Wednesday, October 30, 2019

An Autoinhibitory Domain Confers Redox Regulation to Maize Glycerate Essay

An Autoinhibitory Domain Confers Redox Regulation to Maize Glycerate Kinase - Essay Example In assessing the in vivo activity of GLYK, GLYK activity was found to be low in the absence of 1, 4-dithio-DL-threitol (DTT), which cleaves disulfide bonds, but high in the presence of it. It needs light to function, as well. Next, 6 maize Trx genes were found from maize genome using sorghum Trx. The two type f Trx genes activated maize GLYK the most. Finally, in comparing maize GLYK to C3 plants, the Km of former was found to be similar to that of other plants in reducing conditions, but was only a third when DTT or Trx was absent. In addition, maize GLYK is longer, having a C-terminal extension of seven amino acids, including 2 Cys residues that form a disulfide bond Overall, the research was able to identify the molecular mechanism of maize GLYK regulation, which is the disulfide bond at the C-terminal extension. However, the authors were mistaken when they said in the text that it is the Km, which is similar among the plants. They would have been more correct if they said it was Vmax, as table I suggests. In addition, it would have been better if the writers said that the values being compared are not significantly different from each other, because, in contrast to the text, they are not similar as

Monday, October 28, 2019

Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay I am going to look at chapter 8 of Great Expectations. There are four main characters in this chapter. They are Pumblechook, Pips , Miss Havisham and Estella. The story begins when a poor orphan boy known as Pips, visits a strange old lady named Miss Havisham to play with a girl called Estella of his own age. Miss Havishams family is a very high-class family. The story I will be looking at next is called The Darkness Out There. There are three main characters in Penelope Livelys short story. They are: Mrs Rutter, Sandra and Kerry. The story is about a teenage girl who as part of the school Good Neighbours Club visits an old lady in her cottage and meets a boy her own age on the way there. The story is based on the memories of the old lady about the Second World War, which she narrates to the two teenagers. In Great Expectations Uncle Pumblechook is portrayed as if he is a pompous, self-important man. He tries to behave as a teacher, and uses every situation to teach Pip something. He is very interested in maths and keen to teach Pip And fourteen. Uncle Pumblechook is a poor, low class person but he attempts to show that he is a rich, valued and well respected member of society. He gets upset by Estella when she talked to him in an unnegotiable way and insulted his dignity. She said it so finally, and in such an undiscussible way, that Mr Pumblechook, though in a condition of ruffled dignity, couldnt protest. His pomposity has well and truly been put in its place by a child. Pip is the one who is telling the story; the narrator. It is easy for the author, Charles Dickens to show us what Pip is like. His role as narrator helps to reflect the thoughts and feelings of the author through Pip. Especially as Pip is thought to be based on the character of Dickens himself when he was a boy. Pip is treated with carelessness and little respect as suits his low social class. He attempts to show that he is an important person, well behaved and well brought up but Miss Havisham and Estella respond to him in a negative way making him feel rejected turn him down. Dont be ridiculous boy. Pips feelings were really hurt and dashed by Miss Havishams attitude and by Estella as well. Though she called me boy so often, and with a carelessness that was far from complimentary. But Pip resisted and tried not to be influenced by their attitudes. He was firm and stable and tried to control his emotions, which show us that he is a very patient and mature for his young age. Miss Havisham is described the first time she appears in the story as a strange, rich old lady who wants to seek revenge from all men. Pip is afraid of her but as the time pass, he gets used to her. Pip describes her as a skeleton, which not only describes her thinness but also shows how scared and surprised he is of this strange lady; the likes of which he has never met before. Miss Havisham always wears her wedding dress with bridal flowers in her hair and bright jewels, which sparkled, on her neck. This seemed very strange and shocking to Pip and to the readers: I think I should like to go home. As well as her strange clothes, Miss Havisham also makes strange remarks, which tell us about her state of mind. She asks Pip a very strange question, in a threatening way. You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born? She replies in a intimidating manner to her own question. What do I touch? Your heart, Broken. She signals these horrible remarks because of the blackest moment of her life, when her fianci didnt turn up for the wedding. Thats way she still wears her wedding dress in memory of the scandal she faced being deserted at the alter. Therefore she wants to revenge herself on all men, by breaking mens hearts. Unfortunately her latest victim is not a man. He is a young orphan boy who is still enjoying his childhood. Estella is very rude to Pip. She treats him as if he is her servant. Why? he is a common labouring boy. She criticises his appearance and tries to lower his value as a human being. And what coarse hands he has! And what thick boots. Pip responds in a mature way and describes her as a beautiful girl who has great dignity. I think she is very proud, He adds to that. I think she is very pretty. But he never forgot to retaliate to his loss of dignity, by describing her as a rude girl. I think she is very insulting. We know immediately from this that Pip is attracted to her. That she is rude and insulting is obvious from every word she says. Estella means a star in Latin and her name reflects her characteristics such as great dignity and pomposity, which a star represents. She shows her cruelty to Pip by insulting him, humiliating him and by treating him as if he is a slave who belongs to her. You are to wait here, you boy. As a result of the humiliation and remarks made by Estella and Miss Havisham, we notice that Pips view of himself changed as a result of the visit. I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard, to look at my coarse hands and my common boots. My opinion of those accessories was not favourable. They had never troubled me before, but they troubled me now, as vulgar appendages. This visit had a big influence of the way Pip looks at himself; maybe they succeeded in breaking his heart and achieved their aim. In The Darkness out There Penelope Livelys way of telling the story is different from that of Charles Dickens. In Great Expectations Dickens uses the first person narrative to tell the reader the story. He tells the story as if he was one of the characters. The narrative unfolds through the eyes of Pip. In The Darkness out There, Penelope Lively uses third person narrative. She tells the story from different points of view, and through different characters. She thus portrays a clear image of the scene in the readers mind, and makes the reader imagine and feel the situation, as if the reader is a part of the story. The purpose of Sandra and Kerrys visit to Mrs Rutters cottage is because both are members of a good neighbors club and their job is to go to the elderly to help them and look after them. The narrative opens by observing Sandra from the outside by describing her actions and giving a clear image of Sandras attitude. She would walk like this through the silken grass with the wind seething the corn and the secret invisible life of birds beside her in the hedge The observation of Sandra from outside and the way the writer describes her makes the reader feels as if he or she knows Sandra or has met her before. She also tells us what Sandra is thinking. She would fall in love and she would get a good job and she would have one of those new singers that do ziz-zag stitch and make an embroidered like coat. The way the writer observes Sandra from inside is aimed to show her characteristics, and attitude and her behavior. This draws a clear image in the readers mind of who is Sandra, and what her personality is like. Although the story is written in the third person, at the start we view events from Sandras point of view. There are three characters in The Darkness out There, but it is mainly concerned with the experience of the old lady Mrs Rutter. The writer focuses on Sandra and she tells us about the other two characters from her perspective. The writer speaks on behalf of Sandra. There are many examples where the writer shows us directly the thoughts going on in Sandras mind. For example: You didnt go by yourself through Packers end if you could help it. She thought of oily workshop floor: of the fetid underside of cars. This shows the reader what Sandra first thought about Kerry, based on first impressions. Sandra meets Kerry while she is going to Mrs Rutter, she was shocked and scared by Kerry, but he thought that she saw him. The impression we get of Kerry is through how Sandra sees him: Kerry Stevens, you stupid so and so and do that for , you give me the fright of my life. We also get the impression that Kerry is quite a talkative person and volunteered to speak about his personal life and his future which Sandra is not interested in and looks down upon as she is planning to become a secretary. The impression Sandra gives of him when he jumps out from behind the hedge is that he doesnt add up too much. Sandra thinks of him as a stupid and childish person because he scared her and his ambitions only stretch to him becoming a mechanic. However, Kerry Stevens is confident and sure of himself with Mrs Rutter. He answers her questions about school proudly and confidently and replies by saying he is leaving the school in July and will have a job in the garage. Unlike Sandra Kerry doesnt seem to like Mrs Rutter: I dont go much on her As soon as he hears her story about the airman, he gets shocked and feel sorry for the pilot. The boy said, I am not going near that old bitch again, He leaned against the gate, clenching his fists on an iron rung, he shook slightly, I wont ever forget him, that poor sod He feels disgusted and upset about what Mrs Rutter done, when she let a German pilot who was shot down, die because of lack of water and food. Out of revenge respond to his call when he screamed for help and left him to die without showing any sign of mercy or compassion. We learn about Kerrys character from his own words. Like Charles Dickens, Penelope Lively uses direct speech to establish a character. Sandras initial impression of Kerry was wrong. He had a sixth sense about Mrs Rutter and was a better person than she first thought. She made the mistake of judging by appearances. A mistake she was to repeat with the old lady. Mrs Rutter is introduced as a kindly old lady who seemed composed of circles, a cottage loaf of a women, with a face below which chins collapsed one into another, a creamy smiling pool of a face in which her eyes snapped and darted. However, this soon changes when she tells Kerry and Sandra the story of the German airman who died at Packers End and how she left him to die in front of her without or trying to save him. What is really disturbing about the way she tells the story is that she doesnt regret what she done and she doesnt show any sympathy to the dead pilot: I thought , oh no, you had this coming to you, mate, theres a war on (p. 63) Mrs Rutter acted out of revenge as her young husband had been killed in the war by Germans. But after all these years, she still had no feelings of regret and remorse and is portrayed as a lonely and bitter woman. Penelope Lively also gives an indication of characterisation through her description of the setting. Sandras light-weight and frivolous personality is signalled by the summer flowers of ox eye daisies and vetch and cow parsley ? And the dark side of Mrs Rutter is hinted at by Packers End with light suddenly shutting off the bare wide sky of the field!

