right in only a few minutes. This set his mind to thinking. He wondered how it might work on chicken. He bought one of the pressure cookers and made a few adjustments. After a lot of experimenting with cooking time, pressure, shortening temperature and level, Eureka! Hed found a way to fry chicken quickly, under pressure, and come out with the best chicken hed ever tasted. Today, there are several different kinds of cookers used to make Original Recipe ® Chicken. But every one of them fries under pressure, the principle established by this now-famous Kentuckian. The Colonels first pressure cooker is still around. It holds a place of honor at KFCs Restaurant Support Center in Louisville, Ky. Yum Brands, Inc. Supplier Code of Conduct YUM! Brands, Inc. (Yum) is committed to conducting its business in an ethical, legal and socially responsible manner. To encourage compliance with all legal requirements and ethical business practices, Yum has established this Supplier Code of Conduct (the Code) for Yums U. S. suppliers (Suppliers). Compliance with Laws and Regulations Suppliers are required to abide by all applicable laws, codes or regulations including, but not limited to, any local, state or federal laws regarding wages and benefits, workmens compensation, working hours, equal opportunity, worker and product safety. Yum also expects that Suppliers will conform their practices to the published standards for their industry. Employment Practices Working Hours Conditions: In compliance with applicable laws, regulations, codes and industry standards, Suppliers are expected to ensure that their employees have safe and healthy working conditions and reasonable daily and weekly work schedules. Employees should not be required to work more than the number of hours allowed for regular and overtime work periods under applicable local, state and federal law. Non-Discrimination: Suppliers should implement a policy to effectuate all applicable local and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, age, physical disability, national origin, creed or any other basis prohibited by law. Child Labor: Suppliers should not use workers under the legal age for employment for the type of work being performed in any facility in which the Supplier is doing work for Yum. In no event should Suppliers use employees younger than 14 years of age. Forced and Indentured Labor: In accordance with applicable law, no Supplier should perform work or produce goods for Yum using labor under any form of indentured servitude, nor should threats of violence, physical punishment, confinement, or other form of physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal harassment or abuse be used as a method of discipline or control. Notification to Employees: To the extent required by law, Suppliers should establish company-wide policies implementing the standards outlined in this Code and post notices of those policies for their employees. The notices should be in all languages necessary to fully communicate the policy to its employees. Audits and Inspections Each Supplier should conduct audits and inspections to insure their compliance with this Code and applicable legal and contractual standards. In addition to any contractual rights of Yum or Unified Foodservice Purchasing Co-op, LLC (UFPC), the Suppliers failure to observe the Code may subject them to disciplinary action, which could include termination of the Supplier relationship. The business relationship with Yum and UFPC is strengthened upon full and complete compliance with the Code and the Suppliers agreements with Yum and UFPC. Application The Code is a general statement of Yums expectations with respect to its Suppliers. The Code should not be read in lieu of but in addition to the Suppliers obligations as set out in any agreements between Yum or UFPC and the Supplier. In the event of a conflict between the Code and an applicable agreement, the agreement shall control. KFC Banani, KFC Gulshan, KFC Dhanmondi, KFC Mirpur , KFC Eskaton, KFC Laxmibazar, KFC New Baily Road, KFC Paltan, KFC Uttara, KFC Chittagong, KFC Coxs Bazar. Restaurent Support Center (RSC) SE(F) 5, Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Ali Shorok (Gulshan Avenue), Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212. Phone # 9894662 / 9894045 / 9886579 Fax # 9886222

Free Essays on Rehabilitation

Thesis Statement and Outline Thesis: I have decided that â€Å"rehabilitation† will be my area of concentration for exploring my career options after I retire from the Navy. I. The Areas of Rehabilitation that interest me. A. Juvenile boot camps 1. Why I would like to work in a juvenile boot camp. a. I enjoy working with and helping youth. 2. Why juvenile boot camps were opened. a. Increase in juvenile crime b. Growing cost of youth detention facilities 3. Juvenile boot camp programs a. boot camp structure b. boot camp programs B. Therapeutic Communities 1. Complete treatment Environment 2. Treatment outlook 3. Primary goal 4. Effectiveness 5. Financial feasibility C. Conclusion 1. How both areas could influence my career choice. a. Military background b. Personal experience Rehabilitation When I started pursuing my college degree, I knew I wanted to work in the Criminal Justice field. I was just not sure what area I wanted to make a career after retiring from the Navy. I did know that I wanted to help people and have a positive impact on them. As I have continued towards completing my degree, I have decided that â€Å"rehabilitation† would be my area of concentration for exploring my career options. This way I will be using my military experience and college education to help people. There are two areas of rehabilitation that interest me. First is juvenile