Rthur Anderson Scandal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Rthur Anderson Scandal - Essay Example This helped the firm to grow and ended up being one of the companies serving the greatest number of clients in the U.S. Those who worked with Andersen were aware of his motto: "Think straight, talk straight.† Andersen also played a big role in upping the standards in the U.S. accounting industry. Additionally, he was involved in innovation of new accounting standards that are still being used today. Andersen was active in social activities that also got involved in charitable organization as well in promotion of education. The firm spent large amounts of money into training new recruits (Martin and Arthur 127). This was crucial in stressing the company’s morals and its consistency around in offering and performing services. The company was admired by many people for the high morals exhibited. He became even more popular when he refused to engage in a fraud case when one of his prominent clients presented flawed accounting records. He chose to lose the client rather than committing fraud, as was the wish of the client. This had a positive impact since it increased his reputation and that of the company. Greed Begins During the 1980s, the company started experiencing internal friction. Then, there were two divisions making up the firm. These were the consulting division and the audit division. The latter was much more established although consulting was then growing much faster than any other portion of the company (Ferrell et al. 327). This unequal growth of the departments led to the conflict arising since the consulting division felt that they needed a bigger share of the firm’s profits. As a result, there were disputes between both divisions, with each side citing the other as being greedy and unfair. Both the audit and the consulting divisions were essentially separate companies. The consulting firm was under the ownership of Andersen. It paid a percentage of their earnings to the parent company (Ferrell et al. 329). Later, Andersen estab lished another consulting division within his company. This new division competed with the other consulting department and this enabled them to retain all the earnings. Later the two sides split, forming separate companies. Fraud begins Andersen was involved in many cases, all of which he was accused of committing accounting fraud. Some of these companies included Sunbeam, Baptist Founding of Arizona, Quest Communication, Waste Management and Global Crossing. Surprisingly, Andersen was able to settle all these claims without admitting any existence of fraud. In case the claims got more serious and had nothing but to admit to fraud, the company put the blame on a few â€Å"corrupt partners.† However, the increased fraud cases were not favorable to the company as they were tarnishing the name of Andersen. Analysis It is clear that the continued unpunished behavior of the company’s activities led to a snowball effect that resulted in increased corruption at a high level. The accounting fraud issues had started small in the past. The activities went on unchecked until the management pushed the limits of the fraudulent deeds (Ferrell et al. 317). For a long time Andersen was generally viewed by many people as the symbol for integrity and honesty. Thus, most of these people thought that these fraudulent activities were not occurring at the high level of the firm. The Enron Scandal Enron Corporation was a global energy, commodities

Editing Strategies Of Midnight Cowboy Film Studies Essay

Editing Strategies Of Midnight Cowboy Film Studies Essay John Schlesinger the director of Midnight Cowboy uses the use of unconventional editing strategies to tell the story about the friendship and relationship of wanna-be hustler Joe Buck and schemer Ratso Rizzo. Schlesinger breaks the many rules of continuity by using nondiegetic inserts, intercutting subjective flashbacks with real world footage, mixing of color and black and white footage, and the mixing of footage shot by a movie camera and real footage. The function of discontinuity editing in the movie allows Schlesinger to construct intricate patterns of images calculated to stimulate the viewers senses, emotions, and thinking (Bordwell, 262). The stimulation that the viewers go through helps them identify the friendship, identity, and desire for intimacy of the characters in the movie. Nondiegetic inserts involve cutting away from the scene to a metaphorical or symbolic shot that is not part of the space and time of the narrative (Bordwell, 259). Schlesingers use of nondiegetic inserts are shown in the film as Joe Bucks flashbacks which are triggered by different real world situations. The flashbacks are shown in fractured clips that tell little information to the viewer which makes it difficult for the viewer to put information together. Joes lonely youth is reflected in many series of fragmented flashbacks about his past during his trip from Texas to New York City. Once on the bus and the journey east has begun the voice of Joes grandmother is heard and scenes are shown revealing that she often cared for him as a young Joe and even had a couple intimate moments with the young boy. The brief flashbacks provide insight into Joe Bucks background; he was raised by women throughout his life because no male figure other than his grandmothers many boyfriends are apparen t which may have some contributing factor to his homosexual leanings in the film. A subjective moment on Joes bus is when it passes a water