The Fast Food And Quick Service Restaurant Industry Marketing Essay

The Fast Food And Quick Service Restaurant Industry Marketing Essay For the mid-term paper I have chosen the food beverage category from the 2008 Inc 500 list. Companies in this industry are involved in processing, packaging and delivering of food and beverage. This includes prepared foods, packaged foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. The company with the highest revenue on this list is Wingstop with revenue of $206.6 million in 2008 and the company with the highest growth rate is The Snack Factory with a growth as high as 18,371.3%. The company in lowest quartile of the top 2008 Inc. 500 Food Beverage list that I think will move up the most positions is a company called Saladworks. In this paper I will evaluate for the different companies what industry they are in and if it is an attractive industry. I will use Michael Porters five basic competitive forces to evaluate the competition and profitability of the industries. The basic forces are threat of new entrants, power of suppliers, power of customers, threat of substitutes and rivalry among existing competitors. For Wingstop and The Snack Factory I will further evaluate positioning, competitive advantage, trends, customers, products, business model, core competencies and competition for each. For Saladworks I will explain why I think they will move up the most positions. Wingstop is a Restaurant chain serving made-to-order buffalo chicken wings, side dishes and beer in 28 states across the U.S. (Inc 500) The company was founded in 1994 and was successful in creating a niche in chicken dining. They started franchising in 1997 and have a nostalgic, aviation-theme in their restaurants. The industry that they are in is the fast food and quick-service restaurant industry. I will have a look at industry competition to evaluate if this is an attractive industry. The threat of new entrants in this industry is moderate. There are some important barriers to entry but the lack of some significant ones makes it vulnerable. The barriers that are in place are high investments and high fixed costs. Especially marketing and advertising costs to keep existing customers and getting new ones are high for the big chains. There is relatively high degree of brand loyalty to some branded chains and franchise licenses are protected as intellectual property. The barriers that are not in place includes the absent of economics of scale meaning even small local stores can be profitable. Many consumers are also price sensitive and the cost of switching is low. Because of the lack of some of the most important barriers the threat of new entries is substantial. The power of suppliers in this industry is considerable but mostly for small restaurants. The distribution to the fast food chains is dominated by a few large suppliers that can put pressure on smaller businesses. But with the bigger chains like McDonalds the suppliers stand weaker in a bargaining situation. The power of customers and the pressure they can put on the industry is relatively moderate. This is because the consumers in principle can produce the product themselves if they want. They are also price-sensitive so the prices are kept low and it doesnt cost customers anything to switch to an alternative product. The threat of substitutes in the industry is high. Fast food faces constant competition from home cooked food. In addition the fast food product is not differentiated and consumers can easily go from McDonalds to for example Burger King. The price for most fast foods is in the same low range and it is easy to switch to an alternative restaurant. Rivalry among existing competitors is also high. There are many small players with the same size but in the high end a number of big franchise chains. They have many of the same strategies such as low price, quick service and quality. There is almost no differentiation between the businesses and the growth of one company goes on the expense of a competitor so spending on advertising tends to be high. The industry has suffered a lot of criticism coming from the high coverage of negative health effects and obesity from diverse media. Even do rivalry between competitors is high and there is a lot of negative media coverage this is an attractive industry to be in. People are still buying these often calorie busting products and the sales were more than $180 billion in 2007. (Hoovers) Positioning Wingstop position itself as healthy finger food chain. They use lot of funds to market that the chain is not selling unhealthy fast food and that they always serve fresh homemade food. Their competitive advantages include their award-winning recipes and simple concept, but also important is their marketing and distribution partnership with high profile American football team Dallas Cowboys. Their deal with the team has made them the exclusive chicken wing vendor in the team stadium and also made a lot of hype around the chain. With more than 600 open or under development restaurants in 27 states they have proven that the concept is scalable in the U.S. The simple concept of selling just chicken wings with some side dishes has been well received by the public. Scalability internationally is more difficult because buffalo chicken wings are a traditional American bar food and are not widely available outside the U.S. Scalability in the ranks of McDonalds is therefore questionable but no t impossible with the right use of resources. Their advantage is also sustainable if they continue with the simple concept, focus solely on the chicken wings and invest further in the process that makes them unique among competitors. This chain is definitely here to stay. Trends A trend that is working against the company is the increased media focus on health and diet issues associated with fast food chains. The industry is also very competitive and Wingstop has to spend a lot on advertising