rehabilitation. I am very interested in working at a juvenile boot camp. I enjoy working with the youth and I will be able to help them when they need it most. The other area of rehabilitation that interests me is the therapeutic communities. Here I would work with adult offenders at the end of their incarceration period, and assist them with returning to the community. I will discuss these two areas and explain how they will influence my career options. Juvenile boot camps were opene... Free Essays on Rehabilitation Free Essays on Rehabilitation Thesis Statement and Outline Thesis: I have decided that â€Å"rehabilitation† will be my area of concentration for exploring my career options after I retire from the Navy. I. The Areas of Rehabilitation that interest me. A. Juvenile boot camps 1. Why I would like to work in a juvenile boot camp. a. I enjoy working with and helping youth. 2. Why juvenile boot camps were opened. a. Increase in juvenile crime b. Growing cost of youth detention facilities 3. Juvenile boot camp programs a. boot camp structure b. boot camp programs B. Therapeutic Communities 1. Complete treatment Environment 2. Treatment outlook 3. Primary goal 4. Effectiveness 5. Financial feasibility C. Conclusion 1. How both areas could influence my career choice. a. Military background b. Personal experience Rehabilitation When I started pursuing my college degree, I knew I wanted to work in the Criminal Justice field. I was just not sure what area I wanted to make a career after retiring from the Navy. I did know that I wanted to help people and have a positive impact on them. As I have continued towards completing my degree, I have decided that â€Å"rehabilitation† would be my area of concentration for exploring my career options. This way I will be using my military experience and college education to help people. There are two areas of rehabilitation that interest me. First is juvenile rehabilitation. I am very interested in working at a juvenile boot camp. I enjoy working with the youth and I will be able to help them when they need it most. The other area of rehabilitation that interests me is the therapeutic communities. Here I would work with adult offenders at the end of their incarceration period, and assist them with returning to the community. I will discuss these two areas and explain how they will influence my career options. Juvenile boot camps were opene...

The Archetype of women portray in movies throught the decades Movie Review

The Archetype of women portray in movies throught the decades - Movie Review Example The changes in the damsel in distress archetype can be easily traced through the various versions of the Cinderella story as presented by what would become Paramount Pictures but in 1914 was the Famous Players Film Company, that produced by Walt Disney in 1950 and the more modern version of â€Å"Ever After† starring Drew Barrymore. By comparing and contrasting key elements of each story, a picture begins to emerge of the differing ideologies of each time period as well as differences regarding intended audience. In the earliest film, Cinderella is seen to be living with her stepmother and two older step-sisters without any true mention of the missing natural parents. Following the traditional story, Cinderella spends her days cleaning up after her vain and spoiled sisters and step-mother and her evenings sitting in with the cinders to keep warm. She earns the fairy godmother’s help with her kindness to an old, crippled woman who shows up at her door in spite of the cru el treatment the woman gets from the step-mother and step-sisters. A tangential concern here is how this expectation for young women to be kind to the destitute compares with Snow White’s treatment (another Damsel in Distress archetypal figure) in which the young woman is poisoned for her pains. Cinderella, though, earns a chance to meet the prince while she is out gathering wood for the fire and the two fall in love immediately. The story sticks pretty close to the storyline that would be made popular by Walt Disney 40 years later with the exception that Cinderella must also complete tasks given her by the godmother before she can be dressed for the ball. These are easy tasks, including gathering the pumpkin, the mice and the rats to serve respectively as coach, horses and servants, but they are something Cinderella actually has to go and accomplish before she can receive the godmother’s gift. In keeping with the times, it was not unusual for people to find animals su ch as mice and rats living in close proximity to their homes, and it is not surprising that inside the house is where Cinderella finds and captures the mice and the rats she will need. Cinderella is a true working girl, too, not squeamish about dealing with these animals and accustomed to the hard labor of a housemaid in an age without automatic machines available to make the work easier. This is a much harder story than that told by Walt Disney in 1950. Here the step-sisters have become as unfortunate in appearance as they are in spirit. They are both obviously mean and spiteful even to each other. Cinderella’s role here is the same, to struggle as housemaid under these sisters and an even more demanding step-mother, but the house is much grander and Cinderella’s accommodations are more comfortable although still poor. While she is still expected to do all of the work, her animated clothes don’t look nearly as poor as that of her earlier live-action counterpart and the animals that live in her house are friends rather than vermin. This is made clear as the birds, dog, horse and mice all exist apparently to serve her desires because they are all, to some degree, in love with her as well. In keeping with the mood of the times in which new inventions were being made that made women’s housework much less of a chore, Cinderella is rarely seen

