We Learn Best from Our Mistakes free essay sample

In 1963 the government appointed a â€Å"language peace† committee which was to promote the dual linguistic heritage. This committee recommended the abandonment of the linguistic fusion policy (Haugen, 1983:285). Thus the Norwegian government was forced to withdraw gradually from direct intervention. In a way, in spite of all the language reforms undertaken, Norway’s implementation program primarily focused on linguistic aspects, paying too little attention to the social side. The overall failure of the language of the language reform policy exemplifies the fact that implementation of language planning decisions depends on nonlinguistic variables. . 6Evaluation The last important component of language planning is evaluation. Once a speech community has embarked on such an endeavor, there is no telling when it stops. Objectives must be periodically re-assessed, as well as implementation procedures. Since planned changes usually interferes or at least intertwines with nat ural changes, policies sometimes have to be adapted to new situations. For example, until recently no need was felt in France to protect the French language. We will write a custom essay sample on We Learn Best from Our Mistakes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In 1994 the French government proposed yet another law regulating language use, requiring offenders to pay a fine. These measures come at a time when linguistic minorities all over the world seek to ascertain their linguistic rights. 4Conclusion Language reforms rely on attitudes about language, on the shared norms of speech communities, both linguistic and sociolinguistic, and on nationalistic feelings and resulting sociolinguistic dynamics relating to change. Change in linguistic behavior and attitudes is what language planning is all about. Cooper (1989: 184) claims that language planning is more likely to succeed with respect to attitude than with respect to behavior, it must also be realized that, in long run, it is attitudes which lead to change.

The Freedom Concept

The Freedom Concept The concept of freedom is often discussed and debated by philosophers, political scientists, or lawyers. It is viewed as one of unalienable rights of a person; yet, it can be restricted due to some reasons or purposes. This paper is aimed at showing that freedom is impossible without some responsibility for ones actions and some restrictions are inevitable.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on The Freedom Concept specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Without these restrictions, the very existence of society can be threatened. On the whole, this issue can be important for individuals, communities, and states. The way in which people understand the notion of freedom affects criminal laws, international relations, and the moral principles of an individual. This is why various aspects of freedom are still worth examining, even though many thinkers have discussed them. First of all, one can ask whether freedom is always a good thing. At first glance, this question may seem outrageous or ludicrous because people usually regard individual liberty as something indispensible for a human being. However, this view can be disputed because under some circumstances the freedom of an individual has to be limited. For instance, criminals are deprived of their right to freedom, because they can pose a threat to other people. Additionally, one can mention traffic rules that are familiar to every person. They are taken for granted even though they do limit personal freedom. Even the most severe critics of the state cannot deny the necessity of such restrictions. Therefore, freedom may not be a good thing if a person completely disregards the interests of other people. Overall, this issue has been discussed by many prominent philosophers. In his classical work Leviathan Thomas Hobbes points out that people who are not bound by any rules, will inevitably enter into conflict in which only the strongest can prevail (Hobbe s, 1976, p. 86). He believes that the life of such people will be â€Å"poor, nasty, brutish, and short† (Hobbes, 1976, p. 86). Thus, it is possible to say that absolute freedom is hardly possible, because it can be interpreted as ability to anything that a person wants to. There were people who possessed almost absolute freedom, for example, one can mention the dictators of the twentieth century like Hitler or Stalin, but it was based on the use of coercion and violence. This is why people seek not to be free, especially they want to be protected by the law or the state. The very idea of social contract is based on the premise that people forfeit some of their rights in order to create a peaceful community. This necessity to limit ones freedom was discussed in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (2008) who believed that state should act as an arbiter and enforcer of the social contract (p. 39). The existence of such a contract implies that people consent to follow some rules that limit their freedom.Advertising Looking for term paper on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The philosophical and ethical aspects of freedom are important for international relations. Very often political leaders talk about the necessity to free other societies. In many cases, such actions may involve military intervention. The question arises whether this intrusion into the life of a sovereign state can be justified on rational or moral grounds. The thing is that there are societies