to keep consumers away from their competitors. Another trend that is acting for the company is the increasingly busy workdays that make people eat out instead of making food at home. Consumers often chose the fastest and cheapest alternative when they are in a hurry and need to eat on the go. Problem The problem Wingstop is solving is the elementary need for food and the need for having it made and served fast when people dont have time do make it themselves. The need for food is an aspirin problem with regards to Maslows hierarchy of needs because the physiological need must be met or the human body simply cannot continue to function. But the need for a fast meal is rather a strong vitamin problem because even with hectic workdays you can decide to take time to make your own food. The job to be done is to be available and visible to serve customers. Customers The customers are everyday consumers that have a liking for chicken wings. The consumers are families looking to have a good time without having to cook themselves and singles with a hectic workdays that doesnt have time cook and need something easy. Product Their product is primarily Buffalo style chicken wings but they also sell different chicken types, side dishes and beer. Other chicken alternatives are boneless strips and breaded chicken. Their side dishes includes fresh cut seasoned fries, potato salad, creamy cole slaw, hot cheddar cheese sauce, bourbon baked beans, crispy veggie sticks and dips. More than just the physical products they sell an experience. The American bar experience in a 1930-40s pre-jet aviation theme inspired setting. Business model Their business model is that of a manufacturer. Their main product is a nondurable physical asset in the form of food and they buy the raw materials and transform them into their product as a creator. Even do they outsource much of the actual production as a large part of their branch consist of franchises they are still a creator. Wingstop have clear routines for every franchise so that the product tastes the same everywhere you buy it and so they do substantial design of the product and are therefore not a distributor. Core competencies To continue to succeed Wingstop need to be top of the line when it comes to marketing. In addition to the process of making the popular chicken wings they sell their most important core competency is the ability to advertise the brand and create hype around their restaurant chain. They have extended a contract with their national spokesman, Super Bowl hero Troy Aikman and this shows that they are on the right track. As mentioned earlier the competition among fast food chains are tough and the only ones that survives are the ones that get through too consumers and keeps them coming back. To get consumers to come back the food and service in the restaurants needs to be excellent. Because many of their restaurants are franchises they need to be good at creating solid routines so the experience in the restaurants doesnt differ from each other. But the most important factor to continue the success is to be visible and stand out among the fast food restaurants and this must be done by adve rtising and creative marketing. Competition The competition Wingstop faces is all the different fast food chains including not only the restaurants that sell chicken wings but also the ones that offer hamburgers, pizza tacos and more. The big competitors in the segments as a whole are McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to mention some that has a large part of the market shares. More directly Wingstop has to compete with the other restaurants offering similar chicken wing meals. Some of the competitor chains are Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Wing Zone, Applebees, Brinker, Carlson Restaurants, Damons, Darden, Family Sports Concepts, Fox Hound Restaurant, Ker Inc, Papa Johns and Zaxbys (Hoovers). The biggest competitor from the list is Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW). They had revenues of $422.4 million in 2008 and operate a chain of more than 550 restaurants in nearly 40 states. Besides the chicken wings they are very famous for their dipping sauces that accompanies. They also sell appetizers, burgers, tacos, salads, beer wine and other beverages. Like Wingstop they have used relationships with sports to market themselves as a sports bar franchise. Another competitor worth mentioning is Hooters which have had success with the restaurant experience they offer consumers and this factor is more important than the food they serve. Hooters have a beach theme and their waitresses dress in the chains trademark bright orange short shorts and tight T-shirts and are known as Hooter girls. By focusing on the special atmosphere they have managed to differentiate themselves and gained a competitive advantage. This has also opened the door for international expansion and they now have 450 Hooters restaurants in about 45 states and more than 25 other countries. The Snack Factory Background The Snack Factory is a family owned and operated business that makes and sells crunchy snacks. The company was founded in 1981 by Sara and Warren Wilson. Warren started out with selling funnel cakes based on his grandmothers recipe on country fairs in 1969 and paid his way through college with the proceeds. After college he opened a store selling funnel cakes in New Jersey and here he met Sara. The two of them started to develop the company called Funnel Cake Factory and eventually made a concept of bagel chips that was flat crunchy chips made from bagels into a company called New York Style Bagel Chip Company. This was a new idea and consumers welcomed the new product. The bagel chips company was later sold to Nabisco in 1992 and the funnel cake company was sold to JJ Snack Foods a few years later. The entrepreneurs didnt stop and used the following years to develop a thin but crunchy pretzel great for dipping and spreading