buy custom Delinquency essay

buy custom Delinquency essay In the current case study, three teenagers were found outdoors at 1 AM on a Thursday night; one of them was smoking a cigarette, and two others were holding the beer cans. The young people were violating a number of laws; consequently, I, as a police officer, decided to investigate this issue. All the teenagers have violated the city ordinance regarding the curfew. According to the juvenile curfew ordinance, adopted by the Houston City Council, the minors under 17 years old are not allowed to stay in a public place after midnight without their conservator or parent. When I approached the teenagers, I asked them whether they were returning from their employment, were involved in the intrastate transportation, were on the emergence errand, and about other exceptional cases that allowed minors to stay outdoors after midnight (Houston Police Department, n.d.). The teenagers were certainly loitering and violating the city curfew ordinance. Two male teenagers were holding beer cans when I approached the group. They were to be charged with the offenses under the Minor-in-Possession and Minor-in-Consumption laws. The boys were under the legal drinking age; they both were only 17 years old. The teenagers were not drinking from the bottles, when I saw them; therefore, they can be charged only with breaking the Minor-in-Possession law. However, when the minors started talking, I understood that they were in an advanced state of alcohol intoxication. The male teenagers could not speak audibly, demonstrated inadequate reactions, and reeked of alcohol. Because of these issues, they can be also charged with an underage drinking offense. The teenage girl, who was 16 years old, was holding a cigarette in her hands. Despite the laws that prohibit selling cigarettes to the minors, she was not breaking the law because, in fact, the purchase of that igarette by her could not be proven. The possession of cigarettes by a minor, on the other hand, is not a legal offense (Washington State Legislature, n.d.). The girl did not have the symptoms of visible alcoholic intoxication; consequently, de jure, she violated only the city ordinance regarding the curfew. My investigation of this status offense case began with the examination of the teenagers concerning the reasons of their staying outdoors at night and check of their identity. When I understood that the two minors were seriously drunk, I asked them to take a sobriety test to prove my apprehension with evidence. One of the male teenagers agreed to pass a breathanalyzer test, and I recorded the results. He was drunk but was reacting normally to my words. That is why I told him about the inadmissibility of such behavior; we called up his parents to come to that place and take the teenager home. In addition, they had to attend an alcohol awareness classes together with their son. The teenager, in turn, received a verbal warning for the violation of the curfew ordinance. Another male teenager, however, was uncooperative during our conversation. He showed certain signs of unmotivated aggression and was impolite with the police officer. The teenager also refused to pass the alcohol test. That is why he was charged with resisting law enforcement and was arrested. The minor was taken to the detention center for juveniles, and his parents were called up to come to the center. His parents had to pay 300 dollars as a fine while the teenager was put on probation for a year. Nevertheless, the case did not require a trial, and it will be closed after the probation period (Texas Criminal Defense, n.d.). For the violation of the curfew ordination, the teenager had to serve 50 hours of the community service (Theoharis, n.d.). The problem aggravated when his parents refused to come to the detention center, to paay the fine and take their son home. As it became clear later, the teenagers parents were in the state of divorce; any problems with their son, in turn, on ly worsened the family climate. That is why I decided that it would be better to bring the teenager home in the morning and speak with him when he is sober. As it was mentioned earlier, the teenage girl could be charged with neither alcohol possession nor consumption. Moreover, she also agreed to cooperate and passed the alcohol test. There was no alcohol in her blood; that is why I only issued her a verbal warning for violating the curfew ordinance. The girl seemed to be sorry for her behavior; that was why I did neither took her into the juvenile center nor called up her parents, but took her home by myself (Find Law, n.d.). Nevertheless, I spoke to the mother concerning the behavior of her daughter, and the woman agreed to speak with her child seriously and to control her. The behavior of the teenagers defined my decisions on how to handle these status offense cases. I understand that the written records about the offenses related to the alcohol abuse might affect the lives of those teenagers. Their chances to enter institutes or find prestigious jobs in the future might significantly reduce because of the minor mistakes of their youth. However, for their parents and me, it was necessary to make the teenagers understand the importance of abiding the laws and taking responsibility for their actions. That is why I made an attempt to handle the status offenses in a comparatively mild manner. I can hope that the girl and the first male teenager had understood their mistakes from my verbal warnings and the educational lectures of their parents. I also think that the second male teenager, who obviously had problems with his behavior, which perhaps was caused by the complicated relationships in his family, will overcome these problems. 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John F. Kennedys Legacy in Education and the Space Race

