Compare and contrast between Polish and American Christmas Holiday Essay

Compare and contrast between Polish and American Christmas Holiday - Essay Example The date of Christmas may have been earlier chosen to match with either the day exactly nine months after it is believed that Jesus was conceived, the date of the Roman winter solstice, or any one of the ancient winter festivals. The Christmas holiday was especially a Christian holiday celebrated by most Christians but in recent times it has seen a shift such that many non-Christians also celebrate or engage in the Christmas festivities. This day is also celebrated in different ways by different people, cultures and may involve gift giving, church celebrations, special meals and tree decorations. In other areas it is taken as a time to meet with family and neighbors and forgive each other of the past. Christmas is celebrated differently in different countries with traditions and customs that follow it. Christmas in the in the United States is a huge phenomenon. It begins in November and ends in January. It is not a single day but a long period that culminates with the New Year celebr ations. The entire period is associated with huge spending and festivities that most Americans engage into before the day of Christmas. During this time Americans decorate both the interior and the exterior of their homes. As significant decoration that is popular with the Americans is the Christmas tree. These trees are cultivated before the Christmas holiday and families and businesses including the white house order these trees that are then placed centrally in the home. It is then decorated with ornaments, tinsel and light with a star placed at the very top of the tree. This star symbolizes the star of Bethlehem that is believed to have guided the wise men in locating Jesus (USIA). The Christmas Eve, which is the day before Christmas, experiences so many activities. The day is associated with Santa Claus or Father Christmas whom it is believed that he visits homes while children are sleeping. Father Christmas is believed to fill stockings that are hung on the mantelpiece with gi fts for the children. It is a tradition for children in the United States to leave a glass of milk and a plate of cookies for Father Christmas as they go to sleep. This day is also important as people buy gifts, wrap them and place them near the tree. These presents received from parents, friends and relatives are not opened until the Christmas morning. During this day too, there is a special church service called the midnight mass, that is held during the night and people spend in the church. For families with small children candle light services are held for them and these symbolize the nativity of Christ (USIA). During the Christmas day, families open their gifts in the morning before they head for the morning service that is held to bear witness to the birth of Jesus. The whole day is usually filled with celebrations with parents and relatives spending time together. The evening is marked by a special Christmas diner where lots of a food variety is served. For most American fami lies’ sweet pastry, eggnog that is sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg are served. Other popular dishes served include casseroles; the deserts are usually prepared with a family recipe that is usually kept a secret. Some of the snacks that are enjoyed during this time include nuts, cheeses and chocolates. Christmas holiday in polish resembles most of the aspects found in the American Christmas holiday; however there are few exceptions for as it will be seen in the discussion. The

Financial Accounting Week 8 Course Project Assignment

Financial Accounting Week 8 Course Project - Assignment Example This paper tends to illustrate the different methods of depreciation and analyse the comparison between them with their effects in financial reporting in a business (Rezaee & Riley 2010). It is the widely used method in the United States by several companies and firms. This method charges equal amount of depreciation in each accounting period throughout the business period. It is applied by getting the difference between a company’s asset’s historical cost and its salvage value, the outcome is divided by the asset’s useful life. This method has a uniform and stable effect on business revenues and the asset value remains stable and is predictable throughout the accounting periods of the asset’s useful life (Cunningham & Cunningham 2004). This method assigns equal amount of expense to each unit of production of an asset or the service rendered by the asset. It involves determining the depreciation per unit of an asset by getting the difference between its historical cost and the salvage value, then dividing by the estimated units of production during its useful life. The company then determines the expense associated with the depreciation by multiplying the unit depreciation by the number of units produced (Benston 2006). This method of depreciation has varying effects on a company’s assets depending on the units of production. If the units of production are more, then the depreciation expense in the balance sheet will also be more, while less units of production leads to lesser depreciation expense (Rezaee & Riley 2010). Under this method, the amount of depreciation is determined by multiplying the depreciable costs by fractions based on the sum of the asset’s useful life. This method often results in write-offs than the straight-line method; however the write-offs are less than the double-declining method (Cunningham & Cunningham 2004). This method has an effect on the

The Macro Perspective On Basf Chemical Company Commerce Essay

The Macro Perspective On Basf Chemical Company Commerce Essay To start, here is the macro perspective on BASF Chemical Company. BASF is one of the leading chemical companies in the world, like this BASF is influenced by many political and economical factors. Different laws and regulations determine the production of the company. Moreover, the technological factor has hardly influence in this area of chemical production, where the innovations are leading force. In addition, the main mission of the company is to create chemistry for the sustainable future. Consequently, BASF Company has a lot of strategic methods to achieve its goals. This report has some objectives. To start, one of the main objectives of the report is to analyze BASF Company. To show the strengths and opportunities of the company`s future development. On the other hand, this report presents the weaknesses and threats of the company, for which it gives advice to make BASF more successful. In other words, this report aims to gives advice to BASF Company how to improve its internal and external situation. The following information was collected for this report. For collecting of information were used two main research methodologies. First, secondary research was done on micro and macro environment of BASF Company, for which the main source was used internet. Second, the primary research was done by conducting an interview with Mrs. Sengel, who is member of Executive Board of the company. The report has the fallowing structure. In chapter two, BASF Company and its product line are shown. In chapter three, the project`s description and aim are explained. Chapter four of the report is the Theoretical Framework of the report, in which the McKinsey`s seven S model, PEST analysis and SWOT analysis are theoretically described. In chapter five and six, PEST analysis and McKinsey`s seven S model are attached to collected information. PEST analysis is used to analyze BASF`s eternal environment, while the McKinsey`s model is used to analyze BASF`s internal organization. In chapter seven, is shown SWOT analysis based on the collected information. In chapter eight the conclusions based on the analyses are drawn. In chapter nine, recommendations for company improvement are given. In chapter ten, this report is critically appraised. 