Educational orientation Essay Example for Free

Educational orientation Essay According to the journal for American association for counseling and development (2008) and Zweigenhaff and Domhoff (2003) the African Americans value very much education and are ready to make sacrifices to achieve the education qualifications. Though they have that desire and willingness to have a good education background they are faced with a number of challenges that affect their performance in school. According to Rovai et al (2007) African American students as compared to the other students have lower performance standards and this is raising concern because this area has not been given much consideration to determine what could be the actual reasons behind their low grades. Lincoln et al (1990) and Henderson and Sumler (1999) discusses some of the reasons why these students do not perform well as others as to include difficulties to integrate and accept the various people from different cultural backgrounds they encounter in school and where they live. The hip hop culture is also said to contribute to the low grades because more of this students have indulged themselves in weird lifestyles that cannot allow them to have enough time with their studies. As argued in Cross (2005) and Wayne (2005) most of the African American students come from average family background and when they go to school with the white American they are seen by the fellow white students as being inferior which psychologically will affect them in their education as they find that they are discriminated. This creates a gap between them that and limits the way they will associate with the others and their presence in the school is threatened. The other reasons for their low grade as discussed in smiley (2006) include the poverty that they live in that makes them struggle to meet their basic needs and making them lose enough concentration to the education and even at times dropping out of school to try life elsewhere. The other reasons according to Obiakor (2002) and Ashe (2002) leading to low academic performance among the African Americans include the way they select the schools that they go to which might have low standards, having different curriculums that may not cover all the necessary topics and choosing areas of study that they are not competent in and also some of the teaching staff may not be giving them support because they tend to display behavior that show no much concern to their education. How to address the problem. Ogbu (2003) and Wright et al (2001) suggests that the teachers and the schools have a responsibility to encourage and support all the students they have under their care to perform well. He also argues that this will be done by helping the students to change the various negative attitudes they have towards their teachers, other students and the education materials like books. Obiakor et al (2002) suggests that the learning environment needs to be made conducive for all the students so that nobody feels threatened by the other because it will help the students settle in their education. As argued by Allen et al (1998) and Wayne (2005) the parents and guardians are encouraged to give moral support to the students and they should encourage them to develop interest in the religion as it offers psychological support. References A. P. Rovai, Louis B. Gallien, Helen R. Stiff (2007): Closing the African American achievement gap in higher education. National association for college admission counseling. Retrievedonline http://www. nacacnet. org/PUBLICATIONSRESOURCES/BOOKREVIEWS Alex B. Henderson, Janice Sumler (1999). Freedom’s odyssey Clark Atlanta university press. Allen K, Stelzer, P Wielkiewicz, M (1998). The ecology of leadership: adapting to challenges of a changing world. The journal of leadership. Bertram D. Ashe (2002). From within the frame. Routledge publishers Charles E. Lincoln, Lawrence H. Mamiya (1990). The black church in the African American experience. Duke university press. Cross T. (2005). The persisting racial gap in college student graduation rates. The journal of higher education. Festus E. Obiakor, Bridgie Alexis ford (2002). Creating successful learning environments for African American learners with exceptionalities. Corwin press Faye Z. Belgrave, KevinW. Allison (2005). African American psychology. Sage publishers. .J. Hale (2001). Learning while black. JHU publishers. Journal of counseling and development by American association for counseling and development vol 79 2008. Ogbu J (2003). Black American students in an affluent suburb: a study of academic disengagement. Lawrence Erlbaum publishers New Jersey. Tavis Smiley (2006): The covenant with black America. Third world press. W. Wayne (2005). African Americans and the color line in Ohio. Ohio university press. R. Zweigenhaft, G. Domhoff (2003). Blacks in the white elite. Rowman and Littlefield. Richard Wright, A. Chapman, Malcolm (2001). Black voices. Signet classic publishers

Obama’s Education Promise, a Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example for Free

