Contract Laws In China and America Essay

I.Concepts and Features of Contract and Contract Law I.Concepts A.Concept and Features of Contract 1. Concept of Contract According to the provision of Article 2 of the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Contract Law), contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations. Contract was once divided into agreement and contract. Agreement refers to the civil legal act established by both parties’ consensus with regard to opposite intentions, such as sales agreement. Contract refers to the civil legal act established by two or above three parties’ consensus with regard to collateral intentions, such as partnership contract. However, such division can no longer be seen in our current laws and the two are collectively referred to as contract. Contract has its broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, contract refers to all agreements generating rights and obligations, such as labor contract, administrative contract, civil contract, etc. Furthermore, civil contract may also be divided into creditor’s right contract, real right contract, intellectual property contract, identity contract, personality right contract, etc. In the narrow sense, contract refers to the agreement for involved parties with equal status to establish, alter and/or terminate civil rights and obligations. The contract adjusted by the contract law is generally confined to the contract of creditor’s right, real right and/or intellectual property, etc. 2. Features of Contract It can be seen from the concept of contract — contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations that, contract has the following legal features: Contract is a kind of civil legal act implemented by natural persons, legal persons and/or other organizations with equal status. As the most important legal fact, civil legal act is the lawful act implemented by civil subjects, which can generate, alter or terminate civil right and obligations. Since contract is a kind of civil legal act, it is different from fact behavior in nature. Fact behavior refers to the act which does not take the declaration of intention as an essential condition and cannot generate the legal effect expected by the party involved, such as infringing act, picking up lost property, etc. In nature, contract as the civil legal act belongs to lawful act. That is to say, only under the circumstance that the declaration of intention made by the contracting parties is lawful, the contract is legally binding and protected by national laws. On the contrary, in case contracting parties make illicit declaration of intention, the agreement, even already reached, may not have the effect as a contract. As contract is a kind of civil legal act, general regulations of civil law concerning civil legal acts, such as essential condition of civil legal act, the ineffectiveness and revocation of civil act, are all applicable to contract. 3 Contract is the civil legal act in which two or more parties declare a common intention. The establishment of a contract shall have two or more parties who declare intention to each other and achieve a consensus. If such declared intentions are not consistent, no contract will be formed. Even though â€Å"one party cheats or threats or take advantage of the other party’s precarious situation to make such other party to conclude a contract which violates its real intention†, the party suffering damages is entitled to request people’s court or arbitration agency to alter or revoke the contract (Article 54.2 of the Contract Law. For similar notes cited in the following text, Contract Law will be omitted). Contract is the civil legal act with a view to establishing, altering and terminating civil rights and obligations. Establishing civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, civil rights and obligations thus emerge between; altering civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the previous civil rights and obligations between them is changed and new civil rights and obligations are formed; terminating civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the civil rights and obligations previously existing between them are abolished. â‘ £Contract is a civil legal relationship generated on an equal and voluntary basis by parties involved. That is to say, the subjects concluding the contract have equal legal status and no party may impose its will on the other party. â€Å"Parties of a contract have equal legal status and one party may not impose its will on the other party† (Article 3); â€Å"Parties have the right to conclude a contract voluntarily according to law and no unit or individual may intervene illegally† (Article 4). â‘ ¤Contract is the civil legal act which is legally binding. â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is legally binding upon parties involved. Parties shall perform their obligations as agreed and may not alter or terminate the contract with no consent†; â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is protected by law† (Article 8). Unless otherwise specified by law such as force majeure, the party who fails to perform the contract or whose performance of obligations does not conform to that prescribed in the contract shall assume the liabilities for breach of the contract to continue to perform the contract, adopt remedial measures or compensate losses. B. Concept and Features of Contract Law 1. Concept of Contract Law Generally speaking, the concept of contract law may be comprehended in the broad and narrow sense. In the narrow sense, given contract is the consensus of parties to the contract in nature, contract law is deemed as the law implementing the promise and agreement of parties involved. â€Å"The core of contract law is the exchange of promise†. However, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense confines the contract law to normalizing the establishment, effectiveness, performance and default liability of the contract, but excluding the non-establishment, ineffectiveness and revocation thereof. Therefore, the scope contained is not comprehensive. Just as Bayless stated, â€Å"The contract law pays attention not only to enforceable contracts and   agreements, but to adjusting the result of no contract or agreement concluded†. Therefore, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense is not suitable to apply. The concept of contract law in the broad sense proceeds from the object normalized thereby, namely the transaction relation, and defines the contract law as â€Å"the law relating to the individual transfer of property or labor service†. Most scholars in our country also consider that contract law is the law adjusting the dynamic property relations. Both contract law and real right law adjust the property relations, however, â€Å"the real right law stipulates and adjusts the static state of property relation while the contract law stipulates and adjusts the dynamic state of property relation†. Given that the contract law comprehensively adjusts the transaction relation and the establishment of a contract equals to the formation of a transaction, the performance, alteration, cancellation and termination of the contract constitute the transaction process. Consequently, it’s necessary for the contract law to stipulate the procedures to conclude the contract by parties involved, ineffectiveness and revocation of the contract, remedies upon the failure or part failure to perform the contract, various specific contracts, etc. In a word, any and all transaction relations may be adjusted by the contract law. The definition of contract law as the law adjusting the transaction relation precisely summarizes the nature and fu nctions of the contract law. 2. Features of Contract Law The contract law takes adjusting the transaction relation as its content and is applicable to various civil contracts, which determines the contract law has the features different from those in other departments of civil law (such as personality right law). These features are: Contract law has strong randomicity. Under the condition of market economy, the transaction development and property growth require the market subjects to be independent and fully express their wills. Laws shall leave broad space for the transaction activities of market subject and the intervention of government in economic activities shall be limited to the extent prescribed in the contract. The requirements put forward by the market economy against the law which endow parties with freedom to act as far as possible are thoroughly expressed in the contract. Therefore, the contract law mainly regulates the transaction through random norms rather than mandatory norms. For example, though the contract law stipulates various contracts with certain titles, it does not necessarily require parties to design the contract content precisely in accordance with the provisions prescribed in law concerning the contract with certain title, but parties may negotiate to determine the contract articles freely. As long as the articles negotiated by parties don’t violate the prohibitive regulations of laws, social public interest or public morality, the effect of the contract is acknowledged by law. Notwithstanding law stipulates the contracts with certain titles, parties are not prohibited from creating new contract forms. Although the form to establish a contract is stipulated by law, unless otherwise specially prescribed about the contract form, parties are allowed to freely choose the contract form in principle. In short, a majority of norms of the contract law may be altered by parties through agreements. The contract law also takes the freedom of contract as its basic principle; therefore, the contract law can be called as law at will in this connection. â‘ ¡Contract law emphasized the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value The object normalized by the contract law is transaction relation, which requires the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value in nature. Just as Marx indicated, the commodity is â€Å"equal by nature†. In the exchange of commodities, â€Å"only the owners of commodities with equal status stand at opposite sides, and the means of occupying others’ commodities may only be used to alienate their own commodities.† The exchange of commodities inevitably requires conforming to the law of value so as to carry out the exchange of equivalent labor, which determines that the contract law attaches more importance to the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value than other laws of civil law. â‘ ¢Contract law is a uniform property law. Market economy is an open economy, which demands for the integration of domestic market with international market, domestic trade and international trade. As the basic law of the market economy, the contract law should not only reflect the requirements for a uniform market with a set of uniform rules, but also integrate with international conventions. â‘ £Contract law is the law producing social wealth. Market economy is a developed credit economy, with all credit systems established on the basis of contract relations. A developed credit economy needs promise and agreement. At the same time, the more solid and universal the promise and agreement are, the more developed the credit economy is. II. Comparison of Development History and Textural Difference between Chinese and American Contract Laws A. Different Development Histories of Contract Legal Systems in China and US 1. Emergence of Contract and Contract Law Contract is the result of commodity economy, which emerges along with the emergence of commodity economy and develops along with the development of commodity economy. The contract law is accompanied with the emergence and development of the contract. In later period of clan society, due to the emergence and accumulation of private property, the exchange of products among people was becoming increasingly extensive and certain rules came into shape gradually. In the beginning, these rules were guaranteed by oaths, customs and other ways. When the oaths, customs and other ways were incapable to guarantee the implementation of trading rules, the social community emerging as the times required (organ of state power) thus formulated legal norms to supersede the foregoing. The earliest contract law of human society was developed from customs, so it’s called as customary law. However, the continuous development of society, especially the development and change of social   imbalance, made the customs different in various regions and groups, which resulted in customs here and now being inconsistent with those there and then, thus leading to transaction disputes. This determined that the written law would gradually substitute the customary law. The Code of Hammurabi promulgated by ancient Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC is the most ancient and most well-preserved written law discovered so far in the whole world, which has 282 articles in total, among which over 120 stipulates contract norms directly. The Twelve Tables and Corpus Juris Civilis promulgated by ancient Rome have more complete legal norms about contract, acting as the most complete and typical law reflecting the production and exchange of commodities among ancient laws and playing an important role in the legislation of capitalist countries in later ages. The French Civil Code in 1804 was based on Roman law. The civil laws in European countries, except Britain, mostly originated from Roman law and formed the so-called â€Å"Roman Law System†. Along with the colonial expansion of these countries, the impact of Roman law was further extended to more regions of the world. After the Second World War, the contract law of early modern period was properly modified to become the modern contract law. 2. Development History of China’s Contract Law The ancient laws in our country had some regulations about the contract. According to the records of Rites of Zhou, there appeared written contracts such as â€Å"panshu (bamboo or wooden slips on which the texts of borrow and loan are written)†, â€Å"zhiji (sales contract)†, â€Å"fubie (borrow and loan contract)† in Zhou Dynasty. â€Å"Where any party asks for the government authority to deal with any dispute arising from debt borrow and loan, the case may only be accepted with the â€Å"panshu† previously co ncluded present†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a borrow and loan contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make a judgment according to the articles specified in fubie†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a sales contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make an award according to the articles specified in zhiji†. All these written contracts were main basis for government authorities to judge right and wrong and determine the debt liabilities. In the following dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, laws had several regulations about contract and contract system. However, in ancient times, our country was always with the agricultural economy which was self-sufficient and self-supporting, and the commodity economy was not developed. As a result, the norms of contract law centering on trading rules was also not developed, with no specialized civil code. Even in the collection of various laws such as Tang Code and Great Qing Legal Code, articles pertaining to contract and contract system are also rarely seen. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the contract law of our country has achieved significant development. In the initial stage of new China, the Financial and Economic Committee of the Government Administration Council under Central People’s Government promulgated the Interim Measures for Organs, State-owned Enterprises and Cooperative societies to Conclude Contracts or Agreements on September 27, 1950, and the Trade Department formulated the Decision Pertaining to Earnestly Concluding Contracts and Strictly Implementing Contracts as well as the norms relating to various specific contracts such as sales contract and contract labor agreement of capital construction in the same year, all of which ascertain the legal norms of contract system and contract in the new China. Needless to say, due to the impact of wrong course and wrong trend of thought, the legal nihilism was rampant and the contract system was once cancelled in late 50’s. Especially in the period of the â€Å"Great Cultural Revolution†, all the contract systems, relevant laws and regulations were discarded. In the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, the wrong policy of â€Å"taking the class struggle as the outline† was abandoned, the focus of work of the Party and the nation was shifted to developing economy, and the strategic decision of reform and opening up to the outside world was made in the session. All of these opened up a promising prospect for the development of contract leg islation. The Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law were successively approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 13, 1981, March 21, 1985 and June 23, 1987. It is especially worth mentioning that the General Principles of the Civil Law approved in the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People’s Congress explicitly regulates the system of civil rights and the system of civil liabilities, playing a very important role in perfecting the system of contract laws in our country. Through more than a decade’s legislation, our country has formed the legal system of contract laws which is guided by the General Principles of the Civil Law, backboned with Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law, and based on the contract norms in specialized laws such as Maritime Law, Civil Aviation Law and Copyright Law and a set of administ rative laws and regulations normalizing contracts. All these laws have greatly promoted the economic development and the establishment and development of socialist market economy in our country. However, along with the establishment and development of socialist market economy, this legal system gradually presented new defects. In order to adapt to the requirements of economic construction and development, it’s necessary to proceed from the actual situations of our country, summarize the experience of ten years’ contract legislation and borrow general international practices to formulate a uniform and relatively complete contract law. On October 1993, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress embarked on drafting the contract law on the basis of the legislation program approved in the Eighth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. According to the advice from all sources, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress further modified the draft for many times to form the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (Draft) and submitted it to the Second Session of the Ninth National People’s Congress for deliberation. Through serious and earnest deliberation by people’s representatives, this important law was finally approved on March 15, 1999, which is a glorious page in the legislation history of the Republic, marking that the legislation of our country’s socialist market economy is ushering a new phase. 