John F. Kennedy's Legacy in Education and the Space Race While the last photographs of John F. Kennedy preserve him eternally in Americas collective memory  as 46 years old,  he would have been 100 years old on May 29, 2017. Education was one of the signature issues of President Kennedy, and there are a number of legislative efforts and messages to Congress that he initiated to improve education in several areas: graduation rates, science, and teacher training. On Raising High School Graduation Rates   In a  Special Message to the Congress on Education,  delivered  on  February 6, 1962, Kennedy laid out his argument that  education in this country is the right- the necessity- and the responsibility- of all.   In this message, he noted the high number of high school dropouts: Too many- an estimated one million a year- leave school before completing high school- the bare minimum for a fair start in modern-day life. Kennedy referenced the  high percentage of dropouts in 1960, two years earlier. A data study  prepared by the  Institute of Educational Studies (IES) at the  National Center for Educational Statistics, showed the high school dropout rate in 1960 was at a high 27.2%. In his message, Kennedy also spoke about the 40% of students at that time who had started but never completed their college education.   His message to Congress also laid out a plan for increasing the number of classrooms as well as increased training for teachers in their content areas.  Kennedys  message to promote education had a powerful effect. By 1967, four years after his assassination, the total number of high school dropouts was reduced by 10% to 17%. The dropout rate has been falling incrementally ever since. As of 2014, only 6.5% of students drop out of high school. This is an increase of 25% in graduation rates from when Kennedy first promoted this cause. On Teacher Training and Education In his Special Message to the Congress on Education (1962), Kennedy also outlined his plans to improve teacher training by collaborating with the  National Science Foundation and the Office of Education.   In this  message, he proposed a system where, Many elementary and secondary school teachers would profit from a full year of full-time study in their subject-matter fields, and he advocated that these opportunities be created. Initiatives like teacher training were part of Kennedys New Frontier  programs. Under the policies of the New Frontier, legislation was passed to expand scholarships and student loans with  increases in funds for libraries and school lunches. There were also funds directed to teach the deaf, children with disabilities, and children who were gifted. In addition, literacy training was authorized under Manpower Development and Training Act (1962) as well as an allocation of Presidental funds to stop dropouts and the  Vocational Education Act (1963). Kennedy saw education as critical to maintaining the economic  strength of the nation.  According to Ted Sorenson,  Kennedys speechwriter, no other domestic issue occupied Kennedy as much as education. Sorenson quotes Kennedy as saying: Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource. On Science  and Space Exploration The successful launch of  Sputnik 1,  the first artificial Earth satellite, by  the Soviet space program  on October 4, 1957, alarmed American scientists and politicians alike. President  Dwight Eisenhower appointed the first presidential science adviser, and a Science Advisory Committee asked part-time scientists to serve as advisers for their initial steps. On April 12, 1961, only four short months into Kennedys presidency, the Soviets had another stunning  success. Their Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed a successful mission to and from space. Despite the fact that the United States space program was still in its infancy, Kennedy responded to the Soviets with his own challenge, known as the moon shot, in which Americans would be the first to land on the moon.   In a speech  on  May 25, 1961, before a joint session of Congress, Kennedy proposed  space exploration to put astronauts on the moon, as well as other projects including nuclear rockets and weather satellites. He was quoted as saying: But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead. Again, at  Rice University on September 12, 1962, Kennedy  proclaimed that America would have a  goal to land a man on the moon and bring him back by the end of the decade, a goal that would be directed to educational institutions: The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. As the American  space program known as Gemini was pulling ahead of the Soviets, Kennedy gave one of his last speeches on October 22, 1963,  before the National Academy of Sciences, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary. He expressed his overall support for the  space program and emphasized the overall importance of science to the country: â€Å" The question in all our minds today is how science can best continue its service to the Nation, to the people, to the world, in the years to come†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Six years later, on July 20, 1969,  Kennedys efforts came to fruition  when Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong took a giant step for mankind and stepped onto the Moons surface.

Naming rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Naming rights - Essay Example Different Business enterprises like those concerned with the manufacturing of sports goods, sports wear, watches and soft drinks might be potential sponsors. Sports brands offer a lucrative market as according to sources: ‘Marketing professionals around the world recognize the power of sports brands and content as a consumer draw. As Associate General Manager I would select companies like Nike, Reebok and a firm like Uni Lever as sponsors. These are firms which are promoting products that are environmental friendly and promote health.I would then explain the respective co operates firm the advantages of investing in our project-To build a new stadium. In addition to the core benefits, media exposure, signage, and customer respect there are other benefits as well. In Greene’s opinion naming rights play two important roles: ’First, in supporting larger finance packages with other revenue streams and second, as a single source of finance’. Our Mission statemen t is to boost sport oriented activities. Sports not only encourage healthy bodies but healthy minds as well. The creation of sports man spirit encourages healthy competition. Negative feelings like jealousy and sorrow would be eliminated from society.In order to ensure that the stakeholder brand maintains our image, we shall audit the brand owner’s strategies ...

Hurricane Katrina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example Brinkley consciously limited the book to the first unthinkable week. Beginning on Saturday, August 27, when it first became clear that Katrina was going to strike again in the Gulf Coast after roughing up Florida, he traces the warnings, stories, fecklessness, and missed opportunities through the hurricane's five hours f wrath and the breaching f the levees. His account continues until the following Saturday, September 3, when buses finally reached the convention center and the Superdome to evacuate those stranded. By combining his own experiences during the storm and its aftermath-Brinkley returned to the city to help in rescue efforts after evacuating his family to Houston-with hundreds f interviews with citizens, first responders, and government officials, Brinkley paints a picture alternately heartbreaking, heartwarming, and enraging. The Great Deluge opens with models f excellent planning and action by the likes f the Louisiana Society for the Prevention f Cruelty to Animals (which had its 263 sheltered pets safely moved to Houston by the evening f August 27), the Entergy Corporation (which shut down its nuclear plant once Katrina became a category 3 storm), and Louisiana parish presidents (who issued mandatory evacuation orders to their residents and efficiently obtained special help for those who needed it). Although stories such as these, along with the valiant efforts f many first responders, are welcome doses f things that went right, The Great Deluge is primarily a story f how so much went wrong. Brinkley's meticulous assembly f the facts into a detailed chronology and analysis is devastating at times to virtually everyone in an official role-from New Orleans's mayor, Ray Nagin, to Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, to the secretary f the Department f Homeland Security, Michael Chertff, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "Brownie," to the man who gave him that nickname. And Brinkley pulls no punches: "Every time the Bush administration and the state f Louisiana hesitated, lawyered-up, and read the fine print f Homeland Security procedure, an American died prematurely," he writes. Brinkley's extensive footnotes deepen the sense f reading a cohesive and objective take on a complicated event. As the disaster continues to recede from the forefront f the minds f those who have that luxury and as inevitable election year finger-pointing provides ever more spin about what happened and why, The Great Deluge could hardly be a more timely, important, and effective antidote-to complacency, to poor leadership, and to the lack f accountability. To borrow a phrase: "Brinkley, you did a heckuva job." Brinkley criticized the Bush administration for its lack f reaction during the 72 hours immediately following the hurricane, when rescue is still possible. He also criticized elected officials for caring more about what their lawyers had to say about potential lawsuits than saving those in need. Instead, many victims were evacuated by private organizations or citizens like Jimmy. There was the Cajun Navy, a