Obama’s Education Promise, a Rhetorical Analysis Essay â€Å"Education is the best provision for the journey to old age.† – Aristotle Today, 314.5 million people call themselves Americans. Each of them, with God permitting, will make the journey to old age. However, in this huge set of individuals, roughly fifteen percent of adults over the age of twenty-five have not received a high school diploma (â€Å"Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009†). By itself, this percentage feels rather small, and so we as Americans pride ourselves in our educational system. After crunching the numbers, however, this measly percentage actually represents twenty-nine million Americans, twenty-nine million individuals who lack an accomplished high school education. Aristotle would be displeased to say the least. In 2008, then senator Barack Obama delivered a speech to the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts titled â€Å"What’s Possible for our Children.† Though intended for his election campaign, the speech also reflected this introduction’s attitude, calling attention to the gaping holes in American education. More specifically, however, Obama promoted educational reform based on a three-point platform: â€Å"fixing† No Child Left Behind (an act which encourages state standardized tests to measure and regulate primary and secondary education in the United States), encouraging teacher reforms and furthering teaching employment, and increasing opportunities for minor ethnicities and other disadvantaged students. In retrospect, his speech met with great optimism and is often quoted by leaders in education. To explain this speech’s success more fully requires an analysis of Obama’s seasoned rhetorica l strategies, of ethos, logos, and pathos—respectively, as well as an explanation of how each of these three strategies establishes an effective speech. Obama sprinkles ethos, or ethical proof, throughout his three-point platform. In doing so, he gears his audience’s attention towards his assessment of the ethical standards in American education to inspire  motivation and change. For example, in the introduction, Obama states, â€Å"This kind of America is morally unacceptable for our children† (qtd. in â€Å"Full text of Obama’s education speech†). Through this statement, Obama assumes the role of an ethical mediator; he creates situated ethos whereby, as a presidential candidate, he has the power to tell us as a society where we are correct and where we can improve. By equating American education with moral irresponsibility, he calls society to consider the issues he addresses later in his speech. One such issue is No Child Left Behind, his first premise. In discussing the problems within the act passed by former President Bush in 2001, Obama repeats the phrase â€Å"we must† almost religiously. Must is a strong word choice; it implies an obligation to something. As an audience member, we make the connection that the obligation is precisely what Obama stated in the introduction. We must make our educational standards higher for our children; thus, we become motivated to fix No Child Left Behind. Likewise, in his second point, which promises teacher reforms and employment, Obama begins with a simple commonplace: Individuals who do good jobs should be rewarded. Using the ethos from his introduction, he concludes that teachers who do good jobs should be rewarded, which gives motivation for teachers to do well. Obama even goes so far as to inspire change in education among ethnic minorities, his final point. In this point, he calls upon hope—hope that disadvantaged students will one day rise from the bottom with his new learning opportunity programs. His optimism and confidence calls us, his audience, to change. Obama further generalizes this notion of change during his conclusion when he states, â€Å"We have to hold ourselves accountable† (qtd. in â€Å"Full text of Obama’s education speech†). By holding the audience accountable, educational reform becomes both a private and public matter. Therefore, the audience, 314.5 million Americans, feel more personally compelled, motivated even, to follow his advice—to change No Child Left Behind, to reward teachers for good work, and to give more opportunities to disadvantaged students—to reform much of the current educational model, in effect. Logos and pathos, however, are still needed to solidify such an undertaking. Realizing he is delivering a speech about education, an intellectual topic, Obama adds several textbook examples of logos, or logical proof, to his  speech. Simply put, after he explains the unacceptable educational current model to his audience using ethos, he uses logos to depict the reality of how unacceptable the system is. In his introduction, for instance, Obama equates knowledge to the â€Å"currency† of the Information Age, stating that an individual should use his or her knowledge to â€Å"sell† himself or herself to a career position. A cause-and-effect relationship soon follows to support this extended metaphor: â€Å"If the more than 16,000 Colorado students who dropped out of high school last year had only finished, the economy in th[e] state would have seen an additional $4.1 billion in wages over these students’ lifetime† (qtd. in â€Å"Full text of Obama’s education speech). Logically, we as the audience then deduce that education , in reality, is profitable. It is in our interest to be well-educated, but as of now, we are losing money from being uneducated. From there, Obama makes a more explicit logical deduction to support his first premise. If we as Americans want to help the economy, we should fix No Child Left Behind. His logical reasoning for fixing the program stems from its seemingly insufficient economic policy, which stifles the paychecks of teachers who we as a society want to inspire. Because of such, he suggests that, while No Child Left Behind’s goals are noble on paper, its functional mechanics are illogical and unacceptable