Cultural Influences on Service: Chinese Travellers in France

CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON SERVICE- INTRODUCTION Culture has many definitions, and it affects everything people do in their society because of their ideas, values, attitudes, and normative or expected patterns of behaviour. By Mulholland Culture is a complex concept, and no single definition of it has achieved consensus in the literature. So, out of the many possible definitions examined, the following definition guides this study: culture is a set of shared and enduring meaning, values, and beliefs that characterize national, ethnic, or other groups and orient their behaviour.It is said that culture exists only by comparison. The country scores on the dimensions are relative – societies are compared to other societies. Without make a comparison a country score is meaningless. These relative scores have been proven to be quite stable over decades. The forces that cause cultures to shift tend to be global or continent-wide. This means that they affect many countries at the same tim e, so that if their cultures shift, they shift together, and their relative positions remain the same (Hofstede, 2012).National culture is an important factor influencing expectations and perceptions of service quality and its satisfaction. Different cultural groups attach different importance to service quality criteria. Tourism is one of the many sectors of the economy, which services cater directly to tourist needs. However, tourists create demand for indirect services(financial, medical, electricity,.. ) as well. Resulting all of this, a tourism product is mostly a service rather than a tangible product.As far as service encounter, we define 3 process steps, which are: 1, interaction between the customer and the firm or service provider, 2,a period of time during which a provider and a customer confront each other, 3, a â€Å"moment of truth†, which means the quality of the services offered to customer. We know three classes of service: the first one is a maintenance-inte ractive (e. g. fast food restaurant), second is task-interactive (e. g. banking services) and besides these two we define one more, personal-interactive services where belongs tourism.Services are in general defined by 6 key characteristics. Intangibility of services means that they can not be seen, touched and so on before use/ purchase. Heterogeneity is another characteristic that talks about services which vary because they are delivered by people-to-people. In tourism, services are firstly sold and subsequently consumed. This is called â€Å"Inseparability†. Tourism services are perishable, they cannot be stored. They must be consumed at the point of production.When the tourist pays the price for tourist services, he or she pays for the benefits and experiences received, it doesn’t lead to ownership. The last characteristic is called â€Å"People-based and personality-dependent†. Tourism, hospitality and leisure services are provided by people and for people . Very important thing about Cultural influences on service is a perception of service. Those are very subjective. When the customers? cultural expectations and needs are met, service quality is perceived as good and vice versa.Cultural differences in expectations from services vary from country to country. This means that what is supposed to be a good service in China, must not be good in USA. When we are talking about service quality, it refers to the appropriateness of assistance and support provides to a customer and the value and benefits received for the price paid. When it comes to reliability evaluation, the only two could be the price and physical environment. However it is difficult to evaluate by price as this is set up the producer.In order to facilitate the evaluation of service quality, several distinct quality dimensions were identified: (1) physical, (2) corporate, (3) interactive, (4) procedural, (5) convivial, (6) technical, (7) functional. The importance attached by customers to service quality criteria and dimensions differs among various cultures. Tourists from different countries have various expectations for the tangibles and empathy dimensions in terms of hotel service.There can be a problem with cultural differences and the mismatch between service quality expectations and perceptions of customers from foreign countries, and quality expectations and perceptions of domestic providers. Services are in general very specific and they have a lot of different characteristics. They are people based and so the cultural effect is very strong in this field. Different foreign tourists attach different importance to service quality criteria.

Albert Maslow Essay

Albert Maslow always wondered what motivated people, he wanted to how or what motivated a person. He believe people were not just motivated by reward, but believed it was a motivation system. Maslow has mentioned that people were motivated to reach a need, when they reached that need they would start on reaching the next and then the next. Albert Maslow was a humanistic psychologist in 1943 wrote his paper titled â€Å"A THEORY OF HUMAN MOTIVATION† (Maslow A. H., 2010). His theory of human behavior is a hierarchy of needs. Maslow theory of people motivation, he believed there were five stages of motivational needs and each needed to be completed to get to the next stage of need. The pyramid was not originally used by Maslow to describe his theory of the five stages, but they are used in text books to give a visual description of the levels the hierarchy of needs. Maslow challenged our basic physiological needs to survive is water, food, sleep and air this is what he believed were the most important in his five stages hierarchy of needs and the other stages would fail and not proceed without the basic needs of water, food, sleep and air. Physiological stage would be at the bottom of his theory the bottom of the pyramid. Once Maslow physiological needs were satisfied, you can proceed to the next stage of need. Maslow believed security, financial, shelter, and your well-being were necessary to proceed to the next stage. Safety is the next stage in Maslow hierarchy on the pyramid above physiological need. Safety needs are physical safety after a natural disaster, child abuse. Even experience people may have like a stress disorder. Financial crisis due to lack of work or job security. Maslow believed this was a level more for children as they need the greater need of feeling safe. The next stage is social, this stage is belonging and being loved. Maslow believes this need is less basic then he stated for physiological. Social need of feeling love is related to relationship could be a romantic with a partner, a friendship, and most of all families love. Also involves religious and community group, social need is above safety on the pyramid. Esteem is the fourth stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you can reach this stage once the first stages have been satisfied. Maslow believed people want to be recognize and feel needed. Self-Esteem reflects achievement, confidence and accomplished. Esteem is the fourth stage above social on the pyramid. We have reached the fifth stage of the hierarchy of needs, the top of the pyramid is self-actualization.  Maslow considered the first four staged the deficiency needs, because are from deprivation. The fifth stage was consider by Maslow as the being needs. He describes it as being motivated and the need of growing as a person. Maslow believed that once a person achieved the previo us four stages of hierarchy needs, that people had strong motivations to accomplish personal growth. He also believed once a person achieved self-actualization they has less concerns of others opinions. Maslow’s theory did make sense to me, but there was no real research performed to support this theory. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was found to be true by researchers at the University of Illinois. The researchers conduct a study in 2011. They discover that it was true with the basic need people were happy. They also concluded that people felt positive about their lives with just the basic of food, water, money and shelter were not met. After these findings and other studies that have been conducted, Maslow’s theory was except in the world of psychology. Maslow’s theory related to motivation, people always have needs and wants. When people need this makes a great motivator. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that I find the most challenging would be safety and security. In today’s time people have issue finding the safety and security to satisfy the needs. Even though people may have difficulties with safety and securities they are still motivated for self-actualization. At once other (and â€Å"higher†) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still â€Å"higher†) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency. (Maslow A. H., 2010 p375) References Maslow, A. H. (2010, December 23). A Theory of Human Motivation – Abraham H Maslow – Psychological Review Vol 50 No 4July 1943.pdf. Retrieved June 8, 2014, from Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-5-JeCa2Z7hNjZlNDNhOTEtMWNkYi00YmFhLWI3YjUtMDEyMDJkZDExNWRm/edit?pli=1 Maslow, A. H. (2010, December 23). A Theory of Human Motivation – Abraham H Maslow – Psychological Review Vol 50 No 4 July 1943.pdf. Retrieved June 8, 2014, from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-5-JeCa2Z7hNjZlNDNhOTEtMWNkYi00YmFhLWI3YjUtM

The use of foul language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The use of foul language - Essay Example Tracing the origin of the rise of foul language is a very easy task since a quick click of the remote control will you lead you to a world where the utterances of defamatory, explicit, foul language is as natural as breathing. Foul language has already invaded our living rooms and learning it will take only a few minutes. Hence, it is imperative that the government puts into practice laws to control public use of bad language. The first step that our law enforcers should do is to discuss with the students and school authorities ways which could prevent students from using bad language to each other. As the students and the young people are the ones who spend the most time watching TV, they are also the ones who use foul language the most. What's worse is that, many students use defamatory and abusive expressions to each other which sometimes cause deeper problems such as fighting and bullying. School authorities, enforcers and students should make agreements to set up the rules with regards the avoidance of abusive language within the school premises.

MBTI - Teams and Leadership (Management and Leadership - A Continuum) Essay

MBTI - Teams and Leadership (Management and Leadership - A Continuum) - Essay Example In teams people work together, attempting to maximize each team member’s special talents, thereby minimizing gaps in knowledge and skills. CURRENT STUDY In the current study, the group supervisor/ leader type is ESFP. The ESFP, i.e. me, is a salesperson manager at the Qatar National Bank (QNB). The team/group that I am leading as a supervisor is termed as the ESTJ. ESFP’s are energetic and highly enthusiastic leaders. Talking about ESFPs Myers (1993) is quoted as saying, â€Å"They live in the present moment and extract every joy they can get from it, whether it is in case of interacting with people or animals, activities or world around them, etc.† (p.17) At their best ESFPs are excellent team players, motivated to get the task done with a maximum amount of fun and a minimum amount of fuss. This is just the way I, being a leader, am. As an ESFP I am interested in people and new experiences. Because I learn more from practical tasks rather than from studying or r eading, I tend to plunge into things, learning along as I go. Being a supervisor I appreciate my possessions and take pleasure in them. Generally, ESFPs make decisions by using their personal values. Therefore, I also use my internal Feeling of judgment to make decisions by identifying and empathizing with others. I am good at interpersonal interactions and often play the role of peacemaker. (Myers, 1993) When looking at a larger perspective, ESTJ teams have impulsively energetic environments. This is similar to the team working under me. As ESFP leaders lead teams in a comfortable way because of their dominant feeling I feel very comfortable in controlling my ESTJ team. As an ESFP leader I look for practical solutions. Being a leader I am quick enough to analyze the current requirements and then assess what is coming just next. It is convenient for me to it blended with my ESTJ team’s clear performance expectations. My EDTJ team is good at achieving practical results, and ke eping the core issue in sight. This strengthens the overall team performance of my ESTJ team and also our supervisor/team relationship. This, in turn, helps to achieve the sales targets for QNB. Communication may be more flexible and interactive beneficial for both the supervisor, i.e. me, and the team as on one hand ESFPs can easily be distracted by any new piece/s of information and on the other ESTJ teams reject new ideas and are not inclined to accept new trends. This results in a more focused communication that assists in decision making process as well. The above scenario may lead to negligence of important facts, thus, resulting in failure to consider important stakeholders. This indicates a possible blind spot in case of failure to achieve the desired results. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Team Report (1994) states, â€Å"Type theory predicts that when teams solve problems, they tend to rely on their favorite preferences more than on the others. ESTJ team’s problem-sol ving process may, therefore, look something like this: Thinking first, Sensing next then Intuition and Feeling least. The T helps to analyze, dissect, debate, create or apply

