Case Study Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case Study Leadership - Essay Example A leader has the responsibility to converse, confer and also influence others to do things. A leader also has to be a role model for others to follow. A leader has to create a benchmark in order to inspire others to follow the footsteps and try and achieve the desired success. The leader also can be a guiding factor or mentor for the entire team to guide them towards a successful outcome which will benefit not only the leader but also the entire organization. The leader has to organize and collaboration and bring together other people in such a way that the goals of the organization are achieved in the best possible way. In the case of Performance Management in Policing, there has been a change in the performance management system as the desired police station was being operated by a centralized performance management system. Inspector Lonsdale is the district officer who is expected to provide the performance report of her district to commissioner twice in a year. The main problem as identified in this case study with regards to leadership is that the officers who are within the Lonsdale’s district have a doubt regarding the new performance system. They have a feeling that the new system is a conjure idea of senior management. This is a problem because officers are not finding the new performance management system as fruitful. They think that it won’t have any serious impact on the success of the organization. In the case of Performance Management in Corrections, Gary Hart leads a team of correctional officers. The main problem identified in this case is with regards to performance management. The leader of the team Gary finds that one of his team members has been engaging himself in poor work performances. This is a problem because such poor performance will influence others if proper measures are not taken by the management.

How to Write an Article Review Essay Example for Free

How to Write an Article Review Essay Writing an article review, which is also sometimes referred to as an article critique, is a special type of writing that involves reading an article and then providing the reader with your personal take on its content. In general, article review essays should start with a heading that includes a citation of the sources that are being reviewed. The first paragraph, which is the introduction to the article review, should provide a summary of the article highlights. This summary should not provide every last detail about the article being reviewed. Rather, it should only discuss the most important details. If you find yourself carrying on or needing more than one paragraph to write your summary, you need to revisit the paragraph and find ways to trim down the length of your summary. Following the brief summary of your article, you will then need to explain why the article is significant. Questions you should ask yourself when writing these paragraphs include: Does the article fill a void within the literature that already exists on the topic? Does the article contain any information that would be considered â€Å"breakthrough† information? Will the information contained within this article cause other people in the field to change their ideas about the subject matter or does it simply revisit information that is already known in the field? In your final paragraphs, you will need to present your personal evaluation of the article. Some questions you should ask yourself in order to come up with your personal evaluation include whether or not the article is well written and clear. You should also consider whether or not any information was missing and if more research is needed on the topic. If you are writing the article review for a class, try to connect the article to organizational and industrial experience and try to connect the content of the article to information that you have been studying in your course. As you write your article review, keep in mind that you are doing more than just a book report. Rather than focus on telling what the article was about, your article review should reflect your personal opinions on the article as well as how it affects you or the field in which it was written. After you have finished writing your article review, be sure to go back and re-read it. This way, you will be able to look at it with a fresh set of eyes and you may notice errors that you had not previously noticed. Outline of the Article Review Please include the following categories in your article review. Full Bibliographic Reference Introduction: Objectives, Article Domain, Audience, Journal and Conceptual/Emprical Classification Very Brief Summary Results Contributions Foundation Synthesis with other materials Analysis Additional Analysis General Critique) Further Critique of a Conceptual Article -or- Further Critique of an Empirical Article Issues (in your opinion). Questions Annotated Bibliography Citation Analysis Appendix 1. Full Bibliographic Reference State the full bibliographic reference for the article you are reviewing (authors, title, journal name, volume, issue, year, page numbers, etc. ) Important: this is not the bibliography listed at the end of the article, rather the citation of the article itself! 2. Introduction: Objectives, Article Domain, Audience, Journal and Conceptual/Emprical Classification Paragraph 1: State the objectives (goals or purpose) of the article. What is the articles domain (topic area)? Paragraph 2: State whether the article is conceptual or empirical, and why you believe it is conceptual or empirical. Empirical articles and conceptual articles have a similar objective: to substantiate an argument proposed by the author. While a conceptual article supports such an argument based on logical and persuasive reasoning, an empirical article offers empirical evidence to support the argument. Empirical articles offer substantial, detailed evidence which the authors analyze using statistical methods. Empirical articles must include hypotheses (or propositions), detailed research results, and (statistical) analyses of this empirical evidence. Empirical research includes experiments, surveys, questionnaires, field studies, etc, and to limited degree, case studies. Conceptual articles may refer to such empirical evidence, but do not provide the detailed analysis of that evidence. 3. Brief Summary For an article review, do not spend much space summarizing the article. Instead focus on analysis of the article. Thus, in this section, summarize the article only very briefly. Paragraph 1: what is the problem or opportunity being addressed Paragraph 2: which solution is proposed (the solution could be a new model or a theory that explains the problem) Paragraph 3: what evidence is put forth that this solution is appropriate (If this is an empirical article, be sure to briefly describe what kind of empirical study was done as part of the evidence) 4. Results Very briefly summarize the important points (observations, conclusions, findings) in the article. Please do not repeat lists of items in the articles just summarize the essence of these if you feel they are necessary to include. 5. Contributions. An article makes a contribution by adding to the knowledge of researchers in a research field. An article can make a contribution to the research field in many ways. Does it provide a new way to look at a problem? Does it bring together or synthesize several concepts (or frameworks, models, etc. ) together in an insightful way that has not been done before? Does it provide new solutions? Does it provide new results? Does it identify new issues? Does it provide a comprehensive survey or review of a domain? Does it provide new insights? Also, is it salient (relevant and current) to a particular scientific issue or managerial problem? Are the issues addressed introduced in a way that their relevance to practice is evident? Would answers to the questions raised in the article likely to be useful to researchers and managers? Note: Do not discuss the contributions of the technologies the article describes, but rather the contributions of the article itself! The articles contributions should be original. Describe each contribution clearly in a separate paragraph or bullet point. Discuss why the contribution is important. Alternatively, if you believe the article makes no contributions, explain why clearly. 6. Foundation. Good research often is built upon theories and frameworks that other researchers have developed. Sometimes articles will be substantially based upon this prior work, and refer back to it in some detail. (Not all research articles will do this. ) Which theoretical foundations does this article and research build on, if any? In what ways? Include references/citations of the foundation work. (You can determine this in part from the works the article cites. )Note, however, that most works cited are not core foundational work, but rather just support certain aspects of the article. Similarly, do not confuse a general discussion of related topics as foundational work. If the article does not build upon key pieces of prior research, then write in your review This article does not build upon any foundation research. (If you do not state this explicitly, you will not receive credit for this section. ) 7. Synthesis with Class Materials Synthesis means analyzing a particular topic by comparing and contrasting it with, and thinking about it from the viewpoint of, the class materials from across the semester. These materials include the articles, models, frameworks, guidelines and other concepts weve covered. (Of course, only certain materials will be relevant for any given article. )Note: You have to do this synthesis! You need to relate this article to other things we have studied, so by definition you will not find this analysis in the article itself! You also could analyze the approach the author took to the articles analysis and discussion. Discuss the articles approach and results in terms of one or more of the frameworks, etc. , from the text or readings, or any you find elsewhere. As part of this analysis, reference other articles youve read, when appropriate. Compare the approach, results and contribution with all articles about similar topics or with a similar approach. For all of these, do your synthesis comparison in as much depth as you can! 8. Analysis Note: Many people assume this category is the same as General Critique. It is not. General Critique is a different category from this, and follows below. What has changed since the article was written? How do its lessons, ideas and theories still apply? To what extent has its issues been resolved? Additional Analysis Optionally, try applying the articles models, frameworks and guidelines, etc. yourself. Do you find them useful? In addition, you may optionally add your own additional analysis in a separate subsection. (Do not repeat the authors analysis in the paper you could summarize this as part of the results section. ) 9. General Critique In this section you should state your opinions of how well (or poorly) the authors did their research and presented the research results in the article. Your critique can contain both positive and negative comments. Justify and explain in detail each of your critique points in a separate paragraph of at least 4-5 sentences. The following are suggestions only: Does it build upon the appropriate foundation (i. e. , upon appropriate prior research)? Did the authors choose the correct approach, and then execute it properly? How confident are you in the articles results, and why? Are its ideas really new, or do the authors simply repackage old ideas and perhaps give them a new name? Do the authors discuss everything they promise in the articles introduction and outline? What are the articles shortcomings (faults) and limitations (boundaries)? Did it discuss all of the important aspects and issues in its domain (topic area)? In what way should the article have made a contribution, but then did not? Do the authors make appropriate comparisons to similar events, cases or occurrences? How complete and thorough a job did the authors do? Do the authors include an adequate discussion, analysis and conclusions? Did they justify everything adequately? Did they provide enough background information for the intended audience to understand it? For you to understand it? Were there adequate and appropriate examples and illustrations? Ask yourself these questions when justifying your critique points: why/why not? how? what distinguishes the differences/different approaches, and in what ways? 9. 1. Further Critique of a Conceptual Article (only for conceptual articles) A critique of a conceptual article examines the logic of the arguments made by the authors. Both strengths and weaknesses should be identified in a critique. Explain and justify each of your critique points in at least 3-4 sentences. Give examples whenever possible. To the best of your abilities, discuss each of the following categories in a separate paragraph: 1. LOGICAL CONSISTENCY: Do any parts of the article or research contradict or invalidate other parts? If so, have the authors acknowledged and explained this adequately? 2. COHERENCE: Does the article make sense? Did the authors approach this article (and this research) sensibly? Does the article develop an argument that follows a coherent line of reasoning? Are the boundaries of the argument reasonably well defined? Does the argument anticipate most, if not all, rival arguments? Does the article flow in a logical sequence? Do later parts build logically upon earlier parts? 3. SUBSTANCE: Does the article provide an argument or a line of reasoning that offers insight into important issues, or does it merely summarize previous studies in a shallow way that does not reflect depth of analysis? Does the article provide ways (a model, framework, guidelines, etc. ) to guide future thinking about the issue(s) the author is addressing? 4. FOCUS: Is there a clear audience that the authors address? Was the article written at the appropriate level for this audience? 9. 2. Further Critique of an Empirical Article (only for empirical articles) A critique of an empirical article examines the strength of the empirical evidence supporting the authors argument. Both strengths and weaknesses should be identified in a critique. Explain and justify each of your critique points in at least 3-4 sentences. To the best of your abilities, discuss each of the following categories in a separate paragraph: 1. CLARITY: Is the articles purpose and argument clear? Do the researchers clearly develop a major research question, proposition, or hypothesis that is to be evaluated in the empirical study and discussed in this article? If the study is exploratory (preliminary), is sufficient justification for an exploratory strategy given? 2. THEORETICAL GROUNDING: Is the researchers argument grounded in more basic theory? Is it clear whether the structure of the empirical study (i. e., what they do) was derived from theory, or just made up? In theory-building articles, is the need for new theory adequately established? 3. DESIGN OF RESEARCH INVESTIGATION: Is it clear exactly how the empirical study was carried out? Is the design of the research approach (field study, experiments, questionnaires, etc. both contents and how they will be used) adequate to address the common threats to internal and external validity? Have appropriate controls been established, and is the selection of research sites justified? Are the hypotheses and experiments, etc., significant? 4. MEASUREMENT: Empirical studies can have quantitative measurements (i. e. , numeric results) and qualitative or subjective measurements. Are the measures used adequately described (i. e. , what is measured in the study and how)? Are data on the reliability and validity of these measures reported? Does the article feel anecdotal or solidly supported with evidence? For example, in case or field studies, are the results well documented? Is it clear who the subjects were, and with whom interviews were carried out? Were important results cross-checked, i. e., determined across a range of subjects or just gotten from one or two subjects? 5. ANALYSIS: Is the analysis of empirical data conducted properly? Do the data conform to the requirements of any statistical tests used? Are qualitative data adequately described and presented? 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In discussing the results of the empirical study, do the authors remain true to the actual findings of the study? Are the claims made in the conclusion of the article actually supported by the empirical data? If the study is exploratory, do the authors offer research questions or hypotheses for future research? 7. BIASES: Do the biases of the authors affect the design of the research or the interpretation of the results? Are the authors aware of potential biases and the affect on the study? 10. Issues (listed by the author) What open questions or issues has the author stated remain unresolved? Discuss each in a separate paragraph of 5-10 sentences. Each issues paragraph should take the following format: what is the issue? why do you believe this is an important issue? in what way is it unresolved suggestions for resolving it if you give your own suggestions (instead of or in addition to the authors, then precede each with I would propose If it has been resolved since the article was written, then state how it was resolved. 11. Issues (in your opinion) List several open questions or issues which remain unresolved in your opinion? For example, what possible future research questions could arise from this article? Discuss each in a separate paragraph of 5-10 sentences. Each issues paragraph should take the following format: what is the issue? why do you believe this is an important issue? in what way is it unresolved suggestions for resolving it 12. Questions List three insightful questions of your own, arising from this article. Do not ask definitions, but rather questions that really make one think. 13. Annotated Bibliography For every item you have cited in your report, you need a full reference and an annotation explaining it. List the full bibliographic references (authors, title, journal name, volume, issue, year, page numbers, etc. ) for anything you have cited in your review. IMPORTANT: This is NOT the bibliography listed at the end of the article. It is the bibliographic references for any readings you yourself referred to inside your review. Write 2-4 sentences describing the article. Write 2-3 sentences describing why you cited it. 14. Citation Analysis Appendix If the article has no citations then write in that section I found no citations in the [Science Citation Index or the Social Sciences Citation Index or on the Internet]. Note, if your article has more than 20 citations, you only need to include a selection of them: State how many citations each index has and the Web search found List 1-2 citations for each year in which the article has been cited. Try to include citations from several different journals spread over your selection ? Include a citation analysis to see who has cited it and how.

QA Systems in Upscale Hotels

QA Systems in Upscale Hotels Quality assurance systems are an important element of any business strategy. As Porter (1985 and 2004) suggests, quality is now seen as a major force for gaining competitive advantage, particularly with the consumer. There is no commercial activity where this is more important than in the hotel sector. As Yavas et al (1995) state, the question is no longer whether to have quality assurance programmes, but rather how to make these programmes work,  within this sector of hospitality. It can be argued that in terms of quality assurance systems delivery the hotel sector is in a distinctive position, particularly when it is related to service satisfaction (Parasuraman 1997, Schiffman and Kanuk 2000). Unlike most other industries, where customer contact and engagement during a visit might be fleeting, as happens in retail shop environment, a hotels interaction with customers can last from a few hours to several days. Furthermore, as Kandampully et al (2001, p.28) the quality of the hotel product also has to take into account the customer-to-customer interactions. Following a brief literature review, the intention of this essay is to examine quality assurance systems and evaluate the effect that these systems have upon service quality and customer satisfaction within the upscale Hotel market. Quality assurance and management within the hotel environment is focused upon satisfying the customer. Therefore, this review concentrates on the existing literature relating to customer satisfaction and the various methods and frameworks of service quality related to this focus. Academic literature relating to customer satisfaction falls within two main categories, these being the psychological perceptions of the customer and the practical ways in which customer satisfaction can be implemented to help a business achieve its objectives. In the hotel sector, this objective is to try and engender a high level of customer satisfaction in order to positively influence our customers repurchasing and communicative behaviour   (Hennig-Thurau and Hassen (2000, p.62). However, to achieve this aim the business has to understand what drives customer satisfaction. Christopher (1984), Holbrook (1999), Schiffmand and Kanuk 2000 and Brennen (2003) all agree that satisfaction is related to the consumers perception or judgement of a product experience and value when set against their expectations and the payment made. Zeithamls (1998, p.14) describes it as follows, being that   Perceived value is the consumers overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given †¦ value represents a trade-off of the salient give and get components  , in other words the cost paid is measured against the value expected . Therefore, it can be suggested that the greater the service quality the higher the satisfaction (Kandampully et al. 2001, p.8) and, conversely, the higher the price the greater the perception of value. Bostepe (2007) further identifies that, within a service environment such as a hotel, consumer satisfaction does not simply rely upon the quality of service satisfaction received from business employees, although this is an essential element. The physical environment, for example the dà ©cor, bedrooms and other facilities offered, are also elements of the consumers perceived value and service satisfaction. If any of these are deemed as sub-standard, particularly when related to the price paid, this will reduce the customers enjoyment and levels of satisfaction. It follows therefore that only by concentration upon providing quality within all of these areas of the product will the business be able to assure satisfaction and encourage customer loyalty (Holbrook 1999, p.121), which Porter (1998), Parasuraman (1997) Agrawal (2000) and Harrison (2003) all agree is essential to competitive advantage. There are numerous quality assurance measurement systems and standards available for use within the business environment. Customer feedback is one such measurement. Client feedback can be achieved by two methods. The first way is to provide questionnaires that hotel guests are asked to complete before the end of their stay. The second is to rely upon externally conducted questionnaires, interviews and polls, which can be conducted on a continuous basis. However, whilst comments and responses provided by customers may act as a good testimonial for the business (Porter 1998, p.1478), these systems have their drawbacks. In addition to the fact that not all customers might respond, the design of the process itself is often flawed (Kandampully et al 2001) and can therefore be misinterpreted. For example, a simple complaints procedure would not necessarily identify areas of quality success. Secondly, these feedback processes tend to lack definition. Their use may therefore be inhibited by the fact that they do not provide management with sufficient detail to be able to locate and resolve the specific areas of the business where deficiency of service quality is occurring. Furthermore, a system of continuous surveys adds to the business administration costs and, in addition, raises the inherent issue of sampling (Visit Britain 2008 b). Evidence of these limitations can be seen in a recent survey conducted by Visit Britain (2008 a) (see figu re 1). Figure 1 Customer hotel choice determinants   Source: Visit Britain (2008 a, p.11)  Whilst it is clearly apparent from these results that customer satisfaction in related to encouraging loyalty and retention, as well as being inherently useful in turning existing customers into promotional tools for the hotel, this does not provide management with a detailed analysis of the areas where satisfaction has been achieved or denote what areas were not satisfying.  To provide detailed quality service observations therefore, a more robust quality assurance system is required and most of these are based upon variations of the Total Quality Management (TQM) system (Dotchin and Oakland 1994 and Ziethaml et al 2000). These methods are designed to assess and monitor the level of quality being maintained throughout all areas of the business process and its supply chain, from an internal as well as external viewpoint. One such variation, particularly applicable to the hotel industry, is the SERVQUAL method, which originated from the works of Parasuraman et al (1991). Kandampully et al (2001, p.68) observe that many academics and practical studies have used SERVQUAL as a true measure of customer service and that it has been extensively applied (Shahin 2005, p.4) in service based organisations. Amongst these service industries will be included the hospitality and hotel sector of the tourism industry. Despite the fact that recent researches have sought to extend the elements of quality measurement with the SERVQUAL model, fundamentally it is still based upon the level of quality assurance to be measured and gained within five key sectors of the business processes, which are: Tangibles Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel. Reliability Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Assurance (including competence, courtesy, credibility and security). Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy (including access, communication, understanding the customer). Caring and individualized attention that the firm provides to its customers. Source: Sahney et al 2004 The SERVQUAL measurement can be used internally, through measurement against preset quality assurance standards such as the ISO 9001 Quality certification process (BSI 2008) and the Star Rating system operated by Visit Britain (2008) in conjunction with the Automobile Association. In this case the hotel services and processes are measured against pre-determined sets of quality criterion and monitored at least annually by those who regulate these standards. The internal quality assurance programme is also complemented by external consumer questionnaires and interview surveys. The SERVQUAL quality assurance method has been in existence for some years and is tried and tested  (Shahin 2005, p.5), making it a firm favourite within the hotel service industry, where managers are comfortable and confident with the outcomes of these measurements. An element of SERVQUAL that is considered particularly important in this respect is the fact that the system and its measurements are monitored and updated on a regular basis (Holbrook (1999), Sahney et al (2004) and Boztepe (2007)), for example annually (Shahin 2005, p.6). Both ISO 9001 and the Star Rating systems conform to these determinants. As will be seen from the following analysis, the quality assurance systems applied to the hotel in terms of both the internal industry Star Rating and external SERVQUAL systems are virtually synonymous in terms of the standards and factors they rely upon for measurement. To maintain their perception as upscale or 5 star hotels, in each of these cases the hotel will have to achieve much higher levels of standards. 4.1 Star Rating system  Although the Star Rating system is formatted in a slightly different way to SERVQUAL, the quality elements of this process are still graded in a similar manner. The main difference is the fact that there are minimum quality requirements before the hotel will even be considered for a rating. However, even these equate to the tangible element of the SERVQUAL system (figure 2).  Figure 2 Minimum entry requirements   Source (Visit Britain 2005, p.8)  Once the minimum entry requirements have been met, to assess which star level is applicable to the establishment independent inspectors will monitor five quality bands and award a quality percentage to each. These percentages determine what rating the establishment has achieved (figure 3). Figure 3 Quality bands for star rating Star rating Bands One star 30-46% Two stars 47-54% Three stars 55-69% Four Stars 70-84% Five Stars 85-100% Source: Visit Britain (2005, p.6) Furthermore, this standard of quality has to be achieved across a range of five product elements, which include cleanliness, service, food quality, bedrooms and bathrooms. Simply complying in one of the areas is not sufficient to earn the highest star. Therefore, if the hotel fails to achieve the required 85-100% standards during an annual monitoring it risks its rating being downgraded to four stars or a lower standard. For instance, in the example shown below (figure 4), despite the fact that the hotel being monitored has achieved the five star requirements in three of the five bands, its failures in the other two would demote it to a four star hotel. Figure 4 Quality bank achievement Level Standard 1 2 3 4 5 Cleanliness X Service X Food quality X Bedrooms X Bathrooms X Source: adapted from Visit Britain (2005, p.7) 4.2 SERVQUAL system  When using the SERVQUAL system, which is largely based largely upon the results of customer satisfaction surveys, although all hotels would be looking to achieve the maximum service quality satisfaction level of 100% in terms of the overall scoring, there is a significant difference in the way this would be achieved when related to the different standard of establishments. To provide an example of how this equates in practice, the following is a comparison between the SERVQUAL requirements of a 5 star hotel against lower rated hotel, such as the budget Travelodge hotel chain (figure 5). Figure 5 SERVQUAL comparisons SERVQUAL criterion 5-star hotel Travelodge Tangibility 20% 20% Reliability 20% 30% Responsiveness 20% 15% Assurance 20% 25% Empathy 20% 10% Total 100% 100% It is apparent from the above comparison that the 5-star establishment requires their quality of service to be more balanced, in other words no one area of their product should be delivering a lower quality of service than any other. However, with the budget chain, which operates on a low cost strategy that eliminates much of the human resources and food elements, these specific areas are shown to have less importance to the business, but need to be compensated by increased levels of satisfaction in other areas of quality if the business is to remain successful. What is immediately apparent from the analysis of the two quality assurance systems identified above as being used within the hotel sector is their compatibility. This not only applies to the systems per se, but also to the measurement of the results. In both cases an upscale hotel would need to achieve a balanced score with high ratings in all of the quality determinants if it is to maintain its market position and be perceived by the potential customer as a quality (5 star) hotel. Conversely, the lower quality hotels pay less attention to those areas of the standards that are more directly related to the quality of service provided by their human resources, relying instead upon other elements to satisfy customer quality perception, such as low cost (Porter 2004). Whilst it could therefore be stated in simple terms that quality assurance is related to the price being paid for the product, what research such as that conducted by Shahin (2006), Ziethaml et al (1990) and Holbrook (1999), and the fact that all hotels, irrespective of their standards, operate quality assurance systems, shows is that price is simply one element required to fulfil customer satisfaction needs. Whatever price is being charged for the hotel product the customer will still weigh the experience received against the value they expect from the product enjoyed at that price (Zeithaml 1988 and Parasuraman et at 1994). A customer who decides to spend a greater amount of his or her disposable income on arranging to stay in a 5-star hotel will have a much greater value expectation than one who chooses a budget hotel stay. The former will expect the service quality to exist in all aspects of the hotel product. This includes the dà ©cor and the ambiance of the environment, the facilities that are being offered, including meals and room service, and the performance of the hotels human resources. If these quality expectations are not met that customer will perceive that they have not received value for money and therefore will view the experience as less than satisfactory. Therefore, they will be unlikely to promote the hotel in a positive manner to others or re-use it. It is apparent that in the case of an upscale or5-star hotel the combination of the industry Star Rating and SERVQUAL quality assurance systems will have a significant impact upon their service quality and the level of customer satisfaction achieved from using the product. In terms of the Star Rating system, the higher the star rating the greater the expectation of the customer in terms of their perception of the quality that will be found in this establishment. Therefore, the five star establishments are likely to attract customers who wish to avail themselves of the higher quality experience.   With regard to the external SERVQUAL system of measurement, because these are results from customer experiences, the greater the levels of quality achieved in the areas measured, the more likely it is that customers will be retained and act as recommenders to other potential customers. In both cases therefore, it can be concluded that the quality assurance system is designed to achieve competitive advantage by attracting additional market share, thus improving the hotels revenue and profitability levels. Agrawal (2000). Managing service industries in the new millennium: Evidence is everything. Paper presented at the AIMS Convention on Service Management  Berry L L and Parasuraman, A (1991). Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality,  Free Press. New York, US  Boztepe, Suzan (2007). User Value: Competing theories and models.  International Journal of Design,  Vol. 1, Issue. 2, pp.55-63.  Brennan, Ross (2003). Value in Marketing: Confusion or Illumination? Available from: http://mubs.mdx.ac.uk/Research/Discussion_Papers/  Marketing/dpap%20marketing%20no25.pdf (Accessed 22 December 2008)  BSI (2008). ISO 9001Quality. Available from: http://www.bsi-global.com/en/Assessment-and-certification-services  /management-systems/Standards-and-Schemes/ISO-9001/ (Accessed 22 December 2008)  Chetwynd, Catherine and Knight, Jenny (2007). Time to capitalise on falling hotel occupancy.  The Times. London, UK.  Christopher, M. (1996). From brand values to customer value.  J ournal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science,  Vol. 2, Issue.2, pp.55-66.  Dotchin, J.A and Oakland, J.S (1994). Total Quality Management in Services: Part 3: Distinguishing perceptions of Service Quality.  International Journal of Quality reliability Management, Vol. 11, Issue. 4, pp.6-28  Gale, B. 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Academy of Marketing Science, 25(2), 154-161.  Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1991), Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL scale.  Journal of Retailing, Vol. 67, pp. 420-450.  Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1993), Research note: more on improving service quality measurement,  Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, No. 1, pp. 140-147.  Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1994), Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: implications for future research,  Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 111-124.  Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance.  Free Press. New York, US  Porter, M .E (2004). Competitive Advantage. Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors.  Free Press.  New York, US  Sahney, S., Banwet, D.K., and Karunes, S. (2004), A SERVQUAL and QFD approach to total quality education: A student perspective,  International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol.53, No.2, pp. 143-166.  Schiffman, L g and L L Kanuk (2000). Consumer Behaviour.  FT Prentice Hall, New Jersey, US.  Shahin, Dr. Arash (2005). SERVQUAL and Models of Service Quality Gaps: A Framework for Determining and Prioritizing Critical Factors in Delivering Quality Systems. Available:  Visit Britain (2008 a). UK Market Profile 2007. Available from: http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/  Images/UK_DMarketing_tcm12-22850.pdf (Accessed 21 December 2008)  Visit Britain (2008 b). Britain Inbound: Overall Market Profile. Available from: http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/Images/Inbound  FINAL_2008_%20BritInbound3F_tcm12-40935.pdf (Accessed 21 December 2008)  V isit London (2005). Hotel Accommodation; Quality Standards. Available from: http://www.qualityintourism.com/content/pdfs/Standards/  Hotel%20Standard%20INT.pdf (Accessed 21 December 2008)  Yavas, U., Yasin, M and Wafa, m (1995). Front and back-stage strategies in service delivery in the hospitality industry: a conceptual framework.  Market Intelligence Planning.  Vol. 13, Issue, 11, pp.22-26  Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: A means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketin,, Vol. 52, Issue. 3, pp.2-22  Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A. and Berry, L.L. (1990),  Delivering quality service; Balancing customer perceptions and expectations.  The Free Press, New York, NY.