3. Development History of American Contract Law As a whole, the American laws are developed on the basis of inheriting British laws. Although American laws are influenced by British laws at different levels in different fields, the contract rules formed in the British common law and equity law have a significant impact on American contract law. Therefore, when investigating the historical evolution of American contract law, it’s necessary to review the early development history of British contract law. a. Lawsuit of Promise in Early Britain In the medieval period, British law had not formed the concept of contract. The earliest to emerge was the so-called lawsuit of promise, namely, when the promisor violated his/her promise, the promisee might file a lawsuit with the court to force the promisor to implement the promise. The principle pursued by common court when trying such lawsuit was: only making a promise cannot generate a right of action; under normal conditions, promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory ex ecution, exceptional situations excluded. In contrast to the practice of common court as mentioned above, other courts showed more active attitude towards accepting the lawsuit of promise. First of all, ecclesiastical court regarded the promise with oath as an irreversible one according to canon law and rendered the implementation. Secondly, in the court of equity, the Chancellor decided that since one party suffered loss because of the other party’ failure to perform his/her promise, such party shall obtain the compensation. However, till the 16th century AD, common court won the battle with the court of equity and ecclesiastical court striving for jurisdiction. In this process, the jurisdiction of common court was increasingly enlarged and the common law became the main part of British law. The opportunity for the contract law to develop through the judgments of ecclesiastical court and court of equity was always limited. From the 15th to the 16th century, along with the development of the relations of commodity production within the feudal society, to develop a kind of general basis for enforceable promise within the previous lawsuit procedures of common law was the urgent task to be resolved which was confronted by common court. At the beginning, common court just confirmed more exceptional situations under which the promise may be executed mandatorily. However, this didn’t change the basic principle that promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory execution under normal conditions. Since the second half of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the enforceable effect of sealed covenant, which was a kind of written promise with a seal on. Some people considered, if common court could loosen its requirements about the form of this written document, such document may also be mandatorily executed even with no seal on. The existence of such covenant might become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise, while till the 14th century, this possibility disappeared. Common court considered, the seal not only proved that one party had already made a promise, but also indicated that the promisor had seriously expressed that he/she would perform the promise for the promisee. Therefore, a covenant which was not sealed couldn’t be compulsorily executed. At the end of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the debt of a borrow and loan relation as the cause of action: In case one person borrowed an   amount of money from another person, the borrower should pay back the money to the lender. If not, the lender might file a lawsuit with the court to force the borrower to pay back money. Later on, common court further expanded the scope of lawsuit of debt repayment: Once a person granted a kind of material interest to another person, such person might lodge a lawsuit of debt r epayment against the latter one, no matter the interest provided was a valuable thing or personal service. However, the existence of such debt also didn’t become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise for this debt was only confined to the interest which was already granted to others. If a promisee just accepted a promise from the promisor while obtained no actual interest from the promisor, he still couldn’t lodge a lawsuit of debt repayment. In the beginning of the 15th century, common court developed such a principle in its judgment: If someone made a promise of undertaking some kind of obligation to another one, and the promisee suffered damages in the process of the promisor’s performance of the obligation, the promisee might lodge a lawsuit to require the promisor to compensate. This is called the Action of Assumpsit for Misfeasance, whose basis was the theory of law of torts then already approved. In this kind of lawsuit, if the promisor didn’t perform the obligation it undertook, the promisee couldn’t obtain the remedy. In the second half of the 15th century, the judges of common court realized that, in order to win the battle for jurisdiction with other courts, the scope of lawsuit of commitment must be expanded. New legal precedent rule in this period was: If the promisor changed his status due to his dependence on the promise and the non-performance of the promisor made the promisee suffer damages, the promisee might also obtain the remedy. Till the 16th century, the previous scope of lawsuit of commitment was newly expanded, namely, when two persons made promises to each other and the promise of one party constituted the transaction object promised by the other person, even if no party of the two performed his obligation, the promise to be carried out shall have the effect of compulsory execution. The reason to adopt such rule was that, once the promise was made, the promisee has an expectation for the implementation of the promise, which should be protected, even if the promisee didn’t perform the corresponding obligation, nor suffered â€Å"damages†. Generally speaking, the 17th and the 18th centuries were the period during which British contract law slowly developed. b. Evolution of American Contract Law in Modern Society The American historian Henry Maine said in 1861 that, â€Å"till now, the movement of this developing society has always been a movement from identity to contract.† This sentence indicates the profound revolution undergone by western society from the feudal times of middle ages to the times of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†: In the feudal society, human relation was determined by their identity; in the period of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†, human relation was determined by the agreement reached between them. The whol e 19th century is regarded as the century of contract by western historians. The United States, just independent from the colonial domination of the Great Britain, entered in such a century soon after its establishment. In this period, main systems of British and American contract laws were both confirmed. With regard to the main body, American contract law remained consistent with British contract law. In this period, the consistency of American contract law with that of western countries was: The contract concluded by parties involved was generally considered as having the effect of compulsory execution. Once confirmed, such effect shall become absolute, and may not be changed by state will. In the second half of the 19th century, as the laissez-faire economy developed toward an extreme orientation, to safeguard individual’s right to freely conclude contracts had become the primary goal of laws. In the eyes of Americans at that time, â€Å"in nature, justice is to safeguard lawful contracts†. The freedom of contract in the 19th century gave a full display of personal â€Å"independent will† and made private economy taking the â€Å"struggle for existence† as the motive power obtain rapid development with no government restraint and intervention. However, in late 19th century and early 20th century, the defects caused by this unlimited freedom of contract had fully appeared. In this period, contract laws of western countries underwent a new round of modification. The result was, the previous social movement â€Å"from identity to contract† started to turn to the social movement â€Å"from contract to identity†. In the US, since this century, especially since the Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 30’s, personal freedom of contract has received more and more restrictions. Today, the â€Å"identity† is playing an important role in determining the relation of rights and obligations among people for the second time: Workers are protected by â€Å"workers compensation law† due to their identity, and the article of employment contract preventing the employer from undertaking the compensation liability for industrial accidents is no longer legally binding. Similarly, the lessee of rental agreement, the insurer of insurance contract and the demanders of various contracts of public service are all protected by certain laws due to their special identities. It can be seen from the aforementioned change that, in modern American contract law, to provide special legal protection for the vulnerable party of a transaction has already become a consistent policy. Another feature displayed by American contract law in the process of its modern development and evolution is that, the impact of traditional British common law and systems and principles of other laws is decreasing, which is fully reflected from the fact that the Uniform Commercial Code abandoned and modified the traditional system of British contract law. B. Textual Difference and its Reasons between Chinese and American Contract Law Systems Given the development history of contract and the difference between Chinese and American political systems, there are following features when comparing Chinese contract law with American contract law: First, the contract law in our country is a uniform contract law applicable to all regions of China, whether in capital Beijing or western provinces. Second, this contract law is drafted with a round axis structure. Basic principles  are firstly stipulated, and then some specific contracts, such as sales contract, lease contract, etc. In this way, the basic principles are regarded as the axis, and many specific contracts are radiated to satisfy different transaction requirements. For example, the transport contract has the problem which cannot be covered by basic principles. This problem can be resolved by combining the axis and the excircle. American political system is different from Chinese political system, and the development history of American contract law is also different. In America, it’s impossible for the legislative body to approve a law with the two features as mentioned above. America has no uniform contract law, nor state contract law. The international contract laws, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and New York Arbitration Treaty are commonly used in all used in the whole United States. However, with regard to the contract among American individuals, no law is promulgated by the federation. Consequently, there is no federal legislation with a round axis structure in America. Basically, each state has its own contract law and is responsible for developing basic principles of such law. The contract law of one state is not only applicable to the court of the state, but also binding on the federal court sometimes. In other words, as long as the state contract law exists, the federal court shall apply it. Of course, when 50 different contract laws are adjusting the same legal fact, the court will be confronted with a problem, namely, how to achieve the consistency of application of law? It’s also necessary to notice that American contract law is developed by the court rather than the legislative organ. You must be familiar with the concept of common law, which was formed in Britain and then introduced to America. The contract concept of the common law is formed th rough a long time. Their judges make the judgment and give opinions on the judgment. Now, in this connection, the greatest exception is the UCC. American UCC is a uniform law. In America, every state has its own laws, but these laws cannot cover all transactions. Some are involved with transaction of several properties, such as the transaction and lease of products and some are related to bank business, security trading, e-commerce, etc. However, the construction contract and real estate contract are adjusted by commercial law. Since different state laws may result in different court judgments, if the Congress can approve a law with the round axis structure, these problems will be soon resolved, because doing that can get all transactions under the adjustment of one law. C. Summary The development histories of Chinese and American contract law systems are different. Chinese culture has a long history and the contract law system was born very early. On the contrary, the US is a new country breaking away from the colonization. Although American economy is developing rapidly, its legal systems are mainly inherited from the Britain; especially the American contract law is significantly influenced by the contract rules formed in Britain common law and equity law. In short, China has a uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation, while America has no uniform contract code other than international contract laws. In addition, the difference of Chinese and American political systems leads to a great difference in the textural structures of Chinese and American contract law   systems: Chinese contract law system is based on basic principles which guides various specific contract law systems so as to form a complete set, while America has neither guidance of basic principles in the contract law nor uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation. All in all, the development history and political system of a country influence its legal system. III. Conclusion The economic globalization and political polarization are two trends of the world development. Since China has joined the WTO, how to coordinate our laws is the central issue in the field of law. Nowadays, the world has ushered in the era of knowledge economy and the advancement of science and technology is crucial to the economic development. However, the development of economy as well as the development, transfer and application of technology will inevitably require reforming the traditional contract law system. Some countries have already been reforming the current contract law systems quietly. The birth of China’s new Contract Law is confronted with the era of knowledge economy rather than that of planned economy or the transitional period from planned economy to market economy. The development of science and technology in the era of knowledge economy is so vigorous that it’s probable that difficulties in application will soon emerge after the implementation of new contract law, or even some regulations are already outdated. This situation may be considered as normal because law is the superstructure, which is always behind the economic development. Therefore, any law has to be continuously reformed and perfected. Bibliography 1. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com 2. Wilmot et al, 2009, Contract Law, Third Edition, Oxford University Press 3. Ewan McKendrick, Contract Law – Text, Cases and Materials (2005) Oxford University Press 4. P.S. Atiyah, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1979) Clarendon Press 5. Randy E. Barnett, Contracts (2003) Aspen Publishers 6. Scott Fruehwald, â€Å"Reciprocal Altruism as the Basis for Contract,† 47 University of Louisville Law Review 489 (2009).