Critique of Research Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critique of Research Article - Essay Example In Australia, rural nurses represent an impressive percentage of the nursing community. According to the Association for Australian Rural Nurses, Inc. (Mission and Objectives), there are 90,000 Australian rural nurses. Drury (Online) commented that nurses in rural and remote areas of Western Australia are often sole practitioners, and that community mental health nurses were often sole care providers, responsible for coordinating all aspects of the clients’ care. Therefore, research relating to these 90,000-strong women and men is important to nursing and clinical practice. Topical research, such as treating patients with mental health problems, an area that challenges not just generalist nurses but also well-schooled mental health professionals, is certainly welcomed. The interest is not just theoretical, it is financial, too. The Australian Medical Association’s Submission to the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health (April 2005) noted that between 2000-2001, four mental health-related concerns (Mental Disorders, Nervous System Disorders, Alzheimers/Dementias, Other Nervous System) were responsible for over 25% of the health spending in Australia. The raw figure for spending is in the untold millions. Thus, the provision of timely, appropriate, mental health care is not just an ethical or social imperative, it is a financial one, too, and information pertaining to such care is valuable. Clark et al.’s (205-213) article, â€Å"Rural generalist nurses’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their therapeutic interventions for patients with mental illness,† according to the title, states it will discuss the nurses and â€Å"perceptions of the effectiveness of their therapeutic interventions for patients with mental illness† (205), certainly an important topic. This content description is echoed in the last paragraph of the Introduction, also. However, after reading one or two pages of the article or reviewing the

Corporate Frauds and Absence of Ethical Demeanor Essay

Corporate Frauds and Absence of Ethical Demeanor - Essay Example As per Trevino and Weaver (2003), ethical culture is one which rouses ethical demeanor. Ethical leadership involves proper demeanor through interpersonal relationships and personal actions and the advocating such demeanors to subordinates, mainly through two-way communication, decision-making and reinforcement As per Martin and Cullen (2006), ethical climate in an organization refers to normative systems of organizational work climate mirroring the organization’s policies, procedures, and practices with moral outcomes. As per Victor and Cullen (1988), ethical work climate refers to the organizational procedures and practices that direct the decision-making of organization and the systematic outcomes to ethical dilemmas. The ethical climate is one of the main ingredients of the culture of an organization. Ethical climate plays a dominant role when fraud is observed in an organization. As per Shin (2012), CEOs’ ethical demeanor is directly associated with employeesâ€℠¢ overall view of the ethical atmosphere of the organization (Soltani, 2014, p.254). Enron on October 16, 2001, published figures that exposed conspicuous accounting malpractices. One of the questionable accounting practices followed by the Enron was that is improper accounting of a note receivable from Enron’s equity partners in different limited partnerships. WorldCom also indulged in one of the largest corporate accounting scandals in the US which were projected at $14 billion as of March 2004. SEC alleged that WorldCom purportedly exaggerated its† revenue before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA)† in 2001 and in 2002 (SEC Annual Report 2002). HealthSouth Corporation of USA ordered the accounting personnel’ of the company to inflate the revenue to match the Wall Street analyst’ projections (Soltani, 2014, p.262).

The Order and Robert Mathews, its history Term Paper

The Order and Robert Mathews, its history - Term Paper Example The Order (also known as Bruders Schweigen, or Silent Brotherhood) drew its members from the National Alliance, Aryan Nations, and various Klan splinter groups. As a blueprint for its "revolution," The Order relied upon William Pierces novel The Turner Diaries and many of the crimes for which Order members were convicted resembled terrorist acts described in the book. â€Å"Robert Jay Mathews, was born in Marfa, TX, United States on 16-Jan-1953,† (Robert Mathews). He was an average student in school and was interested in history and politics. The book called ‘Which Way Western Man?’ by William Gayley Simpson, attracted, and influenced him a lot. He was in absolute agreement with the content of the book, the dangers faced by the  white race, and he began an effort to attract white families. His ability to deliver attractive speeches received many standing ovations. Gradually he assembled a group of eight other men and formed a group which he called ‘Silent Brotherhood’, later known as ‘The Order’. The main aim of the Order was to establish an Autonomous White Homeland in the Northwest United States and also to fight against the Jewish supremacies. They engaged in different types of campaign to create the revolutionary structure required to gain White independence, and self-determination. As per the plan drafted by Mathews, the first aim of the gang was to find money for the operations. â€Å"In its first year, The Order began accumulating a war chest for its real-life revolution when three members stole $369 from a Spokane, Washington store. Soon thereafter the group launched a counterfeiting operation at the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho,. Before the end of 1983, Robert Matthews robbed the Seattle City Bank of $25,000†. Order members diverted police by exploding a bomb in a Seattle theater while other members robbed an armored car parked outside a department store, seizing $500,000.

Management, Innovation and New techonology Essay

Management, Innovation and New techonology - Essay Example The development and improvement incorporate technical specifications, materials and components, software, user-friendliness and other functional characteristics. Many scholars have examined product innovation which is based on various resource-based views. The process of product innovation can be analyzed as a dynamic capability of the core competence of an organization that helps them in renewing and configuring various resources. From the studies of Daniels in 2002 in which product innovation of five high-tech firms was examined and it directs towards the competencies of the firm associated with technology and customers. Daniels also stress on the fact that for development of new products there is a requirement of the combination of the potential customers and technology. For optimal product innovation, the resources of the firm associated with the current technology and customers are highly essential. From the studies of Shane in 2000 reveals that development of technology gives r ise to the creation of new markets as well exploration and exploitation. From the studies of Shane in 2000 eight enterprises were thoroughly studied and it signifies that the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition signifies to the fact that the entrepreneurs generate the ability for recognizing new knowledge for exploiting new products and technology which includes knowledge of market, knowledge of the ways in serving the markets, knowing the problems of the customers and that of the knowledge of technology. The recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities may lead to better understanding of the new technology or that of the technology for innovation (Huang & Wang, 2011, p.71). Bessant in 1994 creates a model which incorporates several processes and influences within the innovation process as depicted in the following diagram. Fig. 1. Brady, (1995), p.14 The strategy system incorporates information regarding the environment with respect to various forces in the economy like economic, political and so on. Identification of the opportunities as well as needs related to innovation in the light of overall business strategy. This leads to dynamism and change. The system of enabling acts as a support mechanism in the development of the innovation process to take place. Involvement in this respect may include tangible and intangible resources like time, money, people, equipment and management’s support and so on. The system of acquisition can be regarded as the technology powerhouse as it is the area where potential strength of the technology of the organization resides.

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Thinking - Essay Example Patients have access to medical advice and similar cases online and can be extremely curious and choosy about medicines prescribed. Hence, medical practitioners must be prepared for queries from patients or their relatives about a particular line of treatment and the medicines prescribed. There are cures for some of the above diseases. Others such as stroke and Alzheimer disease, by and large, do not have an effective cure as of now. In these circumstances, it is advisable to opt for therapeutic treatments such as basic and simple exercises and physiotherapy as these enable patients to live with due adjustments for longer time periods. The above diseases interfere with the physical and mental capacities of the patients. The interference depends on the severity of the attack. It is important to get the correct diagnosis of the disease. Once the correct diagnosis is concluded, the regimen of medicines must be made available to the patient if he or she has to make informed decisions on whether or not to opt for the medicines. The patient has to make informed decisions because certain medicines have debilitating side effects (Deverell, Lil; 2002). Along with periodical nursing care, family members are the best caregivers for patients with the above diseases. The degree of self-support the patient is able to exercise depends on his recovery process and the metal frame. There may be bouts of frustrating moments for the patient and the caregivers. However, the healing process has surprising elements when the patient begins to adjust to the new lifestyle with the ailment (McConnell, Virginia; 2009). Patients must be able to live and move with dignity in spite of the debilitating effects of the disease. Nurses' interactions with the patient must be professional and spontaneous so that the best interests of the patient are served and family members who are involved as long-term caregivers receive useful lessons about caring for the patient. "Patients who are confused hav e changes in their actions and behaviors. A common memory problem is the inability to remember recent events. A confused patient may not remember that he just had breakfast. Personality changes including mood swings, suspiciousness, and delusions may be seen. Disorientation is another common symptom. The confused patient may have difficulty remembering the day of the week, season, or even the time of day" (Caring for the Client who is Confused or Mentally ILL). Along with medical help, the attitude and values of a nurse go a long way in restoring health and confidence of the patient. The confident and reassuring ways of a concerned nurse boost the patient's morale. Time and again, there are awesome accounts of patients receiving the healing touch because of the nature of care received from a particular doctor, nurse or nurses (McConnell, Virginia; 2009). Ethics Professional standards and core competencies in the nursing profession define the essence of a nurse.