2. Company description 2.1 General Company Information Here is general information about BASF Company. BASF is the leading chemical company, which chemicals are used in almost all industries. The production of the company is separate in six different segments: Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Functional Solution, Agricultural Solution and Oil Gas. BASF like an International company has 70 global and regional business units around the world. The department in Germany is thoroughly oriented in produce of Performance Products. BASF combine economic success, social responsibility and environment protection. The main mission of the company is to create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASFs 111, 141 employees, located all over the world, help the company to achieve its goals. BASF is market oriented in four main areas: Europe, North America, South America and Asia. In 2011, the most sales are made in Europe and company`s annual turnover amounted to 73, 5 billion Euros. 2.2 Product Description Germany`s department of BSAF has a broad range of products. The main segment is called Performance Products, which includes the fallowing product lines: Dispersions and Pigments, Care Chemicals, Nutrition and Health, Paper Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. The product portfolio of the company in this segment includes vitamins and foods additives, ingredients for pharmaceuticals and for hygiene, home and personal care items. Examples are products for hair care, sun and decorative care, body care, facial and oral care. The company does not offer products to the final client. BASF develop and sale molecules, catalysts and ingredients to the other companies which use this things for manufactures of products for final client. These things are not end- product; they are intermediate products which go to other steps of the production process. 3. Project description This chapter will give project description. The chapter will be separate in tree sub chapters, which will describe project description, project aim and research approach. 3.1 Project description This sub chapter will show the project description. To start, BASF is one of the leading chemical companies on the world market. In this market there is a big competition. Firstly, the future opportunity for the company is to create new products. Secondly, to find new market`s possibilities. Thirdly, one of the most important things in this branch is innovation. On the whole, to achieve its goals, BASF have to understand its own strengths and weaknesses. 3.2. Project aim The purpose of this sub chapter is to explain the project aim. For this project was collected information about external and internal environment of BASF Company. The aim of this project is to understand the company`s situation based on McKinsey 7S analysis, PEST and SWOT analysis and based on it to give recommendations about BASF`s future development. Furthermore, to show BASF`s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In other words, these are most important factors which describe present situation and future possibilities for one organization. 3.3 Research approach To start, for analysis of BASF Company`s present situation are used two research methods. First, the primary research was done by conducting an interview with Mrs. Sengel, who is member of Executive Board of the company. This information is used for internal analysis of the company. Second, the external environment is analyzed by secondary research method. This includes McKinsey 7S analysis and PEST analysis. Thirdly, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are described with use of SWOT analysis. In conclusion, all of collected information is used to give recommendations of the company, about its future development. *The world can be seen in the Glossary 4. Theoretical framework The purpose of chapter four is to show the theoretical framework of internal and external analysis. Hence, the real companys situation will be shown. First, in sub-chapter 4.1 will be shown the internal analysis- McKinsey 7S model. The model include seven elements, which are separated in so called hard S`s Strategy, Structure and Systems and four so called soft S`s Shared Values, Skills, Staff and Style. Second, in 4.2 will be discusse the external PEST analysis. In other words, Political, Economic, Socio-cultural and Technological factors that influence the company will be include. Finally, in 4.3 SWOT- overview of the company will be given. 4.1 Internal analysis Figure 1: McKinsey 7S model 7S.gif Source: 7S strategy software In this paragraph will be shown the so called hard S`s of McKinsey 7S model. Firstly, Strategy describes actions and plans of an organization to achieve specific goals. The external environment influences the company and its strategy. Thus the enterprise prepares to adapt on changes and to determine the right place among customer and competitors. Secondly, Structure describes the hierarchy of the company. It shows the relationships between the people which work in the organization. It can be seen on the organization chart. It always depends from the business strategy, form the business internationalization, size and diversity. The third S from so called hard Ss is Systems. Systems are all procedures which company uses to operate every day. This includes internal and external procedures. Systems are directly related to the Structure and Strategy of the company, because they describe the main practices of the organization to achieve its goals (Cuypers 2010, 3-9). The soft S from McKinsey 7S model, which will be given in this paragraph includes Shared Values, Skills, Staff and Style. Peters and Watermans (1984) argued that shared Values in 7S analysis determine the core guiding principles of the company. Moreover, it refers to what an organization stands for and believes in. Understanding the Shared Values of the company