Case Study Situation Go Fast Essay Example for Free

Case Study Situation Go Fast Essay Situation Go Fast is a motorcycle manufacturer in the southern United States. Though sales have been steady, profits have declined because of increasing operational costs. The Board of Directors felt a fresh look at the operations side was needed. They developed a 5-year plan to increase operating efficiency and set out to find someone to lead the effort. Four months ago, GO FAST found what they saw as â€Å"the person† to be the new operations director and develop a new operational plan to reduce costs. Jill Jones had an outstanding reputation as operations director for a manufacturer of a closely related product. While she was located in a different state and was happy with her current job and lifestyle, she found the 5-year plan exciting. Besides, the offer was too tempting to refuse. Jill was offered the position, including a substantial increase in salary and benefits. She accepted the job, sold her home, and purchased a home near her new job. Her husband runs an in-home business and her children had adapted well to the new community and schools. She did not have a written contract, but was promised a great future with GO FAST and was given a salary of $90,000 per year. With the economic downturn, sales for this past year were the lowest in five years. The company needs to make drastic cost reductions or it could face bankruptcy. All senior managers agreed to a 25% pay cut. Several other high-paid positions will be eliminated. Among them is Jill Jones’ operations director position. Published by DECA Related Materials. Copyright  © by DECA Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced for resale without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. YOUR CHALLENGE The CFO has been asked by the board of directors to investigate GO FAST’S obligation to Jill Jones. You have been assigned the task of doing research. The board of directors assumes their agreement with Mrs. Jones is â€Å"terminable-at-will† based on the law in the state, and therefore GO FAST has no obligation to her. You will prepare recommendations to be presented to the chief financial officer (CFO). Since the decision is ultimately up to the CFO, your presentation should include, at a minimum: 1. How you expect Jill would react to the board’s hard-line approach. 2. Possible ways to deal with Mrs. Jones’ situation, including the positives and negatives of each. 3. Of these, you are to advise the CFO on the best course of action, and how to present it to Jill. While the financial challenges of the company are not a secret, Jill does not yet know that her position has been targeted for elimination. Your presentation to the CFO will begin in one hour. As part of your research you have pulled a copy of The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, as well as cases related to this issue (see reference information provided). The information in THIS section is the result of research done specifically for this case situation, and has been given to you to help you prepare your recommendations within the allotted time. The judges will also receive this information, in addition to the Case Study Situation and Your Challenge as presented. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The following information provides background related to this situation. State Employment Law Under state law, employment generally is considered to be at will, terminable by either party at any time. This means that an employer may terminate an employee with or without just cause, in the absence of an agreement limiting the employee’s discharge to just cause or specifying the term of the employment. Even where an employer makes assurances seeming to mean job permanence, such assurances are generally considered mere statements of policy indicating only at-will employment. However, state courts have also held that employee personnel manual provisions, if they meet the requirements for formation of a unilateral contract, may become enforceable as part of a contract of employment. An agreement which includes a promise from one party but not from the other is called a unilateral contract. A unilateral contract is, for example, where an employer promises to pay a certain wage if an employee does a certain task for a certain period of time. The employee’s performance of that task for that time makes him or her entitled to the promised wages. The promise of employment on particular terms of unspecified duration, if presented in the form of an offer and accepted by the employee, will create a binding unilateral contract. These types of actions are referred to as â€Å"promissory estoppel† actions and they provide an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. In order to constitute a contract, the employer’s personnel policy as set out in the personnel policy handbook must be more than a general statement of policy and must provide reasonably definite terms for a fact finder to interpret and apply in determining whether there has been a breach of the contract arising from that handbook. General statements of policy by an employer do not meet the contractual requirements of an offer. Employees frequently couple claims that certain oral representations constitute an enforceable agreement with assertions that certain actions by the employer create an implied contract to terminate only for good cause. For example, employees often contend that an employer has established a custom and practice such that employees are permitted to continue employment until retirement unless discharged for good and sufficient cause. Such an allegation does not meet the requirement of a definite offer. Similarly, an employer’s commendations and approval of the employee’s performance do not alter the employee’s at-will status. Severance pay is not required by legislation. Where it is provided by an employer or labor agreement, it must not be administrated in a discriminatory manner. Where it is provided, severance pay is considered wages in this state. The method of payment of severance pay may delay the employee’s eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits. Promissory Estoppel The state Supreme Court recognized that, despite the absence of a contract in fact, courts may imply the existence of a contract in law by utilizing the principle of promissory estoppel. The doctrine of promissory estoppel is applicable when: 1. A promise has been made; 2. The promissory reasonably expected to induce action of a definite and substantial character by the promise; 3. The promise in fact induces such action; 4. The circumstances require the enforcement of the promise in order to avoid injustice. An estoppel may arise from a promise of future performance. The doctrine of promissory estoppel is based in a promise which the promisor should reasonably expect to induce action of forbearance of a definite and substantial character on the part of the promise and which induces such action or forbearance and is binding if injustice can be avoided only by enforcement of the promise. Under the theory of promissory estoppel, liability on a contract may ensue even if the detriment incurred by one party is not bargained for where it can be shown that the promisor should reasonably have expected its promise to induce another’s detrimental action. The impairment-of-contract clause in the state’s constitution applies to an implied-in-law obligation created by promissory estoppel. The effect of promissory estoppel is to imply a contract in law where none exists in fact. When a promise is enforced pursuant to the doctrine of promissory estoppel, the remedy granted for the breach may be limited as justice requires; relief may be limited to damages measured by the promise’s reliance. RELATED CASE PRECEDENTS INFORMATION The following information is designed to provide samples of cases that may influence decisions made related to the case situation. The participants must decide what, if any, relevance these Related Case Precedents have on this Case Study Situation. Grouse v. Plan, Inc. (1981) The doctrine of promissory estoppel was applied by the court to grant damages to a pharmacist who accepted a job offer, resigned his current job and declined another job offer in reliance on this offer, but was â€Å"terminated† from his new job before he even had a chance to start it. Plan Inc knew that to accept its offer Grouse would have to resign his employment. Grouse promptly gave notice and informed Plan Inc that he had done so when specifically asked by them. Under these circumstances it would be unjust not to hold Plan Inc to its promise. Gorham v. Optical (1995) Former employee was entitled to reliance damages based on theory of promissory estoppel, where he quit his previous job and declined any renegotiations with previous employer in reliance on promise of new job, and on his first day of employment went through hostile reinterview process that led to his immediate termination. Lewis v. Assurance Society (1986) A promise of employment on particular terms of unspecified duration, if presented in form of an offer and accepted by employee, will create a binding unilateral contract. Pine River v. Mettille (1983) Generally speaking, promise of employment on particular terms of unspecified duration, if in form of an offer, and if accepted by employee, may create binding unilateral contract; offer must be definite in form and must be communicated to the offeree. Goodkind v. University (1988) Whether a proposal by employer is meant to be an offer for a unilateral contract is determined by the outward manifestations of the parties, not by their subjective intentions, and employer’s general statements of policy do not meet the contractual requirements for an offer. Gunderson v. Professionals, Inc. (2001) To overcome the presumption that employment is at will, an employee typically must establish clear and unequivocal language by the employer evidencing an intent to provide job security. General statements about job security, company policy, or an employer’s desire to retain an employee indefinitely are insufficient to overcome the presumption that employment is at will. Spanier v. Bank (1993) Terminated employee failed to show any evidence of offer for long-term employment in definite form so as to be entitled to recover for employer’s breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing as result of his termination, where employee’s claims were based on subjective belief and his own inferences that employer’s commitment to commercial lending business would provide him job security and employer’s statements about developing this new area of business did not constitute long-term employment offer.

