English and Spanglish Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English and Spanglish - Personal Statement Example Both Spanish and English occupy an important place in my life helping me to communicate and understand other people. In my life, language diversity begins with effective quality education, and whenever we will seek to create multifaceted cultural strategies in schools, they will be readily reflected in my social environments, for these are also shaped by those who graduate from schools and who are actively involved into various types of cultural initiatives that are closely aligned with the major goals in education. Effective communication is not possible without learning and demonstrating good communication skills. My impression is that the general attitude to this language group is hostility that is showed from the side of the white population. Amy Tan writes: "people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her" (Amy Tan). The combination of t hese skills is very important for facilitating effective communication. As for good communication practices, these practices are important for ensuring that my needs and interests are being heard and addressed. What is fundamental for effective communication is "active" listening. Traditionally, good listening entails listening to the content of the dialogue. In the major part of the cases the context of the dialogue is comprised of the tone and physical gestures. These are used by people to express the interests of the group. My English differs from other Englishes so I use many Spanish words and phrases which help me to express my emotions and feelings. Usually, I use these phrases at home and with my friends who understand them correctly. So, I try to avoid Spanishisms while communicate with other people. At present, I belong to Spanish language community. The major specific feature of this community is that the people show a specific kind of attitude to the Spanish spoken population of the island. Similar to Amy Tan, I experience that "there are other Asian-American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as "broken" or "limited." And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me" (Amy Tan). This fact is very important since it can push language bearers to survive under the effect of many factors. The survival of the Spanish language is the thing that closely depends on the activities of the whol e group. The person that took an active role in the activities of the organization was projected to make a number of rather negative evaluations. Even now the group of rather negative evaluations still continues to be placed on Patois. Language use of these nations continues to be one of the things that still matters. Traditionally, this thing requires people to make little effort to provoke comments. My own experience in working with Spanish group indicates that the remnants of this accent still exist in our society. The main reason for that is the uniqueness of the Spanish language. Even now the language continues to be spoken in the U.S. This tendency remains to be supported by many U.S. residents. The main reason why U still use Spanish often can be simply described as "enjoyment". Once, I was also in the situation close to making a significant linguistic misstep. The situation

Fast Food Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Essay Market and environmental analysis of McDonalds Corp – 2003. Market and environmental analysis is an essential part of an organization’s External Analysis. The main objectives of a market analysis are; a)To determine how attractive a market is. b)To understand the dynamics of the market and amend strategies accordingly. Here we apply the dimensions of a Market Analysis to McDonalds corp. 1)Emerging submarkets; McDonalds failed to recognize the changing trend in customer’s preferences to better tasting, fresher food. This trend led to new sub markets emerging for tastier, fresher and fast food perceived as healthier. A few of the smaller/privately owned competitors (Cosi and Quizno’s) were able to operate in niche markets selling gourmet sandwiches and salads. The emergence of smaller restaurants offering easy access to exotic foods such as sushi and burritos created a more specialized niche market. 2)Size and Growth; With the emergence of these sub-markets and niche markets, McDonalds started losing market share. It now had to share its fast-food mass market with these newly created markets. Even though these restaurant chains were small in size, their growth opportunities presented a potential threat to McDonalds. They operated on service that was better than McDonalds at the same time providing better tasting food, which led to an increase in its sales. This sector was in the early stages of growth where as McDonalds was past the maturity stage. 3)Profitability; McDonalds profitability can be gauged by using Porters 5 factor model. a)Intensity of competition among existing customers was relatively high. Direct competitors like Wendy’s and Chik-Fil-A were able to out perform. McDonalds based on service quality by providing quicker service. In comparison McDonalds had a large number of franchises, but will falling service time. b)Threat of new entrants: Other market niches like quizo’s, cosi and small restaurants offering exotic foods also provided a high degree of competition to McDonalds by offering food that appealed to changing customer preferences. The only barrier to entry that McDonalds used was to open a large number of franchises and offer an inexpensive menu; this is however changing as franchisees are leaving McDonalds, lowering the barriers to entry. c)Substitute products would include fast food options available in leading supermarkets, and cafe’s offering exotic foods like sushi. d)Bargaining power of customers. Customers are the main source of income for McDonalds. Customers were not happy with the menu offered at McDonalds and hence took their custom to other restaurants, leading to a drop in sales. e)Bargaining power of suppliers: McDonalds aimed to keep their menu prices low (source more details about suppliers) 4)Cost structure McDonalds strategic focus was on cost and service. In order to raise service quality new kitchens were installed. However, this installation was done for some franchises that did not need it and where the new additions did not help improve business. In order to keep the price of its burgers low, it asked the franchises to sell at a loss. Example: Promoting a $1 burger when the cost to make it was $1. 07. This lack in foresight resulted in rising costs to franchise owners who responded by leaving McDonalds and going over to competitors. This snowballed into falling investor confidence resulting in falling equity. Another cost issue was investing in too many takeovers which it couldn’t handle at the same time as improving service quality and revamping the menu. 5)Distribution Systems McDonalds distribution system was the large and growing number of franchises. However not many of the franchises were posting profits and as per Exhibit 1, more than 500 would have to be closed. One of McDonalds strengths is its distribution system, where in customers come in and have the same experience that they have at any other store. However, this can also be a weakness as providing a consistent experience soon becomes ordinary. 6)Market Trends. The fast food casual market was quickly breaking up into fragments. With the rising immigrant population customers now had a choice of items. McDonalds realize this too late and try to counter this effect by introducing new burgers. However, the testing of the new menu does not gauge strongly enough the changing customer preferences and this poor planning led to its failure. Internally changing trends were also blindsided. Franchisees who were the closest to customers were not included in decision making and were thus disgruntled. Here was the need to change the management style from top-down to bottom-up. This would have solved some of the issues plaguing McDonalds, by providing data on what customers want and what products would have a greater chance of success. 7)Key success Factors McDonalds did have some strengths or key success factors; a)Large number of franchises that led to economies of scale. This however contrasted to the ‘small is beautiful’ concept of the niche markets. b)Complete training for franchisees to begin and run their own McDonalds proved to be a good team building exercise. c)Cost of food was low due to economies of scale and economies of size. Moreover, McDonalds was able to negotiate a reasonable price for high quality food products. McDonalds failed to realize the changing trends in the casual fast food markets, as a result of which, a large part of the market share was taken over by existing brands like Wendy’s and new players like Panera bread co. The company also failed to acknowledge competition from the niche markets serving gourmet and exotic foods. This lack in analysis led to lowering of entry barriers for new entrants, loss of market share to competitors (Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A. ), disgruntled franchisees, and a drop in sales leading to a fall in equity value. Environmental Analysis 1)Political: 2)Economic: 3)Socio-Cultural: There are three cultural forces that influence marketers: a) persistence of cultural values, b) subcultures and c) shifts in secondary cultural values. Of the three, secondary cultural values carry the largest influence on the fast-food market. When the market is interested in convenience, they are more likely to buy fast food; if the markets secondary values shift and become interested in fitness and health, they will be less likely to buy fast food. (Monash university, 2006) The case shows this shift to gourmet and healthier foods. 4)Technological: McDonalds had begun to notice the importance of technology. The organization was looking at new technological solutions like ERP to improve their supply chain (Newman, 2002) 5)Environmental: 6)Legal: References: Monash university, 2006, Briohny’s Report, Language and Learning Online, Retrieved on 06 May 2008. http://www. monash. edu. au/lls/llonline/writing/business-economics/marketing/3. 3. 2. xml Newman, K, 2002. McDonalds seeks closer electronic relations, iStart. com:Technology in business, www. istart. co. nz, retrieved on 06 May 2008. http://www. istart. co. nz/index/HM20/PC0/PVC197/EX245/AR22537.

Muscle Growth Essay -- Muscle Growth Physiology Health Essays

Muscle Growth With the introduction of such modern conveniences such as the automobile, remote control, and even the electric toothbrush people are relying on technology to do everything for them. With a generation growing up in todays society physical tasks have almost become obsolete. Tasks such as even going shopping and going out to visit a friend can be done from the comfort of your own computer. With this sedentary lifestyle, muscular size will almost be unnecessary, except for the athlete who wants to succeed in sports. To the non-athlete, there will be no reason to leave the house because everything that you need will be at your fingertips, you will not have to get up and do anything. Any type of exercise is good for the body and muscles. Muscle growth is essential if you want to look better, feel better, and perform everyday tasks such as walking to the car, and getting out of bed easier. A person who is in shape will also sleep better then an out of shape person, and feel more revitalized in the morning. Muscles account for approximently 35% of the body weight in women, and about 45% of the body weight in men. With over 600 muscles covering the human skeleton muscles give the body bulk and form. Then human body contains millions of muscle fibres whose coordinated contraction cause the whole muscle to contract. Muscles are the foundation on which our bodies are built. Without muscles our bodies could not perform the simplest tasks such as opening our eyes, talking, breathing and even the pumping of our heart or the most difficult tasks, such as running the hurdles in a track and field event.. Muscles are also important to maintain balance and posture. Description of Muscles In the body there are several types of muscles that control different functions in the body, one of these types being skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle is the most evident in the human body due to it having the most mass the other types of muscles and that it lies directly under the skin attached to the skeleton by tendons and ligaments. Skeletal muscles are divided into three structural units, the entire muscle, the muscle bundle, and the muscle fiber (cell). Each muscle fiber is divided into two types of fiber structure, fusiform and pennate, with the pennate being broken up into three basic structures. These structures being the un... ...ng program you should properly stretch the muscles being worked in order to keep them loose. Stretching should also be done directly after a workout because the muscles are still warm and can be stretched more easily. This will also increase flexibility which can be very advantageous in preventing injuries such as muscle sprains and strains. A Conclusion to Muscle Growth A muscle growth program can be beneficial to everybody, from the young athlete wanting to succeed in sports, to the older man trying to help stay and feel young. The benefits of muscle growth are too high to be passed out by anybody who has any sort of ambition of feeling better about themselves, looking better, and having more energy for everyday tasks. You will find that once you start weight training, and muscle and strength growths are noticed that it will almost become addicting and the desire for bigger and better results will become greater and greater. I would recommend muscle growth to anybody, and anyone who disagrees should give it a try, just for a little while, and after the results of improved strength and muscle size are noticed weight training will become a part of their life.

