Decision making case study Essay

Is decision making a science or an art? Perfectly diplomatic answer is ‘No one knows, really’. If it is to be assumed as a science, then it should be governed by a set of universally acceptable and applicable principles. Are there such principles? Not, really. If it is to be accepted as an art, one should perfect it with practice. Did it ever happen that way? Not, really. That is precisely the probable reason why there’s no structured course yet in any MBA Programme across the globe. Barring aside a few unstructured modules here and there, there is not a single and sophisticated course on decision making. And that fact is quite a revealing. After all everyone associated with any organized human activity (partnership, NGO, Joint Venture, small scale enterprise, a medium scale enterprise, No.1 company in any country, No. 1 company in Fortune 500 list or any company in any country for that matter) makes decisions. How decisions are made? Is there any difference between a wrong decision and a bad decision? What are the prerequisites for effective decision making? How do personal traits influence decision making? This book on decision making helps to understand such questions and has a collection of articles and interviews that highlight the importance and significance of decision making. In this book, many international experts share their views on effective decision making and give insights about decision making in different industries

Running Head: Globalization- Moving Forward or Moving Backwards?

With 35 million people, Tokyo gets the trophy for being the world’s largest city. Second place goes to Bombay with 22. 2 million people and New Delhi follows that with 20. 9 million (McKinnon, 444). It is no question that the world is home for billions of people and the number is growing. The world today is very different from what it was years ago. Through new technologies, we are able to communicate with people in a matter of seconds. The Internet connects people to do business internationally and quick. It has reduced the traditional problems you get with trading. It is now very easy to trade goods and services around the world. Because of this, markets are more open and competition is bigger. Investment has changed with online banking. It allows people to move their money internationally. Globalization is a process where global connections become thicker and it creates relationships between many people in vast distances. Globalization is a system where people aren’t in their own little villages anymore but they are brought together by trade or diplomatic relations. Globalization represents a change in human organization; there are both positive and negative effects of globalization. As our world with new technologies begin to march forward, many countries are being left behind. For example, economic reforms have transformed India into the second fastest growing largest economy. According to India: Rich vs. Poor, they mentioned India's economic growth rate in the year 2007 to 2008 is 9. 1% compared to the United States' growth rate in 2007 to 2008 is 2. 2%. India’s economic growth rate is supposed to be even higher in the next few years. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The Indian rupee has even grown stronger than the United States dollar (Roskins, 467). With all this said, India seems like its on track to be a dominating world power. However, India suffers from high levels of illiteracy, malnutrition, and gender inequality. India has more poor people than the continent of Africa. We have always lived in a world that has created hierarchies. We have rich and poor, affluent and less affluent, developed and developing, and third world countries. Whatever system we use, the gap between rich and poor will be very distinct. According to a report in the New York Times, technology and Internet access will intensify the difference between rich and poor countries (Miller). This gap has always increased over the years because it is a byproduct of globalization. In 2005, World Bank estimates that 1. 1 billion people in the world lived in extreme poverty. The definition of extreme poverty would be poverty that kills and that people who live under extreme poverty may live off of a dollar a day. More than 8 million people die each year because of poverty. Many times it’s from preventable diseases. For example, approximately 3 million people in Africa die of malaria each year. This situation in Africa has worsened over the last two decades. Forbes magazine has published that there are 358 billionaires in the world. Their combined net worth goes past the combined net worth of the worlds poorest 2 and a half billion people. Globalization goes all the way back to beginning. When people built roads it made the world so much smaller, but at the same time easier. Wheels and boats led to changes in transportation. Humans walked first, then came horses and carriages, after that the invention of bikes came along and soon after that was the automobile. Soon traveling did not take days and months, but in a couple of hours you could get from point A to point B. Another example would be writing with ink to printing books; all of these mentioned were a huge milestone for the human race. From the inventions of these things, more people were able to learn more things about the world. We are no longer stuck in villages, knowing the same people and same traditions. Today, globalization continues with the Internet. Now we can get information in a matter of seconds. People everywhere are connecting through social networking sites, blogs and video sites. We are able to â€Å"outsource† jobs. Outsourcing is when you take a job and handing it to a third party. Everything from clothes to technological jobs are getting taken overseas in the United States. Many companies use outsourcing to decrease the cost of labor (O’ Neil). Education ties into outsourcing because it is different in other countries. Many jobs move over to India because the educated middle class in India has a significantly better mathematical training than students in the United States. From 2000 to 2015, an estimated three million American jobs will have been outsourced. A kid playing a Wii in the middle of America calls a help line in India for troubleshooting on his Wii. We are now getting closer and closer to each other even if we live thousands of miles apart. The causes of poverty in the world’s poorest nations may be complicated. Causes range from where the country is located, diseases, civil war, and natural disasters. It may be things we take for granted such as a lack of clean water, lack of education, or lack of an effective health care system. Many poor nations have corrupt governments as well. Some problems may date back to colonialism, farm subsidies, cultural and historical reasons, or problems with institutions such as World Bank. A lot of times the reason why many countries are in deep poverty is because of colonialism. What happens is that western nations stepped in and stole the riches of their colonies. By doing this, the western countries gained money, and left the country they invaded with nothing else. Dependent development is when a less developed country relies on a modernized country. They act as equal partners but some nations could impose unequal exchanges on others and weaken the economic development so they could make their development stronger or more advanced. Dependent development impacts organization in developing nations because they could mess with their system so they could actually get ahead (O’Neil). An example would be Latin America. After WWII, radicals thought of the dependency theory, which said that the less developed countries is dependent economically in the capital, products and policies of the First World. If they could get out of control of US corporations, they could eliminate poverty. Western countries have taken gold from Peru, rubber from Brazil, tea from India, and cocoa from West Africa. Many times, countries struggled to get out of rule from the countries that took over. When they left, the Western country left them with many problems that the new country could not get out of easily. An example could be India. When the British left them, India has faced challenges such as religious violence, discrimination against certain types of castes, terrorism, and regional separatist insurgencies (Roskins, 449). Some may put the blame on farm subsidies and other trade barriers. Farm subsidies have the effect of transferring income from the general taxpayers to the farm owners. The world’s wealthiest nations give more than 300 billion dollars of subsidies to their farmers every year (McKinnon, 446). By doing this, it makes it difficult for poor farmers to compete with the big Western farmers because in some cases, the subsidy goes to the big industrialized farms. However, if you get rid of these subsidies, it may not help out poor farmers either. If there are industrialized farms in developing nations, poor people who would have worked in the small farms wouldn’t be able to work in the bigger farms because they would be replaced with machinery. So the poor people would move to cities where they may not find jobs. Another factor may be cultural or historical. Some reasons why Arab nations are poor may be because they are not advanced economically in modern times. Arab nations may be behind because of the way they treat their people. Many Arab nations look down on free speech, they don’t have good quality education, and there is a shortage of women’s rights. For example, having gender equalities in a country reduces economic growth. By having gender inequalities, it results in a wide gap between the opposite sexes. There are still 65 million Arab adults who are illiterate, and two thirds of them are women (Friedman). In India, women also suffer from high mortality rates. An example could be that their healthcare favors boys. Boys usually get more access to food and medicine and they get it before girls. Girls don’t get first priority and this results in many children, a lot of them girls, getting sick and dying from malnutrition (Hopkins). The World Trade Organization, International Money Fund, and World Bank are usually the most criticized when it comes to the issue of globalization. Some people believe that big business are looking out for themselves only and expand the world markets for their own interests. Some of the policies of the World Bank have harmed the development of Third World countries rather than help it. The World Bank contains high interest rates, which harm some companies. Their trade liberalization made some countries poorer and unable to compete with the global market. Also, the liberalization of capital markets drove smaller banks out of business. Not all-financial aid given to poor people doesn’t actually go directly to the people. The World Trade Organization is typically the target of anti globalization protests. People against globalization believe that the World Trade Organization neglects labor and human rights, only serves the interests of big corporations, increases inequality, and undermines national independence (McKinnon, 447). Some people may say that globalization will create a monopoly for countries that dominate in businesses. Because of the unequal relationships some countries will be left behind and the ones ahead will dominate the world economy. Another negative is the outsourcing of jobs. It lowers standards and weakens regulations in order to keep or attract business. Everything will rely on each other and when the dominant country falls apart so will the whole globe. Some may argue that as globalization increases, the world population has a wider gap between rich and poor. Globalization will create a greater chance for countries to have crises and problems. It will affect everyone because everything is so close knit compared to before. Some people who support anti globalization believe that globalization will destroy old institutions, traditions, and cultures. Individuality and collective identity are giving way as globalization proceeds. As developing countries accept Western influence, they will throw out what used to mean a lot to them, and accept someone else’s cultures. As societies trade their own cultures institutions for a common global society, what used to be shaped by values and tradition will now be shaped by materialism and consumption. The things that make the society different such as the language, music, food, history, values and norms will be taken, maybe changed, and will be sold around the world. Things (such as products) that did not make the cut, will be taken and forgotten because new things that were more appealing to people around the world will come in and take over. An article titled â€Å"McWorld† by Benjamin Barber explains the struggle of globalization and corporate control versus Jihad, which is tradition and traditional values. Barber believed that there were four imperatives to â€Å"McWorld†. They are: A market imperative, a resource imperative, an information-technology imperative, and an ecological imperative. The market imperative says that all national economies are vulnerable of larger, transnational markets. In these markets, there are free trades, the currency is convertible, and access to banking is open. The resource imperative is when countries will use each other's resources. After all, everyone needs something that they don't have. Every nation has something and some nations don't have anything that they need. The information technology imperative says that technology will connect everyone. Business, banking and commerce depend on information flow and you do these now through technologies. The ecological imperative is when nations ruin natural resources for things that they need. We all depend on each other, so if you tear down a rainforest to get resources, another country may use those resources. This ecological consciousness has meant for greater awareness but to inequality because the nations that are modernized may not want to use their resources to help the nations that are not modernized. Barber concludes that traditional cultures or big corporations support democracy. (O’Neil) The term â€Å"McWorld† may come from McDonalds, which is the fast food chain that gets criticized a lot. McDonalds has opened franchises in over 100 different countries. The symbol is recognized almost everywhere you go: from a small town in the United States to a city in China, you will be able to find a McDonalds almost anywhere you travel. It is controversial when it comes to globalization becomes it associates itself with deforestation, harvesting of animals, and a promotion of junk food. Many people believe that McDonalds is destructive towards many cultures that it has been introduced to. McDonalds gets criticized for destroying the practice of a home cooked meal and many countries, especially the United States, are dealing with problems such as obesity in adults and children (O’Neil). Since McDonalds is everywhere, it has become the model of getting rid of individuality. Some critics against globalization believe that it will overwhelm people with countless choices, ideas, values, and information that may be hard for some cultures to understand. As we move closer and closer together, everything seems to rely on each other. If our world truly globalizes, the struggle of freedom and equality will shift from domestic to international. Globalization may lead to greater conflict and chaos. On the other hand, economic globalization also applies to labor. Globalization can help people move and want to migrate. International economic connections, goods and services are expanding; people want to move where the money is. Countries get to bring out what they produce best and throw away things that aren't as popular. Transnational corporations take advantage of new markets and new opportunities. As a result wealth is to be diffused effectively through open markets for goods, labor and capital. Globalization is supposed to take people out of poverty and allow everyone to be a part of the global marketplace for goods and labor. If you look at it this way, globalization is seen to be positive because you bring billions of people out of poverty and produce affluence by letting more people be part of the global marketplace. As globalization has increased over the past quarter century, the percentage of the world’s population that has lives in poverty has declined. People’s life expectancy has risen, especially in part of the world that globalization is a big deal such as China and India, compared with the countries that are not so globalized, such as Africa (O’Neil). Globalization has opened up bigger communications. It has introduced companies into countries, and has helped many people get out of poverty. Globalization has provided opportunities for the workingman and also women. Many women work now because of globalization, and it was able to provide them with pay where they can support their families. Globalization can promote equality for people. Globalization forces businesses to compete on a bigger scale and the market becomes bigger. The competition is greater and will give consumers more choices. I believe globalization is not always a good thing. I believe that globalization will create monopolies for some companies. I don’t think it will be fair when it comes to competition. It will give people more choices, but I don’t think the quality of goods that we get will be of the best quality. The currency isn’t the same throughout the whole world, so the money that is distributed to some people will be different , because of this I think equality will be harder to reach because some people in countries that are more modernized will be getting paid a lot more than countries that are behind. I think it will eliminate small businesses in the United States and it will be hard for small business owners to compete in the global market. Globalization will eliminate individuality in many things such as goods. I think many cultures will forget their own traditions as well, as they welcome in new ideas. As for the whole world, I think that globalization will increase dependence on other countries. All the countries will rely on each other. If someone’s market crashes, especially from a dominating world paper such as the United States, everyone else’s market will crash. I feel that as our world becomes more advanced, we are consumed in a materialistic way of thinking and its almost as if we are moving backwards rather than moving forwards. We value things that are so obsolete such as materials like diamond rings. It seems to put a price tag on people and in this sense we are almost tribal. I believe globalization will truly take over. Our world is getting smaller and smaller everyday. What we do here, in the United States, definitely will affect other people elsewhere.