in the real world. By doing so, he gains more support from educators and economists. Obama also uses logos in his third premise, albeit implicitly. Back in the introduction, Obama quotes the following from Thomas Jefferson, a well-respected president from American history: â€Å"[T]alent and virtue, needed in a free society, should be educated regardless of wealth or birth† (qtd. in â€Å"Full text of Obama’s education speech). Obama knows that the general public will agree with anything Thomas Jefferson says because he is so well respected in American history. Therefore, when he discusses the current issues of ethnic minorities, he conjures support from a broader spectrum of Americans because he is in accordance with Thomas Jefferson. In that respect, he is able to use logos as a means to show the unacceptable truth behind the educational system—to showcase the relationship between revenue and education as well as highlight student-teacher discrimination—to the widely diverse American people. Among all the strategies Obama uses in his speech, pathos, or emotional  proof, is the most commonly used, especially in the introduction and conclusion. The reason for this distinct placement of pathos is elementary: In order to grab the audience’s attention and illustrate the realities of America’s educational system, of which both processes require ethos and logos, Obama must connect to the audience’s emotions—to bring about changes in thought and heart. His most effective strategy that does so is his appeal to children. Countless numbers of times, Obama urges us as older Americans to provide better education for our posterity. By doing so, he uses our unconditional love for children, perhaps seeing our own children in other children, in a way that grabs our attention so that we may listen and critically think about what he has to say regarding education. On top of using the obligation to children as the basis for attention, Obama also invokes imagery during his oration. An example of this imagery is found in his third premise: â€Å"When they [students at disadvantages] look around and see that no one has lifted a finger to fix their school since the 19th century, when they are pushed out the door at the sound of the last bell—some into a virtual war zone—is it any wonder they don’t think their education is important? Is it any wonder that they are dropping out in rates we’ve never seen before?† (qtd. in â€Å"Full text of Obama’s education speech†) The very thought of a neglected child, or a child in a â€Å"war zone† for that matter, tugs at the hearts in the audience. By using such imagery in the third premise, the audience is helpless, for not many people can resist such raw emotion. The audience’s helplessness makes them vulnerable to changes in thought. In this case, the audience’s thoughts will largely favor Obama’s intent to dampen the disadvantages of ethnical minorities and mentally handicapped students. To conclude his emotional journey and to leave his audience emotionally â€Å"fulfilled,† Obama taps into the biggest patriotic commonplace in America—the â€Å"American dream.† He takes the one idealistic value that all 314.5 million Americans hold in common and equates the chance to educate oneself with that core value. It leaves a powerful, lasting impression on his audience and, alongside all the other pathetic strategies mentioned previously, heightens the audience’s interest in investing in educational reform. Hence, after looking extensively at all these different strategies at work,  is it any wonder why the speech did not meet with such critical acclaim? Ethos persuaded us as the audience that our educational system was ethically unacceptable. Logos described the current state of the educational system in a way that made us want to change it to Obama’s standards. Pathos sweetened our perception of that change, making us believe that educational reform will correct the current unacceptable model. Together, the three major strategies mixed in just the right proportions to yield instantaneous changes in audience perception and evaluation of America’s educational standards. It created waves which propagated Obama’s educational reform ideals to all parts of the United States. In fact, these waves continue to ripple throughout the American political arena; one needs to look no further than the 2012 presidential debates to confirm such a statement. Ultimately, education is on the minds of everyone, as well it should be. True as it is to say that agriculture started civilization, it is equally as true to say that education started modern civilization. Therefore, we as citizens of the entire world should be concerned with the development of our education, for when we lose our education, we lose our modern civilization. Aristotle is correct. As humanity matures, it ages. How does humanity mature? It educates itself. Without education the future remains uncertain, for there are no provisions to account for the uncertainty. As Americans, all 314.5 million of us would like to believe that the future of our nation is determined to stay. To claim such a belief with any amount of certainty, however, requires all 314.5 million individuals to be educated. Until then, we continue to build provisions for the hazy future that awaits us. Works Cited â€Å"Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009.† U.S. Census Bureau. Feb. 2012. Digital file. â€Å"Full text of Obama’s education speech.† denverpost.com. 2 Dec. 2008. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.