that became known as Pretzel Crisps. Industry The Snack Factory is in the snack foods industry which can be explained as Companies that manufacture, process, and/or package snack foods, including salty snacks, nuts, snack bars, and snack mixes (Hoovers). The threat of new entrants in the industry is low on national and international level. A major barrier of entry in this market is very high degree of brand loyalty. The big companies with their popular brands make it very difficult to come in to the market and establish a new brand. It is easier to enter on the local level because the consumers are open to local products. Customers are price sensitive in this industry too but with already very low prices it is difficult to enter and compete with the larger corporations. The power of suppliers in this industry is low. Most of the raw foods for the snack manufacturers come from farmers and they dont have strong bargaining power. Farmers have no choice but to follow the prices the snack manufacturers will give them. The power of customers is also not very high in this industry. Customers are supermarkets that again sell to consumers. The supermarkets and the likes need to provide the consumers with the snack brands they want or they will go somewhere else. The stores therefore have weak bargaining power towards the manufacturers but indirect the manufacturers have to listen to the consumers that are price sensitive and set the price so they will buy the product. The threat of substitutes in the industry is on the other hand high. There is continuous threat from existing snack food and also from new alternatives. There isnt much to differentiate a bag of chips from another and the customers have to buy in what the consumers want the most because they cant carry every brand. Rivalry among existing competitors is also high. There is fierce rivalry among the biggest companies and advertising and marketing budget are extremely high. Because of low differentiation and that growth goes on the expense of a competitor making customer buy and keep buying is crucial. Despite high costs on promotion and brand advertising and large corporations competing to capture larger shares of the market this is also an attractive industry. The industry generates billions of dollars in revenue and if you as a company manage to take some shares of the market there is large profit involved Positioning The Snack Factory position themselves as a healthy snack alternative with less calories, cholesterol and fat compared to other snack alternatives. Both the founders and their family members are involved with the company and this gives the company a family business image. Their most important competitive advantages are the made in America brand and recipe that is developed over several years combined with the expertise the Wilsons holds. They have already demonstrated that it is scalable by increasing distribution to some of Americas largest retailers having a growth as high as 18,371.3% last year. But the family based company can only supply to so many before they need to expand production and that can be in conflict with their image. The growth may therefore not be too sustainable, but with the product in the hands of a bigger snack manufacturer the growth might continue. This would mean an exit for the Wilson like they did with the other two companies but they are entrepreneurs and will probably keep going for the next big thing. Trends A trend that is acting for the company is the media focus mentioned earlier on health effects from eating food with high calorie and fat amounts. People are becoming more and more concerned about these issues and have started to choose more healthy alternatives. Another trend working for them is the consumer interest for made in America brand products. Having this label can appeal to Americans who associate this with high quality and the feeling of contributing to keep production in the U.S. A trend that is acting against the company is that many of the large competitors also have shifted focus over on healthy snack products and have much more money to use on marketing their products. Problem The problem The Snack Factory is solving is the hunger consumers have between the main meals of the day that are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Snack food is an alternative to be eaten between these meals as an energy supply or for taste enjoyment. This problem is also is also a vitamin need. The job to be done is to provide a product that the consumers see as an alternative to the many different types of snack foods. It also has to be available as many consumers buy these products on impulse usually when they are shopping for something entirely different. Customers The Snack Factorys customers are the large retailers, supermarkets and fine stores who sell the products to the end customer the consumers. Retailers and supermarkets they are already supplying to include Sams Club, Whole Foods, Shaws Supermarket and many others across the U.S and Canada. Sams Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouses and is today serving more than 47 million U.S. members. Whole Foods is a food retailer of natural and organic products and have more than 275 locations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. Shaws Supermarket is the second largest grocery group in the New England States and operates 200 stores solely across New England. Product The product The Snack Factory is selling is Pretzels Crisps. The product is like a normal pretzel only that the middle is removed. The product has a lot of crunch and flavor and is made with no trans fats, no saturated fat and no cholesterol and only containing 110 calories per serving. The product is meant as a snack straight from the bag but also for dipping and spread for toppings. The Pretzels Crisps come in many different flavors including original, garlic, honey mustard onion, buffalo wing, dark chocolate, peanut