Red Lobster Case

Bill Daren, restaurant entrepreneur opened his first restaurant at age 18. After opening a few other restaurants, his passion for seafood drove him to open a restaurant with top quality seafood called Red Lobster. Red Lobster was founded in 1968 in Lake Land Florida. One month after its opening Red Lobster, Daren had to expand the restaurant due to its high demand. After two years he had opened four other locations. In 1970 the chain was sold to General Mills, Daren was still the president.By 1975, apart from having a new president, Red Lobster was the first casual dining chain to achieve national scale, to advertise on network television and to have a national seafood distribution system, which was an important competitive asset. In 1982 general Mills Restaurants, Inc used Red Lobster operation platform to create Olive Garden. This corporation also opened other chains such as Longhorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille. Red lobster had an immense success and their goal was always to sust ain the companies historical affordability positioning.Red Lobster stated having some problems; this restaurant had always been top quality seafood with a really affordable price. Some customers were not attracted by the generous portions of affordable food as imagined but instead they were attracted to the desire to use a meal occasion as an opportunity to connect with family and friends. Red Lobster never thought that â€Å"experientials† were their customers and they were not marketing for them. Restaurants were not physically adapted for â€Å"experientials. † Some other issues were that Red Lobster many competitors, also value focus chains such as Chili’s, Applebee’s and Olive Garden.This chains also had seafood in their menus and their menus were much cheaper that one in Red Lobster. In a survey made in 2004, customers believed that Red Lobster was under a category of low-end seafood restaurants that served mass-produced frozen seafood, much of it f ried. Red Lobster never thought that they could be categorized like a low-end seafood restaurant. The appearance of the restaurant and pictures of fried food in the menus were causing customers to question the quality of the food. After doing this investigation, Red Lobster realized that many changes needed to be made.They had many issues that could be easily solved and that could help them in their image to the customers. 2. In 2004 a major leadership change came when Lopdrup became the president of Red Lobster. Prior to the new leader there were indication that the restaurant Red Lobster had slowly begun a downward trend since its place as a forerunner in the industry. Sales in many of the stores had slowly increased but this was mostly due to the aggressive promotions executed in the recent years, but the numbers were nowhere near where the management team wanted them to be.The ratings of Red Lobster’s guest experience had leveled off throughout the recent years and the pe rcentage of â€Å"excellent† ratings had not increase and were stuck at 64%, while the other restaurant owned by the same company was higher at 68%. Also in recent years due to a few factors the seafood category competition had strengthened and dampened the most current efforts of Red Lobster. The introduction of aquaculture has also had a massive effect on the seafood industry. This new movement allows seafood products to be produced in huge numbers with low cost.Since then aquaculture has led to dramatic declines in the cost of seafood, and allowed many new competitors to enter the industry thus increasing competition. The aquaculture had converted salmon and shrimp from luxury items originally sold in Red Lobsters into a mainstream product that is now being sold in many other restaurants that formerly did not carry the pricey product. This also allowed many restaurants not in the seafood category to begin offering seafood, which presented a huge problem to Red Lobster who now has to compete with those outside their specific food restaurant category.Even with the cost declines, seafood was still much more expensive than other proteins, which caused Red Lobster’s menu to more expensive than other value restaurant chains like Chili’s, Applebee’s, and Olive Garden. This presented the problem that Red Lobsters current layout was narrow focused in comparison to many of the other restaurants it competes with. 3. Red lobster is faced with many critical decisions in its near future. After conducting massive amounts of market research it was revealed to Red Lobster the different psychographics regarding the patrons who often utilized their restaurants.The customers were grouped into 5 main categories which included experiential, indulgent, traditionalist, eclectics, and frugal. The information received showed that experiential customers account for 23 percent, indulgent with 24 percent, traditionalists at 18 percent, eclectics the lowest w ith 7 percent and frugal with the highest at 28 percent of their total cliental. The fact that experientials accounted for nearly one-fourth of the total customer base was a surprise for Red Lobster’s management and since currently the organization only semi-concentrated on the traditionalist, frugal, and indulgent.This proposed a problem, should Red Lobster change its approach in respects to product, price, place, promotion, and positioning to better accommodate the needs of the experiential psychographic? With respect to Red Lobster’s positioning was it beneficial for them to keep the â€Å"fresh and approachable seafood† position and if it was decided to not be the right move what would the right position be for the restaurant? This question concerning the positioning also brings up another question, whether the drastic positioning change undertaken would allow the company to keep the restaurant name as Red Lobster.After deciding what position the company wan ted to take were Red Lobster’s advertisements appropriate for the positioning they wanted? The next option in regards to promotion is if it was beneficial to continue their traditional frequent price promotions? Also since each of the different customer bases has different attitudes towards prices, raising or lowering the price points of Red Lobster was another alternative course of action that could be commenced. This also feeds into the product aspect of Red Lobster. Should they be widening the menu further beyond seafood to gain market share from the other premium casual chains?Red Lobster is also faced with the choice to open new locations in relation to the clienteles they plan to focus on, and whether or not to remodel the current restaurants around this concentration. 4. In regards to evaluating each specific course of action, I will begin by going assessing the situation of Red Lobster changing it focus and including the experientials. The main benefit from this would be the fact that the experiential groups is considered one of the best customers for a casual dining chain and were predominantly profitable because they are more likely to order desserts and appetizers and wine.Also this group tends to order more items and are less price sensitive compared to the other groups of indulgent, frugal, and traditionalist. However if decided to focus on this group there would be many changes need towards the current position, price, place, and promotion. Since the experientials have very high culinary standards and high expectations for service and atmosphere, Red Lobster would need to reassess their current â€Å"place† situation. To account for the higher standards of atmospherics desired by this group it would be necessary for Red Lobster to remodel their current tores to a more upscale restaurant. This will attract more experientials, but would be very costly for the company. In regards to promotions alterations would also be required. With R ed Lobster currently offering many price promotions to draw in the frugal and more price sensitive groups this would not be an issue with the experientials. Therefore the current promotions would need to be changed to align with the experiential groups. This would be a benefit in regards to less promotional expenses and higher margins.With respect to Red Lobsters positioning they may need to adjust this in order to accommodate the experientials needs for high service, upscale atmosphere, diverse menus, and culinary expertise. Changing the Red Lobster position could be very costly and challenging due to the fact that the company will need to undue all of its prior positioning efforts and modify what the fact that customers see Red Lobster as a low end restaurant serving mass-produced frozen seafood into the thought of it being a high end establishment that offered top quality, fresh seafood prepared with culinary expertise.If the Red Lobsters focus is shifted and all of these aspects modified the company may see their current customers become aggravated at the alterations and discontinue patronizing the establishment. However if Red Lobster chose to stay with its current configuration aimed at the frugal, traditionalist, and indulgent groups they would not need to massively alter its current price, place, promotion, and position situations.This would be much less of a cost burden when compared to changing the focus towards experientials and would have a lower risk of loosing their current loyal customers. Nevertheless the lack of change could also result in a continued downward trend in the restaurants overall performance. Red lobster could also have the alternative to continue down the same path oriented towards the traditionalist, frugal, and indulgent but update their positioning in regards to their stance in product, price, promotion, and positioning.