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Morality and Utility of Artificial Intelligence Essay -- Technolog

The Morality and Utility of Artificial Intelligence Douglas R. Hofstadter, in his work Gà ¶del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, remarks that one may contend that Artificial Intelligence is born of a machine’s ability to perform any task that had been previously confined to the domain of humans (601). However, a few sentences later, the author explains Tessler’s â€Å"Theorem† of progress in AI: â€Å"once some mental function is programmed, people soon cease to consider it as an essential ingredient of ‘real thinking.’ The ineluctable core of intelligence is always in that next thing which hasn’t yet been programmed† (601). There are various arguments as to what actually constitutes intelligence; however, it seems established that the possession of knowledge alone does not make a being or machine intelligent. While it is easy to see that AI research has progressed since the first vision of Artificial Intelligence, it remains difficult to define clearly the goal toward which t hey are working. Each philosopher has his or her own belief concerning what an AI program should be able to do. Without a consensus as to what constitutes intelligence, it is impossible to determine with universal agreement whether or not AI has succeeded, is achievable, or is an unreachable dream. In considering the definitions and implications of Artificial Intelligence, many philosophers have reached extremely different conclusions. Alan Turing, author of the Turing Test, believed that an intelligent machine would be able to imitate perfectly a human. Margaret Boden, Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Sussex, contends that a machine is intelligent if it possesses and displays certain human values. Moving away from the pure... ...d Over Machine Book Review.† Psychology Today. July 1986. v20 p73. Searle, John R. â€Å"Minds, Brains, and Programs.† The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. Margaret A. Boden, ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1990. 67-88. Sharkey, N. E. and R. Pfeifer. â€Å"Uncomfortable Bedfellows: Cognitive Psychology and AI.† Artificial Intelligence: Human Effects. M. Yazdani and A. Narayanan, eds. Chirchester: Ellis Horwood Limited, 1984. 163-172. Strohmeyer, Robert. â€Å"Total Autonomy—The next generation of thinking machines.† Ziff Davis Smart Business for the New Economy. 1 August 2000. 50 Turing, Alan. â€Å"Computing Machinery and Intelligence.† The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. Margaret A. Boden, ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1990. 40-66. Weizenbaum, Joseph. Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation. New York: W. H. Freeman, 1976.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Rousseau and Wollstonecraft

â€Å"The neglected education of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of the misery I deplore. â€Å"-Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Rousseau and Wollstonecraft believed that children should be allowed to grow freely and learn to use their education practically. Children would then grow up to be free thinking adults that would keep soceity from becoming materialistic and oppressing. Nonetheless, they vehemently disagreed on who should receive such an education. Rousseau thought that only males, because they are stronger should receive such and education. Wollstonecraft believed everyone, no matter what sex, should be able to be educated to reform and better society as a whole. Though both their works were considered extreme, they are both apparent in the public education system of today. Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) and Rousseau (1712-1778) both agreed that society oppressed human kind, but Wollstonecraft felt that men were oppressing women. They both believed that education should mean letting children grow freely and placing little restrictions. They should protect them from immediate dangers and provide food and shelter. They should not, however, force books and controlled learning upon the children. He thought that children should also develop common sense and each child would choose whatever interests him to study in greater detail. He thought that this method of education would produce a well balanced, free thinking child. Therefore this would lead to a natural society rather than a materialistic one. Rousseau†s theory of natural education was not intended for all children. He felt that girls should be limited motherhood, and how to be a wife. To Rousseau, women exist in order to serve man, because they are weaker. Wollstonecraft stated that women should be taught medicine in order to take care of parents, infants, and husbands properly. She endorsed equal education for all children no matter what the sex. They should not only be taught the same things, but should be taught together, to learn social interaction they would encounter as adults. Girls and boys would attend day school together and then boys would be sent to their apprenticeships and girls would learn how to sew and other skills. Wollstonecraft tried to prove that by denying a woman†s education you are denying her the ability to raise children adequately. Therefore it would benefit both sexes if women were properly educated. Rousseau was applauded for advocating human rights and natural education but when it concerned women he broke no new ground. He actually promoted women†s role as a wife and mother present to serve her husband. He stated that because women were weaker physically that their minds were as well. Wollstonecraft upheld his philosophy of natural education to encourage individual freedom to benefit society. However, she detested his treatment of women. She advised that women and men should both be educated, and educated together. Both of Emile and The Vindication of the Right†s of Women were considered radical, they were both revolutionaries. Emile impacted practical applications, and the exploration of natural curiosity in education. Wollstonecraft†s radical idea of educating boys and girls equally, and together are applied on public education today.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Plot Analysis for “A Rose for Emily”

Plot analysis of â€Å"A Rose For Emily† William Faulkner’s, â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a story with a southern gothic style. The tragic story is told to readers through an anonymous narrator that speaks on behalf of the town’s people, but is not close to Emily, the protagonist, personally. This narration helps sustain a level of curiosity about Emily since readers cannot gain personal insight into her life and psyche. It is commonly expressed that the two things of certainty in life are death and taxes, death being one of the main themes that runs throughout the story.There is a time when Emily seems to be above human certainty in the way of taxes. This aversion to one certainty seems to amplify the other in her life, because the rest of the story contains nothing but death; the death of people, beauty, ideals, everything that once guarded Emily from the rest of the world. Even though it is in vain, the protagonist’s motivation behind everything sh e does is to make time stand still, thus trying to avoid the other human certainty, death.As a result of the story beginning with Emily’s funeral, readers are introduced to Miss Emily’s struggle with her antagonist, time, through the setting she lives in. Miss Emily represents a bi-gone era, one that she veils her life of seclusion in, refusing to face the passage of time around her. Her house is in a state of decay just like her body, both marking their loss to time. It was a house that, â€Å"had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies†¦set on what had once been our most select street†(91).The house’s description seems to mimic Emily’s life because at one time she is described as a, â€Å"slender figure in white†(93) and it is said that â€Å"None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily†(93). It’s as if the house’s once desirable location imitates Emily’s one time desirability among suitors. This symbolism is used again when the house is described as, â€Å"lifting it’s stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps†(91). The house is more of an out-of-date nuisance than an object of admiration, as Emily herself was before her death.Faulkner’s use of the word coquette, points to his intention for readers to see the symbolism of Emily’s and the house’s battle with time, because a coquette is a woman who endeavors without sincere affection to gain the admiration of men. Since Emily at one time had the admiration of men, she continues to behave as if time has not taken a toll on her desirable appearance before men, thus making her act as if she is still above their law. The town’s mayor, Colonel Sartoris, promotes this thinking by remitting Emily’s taxes after her father’s death.The colonel spins a tale to explain, saying that the tax remittance is to pay back her father for money he loaned the town. A story no one believes according to the author, except a woman. The author says, â€Å"When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction†(91). When the new mayor personally writes Emily to inform her she must pay taxes like the rest of the community, the author describes Emily’s reply as representing the forgotten past.The story says the mayor, â€Å"received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect that she no longer went out at all. The tax notice was also enclosed, without comment†(91). Emily does everything as if no time has passed. As a result of Emily realizing she cannot stop time, she chooses to shut out the passage of time in the world around her, by living a secluded life. The narrator says, â€Å"After her father’s death she went out very little; aft er her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all†(92).It’s at this time that the narrator informs readers about a strange smell emanating from Emily’s house, a smell that the passage of time produces to betray her. Because Emily represents a time where people are limited by the role of class and gender in society, this limiting mind-set is what the towns people use as an excuse for the troubling smell. The author says, â€Å"the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man-a young man then-going in and out with a market basket. â€Å"Just as if a man-any man-could keep a kitchen properly,† the ladies said; so they were not surprised when the smell developed†(92).This same limiting mindset re-emerges when the Aldermen of the town meet to discuss a solution to the rising complaint of the gross smell. When the young man in the group of Aldermen, who represents the rising generation, suggests what he believes to be a simple solution of c onfronting Emily about the smell, he is quickly rebuked. The judge cuts him off by saying, â€Å"Dammit sir,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad† (93)? Similar to Emily, the older men restrict their decisions based on tradition, thus denying the evidence that time produced to bring her to justice.In the end, it is the passage of time that plays the role of Emily’s antagonist. Despite her efforts of seclusion and refusal to change, time has its way with Emily and everything she clings to. One passage refers to a gold chain she wears with the end tucked in her waist; on the end of the chain is a watch. Emily carries her antagonist with her as if she believes its closeness will keep it from sneaking up on her; as if her own stubborn will set beside it, could stop the cursed mechanism from ticking forth its unpleasant reminder.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Tiered pricing airlines and pharmaceuticals