butter and chipotle cheddar. The price out to the end users from retailers and supermarkets is around $2.99. Business model Their business model is that of a manufacturer like Wingstop. The Pretzels Crisps they are making is a nondurable asset so they are classified as physical. The pretzels are made from raw material to the final products that they sell out. This kind of transformation of the asset classifies the company a creator. A creator of physical assets follows the basic business model of a manufacturer. Core competencies To continue the success The Snack Factory need to put more capital into marketing if they are going to continue the growth they have experienced. Their core competency lies with the experience in developing new food products and recipes for the preparation of the Pretzels Crisps. Sara says, We believe its the product that catapults us. Sure, we do some marketing, but our success came before we did any marketing. The product itself makes people come back for more. (Inc 500. Sep 1, 2008) It is obvious that the company is not spending much on advertising and they have been using in-store samplings as the most used marketing method. This approach has gotten the company so far and they have said they were looking into the opportunity to expand to Asia and Europe while keeping the business personable and family oriented. But coming from a local factory start and beginning to compete with the large snack manufacturers this will provide some challenges. The industry consists of large corpora tions competing hard to capture shares and they spend heavily on promotion campaigns to convince customers to buy their product. To compete with these corporations they have to be good at marketing in a big scale. The company doesnt have the experience with taking products to compete in the top since they sold the previous companies before they got there. If they are to pursue international growth they need to get better in marketing, partner up with companies that have the experience or they should make an exit and sell. Competition Their competition is as mentioned the large players in the snack industry. There was no company information on The Snack Factory in the Hoovers database but looking at the information for the company J J Snack Foods that acquired their funnel cake company I found a list of competitors in the snack business. In the US they will have to compete with companies like J J Snack Foods, Frito-Lay, Mrs. Fields, Snyders of Hanover, American Dairy Queen, Auntie Annes, Cinnabon, Dawn Food Products, Dreyerss, General Mills, Interstate Bakeries, Jamba, Jel Sert, Juice It Up, Kellogg U.S. Snacks, Kraft Foods, Lance Snacks, Mister Twister Pretzels, Nestle USA, Otis Spunkmeyer, Planet Smoothie, Pretzels, Inc, Ruiz Foods Inc., Sara Lee, Smoothie King, Sorbee International, Wetzels Pretzels, Dippin Dots, Flowers Foods, Golden Enterprises, Goya, Hanover Foods, Mckee Foods and Tasty Baking. There are a lot of players in the industry and they are all looking to maximize market share. One competitor worth mentioning is Frito-Lay that sells more chips than any other company in North America. Their top selling food snacks include well known products such as Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos and Lays. They have responded to the market trends and have bought several healthy snack brands and they spend heavily on marketing to stay on the top. Saladworks Saladworks is in the lowest quartile of the top 2008 Inc. 500 Food Beverage list. The company had revenues of $5.5 million and a growth of 98.3%. Saladworks was founded by John Scardapane in 1986 and started out with a single location in the Cherry Hill Mall in Southern New Jersey. It is the first and largest tossed-salad franchise in the U.S. with 104 locations in 9 states today. The idea of the franchise and their positioning is to provide fresh and healthy salads as alternative food for consumers on the go. They sell primarily gourmet salads but also soups, wraps, sandwiches and more. In 2008 they also added signature salads to the menu. They invited four A-list chefs to create four different salads that became the signature series. The competitive advantage that Saladworks has is being first with turning fast food in to a healthier meal and the chef expertise in the development making it hard for copycats to follow. The company had a major growth in 2002 when they managed to add 21 new franchise locations in only 10 months. Consumer response and the growth Saladworks has experienced prove that it is scalable. The company is in the fast food and quick-service restaurant industry same as Wingstop. As mentioned earlier the competitive landscape is hard in this industry with moderate threat of new entrants, considerable bargaining power of suppliers, moderate power of customers, high levels of both threats of new substitutes and rivalry amongst the competitors. A large trend in this industry is need for healthy alternatives among the many unhealthy fast foods. The businesses that sell products with high calories have started to include some healthy alternatives as side dishes in their menus. But unable to shift entirely over to healthy alternatives is difficult because their brand is associated with their products. Where would McDonalds be if they threw out their burgers and started selling only salads? Because SaladWorks is first and largest and places itself in the industry with trends on their side I see the potential of the company franchising more across the U.S and possible also to Europe. They signed a contract for ten new locations in Metro Atlanta in 2008 and in 2009 they have expanded with new stores in Virginia. They have also made deals for opening new locations in California and Boston. With the plans for expansions, market trends on their side and the advantages of being one of the first I think this company will move up many positions on the Inc 500 Food Beverage list for the years to come.