Assessment item 1 - Individual assignment Essay

Assessment item 1 - Individual assignment - Essay Example Though times have changed and organizations getting less hierarchical, yet importance of understanding legal requirements in employment relationship remain intact. The only difference is while earlier, they were transactional in nature, now they have turned more relational today. However, laws still guide the managers through their way to recruitment, selection, labor and procedural justice, compensation and other human resource functions. Legislation in employment does not follow at the time of recruitment and selection alone; they pave the way for successful and hassle-free work bargain and also extend after the human resource selection in maintaining the informal relationship according to the formal regulations. These legislations span across aspects such as providing equal opportunity rights, diversity management, accounting for health and safety of employees, relations at workplace, wage and child-related laws and illegitimate discrimination (Nankervis et al. 2009:153). Gillilan d (1993:696) assert that inclusion of laws into recruitment and selection process imparts fairness and objectivity to the entire function. Serving as a means to establish tenets of equity, laws put in place provide for substantial distributive and procedural justice in the organization which helps develop the attitude of employees and also infuse motivation in them. Evidence of fulfillment of labor and compensation laws discards the feeling of inequity between inputs and outputs and establishes symbiotic relationship between employers and employees. Elaborating further on the positive perception, implementation of procedural justice gains more grounds if legal requirements are duly complied within an organization. In the presence of proper regulations, employees tend to believe that they have a voice and an equal opportunity in affecting the decision making process and use of procedures to arrive at conclusions or verdicts. In exercising the procedural justice, if laws are in place, it obligates employers to account or justify for any of the repercussions. Legal provision of creating a two-way communication channel and justification lowers down the negative effect associated with the negative consequence. As such, laws also help develop interpersonal relations between employers, employees and related parties as they tend to involve the components of procedures, decision making and communication in recruitment and selection. Realizing the importance of legal requirements in work place settings, HR managers are now making increased use of psychometric tests in selecting apt candidates from applicants’ pool. Wolf & Jenkins (2006:201) opine that this exercise is guided more on a defensive note than a pre-requisite staffing practice. Use of different tests do provide equal opportunity rights to applicants of varied intellect, education and capabilities, but more importantly, these tests serve as evidence that organization had been fair and justified in its r ecruitment process when there were no clear job descriptions or specifications. External environment and

Different Approaches to developing strategy Essay

Different Approaches to developing strategy - Essay Example It can also give a message to employees, project the image before customers, bring intention for future etc. i.e. what should the business to do?. Objectives: Objectives are firm achievable goals / targets of the business in terms of results like growth in earnings, increase in production etc. in medium and long terms. They are measurable and can be monitored and corrected for their progress. Values / Situation Analysis: It is desirable that a strategic developer should take stock of the present status of the business both in terms of its weaknesses and strengths and devise a strategic plan to achieve the objectives already set forth. Weakness of the business could be in any area like management, finance, markets / sales, operations, offerings etc. Strength or success area of the business can include sound financing / cash flow, average or good profitability in terms of capital investment, scope for enhancing targets & market share, brand awareness development, provision to invest in R&D or any other innovation, good customer care, facing strong competition without increase in prices etc. Both external and internal environments should be considered to devise a strategic plan. These environments can be assessed through analysis of ‘SWOT’ elements. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities , and Threats. Strategic Development: The strategic development differs for different businesses and specific business alternatives can be applied that can serve its best interests. Different types of business development strategies include: Implementation: Strategic planning implementations access to make changes in the organization. A well drawn plan for clear objectives, activities, targets, budget, responsibilities, timings including deadlines etc. would provide a blue print for the organization to combat the implementation plan challenges. However some unexpected or unforeseen circumstances both external and internal can always

Dark Play Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Dark Play - Research Paper Example During dark play, some of the players are not normally aware of their involvement in the game, for example, a con game. It is the form of paly that normally involves fantasies, luck, daring, deception and invention. Dark play can normally be private, and it is only the player that may be aware of their engagement. It can normally erupt suddenly and can involve a bit of micro play that seizes a player resulting to a quick collapse. This can normally be in the form of a wisecrack, a delirium or it may involve a deadly risk. Dark play tends to subvert orders, breaking of rules and it may involve the dissolution of frames. During dark play, the play is normally in danger of destruction. The dangers that may result to the destruction of the playing process include; cases of spying, and con games. Dark play cannot normally be compared to the carnival because the inversions in clown plays are normally sanctioned by the authorities and they are, therefore, considered legal. Dark play is norm ally subversive, and it agendas tend to be hidden. In dark play, the players are normally rewarded through disruption or deceit (Huizinga, 187). Dark play being a form of paly that involves deception or subversion, it is evident that some the players are not normally aware of their involvement in the game. This form of paly normally lacks meta-communication, as the players tend to think it is just play without thinking of its consequences. It tends to occur mostly in instances where contradictory realities tend to co-exist. In this instance, the player assumes that each instance is likely to cancel out the other. An example illustrating dark paly is evident in the creation of a flash mob. The flash mob is normally a group of people interacting through the use of electronic media with an intention to gather at a predetermined site, in order to perform a brief, but silly action. These people are normally seen to disperse as soon as they finish performing the