Luxury Brand Essay

Introduction One can describe as luxury all that exceeds the bare essential. It covers all that one considers superfluous and useless. But in the usual direction, luxury means ostentation and refinement in the manners of living (art of the table, elegant toilet, sumptuous decoration ? ). The luxury discusses and is acquired by great expenditure. The philosophers of the Lights had divergent opinions concerning the luxury. Voltaire considered that that represented an essential support of the economy. Rousseau as for him saw the luxury like a principle of exploitation of the small people and the spring of all perversions, because the luxury is made to be admired, it dazzles. We will see through our study how much industry luxury is a singular world in our economy: with very consequent sales turnovers, actors gathered in great powerful groups. We will also be interested in the luxury brands: with the identity of brands, the targets of those. Finally we will analyze the risks for the luxury brand to fall into the hands of standard population. Isn’t the luxury in the street for the greatest number, recent phenomenon, likely you it not to carry damage to the brands? These problems deserve to be posed because it returns to the identity and the image which the luxury brand wishes to give to itself? PART I The industry of the luxury Until the Middle Ages the writings tell us luxury which it was the reflection of the religious mystery which pushes the man to be exceeded by an offering or a sign. We will see how much the concept of going beyond remains, still today for the man, important when it is a question of having luxury. But the blessed time of the luxury is without any doubt: the Rebirth (XVth and XVIth centuries), period of literary, artistic and scientific flowering. This time represents the tangible explosion of the luxury: sail of the sumptuous architecture inspired of Italy, progress of the ornaments of jewels. Also furniture becomes more luxurious; the art of the table avoids refinement. The luxury articles then remain rare objects, related exclusively on the Aristocracy and the Court. With the Rebirth the luxury has a contrasted position. But thereafter it will become the prerogative of the Middle-class. It will take intellectual connotations, results of the great voyages from the time. It is also of this time that dates the luxury for the books, thanks to the work of the bookbinders. Another strong time for the luxury: the XVIIIth century and the positive role of the Encyclopedia. This one treated in its chapters thoroughly: technical and industrial aspects of clothing and the accessories. The trades related to the industry of the luxury can then be shown with the eyes of all as to mean that the luxury is however reserved for elite. At the XIXth century, the economic influence results in new forms of manufacture and distribution. The industry of the luxury is then made up brotherhoods of craftsmen, all having their distinctive signs. From this time one will retain especially, as Zola in â€Å"With the Happiness of the Ladies tells it†, the opening of department stores symbolizes the democratization of the luxury. XXth century will have to be waited, to see flowering in Paris, a multitude of small workshops of craftsmen, devoted to the trades of the luxury. In 1929, in spite of the economic crisis, the intellectual radiation of our country is preserved and Coconut Chanel, Jeanne Lanvin, Louis Cartier are the kings and the queens that the â€Å"large ones† are torn off to get dressed or buy jewels. But the war of 1939-1945 will carry a new blow to France and the development of the industry of the luxury. France will take again its place of leader of the industry of the luxury only per hour of the Release, thanks to: fashion in particular of Christian Dior and the â€Å"new look†, per hour of the revolution zazou and the existentialism. In the post-war period it will really be necessary to wait, the years 1950 and them assistances of the Marshall plan so that manufactures take again their activities. The textile comes then at the head from exports with nearly 20% to the value to the exported products, thanks to Parisian creations very appreciated on the other side of the Atlantic. The period from May 68 reminds all, concerning the luxury, that it should not make forget the great technological stakes of the XXe century. Industrial development is from now on priority and proof is made by it by Pompidou itself: â€Å"Dear old France! Good kitchen! Madness-Shepherdesses! Merry-Paris! The High-Seam (?. )! It is finished. France started and largely started an industrial revolution†. The Seventies were wiser years, years of centering. Fashion is enough conformist, nothing of shocking and nothing eccentric. These years of oil crisis were the period when the Arab emirs invade the jewelers and the large dressmakers. The striking fact of the Eighties is at the level of the consumer of the luxury. The young people discover the luxury thanks to the accessories. We will see further in our study how much this phenomenon is still of topicality today. End of the year the 80 shops will multiply. The actors of the industry of the luxury are from now on conscious of the risk of competition. It becomes necessary to occupy all the crenels; to conquer new territories for fear the competitor does not occupy them. The rather morose Nineties, years, did not save the luxury, which passed through a crisis however more psychological than economic. That will engage a true thoughtfulness on the bases of the luxury. One directs oneself step by step towards a new luxury: of quality, deeper, more spiritual, and more moral. XXIe century is not as certain experts had predicted it, the era of the obliteration of the luxury. In spite of major events: on September 11, 2001, the war of the gulf which amplified an economic crisis in the sector of the luxury, this one holds good while drawing the conclusions necessary. The sector of the luxury is more sensitive than other sectors to the risks of the economic situation. Once the crises passed, the luxury finds all its heat then. 2. General characteristics of the luxury We will approach the luxury here in the broad sense. This definition will help us in the continuation of our study to better including/understanding the relation which is tied between the consumer and luxury brands. Initially we talk about luxury which is characteristic of a civilization and men who compose it. The luxury, eternal, is a valve essential to the human activity as well as the relaxation, the sport, the thinking and the love. It is a considerable share of dream, a manner of appeasing our phantasms. The luxury is a universe, separately, governs by codes, rules, signs. The luxury is a considerable world market, strongly concentrated in Europe and North America. France is a leader in the sector of the luxury, with about half of the production. The luxury is the second economic sector in France thanks in particular to the fact that it is addressed to broader customers and knew periods of strong growths on a world level. Today, the industry of the luxury is somewhat weakened by the reversal of the economic situation world: the fall of tourism, the stock exchange crisis, which touches mainly occasional customers. But the luxury resists while being pressed on solids structural elements. This sector can rely in particular: on the growing proportion of the classes with high incomes in the population, the conquest of new markets such as China, and the development of travels. Broadly the European goods of luxury have a place of choice: they profit from a certain standardization of the modes, universalization and hardly suffer from the competition of the other continents. The sector is addressed to increasingly many customers, this which present important prospects for growth for the next years. One of the paramount characteristics of the luxury is that it has its lines, its forms, its configuration. It transmits its codes of beauty which can even surprise to shock. But the luxury articles are not aesthetically neutral. The creator and the owner incarnate themselves in the luxury article. The choice of this one is thus never indifferent: it signs our personality and fact of us refined beings. Three components develop the luxury: – The object corresponds to a personalized step, – the object is technically perfect, – The object is aesthetically beautiful. In the luxury, the desire is higher than the need insofar as it nourishes our psychic in the same way that the satisfaction of the needs corresponds to our physiological life. One seeks by the means of the luxury article with: to allure, give or give pleasure. Dependent on the beauty, the luxury calls upon the five directions but also with individual passion (search constant and personalized) and with freedom (to rise with the top of its condition). All the actors of the luxury must keep in mind the rules which govern industry of the luxury and particularly during the introduction of products on the market. The first rule, that we will re-examine in the ultimate part of this work, it is to respect the aspirations of the consumers and to even include/understand them to anticipate them in order to ensure the marks of luxury, certain perenniality. We can observe that the market from now on is characterized by the bursting of the request. The offer is today the territory of large owners groups various large marks delivering a keen war. Initially, let us recall that the luxury is a sector gathering various activities. We will present one of typologies here allowing bettering analyzing these activities: – The cultural market (market of Art) – Means of transport (car, yacht, private aircrafts) – Equipment of the person (high-seam, perfumery, leather working, shoes, cosmetics, clock industry, jewelry) – Leisure (cruising, sports of luxury, hotel trade of luxury) – Equipment of the house (art of the table) – Habitat (residences of luxury, decoration of luxury) – Food (wines and spirits, grocer and restaurant of luxury) All these activities form the industry of the luxury. This industry returns to products of high quality, at a concentrated market, gravitational, much targeted and much segmented. Some brands rhyme with luxury and pleasure. Behind these names are however powerful groups, very skilful, which compete unceasingly as regards management of the marks, creativity, communication and distribution. The tendency has been for a few years with the concentration: operation consisting in integrating into a great group, detached houses. In addition, the large actors of the luxury reinforce their positions with international and are more and more obliged to increase their visibility. The current economic situation forced the industrialists of the luxury to engage of the modifications in their policy. Thus we observed on behalf of the great groups a real will to free of debts ourselves. Recent evolutions allowed: an increase in the financial capacity, a modernization of the production equipments, a development of the sales networks, more creation and of innovation. 3. Actors of the luxury – Manpower: 125. 