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Impacts of Covid-19 on Food Service (2)
Impacts of Covid-19 on Food Service Industry
Students Name
Professors Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Date
LetterStudents Name,
University of Houston Clear Lake,
2700 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77058
Date
Janice Bethany,
Writing Lecturer,
University of Houston Clear Lake,
2700 Bay Area Boulevard,
Houston, Texas 77058
Dear Madam,
RE: TRANSMITTAL LETTER
Greetings, madam Janice; I hope you are doing fine and keeping safe. The bellow attachment is a research report on the impacts of covid -19 on the hotel and tourism industry.
Covid -19 pandemic has had diverse effects on various economic industries in the world. The hotel and tourism industry has been greatly affected because movement was ceased after the pandemic struck. In the report, I have discussed how the pandemic has affected the industry. I also did a case study about McDonald’s, a fast-food company and is among the leading fast-food companies in the world.
I hope the report meets the expected academic requirements. I will be waiting to get feedback from you concerning the report.
Yours faithfully
——————–
Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Letter PAGEREF _Toc69979887 h 2Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc69979888 h 4Impacts of Covid-19 on Food Service Industry PAGEREF _Toc69979889 h 5Introduction PAGEREF _Toc69979890 h 5Background and Context PAGEREF _Toc69979891 h 5Scope of the Study PAGEREF _Toc69979892 h 5Discussion PAGEREF _Toc69979893 h 5Who Is the Company? PAGEREF _Toc69979894 h 5Covid-19 Economic Impact PAGEREF _Toc69979895 h 6Table 1 PAGEREF _Toc69979896 h 6McDonald’s Coronavirus Measures PAGEREF _Toc69979897 h 7McDonald’s Charity Works for Covid-19 PAGEREF _Toc69979898 h 8CONCLUSION PAGEREF _Toc69979899 h 8References PAGEREF _Toc69979900 h 9
Executive SummaryCovid-19 pandemic is a disease caused by the novel coronavirus and was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in 2019. Because of how contagious the disease is, some medical guidelines had to be adhered to manage the disease. The disease led to a bad economic state because businesses were forced to close for the virus to be contained. Every economic sector around the globe has been affected by the pandemic either positively or negatively. In the report, how covid-19 has affected the foodservice industry will be discussed, and a case study on a fast-food company (MC Donald’s) has been discussed. In the case study, how MC Donald’s has been affected by the pandemic and how it has managed to cope with the situation to maintain profitability has also been discussed.
The disruption that the coronavirus pandemic has brought about is unusual. Historically, natural occurrences like tsunamis and hurricanes have been the leading cause of the long-term closure of human activities. Regional and global chains and independent business operators are both facing the pressures of covid-19. A massive drop in the occupancy rate in all parts of the world was recorded in 2020. Let take New York as an example, the occupancy rates were 80% lower than the expected rate in the year, and many hotels had to close temporally.
Impacts of Covid-19 on Food Service IndustryIntroductionBackground and Context
The foodservice and restaurant industry are estimated to have $ 899 billion contributions to the economy. Hotels, restaurants, cafes, and other foodservice providers are spread widely across the globe to a point where every family member has a history working in this sector. The foodservice industry comprises any establishment that serves edible products outside their homes. The industry is divided into two groups: those that provide services and products needed in the industry and those that prepare and serve edible products to customers. Restaurants are in the second category, and they have people who work at the back of the house and those that work at the front side of the house. Those in the front part include bartenders, waitresses, busboys, and hosts (Aday, & Aday, 2020). The back house crew includes the dishwashers, chefs, and cooks. Food trucks are also part of the food industry; they are mobile, and they need a few members to run, unlike restaurants.
In the year 2020, the foodservice industry market was estimated to be at $3.5 trillion us dollars and was estimated to reach $4.2 trillion in 2027. The growth was estimated to be at a rate of 2.7% within 2020-2027. The estimations were done before covid-19 struck, and this was evidence that the foodservice industry has a big contribution to the economy. The covid-19 pandemic resulted in business closure making the income generated from this sector decrease (Goddard, 2020). A reduction in income meant that the foodservice industry could not achieve the estimated market of that year.
Scope of the StudyMcDonald’s is one of the world’s biggest food restaurants in the world. The company’s origin is the United States, but it has spread all over the world. The reason for choosing mc Donald’s over other restaurants is its market share in the economy and its representation in the foodservice industry. Other restaurant companies like Starbucks and KFC could be discussed, but they are not big as mc Donald’s. Scoping on a big company like mc Donald’s will enable me to understand the adverse effects of covid-19. If a big company is affected, it means the whole industry is affected. The findings of this report will be from articles, books, personal experience, and website information.