in which the individual freedom of a person is practically non-existent, for instance, one can mention North Korea (Forsythe, 2009, p. 333). In such cases, political pressure seems to be ethically acceptable. However, one cannot say the same thing about military intervention that usually threatens the lives of people have nothing to do with the policies of the state. As a rule, they are the victims of this state. Certainly , one can say that the economic, military pressure on a certain sovereign state is not permissible, because the laws of the country have been adopted by the majority of people living in this community. However, such an argument can be disputed, because in many totalitarian societies citizens are afraid of expressing their discontent. Thus, the concept of freedom should not be excluded from international relations. Additionally, it is quite reasonable to ask whether people living in the United States can be called free. This issue is also worth discussing since America is often regarded as the most democratic and liberal country. Overall, it is impossible to speak about absolute or unrestricted freedom, but as it has been mentioned before, this unrestricted freedom cannot exist in the civic society. Yet, if we are speaking about economic or political liberties, the United States can certainly be regarded a free country. Again, this idea can be better illustrated by comparing America to other countries such North Korea or Afghanistan in which the political rights of people are not recognized or upheld by the state. Despite the fact that the concept of freedom has been discussed in many philosophical, legal or political works, it continues to attract attention of many people. This notion shapes almost every form of relation within the societies and at an international level. This paper suggests that freedom inevitably involves some degree of restriction; otherwise it can hardly exist. This is the main point that should be taken into consideration. Reference List Forsythe, D. (2009). Encyclopedia of Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on The Freedom Concept specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hobbes, T. (1976). Leviathan. New York: Forgotten Books. Rousseau, J. (2008). The Social Contract. London: Cosimo.

Annotated bibliography on leadership and gender Essay

Annotated bibliography on leadership and gender - Essay Example Beginning with the assumption that high Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a quality found in most effective leaders, the researchers attempt to analyse data taken from participant responses to the QueenDom's Emotional Intelligence They then analyse whether there is a difference between the levels of EQ found in women as opposed to that found in men. Their finding confirmed that principals that scored a higher emotional Intelligence were perceived to be more effective leaders. Their findings also showed that women overall had higher Emotional Intelligence scores than men. Analysis and Evaluation As previously stated the researchers begin with the premise that higher level of Emotional Intelligence equates with better leadership skills. They first cite Sosik and Megerian (1999) as to the reason for this, which is that leaders with higher EQ’s pay more attention to their interpersonal skills and relationships. This brings a closer connection between leadership and staff. EQ leader p ay less attention to the technical aspects and more to the human aspect of the business. This study uses a random sample of 32 participants (teachers), equally weighted male and female, to answer questions regarding the effectiveness of their leaders, in this case the principals of their schools. They believe that the best way to judge leadership effectiveness is by the ratings of those they lead, citing A Technical Report Issued by the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations produced by Cherniss and Goleman ... ocial and emotional competence.† (Cherniss & Goleman,1998) These tools are the QueenDom's Emotional Intelligence (EIQ) and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) which this study employed. The researches were seeking to find answers to three specific queries, 1) Is there a correlation between EQ and specific areas of leadership such as challenging the process, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, modelling the way, and encouraging the heart?; 2) Is there a connection between EQ and leadership effectives?; and 3) Does gender play a role in this relationship? Their findings indicate that EQ is regarded as an important component of leadership effectives as evaluated by those they interact with. They also found that women are usually viewed as having somewhat higher EQ’s than their male counterparts. These two results prompt them to make the statement that further efforts must be made to promote the training and encouragement of higher levels of EQ in leaders . Furthermore they state that seeing that there is a difference in gender regarding EQ, future training should take that into account. While their research is quite interesting they fall a bit short on exactly what they mean by the difference between men and women and the training of EQ. Certainly EQ is playing a larger role in this area, but they should have explained the gender difference a little more for study to have an impact. Reference #2 Okhakhume, A. S. (2008). Attitudes of Subordinates toward Women in Leadership Position. Gender & Behaviour, 6(2), 1785-1799. Summary This study takes place in Nigeria and concentrates on the bias of gender in that society, specifically in the area of employment and leadership as it regards women. The author states that in Nigeria the workplace has