International Charter Of Human Essay -- essays research papers

International Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms History   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the war crimes committed by the Germans in the holocaust that occurred during World War II, the United nations decided to create a document guaranteeing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all people, regardless of race, sex, language, or religion. This document was called The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The declaration was voted in on December 10, 1948, which is now celebrated each year as Human Rights Day. The Declaration says that â€Å"all human beings are born free and equal† and establishes basic rights for all people and rules for the actions of governments in many areas pertaining to those rights. For example, it says that all people have the right to liberty, religious and political freedom, education, and economic well-being. It bans torture and states that all people have the right to participate in their governments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The declaration is not a law, unfortunately, and in some cases has had little actual effect on the member countries of the UN. Governments with poor human rights records, such as China, do not agree with the UN’s attempts to promote human rights, saying that such actions interfere with their internal affairs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The UN has a Commission on Human Rights. Its job is to monitor abuses of the declaration in member countries, hold international meetings on human rights issues and handle complaints about violations to the basic human rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was in 1993 that the General Assembly created the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights. The commissioner job is to oversee all of the UN’s human rights programs, work to prevent human rights violations, and investigate human rights abuses. It is also in the commissioner’s power to publicize abuses to human rights taking place in any country. However most publicity about abuses to human rights does not come from the UN but from rival countries or non-governmental groups like Amnesty International   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The UN has also written four international treaties on human rights. These treaties do have the force of law but are very hard to enforce. The treaties deal only with the problems of genocide, racial discrimination, civil and po... ...rights issues in the world. Before it was drafted, many cases involving human rights were simply ignored or kept quiet. Take for example just before World War Two, Nazi Germany was known to want to eliminate a great percentage of people not fitting into their â€Å"Aryan† master race, yet they still hosted the Olympics of 1936. At those Olympics they refused to grant a gold medal to a Jewish person, Jesse Owens, and still America and many other countries chose to ignore Germany for political reasons. After the war, almost in response to the declarations, various human rights organizations, such as amnesty international have been created. They almost always use the Declaration as their basic outline for the rights of human beings. These groups bring much attention to the human rights problems of the world. A good example was the later war in Vietnam, protests in the United States over unfair treatment of enemy civilians is one of the main reasons they were forced to pull ou t.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So in conclusion I must say that nobody can argue that forcing people to stand up and take notice is the only way to eliminate a problem and that is what the Declaration has achieved.

Ernest Hemingway Essay -- essays research papers

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway based his writing on real life experiences concerning death, relationships, and lies. He then mixed these ideas, along with a familiar setting, to create a masterpiece. Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park Illinois. One of Hemmingway’s first works was Indian Camp published in 1925. In many ways Indian Camp shows the relationship between Hemingway and his father. Hemingway then digs deeper into the past to create the love between Frederick Henry and Catherine Barkley, in A Farwell To Arms. Hemingway was later able to reflect his disgust of home life when he portrayed himself as the character Krebs in Soldiers Home, the character had problems with lies, women, and at home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story Indian Camp the main character Nick and his father resemble the relationship between Hemingway and his father. Nick is a teenage boy that travels across the lake to an Indian Village. He watches his father, who is a doctor; deliver a baby by caesarian section to an Indian woman. Nicks father discovers that the baby’s father has committed suicide. Nick and his father have a conversation discussing death, which brings the story to an end. Hemingway grew up in a middle class suburb, where his parents Ed and Grace raised him. Ed was a doctor who took his son along on visits across Walloon Lake to the Ojibway Indians (Waldhorn 7). When Hemingway was young, his father made him have his tonsils removed by another doctor. The doctor did not use anesthetic while performing the surgery. Hemingway always held it against his dad for having his tonsils taken out, with out an anesthetic (Myers 48). Hemingway portrayed his father as the doctor in Indian Camp. In the story Nick asked his father about giving the Indian woman something to stop her screaming during the caesarian. Nicks father states â€Å"No. I haven’t any anesthetic†¦but her screams are not important. I don’t hear them because they are not important† (Tessitore 18). Hemingway uses the conversation between Nick and his father, concerning the suicide of the Indian, to show his distaste for his own father’s suicide. Nick: â€Å"Why did he kill himself, Daddy?† Father: â€Å"I don’t know Nick. He couldn’t stand things, I guess.† Nick: â€Å"Do many men kill themselves, Daddy?† Father: â€Å"Not very many, Nick†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Nick: â€Å"Is dying hard, Daddy?