Buddhism in the West Essay -- essays research papers

Albert Einstein once said, â€Å"the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.†# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being. Buddhism has a fascinating history. Like most religions, you must first understand the background to practice the religion. Buddhism started with a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama, he was born in Nepal#. He was born around 563 B.C.# as a young prince his father suddhodana (ruler of the sakya) kept him from the pain and suffering that can occur in life. All of his childhood life he was kept inside palace walls. Until one day he joined a parade to the city. He wondered of into the city streets and got lost. He found himself in an old village. In this village he saw everything his father had kept him from, he saw pain, suffering, old age and death. After this experience he decided to leave his life of riches and high living. At the age of 29 he left his newborn son and wife. He ventured off into the jungle and began to meditate with a group of extremists, who did nothing but meditate. He stayed there for six long years. One day he realized that he was looking in the wrong directi on to end suffering. So he decided to go the middle way. He went all over teaching ... ... is growing in the west he answers, â€Å"it is not difficult to understand why Buddhism should appeal to Americans at this junction of our history. Theistic religions have lost their hold on the minds of many educated Americans and this has opened up a deep spiritual vacuum that needs to be filled. For many, materialistic values are profoundly unsatisfying, and Buddhism offers a spiritual teaching that fit’s the bill. It is rational, experimental, practical and personally verifiable. It brings concrete benefits that can be realized in ones own life: it propounds lofty ethics and an intellectually cogent philosophy. Also less auspiciously it has an exotic air that attracts fascinated by the mystical and esoteric#.† Many people like Bhikkhu Bodhi think these same things about Buddhism, because of its simple way to life without suffering and the lack of a divine being. Buddhism in the West Essay -- essays research papers Albert Einstein once said, â€Å"the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.†# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being. Buddhism has a fascinating history. Like most religions, you must first understand the background to practice the religion. Buddhism started with a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama, he was born in Nepal#. He was born around 563 B.C.# as a young prince his father suddhodana (ruler of the sakya) kept him from the pain and suffering that can occur in life. All of his childhood life he was kept inside palace walls. Until one day he joined a parade to the city. He wondered of into the city streets and got lost. He found himself in an old village. In this village he saw everything his father had kept him from, he saw pain, suffering, old age and death. After this experience he decided to leave his life of riches and high living. At the age of 29 he left his newborn son and wife. He ventured off into the jungle and began to meditate with a group of extremists, who did nothing but meditate. He stayed there for six long years. One day he realized that he was looking in the wrong directi on to end suffering. So he decided to go the middle way. He went all over teaching ... ... is growing in the west he answers, â€Å"it is not difficult to understand why Buddhism should appeal to Americans at this junction of our history. Theistic religions have lost their hold on the minds of many educated Americans and this has opened up a deep spiritual vacuum that needs to be filled. For many, materialistic values are profoundly unsatisfying, and Buddhism offers a spiritual teaching that fit’s the bill. It is rational, experimental, practical and personally verifiable. It brings concrete benefits that can be realized in ones own life: it propounds lofty ethics and an intellectually cogent philosophy. Also less auspiciously it has an exotic air that attracts fascinated by the mystical and esoteric#.† Many people like Bhikkhu Bodhi think these same things about Buddhism, because of its simple way to life without suffering and the lack of a divine being.