Tiered pricing airlines and pharmaceuticals Introduction Most industries and companies change pricing strategies in a volatile manner depending on various marketing environmental factors. Ideally, companies’ pricing strategies are much influenced by the desire to increase corporate profits and cover operating and other costs (Thomas Maurice, 2010). One of the commonest pricing strategies is the differential pricing strategy or the tiered pricing approach.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tiered pricing airlines and pharmaceuticals specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Pharmaceutical and airline firms are examples of industries that adopt tiered pricing techniques to share costs among their customers. These firms can drastically change prices in a span of days, moments through differential price sharing methods. According to Thomas Maurice (2010) the strategy is based on the notion that customers must not be treated equally, and that firms need to put some e fforts on products. Rather than selling products to all customers in similar approaches, a firm tries to classify and categorize its customer in groups and charge different prices to different groups. Tiered pricing behavior of pharmaceutical and airline firms Today’s marketing research has primarily focused on the pricing policies and strategies by the organizations. Most researches indicate that organization pricing policies are set based on; existence of price tiers, face value pricing, and discount/ premium variation pricing policy. Pharmaceutical and airline firms’ products are good examples where this strategy is prevalent and as a profit maximizing technique (Moe fader, 2008). According to Moe and fader, 2008, tiered pricing is mostly influenced by the ideology of advance purchasing of products by the customers. They added that, firms in pharmaceutical and airline industries customers provide advance information pertaining to the overall demand, diffusion acros s consumers and the demand elasticity of their products forcing a more elaborated marketing efforts to differentiate prices accordingly. For example, airline firms adopt a multi pricing discrimination practice which essentially involves variation of prices dramatically based on timing or hours of purchases. Airlines purchasing in advance by customers also perfect airline price tiers. Pharmaceutical firms’ price tiers are based on medicine quality and better services depending on the income levels or the individual status in an economy.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Yadav, 2010 argue that, price tiers in the medicine and health fraternity is faced with challenging factors on offering quality health provision in most developing countries. In fact, the industry is much cautions in differentiating its prices. In addition, price differentiation in pharmaceutica l firms adds another advantage in maximizing profits. For example, variation on pharmaceutical products depends on incomes of the customer group. Yadav, 2010, further states that, pricing strategies in pharmaceutical companies its challenging firm’s growth and the success in improving access in low and middle earners. Essentially, recent trends shows that firms in pharmaceutical and airline industries pay much attention to price tiers since its differential is based on economic and demographic characteristics of the target consumers. Strategically, these industries utilize differential pricing to create more opportunities to serve the minor or the low income categories and still maximizing profits and developing economies of scale to maximize profits. Again, since the industries are socially responsible demanding, tiered pricing enable airlines and pharmaceutical firms to portray and advocate for social responsibility and not enhancing profit maximization. To reinforce the di fferential pricing techniques, industries like airline or hotels engages in yield management. The concept refers to situations where firms or industries group customers to facilitate differentiating prices of its products (Shumsky Netessine, 2002). Industries practicing this concept are characterized by; expensive storing of products, future demands are uncertain, markets can be segmented, the same products can be perceived differently by customers, and suppliers in the industry are profit oriented. For example, airline industry can group customers into leisure travellers and business travellers. Similarly, a firm can offer discounted prices and full price to the groups to further segment markets. All these pricing techniques and market segmentation support price differentiation to the same product offering same satisfaction capacity (Shumsky Netessine, 2002).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tiered pricing airlines and pharmaceuticals specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion Differential pricing strategies depend on three tiers in the pharmaceutical and airline industry. These ties include class pricing, bulk selling and selling products based on the willingness to pay. According to the strategy, companies believe that they can increase profits by acknowledging that consumers vary in terms of preferences and lifestyle, tastes, behaviors, income level, and response to marketing mix or geographical categories. In addition, differential pricing benefit firms to target certain groups of customers such as frequent customers and loyal customers. In such a case, no fixed price is set for the industrial products and the major goal is to maximize profits via sharing expenses in selling products to all customers. References Moe, W. W. Fader, P. S. (2008). The Role of Price Tiers in Advance Purchasing of Event Tickets. Web. Shumsky, F Netessine, S. (2002). Yield Management. Web. Thomas C. Maurice , S. C. (2010). Managerial Economics. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Yadav, P. (2010). Differential Pricing for Pharmaceuticals. Review of current knowledge, new findings and ideas for action. Zaragoza Logistics Center: SPAIN MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Monday, October 21, 2019

Do Colleges Look at Middle School Grades

Do Colleges Look at Middle School Grades SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Should you be worried about a low grade you got in middle school hurting your future college applications? Do middle school grades count for college?With college admissions getting more competitive and students preparing for college earlier and earlier, many people wonder if colleges look at the middle school grades of applicants. Will that C you got in 6th grade math hold you back from getting into your dream school? In this guide, we explain if colleges look at middle school grades, which grades colleges are most interested in, and everything you can do as a middle school student to prepare for the college application process. Do Colleges Look at Middle School Grades? Your middle school grades will not be part of your college application.No college, even a highly-competitive one, is going to be looking at what grades you got in middle school. There are several reasons for this. The main one is that, when you apply to college, your middle school grades will have occurred too long ago to give colleges an accurate idea of the student you are now. If colleges see that you got a D in science when you were 12 years old, that really doesn’t give them any insight into the type of student you are at 17 or 18 when you’re applying to schools. You’ve had years to improve your study habits and master new material, so penalizing you for something that happened years ago would be unfair. Middle school grades simply happened too long ago to be very useful. Additionally, middle school grades are often more subjective than high school grades. One middle school may have a very different grading scale compared to a different school, while some middle school teachers may give everyone A’s while others are much more strict. Things like this can happen in high school too, but it’s more prevalent in middle school, which makes it harder for colleges to compare grades of students who went to different middle schools. Colleges also have plenty of better information to figure out what kind of student you are that they don't need your middle school grades. Colleges ask for a lot of materials when you apply, including your high school transcript, standardized test scores, the extracurriculars you were in, personal statements, and letters of recommendation.This is enough for them to get a good idea of who you are and what type of student you are. Middle school grades wouldn't add any useful information. Which Grades Do Colleges Look At? Which Year of School Is Most Important for College Applications? Colleges won't be looking at your middle school grades, but they will be very interested in all the grades you got in high school. When you apply to colleges, you’ll submit a transcript that includes the grades you got the first three years of high school, and many schools also require you to submit your senior grades once you get them. Colleges will look at every grade you got in high school, so ideally you want your entire high school transcript to be strong.However, there are some grades that are more important to colleges than other grades. Generally colleges care most about the grades you got junior year. These grades are the most important because, when you apply in the fall of your senior year, they’re the most recent grades the college has access to, so they give them the best idea of your current abilities. If you got a few low grades your freshman year but turned around and got high grades the rest of your high school career, colleges will see that maybe you struggled a bit in the beginning, but then you overcame those issues and were able to maintain a high GPA afterward. That gives them confidence you’re on track to be a successful college student. On the other hand, if you began high school with a strong GPA but have gradually gotten lower grades, especially in your junior year, colleges may be more concerned that you’re struggling as classes get more difficult, you’re losing motivation, or both.Having high grades your junior year will give colleges confidence that you can succeed as a student that their school. How important are your grades from other years of high school? Senior year grades are probably the next most important, although some colleges make admissions decisions before your senior grades are out. However, many colleges will ask for your senior grades even after they’ve accepted you, so don’t fall prey to senioritis and start coasting your final year of high school. Sophomore grades are most important after that, then freshman grades. What Can You Do in Middle School to Prepare for College? Even though colleges don’t look at your middle school grades, there's still plenty you can do in middle school to prepare for college. It’s not required to start thinking about college in middle school, but if you’re really motivated, there are several things you can do as a middle schooler to put you in the best spot when it comes time to apply to college. Here are three things to focus on. #1: Get the Best Grades You Can in Your Classes Even though colleges won’t be looking at your middle school grades, you still want to get the best grades you can during those years. Having strong middle school grades increases the chances of you being placed into advanced classes as a high school freshman, which colleges will see. Additionally, by working hard in middle school, you’ll acquire good study and testing habits that you can continue to use in high school, making it easier for you to get high grades in your high school classes.You don’t want to enter high school without knowing how to properly read a chapter in a textbook or study for a big test. Learn these things in middle school so you’ll be as prepared as possible for your high school classes and can start your freshman year off strong. #2: Think About Which Subjects You Enjoy Most You absolutely don’t need to know what you’re going to major in as a middle schooler (most high school students have no idea what they’re going to major in!), but it can definitely be helpful to start thinking about what your favorite subjects are and which of them you’d like to continue taking. If you know that you enjoy, say, math and science classes more than English and social studies classes, once you get to high school you can begin aiming to take more advanced classes in math and science to show colleges that you’re skilled in them. It’s totally fine to change your mind about which classes you plan on taking in high school, but by starting to think about it in middle school, you can be better prepared when it comes time to choose classes in high school. #3: Participate in Different Extracurricular Activities Your middle school grades may not be part of your college application, but extracurriculars you participate in during this time might be! If you’ve been taking piano lessons since you were in 2nd grade or been volunteering at a nursing home since you were 13, you can include that on your college applications as long as you continued those activities through at least part of high school. This means your middle school extracurriculars can show colleges your commitment to an activity, and participating in an extracurricular in middle school can help you get a leadership position in that activity as a high school student. If colleges see that you’ve stuck with an activity since middle school, it’ll show them you’re passionate about it and can really dedicate yourself to an activity.Similarly, obtaining a leadership position in an extracurricular also shows you’re passionate about it and that you have leadership skills (a big plus to colleges). As with tip #2, it’s completely fine to change extracurriculars between middle school and college, but if you’re looking for a way to strengthen your future college applications, sticking with at least one can help. Conclusion: Do Middle School Grades Count for College? Do colleges look at middle school grades? No, your middle school grades occurred too long ago to really give colleges an accurate idea of your current academic abilities. Colleges have many other pieces of information that are much more useful for figuring out which applicants to accept, so they don’t use middle school grades. Which grades do colleges look at? Your high school grades will be very important for your college application, particularly your junior year grades since these give colleges the best idea of what kind of student you are now. Even though your middle school grades won’t be used in the college application process, you can still begin preparing for college applications in middle school by getting high grades (to prepare you for the best high school classes), thinking about which classes you want to continue with in high school and beyond, and participating in extracurriculars you’re interested in and want to continue with in high school. What's Next? Trying to decide where to go to high school? Learn how to compare high schools using SAT or ACT scores. Thinking ahead to your high school grades?Learn the average high school GPA so you know what to aim for. Beginning your college search?Check out our guide on how to choose the best college for you. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Sunday, October 20, 2019