Assess the View That Cults and Sects Are Only Fringe Organisations That Are Inevitably Short Lived and of Little Influence in Contemporary Society Essay

It can be argued that cults and sects are only fringe organisations that are inevitably short lived and of little influence in contemporary society, however some may have views to contrast this idea. A sect is an organization, which usually breaks off from an established religion, which finds itself in disagreement with beliefs and values of wider society and refuses to tolerate the beliefs of others. Although the desire to be a member is voluntary, as oppose to being born into, like religion, sects are rejected by society and claim strong obligation and commitment by its members. A sect is an extremely narrow-minded organisation, which is often led by a charismatic leader. Whereas, in contrast, a cult does not progress from a mainstream religion and does not reject or challenge societal norms. However, as tolerant of other beliefs as they are, they still attract a great deal of negative press, for example brainwashing. Members in a cult are usually more like customers than followers. An example of a cult is Heavens gate, which is a destructive doomsday cult, centered in California. There is a mass of supporting evidence that cults and sects are short lived and insignificant to wider society. Nevertheless, it must be maintained that the matter is complex as there are many sects and cults, which identify themselves differently. There is evidence to support this view of a short-lived nature of sects. This is due to many reasons. World rejecting sects, due to their nature and succeeding societal rejection and stigma of bad press, must be able to compromise with society and becoming a denomination and therefore cease to be a sect, if this is not done then the sect will die out. There is also an argument that sects cannot have a great deal of affect upon society over a long term period as they cannot survive past the charismatic leader’s lifetime and therefore sustain themselves over more than one generation. The American theologian Niebuhr theorises that another reason for transience of sects is that they rarely live past the 1st generation because the 2nd generation usually lacks the belief of the 1st. In this way, their membership dwindles as the 2nd generation chooses to leave the sect and hold other views in wider society. However Wilson disagrees with Neibuhrs view and says that he overates his case and chooses to not pay attention to groups who did preserve a ‘ distinct sectarian stance’. Similarly, evidence proves to discredit the belief that a sect fails to live on past their leader’s death. For example, The Mormons have continued for many generations and also the Amish- however this could be attributed to the protective ‘isolation-like’ in which they live. There is also a possibility that the Moonies surviving is due to the leader preparing for his son to take over his position as the charismatic leader after his death, however this is yet to be seen. Cults have seen a large incline in their number recently and because they are more accepting of wider society and despite receiving bad press, offer a practical solution to peoples’ issues and wishes, seem less likely to die out due to refusal and disapproval. They are also financially rather stable, the Church of Scientology for example has an estimated income of over  £200m per year. This is down to the consumer attitude of cults. There is also a mass of evidence for their importance in society in a sense that audience cults have a mass market of ‘self help therapy’ there are many books available for example, tarot reading, crystals and reflexology regularly appear on the best seller list and often more room is devoted to these books rather than Christianity books themselves. The view that cults are fringe movements is less supported than that for sects. Sects very infrequently continue on as sects but cults such as scientology are not only prosperous but also have a huge celebrity following trend; admired by the public for example Tom Cruise. There is also evidence that sects and cults can be of great influence to society – though it is debatable as to whether or not that is possible today in a society as apparently secular as ours. Weber suggests in his Theodicy of Disprivilege that because they offer a solution to problems: justification and explanation for life and its problems, to marginalised groups such as dropouts or ethnic minorities, world rejecting sects that offer status appeal to people. An example of this is Liberation Theology which was for the poorer people which had great influence upon the priorities of the Catholic Church in Latin America (though it has become more conservative, it continues to represent human rights and democracy). Bruce argues that it is not a religion and is instead a shallow, meaningless thing. Due to the elements of choice it offers, the choice about which bits to believe and whether to take its readings into account, it does not require commitment. This he argues prevents it having religious status. Post Modernists see it as being spiritual shopping: it is part of a consumerist culture. Despite not necessarily being a religion, there is lots of evidence to show that it has influenced society as a whole and, some sociologists would claim, aided secularisation. There is also evidence to show that it is unlikely to be particularly short lived as it fits in so well with our Capitalist, consumerist society and our individualistic values and is so profitable. Therefore, though there is strong evidence to show that sects and cults are ‘fringe organisations’, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that neither are short lived in themselves either through the Sectarian cycle or demand and supply (though sects tend to become denominations) and also to suggest that the influence of sects and cults on society is greater than expected; though the influence of sects and cults is exemplified by older examples and so one cannot be sure as to how successful they will be in today’s society, except in regards to specific sects and cults. In conclusion, the view that cults, sects are fringe organisations that are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in modern-day society, is on the whole not wholly correct but has some strength in that the permanency of all is arguable as is their status as fringe organisations.

