Thinking of the Middle East, identify where you encounter products, services, or food items that should be relatively uniform and are based on standard inputs or costs. Identify the items, their standard components, and what the standards would probably be for each item. For example, the standard direct materials for a hamburger at a fast food restaurant might include a bun, a hamburger patty, and one teaspoon of ketchup, one teaspoon of mustard, two pickles and one piece of paper for wrapping. The standard direct labor input might be 30 seconds per hamburger.

Do you think it is beneficial for companies to assign standards, or does it create unreasonable pressure on employees to comply with the standards? What should managers do if they see that employees are not meeting the direct material or direct labor standards? What do you see as the pros and cons of having standards?