Final work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Final work - Assignment Example Underwriting of the common stock will provide a clear insurance issued by the underwriter to Khan Unlimited that the common stock offered to the public and shareholders will be subscribed in a full amount. Underwriting is also a perfect option since it ensures that Khan Unlimited in case the common stock offered by the company are not subscribed by public to the degree, the share balance will be taken by the company. Additionally, the alternative is perfect since, the underwriter will have a lower net worth and the total obligation of the writer will not exceed 20 times the net worth of the underwriter. Consequently, the company chose the option since the alternative will undertake in guaranteeing the whole or section of the issued common stock as the public will not take the common stock. Therefore, the company will be relieved from the pressure of security marketing and market uncertainty. The underwriting option will help Khan Unlimited to fulfill the statutory guidelines of reduc ed subscription. The underwriting alternative guarantees the capital adequacy and helps the organization to raise capital. Subsequently, most investors believe in issuing securities when guaranteed by established underwriters. The underwriting will assure that there is quick sale of common stocks in the market. The underwriter will stimulate the industrial development and subsequently create opportunities in the nation. This option relieves the organization the uncertainty and risk of marketing the common stock. The underwriters have a specialized knowledge in the market. The underwriters offer valuable advice to Khan Unlimited when preparing the prospectus, floatation time, and security prices. The experts also offer publicity services to the organization which they are in agreement with. This option also assists in financing the new enterprise and expanding the existing projects. Khan Unlimited used this alternative in building the confidence of investors when

The link between motivation and organizational performance Essay Example for Free

The link between motivation and organizational performance Essay Citing example from the Palm Toy tutorial case study, and with reference to academic literature, discuss the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that contribute to my understanding of work motivation and evaluate critically the extent to the link between motivation and organizational performance. Work motivation is an ensemble of internal and external forces which could initialize the work behavior, determining its direction,form, intensity and duration which is concerned with positive incentives and avoid negative incentives in the workplace (Pinder 2008). There are an array of theories that were put forward by organizational scholars. For instance, Maslow’s Need-based theories which focus on fulfilling employees’ needs, Vroom’s Expectancy theory which is related to the function of individual’ expectation, Herzberg’s TWO-FACTOR theory which is known as Motivation-hygiene theory and Adams’ Equity theory which demonstrates the relationship between equity and motivation (Hellriegel 2004). Additionally, the correlation between motivation and organizational performance has always been an unresolved discussion. Research shows that motivation is related to individual performance which directly affect the outcomes of companies and can be influenced positively or negatively (Micle 2009). While on the other hand, other researchers have suggested that there is negligible relationship between motivation and organizational performance(Bolton 2005). Taking the example of the Palm Toy tutorial case study, this essay firstly illustrates intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors in terms of work motivation, then focuses on the close relationship between motivation and organizational performance. There are a variety of factors which contribute to comprehend work motivation. This paper divides factors into two parts- intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. First of all, with regard to internal aspects, in the case of the Palm Toy company, workers are motivated at a high level when they have access to provide their suggestions and make plans by themselves.To be precise, employees tend to show more initiative and possess self value achievement which is the highest level of Maslow’ hierarchy of needs(Maslow 1943). Then, based on the Expectancy theory studied by Victor H. Vroom in 1964, it can be understood that if workers  harbor the idea that they have competence to finish their work objectives they will perform effectively with high motivation because they know that there is high probability to achieve the goal (Bandura 1986). That is to say, workers in Palm company decide the speed of belt according to their expectancy and valence so that they work with enthusiasm and as a result, production increased. Moreover, turning to the external factors, firstly, working conditions are a significant aspect. Precisely, working conditions are closely bound up with job satisfaction,when people work in a comfortable working environment they are willing to contribute more (Babic and Bakotic 2013). For example, according to tutorial case after buying fans the sense of happiness of workers boosted, consequently, employees were motivated with satisfaction. By contrast, according to the theory by Herzberg in 1968, working conditions,as hygiene and contextual factor, should be attended to as a way of minimizing job dissatisfaction instead of increasing satisfaction (Rusu 2013). Meanwhile, equity should be considered as an indispensable part of motivation (Traupmann 1978). Based on the Adams Equity theory, it can be seen that employees strive for fairness and justice by comparing adequate rewards and the compensation for their contributive inputs (Kinicki and Kreitner 2001). And workers are inclined to be motivated working in a fair circumstance by a sense of equity otherwise they tend to become anxious (Kinicki and Kreitner 2001). To be precise , as it is mentioned in Palm Toy company ,workers in other plants may feel unfair because of different earnings which can be regarded as negative inequity. In conclusion, work motivation contains intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors which can help me understand it. As to the correlation between motivation and organizational performance. Performance is linked to motivation. Research shows that performance = motivation * ability which presents that performance is affected by motivation and ability (Norman and Clifford 1974). Meanwhile, ability is generally fixed so that motivation would play an important role to performance. In other words, there is a positive correlation between performance and motivation. However, there are a large number of other crucial variables which have an impact on the outputs, weakening the influence from motivation. For instance, task design, technology,  environment factors and other social factors(Kinicki and Kreitner 2001). In addition, based on the Goal setting theory studied in 1968 by Locke, it can be understood that setting a reasonable and appropriate goal facilitates individuals in focusing their efforts in a specified direction efficiently and consequently intensifying the organizational productivity. Preci sely, motivation will be generated when goals are acceptable and individuals tend to make more efforts to achieve the goals. Furthermore, research shows that 90% of field studies and laboratory involving challenging and specific goals lead to high performance and productivity ( Locke and Shaw 1981). By contrast, anxiety would be presented when employees are confronted by a high degree of challenging and difficult goals or the equivalents. In other words, although individuals work with a high level of motivation high performance could still not be guaranteed (Kleinbeck 1900). Moreover, payment could be regarded as an essential motivation which could lead to high performance (Heneman 1988). That is to say, workers are willing to contribute more as a result of monetary incentives which are regulated in a complete payment system. Conversely, studies shows that paying an worker too much may have adverse effects on their work performance. As a matter of fact they tend to generate less output than fairly paid employees (Sundheim 2013). To recapitulate, motivation is closely bound up with organizational performance. In conclusion, need of self-actualization, employees’ expectancy,working conditions and equity in the workplace contribute to a relatively profound and deep understanding of work motivation which could be divided into external factors and internal factors. Then, even though there are some other variables(task design, technology, environment factors and other social factors) which would affect the influence of motivation (Kinicki and Kreitner 2001), the performance formula (performance = motivation * ability), the goal-setting theory and payment system could support that there is a strong link between motivation and organizational performance. In the future, taking good advantages of the correlation between motivation and organizational performance effectively, organization productivity would be enhanced significantly. Reference: Pinder, C. 2008. Work motivation in organizational behavior . New York: Psychology Press. Hellriegel,D. 2004. Organizational Behavior. London: Thomson. Micle,M. 2009. Organizational climate,progress factor in motivation-performance relationship. Bucharest: Romanian Academy Publishing House. Bolton, S. 2005. Emotion Management in the Workplace. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Maslow,A. 1943. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review [Online] Available at: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm [ Accessed: August 2000]. Bandura, A. 1986. Social foundation of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Bakotic, D and Babic, T. 2013. Relationship between Working Conditions and Job Satisfaction. International Journal of Business and Social Science 4(2), pp 206-213. Rusu,G.2013. Human resource motivation: an organizational performance perspective,Phd Thesis, Technical University of Iasi. Traupmann,J. 1978. A longitudinal study go equity in in timate relationships. PhD Thesis, University of Wisconsin. Kinicki, A. and Kreitner, R. 2001. Organizational Behavior. New York: Mc Graw Hill. Norman, A. and Clifford,A. 1974. Performance=Motivation*Ability: An integration-theoretical analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology [Online] Alailable at: http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuyid=1975-07303-001 [Accessed: November 1974]. Locke, E. and Shaw,K. 1981. Goal Setting and Task Performance. Psychological Bulletin. [Online] Available at: http://datause.cse.ucla.edu/DOCS/eal_goa_1981.pdf [ Accessed: 29 September 1981]. Kleinbeck,U.1990.Work motivation. Hillsdale:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Heneman, R.1988. The relationship between pay-for-performance perceptions and pay satisfaction. PhD thesis, The Ohio State University. Sundheim,K. 2013. What Really Motivates Employees? [Online].Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensundheim/2013/11/26/what-really-motivates-employees/ [Accessed: 26 November 2013].