Nonverbal Communication Reflection Paper

Reflection Paper on Nonverbal Communication I learned a lot about Human Communication when I read the chapter about Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal Communication is the process of using messages that are not words to generate meaning. I learned that it happens every day. I also learned that is very hard to read or understand depending on the person you are speaking to or with. Verbal and Nonverbal codes work in conjunction with each other. The words we speak or say are used in conjunction six different ways: to repeat, to emphasize, to complement, to contradict, to substitute, and to regulate. I never knew until reading this chapter that we do these things all most every time we communicate. These are things I took for granted until now. I now know that I will pay closer attention when speaking so I can work on how I communicate my nonverbal codes. I also learned that nonverbal codes consist of nonword symbols. Those symbols are bodily movements, facial expressions, bodily appearance, and personal space, time, touching, vocal cues, clothing and artifacts. I now know from this lesson that I also so all of these things as well when communicating. Everyone uses one or more of these when they communicate. I know from my own experience that people can read me by my kinesics. I know that I need to be more aware of how I communicate my nonword symbols. People can stereotype you if you are not careful. Understanding nonverbal communication is more common than not. I now understand how to interpret nonverbal codes better than I did before. I am also aware now of how I should speak to people using my nonverbal codes so that they may understand me as well. This chapter was very interesting to me because all of the things we do without speaking to people is amazing. I never paid attention before. I now understand nonverbal communication as well as how to use it in my everyday life better than I did before taking this class.

The New Professional Discipline of Ethnography Essay

The New Professional Discipline of Ethnography - Essay Example The idea is to come up with a scientific description of the people being studied and give any outside observers a very good idea of how a society had developed over generations, creating its own culture. Ethnography used to be a sub-specialty of anthropology which in turn is the study or the science of the origins, biological characteristics, cultural development and the social customs or beliefs of mankind. However, ethnography is a much more narrowly-focused study of unique cultures and is now recognized as a separate discipline by itself. The aims of ethnography are to come up with interesting or unusual explanations of some observed behaviors and phenomena among the people being studied. It is an intensive type of fieldwork that requires immersion in the culture or society that is studied, by spending weeks, months or even years among the people. This paper discusses the rationale for the study of the Nuer people of Africa, a primitive society but which has endured over the years, in ways similar to biblical tribes. Some theoretical questions that can be asked for this particular study are what are the benefits, insights or expectations of studying these people who seem to belong to the early era of human history? Is a study like this not a waste of time, when it seems to be going backward instead of forward? The Nuer people consists of several tribes, numbering close to 900,000 persons living in the areas of South Sudan and western parts of Ethiopia. Their main source of livelihood is cattle raising, although they rarely eat beef except on some special occasions but maintain cattle herds chiefly as a milk source for them. The word Nuer means â€Å"original people† and they belong to the same ethnic group as the Dinka and Atwot (the two other main tribes living in this region) which speak the same uniform Nilotic language, with no discernible or observable dialects. The reason why they own cattle is largely cultural, in the sense it determines the political  hierarchy or social standing of Nuer men, based on the quantity and quality of the cattle herd he has.

Econmics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Econmics - Essay Example These days the term often makes us bring to mind Keynesian economics or shamanic bear rituals. However these animal spirits were neither of them animals nor spirits. Exactly how ought to we process them? In English, the term ‘spirit’ refers to something from the Holy Ghost to gin. In reality, this kind of ambiguity is present all through the romance languages, deriving from the Roman spiritus animales. With similar root as inhale and run out (spiro which means ‘I breathe’) spiritus primarily means breath, after that breath of existence, hence also disposition, determination, and even ghost. In a similar fashion, the meanings of anima vary from inhale to essential theory and sensible soul. (Mlambiti, 2006, p. 82) Our animal spirits may be much better translated, then as life-carrying liquids or essential liquids. John Locke pictured all of them as â€Å"fluid and subtle Matter, transferring through the Conduits of the Nerves†. These were assumed to transfer data between sense organs, mind and muscle tissues. In accordance with George A. Arkerlof and Robert J. Shiller (2009), Keynes looked at the animal spirits as the primary reason for exactly why the economic system varies as it does and those animal spirits can be the primary factor for the involuntary joblessness. To fully grasp the economy thus is to have an understanding of how it is related to the animal spirits. In the same way, Adam Smith’s unseen hand is the keynote of the traditional economics, Keynes’ Animal Spirits are the keynote to a completely different perspective of the financial system – a perspective that describes the root instabilities of capitalism and also the various rates of financial growth within and between countries in the world. (Keynes, 1921, p. 333) As per Arkerlof and Shiller (2009), there are actually five distinct facets of animal spirits theory which have an effect on economic judgments. These are generally assurance, fairness, corruption and

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions Essay - 1

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions - Essay Example Managers believe that finance promotes a better understanding among departments and assist them to achieve corporate strategy (Shim & Siegel, 2008, p.5-7). There are different tools through which the management analyses the efficiency of their financial management strategy. Few of the commonly used tools are ratio analysis, budget forecasting and analysing, net future cash flow though NPV. Management also uses certain specific tools to determine the profitability and the rate of return through tools like IRR, ROI and profitability index. Any problem existing in the financial policy followed by the company can lead to a major problem in future. Therefore the financial department should analyse the efficiency of these policies on a periodic basis and should update them to cope up with changing market scenario. British Airways is a full service providing global airline that offers low fare routes throughout the year. The airline has an extensive network almost all over the world and connects all the vital destinations. The huge fleet size, large number of international flights and dense networking makes British Airways the largest airline in UK. At present the company has it’s headquarter at London Gatwick Airport as well as London Heathrow Airport. The airline service provided by the company connects more than 150 destinations through 248 aircrafts. However increased competition in airline industry, fluctuation in crude oil prices and collapse of the world economy has lead to the lowering of its passenger base. This downfall is also affecting the revenue as well as market image of the company. To have a better understanding of the efficiency with which BA manages its finance, an in-depth analysis of the company’s financials was done. On basis of this analysis certain vital f actors related to the company are discussed below. After analysing the annual cash flow statement of the

Determine whether compensation and overtime applies to exempt and Essay

Determine whether compensation and overtime applies to exempt and non-exempt security personnel in your state - Essay Example † Bob the employee inquires, though he already knows the response. â€Å"Good one, that’s why we moved you to salary remember?† Joe chuckles as he walks back to his office. Fairness, in workers time and effort, versus pay has long been a minefield for dispute in the workplace. Typically speaking the worker tends to feel overworked and underpaid, and the owner tends to feel the employee is underworked and overpaid. Over the years lawsuits on compensation and overtime have arisen many times, and the decisions made by the Supreme Court in interpreting the constitution have greatly impacted the way these two are handled. So in order to investigate these laws and how they are applied in greater detail we are going to take one group of employees, security personnel, and see how overtime and compensation are regulated for them in the state of Texas. We will do this by defining overtime, by looking at what FLSA and the states say, by determining who is considered exempt a nd non-exempt employees, and by looking at how the United States Supreme Court case of Garcia v. City of San Antonio applies. ... In the United States the custom for regular working hours is forty hours a week. The second way regular working hours can be defined is by the practices of a given trade or profession. A regular working week for an air traffic controller, for example, is anywhere between fifty – seventy hours. The third way regular working hours can be determined is by legislation. This occurs through bills being passed through congress to regulate the work environment and determine that healthy, reasonable expectations are being placed on the employee. Legislation such as this tends to be determined by court cases or bills being past. The final way regular working hours can be determined is by agreement between employers and their employees. This type of agreement has to fall into compliance with any legislation that governs the hours allowed, however, were applicable. FLSA The Fair Labor Standards Act or the FLSA was created, by congress, in 1938 during the midst of the great depression. Its goal was to protect the rights of the workers who were being treated exceptionally unfairly during this time. In doing this it encouraged fairness between management and workers. It accomplished this by regulating minimum wage, overtime, and child labor laws, as well as other work related laws. It is still in effect and constantly being updated and affects any businesses with employees who engage in interstate commerce. The FLSA is a federal act and is enforced by the federal government, due to this, there have been many court cases disputing states rights to regulate these laws versus that of the federal governments. Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees The majority of jobs are covered by the FLSA, however, some are not. If a job is covered by FLSA it is