† Father: â€Å"No, I think its pretty easy, Nick... ...d his lost love, he produced the character Krebs who was troubled by female companionship. Krebs wanted a woman but was not willing to work for one. Krebs considered relationships too complicated and painful. Hemingway learned this from previous relationships especially the relationship between Hemingway and Kurowsky. Krebs who lived with his parents after the war continued to do nothing around the house. Tensions grew between him and his parents and Krebs was eventually driven out. Hemingway was almost identical to Krebs in the story. Hemingway is heart broken after the war because of Kurowsky. Tension had also grown between Hemingway and his mother. â€Å"Shortly after Hemingway’s twenty- first birthday†¦ his mother gave him an ultimatum that he had to find a real job or move out of the house† (Waldhorn 9). Both Hemingway and Krebs moved out and got jobs. Hemingway wrote form his past experiences form life. In Indian Camp it showed his relationship with his father. By leaving his childhood and entering the war, he was able to come up with the character Henry and Barkley in A Farwell In Arms. When returning home from the war Hemingway used Krebs in Soldier’s Home to express his distast

Cell extraction

I was conducting count. When I got to the top of the stairs the inmate was standing in is cell in front of the bars with a cup in his hands. As I passed he threw the contents of the cup. The contents hit me on the right side of the face. This is considered to be an assault on an officer, and the inmate now has to be extracted from his cell. The extraction team has usually 7 to 8 staff involved, all of the team will have been through the cell extraction training and have done cell extractions in a controlled environment.The officer in charge will approve the extraction and oversee the operation. The segregation lead worker is the team leader and will deploy the Freeze Plus or the Taster which ever tool is approved by the OIC and the officer of the day. There is a staff member that uses the shield. There will be two staff members that are control 1 and 2. These members of the team are to cannonading†¦ Control of the inmate's arms and legs so the restraint members can apply the res traints, there are usually 1 or 2 officers doing this.One member will run the video tape for staff and inmate protection if a case ever goes to court, and will be used for training purposes in the future. There is one staff member that runs the bar box that opens the door to he cell. There is a member of health services that is in the unit in case of complications during the extraction. To do a proper extraction you must give the inmate the opportunity to correct his actions. So the correctional professional gives orders, 3 orders are given to the inmate to back up and be restrained.If the inmate refuses the initial orders, a final order is given to the inmate cell front then the inmate is informed which force will be used. If the inmate refuses the final order, use the tool that was approved for the extraction. The Taster shoots two small barbs attached to electric wires that will shock with 50,000 volts for seven seconds and then stops, if the inmate still will not comply with ord ers the Taster can be utilized again if the barbs are still attached to the inmate.This is one tool that is available for us to use. The chemical agent that the Department of Corrections uses is called Freeze Plus. It is a fogging and direct spray chemical agent. When using the Freeze Plus, we spray the inmate across the eyebrows allowing the spray to get into the inmate's eyes, any exposure on the face there will be eye irritation, and this is the other tool hat is available.After the deployment of either the Taster or the Freeze, we have the bar box operator open the cell door allowing the shield and the rest of the extraction team into the cell and gain compliance of the inmate. This is the most dangerous moment in a cell extraction because all hell breaks loose. Once the extraction team has gained compliance escort the inmate into the office and allow health services to do an examination on the inmate Loading†¦ Most correctional professionals don't like to do the cell extra ction because it puts Taft at risk of getting hurt and sued from the inmate.The main thing that we say is everyone goes home safe, the cell extraction can be a dangerous time for staff, but is a good way to move a noncompliance inmate from one cell to more secured location. The Department of Corrections only uses the cell extraction as a last resort in order to create a safe environment for inmates and officers. I am good at performing cell extraction's it is something I have trained on over and over again. I have to be good because any mistake can cost my staff or an inmate their life.

Remember the Titans Essay

In the movie â€Å"Remember the Titans,† there were major racial difficulties between black and white students. This was during a time when the school had just been integrated to allow blacks into the school and the high school football team. These challenges helped the Titans grow as a team and made them more co-operative and successful. The difficulties of a multiracial team were overcome with the assistance of democratic and authoritarian coaching styles, motivational skills, self-fulfilling prophecy, and the perception of the athletes and coaches. Because of these actions, the Titans were able to defeat the challenges they were faced with as a team and come out superior. The authoritarian coaching style, demonstrated mostly by coach Boon, helped the team become more cohesive and strong. He believed in perfection, pushing his athletes to the limit, and being in control. During practices, if an athlete made a mistake they would have to run laps as a punishment. Sometimes during games, it seemed like all he cared about was winning. On one occasion, coach Yoast decided to show this style of coaching by getting angry at a referee for making unfair calls on their team. Authoritarian coaching styles encourage control but can be very effective when trying to coach a large team or complete tasks. Another coaching style, which the assistant coach Yoast tended to use, was democratic. He noticed that coach Boon was being extremely rough on the football players and told him that some athletes do not respond well to humiliation and put-downs. This shows that coach Yoast was concerned about the well-being of his athletes, not just their success. On the last game of the season, coach Boon decided to have a more democratic view of coaching. He told the team to â€Å"try their best† instead of demanding perfection. This is a friendlier approach but it