Access to Higher Education Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Access to Higher Education - Article Example In other words, the report underscores the important role played by the private sector in attainment of the Australian’s government to improve access to higher education. The government has set targets to drastically increase the number individuals with at least bachelor level credentials. For example, the government aims to increase the number of adults with a university degree to 40 percent by the year 2025. This calls for an increase from 32 percent in 2009 to 40 percent in 2015 (Access Economics, 2010:6). Under previous targets, the attainment rate was expected to be 34 percent. The report points out that skilled migration is expected to give rise to over 240, 000 graduates and this mounts pressure on the government to train more graduates (Access Economics). The Australian government invests heavily in bachelor education. For instance, the government spent $ 8 407 095 000 towards bachelor level education in 2009 (Access Economics, 2010:7). However, this funding is directed towards public universities. Private universities on the other hand do not receive constant funding from the government and largely rely on fee revenue (Access Economics, 2010: 3).... e it plays to help the government achieve the set targets with regards to increase the number of individuals with higher education qualifications to match the labour market requirements. Birrell, B. & Edwards, D. (2009) The Bradley review and access to higher education in Australia, viewed 28 Jul 2013 from . The Bradley Review has recommended expansion of domestic level training universities in a move to increase competence in the job market. This report is an important milestone in the higher education arena. It recommends for a considerable increase in the number of adult students pursuing higher education from 29 percent to 40 percent by the year 2020 (Birrell and Edwards, 2009:7). It can be noted that domestic higher education was overlooked at the end of the 20th century had negative effects on the young generation. The recent times have presented numerous job opportunities requiring minimum university qualifications. Conversely, the growth of domestic undergraduate course compl etion has been minimal. The review asserts that demand for Vocational Education Training (VET) has decreased considerably owing to the changing trend in the economy where employers tend to favour those with higher education qualifications. In order for the government to achieve the 40 percent target enrolment rate in 2020, participate rate and demographic factors must be taken into account (Birrell and Edwards, 2009:4). If there is an increase in population, there will be a corresponding increase in the university enrolment rate. The participation rate is dependent on the number of young people who are attending universities. Recent censuses have revealed that the rate of young people attending college was

Factors That Has Helped Four Seasons Hotel Tourism Essay

Factors That Has Helped Four Seasons Hotel Tourism Essay The main reason behind the preparation of this assignment is to analyse the case study about the factors that has helped Four Seasons hotel to succeed initially and understanding and appreciating the different growth strategies that are adopted and implemented by Four Seasons in order to be one of the successful operating company in hospitality industry. This assignment also discusses the various downturns that the hospitality industry has faced over the years and how Four Seasons dealt with the situation in order to survive in the business. Moreover, in the assignment, the unique business model of Four Seasons hotel is compared and relate to different theories such as value chain analysis which shows how Four Seasons hotel is able to manage their stakeholders expectations. In addition, I have given some recommendations for Four Seasons hotel, to sustain in the hotel business. Company Profile: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the worlds leading operator of luxury hotels with a history spanning four decades and a portfolio that extended worldwide. It is one of the worlds biggest and finest chains of luxury hotels which have developed from one motel started by Isadore sharp 1961 in downtown Toronto Canada, to 82 luxury hotel properties in 34 countries worldwide. Four Seasons owns its own hotels, principally under the Four Seasons and Regent names, as well as some others, including the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago and the Pierre in New York. About half the companys earnings come from management fees, and half of it from properties it owns directly. Their highly admired service quality helped them to become benchmark in luxury hotel market. The basic operational policy of Four Seasons hotel is Treat others as you would like to be treated. Highest quality of service to the customers is acquired by Four Seasons by maintaining and improving their service standards also with an innovative approach and continuous development and an eye for detail every single time of service. The company shifted from hotel owner to hotel operator in 1990s the companys 95% of the shares are owned by Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft and Al-Waleed Bin Talal (Prince of Saudi Arabia equally). Rest of the shares are owned by Isadore