Hotel Industry E-Marketing

Hotel Industry E-Marketing Hotel Industry E-Marketing E-marketing is the new trend of marketing extensively acquiring by hotel industry. The traditional marketing strategy of hotel industry now not performing very well. In place e-marketing is taking the drivers seat. The purpose of the research The travel industry survives as one of the better performing sectors in e-commerce. With no fulfillment and no need for online payments, the hotel industry is well positioned to capture the full potential of ecommerce while avoiding many of its risks. â€Å"Currently, in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and South Korea, approximately 5% to 10% of all lodgings are booked through the Internet, with 2004 estimates approaching 20%. This would follow the U.S. trend where hotels are reporting that up to 30% of all lodging is booked through online channels. Despite the burst of the Internet bubble, the promise of the Internet for hoteliers is still real: Online distribution can reduce costs, attract affluent customers and lessen dependency on more traditional and expensive distribution channels.†(Ref: www.igk.co.kr, available on 23/03/2008) Background â€Å"As of September 2003, 604 million people worldwide had internet access†. (Ref: -www.cyberatlas.com, available on 23/03/2008) The Internet is assumed to be an important channel for marketing and distribution of products and services. This is, among other things, due to the cost-effectiveness of the Internet and the convenience for customers. With the Internet marketers can reach out to a broad customer base, locate target customers, identify their needs and communicate with them at a relatively low cost. The Internet provides an opportunity for market testing and optimization. Increasing digitalization will make it progressively easier to experimentally alter particular aspects of a business and quickly observe how customers respond (Wyner 2000). Since the Web allows access to a plethora of information on different products, the hotel organization must encourage the potential consumer to use the Web site as both an information tool as well as a purchase option. This combination of information search and purchase process is an advantage over traditional retailing as online consumers have stated that personalized targeting is a reason they shop online. When consumers are more involved in the buying process it significantly improves brand recognition and recall. Research Aim Objectives/ Research Questions:- The main aim and objectives of this research was to find out the use, importance and impact of the E-marketing and traditional marketing in hotel industry, explore and analyze which one is the best suited of marketing used by the hotels and its contribution to marketing performance. And finally emarketing and traditional marketing has been compared to reach the desired goal. Research Hypotheses: In the light of the achieving the above aims and objectives, the following hypotheses had been constructed: Hypothesis (1): The level of use of e marketing and traditional marketing by hotel industry is significantly related to the hotel firm’s marketing performance. Hypothesis (2): E-marketing vs. Traditional marketing for the performance of the hotel Structure of the research The research is consisted of 5 chapters. In the first chapter is introduction of the topic, its background and the aims and objectives was described. Chapter 2 deals with the review of literatures in which all the variables are defined. Third chapter deals with the primary research done by the author and dealt with the findings and analysis of the hotels taken in the sample and the interviews had been put in to diagrams to have better understanding of the topic. Chapter four is dealing with the conclusion derived by the author on overall experience while developing the research; recommendations and limitations has been discussed in the last part of the research. Literature Review The researcher had identified a wide range of the literature review (in its wider broad sense which includes: Journals, Academic Books, theses and dissertations, short articles, e-databases, conference papers, etc). Background Marketing existed in society for millennia, ever since when people use to exchange from a product with other one, commonly known as â€Å"barter system†. Since after industrial revolution, market had taken a big turn and changes the meaning of marketing and gives a new definition to it. It’s been well said that marketing is not all about transaction; it’s also about developing relationship and ties with your guest or customer. And our international hospitality business is all about guest relation along with transaction and as we are involved in a transaction, thus we are engaged in a practice of commerce. â€Å"Commerce dealt with purchase and sale of good†. Before introduction of internet in the market, exchange of goods and services from producer to consumer was done through paper work and personnel contact â€Å"Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily since the spread of the Internet. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transactions lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.†(Ref: www.wikipedia.org, 23/03/08) â€Å"A small percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web. .