seems that he has almost given up all hope of winning by saying what he did. Democratic coaching styles made the athletes feel useful and motivated to do their best, but sometimes they can encourage lower levels of aggression when used in the wrong way. The athletes, coaches and the team itself, helped motivate the Titans for games and practices. Coach Boon used threats and reprimands in an attempt to  get the athletes to get along with each other. This did not work effectively since the athletes did not like him very much, so they were not motivated to listen. Threats benefit the athletes when they trust and respect the coach. The coaches pumped-up the team before the game by prep-talking the athletes with lots of positive comments. The body language and optimism of the coaches motivated the team to try their hardest. The Titans performed a unique entrance and warm-up, in order to intimidate the opposing teams and to motivate them for the game. This also lowered the athletes’ levels of anxiety and helped them get to a good state of arousal. As you can see, all types of motivation are important when a team is trying to overcome a obstacle. A psychological key in team success or defeat is self-fulfilling prophecy. This occurs when a coach focuses on positive or negative aspects of an athlete and the athlete ends up believing it is the truth. A prime example of this was Petey; he was a learned helplessness athlete who did not respond well to negative remarks about himself. Coach Boon always picked on his weaknesses and put him down for not being perfect. Petey believed everything coach Boon said until coach Yoast took him aside, gave him positive compliments, and told him to play defense for him in a game. Petey ended up improving in his performance and felt better about himself afterwards. This shows that some athletes respond differently to certain actions and it affects the team’s co-cooperativeness. It is important to have many views on a situation to come up with the best answer. The perception of the athletes and coaches helped in the success and encouragement of the team. At football camp, in order to try to make the team members get along, coach Boon took the team to Gettysburg to teach them about the war between the blacks and whites. Instead of the threats and many long practices, this made the athletes realize that the situation was not worth being angry at each other and they began to work more cohesively as a team. When coach Boon looked at the situation in a different way, he came out with a desired result. Another example was both coaches used each of their views on game plays to come up with the master game plans. By working together and combining both perceptions, the game plans were deeply thought  out and worked well. Experimenting with alternative perceptions and helping others look at situations in other ways improved the team’s cohesiveness on and off the field. In conclusion, many factors work together to assist in overcoming challenges. These difficulties helped the Titans grow as a team and made them more co-operative and successful. In this case, democratic and authoritarian coaching styles, motivational skills, self-fulfilling prophecy, and the perception of the athletes and coaches helped to solve the racial conflicts of a high school football team. Not only did the problem get resolved, but the Titans were victorious in the end.

Court History and Purpose Essay

Abstract â€Å"The court represents the collective conscience of society, serving as an instrument for expressing the revulsion people feel for those who commit particularly heinous crimes† (Siegal, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011). This paper will discuss the history of court and its purpose. It will also define the dual court system. It will describe the role that early legal codes, the common law, and precedent played in the development of courts. It will identify the role of courts in present criminal justice. The Purpose of Court The purpose for court is simply to find guilt or innocence in someone who has been charged of a crime or to settle disputes in civil matters. Such matters must have the legal authority of a judge to be considered a court. In many courts the adversary process is used, allowing both sides to give any evidence, arguments, or persuasion to support their case. A judge or a jury will decide whose case is credible based on the arguments given. In the past, disputes were handled informally and not in a civilized manner. Some people would take matters into their own hands, which led to violence. In today’s society, all matters are handled in a formal and civilized manner. The Dual Court System The judicial branch of the U.S. Government is considered a dual court system because it separates the federal court from the state court. â€Å"The dual system is advantageous and desirable because it parallels federalism, a system of government where power is constitutionally divided between a central governing body (i.e., the federal government) and various constituent units (i.e., the states) (Siegal, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011). The establishment of a dual court system began in colonial period. â€Å"The  United States Constitution mandated the establishment of a Federal court system in 1789, when each of the original 13 Colonies already maintained its own comprehensive court system (2013). In federalism, it is required that laws are made by the federal government and the state. Although the dual court system is â€Å"desirable†, it can also cause confusion between the federal and state courts. This is because some cases can be heard at both federal and state levels, and it can be hard to determine how the case should be handled. The Development of Courts The development and influences of the U.S. judicial system came along during the time this country was started. In the beginning, religion played a major part in making the laws of the country. The early legal codes played a significant role in the judicial system as well. These legal codes were used back 1760 B.C. One of the most known legal code is the Code of Hammurabi, who was the king of Babylon. The philosophy behind this code is retribution. Other early legal codes came from ancient Rome. The Twelve Tables were written in 450 B.C. They were said to be the first written legal code. The Twelve Tables was based on strong retribution, establishing the â€Å"eye for an eye† theory for justice. Because the early legal