Production and operations Management Assignment

Production and operations Management - Assignment Example In addition, crude oil is also used for wide varieties of other purposes. The fractional distillation of gasoline produces an output known as gasoline. Gasoline is mainly used as fuel in internal combustion engines. Gasoline is traded in regional market; whereas, crude oil is the part of global market. Generally, the price of a commodity increases as demand increases (there are some exceptions to this rule) (Oxford). Since crude oil is a non-renewable energy source, its demand will not fall regardless of its price variation. Hence, when the demand for crude oil increases, its price also increases. Crude oil prices have a direct impact on the gasoline prices as crude is the major raw material used in the production of gasoline and other petroleum products. â€Å"Crude oil accounts for 55% of the price of gasoline while distribution and taxes influence the remaining 45 %† (Mazeel, 2010, pp.106-107). To illustrate, one barrel of crude oil contains 42 gallons of oil. If the price for one barrel of crude oil is $75, raw material worth $1.78 is required to produce a gallon of gasoline. This figure does not include transportation and other process charges. In total, when the global demand for crude oil increases, there will be a proportional increase in the retail price of gasoline also. When the global crude oil production is decreased by 10%, the crude oil supply might fall and this situation would probably result in a rise in crude oil price. Under such circumstances, domestic oil retailers may be forced to raise their prices in order to avoid loss. If Marathon adopts effective business strategies, the company may keep the price at the pump the same without losing profits even in times of a decline in global crude oil production. In order to achieve this goal, the Marathon has to acquire materials at reduced rate by researching different markets because a decrease in cost of production is

Empowering Employees on Team Processes Research Paper

Empowering Employees on Team Processes - Research Paper Example However, the range of resolutions the employees can take part in is dependent on the organizational policies. Some of the areas employees may have a voice in include, the working conditions, vocational hours, company policies, the manner in which jobs are to be undertaken, peer reviews as well as how supervisors are appraised. To achieve employee empowerment, the management has to undertake capacity building and the development of the human resources under their control or payroll. In view of this, employees and teams ought to possess the self-belief and capacity to perform assignments and ought to have the opportunities to grow and shine. Performance and employees self-assurance is boosted when they gain additional skills in organizational as well as management issues, and when they obtain fresh skills and expertise. Employees’ empowerment is not a one-day undertaking and it is not straightforward.   Employee empowerment in an organization setting Human resource professiona ls believes that businesses can increase their productivity by empowering their employees. Other human resource scholars put forward that the majority of organizations take part in employees’ empowerment because of its potential to augment organizational innovations and value (Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, Savoie, Plunier, & Cacciatore, 2010). In an organizational setup employee involvement, entails the supervisors supporting immediate workforces in taking part in decisions concerning their vocational responsibilities, and offering them power over their working environment. This strategy is believed to increase workforce enthusiasm and in due course makes them increase their output. However, some researchers have downplayed this hypothesis by arguing that employees empowerment is influenced by many factors other than giving employees control over their work environment. Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, Savoie, Plunier, and Cacciatore, (2010) ascertain that the empowerment of the employee does not take place in an organizational void. This is because the supervisors may endeavor to boost the empowerment of their workforces through awarding the workforces decision-making tasks and offering them the chance to take part, but other organizational system aspects such as procedures governing decision-making, capacity building as well as the reward process may be contradicting to the power given to the employee. Hence, the probability of an empowerment effort by the supervisor to enhance the employees’ empowerment could be conditional to the existence of organizational sustaining features. Therefore, empirical research suggests that effectual empowerment of employees necessitates the creation of an organizational environment distinguished by acknowledgment, support, autonomy support and justice (Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, Savoie, Plunier, & Cacciatore, 2010).  Ã‚  

Business for fashion study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business for fashion study - Essay Example Among all these, surveys and sampling are the major research methods that are used to obtain valid results. Through the use of primary research unlike secondary research method, the targeted issues are well addressed. The company asking requesting for the research usually has complete control on the research and the process as far as its scope and objectives are concerned. The company bestowed with the mandate to research can concentrate on a specific area of interest rather than a general area. Again through primary data, interpretation of the data collected is always easy. This is because the collected data can be interpreted and examined as per the researcher’s needs rather than depending on interpretations made through data collected using secondary method. Also through primary research, recency of data is always put into consideration. This is because secondary data is not usually so recent and again may not be so specific to the situation or place the researcher is targeting. The researcher can use the information for knowing how trends behave or find some relation with the current event under consideration. This makes primary data a more accurate method of use. Primary research is always involved with high costs. It is a very costly proposition. This is because the researcher has always to be involved throughout and also design everything. This is a costly endeavor. Again one can get inaccurate feedbacks when he undertakes primary research. There are very high chances that the respondents will give inaccurate responses or biased information that may lead to inaccurate data to the researcher. Also research using the primary method is a time consuming activity. This is because if the exhaustive nature of the activity. The time required by the researcher in order to collect accurate data is long as compared to secondary data. Again through primary research there is a large use of resources that

McDonalds Essay Example for Free

McDonalds Essay McDonalds is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. McDonalds and its franchises operated more than 33,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 118 countries and serve 64 million customers each day. The company also operates other restaurant brands, such as Piles Cafe. McDonalds is the largest food service company in the world. In 2010, the annual total revenues are 24,075 millions. It is also one of biggest employers in the United States, with over 1. 7 million workers (our company). Only fifteen to twenty per cent of the restaurants are actually company-owned. The rest are franchises, run by 2,659 independent owners who pay a fee of between $400,000 and $700,000 for a franchise. McDonalds licensing department handles the fee structure on a case by case basis, and there are a wide variety of license fees determined by property and equipment costs. A skilled franchisee can earn a sex-figure income from a single restaurant; most own two or more restaurants (report). The following part will focus on the international factors affect on the McDonald’s company. International factor is an external environment. It refers to the characteristics of the environment that are particular to cross-border operations which included economic cycles, competitive and entrepreneurial cultures (book). McDonald’s is a large international company. It’s restaurant distributed around the world. Thus, there are many factors that McDonald’s need to consider. Such as how to meet different countries’ customers’ need. Because of different country’s customers have different culture, habit and different taste of food. The other one is how to gain competitive advantage form local restaurant. There are many fast food service companies in the world for example Burger King and KFC, especially Burger King. Burger King is also a big international company with lots of stores around the world. It’s a great competitor for the McDonald’s (Product positioning). One thing that McDonald’s do to meet customers’ need and gain competitive advantage is customization. Even though McDonald’s is centred on a core formula for its restaurants and food products, it has to have some customization to meet different country’s customers’ need. For instance, alcohol is only available in McDonald’s restaurants in some countries but not in others. Basic on different country’s culture and eating habits, McDonald’s also developed different types of burger to serves different country’s customers. Such as The Teriyaki McBurger, a sausage patty on a bun with teriyaki sauce, sold in Japan (Global and transnational business: strategy and management. George Stonehouse, David Campbell). McDonald’s also uses high quality of food and service to catch customers and gain competitive advantage. As Jim Skinner, Vice Chairman and CEO of McDonald’s, said, â€Å"running better restaurants is McDonald’s number one priority. We will improve operation excellence around the world through new technology, better training, and service enhancements† (report). Training is an important tool for companies to achieve satisfaction and sustaining competitive advantage. Employee training at McDonalds is highly structured. New workers are first taken through the basic Crew Training System. Which is an on-the job- training and is largely vocational. After this process, workers will enter into a new training program, with the skills becoming more complex and generalized. The second level of training begins with a one-hour orientation on the company. Workers will watch a video and read step by step manuals at training room. The video and manuals included every detail of the operation such as how to make burgers, shake. Each restaurant has its own training room. Trainers use a series of checklists, Station Observation Checklist to evaluate new crew members’ performance. For a crew member, the training is over. But once a crew has been promoted to swing manager, he or she will continue to receive training which called management development program. It included teaching technical and functional management skill for employees at the swing manager level. There are four steps in this program. First one is Basic operations Course which covers fundamental restaurant openings. The next is Basic Management Curse which teaches leaderships, time planning, and crew recognition. Then is operations Course, students are trained on crew recruitment and retention, store leadership and decision-making. The last part in this process is Regional Equipment Course. Once employees finished this training and become assistant managed, he or she is eligible to get into Hamburger University, the company’s world wide training center for management personnel. About 2,500 managers and potential franchisees studied here. The course included enhancing communication, interpersonal and human relations skills. All McDonald’s managers are required to receive training from Hamburger University at least once every 5 years to enhance their skills. Training is seen as a core aspect in McDonald’s daily operations. Because of training is one of the important means to achieve standardization. By training employees, company can gain lots of advantages. It can increase company’s productivity, reduce staff turnover and improve service quality (). Each and every one of these customers deserved great services from the moment they approach the counter or drive-thru window until they leave the restaurants. We depend on the employees in the restaurant, whether employed by independent franchises or by McDonalds Corporation, to provide a fast friendly and courteous experience to all guests so they will visit us again and again. Thats why McDonalds Independent Franchisees and McDonalds Corporation look for individuals who like to have fun while delivering fast accurate and friendly service. If you are interested in becoming a part of a McDonalds Team, here are some of the duties that could be required of you: 1. On Time, Neat and Clean: Our crewmembers are expected to report work on time, neat and clean. 2. Wash Your Hands: the most important thing crewmembers so to help make sure our customers receive safe food is to wash their hands often.  3.  Skills and Training: Training will provide you with the skills you will need to perform your job. 4. Standards: Crewmembers follow standard operational procedures so customers always receive exceptional quality service. 5. Teamwork: Our crewmembers rely on teamwork and high energy to get the job done. 6. Clean Spotless Tidy sparking. Our customers expect every McDonalds will be clean. 7. Welcomed Guest: Our crewmembers make each customer feel like a welcomed guest. 8. Service: We depend on our crewmembers to deliver fast, accurate and friendly service with a smile.