Various songs between 1830-1960 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Various songs between 1830-1960 - Assignment Example I have listened to Jelly Roll Morton as I like blues and jazz and he plays a mean piano. I like the way the instruments interact. This kind of music reminds me of a book I enjoyed once by Machael Ondatje , Coming Through Slaughter, about a jazz horn player who blew his lip out when he went nuts and played until he could not play any more. La Paloma is an old Mexican folk song I also remember hearing as a child. It is a beautiful melody, and I never expected to hear it played as jazz. I guess the melody lends itself to improvisation. I never thought about it as anything other than a pretty folk song and I sure never dreamed that Jelly Roll Morton ever played it, though I guess it would have been very popular for afternoon parties, a la Stephen Foster. 3. King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, â€Å"Dipper Mouth Blues† (1923) I have to find more of these guys. I think that’s a real early Louis Armstrong playing the muted trumpet. The clarinetist is really mellow. At the time whe n this was recorded, the music was real, no digital augmentation and I love the complexity of this jazz, but I do with it had the fuller sound of stereo. My ears like the depth of modern recordings. I wonder how they ever got that name. It sounds like the name of a fish. I wonder how much music we missed, because the players were racially segregated? 4. Original Dixieland Jazz Band, â€Å"Tiger Rag† (1917) (on APM CD) I have only heard later versions of this tune, I think by Louis Armstrong’s band,. The chorus is very familiar, but I do not really remember the rest of the music. I went looking and found a version with Art Tatum on piano. I did not know anyone’s fingers could move that fast. 5. Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five, â€Å"West End Blues† (1928) Wow, this is one I had not heard. The rhythm is very regular like for dancing, but the instruments are really clear with solos on the horns. I have not heard many trombone solos. It sounds like a low Dix ieland, with the combined instruments and voice sort of having a conversation. The piano sounds like one that has tacks on the hammers. I think that was called honkey tonk piano. It is a great sound and reminds one of the places where this music was played. I get a vision of taverns, bars and some upper scale clubs playing this music. Great trumpet solo by Louis Armstrong. I have liked some things I heard with him playing, but I did not know he was such a great musician. 6. Jelly Roll Morton, â€Å"Black Bottom Stomp† (1926) It is really great that some people are sharing their old 78 records on Youtube. I would never have heard some of these. This tune really showcases dance rhythm Dixieland. The instruments sound a little strange, like maybe they are using mutes on some of the horns. 7. Guy Lombardo, â€Å"We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye† (lyrics) I heard this by Frank Sinatra, but I like the one by Guy Lombardo better. It has more style. The old Sinatra record is a sim ple dance tune with only an interesting solo on a high pitched xylophone. It is a happy love song., while many of this time were very sad. I guess girls really like sad songs and they bought most of the music. After all, it was girls who wanted to dance in these times. It was an acceptable way to touch. There was no television then, so these radio shows were really popular among middle and higher class people. It was happy entertainment, and I prefer the big band sound. 8. Bing Crosby, â€Å"Out of Nowhere†

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Marketing - Assignment Example A steward is usually concerned with the three disciplines of mapping, building and aligning a channel value system. Channel value system can be improved and converted from an assembly of certain elements to a highly integrated and efficient system with a deliberate strategy. Mapping is all about coming up with a strategy on how the goods or products will reach the consumer from the producer. It means detailing ones go to market world. It involves coming up with an overview of the system and what drives it. Understanding customer needs and their demand is also important in mapping for channel stewards. It also involves coming up with diagrams showing flow of products and services through the channel value chain, Gauging outside forces shaping the market, Catalog channel member division and cost of labor and calculating a case for channel stewardship investing. Building involves assembling a new and improved overall system and putting it into aligned practice. This basically means creating the stewardship plan. It also deals with targeting value chain value properties of key customer segments, Identifying levels of operation up and down the chain based on perspectives shared with stewardship groups by respected people from each channel partner and prioritizing and demarcating roles and investments is the final step in the building task. Aligning is all about harmonizing the channel value chain. It includes; Engendering the 3 T’s truth, transparency and trust, resolving channel discrepancies and reconciling differences between competing channels, and sustain senior executive engagement from all players. Internet shopping has brought a lot of changes in the marketing sector since almost all goods and services nowadays are being marketed and transacted online wise. Incorporating the internet into a channel strategy and overcoming common obstacles that prevent transformation has been