Religious Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religious Systems - Essay Example The authors explore how religious landscape of America has altered over time and also dig deep into the causes of these alterations in the present American society. It is undisputed that the United States’ peaceful coexistence between individuals of different religions is built on the harmony among individuals of different faiths who do not question the role of any particular religion in America (Putnam & Campbell, 2012). In recent periods, many Christians have questioned the morality and the role of Islamic religion, not only in America, but in other Christian dominated countries around the world in the wake of series of terrorist attacks. These attacks have been majorly associated with the Islamic religion shaking the peaceful coexistence between religions that has long defined happiness and peaceful living. Putnam and Campbell focus on the past fifty years in examining how religion can divide and unite people. As the authors explain, in early centuries, intermarriages betwe en individuals of different denomination were nothing more than a fairy tale. The practice was unwelcome, particularly in Protestant and Catholic denominations. However, in recent periods, the Catholics and Protestants in the United States feel like they all belong to one camp. Putnam and Campbell argue that by 2000s, the denomination in which an individual belonged bore no significance, but how religious a person is had gained great importance as a diving line in politics (Putnam & Campbell, 2012). However, this argument evokes one big question that underlies the present disharmony in peaceful religious coexistence. Everyone would ask why Muslims do not form part of the claimed unified religious family that fits Putnam and Campbell’s description. According to Putnam and Campbell, America’s religious diversity has never entailed extensive religious intolerance. As they explain, coexistence has been ensured through willingness of believers to bend fundamental doctrines so as to foster interfaith amity (Putnam & Campbell, 2012). Most Christians have a conviction that everybody, including non-Christians, can find their way into heaven. In this manner, it is apparent that Christians are bending a crucial doctrine that underlies their religion that no one can ever go to heaven without going through God’s son, Jesus Christ. Putnam and Campbell explain the Americans have become more tolerant because they have on average two friends with different religious backgrounds. In their survey in 2007, Putnam and Campbell ascertained that similar to the evangelicals, the mainstream Protestants, perceived Muslims to be worse than Buddhists. On the other hand, black Protestants perceived Muslims in a more positive way than they did with Buddhists (Putnam & Campbell, 2012). In the latter observation, the result could be attributed to the fact that black Christians are more familiar with their black Muslims counterparts. The authors proceed to explain this sc enario by exploring social theory in which they point out factors such as mutual goals as possible causes of familiarity resulting into strong cohesion among individuals of different faiths. Assessing Michael Emerson and Christian Smith's Divided by Faith: Evangelical

The Growth of Google Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Growth of Google - Research Paper Example Google’s mission is to shape the global information and make it comprehensively available and relevant. According to Google’s strategy and objectives, it believes that the most operational and profitable means to achieve its mission is to prioritize the interests of its customers. The company according to a well-undertaken research, have made conclusions that offering reasonably high-quality services results in enhanced traffic and stable promotion through word of mouth amongst the consumers. With regards to products and service delivery, Google seeks to work tirelessly in order to produce the most relevant, as well as valuable search results possible. On the other hand, Google aims to try its best to deliver the most relevant and useful marketing. If under any circumstances whereby an element on an outcome page attracts payment, the company will declare it to its users. Under their publication plan, advertisements should not interrupt at all. Google, like any other cor porate body or a private entity, envies a bright future; therefore, one of its principles is to work relentlessly in order to improve the user experience.In 1999, an announcement was made by Brin and Page to establish Google, from a couple of exclusive venture principal companies: Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins. By 2000, Google’s directory of more than one billion websites exceeded those of its competitors, therefore replacing Inktomi as Yahoo!’s search instrument. During this time, Google’s focus was primarily on algorithmic search.

Critical assessment of the difficulties of implementing motivation Essay

Critical assessment of the difficulties of implementing motivation theories in the modern workplace - Essay Example Understanding of such problems would help improve employee response and motivation resulting in better output and achievement of organizational goals. 4 There are many motivation theories however most popular among them are behavioral theories of Maslow and Herzberg. The chief features of these theories needs to be understood before we can dwell on problems in their practical implementation. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, there are five categories of needs viz. (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) social, (4) esteem, and (5) self-actualization. They form a pyramid structure with the lowest and broadest physiological need at the base. Pyramid also illustrates the fact that breadth of needs, as we graduate up the pyramid, gets reduced indicating that the need is finely tuned and well defined. In order to have fully motivated workers each lower level needs to be satisfied before one can graduate to higher level needs. Maslow made a supplementary hypothesis that physiological, safety, social, and esteem needs on satisfaction, ceased to motivate, while the self-actualization needs motivated an individual more as they got satis fied. Maslow's premise was that it is the growth choice that propels an individual toward self-actualization - that of individual growth or "filling one's potential."(Maslow, 1954).A worker wise need analysis is a tough task and may even result in manager forgetting main work related goals. People are individual and it is so difficult to meet everyone's need at their required level. Such needs may be sourced outside the work place.Herzberg used Maslow's lead as a base to build his motivation-hygiene theory. According to him the hygiene elements relate to low level needs (physiological, safety, and social). For an individual, hygiene conditions include company policy and administration, supervision, relationships with peers and supervisors, work conditions, salary, status, and security (Markiewicz, 2002). Paucity of hygiene factors can lead to dissatisfaction or lack of motivation and account for 69% of the factors which cause employee dissatisfaction or lack of motivation. The motiv ation conditions, which include achievement, the job itself, recognition, responsibilities, and personal growth, accounted for 81% of the factors which contributed to job satisfaction. The hygiene conditions are extrinsic factors while the motivation conditions are intrinsic factors, and the only way to sustain motivation toward organizational goals is through the achievement of intrinsic outcomes. 5 Each of these theories carry ideas consistent with human nature, however each faces limitations within organizational settings. Because lower order needs are generally satisfied in the workplace today, managers have to deal with how to provide esteem and self-actualization to their employees, and that can be a nebulous concept to a manager who demands results immediately. As Stolovitch and Keeps state," Another

Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Globalisation - Essay Example The Cold War was characterised by the two-block system, the East and the West, or the opposition between the United States and the Soviet Union, with their supporter countries. And when this was dissolved, with the collapse of the Berlin Wall known as the Iron Curtain, the world seemed dominated with a one-bloc system with a single marketplace. (Eriksen 2007, p. 4) Meaning and concept Globalisation refers to economic consolidation through liberalisation of policies leading to an open economy (Van Der Bly 2005, p. 875). An important characteristic is the interconnectedness of people and openness of nation states. This is enhanced by technology and the Internet, with emails and websites becoming so popular, and everyone can connect and communicate with anyone in any part of the world for as long as there is a computer and an Internet connection. Mobile technology also has become popular and impacted on business and human transactions. Technology and the Internet are referred to as â₠¬Ëœa world of signs’, ‘the age of digitisation’, or the global village where nation states have fewer roles (Bairoch 2000). Some other important aspects include internationalisation, protectionism, liberalisation, and improved competitiveness in world commerce. Mooney and Evans (2007, p. 11) indicated that the beginning of globalisation was the ‘rise of capitalism’. But the question of chronology of globalisation has never been agreed upon by authors. Our primary aim here is to define first what globalisation is and to have a full understanding of its meanings, concept and features. Globalisation encompasses many subjects or disciplines. There are scholars in various fields that can be called globalisation scholars, such as those pursuing interesting studies in culture, sociology, economics, international studies, politics, language and the arts, and much more. Globalization is covered in many subjects and it is one of the much researched fields in m an’s pursuit for knowledge (Ampuja 2012, p. 17). This is one of the main features of globalisation – its being cross-disciplinary, which allows it to borrow terms and concepts from those discipline’s own lexicon. (Mooney & Evans 2007, p. ix) Scholte (2005) asserts that globalisation is closely linked to the concept of internalisation, which means the word ‘global’ is a word that describes cross-border interactions or transactions between nation states, and globalisation pertains to an increasing international relations and interdependence of countries. Another important word that we can add to the meaning is liberalisation. This word pertains to a process where there are no restrictions or hindrances during economic transactions between countries. Economists also call it ‘international economic integration’. Liberalisation refers to removal of trade regulations and barriers, foreign-exchange laws and other related laws, and even visa re strictions (Sander cited in Scholte 2005, p. 31). Scholte (2005) adds the word ‘universalisation’ to the concept of globalisation. He theorised that when Oliver Reiser and Blodwen Davies first introduce the word ‘globalize’ in the 1940s, they meant it was about ‘universalising’ or a unity of cultures, or the global village. Thus, Scholte defined globalisation as the way of distributing objects or products and experiences or services to people in many parts of the world. Globalisation can be