000 people – Sales turnover: 10 billion Euros In 2002, the world market, it were evaluated to 90 billion Euros (HT wholesale price). This market is today in a phase of deceleration. The most flourishing period, because of economic situation quasi-euphoria, is located between the years 1998 and 2000, where the progression of the market bordered to them + 16%. From now on, the growth does not turn any more but around + the 10%. As regards luxury, Paris remains the center of creation, the decision and the definition of the strategy of the companies. On the other hand the manufacturers are present on all the French territory. The leader of the market of the luxury is group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy)1. The challenger is the group PR (Pinault Spring Redoute). These two groups are French. The other principal actors are: the Richemont group (Swiss) and groups it Prada (Italy). These large financial groups and industrialists in common have the possession of the wallets of luxury brands which have a history founder, which is necessary to exploit. They understood that a brand needs to have a starting point, a human history, even old or remote. In our second part we will approach the luxury brands and beyond they are the strategies of the great groups which will take shape in filigree. PART 2 Marks of luxury And general public 1. Identity of brand The name of a brand or its logo is only the visible part of a more complex reality. These visible signs ensure the mediation between the identity of the company (essential values that it conveys) and its image (perceptions which the customers have of this mark). The concept brand identity remains still too little used by the managers. However this identity constitutes the base and the federator element of all the manifestations of the brand. In term of brands’ management, the concept of identity can appear as a capital importance. Thus if there are â€Å"richer† brand than others, it is that this one profit from a potential evocation more important and more easily mobile. With regard to the sector of the luxury, the identity of brands is a considerable strategic data. It can moreover confer a competing advantage on brand and represent a very pointed strategic tool for the managers of the mark. It should be noted that the identity of brand does not make it possible to intervene directly on the choices of the offers’ structure, of customer, margin and price determination target? It is on the other hand a major resource and a reference brand in the development of the total strategy of the company. The identity of brand will thus affect creation and the communication like on the distribution, the production?. The identity reasoning will be able to thus have an influence more or less pronounced on the strategy of the company and in return the identity of the brand itself will be affected by decisions taken in other functions. In other words, the identity is the substance of the brands and one will see further in our study than it arrives sometimes than this identity, if it is badly perceived by the consumers, perhaps the cause of a crisis of brand. Brands can be considered like vector of direction: it communicates a speech, a message with recipients. Each brand creates a speech which is clean for him, in relation to its products, its history, its projects, the tastes of its customers. The brands take part then in the process of communication because one finds: a transmitter (the company), a recipient (the consumer, the customer), a message. The identity can also be conveyed by a personality which brings all its size to the mark. From there has come for a few years an intensive use famous character to represent the brand: Ex: Ines Sastre for Lancome, Carole Bouquet for Chanel, Kate Moss for Calvin Klein But the identity of brand can be reinforced by talented personalities which carry to end of brand’s arm arm the mark, ex: Tom Ford for Gucci, or Giorgio Armani, Pierre Cardin, Yves SAINT LAURENT, Jean-Paul Gaultier †¦ For considerable luxury brand, it is nowadays dominating to know to perpetuate the identity of the brand, in spite of: the disappearance of the creator or the departure of the personality which characterized it? The goal is to not perturb the customer: it is for example the problem that has recently to face the mark Gucci after the departure of emblematic the fashion designer Tom Ford and chairman of the brand, Domenico de Sole The articulation of a horizon of value makes it possible for brands to connect two distant universes: that of the products and that of the consumers. This contact transforms this relation: on the one hand the brand makes possible to invest the universe of the products with values symbolic systems and imaginary; and in addition it makes it possible to represent and consider the consumer, according to various visions: commercial, industrial or economic. The consumer is considered, as we already specified, like recipient. Brands, by using a language of values, are addressed more to the individual, apprehended in totality its being, of its personality, of its needs, that with the consumer. In the sector of the luxury, consumption is done through a context of life and the identity of mark does nothing but reinforce this context. In short to be a mark with success, it is necessary that the identity of the brand is built starting from various points: 1 In 2004: Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole announced their departure of Gucci group and do not renew its contract with PR. All wonder which is the future of the Gucci mark without the Genious creator . ? A genetic code : a history founder. A mark absolutely requires for a starting point, a history of man, even if it is old. ? Know-how: it can be transmitted in a subjective way without technical relationship to reality of today. But this know-how is a pledge of quality and professionalism and confers on the mark all its reputation. ? Distinctive signs: they are essential. It can be a question of the logotype (certain companies go until selling their logotype1), but also of services, products, the design, color (ex: the red Ferrari)? ? A language of the brand : this one will be able to be thus found in the communications of the mark. ? A distribution network : this one will have to evolve/move with the behavior of the consumers. ? A spirit of idiot searches : the territory of the brand is defined by the most representative of the company which has the role of projecting the mark in a anticipative vision. ? Charisma: a luxury brand must imperatively have a charismatic dimension. It is a credit of image which is the first step towards an identity strong and impossible to circumvent. We saw throughout this part that a brand needs a strong identity to be visible and gravitational with the eyes of the consumers. To be visible, it is thus necessary for the luxury brand to have adequate communications. 2. Communication of the luxury brands The universe of the luxury, intended either for the ornament of the individual, or the embellishment of its personal environment, answers a series of needs, desires, wishes, dreams. ? Targets of the luxury brands The products of the marks luxury brands, as we specified before, must tell a history which must correspond to waiting of the customers. Customers, heart of target, present of the particular characteristics of which first are that they are consumers to financial means much more important than average (the highest CSP). This social category, elite, has a very particular motivation: it is necessary to meet their desires and not their needs. It will be a question of playing on the mental one more than on the material. Hedonists, less and less faithful to the marks, they await always more quality, of safety and especially of immaterial added value: services, citizenship, ecology, environmental protection? For customers , heart of target: the request should be caused. Generally the creator imposes his tastes. This category of affluent continues by choosing the most selective luxury articles, newest and most inaccessible. It is eager to mark its social status. Its completely distinctive life style, is an escape ahead, in order to escape the correction from the â€Å"new classes: rich person and avid of modernity â€Å". The luxury is for them a bench brand, a brand of membership of a club which they want relatively selective. The principal target gathers it, of the classes of â€Å"new rich person†, rather young person who acquired a social status raised thanks to incomes resulting from the business world, industries of high technology? With regard to the characteristics of the targets: it acts people of more than 25 years having a social status raised certainly, which have good taste but which sees especially the luxury as a universe which reflects their aesthetic choices like their personality. We are in a society, whose modes of consumption to the wire of the decades changed. Yesterday, one consumed necessary. Today it is not any more the case and the modification of the behaviors also had effects on the consumption of the luxury. More than ever, today there is a search for pleasure above all. In our company, there is from now on a â€Å"social legitimating of the pleasure†1, which leads the individuals to want what there is best and of more beautiful for them. Via the communication and the media we receive messages more and more, praising the benefits and the legitimacy of personal blooming. Legitimate targets inaccessible luxury, are not with a view to consumption to conclusive dimension. For these raised categories, the luxury is an ordinary consumption exceptional people. And yet the report has not been pus also Net for a few years. We will see in our ultimate under-part that the luxury can also be an exceptional consumption ordinary people. But our report will go, on the consequences, of this last tendency, for the marks. ? The Positioning of the marks of luxury Each mark of luxury wishes to give to the public an image, of it and its products, which aims at being strongly anchored in the spirit of the customers. Thus the stake is to dissociate itself, to be distinct from competition. Examples of positioning: – Vuitton : Louis Vuitton, give heart to your desires. – Gucci: Gucci, to play the chart of the ultra seduction. – Chanel: Elegant and modern: you are so much Chanel. ? Objectives of communication of the marks of luxury We will take the example of the objectives of communication of the Louis Vuitton brand. These objectives are very representative of those of the other marks of luxury. – It is necessary to develop a more human image, less centered on the research of the immediate profit, nearer to the consumers of the mark, while keeping an elitist tone, obliged symbol of the marks of luxury. – It is necessary to make known the various lines of goods and to make like the products. – It is necessary to propose the know-how house of the products, but also the aspects innovating, the matters design? – It is necessary to be different from competition in the spirit of the consumers, while being affirmed like a credible mark in all its actions and able to give satisfaction to customers with very different waiting. Each brand as we have already seen contains values as well as a capital of evocation which it is a question of registering in the spirits of the consumers. It is the role of the communication which to make so that the consumers are to attract by such or such public image. ? Strategy of the means of communication of the marks of luxury It is of primary importance for a mark of luxury: to control its image. That implies on behalf of the seat to take account of the information brought by actors present on the ground: subsidiary companies and distributors. The marks must be permanently held with listening of all the markets of the house to optimize the effectiveness of the communication campaigns. It is regularly necessary to go in each country, where the mark holds of the shops to take the temperature of the market. The subsidiary companies have an active role in the development of the advertising campaigns, being precisely on the ground. The marks leave them certain flexibility, in particular on the choice of the products to be proposed like on the most relevant interpretation making pass by the words of the international advertising concept. A country can also have a direct action via initiatives the editorial ones in the local magazines. As regards communication of the products of luxury there is homogeneity of the campaigns. In general for a product or a mark, the campaigns are international and no distinct according to countries’. However, it can happen that the cultural factor is determining in the design of products of luxury. It is noted for example that the woman Chinese or Japanese uses much more beauty products than the Western woman, which can push the houses of luxury (ex : Lancome) to vary the products according to the characteristics of the various countries where the mark is established. All that will thus affect the communication campaigns, which will be able to then vary according to markets’ (Europe, the United States or Asia). The globalization allows a â€Å"interbreeding† of the tastes. Today, the marks do not propose any more one single reference to the markets of the whole world but adapt the products to the request. The strategy of communication of the brand of luxury is before a whole strategy of image. The codes of the communication of the luxury aim at creating diktats of marks. Publicities are often minimalists. The majority show the product alone resting on no support. This representation is supposed to show the perfection of this one. The product and its mark are the message and do not have no need, seems you it of development. In the majority of the cases one recalls the existence of the product and the mark, without necessarily putting them in scene. The communication of luxury composes with three paramount elements: – the quality of the product – The dream and public image – For certain brands, the quality of service The means of communication usually used are: the press, the event-driven one, sponsoring. The magazine: of two great types – the female press