Acids and Alkalis Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Acids and Alkalis Lab Report Essay An acid is a group of chemicals. Acids are positively charged ions, they are liquid and are solutions of pure compounds in water. If you want to know if something is an acid, you can test it by using litmus paper. Acids will turn litmus paper red, whilst alkalis will turn it blue. Alkalis are negatively charged ions and are usually solid. Aim:To find out how much of different acids is needed to neutralize 25mls of sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH). Hypothesis:The strongest alkali will need the smallest amount of an acid to cancel out and the weakest will need more acid. Variables: Control| Independent| Dependent| The indicator, NaOH| H2SO4 HClHNO3| The chemical reaction between the acids and alkali. | Materials / Apparatus: * H2SO4 * HCL * HNO3 * Alkali (NaOH) * Stand * Burette * Beaker * Funnel * Bunsen Burner * Crucible * Phenolphyalein Method: 1. Pour the 25 ml of NaOH into a beaker. 2. Drop three drops of phenolphyalein into the beaker. 3. The solution will now turn pink. . Through a funnel, pour the acid into the burette. Start dripping a few drops one by one into the beaker. 6. The solution will start getting a lighter shade of pink. 7. Stir the beaker around. 8. Once the solution turns clear, stop adding more acid. 9. Calculate the amount of acid used. 10. Take the solution and pour a bit of it into a crucible. 11. Light the Bunsen burner. 12. The salt solution will turn into salt crystals when it is heated. NaOH + HCl = NaCl + H2O NaOH + HNO3 = NaNO3 NaOH + H2SO4 = Na2SO4 + 2H2O Observations: Alkali| Acid| Moles| Observation| NaOH| HCL| 1 Mole| Took 4 ml to neutralize. No further experiment was made. | NaOH| HCL| 0. 1 Mole| Took 31 ml to neutralize. 2. 30 minutes until pink salt crystals were formed. | NaOH| HNO3| 1 Mole| Took 19. 2 ml to neutralize. 2 minutes until good white salt crystals were formed. | NaOH| H2SO4| 2 Moles| Took 1. 1 ml to neutralize. 2. 15 minutes until rings of white salt were formed. | Analysis: The weakest acid (HCl 0. 1 Mole) needed the most alkali to be made into salt and the strongest (H2SO4 2 Moles) needed the least. Different experiments made different salts. Conclusion: The strongest acid will work faster and you will need less. This is because it is a lot more reactive than the weaker acids and it will want to react much faster with the alkali. Evaluation: In my group, Zuzanna and I were the ones doing the experiment while everyone else observed and took notes on what happened. The first time, we dropped one too many drops of H2SO4 in the alkali so the alkali quickly turned pink again. We had to try it six times before we could get it right because we kept putting too much in or we would forget how much we put in. But after a few tries we finally got it to work and we got the correct solution. Therefore we could finally go on to the next step and heat up the solution. It took our salt around 2 minutes and 15 seconds to heat up, evaporate and leave us with small rings of white salt crystals. Our salt crystals did not turn out as the best, but they were successful.

