CONTRACT LAW ASSIGNMENT 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CONTRACT LAW ASSIGNMENT 5 - Essay Example Goods should be of satisfactory quality, fit for the purpose, and should be as description. Goods sold must be 'conform to contract' fit for the quality and satisfactory for the intended use of customer. They should be durable, safe, devoid of minor defects. (Sale of Goods act, 1979, Supply of Goods Act, 1982, The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations, 2002). Under Consumer Protection Act 1987, or under common law, despite there being no contractual relationship between Mary and manufacturer she would be able to pursue the manufacturer for negligence while manufacturing and endangering her life. Also she could pursue the retailer, or breach of contract under SGA. All the guarantees are legally binding and will stand in a Court of Law. But the clause that any further injury or damage caused by their faulty goods would not be entertained by them will not stand in a court of law. They might have written that for their own protection; it need not necessarily be a legal verdict. In this case the alarm has caused extensive damage within a day and Mary can prove that she was not at fault and did not misuse the alarm in any way. Hence, the protection clause the retailer will not protect him because it will be read as unfair contract terms and thus, will have no legal standing. Misrepresen (d) What damages could Mary possibly recover as a result of the incident, if any Misrepresentation Act of 1967 can be used here, along with Trade Description Act 1968. Mary can claim compensation for the damage caused by unsafe goods including shock and personal injury. As she herself has bought the goods, she can claim from either the trader or manufacturer. Mary in all probability has to go to court to get compensation because this is a complex legal area and it is necessary to have legal advice. Mary can to go Citizens Advice Bureau which would be helpful.. (e) If Mary decided to pursue an action to recover damages, in what Court would she start her action and why It should have been the Small Claims Court, if the claim is less than 5,000. (f) Would the position be any different if Jane was Mary's Mother and Jane had served her when she bought the Alarm No. Even if Jane was Mary's mother, she would be part of Square Deal Electrics and a trader while serving a customer, whoever it is. Relationship does not make any difference unless it is a private sale and if it is one, law renders least amount of protection on faulty goods. Mary is entitled to ask for the contract money to be returned. Due to basic faults in goods, there had been extensive damage not only for Mary's property, but also for her friend's gold watch, so this case reaches a different parameter. Under this context, it is not possible to ask for a replacement or repair. Onus is always on the purchaser to prove that goods are faulty beyond doubt and here it is not a problem to prove it. Goods should be 'fit

The American Pursuit of Happiness Beyond US Borders Essay Example for Free

The American Pursuit of Happiness Beyond US Borders Essay In recent times, more and more Americans are immigrating to countries like Canada and Australia in a spirited search of the American Dream. Catalysts for this recent trend are tied largely to the American economic crisis which has been afflicting Americans for quite some time. The incredibly high levels of crime in the United States have also influenced Americans to pursue happiness beyond U. S. borders. Countries like Canada and Australia demonstrate lower rates of crime than the United States and that seems to resonate with most Americans. Another convincing factor towards emigration is the high cost of healthcare in the United States compared to some of the government-funded healthcare systems around the world. All of these dynamics are deeply valued in American society and are seen as worth chasing. I believe emigration towards countries that promote economic stability, low crime rates and socialized healthcare is the ideal thing to do for U. S. citizens in search of these pursuits. America is experiencing a high unemployment rate, large income gaps and an evident lack of growth for the working middle class due to the modern economic crisis and this is swaying Americans to search for jobs in foreign countries. According to Trading Economics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of unemployed Americans is 8. 3% as of January, 2012. This fares out higher than the Canadian unemployment rate which is at 7. 6% and especially elevated compared to the Australian unemployment rate which is 5. 1% (Trading Economics). Also, the latest studies show that mobility between classes in the United States is less apparent than in other countries due to the large American poor class and the tall demand U. S. employers place on the need for college degrees from prospective employees (DeParle). It has become clear to me that the opportunities needed to develop into a successful and effective worker can be found, with less effort, in a foreign country. The United States has a ghastly reputation of having some of the highest crime rates in the world including considerable quantities of violent offenses. As indicated by the Disaster Center and the F. B. I. Uniform Crimes Report, in 2010 the United States had over ten million reported criminal offenses and over one million of them were violent crimes. This measures up much higher than Canada’s crime rates which in 2009 were reported at just over two million criminal offenses (Rodriguez). What is dumbfounding is the significant difference in violent offenses which was under four-hundred and fifty thousand (Rodriguez). That is less than the amount of aggravated assaults in the United States in 2010 which totaled over seven-hundred and seventy-five thousand (Disaster Center). The pursuit of happiness certainly entails residing in a safe and sound country and the evidence