Franchises often have others running their own restaurants and charge them for their products. This ensures the franchise makes revenue with little risk because they are not the ones investing in building the new location instead it would be a third party. It’s a symbiotic relationship because the third party makes money because of the brand behind them and the company makes money from the location with minimal responsibility. The book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser in the chapter “Success” touches upon the subject and indirectly or unintentionally he brings up other topics that are of much debate in the United States. The chapter introduces a former hockey player named Dave Feamster. He is college educated with a degree in business but is working at a …show more content…
Little Caesars which is a pizza chain. Due to an injury, he was unable to continue his hockey career. Schlosser states, “He had a business degree, but had spent most of his time in college playing hockey. He didn’t know anything about business” (93). Perhaps unintentionally Schlosser had brought up the topic about the value of a degree. Today it is paramount that people have a college degree in order to have a decent paying career. However, many people lack the experience to put the degree to use. In a country where more people have degrees than ever, the competition for those jobs gets tougher. This is affecting millennials who have a hard time finding work but with little relevant experience. Feamster may be educated but is working the same minimum wage job as someone without a degree deeming his useless. Although Feamster’s degree is of no use as a cook at Little Caesars he was able to own a restaurant of Little Caesar’s with his connections.
Owning a location eliminates risk for the company which is ideal when trying to expand the brand. Although a third party owns the location there is still some level of control by the company which is evident when Schlosser states. “the McDonald’s business model: the emphasis on simplicity and uniformity, the ability to replicate the same retail environment at many locations” (97). The company wants to have control over how their brand is being portrayed in different locations and the best way to control that is by making a uniform look. The goal of McDonalds is to maximize revenue and they do this by having control over locations and finding ways to cut back. For example, some McDonalds locations do not require cashiers anymore because a self-service ordering system is in place. A self-service ordering system allows the customer to make their own order, customize it, and pay for it all on one machine. As a result, there are no cashiers to train. As more technology comes out it is evident that they can replace employees and soon McDonalds can be run by robots and
machines. The title of the chapter is “Success” and a company’s success if defined by its revenue and in the tough competition of fast food chains it can also be measured by the number of locations. As a result, companies try to cut back and seek third parties so they can make the most revenue by inputting a minimum amount of their own money. They do this by hiring unskilled workers or those in desperate need like Feamster was so they can pay low wages. Although success may be defined this way by CEO’s; to Feamster, it was being able to put his degree to use and earn a living.
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser talks about the working conditions of fast food meat slaughterhouses. In the chapter “The Most Dangerous Job,” one of the workers, who despised his job, gave Schlosser an opportunity to walk through a slaughterhouse. As the author was progressed backwards through the slaughterhouse, he noticed how all the workers were sitting very close to each other with steel protective vests and knives. The workers were mainly young Latina women, who worked swiftly, accurately, while trying not to fall behind. Eric Schlosser explains how working in the slaughterhouses is the most dangerous profession – these poor working conditions and horrible treatment of employees in the plants are beyond comprehension to what we see in modern everyday jobs, a lifestyle most of us take for granted.
“Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer that grew the potatoes,” (Schlosser 117). Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser brings to light these realities in his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Schlosser, a Princeton and Oxford graduate, is known for his inspective pieces for Atlantic Monthly. While working on article, for Rolling Stone Magazine, about immigrant workers in a strawberry field he acquired his inspiration for the aforementioned book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale).
‘Fast Food Nation’ by Eric Schlosser traces the history of fast food industry from old hot dog stands to the billion dollar franchise companies established as America spread its influence of quick, easy and greasy cuisine around the globe. It is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism that looks deep into the industries that have profited from the American agriculture business, while engaging in labor practices that are often shameful.
Over the last 50 years, the fast food industry did not only sold hamburgers and french fries. It has been a key factor for vast social changes throughout America. It has been responsible for breaking traditional American values and reinstating new social standards that specifically aims to benefit the industry’s growth. These social standards have inevitably changed the way the American youth respond to education and self-responsibility. Eric Schlosser, an author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, excellently uses logic to present the tactics used by the fast food industry to cheapen and promote labor along with the social changes that occurred in the American youth as a result. Schlosser aims to dismantle and dissect
The central argument of fast food nation by Eric Schlosser is that the large restaurant chains and corporations and their demand for unification have given these chains too much power over America’s food supply, economy, and society. Also the way that these corporations operate is now the framework for today’s retail economy. Small businesses are going bankrupt because of the franchising that the large companies are pursuing.