tower showing for the first time a flashback that contains Annie. The water tower shows that it says Crazy Annie Loves Joe Buck and at the same time Annies voice is heard saying do you love me and youre the only one. When Joe arrives in New York and after failing to receive any money in his first time as a hustler he meets up with Ratso who says that he has someone who can help him out in his pursuit in being a great hustler in New York. Once at the apartment Joe is being talk to by ODaniel thinking that he is talking to him about being him becoming a hustler and then is forced to kneel down and pray next to a Jesus which triggers another flashback and the scene is intercut with flashbacks of Joe remembering his boyhood experience of being baptized in a river with his grandmother. When leaving the apartment he flees the scene and runs through New York with images of real footage of the city and also vengeful images of his pursuit and attack of Ratso. Joe follows Ratso throughout the subway cars and trains but never seems to catch up to him. When running around the subway Schlesinger uses both color and black and white film stock to create an unstable sequence of scenes as if Joe is frantically re membering and thinking of many things throughout the scene. Another flashback of Joe and Annie occurs when they are pulled out of the car by a group of males that seem to know Joe and a violent series of events seem to happen and lead to the rape of both Annie and Joe. Another way that Schlesinger breaks the rules of continuity is by mixing footage from the film with real footage shot by a camera. This type of discontinuity is shown at the Warhol party that Joe Buck and Ratso attend one night in New York. At the party they use of a handheld camera is used to film what different people at the party are thinking about the world and life. The images are mixed in with film footage of the psychedelic party and also the use of sexuality in the real footage allows Joe Buck to question his sexuality to himself and really think of what he desires the most in his life at the moment. Throughout the film Midnight Cowboy by John Schlesinger the use of nondiegetic inserts, intercutting subjective flashbacks with real world footage, mixing of color and black and white footage, and the mixing of footage shot by a movie camera and real footage allow the story to be told in unconventional way which was new for its time. The nondiegetic inserts and real footage which are shown in the subjective flashbacks allow the viewer to learn more information about the character but also allows a character like Joe Buck to realize how things that happened in his past have affected him in a certain way and how it plays a role in his desires of friendship and intimacy.

Training :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Training Informal and Formal Training and Development Informal Training and Development Informal training and development is rather casual and incidental. Typically, there are no specified training goals as such, nor are their ways to evaluate if the training actually accomplished these goals or not. This type of training and development occurs so naturally that many people probably aren't aware that they're in a training experience at all. Probably the most prominent form of informal training is learning from experience on the job. Examples are informal discussions among employees about a certain topic, book discussion groups, and reading newspaper and journal articles about a topic. A more recent approach is sending employees to hear prominent speakers, sometimes affectionately called "the parade of stars". Informal training is less effective than formal training if one should intentionally be learning a specific area of knowledge or skill in a timely fashion. Hardly any thought is put into what learning is to occur and whether that learning occurred or not. (However, this form of training often provides the deepest and richest learning because this form is what occurs naturally in life.) Formal Training and Development Formal training is based on some standard "form". Formal training might include: a) declaring certain learning objectives (or an extent of knowledge, skills or abilities that will be reached by learners at the end of the training), b) using a variety of learning methods to reach the objectives and then b) applying some kind(s) of evaluation activities at the end of the training. The methods and means of evaluation might closely associate with the learning objectives, or might not. For example, courses, seminars and workshops often have a form -- but it's arguable whether or not their training methods and evaluation methods actually assess whether the objectives have been met or not. Formal, Systematic Training and Development Systematic, formal training involves carefully proceeding through the following phases: a) Assessing what knowledge, skills and /or abilities are needed by learners; b) Designing the training, including identifying learning goals and associated objectives, training methods to reach the objectives, and means to carefully evaluate whether the objectives have been reached or not; c) Developing the training methods and materials; d) Implementing the training; and e) Evaluating whether objectives have been reached or not, in addition to the quality of the training methods and materials themselves A systematic approach is goal-oriented (hopefully, to produce results for the organization and/or learners), with the results of each phase being used by the next phase.