Several language techniques Essay Example for Free

Several language techniques Essay From the perspective of soldiers we experience what men suffered during World War I. Through the vivid imagery and the dramatic language in the poems Attack and Exposure, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen share their views on war. That all war is- is fear, misery and death. Sasson descibes a battlefield where men are on the attack. They follow behind a tank, fighting their way up a scarred slope, clambering over barbed wire, right into the hands of death. The use of alliteration and rhythym (eg. Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud) conveys the sense of urgency and excitement. Personification plays a major role in Attack, eg. glowring and barrage roars gives the poem a tone of anger/rage. The use of onomatapoiea helps the readers experience what the battlefield was like for the soldiers. Lines such as bristling fire, makes the readers imagine the sound of machine guns firing and Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire, creates a powerful image of tanks slowly making their way upto the barbed wire. His climax is a perfect example of the kind of emotive sentences he uses, O Jesus, make it stop! fills the readers with the despair, anger, fear and helplessness that the soldiers feel. Yet, Sassoon also gives the poem an unemotional tone (eg. They leave their trenches, going over top.) to emphasize the fact that the fear, panic and death happened everyday. But none of these things were what war was conveyed to the people not involved with the fighting as back then. Men who went off to war thought that it was a way to prove their masculinity and that to die for your country was a glorious thing. None of these men knew of the fear that would strike their hearts, or of the desperate, panicked need to return home- alive. None of these men knew that it was not just bullets and bombs that killed, that the horrible conditions were just as much their foe as the men who fired at them. Owen describes a cold uneventful night on the battlefield. The use of personification (eg. Iced east winds that knive) immediately conveys the sense of an icy wind that bites like a knife would nick the skin. He uses rhetorical questions well, lines such as What are we doing here? and Is  it that were dying? pulls the readers into the tangled web of fear, regret and weariness that surrounds the mind of a soldier. Although onomatopoiea is not used much in Exposure, the sentences that do contain onomatapoiea words are very effective (eg. whisper, curious, nervous) gives the voices in the readers mind a whispery hush. The use of similes (eg. Line twitching agones of men among its brambles) and emotive words such as cringe and poignant helps the readers understand what the soldiers were experiencing. But nothing happens. was a very effective ironic sentence, because althought nothing officially happened, men still died and had to be carried away to be buried. This sentence was repeated to emphasize this fact. These poems along with many others that were written about World War I, helped the people who werent involved with the fighting understand what war was life for the soldiers and that all war caused was fear, misery and death.

Information Technology Essay Example for Free

Information Technology Essay Advancements in information technology have had many great benefits on society. It has revolutionized the phase of business and living around the world. Information Technology has made Local businesses become international due to a simple website. Information technology (IT) is the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. It is broadly considered to encompass the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. Several industries are associated with information technology, such as computer hardware,software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment and computer services (Chandler, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to discuss the wonders and horrors Information Technology has brought to us. It will first look at the wonders which Information Technology has brought, and then it will look at the horrors. It is from the wonders and horrors were a conclusion will be drawn from. Today information technology involves more than just computer literacy; it also takes into account how computers work and how these computers can further be used not just for information processing but also for communications and problem solving tasks as well. Information technology also involves the development, installation, implementation, maintenance, and the use of computer systems, software and networks for the processing and distribution of data (Daintith, 2009). Our world today has changed a great deal with the aid of information technology. The revolution in IT has itself been brought forth by a company of innovations in telecommunications and informatics, made possible by cheaper new lightweight materials such as optical fibers transmitting information faster. Information flows faster and less expensively throughout the globe, but it will take substantial time to reach full digitalization given the youth of IT (Achimugu et al; 2009). Things that were once done manually or by hand have now become computerized operating systems, which simply require a single click of a mouse to get a task completed. With the aid of Information Technology, we are not only able to stream line our business processes but we are also able to get constant information in real time that is up to the minute and up to date (Vermaat,2004). The significance of Information Technology can be seen from the fact that it has penetrated almost every aspect of our daily lives from business to leisure and even society. The world has an estimated 350 million internet users. Over 90% of them are in industrial countries, although developing countries comprise about 85% of the world population (Berndt and Morrison, 1995). Today personal Computers, cell phones, fax machines, email and internet have all not only become an integral part of our very culture but also play an essential role in our day to day activities (Parker, 2003). Information Technology has brought a lot of wonders in our daily living. Some of the wonders include: Globalization IT has not only brought the world closer together, but it has allowed the worlds economy to become a single interdependent system. This means that we can not only share information quickly and efficiently, but we can also bring down barriers of linguistic and geographic boundaries. The world has developed into a global village due to the help of information technology allowing countries like Chile and Japan who are not only separated by distance but also by language to shares ideas and information with each other. Communication With the help of information technology, communication has also become cheaper, quicker, and more efficient. We can now communicate with anyone around the globe by simply text messaging them or sending them an email for an almost instantaneous response. The internet has also opened up face to face direct communication from different parts of the world thanks to the helps of video conferencing. Information Technology affects the way companies communicate and establish relations with their clients. In the fast moving and business environment, it is vital for them to interact with clients regularly and quickly to gain their trust and to obtain customer loyalty. With the use of internet and social networks, firms interact with consumers and answer all their queries about the products. Take for instance Barack Obama- USA President as the figure. With the use of networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, blogs, social bookmarking, the leader could approach to the world whenever necessary and the world can receive the news and updates which he has done or wants done within a short period of time. Cost effectiveness Information technology has helped to computerize the business process thus streamlining businesses to make them extremely cost effective money making machines. This in turn increases productivity which ultimately gives rise to profits that means better pay and less strenuous working conditions. Additionally, to think and to research, we need resources to find what our past people has thought, what quotes they have left for us that is information and theory. Information can now be easily found by a single click in search engines such as Google and yahoo. Business Operations. With the use of technological innovations, business owners and entrepreneur understand their cash flow better, how to manage their storage costs well and enables you to save time and money. Bridging the cultural gap Information technology has helped to bridge the cultural gap by helping people from different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow for the exchange of views and ideas, thus increasing awareness and reducing prejudice. More time IT has made it possible for businesses to be open 24 x7 all over the globe. This means that a business can be open anytime anywhere, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient. It also means that you can have your goods delivered right to your doorstep with having to move a single muscle. Increase the sense of Human Rights- The technology can remind of our human rights, basic needs and give updates where relief or worldwide help is necessary. During earthquakes, terrible floods, while co-operation is necessary the World Wide Web can help us to collect the donation by a desired amount. It is not possible to just figure out everything about the good and bad sides of Information and Technology within a page and article as because it has mixed with every aspects and corners of our lives. Rather, let us look at the side effects, bad sides (cons) which IT-sectors have brought to the Human Society Creation of new jobs Probably the best advantage of information technology is the creation of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers, Systems analyzers, Hardware and Software developers and Web designers are just some f the many new employment opportunities created with the help of IT. Information technologies of various kinds, together with globalization, are powerfully affecting the range of employment options for individuals in advanced and developing countries alike- and at various levels of education. Further, the classes of Information Technology that automate, disinter mediate and reduce costs of remoteness are also enabling the construction of increasingly comp lex and geographically diverse global supply chains and networks (Spence, 2012) . Advancements in information technology have had many great benefits on society; however, this has not come without its downsides. Below are some of the horrors or disadvantages of information technology: Unemployment While information technology may have streamlined the business process it has also created job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and middle level jobs have been done away with causing more people to become unemployed. Technology in an organization, company or business, the number of hours that a human works at that company is reduced. Technology is playing multiple roles. The replacement of routine manual work by machines and robots is a powerful, continuing and perhaps accelerating trend in manufacturing and logistics, while networks of computers are replacing routine white-collar jobs in information processing. For instance, the elimination of intermediaries in banking, online retail and a host of government services, to name just a few affected areas. This has even resulted in some people losing their jobs because technology is doing it for them. However this is beneficial for the organization as their profit is increased because they do not need to pay their workers as much because they are not required as much (Spence, 2012). Privacy Though information technology may have made communication quicker, easier and more convenient, it has also bought along privacy issues. From cell phone signal interceptions to email hacking, people are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge. As IT Sectors have wined the people’s heart worldwide. People are here to share and store any kind of information, private date in their hard drives and private online databases. But due to some Cyber-Criminals, nothing is so safe both online and offline. If someone becomes a bit careless, he or she may needs to pay high for it especially when it comes to work related information (Saldarini and DeRobertis, 2003). Lack of job security Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as since technology keeps on changing with each day. This means that one has to be in a constant learning mode, if he or she wishes for their job to be secure. Dominant culture While information technology may have made the world a global village, it has also contributed to one culture dominating another weaker one. For example it is now argued that US influences how most young teenagers all over the world now act, dress and behave. Languages too have become overshadowed, with English becoming the primary mode of communication for business and everything else Over reliance on technology a lot of people believe that because computers and the Internet has become such a regular part of modern life, some people particularly children who grow up with it, will not be able to function without it. Some people think that the Internet is making people lazy, particularly when it comes to essay or project research as instead of reading books in a library, one can just perform a Google search. Loss of communication skills with the ever increasing variety of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, a lot of people are worried that traditional communication skills will be lost. This worry is particularly about children who often engage in these websites because communication and interactive skills are not important with computers. Loss of personal touch emails and instant messaging has replaced the old tradition of handwriting letters. And although this is advantageous because of time constraints, a personal touch and sense of feeling is lost compared to taking the time to sit down and hand write a letter. We can think, gather human principles (ethical knowledge) and make co-operative relationships between friends and families. But due to harmful aspects of (IT) people are becoming fully technological based. And it can bring huge damage to the society as its taking away the natural thoughts and organic ideas. Health problems research has shown that technology can cause a number of problems with a persons health. Many scientists, doctors and researchers are concerned about possible links between technology and heart problems, eye strain, obesity, muscle problems and deafness. Waste emitted from technology can pollute the environment which not only makes people ill, it also damages the environment. The online community is not safe for Family anymore- the family is the foundation of every nation. However, due to Information Technology, children under age may often share Cell Numbers, Private Email Address which can be hacked by people and can pass it to the criminals who have a blue-print to harm the society. And people are losing credit card privacy and other payment processing options. Again, there are some sites created by foul people, which can lead under eighteen teenagers to a different path – That Is going to bring Harm to the Nation. A very good example is the Iris Kaingu Video which circulated not only nationwide but also worldwide and was viewed by both young people and adults. In conclusion, one can safely say Information Technology has brought both wonders and horrors to our society. Things that were once done manually, or by hand have now become easier and faster by the introduction of computer technology in the workplace. Our world today has changed a great deal with the aid of Information Technology which has penetrated in almost every aspect of our daily lives and society. With all the good things about Information Technology, it has brought terrible horrors to some in our societies. A lot of people have lost their jobs because they have become irrelevant due to the introduction of computers in the workplace. It has contributed to the poor livelihood of people. Advancements in information technology have had many great benefits on society. It has revolutionized the phase of business and living around the world. Information Technology has made Local businesses become international due to a simple website. Information technology (IT) is the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. It is broadly considered to encompass the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. Several industries are associated with information technology, such as computer hardware,software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment and computer services (Chandler, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to discuss the wonders and horrors Information Technology has brought to us. It will first look at the wonders which Information Technology has brought, and then it will look at the horrors. It is from the wonders and horrors were a conclusion will be drawn from. Today information technology involves more than just computer literacy; it also takes into account how computers work and how these computers can further be used not just for information processing but also for communications and problem solving tasks as well. Information technology also involves the development, installation, implementation, maintenance, and the use of computer systems, software and networks for the processing and distribution of data (Daintith, 2009). Our world today has changed a great deal with the aid of information technology. The revolution in IT has itself been brought forth by a company of innovations in telecommunications and informatics, made possible by cheaper new lightweight materials such as optical fibers transmitting information faster. Information flows faster and less expensively throughout the globe, but it will take substantial time to reach full digitalization given the youth of IT (Achimugu et al; 2009). Things that were once done manually or by hand have now become computerized operating systems, which simply require a single click of a mouse to get a task completed. With the aid of Information Technology, we are not only able to stream line our business processes but we are also able to get constant information in real time that is up to the minute and up to date (Vermaat,2004).