†(Ref: www.wikipedia.org, 23/03/08) Research Aim Objectives/ Research Questions:- The purpose of this research was to find out the use, importance and impact of the E-marketing and traditional marketing in hotel industry, explore and analyze which one is the best suited of marketing used by the hotels and its contribution to marketing performance. And finally emarketing and traditional marketing has been compared to reach the desired goal. The research had adapted an interdisciplinary approach that makes use of hotel business enterprises marketing, E-marketing, IT, and information systems literature. This is in line with the point of view of Gatticker et al. (2000) who states that researchers should investigate the opportunities offered by the Internet using an interdisciplinary approach. At the same time, because E-marketing is a field that makes use of IT and IS, depending on that the research was considered the appropriateness of the various theories that underpin research into impact of e-marketing in hotel business. At same time the traditional approach of marketing has been compared to find out which one is the best suited for the hotel industry marketing performance. Consequently, the objectives of this research are as follows:- To clarify a conceptual model to understand and interpret the use of the traditional marketing and E-marketing in hotel industry. To focus this impact of e-markting and traditional marketing has been compared in a view to hotels performance and how they use this. To explore and analyze the importance and form of e marketing used by the hotel industry and its contribution to marketing performance of the hotel. To assess the existing awareness of the hotels in Delhi to the expected benefits of the using of e marketing. To identify the results of using e marketing. To evaluate the current practices of e marketing by the hotels of Delhi taken in the sample. To examine the impact of traditional marketing and E-marketing practices on marketing efficiency To achieve these objectives there was two hypotheses have been constructed to be tested during the research process. Research Hypotheses: In the light of the achieving the above aims and objectives, the following hypotheses had been constructed: Hypothesis (1): The level of use of e marketing and traditional marketing by hotel industry is significantly related to the hotel firm’s marketing performance. Hypothesis (2): E-marketing vs. Traditional marketing for the performance of the hotel Definitions â€Å"Electronic marketing (E-marketing) can be viewed as a new modern business practice associated with buying and selling goods, services, information and ideas via the Internet and other electronic means. A review of relevant literature revealed that definitions of electronic marketing vary according to each authors point of view, background and specialization.†(Ref: www.edamba.eu/userfiles/Hatem%20El%20Gohary.doc, viewed on 24/03/08). Some of the definitions are as follows: Smith and Chaffey (2005) defines it as: â€Å"Achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies†. Strauss and Frost (2001) define it as: â€Å"The use of electronic data and applications for planning and executing the conception, distribution and pricing of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives†. The researcher had followed on Strauss and Frost definition in conducting the current research because: it takes into consideration all the element of E-marketing, all types of products, it illustrate the main objective of E-marking which is creating the exchanges that satisfy individual and hotel organizational needs. Moreover it is the official definition for E-marketing adopted by the E-Marketing Association. (Ref: www.edamba.eu/userfiles/Hatem%20El%20Gohary.doc, viewed on 24/03/08). From the researcher point of view, importance and impact of E-marketing in hotel industry has changed the shape and nature of hospitality industry all over the world. Because the rapid proliferation of the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW) and electronic communication has created a fast growing new electronic channels for hotel marketing. This rapid expanding use of the Internet and other electronic communication for hotel business purposes attracts hotel companies to invest in online presence (Liang and Hung, 1998). Marketing performance Nowadays the fact that a hotel firm survival depends on its capacity to ultimate service experience, create value, and value is defined by customers (Day, 1990), marketing makes a fundamental contribution to long-term hotel business success. E-marketing process used to evaluate marketing performance and effectiveness in hotel industry. On the other hand, when looking to the marketing performance and success measure there are many measures. Recently, in an attempt to organize performance measures Kokkinaki and Ambler (1999) have summarized it and established six categories for marketing performance and success measures which are: Financial measures / Competitive market measures / Consumer behaviour measures / Consumer intermediate measures / Direct costumer measures / Innovativeness measures. (Ref:http://web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004. pdfavailable on 12/03/2008) E-Marketing Performance Measures Standardized measures for E-marketing performance are both needed and necessary. The discussion of most of the researchers has centred on the following measures (beside the traditional marketing performance measures): Traffic Visit duration Conversion rate (visit to purchase) Catalogue size Sales value Number of transactions Number of users (as measured by the number of registered user accounts). E-marketing performance measures. Namely: Financial measures Competitive market measures Consumer behavior measures Consumer intermediate measures E-marketing measures, such as Conversion rate Traffic Visit duration Number of transactions Number of users (Ref: www.edamba.eu/userfiles/Hatem%20El%20Gohary.doc; available on 12/03/2008) â€Å"The World Wide Web (WWW), which is the main e-marketing element, launched and started at 1993.