Abu Dhabi Police Essay

The focal point of this paper is to develop a plan that would be successfully implementing an organizational change management system within Abu Dhabi Police department in order to increase its efficiency, development and achieving future objectives. It should be stated that at the moment there are several problems related to the issue and it is needed to overcome those in order to gain more mileage in the long run. The main aspect of this problem lies in the traditional form of police and investigation procedures that are taken into account and executed with comparatively lesser efficiency. This could also be sated that the functionality of the Abu Dhabi police department is more ancient in approach and there is an essential need for the department to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of technology implementation and efficiency evaluation. Furthermore, it is also essential to look into the aspects of administrative reconstruction as the department is unable to work up to its true potential with the administrative structure located at a medieval scenario. (Lamb, 2004, 69) Thus it can well be stated that the problem with Abu Dhabi police is not only with it’s below the par utility and efficiency but also is related to the ill formulation of the administrative system. Quite logically, the department is in extreme necessity of finding solutions for negating these problems. It should be stated that at the moment there is a five step remedy to this malady. Firstly, it is essential to understand the present management of Abu Dhabi police department and identify the key areas of improvement. Similarly, it is important in the aspect of researching the past to get an understanding about Abu Dhabi Police department’s status and importantly eliminating the risk of following the old mistakes. Then, it should be noted that a wide study is incorporated with a variety of methods of change management practices and their applicability in Abu Dhabi Police department. Furthermore, it is important to investigate the potential of alternative methods of change management and the most advantageous will be launched. Lastly, a strategy would be created with prospective enhancement that can be introduced, understanding the structure and working culture currently present in Abu Dhabi police department. It should be mentioned that the theoretical framework will involve police and public interviews, police and public’s strategic interview, historical records, secondary research through the Internet and university database, it will also use strategic analysis tools for development of the evaluation of the best method between coercive and consensual policing. In this context it should also be mentioned that the purpose of the project is formulated in a mutually beneficial way such that from an academic perspective there would be a huge gain in the context of valuable experience, and simultaneously add value by providing insights as well as a fresh & objective outlook on any matter relevant to the social context. Research design will follow the following method or schedule. Firstly the participants will be trained about data collection techniques and tools to be used to collect the relevant information. The participants will be including police officers, data collection officers, team leaders and other resourceful personnel. Secondly the areas to be interviewed will be identified and accessibility determined. These areas to be sampled for the research can range from 10-16 of these areas, say 5 will be where coercive policing will be imposed and other five consensual policing can be applied. The period of the research can take a period of minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months of which during this period data will be collected. Thirdly the data so collected will be prepared as a report of findings. Finally, the final reports will be analyzed and evaluation for determination of the difference between consensual and coercive forms of policy. The different is supposed to put more emphasis on the difference. In order to attain the objectives it is essential to recognize the existing practices in Abu Dhabi police department and also in the modern police departments of countries like USA, Germany, UK, Australia etc. This will be done by individual interviews of the officials in Abu Dhabi and the through questionnaires from other corners of the world. Primary research will be persistent on personal interviews with Abu Dhabi Police department officials that will give an inner view of the present positing and future goals. This will also be a key basis of understanding the indolence for change. This will help in bringing out the indication of the present managed system in Abu Dhabi police department organization. Ultimately the clients will help in providing the true print of Abu Dhabi Police department’s working and key areas of improvement. Data presented from this research will assist to evaluate the best practices model and the actual working. This will help in indicating the difference and the reason for Abu Dhabi police department organization to implement a successful change management. Abu Dhabi Police higher officials will be randomly selected with favorable time and place for the interviews to be carried out. Finally the research will be focused on the historical data by looking at the Abu Dhabi Police department’s strategy in the past. If any failure or any glitches are to be found in companies strategy they will be pointed in this research. This will help the writer to understand the Abu Dhabi Police department’s goals in the past and their implementation process. It is necessary to design a new experiment that test the statistical method. For the purpose it is necessary to collect a complete data of the site that would include different religion, ethnicity or gender. An open meeting with police as well as the general mass or public would be very relevant in this context in the initial stages. The mixed gender of male and female Police and public could well be excluded as that would complicate matters in the context of gender variable juxtaposed with other pre mentioned variables but considering other dependable factors sustaining it would yield to be fruitful in the long run. Data would be collected in relation to the gender, color, religion of the potential customers in respect to the composition of the management under the same parameters. All these variables are considered as very relevant and important