Discussion
Who Is the Company?McDonald is an American fast food business corporation that was started in 1940 as a restaurant and was operated by Maurice and Richard McDonald. The restaurant was started in California in a city called San Bernardino. In the beginning, the business majored in serving hamburgers before the company later turning it into a franchise. Mcdonald’s later introduced its golden arches logo in 1953 in a place named phoenix in Arizona. In 1955, a businessman named Ray Kroc headed to buy the food chain from the two McDonald brothers. Ray became a member of the company as a franchise agent. Previously, the company’s headquarters were located at the oak brook in Illinois but was later moved to Chicago in 2018 as the company’s global headquarters. As of 2018, McDonalds’s was the world’s leading food restaurant chain in terms of revenue. An analysis of the company showed that Mcdonald’s had a serving of over 60 million clients every day in over 100 countries in all of its 37,855 outlets globally.
The food chain restaurant is well known for serving cheeseburgers, French fries, and hamburgers, but it has diversified its menu over time (Petimar et al., 2019). The additional menu in Mcdonald’s includes desserts, milkshakes, soft drinks, breakfast, wraps, and chicken products. For a business to do well, consumer preference is an important aspect to consider. McDonald’s, over time, received a backlash on their menu, saying that the servings were not healthy. Responding to changes in consumer preference, the company included additional food items in their menu like fruits, salads, smoothies, and fish. The company’s revenue comes from sales from the company’s operating restaurants, fees from franchisees, rent, and royalties. The reports published in 2018 concerning the company showed that the company was ranked at the second position as the world’s biggest private employer with over 1.5 million employees. The first position was Walmart which had over 2 million employees. In the year 2020, the company was ranked in the 9th position globally in terms of brand valuation.
Covid-19 Economic ImpactBased on a report given by the chief executive officer of McDonald’s’, Chris kempczinski, in 2019, the company had a strong performance because of the velocity growth plan that they had already implemented. The year 2020 had begun with positive momentum in all of its restaurants worldwide until the pandemic struck. The pandemic had server impacts on the company because it interrupted worldwide operations. In the United States, the third quarter of the year 2020 was favorable for the company because it recorded a 4.6% increase in sales. Although business was booming in the United States, the income could not offset the other company’s restaurants in other parts of the world. Different countries in the world could not effectively respond to the coronavirus pandemic. This might be why in the US, McDonald’s’ was doing well while in other countries, the company was recording a decrease in sales. Table 1 below is a comparison of fourth-quarter sales in the years 2019 and 2020.
Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 1
Comparable sales of the fourth quarters ending December 31
2020 2019
United States Increased by 5.5% Increased by 5.1%
International Operational Markets Decreased by 7.4% Increase by 6.2%
International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate Decreased by 3.6% Increas3e by 6.6%
Total Sales Decreased by 1.3% Increased by 5.9%
In the united states, there was an increase in sales for both years. This increase was because of the strategic marketing and promotions by the company in 2019 and the beginning of 2020. the company had introduced promotions in their main menus, and this attracted many customers. In 2020, McDonald’s restaurants were still operational because of their quick response to the covid-19 regulations; thus, sales improved. The international operating market sales decreased because of the covid-19 impact. The regulation and restrictions in various countries in the world led to decreased sales. The global developmental markets dropped because of reduced sales in Latin America and Asia because covid-19 had hit hard in these regions. Although japan offset the international developmental licensed markets and corporate, it was recorded an increase in sales throughout the year.
Besides the WHO guidelines on covid-19, governments of different countries also issued additional measures like stopping all dining activities in public places and changes in operating hours. In the United States McDonald’s restaurants, the sales of the year 2020 had increased compared to the previous year. These two examples of the effects of the pandemic. There was a decrease in Chicago shares by over 2.5%; the global sales also decreased significantly. The drop in sales was substantial in sales in places like France, Latin America, and the United Kingdom, where the pandemic had hit hard. Some countries were issued with lockdowns that limited business operation, explaining why sales were still being recorded in the United States. McDonald’s restaurants remained operational in the US, although they offered drive-thru and home delivery services.
McDonald’s Coronavirus MeasuresAs the company faces new challenges, they have worked so hard to ensure they tackle the new challenges effectively to ensure they achieve their long–term goals. The corporation has a big market share in the foodservice industry, and if they do not find a solution to the incoming challenges, it is most likely that they will lose their share to competitors. The pandemic made many businesses close down because they could not keep up with the measures issued by the government. Instead of closing the business, McDonalds ensured they cared about their clients’ safety and managed to cater to their needs. Since the pandemic would last remains unpredictable, people have to come out of their comfort zones and find a way of operating amid a pandemic to ensure the economy stabilizes.