Ontological or Epistemological Organisational Structure

Ontological or Epistemological Organisational Structure Organizations Structure: Modern / Symbolic and Post- Modern perspectives There are many different ways at looking at organizations, with each way producing a different insight, knowledge, and perspective. Depending on the ontological as well epistemological assumptions, different theories and perspectives may seem to apply better. The essay will focus on the similarities and differences between the theories through the models of social structure in an organization. From the philosophical ontological point of view, the modernist sees the material and social world as consisting of structures that exist, regardless of individual awareness. For example, the hierarchy of an organization is regarded as a social fact even if people are not aware of it. â€Å"Organizations †¦ should work like machines, using people, resources, as their parts. With the key design of building â€Å"the best† machines to keep organizations productive.† (Han van Diest. 2008) As such, the modernist approach to an organization can be considered as a well designed, structured entity. Operating organizational success is considered to be the result of well-organized systems that keep people / machines busy and costs under control. (Han van Diest. 2008) On the other end of the spectrum, the postmodernist would argue that the social world external to individual support is made up of nothing more than mere names, concepts and labels which are then used to form a structured reality. (Burrell and Morgan 1979) Supporters of the postmodernist argue that organizations are ‘imagined entities. â€Å"A core idea in postmodernism is that we are always making sense of our omniscient reality through a pair of imaginative glasses glasses based on such factors as our present desire in a given situation, our past experiences, our values and culture, our understanding of what is real, and so forth. It is never possible to take the glasses off altogether and view the world impartially.† (Inkeles A. 1983.) Taking a more balanced stand in the spectrum, a symbolic interpretive perception would be that social reality is created through communicative interaction between groups of people. Social reality is not a reality or set of facts existing prior to human activity. We create our social world through our language, symbols and behavioral actions. (Steven R Corman, Marshall Scott Poole 2000) As expressive forms representative of human consciousness, organizations are understood and analyzed not mainly in economic or material terms but in terms of their expressive ideas and symbolism. (Smircich 1983: 347-8). (Hatch, Mary J. and Cunliffe, Ann L., 2006) Structure of an Organization: While defining an organization from nuts and bolts point of view such as objects, buildings and elements, one of the key aims of a modernist perspective is to measure the organizational social structure to find out how to improve and contrive the ideal organization. (Hatch, Mary J. and Cunliffe, Ann L., 2006) Through research and past studies of various organizations, it was found that there is a strong relationship between the internal/external environment and the social structure of an organization in both a cross-tabulated or correlated way. Influences may include the size or bureaucratic structure of the organization. (Lex Donaldson 2001). The organizational environment has a direct effect on organizational structure, such that unstable environment produce an organic structure system that can react and adapt more quickly, while in the opposite scenario, produces a mechanistic system. The better the match, the higher the effectiveness of the organization. (e.g., Burns Stalker, 1961; Pennings,1975). (Shmuel Ellis, Tamar Almor, Oded Shenkar 2002) The modernist also views the organization through its social structuration. As routines, habits and rules are developed through the mutual interaction and influences between the workers and organization, a structural system is created, re-created and mediated within the organizationa. Realizing that the agency and its structures are both conditions and outcomes of the actions of human action, social relations and practices within the organization (Cohen, 1989, Giddens, 1984), social structure is therefore viewed not a â€Å"dead† entity, but a social construction created and maintained by social practices. (Jennifer Wheeler-Brooks 2009) Again, although the organization structure provides the setting, in which workers fulfill and complete their daily task, the relationship between them, is not cast in stone, as employees remain as knowledgeable, responsive workers who have the ability to choose their own behaviors and thus either continuing or modifying the organization through their actions and behavior. It is also important to note that the modernists view on social structure comprises three mutually supportive dualities of structures and agency (workers), namely signification, domination, and legitimation. Although these three are inseparable in practice (Giddens, 1979, 1984), (Giddens, 1979, 1984), they may be analyzed separately. Structures of signification are institutionalized interpretive schemes that allocate meaning to peoples actions, such as beliefs, and language. Structures of legitimation are organization norms, constituted in the tacitly understood moral and social obligations (Clegg, 1989). Structures of domination are the institutionalized acquisition of power (Giddens, 1984). This can be in the form of, resources domination involving the structured distribution of material resources, such as products, services including right of access and deployment