Hotel project management

Hotel project management SUMMARY Kerrison Park Hotel in London, is a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author will explain here how a project management approach will help the hotel to make changes to turn the loss making situation around. The Author has explained to the management of Kerrison Park Hotel the meaning of Project Management, the process involved in it, the tools and techniques used in it and the benefits of using a Project management approach in developing of the improvement opportunities. The Author has identified all the improvement opportunities of Kerrison Park Hotel, London, and done a detailed SWOT analysis which has given an insight to the problem and improvement areas along with the companys strengths and weaknesses. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or a service. The act of managing, controlling, coordinating, directing, etc is called management. Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project. Projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints. Traditionally these constraints have been listed as ‘scope, ‘time and ‘cost (Burke, 2003). PROCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agree precise specification for the project. Plan the project time, team, activities, resources, and financials. Communicate the project plan to your project team. Agree and delegate project actions. Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, enable the project team. Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. After explaining all this the author has given recommendations as to how to develop those improvement opportunities identified in SWOT. INTRODUCTION Case Study Background: This case study refers to Kerrison Park Hotel in London, a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased this hotel as a part of a financial package that also involved the takeover of three aircrafts and routes serving Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Oslo. The hotel is situated 25km from Heathrow Airport and is well connected by public bus and Underground. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author has been given the role of a project manager to use his project management skills and investigate the hotels SWOT analysis and make a proper project plan to retain business and turn this loss making situation around. Aims and Objectives: Define the benefits of the Kerrison Park Hotel, London of adopting a Project Management approach towards the development of the improvement opportunities. Identifying these improvement opportunities within the hotel, recommend a project plan that should be tackled within the next 18 months. Research Methodology: The author has used a lot of secondary resources to research and collect data related to case material like books, websites, etc.. Initially all about Project Management is explained along with some techniques and their importance. Then a detailed SWOT analysis is done for the Kerrison Park Hotel, London. On the basis of this SWOT analysis a Project Plan is prepares and recommendations are given. There is no primary research undertaken for this report. MAIN BODY Kerrison Park Hotel in London, is a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased this hotel as a part of a financial package that also involved the takeover of three aircrafts and routes serving Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris and Oslo. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author will explain here how a project management approach will help the hotel to make changes to turn the loss making situation around. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or a service. The act of managing, controlling, coordinating, directing, etc is called management. Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project (Burke, 2001). Projects are executed and achieved under scope, time and cost constraints. These constraints when combined together form the Project Management Triangle. As these constraints are linked together therefore, the triangle would be affected if either of the constraints is changed. The advanced enhancement of scope, time and cost produces a fourth constraint called Quality. ‘Scope describes what must be done to produce the end result of the project, ‘Time constraint specifies the available time to meet the project and ‘Cost refers to the total amount available for the project completion. The main purpose of Project Management is to offer the appropriate tools and techniques that initiate the team to work towards the achievement of these constraints. Time The time required can be estimated through Work Breakdown Structure where each task is separately broken down into the time required to complete each task contributing to the completion of each component. Cost The cost constraint is estimated on variables like resource costs, labour rates, material rates, risk management, Earned value management, plant, equipment, cost escalation, indirect costs, and profit. Scope Scope describes the actual project to be accomplished and the end result. Quality of the actual output product is one of the major components of scope. The quality of the project is determined on the actual amount inputted towards the individual tasks. (URL: http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/62/The-traditional-triple-constraints.html) PROJECT LIFE CYCLE: Project Management Life Cycle comprises four phases Initiation involves starting up the project, by documenting a business case, feasibility study, terms of reference, appointing the team and setting up a Project Office. Planning involves setting out the roadmap for the project by creating the following plans: project plan, resource plan, financial plan, quality plan, acceptance plan and communications plan. Execution involves building the deliverables and controlling the project delivery, scope, costs, quality, risks and issues. Closure involves winding-down the project by releasing staff, handing over deliverables to the customer and completing a post implementation review (URL: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php). PROCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agree precise specification for the project: Often called the project terms of reference, the project specification should be an accurate description of what the project aims to achieve, and the criteria and flexibilities involved, its parameters, scope, range, outputs, sources, participants, budgets and timescales Plan the project time, team, activities, resources, financials: Plan the various stages and activities of the project. A useful tip is to work backwards from the end aim, identifying all the things that need to be put in place and done, in reverse order. Communicate the project plan to your project team: This serves two purposes: it informs people whats happening, and it obtains essential support, agreement and commitment. If your project is complex and involves a team, then you should involve the team in the planning process to maximise buy-in, ownership, and thereby accountability. Agree and delegate project actions: Activities need to be very clearly described, including all relevant parameters, timescales, costs, and deliverables in a plan. This plan will then be published to all team members and the tasks will be issued to all on the basis of their capability of their own forward planning Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, and enable the project team: Manage the team and activities by meeting, communicating, supporting, and helping with decisions. Your role here is to enable and translate. Face to face meetings, when you can bring team members together, are generally the best way to avoid issues and relationships becoming personalised and emotional. Communicate progress and successes regularly to everyone. Give the people in your team the plaudits. Conversely you must take the blame for anything that goes wrong never dump on anyone in your team Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others: Check the progress of activities against the plan. Review performance regularly and at the stipulated review points, and confirm the validity and relevance of the remainder of the plan. Adjust the plan if necessary in light of performance, changing circumstances, and new information, but remain on track and within the original terms of reference. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team: At the end of your successful project hold a review with the team. Ensure you understand what happened and why. Reflect on any failures and mistakes positively, objectively, and without allocating personal blame. Reflect on successes gratefully and realistically. TOOLS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: PERT: The Program Evaluation and Review Technique is a model for project management designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e, precedence network) relationships between activities. A work breakdown structure or WBS is a tree structure, that permits summing of subordinate costs for tasks, materials, etc., into their successively higher level â€Å"parent† tasks, materials, etc. It is a fundamental tool commonly used in project management The Critical Path Method, abbreviated CPM, or critical path analysis, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management. A Run chart, also known as a run-sequence plot is a graph that displays observed data in a time sequence. Often, the data displayed represent some aspect of the output or performance of a manufacturing or other business process. IMPORTANCE AND BENEFIT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH TO KERRISON PARK HOTEL, LONDON: Develops Exponential Effectiveness: In most organizations, people work on cross-functional teams to complete projects. When people from different departments know and understand a common Project Management process to get their work done, they can start to work together without having to design how they are going to do it. Empowers Individuals and Team Leaders: When there is a common, simple approach for Project Management and the correct tools are available throughout the enterprise, people are empowered to reach their goals, together and individually. Creates Institutional Memory: Industry standard Project Management practices require a critical project closeout phase that collects lessons learned and gives your organization powerful historical knowledge from across the enterprise. Realizes Return on Innovation: An easy-to-use Project Management methodology gives organizations a framework that makes it achievable for people to move from vision to action with a comprehensive project plan that supports their objectives. Turns Information into Insight: You capture best practices and know what is and isnt working in your organization, giving you a competitive advantage by turning information into insight. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective. Here we need to do the SWOT analysis of the Kerrison Park Hotel, London which will help us further to make a Project Plan to make recommendations as to what changes are required by this Hotel to run successfully. Strengths: The Hotel has a very good location as it is just 25 Km from Heathrow and is well connected by Bus and Underground. Hotel owns a large reception area out of which a part can be used for other purposes. A large full functioning kitchen builds up the backbone of the hotel Hotel has 150 rooms. All rooms have ensuite facilities, tea and coffee facilities, satellite TV, Air-conditioner and mini-bar which shows it provides all the facilities which a normal 4star hotel should have. The double rooms have adjoining lounges. The hotel provides an elaborate English and Continental Breakfast which is considered to be the main meal of the day. Hotel owns a Big Conference and a banqueting suite with a separate bar and four syndicate rooms. The Hotel gets a regular business from the parent companys aircrew and passengers. The Hotel also possesses a successful In-house Laundry which also has a contract for companys airline uniforms which ensures fixed revenue. Weaknesses: The hotel is suffering from a low occupancy rate of 45% as compared to other hotels in the city with 65% on a typical day. It has an inappropriate and a weak marketing strategy as the hotel principally relied on tour operators who use the hotel seasonally and local corporate business, gained through minimal advertising. The computer systems on the front of the house have become obsolete and needs to be upgraded to be in sync with the parent companys airline reservation system. Many of the Hotels facilities were not marketed successfully because of poor coordination and irregularity within sales and marketing departments. Lack of security of cleaning stores and linen on floors and their distribution. Lack of regular preventive maintenance of rooms and corridors. Internal painting, re-grouting of tiles, etc. needs attention. Restaurant is not big enough with 90 covers to handle major rush hours during peak season. Lunch time business is poor. Garden side of the restaurant which can be used a n additional room in quite weekends was not publicised properly. The staff seems to be lacking the sales and service orientation. The department heads are given the responsibility for recruiting and training of staff members rather than a proper Human Resource Management system which leads to inconsistencies in approach and quality. Gymnasium is not well equipped and there is no swimming pool facility provided by the hotel. There is no health bar either where a guest could refresh himself after a workout. Opportunities: Since the Hotel has a good location, it can easily pull up the chartered tourism. Students and Backpackers use London as a base for visiting other parts of the country who can be wooed by attractive discounts and offers. Large reception area gives the opportunity to use a part of it for some other purposes for eg. Extending Coffee Shop. Laundry Business can be improved by recruiting more skilled staff and sign up more contracts on revised prices with airlines. Hiring more experienced staff and training the existing one will help in upselling in all FB areas. Coffee Shop is more popular than the restaurant and the bar and is also doing well, so the covers can be increased and it can be livened up for young clientele. There is a good opportunity to start a new buffet style menu in the restaurant after convincing the Head Chef of its advantages. Hiring more efficient and professional Sales and Marketing Team will help the Hotel to boost up its sales volume. The Human Resource Department have a lot of knowledge and experience of working in different cultures which makes it easy for the hotel to understand its staff better and provide them efficient training through proper communication and practice. Threats: The airlines are in doubt as to continue with the laundry contract with the hotel due to the high prices offered as compared to other competitor laundries. The FB staffs have a low skill level; and therefore it leaves the guest into a bad impression of staff lacking service orientation and hotels poor standards. Inappropriate Security systems might lead to loss by theft. Storage of food is disorganized and sometimes no stock rotation is done which can be very dangerous and also lead to wastage. Competition in terms of prices and facility given by other hotels is leading to lower occupancy rate which is not good at all for the hotel. There is no Job satisfaction due to which motivation is lacking in staff. RECOMMENDATIONS After completing this detailed SWOT analysis the author is clear about Hotels situation inside out. Now the author would like to give recommendations for how to overcome the problems and weak areas of the hotel in a Project Management approach. Following are the areas and the changes that need to be done in them: Reception: Since the front of the house systems are obsolete and 12 years old, they require an upgrading to cope up with the expected increase in the business and interface with the parent companys airline reservation system which will create ease of work and efficiency for the reception staff. Changing the system will also require hardcore training to the staff who are habitual of using the old system. This whole process will take about 3 months to come into existence. Accommodation Operations: Author would suggest to turn 20 twin rooms into double rooms which will help the reception to give out more options to the customers. Secondly 10 suites should replace either of the rooms for fulfilling special needs of the guests like honeymoon couples. This operation will take around 4-6 months. In House Laundry: The Laundry has shown a return on investment recently and is running successfully. It is suggested to add up more storage space and recruit more efficient staff. The hotel also needs to take into consideration the prices of the laundry as they are too high compared to competitors due to which it might lose its present contracts. Prices needs to be lowered down. This will take about 2 months. Housekeeping and maintenance: To Control the security of the cleaning stores and linen, the author suggests to put up security alarms and CCTV Cameras in all important areas where undesignated staff isnt allowed. The storage areas should be moved away from back door entry to avoid loss. The rooms need to undergo minor maintenance like internal painting, re-grouting of tiling, replacing shower curtains, etc. Carpeting on first and second floor corridor will be replaced and reinstated as soon as possible. This will take approximately 6-8 months to complete. Food and Beverage: The covers in the restaurant should be increased to at least 120 to cope up with busy hours. The idea of introducing buffet style of menu is very appropriate. The FB manager must convince the head chef about the advantages of buffet style menu for eg, it will save labour force and the guest would get a choice of wider variety of food. Various schemes like ‘Sunday English Roast Lunch or ‘Happy Hours should be introduced which will attract local clientele and families. This operation will take around 1 month to come into existence as there are no major physical changes taking place here. Since the Coffee Shop is very popular and generally remains busy it is suggested to liven and pep it up in sync with the young and modern customers with some exciting decor, video games, darts, etc.. which will attract more people. We have the advantage of having coffee shop next to the large reception area. So it can be extended using a part of the reception area and covers will be increased from 50 to 70. Professional English speaking and permanent staff must be hired for the coffee shop as it will lead to good service and better guest satisfaction. The Coffee Shop menu should be renewed. This will take around 3 months to complete. Bar staff needs to be trained to be multi-skilled so that they can help in other areas when busy. A fool-proof method of controlling and counting sales should be introduced. A versatile drink list should be developed. Night porter facility should be provided to fulfil the needs of late night residents. This will again take around 1 month to come into existence. Gymnasium: It is suggested to install modern and state of the art machinery in the gym. At least 2 trainers should be employed. A proper changing room with modular fittings should be constructed with sauna, spa and a small swimming pool should be built up. Swimming pool will be a great attraction for the in house guests and local residents. The gym kitchen should be refurbished and spruced up and used as a sports bar offering health food and beverages.the Gymnasium and swimming pool will take a long time say around 12 months so should be started well in advance. Goods Delivery and Storage: Food storage in the main cold room must be organised using the FIFO (first in first out) system and keeping HACCP (hazard and critical control points) into consideration. Delegation of responsibility to the heads of the departments and supervisors is of utmost importance for all the storage areas as to keep a control on food storage, rotation, inventory keeping, etc.. The responsibility of the keys should also be delegated to either Head chef or FB manager. A proper inventory management system must be installed to analyse the sales level appropriately. This process will take 2 months. Management and staffing: a lot of emphasis needs to be put on the training and development of the staff as most of the staff is unskilled and unprofessional. A detailed training and development programme needs to be developed. The recruitment responsibility needs to be taken solely by the HR department in coordination with the Heads of the Departments to select only eligible staff. All the lousy and unskilled staff must be replaced by the professional ones. Work incentives and motivational schemes needs to be introduced to ensure job satisfaction and improved performance. Training and Development is an ongoing process so time cannot be calculated here. Replacing staff will not take more than 1 month. Sales and Marketing: First of all a strong, experienced and highly skilled marketing team needs to be hired as the previous one could not prove itself. Then coordination between Sales and Marketing needs to be built up by proper communication and regular meetings. All the facilities of the hotel must be advertised on websites, buses, trains, etc., showing attractive pictures of the hotel rooms, coffee shop, and gymnasium and highlighting the new facilities added. Promotion should be done at trade fares. Hotel must tie up with major tour operators. To increase the sales volume the hotel needs to revise its rack rate in accordance to competitors and give more discounts and attractive offers. Students and Backpackers can be wooed by good discounted rates and offers if they make the bookings in advance which will help hotel to increase its occupancy rate. The marketing team should also promote the in house laundry and get more orders from airlines to make additional revenue. Time Management: There are a lot of tasks to be done here. If we calculate the total time it will be more than 18 months, whereas we only have 18 months to get things done. So we need to manage our tasks in a timely order where two or more tasks can be done in a particular time side by side. The next important thing which we need to consider is that in what sequence the tasks will be accomplished. The activities should be put in such an order that they do not become a hindrance for one another and the hotels routine operations. The time that will be saved will indirectly save our costs as well. CONCLUSION The purpose of the report was to define to the hotel the benefits of adopting a project management approach towards development of improvement opportunities. Then these improvement opportunities were to be identified within the hotel and recommendations were to be given that prioritise and justify the projects that should be tackled within 18 months. The author would like to conclude that these purposes were solved by explaining in detail about the Project management, its process, tools and techniques. A detailed SWOT analysis is done to justify all the changes and improvement to be done in the hotel. Then the author has given recommendations for all that is to be done to retain the business and make profits. This will help the Kerrison Park Hotel to become a successful running Hotel in the city. BIBLIOGRAPHY A quick and comprehensive introduction to Project Management and its advantages Building the Buzz on Project Management (Available from URL: http://www.pmhut.com/a-quick-and-comprehensive-introduction-to-project-management-and-its-advantages-building-the-buzz-on-project-management) (Accessed on 11th March 2010) Burke, R. (2003) Project management planning control techniques (4th edition), England, Wiley Lock, D. (2000) Project Management (7th edition), England, Gower House Project Management Process, Techniques, tools, tips and training (Available from URL: http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm) (Accessed on 10th March 2010) Project Management Methodology: Project Life Cycle (Available from URL: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php) (Accessed on 10th March 2010) The Traditional triple constraints (Available from URL: http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/62/The-traditional-triple-constraints.html) (Accessed on 11th March 2010) Wiest, J.D. and Levy, F.K. (1994), Management Guide To PERT/CPM (2nd edition), New Delhi, Prentice hall of India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management, accessed on 19th October 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis, accessed on 19th October, 2008.

