Organisational Behaviour summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational Behaviour summary - Essay Example described McDonaldization as a process through which society adopts the characteristics of a fast food restaurant, which has four components; calculability, efficiency, predictability and control. However, McDonald’s has diversified beyond these traditional fast food items through the acquisition of restaurants such as Boston Market and Donatos Pizzeria. McDonald’s not only operates stand alone restaurants but also has presence in commercial establishments such as mall, gas stations and airports. What began as a simple drive through in 1941 has emerged to be the world’s largest fast food chain. There is a trans-generational connotation to McDonald’s as every American seems to have gone through it at one point or through out their lives. But how has McDonald’s managed to be such a global icon of success? McDonald’s is used as a learning tool, even by organizations out of the food and service industry. This implies that their strategy is well above global standards. It puts emphasis on staff training and development programmes, strict and consistent quality and service, continuous innovation and development and a centralized promotion campaign. The main emphasis of McDonald’s competitive advantage that has ensured that they have remained as a leader is the relentless quest for consistency and innovation. This is compounded by the fact that McDonald’s has put measure in place such as the quality assurance labs globally to ensure that only products of the highest standards are used in the production process. Despite the fact that the staff hired by McDonald’s is mostly untrained and inexperienced, these recruits undergo vigorous training on food preparation and customer care. While it is a global enterprise, McDonald’s operations are standardized through out. This has advantages such as the standardization of cost efficiencies and the management is able to make comparisons and learn from its various outlets. This also encourages healthy competition

UK Deregulated Banking and Economic Downturn Essay

UK Deregulated Banking and Economic Downturn - Essay Example According to Economy Watch (2010), the Banking Industry was once a simple and a reliable business; but, deregulation and technology have transformed the industry considerably. Banking regulation ensures correction of market imperfections and unfair distribution of resources (Central Banks, 2011). Therefore, deregulation of financial institutions saw the domination of the industry by the selected few, and they acted according to their selfish gain. According to Lyons (1999-2011), every aspect of banking is regulated by federal or state agencies. The Thatcherism regime in its quest to deregulate the banking industry generated a chain of imperfection towards failure in the financial sector (Enqdahl, 2009). Deregulation is expected to have considerable effects on the real economy if t significant changes were placed in the structure, and efficiency of the banking industry (Strahan, 2002). Overreliance on a deregulated banking system in the United Kingdom saw the large financial instituti ons dominate the sector across a wider geographical area. This led to loss of local market concentration as they only pursued entering the market rather than consolidating within a local market. Banks play a central economic role; thus, affecting the well being of every sector in the economy (According to about.com 2011). The motivation for bankers to undermine and hinder prudent regulation is inherent in the compensation incentives of bankers (Gilani, 2009). With deregulation, transparency in the activities of the institutions is inhibited. Deregulation of the Banking Industry in the United Kingdom saw rapid growth in credits within the financial sector (The Turner Review, 2009). This was orchestrated by the freedom in the banking sector as banks could formulate their own policies without reliance to the state approval. On the same note, significant wholesale and overseas funding surged the economy into deep crises (Economic crisis and Market Upheavals, 2011). Investment in the mar ket was heightened in the sense that one could access investment in the UK risk-free index government bonds with a yield to maturity over 3% real and this could even surge down to1% (The Turner Review, 2009). In the UK, trading activity was underpinned by the securitized credit model, and as the home of several leading banks, it was affected greatly by the impact of the economic downturn. A number of features increased risks contributing to the credit boom in the upswing and enhancing the nature of the down swing that followed (Economic Watch, 2010). This saw losses and liquidity strains escalate in the financial market, housing problems became widespread, as the prices of houses shot down, and credit supply dwindled down and the eventual problems with funding of the UK mortgage banks intensifying (Economic crisis and Market Upheavals, 2011). Factors that were escalated by the deregulation of the banking industry included among others; massive growth, and complexity of the securitiz ed credit model, increased commercial banks involvement in trading activities, heightened leverage in multiple forms followed (Economic Watch, 2010).. Also, the expanded maturity, complexity of structured credit and derivative system and lack of adequate capital buffers contributed to the escalation of the