magazine, of mode: It, Cosmopolitan, Pace1†¦. Press multi-local, more expensive than the national but more flexible press. – the press European, international: Time, Newsweek?. Allows capitalizing on a total image, The event-driven one/sponsoring When a mark of luxury engages in sponsoring, sportsman for example, his goal is to improve his notoriety and his public image. For that most interesting and the least expensive for a mark is to associate its name a prestigious sporting event, which makes dream. Ex: Cut of America and Louis Vuitton. For the sport, it is of primary importance that the event conveys positive values close to those of the luxury: purity, beauty, exclusiveness. But today, in front of the exacerbated competition that the actors of the luxury and with inaccuracy of the customers deliver themselves who follow a fashion in perpetual change, all these marks seek to be dissociated even more, from/to each other and with becoming even more single. This tendency will also touch the actions of sponsoring. Thus the mark of luxury will not be satisfied to affix its name with an event; it will become a quasi fusion partner. The mark will communicate on the event in which it takes part in its points of sale and will use the public relations in order to it mediates to the maximum. A tendency emerges on behalf of the large houses of luxury: to touch a younger public, in order to widen their customers. For that the means of communication used will be: Internet and the event-driven one. 3. Luxury and general public Initially let us point out the problems which were the discussion thread of this work: which are the risks and consequences for a mark, which multiply occasions to be to have by the greatest number? These problems will bring us, in this part to question us on the luxury and general public. As we endeavored to show it throughout this work, the luxury is not a sector like the others, a long time it was the territory of the â€Å"happy few† (target population of the luxury having the incomes more raised)1. During twenty last years, the luxury was democratized considerably. The products and services of luxury are gradually descended in the street and from now on, by ex: the perfume of luxury brand, certain products (like the accessories) are occasionally consumed by the greatest number. To make flash back the prestige top of range, on more accessible products in order to better sell them?certain houses of luxury did not hesitate to democratize their offer in order to widen their customers, thus hoping to make volume. Thus the greatest number will be able to be scented with Must of Cartier, to get dressed with a tee-shirt DKNY (Karan gave), to put its keys in a small trousseau at the monogram LV (Louis Vuitton)? The prosperity of the companies of luxury rests a paradox: to put in scene products glamour reserved at the elite, for better selling standardized products with the greatest number. â€Å"The widening of the customers for twenty years has been the great success of the sector â€Å". To arrive to this widening, the houses of luxury followed two directions: – Diversification This method consists in for a mark becoming multi segment by granting licenses, sometimes to all goes. Ex: Gucci, leather dealer at the beginning. Since 1995, the mark had multiplied the licences. Lighters were found Gucci as well as bottom-of-the-range products, distributed everywhere. – The variation That consists in creating products or signs of entry of range. Ex: Christian Lacroix, propose a Bazar line with articles with less than 150 euros. Ex: Louis Vuitton, propose toners, very cheap. Some follow even the two tracks. Ex: Giorgio Armani : its top-of-the-range claw gave rise to less expensive sub-brands (ofEmporio Armani with Armani Jean). But the diversification and the variation of the claws of luxury, are not without risk. A true strategic interrogation is posed: how much products a mark can it carry without galvauder? The marks must take care to keep their positioning luxates. The products of luxury, supposed being inaccessible, are qualified products phantasms. If they are standardized, made common, with the range of the greatest number, the products of luxury are likely to lose will have to them. A whole of risks watches for the marks which are engulfed in the methods of diversification and variation: – Loss of the imaginary character of the marks – mental loss in value of the products – vulgarizing of the mark – devalorization of the mark – Dilution of the mark about competition – deterioration of the public image The disappointment of a customer on an article of entry of range quickly made fade on the image of the unit. It seems of thus be likely to multiply the occasions of entry of range to satisfy the passion with general public for the luxury. Finally the largest risk for a mark would be more not to be regarded as marks of luxury. Ex: Gucci. The company had multiplied the licenses so much, that in 1995 one did not regard it any more as one mark of luxury. It will be necessary, to find a strong statute of mark of luxury, to give up the strategy of diversification and to count on the genius of the creator Tom Ford and on the ingeniousness of the chairman Domenico de Sole. But is thus to answer the passion of general public that the marks launched out in these strategies like acquiring a planetary stature. But today with the risks of vulgarizing, the marks prefer to control their production and their distribution. It is besides by using a distribution in selective network that the marks of luxury will be able to touch the public which agrees to them. Conclusion In strong progression, in spite of the international events of these last years, the sector of the luxury continues its change on multiple axes: reinforcement of the groups, widening of the territories of mark, atomization of the customers, need for conquest of rising generation, evolutions of the distribution networks and political news of communication? These transformations require quite informed actors in order to make the best decisions. General public occasionally seeks to get products of luxury. But contrary to the most affluent classes, it is a step of demonstration of the marks. One wants to show with the eyes of all which one has would be this only one accessory of a large mark. The passion of general public for the products of luxury led a phenomenon to develop at speed large V: the counterfeit of marks. There is a request as regards luxury and the offer is done by products of counterfeit. There it is not a question of vulgar copy, quickly uncovered by the authorities. The marks must from now on face a counterfeit with the identical one, which sows the doubt in the spirit of the consumer. The consequence first is that certain marks go down in the street. It was the case for the mark Burberry. The second consequence is that the mark saw its image deteriorating near its target public so much so that it decided to take legal measures to fight against the counterfeit. It was also necessary to centre its products in a very top-of-the-range positioning. As we saw throughout this work, the importa.

Infrastructure as the Foundation of Data Warehousing Essay

Data warehouse is a system environment which provides strategic information and holds detailed or summarized data from heterogeneous sources and provides end users with data access solutions exclusively designed for reporting and business analysis. The overall structure of the data warehouse is basically described by its architectural and infrastructural components. Orr pointed out that â€Å"data warehouse architecture is a way of representing the overall structure of data, communication, processing and presentation that exists for end-user computing within the enterprise. † In other words, data warehouse architecture is simply a blueprint which describes the elements and specific services of the warehouse, with details showing how the components will interrelate together and how the system will grow over time. Moreover, the architecture provides the conceptual framework of the warehouse in which these components are mutually arranged specifically to suit the organization’s requirements and to function in an optimum way. In order for these functions and services to be provided, a warehouse uses basic computing platform which generally makes use of the available technology. The platform includes the various software and hardware products installed as well as the type of users and the policies that govern it. However, these elements can be categorized as either operational infrastructure or physical infrastructure. Operational infrastructure deals with on how to keep the data warehouse running. These elements would include the people, the trainings required, the policies that each govern a function, and management software that would help maintain the efficiency and management of a data warehouse. Fundamentally, the physical infrastructure of a warehouse, as Ponniah noted, â€Å"consists of the basic hardware components, the operating system with its utility software, the network, and the network software† (p. 147). Coupled with a set of tools needed to provide such functions and services of individual architectural components. These components are pre-selected that may go through a number of critical evaluations in order to meet the necessary requirements to support the entire data warehouse. Moreover, Ponniah suggests that the infrastructure has to be modular as possible. That is, when newer versions are cost-effectively available, components could easily be unplugged and plugged in the upgrade. The data warehouse computing environment consists primarily of the hardware and the operating systems which provides jobs such as data extraction, transformation, integration, and transportation. Selection of these components are passed to certain criteria, such as, scalability, technical support, security, reliability, availability, and memory protection. Additionally, these infrastructural components would make up the front-end and the back-end systems of the entire data warehouse. However, managing these databases would need a robust and reliable DBMS that would match the selected hardware and software components. The DBMS shoul also have the capability of delivering a balanced data output and portability to access across the different platforms. Software tools are also important in every architectural component of a data warehouse. Third-party software tools can provide the necessary needs for developing a data warehouse computing environment, such as, data modeling, GUI design software, query tools that would generate reports, data warehouse administration and others. Generally, these tools cover all the major functions of a data warehouse. References Ponniah, Paulraj (2001). Data Warehousing Fundamentals: A Comprehensive Guide for IT Professionals. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Orr, Ken (2000). Data Warehouse Technology. Retrieved from the Web March 9, 2007. http://www. kenorrinst. com/dwpaper. html

Marriott Hotels

