Sonic Drive-In Restaurant Essay -- Business Analysis

The fast-food industry is changing everyday. There are new products being introduced in the market and new slogans being created. The companies in the fast-food industry will do their best to make the greater burger, and to make bigger and better fries. Founded in 1953, Sonic has become the largest drive-in chain in the nation. Sonic was founded by Troy Smith, Jr. in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His dream was to own his own business. Sonic Drive-In keeps the 1950s alive through its chain of drive-in restaurants, each complete with speaker-based ordering systems and carhop servers - some on roller skates. Sonics top competitors are McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. McDonald’s is the leading competitor in the fast-food industry. McDonald’s has the most restaurants with 12,380 locations and has over 364,000 employees. Burger King has 11,350 outlets in 57 countries and territories worldwide. About 75% is located in the United States. Wendy’s is the third largest quick-service hamburger restaurant chain in the world, with more than 6,600 restaurants in North America and international markets. In Exhibit 1, this states the Porters Five Forces Model of Competition of The Restaurant Industry. Threat of new entrants: Because the profit margins are so small, cost is low and anyone can enter into the quick-service restaurant business. Bargaining Power of Buyers: The National Restaurant Association showed that three out of ten customers agreed that food that was prepared at a restaurant or a fast-food restaurant were an important factor in their everyday lives. The survey also stated that â€Å"three out of five customers plan to eat on the premises of quick-service restaurants and seven out of ten said that plan to eat takeout or delivery. (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, pg. 367) Customers buy when they feel it is necessary giving them the upper hand on the industry. Bargaining power of suppliers: In the quick- service restaurant, the suppliers vary. They really do not rely distributors as large restaurants do. Threat of new substitutes: The restaurant industry is segmented into many parts: full service restaurants ($120 billion); quick- service restaurants ($110 billion); away-from-home managed institutions, examples: food services for schools and hospitals ($21 billion); and other food industries ($106 billion). (Marshall Jones, 1999). Rivalry among competi... ...que product differentiation but find ways to reduce cost to stay ahead. There is not a perfect solution in the industry. No one can predict the economic because it is always changing. Sonics specialty menu has allowed the chain to differentiate. Through its increased marketing efforts, Sonic will gain brand recognition and increase its customer base. Works Cited †¢ Hitt, Michael A; Hokisson, Robert E.; Ireland, RD. Strategic Management. 6th Ed., Masson, Ohio: Souht. Wester 2005. †¢ â€Å"Burger King.† Burger King Corporation. http://www.bk.com/ †¢ â€Å"Answer.Com.† Burger King Corporation. http://www.answers .com/burger%20 †¢ â€Å"McDonald’s.† McDonald’s Corporation. http://www.McDonalds.com/ †¢ â€Å"Answer.Com.†McDonald's Corporation. http://www.answers.com/topic/mcdonalds-s †¢ â€Å"Marshall Jones& Co.† Restaurants. http://marshalljones.com/new_page_30.htm †¢ â€Å"Restaurant Business.† Sonic Says Payment Stalls Boosted Gains. http://www.restaurantbiz.com/restaurantbusiness/headlines/articles_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000853253 †¢ â€Å"Wendy’s Restaurant.† Wendy’s International. http://www.wendy’s.com/ †¢ â€Å"Yahoo!† Yahoo. Yahoo! Finance. http://finance.yahoo.com/?u

Online vs traditional classrooms Essay

Online classes and traditional classes are both great options for obtaining a college education. They have a common goal of helping students reach their educational goals. Either path the student decides to take has its positive and negative aspects. The three biggest areas to consider when making the decision between online or traditional classes are the expenses, convenience or ease of accessibility, and the communication between students and instructors. Both online and traditional classes offer students an education, which is very important part of being successful in life. Expense is one of the biggest aspects of both online classes and traditional classes that should be considered when continuing your education. Online classes cost considerably less in tuition when a student completes a degree that is only online. However, online classes require you to have access to a computer and the internet at all times. There is no housing included, such as a room in a dormitory, so the st udent has to pay rent or mortgage and all the utilities. Books are available in a hardback or e-book, which cost about the same. Traditional classes can have an extremely high tuition, especially if it is at a university instead of a community college. In a traditional classes the student either pays to live on campus in a dormitory, or you rent off campus. If the student lives off campus, you spend money on gas, driving back and forth to campus. The car then has to have more maintenance which in turn cost more money. Depending on the students financial situation cost should be considered when choosing between online or traditional classes.Online and traditional classes are very different when it comes to convenience or the ease of accessibility. Online classes have twenty-four hour availability. A student can schedule the school work needed around their personal life, whether it’s a job, family, or personal time. This convenience can make life easier to balance, or it can make things harder. If the student procrastinates they will get behind in their school work. The work load for online classes can be more spread out, and they have the option to take test inline as long as they are submitted by the due date. The online school system can offer instant feedback on a test because the computer grades it when you submit it. Online  degrees can usually be completed in a shorter amount of time because the online classrooms can admit more students at one time. Students also have a chance to obtain a degree in a program that may not be available in a school in their area. Traditional classes offer the stability of a more structured schedule. In a traditional class you may have a larger work load because of homework due daily instead of weekly. In traditional classes attendance is mandatory which can be difficult for a student working a full time job, or having other matters they have to attend to. Accessibility is an important aspect a student should consider when choosing between the two types of classes. Whether in an online or traditional classes, communication between the student and instructor is important. Online classes require students to communicate with the instructor and other students by e-mail or in an online forum. In order to be successful the student has to have working knowledge of a comp uter and know how to search for answers. When a student has to ask a question they may not be able to get the answer quickly, which may cause them to fall behind. Having to rely on e-mails to communicate doesn’t give the student a chance to have personal contact. When a student is confused or having a hard time the personal contact with an instructor can be the best way to get help. Students also have more interaction with other students in a traditional classroom which teaches better communication skills.A college degree can be obtained by taking traditional or online classes. Some students take a combination of both to get the degree. Students have to consider their lifestyles and personalities when considering what type of classes to take. Some important things to look at when deciding what kind of classes to take are expense, convenience, and communication. Since every student is different there really isn’t an easy answer, both offers great ways to continue somebodies education.

The Coolest And Most Diverse Art On Tumblr - 935 Words

Some of the coolest and most diverse art on Tumblr belongs to female illustrators and designers. Every artist has a unique twist to her pieces, and being able to find that diverse collection is just a hash tag away. A quick tag search will do all the work for you, in my case, â€Å"female illustrators† and â€Å"female artists† was the one I used the most. If you’re looking for some interesting and impressive illustrations and graphics to spark your imagination, these are my top 24 female artists on Tumblr: A â€Å"lover of character design and art,† YemaYema provides its followers with fun futuristic-looking-Lego-like characters. I think these two robot-looking cartoons are really cool – if robots were to take over the world in the future, I think I’d be okay with it if they looked like these ones. This illustrator and graphic designer combines pastels and strong primary colors to make her art â€Å"pop† off the screen. Lola’s blog contains a mixture of abstract pieces like these, and more concrete images, which shows her diverse styles. Beautiful nature oriented sketches, and well-drawn comics are what a follower will find on this blog. Being a nature lover myself, I really enjoyed looking at all her paintings of flowers, and natural sceneries. Dramatic sketches, coupled with original poetry, make this account an intense one to follow. Whether she uses dark charcoal or brighter colors, the level of intensity of her artwork never wavers. This blog creates a mystical world for its