is the easiest way to find the main ideas and goals of the enterprise. To achieve these goals helps Skills. Skills are the unique abilities of the company. Skills describe the capacity and quality of the company in contrast with the competitors. It refers to the learned capability of staff within the company. Very important here is quality of the products and services within the organization. These things are related with the Staff and Style of the company. Staff refers to the number and type of people employed by the company. However, staff describes the processes used to manage the careers of employees. It is related to the Style, because it is directly dependent on the human resources system that manage the way staff is encourage, reward and motivate. Style is the work culture. It is describe the main way in which senior managers run the organization. It is related to the system that influences the procedures in the company. The most important things that style describes are how managers allocated their time, beliefs and their leadership skills. The main factors are the size and the structure of the organization which determines how different departments inside of the company are managed (Spencer, 2011). 4.2 External analysis In the first place, every organization depends on the political factors. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues. The political factors define the structure of the company and the rules under which the company must operated. It depends on the structure, because in the different countries the trade restrictions, tariffs, tax policy and employment laws are not the same (Oxford University Press, 2004). The second factor which directly influences every kind of company or organisation is the economic factor. The economic environment consist different factors, for example income and income distribution, current and project economic growth, inflation and interest rate. This environment can offer to the company both opportunities and threats. Understanding of economic environment determined the company development (Oxford University Press, 2004). Thirdly, the company is influenced by social factors. This lifestyle trends and demographic changes determined the consumer behavior. The main purpose of every company is to understand which exactly are the consumers wants and needs. If social-cultural changes are clear, it is easier for the company to developing strategies and practices to achieve its goals (Oxford University Press, 2004). Finally, in these days, one of most important factors which influence the company is technological environment. This is the most dramatic and the fastest development factor. These are forces that create new technologies, products and market opportunities. In the world of technology, the company has to be open and prepare for new opportunities (Oxford University Press, 2004). 4.3 SWOT According to Berry, the SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Berry, 2012). Strengths are internal capabilities that may help the company to reach its objectives; in contrast weaknesses may interfere for that. This includes understanding of the internal environment or the situation inside of the company or organisation. The factors which determined the straightness and weaknesses of the company are tend to be in the present. Factors are relating to products, pricing, quality, staff and processes within the company. With understanding of these factors the company may understand the unique selling proposition and how to improve it (Berry, 2012). Opportunities and threats are related with the external environment which shows the situation outside of the company or organisation. Here, the factors tend have to be in future. Factors here are relating with markets opportunities fashions, trends, seasonability, politics, society, competitors and every other external factor which influence the company. With understanding of opportunities company is able to exploit the external factors to its advantage. Threats are negative factors that may challenge the company`s performance (Berry, 2012). 5. External analysis This chapter explains the external environment analysis PEST. The chapter is divided into four sub charters. Firstly, sub chapter 5.1 will give the Political factors, which influence the BASF Company. Secondly, 5.2 illustrate Economic factors. Thirdly, 5.3 show Social factors. Finally, sub chapter 5.4 analyzes Technological factors which influence the company. 5.1 Political factors There are some political factors, which influence BASF Chemical Company. One of these factors is a common initiative for a sustainable chemicals industry has launched by European Union in 2005 year. This factor has a positive effect on BASF, because the mission of the company is to create chemicals for sustainable future. This political factor gives opportunity to the company to make more innovations with collaboration on European Union. The negative political factor for the company is unfavorable political environment. In European Union there are different laws and regulations about Genno- modified products and some molecule products. For these reason USA is more favorable market for these kinds of products (Thomas, 2005). 5.2 Economical factors One of the results from present credit crisis is reduced consumption of customers. This is strong factor, which influence BASF Company. It makes the future more unstable and precariously. Only the best companies with the best products could keep their market`s place. The second economic factor which influences BASF is increasing energy prices. It is negative because it could damage chemicals industry competitiveness further. On the other hand, there is increasing competition from new economic powers, such as China. To avoid these negative factors, BASF Company could orientate to different markets, such as Africa and Middle East (Thomas, 2005). 5.3 Social factors In chemical`s industry is very complicated to find new well educated faces. The reason is the fact that young people choose other careers in different branch. Young talents in chemical`s branch, which are well educated require very high remuneration and good working conditions. BASF Company is working to improve matters. Flexible working time is one of decisions of the problem. On this way could be attached qualified labour (Thomas, 2005). 5.4 Technological factors For BASF Company the technological innovations are very important. The main reason is that technological innovations gives opportunity to the company to make products better, and to add new products in company`s portfolio. The company is focus of solutions for sustainable future, and definitely innovations are the key point for it. At all, the global technology platforms act as partners in product development (Thomas, 2005). 