STEEP Analysis Tourism Industry

STEEP Analysis Tourism Industry In the last half of the twentieth century, the first location for gambling tourism was established in Nevada, U.S.A. The distinctive of this tourism is a combination of the peculiar geography of Nevadan region with the benefits of the federal system and their own individualistic esprit to form a prosperous economy. The development of the gambling industry became the main growth factor for Las Vegas and Reno until the present time. Underlying this new economy is the evolution of the tourist business, stimulated by the expansion of legalized gambling. After much ambivalence to social policy for the first seventy years, Nevada then led the way for the next fifty years in making acceptable, a business that was widely regarded elsewhere as socially improper (Hulse, 2004). As the number of jurisdictions offering gambling tourism increases, both the response of potential tourists and the response of competing destinations will change. Gambling has long been recognized as a tourist attraction. Gambling first played a significant role at the spa resorts of the 18th and 19th centuries (Sethi, 1999). Members of the elite who frequented these resorts demanded amusements to occupy the time between treatments. The foundation of gambling amusements consist of food, socialization and games. Las Vegas is the prime example of gambling tourism, where the central interest of gambling is surrounded with a host of tourist activities. To describe the growth of gambling tourism, it has been based on the elements of providing the activities in the same area where the gambling is located. Casinos and other gambling facilities are mainly treated as part of touristic entertainment culture and as products for promoting tourism (Cochrane, 2008). In particular, the explosive growth in gambling in Macau is based on the pent up demand for gambling outlets from the Mainland Chinese. Moreover, Singapore is the latest country announcing plans for the introduction of gambling tourism by the construction of a huge casino and associated gambling facilities (Conrady Buck, 2008). In their book Tourism in Destination Community Singh S., Timothy D. and Dowling R. (2003) outline that a typology of Tourism-Host Community Relationships. This typology is based on assessing the relationship that exists between tourism and the destination community. There are four possible theories are win-win, win-lose, lose-win and lose-lose. Gambling Tourism is categorized in lose-win. The reason for this is the community loses while tourism gains the benefits. The side effects of gaming or gambling are the fabric of communities both in physical terms of areas which are pulled down to make way for more casinos and also the increasing social problems such as addiction and crime. Conversely, tourism gains as all inclusive packages of gambling, entertainment, shopping and accommodation are offered to potential visitors. This assessment will attempt to show the STEEP analysis of the current gambling tourism. Then it will look into a possible three scenarios with critically assessment based on time which is short, middle and long range future. Finally, the conclusion will explain stakeholder responses for sustainability of gambling tourism. 2. STEEP ANALYSIS 2.1. (S)ocial Impact For many people, gambling could be lawful part of their leisure and recreation activities where most of them are becoming gamblers who have a responsible manner and enjoy gambling as entertainment (MCG, 2008). On the other hand, this kind of entertainment could be a cause of serious problems for themselves which impact on their families and the community. Regarding the social impact of gambling tourism, the activity often has been associated with organized crime, domestic violence, health problems and bankruptcy which may impact on both the local people and tourists from their addictive behaviors (Ivanova Atanasova, 2009). From the negative perceptions of gambling tourism among local residents and tourists, they can be divided into the impact on individuals and the impact on relationships as follow (AIGR, 2001): Impacts on individuals The first impact is crime and health problems. Gambling is definitely vulnerable to crime, of which the major crimes might be fraud and money laundering and less major crimes could be cheating and begging. The range of crime can start from petty theft, shoplifting, forging signatures for financial gain, to robbery, embezzlement, misappropriation, drug trafficking, burglary to armed robbery. Loan shark lending has also been established as having a significant relationship with gambling related criminal activity such as physical harassment and violence being directed towards the gambler. For the health problems, gambling has been negatively associated with a variety of personal ailments such as depression, anxiety, suicide and general ill-health. For example, in 1999 Australian national client survey found the following results in relation to people with gambling problems as (AIGR, 2001): 95.6% suffered from depression; 57.8% seriously considered suicide due to gambling; 13.6% attempted suicide; 99% suffered from guilt due to gambling; and 97% had control problems, that is, they would like to stop but cant. Impacts on relationships The second impact is the affects of problem gambling on interpersonal relationships with parents, children, partners, friends, work colleagues, and the general community. Some of the main difficulties problem gamblers have experienced in their inter-personal relationships are, not having enough time for family, the break-up of relationships, break-ups leading to be split-ups, losing contact with children, violent behavior due to gambling and family arguments over money. 2. 2. (T)echnological Impact Technological developments in gambling are rapidly growing in prevalence around the world. The aim of the developments is to make it convenient to gamblers and easier to access betting games. Nowadays home gambling is preferable for gamblers. Due to the fact that there are several gambling technologies which offer more options, opportunities and temptations. The most distinctive would be online gambling on internet. The nature of cyberspace, has no geographic boundaries. Therefore a player can stay at home and conduct cross-border gambling with server who is located in other countries. The advent of online betting is to provide a variety of games such as blackjack, baccarat, and roulette as well as sports betting and to participate in lottery draws. Moreover, players can enter the virtual casino very easily by personal computers for leisure activities, prizes or money. While gambling opportunities are expanding by internet technology, the effects may stimulate an increasing demand for gambling services. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology: Trends Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (1998) has identified that cyber betting reduce the income of location based gambling industries in terms of detrimental consequences for employment in hotels and clubs. Another possibility, online gambling often occurs in an unregulated manner and effects the feeling of security for the players. However, there are increasing secure on-line financial transactions. Then again, the present trend of Internet betting is casino-style. As a result, many gambling operators are located in countries with relaxed or nonexistent gambling legislation and tax regulations such as Liechtenstein, Antigua, the Cook Islands and the Dominican Republic (Grant Chapman, 1998). 2.3. (E)conomic Impact In every country that has gambling as a legal industry there are both positive and negative effects in the economic impact because the government gets revenue from the tourism, but they also have to take responsibility for the negative effects. For the positive impact, there is an increase in economic development, increase employment, tax revenues, and also increase the number of tourists who accept gambling has become their leisure activity. Governments have to support the development of the gambling industry as driven mainly because of economic need and the generated taxation revenues (Ivanova Atanasova, 2009). Many countries have made gambling a legal industry because they can benefit from gambling which can be highly profitable. To point out that it creates employment, provides high revenues through generating additional taxation and leads to improvement in infrastructure are all positive effects of many countries that are supporting gambling tourism development (Pahor, n.d.). F or example; in the case of Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the United States, the primary purpose of casino gaming was to redevelop the tourist and convention facilities and to improve the infrastructure and tourism capacity (Dunstan, 1997). On the other hand, the negative effects that gambling is closely related to crime, social pathologies and social interruption which government has to respond to with all these effects (Pahor, n.d.). From all these reasons, they show why the heavy social and economic damages caused by the casinos should not be undervalued. For instance, the statistics from Nevada, whose economy is extremely dependent on the gambling industry, are alarming. It has the highest suicide rate in the USA, the highest accident rate (per mile driven) and also the highest rates of crime and school drop out (IVLV, 2010). The legality of the gambling industry and the growing access such as facilities in the current decade has also presented a significant health threat to the local population, mostly in the gambling addiction group. The Australian Productivity Commission research found that the health and social costs of gambling can include (AIGR, 2001): Financial costs (family debts and bankruptcy) Effects on productivity and employment Crime (theft, court cases and imprisonment) Personal and family impacts (divorce and separation, depression and suicide) Treatment costs. 2.4. (E)nvironmental Impact It is essential to examine how the environment is influenced by the gambling sector. For creating a sustainable tourism gambling sector, it is necessary to begin close cooperation with the Environmental Planning Group (EPG). According to Roe, Leader-Williams Dalal Clyton, EPG is focused on environmental planning, resource management and utilization issues. This organisation is oriented on policy-making processes and strategic planning for sustainable development (Roe, Leader-Williams Dalan Clyton, 1997). Moreover, the environment should be monitored continuously as the changes which may occur due to misuse of resources may lead to serious natural disasters (Miller and Twinning-Ward, p. 51). There are famous gambling places in the world such as Nevada, Atlantic City and Monte Carlo. The last city is described by McMillen, 2005 as a model for stimulating regional development which fuelled the proliferation of resort casinos throughout Europe in the middle of 19th century. As gambling attracts wealthy people, it provided a boost to the growth of tourism facilities and infrastructure (McMillen, 2005, p. 243). Since that time the Rivera became a famous place for both rich Europeans and Americans to spend their holidays gambling. As an example the Casino de Monte Carlo became world famous and even the most profitable casino (McMillen, 2005, p. 243) in the whole of Europe. Nevada is the most famous gambling place on the western coast in U.S.A., for example, casinos in Nevada offer full-service resort style holiday (Report to the Nevada Department of Human Resources, 2002, p.13). According to the California Research Bureau, 1995, it was the first city in USA where casino gambling was legalized. (Appendix 1) In comparison with Nevada, Atlantic City is known as the gambling city on the American east coast. The gambling industry in Atlantic City had its inception in 1978 (Braunlich, 1996). This year went down in history as the end of Nevadas virtual monopoly of casino-style gambling (Shonkwiller, 1993). 2.5. (P)olitical Impact In terms of gambling in a reversal of American values, this refers to an ideology of hedonistic consumerism (McMillen, 1996). Therefore gambling tourism as a part of the tourists feelings should be independent of other recreational activities. However, the real gambling industry around the world is controlled by laws, regulations and policies in each destination. In the book Gambling: Views from the Social Sciences by Frey, James H. and Eadington (1984) has also identified that restrictions in gambling are created by laws, for the purpose of protecting the weak minority of compulsive gamblers, as well as, to limit the freedom of choice of the majority. Furthermore the forms of gambling, for instance, lotteries, wagering on racing and charitable gambling are associated with the impacts of local markets, tourism and tourism development especially casino gambling (Pearce Butler, 2002). Due to the fact that a casino operation is related with several national and state jurisdictions. In a part of the local community, gambling represents the ultimate in export-based activities such as appropriating local taxes from casino operators and the direct, indirect and induced impacts of local casino based expenditures. The division of national or government responsibilities also related with the import of tax income and re-exportation of the all negative externalities (Felsenstein Freeman, 2002). These involve gamblers and the nation, for example, gambling induced-addiction, bankruptcy and reduced productivity. Scenario Assortment 3.1. The Short Range Future (next 5 years) The present society acceptance of gambling is a legitimate customer pursuit. In addition there are many newly increased technologies aimmed at bringing gambling into the home. As a result, the future of gambling becomes more localized and less tourist-oriented (Pearce Butler, 1999). 3.1.1 The history of next generation technology In the next 5 years, gambling, internet and touch screen television will be making a new modern world history for the next generation together (Hofex, 2008) which has developed from online gambling tourism and hi-technology facilities. Due to the fact that gambling as a popular leisure and recreation activity coupled with technology which is changing all the time, Interactive touch screen television (ItouchTV) is a convenient facility for betting activities from the comfort of both local communities and tourists places where there are hotels or airplanes. Wherever they are in the gambling tourism destination, Interactive touch screen TV gambling could allow gamblers to place bets by using their fingertip and also directly from their accounts accessed while playing in the casino. Interactive betting through this service is available for every debit and credit world wide accounts such as AMEX, Visa, Master Card and PayPal which account holders can also manage their account, deposit fun ds and check transaction history on ItouchTV (Commonwealth of Australia., 2009). ItouchTV will be developed in every types of interactive gambling include normal events like singing contests or the Oscars through digital pay television and digital free-to-air television service of these gambling destinations. 