McDonald’s has implemented measures that protect both the company’s employees and their customers because one of the company’s cultures ensures health and safety to all of the company’s clients and employees. One of the measures implemented is contactless services through the drive-thru and home deliveries. The contactless services are for situations where restaurants are not allowed to offer dining services. In cases where restaurants can be opened, McDonald’s’ has ensured social distancing by distancing the dining tables per the WHO directives and the customers. The crew members are also expected to wash their hands frequently and are provided with protective equipment like gloves and face shields. The company has also given frequent cleaning of the kitchens, tables, and serving tray equipment and sanitizers. To ensure their clients adhere to covid-19 regulations, McDonald’s ensures that every client has a face mask and the temperature checked.
The corporation has also put measures to ensure the set guidelines are followed to the latter. Together with the food chains franchises, the company has invented an initiative called safety reaffirmation visits. These visits are to be done regularly to ensure no one disobeys the guidelines. The company has stopped cash payments and allowed credit cards to make purchases to avoid spreading the virus through contact. In places where social distancing can be challenging, the company has installed protective panels to prevent direct or close contact with clients, like in the cashiers’ point.
McDonald’s Charity Works for Covid-19McDonald’s is one of the most widespread food chain corporations globally, which means a large community surrounding them (Lee, & Lambert,2017). Corporations and businesses play a role in the communities surrounding them, and McDonald’s is not an exemption. The company is expected to respond to the community in need because its success is in its communities. Mcdonald is well known for its charity contribution in times of crisis and not only the covid-19 pandemic; through their participation in helping in times of need, it can be said that helping societies is one of the company’s core values. Companies should embrace thinking from a global perspective but act locally. This will help them have a good relationship with the people around them, thus promoting business and community growth.
The coronavirus pandemic has had serious effects on most of the world’s communities. (Mattoo, & Mensbrugghe, 2020). Most people lost their jobs because of the bad economic state, increasing the numbers of people going hungry in the world. In most cases, people died of cases of starvation and depression and not because of the virus. Since McDonald’s’ is a food chain, they have provided charity services to the community by donating food; the donations are for marginalized groups like the elderly, the homeless, and children who depended on school meals. The company has also partnered with the Red Cross to help give back to society in times of need. The pandemic affected the operations of the company, its consumers, and society’s surrounding. This made the business entity work to support these listed groups to ensure the business runs smoothly.
ConclusionFoodservice and restaurant industry is estimated to have $ 899 billion contributions to the economy. In the year 2020, the foodservice industry market was estimated to be at $3.5 trillion us dollars and was estimated to reach $4.2 trillion in 2027. The estimations were done before covid-19 struck, and this was evidence that the foodservice industry has a big contribution to the economy. The covid-19 pandemic resulted in business closure making the income generated from this sector decrease.
In the United States McDonald’s restaurants, the sales of the year 2020 had increased compared to the previous year. Among the effects of the pandemic was a decrease in Chicago shares by over 2.5%, the global sales of the company also decreased by a significant number. The drop in sales was a major drop in sales in places like France, Latin America, and the United Kingdom, where the pandemic had hit hard. McDonald’s has implemented measures that protect both the company’s employees and their customers because one of the company’s cultures ensures health and safety to all of the company’s clients and employees. Mcdonals is well known for its charity contribution in times of crisis and not only in the covid-19 pandemic; through their participation in helping in times of need, it can be said that helping societies is one of the company’s core values.
ReferencesAday, S., & Aday, M. S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on the food supply chain. Food Quality and Safety, 4(4), 167-180.
Goddard, E. (2020). The impact of COVID‐19 on food retail and foodservice in Canada: Preliminary assessment. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d’agroeconomie.
Lee, A., & Lambert, C. (2017). Corporate social responsibility in McDonald’s Australia. Asian Case Research Journal, 21(02), 393-430.
Maliszewska, M., Mattoo, A., & Van Der Mensbrugghe, D. (2020). The potential impact of COVID-19 on GDP and trade: A preliminary assessment. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (9211).
Petimar, J., Ramirez, M., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Linakis, S., Mullen, J., Roberto, C. A., & Block, J. P. (2019). Evaluation of the impact of calorie labeling on McDonald’s restaurant menus: a natural experiment. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 16(1), 1-11.