6. Internal analysis 6.1 McKinsey seven S framework To start, for BASF like as world`s leading chemistry company is very important to strengthen its position on the market. To achieve this goal, company has to focus their business on customer`s needs and demands. In chemistry market, and for company, which do not produce product for the final consumer is required to focus on innovation, to create new products and functionalized materials, and to find new solutions for more sustainable future. These things are very important too, for the other aim of the company, which is to increase year`s profit with average four percent per year, and to grow two percentage points faster than global chemical production (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). The structure of BASF Company is a Matrix structure. The Matrix organizational structure divides authority both by functional area and project area. In BASF there is Board of Executive Directors which consist eight members. They are responsible for the management of the company. The Board of Executive Directors regularly reports to The Supervisory Board. Supervisory Board consist 12 members, six shareholders representative elected by the Annual meeting and six members appointed by the representative body of the employees. Every country and every different department in BASF Company has a chief, who are supervise from the Chairman of the management board Kurt Bock (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). The company systems are very important for the business and for good done work. BASF has an own marketing department in every country where the company is located. In addition, they have supporting marketing agency outside the company, which helps them to develop the motives and the way BASF wants to present itself to the customers. Like a chemicals company, BASF use only trait media for advertising home personal care magazines or euro- cosmetic magazine, which are special magazines for cosmetic market. To exist and to be successful a big company like BASF is necessary to have fixed rules and good communication between different departments. Primary method within the company to discuss the problems and development in the market are manager`s meetings. The complicated structure of the company determined the need from daily meetings of the leader figures in the organization, much that the other companies (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). One of BASF`s goals is to make rules and system more common in the different countries. The leader style in the company allows to employees to share their ideas about innovations. Every idea on issue placed by some of employees is consider, but the main decision is always taken by The Supervisory Board. In the same time, the management style is people oriented, one of the most important things for the company is to understand consumer needs, and to create values for them (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). BASF is company with almost 200Â  000 employees. Every day in Germany for BASF works 54Â  000 employees. They work in different departments but the responsibility for their work is taken by managers of every department. There are a lot of frameworks and guides which are coming from the central department, and which are common for every employee. The employees have to respect the rules and framework given by the main department. Rewards and warnings in the company depend from Human Resource Department. There is not something special within the company, they fallow the legal system. Every employee has a set of target which is called employee dialogue. This makes management style in the company open for ideas from employees. Employee dialogue gives opportunity to employees to talk about the goals which they are achieving in the year and to share new ideas. The incentive system in the company is connected with reward as money bonuses for well done job (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 201 2). BASF Company, as company which do not produce product for the final customers, it is very important to makes products better, healthier and safer than competitors. The reason is that the end consumer never seen and could not understand that BASF Company is better than competitors, and cannot contrast them. The most important thing for the company are innovations, this is the only way that company can be unique and distinctive from competitors. The Company spending a lot of money every year to make research, which helps to find new opportunities for development. In the same time, the company makes everything possible to have products which are already developed and to make them successful on the market. The main question for BASF is to understand better than competitors what are exactly consumer`s needs and to be ready to satisfy these needs on time (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). The core value of BASF is to create chemistry for sustainable future. To achieve its goals BASF tries to be a company with innovative products, intelligent solution of problems and good service departments. The company strives to be the world most widespread supplier in the chemical industry and to generate high return of its assets. It wants to reach these intentions without harming the environment and nature (Interview, Appendix 1) (BASF, 2012). 6.2 Interconnection of the seven S To start, for BASF like as world`s leading chemistry company is very important to strengthen its position on the market. For achieve its goal for the Company is necessary to make its products better than competition and to has high quality of its services. For this helps The Matrix organisational structure and the management style of BASF, which is people oriented oriented to understand customers needs. The company is focus on innovations and every decision for a new idea is taken by The Supervisory Board. For the company`s success is important to have good communication between the different departments and to have fixed rules. In BASF this is achieve with regular meetings of The Board of Executive Directors. The company strives to be the world most widespread supplier in the chemical industry and to generate high return of its assets. For these goals, company has to employ highly qualified staff. Moreover, the leader system of the company is focuses to encourage the employees to share their new ideas. For this, the company use so called Employee dialogue. On the other hand, the company has to invest in researches. The RD department is responsible to find new market opportunities for BASF. The main mission of BASF is to create chemicals for sustainable future. For this goal helps the good organisation structure, cooperation between departments. On the other hand, very important are employees and the way they are managed. Very important are innovations and the style of the company. All of these things determined the current situation of the company and its future position and development of the market. 