The Rise of Nazism in Germany :: Ancient Rome Roman History

The Rise of Nazism in Germany Germany's defeat in World War One created political, economic and social instability in the Weimar Republic and led to the rise of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or Nazi party. The First World War placed increasingly heavy strains and sacrifices on the German people. The gap between the rich and poor widened and divisions between classes increased. It had direct effect on the workers' living standard as earnings fell and food shortages grew. Food was sold on the growing black market but the prices were high and the poor could not afford to buy. This led to a crisis in the cities and as many as 700 000 died of hypothermia and starvation in the winter of 1916-17. In order to force the German people to bear the hardship of the war, chancellor Bethmann Hollweg promised political reform in a speech in the Reichstag in February 1917. This promise led to political unrest and an organised strike of 400 000 ammunition workers in Berlin, which threatened to cripple arms production. However, as long as the military held their dominant position and the possibility of victory remained, the prospects of reform seemed remote. After the chancellor was forced to resign in July 1917 military repression increased. There were severe restrictions on the right of assembly, stricter control of meetings to discuss grievances, a return to military service for striking workers and the banning of all anti-war material. In September 1918 the military effort suddenly collapsed. The allied powers, in particular President Wilson of the United States, demanded that Germany be transformed into a democracy. On November 1918 the SPD declared the abdication of the Kaiser and the birth of the new Weimar Republic. On 28 June 1919 the German government signed the Treaty of Versailles imposed on it by the victorious powers. Clause 231 blamed Germany for causing the war and vast majority of Germans rejected this. They blamed the Weimar government for losing the war and signing the outrageous Treaty. Linked to this was the demand for financial compensation for the cost of the war paid to France and Britain. This shocked the Germans severely as it would be hard to pay reparations since the war had weakened the country. Germany's army personnel was to be reduced to 100 000 and was forbidden to produce "offensive" weapons. There was to be no air force or submarines and the navy was to be reduced to six small battleships and six cruisers.

Succubus Blues CHAPTER 2

The phone jolted me to consciousness the next morning. Dim, murky light filtered in through my sheer curtains, signifying some freakishly early hour. Around here, however, that amount of light could have indicated anything from sunrise to high noon. After four rings, I finally deigned to answer, accidentally knocking Aubrey out of the bed. She landed with an indignant mhew and stalked off to clean herself. â€Å"Hello?† † Yo, Kincaid?† â€Å"No.† My response came swift and certain. â€Å"I'm not coming in.† â€Å"You don't even know I'm going to ask that.† â€Å"Of course I know. There's no other reason you'd be calling me this early, and I'm not going to do it. It's my day off, Doug.† Doug, the other assistant manager at my day job, was a pretty nice guy, but he couldn't keep a poker face – or voice – to save his life. His cool demeanor immediately gave way to desperation. â€Å"Everyone called in sick today, and now we're strapped. You have to do it.† â€Å"Well, I'm sick too. Believe me, you don't want me there.† Okay, I wasn't exactly sick, but I was still sporting a residual afterglow from being with Martin. Mortals would not â€Å"see† it as Duane had per se, but they would sense it and be drawn to it – men and women alike – without even knowing why. My confinement today would prevent any foolish, lovesick behavior. It was very kind of me, really. â€Å"Liar. You're never sick.† â€Å"Doug, I was already planning on coming back tonight for the signing. If I work a shift today too, I'll be there all day. That's sick and twisted.† â€Å"Welcome to my world, babe. We have no alternative, not if you really care about the fate of the store, not if you truly care about our customers and their happiness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You're losing me, cowboy.† â€Å"So,† he continued, â€Å"the question is, are you going to come here willingly, or do I have to walk over there and drag you out of bed myself? Frankly, I wouldn't mind the latter.† I did a mental eye roll, chiding myself for the billionth time about living two blocks from work. His rambling about the bookstore's suffering had been effective, as he'd known it would. I operated under the mistaken belief that the place couldn't survive without me. â€Å"Well, rather than risk any more of your attempts at witty, sexual banter, I suppose I'll have to come over there. But Doug†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My voice turned hard. â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Don't put me on the registers or anything.† I heard hesitation on his end. â€Å"Doug? I'm serious. Not the main registers. I don't want to be around a lot of customers.† â€Å"All right,† he said at last. â€Å"Not the main registers.† â€Å"Promise?† â€Å"I promise.† A half hour later, I stepped outside my door to walk the two blocks to the bookstore. Long clouds hung low, darkening the sky, and a faint chill touched the air, forcing some of my fellow pedestrians to don a coat. I had opted for none, finding my khaki slacks and brown chenille sweater more than sufficient. The clothing, just like the lip gloss and eyeliner I'd carefully applied this morning, were real; I had not shape-shifted into them. I enjoyed the routine nature of applying cosmetics and matching articles of clothing, though Hugh would have claimed I was just being weird again. Emerald City Books & Caf? ¦ was a sprawling establishment, occupying almost a full block in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. It sat two stories high, with the cafe portion dominating a second-floor corner viewing the Space Needle. A cheerful green awning hung over the main door, protecting those customers waiting for the store to open. I walked around them and entered through a side door, using my staff key. Doug assaulted me before I'd taken two steps inside. â€Å"It's about time. We†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused and did a double-take, reexamining me. â€Å"Wow. You look†¦ really nice today. Did you do something different?