The Customer Base Of Nandos

The Customer Base Of Nandos An investigation of Nandos performance since and during the recession will need to be undertaken. This would need to be compared to its performance prior to the recession in order to investigate the effect of the recession on Nandos. Firstly, the proposal will first carry out an in depth literature review to investigate relevant theories and information related to the research objectives outlined above. Building on the findings of the literature review, the research design and strategies will be formed to investigate each of the above objectives. During the course of this study, ethical and practical issues in relation to the research altogether will also be considered. Nandos founded in 1987 is a casual dining restaurant with a Portuguese theme. It originated from South Africa and is now operating in 30 countries on 5 continents. It specializes in chicken dishes with different souses such as lemon and herb, medium, hot or extra hot Peri-Peri. In some countries, they also offer other flavor options like mango and lime, lemon and herb, or Mediterranean (Nandos 2009, p.4) The restaurant began in 1987 when Robert Brozin and Fernando Duarte bought a restaurant called Chickenland in Rosettenville, Southern Johannesburg. They renamed the restaurant Nandos after Duarte. The restaurant incorporated influences from former Portuguese colonists from Mozambique, many of whom had settled on the south-eastern side of Johannesburg, after their homelands independence in 1975. (Nandos 2009, p.4) Nandos is famous for its flame-grilled Peri-Peri chicken which is served either in quarters, halves and wholes. It also serves burgers, pitas, salads, wings and wraps. In some countries, Nandos sells chicken livers, Espetada and the Cataplana. (Nandos 2009, p.2) Nandos also manufactures a range of sauces which are sold in Nandos restaurants and in supermarkets. These include Peri-Peri sauces, marinades, cooking sauces and a Peri-Peri Essence. (Nandos 2009, p.2) In 1992 Nandos entered the United Kingdoms restaurant industry with its first restaurant in Ealing, London and now is operating with its several branches around UK. In 2009 Nandos UK was awarded Three Stars in the Best Companies Annual Accreditation Awards becoming the only entrant in the large companies category to achieve the three star rating. (Harmer, 2010) Literature Review Customer Base According to Edwards (2010) customer base of an organisation includes all the customers that organisation servers. One of the most important ways to establish a successful business is to build a solid base of customers who stick with the business through thick and thin. A solid customer base becomes the foundation on which a business grows. Business Cycle Business Cycle is defined as a cycle of series of different phases of contraction and expansion of real GDP. A complete business cycle consists of five different phases and every country has to go through each phase in order to achieve its peak. A complete business cycle from peak to peak is shown in the graph below. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Phases of The Business Cycle There are five different phases of a business cycle which include the peak, contraction, though, recovery and expansion. (Arnold 2008, p.151) A complete business cycle is measured from peak to peak. Peak at the peak of the business cycle real GDP is temporary high. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Contraction this phase represents the decline in the real GDP. This phase is known as the recession phase. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Trough this phase represents the low point in the real GDP just before the starts to increase back again. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Recovery this phase represents the phase when the GDP is rising back towards the initial peak. Recovery phase begins from trough and extends up till the initial peak. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Expansion the expansion phase refers to the increase in real GDP beyond the recovery point. In this stage the GDP increases the initial peak. (Arnold 2008, p.151) No country can stay in the peak phase for long time even the developed countries. The best any country can do is that they can go straight from contraction phase to expansion phase and skip the trough and recovery phases. Recession According to Wiegand (2009) recession occurs when a countrys gross domestic product (GDP) the value of all the reported goods and services produced by a country goes down for two or more consecutive quarters which means for six months or more. (p.18) The above mentioned definition was considered very simple and standard so on November 26, 2001, the National Bureau of Economic Research gave a different than standard definition of recession. According to the NBER, recession is a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale retail trade. (Wiegand, 2009) Ordinary recession symptoms are quite depressing. People buy less stuff because they feel less confident about making in the future. Factories make less stuff because people are buying less. It can be harder to get credit. Unemployment rises and stock market falls. Depression A recession when gets out of control turns into a depression resulting in the countrys GDP drops by more than 10%.(Wiegand, 2009) Real life examples of great depression that happened in USA and Finland are: From 1929 1933, the GDP of the United States decreased by 27%. Form 1937 1938, the GDP of United states decreased by 18%. In 1990s, after the Soviet Union fell apart the GDP of Finland dropped by 11%. The above given examples when compared by the global recession of 2001 in which the GDP decreased by 0.6% give the idea of the critical situation of 1930s. (Wiegand, 2009) Impact of Recession According to King (1997) the recession had two different but related impacts: The realization that competitive nation require competitive government stimulated experiments to reform government structure and systems. The failure of many of these experiments to deliver short term benefits has led many to distrust the traditional processes and rhetoric of governments. While recession exposed both businesses and governments to new global forces, nosiness responded more flexibly than government. (p.269) Causes of Recession The reasons which cause the GDP to decrease and hence result in recession are classified into two types which are: External Causes of Recession External causes include misusing of those same factors which are used by the government in tackling the recession. Recession is generally caused by the excessive application and misusing of different governmental economic policies like fiscal or monitory policies. On rare occasions, there can be other types of external shocks such as oil embargo of 1973 74, but usually the cause of recession that does the real damage is the fiscal or monetary policies. The most prominent example of external cause of recession is the severe monetary control sometimes referred to as cold turkey monetarism. (Klien 2002, p.133) Internal Causes of Recession Internal causes of recession are probably more important than that of external causes of recession. These are the excesses, imbalances and distortion that develop within the structure of the economy itself as the expansion unfolds and cause consumers to cut back on their buying and business executives to cut back on production and employment. For example: an excessive build up of inventory, an imbalance in price cost movements that brings on a profit squeeze and excessive demands for credit that drive the rates beyond variable level. (Klien 2002, p.133) Strategies used by Governments to combat Recession The methods used by the federal government to try to pull the economy out of recession are discussed below: Setting Fiscal Policies According to Wiegand (2009) fiscal policies are basically the guidelines the government follows to collect and spend the tax money. Governments in order to tackle recession it can take the following steps: Cut Taxes so people and businesses keep more cash for spending on goods and services. Increase Spending on government projects to boost employment. Widen safety net programs such as unemployment insurance. Adjusting Monetary Policies According to Wiegand (2009) governments can regulate economy by manipulating the supply of money. Governments can use the following measures to control the recession in the economy: Lower the amount banks have to keep in reserves. Lower the interest rates on loans. Buy treasury bonds and loans that private entities made. Strategies used by Businesses to combat Recession According to Vickers (2006) Businesses in order to recession proof its business in case of economic slowdown should follow the strategies give below: Diversify its business. Offer extraordinary customer service. Intensify its marketing activities. Adopt latest technology. Stay focused towards long term goals and objectives. Look for new ways to be innovative. Recession and Chicken/ Burger Bar Market The worldwide recession has affected most markets and the chicken/burger bar market is no exception. Mintel (2010c) shows the chicken and burger bar market was worth  £4.014m. However, in 2008, roughly when the recession came to the fore, this was down to  £3.781m and was estimated to fall further yet. Recession and Nandos A study conducted in December 2010 based on the opinion of 1,966 people aged 16+, suggests 7% of people falling in the category visit Nandos. Furthermore, for the age group 15-24, this figure rises to 19% (Mintel, 2010a). This would seem to suggest that Nandos appeals more to a younger age group. However, one must take into consideration that the sample of 1,966 may not be a sufficient representation of the UK population. Nandos are inclined to target a young age group; an idea backed up by the Spirit of Nandos radio campaign aimed at 18-35 year olds (Mintel, 2010b). This point is further backed up by Nandos popularity amongst celebrities (Sawyer, 2010). In addition, Mintel (2010a) also suggests that, largely, visitors to Nandos are inclined to be from the C1 and Urban Prosperity socio-economic groups. Although there was some archival data on the customer base of Nandos, it is not sufficient for the purposes of this research. Building on the data found during the literature review, t his study will look more closely in to the customer base of Nandos. Due to lower consumer spending influenced by the recession, Nandos in the UK made a loss of  £23m in only 36 weeks leading up to February 2009. However, directors of Nandos also citied rising ingredient costs as factor (Paskin, 2010). The loss of  £23m over 36 weeks during the recession would seem to suggest that the recession has negatively affected Nandos. The Mintel (2008 and 2010c) reports showed that there was no significant change in Nandos market share in the period when recession was in progress. The research design will allow for the reasons behind this loss to be analysed in detail. Nandos financial reports will be required to look comprehensively at their financial performance and the driving forces behind any major changes. The effect of the recession on Nandos may well have been reduced due to the brand name being perceived honest and sincere (Opoku et al, 2007). Nandos has continued to expand through the economic downturn, planning 20 plus openings and David Niven vowing to open up to 200 more within 5 years (Wootton, 2010). Another strategy explored by Nandos was the move towards being eco-friendly, underlined by unveiling the first branded UK restaurant to use its own waste cooking oil as a solitary power source (Wootton, 2009). Another tactic employed by Nandos was to make a commitment to offer healthier options in their menu (Eversham, 2008). Nandos strategy of not taking note of recession and expanding will need to be further looked in to. Their initiative towards their staff and providing healthy options will also be investigated and the effectiveness of it analysed through the research methodology. Also, Nandos made a vow to make no redundancies in the recession which seems to be to keep up staff morale. And, as Moore (2010) suggests, HR methods are a major contributor to business profitability and this is a factor which is gaining m ore and more weight. This strategy seems to have paid some dividends with the award of three stars in the Best Companies Accreditation Scheme 2010 (Harmer, 2010). Research Methodology Definition Research methodology in research methods refers to the study of specific techniques, tools or procedures applied to achieve research objectives. Research methodology includes types of data, types of study, sources of data, research tools etc. used in order to conduct the research. (Dillman, 2000) Purpose of Research Research Question The research is being conducted to answer the following research questions: What is the customer base of Nandos? If and how the recession affected Nandos? What are the strategies used by Nandos in the recession? In order to answer the research question above the methodology used to carry out the research includes the following: Nature of Study In order to answer the research questions this study will require both exploratory and explanatory strategies at different points. Exploratory strategy is required as there is not enough information available about the research topic in hand as this type of research on Nandos has never been conducted before and is done for the first time. So in order to fulfil the research objectives information about Nandos is needed to be explored to investigate the effect of recession on Nandos and different strategies used by Nandos to tackle recession. (Dawson, 2002) Explanatory strategy is required as the relationship of the research findings must be established and explained in the research. (Dawson, 2002) Research Onion By considering the research objectives and the literature review of the research project a clear structure of the most suitable research methodology for the research is developed. Through each layer of Saunder et al. (2007) research onion model the most appropriate research methods, approaches and strategies are adopted for conducting the research in order to answer the research question. The different layers in Saunders et al. (2007) research onion model are shown in the figure below; all the layers will be individually discussed to explain the reason behind selecting a particular element for this specific research. Saunders et.al (2007) Research Onion Research Philosophy As shown in the figure above the first layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research philosophy. Considering the research objectives interpretive approach is selected as the relation between Nandos and its customers is needed to be determined in order to answer the research question. Positivism approach is also considered as the research also required qualitative and statistical data in order to improve the research findings. Research Approach As shown in the figure above the second layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research approach. The research design will mainly be deductive as the use of existing literature and information