7. SWOT overview First, BASF Company is one of the leading chemicals company in the world. This factor gives chance to the company, to manage the big part of the market and to have hard influence on smaller chemicals companies. Moreover, as so international and big company BASF has a lot of production sides around the world. One of the company`s strengths are production sides, so called Verbund sides. These sides have really good conglomerates of the production. This conglomeration allows, every kind of product produced within the company, to be used in the most efficient way. Different materials produced in one department of the company, can be used in another one, which means that the BASF Company produce raw materials which use in its own production. Besides, this allows to the company, to produce a lot of different materials and products, to make innovations in this sector and to create more value for the customers than competitors (YouSigma 2011). Second, BASF Company has a huge profit in the last year. Nevertheless, in the last few years is observed declining earnings in several business segments, which is one of the company`s weakness. There are several reasons about this fact. The firs reason, is one of the company threats, is the Economic slowdown in the European Union Region, which is due of the present credit crisis. The credit crisis in these days covers and influence, both small and in the same way huge companies like BASF. The other reason is that people in European Union have possibility to choose between hundred different products. Here the competition is really strong and the market in Europe is developed till maximum. One of company opportunities is to rising commodity chemicals market in regions like Africa, Asia Pacific and Middle East. These are the growth regions of the future, for almost every kind of industry, because the growth rate of profit in future in European countries would not be so high. The other o pportunity for the company is always to develop new products and new ideas (YouSigma 2011). Figure 2: SWOT analysis table Location of factor Favorable Unfavorable Internal Strengths Leading chemical company Concept of Verbund Variety of products Weaknesses Decrease earning in some countries Less expenditure for RD External Opportunities Product innovations Expand the business in Africa, Asia and Middle East Threats Laws and regulations Economic slowdown in European Union 8. Conclusion BASF is international company, which is leader in chemical market. The company production is separated in six different departments and its market is oriented in four main regions. The department of the company which is located in Germany is oriented primly in production of Performance products products for personal care. Moreover, the main mission of the company is to keep its position on the market and to create products for sustainable future. For understanding the present situation of the company was collected information, based on it was made analysis for internal and external environment of the BASF Company. In this report, BASF Company was analyzed. For this analysis were used McKinsey 7 S model for internal environment of the company. The weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats were analyzed based on SWOT analysis of BASF. Based on these analyses it was found that the company has well conducted Matrix Structure and good working management style. Nevertheless, global company like BASF is difficult to manage and demand strict rules and frameworks for the employees. On the other hand, the company produces intermediates, which are used from other manufacture companies to produce final products. For these reason, the final customer is not always informed for the quality of BASF`s products. This is the main fact, that one of the most important things for the company is innovations. Certainly, the innovations and development are the company`s main mission. For this mission helps quality R D and marketing department. The conglomeration of the different departments is one of company`s strength. For understanding of BASF`s external environment was used PEST analysis. It was found that, there are different political, economical, social-cultural and technological factors which influence the company. One of negative factors is different laws and regulations, which limited the production of Genno- modified products and some molecule products in European Union. In the same way, negatives factors which influence the company are increasing price of the electricity in these days, and increasing competition from countries such China. But at the same time, the European Union gives opportunity for innovations, which is positive political factor for the company. In conclusion, the company is focus to produce products and to find solutions for sustainable future. Understanding of internal and external environment is the main factor for achieve its goal. 9. Recommendation In this report BASF Chemical Company was analyzed. Based on these analysis was determine the opportunities, threats, strength and weaknesses of the company. Moreover, the internal and external environment of the company was analyzed. Based on this information, this report gives recommendations of BASF how to take advantage of its opportunities. Firstly, BASF Company can be better than competition if it makes more innovations. This is possible with collaboration of RD and marketing department. The company has to be open for new ideas and to search for people who are useful for it. Moreover, the opportunity for the company is to rising commodity chemicals market in regions like Africa, Asia Pacific and Middle East. On this way, BASF will continue to develop the business and to retain its position on the market. Secondly, one of BASF`s mission is to make its management systems more common for every company`s department in the world. For this mission the company has to create more strictly rules and frameworks, which a common for every employee. Furthermore, BASF have to keep the good communication within departments. Finally, BASF Company have to invest more in research about customer`s needs. This is the best way to strengthen its position on the market. The most important thing for one company is to know exactly customers demands and to make everything possible to create products better than competitors. 10. Critical appraisal Firstly, the information collected for the external environment of the company PEST analysis, was very less. There were not interview questions about PEST analysis. For this reason, was very difficult to determine the current external environment of the company and factors which influenced it. Secondly, BASF Company is huge company for which is easy to find a lot of information. It is difficult to determine which of the information is really important. Moreover, the time for writing the report was limited and the interview was conducted late. It is very difficult with so much information to find the right source. To close, it is necessary to be more prepare with the information for this kind of report.

