Risk Profile for a Hotel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk Profile for a Hotel - Essay Example Basic step to embark upon this issue is to make an inventory of all possible reasons that are directly or indirectly influencing the performance of the business and then try to mitigate them. This essay mainly concentrates on a casino hotel -------------------- (name one hotel nearby your domicile); various risks involved with it and the ways adopted by management to overcome these issues. 1) Structural Risk: It includes risk associated with the firm itself. Security issue is one of the major parts of it. Guests must be secured enough from any sort of criminal activities inside the hotel. A single anti-peace incident may fall down its market. To overcome it to a great extend, casino has its own security employees. They take care of any such violence in the premises and also special weapon checking facility has been implemented. Next comes risk linked with cheating and theft. As it's related to gambling games so, cheating is obvious. Management needs to observe closely whether any of their customer or hotel itself is getting cheated or not. 2) Growth Risk: Risks arising from expected future performance is related to growth risk.

Art and the Afterlife Across Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art and the Afterlife Across Cultures - Essay Example In each culture, arts and better understandings of what is told to do to the believers, evolved side by side. It is found that people portrayed their religious beliefs, especially life after death, through pictorial art in all cultures. Artists tried to build a relation between humans and the divine. At times it became more liberal and somewhat offensive when artists tried to express the details on its own way. However, religious clergy understands the need of the liberal art in order to make the follower conceptualize the promised destination. Egyptians perhaps left the most artistic concept of life after death. They used both sculpture and painting forms of art to represent the exact details of that time. They believed that these paintings will accompany the deceased in the life after that is the eternal life. They took a great deal of care in its preservation. Egyptians also drew on a form of paper, came from a ‘Papyrus’ plant. Different types of pottery were used to hold the deceased body parts, removed earlier, so it could be carried to the life after this. Some pots were engraved with personal details of the person. Huge sculptures were built to give eternal life to the most famous pharaohs, kings and queens. Ancient Egyptians painted to introduce the deceased with gods and make the journey to the after life more pleasant. Buddhism is one of the oldest mythologies. Buddhists believe in the afterlife too. They view death as a continuation of another life. The departed spirit may reappear in another form; that may be a human being again or an animal, but it never ends. The new form of life inherits the good or bad deeds of the previous life. This cycle of life goes on until one achieves the ultimate goal of life, the only way to break this cycle, and get rid of the ‘sufferings’ in each life. Most of the artifacts related to Buddhism are the sculptures of ‘Buddha’ himself. It depicts serenity after attaining complete li berty from sufferings of life and highlights the impermanence of it. The sculptures show calmness on the face through long and arduous self-meditation. Recently, a number of Buddha artifacts were displayed at Rubin Museum of Arts. ‘Bardo’ from the â€Å"Tibetan Book of the Dead† was one of them that show different paths that one may take after death. Judaism believes on life after death but there is no distinct picture of what happens after death. Most of the Jews believe that the dead will be raised again on The Day of the Judgment. It is also believed that the soul maintains relationship with the body for a year, at least for the sinners. Then, pious people are granted to enter to ‘Heaven’. On the other hand the wicked people are thrown in to ‘Hell’ or ‘Gahanna’. There are conflicts about the resurrection when Messiah comes. Many argue that it will be physical resurrection while the others believe in ‘soul sleep†™. Jewish are involved in all different forms of arts. It is ironic that there is no bookshop that has a separate Jewish painting and sculpture section. Most of the Judaic items are falsely associated with Jewish art. Bible prohibits portraying of any living creature, like Islam, but people do not have a problem showing Moses with his snake. Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Muslims believe that it is the continuation, in fact the final version of Judaism and Christianity. They believe that the time in this world is a test. Those