sharp CEO and company founder. Establishment of Four Seasons: Four Seasons Hotel Chain was founded in 1961, by visionary Isadore sharp with the opening of 126 rooms Inn on the Park in downtown Canada. Sharp was a degree holder in architecture and not from a hotel management background thus Sharp was totally new to the Hotel Business. Sharp describes himself a builder who joined his fathers business after graduation. Joining a hotel industry business was not at all in his mind or his intention till he was working on a project to build a motel. He got an exposure with the motel project and he realised about the upcoming market of luxury hotels. The need of personalised service round the clock with the booming economy made him take a decision to get into Hotel business. The hotel he opened is named as The Four Seasons motor hotel which he opened with the help from his brother in law. The hotel became famous amongst the business travellers and celebrities as it had a innovative design it was different from other hotels as he built all rooms facing inwards giving a view of inner courtyard and swimming pool instead of the outside neighbourhood. Growth and expansion: With the initial success of his first hotel, the big break through which Isadore Sharp was waiting for came in 1970 by opening first Four Seasons Hotel in Hyde Park area of London. Comparatively the room rates were higher than the competitors in the 270 room hotel but then also Four Seasons enjoyed 95% occupancy through out the year. The success came with an innovative idea of hotel equipped with latest amenities unlike old traditional hotels in London. In 1972, Sharp opened a massive 1600 room hotel convention centre in Toronto, Canada in partnership with Sheraton. It took a long time to complete the project, almost 10 years. In 1980 the economy was booming and the demand for luxury hotels increased , and thus Sharp started building hotels across the North America, later in almost every major US city, also to take an advantage of real estate deals. In three decades by 1990, Four Seasons already opened 23 hotels in three countries with net earnings of $15 million. Four Seasons became Global leader in 1992 with acquisition of Regent International hotels. further strong financial base to build and buy hotel properties worldwide came in 1994 when Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal bought 25% of companys shares. They also signed a contract with Carlson Hospitality to develop and expand regent brand worldwide through establishing management contracts and franchising agreements. Initial Success Factors of Four Seasons: To combine best of small hotels with the best of large hotels Isadore Sharp He came up with the idea of opening the medium sized hotels which was enough to give a touch of personalised service providing with a range of luxury amenities and services. Running business from Customers Perspective: The most effective initial strategy for Sharp was to look at the business from customers point of view. He was a innovative thinker to fulfil customers needs in terms of luxury. Example When Four Seasons came into existence the trend was to use flimsy towels in bathroom, he replaced that we 100% cotton towels which worked really well. With experience of opening the first hotel, Sharp realised customers are ready to spend for one thing thats service. And as Four seasons most guest were business travellers and with the experience he came to a conclusion that for them Service means luxury. Luxury Redefined: Maintaining high quality service can also be a brand if delivered constantly according to Sharp. This idea provided him with the initial success in medium sized luxury hotels which gives commitment of providing homelike comforts and personalised service. Thus luxury was redefined as Service and not as decor and architecture. Quality of service comes before the hotel decor and architecture for the customers. As most of the customers for Four Seasons were business travellers Sharp commented They are mostly executives, often under pressure fighting jet lag, stress and the clock. We decided to redefine luxury as service. Thus the key towards Customer satisfaction was achieved by Sharp and he knew what the customers wanted unmatched service quality will give them competitive edge. Although Four Seasons charge 20% extra room rate than the closest competitors but still they were successful of maintaining high occupancy rates. Further Sharp wanted the highest personalised service quality for the guest which was possible only if employees are motivated and happy they will deliver it. Thus employee motivation, mutual respect and empowerment played a vital role in achieving customer satisfaction. And thus he introduced the golden rule. Golden rule: Sharp refer to his first business rule as Golden rule treat your customers as you want to be treated. This became the operational policy for Four Seasons. Every employee is a member of customer service and in charge of it. And he believed employees are the most important part of Four Seasons hotel because there is very limited time in which service encounter takes place unlike other industries. And the employee has to give his best to maintain proper service standards thus lot of screening and interviews are done to ensure the right candidate is selected for right job. Innovation: Innovation contributed a lot in the initial success of Four Seasons. Most of the luxurious amenities and services like Shampoo in the shower, bathrobes, 24 hour room service, two- line phone in guest room, pressing