on Nandos will be required to form a hypothesis which will be extensively investigated through primary research methods. However, due to an apparent lack of specific existing research on some of the topics, an inductive approach will also be taken to help in answering the research objectives. Research Strategies As shown in the figure above the third layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research strategies. The research strategies employed in order to collect data for the research included the Survey, interview and Archival research. Data collected specifically for this research which is primary data will be collected through survey and interview while secondary which includes already published data will be collected through archival research. (Bates, 2005) A survey will be conducted; a questionnaire is designed in which direct formal questions will be asked from the customers of Nandos. The questionnaires will be distributed among the customers of Nandos according to the principles of random sampling as according to Saunders et al. (2007) a suitable sample from the whole population can produce the results representing the whole population. The research strategy also includes intercept interviewing in which an individual personal interview of the branch manager will be condu cted which will also include direct formal questions. Research Choice As shown in the figure above the fourth layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research choice. The research choice for this research is Mixed Method as the research design will aim to collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative information. This will allow for triangulation and, as Saunders et al. (2009) suggest, triangulation helps improve the credibility of findings, making them more valid. Time Horizon As shown in the figure above the fifth layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the Time Horizon. Time horizon chosen for this research is Cross Sectional as all the data required to answer the research question will be collected just once and the whole research will take a month to complete. A Gantt chart is given in the appendices outlining the timetable of key activities for the project. The total research work is divided into 10 different tasks where some of the activities overlap as some of their components are inter linked. Research Plan The research design will mainly be deductive as the use of existing literature and information on Nandos will be required to form a hypothesis which will be extensively investigated through primary research methods. However, due to an apparent lack of specific existing research on some of the topics, an inductive approach will also be taken to help in answering the research objectives. Furthermore, this study will require both exploratory and explanatory strategies at different points. The research design will aim to collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative information. This will allow for triangulation and, as Saunders et al. (2009) suggest, triangulation helps improve the credibility of findings, making them more valid. Phase 1: Archival Research Firstly, mainly existing information on Nandos will be examined in order to investigate whether Nandos had indeed been affected by the recession. This part of the study will be deductive and exploratory. As regards to establishing the customer base of Nandos, credible databases such as Mintel will provide useful information which will help in the formation of the questionnaire and also aid in the sampling imperative information on variables such as demographics and age groups. Furthermore, reports on Mintel such as the ones examined in the literature review, can help in identifying the affect the recession had on visitors. There are reports available which discuss and analyse who visits Nandos, and other such outlets which were briefly explored in the literature review. Some of these reports, which have the same variables, were composed before and after the recession respectively and the differences will be closely examined to determine patterns. Archival research will provide key in formation in both quantitative and qualitative form which will help develop primary research methods and ultimately answering the objectives. The financial reports will provide quantitative information. The figures before, during and after the recession will be analysed through determining the changes in profitability, for example, to establish if and to what extent the recession affected Nandos. Newspaper articles and the reports on databases such as Mintel will provide qualitative information. However, one must keep in mind that some of the data collected may be out dated and hence possibly not be relevant and bring in to question the validity of findings. The quantitative findings of this phase will be analysed by the use of graphs and other such tools to show trends and patterns. (Researchers Contribution) Phase 2: Questionnaire Following the analysis of data collected through the archival research, the next step will involve questionnaire conducted with Nandos customers. A questionnaire was chosen as a data collection tool as it can be carried out, in theory in any case, over a large sample in a reasonable amount of time, hence allowing generalisability (Saunders et al., 2009). This method will not only aim to establish Nandos customer base but also how, if at all, the recession has affected their attitudes towards Nandos. The questionnaire will be quantitative focused but will also provide opportunity to collect qualitative data. In constructing the questionnaire, the analysis of the existing information on the customer base of Nandos found through phase 1 will be vital. The questions will be formed dependant on the type of customer base Nandos has; i.e. age group or socio-economic group. The population for this data collection method will be Nandos customers. As mentioned before, Nandos has over 200 outle ts in the UK. Ideally, every Nandos customer that visits every outlet would be part of the sample. However, this is not feasible and getting a sample that will allow generalisability is vital (Saunders et al., 2009). Since there is not a database of specific Nandos customers, the sampling in that regard will have to be probable in the form of random sampling. The customer assistants will be told to offer every customer the chance to fill out the voluntary questionnaire. However, elements of non-probable sampling will also be present as the Nandos outlet that will be targeted for the questionnaire cannot be selected dependant on key variables identified through phase 1 such as outlets with high number of visitors and location among others due to lack of resources. The outlet that will be selected will aim to be the most accurate representation on Nandos. The questionnaire will aim to cover the three types of variables, suggested by Dillman (2000), which are behaviour, opinion and att ributes. The idea of offering an incentive to fill out the questionnaire may also be explored, however, this could lead to customer not answering honestly in order to get the incentive and hence hurting the validity of findings. The questionnaire prepared for the research is attached as an appendix. Phase 3: Interview with Manager The next step of the research will be to conduct a series of interview with a commercial manager within Nandos. An intercept interview of an individual was chosen. As discussed in the literature review, Nandos made a commitment to staff to make no redundancies and, in basic terms, to stand by them. As with the questionnaire, the sampling for the interviews will have elements of both probable and non-probable elements. From the store included in the sample for the questionnaire commercial manager will be asked to participate in the voluntary interview. They will be told the purpose of the study and the fact that the study is required for educational purposes. To reduce the chance of bias within the interview, the interviewee will be offered anonymity (refer to 4.0 for further discussion on ethical issues). The interview will be structured as this will help answer pre prepared questions and will be preferred by the interviewee as it will be quick (Saunders et al., 2009). Some key theme s for this interview will partly be derived from the results of the questionnaire. Interview questions can be found in the appendix. This method will provide qualitative data, by using open-ended questions, which will be further analysed. (QSR International, 2010). Practical and Ethical Issues In every stage of this research, there will be practical and ethical issues to bear in mind, as is the case with most research studies (Saunders et al., 2009). The major practical issues relating to data collection are access and response rate. The sample for the questionnaire will look to select outlet that have a high volume of customers to increase the chances of a high response rate. As regards to data collection, all participants will be informed that participation is voluntary and all data collected will be used in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Saunders et al. (2009) state that budget and time constraints prevent surveying a whole population and the sampling will look to overcome these constraints by selecting a sample which balances budget and time while giving a credible response. Another ethical issue was in relation to the interview with the mangers of Nandos outlet. Participants will be required to fill out a brief consent form, outlining the voluntary part icipation and ensuring anonymity where necessary. A brief consent form is given in the appendices. Data Analysis Questionnaire Q no: 1 to 5 The first five questions aim to determine the customer base of Nandos. Answers for the first five questions in the questionnaire are shown in the tabulation given below. Data above shows that Nandos is famous amongst both the Males and Females as out of 25 participants 13 were males and 12 were females. It shows that 80% of the Nandos customers are within the age group of 16 45, 80% of the total respondents who took part in the research are well employed and most of the respondents visit Nandos weekly. The following graph shows number of Males and Females visiting Nandos with respect to their age group. Chart No: 1 Gender with respect to Age Group The following pie chart shows customer base of Nandos with respect to their occupation. Chart No: 2 Nandos Customer Base with respect to Occupation The above charts show Nandos even though attracts customers of all different age groups and occupation but is mostly famous among Students and Sales Assistants who all fall within the age group of 16 45 years. Q no: 6 to 8 Questions 6 to 8 aim to determine the effect of recession on Nandos. Answers for questions 6 to 8 in the questionnaire are shown in the tabulation given below. The data above shows that recession did not have significant effect on people eating out at Nandos but it did have an effect on people eating out habits. The only respondents who agreed that recession had an effect on them eating at Nandos all fall within the income group of above  £50,000 and the affect recession had on them eating out at Nandos led them to try cheaper substitutes. The data collected showed that the overall effect of recession led people to eat out less. The rest of the questions aim to determine the strategies employed by Nandos to tackle recession. Q no: 9 The data collected showed the 28% of the Nandos customers consider its taste, 13 % of the Nandos customers consider its menu variety, 22% of the Nandos customers consider its customer service, 14% of the Nandos customers consider its atmosphere and 23% of the Nandos customers consider its Brand name/image to be their favourite thing about Nandos. The following pie chart shows the customers favourite thing about Nandos Chart No: 3 Customers favourite thing about Nandos Q no: 10 to 15 Answers to question 10 to 15 are shown in the tabulation given below. All these question ask the respondents that do they agree with the following terms about Nandos or not. The data above shows that the reasons for the respondents to eat at Nandos includes variety of high quality tasty and healthy products, excellent customer service, helpful and friendly staff, good deliver on time performance and friendly environment. As a whole the respondents consider the Nandos experience as a high quality experience. The following graph Nandos qualities according to its cutomers Chart No: 4 Nandos Qualities Interview The finding of the short interview taken from a Nandos branch manager who has been working with Nandos for two years are: On average approximately 600 to 700 people eat at his particular branch in a week and the number has not significantly changed during the periods of recession. Financially Nandos outlet did not suffered due to recession and the figures do back this. Nandos stance of backing its staff despite the recession has been really a success in keeping the up staff morale which can also be judged by the excellent services provided by Nandos staff. No, we have not been given any sort of guidelines from the head office about Nandos strategies specifically as regards to the recession and no there have not been any significant changes because of recession. The manager at the end of the interview added that the only affect she can think off that recession had on Nandos is that, as Nandos is segmented as a posh fast food restaurant as it positioned between a posh restaurant and a local restaurant which attracted customers who use to dine in posh restaurants towards Nandos as a cheaper substitute. Conlusion The objectives of the research project mentioned are completely fulfilled by the research conducted and by critically analysing the secondary and primary data gained from the research project the following answers of the research problems can be concluded. The customer base of Nandos mainly consists of young generation witin the age group of 16 36 years. It can also be concluded from the data extracted through the research that the customer base of Nandos is inclined to be from the C1 and Urban Prosperity socio-economic groups. From the above research it can be seen that the recession did not have any negative impact on Nandos but it had a positive effect as because of recession the customers who use to dine at posh expensive restaurants now visit Nandos as a cheaper substitute when compared with posh expensive resturants. The strategy used by Nandos to avoid the effects of recession is according to the ones mentioned in the Literature review. Nandos with its established brand image, high quality healthy and tasty products and excellent customer service has recession proofed itself. Appendices Questionnaire You and Nandos Please tick the appropriate answer. What is your gender? Male Female What is your age group, in years? Below 16 16 30 31- 45 Over 45 What is your occupation? ______________________ What is your annual salary? Below  £20,000  £20,000  £35,000  £36,000  £50,000 Above  £50,000 How often do you visit Nandos? Daily Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Infrequently The recession has had an affect on me eating at Nandos. Strongly Disagree