3.1.2 Critical Assessment for Sustainability Combined with modern technology and sustainable tourism, it can be predicted that addictive behavior will develop for the next generation of gamblers. As gambling and hi-technology TV prepare for a shared future, the number of young gamblers will be increased rapidly because of the ability to access technology at their place easily whether they are local people or tourists. The future social problems will be over represented by gamblers who are under 30 years (Chapman, 1998) because this group of people are fascinated by computer technology and highly literate in its application. Although new modern gambling tourism will much more popular to the next generation of gamblers, it is a new challenge for the government and the private sectors to minimize harm from addictive behaviors and the future social results by offering service providers the abilities of self-exclusion or self-setting betting limits and set the regulation to control the future impact. Under the act, the effectiveness of regulation in the term of prevention and treatment program will be affected to the number of youth gamblers, social gambling impacts and high number of addictive behaviors which all of them have to be decreased. 3.2. The Middle Range Future (next 10 years) To enhance a trend of gambling at home, the gambling industry needs to provide an innovation. This is the reason why there is a variety of new betting games development on the internet to satisfy different customer needs. Whereas gambling forms would not provide a novelty experience if the government had a monopoly ownership in the gambling industry. 3.2.1 Government Gambling versus Privatizing Gambling At this point in time, there are many countries which have granted themselves a monopoly over the gambling marketplace. There are government monopolies of gambling operations and the quality of gambling tourism industry by limiting competitors and maintaining high prices. According to National Gambling Impact Study Commission (1999a) identified the government determines the level and type of competition to be permitted such as granting, amending, and revoking monopolies, and restricting or enhancing competition almost at will. These are also the keys determinants of various industries potential profits and losses. This paper agrees with this and believes consequently it is to limit entrants to a marketplace and new customers can be eliminated. Moreover, private enterprises with diminished competition have reduced incentives to offer a variety of gambling services. It may effect the quality of the products as well. Generally, government-owned gambling operations maintain the objectives for the good of the public. It contrasts with regulations and the principle beneficiary of gambling activities. Due to the fact that the increased public demand also affects high social spending, this pressures governments to spend more of their budgets without increasing personal income taxes. Furthermore, the government would be responsible for the investment budgets of gambling business. While the gambling business is not always successful, so the government risks financial losses. In addition, legalized gambling tourism should be conducted by the private sectors in the future. Because non-government firms have strong incentives to provide better services at reasonable prices. Therefore privatizations lead to better efficiency and the wider availability of products and services. If being unprofitable or closing business, investors ought to be responsible for all losses. In order for business ventures to operate at the expense of the taxplayers, companies must provide reasonably priced products to customers. Alternatively, government is not responsible for any risks of business operations. 3.2.2 Critical Assessment for Sustainability It cannot be denied that government performance is a significant influence for gambling tourism sustainability. There are three possible ways to manage gambling industry. Firstly government may enforce more gambling prohibitions by policing and legislation. Secondly government may permit the operation of private social gambling and open to overseas investment. Thirdly government owns and operates gambling operations as public enterprises. This paper believes public enterprises can enhance gambling industry efficiently in the next 10 years. Casinos in The United States, for example, are organized privatisation as public enterprises: owned by government and operated by the private sector such as casino gaming on ships, casinos on Indian reserves and a combination of destination and casinos which offer a variety of amenities including accommodations and entertainment (Basham White, 2002). The Long Range Future (next 20 years) Nowadays space tourism is not science fiction any more but a luxury leisure activity for the wealthiest people on the planet. It is not only an expensive journey for so-called space tourists but also an important new target for the space industry (Collins, 2006). Collins, 2006 predicted that at a growth rate of some 100,000 passengers per year, the business could reach 700,000 passengers per year by 2017, at a price of about $25,000 per a passenger. Taking into consideration the long-term scenario, 20 years from the present time, tourism activities could have grown to a scale of $100 billion per year which would create millions of job (Collins, 2006). Space tourism will play major role as this recreation activity will bring around $1trillion greater than the value of continued taxpayer funding of space agencies activities without developing space tourism (Collins, 2006). Thus, it is clearly seen the huge capacity for space tourism market. Moreover, the long-term prediction is based on the assumption that gambling will work closely with space tourism industry. Commercial space passengers will have the opportunity to get access to gambling facilities while they are travelling in the cosmic expanse. Future aircrafts will be equipped with the most modern gambling machines and also there would be interactive connection with the Earth planet which will allow the opportunity to space tourists to bet on the races (as example) being held somewhere on the Earth. This prediction is realistic as human nature has a natural penchant to play, risk and competition (Griffiths Delfabbro, 2002, p.5) as well as gambling gives the opportunity to escape from the routine everyday life and take on a new role. In addition most of the wealthy people will always be looking for new kinds of entertainment, so they will be satisfied with the new gamblings offer. 3.3.1. Critical Assessment for Sustainability The major stakeholders such as space tourism association should create efficient sustainable tourism system which will guarantee the harmonious development of space tourism avoiding of severe abuse of space. Also innovations should be implemented gradually and consciously. There are should be no desire to get large revenue as the main goal for space tourism association must be sustainable space study. The reason of organising space tours should be the opportunity to promote the space to the masses. Community should be more educated about space as space tourism may get people interested to learn more about that sector which is still unexplored. Conclusion In conclusion, gambling Tourism has a long history development since twentieth centuries. Although gambling is a public acceptance as recreational activities, but the effects of betting tourism are still controversial issues. The main dilemma of gambling can be analyzed into social, technology, economic, environment and political impacts. Social problems affect both individuals and relationships, for instances, depression, suicide, losing contacts with friends and family. A part of technology analysis, globalization has a big influence of technology development. Gambling at home is a preferable trend of customers, which stress on internet or online betting. The consequence of cyber betting is to reduce the income of location based gambling industries in term of detrimental consequences for employment in hotels and clubs (McMillen, Grabosky, 1998). Alternatively, gambling industry boosts the nation economy tax revenues, increasing amount of tourists and also provide a large numbers of jobs. This reason why government enlarge gambling services to be more attractive especially focusing on environment in term of location and atmosphere by gathering amenities, hotels and entertainment. While political impacts can restrict gamblers pursuits by policies and regulations. Because restrictions of gambling are created by laws f or the purpose of protecting the weak minority of compulsive gamblers as well as limit the freedom of choice of the majority (Frey Eadington, 1984). According to STEEP analysis as above, three possible scenarios were predicted based on time which is consists of short, middle and long range future. The short term prediction believes the next 5 years tend is still home gambling. And also technology development on gaming is prevalence around the world namely Interactive Touch Screen Television (ItouchTV). People will gamble directly on television at home, hotel or airplane. As a result, the future of gambling becomes more localized and less tourist-oriented (Pearce Butler, 1999). While a number of young gamblers are rising as well as social problems such as bankruptcy, depression and gambling addiction. For the middle future assumption, privatizing gambling would be occurred in the next gambling industry. Due to the fact that the efficiency of private sectors can enhances this industry for sustainability. With novelty experiences of privatization offer difference services which satisfy more customer needs, comparing the former management of government monopolized gambling industry. In spite of this, organizing privatisation as public enterprises would be the next 10 years of betting tourism management which refers to owned by government and operated by the private sector. A joint tourism between space and gambling is possibly exposed in the next 20 years. Due to a growth rate of space tourism prediction, it illustrates there are 100,000 passengers per year, the business could reach 700,000 passengers per year by 2017, at a price of about $25,000 per a passenger (Collins, 2006). Then again, the reason of interactive touch screen technology could provide a possibility of space gambling, for example, gambling in a rocket. Over all, the distinctive stakeholder of gambling tourism is government. The reason of this is gambling industry is related with laws, regulations and policies directly. Furthermore, betting business is an ethical issue of individuals and society. Although there are many benefits of this tourism, but also there are several side effects especially social problems as above. This reasons why to do business in gambling tourism industry, will need to consider carefully. List of References Australian Institute for Gambling Research (AIGR). (2001). Social and economic impacts of gambling in New Zealand. Retrieved September 2, 2010, from www.aigr.uws.edu.au Basham, P. and White, K. (2002). Gambling with Our Future?: The Costs and Benefits of Legalized Gambling. The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, CA Braunlich, C. G. (1996). Lessons from the Atlantic City Casino Experience. Journal of travel research. 34(3). 46-56. Chapman, G. S. (1998). Gambling and the internet An Australian overview. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from http://www.aic.gov.au/events/aic%20upcoming%20events/1998/ ~/media/conferences/gambling/chapman.ashx Cochrane, J. (2008). Asian Tourism: Growth and Change. Elsevier Ltd., Amsterdam, Netherland. Collins, P. (2006). The Space Tourism Industry in 2030. Proceedings of Space 2000: The Seventh International Conference and Exposition on Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Business in Space. Commonwealth of Australia. (2009). Digital Interactive TV. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/gamblingdrugs/pubs/review_trends/Documents/chap6.htm Conrady, R. and Buck, M. (2008). Trends and Issues in Global Tourism. Springer, Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Dunstan, R. (1997). Gambling in California. RetrievedÂÂ  September 1, 2010, from http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/97/03/crb97003.html#toc Felsenstein, D. and Freeman, D. (2002). Chapter 6 Gambling on the Border: Casinos, Tourism development, and the prisoners Dilemma. Tourism in Frontier Areas. Lexington Books, Maryland, U.S.A. Frey, J. H. and Eadington W. R. (1984). The Casino Gambling Industry: A Study of political Economy. Gambling: Views from the Social Sciences. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, California. Grant Chapman (1998). The Australian Institute for Gambling Research / Australian Institute of Criminology Conference on Gambling, Technology and Society. Home Gambling: An Australia Perspective. Retrieved August 9, 2010, from http://www.pc.gov.au/data/assets /pdf_file/0010/49582/sub023.pdf Griffiths, M. and Delfabbro, P. (2002). The Biopsychosocial Approach to Gambling: Contextual Factors in Research and Clinical Interventions. The electronic journal of gambling issues. Hofex, M. (2008). Gambling on TV with a little help from the internet. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from http://www.gamblingplanet.org/GP_editorial_200508a Hulse, J. W. (2004). The Silver State: Nevadas Heritage Reinterpreted. University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada. Insider Viewpoint of Las Vegas (IVLV). (2010). Nevada Facts and Statistics. RetrievedÂÂ  September 10, 2010, from http://www.insidervlv.com/didyouknow.html Ivanova, A. and Atanasova, S. (2009). Gambling Tourism in Bulgaria. Retrieved September 1, 2010, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1523211 McMillen, J. and Grabosky, P. (1998). Internet Gambling. Australian Institute of Criminology: Trends Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice. 88, 1-6. McMillen, J. (1996). Gambling Cultures: Studies in History and Interpretation. (1st ed.). Routledge, London. McMillen, J. (2005). Gambling Cultures: studies in history and interpretation. From glamour to grid: the globalization of casinos, 240-246. Miller, G. and Twining- Ward L. Monitoring as an Approach to Sustainable Tourism. Tourism Futures, 51-64. Ministerial Council on Gambling (MCG). (2008). National Framework on Problem Gambling. Retrieved September 2, 2010, from www.facs.gov.au National Gambling Impact Study Commission [NGISC]. (1999a). Executive Summary. U.S.A. Pahor, M. (n.d.). The impact of gambling on social and economic environment in Nova Gorica.ÂÂ  RetrievedÂÂ  September 1, 2010, from http://www.fuds.si/media/pdf/organizacija/ nova.gorica.pahor_.pdf Pearce, D. G. and Butler, R. W. (1999). Contemporary Issues in Tourism Development. Routledge, Canada. Pearce, D. G. and Butler, R.W. (2002). The Spread of Casinos and their Role in Tourism Development. Contemporary Issues in Tourism Development. Routledge, London and New York. Report to the Nevada Department of Human Resources, 2002. Gambling and problem gambling in Nevada, 13-25. Roe, D., Williams, N. and Dalan, C. B. (1997). Take only photographs leave only footprints. IIED Wildlife and Development Series, 10. Sethi P. (1999). Tourism: The Next Generation. J.L. Kumar for Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Shonkwiler, J. C. (1993). Assessing the impact of Atlantic City casinos on Nevada gaming revenues. Atlantic Economic Journal, 21(2), 50-61. Singh S., Timothy D. and Dowling R. (2003). Tourism in Destination Community. AMA DataSet Ltd, United Kingdom.