iron, 24 hour secretarial service, big well lit desk were the First to be introduced by Sharp and Four Seasons. The Custom made mattresses is now became the standard of luxury hotels which was Sharps favourite. Vision of Isadore Sharp: Provide each and every thing in the guest room that will make the customer happy. Growth Strategies adopted by four seasons: Initial success for Four Seasons did built a platform for them to grow world wide. It created a network of mid sized luxury hotel in almost all key financial cities all over the world. During this process Four Seasons adopted many different growth strategies as follows: Brand name is competitive advantage: The biggest asset for Four Seasons group was their brand name which was not responsible for their initial success but also a part of their global expansion strategy. The core business strategy for four seasons was to continuously improve their market position and profitability to ensure the competitive advantage while obtaining new management contracts worldwide. Strategic relationship with investors: With the help of strategic relationships with many small private institutions earlier helped them to expand their opportunities worldwide. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bought 25% of company shares and with his major investments in Four Seasons which helped them to enter in new markets as well the ownership was not of Four seasons so it served their primary objective of being a management company. From Hotel owner to Hotel operators: Their unique business development model stated they wanted to be a hotel chain operator than hotel chain owner. It has ownership of only three hotels out of their sixty three hotels. Under this unique business model Four seasons hotel doesnt have a burden of ownership, the major capital is brought by the partners with whom Four Seasons developed strategic relationships. There is wide range of management fees (base fee, incentive fee, sales and marketing charge and reservation charge) for providing these services to the owner. How Four Seasons responded to economic downturns? Four Seasons faced economic downturns in different years in four decades 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 in the following years 74, 81, 91, 2001. And all of them made a significant impact on Four seasons strategy. The hotel business during the time of recession were mainly affected by Increased interest rates and Decrease in market prices With the increased airfares and the increased occupancy rates the tourism was badly affected. Executives of the company were travelling less and the leisure facilities were decreased for the executives which affected the hotel and tourism market. Furthermore increased terrorism affected hotel and tourism market. There were drastic steps taken by different hotel operators by cutting labour cost, lowering prices buy Four seasons believed that the industry is going to return to normal soon and Isadore Sharp adopted exactly the other way. He took the challenge during the time of recession and saw the opportunity to develop the hotels. He told his executives about his thoughts that when our competitors are lowering standards we will raise ours The different actions taken by Four Seasons as an answer to economic downturns are: Four Seasons followed their words to look after their employees: During the time of recession most of the hotel operators cut down their labour cost but Four Seasons tackled the situation the other way, they responded by cutting the overhead costs but not the labour costs. They aimed for maximizing labours value instead of lowering labour cost. Sharp explained this strategy to his executives, And we also know that what we must do to meet that goal, is to lower costs and raise service and product quality. But cutting costs and raise service and product quality. But cutting costs by cutting labour, if carried too far, lowers quality. The only way these seemingly conflicting aims can be reconciled is by responsible employees committed to working smarter. Instead of minimizing labours cost we should maximize labours value: by convincing our employees that our purpose merits commitment. Four seasons offered Flexible Contracts to the employees rather than job cut, in which employees will be called on duty as per the demand of the business which replaced working four days a week instead of five days a week. It was in the agreement of the employees and all the employees were in favour of the decision furthermore the salaries and the bonuses of the managers was also affected. This all resulted in sharing a common policy in heading towards companys goals. Improving the products: Most of the hotel operators paused the construction or running of a hotel for a temporary period but the property business is really high during the time of recession because the properties are sold out on lower rates thus Four Seasons tackled the situation by renovation and refurbishment to improve the products. Isadore Sharp believed that providing quality service to the guest are a necessity and not a service by itself. And if the hotel wants to sustain in the market the new trends in the hotel industries should be followed to keep up with the market. Thus to accommodate these changes and provide customers with quality service. During recession the room occupancy is the lowest thus the inconvenience caused to the guests are very less and thus the guests get a royal out of the world service. They followed this strategy during recession period which gave them a steady growth over the