12 castigos por no pagar child support

12 castigos por no pagar child support Cuando un padre o una madre que no vive habitualmente con su hijo no paga la pensià ³n de alimenticia  Ã¢â‚¬â€œtambià ©n conocida como manutencià ³n o  child support en inglà ©s- puede sufrir consecuencias de diversa naturaleza, incluso de carcter migratorio. En Estados Unidos, esta obligacià ³n afecta a todos los padres o madres que no conviven habitualmente con sus hijos, incluidos los migrantes indocumentados.  ¿Quà © es la pensià ³n alimenticia o child support? La pensià ³n de alimenticia o manutencià ³n, conocida en inglà ©s como child support, es la cantidad de dinero que un padre o una madre que no vive con sus hijos debe pagar al progenitor que sà ­ convive con ellos para su mantenimiento. En el caso de que los padres no està ©n ni hayan estado casados, la paternidad deber probarse o reconocerse  primero.  ¿Cà ³mo se calcula cantidad a pagar por child support? La cantidad que se debe pagar depende de diversas circunstancias, como las necesidades del menor, costo del seguro mà ©dico, los ingresos de cada uno de los padres, la existencia de ms hermanos u otras obligaciones familiares, el tiempo que el menor pasa con cada uno de los padres, etc. Puede haber un acuerdo entre los padres o, a falta del mismo, seguir las reglas de cà ³mputo del estado en el que reside el menor. Cada uno de los 50 estados de los Estados Unidos tiene distintas reglas. Si se desea obtener una idea de la cantidad que podrà ­a corresponder a un nià ±o se puede utilizar una calculadora online (en inglà ©s). Es necesario elegir la del estado que corresponde. Hay que destacar que, como regla general, se tiene en cuenta el salario bruto de los padres, es decir, incluidos los impuestos que le retienen o paga. En el caso de los migrantes indocumentados que por su estatus migratorio puede que no puedan probar cunto ganan la cantidad se estima segà ºn su ingreso potencial, lo que se conoce en inglà ©s como potential income. Esto tambià ©n puede pasar con otros padres sin que importe su estatus migratorio y se dà © la circunstancia de que trabajan a tiempo parcial, ya que se puede considerar que podrà ­an trabajar ms. Por otro lado, dependiendo de los estados, si uno de los padres recibe ayuda del estado podrà ­a considerarse que sus ingresos equivalen a 0. Adems, hay que tener en cuenta que no se tienen en cuenta los gastos mensuales de cada uno de los padres. Segà ºn los à ºltimos datos proporcionados por la oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos, la cantidad media que se recibe en concepto de child support por nià ±o por mes es de $329. Como regla general la cantidad a pagar se fija en el mismo momento en que se establecen los derechos de visita del progenitor que no vive con el infante o adolescente. Posteriormente puede solicitarse una revisià ³n de la cantidad si hay un cambio en los ingresos por parte de la persona que debe pagar, tanto si se incrementan como si disminuyen.  ¿Cà ³mo se obliga a un padre o madre a pagar por child support? En principio, deberà ­a haber un acuerdo voluntario entre ambos padres. En la actualidad apenas un 10 por ciento de todos los acuerdos de child support se hacen de ese modo.  Si no hay acuerdo voluntario entonces el padre o la madre que convive con el menor puede: contratar a un abogado privadamente para que resuelva el casopresentarse en corte y directamente demandaracudir a la oficina del fiscal del estado en la agencia de Child Support y solicitar ayuda. En los casos en los que el progenitor que vive con el menor recibe beneficios sociales como Medicaid o TANF se puede recibir ayuda legal gratuita para este tipo de casos. Se puede asà ­ intentar garantizar el pago de las mensualidades futuras y tambià ©n el cobro de la cantidad que està © pendiente de pago. 12 castigos por no pagar la pensià ³n de alimentos Pueden variar de estado a estado, pero en general puede significar que el padre o la madre que no paga la pensià ³n de alimentos cuando tiene obligacià ³n de hacerlo puede sufrir una o varias de las siguientes consecuencias que tienen que ser acordadas en corte y mediante orden judicial: Embargo (garnirshment, en inglà ©s) de parte de la nà ³mina  (payroll). En este caso se le entrega mensualmente la cantidad embargada al padre o a la madre que conviven con el menor.Embargo de una parte de lo que cobra por desempleo.Embargo de las cuentas de banco.Embargo de la cantidad de devolucià ³n que se obtiene del gobierno federal o del estado tras rellenar las planillas de los impuestos (tax returns).Multas, que pueden ser fijadas por la agencia estatal que se ocupa de pensià ³n de alimentos o por una corte. Las multas son el origen de deudas finales altas cuando lo que se debà ­a inicialmente por impago del child support era mucho ms bajo.Pena de prisià ³n. Tiene que ser decretada por una corte y generalmente se da en situaciones de desacato a la corte (contempt) o se trata de una persona que ha incumplido en ms de una ocasià ³n. Son muy raras las penas de prisià ³n superiores a seis meses.Expulsià ³n del Ejà ©rcito, en el caso de militares.  Notificacià ³n a los credit  bureau, lo cual puede afectar  negativamente al  crà ©dito. Suspensià ³n de la licencia de manejar.Anulacià ³n del pasaporte estadounidense o no entrega de uno que se solicita  siempre y cuando la deuda por impago sea igual o  o superior a $2,500.  Efectos migratorios para obtencià ³n de beneficiosPena de crcel para los padres que se mudan a otro estado En este à ºltimo caso, el padre o la madre que incumple con su obligacià ³n de pagar el child support se muda de estado con la intencià ³n de que sea ms difà ­cil hacerle cumplir puede ser condenado por un delito federal, en aplicacià ³n de la ley que se conoce como Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act. Esta ley prevà © penas de crcel para los padres que se mudan a otro estado y dejan de pagar por ms de un aà ±o y deben ms de $5,000 o no han pagado por ms de dos aà ±os y el monto supera los $10,000. Si se trata de una primera ofensa, la pena de prisià ³n puede ser acordada hasta un mximo de seis meses. Para los que es su segunda ofensa, la pena de prisià ³n puede alcanzar los dos aà ±os. Adems, se sigue teniendo la obligacià ³n de pagar los atrasos. Consecuencias migratorias si no pagan el child support El no pagar la pensià ³n de alimentos a los hijos puede tener distintos efectos migratorios. Por ejemplo: Los residentes permanentes que desean convertirse en ciudadanos americanos por medio del proceso de naturalizacià ³n pueden ver que su peticià ³n es rechazada. Asimismo, el no pagar la pensià ³n de alimentos puede tener consecuencias graves en todos aquellos casos en los que es necesario acreditar buen carcter y/o la ley concede discrecià ³n para conceder un beneficio migratorio a un oficial o a un juez de inmigracià ³n. Como ejemplo de casos migratorios en esta categorà ­a destacan: El ajuste de estatus  para adquirir la tarjeta de residencia permanente.La cancelacià ³n de la deportacià ³n.Y la salida voluntaria.La obtencià ³n de la green card por el registry.Por à ºltimo, no olvidar que los casos de no pago de la pensià ³n de alimentos puede acabar en casos extremos en un arresto. Por ejemplo, en el caso de  indocumentados, puede significar posiblemente su deportacià ³n. Por otro lado, cobrar child support no se considera welfare ni carga pà ºblica y no afecta a la hora de recibir un beneficio migratorio.  ¿Quà © hacer cuando no se puede pagar child support? Todos los padres y madres tienen la obligacià ³n de contribuir al mantenimiento de sus hijos. Sin embargo, en ocasiones es muy difà ­cil hacer frente a esta obligacià ³n econà ³mica. Por ejemplo, en los casos de despido o de enfermedad. Pero teniendo en cuenta las consecuencias serias del impago nunca se debe dejar de pagar sin ms. Adems de notificar al otro progenitor sobre la incapacidad temporal para pagar es recomendable hacerlo saber tambià ©n a la agencia estatal o local que se ocupa de estos asuntos (en la mitad de este artà ­culo aparece un enlace para busca el que corresponda al estado en el que se debe pagar). Tambià ©n se puede buscar en internet por child support agency y aà ±adiendo el nombre del lugar en el que se reside. Adems, considerar si procede solicitar en corte una modificacià ³n del acuerdo de pago de pensià ³n alimenticia. Mientras se encuentra una solucià ³n, es recomendable hacer un esfuerzo para hacer frente al pago del child support o al menos contribuir parcialmente con lo que se pueda. Pero nunca dejar de pagar sin notificarlo. Casos especiales: infante en Estados Unidos y progenitor otro paà ­s Puede darse el caso en el que un nià ±o en USA no recibe el pago de pap o mam que est en otro paà ­s, pero que el incumplidor sà ­ ingresa a los Estados Unidos. Puede estar hacià ©ndolo como turista o porque tiene una visa de trabajo vlida. En este caso se puede notificar la situacià ³n a la oficina de Aplicacià ³n de Inmigracià ³n y Aduanas (ICE). Y ahà ­Ã‚  pedir que se le revoque la visa y que no pueda entrar a Estados Unidos. Tambià ©n puede darse un caso distinto. Si el menor est en Estados Unidos y el padre o la madre que no paga est en el extranjero, se puede obligarle a pagar en corte. Y es que Estados Unidos tiene un acuerdo con 77 paà ­ses para hacer posible que los nià ±os reciban de sus padres y madres la pensià ³n de alimentos. Casos especiales: infante fuera de Estados Unidos y progenitor en este paà ­s Hay casos en el que los nià ±os estn en el extranjero y su progenitor en Estados Unidos y à ©ste no cumple con la obligacià ³n establecida legalmente de pasarle una pensià ³n de alimentos. En estos casos se puede recurrir a un abogado estadounidense para que haga valer en corte esa obligacià ³n. Adems, si el paà ­s en el que vive el nià ±o tiene acuerdos con los estados de USA en el que vive el padre (o la madre) que no paga pensià ³n alimenticia, se puede solicitar que cumpla con su obligacià ³n con la ayuda de ese gobierno. Por ejemplo, en el caso de Mà ©xico se puede reclamar con bastante à ©xito cuando el nià ±o es mexicano, se encuentra allà ­ y el pap est en uno de los estados con los que hay un acuerdo de este tipo. Incluso en los casos en los que el padre o la madre obligado al pago sea un inmigrante indocumentado. Tambià ©n puede darse un caso distinto. Si el menor est en Estados Unidos y el padre o la madre que no paga est en el extranjero, se puede obligarle a pagar en corte. Y es que Estados Unidos tiene un acuerdo con 77 paà ­ses para hacer posible que los nià ±os reciban de sus padres y madres la pensià ³n de alimentos. Puntos Clave: Pago de Child Support Los padres o las madres que no conviven con sus hijos tienen obligacià ³n de contribuir a su mantenimiento, es lo que en EE.UU. se conoce como child support o pensià ³n de alimentos o manutencià ³n. Esta obligacià ³n tambià ©n afecta a los migrantes indocumentados.La cantidad del pago del child support se fija por acuerdo entre los padres, a falta del mismo cada estado establece unas calculadoras para fijarlo.Todos los estados tienen oficinas pà ºblicas para ayudar a reclamar las pensiones por alimentos.El padre o la madre que no paga puede sufrir castigos monetarios, civiles y migratorios. En casos graves puede incluso recibir pena de prisià ³n. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso concreto.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Discussion 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 1 - Essay Example 14). People opting to make purchases are hesitant to use the Internet or wireless technology due to security concerns since some electronic sites do not provide appropriate security and protection for shoppers and compromise details of personal information, especially those that necessiate divulging bank account numbers or credit card details. These concerns are warranted, since according to the information provided by Buenaventura (2011), â€Å"130,000,000 credit card numbers was compromised 2 years ago, which still holds the record for the largest security breach on the Internet† (par. 11). These are potentially influenced by age, educational background and profession since those who are prolific users of the internet are mostly the young generation and those who unsuspectively divulge personal information. Discussion 2: Potential Consequences: Discuss what the consequences should be for not adhering to security policy guidelines. Where or how should these consequences be communicated to employees? Do you think there should be stronger and better-defined government-specified policies/laws for the general public? Organizations that define security policy guidelines should clearly indicate infractions and penalties for violations. These should be communicated to the employees through their policy manuals and code of discipline. One strongly believes that stronger and better-defined government-specified policies and regulations; as well as stiffer penalties for those found to be violating security protocols and standards on privacy and confidentiality should be imposed to minimize and ultimately eliminate security breaches. Discussion 3: Tell me what is on your mind about Information Systems and operating systems?   What good articles have you read lately? Tell me what you think about this discussion question. Information systems (IS) are â€Å"used to capture, create, store,