† (Ref: http://www.brad.ac.uk/hub/studentnews/emarketing.doc; viewed on 30/03/08) â€Å"Despite of the fast growth in e-marketing research in the last decade, it appears that only from the late 1980s researches on e-marketing and internet marketing begun to appear in the literature. Starting with the work of: Malone, Yates and Benjamin (1987 1989), crossing by the work of: White (1997), Samiee (1998), Wientzen (2000), Porter (2001), Siddiqui et al. (2003), Daniel et al. (2003), Smith and Rupp (2003), Smith (2004 a, b) and ending with the work of: Sheth and Sharma (2005), Sandeep and Singh (2005), De Kervenoael et al (2006), Flavià ¡n and Guinalà ­u (2006), Taylor and England (2006).† (Ref: http://www.brad.ac.uk/hub/studentnews/emarketing.doc; viewed on 30/03/08) The research studies investigated and covered a wide rang of e-marketing areas, such as: internet-marketing / e-mail marketing / intranet marketing / SMS marketing / extranet marketing. On the other hand, it is noticed that the literature in Internet marketing covers five main areas, which are: Internet marketing (IM) Environment, IM functions, IM applications and IM research. (Ref: http://www.brad.ac.uk/hub/studentnews/emarketing.doc; viewed on 30/03/08) E- Marketing components Customers (Buyers): impulsive, patient, analytical Sellers Products Infrastructure Front end The portion of an e-seller’s business processes through which customers interact, including the seller’s portal, electronic catalogues, a shopping cart, a search engine, and a payment gateway Back end The activities that support online order-taking. It includes fulfillment, inventory management, purchasing from suppliers, payment processing, packaging, and delivery Intermediaries A third party that operates between sellers and buyers Other business partners Support services (Ref:http://www.ionglobal.com/documents/rating_luxury_hotel_emarketing_practices_in_asia.pdf,available on 12/03/2008) Online Pricing Enz (2003) also addresses the issue of the networks identified by Dale (2003) above, which she claims are driving down hotel profitability. Noting that hoteliers use these networks without a clear understanding of their effect, she claims that they encourage competition based solely on price and urges a rethink of such hidden discounting. Citing forthcoming research from the â€Å"Centre for Hospitality Researchat Cornell†, she shows how price has become largely transparent and that consumers now book rooms at one price, shop around for better prices and then cancel and rebook. Rather than yield higher total sales, discounting simply displaces customers from one distribution channel to another. Any increase in volume fails to offset the revenue lost from the discounting. Claiming that this is true for all industry segments, regardless of occupancy rates, Enz maintains that hoteliers need to be more selective about the rates they provide to third party sites to insure that they are actually generating incremental revenues. (Ref:-www.emarketingassociation.com available on 14/02/20080 Pointing out that consumers frequently search multiple channels for the cheapest price, and expect cheaper prices online, O’Connor (2003) investigates if the behaviour of chain hotel brands conforms to these expectations. Using historical data, he surveys rates across five B2C channels to establish whether pricing is consistent across channels; whether one channel is consistently cheaper; and whether the apparent pricing strategy is logical from both consumer and hotel perspectives. His findings show that hotel companies typically use multiple distribution channels, and offer multiple rates across each channel. No channel consistently offers the cheapest price, but the analysis reveals differences based on market segment. Consumers are more likely to find cheapest prices on direct channels (chain website and call centre) at the lower end of the market, and conversely through intermediaries at the upper end. In other words, luxury hotels appear to be offering their cheapest pri ces though channels with the highest cost of distribution. O’Connor concludes that hotel companies in general do a poor job managing their distribution, and urges them to develop well though-out pricing policies that would encourage consumers to book through brand websites. Anecdotal evidence would seem to suggest that operators have followed this advice, as evidenced by the recent widespread use of â€Å"Best Rate Guarantees† on many hotel websites. (Ref:-www.emarketingassociation.com available on 14/02/20080 Litvin and Crotts (2003) focus on the potential use of online negotiation models in hospitality. While yield management varies prices relative to demand, the rate to individual customers is fixed; hotels set the price and potential guests accept their offer or stay elsewhere. In contrast, negotiation is normal with group sales (meetings, conventions, tour groups, and corporate travel accounts), and Litvin and Crotts explore the applicability of contemporary e-commerce negotiation models to group sales. They argue that the â€Å"Consumer to Computer† model, (buyers nominate a price, commit to the transaction and have their offer matched to potential suppliers) is inefficient. Only the highest bid is accepted, other potential customers are left unsatisfied and incremental revenue is lost as non-winning bids are foregone. â€Å"Online Requests for Proposal† (buyers detail their requirements, which are then forwarded to potential