Marriott Hotels Executive Summary/ Overview of the company: The international hotel industry has a lot of potential with more people participating in leisure, business and tourism all industry participants are formulating and implementing top notch strategies and offering premium services and products activities.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marriott Hotels Product: Expensive Rooms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The flagship brand of Marriott International, the Marriott Hotels and resort is one of the world’s most leading and legendary hotel franchises with over 2,800 hotels in about 68 countries. The hotels generate close to three quarters of the total income generated by Marriott International and the rest from timeshares. Marriott international is not only well renowned in the hospitality setting but in the top companies of the world. Establish by Willard J. Marriott in 1927 as a hospitality company at first known a s Marriott Corporation in Arlington County, Virginia but was later separated into two, the Marriott international and the Host Marriott Corporation in 1993. The Marriott’s headquarters today is based in Washington D.C. and headed by J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr. (son of founder Willard J. Marriott) who is the chief executive officer of the franchise. Marriott International is simply Marriott group’s hotel and lodgings chain with the amount of business transacted over recent times, is approximated at about US$ 13.3 billion. The hotel chain employs close to 15,000 workers worldwide and operates a number of full service hotels and resorts around the world. A poll conducted by times magazine in 2009 placed the Marriott Group fourth overall in an employee fulfillment research done among UK companies. Marriott’s endeavor to offer the best luxurious service to their customers and clients is well embodied in the words and thinking of the founder of the franchise, Willard J. Marriott: â€Å"†¦A man should keep on being constructive, and do constructive things. (Lim, 2009). Marriott therefore intends to exist and compete with other industry performers such as Hyatt and Hilton and outshine them by offering the complete customer experience.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Overview of the Company Marriott International Inc. is one of the premiere global operators and franchiser of hotels and associated lodging services. As of the end of 2006, the business owned over 2,800 hotels with a presence in 68 nations. It acquires approximately three quarters of its income from its hotel business and one forth from timeshares. The company has more than 85 percent of its possessions rooted in the U.S. In the fiscal year 2006, the firm announced revenues of USD 12.2 billion along with net proceeds of USD 608 million in comparison to returns of USD 11.6 billion with net profits of USD 669 million in the previous year. The growth of the company in terms of compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) was recorded at 7.4 percent in the time span of six years from 2000 to 2006 (Oviedo-Garcia, 2008). The Marriott Hotels and Resorts is the flagship brand of the Marriott International. It has several full service hotels and resorts. The head quarters of the company is situated in Washington D.C. It is one of the most renowned companies in the World, not only in the hospitality industry but also in the foremost companies in the World. In a recent poll conducted by the renowned The Times magazine in the year 2009, the company was placed in the fourth position in all the companies of UK in the sphere of employee satisfaction. The brand operates more than 482 hotels and resorts worldwide (Cho, 2010). Initially the company was named as Marriott Corporation. It was a hospitality company and the company existed from 1927 to the year 1993. The founder of the company was Willard Marriott and Frank Kimball. The first Marriott Hotel was opened in a place called Arlington County, in Virginia. Historically the first international hotel was situated in Mexico in the year in the year 1969. In the year 1993, the company was divided into two parts, the â€Å"Marriott International Corporation and the Host Marriott Corporation† (Cho, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Marriott Hotels Product: Expensive Rooms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Marriott International It is basically the hotel chain of the Marriott Group. In recent calculation the hotel chain has around 3100 investments which provide lodging facilities in the United States, and over 67 in other countries. The recent turnover of the company is estimated at US$ 13.3 billion. More than 150000 employees work in the Marriott hotels chain worldwide. There are different business segments in the h otel chain and they are as follows: Full Service and Lodging Select Service and Lodging Extended Stay and Lodging Timeshare Synthetic fuel. Some of the very important hotels under the brand are like Marriott Hotels and Resorts, J.W. Marriott Hotel and resorts and Renaissance Hotels and Resorts. In our discussion we will concentrate on the Marriott Hotels and Resorts. The longest running hotel in the Marriott brand is the Key Bridge Marriott which is situated in Arlington. It was opened in the year 1959. If we look at the history of the company we will surely see that the company has rapidly evolved into an international brand name (Oviedo-Garcia, 2008). One of the very important acquisitions of the Corporation happened in the year 1995. In that year Marriott purchased 49% of the share of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. The other very important brands in the Marriott family except the Marriott Hotels and the Ritz Carlton Hotel Corporation are, Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, Marriott Co nference Centers, Courtyard ( by Marriott), Fairfield Inn, Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, Tower place Suits, Marriott ExecuStay, Marriott Executive Apartments, Horizons, Ritz-Carlton Club, Marriott Executive Apartments, and the MVCI or the Marriott Vacation Club International (Cho, 2010). Important Brands of Marriott International Renaissance Hotels: The Renaissance Hotel Chain is a boutique like hotel chain which is managed by the Marriott Group. There are a number of hotels in the chain, and some of them are also managed by other franchise license. Marriott Conference Centers: Especially designed for Corporate and other types of conference, the Marriott Conference Centers are one of the most important brands of the company. Courtyard by Marriott: This is a type of hotels that is designed for the business clients and customers. The rooms are fully equipped with different types of facilities, and they are direct competitors of the hotels like Wingate Inn and the Hilton Garden In n, which are regarded as very important hotels in the Hospitality Industry (Anastasiadou, 2008). Fairfield Inn: It is a low cost hotel brand which is also franchised by the Marriott International. The basic purpose for the hotels is that to provide a place to sleep for the guests with few amenities. The specific chain of hotels allows rents in a very cheap price and is very popular among the regular travelers throughout America. SpringHill Suites: This is especially designed for the all purpose suite system in hotels. As in the year 2009, there were 210 SpringHill Suites in all of America (Lugosi, 2008). Company Mission According to J. Willard Marriott:Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More â€Å"A man should keep on being constructive, and do constructive things. He should take part in the things that go on in this wonderful world. He should be someone to be reckoned with. He should live life and make every day count, to the very end. Sometimes its tough. But thats what Im going to do† (Lim, 2009). The vision of the Marriott International is to become the Numero Uno in the World in the sphere of Hospitality Service provider. To achieve the target, the business goals of the company centre on the growth of the company, along with special care to the guests and finally keep a strict check on the financial developments of the company (Chung, 2008). As with all the other companies there are some very important foundations of The Marriott International. They are like the employees, the guests, the shareholders, the service providers. In the next paragraphs we will discuss the different visions of the company and how they will help the company to realize their mission . The Business of the Marriott In the hospitality management sphere, Marriott International is the best. They are devoted to bring their guests comfort and satisfaction with their services. There is no blue print in their success, and their only choice is to care their guests in the most efficient as possible. The company believes that they will continue to expand their business with their skills and they will successfully utilize their skills for complete customer satisfaction in different areas, without losing their traditional customer bases (Oviedo-Garcia, 2008). The Shareholders of Marriott As with any business, whether it is international or national, the interests of the shareholders are highly valued in the context of the Marriott Hotels. According to their website, they will guarantee of unquestioned strength to their share holders. To keep this, the company strictly maintains the highest standards in the industry. They also regularly check their positions in the stock mark ets. The financial strength and the market factor help the company to complete their mission. They also give surety of strong and sustainable growth for their shareholders (Cho, 2009). The Customers The most important pillar of strength of the Marriott International is their customer base. The company promises that they will provide World Class services to their customers in every circumstance. The Employees The employees of the Marriott thrive to set high expectations from themselves and the business. They employees will try to build an employee culture among the organization. Individual growth is highly appreciated in the organization. Other than that working successfully in a team will help to realize the expectations of both the management and the guests of the organization. All the employees are determined to spend some of the times to make the community and the environment a better place to live (Cho, 2010). Mission Statement Providing the guests with the finest services poss ible in the given atmosphere. Every service that will be rendered to the guests and the patrons will be done effortlessly, and this will ensure â€Å"fair price† for the customer. On the other hand it will interest the stock holder for a sound investment choice (Anastasiadou, 2008). Customer is always the first choice, and meaning this as a whole. The Marriott Group is among the World Leaders in innovation, efficiency, along with quality and finally customer satisfaction. Everyone working in the organization has to take care of the brand name of the company, and value it more than anything else (Lim, 2009). Always expect the best from every person working in the concern. Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics According to J.W. Marriott, Jr., the chairman and CEO of the Marriott Hotels, â€Å"We need to stand together to ensure that the travel and tourism industry is always a positive force for good in the world† (Chung, 2008). The Marriott Hotels is a Wor ld famous brand and they try to take different corporate social responsibilities to help the society in different ways. The company strives to high ethical quality along with uncompromising standards in their different procedures. The code of business that is followed in the concern enables the managers and the employees to stick to the right path to conduct business. And for that the seniors of the concern always take out their hands of support to the juniors. The processes include many aspects, like advising the employees to the laws related to anti-trust. Unfair contributions from any sphere of society and most importantly, any unfair political connection is strongly reprimanded in the Marriott Hotels. The organization says a strict no to any kind of bribery, whichever type it may be. Also they do not unfairly use their purchasing power. The training program in Marriott Hotels has a specific chapter called â€Å"How We Do Business Is as Important as the Business We Do† (Lu gosi, 2008), and it teaches the employees what are the required qualities from an employee, and most importantly what are the different human rights the organization thrives to maintain. All the employees, including the senior managers have to go through a yearly internal survey based on the â€Å"Legal and Ethical Conduct† (Lugosi, 2008) of their actions. It is done to see if all the employees adhere to the Marriott Hotel’s â€Å"Ethical Conduct Policy† (Lugosi, 2008). The company also respects the protection of human rights in all the spheres where the business of the company is spread. All the business operations of the company are designed according to their Human Rights policy. Human Trafficking and Exploitation of Children are the two main agendas of the organization. From 2006, Marriott Hotels published their first Human Rights Policy Statement. All the rights issued in the statement have been conveyed to the employees and also published internationally t o show the organization standing against these crimes. Most importantly, the Human Rights Policy of the Marriott Group is carefully alienated with the Government and other Non-Governmental Organizations who are relentlessly working on these aspects. The organization regularly and very actively engaged with these groups to endorse the best practices with the aim to stop this improper human conducts. Another very important aspect of the organization is their relation with the suppliers. As per the business context of the company, the suppliers play a very important role in the aspect of maintaining their excellent track record in the field of hospitality. They ensure that they only use high quality products and services. They always endorse organic products as the raw materials and many suppliers have been benefited for their choice of raw materials. And as expected, they