Friday, October 18, 2019

Super size me Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Super size me - Movie Review Example This film earned Morgan Spurlock the best director award in 2004 appreciating his personal investigation and contribution into issues associated with health hazards caused by fast foods. In the 30 days in which Spurlock subjects himself to a steady diet, his normal equilibrium and fit body undergo ugly and dark changes; his cholesterol increases dramatically, grows so fat, his organs develop beatings, and his days are characterized by mood swings, headaches, narrowed sexual energy, and addiction symptoms. The outcome of the film is a too obvious gimmick that cannot sustain any documentary features. This, Spurlock achieves by spending most parts of the film probing on subtle means that the fast food industry has wormed its way into the young children hearts and school lunchrooms. Making himself the subject of the documentary he was covering, Spurlock targets the commercial food industry as his main subject. The outcome of those 30 days was a sure proof of the mental and physical effec ts of easting fast food. The film also targets the American’s food culture through its politics and school corporation. The movie â€Å"Super Size Me† shades a different kind of light on obesity which has proved to be American’s biggest health issues (Super Size Me). The liberty value is what most American citizens value the most. They fight for the freedom of speech and freedom to work and be successful in life. However, this liberty value also involves the freedom to ruin their lives. This view is individualistic; it leaves the responsibility of each citizen’s prosperity on their heads. The worst that comes out of this situation is that it leads to a society that is selfish in which every man’s state is of no significance. This remains a critical issue to the nation as its citizens are intelligent and have a good sense in doing the right things for themselves and to those around them. This is however not the case, people have

Social Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Entrepreneurship - Essay Example This paper outlines that social entrepreneurs are becoming more and more vocal in these organizations, and are used to strategize ways in which an organization may make a significant social impact in the market. Social entrepreneurship is involved in business strategies and management; it is aimed at making an impact in the society, as the organization strategizes in the market. In such cases, innovation is important in coming up with social related strategies, enabling an organization to have a positive social impact other than taking away from the community in which they operate through exploitation of resources. From this paper it is clear that innovation brings about better products to the market to benefit a society. Social entrepreneurs have to pinpoint problems in the society and come up with measures to solve such problems for the betterment of the society. For example, some pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline Company carry out massive studies in many societies, related to testing and innovating appropriate drugs. A social entrepreneur in such a company may come up with other projects such as provision of basic amenities to communities, examples being water, healthcare facilities or other facilities to benefit the entire society. Therefore, instead of the company being biased and benefiting from the society, such innovators are supposed to come up with ingenious projects to enhance a ‘payback’ culture to the same society; such actions have been used to strengthen the bond between the company and the society in which such a company operates.Many textile companie s are responsible for using toxic chemicals in cotton farming, and supplying the same to cotton farmers.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Factors Impacting the Quality of Construction in the United Arab Assignment

Factors Impacting the Quality of Construction in the United Arab Emirates - Assignment Example nd high level of competition in the commercial marketplace, the contractors are required to enhance their ability in order to develop their performance based on these aspects. Accumulatively, the aforementioned factors tend to have a significant influence over the quality delivered by the construction industry. Furthermore, there are other factors which also impose a certain degree of impact on the quality of construction industry can be identified as construction materials, management and training of employees, and capability of contractors. In the UAE, government tends to provide significant consideration towards the construction industry. Governmental reports, in this regards reveal that the construction segment in the UAE has seen an era of remarkable boom, especially prior to 2007-2008 financial downturn when the industry was negatively impacted by the consequent debt crisis. During the economic failure of 2007, several construction projects in UAE were postponed or cancelled. Furthermore, the intense changes in micro-environmental factors such as markets, customers and competitors along with the confidence of construction organizations in the UAE was observed to reduce considerably where the market players started reconsidering their business strategies. Contextually, several organizations had experienced problems for adjusting with the changes occurring in the international business environment. Due to lack of readiness to adjust with the changing business circumstances, most of the construction organizations were forced to adopt survival strategies rather than growth strategies during the past few years which imposed a considerable impact on the quality assurance rendered by the company (Oryx Middle East, n.d.). Despite of the above circumstances, UAE has high probability of growth in its construction segment. The rise of oil price in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region initiates several big construction projects in the UAE. The growth in construction

Nursing questions Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing questions - Article Example During this stage, the nurse gathers relevant data from the patients, primarily, the most relevant medical g history. At this important stage the emphasis of the process lies on the patient, and as in a usual professional-client relationship, communication skills emerges as the most important tool in this interaction. According to Peplau (1997), the emphasis and concentration of the nurse during the phase should be based on active listening skills, and whenever necessary asking the patient questions to probe their own description and personal experiences. In practice and ethically, nurses must walk the thin line between client service and avoidance of personal bias, prejudice or even sharing personal stories. Sharing of personal experiences while with the client the tables are reversed and the client becomes the listening ear for the nurse, and the nurse needs shall be the focus other than the other way round. This role is purely a professional call and there at times when shifting f rom a social relationship to a professional one becomes daunting and uncomfortable. There are various literatures that discount and explore an actual study of the nurse and patient relationship during the three phases, but since the major focus is on the first phase, this paper shall explore the relationship with regard to the orientation phase, and some of the studies have involved nursing student’s relationship with their patients. Forchuk (1994) is one such example of a scientific research that subjected Peplau’s theory to a test at the orientation phase. In the paper, the researchers studied 124 nurse-patient pairs, and according to Forchuk (1994), presuppositions of the patient and the nurse have a relation to the growth of the therapeutic relations. Further, Forchuk (1992) measured the length in time that it would take within the orientation phase between the nurse and the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Factors Impacting the Quality of Construction in the United Arab Assignment

Factors Impacting the Quality of Construction in the United Arab Emirates - Assignment Example nd high level of competition in the commercial marketplace, the contractors are required to enhance their ability in order to develop their performance based on these aspects. Accumulatively, the aforementioned factors tend to have a significant influence over the quality delivered by the construction industry. Furthermore, there are other factors which also impose a certain degree of impact on the quality of construction industry can be identified as construction materials, management and training of employees, and capability of contractors. In the UAE, government tends to provide significant consideration towards the construction industry. Governmental reports, in this regards reveal that the construction segment in the UAE has seen an era of remarkable boom, especially prior to 2007-2008 financial downturn when the industry was negatively impacted by the consequent debt crisis. During the economic failure of 2007, several construction projects in UAE were postponed or cancelled. Furthermore, the intense changes in micro-environmental factors such as markets, customers and competitors along with the confidence of construction organizations in the UAE was observed to reduce considerably where the market players started reconsidering their business strategies. Contextually, several organizations had experienced problems for adjusting with the changes occurring in the international business environment. Due to lack of readiness to adjust with the changing business circumstances, most of the construction organizations were forced to adopt survival strategies rather than growth strategies during the past few years which imposed a considerable impact on the quality assurance rendered by the company (Oryx Middle East, n.d.). Despite of the above circumstances, UAE has high probability of growth in its construction segment. The rise of oil price in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region initiates several big construction projects in the UAE. The growth in construction

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Different topic about BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEM Essay

Different topic about BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEM - Essay Example Information technology has been instrumental for the improved performance of various companies and business houses across the globe. It has also increased the over all productivity. The development of information technology has also increased the accuracy level in almost all the related aspects of it. Like all most of the other aspects of our life, technology has made its appearance in the entertainment industry also. Today, almost all of the movies produced and released at Hollywood depend highly on technology as special effects have been the indispensable part of the motion pictures. One such movie released in 1993 was the Jurassic Park (directed by Steven Spielberg). In fact, the movie created a sensation among the viewers and is regarded as the landmark in the use of computer technology in the field of movies. The on-screen dinosaurs created by special effects was a major hit. Technologies like Dinosaurs Input Devices were used which allowed the computer to create its own animation when inputs were fed into it. Also, the sound of the movie was based on special effects. Today, not just the development, but also the sales and marketing of every movie relies highly on technology. As the information technology has been the integral part of our life, the usage of Microsoft-Office (better known as MS-Office) software has been on constant rise. With in the package of MS-Office, Microsoft-Excel deals with all sorts of calculations. Excel has been crucial for all those who are related with number crunching. The above link is a perfect online tutorial for excel. The link has been from the website of The University of South Dakota. The university was founded in 1862 and is located at Vermillion of South Dakota. University of South Dakota has the only law and the medical school of the state. The reputed university uses USD as its symbol (also it is known as simply U). The university has whole lot of academic