Literature And Human Behavior :: essays research papers

Compare and evaluate the ways in which literature on the one hand, and the human sciences on the other may help us to know and understand human behaviour. Literature has been a major part of human culture throughout human existence. It has always been used as a way of defining how humans interact with each other. Literature is defined as ‘the writings of a period, language, or country’. If ancient times are also to be considered, then myths, legends, and theatre, which passed down literary ideas, and social critiques before the time of the written word, should also be included in this definition. The plays of William Shakespeare are a perfect example of pieces of literature that are not only entertaining, literature for literature’s sake, but also provide great insight into human nature. In one form or another, literature is entrenched as an expression of the ways of humanity, and so by absorbing it, one can gain a greater understanding of human behaviour. The human sciences offer a different angle to the understanding of human behaviour as literature does. Literature gives us insight into what is going on inside people’s minds. How someone from a culture that one might not understand, thinks. Many of Shakespeare’s plays are centered around the downfall of a particular character. This downfall arises from within the character, it is the result of a tragic flaw. The human sciences on the other hand, provide information on how humans interact with each other. They often involve social studies in which experiments involving the interactions of humans are observed and recorded. If for example some human scientists performed a particular experiment with enough people, and got a similar result each time, they can conclude that a human being is likely to act in a certain way, given the situation which was in the experiment. In this way human scientists can draw conclusions as to what is a normal reaction for a person to have in a situation, and can describe traits which are almost universal to humans. These human sciences give us a knowledge of the external aspects of human behaviour, which is extremely valuable to have. If for example, a police force wanted to know whether or not a new method they had developed for deterring graffiti artists worked efficiently or not, they might perform a human science experiment, where they secretly test their method on a sample of would-be graffitists.

Mother Daughter Relationship in Two Kinds by Amy Tan :: Two Kinds, Amy Tan

I’m not You, I’m Me For many of us growing up, our mothers have been a part of who we are. They have been there when our world was falling apart, when we fell ill to the flu, and most importantly, the one to love us when we needed it the most. In â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan, it begins with a brief introduction to one mother’s interpretation of the American Dream. Losing her family in China, she now hopes to recapture part of her loss through her daughter. However, the young girl, Ni Kan, mimics her mother’s dreams and ultimately rebels against them. In the beginning, Ni Kan, is â€Å"just as excited as [her] mother† about the idea of becoming a prodigy (749). She imagines herself in different roles and believes that once she has â€Å"become perfect,† (749) her parents will approve of her. However, her mother’s obsession becomes extreme when she is forced to take numerous tests on a daily basis. Ni Kan points out, â€Å"The tests [are] harder- multiplying numbers in my head without using my hands, predicting the daily temperatures in Los Angeles, New York, and London† (749). Eventually, her mother persuades her into taking piano lessons, which becomes the prime focus of determination. As the story unfolds, Tan suggests that the piano symbolizes different things. For Ni Kan, it is the unwanted pressure her mother inflicts upon. She argues, â€Å"Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius! I can’t play the piano† (751). However, her mother sees it as a way for her daughter to become the best. Ultimately, the young girl decides to rebel against her mother’s wishes. During her piano lessons with Mr. Chong, her piano teacher, she learns easy ways to get out of practicing. Ni Kan discovers â€Å"that Old Chong’s eyes were too slow to keep up with the wrong notes [she] was playing† (751). As a result, Ni Kan performs miserably in a talent show where her parents and friends from the Joy Luck Club attend. Feeling the disapproval and shame from her mother, she decides to stop practicing the piano.

A Farewell To Arms By Ernest Hemingway :: Free Essay Writer

In the beginning Frederic Henry, a young American ambulance driver with the Italian army in World War I, meets a beautiful English nurse named Catherine Barkley near the front between Italy and Austria-Hungary. At first Henry wants to seduce her, but when he is wounded and sent to the American hospital where Catherine works, he actually begins to love her. After his convalescence in the hospital, Henry returns to the war front. During a retreat, the Italians start to fall apart. Henry shoots an engineer sergeant under his command for dereliction, and later in confusion is arrested by the battle police for the crime of not being Italian. Disgusted with the army and facing death at the hands of the battle police, Henry decides he has had enough of war; he dives into the river to escape. After swimming to safety, Henry boards a train and reunites with Catherine--now pregnant with Henry's child--in Stresa. With the help of an Italian bartender, they escape to Switzerland, and attempt to put the war behind them forever. They spend a happy time together in Switzerland, and plan to marry after the baby is born. When Catherine goes into labor, however, things go terribly wrong. He attempts an unsuccessful Caesarian section, and Catherine dies in childbirth. To Henry, her dead body is like a statue; he walks back to his hotel without finding a way to say good-bye. As the title suggests, A Farewell to Arms is in many ways an anti-war novel, but it is in no way like a call to end all war. Among the books’ morals, violence is not necessarily wrong: Henry does not feel bad for shooting the engineer sergeant, and he tells Catherine he will kill the police if they come to arrest him. Furthermore, the novel glorifies discipline, competence, and masculinity, and shows war as a setting in which those qualities are constantly being shown. A Farewell to Arms is against the extreme violence, the massive destruction, and the sheer senselessness of war; the mental effect it has on people and cities; and the brutal change it makes in the lives of its survivors once victory and defeat become meaningless terms. Unlike other books that glorify courage in battle and make everything come out ok for the brave individual, this book attempts a real portrayal of a different kind war, one fought with machine guns, in trenches, and with lots and lots of casualties.