want their suppliers to follow all the applicable laws and follow a very high ethical standard. And in most cases both the parties maintain the standards and the business becomes ethical (Oviedo-Garcia, 2008). Expensive Rooms The Marriott Hotels guarantee the best deals available in the sphere of hotel rooms. As per the rate of the customer, the organization tries to provide the best suited room for the customer with the help of their â€Å"Marriott Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee† (Cho, 2009) program. It is said to be a generous rate matching program offered by the hotel chain for all their hotels. In the Marriott hotels there are different deals available as per the expensive rooms are concerned. All of them have world class facilities and services. In September 2005, the company unveiled their new rooms. The rooms were made by looking at the new generation and they feature updated technical aspects. Marriott have a special edition of beds that are called Marriott Bed.. All the luxury rooms in the Marriott chain of hotels have these facilities (Oviedo-Garcia, 2008). In the JW Marri ott Hotels (it has total 46 hotels under their brand name) the most expensive rooms have a number of facilities. From special butlers to pool tables, the rooms define luxury. The guests have their own luxury cars for transport, with chauffeurs. All the rooms have in built home theater system; libraries and sometimes a multifunctional gym for work out too. J.W. Marriott, another very important flagship brand of the company has special amenities for the most expensive hotel rooms. All the guests with having special butlers and chauffeurs, get free entry to the very special destination lounge called â€Å"Mixology†. In some of the hotels the guests are treated with complementary rides to riverside theme parks. Renaissance Hotels are specially designed to cater to the upper class of the population. The hotels have established its reputation as the boutique hotels in United States. The Ritz Carlton Hotel is one of the most published hotels in this chain of the hotels, and their ex pensive rooms are something to awe for (Cho, 2010). Generally in all the properties of Marriott International, the most expensive rooms are suites. The suites are especially designed for the ultimate pleasure and satisfaction of the customers. All the suites have multiple rooms and they have more space than any standard hotel room and most importantly, more facilities as mentioned earlier. One of the most important aspects of the Marriott Hotels is that they provide special dinning and office facilities in the suits. In properties like Marriott Conference Centre, the suits are designed for the business purpose and in some suits they can hold official business meetings too. According to the management of the Marriott Hotels, most of their expensive hotel rooms are being used by a special class of people. Sometimes people from wealthy families check into the hotels when there is some remodeling done in their homes. Sometimes film stars pop artists and others also stay in these rooms. Political leaders also prefer to stay in these rooms (Anastasiadou, 2008). External Analysis A company’s strengths and weaknesses take a critical look into internal factors such as company resources, culture and structure while on the other hand opportunities and threats take a look at a company’s external environment (Wheelen and Hunger 2002). In the business management, external analysis is one of the most important factors of the existence of the company. The basic external analysis is an attempt to match an organization with the outside impacts in which the business is situated and how this influences overall strategy. To understand the external analysis on the Marriott International, we have to concentrate on one property of the hotel. The SWOT analysis on the Hotel is a very important aspect in the case because it assists companies to develop strategies that will either assist them capitalizes on strengths and opportunities while at the same time minimize weaknes ses and avoid threats (Lugosi, 2008). Opportunities: Emerging Asian Travel and Tourism markets are expanding worldwide, together with the possibility of come up with low-end brands, distinction amongst hotel services offered, Marriot can benefit from the decreased cost of real estate in the United States and Middle East and it can venture on eco-tourism. Furthermore economic integration of markets worldwide also offers a wider range of opportunities that Marriot can pursue using its corporate and unique business strategies (Camillus 1986). Threats: one of its brands, Timeshare, is decreasing on popularity; it was greatly affected by the economic meltdown, which lowered consumer’s spending power; threat from terrorists and extremists who ride in the philosophy of anti Americanism especially in Asia and furthermore tight competition from other industry participants such as Hilton and the Grand Hyatt pose a threat to the comfort that Marriot may enjoy in the hotel and hospitalit y market and may affect future profits and volume of consumers that Marriott serves therefore Marriott should further create long-term and periodic tactics that will minimize the threats that face their business (Lim, 2009). Internal Analysis The internal analysis of a company basically focuses on the strength and weaknesses of the organization itself, and how they impact the total business scenario of the concern and company strategies (Wheelen and Hunger 2002). In this aspect one thing is very important, what can be determined as strength can change into the weakness in another aspect. There are factors like finance, marketing, and the service providing capabilities, the macroeconomic factors, the technological changes and most importantly the different legal matters that come with the maintenance of the properties (Chung, 2008). Strengths: One of the key strengths of Marriot is that it has a wide range of brands, Marriot strategic locations which as quite advantageous and conveni ent for consumers; furthermore Marriot has experienced top and well experienced employees who assist in delivering its premium hotelier services making it a global leader in the hospitality market; furthermore Marriott heavily relies on innovative communication techniques such as its website and social networking in conducting its business; Marriot has focused divestiture efforts particularly with international companies; it has implemented successful strategies to attract and retain a pool of staff; it has embraced eco-friendly ways in its operations; and its culture retention balancing against the identities of the products. It is the above strengths that make Marriot’s aggressive expansion and competitive business strategy succeed (Chung 2008). Weaknesses: Marriot Has an organizational culture of heavily relying on the United States market instead of global markets which may offer more opportunity and growth and revenue furthermore over-reliance on luxury products instead of having offer low-end products which may double consumer traffic. Another possible weakness may arise out of the flat organizational structure that Marriott uses such a structure may cause confusion amongst management and also make it hard or difficult for expansion programs to take place because it is highly unsuitable for very big organizations with many employees (Koontz Weihrich 2009). But Marriott has minimized these threats by strategically positioning their hotel chains in high end areas that are highly secure and furthermore contracted security firms of high caliber. Long Term Objectives As per definition, the long term objectives of an organization can be dubbed as â€Å"the performance goals of an organization, be it commercial or non commercial, and the plans are intended to be achieved within five years(in some cases ten years)â€Å" (Lim, 2009). Generally, the long term objectives of a concern deal with different aspects of the concern’s development. As per t he classical systems, there are seven different types of Marriott Hotels by the differentiation factors like location and types, and each of the categories are targeted to a different customer base. The hotel industry is one of the most important segments of the service industry. The industry is guided by all the philosophies by the concern. So many commentators believe that to attain all the objectives in the hotel industry, one must do as per their plan and let see what happens. The long term objectives for the Marriott Hotels are mainly concerned with the expansion of the market and retaining its market leader status. For any organization, rather than multinational concern or brand name like Marriott Hotels, plans can be viewed as a direct expression of the different strategies of the concern. For the successful completion of all the objectives, the basic properties of the concern, like the employees and the funding are two most important factors (Porter 2004). The organization, before enlisting any employee takes them through a thorough training program that helps the employees to integrate inside the organization better and understand all the company policies. But to ensure that the employees understand the long term objectives of the company. It is really tough for the new recruits in a company to understand all the objectives of the company as well as ensure revenue. In this aspect the company has to rely on the effective recruitment procedures. Before recruiting any person the company has to decide what the long term objectives are and how the new recruitments will fit into the scheme (Cho, 2009). After that, they will have to select the candidates who can successfully mould themselves with the different needs of the company as time passes. The employees are the main pillars of a company and only they can make a company successful, and as Marriott always takes care of their employees they are ahead in the aspect. Another very important aspect of realiz ing the successful long term developments is the company must keep a steady finance. It can be insured by a healthy market position. It will lure the investors to invest more and more money on the Marriott Hotel, which can help the organization in many ways. They can increase their hotel chain by acquiring new properties, by building hotels or taking lease on hotels, or redecorating to attract new customers. In recent times corporate tie ups play a very important role in the hospitality industry. The Marriott Hotels can try to attain as much as corporate tie ups as possible, which will indirectly promote the brand name of the hotel chain. All these will be considered as the long term objectives of the Marriott Hotels (White, 2005). Business Strategy Keeping in line with its vision and values Marriot strives to be the top most and well known and famous, especially for its products, skills and expertise as a hospitality service provider worldwide. Achieving this is not easy that is wh y Marriott Hotels has set out the company’s organizational objectives which focus on giving special attention and concern to guests while still at the same time checking on the business’s financial growth, all this with an aim of growing the company and maintaining a very competitive strategy that aims to highly differentiating their products (Porter 2004). Marriott hotels has divided its operations into five different business categories which include: Full Service and Lodging; Select Service and Lodging; Timeshare; Extended Stay and Lodging; Synthetic fuel (Camillus 1986). Marriot intends to use competitive strategies to appeal to the market. Companies can either choose to differentiate their products while serving a narrow or a wide market (Bradford et. al 2000). The other option is for a company to follow a cost leadership competitive business strategy which mainly aims to attract consumers by offering affordable products for a wider or narrow market. Marriot thr ough its expensive rooms pursues a highly differentiated product and service approach which often involves charging premium for its services. Therefore Marriot is able to attract consumers who desire to enjoy the highest quality of products and services and are willing to pay for it. Not every Hotel within the industry can be able to pursue such a strategy and therefore in turn Marriot is able to stay ahead of other Industry participants. Marriott’s strengths lie in its strong brands that make it well renowned and a market leader in its industrial market share. It has based its operations in most of the considerable in size, extent, degree, and significance markets worldwide through its brands that include Marriott Hotels Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari Hotels Resorts, Grand Residences by Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, and Towne Place Suites by Marriott. Marriott enjoys extraordinary brand recall for its products. Another aspect that makes it a cut above the rest is the numerous awards that it has achieved, it was voted the most admired company, 10 years in succession in 2008 by fortune magazine. This list is comprised of players within the hospitality industry and they evaluate the industry using eight accepted standards used in making a decisions and judgments about the hospitality service industry which include; corporate asset utilization, social accountability, financial reliability, management quality, long-term investments, innovation, quality of services and products and people management. The franchise has embarked on launching an innovative sales initiative focused on building a customer base centered at or constituting the customers’ needs. This strategy is termed as the- Sales Force One. The newly launched strategy is intend or planned to prove strong enough to enter and spread through unexploited new markets and in the process simplify Marriott’s sales process for customers. This is made p ossible du tot the strategy’s structure formation which enables customers to transact business with just a singular contact point that acts as a representative of the Marriott franchise (Camillus 1986). This new innovation was brought about by researches undertaken by Marriott identified less motivating general tendencies, behaviors and movements from their customers due to a feeling of disappointment, disorder, exasperation, and weariness caused by unsatisfied desires as a result of having to go through many Marriott employees in booking and reserving rooms. By identifying with this situation where customers found it a very complex method of making their bookings Marriott undertook researches to find out whether their current strategies were efficient and effective in the growth of sales performances among the employees and the business as a whole in both external and internal environments (Chung 2008). Their researches took into consideration all stakeholders associated to it and its employees too as they are the major driving force behind Marriott international. Reactions obtained from a cross-section of respondents who included the company’s sales leaders and contacts interviewed proved clearly and convincingly the need for the franchise group to put in place a logical and unconfused framework of roles and responsibilities for achieving individual goals within the members of the sales team. Consequently the Marriott group in undertaking the creation and implementation of the Sales Force One strategy intends to strengthen and focus on a more customer base centered sales process that defines individual and personal preferences and in turn provides customers with personal sales contact people (Bradford, Duncan Tarcy 2000). Strategies The company can take several strategies to retain its position and competitive edge in global market and further enhance on its popularity. The strategies will centre on keeping the loyal customer base alive and ad ding up new customers. They will have to regularly update their facilities to ensure they must not lag behind in the break neck completion of the global market (Porter 2004). The hotel industry is a highly dynamic industry because consumer needs are always changing and the business environment is subject to technological advancements and other forms of innovation that take place regularly. Keeping the Customer base: Every company in the consumer World has a loyal customer base, and the loyal customers are the most important factor of their company. The company has to device some important promotional strategies so that the customers always come back to their concern. These strategies include providing a superior customized service for its premium products that is consistent with the specific consumer needs (Bradford, R. et. al 2000). Trying to acquire new customer: As with all the aspects, the hospitality industry is getting competitive day by day. So the company has to device new s trategies to allure new customers and try to retain them as far as possible. These will increase the boundaries of the company in a new level. The Marriott has devised many plans and they have recently offered different types of economic class hotels for customers from all the economical bases (Cho, 2010). Furthermore consumers are likely to refer to others using word of mouth and therefore the leadership and staff of Marriot has made it clear to the staff the importance of maximizing the consumer experience so that consumers will always have something good to say. When consumers use Word of mouth and lure other consumers it is cheaper than using other means such as advertisement. Increasing Security: In recent times security has been a very important concern for the Marriott Group. A number of hotels of the Marriott group hotels have been under devastating terrorist attacks in recent times. These attacks not only affect the company financially, they also install fear into the minds of the guests too. The company must take strong security policies and try to increase the budget on the security aspect more than ever. Trying to acquire new properties: There are a huge number of Marriott Hotels throughout the World, but still they have to keep on concentrating to expand their business. Expansion and is a corporate strategy that involves either acquiring and opening up new branches with the aim of serving a larger market in order to increase revenue. Always keep an eye on the competitors: Every day new and new organizations are entering into the hospitality market and many of them are entering into the field with very huge financial backing. It is a known fact that Marriott is a very important brand name, but still they have to keep an eye on the companies and what the strategies the companies are taking to make their concerns popular. Marriott has to devise different strategies to encounter these concerns only to keep their customer base (Anastasiadou, 2008). Org anizational Structure: Organizational structures within companies cause or allow views to be brought forward, or presented as a model to be studied on how those businesses are managed and run. If an organization has a clear framework/structure put in place, it is made very clear within the departments in the organization on who does what and so forth thus leaving no room for sloppy work and blame games erupting due to unfulfilled objectives. Different organizations employ different organizational structures depending on their objectives and what they intend to achieve after a set period of time. These structures may either be flat or tall for example Marriott’s organizational structure takes a flat format. These structures are also used to measure subordinates responsibility levels depending on which department they are in. Organization Structure Organizational structures try to explain the relationships between authorities and communication lines in the organizations (Koontz Weihrich 2009). Organizational structures within companies cause or allow views to be brought forward, or presented as a model to be studied on how those businesses are managed and run. If an organization has a clear framework/structure put in place, it is made very clear within the departments in the organization on who does what and so forth thus leaving no room for sloppy work and blame games erupting due to unfulfilled objectives. Different organizations employ different organizational structures depending on their objectives and what they intend to achieve after a set period of time. These structures may either be flat or tall for example Marriott’s organizational structure takes a flat format. These structures are also used to measure subordinates responsibility levels depending on which department they are in. Marriott’s organization structure is a flat type of organization structure. Such an organizational structure has a limited number of levels of authoriti es that govern the relationships management between staff and managers. The main advantage is that such a systems aims to highly train employees so that employees can be empowered to take part in the decision making process. Frequently consumers in the hotel industry require quick decisions to be made and therefore bureaucratic type of organizational structure is most likely to fail by increasing consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. Marriot hotel is able to apply such an organizational structure because of the numerous franchise units it owns which exist as semi autonomous units. Flat organizational structure encourage a more decentralizes decision making process and therefore elevating the level of responsibility among baseline employees and eliminating unnecessary levels of management (Koontz Weihrich 2009). In such organizational structures the process of decision is much quicker and more efficient in line with customer needs and wants (Kotler 1999). Leadership and Culture M arriott international prides itself in their strong business leadership culture that focuses on making their employees feel more enthusiastic, confident, and stimulated by having strong foundational values which are vital to their continued growth and excellence in the hospitality industry by catering to the exact needs of their consumers with precision (Koontz Weihrich 2009). Achieving objectives and set goals for any organization is very much hinged on having strong leadership frameworks put in place by the management of the organization so as to be able to uphold its core values, vision and purpose that it has set out to achieve in a given time frame. This is evident in the structure organization of the Marriott franchise where strong firmness is put on a strong business culture, aiming to be the top of not only the hospitality industry that it is a huge player in, but over other top companies worldwide(Kocher, Pogrebna, Sutter 2009). A strong leadership culture is a key aspect in the maintenance of the interrelationship between top management and employees. Top management must lead the organizations’ employees by setting of examples of efficiency and effectiveness within the work place through walking the talk in terms of behavior, action, values and cultural practices within a company. Set out objectives and goals compounded with values and visions of an organization do not mean anything where an organization does not have a clearly set out culture in and of leadership (Kefela, 2010). This results to bogus employees and a lack of loyalty from customers. Managers can learn from past practices on how to instill a strong cultural leadership by not only talking and making big speeches to their employees but by acting out whatever they speak, as workers learn better from watching examples. Becoming a strong leader within any organization is not inborn and has to be learned and achieved. Kefela (2010) argues that it is a process whereby the top manager s are supposed to inspire their subordinates through: building team morale and being able to keep it up at a high; maintenance of a high set of standards of discipline; clearly defining and arbitration of roles for the employees; designing logical work plans; proper resource allocation; periodical employee appraisal; proper communication between management and the team; quality control and periodical performance checks; be able to tackle individual problems of different employees; praising and giving credit where it is due; handling conflicts and being able to reconcile them and providing team training on a constant basis. Organizations resolved to meet their set out goals and objectives and capabilities are obliged to adjust and align themselves towards development of the necessary or appropriate frameworks for a specific purpose in its internal composition. All the above aspects should be able to maintain particular standards or/and repeat particular tasks with minimal variations to set out objectives which needs to have the top management’s devotion and dedication, continuing without changing, stopping, or being interrupted in space or time as a necessary precondition to achievement of their objectives. Comparison to another company Grand Hyatt Is a distinct participant in the hotel industry which serves both business and leisure oriented consumers in with five star hotels and resorts located in major cities (i.e. Dubai, Singapore, New York, Australia, Mumbai, Seoul) of the world. The core geographic location of their business is located in Asia. Grand Hyatt is known for their high quality and