decade. Advertising costs: Most of the competitors of Four Seasons hotel kept cutting their advertising and marketing costs, but Four Seasons didnt cut their advertising and marketing budget to maintain the brand recognition as they had a very good recognition in the Hospitality industry. It is easy to maintain the momentum rather than restart it. This strategy helped them to gain a competitive edge over their competitors in maintaining their brand recognition. Property market: During recession the supply in the market for the land was than the demand on low prices. Four seasons took the advantage of low prices of the land and they picked the premium locations which would have been difficult to buy them in normal times. Thus this strategy paid off to Four Seasons during the time of recession and they came with the finest of the hotels in top locations after recession. How four seasons managed various stakeholder expectations? Stakeholder: Person, group, or organization that has direct or indirect stake in organization because it can affect or be affected by the organizations actions, objectives, and policies. (www. businessdictionary.com) There are three most important aspects of managing stakeholder expectations: Know your stakeholders Know what exactly they except from you Make them accountable for realities of project by making them aware of risks and consequences. (According to Dr. James Brown, president of the project management company Seba Solutions). Different stake holders of Four Seasons hotel are Stakeholders play a vital role for a company to survive thus the company or organisation needs to implement a strategy for managing their stakeholder expectations. Thus Four seasons implemented following strategy for managing their stakeholder expectations: STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT Managing the stakeholders expectation is a step by step process: After identification of stakeholders, the second step is to identify their needs. Needs and expectations of the stakeholders of Four seasons can be described as follows: Owners: Returns on investment by profit Management: Management fees on the basis of gross revenue. Employees: Empowerment, Career opportunities and job security. Customers: High quality service and luxury. Society: Corporate social responsibility. Their strategy to manage stakeholder expectations can be summarised with relation to value chain analysis as well value_chain_analysis Value chain analysis is a concept to create competitive advantage and sustaining superior performance. Owner: Expectation of the owners are really high on returns in terms of profit because they are the one who made the capital investment in the projects. The different aspects of value chain used by four season hotels are like Infrastructure of the hotel, the most innovative idea of the initial strategy was to come up with medium sized hotels, and it worked really well. It was made possible and successful by Isadore Sharp who was the degree holder in architecture and he knew the latest designs of buildings and hotels like building rooms facing inwards to avoid view of neighbourhood made significant contribution to it. These innovative designs really helped Four Seasons to come up with the highest occupancy among the travellers. Thus they were successful in managing owners expectations by giving returns on their investments in less time. Management: To ensure a good gross revenue it is vital to get higher occupancy with good average room rate throughout the year. Sales and Marketing and technology come into picture from Value chain analysis. The marketing strategy for Four season hotel is to target the luxury segment of the market. 69% of their business comes from business travellers and groups. So almost all of their advertising and marketing programmes were designed to enhance the awareness of luxury service provided by Four seasons hotel. Technology played a vital part in achieving their goal by newly designed website and superior reservation system. They gained an advantage over other hotels by Global reservation system which gave an option to the guests to be comfortable with their own local language in North America, Asia and European Network. Example: There are so many hotels in Hyde Park area but over 30 years Four Seasons has gained and enjoyed the highest occupancy in the area with their strategy. Employees: Employees expect Mutual respect and Empowerment from Four season hotel. Employees are the most important stakeholders of the organisation, if they are happy to work for the organisation the whole business cycle can run smoothly, If Employees are happy then the customers are happy with their service it leads to word of mouth publicity and the organisation gets a repeat business. Employees deserve a mutual respect from the management. Human Resource Management from value chain ensures that employees should get what they deserve and expect. And most importantly the Golden Rule of Four Seasons is treat others as you would like to be treated also they believe that if employees are happy then only they can make customers happy. Four Seasons has maintained empowering their employees, and the best outcome and results can be obtained from their employees by empowering them. Im sure weve all read reports on the productivity gains achieved by empowering employees. And we all know the workplace has to change to attain this. And in a survey of 264 big company chairman, 62 percent agreed that one of the most important business issues facing them was building and keeping a qualified