Film Noir and Neo Noir
Film Noir and Neo Noir
Film noir is a term used to define Hollywood films which contains elements of crime drama. It mostly emphasizes on the cynical attitude and sexual behavior of people. They basically underline either realistic portraits of actual, real life criminals or imaginary evil criminal minds showing their devilishness through smart crimes. The origin of film noir can be said to have its roots in cinematography, having German expressionism, the number of movements that began in Germany just before the Second World War, peaking in the 1920s. Most of the stories in film noir are the reflection of crime fiction which appeared in the US during the Great Economic Depression following the Second World War. The period of film noir dates between the early 1940s and the late 1950s. The term film noir was first invented by a critic in 1946 but was adopted by the filmmakers several decades later. Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, Out Of the Past, and The Big sleep are some of the famous Noir films.
On the other hand, neo-noir combines the basic idea of film noir but with updated content, visual element, theme, and style lacking in noir films. The presence of neo-noir films started in the 1960s, but it was not until after 1970 that they were seriously taken as a separate kind. Basically, films from the post-noir period were called neo-noir films but then the term expanded. Mostly in time including both post-war films and the expanding phenomenon that is neo-noir. With slight differentiation of noir film features, they can be considered as a reproduction of noir films. The changes in British society were less dramatic than what was posed in the films, but they can be considered just a step ahead of the actual circumstances of that time. Prominent neo-noir films include Blade Runner, Basic Instinct, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Sin City, and Max Payne.
Noir – Neo-Noir: Features
The visual style of film noir can be defined as one having low-lights and more shadows, all to add more drama to the story. The concept of shadows was such a cliché that in most scenes, the face of the character is unrecognizable. This concept was changed with neo-noir films. The scenes in most neo-noir films have shots of cameras placed at low angles, wide angles, and Dutch angles to increase this added drama elements. Shots were also taken in single or multiple mirrors or in any other reflecting object, adding more suspicion to the character. Neo-noir also paid more attention to details as seen in The Man Who Wasn’t There where Ed Crane is shown to be smoking in most of the scenes, which is true for the 1940s, the time this story is supposed to represent.
The story line of noir disrupted the normal narration sequences. They combined flashbacks or voice-over narration of the whole story as observed In Double Indemnity and Out Of The Past where Walter Huff is telling the story in flashbacks and Jeff Bialy tells most of the story of his dark past to Ann in flashback separately. On the other hand, neo-noir took a bolder path and incorporated both flashback and voice-over narration which is shown in The Watchmen where both is combined, Rorschach’s voiceover and the flashbacks about the watchmen’s past.
Most of the Film noir plots show murder which can be emerged from jealousy, betrayal, and greed. The murder is investigated by the police, private detective, or some close relative of the victim. Other plots include robberies, con-games, changed or stolen identities, and obviously amnesia, one of the leading cliché of the film noir world. The story line normally revolves around a “villain hero” who had received an ill-moral path derived by a certain tragedy as seen in Out Of the Past where Jeff Bailey is the protagonist. He is a former private investigator in search of a way out. He wants to confront his past once and for all in order to be at peace with it. But there’s something within him that, added to unhappy circumstances, made that wish impossible. “Plot of film noir is divided in these 11 categories as claimed by Durgnat: crime as social criticism, gangsters on the run, private eyes and adventures, middle class murder, portraits and doubles, sexual pathology, psychopaths, hostages to fortune, black and reds, Guignol, horror, fantasy” (Durgnat). The presence of a sexually attractive lady who is a danger magnet for anyone who dares to come close to her, that is a femme fatale, is also present at times. In the film, Basic Instinct, Catherine kept committing crime after crime, still managed to fool Nick and convince him of her innocence. The stories of deception, seduction, and corruption in bright day light with a shooting effect of the desert or open water is a feature of neo-noir. In The Man Who Wasn’t There, the story runs around a barber who kills out of greed and jealousy and then had no regrets of doing what he did. At the time of neo-noir, America started fighting a different war so the character of the people also changed in films. The protagonist became a man blurring lines between good and evil as seen in the character of Nick in Basic Instinct.
Film noir was during a time of mass disappointment, economic crash, and hopelessness. Therefore, these movies convey essentially a pessimistic message. It normally paints a picture of a world where characters are caught in between unwanted drama and crime, from which they cannot figure a way out no matter how hard they try. It shows that people in this world are doomed with fate and are helpless. As shown in the movie Out Of the Past where the protagonist Jeff is doomed to his past and tries to figure a way out of his situation to live a peaceful life with his love Ann. He got killed in the end by the femme fatale Kathie. Hopelessness is the key feature of movies of this genre. Only few movies, such as Double Indemnity directed by Billy Wilder in 1944, are known to be filled with humor contrary to the normal film noir style.