Free Narrative Essays - Transcendentalism :: Example Personal Narratives

Transcendentalism A whole month of being nice. From the start, I didn't think it was even humanly possible. Although I always try my hardest to be pleasant, I'm sarcastically witty by nature. This project, no matter how inspirational and uplifting it could be, would decidedly be no walk in the park. Nevertheless, I decided to persevere. Even if I ended up being a complete Transcendental failure, maybe I'd still learn something along the way. On the first day, I went for about twenty minutes before cracking a joke at my best friend. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me, but I actually stopped and thought about the possible consequences of my actions. Breakthrough! I went for another twenty minutes, most likely, before making some sort of snide comment, though. Oops. In the month of Transcendentalism, I kept a journal. I made a "Transcendentalism fact sheet" and thumbtacked it to my wall. I may not have tried my hardest every day, but I made an honest attempt. Overall, in a whole month, I may not have been completely successful in becoming Transcendental. Depending on whom you ask, I may not have even made much progress in becoming even remotely Transcendental. In my opinion, though, I think it worked. "Why?" you ask. Because, in the course of this project, I learned a lot about myself, my friends, and the way actions affect everyone around me. Through this project, I realized the importance of accepting other people for who they are, of letting go of anger, of trusting your own decisions, and of taking the initiative to change your life. In fact, there was only one tenet of Transcendentalism - defying "predestination" by leading fate instead of being led by it - that I had a hard time believing, I think I gained a better understanding of why that thought is so important in life. I doubt that I was any more than fifty percent successful in becoming truly Transcendental, but a change for the positive is an improvement from before. I've recognized the importance in the little blessings in life. Having a loving family, a roof over my head, and living in an overall supportive environment are things that I would not necessarily have taken the time to appreciate and be thankful for before.

Customer-Driven Learning at Radisson Hotels Essay

In the case study titled â€Å"Customer-Driven Learning at Radisson Hotels Worldwide† the background, growth, and service guarantees of the Radisson Hotel chain is discussed. Radisson Hotels was founded in 1938 by Curtis L Carlson of Carlson Companies Inc. The company’s headquarters were located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was divided into four operating groups – Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Carlson Marketing Group, and Carlson Leisure Group. In 1975 Radisson only had ten hotels but quickly grew to three hundred and sixty locations in forty seven countries by 1998 by partnering with existing hotel companies creating Radisson SAS Worldwide under the â€Å"growth at any cost† model. By 1998 Carlson Hospitality Worldwide included Radisson Hotels Worldwide, Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, TGI Friday’s, Regent Hotels, Italianni’s, Friday’s Front Row Sports Grill, Friday’s American Bar, and Radisson Seve n Seas Cruises (Schroeder, pg 454). Also in 1998 Curt Carlson’s daughter Marilyn Carlson Nelson took over as CEO of the Carlson Companies. It was at this time that Brian Stage, Radisson’s president, and Maureen O’Hanlon, Radisson’s executive vice president, started taking initiatives to transform the â€Å"growth at any cost† model to becoming a more customer-focused brand. To achieve this transformation from the current diverse hotel quality, they included a service guarantee, a guest satisfaction measurement program, and employee satisfaction measurement program, and an information technology initiative. Their goal was to make Radisson the â€Å"most trusted and respected brand worldwide† (Schroeder, pg 454). To support these strategies, Stage and O’Hanlon initiated a 100% guest satisfaction program, a fully integrated guest information system, guest and employee satisfaction measurement programs, guest recognition and rewards program, and a genuine hospitality program . Customer satisfaction is a relative concept that varies from one customer to another (Schroeder, pg. 147). A service guarantee is a promise by a company to compensate the customer in some way if the defined level of service delivered is not duly met. An effective service guarantee sets clear standards of performance for customers to expect and to which employees adhere (Al, 1993; Rose, 1990; Hart, 1988). It communicates to workers the level of service the organization intends to offer to its customers, as well  as provides a clear and strong task identity (Cahill & Warshawky, 1995). It mandates that every decision and employee must focus on the customers. Successful implementation of a service guarantee would require managerial emphasis and proper allocation of resources on key determinant variables. Management staff is primarily responsible for the formulation and communication of service priorities to frontline staff as well as the design of recovery measures for resolving customer complaints. Quality of service and the ability to attract and retain customers dictate the success or failure of hotel service providers. Hotels typically measure quality through inspections and with customer-satisfaction data. David Kearns once said â€Å"Performance benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products, services and practices against the toughest competitors or those companies recognized as the industry leaders.† In today’s competitive environment, customers are quick to abandon services that do not meet expectations. The ease with which customers can switch from their current service to another, demands that providers deliver the highest possible levels of service quality and performance. To be successful, hotels must deliver positive customer experiences with rich, value-added services supported by comprehensive service quality management. Significant changes are occurring in the hotel industry that affect how providers run their businesses as well as what services they offer. There is a greater need to attract new customers, find new revenue sources, reduce operational costs and increase customer satisfaction. Successful quality management of next-generation services requires end-to-end service management across complex, multitechnology, multivendor infrastructures. Providers need to be able to quickly assess the impact of events on the performance and availability of revenue-generating services, establish and ensure aggregate service quality levels, and provide a detailed analysis of an individual subscriber’s experience that correlates back to broader service quality trends. In effect, providers need to be