workforce. -Isadore Sharp d.) Customers: The expectation of the customers is very high as Four Seasons targets luxury segment of market. Service factor from Value Chain is wisely utilized by Four Seasons to manage expectations of luxury for the customers. They redefined luxury as service. Four Seasons gained a competitive edge by provided high standard of service with personalised touch. Customers got what they expected from Four Seasons. And they are very successful in making customers happy. E.) Society: As Society expects some corporate social responsibility(CRS) from all the hotels and organisation, their expectation for four seasons towards society is really high as well. CSR includes encouraging activities for development of society and avoiding practices which causes harm to the environment. Four Seasons explain how they help and take initiative towards community by various training and mentoring programmes for young people and helping whoever in need in their website www.fourseasons.com . Example: They donate organic food to local farmers to feed their animals (Costa Rica) and also providing shelter camps to Urban Elephants(Golden Triangle, Thailand), Raising significant funds for cancer research and awareness programmes. Recommendation: Four Seasons has a strong portfolio in the Hotel Industry but to sustain they should focus on few things which are as follows: Four Seasons should concentrate on building more brands and focus on all the categories like upper-scale, middle and budget hotels. Unlike Accor group of hotel they have segmented their hotels and created a brand focusing the needs of its customers such as Etap, Ibis, Novotel, Sofitel etc. To compete with other leading brands Four Seasons should come up with more hotels all over the world for more brand recognition and for customers to have a taste of their service. Furthermore Four Seasons should continue the effective management of the hotel the way they are doing it to sustain in the market. CONCLUSION With the base of the case study and research on Four seasons hotel, Canadian based business has an excellent brand recognition all over the world. The company is moving ahead with excellence along with strong financial and operational management. Different innovative ideas of Four Seasons hotel helped them grow in this hospitality business over the years furthermore during the time of recession Four Seasons hotel did really well, thus it says Fours Seasons Hotel has turned economic down turn to a competitive advantage over their competitors by coming up with different properties with prime location after recession (they responded very well to economic downturn). They took the down turn as an opportunity to expand and thus they are achieving excellence in their business.

Listening Without Judgment and Thinking Positively :: The Sketch Plays Life Essays

Listening Without Judgment and Thinking Positively The sketch that was just been performed on stage by my friends shows you one of the consequences that can arise due to listening without judgment. There are many more consequences that you can imagine but I can tell you that they are all disastrous. Misunderstanding is a major factor which is the origin of fights in families. A person young or old must always be taken seriously when relating his problems. It is not always necessary that a younger person is always at fault. An older person may also be at fault. In many families, if a person is older than all the family members it means that he is always right. Why is this so? Is he not human? Every human make mistakes. In many films you can see that when actors have lots of problems they go and refuge themselves in cigarettes, alcohols, drugs and some even suicide themselves. In the sketch you can see that when his father takes him for the culprit, he started to drink alcohol and this has resulted into a lot of problems for not only him but also his parents. This does not happen only in films but also in the actual life. I myself have a relative who has started smoking just because of his own problems. One day I asked him why he has started smoking. He told me that when his business was not working well he had no one to entrust himself and then started to smoke and as you all know "once pop up can't stop" now he is unable to quit smoking by himself. So just imagine that you go and tell your parents about your problems and they do not listen to you or make you the culprit without knowing the whole problem. What would be your reaction? Won't you react in the same way as these persons? Naturally this will discourage you even more. Thinking positively Thinking plays a very important role in our everyday life. Every action is accompanied by a thought. There are two main ways of thinking; Thinking positively and thinking negatively. Frankly speaking thinking positively is much better for yourself and your surroundings. Any negative thought can have terrible consequences and this is one of the factors that prevents national unity. Jealousy is an imperfection that man has a role to play in the creation of negative thinking. For example a person can see his wife talking with a stranger. If the man thinks negatively about it, then consequences like fighting may lead to divorce; now if the couple has children just imagine through which Listening Without Judgment and Thinking Positively :: The Sketch Plays Life Essays Listening Without Judgment and Thinking Positively The sketch that was just been performed on stage by my friends shows you one of the consequences that can arise due to listening