suppliers) help overcome these limitations, but generally only facilitate matching and have no influence over subsequent negotiations. Litvin and Crotts advocate an â€Å"Automated Business-to-Business Negotiation† model, whereby the facilitating company maintains a dynamic database of active purchase and sale intentions, which it cross-compares to seek potential transactions. Once detected, the negotiation process begins and the system attempts to bring buyers and sellers together by adding stated trade-offs as needed. As this takes place automatically, negotiation can occur simultaneously with multiple partners, increasing the likelihood of finding an appropriate deal. The authors argue that this approach is superior as it balances power differentials through matchmaking, and facilitates the entire process. Compiling a critical mass of potential buyer and seller transactions has limited the commercial success, so far, of this application. (Ref:-www.learnmarketing.net available on 14/02/20080 Hospitality Consumers and E-marketing Online Consumer Decision Making Several articles investigate how technology influences hospitality consumer decision-making. Seeking information is one of the first stages in the decision making process. Gursoy and Umbreit (2004) use 3,264 responses from a European Commission survey to investigate cultural differences in how travellers from 15 EU countries search for information, online and offline. They found five distinct market segments and suggest specific marketing communication campaigns for each segment. For example, travellers from Belgium and Italy use external information sources more often than other segments, while travellers from Denmark and Finland use the Internet most frequently. Marketers need therefore to align their marketing efforts with a cultures information search behaviour. (Ref:- Reid R. D. Bojanic D. C.(2006); hospitality marketing management; 4th edition; New Jersey; Wiley). Jeong et al (2003) explore the role of online information and behavioural intention, highlighting the importance of information satisfaction. They claim that this is a powerful determinant of behavioural intentions; lodging operators must ensure that websites satisfy visitors’ information needs in order to expect online transactions. Specific website elements to note include accurate and reliable information, and easy navigation. Susskind et al. (2003) investigate how apprehensiveness towards Internet use relates to information seeking, purchase intention and purchase behaviour. (Ref:-Mooij M. D.(2005); global marketing and advertising, understanding cultural paradoxes; 2nd edition; USA; Sageavailable on 14/03/2008) Drawing on three separate surveys to develop and refine two measures, General Internet Apprehensiveness (GIA) and Transactional Internet Apprehensiveness (TIA), their results support strong relationships between apprehensiveness and both online information seeking and purchase. (Ref:http://web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf,available on 23/03/2008) Card et al (2003) also investigate the purchase decision. Surveying members of the Travel and Tourism Research Association, they found that six out of seven shopped online, with airline tickets the most common purchase, followed by accommodation, travel information, rental cars, event tickets, bus or rail tickets and package tours. They found differences between shoppers and non-shoppers based on personal characteristics, with the former tending to be opinion leaders, more innovative, involved in information seeking and used to TV shopping. Their results, however, showed no differences between shoppers and non-shoppers based on perceptions of online store characteristics. Fam et al (2004) also consider online store characteristics, in particular the role of consumer trust. Their study of New Zealand online accommodation providers and consumers suggests a chasm between actual practice and consumer wants. The latter demand significantly more trust features – guarantees, refunds, company information, privacy statement and email confirmations – than websites currently provide. (Ref:http://web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf,available on 23/03/2008) Website Layout and Design in process of E-marketing To account for such differences between consumer wants and website offerings, hotels need to reflect upon their website design. However, research on effective hospitality websites is an ongoing quest. Several studies specifically examined website layout and design. The first two introduce the notion of the experience economy and suggest how Web technologies can reinforce the customer experience (Dubà ©, Le Bel, Sears, 2003; Stamboulis Skayannis, 2003). Websites, for example, should reinforce a hotel or resorts position by going beyond visual pleasures on the site and adding sensual, emotional and intellectual pleasures for online consumers (Dubà © et al., 2003). Other authors explore the practical and theoretical issues of howto accomplish this, investigating what features and functions hospitality operators should incorporate into their websites. For example, Jeong et al. draw upon past literature to develop six measures of website quality, namely information accuracy, clarity, completeness, ease of use, navigational quality, and color combinations. Responses from 1,743 US respondents suggest that website quality is an important antecedent of information satisfaction, which in turn is a powerful determinant of behavioral intention. Of the quality measures proposed, ease of use shows the strongest relationships with both information satisfaction and behavioral