Monday, October 14, 2019

Interpersonal Communication Essay Example for Free

Interpersonal Communication Essay In the healthiest of environments, people advance from ‘relationship’ to ‘engaged’ status because two people have mutually acknowledged each other, have common understandings, and act with the other person’s concerns in mind. A relationship, be it for marriage, friends or business, requires a domain of actions and an assessment that your partner is worth trust because they act with the intention to take care and not betray shared concerns. One of those elements is the interpersonal communication between the people in the relationship. When communicating effectively, there is a behavioral coordination that results from the coupling between two people in such a way that the relationship can limit the drift of day-to-day life, and move with effective communication practices that will address fundamental concerns. The bedrock of effective interpersonal communication is to first know who ‘you’ are. Review and understanding of your self-concept, self-image, self-esteem, and personality will allow for greater spaces for possibility to understand the same elements of your partner. Interpersonal communication involves both verbal and nonverbal communication and both of these communication types can be expressed in a variety of different ways. One aspect to clearly understand is that communication is complex because it involves two or more people to be in a dance of coordinated action that will take care of concerns and/or fulfill the narrative of the future. Communication is also continuous; to be most effective in the domain of interpersonal communication there is a requirement of recurrence, recursion  and reciprocation. Communication is also dynamic in that the action requires the embodiment of practices that allow you to transform between public, private and behavioral queues with your significant other. Equally important to remember is the misconception that communication cannot transform interpretation. Languaging is a linguistic coordination of linguistic coordination’s, a domain of descriptions of descriptions that refer back to themselves for meaning. Our classroom text asserts that we cannot exactly repeat something we have said in the past. Even if our words are the same – the tome of voice and other characteristics such as posturing and tone will differ- and the listener will also have a different impression (sole, K. 2011). Communication is also irreversible in that we cannot take back our words once spoken. This is why it is very important to be conscious of what you are saying in moments of anger when you might say something that you may later regret. The harmonious combination of two different points of view can certainly be viewed as a barrier to effective interpersonal communication because balance between the two is not always achieved. Common communication problems in relationships are assessed as: 1) Silence or refusal to speak; 2) giving into the other person at a cost of self or the relationship (also known as placating); and 3) psychological requests or reports – which is essentially the announcement of a feeling, emotion, or state of being without any commitment to act from the assessment produced an/or speaking without regard for the truth to fulfill a concealed agenda. Let’s face it – the silent treatment is more often than not a way of inflicting pain on the other person, or to get them as angry or disappointed as you are. Either way, there are no good outcomes possible for effectiveness to be achieved. Giving in to your significant others demands can defuse a negative situation, however, over the long term you can loose who your ‘self’ is and the foundation of the relationship can begin to become eroded. Visions of virtues, what is a good life, beliefs, and what is important for being taken care of can be lost subconsciously without you even knowing it when you give into placating. The last of the three barriers mentioned is psychological warfare. This could be sabotage born out of feelings of resignation, despair, boredom, resentment, distrust, confusion, being overwhelmed, and skepticism. It is important to try and be a third party observer of your moods because they color your outlook about your relationship and the world over extended periods of time. Moments of perturbation should be discussed with your partner in the moment or soon after so that bottled up aggression does not have the opportunity to morph into something much worse in the future such as ‘playing games’. As reviewed in chapter three of our classroom text, what you perceive in the world depends on what you pay attention to (Sole, K. 2011). With acceptance of this assertion then it is easier to understand how you organize and interpret what you perceive, and the framework of your emotions take place. Always remember that emotions are specific ungrounded assessments that live in our bodies for only a short period of time as feelings and thoughts. The perception of your partner may differ from your own; in fact, it most likely does because you both have had two different journeys throughout life from birth to the present moment. It is important to remember that emotions are the result of perturbations of our nervous system and provide automatic and ungrounded assessments about the world because as reviewed earlier, our individual ‘worlds’ are made up of only what we are paying attention to. Some emotions are inherited genetically and some are learned. Emotions though, only tell us how we ‘feel’; not the ‘truth’. With this in mind we can begin to understand then to be careful to know the difference between stating a ‘truth’ to our partner and making an ‘assertion’. With interpersonal relationships it is important to be aware of our emotions and how they affect the people around us, including our significant others. Non-verbal communication is defined as communication of a message without words, which means that it encompasses a wide range of vocal and visual signs and behaviors (Sole, K. 2011). Throughout your relationship you will  express yourself not only with your voice or with a pen, but also with eyes, facial expressions and body posturing. When listening to your significant other it is recommended to be aware of your body posture; the technical term for this is called kinesics. For example, sometimes there is no greater expression of affection for someone than the embrace of a hug or putting your arm around them (Burgoon, Buller, Woodall, 1996). As time goes on most partners begin to pick up on what the other is thinking without even speaking through non-verbal communication habits. For example, my fiancà ©e figured out that whenever I rub my eye with my index finger by putting pressure in corner of eye, I am in a mood of frustration or anger; and I never realized I did that till she pointed it out to me! Emotional Intelligence, also known as EI, is a reference to the capacity that someone has to understand, communicate, and manage emotions; and further the ability to understand and respond to the feelings of others (Sole, K. 2011). This is an especially powerful element to successful relationships because it expands the different possibilities for thinking and actions that a couple can take throughout a lifetime together. EI is a reference that someone has a background of listening taking place where future possibilities are being listened to, even while declarations for thinking or acting have taken, or are taking place. Take the various moods of yourself and your significant other for example. The understanding of moods can help in managing conflicts with one another. Moods color a persons point of view about life for periods of time and have body postures associated with it. If you see your significant other standing with their arms crossed and eyebrows bent while eyes are starring at you like daggers, then you may not need them to say that they are frustrated because you can interpret that with your level of emotional intelligence. A submission from my own meandering experience on like is to recognize the difference between the things you can, and the things you cannot change in life. Do your best to let go of negative thoughts and change negative interpretations. If your significant other is not able to spend a lot of time with you because of the amount of time you work for example, then  instead of ‘getting down’ on it be thankful that you get to end the day with him or her, and that they are ambitious instead of lazy. Another broad suggestion that does not encompass a specific situation would be to stay away from â€Å"I† statements. Our text for the class uses a great example for this. Instead of â€Å"you make me so angry sometimes† TRY: â€Å"I am so angry with you sometimes†. It shows that you are taking ownership for your own emotions and are describing a behavior instead of simply acting on it without thinking the situation through. CLOSING: The bedrock of effective interpersonal communication is to first know who ‘you’ are. Review and understanding of your self-concept, self-image, self-esteem, and personality will allow for greater spaces for possibility to understand the same elements of your partner. References Bower, B. (2010, November). Shared talking styles herald new and lasting romance. U.S. News World Report, 1. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global on July 22, 2011. Document ID:2223940991 NARA SCHOENBERG. (2011, February 6). Can we talk? Researcher talks about the role of communication in marriages. Houston Chronicle,p. 7. Retrieved July 28, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2260839481). Nathan Miczo, Chris Segrin, Lisa E Allspach. (2001). Relationship between nonverbal sensitivity, encoding, and relational satisfaction. Communication Reports, 14(1), 39-48. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 72022836). Preston, P. (2005). Nonverbal communication: Do you reallynsay what you mean? Journal of Healthcare Management, 50(2), 83-6. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global. Document ID: 814698921 Sole, K. (2011). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (https://content.ashford.edu)

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Marketing Strategy For Hotel Brand Radisson