without judgment. There are many more consequences that you can imagine but I can tell you that they are all disastrous. Misunderstanding is a major factor which is the origin of fights in families. A person young or old must always be taken seriously when relating his problems. It is not always necessary that a younger person is always at fault. An older person may also be at fault. In many families, if a person is older than all the family members it means that he is always right. Why is this so? Is he not human? Every human make mistakes. In many films you can see that when actors have lots of problems they go and refuge themselves in cigarettes, alcohols, drugs and some even suicide themselves. In the sketch you can see that when his father takes him for the culprit, he started to drink alcohol and this has resulted into a lot of problems for not only him but also his parents. This does not happen only in films but also in the actual life. I myself have a relative who has started smoking just because of his own problems. One day I asked him why he has started smoking. He told me that when his business was not working well he had no one to entrust himself and then started to smoke and as you all know "once pop up can't stop" now he is unable to quit smoking by himself. So just imagine that you go and tell your parents about your problems and they do not listen to you or make you the culprit without knowing the whole problem. What would be your reaction? Won't you react in the same way as these persons? Naturally this will discourage you even more. Thinking positively Thinking plays a very important role in our everyday life. Every action is accompanied by a thought. There are two main ways of thinking; Thinking positively and thinking negatively. Frankly speaking thinking positively is much better for yourself and your surroundings. Any negative thought can have terrible consequences and this is one of the factors that prevents national unity. Jealousy is an imperfection that man has a role to play in the creation of negative thinking. For example a person can see his wife talking with a stranger. If the man thinks negatively about it, then consequences like fighting may lead to divorce; now if the couple has children just imagine through which

Delta Airlines Plays Catch-Up

1. What business risks would Delta is taking if it decided not to catch up with industry leaders in using IT to gain a competitive advantage? Delta would fall behind the industry and its customer expectations. If Delta’s business processes were significantly inefficient and ineffective compared with its competitors, it would lose business. Airline customers are typically operating under time constraints and pressures to catch flights and connections, and they do not want to be inconvenienced by inefficient and ineffective business processes.2. What competitive advantages can an airline gain by using DSS and EIS? An airline can use both DSSs and EISs to uncover areas where the company can create competitive advantages and perhaps first-mover advantages such as self-check in and printing boarding passes from home. First-mover advantages can be enormous and place an organization in the position to significantly impact its market share. A fast follower can also increase its market share by tagging onto the first-movers ideas. It also has the advantage of avoiding some of the mistakes or pitfalls that the first-mover might have made. Of course, a fast follower will only obtain a temporary advantage, as many competitors will begin to implement the innovative IT system.3. What other industries could potentially benefit from the use of yield management systems? Almost all industries could benefit from the use of a yield management system. Like in health care industry for doctor visits and even the telecommunications industry for shared modem services.4. How can American and United use customer information to gain a competitive? Both airlines used their innovative IT systems to gain valuable business intelligence into their customer information. They conceived and rolled out hugely successful frequent flyer programs, which increased the likelihood that frequent business travelers, their most profitable customers, would fly with them instead of with a competitor. Frequent flyer programs require sophisticated computer system to properly account for and manage the flight activity of millions of customers. Ultimately, frequent flyer programs became an entry barrier for the industry  because all airline companies felt they could not compete for the best customers without having their own frequent flyer systems.5. What types of metrics would Delta executives want to see in a digital dashboard? Delta could use throughput and speed efficiency metrics to baseline and benchmark its gate and boarding applications. It could also use usability and customer satisfaction effectiveness metrics to determine the satisfaction in its gate and boarding applications. The dashboard could also contain information on market pulse, customer service, and cost drivers. It should also allow for sensitivity analysis, what-if analysis, and goal-seeking analysis.6. How could Delta use supply chain management to improve its operations? Airline security is one of the hott est topics today. Delta could use supply chain management to monitor luggage, scan bags, and detect bombs and other hazardous material. It could also create a more efficient and effective supply chain allowing the company to pass these savings onto the customer, while making the company more profitable.