Defining SMEs and Identifying their features

Defining SMEs and Identifying their features Governmental committee findings and research schemes have different approaches about the definition and the characteristics of small and medium businesses. Regarding performance of SMEs Westhead Storey have mentioned the small firm is not a scaled down version of a large firm. In short, theories relating to SMEs must consider the motivations, constraints and uncertainties facing smaller firms and recognize that these differ from those facing large firms. There are so many criteria either qualitative or quantitative to decide what form an enterprise is. In case of quantitative measures; staffing level, turnover and asset can be mentioned while others carry qualitative approach. Not only there is a large number of prospects regarding the features of SMEs but also governmental viewpoints conduct a numerous of SMEs definitions depending on the county being considered. For example the report which has been issued by Wiltshire Committee in Australia has shown this flexible definition of any SMEs (Meredith, 1994) Small business is one in which one or two persons are required to make all of the critical decisions (such as finance, accounting, personnel, inventory, production, servicing, marketing and selling decisions) without the aid of internal (employed) specialists and with owners only having specific knowledge in one or two functional areas of management. United states pay more attention to the position of organization within the overall marketplace. According to United States Small Business Administration (SBA) SMEs have the following definition An SME shall be deemed to be one which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation. On the other hand the quantitative attitude has been emerged in United Kingdom, defining an SME as: Having fewer than 50 employees and is not a subsidiary of any other company. Small and medium enterprises have their own characteristics and applying large-scaled companies features to SMEs is not suitable. The studies which have done by Reynolds et al., (1994), Murphy (1996), Bunker MacGregor (2000) show differences in management style between large business and SMEs. These studies have illustrated SMEs tend to have a small management team rather than a group of people (often prefer to have one or two individuals), they are strictly monitored by owner of the firm and they have little control over their environment and responsibilities and the wish they could be independent. Differences between SMEs and larger firms are magnified even more when they move toward IT (Bunker and MacGregor 2000). Khan and khan (1992) mentioned that SMEs prefer not to run complicated applications on their computers. According to a general point of view of literature, a summary of features of SMEs has been reported by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) which is illustrated in Table. SMEs characteristics can be categorized either internal or external. Internal features embrace management, decision making and planning processes, and acquisition of resources on the other hand external characteristics are associated to the market (products/services and customers) and external environment. ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by INT1 SMEs have small and centralized management with a short range perspective. Reynolds et al.. (1994) Bunker MacGregor(2002) Welsh white (1981) INT2 SMEs have poor management skills. Blili Raymond (1993) INT3 SMEs have informal and inadequate planning and record keeping processes. Reynolds et al., (1994) Tetteh Burn (2001) Miller Besser (2000) Rotch (1981) INT4 SMEs exhibit a strong desire for independence and avoid business ventures which impinge on their independence. Dennis (2000) Reynolds et al., (1994) INT5 The SMEs owner(s) has/have a strong influence in the decision making process Reynolds et al., (1994) Murphy (1996) Munker MacGregor (2000) INT6 SMEs owners often withhold information from colleagues. Dennis (2000) INT7 The decision making process in SMEs is intuitive, rather than bases on detailed planning and exhaustive study. Reynolds et al.. (1994) Bunker MacGregor (2000) INT8 Intrusion of family values and concerns in decision making processes. Dennis (2000) Bunker MacGregor (2000) ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by INT9 SMEs are more intent on improving day-to-day procedures SMEs face difficulties obtaining finance and other resources, and as a result have fewer resources. MacGregor et al., (1998) Cragg King (1993) Welsh White (1981) Gaskill Gibbs (1994) Reynolds et al. (1994) Blili Raymond (1993) INT 10 SMEs are more reluctant to spend on information technology and therefore have limited use of technology. Walczuch et al. (2000) Dennis (2000) MacGregor Bunker (1996) Poon Swatman (1997) Abell Limm (1996) INT11 SMEs have a lack of technical knowledge and specialist staff and provide little IT training for staff. Martin Matlay (2001) Cragg King (1993) Bunker MacGregor (2000) Reynolds et al., (1994) Blili Raymond (1993) Table 1: Internal characteristics of SMEs categorized by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by EXT 1 SMEs have a narrow product/service range. Bunker MacGregor (2000) Reynolds et al. (1994) EXT2 SMEs have a limited share of the market (often confined toward a niche market) and therefore heavily rely on few customer. Hadjimonolis (1999) Lawrence (1997) Quayle (2002) Reynolds et al. (1994) EXT3 SMEs are product oriented, while large businesses are more customer oriented. Reynolds et al. (1994) Bunker MacGregor (2000) MacGregor et al(1998) EXT4 SMEs are not interested in large shares of the market. Reynolds et al. (1994) MacGregor et al. (1998) EXT5 SMEs are unable to compete with their larger counterparts. Lawrence (1997) EXT6 SMEs have lower control over their external environment than larger businesses and therefore face more uncertainty. Westhead Storey (1996) Hill Stewart(2000) EXT7 SMEs face more risks than large businesses because the failure rates of SMEs are higher. Brigham Smith (1967) Delone (1988) Cochran (1981) Table 2: External characteristics of SMEs categorized by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) Obviously, the most significant SMEs feature which clarifies border between small businesses and their larger counterpart is uncertainty the characteristic which has been come up by Westhead Storey (1996) and Hill Stewart (2000). It takes root in lacking control over external environment and this feature shows differences between large enterprises and their small counterparts. Electronic Commerce As the term electronic commerce is still an emerging concept, the definition varies between different contexts. Generally electronic commerce refers to the replacement of physical economic processes with electronic ones and the creation of new models for collaboration among trading partners. According to Tuunainen (1999) E-commerce consists of transaction oriented internet base functions (e.g. on-line catalogs, purchasing and payment).For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used. There are a numerous studies regarding E-commerce so there are so many definitions for E-commerce.Turban et al. (2002) have expressed this definition as an emerging concept that describes the process of buying, selling or exchanging services and information via computer networks. Cummings and LeMaire (2005) described the meaning of E-commerce as an online system that allows customers to perform transactions over Internet. This process consists of whole business steps from ordering to delivery. Raymond (2001) specified E-commerce as functions of information exchange and commercial transaction support that operate on telecommunications networks linking business partners (typically customers and suppliers). Another definition which has been mentioned by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) is one of which presented by Damanpour (2001) as any net business activity that transforms internal and external relationships to create value and exploit market opportunities driven by new rules of the connected economy. Zwass (1996) identified another definition for E-commerce as sharing of business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks. An e-commerce and development report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) anticipated total value of world e-commerce in 2002 at about US$2.3 trillion, and it came to US$12.8 trillion by 2006 (E-commerce and Development Report, 2002) so in the words of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations: E-commerce is one of the most visible examples of the way in which information and communication technologies (ICT) can contribute to economic growth. It helps countries improve trade efficiency and facilitates the integration of developing countries into the global economy. It allows businesses become more competitive. And it provides jobs, thereby creating wealth (E-commerce and Development Report, 2002).

Genital Infections Essays -- Health, STD

Introduction Rapid laboratory detection of genital infections in pregnant women is very important, mainly because of the ability of the bacteria to colonize the endocervical lining and cause injury to the fetus (1). Epidemiologic data indicated that their presence in the genital tract has been associated with the incidence of urethritis, vaginitis, cervicitis, PID, pyelonephritis and pathology of pregnancy and newborns, and, therefore, their rapid and specific diagnosis is important (2). There are more than 30 different sexually transmissible agents. The most common bacteria are Chlamydia trachomatis (C.trachomatis). The prevalence of C. trachomatis infection in sexually active adolescent women, the population considered most at risk, generally exceeds 10%, and in some adolescent and STD clinic populations of women, the prevalence can reach 40%. Also in newborns occur as a result of prenatal exposure; approximately 65% of babies born from infected mothers become infected during vaginal delivery. Infections caused by C.trachomatis are particularly difficult to confine as a high proportion of these infections are asymptomatic thus making part of the population (those not tested) a reservoir for further transmission (3). While diseases caused by C.trachomatis have been recognized for many years the discovery of diseases associated with Mycoplasma genitalium (M.genitalium) are very recent findings. M.genitalium which was discovered in the early 1980s has recently been proven to be a significant pathogen similar to C.trachomatis in several respects, such as preference to the genital tract and mode of transmission. A few studies have reported on M.genitalium in PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease) and TFI (Tubal Factor Infertility) and... ...ng only one sampling and one test, has proven to be a simple and rapid method for the detection of C.trachomatis and M.genitalium which is clinically very significant, particularly in management of pregnant women as a high risk groups in country. We therefore recommend that this duplex PCR assay may be used instead of conventional methods like as bacterial culture and serology for rapid and high sensitive diagnosis of genital bacterial in clinical sample. Finally our findings revealed that in Sabzevar (East region) compared with other studies done in north, center and south of Iran, infection with C.trachomatis is higher than other area and should be considered in national preventive planning for screening and treatment in response to strategic plan of Eastern Medit erranean Region of World Health Organization (EMRWHO) 2009-2015 (28).

Kate Chopin Essay

Adrianna Edwards February 11, 2013 American Literature, hour 6 Mr. Mulligan Is there anything in your life that you just want so badly but you can’t have? It’s always out of grasp? In Kate Chopin’s stories, examples of this can be seen. The woman in her stories and her era of time wished to be free and independent from the men and the influences of society. It almost seems that she is defying the conventional role of women of that era in society with her stories. In three of her stories, The Kiss, The Story of an Hour, and A Pair of Silk Stockings, it shows the women struggle with the men in their lives and societies expectations on women.In Kate Chopin’s story The Kiss, a girl named Nathalie has two suitors, Brantain and Harvey. Choosing between them is difficult because Brantain is very wealthy, but she loves Harvey. She had to choose between one or the other because she could not have both. Then at her and Brantain’s wedding, Harvey comes up to h er and says, â€Å"Your husband, has sent me over to kiss you. † This shows that Brantain in a way has control over Nathalie and can just send people over to kiss her. However Harvey also says to her, â€Å"I’ve stopped kissing women; it’s dangerous. This shows that even though Nathalie thought she got exactly what she wanted, both men and the love and money, she in fact did not. Another story by Kate Chopin is The Story of an Hour which shows a woman named Louise finding out about the death of her husband and then sitting in her room acknowledging it. She knows that she will mourn her husband’s death of course, but she also sees his death as a good thing. She loved her husband but she also welcomes her new independence and so when she is alone in her room she thinks to herself about what the future will hold with her freedom and she says, â€Å"Free!Body and soul free! † When she finally leaves her room she starts to head down the stairs and she sees who else but her dead husband! By the time the doctors arrive, Louise has died from â€Å"heart disease,† purportedly from â€Å"the joy that kills. † She was so close to being free and then she dies. In the story A Pair of Silk Stockings, it shows how women were supposed to be exceptional mothers and be happing being so. However when the woman of the story, Mrs. Sommers comes across fifteen dollars, and even though she planned on using it towards her children, she ends up spending the money on herself.It says â€Å"she seemed to see her way cleary toward a proper and judicious use of the money† that she had found which she was about to spend on her kids but while she was out shopping she let â€Å"her hand lay upon a pile of silk stockings†, and after this she decided that the money would be spent on herself. This story shows her putting herself before her children and family for the day which to the society was not something that happened or should happen very often. The stories show the woman and how they went against society and the men in their lives.Nathalie went against society because she used her knowledge to get what she wanted, which was the money and even though she also wanted love, money was her main desire. Louise went against society when she declared independence for herself after the death for her husband. Mrs. Sommers went against society by using the money to treat herself and not put the needs of her children before hers. All these women in Kate Chopin’s storied defied the views of society and the men in their lives. Kate Chopin herself even defied the views of society by writing these stoies.

Contingencies to Airasia’s Marketing Strategy Essay

Suggest three contingencies AirAsia should consider and rationalize your choice. What are the main modifications to the current marketing strategy should AirAsia undertake to respond to these contingencies. There are number of threats that AirAsia faces thus it should have well-prepared contingency plans in case certain situations occur. The following part focuses on analyzing three main contingencies that AirAsia should take into consideration as well as the modifications to the current marketing strategy that it would have to make to respond in case certain events occur. What if price war happens†¦Ã‚  To compete with the rivals, each airline introduced its own strategy. Famous full service carriers like Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways have set up low cost subsidiaries. Malaysia Airlines launched competitive promotion scheme while independent low-cost airlines like Valuair focused on improving customer services through offering additional benefits to customers. Obviously, the harsh competitiveness in the region strengthens the probability that price war might happen. Price war happens when almost all airline companies simultaneously start to reduce their prices and the region’s aviation industry as a whole fails to deliver profit. Price war might have a serious impact on AirAsia if it, together with other airlines in the region, starts to reduce its prices to compete. Customers now will have various choices and would be able to switch to the airlines that offer them the best price as well as best service. If price war does happen, AirAsia should make the following modification to its current strategy: Increase customer satisfaction by improving on-flight service quality as discussed in depth in the third paragraph of question one. What if customers decide to switch to other airlines†¦ Air Asia now has to face up with increasing competition not only from low cost subsidiaries of full service carries but also from the emergence of independent low cost airlines. With the increasing emergence of new airlines which provide customers with not only low fares but also â€Å"a level of service far beyond that expected†, the probability that customers switch to other airlines is very high. Recently, AirAsia has been receiving many complaints from passengers who are unsatisfied with the service quality. Focusing intensively on keeping costs low, AirAsia neglected the satisfaction and convenience of its customers. Thus, the company should consider the possibility that customers might switch to other airlines. In this case the following modifications to the strategy should be made: AirAsia should offer incentives for the customers to stay with the company by introducing frequent flyer bonus miles. To motivate customers’, AirAsia can also offer membership cards which would provide them not only with additional miles but also with regular customers’ discount on specific flights to specific destinations or at special period of time. What if AirAsia is unsuccessful in entering new markets such as China and India†¦ AirAsia is now looking for expanding routes to other countries in the region and China and India are a huge potential. However, these markets have completely different economies and therefore there is a probability that the market will not support a new airline. Also, for example, when going to China – a huge market, AirAsia needs to be ready to face tough competition. Besides good reputation in the market, well-established airlines in China such as China Airline, Cathay Pacific, etc. are offering very high quality service to customer. In addition to that in the meantime, AirAsia has to compete with many tough competitors in its local market. Thus, there is possibility that AirAsia might not take the lead when entering new markets and might not be able to reach its targets in new markets. Therefore, AirAsia should take into account the possibility of low demand and be ready to make modifications to its strategy in order to respond: The Olympic Games 2008 would be a great opportunity for AirAsia to strengthen its image in customers’ mind. To take this advantage, AirAsia should organize some activities to promote the company. Other big companies will certainly promote itself through taking part in such activities as Olympic Sponsorship, On-Air advertisement, etc. AirAsia should choose a different tactic. Instead, it can create association between AirAsia and the Olympic through programs spread via mass media such as: design logo for AirAsia used during the Olympic time or organize a lottery program the prizes of which would be Olympic tickets or flying tickets inside China. AirAsia can also use other promotion programs like offering round trip tickets flying to cities where the Games would take place at the price of 1 reminbi (Chinese currency) for the first 10 customers buying tickets at a random period of time during 6 months before the Olympics. This should help build up the demand for AirAisa’ services among the customers and enhance its position in customers’ mind. To conclude, it is important for AirAsia to be aware of all contingencies that may happen during its operations and to be ready to apply modifications to the strategy to protect itself from any possible issues that might occur. These contingencies may not come to reality but it is essential to have contingency plans and to be able to make necessary modifications to the strategy in case of the price war, or lost of the customers, or difficulties entering the new markets in order to adapt to these changes and continue to operate successfully.

Japan - A Far Eastern Perspective for International Business essays

Japan - A Far Eastern Perspective for International Business essays Japan is a country with quite a story to tell. From economic booms to recessions, back to economic booms, Japan is a country with both deep-rooted traditions and social practices; however it is very versatile in it's changing to fit western society. For ventures involving mass production, Japan is a known production company with incredible results. Technologically speaking, Japan is a world leader in computer science and robotics, including ways to speed up productions with the use of different labor robots. After World War II, Japan had gained the identity of the enemy, but as the 20th century progressed, it was again seen as a commodity. As stated earlier, Japan is a country very heavily influenced by tradition. Bowing is a custom that everyone must become familiar with. The act of bowing may be used in many contexts, ranging from hello and goodbye, to signs of gratitude, and a sign of respect. Hand shaking has become more and more accepted in Japanese business culture today. Although learning the proper process of bowing is important, it is suggested that foreigners do not attempt to bow, as it may appear silly and disrespectful. The appropriate bowing procedure entails placing your arms straight down at your sides with your hands flat against your legs, pausing, and then bending from the hips keeping your back as straight as possible Another important business practice that is different in Japan is the exchange of business cards. In Japanese cultures it is expected that the card be held in two open hands, face up, so the recipient may read the card as it is being presented. "Meishi O Dozo" means take my bu siness card, it should be said before presenting one with your business card. Problems may arise as attempts at these traditional Japanese practices may be seen as disrespectful, so foreign business people must make sure they are presenting themselves properly. Another inte ...