, Differences,
However, there are very few differences between noir and neo-noir films. The main difference is the considered time period. As mentioned earlier, noir films include Hollywood crime dramas from the early 1940s to late the 1950s, while neo-noir includes films from the 1970s onwards. Therefore, the content of the movies changed due to the different time periods because society had to deal with different issues.
Noir movies are mostly black and white due to the lack of technologies in that era such as The Big Sleep while neo-noir movies are shot in color such as Blade Runner. Due to the omission of censorship and lack of restrictions by the government, neo-noir films are sexually much bolder with absence of sensitivity at all the parts of the villain. Noir films shows the same ideas but in a conservative manner and with some element of sensitivity.
Another main difference between noir and neo-noir is that in noir films, the main character is the protagonist who is an anti-hero, a person who by fate or due to the femme fatale is pulled in the world of crime. This kind of plot helps viewers develop a relationship with that person and the story. As seen in Citizen Kane, the viewer cannot help but feel bad about the burning of the sled, the memento of the only moment of happiness of Charles Foster. While in neo-noir films, unusual camera moments and a unique way of plot progression keep reminding viewers that they are only watching a film.
Noir films emerged in the 40s, gained all the fame it can, and died in the 60s; then this strange nostalgia reemerged in the 70s. The question is why did it reemerge? Why did people of modern times felt a need to re-create a cinematology of the era which they were not even a part of? The answer to this question is that neo-noir can be considered a way to recall the exotic, transgressed aura of film noir. The same film techniques are used, with emotional disturbances shown in a more graphic manner, and made with more aesthetic techniques to touch the heart of today’s audience in a way comparable with the film noir and audience of that time.
Similarities
It is hard to compare noir and neo-noir because this depends on the perspective. The things which were supposed to be exciting, uncomfortable, and shocking for older audiences would merely seem to be something very normal for a viewer of today as we got use to the older aspects. In Double Indemnity, when the couple comes to the car after committing murder and the car does not start, this most probably created tension between the couple and most probably the viewer of that time but this scene will have no effect on us as we have experienced this twist a thousand times. The differences made between noir and neo-noir called to give the viewer of today the same experience as the viewer from the noir film era. As seen in Sin City, the scene where a woman is standing on a terrace with a man approaching having a cigarette in his hand, speaking in a low dreamy voice, immediately catches the attention of the viewer. The plots, main ideas, and characters are all same in noir and neo-noir (KCM).
Use of Gender, Urban, and Space
Gender
Film noir and neo-noir seems to highlight the idea of a femme fatale who is a sexually attractive woman in black clothing with a tainted heart and evil mind conspiring against everyone and mostly the main criminal behind the scene. A femme fatale is a woman who refuses to play the role of devoted wife and loving mother that mainstream society prescribes for women. A point to be noted is that they are really the offender or the actual victims who are in a struggle to be free from the restrictions placed by the men. They end up destroying not only themselves but also become the reason of the downfall of the protagonist (Mckenzie).
Phyllis in Double Indemnity is married to a man who does not even like her. Her circumstances lead her in inviting Walter Neff to come in her home to kill her husband. Out of the Past provides a classic example of film noir as well, especially in its portrayal of women. Kathie who is the ultimate femme fatale, forces the action toward disaster. First, trying to escape from her relationship with Whit, then by manipulating the two men who would try to love or control her. Ann, on the other hand, acts as the idyllic but featureless traditional woman, standing by her man even when he tells her that he is mixed up with murder and another woman.
Harvey says that film noir also shows a disabled man, in particular a male-female relation as seen in The Big Sleep, which does deny a common narrative convention of the film noir genre by allowing the story to conclude with the successful relationship between Marlowe and Vivian.
It also portrays a male victim whose story of a doomed life will leave the viewer with irrational fears of everything going wrong in his life. Film noir as compared to Western romantic comedies or coming-of-age films do not paint a picture of an idealistic life with happy endings, rather it tends to tell the tragic story of hopeless half-dead people and the unfair fate driven chain of events that forced them to stand in such a place. A perfect example of this type of gender expression is Double Indemnity which starts with a silhouette of a man on crutches approaching, holding the attention of the viewer from the very beginning. The opening lines show the glimpse of overwhelming panic and crushing failure, building inside Walter Neff through his voice as he confessed murdering his lover and her husband. Even without the actual horror scenes, film noir’s sterilization, gender expression, criminal conspiracies/plots, and social injustice are sure to invoke dark ideas from within the viewer (Luhr).
