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The purpose of this study was to (1) investigate whether variations in corporate and business level strategies have any impact upon post merger integration practices of firms acquiring food service organizations; and (2) to develop some preliminary explanations as to any relationships that may exist between the two. Four factors which have significantly influenced the development of this study included (1) the current high volume of merger activity; (2) the high degree of merger failures which could be attributed to poor management practices after a firm had been acquired; (3) the increased significance of the service sector within the United states economy; and (4) the high degree of merger and acquisition activity involving foodservice organizations. Although the empirical and conceptual literature on mergers and acquisitions is quite voluminous, very few studies have specifically addressed postmerger integration practices. The relevant empirical literature, derived mainly from manufacturing firms, does suggest that parent firms, engaging in horizontal or highly related mergers do tend to exert a great deal of control and influence over their new subsidiary, while parent firms engaging in concentric, conglomerate or unrelated mergers do not. To investigate this issue in a service sector setting, three sets of conceptual and operational hypotheses depicting different dimensions of corporate and business level strategies and eight post merger managerial decisions were developed and tested. The population for this study consisted of all firms acquiring a foodservice organization during the period from 1976 to 1981. The data were collected via questionnaires sent to executives in the parent organizations. Chi square was used to test all conceptual and operational hypotheses. The results of this study, utilizing service firms in the sample, were quite consistent with the past merger and acquisition literature and the strategy-structure literature. Each suggested that for parent firms engaging in a horizontal or highly related acquisition, a high degree of integration usually took place, while for parent firms engaging in concentric, conglomerate or unrelated acquisitions, a low degree of integration usually took place. This study provided no evidence to suggest that service firms are treated different from manufacturing firms when it comes to integrating a new acquisition. / Ph. D.

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An investigation into economical energy usage in freeze tunnels was conducted. Freeze tunnels are commonly used in the food processing industry to freeze products, and in some cases may use large amounts of electricity. An actual freeze tunnel was observed and modeled on a computer. A parameter study was conducted. The results of the parameter study indicated the efficiency and energy costs in freeze tunnels may vary widely. Important parameters included the Nusselt number, air temperature, and the ratio of fan work divided by the useful refrigeration effect. Although no single set of optimum conditions were found, methods for improving the effectiveness of freeze tunnels, both in existing and future designs, were discussed. It was also concluded that the ratio of fan work to the freeze tunnel's useful refrigeration effect was a dominant factor in the energy cost of operating a freeze tunnel.

Cooking extrusion is becoming an essential processing step in a number of food processes. Modeling of extruder performance is the first step towards the ultimate goal of prediction of product properties and quality based on governing extruder characteristics and operation. The purpose of this study was to develop a numerical model of the cooking extrusion process. This involved. many facets of investigation. A 50% added moisture soy flour dough was selected as the material of study. The material properties for this 50% added moisture dough were then determined. The viscosity of this material was found to be both shear and temperature dependent in addition to exhibiting a yield stress. Both thermal conductivity and heat capacity were determined to be constant over the temperature range of investigation. Finally, although it was discovered that a reaction associated with cooking was present in the system, it was determined that it did not occur under the extrusion processes tested which were to be modelled and hence would not have to be accounted for in the model. These material properties were then incorporated in the three-dimensional finite element program, FIDAP, to model the flow of the l 50% added moisture soy flour dough through an extruder and die assembly. These numerical simulations yielded limited results. Only one case out of the multiple conditions which were attempted converged to a viable solution. As more success was found with a two-dimensional model, it is suggested that the problems of convergence could be due to mesh size and discretization of the three dimensional model as well as the difficult power law index of the material. Suggestions as to methods to overcome these problems are included. / Ph. D.

No / This paper focuses on the employment practices of both multinational corporations (MNCs) and large national competitors in the German fast‐food industry, such as Burger King, Pizza Hut, Nordsee, McDonald’s, Churrasco and Blockhaus. The paper poses a number of questions. Have the activities of MNCs affected the employment practices of national companies? Are companies adopting union exclusion policies and if so why and to what extent? Does the “country of origin effect” help explain the activities of MNCs? What changes are evident in workers’ terms and conditions and how effective are statutory systems of employee representation in practice? The findings suggest that Anglo‐Saxon‐based MNCs are more likely to adopt anti‐works council and non‐union policies in the sector, suggesting that MNCs may indeed be able to transfer their management practices across borders, imposing their employer‐based systems with little regard for German institutional arrangements.

No / The McDonald's Corporation is not only the largest system-wide sales service in the world, it is a phenomenon in its own right, and is now recognized as the most famous brand in the world. By providing a detailed analysis of the extent to which the McDonald's Corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations policies in Europe, this volume represents a real life case study revealing the interaction between a global multi-national enterprise and the regulatory systems of a number of different European countries. Key features include: an overview of the McDonald's Corporation's development and structure; an analysis of its corporate culture and the issues of franchising; an examination of key union strategies, including systems of co-determination, consultation and collective-bargaining; and a chapter dealing specifically with European legislation, in particular the McDonald's European Works Council. The author systematically analyses the conflict between the McDonald's Corporation and the industrial relations systems of the European countries within which it operates, and exposes this conflict as an 'unequal struggle' between economic liberalism and collectivism.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 18, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

In this study, the rates of technological change in food processing sectors of U.S. and Mexico are compared through econometric estimation of both the unrestricted (long-run) and restricted (short-run) profit functions with first order autocorrelation correction. Then, the dual rate of productivity growth is computed and decomposed into its sources. The impact of environmental regulations on productivity growth is also analyzed through incorporation of a pollution abatement variable into empirical models. The hypothesis testing results on the existence of short-run equilibrium in capital markets indicated that the restricted profit function framework is the valid specification for the underlying production technologies of U.S. and Mexican food sectors during the sample period, and hence, our conclusions are based on restricted profit function models. Our results suggest that, in U.S., the average annual dual rate of technological change dropped from 0.76% during 1963-73 to 0.67% during 1974-88, increased to 0.72% between 1988-1990, and declined to 0.65% during 1990-93. In Mexico, the dual rate of technological change was sharply declining during most of the years of sample period, and the average annual rate dropped from 1.30% during 1971-74 to 0.01% between 1989-93. The dual rate of technological change was lower in U.S. than in Mexico during 1971-81 period, but the difference (dual technological change gap) was sharply declining. Starting from 1982, the dual rate of technological change became greater in U.S. than in Mexico and the difference was continuously increasing. Moreover, the decomposition of dual productivity growth into its sources reveals that technological change was the main source of productivity growth in both countries, although in Mexico, the effects of changes in output price on productivity growth outweighed the contributions of technological change during several years between 1982-94. The impact of capacity utilization had a minor impact on productivity growth in both countries. The estimated elasticities of input demand and output supply indicated that labor demand is price inelastic, while material demand and output supply are price elastic in both countries. The own price elasticity of material and output was higher in Mexico than in U.S. In both countries, input demands are affected most significantly by output prices, while output supply is most significantly affected by its own price. The estimates for elasticity of substitution between labor and material imply that labor and material are complement of each other in both countries, with the degree of substitution between them is higher in Mexico than in U.S. Finally, the estimated parameters corresponding to pollution abatement variable suggested that pollution abatement costs had no significant impact on the U.S. dual rate of technological change, and in turn, productivity growth rate, and this appears to be consistent with the fact that the share of pollution abatement costs is quite small in U.S. food processing sector. For the Mexico, the estimated parameters were individually significant, implying that one unit increase in pollution abatement variable reduced the dual rate of technological change by around 0.11% points during 1982-94 period. / Graduation date: 1999