points towards the land beyond U. S. borders. There is very little the American people treasure more than their health, but with healthcare prices soaring to astronomical heights, it has become difficult to acquire the necessary coverage that Americans need. Statistics show that Americans pay over fifty percent more on premiums per capita for health care over other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which includes, among others, Canada and Australia (Med Health Insurance). Canadian citizens benefit from publicly funded healthcare coverage without the need to consider their income or medical history (Canadian Health Care). In Australia, the government is primarily responsible for healthcare funding by covering roughly seventy percent of medical costs (Australian Law Reform Commission). The peace of mind gained by having a socialized government funded health care plan is invaluable and a worthy basis for emigration from the United States. The American Dream is sought after by all Americans and comprises of several key principles. A primary principle is social and financial stability through employment and mobility. The second standard is the sense of security brought on by reduced crime rates and a reduced amount of violent crimes in particular. A final and yet crucial ideal for those in pursuit of happiness is the sense of tranquility acquired through a government-financed healthcare plan. All of these standards cannot be met within the United States, but they can be attained in countries like Canada and Australia. I consider it imperative for Americans to search for these ideals across American boundaries through the act of emigration. I encourage U. S. citizens to think outside this country.

Challenges Faced By The Virgin Atlantic Commerce Essay

Challenges Faced By The Virgin Atlantic Commerce Essay Nowadays globalization has increased so competitions in business are very high because of making profits the demand increases through customers. There are lots of good smart phone applications, or app, available for smart phones to help every people to travel easier. People are addicted to travel in different places by flights, so they are looking for cheap rate. If this company decrease the flight charges their marketing in business will be in loss. One really good one is flight track. This flight land at fix time and gate number and even allow to see the geographical position of the flight on a map at any time. In this flight offers many facilities like food, water, drinks ,napkins with free of cost travelers make wonderful journey for their trips on this flight.Many airlines such as southwest,jetblue and others have launched applications which let you book your tickets ,lookup schedules and check in all in phones so customers can book tickets through online and tickets were posted in houses. A few days ago virgin Atlantic came out with app and is called JET LAG FIGTHER which seems to have a lot of potentials for people. In some emergency case workers, families in serious can immediately book on this flight. This aircraft is fastest rather than any other aircraft. TASK1 For years theres been something rather lonely about the British airline its very expensive travelers to travel. The food which they provide is not free of cost. The British airline which flies outside the comforting embrace of the big three alliances, despite the 49%stake owned by the Singapore airline a member of star alliances. That could set to change , though with virgin having now admitted to receiving a number of lines of enquiry. Theres something rather inevitable about a deal for virgin. British airways are very expense this aircraft makes difficult to gain their profits. Its a big rival working ever more closely with American airlines and international air transport associations, virgins continuing survival as a lone operator just seems too shaky. Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people. Kurt Lewis (1939) led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leaderships.The three major style of leadership are AUTHORITIAN OR AUTOCRATIC PARTICIPATVE OR DEMOCRATIC DELEGATING OR FREE REIGN AUTHORITIAN-This style is used when leaders tell their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished without getting the advice of their followers .Some of the appropriate conditions to use it is when we all the information to solve the problem. Some people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling ,using demeaning language and leading by threats and abusing their powers. PARTICIPATIVE(DEMOCRATIVE)-This style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process. However leader maintains the final decision making authority.Using this style is not a style of weakness, rather it is sign of strength that your employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information and your employees have other parts. DELEGATING OR FREE REIGN-In this style leaders allow to make the decisions. However the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made.This is used when employees are able to analyse the situations and determine what needs to be done and how to do it. Leadership is organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal. The leader may or may not have formal authority.Students of leadership have produced theories involving traits. 1.situational,interaction,function,behavior,power,visionand values. 