able to visualize service quality, prioritize their efforts and communicate relevant information to all stakeholders. This means they need to consolidate key data from disparate systems and from multiple vendors. They  need to be able to model relationships and dependencies between the network, applications and databases so they can see what resources are critical to their service. Communication plays a vital role in managing overall service quality. Providing relevant service intelligence to those who need it such as operations, IT, executives and customer care, helps providers rapidly resolve issues and minimize service impact on customers. They can quickly relate performance to business metrics. They can get a real-time view to better understand the customer experience. By improving communication across all levels of the value chain, they can help improve overall service quality and customer satisfaction. With the improved communication, Radisson must train all employees from all franchises in the same fashion to create a more consistent customer-driven concept. Many companies and franchise systems have found themselves in a situation where rapid change and deployment is critical to the company’s success. It’s absolutely essential to have a roadmap under these conditions. Once training is completed, studies and surveys must be done that include guests and employees to provide information that can be used to increase customer and employee satisfaction as well as help shape the direction for a defined service guarantee. Once defined, the service guarantee should be implemented to continually provide quality measurements and improve employee motivation. Providers also need a real-time view to understand the customer experience. How many customers are experiencing the service? Who is impacted by service issues? Providers need to be able to quickly assess the impact of events on service performance and availability, as well as how the business is affected. By providing a detailed analysis of an individual subscriber’s experience and correlating it back to broader service trends, providers can better manage the overall customer experience. Information technology software delivers comprehensive service quality management and customer experience management that help service providers  differentiate through improved service quality and lower operational costs. It gives them the ability to monitor and manage, from a single, central location, the availability, performance and quality of services. Information technology software equips them with a complete view of all the resources that comprise a service, from very beginning all the way to the customer. Information technology software not only plays a part in accelerating the drive to improve service quality but additionally measures information needed to improve customer and employee satisfaction. It can measure and create reports against key measurements to more effectively monitor availability, quality of virtually any service. By delivering new, high-quality services to market, they can attract new customers and generate new revenue streams. By enabling an improved customer experience, providers can help reduce churn, positively affect the uptake of that particular service and impact a subscriber’s willingness to try new services. Delivering consistent high-quality services to customers in a franchise business is more difficult than in a non-franchised business. In a franchised business, all employees must be trained in the same manner as well as have access to the same information. There are no exact guidelines, nor books to follow, nor formulas to adhere to when it comes to establishing and maintaining strong franchisor-franchisee relationships. It must be a strategic choice that is constantly enhanced, nurtured, and developed (Howe, 2003). Once a relationship is commenced it must be sustained, and any effort to maintain a high-quality affiliation requires the vital component of effective, two-way, communication. The franchisor is responsible for providing the channels for communication. A commitment to high-quality communication will also help to align the goals of the management team, hotel workers, owners, corporate management, and corporate staff. There are other benefits that come from this commitment to a two-way exchange of ideas and perspective. It cultivates a mutual respect and commitment between the employees, building trust and therefore solidifying a fully functional and working relationship. This should be designed to keep in touch with the franchisees’ core needs and goals, and provide an environment that enables  franchisees to approach the franchisor with questions, concerns, or ideas for improving the programs or recommended changes. Another means of communication is an intranet site accessible only by the franchisor, franchisees and their employees that provides a forum for questions, news updates, and other business information. Through these various forms of communication the franchisor can educate franchisees on the brand strategies and enhance their ability as keepers of the brand (Howe, 2003). Through a commitment to each of the key elements of effective two-way communication franchisors and franchisees can strengthen the strategies and consumer level execution that will drive their brand’s performance (Howe, 2003). Since the beginning of the change that Stage and O’Hanlon brought about, services have been implemented to acquire and satisfy customers. These services include the Express Yourself pre-arrival online check-in, the â€Å"Curtis-C† reservation system, the â€Å"Yes I can!† training program, the gold points plus customer reward program, and their 100% guest satisfaction service guarantee. These programs are designed to link the customers with the staff. The information technology used to create the check-in and reservation systems is an amazing service that benefits both the guest and the staff. The â€Å"Yes I can!