† Only a thirty-four-year-old virgin, I thought. â€Å"You're just imagining things because you're so happy I'm here to fix your staffing problem. What am I doing? Stock?† â€Å"I, er, no.† Doug struggled to snap out of his haze, still looking me up and down in a way I found disconcerting. His interest in dating me was no secret, nor was my continual rejection. â€Å"Come on, I'll show you.† â€Å"I told you – â€Å" â€Å"It's not the main registers,† he promised me. What â€Å"it† turned out to be was the espresso counter in our upstairs cafe. Bookstore staff hardly ever subbed up here, but it wasn't unheard of. Bruce, the cafe manager, popped up from where he'd been kneeling behind the counter. I often thought Doug and Bruce could be twins in a mixed-race, alternate-reality sort of way. Both had long, scraggly ponytails, and both wore a good deal of flannel in tribute to the grunge era neither had fully recovered from. They differed mainly in their coloring. Doug was Japanese-American, black-haired with flawless skin; Bruce was Mr. Aryan Nation, all blond hair and blue eyes. â€Å"Hey Doug, Georgina,† heralded Bruce. His eyes widened at me. â€Å"Whoa, you look great today.† â€Å"Doug! This is just as bad. I told you I didn't want any customers.† â€Å"You told me not the main registers. You didn't say anything about this one.† I opened my mouth to protest, but Bruce interrupted. â€Å"Come on, Georgina, I had Alex call in sick today, and Cindy actually quit.† Seeing my stony expression, he quickly added, â€Å"Our registers are almost identical to yours. It'll be easy.† â€Å"Besides† – Doug raised his voice to a fair imitation of our manager's – † ‘assistant managers are supposed to be able to fill in for anybody around here.' â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, but the cafe – â€Å" † – is still part of the store. Look, I've got to go open. Bruce'll show you what you need to know. Don't worry, it'll be fine.† He hastily darted off before I could refuse again. â€Å"Coward!† I yelled after him. â€Å"It really won't be that bad,† Bruce reiterated, not understanding my dismay. â€Å"You just take the money, and I'll make the espresso. Let's practice on you. You want a white chocolate mocha?† â€Å"Yeah,† I conceded. Everyone I worked with knew about that particular vice. I usually managed to take down three of them a day. Mochas that was, not coworkers. Bruce walked me through the necessary steps, showing me how to mark up the cups and find what I needed to push on the register's touch-screen interface. He was right. It wasn't so bad. â€Å"You're a natural,† he assured me later, handing over my mocha. I grunted in response and consumed my caffeine, thinking I could handle anything so long as the mochas kept coming. Besides, this really couldn't be as bad as the main registers. The cafe probably did no business this time of day. I was wrong. Minutes after opening, we had a line of five people. â€Å"Large latte,† I repeated back to my first customer, carefully punching in the information. â€Å"Already got it,† Bruce told me, starting the beverage before I even had a chance to label the cup. I happily took the woman's money and moved on to my next order. â€Å"A large skinny mocha.† † Skinny's just another word for nonfat, Georgina.† I scrawled NF on the cup. No worries. We could do this. The next customer wandered up and stared at me, momentarily bedazzled. Coming to her senses, she shook her head and blurted out a torrent of orders. â€Å"I need one small drip coffee, one large nonfat vanilla latte, one small double cappuccino, and one large decaf latte.† Now I felt bedazzled. How had she remembered all those? And honestly, who ordered drip anymore? On and on the morning went, and despite my misgivings, I soon felt myself perking up and enjoying the experience. I couldn't help it. It was how I worked, how I carried myself through life. I liked trying new things – even something as banal as ringing up espresso. People could be silly, certainly, but I enjoyed working with the public most of the time. It was how I had ended up in customer service. And once I overcame my sleepiness, my inborn succubus charisma kicked in. I became the star of my own personal stage show, bantering and flirting with ease. When combined with the Martin-induced glamour, I became downright irresistible. While this did result in a number of proffered dates and pickup lines, it also saved me from the repercussions of any mistakes. My customers found no wrong with me. â€Å"That's all right, dear,† one older woman assured me upon discovering I'd accidentally ordered her a large cinnamon mocha instead of a nonfat, decaf latte. â€Å"I really need to branch out into new drinks anyway.† I smiled back winningly, hoping she wasn't diabetic. Later on, a guy came up carrying a copy of Seth Mortensen's The Glasgow Pact. It was the first sign I'd seen of tonight's momentous event. â€Å"Are you going to the signing?† I asked as I rang up his tea. Bleh. Caffeine-free. He studied me for a pregnant moment, and I braced myself for a pass. Instead the guy said mildly, â€Å"Yeah, I'll be there.† â€Å"Well, make sure you think up good questions for him. Don't ask the same ones everyone else does.† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"Oh, you know, the usual. ‘Where do you get your ideas from?' and ‘Are Cady and O'Neill ever going to get together?' â€Å" The guy considered this as I made change. He was cute, in a disheveled sort of way. He had brown hair with a reddish-gold gleam to it, said gleam being more noticeable in the shadow of facial hair crossing his lower face. I couldn't quite decide if he'd intentionally grown a beard or just forgotten to shave. Whatever it was, it had grown in more or less evenly and, when combined with the Pink Floyd T-shirt he wore, presented the image of a sort of hippie-lumberjack. â€Å"I don't think the ‘usual questions' make them any less meaningful to the one doing the asking,† he decided at last, seeming shy about contradicting me. â€Å"To a fan, each question is new and unique.† He stepped aside so I could wait on another customer. I continued the conversation as I took the next order, unwilling to pass up the opportunity to discuss Seth Mortensen intelligently. â€Å"Forget the fans. What about poor Seth Mortensen? He probably wants to impale himself each time he gets one of those.† † ‘Impale' is kind of a strong word, don't you think?† â€Å"Absolutely not. The guy's brilliant. Hearing idiotic questions must bore him to tears.† A bemused smile played across the man's mouth, and his steady brown eyes weighed me carefully. When he realized he was staring so openly, he glanced away, embarrassed. â€Å"No. If he's out touring, he cares about his fans. He doesn't mind the repetitive questions.† â€Å"He's not out touring for altruism. He's out touring because the publicists at his publishing house are making him tour,† I countered. â€Å"Which is also a waste of time, by the way.† He dared a look back at me. â€Å"Touring is? You don't want to meet him?† â€Å"I – well, yes, of course I do. It's just, that†¦ okay. Look, don't get me wrong. I worship the ground this guy walks on. I'm excited to meet him tonight. I'm dying to meet him tonight. If he wanted to carry me off and make me his love slave, I'd do it, so long as I got advance copies of his books. But this touring thing†¦ it takes time. Time that would be better spent writing the next book. I mean, haven't you seen how long his books take to come out?† â€Å"Yeah. I've noticed.† Just then, a previous customer returned, complaining he'd gotten caramel syrup instead of caramel sauce. Whatever that meant. I offered a few smiles and sweet apologies, and he soon didn't care about the caramel sauce or anything else. By the time he left my register, the Mortensen fan guy was gone too. When I finally finished my shift around five, Doug came to meet me. â€Å"I heard some interesting things about your performance up here.† â€Å"I hear interesting things about your ‘performance' all the time, Doug, but you don't hear me making jokes about it.† He bandied with me a bit more and finally released me to get ready for the signing, but not before I'd made him humbly acknowledge how much he owed me for my kindness today. Between him and Hugh, I was accruing favors all over the place. I practically ran the two blocks home, anxious to grab some dinner and figure out what I wanted to wear. My exhilaration was growing. In an hour or so, I'd be meeting my all-time favorite author. Could life get any better? Humming to myself, I took the stairs two at a time and produced my keys with a flourish that only I noticed or appreciated. As I opened the door, a hand suddenly grabbed me and pulled me roughly inside, into the darkness of my apartment. I yelped in surprise and fear as I was shoved up against the door, slamming it shut. The lights burst on suddenly and unexpectedly, and the faint smell of sulfur wafted through the air. Although the brightness made me wince, I could see well enough to recognize what was going on. Hell hath no fury like a pissed-off demon.

Summary of Pmi Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Home-Work #4 SUMMARY for PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct The PMI ‘Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct’ articulates the ideals to which a project manager should aspire and specifically outlines the mandatory behaviors which are essential in a professional as well as a volunteer role. It describes the moral and professional expectations we have of ourselves and fellow colleagues in the project management community. In short, don’t cheat, steal, lie or abuse power! The code of ethics focuses on four core values which should be upheld by the project managers around the globe: responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty.The code clearly defines the scope of each of these values, their aspirational & mandatory standards and outlines a rough framework of the regulations and legal requirements for the same. The code is applicable to all PMI members, non-members who either hold or are in process of acquiring PMI certification or anybody who directly serve s PMI in a volunteer capacity. These values have become the foundation of the code and each of them is discussed at length in a separate section. It emphasizes on exercise of responsibility and on taking ownership of one’s decisions that they either made or failed to make.The code requires the individuals in project management community to show respect to self, others and the resources available and entrusted to them, to apply fairness in decision making and act impartially and objectively and finally practicing honesty in both the communication and the conduct. The aspirational standards identify the moral conduct and general expectations whereas the mandatory standards establish firm requirements which can limit or prohibit a practitioner’s behavior in some cases.Mandatory standards also suggest a disciplinary procedure before PMI’s Ethics Review committee in case of charges of non-compliance by a practitioner. The purpose of this Code is to instill confidence in the project management profession and to help an individual become a better practitioner. The PMI’s envisions that the current version of the code of ethics and professional conduct will serve as a precursor to further deliberation and application of ethics and values in the global project management community.