2.charishma and intelligence and among others Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British entrepreneur best known for his virgin group of over 400companies His first successful business venture was a magazine called student at age 16.In 1970 he set up an audio record mail order business. In 1972 he opened a chain of record stores .Virgin Records later known as virgin megastores.Bransons virgin brand grew during the 1980.Branson mainly has lots of business he earned more profit for virgin atlantic.He wants to continue his business for a long time. Once he caught arrested and charged selling in virgin stores that had been declared export stock .He settled out of court with uk customs and Excise with an agreement to repay the unpaid tax and a fine. Earning enough money from his record stores. Branson in 1972 launched the record level and a country estate in which he installing a recorded studio. He have lots of professional work and have good idea to build up the companies. DETERMINING ORGANIZATION DIRECTION 1. Through an interpretation of information gathered during environmental analysis managers can determine the direction in which an organization should move. 2. Important ingredients of organizational direction are organizational Mission and organizational objectives. DETERMINING ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION: The most common initial act in establishing organizational direction is an organizational mission. The statement that describes the mission talks about the target market which in this case is families, geographic, domain of neighbourhoods. It also talks about its strategy t be profitable by providing good customer service through friendly and knowledgeable people. It is essential to look into external influences like labour, conditions, competitors, government rules while considering mission statement. Companys mission statement should define stakeholders expected return along with the measurement of the performance of the company through those returns. The expected profit too should be included in the organizations mission. Moreover, the company should come to consensus as to what all areas should be measured like margin growth, efficiency, competitive cost position, product quality, market share etc. A missions statement sets the boundaries for how resources should be allocated and what strategic and operational goals should be set. The mission statement should acknowledge the companys strength and then inform employees where to direst their efforts in order to take advantage of those strength. It is often helpful to allow companywide input when creating a mission statement. Employees from throughout the organization can help identify the core values of the company. It is important to keep in mind that there will be a draft process involving in creating the mission statement. Employees can often provide invaluable insight on how to improve on each draft. In the end the mission statement should reflect the personality of the organization. Thus each company should be creative and unique in developing its own statement. Creating a mission committee that consists of members of management, frontline employees. Communicating the mission statement to customers to make them feel valued a nd important. It can be sending to customers in a mass mailing or posted or signs in areas those customers frequent. It sets the forth the goals of the organizations so customers know what to expect when doing business with the company. Mission and vision statements give organizations a focus and a strategy for the future. Setting up meetings with members of management and frontline employees can often help uncover areas where the company does not meet the standard sets by the mission statement, SWOT ANALYSIS Organizations should begin first by reviewing internal strengths and weakness. When analyzing an organizations strength is important to identify distinctive competencies or strength possessed by only a few competing firms. These distinctive competencies often become the competitive advantage that is included in the mission statement. Distinctive competencies can be found in the financial resources, quality product and services, proprietary technology or cost advantage. Organizational weakness is skills and capabilities that prevent an organization from implementing strategies that achieve its mission. They can be problem with facilities, lack of clear strategic direction, internal operating problems, too narrow a product line, weak market image, or the inability to financial changes. The next step is to identify external opportunities are circumstances in an organizations environment that if capitalized on will result in above normal increases in economic performance. In conclusion mission statement provides a sense of direction and purpose. In times of change and growth they can be an anchor and a guide in decision makings. The benefit far outweigh the disadvantages and challenges when looking at the potential for increase in profitability and returns .Defining an organization by what it produce and who it satisfies are the main target towards creating a sound and stable mission statement. Setting a company apart from the competition is one of the biggest advantages. Task-3 There are two major components to your marketing strategy: how your enterprise will address the competitive market place how you will implement and support your day to day operations In todays every competitive market place a strategy that insures a consistent approach to offering your product its all up to customers how much they required. It is of little value to have a strategy if you lack either the resources or the expertise to implement it. In the process of creating a marketing strategy you must consider many factors. Of those many factors some are more important than others.Because each strategy must address some unique considerations its not reasonable to identify every important factor at a general level. If the market is very attractive and your enterprise is one of the strongest in the industry you will want to invest your best resources in support of your offerings. If the market is very attractive and your enterprise is one of the weaker ones in the industry. A cost leadership strategy based on the concept that you produce and market good quality product or service at lower cost than your competitors. These low cost should translate to profit margins that are higher than the industry average. Some of the conditions that should exist to support a cost leadership strategy include an ongoing availability of operating capital, good process engineering skills, close management of labor, products designed for ease of manufacturing and low cost distribution. A differentiation strategy is one of the creating a product or service that is perceived is being unique throughout the industry. The emphasis can be a brand image, proprietary technology, special features, and superior services, a strong distributor network or other aspects that might be specific to your industry .This uniqueness should also translate to profit margins that are higher than the industry average. In addition some of the conditions that should exist to support a differentiation strategy include strong marketing abilities, effective product engineering, creative personal the ability to perform basic research and a good reputation. A focus strategy may be the most sophisticated of the generic strategies, in that it is a more intense form of either the cost leadership or differentiation strategy. It is designed to address a focused segment of the marketplace, product form or cost management process and is usually employed when it isnt appropriate to attempt an across the board application of cost leadership or differentiations. It is based on the concept of serving a particular target in such an exceptional manner, those others cannot compete. Usually this means addressing a substantially smaller market segment than others in the industry, but because of minimal competitions, profit margin can be high. CUSTOMER SERVICES The strength of the customer service function has a strong influence on long term market success. Factors to consider include. .Experience of the customers service manager in the areas of similar offerings and customer quality control, technical support, product documentation, sales and marketing. The availability of technical to service your offerings after it is purchased. one or more factors that causes your customer support to stand out as unique in the eyes of the customer service. Accessibility of service outlets for the customer. The reputation of the enterprise for the customer service. PROFIT POTENTIAL Potential for competitive retaliation is based on the competitors resources, commitment to the industry, cash position and predictability as well as the status of the market. The enterprises ability to construct entry barriers to competitions such as the creation of high switching costs, gaining substantial benefit from economic of scale ,exclusive access to or clogging of distributional channels and the ability to clearly differentiate your offerings from the competitions. the ability of the enterprise to limit suppliers bargaining power. The availability of substitute solutions to the prospects need. Market potential for new products considering market growth, prospects need for your offerings and the competition and the degrees of the prospect needs. The freedom of the enterprise to make critical business decisions without undue influence from distributors, suppliers, unions, investors, and other influence. COST TO ENTER MARKET This is an analysis of the factors that will influence your cost to achieve significant market penetration. Factors to consider include. your marketing strength. Access to low cost materials and effective productions. The experience of your enterprise. The complexity of introduction problems such as lack of adherence to industry standards, unavailability of materials, poor quality products, regulatory problems, and the inability to explain the benefits of the offerings to the prospects. The effectiveness of the enterprise infrastructure in terms of organization, recruiting capabilities, employee benefit programs, customer support facilities and logistical capabilities. Distribution effectiveness as measured by the history of relations, the extent of channel utilizations ,financial facilities stability, reputations ,access to prospects and familiarity with your offering. Technological efforts likely to be successful as measured by the strength of the development organization. The availability of adequate operating capital. PRODUCTION The strength of the production manager including experience with personnel management, current and new technologies, complex projects and equipments, tools used by the manufacturing personnel. Economies of scale allowing the sharing of production and the potential for vertical integration. Technology and production experience. The necessary production personnel skill level and or the enterprises ability to hire or train qualified personnel. The ability of the enterprise to limit suppliers bargaining power. The ability of the enterprise to control the quality of raw materials and product. Adequate access to raw materials and sub-assembly production. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS Technology is an outgoing process and BAS competition like virgin Atlantic is also in for the challenge .Virgin Atlantic airlines invested in innovative features that distinguish the company name. The use of information technology and internet are key factors in BAS strategy success and efficiency of the organizations. British Airways recognized this opportunity and turned in to one of its strength. On the other hand Technology advancements may also be a threat to the airline industry. As an example video conferencing may reduce business travel. Another example its internet bookings which are allowing greater price transparency thus leading to aggressive price battles between competitions, resulting in less profit marketing and leading to a less effective financial positions. MARKETING STRATEGY BA lacks of a marketing strategy to win customer loyalty. A weakness that has to be addressed by the organization. It is argued that BA is growing thanks to the globalization and travelers needs rather than to the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. Despite the great infrastructure hosted by the company.BA needs to carry out better marketing schemes to attract