The South African fast food market is growing exponentially and has shown a rapid increase in international brands, local brands and consumer interest in recent years. Fast food in South Africa is expected to have annual growth of 9% from 2014 to 2019 and the number of takeaway outlets will increase by 4% each year. (Information taken from the Mail and Guardian article - SA's ferocious fast food appetite.) Being a fast food franchise leader is not an easy practice and it is not possible to have full control over what happens behind closed doors of a restaurant. Many fast food franchises unfortunately try to cut corners and commit unethical crimes. I will delve deeper into this aspect in the following summary. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the article, KFC washes chicken on the floor. We are aware that KFC Braamfontein was caught washing chicken on the floor with a hose. Apparently the chicken was discarded chicken that was not meant to be sold to customers. The article states that the chickens were washed on a dirty floor with blood splattering from it. the KFC branch acted quickly as they closed the branch until further notice. This article provides images showing KFC staff washing chicken on the floor. This is irresponsible and these acts should not be done by one of the best fast food franchises in the world. Included in this article is the shocking incident of Umhlanga KFC workers sharpening knives on the pavements of KZN streets. A video broke on Friday, May 22. This post was then suddenly removed from all media sources. Reporters were told that residents of the community around this KFC branch wake up every morning to the sound of knives being sharpened on the pavements. The video was spread on Facebook. Unfortunately this was not the first unethical case linked to KFC since the Braamfontein incident which is my first article. In the video posted on Facebook, the image is not very clear but the sound of knives scraping on the floor pierces your ears. Fortunately, KFC has responded to this matter and stated that "we will not tolerate this behavior and have taken immediate and rigorous disciplinary action to resolve the issue." (Stated by Smart on this) In this article it is disclosed that KFC inspectors visit all branches 4 times a year to make sure everything is running smoothly. They will carry out strict checks in branches, especially after the Braamfontein branch washed chicken on the floor, just as the KZN branch sharpened knives on the pavements. Shockingly, in 2017, 11 staff members at KFC in Umhlanga were caught stealing stock from the branch. This included 265 pieces of chicken, 63kg of chips, 424 cans of cold drinks and 518 cans of juice. While KFC may sound terrible, one KFC customer spoke highly of a veggie burger he received from KFC Malvern. On Monday 11 May, Smart investigated the Braamfontein branch and discovered that the chicken washed on the floor was discarded chicken. . In the next article, inside a KFC kitchen, we explain what a well-managed KFC branch should look like. Food24 visited the KFC branch in Cape Town where they answered some questions. KFC uses Rainbow Farms as its nationwide chicken supplier. These local chicken farms ensure their chickens are hormone and steroid free as per regulations for all locally produced South African chickens. KFC puts enormous pressure on quality and therefore ensures that it does everything possible to ensure that icustomers receive the highest quality food possible. KFC chefs undergo training to ensure they can maintain the special KFC chicken recipe and uphold the quality reputation of KFC products. One thing they do to ensure the highest quality products is to use clean, good quality oil. They do some testing on the oil before use to make sure it is of a certain quality. They keep their products fresh with a maximum waiting time of 10 minutes after frying to ensure that KFC delivers fresh food. They also keep the kitchen and hands clean by sanitizing their hands every half hour to keep germs and dirt as far away from the kitchen as possible. KFC also gives back to the community with its Add Hope initiative. This initiative helps feed approximately 40,000 children per month. This creates a very positive corporate image for KFC. Two of the three articles summarized show unethical practices that have the ability to ruin a company's reputation. The third article explains why KFC has such a good reputation among the South African public. Unfortunately, we cannot simply dismiss these situations as unethical, there is much more to consider when claiming that an activity is unethical. Consumers, legislation, morals and principles must be taken into consideration before making such bold claims. My article: Unethical practices in a fast food franchise versus ethical practices in South Africa. KFC's Unethical Practices: Unethical practices according to Google, are simply defined as an action that falls outside of what is considered morally right or appropriate for a person, profession, or industry. The three articles highlight two unethical issues faced by KFC, and one article explains why KFC is one of the leading fast food franchises nationwide. Unethical business practices unfortunately affect the company negatively, as this showcases a negative company