Marketing Strategy For Hotel Brand Radisson Tourism is defined by Burkart Medlik as: the phenomenon arising from temporary visits(or stay away from home)outside the normal place of residence for any reason other than furthering an occupation remunerated from the place visited Lickorish and Jenkins credit the sustained grouth of tourism to the grouth in disposable income and paid holiday;it is now the one of the fastest growing industries in the world.the world Tourism Industry expects international tourist arrivals worldwide to rise from 456m in 1990 to 660m in 2000 and 937m in 2010.(World Tourism Organization(WTO)1986). 1.1 Company Overview Radisson is one of the worlds leading global hotel brands. It delivers vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality that is characterized by its unique Yes I Can!SMservice philosophy. First-class, full-service hotels with a range of World of Radisson features that have been created specifically to be empathetic to the challenges of modern travel, including its 100% Guest Satisfaction Guarantee. Worldwide Portfolio Radisson has a strong worldwide portfolio and continues to grow with a focus on adding key hotels in major cities, airport gateways, leisure destinations and other important locations. Radisson currently has over 430 hotels operating throughout the world with 103 contracted properties under development. Radisson is expanding as a powerful, globally consistent, full-service hotel brand, offering vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality that is defined by its distinctive Yes I Can! service philosophy. All of our hotels and resorts offer a range of World of Radisson features that are empathetic to the challenges of modern travel. Expanding global presence Radisson continues to expand its presence in key destinations in The Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reaching new markets and customers in major urban and suburban locations, as well as near airports and business districts around the world. Yes I Can! training program delivers As part of its focus on guest satisfaction, Radisson offers one of the hospitality industrys most dynamic guest service training programs calledYes I Can! This program translates the core of the companys service philosophy for hospitality excellence to the front-line service employees in Radisson operations worldwide. Celebrating its 20 year milestone in 2007,Yes I Can!has become a central part of the Radisson culture, creating a point of difference for the brand. Our goal at Radisson is 100% Guest Satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with something, please let one of our staff know during your stay and well make it right or you wont pay. Its Guaranteed. 2.0 Concept of Marketing Carlson Sets New Marketing Strategy for its Radisson Brand: New Guest Room Concepts, New Restaurant Concepts and New Service Concepts ORLANDO, Fla. (March 3, 2010) As part of its Ambition 2015 plan, Carlson today unveiled a comprehensive strategy for its Radisson brand. As one of the worlds leading brands, Radisson is being positioned to deliver vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality characterized by the Yes I Can! service philosophy. The positioning is being supported by a series of innovations including new room concepts, new restaurant concepts and a series of new service concepts focused on the guest experience. The strategy for Radisson will entail an investment program of up to USD 1.5 billion in North America, focused on establishing flagship hotels in key U.S. cities and on upgrading the existing portfolio. It aims to expand its portfolio by at least 50 percent by 2015 to more than 1,500 hotels in operation. We believe this is a great time to invest in the hotel business. With Ambition 2015, we have a comprehensive and compelling strategy to build the business, said Hubert Joly, president and chief executive officer, Carlson. Ambition 2015 will focus on four priority growth initiatives including: Expanding Radisson as a powerful, globally consistent first-class brand. Accelerating the growth of Country Inns Suites By Carlson in four key markets: United States, Canada, India and Mexico. Growing Park Inn as a winning mid-scale brand across theaters in key countries. Continuing to grow in key emerging markets, with greater emphasis on mid-scale. The strategy entails continuing the growth in key emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, where it has gained significant strength. For example, Carlson is the largest and fastest growing international hotel company in India with 79 hotels in operation or contracted at the end of 2009. These strategies will be supported by investments in marketing, sales, distribution and technology. As part of its Ambition 2015 strategy, Carlson Hotels expects to increase the contribution from brand websites to 30 percent of revenue and to double the number of members in its goldpointsplusSM loyalty program. With 422 hotels in operation and 90 in the contracted pipeline, Radisson is one of the most well-known and fastest-growing brands in the world, delivering market leading guest satisfaction and achieving superior RevPar penetration internationally, said Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Carlson. We have crystallized the success formula for the brand, improved it and are using it as the foundation for its future development. As part of this strategy, Carlson announced the global roll out of five new room concepts And Relax, Naturally Cool, New York Mansion, Ocean and Urban. All of the concepts share a vibrant and contemporary design, the use of bold colors and lighting, and a comfortable feeling. The global strategy also includes two new restaurant concepts. Filini will offer an upscale, sophisticated Italian cuisine, while rbg is a bar-and-grill concept in an inviting, contemporary setting. The strategy also introduces a range of service concepts covering the key touch points of the guest experience including, for example, Business Class and three-hour laundry. Business Class will offer customers the best available room, breakfast, turn-down service, upgraded bathroom amenities, a daily newspaper and other amenities depending on the market. As part of this strategy, the Radisson brand will be tiered across the upper upscale and upscale segments. Radisson Blu will be applied to the upper upscale segment and Radisson Green will be applied to the upscale segment. Both will share the same brand essence vibrant, contemporary and engaging the same style and many of the service concepts. The differentiation will primarily be location based key location in a primary city versus a secondary market. It will typically be reflected in the level of investment that goes into the property. The strategy will include the implementation of the brands new global standard operating procedures, a new quality assurance program and intensive training programs. The strategy will be supported by investments in marketing, sales and distribution as part of the overall Carlson Ambition 2015 plan. 2.1 Marketing Strategy of Radisson Under the leadership of its former president, Radissons strategy focused on growth and the firm added hotels at the rate of about one hotel every seven days. By 1997, Radissons growth at any cost strategy left Radisson with a significant diversity in hotel quality and an unfocused brand image. Alignment with hotel owners (more than hotel guests) also seemed to cause Radissons customer service and hotel management expertise to atrophy. In 1997 and 1998, Mr. Brian Stage, Radissons President, and Ms. Maureen OHanlon, Radissons Executive Vice President, took several initiatives to drive the organization towards becoming a more customer-focused brand. In their words, they re-discovered that their primary customers should be the guests not the owners. Some of these initiatives included a service guarantee, a guest satisfaction measurement program, an employee satisfaction measurement program, and an information technology initiative. Stage and OHanlon were committed to creating the systems and programs that would bring Radisson into the 21-st century as a truly customer-driven learning organization. Their goal was to make Radisson the most trusted and respected brand worldwide. They were hopeful that these initiatives would make a significant contribution to helping Radisson achieve these goals. Service Quality Performance Metrics Radisson uses four service quality performance metrics based on room comment cards solicited from hotel guests: Willingness to return percent of customers who indicate that they are willing to return. Percent advocates percent of customers who indicate a willingness to recommend Radisson Hotels to others. Percent defectors percent of customers who indicate that they are unwilling to return. Percent complaints ratio of complaints to room nights. Information systems, under the leadership of Radissons Vice President of Knowledge Resources, Mr. Scott Heintzeman, produces a dashboard for each hotel that includes these and other more financial measures. The one-page dashboard is Radissons balanced scorecard for each hotel. These measures are often supplemented with ad hoc marketing research. This paper focuses on the service guarantee initiative, the four strategic service quality performance metrics that support the implementation and evaluation of that initiative, and a new measure called employee motivation and vision that was found to correlate highly with Radissons service quality performance metrics. RADISSONS SERVICE GUARANTEE The Service Guarantees Concept Hart2,3, Hill4, and others5,6 have argued persuasively that service guarantees can help many firms to position themselves in the market by clearly defining their value proposition to customers and employees. Service guarantees also stress front-line workers to deliver high-quality service the first time, encourage customers to voice their complaints to the firm, and motivate and enable workers to quickly discover and recover dissatisfied customers. Hays and Hill7 at the University of Minnesota developed a model (Figure 1) to show how service guarantees affect service quality and, ultimately, business performance. In this model, they argue that a strong service guarantee improves customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer loyalty through three intervening variables: Marketing Communications Impact, Employee Motivation and Vision, and Organizational Service Learning. These are defined in the following paragraphs. Figure 1. Service guarantees and business performance Marketing communications impact (MCI) Business performance (BP) Employee motivation and vision (EMV) Service guarantee strength (SGS) Customer satisfaction Service quality Customer loyalty (SQL) Organizational service learning (OSL) Marketing Communications Impact (MCI) A strong service guarantee will have both offensive and defensive marketing impact. Offensively, firms can use a service guarantee to proclaim the reliability of their high quality service and thus attract new customers. Defensively, a service guarantee not only enables companies to recover unsatisfied customers but also encourages dissatisfied customers to complain, thus allowing the firm to recover those customers. Employee Motivation and Vision (EMV) A strong service guarantee motivates employees to fulfil the guarantee and to satisfy customers. The guarantee clearly defines the employees job as satisfying customers not just taking reservations, checking out customers, or cleaning rooms. It can also inspire a new vision for service quality when employees are challenged to really satisfy customers true needs. Hill8 quotes one senior European executive who proclaimed that our service guarantee defines the mission for our firm. Organizational S ervice Learning (OSL) A strong service guarantee can help organizations discover dissatisfied customers and learn from them in order to improve service quality. Organizations with a strong service guarantee will tend learn how to satisfy customers faster than organizations without one. When marketing communications impact (MCI), employee motivation and vision (EMV), and organizational service learning (OSL) are improved, then service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty (SQL) should also improve. Business performance (BP) will improve as a result of improved SQL. 2.1.1 Guerrilla Marketing When using social media for marketing it is not about broadcasting its about engaging. The most successful campaign is the one that engages and activates the most people to become the brands ambassador. The Radisson Blu Hotel brand with hotels in over 200 locations world-wide has started such a campaign. It seems to have started mid-May but is reaching its tipping point these days and is spreading fast. Its actually a very simple competition. They are giving awaythe greatest holiday in the world, probably inspired by the best job in the word. And the greatest holiday on Earth is 365 free nights at any Radisson Blu hotel in the world that the winner can use over the next five years. All you have to do to participate is signing up and telling the world why you should win. Its then up to the users to get as many people as possible to vote for them but each person can vote once every day. The one with the most votes at the end of the competition on July 24th will be the winner of the 365 free nights at any Radisson Blu. Simple and effective. Last Sunday night about 1500 people had signed up and now, on Wednesday, there are about 3000 people competing. And those 3.000 people are now all actively promoting their spot in the competition and the hotel brand at the same time. Not bad! To encourage people further Radisson has enabled sharing options for twitter, face book and a number of other social networks and lists ideas on how people can promote themselves offline. One important thing is lacking though, which is a badge to put on a blog that automatically updates the ranking and encourages people to vote. 2.1.2 Viral Marketing Radisson Hotel is providing the Best Online Rate Guarantee for their customers. Radisson.com, their homepage is customers home base for the best savings. they deliver customers best online rates guaranteed.Customers can get the best online rate for their stay and they will get the best rate online they guarantee it. When customer books their reservation on Radisson.com, they can be confident they have gotten the best rate for their next visit. HowIt Works If you find a rate on another website that is lower than the bestrate on Radisson.com and the rate is for the same date(s), same room type, same number of guests, at the same hotel and same rate termsor restrictions- let them know andthey will honour the lower rate AND discount that rate by 25%. Qualifying Rates Radissons Best Online Rate Guarantee applies only to online rates available to the general public. Group rates, corporate rates, wholesale rates, affinity/association rates or rates which are part of a travel package do not qualify. Radisson Customer Service will verify the rate meets all of the Best Online Rate Guarantee terms and conditions. Once confirmed you will receive the lower rate and 25% discount. Radissonguarantees that Radisson.com will have the best online rate available to their guests. 