Hilton Hhonors Worldwide Rewards

Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars: (Due Week 9, Oct. 29-Nov. 2) ? Compare the Hilton HHonors reward programme with other reward programmes you know about or have researched. Be sure to discuss the differences, how they value guests and their offerings. ? Does the value of the Hilton program justify its’ cost. Explain in terms of the value of a customer. ? What is Starwood trying to do and how should Jeff Diskin respond? The Hilton HHonors Worldwide reward programme can be compared with several other loyalty or recognition programs offered by leading hotel chains of the world.Similar programs are being offered by many airlines, department stores, car rentals, video and book retailing, credit cards, movie theaters and several other international entities in the service industry. The first one that can be considered in this regard is the Priority Club Rewards offered by IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group). The IHG group comprises of Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resorts, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. (Ref: https://secure. priorityclub. com/hotels/). The program is offered across 4,500 properties operated worldwide by the group.The program is open to everyone free of cost. It allows the members to earn points not only by staying in any of the member hotels but also by earning Priority Club points when purchasing goods and services with any of their partners or earn miles with their partner airlines. The partners are specially customized in accordance with prevalent tastes and popularity in different parts of the world and include leading brand names in airline industry, fashion retailers, vacation and tour operators, mobile and telecom services, car rentals, home and furnishings, electronics, computers, etc.The choice of partners is vast as compared to Hiltons’ rewards program. In many territories local co-branded credit cards are also offered which entitle mem bers to earn points on each and every spent. For the stay at the hotels, members can earn 2000 points for every stay outside the hotels outside North America, Mexico and Carribean in Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts while for all other geographical locations and all other hotel chains included in the group, the members earn 10 Priority Club points for each US $ 1 spent.The program has distinct features comprising of points that never expire and no blackout dates for Rewards Night, thus allowing the members to stay anytime. Unlike the Hiltons reward program, members can also use a combination of points and cash for their stay. Furthermore, members can redeem their points for flights with no blackout dates on over 400 airlines across the world ranging from North America, Europe, Middle-East, Central to Southern and Far-east Asia. However, unlike the Hiltons reward program, double-dipping is not allowed.But as an added incentive to members, free lounge access at several airports is a lso offered to the members thus enhancing members travel convenience. Similar to the Hilton reward program, the points in IHG Priority program can also be redeemed for several other items besides free nights at the participating hotels. Yet again, the choice offered by IHG is vast as compared to Hilton. The points can be redeemed for hotel stay, airlines travel, tour packages, adventure sports and merchandise from leading retails and entertainment providers.In addition, gift cards from several brands are available. A very appealing feature is an option of donating points for charitable ventures in keeping with IHG philosophy that ‘rewarding others may be the best reward of all’. (Ref: http://www. priorityclub. com/rewards/us/en/redeem/catalog/charitable-donations). The IHG program lays special emphasis upon member satisfaction and recognition. Hence , the members have several value-added services offered for free. A separate toll-free reservations line is offered. They are offered priority check in and check out services.Their individual preferences are stored in the system (Personalized room-preferences profile) offered at every stay without asking e. g. smoking or non-smoking rooms, bed-type, etc. Requests for late check-outs are given preference and in certain locations, extra benefits like airport pick-up services, free internet, free newspapers, etc. are offered. Extra level of service is also offered to members for room upgrades, complaint resolution, customer service feed-back services, etc. Just like the Hiltons’ reward program, the IHG Priority program also has different plan levels based upon ‘qualifying points’ and ‘qualified nights’.Accordingly, 3 tiers termed as ‘Club’, ‘Gold Elite’ and ‘Platinum Elite’ are offered. (Ref: http://www. priorityclub. com/hotels/us/en/global/support/about_priorityclublevelsef:) Bonus earnings for Gold Elite are 10% and those for Plati num Elite 50% over the base points earned. Moreover, the Elite members are offered extra benefits and advantages like complimentary upgrades and guaranteed room availability. In this respect, it appears to be more attractive to customers than Hiltons’ reward Silver and Gold VIP status.Over and above the stated benefits, multiple promotions are offered at different times promising extra points, free room upgrades, etc. to attract more and more customers. Another popular loyalty program is Fairmont President's Club that allows access to a host of exclusive benefits and privileges. Besides the standards being offered by the loyalty programs of almost all big hotel groups, Fairmont goes a step ahead by offering members services like concierge reservation, complimentary use of health clubs, golf-clubs and even use of BMWs at select locations. Ref: https://www. fairmont. com/fpc/benefits/). Another impressive and acclaimed loyalty program, not by a hotel group but an airline, is th e one offered by Etihad Airways. Though relatively new in the competitive airline industry, the Etihad Guest program has introduced several new initiatives for the frequent travelers generating big business for the airline and proving to be a significant factor in the phenomenal success of Etihad. Very aptly, it has been awarded 2012 Freddie Awards.Etihad Guest was recognized for the Best Redemption Ability, Best Elite Program and Best Loyalty Credit Card among all airlines in the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. (Ref:http://www. etihadairways. com/sites/Etihad/global/en/aboutetihad/mediacenter/newslisting/newsdetails). The program was also runner up in the four remaining categories: Best Promotion for Earning, Best Promotion for Redemption, Best Customer Service and Program of the Year.Hence, it can be concluded that the member retention and brand loyalty competition is fierce and offering innovative and extensive services to customers is imperative to lure more and more individual a nd corporate clients. It seems quite obvious that the value of Hilton reward program does justify its cost. As per the belief of Hilton Hotels that regard frequent guest programs as the lodging industry’s most important marketing tool, serving to direct promotional and customer service efforts at the heavy user. (Ref: Case Study by John Deighton and Stowe Shoemaker).Loyalty programs have been at the core of how hotels attract and retain their best customers for over a decade. However, they can only be as cost-effective as multiple competitors in the market let them be. This study reveals that the previous year had been successful for Hilton. Revenues had been in the region of $158 per night per guest, and occupancy had exceeded break-even. Also Hilton HHonors rewards program was not established as a profit center but was required to break even each year and to measure its effectiveness through a complex set of program metrics.The program is run by a small team of 30 employees . A research by Hilton revealed that guests identified by their HHonors or airline membership numbers occupied 22. 5 percent of all the rooms occupied in the Hilton Hotels and Hilton International network in a year. More importantly for Hilton , activation, retention, and member spend per visit all have improved. Augmenting the financial gains is the valuable database the HHonors rewards program provides to Hilton. These are the most critical and demanding customers who provide vital feedback and valuable suggestions.The program staff can establish individual contact with these members through mail or in person and not only obtain valuable feedback but earn lifelong loyalty. Plenty of focus groups and quantative research can be carried out further enhancing means to develop brand loyalty through personal profiling and personal recognition techniques. The phrase attributed to Diskin interestingly sums it up i-e ‘ People care about organizations that care about them. (Ref: same case study).In addition, the program also offers opportunities to target other customer segments. Furthermore, the program is also being used as a tool that can help the travel manager with compliance to their overall travel policy by offering special incentives to stay at Hilton rather than at a competitor due to personal choice of the travelers. The Hilton program proves to be even more effective by developing additional services for returning customers at check-ins and by appointing guest relations managers to offer special personalized services to loyalty members.All these factors contribute to make this program valuable in expanding and retaining clients and thus justify the associated costs. Starwood is introducing a new aggressive frequent-guest program that it hopes will help attract more business travelers to its Westin Hotels Resorts, Sheraton Hotels Resorts, The Luxury Collection, Four Points, Caesar’s, and Starwood’s new W brand hotels, representing more th an 550 participating properties worldwide. The program is expected to raise the stakes in the loyalty-program fierce competition amongst big hotel chains especially since Starwood plans to run it by a