Finance and Accounting in the Hospitality Industry

Finance and Accounting in the Hospitality Industry Introduction. According to the Barrows Powers (2009, pp. 3-5) hospitality industry has included hotels , restaurants and other related organisations to the food industry and it has given more emphasis on providing customer sensitive products and services in order to gain profitability and customer satisfaction. Hence, the application of finance and accounting has been done a great deal to achieve such requirements for the hospitality industry. The applications of finance in the hospitality industry has been discussed under several ways of this assignment. Further it has focused to understand the sources of funding and income generation for the business and services industries as well as understand the business in terms of the element of cost. In addition that it has given more intention to evaluate the financial statements of the selected businesses which are in the hospitality industry. Apart from that, this has emphasise the analysis of the performance of the business by using ratio analysis techniques. Finally it has focused to apply the marginal costing concept to evaluate the short term management decisions. Task 01. 01.1 Sources of funding available to business and service industries. Sources of funds are very important to decide management decisions as well as long term strategies of any organisation. As per the Sharan (2005, pp. 210-218) following funding methods should be noted. Retain Profits. Increasing the revenue and reducing the cost this can be increased in a systematic manner. Bank Loans. It is advisable to go for a loan under lower interest rate. Because if the loan interest rate is higher than the companys return on investment, then it will cause liquidity problems in the future. Bank Overdraft facility This is subject to higher interest rate and recommended only for a limited time period. Issuing share to the public Ordinary shares less cost to the organisation but more power has been given to them. But preference share has less controls over the company but subject to a higher cost to the organisation since they have to pay pre-determined dividends on time. Franchise option. This is recommended to expand the business chain with an association with medium scale merchants to promote companys products and goodwill. Hire purchase schemes This also important to manage the cash flow situations of the organisation without investing higher capital for equipments plants. Lease Schemes This also important if the company have not greater funds to invest for their assets. But this is subject to higher interest cost. Credit purchases This is important to manage the working capital position of the organisation . Since agreement with many suppliers can be obtained credit period to pay the cost of goods purchased. Debt Factoring This important to get the cash in early by giving commission chargers to the factoring company to collect their debts very quickly. Sponsorship This is ideal by collecting funds from other organisations and giving chance to promote their names. As per the Banjerjee (2010, pp. 47-58) following funding options also to be considerable. Debenture issue to investors Right issues to shareholders Business Amalgamation Mortgages Venture capital strategies to expand the operations. 01.2 Methods of generating income and contribution to business service operations. According to the Hayes Miller (2011, pp. 5-20) generating income and contribution to the hospitality industry can be identified in following way. Sales In the case of hospitality industry is concerned such as hotels, are providing rooms, foods, beverages and other supportive services in order to generate income from that. Commission. This commission income will be received from the third party supplier to the organisation. Sponsorship This will be received from other organisations to promote their names. Grants Grants are receiving from the government , any other authority. Sub letting This can be generated by sub letting the premises to external parties, such as fancy item shops , flower shops , jeweler shops, etc. Task 02. 02.1 Elements of costs, gross profit and selling prices for products services. Element of Costs According to the Davis Davis (2012, pp. 25-34 ), followings can be identified as the elements of cost in the hospitality industry. Materials Material cost is the cost component in the final product or services which incurred mainly to provide particular products and services. Eg : Linen , Cutlery, Glassware , China , Silverware, Consumables Consumables are the main cost component in the final products in the hospitality industry. This requires further processing to deliver the final product to the customers. Eg : Foods and Beverages Labour Labour cost is the cost which are incurred for the main operating functions of providing final product or services of the organisation. Eg : Salary paid to waiters, kitchen staff front office staff Overheads Overheads are costs which incurred for indirect materials , indirect labour and other indirect cost. These costs cannot be identified specifically with the final product or service. Eg : Salary of admin department, electricity, stationery Selling Price and Gross Profit Margin According to the Kotas R. (1999 , pp 99-107) pricing methods used by the hospitality industry can be identified as follows. Pricing in Tourism ( Peak / Peak off trading price ) Selling price on peak seasons prepared by adding a higher markup to the operational cost as selling price. While in peak off seasons it is adjusting by reducing mark up and offering discounts for the selling price while concerning the competition in the market. Conventional Pricing Method. ( Rate of return pricing ) Here, it is emphasised that setting separate contribution margins to the different revenue segments ( such as foods, beverages, room, other operational segments ). After that it has to select the profit maximising contribution rate. Finally, the selling price will be based on the selected profit maximising sales mix. Gross Profit will be computed by deducting cost of sales from sales. Absorption Pricing Method Here, variable cost per unit has to be computed first and after that overhead cost to be absorbed to the unit cost. Finally markup to be added to the total cost to set as the selling price in order to gain required profit. Contribution Pricing Method. ( Marginal Costing) It is required to categorise the cost as variable fixed. Then the variable cost per unit has to be computed and based on the variable cost per unit, required contribution to be decided to arrive selling price. There is no absorption of overheads and fixed cost to the unit cost of the product. The Gross profit margin will compute after deducting the variable cost of the sales. Backward Pricing Method. This is a method of adjusting the operating cost to a fixed rate. In this case local or national trade organisations has decided fixed selling price and other members have to be accepted this price . Once they need to change this rate, meet again and decide the new price. Product and Service Costing. Selling price decided by adding a predetermined percentage of service charge to the unit cost, after adding the profit mark up to the unit cost. 02.2 Methods of controlling stocks and cash in a business services environment. Stock Controls Proper stock controlling is the way to smooth functioning of daily operations working capital management in an organisation. According to the Ryan B. (2004, pp: 355-361) following inventory controls are recommended. Compute economic order quantity level and re order level of the inventory. Required to avoid the unnecessary stock purchases . Create Just in Time inventory management system. Hospitality industry, mostly dealt with the perishable goods (foods beverages). Therefore it is ideal to maintain a JIT inventory system to eliminate the wastages, losses, and inventory handling cost. Implementation of ERP software programme for the inventory management. This ensures the updated accurate information linkage within the organisation to take proper inventory related decision on time. In other hand Warren et al (2008, pp: 270 271) emphasise important two controls over inventories. Safeguarding the stock from damage and theft. By restricting the store area only to authorised staff members, and it encourages to lock the high value items in a locker while usage of a camera system and security. Reporting the stocks in the financial statements. It is required to conduct a physical stock count at the year end and take the figures into accounts, while identifying any mismatch between system physical figures. Cash Controls Holding considerable cash amount is encouraged to conduct smooth functioning of working capital management. According to the Needles and Powers ( 2011, pp: 399 403) there should be following controls over the cash. Implementation of dual control over the cash. It is important to give authorisation for two persons to verify handle the cash balances to eliminate the cash thefts or manipulations. Preparation of bank reconciliations. Required to identify the reasons for the differences in cash book figure with bank statement balance. Conduct a physical cash count in random basis. This will help to minimise the misconduct by the staff who has handled the cash. Task 03. 03.1 Final accounts analysis of Valentina Hotel Ltd. 03.1.1 Source and structure of the trial balance. Sources of the trial balance are concerned, Kotas and Conlan ( 2007, pp. 101-115) it has been categorised under three ledgers , namely general ledger, sales ledger and the purchase ledger. Purchased ledger consists the personal accounts of suppliers (Creditors). Sales ledger relates to personal accounts of customers (Debtors). While general ledger consists impersonal accounts. Such as nominal accounts and real accounts. Nominal accounts refer to income and expense accounts. While real accounts refer to the assets and equity accounts. The structure of the trial balance is concerned , Jagels (2007, pp. 20-21) it has been categorised under the following way. Current Assets Fixed Assets Contra Assets Current Liability Long Term Liability Owners Capital Contra Capital Contra Revenue Revenue Expenses Therefore the trial balance consists of accounts which having debit credit balances and which all of them are summed up at the end. The trial balance of Valentina Hotel Ltd can be summarised as follows. Current Assets Bank / Cash / Debtors Fixed Assets Contra Assets Building / Equipment / Acc. Depreciation Current Liability Creditors Long Term Liability Long term bank loan / Debentures Owners Capital Ordinary share capital / Retained Profit Contra Revenue Opening Stock Revenue Sales Expenses Salaries / Loan interest / Marketing / Energy / Communication / Rates Insurance / Purchases 03.1.2 Evaluation of final accounts 03.1.2.1 Income Statement. Income Statement of Valentina Hotel Ltd for the year ended 28th February 2010.  £ 000  £000 Sales 2, 040 Less: Cost of Sales Inventory (01/03/2009) 49 Purchases 1, 360 1,409 Less: Inventory ( 28/02/2010) (51) (1,358) Gross Profit 682 Admin Operating Expenses Business rates insurance ( 67 3) 64 Wages salary (262 + 5) 267 Depreciation ( 250 * 25%) 62.5 Communication expenses 36 Energy Cost 49 (478.5) Selling Distribution Expenses Marketing 79 (79) Finance Expenses Debenture interest (200 *6%) 12 Loan interest 4 (16) Profit Before Taxation ( PBT) 108.5 Less: Income Tax (39) Profit After Taxation (PAT) 69.5 Less: Dividend declared ( 100*0.15 ) (15) Retain profit for the period 54.5 03.1.2.1 Balance Sheet. Position Statement of Valentina Hotel Ltd as at 28th February 2010. Assets  £ 000  £ 000  £000 Non Current Assets Cost Acc. Dep. NBV Buildings 400 400 Equipments 250 112.5 137.5 650 112.5 537.5 Current Assets Inventory (28 / 02 / 2010) 51 Debtors 92 Pre -paid Insurance 3 Bank 3 Cash 1 150 Total Assets 687.5 Equity Liability Equity Reserve Stated Capital (  £1 Ordinary shares) 100 Reserves Retained Earnings ( 157 + 54.5 ) 211.5 311.5 Non Current Liabilities 6% Debentures 200 Long Term Bank Loans 60 260 Current Liability Creditors 45 Wages salary payable 5 Debenture interest payable 12 Income tax payable 39 Dividend payable 15 116 Total Equity Liabilities 687.5 03.2 Budget and variance analysis of Valentina Hotel Ltd. 03.2.1 Process and purpose of budgetary controls. According to the Needles et al (2010, pp. 966) budgetary control is the use of a comprehensive system of budgeting to aid the management in carrying out its function such as planning , coordination and controls. Purpose of Budgetary Controls. The purpose of budgetary controls can be recognised, according to the Kotas R. (1999, pp. 177-180) in following manner. Achieving business targets. Delegating responsibilities to the staff. Optimum resource utilisation. To take corrective actions. Well coordination of work. As a basis of future policy Use as a basis of performance measurement Process of Budgetary Controls According to the Needles et al (2010, pp. 966-969) budgetary control process can be identified as follows. Period of Budget. This may be one year or sometimes it can be continuous from previous time to next time. Approach of Budget. Selecting a suitable method to use a budget. Such as zero based budgeting . Implementation of Budget. Implementation should be done after preparing approving the budget for the period. Performance Measurement. Measure the actual performance with budget during the budgetary period. Identification of differences in actual with budgeted performance. By conducting a variance analysis. Take corrective action. Corrective procedures required to produce the performances which are closer to the budgeted performance. 