of such resources, as well as institutionalized authority relationships. (Giddens, 1984; Whittington, 1992) By concentrating on the discontinuities and changing patterns of behavior and relationships of an organization, one cannot help but question and probe deeper on the relationship between agency and structure. (Giddens 1979; Reed 1997). (Paula Jarzabkowski 2008) It can therefore also be said that formal structures have symbolic as well as action producing attributes. Structures can become injected with socially shared meanings, and thus, apart to their functional roles, can serve to share and bring information about the organization both internally and externally. A symbolic interpretation can therefore help provide a new and different perspective into the causes and consequences of structure within an organization. (Tolbert and Zucker, 1996, p. 177). (Van de Ven, Andrew H.; Dooley, Kevin; Holmes, Michael E. 2004) The symbolic interpretive perceives that the emergence of the organization social structure needs to include social interaction and human consciousness through social practices, routines and community interaction. Through the build up of ideas, knowledge and actions of people, a routine is birth and rebirth in response to new experiences observed. (Levitt and March, 1988) Routines may include organizational rules, roles, conventions, strategies, structures, cultural practices and capabilities. (Martin Schulz 2002) It is therefore incorrect to think of organizations as only departments or system units. Interpersonal correspondence is the crux of any organization as it creates structures and foundations which can then affect what needs to be done, who to do it and what to do after that. (Robert Lawrence Heath, Jennings Bryant 2000) Organizations are adaptable to their environments in ways such as creating jobs for specific occasions, purposes or people and evaluating and deciding to continue or discontinue the job, based on the new requirement and knowledge acquired. (Miner (1987, 1991). (Martin Schulz 2002) The Symbolic interpretive views the social structure of an organization through the process of knowledge transference within the organization. (Davenport and Prusak, 1996; Choo, 1998) Knowledge, symbolism and best-practice transfers within and between organizations is not a one-sided activity, but an ongoing process of sharing, involving trial and error, feedback, and the mutual adjustment of both the sender and receiver of knowledge. (Szulanski, 1996; Powell, 1998; Kaeser, 2001). (Georg von Krogh 2003) It is also viewed that the chief feature of human organization is the use of language and symbolism (including the attribution of meaning to things and making sense of the world). (Robert Cooper 1989) From the Symbolic interpretive perspective, language such as the use of words, shared vocabulary, the way workers speak about their organization, use of â€Å"slangs† and jargons can also be used to define the social structure within the organization. Such groups of people, â€Å"Communities of practice†, bond together due to similar passion for their skills and knowledge, and through regular interaction in order, develop a tacit understanding and meaning with one another, thus enhancing the social structure within an organization. (Etienne Wenger, Richard Arnold Mcdermott, William Snyder, 2002) The foundational perspectives of postmodernism are that the individuals in the organization do not have an independent consciousness but needs inter-communication with others to develop an identity. Meanings are not given prior to communication but arise from it and are context-dependent; meanings, structure and language are considered temporary due to the ever-changing environment and developments. (Bart Nooteboom, 1992) Where modern organizations favour bureaucratic structures that emphasis on roles, rules and procedures, postmodern organizations prefers a more democratic approach and views that are informal and based on mutual agreement. Comparing to modern organizations that favour separation of functions and departments, postmodern organizations favour de-differentiation of those elements. This allows the creation of multi-skilled worker that can break traditional structural boundaries and inflexible work processes. (Steve May, Dennis K. Mumby 2004) The social structure of an organization is viewed simply as a reflection of the built commitment of individuals to help develop a set of â€Å"rules† for the organization in order to survive in the ever changing postmodern era. (Jim Barry, 2000) Drawing much from the philosophies of language of (the later) Wittgenstein (1976) and de Saussure (1979), in Postmodernism, communication rather than consciousness is viewed as the backbone of knowledge, and hence the philosophy of language occupies a central position. Words are not longer interpreted as names of objects or properties (meanings, concepts) that are given prior to language unlike in the Symbolic interpretive perspective. (Bart Nooteboom, 1992) Language reveals the organizational reality by showing that it is a process that involuntarily includes its internal differences and conflicts. The social structure of the organization is always in disarray caused by threats and internal fighting. Organizations should therefore be viewed appropriately based on sense, intellect and logical context. This is very much unlike the modern thinking of the notion of an organization stability. (Robert Cooper 1989) However, despite the difference of â€Å"language† opinions, postmodernists still follow the fundamental social structure similar to that of the symbolic interpretive in that interaction between people does not arise from a fixed structural identity, but is formed through interaction between people. In the words of Lyotard: The self by itself does not amount to much, but it is not isolated. It is taken up in a tissue of relations which is more complex and mobile than ever. It always finds itself in a nexus in communication circuits, however small.