features of the statistical method and it is to be seen if these aspects are fundamentally acceptable in practical world and it could well be mentioned that social service, especially security service industry, are a very relevant manifestation of the social dimensions. As a result if the test is carried out in a proper manner with proper calculations of the population involved then there is no reason that the results would be both logical and true at the end consideration. In accordance to the basic test selected it could be stated that it could be possible that the outcome would be relatively logical in the sense that it would ultimately follow the trends of social facilitation theory in marketing and thus it would be agreeable with the statistical method and thus a well formulated marketing strategy can be constructed for the benefit of the Police and public alike as a definite method can be chosen between coercive and consensual policing. However, it should be stated that there would be few independent variables in the context of the test that could not be explained by the statistical method statements. Here the ethical consideration of the potential Police and public or the ethnic background of the potential Police and public may not be a very relevant factor. Thus there could be some flaws to the collection of the population but if these aspects are kept in mind then the shortcomings would easily be negotiated during the ultimate computations. As a result the test would appear to be a full proofed measure that would be able to define and prove the fundamental aspects and statistical method applied. It should be noted that the access to the research participants is both easy and hard. In terms of the public interview it would be relatively easy to identify and access but the difficult part would be to frame the questioner in accordance to the color and creed of the participants in general. In case of the police interview there would be more homogenous pattern in terms of the questioner but the difficult part would be to gain access. For the purpose it would be arranged to acquire permission from the hope department. Data will be collected using two different methods. The first will be interviews, which involve citizens, police officers from the sampled areas. This is an advantage in that feedback can be obtained instantly. The second will be use of questionnaires, which will be administered to the sampled areas. The questionnaire to be used will be the opened type. The advantage of this method is that the information obtained can be quantified to reflect that the sampled group as part of the entire population. The advantage is that it is easier to analyze data collected through questionnaire method. It should be noted that reliability for the researcher was achieved in the assurance that only a specified group of men and women were utilized in regard to the research. That group was focused mostly on customers and retails along with administrative personnel. This gave the research a more focused view of the research goal. The validity was managed as a result of this focus and emphasized in the considerations involved in the data collection, variables, and sampling methods. Privacy and confidentiality methods included assigning numeric and alphabetic coding to each responding questionnaire. This ensured anonymity in regard to the researcher and the subjects of the research process and a thorough qualitative method would be used during data analysis. The basic advantages of qualitative measures are multifold. Firstly, it presents a completely realistic approach that the statistical analysis and numerical data used in research based on quantitative research cannot provide. Another advantage of qualitative measures is that it is more flexible in nature in terms of collected information interpretation, subsequent analysis and data collection. It also presents a holistic point of view of the investigation. Furthermore this approach of research allows the subjects to be comfortable thus be more accurate as research is carried on in accordance to the subject’s own terms. The best statistical method would be to interview long well formulated day to day working procedure at a specific and well selected location. Throughout the procedure, it should be noticed whether there are specific variables within the testable population or not. These variables would be extremely important while evaluating the basic data in the final stages where the adjustments would be made to the formulated data in accordance to the observations. As a conclusion to the outline of this paper it can always be stated that Qualitative research is a process that includes interpretative paradigm under the measures of theoretical assumptions and the entire approach is based on sustainability that is depended on people’s experience in terms of communication. It can also be mentioned that the total approach is based on the fact that reality is created on the social formulations. It can also be mentioned that the basic target of qualitative research is instrumented towards social context under normal circumstances where it would be possible to interpret, decode and describe the significances of a phenomenon. The entire process is operational under the parameter of interpretative paradigm that can minimize illusion and share subjectivity under contextualization, authenticity and complexity of the investigation. References: Lamb, Davis; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; National Book Trust; Wellington

Chik-Fil-a Case Analysis