prospective travelers .The company suffers from a deprivation of strategic management strategy to keep its goal aligned with growing market trends to match needs of the future. Virgin Atlantic is being proactive and is currently reviewing it global advertising strategy in a move to increase its advertising effectiveness that could lead to an overhaul of its worldwide arrangement. MAKING STRATEGIC PLANNING MORE EFFECTIVE Rigby has found there is no co relation between satisfaction with financial results and the number or type of strategic management tools used by an organization. The connection between strategies and business results is not perfect because reality usually interference. Reality may interfere internally as when a company is unable to execute its intended strategy, or externally as when events such as competitive response, technological innovation or societal trends affect the business environment. As a result of this week connection the planning process has a limited ability to influence the strategic direction of the enterprise .Most planning process does not work very well. Simpson offered some tips on what planners could do to improve the effectiveness of the planning process. He suggested minimizing the size of the planning function, expanding participation in the planning process, and keeps planning as far away from finance as possible. He noted that a large planning staff tends just to create work and that is important for managers of the functions and business unit to do their own planning .In this way they do the thinking have the insights and are invested in the implementation and results. The business needs to own their plans and against having the corporate planning staff review and critique and an operating department plans. While reducing the size of the planning staff .Planning must become non-elitist and less exclusionary, understanding what business they are in and what value the organization adds. The organization is purpose and strategy flow from the business data. THE THREAT OF TECHNOLOGY Common practices of good management, according to Professor Clayton often sow the seeds of eventual failure; because they are biased towards incremental improvement rather than radical change .He identify two types of technological change, very few established companies have managed to stay top of the change and stay ahead of upstairs competitors. Adopting these disruptive technologies would have caused currently lucrative product lines to become obsolete more rapidly .Companies stumble in the face of technological change for all kinds of reasons, including complacency and arrogance. Failure may be the price of success as companies become captive to once successful paradigms. The gap between what the market requires and what technology is providing creates opportunities for the introduction of radically new technologies. Discontinuities occur when a new technology gives the market smaller, cheaper products with fewer features, less performance or lower quality. Disruptive technologies will not have all the features valued by the mainstream market but may very well serve the needs of the significant portion or an emerging the ability to record. TASK-4 LEADERSHIP SKILL Having this process in place is vital to the organization because the individual identified in the plan will eventually be responsible for ensuring the company is able to tackle future challenges. These high potential candidates must be carefully selected and then provided training and development that gives them skills and competencies needed for tomorrows business environment. Another reason its important is because these high potential will one day become the leaders of the company. This is why their development needs to incorporate a broad range of learning opportunities in your organizations. The individuals should also exposed to as much of the working environment as possible that they gain a good understanding of what the company requires to remain successful. Succession planning is one of those initiatives that many companies dont find the time to start until its too late. If you dont address succession planning now your organization may end up facing the burden in the middle of a crisis. Finally organization understand the need to manage the development of their high performers are step ahead of their competitors. The effort required to establish a development program for future leaders is worthwhile because it creates motivated and capable groups of employees that are ready to move forward in the organization when the need arise. Succession planning is not something a well run company consequences is not being prepared to replace key personnel will have a major impact on organizations ability to achieve its goal and strategic targets. The succession planning needs to be consider as part of the companys strategic planning process because it deals with projecting future changes by anticipating management vacancies and then determining how to meet these challenges. The group turnover is in billions consisting of over 200 companies. The differences in approach from a typical multinational company are: 1) LONG TERM PLANNING-The group is privately held and in the decision making public investors are not involved. Hence the decision is taken from the long term growth perspective. The group does not need to focus on short term profit to show performance in the stock market. 2) COMPANIES OPERATE INDEPENDENTLY-The group is loosely structured under common brand name .The private companies run safely. 3) Containing company wise risk-When a company grows beyond a specific size, the company is divided in two or more. These keep company manageable and while minimizing the impact of its failure in the group. 4) NEW PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION -The group identifies new market and product based on the analysis of the existing market. The existing market for the new market is frequently either a monopoly or oligopoly.