3.0 Public Relation Method March 24th, 2008, Radisson Hotel, Effective Business Solutionsseminar On 24th of March, the Bulgarian Cash newspaper arranged the Effective business solutions seminar in Radisson Hotel. The event was focused on ERP and CRM systems in order to help managers of trading and production companies raise the efficiency of their business processes. The top IT leaders were invited to present their products and Neme schek Bulgaria was one of them. In their exposition, the specialists of Nemetschek Bulgaria emphasized on the simple adaptation of their system ( Customer Center) to the customers needs. Radisson Hotels Reviews Public Relation Prior To Launch Radisson Hotels is reviewing PR for its main hotels brand and is in the advanced stages of hiring an agency to launch a five-star hotel in Manchester. PR manager Jacquiline Willers said the company had seen pitches from four agencies and settled on a shortlist of two for the Manchester brief, with local agency Mason Williams and London-based Pineapple PR in contention. Willers refused to discuss fees for the two briefs, but said: We have budgets for the Manchester project and for a two-year contract to help the Radisson Edwardian brand. It may be that one gets the Manchester job and the other the wider brief. At the moment, were not looking at other agencies for the two-year contract, but that may change, she added. Radisson Edwardian has previously used Brighter PR for its PR work. The agency is not involved in the current pitch process. Willers said the brief for the Radisson Edwardian Hotel Manchester will involve activity to drive bookings and awareness ahead of its opening in June 2004. The company claims the Manchester hotel will be the first five-star hotel in the centre of the city. However, Manchesters Lowry Hotel which falls just outside the city centre in neighbouring Salford and accommodated the England football team last weekend for its friendly against Denmark currently dubs itself the citys only five-star hotel, sparking speculation of a feud between the two hotels. But, Rocco Forte Hotels UK marketing director, Murray Thompson, played down talk of a spat, saying the opening of the Radisson in the city would make life easier for the Lowry: Manchester is saturated with three- and four-star hotels and it will no longer be just us saying its worthwhile to pay for luxury, he said. Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, has appointed Stephanie AbouJaoude as its Public Relations and Communications Manager. The property is an established landmark on the Deira Creekside and was re-branded Radisson SAS this month. Lebanese-Canadian, AbouJaoude, takes up her new role following three years as Public Relations and Communications Executive at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai where her main duties involved media relations, advertising and maintaining the corporate identity of the brand. Stephanie will spearhead all elements of internal and external communications. She will also oversee the propertys marketing programmes, said Andreas Flà ¼ckiger, General Manager, Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek. Her comprehensive knowledge of this property is a real asset to us and she will play an integral part in establishing this hotel under the Radisson SAS brand. Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek has 287 guest-rooms, including 39 suites, 16 food and beverage outlets as well as meeting and events facilities. 3.1 Relationship Marketing Radisson is part of the Carlson Hotels Worldwide system of hospitality properties which include Regent International Hotels, Radisson Hotels Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels, Country Inns Suites By Carlson, and Park Inn hotels. The parent company, Carlson Companies Inc., also owns and operates Radisson Seven Seas Cruises and T.G.I. Fridays restaurants. A world leader in Relationship Marketing, Carlson maintains a consumer loyalty program known as Gold Points Rewards. As one of the leading global hospitality companies, Radisson operates, manages and franchises 435 full-service hotels and resorts, representing more than 102,000 guest rooms in 61 countries. From its franchise partners and strategic allies, to every manager and employee at every hotel, the Radisson organization is committed to providing personalized, professional guest service and Genuine Hospitality With its focus on total guest satisfaction, Radisson employees undergo one of the hospitality industrys most dynamic guest relations training programs calledYes, I Can!This program translates the core of the companys service philosophy for hospitality excellence to the front-line service employees in Radisson operations worldwide. After more than a decade,Yes, I Can!has become a central part of the Radisson culture, creating a point of difference for the brand in the manner with which customers are served. Radisson hotels are named after the famous French explorer, Pierre Esprit Radisson, who visited many parts of the Upper Midwest and Canada during the 17th century. Radisson Gold Rewards offers guests the opportunity to earn and redeem Gold Points ® within an exclusive network of leading brands. Members who earn Gold Points can redeem them for free night stays, airline miles, luxury cruises, merchandise, meals, and more. In addition to all of Carlsons brands, other major national partners in the Gold Points Rewardsnetwork include Thrifty Car Rental, The Flower Club and FTD.com. Currently, Gold Points are earned at all Radisson hotels in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Residents of these countries can earn points at Radisson SAS and Radisson Edwardian hotels in Europe as well. Members of Radisson Gold Rewards earn 1,000 Gold Points per night, up to 10,000 points per stay. Radisson is continuing to add new hotels and resorts in key international business and leisure destinations. Examples of the companys highly successful partnerships include the development of Radisson SAS hotels and three other Carlson hotel brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Radisson Edwardian Hotels in the United Kingdom. Global presence and expansion into new markets is a key part of Radissons heritage. Radisson opened the first American-managed hotel in Moscow and today has several locations throughout Eastern Europe. Radissons recent entry into the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia in December 2002, expanded the brands global presence to 61 countries. 3.2 Customer Loyalty At Radisson, they are always looking for ways to give customers that little something extra. Thats why they offer Goldpoints Plus (goldpoints plusSM). Its the rewards program thats tailor-made for customers and their needs. goldpoints plusSM Free nights à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Enjoyfree hotel nightsstarting at just 15,000 points. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Combine a fewPoints + Cashfor an Award Night. Miles à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Exchange yourpoints for mileswith over 20 airlines. Prepaid Cards à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Cash in your points for Visa ®or MasterCard ®Prepaid Cards. Express Awards à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Redeem points at the hotel forExpress Awardslike movies, room upgrades and more. Make a Donation à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Gift your points to theWorld Childhood Foundationor to offset yourCO2 emissions. And some more attractive programmes those are really help them to get a loyal customer. 100% Satisfaction If you arent satisfied with something, please let one of our staff know during your stay and well make it right or you wont pay. Its guaranteed. Global Locations With over 400 Radisson locations worldwide, our doors are always open to you. Ready to greet you with our signature Yes I Can!TMservice. Free High-Speed Internet We dont just want you to stay with us, we want you to connect with us. Thats why unlimited high speed Internet is free with your stay. Full Service Restaurant and Room Service Hungry for satisfaction? Youll get it when you enjoy a meal in one of our full service restaurants. If you prefer to stay in, help yourself to something from our room service menu! Business Centers Its easy to stay on the job even when youre traveling. Our business centers are fully upgraded to fit the way you work today. Pool and Fitness Centers Spend your downtime shaping up in our modernized fitness centers or take the plunge poolside and stay fit when youre on the go. Meeting and Banquet Facilities Whether youre planning a business meeting or a family celebration, were here to help. With the space and the services that will make your event special in every way. 4.0 Effectiveness of Marketing and Public Relation strategy 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 . Technology will undoubtedly continue to develop andRadisson Hotels should continue to progress along with it to stay on top of the service industry as one of the best global hotelcompanies out there. ORLANDO, Florida As part of its Ambition 2015 plan, Carlson today unveiled a comprehensive strategy for its Radisson brand. As one of the worlds leading brands, Radisson ® is being positioned to deliver vibrant, contemporary and engaging hospitality characterized by the Yes I Can! service philosophy. The positioning is being supported by a series of innovations including new room concepts, new restaurant concepts and a series of new service concepts focused on the guest experience. The strategy for Radisson will entail an investment program of up to USD 1.5 billion in North America, focused on establishing flagship hotels in key U.S. cities and on upgrading the existing portfolio. With 422 hotels in operation and 90 in the contracted pipeline, Radisson is one of the most well-known and fastest-growing brands in the world, delivering market leading guest satisfaction and achieving superior RevPar penetration internationally, said Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Carlson. We have crystallized the success formula for the brand, improved it and are using it as the foundation for its future development. As part of this strategy, Carlson announced the global roll out of five new room concepts And Relax, Naturally Cool, New York Mansion, Ocean and Urban. All of the concepts share a vibrant and contemporary design, the use of bold colors and lighting, and a comfortable feeling. The global strategy also includes two new restaurant concepts. Filini will offer an upscale, sophisticated Italian cuisine, while rbg is a bar-and-grill concept in an inviting, contemporary setting. The strategy also introduces a range of service concepts covering the key touch points of the guest experience including, for example, Business Class and three-hour laundry. Business Class will offer customers the best available room, breakfast, turn-down service, upgraded bathroom amenities, a daily newspaper and other amenities depending on the market. As part of this strategy, the Radisson brand will be tiered across the upper upscale and upscale segments. Radisson Blu will be applied to the upper upscale segment and Radisson Green will be applied to the upscale segment. Both will share the same brand essence vibrant, contemporary and engaging the same style and many of the service concepts. The differentiation will primarily be location based key location in a primary city versus a secondary market. It will typically be reflected in the level of investment that goes into the property. The strategy will include the implementation of the brands new global standard operating procedures, a new quality assurance program and intensive training programs. The strategy will be supported by investments in marketing, sales and distribution as part of the overall Carlson Ambition 2015 plan. We have seen the power of the brand internationally and the very attractive return from renovating to the new standards, Joly said. The brand is poised for significant growth around the world and we expect to grow the portfolio to at least 600 hotels by 2015. Media interested in getting insight into Carlsons new global vision and corporate strategy are invited to view the live webcast of Hubert Jolys opening keynote atwww.carlsonhotelsmedia.com/ambition2015at 4:30 p.m. ET. A replay of this webcast will be available starting at 8 p.m. ET, Wednesday March 3, 2010. Effective Integrated Marketing Strategy Integration marketinghappens when two different, but complementary offers are made in succession, or when a Unit of Marketing Value is placed in front of an existing traffic stream. Radisson offers sleep number beds in many of their rooms. These beds allow guest to adjust the firmness to their liking. In this case, the integration is that, as a Radisson customer, they are entitled to receive Free home delivery, setup and removal OR $150 worth of accessories on select Sleep Number beds. The promotion is co-branded to reinforce that being a Radisson client has its special perks and privileges that they are looking out for customers well-being even when they are not staying at their hotel. In fact, they want the experience of sleeping in customers own bed to mimic the experience of sleeping in their bed. Integrated marketing is happening all around the guest all they have to do is look for it. 5.0 Recommendation and conclusion References www.radision http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2010_1st/Mar10_RadissonPlans.html http://www.greatestholiday.radissonblu.com/ http://www.nemetschek.bg/press/index.htm http://www.discoverfrance.net/Boutique/Travel/Hotels/Chains/Radisson.shtml SERVICE GUARANTEES AND STRATEGIC SERVICE QUALITY PERFORMANCE METRICS AT RADISSON HOTELS WORLDWIDE Arthur V. Hill * , Susan Geurs, Julie M. Hays, George John, David W. Johnson, and Richard A. Swanson Case Analysis: Customer-Driven Learning at Radisson Hotels Worldwide ReferencesAl, 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 inMarketingand Management, 1 (3), 67-77. Hart, Bibliography http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-360091-radisson_ambassador_plaza_hotel_and_casino-i