image and will therefore turn consumers away from purchasing franchise products. If a company acts unethically, it loses its competitive advantage and therefore suffers a loss of sales and also investors. KFC has been caught with a couple of unethical business actions which recently include washing chicken on the floor in Braamfontein and sharpening knives on pavements in KZN. Even though KFC is one of the leading fast food franchises in South Africa and is globally renowned, it still exhibits some unethical business practices which include the way they handle their food, employees and equipment. Corporate Image: Unfortunately, due to some bad business practices, the entire franchise suffers as a whole. This is the risk you take when you decide to open a franchise. Unfortunately, if one branch/restaurant practices negative business practices, it affects the entire franchise and hinders the entire corporate image. Corporate image is how the company is seen by the public. It is the PR team's job to ensure that the company image is as positive as possible and does its best to attract customers to the KFC branch. A corporate image takes some time before it is finally labeled as a successful corporate image. There are many factors that determine the success of corporate image, such as CSR, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and their business practices. Unfortunately, some unethical decisions of a restaurant can negatively affect the entire company image. This unfortunately has a negative impact on all other branches as their corporate image has been compromised. In the two negative articles the company image has been negatively affected and therefore puts KFC in a vulnerable position. GoodEthical practices of KFC: In the third article we can see how KFC has created its good reputation so far. We are exposed to how they operate and sell their products every day. This article shows us how KFC produces high-quality products that are safe for the public. This article only shows us the positive aspects of the operation of each KFC store. Sometimes this is a bias as KFC will act ethically and make sure everything is done correctly to show a good image to the media, but due to their past experiences and unethical practices, it raises some eyebrows. How unethical practices impact South African culture: Unfortunately, the controversial issues of washing chicken on the floor and sharpening knives on the sidewalks do not bode well for KFC. This shows that KFC does not care about the well-being of the South African market. By washing the chicken on the floor, it shows that they don't care about the cleanliness or hygiene of their products. This makes the public think that KFC is giving them dirty food products that may contain unwanted diseases or dirt. South Africa is an extremely diverse country and many religions require food to be slaughtered and prepared in a certain way. This includes cleaning and equipment used to prepare food. Therefore, the way KFC prepares food with sharp knives on the pavements and the way it washes chicken on the floor, shows massive disrespect towards many religions and therefore offends the South African public and detracts from the idea that diversity is positive. Cleanliness and Hygiene: Cleanliness and hygiene play a vital role in the success of a business in South Africa. It is ethical to keep your restaurants clean and maintain your equipment up to a certain standard. it is ethical to treat your equipment and stock with care, always taking into consideration the cleanliness of these two aspects. Unfortunately, KFC behaved very unethically by washing their stock on a dirty floor. This shows a lack of respect for the products offered to the customer. This unfortunately also shows that they are not interested in maintaining a good corporate reputation. Fortunately, KFC intervened and stated that this unethical incident was unacceptable as they have some waste reduction projects in place and have to meet a certain standard of cleanliness and hygiene. Sharpening knives on the sidewalk demonstrates exactly the same lack of respect as in the previous paragraph. Unfortunately, KFC employees have been performing these unethical practices which affect the entire reputation of KFC as a whole. This makes KFC look bad to the public and its customers, which affects their corporate image and reputation. Fortunately, KFC exhibits some extremely good hygiene and cleanliness stated in article 3. This article shows how KFC stores are run and how they protect consumers' health and reputation by ensuring that every single aspect of their daily operations is safe and healthy for all parties involved. KFC is a great example of certain good and bad ethics. This image shows a pristine and very well run KFC kitchen. Show good ethical practices. Article Analysis: In the first two articles I collected, it stated two negative unethical business practices performed by KFC South Africa. The first article showed KFC staff washing chicken on the floor, while the second article showed KFC employees sharpening knives on the floor. In the third article he contradicts the previous two articles as he exposes how well run the KFC kitchen is and how clean their workspace is. These 3 articles show us how KFC is the perfect example of a:.