03.2.2 Variance analysis. Computation of RM Variances Raw Material Total Variance = Standard Cost Actual Cost = ( 10,000* $ 10) $ 98, 600 = $ 1,400 F / + Raw Material Price Variance = Qty. Used ( Standard Price Actual Price ) = ( 11,700 * $ 10 ) $ 98,600 = $ 18,400 F / + Raw Material Usage Variance = Std. Price ( Standard Usage Actual Usage ) = $ 10 ( (10* 1,000) 11,700 ) = $ 17,000 (A) / Analysis of variances It has shown $ 1,400 favourable total raw material variance from the budgeted figures. It indicates that actual material cost is less than the budgeted material cost and it is in the, within the controls. Further there is a $ 18,400 favourable raw material price variance from the budgeted figures. This indicates that the actual price is less than the budgeted price. However it has $ 17,000 adverse raw material usage variance from the budgeted figures. This means, RM usage are in out of the controls. Suggestions for appropriate future management actions Take corrective actions to eliminate the over usage of RM. Setting new procedures to reduce the wastage of RM. Implement new controls to monitor the RM usages. Check whether such variance is controllable or not. If it is controllable, then corrective action to be taken. If not a revision of standards is recommended. Task 04. 04.1 Ratio analysis of Audalucia Hotel. Profitability Ratio Gross Profit Ratio of the company has been declined by 15.14% ( Appendix A) compared to the 18.33 % of this year with 21.60 % of last year. Net Profit Ratio also declined by 30.56% ( Appendix A) compared to the 3.59 % of this year with 5.17 % of last year. Apart from that Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) also decreased by 31.73% ( Appendix A) compared to the 8.24 % of this year with 12.07 % of last year. This incurred due to increase in expenses cost of sales. Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio of the company has been increased by 0. 52 times ( Appendix A) compared to the 3.68 : 1 of this year with 3.16 : 1 of last year. Quick Ratio decreased by 0. 50 times ( Appendix A) comparisons to the 2.43 : 1of this year with 2.93 : 1 of last year. This incurred due to over fund usage on closing stock. Efficiency Ratios Inventory Turnover Ratio of the company has been decreased by 36.25 times ( Appendix A) compared to the 17.37 times of this year with 53.62 times of last year. Inventory Turnover Period has been increased by 14 days ( Appendix A) compared to the 21 days of this year with 7 days of last year. Debtors Turnover Period has been decreased by 7 days ( Appendix A) compared to the 39 days of this year with 46 days of last year. Creditors Turnover Period has been decreased by 5 days ( Appendix A) compared to the 25 days of this year with 30 days of last year. This incurred due to over fund utilisation on stock, increase of debtors creditors. Investors / Financial Ratios Earnings Per Share (EPS) of the company has been decreased by  £ 0.21 ( Appendix A) compared to  £ 0.25of this year with  £ 0.46 of last year. This has incurred due to low profit earned during the period and new share issue. 04.2 Appropriate future management strategies for business and service operation. Following strategies to be taken by the management to eliminate the discrepancies identified in the ratio analysis. Reducing the selling price volume of sale should be increased to gain higher revenue. Unnecessary fund utilisation on the stock should be reduced. The JIT stock system to be implemented to minimise the stock handling cost. Take necessary steps to reduce the expenses in regularly. Negotiate with suppliers to obtain longer credit period while asking lower credit period to the customers. Follow proper cash flow management procedure within the organisation. Implement new procedures to attract the customers to the company to increase the sales while conducting discounts promotions. Non Current Asset should have used in very efficient effective manner to generate income from it. Task 05. 05.1 Categorisation of costs of Leicester Square Hotel. Fixed Cost As per the Horngren et al (2009, pp: 28-29) fixed cost is the cost which remained unchanged in total for a given period regardless of changes in volume or activity. Eg : Fixed Cost of the hotel operation  £ 1,600,000 Variable Cost According to the Drury ( 2008, pp. 32-34) variable cost is the cost which changes in direct proportion to the volume of the activity. Eg : VC of Food sales per room  £ 7 VC of Beverage sales per room  £ 2.4 Semi Variable Cost According to the Kinney Raiborn ( 2011, pp. 28-29) semi- variable cost is the cost which consists both fixed and variable components for a given activity. It remains as fixed up to a certain level and beyond that it will be variable based on the volume or activity. Eg : Variable Cost per occupied room  £ 15 VC of Minor operations departments per room  £ 1.2 05.2 Cost / Profit / Volume analysis of Leicester Square Hotel. Computation of Contribution per product / customer ( in  £ ) Description Room Foods Beverages Minor Dept. Total Selling Price 120 20 8 2 150 Variable Cost (Appendix B) (15) (7) (2.4) (1.2) (25.6) Contribution 105 13 5.6 0.8 124.4 (Per product/customer) Net Profit Computation ( in  £ ) Sales ( 150 * 100 * 365) = 5, 475,000 Less : Variable Cost (25.6 * 100 * 365) = ( 943,400 ) Contribution (124.4 *100* 365 ) = 4, 540,600 Less : Fixed Cost = ( 1,600,000 ) Net Profit = 2,940,600 Break Even Point Computation BEP ( in units ) = Fixed Cost Contribution per customer = 1,600,000 124.4 = 12,861.74 ÃŽÂ © 12, 862 ( Customers ) BEP ( in  £ ) = BEP ( in units ) * Selling Price = 12,862 * 150 = 1,929,300 Cost -Volume -Profit Relationship Value (  £ 000 ) TR Total Revenue ( £ 5,475 ) ( £5,475) Profit ( £ 2,940.6) Profit BEP BEP ( £1,929) VC ( £ 934.4) Loss FC ( £ 1,600 ) (Customers ) 0 BEP ( 12,862 ) (36,500) According to the Blocher et al (2006, pp 238-241) Cost-Volume -Profit analysis is the method of analysing how operating decision and marketing decision affects the net income based on the relationship between cost ( VC FC), volume (output level ) and selling price. The hotel is required to sell 12,862 rooms to the customers to achieve breakeven point of sales. According to the Hansen et al ( 2009, pp. 591-595) Breakeven point is the level at which revenue is equal to the total cost and the profit is zero. Since they can obtain  £ 1,929,300 revenue to cover the total cost and beyond that they can earn profit from every additional customers. If the hotel unable to achieve 12,862 customers per annum, they have to suffer with losses. The Hotel can earn contribution of  £ 124.4 from every customer and if they achieve the expected sales level of 36,500 customers , they can achieve  £ 2,940,600 profit for the period. 05.3 Justification of short term management decisions based on CPV analysis. Margin of Safety ( in units ) = Expected Customers BEP Customers = ( 365 * 100) 12,862 = 36,500 12,862 = 23,638 Margin of Safety ( in  £ ) = Margin of Safety ( in units ) * SP = 23,638 * 150 = 3,545,700 Degree of Operating Leverage = Contribution Margin Net Profit = 4,540,600 2,940,600 = 1. 54 ( low risk ) According to the Blocher et al (2006, pp 249-252) margin of safety is the amount or units of sale above the sales. In that case hotel can generate  £ 3,545,700 turnover by 23, 638 customers. It indicates that this hotel investment is worth. As per the Hansen et al ( 2009, pp. 597-598) degree of operating leverage is the ratio of contribution to the profitability. In this case, it shows a lower leverage of 1.54 since it generates lower risk to the future profitability of the hotel. Therefore it is justifiable that management has been taken an optimized and a worth decision regarding this investment. Conclusion. According to the given cases of this assignment is concerned it is clear that practical application of theories in hospitality management is really essential in order to obtain proper decisions to improve the profitability, avoid control deficiencies and smooth functioning of routine operation of the business. References. Book References Banjerjee, B. (2010), Financial policy and Management Accounting, 7 th ed. Prentice Hall Ltd, pp. 47-58. Barrows, C. W. Powers, T. (2009), Introduction to the hospitality Industry, 7 th ed. John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 3-5. Blocher, E.J., Chen, D., Cokins, S Lin, F. (2006), Cost Management : a strategic emphasis, 3 rd ed. Tata Mc Grow Hall, pp. 238-252. Davis, C. E. Davis, E. (2012), Managerial Accounting, John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 25-34. Drury, C. (2008), Management and Cost Accounting, 7 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 32-34 Hansen, D. R., Mowen, M. M. Guan, I. (2009), Cost Management : accounting control, 6 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 591-598. Hayes, D. K. Miller, A. (2011), Revenue Management for the Hospitality Industry, John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 5-20. Horngren, C. T., Datar, S. M., Foster, G., Rajan, M. V. Ittner, C. (2009), Cost Accounting : a managerial emphasis, 13 th ed. Pearson Prentis Hall Ltd, pp. 28-29. Jagels, M. G. (2007), Hospitality Management Accounting, 9 th ed. John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 20-21. Kinney, M. R. Raiborn, C. A. ( 2011), Cost Accounting : foundations evolutions, 9 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 28-29. Kotas, R. Conlan, M. (2007), Hospitality Accounting, 5 th ed. Thomson Learning, pp. 101-115. Kotas, R. (1999), Management Accounting in Hospitality Tourism, 3 rd ed. Thomson Learning, pp. 99-180. Needles, B. E., Powers, M. Crosson, S. V. (2010), Financial and Managerial Accounting, 9 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 966-969. Needles, B. E. Powers, M. (2011), Principals of Financial Accounting, 11 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 399- 403. Ryan, B. (2004), Finance and Accounting for Business, Thomson One Business School, pp. 355- 391. Sharan, V. (2005), Fundamentals of Financial Management, 2 nd ed. Pearson Educations Ltd, pp. 210-218. Warren, C. S., Reeve, J. E. Duchac, J. E. (2009), Financial Management Accounting, 11 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 270-271. Web References Accounting Ratio Analysis , [online], Available from: http://http://www.ratioanalysis.net [ Accessed on 25th November 2012 ]. Industry Information, [online], Available from: http://http://www.instituteofhospitality.org/info_services [ Accessed on 25th November 2012 ]. Hospitality Industry News, [online] , Available from: http://www.bha.org.uk/category/news [ Accessed on 24 th November 2012 ]. Bibliography. Brigham, E. F. Houston, J. F. (2009), Fundamentals of Financial Management, 11 th ed. Thomson One Business School, pp. 512-525. Jain, P. K. Khan, M. Y. ( 2008), Management Accounting, 4 th ed. Tata Mc Grow Hall, pp. 18-19. Maher, M. W., Stickney, C. P. Weil, R. L. (2008), Managerial Accounting : an introduction to concepts, methods and uses, 11 th ed. Cengage Learnings, pp. 138-147. OFallon, M. J. Rutherford, D. G. (2011), Hotel Management and Operations, 5 th ed. John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 1-18. Weil, R. L. Maher, M. W. (2005), Hand Book of Cost management, 2 nd ed. John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 539-548. Weygant, J. J., Kieeso, D. E., Kimmel, P. D. Franco, A. L. D. ( 2009), Hospitality Financial Accounting, 2 nd ed. John Wiley Sons Inc., pp. 260-280.