{draw:frame} CASE ANALYSIS Principals of Management December 11, 2008 Abstract Chick-fil-a restaurant is a family owned chain. Truett Cathy has been in the restaurant business for 62 years and now has 1,400 restaurants in 37 states including Washington D. C. {text:bibliography-mark} . As of 2007, Chick-fil-A’s reached sales of $2. 64 billion which showed an improvement of 16. 09% increase in sales from 2006 {text:bibliography-mark} . Table of Contents I. Introduction and Background Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 II. Literature Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4-7 A. Major research area one: History of Chick-fil-A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 B. Major research area two: Mission Statement†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 C. Major research area three: SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5-7 D. Major research area four: Industry Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 E. Major research area five: Financial Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 E. Conclusion:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. 7 III. References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Literature Review History of Chick-fil-A: In the small Atlanta suburb of Hapeville in 1946, Truett Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill and later named it Dwarf House. In 1961, Good Brothers Poultry offered Cathy to come up with a chicken sandwich that met up to airline size requirements. He then invented the original Chicken Sandwich in 1964 when his regular customers finally told him â€Å"We like it. Don’t change it again. † {text:bibliography-mark} When he was deciding on the name to trade mark, he thought about the chicken filet he used. He then shortened it with a capital â€Å"A† at the end to stand for top quality. In 1967 he opened up his first mall restaurant in the Greenbrair Mall in Atlanta. In 1973, he offered $1000 team member scholarships for his employees to further their education. In 1982 it was the 1st fast food chain nationally to sell chicken nuggets. In 1992, Georgia Tech and Clemons University were the first Universities to have a Chick-fil-a restaurant on campus. According to Truett Cathy’s biography that I looked up on his website, he has been in the restaurant business for 62 years and now has 1,400 restaurants in 37 states including Washington D. C. text:bibliography-mark} . Mission Statement: â€Å"Be America’s Best Quick-Service Restaurant† {text:bibliography-mark} . *S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS*: Strengths: Name Brand Recognition: Chick-fil-A officially opened in an Atlanta mall in 1967. In 1995, Chick-fil-A introduced the infamous renegade cows known for the â€Å"Eat Mor Chickin† campaigns. {text:bibliography-mark} . Customer Service:Chic-fil-A, prid es itself on pleasing the customer, and it shows. Anytime I have ever visited any Chic-fil-A restaurant, I have been served with the greeting ending in â€Å"my pleasure†. They have won 30 customer service awards in the past 12 years, and among those the Business Week/J. D. Power has awarded them top 25 â€Å"Customer Service Champs† {text:bibliography-mark} . Employee Retention: Regarding the Closed on Sunday Policy, Chick-fil-A mentioned in a press release online â€Å"there must be something special about how Chick-fil-A feels about its people. † I do believe that being closed on Sunday’s gives their employees the opportunity to spend quality time with their families and/or go to church. Community Involvement: Chic-fil-A does not stop with the employee or the customer, they also help charities such as the â€Å"Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America† which raises money for various children hospitals. Nutritio_n: _With chicken being the main thing on the menu, Chick-fil-A uses trans-fat and cholesterol free peanut oil to deep fry their chicken and French fries. They also have 10 menu items that have 10 or fewer grams of fat {text:bibliography-mark} . Weaknesses _Closed on Sunday Policy_: Although Mr. Cathy prides himself and does not regret the â€Å"Closed on Sunday Policy†, this is still a potential day to make revenues. In 2007, sales reached $2. 64 billion {text:bibliography-mark} , and I can only imagine how much sales would be if they were open on Sunday. Religion at work: Since Mr. Cathy has such strong Christian beliefs, some people who are not religious may find that intimidating or awkward to work for. For example, in October of 2002, Chick-fil-a was slapped with a lawsuit for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 {text:bibliography-mark} . The lawsuit came after Aziz Latif was fired one day after training in which his attorney claims that the following events took place: â€Å"’_Everyone said a prayer, one at a time, to Jesus Christ’he said’When it came to our client, who is Muslim, he didn’t say anything. There was an awkward silence. Then eventually the next person started praying to Jesus Christ. The next day he was fired. ’† {text:bibliography-mark} _ I could not find the verdict of this trial, but this is one way that religion at work can be a weakness to the company. Only selling chicken: Chick-fil-A sells only chicken which is another weakness. By not offering beef, pork, or fish Chick-fil-A is not expanding their target market to the people who choose not to eat chicken. The people who choose to eat these other meats are lost customers that could have been potential customers had they offered them these other products. Opportunity Growth: In 2007, Chick-fil-A had more than 1,380 restaurants in 37 states, and with a unique $5000 sub-lease franchise opportunity, I do not see this number getting any smaller any time soon. Innovation: Chick-fil-A has definitely grown since their one mall restaurant. They now have approximately 375 major mall restaurants, 728 stand-alone locations, 29 drive-thru-only restaurants, 11 Chick-fil-A Dwarf House Restaurants, and 2 ‘50s diner-themed Truett’s Grill Restaurants {text:bibliography-mark} . Education: Chick-fil-A also has several employee scholarship programs available that date all the way back to 1973. They have offered more than $23. 5 million to over 23,300 employees. The scholarships are the Team Member Scholarship program, S. Truett Cathy Scholar Awards, and also the WinShape Foundation. This to me says that they want valuable team members who can bring new ideas to the table, and not have to outsource for more educated personnel to fill the shoes of the high command positions. Threats: Lower Priced Fast Food Restaurants Meat Variety Restaurants C. Industry Environment: Chick-fil-A is a fast food chain constantly striving to be the top of its game. Although it only serves chicken on the menu and is closed on Sunday’s, it has no problems keeping up with its competitors in revenue. *D. Financial Analysis*: As of 2007, Chick-fil-A’s reached sales of $2. 64 billion which showed an improvement of 16. 09% increase in sales from 2006 {text:bibliography-mark} . E. Conclusion: In conclusion, I think Chick-fil-A is a successful family owned restaurant chain. I believe that an egger entrepreneur could make a big profit from its initial franchise startup cost of $5,000. I believe that Truett Cathy is a generous owner who gives back to the community. I have learned a lot from this case study and would probably start my own Chick-fil-A restaurant if I had the money at this time. References: