Munchausen Syndrome

The Lincoln Assassination Essays - United States, Free Essays

The Lincoln Assassination Essays - United States, Free Essays The Lincoln Assassination On April, 14 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was shot while watching a performance of An American Cousin at Ford?s Theater. President Lincoln died the next morning. The person who had killed Lincoln was John Wilkes Booth. A few days before he was killed, Lincoln had told his spouse about a dream he had, he saw a president shrouded on a catafalque in the east room of the White House. Even after this dream he attended An American Cousin at Ford?s Theater. John Wilkes Booth thought the president was determined to destroy the constitution, set aside the rights reserved to the states, crush civil liberties, and restore monarchy. He saw the confederacy was the only means to of upholding the values of the founding fathers. He devoted much of late 1864 and early 1865 to a series of plots to abduct Lincoln and use his capture to nullify the Union?s war aims. Every scheme ending in frustration. After Lee had surrendered to the Army of the Potomac, in the second week of April, he saw that only the most desperate measures offered any hope of salvaging the Southern Cause. Shortly before he went into the theater, he stopped at tavern for a drink. While in the bar an acquaintance jokingly remarked that "he would never be as great as his father," Booth replied by saying "When I leave the stage, I will be the most talked about man in America." The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 In the spring of 1864, Gen. W. T. Sherman concentrated the Union armies of G. H. Thomas, J. B. McPherson, and J. M. Schofield around Chattanooga. On May 6 he began to move along the railroad from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Sherman had two objectives, one was to destroy the army of General J. E. Johnston and the other was to capture Atlanta. Johnston realizing that he was outnumbered started to retreat south. Sherman tried a direct assault on Johnston?s forces and was repulsed. Johnston had retreated back to the south bank of the Chattahoochee river. On July 17, John Bell Hood replaced Johnston as General. He tried to continue with Johnston?s plan, but failed to stop the advance of Union troops. He retired to Atlanta, which Sherman soon had under bombardment. On September 1 Hood abandoned Atlanta, the next day Sherman moved in and burned it. The Maryland Invasion A year after the confederate defeat at Gettysburg. Robert E. Lee planned to invade the North again like he did in the campaigns of Antietam and Gettysburg. He hoped that this would be enough to get Grant to detach part of his army to protect Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington City, or to have Grant attach fortifications and risk heavy lose. Miscellaneous Fort Pillow Massacre: An incident that took place in Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 12, 1864. Confederate troops commanded by General N. B. Forrest, stormed and captured Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River. The garrison of black soldiers and Tennessee Unionist held out beyond all possible hope. The joint committee on the Conduct of War investigated and charged that the Confederates indiscriminately slaughtered more than 300 black soldiers. General Sherman was ordered to investigate, but his report was never published. Battle of Franklin: November 30, 1864, a Civil War engagement in which the Confederate forces were defeated. After abandoning Atlanta, General Hood reorganized the Confederate army at Lovejoy?s Station. His hope was too cut off Sherman?s lines of communication.

California History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

California History - Essay Example Had I surveyed myself, the percentage would have been even lower. The story of Califia is largely classified as a myth but to what extent is known only to Spanish explorers. The island of California, as described in a 1510 novel by Garci Ordonez de Montalvo, was located near the coast of Southeast Asia and inhabited by only women, large, muscular Amazon women. Califia was well known for her humanitarian efforts and for her sense of loyalty to the island people. She dealt fairly with friend and foe alike and had the ability to travel the world whenever she pleased. The weapons were made of gold as were all other metallic objects because gold was the only type of metal found on the island. A glorious, exotic setting to be sure whether it was real or imagined (Wright, 2005). When Spanish explores found what is today known as Baja California, they thought it to be an island. No shame in this as GPS positioning systems would not exist for another half a millennia or so. Maybe the explorers found gold or dark woman when they landed, no one knows, or maybe the recently published novel was fresh on their mind and the story was deemed worthy of naming a previously unknown (to Europeans) piece of land. The name ‘California’, as some have suggested, may not originate from Queen Califia at all but was derived from a combination of the Spanish words Caliente and fornia meaning ‘hot oven.’ Others point to the Latin words Calida and Fornax meaning ‘hot furnace’ (Zwinger, 1961). Baja California’s climate has certainly been described accurately as both metaphors but the Amazon story is much more entrancing. The romantic and adventurous lives that the Spanish explorers led is evidence enough to me that they would likely nam e what they found to be a large exotic island after a large, exotic and adventurous Queen rather than the benign and unimaginative name.

Internet is knocking down university walls Essay

Internet is knocking down university walls - Essay Example The replacement of classroom based university level education with online education has several benefits to offer to the adult students. There are various reasons due to which top universities such as the Harvard University has started offering online university courses. One of the main reasons is that adult learners who are university going students find it easier to study through online university programs rather than classroom based university programs. Adult learners have started accepting online education as an alternative to classroom based education due to the several benefits offered by online education. Due to this the number of adults obtaining online education is increasing with the passage of time. A research was conducted by Parker et al. in which the researchers identified that one in every four American college students is taking online courses (Parker et al., 2011). Due to these various benefits along with the high number of students interested in online education, universities have started offering online education. There are several benefits that online university education has to offer to adult learners. One of the major benefits that university level students obtain from online education is that this form of education does not interfere with their professional and personal lives. Neighbors conducted a study in which he identified that there were two main reasons due to which adult learners were opting for online university courses. One of the reasons due to which they were pursuing online university courses was that this form of education provided them with flexibility to obtain education along with professional work and personal life. Another major benefit that adults obtain by attaining online education is that this form of education allows them to move forward in their careers. Attending a university is not an appropriate option for all working adults. This because they do not get enough

Managing across culture, international business Essay

Managing across culture, international business - Essay Example Given such a role, I would get to learn the different employees, their cultural background and their culture, for example, learn about their holy days. This is essential as societal cultures influences how employees understand the terms of the employment relationship i.e. what they expect from the employer, and what they think they owe them. Secondly, with reliance on such information, I would design effective communication and reward systems that will address the expectation from these different groups. This should help to retain key employees and increase loyalty, commitment and performance. I would develop mechanisms strategies and programs focused on cross functional team projects and mentoring programs. Such encourages interaction, build trust, and promote shared identity amongst employees, which would help employees understand each other’s culture in an informal setup. This effort should help to arrest cultural intolerance and shock in the business set up among the employees from different cultures. To add, I would lead by the example, promoting cultural tolerance, emphasizing the importance of diversity, adopting policies and procedures that support diversity, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, holding staff and any other person accountable for any intolerance and providing training an awareness in the work

The History About The Tourism Industry Tourism Essay

The History About The Tourism Industry Tourism Essay Comprehensive project report is part of the MBA sem 3 and 4 curriculum. Under which 2 students in one group are supposed to study one industry and so we have selected TOURISM INDUSTRY for our study. Tourism Industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world with an average GDP of 11.6%. Changing lifestyle of the people because of a sudden increase in their income levels accredited to the opening up of the economy and Multinational Corporation has led to the steep growth of tourism industry in India. Tourists attention is shifting from established destinations such as European countries to emerging destination such as Asia-pacific countries. Travel barriers have been broken and there is a flow of free trade. Tourism has become multiple activates focused with the integration of shopping and recreation, entertainment and education and culture and business center development. Tourism Industry is deeply affected by the social, technological, economic factors. All these factors have been given their due credit in the project. Economy being the bloodline of any country has been devoted a major chunk in the study of these factors followed by social and technological factors. Government policies provide a basic framework, which minds and controls every industry. Therefore, it has to be studied so that not a single factor remains untouched. For the development of any industry the basic infrastructure facilities are very important. Indian railway is the worlds largest network under a single management. The railway is one of the facilities required for tourism besides aviation, telecommunications and accommodation. Tour operators and travel agents perform the role of a liaison and a catalyst too in this industry without whom it is very difficult to operate. . As we know that tourism industry of India is growing at a very fast pace so in this we have project also deals with the current scenario and the challenges faced by the tourism industry of India. A few suggestions about development of tourism in India have been market in the project such as planning, organizational structure, business process reengineering, information systems, operations management, marketing strategy formulation, environmental impact assessment and project management. GROWTH AND EVOLUTION OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA The fall of Roman Empire resulted into downfall of tourism, at least till the end of Middle East. The available facts reveal that Roman evinced interest in visiting temples, shrines, festivals and baths for health and amusement. The contours of Development underwent radical change at least till the 15th century. The trade and commerce along with religious activities gained the momentum but till the beginning of industrial revolution, tourism continued to remain the matter of pilgrimage. Of Course a number of developments took place between 15th and 18th centuries. Specially In the industrial world which raised the significance of specialization or expertise for excelling competition. This motivated the elite of the society to go abroad for enriching the knowledge, speeding up the learning cycle developing the excellence and making possible cross fertilization of thoughts and ideas. By the turn of 19th century, we find multifaceted development in transportation, communication and, tec hnological sophistication, which energized the process of industrial transformation. The tourism started developing as a business and the professional Travel agents started taking part in the process. With the beginning of the 20th century the process of invention and innovation stated gaining momentum which made ways for the development of infrastructural facilities and further added new dimensions in tourism business. No doubts, the World War I and World War II obstructed the flow of development but the second half of the 20th century proved to be golden age, since almost all the countries of the world started patronizing tourism as an important economic activity. Thomas cook was of the view that beauty is for the people. The opinion of Mr. Cook generated new dimension in the tourism business, which paved copious avenues for development of tourism as an industry. We cant deny that since the time immemorial travel has been first choice of masses , the qualitative improvement in the process could take place with the participation and co-operation of leading global organization , such as WORLD TOURIST ORGANISATION, PACIFIC AREA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OFFICIAL TRAVEL ORGANISATION or so With the development of a broader concept, the essence of Tourism further distilled and it was more holistic approach because in the general theory of tourism, Walter Hunziker and Kurt Kraph (1942) considered it both a human As well as economic activity. In 1974, Burkat and Medlik again brushed up this approach since they viewed tourism as a composite phenomenon embracing a whole range of different relationship between travelers and the host popu lation. The intensity foreign exchange requirement was found at its peak and the tourism appeared to all of them an important source to be tapped optimally. In the face of succulent benefit, the developed, less developed and even the Developing countries started assigning due weight age to the tourism industry in their national development agenda. We agree with this view that with tremendous Socio-economic potential, the tourism industry is considered to be an economic bonanza which paves avenues for the Development of a number of allied Industries, such as hotel, communication, banking transportation, trade and commerce or so. In addition, we also consider tourism a potential source for making possible world peace through mutual appreciation and international understanding. In the Indian perspective, we find Seventh Five Year Plan as watershed in the Development of tourism industry. For the first time, the vast potential of tourism as a foreign exchange earner and generator of employment opportunities was recognized. Several policy initiatives were taken to develop the tourism sector In the development of tourism, the public sector has made a significant contribution. Of late, the industry is equipped with a reasonable infrastructural base and is poised for a self-sustained growth. The future growth of tourism is required to be activated with the support of the private sector. The strategy for the development of tourism is required to be designed on the basis of low-cost economy, higher level productivity, efficiency in the use of infrastructure and sophisticated tourist facilities. The tourism industry bounced back from the global economic slowdown of last year with 2011 poised to show a positive growth number. As a matter of fact tourism is one of the largest industries globally, both in terms of size and employment ($5.4 trillion and 8.6 per cent of the global workforce.) Indian tourism industry contributes 6.4% of total GDP. This compares to 3.3% for automotives manufacturing, 4.5% for education and 3.7% for the mining industry. So INR 6.7 billion is contributing from tourism industry in India. PRODUCT PROFILE 1. Holiday as a Base Mass Market, Popular Market 2. Demand as base Primary, Secondary opportunity 3. Geography as a base Cities, Provinces, Regions, Countries 4. Psychography as a base Lifestyle, Personality Motive, Product, Knowledge. 5. Demography as a base Age, Sex, Occupation, Class, Religion. 6. Socio-economic of base Rich, Poor, Rural, Urban, Literate, Illiterate 7. Purpose as a base Business Travel, Cultural Tourism, Common Interest 8. Age as base Kids, Teens, Youths, Young, Married, Single. The holiday base focuses or attention on the fact that long-distance tours require availability of more leisure hours. The holiday market is classified in terms of demand. The different categories are, the mass market, the popular market and the individual holiday market. The mass market involves largest number of- vacationists who generally travel in long groups. They prefer all-inclusive tours. The users belong to the conservative group in which we find skilled and semi-skilled workers, blue-collar employees as the potential users. The users are generally class one and class two groups, pensioners and retired people. The individual holiday market involves social group-A7 like corporate chairman and senior executives. We find an apparent change in the behavioral profile of different categories in the holiday base. Another base is purpose in which we find business travel market, cultural tourism market, common interest tourism market and conference and convention. The demand base classifies markets into primary tourism market, secondary tourism and opportunity tourism. The geographic base includes lifestyle, personality, motives, product and knowledge. The demography base covers age, sex occupation, class and religion. The socioeconomic base makes classification like rich, poor, rural, urban, literate and illiterate. The age-base classifies markets for kids, teens, youths, young married and old people market. The aforesaid small segments simplify the task of tourist professionals. They know about the changing needs and requirements of different segments and innovate their strategic decisions accordingly. The development of marketing resources in tune with the changing levels of expectations make the ways for the stimulation of demand and simplify the task or marketers. It is in this context that we need to segment the market for the different allied industries helping the tourism industry in many ways. Designing a Package Tour In the process of formulating a sound product strategy, there are a number of factors to be given due attention. The designing of a package tour occupies a place of outstanding significance. For the profitable marketing of tourism services, it is pertinent that the different components of product are managed in a right fashion. This gravitates our attention on the offering of a package holiday product which necessitates management of the following factors. Destination The development of destination or tourist sites has a far-reaching impact on attracting the tourists. It is essential that destination or the tourist sites are easily accessible. This necessitates safe, fast and reliable transportation facilities hither and thither the tourist sites. To be more specific for promoting world tourism or attracting the foreign tourists, it is essential that the flying time is made proportionate. The site should be clean, the beaches should be sandy, sun-shine should be certain, the entertainment facilities at the site should be of quality the site should be safe to walk about, the local people should be friendly, the tour operator, the travel guides and others should have competence of speaking English and other regional languages. These facilities at the destination would add attractions. Management of Airport While managing the tourism product, the airports are required to be managed carefully. The airport should be local and convenient. The arrangement for car parking should be safe and adequate. It should not be congested but it should be spacious. In addition, the shopping facilities should be duty free. The airport should be clean and the vehicles should be available so that tourist doesnt face any trouble. Besides, the security arrangement should be tight to protect the passengers and their valuables. The aesthetic management occupies a place of significance in the very context. Airlines The flights should maintain the time schedule otherwise a dislocation may invite multifaceted problems, not only to the tourists but even to the airport authorities. The services should be reliable, good and polite. The sophisticated modern aircrafts of new generation should be included in the fleet to attract the tourists. The safety record should also be up to mark to remove the fear psychosis or psycho-fobia. Road and Rail Transportation For the tourists preferring to travel by buses of railways, it is significant that the stations are well managed. The booking and reservation counters should be managed scientifically. The enquiry should be controlled by efficient and well behaved staff. The safety arrangement should be adequate to counter the law and order signposts should be positioned at right places to help the travelling passengers. Hotels For managing the hotel services, it is essential that we are also careful to the hotel accommodation facilities. It is pertinent that hotels are easily accessible to the tourist sites or beaches or shops. The hotel personnel trustworthy and competent enough to speak English and other regional languages. They are supposed to be friendly. The management of facilities at hotels need due care. Though the standard of services, amenities and facilities depend upon the grade of hotels still it is essential that hotels offer the promised services to the users. The gap between the services-promised and service-offered should be bridge over. The hotels should be well maintained, the decor should be attractive; possibly a fair mix of eastern and western culture, the atmosphere should be calm and quiet; specially at the night time, public rooms should be adequate in number, the swimming pool should be neat and clean where inflow and outflow of water should be scientific to protect the danger of water contamination or pollution. There should be bar with good range of drinks. The bedrooms should be spacious in which balcony facilities should be made available. The childcare services should also be made available. Particularly at the beach resorts, the sea view should be possible with all rooms, in-room telephonic services should be available, in, and room-TV should be provided. There should be adequate cupboard space. The hangers should be attractive and artistic, toilets should be neat and clean and well equipped with east and west provisions. The lighting and ventilation arrangements should be adequate. The intensity of light at different points should be given due weightage. While managing hotels, the restaurants and cafeterias also need due care. The restaurants and cafeterias should be well managed. The food and drinks should have taste-orientation. The varieties of meals and drinks should be available. The seating arrangements should be comfortable, the meal should be flexible and the hotel personnel should be polite and friendly. Resort Representatives Regarding representatives of resort, they should be-knowledgeable friendly, accessible and competent. Miscellaneous In addition, the fellow travelers should be like-minded. The main thing is to make the tour pleasant and memorable. If the tourists have companionable fellow travelers, the journey would of course remain memorable. The aforesaid facts make it clear that being an amalgam of a number of industries and services, the tourism industry is known as a multi-segment industry in which the designing of a package which proves its instrumentality as a motivational force is found a bit difficult and challenging. It requires professional excellence so that we are in a position to assess the changing levels of expectations of the guests/tourists and all the required amenities and facilities are made available to help tourists to go to the destination, to enjoy and to come back safely. The tour operators and transport operators bear the responsibility of formulating a package tour and therefore they should have world class professional excellence to know and understand their changing needs and requirements. The services are related to a number of industries managed by others and therefore, the tour operators and transport operators managing the affairs should make it sure that whatever the promises they have made on behalf of hotels, airways, railways, roadways are not to be distorted. This is likely to project the image of tour operators and therefore a gap between the services-promised and services-offered would make the task difficult. It is against this background that designing of a package tour occupies a place of outstanding significance and all the allied industries making the package are required to be careful that they are not inviting degeneration. DEMAND DETERMINATION OF THE INDUSTRY You should know this fact that India is such a country which is rich in beautiful and amazing places. Some places are god created whereas some are manmade. But in spite of having unbeatable tourism potential, lesser number of tourists visit different destinations of India for which it is known. Though Government authorities are continuously paying attention towards the growth of the tourism industry but still it is lacking the attention of a good number of travelers. It is a fact that tourism industry is contributing a large amount to the total GDP of the country so governments want to attract a good number of tourists to India. But Indian tourism is lacking a good number of tourists. This may be due to various reasons. Some of the important reasons are: PRICE:- While time and price are self-explanatory, pricing is an art in itself and requires careful study as part of corporate policy. Price is the most powerful single variable in the marketing mix. But it does not operate in isolation. Value for money, albeit at different levels, is imperative. The product must be in demand or fashionable. It may be in short supply. Competition can be weak or strong, affecting achievable rates. The wide variety of airline and hotel rates for basically the same product at different times and conditions of sale reflect these characteristics. The market may be very price sensitive, as in the case of traffic from Northern European urban areas to Mediterranean beaches where there is a strong competition and a wide choice. There are also resorts and their establishments offering exclusive attractions, justifying a premium price. Price discounting and discrimination, and segmentation, in the market has always been a feature in travel services. The historic rule is to charge what the market will bear. The product is highly perishable and cannot be stored. It is necessary normally to appeal to a number of different segments. The railways invented first-, second- and third-class travel on scheduled services. When capacity exceeded demand, excursions and package tours were invented, the purpose being to sell to capacity and maximize the yield or return. Prices can be lowered segment by segment. But the marketing task is to ensure that cheap traffic does not drive out or invade the higher price and regular clientele. Airlines, for example, offer Saturday night stopover fares at half or less than full fare, on the assumption that full fare paying travelers, notably business travelers, will not stay over the weekend. In times of crisis or recession, special rates apply. In fact, recession has always been the mother of invention in tourism, giving rise to new initiatives that created new movement. Packages, cruises, specialist tours are all examples. Indeed many hotels have created events to attract business. Tactical plans must be highly flexible, short term and changing to meet the varying tides in demand, especially seasonal change. Economic and political perturbations usually unexpected, can alter trade suddenly and sometimes with great force. Currency devaluation, the Gulf War and the severe recession of 1991 in world markets are examples. The strategic plan with its long-term marketing implications needs consideration with the development plan. As marketing has a key role in product formulation the plan must select market segments. For example, it may give priority to quality and higher priced services, which will affect the investment in equipment to provide luxury items. It will be important to select segments that fit together. At a later stage in preparing the marketing plan, a detailed product/market match exercise will be necessary. The early resort promoters understood the selective approach very well. There were from their inception select resorts, usually quiet, small and patronized by the upper classes and higher spenders, and large, gregarious resorts which were popular centers for lower class visitors. THE SUPPLY DETERMINANTS:- There are supply determinants, ranging from absolutes such as under- or overcapacity to infrastructure weakness, e.g. transport bottlenecks and health and security dangers or political instability. Such factors can seriously limit or even destroy for a time a tourist destinations reception capacity. The marketing plan will take such factors into account. SEGMENTATION AND MOTIVATION:- Two key aspects of the third demand determinant consumer preference need careful study. Indeed the success of the whole marketing operation depends on this. They are segmentation and motivation. Tourisms mass expansion takes many different forms. It is a heterogeneous not a homogeneous movement, made up of many different types of traveler, seeking a wide range of tourism products. Thus the mass movement divides up into a number of segments, each differing from the others and needing a separate approach in sales, servicing and product provision. There are many possible divisions and subdivisions which can be made usefully in planning, but essentially the segmentation task is to identify specific groups in the travelling population interested in the same type of facility and service. The group identified must be large enough to warrant separate marketing or production attention, to make a specialist approach profitable. It must also be possible and practical to reach this section of the population in an effective way. This means that the group should not be too dispersed, and that there should be efficient media and distribution channels enabling the producer to reach the customer at a reasonable marketing cost. There are a number of criteria and categories in segmenting the total market. POOR ARRANGEMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE TOURISTS:-   Even after making lots of effort in improving qualities of the comforts for the tourists, it is said that the transportation system still requires to be improved. Tourists from outside India want to enjoy their tour with comforts in all respect and they are ready to pay for all these facilities. So it is essential to offer the best transport facilities for the tourists in order to attract more and more tourists. NON-STANDARDIZATION OF FARES AND RATES:-   There are not any standard fares and rates for the transportation. Due to this tourists face lots of problem. Most of the travel agencies want to earn more and more especially from the tourists outside India. This ultimately gives a bad impression of India on outsider. IMPROPER MAINTENANCE OF HERITAGES:-   With the advancement of tourism industry in India, numbers of  heritages  and resorts are built at different destinations in order to avoid inconvenience to the tourists. But most of the heritages are not maintained properly and these things are disliked by the tourists especially from outside India. LACK OF SECURITY AND CHANCES OF HARASSMENT:-   If we talk about the security of the tourists, it is little bit weak. We cant say with full confidence that the tourists who tour to India are secured completely. LACK OF TRAINED AND PASSIONATE PROFESSIONALS:-   Due to lack of trained and passionate professionals, tourists dont enjoy and get satisfied fully. LACK OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES:-   Indian tourism must adopt a good number of promotional strategies which will help in attracting a large number of tourists. ABSENCE OF HYGIENIC AMENITIES IN THE RESORTS AND HOTELS:-   Though there are numbers of  hotels and resorts  but most of them lack in hygiene especially in the basic amenities which they offered to the tourists. PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY TOURISM COMPANIES MARKET SHARES Prime Travels Thomas Cook India SOTC tours Cox Kings Club Mahindra Holidays Kuoni Travel Group, India Galileo International Goodwind Travels Pvt. Ltd Airtravel Enterprise India Compass Tours India KEY ISSUES AND CURRENT TRENDS Tourism as one of the important foreign exchange earning industries has manifested great potential of growth under liberalized Indian economy. To attract the foreign tourists in India, liberal policies and reduction in taxes along with a comprehensive package for attracting tourist and foreign investment are the need of  the hour. There is also a need to increase the governments role in promoting India as a brand. Just like exports and other sectors, tourism will grow only if the India brand is established in the global market. Hence, we must have an open mind on alliances with other countries, which might help in adopting better promotion strategies, marketing, services and packaging. Only overall growth can help in improving revenue generation, which needs to grow in line with the additional capacity being setup by the hospitality industry. Present Position of Tourism Industry in India:- It may be mentioned here that the Government of India had no Tourism Policy for more than forty years since the initiation of planning in the country in1951. Consequently, no efforts were made to lay down any sort of infrastructure for the promotion and development of tourism industry in the country. As a matter of  fact, the country, after independence, had to pay serious attention towards increasing food production and laying down infrastructure for industrial development. On both the fronts, the country made tremendous progress and became leader of the developing nations. In order to achieve targets of faster economic growth, a number of Public Sector Enterprises were set up including India Tourism Development Corporation. However, no worthwhile progress was made in developing tourism in accordance with tourism potential of the country. It was only in 1992 that a tourism policy was laid down by the Government of India. As far as total revenue to the Government of India is concerned, tourism is the third largest source of foreign exchange earnings to the country after garments, gems and jewelry. India has tremendous potential to earn more foreign exchange because it has a huge and diverse potential for tourism ranging from pilgrimage tourism, beach tourism, eco-tourism, spiritual and health tourism to leisure and adventure tourism. The amazing diversity offers tourists everything they want to enjoy from a holiday but still we could not capitalize on the huge variety of  amusements offered by our country. In order to attract the influx of tourists in the years to come, the Government of India has allocated US $590 million for the tourism sector for the period of 2002-07. While the global tourism market has shown negative growth, tourist arrivals in India have improved a little in the recent past. This is a positive indication but much more can be done to promote inbound tourism in India. In brief i n India, the tourists feel insecure and irritated on account of  unwanted paper work, time consuming compliance of various rules and regulations, customs and immigration formalities, currency convertibility, beggars, tipping, bargaining, environmental pollution, transport problem, high rates and taxes etc. Beggars are such a nuisance that they are visible almost at all tourist spots, hotels, shopping centers, markets, monuments, places of worship, railway stations and bus stands. They constantly follow the visitors and there have been occasions that the tourists are so much irritated that they cut short their visits, shopping and spending. The tourists, thus, ignore India to avoid hassles and prefer other destinations where the specter of poverty and its manifestation like begging do not spoil their holiday spirit. Thus, Indias third largest foreign exchange earning industry is beset with a large number of problems. These problems have been examined in greater details in the pages that follow. RECENT CHALLENGES OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA:- During the last few years tourists have witnessed good amount of violence and killing almost in every country including India. Kashmir, historically known as Heaven on the Earth, appears to be deserted on account of terrorism and violence. A large number of tourists, who used to visit and stay for a longer period in the Kashmir valley, do not tour the State of Jammu Kashmir for fear of violence and aggression. The business travelers also schedule their business trips only when it is absolutely essential. In fact, terrorism and violence have become the first and the foremost problem for tourists everywhere and India is no exception. The problem has assumed such alarming proportions that the world community must find its last in solution. The injustices done to the people in various parts of the world have result in great damage to tourism industry all over the world Tourists, especially of the developed countries; have been avoiding such destinations where there is any chance of viol ent activities against them. The problem has become so acute that the Governments in UK and the USA, in the recent past, had to issue travel advisories to their tourists. Though these travel advisories were, later on, withdrawn but the damage had already been done. India is not a preferred destination now for most of  the Western tourists who spend, from our standards, a lot of money on tourism. Tourists are also irritated on account of unwanted paper work, time was the compliance of rules and regulations in India. In addition to customs and immigration formalities, language barriers are also the major problems faced by the foreign visitors. The difficulties of entry and exit too spoil half of the holiday charm. Again, our poor infrastructure, shortage of packaged tours, lack of  connectivity between places, lack of transportation, our failure to create mass awareness throughout the world, polluted environment, discriminating economic and social behavior, inadequate and inexperi enced staff, uneasy current convertibility and lack of multi-linguistic guides come in their way of pleasant tour and make the foreign tourists reluctant to come to India. PEST Analysis The Indian tourism industry has seen rapid growth in the last few years. Before any kind of analysis is undertaken, it is important to find out what are the main environmental influences that have lead to this growth and how the extent to which the changes are occurring. This is important because the change in these factors can have significant effect on the way the industry performs. These environmental influences can be analyzed by using the PEST Analysis. The PEST Analysis within its parameters indicates the importance of the political, environmental, social and the technological changes on the industry. a) Political / Legal Political The political factors are the main force of the industry. The Indian tourism industry is built on the ba

Questions and Answers About Luxury Products Essay -- customers, brand

Questions and Answers: (2) How does a brand name or country of origin work as a heuristic? (3) Do ratings change as a function of the country of origin? (4) Are there any significant differences or similarities between domestic versus foreign brands for EACH fashion product (eg. A Chinese luxury brand versus an Australian luxury brand)? (5) What are the implications for companies and businesses that use country of origin as a way of advertising / promoting their product and brands? a) Based on the results in question 4a, (2) How does a brand name or country of origin work as a heuristic(2 marks)? Heuristic or rules of thumb are general decision making strategies people use that are based on little information, yet very often correct; heuristics are mental shortcuts that reduce the cognitive burden associated with decision making (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). In this case, consumers always see an Italian product with the exemplar of luxury brand. Thus, they may assume all Italian based product is always expensive, exclusive, unique, high price and comfortable. Meanwhile, consumer may also assume that all products from China were all low quality, cheap and not long lasting based on what they heard and see on the television or friends. (3) Do ratings change as a function of the country of origin? Explain why or why not. (4 marks) Yes. It is because the perceived theoretical relationship between the cue of country of origin and the attributes of a product is largely conducted by product-country images, among which quality as a representative of a country’s production has an important effect on consumers’ evaluations of products (Broniarczyk & Alba, 1994). For example, Korean music has been famous worldw... ... Decision Outcomes†. Student Pulse.http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/180/2/decision-making-factors-that-influence-decision-making-heuristics-used-and-decision-outcomes Klein, Jill Gabrielle, Richard Ettenson and Marlene D. Morris (1998). "The Animosity Model of Foreign Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the People's Republic of China", Journal of Marketing, 62(1), 89-100 Shah, A.K., & Oppenheimer, D.M. (2008).Heuristics made easy: An effort-reduction framework. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 207-222. DOI: 1.1037/0033-2909.134.2.207. Shimp, Terence A. and Subhash Sharma (1987), "Consumer Ethnocentrism: Construction and Validation of the CETSCALE", Journal of Marketing Research 24(3), 280-289 Tversky, Amos and David Kahneman. 1974. â€Å"Judgement under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases†. Science 185: 1124-1131. http://turtletrader.com/heuristics.pdf Questions and Answers About Luxury Products Essay -- customers, brand Questions and Answers: (2) How does a brand name or country of origin work as a heuristic? (3) Do ratings change as a function of the country of origin? (4) Are there any significant differences or similarities between domestic versus foreign brands for EACH fashion product (eg. A Chinese luxury brand versus an Australian luxury brand)? (5) What are the implications for companies and businesses that use country of origin as a way of advertising / promoting their product and brands? a) Based on the results in question 4a, (2) How does a brand name or country of origin work as a heuristic(2 marks)? Heuristic or rules of thumb are general decision making strategies people use that are based on little information, yet very often correct; heuristics are mental shortcuts that reduce the cognitive burden associated with decision making (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). In this case, consumers always see an Italian product with the exemplar of luxury brand. Thus, they may assume all Italian based product is always expensive, exclusive, unique, high price and comfortable. Meanwhile, consumer may also assume that all products from China were all low quality, cheap and not long lasting based on what they heard and see on the television or friends. (3) Do ratings change as a function of the country of origin? Explain why or why not. (4 marks) Yes. It is because the perceived theoretical relationship between the cue of country of origin and the attributes of a product is largely conducted by product-country images, among which quality as a representative of a country’s production has an important effect on consumers’ evaluations of products (Broniarczyk & Alba, 1994). For example, Korean music has been famous worldw... ... Decision Outcomes†. Student Pulse.http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/180/2/decision-making-factors-that-influence-decision-making-heuristics-used-and-decision-outcomes Klein, Jill Gabrielle, Richard Ettenson and Marlene D. Morris (1998). "The Animosity Model of Foreign Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the People's Republic of China", Journal of Marketing, 62(1), 89-100 Shah, A.K., & Oppenheimer, D.M. (2008).Heuristics made easy: An effort-reduction framework. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 207-222. DOI: 1.1037/0033-2909.134.2.207. Shimp, Terence A. and Subhash Sharma (1987), "Consumer Ethnocentrism: Construction and Validation of the CETSCALE", Journal of Marketing Research 24(3), 280-289 Tversky, Amos and David Kahneman. 1974. â€Å"Judgement under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases†. Science 185: 1124-1131. http://turtletrader.com/heuristics.pdf

A Comparison and Contrast Discussion between the Reading

Women are viewed differently by men in the society today. There are certainly those who are able to view women as delicate vases while there are those who simply see them as material slaves who are supposed to serve and not be served in return, these differentiating view of women has been the focal point of the presentation of the major issues with regards women attention and treatment as per shown through the readings prepared by Kincaid and Wright.Comparison and Contrast  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Starting off with Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl†, she pointed out how particular cultures treat women as mere slaves. Someone who needs to be instructed on how to do things as they are actually expected to accomplish such duties for those whom they are supposed to serve [including their husbands and their families]. It seems like as if, it is through the accomplishment of these duties that they are given the rightful respect that they are due in the house and within the community that they are living in.Everything a girl is for is for the sake of her family and the ones she loves. At some point, some women today are living in this particular trend of treatment as received from their mates as well as from their families. Sadly though, only a few are able to realize that women ought to have their own voices, able to do what they really want to do for the sake of personal growth while accomplishing the tasks that they are expected to complete.Furthermore, no matter what tradition suggests, women are supposed to be viewed as complementary individuals for the success that men are particularly aiming for and not simply the slave driven to follow rules and instructions for better service to the people that they ought to love as women.For this reason, the selection â€Å"Flight† by Wright shows a different version of women treatment that is quite more pleasing than the previous explanation. In this selection, the author points out that he is in dire need of his mate that h e has made her the source of his life. He actually noted that he longed for her companionship and would thus trade anything else just to have her back beside him to share with him the life that they both planned to enjoy back then.Sadly though, there are only a few kinds of men today who would really see women in this manner. However, with the existence of true love and respect, the situation becomes much bearable to deal with.True, women are individuals wanting and needing of attention and respect. They are well aware that they are rather expected to complete different tasks in the house for their mates and their families as well.However, this is not an indication that they are then supposed to carry the burden of being disrespected although they are already doing the best of their efforts to complete their responsibilities as women of their families and their societies as well.It is never easy being a woman. Especially during this era of modernization, everything with regards the role of woman in the society and the family has already changed. It seems as if the responsibilities have changed.Moreover, the situation has already been rearranged by the fact that women now are not only expected to stay at home and do the chores, instead, they are now expected to become highly competitive as they are also expected to work long hours for money for the sake of their families. Imagine the huge amount of responsibilities that women particularly need to carry upon their shoulders, yet they continue to endure the hard times of life as it faces them.Overall Reaction to the ReadingsIf observed closely, the writings of Wright and Kincaid actually pertain to a gradual pattern of realization. Kincaid simply places an emphasis on how women are trained to be accustomed to the responsibilities that they are to face as they grow towards maturity while the writings of Wright uses the situation to be the basis of the thought of actually finding the right reasons to support a woma n and be her strength as a major source of inspiration for her to have the capability of completing her tasks well.ConclusionUnderstandably, the matter depends on the society’s realization of how women actually contributes to the progress of the society as a mother, as a wife, a friend and a worker. Recognizing the importance of women’s existence in this manner would indeed empower the people in becoming more respective and fine-mannered towards the treatment that they imply to the women in their own communities.Source:Jamaica Kincaid. â€Å"Girl†. http://www.turksheadreview.com/library/texts/kincaid-girl.html. (January 28, 2008).Franz Wright – Flight. http://pantasyangbayan.blogspot.com/2007/01/franz-wright-flight.html. (January 28, 2008).

Multinational enterprises and their CSR initiatives in Nigerian oil sector The WritePass Journal

Multinational enterprises and their CSR initiatives in Nigerian oil sector Abstract Multinational enterprises and their CSR initiatives in Nigerian oil sector AbstractIntroductionResearch QuestionResearch ObjectivesLiterature ReviewResearch MethodologyReferencesRelated Abstract Nigeria is a country which is endowed with considerable energy reserves. The oil and gas reserves found are some of the largest in the entire world. Multinational companies have been involved in the exploration and transportation of crude oil and gas in the country. The Niger delta region is the main area where the country’s rich energy reserves are found. The conduct of multinational enterprises in the region has been criticized because of allegations that corruption, bribery, environmental mismanagement, environmental contamination, and human rights abuses are being perpetrated towards indigenous communities. As a consequence, multinational enterprises have engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in order to create a better image while serving the needs of local communities. Introduction Nigeria is one of the leading producers of oil and gas in the world. It has oil reserves that are estimated to be around 35 billion barrels while it has 5 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves (Amaeshi et al, 2006: p. 67). Nigeria is a country that has more than 250 ethnic groups with over 500 languages being spoken in the country. Despite its huge energy reserves, the country remains poor with over two thirds of the people living in abject poverty. A total of six multinational organizations are operating in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. These companies are the Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Agip, Total, and Texaco.   The Niger Delta region is the main area where the oil exploration and production is being carried out by foreign enterprises (Beauchamp, 2003: p. 92). These foreign enterprises have been criticized for failing to take adequate measures that can alleviate the poverty and suffering of indigenous communities. There have been accusations of corruption, misman agement, environmental degradation, oil spills, contaminated water, and other problems in the region. As a consequence, there have been attempts by multinational enterprises to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the region. However, the existing literature does not comment upon the different CSR practices of MNCs in Nigeria with respect to the local stakeholders and communities. This study will seek to investigate and assess the efficacy of the ethical practices by the multinational enterprises as they related to the empowerment and betterment of indigenous communities. Research Question The following research questions will be answered in this dissertation: What are the CSR strategies of multinational enterprises in Nigeria? What are the practical implications of CSR as it relates to improving the standards of living for local communities? Is CSR a genuine attempt to empower communities or is it a marketing strategy by multinationals? Research Objectives To study the similarities and differences of the CSR initiatives implemented by multinational enterprises in Nigeria To determine the efficacy of CSR initiatives with respect to community empowerment and development To study whether multinational enterprises in the Nigerian oil sector are genuinely concerned about empowering communities or such initiatives are simply marketing tools to improver the image of multinational enterprises Literature Review Corporate social responsibility is a term used to denote the actions and policies implemented by business organizations that are in accordance with ethical and legal principles. The goal of organizations is to implement self-regulation and align it with the overall business model. The goal is to ensure that organizations can integrate ethics into their business model (Carroll, 2006: p. 76). A series of high profile business scandals in the past decades has meant that governments are now seeking to regulate the business environment through legislation that promotes transparency and accountability. Additionally, the customer segments are highly conscious about the business activities of enterprises because the latter must be able to demonstrate ethical behaviors in accordance with their actions. Alternatively, organizations are seeking to reduce the costs of complying with legislation by implementing CSR initiatives so that they can achieve efficiency and effectiveness. A number of theoretical approaches towards CSR have been developed in order to help organizations take responsibility for their actions while encouraging positive impact upon the environment, consumers, employees, and other key stakeholders. Corporate philanthropy is a CSR theoretical model which calls for providing monetary donations and aid to different communities. Such donations can come in specific areas like social welfare, environment, housing, health, and others (Carroll, 2006: p. 71).   The limitations of such a model are that it does not address the root causes of poverty and other problems in local communities. Another theory is that CSR should be combined with the overall business strategy. This theory seeks to help local communities by recruiting locals and training them so that they can upgrade their skills. Enterprises create support for local industries through mutually beneficial relationships. Another theory focuses on creating shared value because it believes that social welfare is directly linked with business success. It recommends organizations to focus on sustainable development as well as a skilled workforce so that efficiency can be attained (Carroll, 2006: p. 79). There is still a gap in the existing literature as to whether CSR can really bring positive benefits to local communities and other key stakeholders. The Nigerian oil sector has been dominated by multinationals which have been accused of environmental degradation, corruption, human rights violations, and other abuses. As a consequence, they have sought to improve this by focusing on corporate social responsibility initiatives. Some studies argue that CSR is a process which involves organizations taking responsibility for their actions and ensuring that they can create a positive impact through their activities on th e environment (Blunt Richard, 2006: p. 169). Other studies have disputed this as they argue that organizations operate on the principle of profit maximization. Research Methodology Qualitative research has been selected for this dissertation because it helps to investigate the reasons behind any particular phenomenon. This is suitable for this dissertation because the aim is to study corporate social responsibility and its efficacy in Nigeria. Quantitative research has not been selected because there is no need for statistics and figures in this dissertation. The data will be collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data will be collected through a survey that will be sent to top managers of multinational companies working in the Nigerian energy sector. The secondary data will be collected through studies that focus on CSR and its efficacy. References Amaeshi, K, Adi, B, Ogbechie, C Amao, O. (2006) †Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria: Western Mimicry or Indigenous Influences?†. No. 39-2006, ICCSR Research Paper Series – ISSN 1479 – 5124, The University of Nottingham. Beauchamp, T. (2003) â€Å"Case studies in Business, Society and Ethics†. 5th ed†. Pearson, Prentice Hall. Blunt, P, Jones, M Richard , D. (2006) â€Å"Managing organizations in Africa†. Walter de Gruyter, pp.169-171. Carroll, A. (2006) â€Å"The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders†. Business Horizons, July-August 1991.

Animal Testing Essay

Animal Testing Essay PAGE 2Rabbits Do Not Wear MascaraHave you ever considered the shampoo you use may have caused thousands of animals to die? What if one day you were taken out of your home and sent to a lab to be put in a cage that barely has enough room for you to sit or stand? What if the lab you were sent to has scientists who spoke only dialect and did not understand you when you screamed that the bleach in your eyes burned and you could not see? When you are screaming in pain consistently because the pain is unbearable can you image being beat because you are annoying the scientists that are examining you. Did innocent humans die to ensure you that consuming your household cleaner will cause immense pain and damage to your organs, humans did not but animals did and continue to be killed for our assurance.Animal,Porkey Pig, Lobund-WistarAnimal testing can be traced back to as early as the ancient Greek and Roman times ("History of Animal Testing"); the first major reference to animal testing was in the late nineteenth century when Louis Pasteur gave some sheep anthrax to show the importance of vaccines with his germ theory. ("Better Science Limitation of Animal Testing") Through animal testing many species of animals have been subjected to various and harmful subjects that have been proven to be detrimental to both their physical and mental health. Throughout the years most animals have gained some rights but they are still used and abused for many different experiments. In animal testing labs species such as mice, rats and birds still have no rights and are not accounted for. ("11 Facts about Animal Testing") It is estimated that approximately seventy million animals are used for testing annually in the name of...

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Research Paper Example The advancement in technology can promote or facilitate this functioning by introducing new ideas. Innovation is the key. This means that different synergies can come into play and promote the creation and adoption of new applications (Birman 201). This paper will examine the networking and distributed systems applications and identify how they assist IT in performing basic functions. Detail study of networking and distributed systems A set of machines that are networked together ensure that these applications run smoothly. This network works to attain a common objective or goal. Through the use of networks and distributed systems, the exchange of data is made possible and much easier. All the components present perform their functions as required. They all work to provide services to users and at whatever time they need these services. Networking enables other technologies to take centre stage in the running of operations (Birman 207). Online entertainment is one example of what net working is capable of offering users. Distributed systems allow for the study of computer components. The coordination patterns in the collection are identified and studied through the distributed systems. There is a need to have detailed infrastructure in the creation of these components. All the applications protect the user’s delicate information (Birman 209). This feature was not available in the past as user information was easy to find if the right knowledge was put to task. Nowadays, it takes more than hitting the right keys to access a user’s information. Advantages of networking and distributed systems One of the advantages that these applications offer IT is an avenue to use more speed and accuracy in daily activities. In the past, this was not as easy as it is in present time. They were more expensive and tough to maintain than they are presently. These applications are more common nowadays as individuals are willing to use them to approach different areas i n their fields of work. Tasks can now be completed simultaneously through these applications. Calculations may also be carried out without many problems occurring in the system. They offer users quality in the work they are chosen to carry out and they are reliable (Birman 212). A likely advantage that needs to be taken into account for these applications is their predictability. The memory and real-time focus of these applications offer users enough time to concentrate on the tasks present and finish them without fear of losing data in case of power or system failure. The infrastructure that is used in putting these applications together is capable of fostering cooperation between all the components present. This collection of components prepares the user for anything that might prove tough to an ordinary system. This advantage makes the applications efficient, reliable and fast in this ever-expanding technological world (Birman 257). Problems the applications face One of the main problems these applications face is the inadequate techniques and methods that are used to manufacture and control these systems. Single processes are what are used in many cases. This makes the system lack the quality that is required of such performance components. Stringent performance requirements are meant to lead to the creation of distributed systems that are of high quality. However, this is not usually the case when it comes to the said

Ceremonial Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ceremonial Speech - Essay Example As Doug Harty averred, â€Å"Jobs got away with inexcusable outbursts because they were part of the whole (charismatic) person† (Hardy par. 3). From his personal perspective, it was revealed that from among the numerous accomplishments attributed to him, Walter Issaacson, his biographer has disclosed that â€Å"it was Apple the company. Making an enduring company, he said, was both far harder and more important than making a great product† (par. 4). Another remarkable trait that maybe only those who are close to him know is that Jobs lived a very modest life, despite the apparent wealth he generated through hard work and persevering talent. Romain Moisescot wrote that his house could have been built larger than the typical suburban houses in Palo Alto, but it did not stand out as lavish or easily identifiable to be his. As emphasized, â€Å"despite his net worth of over $8 billion, his garden had no walls and he did not even lock the front door† (Moisescot:The real deal par. 2). A true attestation of his humane nature and the fact that he remained to be a perfectionist in every facet of his life made him totally distinct and uniquely Steve