Warriors dont cry :: essays research papers

Title Navy to Limit Sonar Testing Thought to Hurt Sea Mammals Paper New York Times Authors THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Summary this article comes from San Francisco and is about how the Navy has agreed to limit the testing grounds the testing of a new sonar system designed to track down enemy submarines. The Navy finally agreed after there were a couple months of protest for the harm of marine life. The protest was about the concern of harming marine life . With all the limit’s the Navy has the Navy agrees to test the system in about 14 million square miles in the ocean and the limit will be a million square miles of remote ocean around the Mariana Islands. Andrew Wetzel a lawyer in the Natural Resources Defense Council said that the Mariana Islands was the least affective of Ocean the Navy could have. This wonderful sonar system can send signals hundreds of miles. It can be as loud as 215 decibels, as much noise as a twin-engine F-15 fighter jet makes when it takes off. This agreement doesn’t stop the navy from using the sonar anywhere in wartime and but limit’s the training gro und of the sonar. The judge ordered all discussions between the environmental group and the Navy to not to be mentioned. The Natural Resources Defense Council said Navy sonar used in March 2000 has caused about 16 whales and 2 dolphins to beach themselves on islands in the Bahamas. Eight whales died, and scientists found bleeding around their brains and ear bones, injuries consistent with exposure to loud noise. Critique This article is very important because the Navy has to train with their equipment but marine life cannot be harmed. The Navy has made the same decision I would have made to limit grounds for harming marine life but still training. This was a very hard decision to make because the Navy doesn’t want to kill animals but they have to just to train. I didn’t find this article interesting nor boring I found it hard to agree or disagree with. A call to battle Comment: I read Warrior's Don't Cry for a book report last year. As a high school student, I had heard very little about the integration of Central High School, and living in a predominantly white suburban community, knew very little about the Civil Rights Movement beyond Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Beals' personal account spurred me to learn more about the Movement on my own and to start demanding a 20th century in America class for my Social Studies department.

The Three Most Important Things I Learned in Economics Class :: Class Reflection

The three most important things I learned in Economics Class The first important concept I learned was the ‘goals of monetary policy’. The primary goal of a central bank is price stability (low and stable inflation). Some of the Feds (short for the Federal Reserve Bank) other concerns are: †¢ high employment †¢ economic growth †¢ stability of financial markets †¢ interest rate stability †¢ stability in foreign exchange markets The Fed desires to maintain high employment because the condition of high unemployment, the alternative, creates idle workers and idle resources. This leads to closed factories, unused equipment and materials, ultimately decreasing our GDP. Now, let me further explain that the goal for high unemployment is not an unemployment level of zero, rather a level above zero where labor demand equals labor supply. This is known as the ‘natural rate of unemployment’. Economic growth focuses on encouraging firms to invest or encouraging people to save, which in turn creates funds for firms to invest. It runs hand-in-hand with the goal of high employment because in order for firms to be comfortable investing in assets such as plants and equipment, unemployment must be low. Hereby, the people and resources will be available to spur economic growth. If financial markets are instable, it will lead to sharp contraction of economic activity. For example, in this most recent financial crisis, a deterioration in financial institutions’ balance sheets, along with asset price decline and interest rate hikes increased market uncertainty thus, worsening what is called ‘adverse selection and moral hazard’. This is a serious dilemma created before business transactions occur which information is misleading and promotes doing business with the ‘most undesirable’ clients by a financial institution. In turn, these ‘most undesirable’ clients later engage in undesirable behavior. All of this leads to a decline in economic activity, more adverse selection and moral hazards, a banking crisis and further declining in economic activity. Ultimately, the banking crisis came and unanticipated price level increases and even further declines in economic activity. Interest-rate stability is very important for the Fed to control because otherwise consumers, like you and I, will be reluctant to buy things like houses due to the fluctuation which will make it harder to plan for the future. The value of the US dollar relevant to other currencies is a major consideration for the Federal Reserve. If they prevent large changes in the value of the dollar, firms and individuals can comfortably plan ahead to purchase or sell goods abroad.

Niche Theory and the Human Consciousness :: Psychology Essays

Niche Theory and the Human Consciousness Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. -Lewis Carroll How do we create something new in this world? In an age where the issues of increasingly diminishing natural resources are available and the amount of consumption is growing, this question is becoming increasingly important. The niche theory gives us a partial answer. Mayr, in his book What Evolution Is tells us that a niche is a "constellation of properties of the environment that make it suitable for occupation by a species". Niches for organisms can not only be found on the topological surface of the earth (which in itself is a niche in the universe) but also inside already existing organisms, given the right conditions of adaptability. Examples of this would be to look at some viruses that inhabit living organisms and in some cases, are limited to specific species. The human consciousness seems to me to fit many of the characteristics of a niche, barring the obvious fact that it in itself is not an independent organism. Niches in my opinion can not only be limited to being filled by living organisms, but also by its bi-products. We define our consciousness as the fundamental characteristic that makes us human. Early philosophers defined out consciousness as "reason": our consciousness in fact gives reason and meaning for our existence and transcends the purely biological needs of the species. It is the motivation that propels us to seek knowledge and to "fill" ourselves. Our consciousness creates a second world – one in which humans are capable of examining and having a deep understanding of ourselves. We create a new place for ourselves to inhabit inside ourselves. The reason as to why or how it came about that humans developed a consciousness is still unknown. Why is it that humans (and potentially one or two other species) evolved to the point of being able to create this new inner world, new niche to inhabit while other species did not?