The Death Penalty :: essays research papers

The Death Penalty Is the death penalty just or unjust? It has been argued that capitol punishment is imposed merely to gratify a desire for revenge. Whether or not a punishment is legal depends upon whether or not it serves a valid goal or purpose of a policy. The death penalty is usually defended on two grounds; is useful and that is just . Is capitol punishment moral or immoral? Is the death penalty moral? Capitol punishment is imposed to spare future victims of murder by carrying out the threat of execution upon convicted murderers. The death penalty punishes them not for what they may or may not do in the future but what they have already done. It's unclear that the murderer has the same right to live as their victim. " Our ancestors... purged their guilt by banishment, not death. And by so doing they stopped that endless vicious cycle of murder and revenge." (Euripedes, Orestes 408 B.C.) By 1500 in England only major felonies carried the death penalty. Reform of the death penalty began in Europe by the 1750's. By the 1850's these reform efforts bore fruit. Michigan first abolished the death penalty in 1847. Various public opinion polls report that more than 70% of Americans favor the death penalty for murder. By 1991, some 2,350 persons were under the death sentence in 36 states. The death penalty should be moral because, " a life for a life." Is the death penalty immoral? Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is a realistic alternative for the small number of offenders who are likely to be executed in any given year. Justice does not demand death but justice does demand that murderers be punished. If punishment is justifiable as for restoring justice and the moral order, it does not necessarily follow that capitol punishment is moral. " The death penalty only allows us to extend the pain. It allows us to continue to blame one another, to turn against one another, to learn to hate better" . Many people think that by executing some criminals, we will deter others. The cost to send a murderer to a death penalty is about 3 million dollars. The cost is dramatically lower to keep a criminal in for life imprisonment without the possibility for parole. The death penalty is just " cruel and unusual punishment." Personally, the death penalty is moral and just. If you take a life you should have yours taken. It is here to show that the death penalty punishes the murderer for what they have already done.

Reaction The Film And Your Name Is Jonah Essay

I watched the film; And Your Name is Jonah. My initial reaction to this movie in the beginning was frustration. This boy was clearly not meant to be in a mental hospital for the mentally challenged. He had the full capabilities of a normal child and it was not so hard to see. I don’t understand how a child of his capabilities could be misdiagnosed as having mental problems when clearly the only specific he had was not hearing. It makes me so frustrated because a child who obviously had so much to say was trapped in his body without any way of expressing himself. As the movie continues, his parents find out that he is deaf. His misdiagnosis had him in a mental institution which makes me question if this foreshadows or depicts how deaf people were treated before they are diagnosed. As if they were treated as if they were â€Å"impaired†. It feels like a violation and offensive to anyone that is deaf. I also felt controversial about the views of deaf people from ignorant hearing people and how ASL was frowned upon. ASL is a form of communication. How else would deaf people communicate when the English language is taught to us from birth? Individuals who were born deaf cannot learn the English language like a hearing person. If sign language is so frowned upon how else would a born deaf person understand what is going on in the world. Jonah’s parents farther along in the movie decided to get him hearing aids, but that only made the noise louder and it wasn’t clear to what was being said still. The doctors even recommended li p reading because sign language was frowned upon. Even speech therapy failed. With all these signs of defeat, I felt very frustrated with Jonah’s parents. Sign Language is the obvious answer. If your child cannot communicate with you and clearly sign language is the best option then learn and teach your child. It was the obvious choice that would help better communicate a parent with their child. If ASL was taught sooner to Jonah there wouldn’t have been situations in the movie where communication was essential. For example, when Jonah was being yelled at from a car to get out of the road. He could hear led to him falling off his bike. Another example is when Jonah couldn’t understand that Spiderman was a â€Å"good guy†. He ended up putting his brother’s Spiderman in the oven to get  rid of him. Miscommunication between Jonah and his brother resulted in this. Another example is when Jonah’s grandfather gets a heart attack and died. Jonah didn’t understand and searched for him after the funeral because no one could explain to him what was going on. Finally, when Jonah got lost and was taken to a hospital by a police officer–the doctors and nurses thought he was dangerous and crazy. Another example of miscommunication.

Food Inc. Case Study Essay

1. How has technology been applied to the food production process? Give/describe at least 3 examples. In the last 50 years, technology has completely changed the way we eat. When we think about farming, we think red barns, green grass, free-roaming animals, etc. Farming, now-a-days, is far different than the image the industry has lead us to believe. Farming has become a highly industrialized and mechanized business. The reality is our food is no longer coming from farms; it’s coming off assembly lines in factories, just like automobiles. Due to the high demand for certain types of foods, technology has allowed us to change the way we grow our food. Through genetic engineering, scientists have been able to introduce genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) into the food system to help with the shortage of food. Take for instance, the chicken. In 1950, it took farmers 70 days to raise a chicken. Now, it takes half the time, only 48 days. Not only can farmers grow chickens faster, they can grow them to be bigger. To meet the needs of consumers’ preferences for white meat, scientists made specific changes to the chickens’ DNA that made it possible to redesign the chicken to have larger breasts (Wikipedia.org). Another area where technology was applied to our food production process was through crops. In the 1930’s scientists developed a hybrid seed for corn, this hybrid had stronger stalks that resisted being blown over and it allowed farmers to plant the crop closer together (Food, Inc. Discussion Guide). Resulting in higher yields, â€Å"100 years ago a farmer in America could grow maybe 20 bushels of corn on an acre. Today, 200 bushels is no problem† (Food, Inc.). With the surplus of corn, scientists were able to develop more uses for it. A couple of examples include corn-based ethanol fuel, high-fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, etc. Even though the technological advances mentioned above are astounding, one can’t help but wonder how these changes are aff ecting society. 2. How has business influenced government in the agricultural / food industry? Give at least 3 examples from the documentary. Monsanto has influenced government in many ways when it comes to the agricultural / food industry. Michael Pallon, an American author / journalist / activist, states â€Å"There has been this revolving door between Monsanto’s corporate offices and the various regulatory and judicial bodies that have made the  key decisions.† (Food, Inc.). For example, Justice Clarence Thomas (1991 – Present) was an attorney for Monsanto from 1976 – 1979 and wrote the majority of the opinion that refused farmers from cleaning and saving their own seed (Food, Inc.) Monsanto also had very close ties to the Bush and Clinton Administration. These ties eliminated the political debates over the extreme change in our food system. â€Å"For the last 25 years, our government has been dominated by the industries that it was meant to be regulating† (Food, Inc.). Take for example, Michael Taylor King, a Spaulding lawyer from 1994 – 1991. He advised his client, Monsanto, on GMF labeling. Then in 1991, he became the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and oversaw the FDA’s decision not to label GMF’s. As stated in the film, there is too much centralized power. Farmers are going into more and more debt with each year passing and what’s truly sad about the whole situation is they have no control over the businesses they worked tooth and nail for. 3. What is the FDA’s most current policy on genetically engineered foods? If you use a quote, then use two paragraphs or more to support the quote.  According to Noelle Cremers with the California Farm Bureau the FDA’s most current policy regarding genetically engineered foods is as follows, â€Å"And if I can point out the reason that we are concerned with labeling is it creates unnecessary fear in a consumer’s mind. Until the industry has an opportunity to educate why we want to use this technology and the value of the technology, we don’t feel that consumers just having a warning label will help them† (Food, Inc.). The problem with this is it violates consumer’s rights. As stated in the â€Å"consumer’s Magna Carta† that was spelled out by President John F. Kennedy, consumers have four basic rights, the right to be informed, the right to safety, the right to choose, and the right to be heard (Carroll and Buchholtz 392). The FDA is violating at least three of consumer’s rights by not labeling for GMO’s. Starting with the right to be informed, which â€Å"refers to the consumer’s right to know about a product, its use, and the cautions to be exercised while using it† (Carroll and Buchholtz 392). Without labeling, consumers have no clue what they are consuming, they are not informed. Next, the FDA is violating consumer’s right to safety which refers to concerns of  a product being dangerous (Carroll and Buchholtz 392). Even though GMO’s were discovered in the 1970’s, approximately 40 years ago, there is little to no research proving these products are safe for us to consume. Are they trying to cover up the fact that they are dangerous? Lastly, they are not allowing consumers the right to choose. Without full disclosure of GMO’s, how can one make an accurate choice? As far as the right to be heard, the FDA is hearing consumer’s desires and grievances towards the labeling of GMO’s, they’re just not listening. 