Foundations of Information Systems chapter 1 notes Essay

Case Study #1 – Information Technology Helps LCBO Transform Itself Information Technology has helped improve LCBO to become a sophisticated Canadian retailer by helping the organization become more organized (if a bottle is sold, it is deducted from the inventory), it has helped them attract the interest of more customers by introducing Vintages.com where customers could choose from a variety of unique wines and have it delivered to their nearby LCBO store. LCBO.com helped make the company more interactive with their customers by giving them cocktail recipes etc†¦ LCBO’s app allows customers to be able to search inventory and closest store on the go. Information Systems (IS) – Computer based tools that people use to work with information and that support the information and information-processing needs of an organization. Information systems have helped benefit customer service, finance, sales and marketing, etc†¦ A type of information systems is: Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) which is a system that performs or records daily routine transactions such as sales order entry, payroll, employee record keeping, and shipping. Information Technology (IT) – is the acquisition, processing, storage, and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual, and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications. Management Information Systems – it is a business function just like marketing and finance. This function plans for, develops, implements, and maintains IT hardware, software, and applications that people use to support the goals of an organization. It monitors and controls the business and predicts future performance. Information and business success depend on three things: people, processes, information systems. If one fails, they all fail. Information Cultures Found In Organizations Information-Functional Culture: Employees use information as a means of exercising influence/power over others. For example, a sales manager refuses to share information with marketing which means marketing would need the sales manager’s input every time a new sales strategy is developed. Information-Sharing Culture: Employees across departments trust each other to use information, especially about problems, to improve performance. Information-Inquiring Culture: Employees across departments search for information to better understand the future and align themselves with current trends and new directions. Information-Discovery Culture: Employees across departments are open to new insights about crisis and radical changes and seek ways to create competitive advantages. Roles And Responsibilities In Information Systems Chief Information Officer (CIO) – an executive-level position that involves high-lever strategic planning and management of information systems pertaining to the creation, storage, and us of information by a business. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – responsible for ensuring the throughput, speed, accuracy, availability, and reliability of an organization’s information technology. Chief Security Officer (CSO) – responsible for ensuring the security of information systems, and developing strategies and technical safeguards against attacks from hackers and viruses. Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) – responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of information within an organization. Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) – responsible for collecting, maintaining, and distributing an organization’s knowledge. The CKO designs processes and information systems that make it easy for people to reuse knowledge. These systems create repositories of organizational documents, methodologies, tools, and practices, and they establish methods for filtering information. Competitive Advantage: a product or service that an organization’s customers place a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor. First-mover advantage: when an organization can significantly impact its market share by being first to market with a competitive advantage. Ex. FedEx was the first to create a self-service software, then other companies started doing so after. Now, customer self-service through the internet is standard in the parcel delivery business. Environmental Scanning: the acquisition and analysis of events and trends in the environment external to an organization. Ex. Frito-Lay sends its representatives to grocery stores to record information about competing products to help them gain knowledge on how to increase the sale of their products. How To Develop A Competitive Advantage: MICHAEL PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL Buyer Power: it is high when buyers have many choices of whom to buy from and low when their choices are few. Organizations prefer to reduce the buyer power of customers by making it more attractive for customers to buy from them over the competitor. An IS-based example is loyalty programs where customers are rewarded with the amount of business they do with a particular organization. Supplier Power: is high when buyers have few choices to buy from and low when they have many choices. When it comes to customers, organizations act as suppliers and want supplier power to be high. When it comes to relationships with suppliers, organizations act as buyers and want the supplier power to be low. When organizations act as buyers, an IS-enabled business-to-business (online marketplace) is used where buyers take place in a private exchange and they post their needs. Suppliers then offer their services in a reverse auction where their bids go lower so that the buyer is more interested in their goods. Threat of Substitute Products or Services: it is high when there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few alternatives from which to choose. Organizations prefer to be in markets with fewer substitutions so that customers would go for their product. When there is competition, organizations create a competitive advantage through switching costs which makes it harder for a customer to switch to a competing organization. An example is offering better prices or creating a cost that’ll ensure customers won’t leave the organization. For example cell phone company contracts – if you leave before the contract is over, you pay a â€Å"cost†. Threat of New Entrants: is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers to entering a market. An entry barrier is a product or service feature that customers have come to expect from organizations in a particular industry that must be introduced by competing organizations in order to survive. Ex – new banks must offer a variety of IS related services such as online banking. Rivalry Among Existing Competitors: is high when competitions is fierce in a market and low when there is less competition in a market. The Three Generic Strategies – Creating a business focus 1) Broad cost leadership 2) Broad differentiation 3) Focused strategy http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_82.htm (explains the three generic strategies) The value chain – views an organization as a series of processes, each of which adds value to the product or service for each customer. CHAPTER 2 Common Company Structure Operational – employees develop, control, and maintain core business activities required to run day-today operations. Operational decisions are structured decisions which arise in situations where established processes offer potential solutions. These decisions are made frequently and affect short-term business strategies. Ex. Recording and creating employee staffing and weekly production schedules. Structured decisions are situations where established processes offer potential solutions. Managerial – Employees evaluate company operations Strategic – managers develop overall strategies, goals, and objectives. Metrics – Measurements that evaluate result to determine whether a project is meeting its goals  Common types – KPIs (Key performance Indicators), Efficiency and Effectiveness Benchmark – Baseline values the system seeks to attain  Benchmarking – A process of continuously measuring system results, comparing those results to optimal system performance (benchmark values), and identifying steps and procedures to improve system performance.

Production system Essays

Production system Essays Production system Essay Production system Essay The production system is viewed as a combination of the materials supply, production planning, scheduling, control and material transformation functions. Together, these functions must respond to demands set either directly by customer orders (in a make to order situation), or to production orders generated by an inventory control function (in a make to stock scenario) Production/Factory responsiveness Production factory responsiveness can be defined in a number of ways: A responsive factory is a factory which is agile. Agility is defined as quick moving, nimble and active. Agility is the ability to thrive and prosper in a competitive environment of continuous and unanticipated change, to respond quickly to rapidly changing markets driven by customer-based valuing of products and services. Responsiveness is the ability of a production system to respond to disturbances (originating inside or outside the manufacturing organisation) which impact upon production goals. Typical disturbances might include, for example, the receipt of rush orders, machine breakdowns or degradations or variations in raw material supply. The disturbances may be internal or external and importantly their effect may be either positive or negative. Range of Production Environments and Responses Agility and Response Agility is described as the ability of a company to operate profitably in a competitive environment of continually, and unpredictably, changing customer opportunities. Four key imperatives have been associated with agile companies: a) Enrich the customer, b) Master change and uncertainty, c) Leverage resources and d) Co-operate to compete. Responsiveness helps in fulfilling the need for agility for mastering change and uncertainty. However, agility is also concerned with making full use of the influence a company has over the sources of change and uncertainty, to pro-actively remove them or drive them to support the organisations goals. An agile company pro-actively influences the various environments in which it operates by means of many different activities, including marketing, co-operative alliances, new product and process development. In contrast, responsiveness is about taking actions in response to actual or potential changes which the system either cannot control or has not planned. The link between agility and responsiveness is outlined as follows: From this diagram we can say that effective response is a critical attribute, and represents the reactive capabilities of an agile organization. Another important parameter to be considered over here is system flexibility. System Flexibility has received much attention as a manufacturing research topic in the last decade or so. It is the ability of a production system to change the mix, volume and timing of its outputs. Total system flexibility is a complicated function of many system attributes, including machine and subsystem flexibilities. While system flexibility constitutes a possible means for responding to disturbances (both internal e.g. machine breakdowns and external e.g. demand variation, rush-orders) it is not synonymous with responsiveness, since the system must also be able to judiciously use its flexibility in response to disturbances i.e. decide when to flex its outputs and by how much. Parameters to measure factory responsiveness We feel that factory responsiveness cannot be determined by a single variable. In fact, In order to improve factory responsiveness, first it is necessary to find those variables which would help us to measure quantify factory responsiveness. This will also help us to fix suitable benchmarks. Also, ignoring the factory, will only lead to increased inventory, longer cycle times, and higher costs as product variety increases. There are a number of compelling reasons why the factory should be the starting point in the journey toward demand driven manufacturing. First, converting to lean manufacturing in the factories will help ensure that ERP software is not merely automating an otherwise bad process. Secondly, the factory is often the starting point for companies intending to make broader supply chain improvements. When a company sees significant results from the lean manufacturing transformation, they can often convince suppliers to do the same, providing help and experience. Once the factory is lean, upstream supply chain improvements help ensure that supply disruptions do not hamper the lean factory.