Neo-noir has portrayed gender in a different way. The best example of this is Sin City. In this movie, the male characters have quickly went to the rescue of their respective women, be it a noir neurotic or sadomasochistic bondage-clad dominatrix prostitute as Jin.
Urban
Another feature of noir and neo-noir is its shooting locations in mostly urban settings. The urban locations can be defined with the reference of Out Of The Past. It has unclouded High Sierra Country sites in the beginning which does not feel consistent with the noir idea at first but later, shady, rainy streets are seen. The story gives a unique combination of the sunny urban site of Bridgeport and dark corrupt streets of San Francisco (Eifert).
To understand the scenes, the best example is movie Blade Runner. This post-modern film mixes the scenes with architectural designs of different periods. The buildings have characteristics of skyscrapers but the overall look of a temple with the sign linguistics from some other world mixes the past, present, and future. Although these kinds of movies are not clearly defined, the voice-over narration, idioms, and tones give an idea of the characteristics of film noir (Strinati).Conclusion
Although gender, urban, and spaces are almost the same in noir and neo-noir with slight differentiation, neo-noir is considered better. There are two main reasons for it. Firstly, at the time of noir filmmaking, filmmakers had no idea that the group of these films will be later labeled as noir due to their common plot. Some movies deviated from the typical noir definition. On the other hand, filmmakers of neo-noir knew exactly what they are reproducing, so the movies of this era are better according to noir definition with a slight touch of technology. Secondly, lack of government restrictions and censorship of Hay’s office, which abided noir films to not leave any crime unpunished, left neo-noir as a choice. This opened the gates to neo-noir filmmakers to show bad things happening with good people and criminals getting their way, an ending more synchronized with the pessimist, cynical idea of noir (Conard).
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Altman, Rick. “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre.” Film Genre Reader III. 2003. pp. 27-41.
Conard, Mark. Mark the philosophy of neo-noir. University Press of Kentucky, 2007.
Difference between noir and neo noir. n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-noir-and-neo-noir>.
Difference between noir and neo noir. n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-noir-and-neo-noir/>.
Durgnat, Raymond. “The Family Tree of Film Noir.” Film Comment (1974): 10/6. pp. 6-7.
Eifert, Steve. Film Noir Of The Week. 17th May 2009. Web. 06 Sept. 2013. <http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2009/05/out-of-past-1947.html>.
Harvey, Sylvia. Woman’s Place: The Absent Family of Film Noir. London, 1980.
Jin. A Stylistic Joyride Through Sin City. New Jersey, 12 July 2013. Web.
KCM. “Are film noir and neo noir compaarable?” AngelFire.com. 1998. Web. 06 Sept. 2013.
Kevin, Osheer. Compare and Contrast of Film Noir and Neo-Noir. 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://voices.yahoo.com/compare-contrast-film-noir-neo-noir-10201875.html?cat=4>.
Luhr, William. Film noir. UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2012.
Mckenzie, Jason. Its not just black and white: Gender roles in film noir. n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2013. <http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/Articles-Summer05/McKenzie1.html>.
Strinati, Dominic. An Introduction to Studying Popular Culture. London, N.Y., 2000.
Economic Development Strategies in the Middle East
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Economic Development Strategies in the Middle East
Introduction
Economic development stands for sustained and effective actions of communities and policy makers that promote good standards of living and quality economic health of a specific region. Quantitative and qualitative changes in the economy also define economic development of a place. Any nation aiming at achieving an effective economic development must come up with a strategic plan that caters for the economical and social well-being of the citizens. Development forms one of the fundamental pillars that promote the economy of the nation. Development takes place in many aspects and various factors influence the development of the country. The location, types of economic activities, political stability, and the state of the security are among the most essential factors that influence the development of the region. Coming up with effective economic development strategies assists in eliminating many economic problems and issues experienced by the nation.
Middle East is one of the most affected areas by economic development issues. Middle East composes of countries like Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Oman, and Morocco among many others. According to Center for Strategic and International Studies, Middle East governments face diverse challenges that contribute to the poor economic development. The economic development strategies adopted by counties in Middle East vary, but not a single strategy has addressed the economic challenges experienced in some countries such as Morocco and Egypt. Egypt and Morocco face many economic challenges because they lack a working economic development strategy that would improve their economic state and rank them as the most developed nations in Middle East. The following paper provides an analysis of the best strategy that suits Egypt and Morocco in terms of boosting their economic development and growth.