4. What evidence do you see in the documentary that business is taking a more proactive, socially responsible stance to food production? To prove it is possible for businesses to have a proactive, socially responsible stance in the way food is produced, the documentary focused on two companies, Polyface Farms and Stonyfield Farms. Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farms, is hitting the nail on the head when it comes to being a socially responsible business owner. He’s upholding his economic responsibility to be profitable. He may not be striving to have his food sold at Wal-Mart, but he is charging customer’s fair prices for the quality of food he is providing. Polyface Farms is being legally responsible by obeying all laws. Although, the United States Department of Agricultural did try shutting them down because their operations are open to the air and it is considered to be unsanitary. However, he had his workplace cultured at a local microbiology lab and the results averaged 133 colony forming units, where the cultures from stores averaged 3600 colony forming units. In microbiology, colony-forming unit (CFU) is an estimate of viable bacterial or fungal numbers. Unlike direct microscopic counts where all cells, dead and living, are counted, CFU estimates viable cells (Wikipedia.org). Lastly, Polyface farms is withholding there ethical standards high. Some could argue that killing animals for food is wrong, but that is a completely different subject. The company is showing respect to the planet, their workers, the animals, and their consumers. In the documentary Joel Salatin states, â€Å"I mean, a culture that just views a pig as a pile of protoplasmic inanimate structure to be manipulated by whatever creative design that humans can foist on that critter will probably view individuals within its community and other cultures in the community of  nations with the same type of disdain, disrespect and controlling-type mentality.† (Food, Inc.). That statement alone proves he is ethically responsible. The documentary also focused on Stonyfield Farms as a socially responsible company. Gary Hirschberg, the COO of Stonyfield Farms states, â€Å"When we started out, we were a seven-cow farm. We wanted to prove that business could be part of the solution to the globe’s environmental problems. At the same time we had to prove that we could be highly profitable† (Food, Inc.). Stonyfield is the third largest yogurt brand in America, and they are the most profitable, e.g. they’re being economically responsible. The company is proving to be ethically responsible by providing organic yogurt, quality products, to the consumers at a responsible price, and you can tell in the documentary that their animals are being treated with respect. The cows were roaming free and were very clean, the farm had red barns that were kept nicely, and the grass was green. More and more companies today, are sprinting into the organic business. They are starting to realize that consumers are waking up and seeing behind the veil the food industry has put up. Consumers want to be healthy, be respected as both consumers and worker, and they want to preserve our environment for future generations. Works Citied Carroll, Archie B., and Buchholtz, Ann K. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management. 8th ed. Mason, OH: Cengage, 2012. â€Å"Colony-forming Unit.† Wikipedia.org. 4 February 2014. 18 March 2014 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony-forming_unit> Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Robert Kenner; Richard Pearce; Eric Schlosser; Melissa Robledo; William Pohlad; Jeff Skoll; Robin Schorr; Diane Weyermann; Elise Pearlstein; Kim Roberts; Michael Pollan; Gary Hirshberg; Joel Salatin; Mark Adler. Los Angeles, CA : Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD. â€Å"Food, Inc. Discussion Guide.† Takepart.com. 15 March 2014 â€Å"Genetically Modified Food.† Wikipedia.org. 17 March 2014. 18 March 2014 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food >