Brief Overview of the Anti-Lynching Crusade Movement

Brief Overview of the Anti-Lynching Crusade Movement The Anti-lynching movement was one of many civil rights movements established in the United States. The purpose of the movement was to end lynching of African-American men and women. The movement was comprised mainly of African-American men and women who worked in a variety of ways to end the practice. Origins of Lynching Following the passing of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, African-Americans were considered full citizens of the United States. As they sought to build businesses and homes that would help establish communities, white supremacist organizations sought to repress African-American communities. With the establishment of Jim Crow laws prohibiting African-Americans from being able to participate in all aspects of American life, white supremacists had destroyed their enfranchisement. And to destroy any means of success and oppress a community, lynching was used to create fear. Establishment Although there is no clear founding date of the anti-lynching movement, it peaked around the 1890s. The earliest and most reliable record of lynching were found in 1882 with 3,446 victims being African-American men and women. Almost concurrently, African-American newspapers began  publishing news articles and editorials to show their outrage at these acts. For instance, Ida B. Wells-Barnett expressed her outrage in the pages of Free Speech a paper she published out of Memphis. When her offices where burned in retaliation for her investigative journalism, Wells-Barnett continued to work from New York City, publishing A Red Record. James Weldon Johnson wrote about lynching in the New York Age. Later as a leader in the NAACP, he organized silent protests against the actionshopeing to bring national attention. Walter White, also a leader in the NAACP, used his light complextion to gather research in the South about lynching. The publication of this news article bought national attention to the issue and as a result, several organizations were established to fight against lynching. Organizations The anti-lynching movement was spearheaded by organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), the National Association of Colored People (NAACP), the Council for Interracial Cooperation (CIC) as well as the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL). By using education, legal action, as well as news publications, these organizations worked to end lynching. Ida B. Wells-Barnett worked with both the NACW and NAACP to establish anti-lynching legislation. Women such as Angelina Weld Grimke and Georgia Douglass Johnson, both writers, used poetry and other literary forms to expose the horrors of lynching. White women joined in the fight against lynching in the 1920s and 1930s. Women such as Jessie Daniel Ames and others worked through the CIC and ASWPL to end the practice of lynching. The writer, Lillian Smith wrote a novel entitled Strange Fruit in 1944. Smith followed up with a collection of essays entitled Killer of Dreams in which she bought the arguments established by the ASWPL to the national forefront. Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill African-American women, working through the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), were among the first to protest lynching. During the 1920s, the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill became the first anti-lynching bill to be voted on by the Senate. Although the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill ultimately did not become a law, its supporters did not feel they had failed. The attention made citizens of the United States condemn lynching. In addition, money raised to enact this bill was given to the NAACP by Mary Talbert. The NAACP used this money to sponosor its federal antilynching bill that was proposed in the 1930s.

Personal and Profesional Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal and Profesional Development - Essay Example 8). In this regard, it has been established that employees who are highly motivated tend to be more productive at work which translates to positive gains for the company. On the contrary, employees who are less motivated or who have low morale tend to be less productive. The conclusion that the employees of Talk Team UK are demotivated or have no morale is based on the signs that they exhibit. Human resource experts note that some of the main signs that show that employees are not motivated or have low morale include: a plunge in productivity; the production of low quality work; higher rates of absenteeism; and higher turnover (Levine 1990, p. 89; Michael Page 2014). It is evident that employees of Talk Team UK suffer low motivation by the fact that the company’s profits are falling by the day; the company is experiencing high employee turnover; and poor quality work is a common phenomenon especially toward the end of the working shift. The issue of low employee motivation is best tackled by addressing the root causes of the problem. Some of the root causes of low employee morale at Talk Team UK relate to pay, benefits, rewards, non-appreciation, lack of communication between workers and managers, and perceived lack of growth opportunities. I n a bid to tackle the issue of low motivation among employees, Talk Team UK will have to institute a raft of measures that specifically target the root causes of the problem. These measures will be discussed in the following section. One of the strategies that Talk Team UK will apply in improving the situation of the company is by revising its reward strategy. Studies show that different kinds of rewards impact on employees in different ways. While some rewards boost intrinsic motivation, others boost extrinsic motivation among different employees. Evidently, the company currently gives most employees a constant