Fast food nation is divided into two sections: "The American Way", which brings forth the beginnings of the Fast Food Nation within the context of after World war two America; and "Meat and Potatoes", which examines the specific mechanizations of the fast-food industry, including the chemical flavoring of the food, the production of cattle and chickens, the working conditions of beef industry, the dangers of eating this kind of meat, and the international prospect of fast food as an American cultural export to the rest of the world.
For my book report I chose the book Business Builders in Fast Foods by Nathan Aaseng. This book is about the growth of the fast food industry and individual fast food restaurants. The first chapter was a introduction over the food industry and the rest of the chapters were over the begining of fast food restaurants including: Harvey’s House, White Castle, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino’s and their creators.
From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating customers. With each generation that passes, brings fast food chains into more homes and continues impacting lives.
Fast Food Nation The Author and His Times: The author of Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, was born on August 17, 1959. Eric grew up in Manhattan, New York and also in Los Angeles where his father, Herbert Schlosser, was President of NBC. He attended the college of Princeton University where he studied American History, and soon got his degree in British Imperial History. Eric’s career soon took off when he became a journalist for The Atlantic Monthly, quickly earning two medals in a matter of two years.
This particular article sheds a different light onto how advertising affects the life of a child. This author suggests that our society has grown away from respected the opinions of our elders and now the opinion lies in the hands of the child. As the author states that front door is now a permeable membrane allowing advertisers into their homes and allowing children to view them through the many sources of technology that lie beyond that membrane.
Over the last three decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society and has become nothing less than a revolutionary force in American life. Fast food has gained a great popularity among different age groups in different parts of the globe, becoming a favorite delicacy of both adults and children.
Not having to answer to a corporate boss is the dream of many and the flexibility that owning a business franchise creates provides this option. Success is not reached by simply creating a business, however. The level of success is measured by the size and efficiency of the business. Business growth is the driving force of the economy. The additional jobs and revenues created when a business expands allow the economy to grow at exponential rates. One of the fastest and most popular ways to increase the size of a business is to turn it into a franchise, which can then be purchased by individuals. Franchising provides opportunities that are beneficial to both the parent company and the purchaser. The company that owns the business can expand without having to pay such a large initial cost to open a new store since the franchise purchaser pays a cost to open the business. As well, the company can regulate many of the business activities so that there is a sense of consistency throughout all of the locations. The purchaser is allowed to use the trademarks and goods of the franchise which already have a large market presence. As well, they are provided with training and work standards by the company to help their business run smoothly (Kalnins & Lafontaine, 2004, p.761). Looking at the business model of the world’s largest food retailer, McDonald’s, provides great insight into franchising and business growth in general as well a better understanding of a global business that utilizes the franchising technique.
Making the decision to open your own business is a major life event. Starting a new venture can be exciting as well as rewarding. The first step to becoming a business owner is choosing the type of business you would like to run. This business can be something that you have wanted to start up yourself or you can go with an established franchise. Are you willing to share the profits in exchange for the relative safety of a franchise or would you prefer the risk and rewards of pursuing your own vision? Franchising is a continuing relationship wherein a franchisor provides a licensed privilege to the franchisee to do business and offer assistance in organizing, training, merchandising, marketing and managing in return for a monetary consideration
The first step in any business is to think of or create a business idea. Without an idea, one cannot launch their business off the ground. A right direction is needed to create a business with a unique idea. However, other options include franchising or buying an existing business (1). Franchising allows an individual to run stores such as Burger King or McDonalds under the corporate name. It involves taking training classes and a heap of money in order to start a franchise. A Franchisee will have to buy products and services from the corporate entity they are franchising from, which is often required. Buying a franchise is like taking a piece of the pie from the company that is franchising and sharing that pie with everybody else. In addition having a franchise allows one to communicate and in essence become a big part of an added business opportunity (4). Franchising is far from easy to start and maintain for that matter. Starting a franchise involves a l...
A franchise is simply investing money in a location or store, and then having the store become your own business after learning how to manage the entire business. You earn the majority of the profits, and you also don't have to worry about operations. You'll be taught by the company on how it run the entire business, and this is the reason why this is a huge and very easy way to become rich. Franchises require quite a hefty investment depending on the business you plan to buy. However, if the business is in high demand, there is profits to be made. Take for exMple the Cold Stone Creamery business. Countless people purchase one of their many franchises. The money is very good, the opportunities are endless, and the fact that there is no more need for advertising is what makes this more worth the investment in the long