The past economic status of Egypt and Morocco
Before 1950, Middle East member countries experienced the least economic development rates in the world. Egypt best illustrates the above phenomena because it formed the most modernized and popular nation among in the Arab world during that era. In the twentieth century, the country’s per capita income remained constant. The country lacked essential economic boosters that could increase government revenues, and relied more on cotton export. The poor economic status of Egypt resulted into high morbidity and mortality rates, high rates of borrowing from the World Bank, and decrease in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) levels (Yousef 91). Morocco, considered as the liberal economy in Middle East, has an economy governed by the law of supply and demand. The country follows the policy of privatization of economic sectors that earns more revenues for the government. The current economic development strategies adopted by Morocco do not solve the challenges of the modern economy and requires some adjustments in order to improve its GDP levels.
After the World War II, most countries in Middle East improved their economies because of the presence of similar economic and social policies that promoted economic development. Countries relied on state planning as the major determinant of economic priorities, adopted import-substitution industrialization policies, implemented the agrarian revolution and improvement of government and private institutions for development (Yousef 92). Even with the implementation of tough policies that promoted the development, the economic growth of some countries in Middle East still faces major challenges. Countries like Egypt and Morocco lack essential economic reforms that encourage practices such as corruption that lowers economic development of the nation. In addition, the countries lack democracy that interferes with their political stability. Currently, Egypt prepares for the democratic elections, while Morocco has introduced a democratic system of governance different from the past monarchy system (O’Sullivan, Rey, and Mendez 1).
Economic development policies in Middle East (Egypt and Morocco)
Middle East member nations came up with many policies that aimed at improving the economic status of each country. The recommended policies concerned many issues including the unemployment, trade, agriculture, and political nature of countries. Politics and economy raised a lot of concern in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) status conference. The member needed freedom from political and economic problems characterized by the corrupt and authoritarian regimes in Egypt. In addition, the monarchy form of government practiced in Morocco never paved way for any economic development because of constant quarrels for leadership. The challenges facing the Middle East nations seem common and structural calling for a common solution only achieved through a comprehensive and coordinated strategy. The strategy should incorporate the governments, the international communities, civil societies, and the private sector (O’Sullivan, Rey, and Mendez 2).
Economic policy in Egypt
The Egyptian government developed several policy measures in an effort to encourage economic development and boost growth. The country established a foreign exchange market-based system aimed at eliminating the black market. The country has suffered loss of revenues from the black market operated by corrupt government officials who made huge persona gains from the sector. The trade policy adopted rescued the number of tariff bands and encouraged productivity through an open and transparent government. In addition, the parliament passed a new income tax law that abolished progressive taxation and introduced personal income tax rate of 20 percent. The law eliminated many tax dens and made the government correct more revenues from the public. In addition, the government increased the rate of privatization. Most state-owned companies and financial institutions were privatized, a move that encouraged more productivity and investment in the business sector, and also led to the creation of more employment opportunities. The new policy made the Egypt’s GDP growth rate increase by 6 percent in the year 2003/2004. The data corrected in2007 indicated a 7 percent GDP growth rate (Abdel-Khelek 8).
The economic policy of morocco
The annual economic growth of morocco since 1990 averages 4 percent. Internal demands and dependence acts as the major economic drivers in Morocco. The country has depended on investment as the source of economic growth through various economic policies that promote trade and productivity in both private and public sectors. The major economic boosters in morocco are agriculture, manufacturing, and construction services. The frequent fluctuations in GDP experienced in Morocco because of changes in demand require a policy implementation process. The government developed the economic policy framework improves supply factors such as quality labor force, technological improvement, and increased production efficiency. The government of Morocco had struggled implementing the above policy in order to boost its economic growth and win a competitive advantage in Africa and the rest of the world (O’Sullivan, Rey, and Mendez 10-11).
The economic development strategy most suited for Egypt and Morocco derived from the above policies
Egypt and Morocco are among the most poorly developed countries in the Middle East. The two countries experience a lot of challenges in managing the political and economical settings. The economic policy frameworks described above requires some actions in order for them to work effectively. The following strategy derived from the policies acts as the best solution for Egypt and Morocco in terms of economic development.
Morocco and Egypt should generate a dynamic and competitive environment that deals with social and political challenges in order to promote a developed economy. In addition, the strategy would make the two ranked among the most development countries in Middle East and the rest of the world (Morsy 1). The two countries should implement excellent export led-growth strategy that allows easier export of products to other regions of the country. The social and political instability experienced by the two countries in 2011 acts as the best starting point for establishing a stable economy. The two governments should identify gaps and obstacles that led to the 2011 crisis and use them to implement an effective economic development strategy. Increasing productivity and moving up the value chain would be the best strategy to high economic development in Egypt and Morocco. The governments should create a prevailing environment in their respective nations that promote sustained job creation and improving the private sector. The implementation of this strategy would only take place through the formation of a strong regulatory framework supported by the politics of both countries.