† training program has been developed to train all employees consistently throughout the franchises to assist in aligning the goals of each franchise with their new brand strategy. The gold points plus reward program is a program that allows it’s customers to earn reward points that can be used for free stays or air miles. It also gives its members access to exclusive hotel and travel offers as well as in-hotel benefits. The website for the gold points program also lets it’s members make online reservations, check-in online, and select their stay preferences. In the matter of the last ten years, Radisson Hotels has escalated from a once â€Å"unfocused† brand into one of the world’s leading, full-service global hotel companies. This has been successfully accomplished through the organization of its franchises and implementation of information technology systems. Radisson Hotels & Resorts is committed to change and innovation in  all key areas including its growth strategy, operations, franchising, sales and marketing, and technology, to operate with maximum effectiveness in a highly competitive business environment (The Radisson Story). Technology will undoubtedly continue to develop and Radisson Hotels should continue to progress along with it to stay on top of the service industry as one of the best global hotel companies out there. References Al, L. (1993). Service guarantees in outpatient clinics: a case study. Health Care Management Review, 18 (3), 59-65. Cahill, D. J., & Warshawky, R. M. (1995). Beyond competence: unconditional guarantees as a customer-service tool. Journal of Customer Service in Marketing and Management, 1 (3), 67-77. Hart, C. W. L. (1988). The power of unconditional service guarantees. Harvard Business Review, 88 (4), July/August, 54-62. Howe, Michael C. (2003). Keys to a successful franchisor-franchisee relationship: through a commitment to each of the†¦ Franchising World. http://www.allbusiness.com/management/657315-1.htmlImprove service quality and enhance the customer experience. December 2007 ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/tivoli/whitepapers/GMW14002-USEN-00_SP.pdfKearns, David. Chairman of the New American Schools Development Corporation, formerly chairman and CEO of the Xerox Corporation and Deputy U.S. Secretary of Education. Rose, M. D. (1990). No strings attached. Chief Executive, 60 (Jul/Aug), 30-33. Schroeder, Roger. (2008). Operations Management: Contemporary Concepts and Cases 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill. New York, New York. The Radisson Story. http://www.radisson.com/section/aboutus.story/aboutus.sidemenus

Solar Panel

The local council of Greenville recently made a proposal for all houses and businesses to install solar hot-water systems by 2010. Houses and businesses that who have not installed solar hot-water systems by then would be charged a â€Å"greenhouse levy†. However some residents have expressed anger over the proposal. â€Å"Solar Sellout† published in a local newspaper, an opinion piece and its accompanying cartoon written Bob Walsh, contends that the proposal which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not appropriate for the small suburb of Greenville.Walsh uses a sarcastic and angry tone which is quite personal, and aims to clearly outline why the proposal by the government is a bad idea. Walsh manipulates the reader by using a series of techniques to convey his point of view. The first technique which stands out is the headline, and the use of a graphic. The headline ‘solar sellout’ is conveying the meaning that the proposal will be exactly that, a â€Å"sellout†. The cartoon stands out instantly due to its size and placement on the page. The image portrays the character of the Mayor.He’s depicted to be a person of obvious wealth, shown by the ‘bling’ worn around his neck and his incredible size. The size of the Mayor also gives the impression that he’s a force to be reckoned with and that the population of the town don’t have a chance of standing up to him. The image shows the two classes of wealth present in the town, one, being the rich, represented by the large, well-kept houses both with solar panels on the roof, yet also clearly the minority. Then the working class which is represented by the collection of smaller houses that aren’t able to afford the panels.The reader then sees the families living in the less attractive houses being forced to pay the Mayor their well-earned money. Wash uses a series of techniques to emphasise his point of view. He commences with emotive la nguage like â€Å"†¦ become a captive of the radical environmentalists† who have made the council their â€Å"captive†. By describing environmentalists as â€Å"radical†, Mr Walsh evokes a sense of fear in the audience, questioning whether environmentalists can be trusted and if they are safe to be consulted with.This leads the reader to question the honesty of the council and their ability to fend off environmental lobby groups who have their own agenda in the scheme. The word â€Å"captive† forces the reader to question the credibility of the council in its ability to make logical decisions on the community’s behalf. Such an implication is likely to leave readers questioning the real motivations behind the council’s decision. The use of the loaded term â€Å"incredibly† coerces the reader to consider the proposal as ridiculous and out of line.Furthermore, it belittles those who are supporters of the proposal and leads the reade r to consider supporters of the proposal as absurd. The author continues with loaded language saying that â€Å"this is a blatant abuse of residents’ rights†¦ † in an attempt to appeal to the audiences self interest and desire for freedom. By describing the citizens as â€Å"innocent† Mr Walsh creates a divide between the council and the residents of Greenville.This intends to imply to the reader that the residents are the victims of the proposal and the council is set to take advantage of the residents. In a bid to add credibility to his argument, Walsh utilises statistics such as â€Å"The cost? $200 per house, and $500 per business! † Wash also uses rhetorical question and then answering it himself. By doing so, Walsh ridicules the suggestion of the cost to the consumer. This appeals to the readers sense of financial security and makes the suggestion seem ridiculous.He also states that even if every Australian household installed hot water systems , â€Å"greenhouse gases would only be reduced by†¦ just 5. 1%†. The use of these statistics is employed not only to add credibility to his own argument but to discredit the council’s claim that its proposal would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The council claim is further made illogically when the author says â€Å"Greenville only represents a tiny fraction of that 5. 1%† so â€Å"how can one suburb’s actions affect the whole world? The author’s sarcastic use of this rhetorical question aims to embarrass the council and its proposal, thus convincing the reader to believe the council’s argument has been discredited and that Mr Walsh’s is the most valid. Finally,Mr Walsh proposes his own solution to this proposal and challenges the mayor to â€Å"lobby governments for more nuclear power plants, rather than squander public money on frivolous solar panels†. The emotive term â€Å"frivolous† intends to ridicule the proposal and coerces the reader to feel hat there are far more effective alternatives than the council’s current proposal. Furthermore, contrasting the current proposal with his own proposal, allows Walsh to appear to be well-informed on the issue, thus he knows what he is writing about. By appealing on the readers sense of self-interest, financial insecurity and suspicion of authority, Walsh persuades the reader to consider that the councils proposal would be ineffective and would suppress individual freedoms and rights; inappropriate for Greenville and the greater good.