(1979, p. 59, authors translation). (Bart Nooteboom, 1992) In conclusion, although the three perspectives differ in their interpretation and views on the dimension of an organizational structure, it can be agreed that all perspectives recognize the importance of the social structure of an organization as the key building block that forms the organization. Blau (1977: 1) â€Å"The study of social structure centres attention on the distribution of people among different positions and their social associations. Through the study of structural effects of the various perspectives, we are able to understand the spirit, character and characteristics of social structure within an organization, as well as the effects and outcomes it carries by looking at factors such as formal organization chart, differentiated positions within the structure, relationships among task-relevant roles, languages games used, differentiation, inter-communication, etc. Thus having a good understanding of the different perspectives and applying a mixture of different â€Å"theories† in the right context and environment will help to strengthen the organization as a whole and provide a better picture of what an organization is and why things are happening the way they are. Reference: Andrew H, Dooley, Holmes, Kevin, Michael E, Van de Ven, ‘Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2004. p 179. Bart Nooteboom, ‘A Postmodern Philosophy of Markets, Int. Studies of Mgt. Org., Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 53-76 M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1992 Dennis K. Mumby, Steve May, 2004, ‘Engaging Organizational Communication Theory Research. Etienne Wenger, Richard Arnold Mcdermott, William Snyder, 2002, ‘A Guide to management knowledge: Cultivating Communities of Practice Georg von Krogh, 2003, ‘Knowledge Sharing and the Communal Resource Han van Diest, 2008, ‘Possibilities of Democratisation in Organisations. Social Epistemology Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 97-117 Hatch, Mary J. and Cunliffe, Ann L., 2006, ‘Organization Theory, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press: Oxford Inkeles A. ‘Exploring Individual Modernity. New York: Columbia University Press, 1983 Jennifer Wheeler-Brooks ‘Journal of Sociology Social Welfare, March 2009, Volume XXXVI, Number 1 Jennings Bryant, Robert Lawrence Heath, 2000, ‘Human Communication Theory and Research. Jim Barry, 2000, ‘Organizations and Management. Lex Donaldson, 2001, ‘The Contingency Theory of Organizations Martin Schulz, 2002, ‘Organizational Learning Oded Shenkar, Shmuel Ellis, Tamar Almor, 2002, ‘Structural Contingency Revisited: Toward a Dynamic System Model Paula Jarzabkowski, 2008, ‘Shaping strategy as a Structuration Process Robert Cooper, ‘Modernism, Post Modernism and Organizational Analysis 3: The Contribution of Jacques Derrida Steven R Corman, Marshall Scott Poole, 2000, ‘Perspectives on Organization Communication

Being An International Student in a Post 9/11 World :: Terrorism Terrorists Essays

Being An International Student in a Post 9/11 World "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free," just not your students. "I knew what was going to happen after 9/11. It was understood," said Tariq Halela, a 21-year-old student at Boston University. What he understood was simple: for an international student, living in the United States would never be the same. Halela, an Indian born Kuwaiti native, has been studying stateside for over two years. He is an accounting major and speaks four languages -- English, Arabic, Hindi and Gujarati -- fluently. "I love it here in the states," he said. "That is why I was so worried when I got a call from the ISO [international student's office] saying I could be deported." Confusion over the new immigration rules and regulations is what gave Halela his first deportation scare. With stricter visas guidelines, the culmination of new policies the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have undertaken is the Student Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS. Now, new international students can choose to study at any one of the over 7,000 SEVIS-certified universities in America. The schools, in turn, provide a plethora of information on the students ranging from the mundane - name, enrollment verification, date of birth - to the normally considered private information such as grades and field of study. Essentially, the SEVIS is a program designed to keep tabs on all the approximately one million international students studying here in the U.S. The SEVIS keeps a database housing all of a student's information to determine whether he or she can stay in the U.S. or can be allowed to come here in the first place. Although the program seems like a reaction to the 9/11 attacks, the birth of SEVIS dates back to the early '90s. One of the men convicted of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Eyad Ismoil, had gained access to the U.S. through a student visa. In an attempt to help regulate the student visas system, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which commissioned the government to create a system that manages information on all international students but Congress never pressed to make that system operational. When it was learned that two of the 9/11 highjackers, Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehi, also came tot he U.S. through student visas, Congress changed their tune.