Export led-growth strategies require a perfect coordination between the trading companies and the status of the exporting country matters a lot. The countries should create an environment where productive activities can thrive and increase the diversity of trade between the associated countries. In addition, the private sector contributes a lot to the revenue of the nation. Encouraging productivity in the private sector makes Egypt and Morocco better placed in terms of international trade-businesses, and the move would ensure higher economic development through foreign exchange. An increased productivity and improved value chain expose the underlying market structures and market-supporting institutions that create a sustainable development and growth. The idea of increasing productivity and moving up the value chain helps in the implementation of reforms introduced by the Middle East and North Africa member countries. The reforms concentrated on the following major sectors, fiscal and monetary policies, private and public sectors, trade policy, labor market policies, and business environment (Abdel-Khalek 2).
Reasons for selecting the strategy
No country develops through producing the same product all year round and achieves a high economic growth. Change signifies development and as such, a country must change from the usual mode of productivity and adopt a new and more advanced model. The world grows exponentially and technology gives way for innovations at the dawn of every day. New economic activities that increase the level of a country’s growth and achieve higher wages help in the economic development of the nation. Countries should upgrade their production and exports through adopting new and diversified strategies always grow faster. Improved production and export activities help in the structural transformation of the country’s economy. Egypt and Morocco had in the past managed to sustain their economic growth and narrow the gap with other developed countries like the United States and Japan. Lack of relative improvement of their economic positions in terms of income per capita led to the stagnation of these economies.
The political instability experienced in the two nations contributes to their poor economic development. Egypt continues to experience problems related to leadership and security because it lacks a stable and democratic political background. The unstable nature of the country’s economy forced resignation of the former President, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011 and handed over the government to the military. The military promised to make the country stable and work towards promoting economic development. The violence experienced in Egypt led to a big economic loss, and the government had to plan new ways of renovating the fading agricultural sector. The productivity and supply chain strategy that encourages more production and export, and utilization of private sectors would help improve the economic state of Egypt in the future. In addition, the rule by Arabs in Egypt changed the political dynamics of the nations that had a significant effect to the whole Middle East region. The stable government boosts productivity when outputs return to normal levels (ICAEW 2).
Other factors such as low employment rates and compared to the share of the working age and poor compensation rates for the working population also contributes to the observed stagnated growth. Figure 1 shows the growth rate of income per capita for different countries in Middle East including Egypt and Morocco between 1984 and 2009. The figure shows that Egypt experienced a low economic growth because the per capita income grew from 82 to 90. On the other hand, Morocco experienced a descending growth rate because it started with 97 in 1984 and ended up with 83 in 2009. Low level of workers per capita affects the GDP of a country. For a nation to develop economically, it must provide constant or increased productivity per worker by achieving an average employment ratio, like the one experienced in Latin America. A structural transformation takes place when a country expands its employment rates without reducing average productivity and wages (African Development Bank 17-19).
Figure 1: Income per capita ranking (Source: African Development Bank 2012).
A review of the literature of Morocco export growth since 1956 proves another reason for recommending the above strategy. Morocco had adopted a restrictive import-substitution industrial strategy in an effort to promote industrial development. The adopted policies contributed to the deterioration of the country’s macro-economic environment leading to high inflation rates, high borrowing rates, and budget deficit. The geographical position of Morocco calls for the government to implement strategies that foster more exports through encouraging trade agreements. The country has not achieved her full trade potential because of the constant political problems. Establishing a stable government, like the current government under the leadership of King Abdelilah Benkirane, plays a major role in encouraging productivity and supply chain through high export promotion. The strategy also seeks to cool the political tension among the citizens and make them concentrate more on nation building activities such as agriculture and other economic activities that promote economic development.
Conclusion
The discussion shows that most countries in Middle East face a number of challenges that hinder them from achieving high economic growths. The major hindrances to economic growth include poor productivity, high unemployment rates, political instability, poor governance, and poor implementation of development policies. The discussion proposes the strategy of increasing productivity and moving up the value chain. The main trade areas focused by this strategy include improvement of the private sectors, developing a democratic state, and technological advancements. The recommendations provided on this paper helps any other country facing similar challenges as Egypt and Morocco.
Works cited
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