codes were considered to be harsh and informal, it was paved the way for the changes of the judicial system to develop a more formal and civilized system. Common law emerged in England during the Middle Ages and was applied within British colonies across continents (2010). Its role gave judges authority to make decisions as they saw fit. There was no legislature or law making process during this time. Judges would also record the decisions, which led to precedent. â€Å"Precedent refers, generally, to some prior action that guides current action† (Siegal, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011). In new cases, judges could apply precedents in their decision, which is how makes it common law. Common law has been implemented into today’s judicial system by following previous courts decisions in cases. It is unlikely that once a judge makes a decision that it will be reversed or changed from precedent. The Present Role of Courts In today’s judicial system, there are two roles involved in courts:  adjudication and oversight. Adjudication means that judges decides if a person is guilty or innocent when they have been involved in a criminal act. Appellate courts make sure that lower courts are applying the correct laws in court proceedings. Having the appellate courts verify all laws ensures that if any mistakes or incorrect information was given by the judges, they will be held accountable. Courts oversee the operations of criminal justice officials to provide a level of indirect supervision. The appellate courts decide laws that will determine how police officers to their job on the street (Siegal, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011). Oversight is only necessary when the appellate courts are involved in a decision. If such decisions are publicized, the appellate courts will be involved also. It all depends on the severity of the incident involve by police officers will it be brought to the courts attention . Conclusion The judicial system has indeed changed over the course of time. History has shown that the development of the judicial system was fathered from England and other ancient heritages that set the foundation of how laws are created and implemented into today’s society. More common law is being practiced in many states across the nation. Some of the practices were very informal and retributive, however in today’s court system, court proceedings are in a formal and civilized setting. References Siegal, L.J., Schmallegar, F., & Worrall, J.L (2011). Courts and criminal justice in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. The common law and civil law traditions. (2010). The Robbins Collection. Retrieved From University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall): http://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/CommonLawCivilLawTraditions.html Understanding the U.S. court system in a glance. (2013). Retrieved from http://court.laws.com/court-system.

Lasik opened my eyes

LASIK is the abbreviated term for Laser Assisted in-situ Keratomileusis. This technology is a type of refractive laser eye surgery done by ophthalmologist. LASIK provides cure for astigmatism, myopia and hyperopia. The procedure in conducting LASIK alternates photorefractive keratectomy/PRK since it requires minimal time for the patients recovery and less pain. In 1950, Jose Barraquer developed microkeratome. This was used to cut thin flaps in the cornea and changes its shape (keratomileusis). Barraquer also added in his findings how much of the cornea left unchanged to provide a stable result of the operation. In my personal view, this helped people with occurring malfunctions in their sight. In 1970’s-80’s, Svyatoslav Fyodorov and Theo Seiler developed Radial Keratectomy and Photo Refractive Keratomileus, respectively. The developments in more technical and procedural part of treating differences in the sight helped to cure other malfunctions found in the eye. In 1968, the scientists at the Northrup Corporation Research and Technology Center developed the Excimer laser. This development in eye surgery was the pillar in the advancement to LASIK. Through the developments and advances made by several scientists in the field of ophthalmology, LASIK was developed. In 1990, Buratto and Pallokaris introduced keratomileusis and photorefractive keratectomy. Combining the two techniques, ophthalogists find greater precision and less complication in eye surgery. In addition, limitations of excimer lasers were resolved through LASIK (LASIK surgery, 2007). LASIK cure refractive errors, improve vision, and eliminate the used of eye glasses/contact lenses. Blurred vision is not actually a problem since the technology of LASIK is available. Although the operation cost huge amount of money, nothing would price good vision. There are also risks in LASIK. Although the technology guarantees better results and effective eye resolution, complications sometimes come up. Equipment malfunctions, infections and wrong prescription would results to total lost of vision. This rarely happened when the patient apply for a non-licensed surgeon. LASIK as of today are classified into different types of laser ablations including conventional LASIK wavefront-optimized treatments, and wavefront-guided treatments. Conventional LASIK follows an ablation pattern of eye surgery. The surgery is based upon the patient’s glasses prescription. In most patients, this type of operation is effective but surgical errors could cause visual aberrations (Randleman and Payne, 2007). The advancement in modern science offers easier living for most of the people. LASIK provides fast, accurate and painless eye surgery for patients with refractive errors. Most probably in the future, the current procedure of eye surgery would continuously advance. Protocols may be different and will treat other errors in the eye. The laser technology used today may be used in other fields of science. With the help of LASIK eye surgery, I was able to obtain clear vision. Before, I’m having difficulties reading from far distances and I need first to wear my glasses. My glasses were thick and I was ashamed in the public wearing it. Until today, I can now read without my glasses anymore. References Randleman, J. and J. Payne. (2007). LASIK Eye Surgery. LASIK Eye Surgery Index. Retrieved December 3, 2007 from www.medicinenet.com. (2007). LASIK Surgery. The LASIK Directory. Retrieved December 3, 2007 from www.the-lasik-directory.com. Â   Â   Â   Â   Â