impressive lobby environments, dining facilities, state of the art technology, fitness facilities and business facilities (Stem 2006). Furthermore Hyatt aims to satisfy its customers by ensuring a highly comfortable stay and therefore the company has gone ahead to offer consumers individual air conditioning facilities, high internet speed facilities together wi th iPod docking facilities. A high degree of service and product differentiation can be a good strategy for competing with other industry participants and therefore Hyatt maximizes on these (Kotler 2003). The grand Hyatt hotels are five star hotels with superior interior deco that is in line with the company’s business strategies of offering highly differentiated premium services that give their consumers the total consumer experience (Stem 2006). It is by having superior facilities and services that Hyatt is able to maintain a competitive edge above many industry participants. For example The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is located in the middle of 35 acre wildlife preserve and is only two miles from the international airport making it very convenient for both business executives and also leisure clientele (Stem 2006). Hyatt and its worldwide franchises are known to offer excellent customer services, high degrees of cleanliness, and good strategic geographic positioning that is lik ely to make it easy for consumers to move from place to place. Conclusion The hotel industry exists in a highly complex and dynamic industry which requires that consumer needs and desires be taken very serious. Opinions and desires of consumers are therefore the key to success of this industry this is because the process of planning and creating short-term and long-term strategy depends on the needs and wants of the market. Even more essential is the implementation of the plan and the key to achievement is innovation. Planning is not a static issue. It is inherently iterative. This is where business models come into play. Alex Osterwalder defines a business model as â€Å"nothing else than a representation of how an organization makes (or intends to make) money† (White, 2005). Nevertheless, the actual definition of a business model remains ambiguous. Rightly so, because it is something perceived by a manager who is an individual entity and each individual has his own percepti on. The concept of business model gained popularity only in the recent past. Owing to reduced processing costs, accumulating and distributing information to business units and other intermediates and finally to the client became possible. New methodologies stared being used. Innovation became the order of the day which lead to mature products and services and increased customer base. In the context of the study, the company is already a world class brand name with more hotels and resorts than any other concern. It has a stable loyal customer base and it recently added economic accommodations. They are considered to be the best in many aspects of hospitality. The recent addition of expensive rooms are not only an worthy addition of their brand name but also can be promoted as a marketing strategy as the furniture of the room can be sold in market successfully, like the Marriott bed. Thus, with proper decisions and marketing application the company can surely be the World leader in Ho spitality. References Anastasiadou, C. (2008). Stakeholder perspectives on the European Union tourism policy framework and their preferences on the type of involvement. International Journal of Tourism Research, 10(3), 221-235. Bradford, R. et. al (2000). simplified strategic planning: a no-nonsense guide for busy people who want results fast. Worcester, MA: Chandler House Press. Camillus, J. (1986). Strategic planning and management control: systems for survival and success. Lexington, KY: Lexington Books. Cho, V. (2009). A study on the temporal dynamics of tourism demand in the Asia Pacific Region. International Journal of Tourism Research, 11(5), 465-485. Cho, V. (2010). A study of the non-economic determinants in tourism demand. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(4), 307-320. Chung, L. (2008). Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach. Business Strategy and the Environment, 17(4), 272-286. Kefela, G.T. (2010). Underst anding Organizational Culture and Leadership -Enhance Efficiency and Productivity. PM World, 12(1), 1-10. Kocher, M.G., Pogrebna, G. Sutter, (2009) Other-Regarding Preferences and Leadership Styles. IZA Discussion Paper No. 4080. Koontz, H., Weihrich, H. (2009). Essence of Management an International Perspective, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Kotler, P. (1999).Principles of marketing, (2nd edn), New York: Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. (2003), Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 concepts every manager needs to know, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons Inc. Lim, C. (2009). Beyond sustainability: optimizing tourism development. International Journal of Tourism Research 11(1), 89-103. Lugosi, P. (2008). Hospitality spaces, hospitable moments: consumer encounters and affective experiences in commercial settings. Journal of Foodservice, 19(2), 139-149. O’Brien, R. (1995). Marriott: the J. Willard Marriott story. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Co. Oviedo-Garcia, A. (2008). Gaining residents support for tourism and planning. International Journal of Tourism Research 10(2), 95-109. Stem, B.S., (2006). Sterns Guide to the Greatest Resorts of the World. Florida: Stern’s Travel Guides Ltd. White, C. (2005). The relationship between cultural values and individual work values in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Tourism Research, 7(4-5), 221-229.

Sdfdsf Essay Example

Sdfdsf Essay Example Sdfdsf Paper Sdfdsf Paper Business 109 will provide an introduction to the modern business enterprise. We will examine the role of business in a market economy, survey current business trends and the global, financial, and social environment in which businesses exist and operate. Moreover, the course will describe the evolution, formation and management of American and international businesses, and provide a basic understanding of various functional areas of business, including economics, marketing, finance, management, human resources, international operations, and business decision making using information technology. In lieu off final exam, students will be able to get additional experience in the business world through a semester-long final project of building a comprehensive profile of an actual business. The Business Profile project consists of a series of three (3) written research assignments, including corporate background as well as business strategies and practices related to marketing, management, and finance. Students have a choice of either working alone or in a team of two. For extra credit, students may present the profile of the particular business to the entire class at the end of the course. II. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will learn to: a. Analyze the relationship and interaction between business enterprises and other institutions b. Develop basic business vocabulary and a familiarity with key business concepts c. Practice and participate in research, business communication, and teamwork activities d. Apply actual business practices in model business situations e. Ill. TEXTBOOK BUSS, 4th Edition, 2011; Clergywomen; ISBN: (Please note you will need to purchase Webster access either from the DVD Bookstore as packaged with the book, or online from within Web). V. GRADING Your grade will be a composite of classroom participation, end-of-chapter quizzes, and a course-long Business Profile project that includes three written assignments. There are total of 1000 points (required) possible for the course: 1. Class Participation @300 points 2 End-of-chapter Quizzes (Best 10 of 12 taken online) 300 @40 points each -400 3. Business Profile Project (3 written assignments) @OHIO points each 300 Total points = 1000 Students will also have the potential to earn a total of 100 extra credit points, 50 of which through clipping business related articles and sharing them with the class inline on the course website, and another 50 of which by presenting the results of your Business Profile project to the whole class at the end of the course. Grade Distribution: 900 1 oho = A (90%) 800-899 = B (80%) 700-799 = c (70%) 600-699 = D (60%) 599 and below = F V. MORE ON QUIZZES, ASSIGNMENTS AND FINAL PROJECT 1. End-of-chapter Quizzes There will be self-administered quizzes for each chapter after you read the chapter in the textbook, go through the Powering Notes and attend lecture. For each quiz, you will be given 60 minutes to complete 20 questions which are true-false or ultimate-choice types. You are given one question at a time and are only allowed one try with the quiz so please do not take the quiz until you are absolutely ready and prepared. Please note that you will not get the results of the quiz until after the quiz deadline. The end-of-chapter quizzes will cover textbook readings, Powering notes, and discussions topics and can be accessed on the Web course site. They will be a combination of multiple-choice and true/false items. Each quiz is worth 40 points and has a deadline that can not be extended. You may take a quiz as early as it becomes available and as late as on the same day before the deadline. No make-up quizzes will be given-No exceptions. You final grade will be based on the best 10 of the 12 quizzes?the two quizzes (including missed quizzes) with the lowest scores will be Please note that there will be NO Final Exam for this class Cheers! Instead, students will participate in a semester-long business profile semester project?see below for details. Warning: Please note that all students are required to abide by the DVD academic honor codes?No cheating of any kind will be tolerated. 2. Written Assignments and Business Profile Project There will be no FINAL EXAM for this class. Instead, students will be able to get additional experience in the business world through a course-long project of building a comprehensive profile of an actual business. The Business Profile project consists of a series of three written research assignments, including corporate background as well as business strategies and practices related to marketing, management, and finance. Students have a choice of either working alone or in a team of two. For extra credit of 50 points, students may present the profile of the particular business to the entire class at the end of the course. Papers should be appropriate pages in length (see Assignment Description on Web), word processed using 12 point type, double spaced. Papers are expected to be proofread and checked for grammar and spelling. Please note that handwritten assignments will NOT be accepted. Assignments are due on the dates listed in the course outline. Please turn in your assignments in class on the dates due and please do NOT upload your assignments online. Late assignments will NOT be accepted. For extra credit, final project presentations can be one using projectors, either via transparency or Microsoft Powering. To help gain valuable teamwork experiences, students are encouraged to work in groups on the course-long business profile project, although individual work will be accepted if student is unable to or do not wish to find another team member. However, group sizes are limited to a maximum of two (2) because as research and experience suggest, the tasks of scheduling team meetings become more difficult as the number of team members increase and team productivity and effectiveness tend to suffer as a result. Remember that all team members will get the same grade for the same project. Having a great team can help reduce individual workload and boost the grades of all team members, but unfortunately the opposite tends to be true as well for a dysfunctional team?so pick your team member(s) carefully! VI. I will keep attendance record regularly and will record any late class arrivals or early departures. According dropped by the instructor. If you are not planning to ever come back to class, be sure to DROP the class yourself with Admissions and Records- it is not my responsibility to o that. Students are also expected to read assigned chapters ahead of scheduled class time and actively participate in class. Please follow the below-listed Reading and Assignment schedule carefully. Your class participation will be an important part (1 [3rd) of your course grade so please take it very seriously if you want to get a good grade in this class.