intentions. (Ref:http://web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf,available on 23/03/2008) â€Å"Chung and Law (2003) develop a performance indicator for hotel websites based on five dimensions of information richness – facilities, customer contact, reservations, surrounding area and website management. Gauging the importance of dimensions from a survey of hotel supervisors, they analyse Hong Kong Hotel Association member websites. Consistent with past research, the level of information technology application relates directly to the hotel category. Murphy et al. (2003) posit that hotels paying attention to email also pay attention to their websites. Measuring email responses and assessing the website features of Swiss hotels, they argue that hotels with professional email responses also lead in the use of websites. Based on their findings, they suggest that hoteliers focus on inexpensive features that show a significant relationship to quality email responses, such as brochure requests, online services, hyperlinks, and branded URLs. Alternatively, their results sug gest that hotels avoid questionable techniques such as animation, as it may reflect a bandwagon effect rather than add value. As in other studies, they found that hotel size and category relate directly to quality e-mail responses and the presence of appropriate website features.† (Ref: web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf; viewed on 12/03/08) Customer Relationship Management and E-marketing â€Å"Piccoli and colleagues (2003) review the risks and benefits of customer relationship management (CRM). This philosophy of intimate customer familiarity can lower marketing expenditures and increase sales through closer relationships and increased satisfaction. For this to occur, the entire hotel chain must cooperate in the collection, management and dissemination of customer information – an expensive and complicated process. They highlight a potential data-ownership dilemma caused by the structure of the US lodging industry in which owners, management companies, and brands cooperate in the operation of properties. It is inherently difficult for these three entities to share customer data. In addition to cooperating, they frequently compete with each other, which could limit successful CRM implementation. Piccoli et al argue that if these difficulties could be overcome, CRM would work best at the brand level, a claim supported by two case studies of brands with strong C RM programs – Wyndam International (Picolli et al., 2003) and Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos (Magnini, Honeycutt, Hodge, 2003). The latter also exemplifies how successful CRM relies upon data mining. This procedure applies artificial intelligence and sophisticated statistical techniques to customer data to perform five tasks: classification, clustering, deviation detection, associations and forecasting, and can be a valuable tool for hotels seeking to better understand and predict guest behaviour (Magnini et al., 2003).† (Ref: web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf; viewed on 12/03/08) Two articles investigate the implementation of a CRM system. Based on qualitative and quantitative research with Italian hotel operators, Minghetti (2003) proposes a CRM system and complementary matrix for evaluating guest information, which serve as a convenient blueprint for implementing or evaluating the CRM process. Louvieris and Driver (2004) suggest how the developing XML web standard could enable the CRM process. Consumers increasingly use a variety of devices (for example cell phones, Interactive television and kiosks) to access the web, and need different types of interactions, information and procedures depending on the relationship stage. They show how the current one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be successful. However providing the required personalisation to service each situation is difficult using current technology. They propose how the unique characteristics of XML, which uses content specific rather than stylistic tags, could help hotel companies implement the needed device specific and loyalty level personalisation. (Ref: web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf; viewed on 12/03/08) Finally, three studies investigate a subset of customer relationship management, online customer service. These use similar methodologies to test Swiss hotels (Frey, Schegg, Murphy, 2003), Tunisian hotels (Gherissi-Labben, Schegg, Murphy, 2003), and luxury chain hotels (Schegg, Murphy, et al., 2003). Swiss hotels showed the highest e-mail response rates at 71% with Tunisian hotels at a 45% response rate performing worst. Most respondents, however, gave sloppy and inadequate replies, which suggest a lack of focus on online customer service. The authors argue that email communication is business communication and use diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 1995) as a theoretical base to investigate differences in response rates and response quality. There were no significant differences in response rates but larger, higher rated and affiliated hotels tended to provide better quality responses. (Ref: web.biz.uwa.edu.au/staff/jmurphy/OConnor_Murphy_ijhm2004.pdf; viewed on 12/03/08) Some economic and human factors that affect hotel choice 1. Follow the money Travel decisions are not just about hotels: airline costs, car rental costs and entertainment expenses also drive how companies make choices for approved hotels, in what cities. 2. Familiarity breeds return The role of chain/brand hotel loyalty programs is a significant benefit to travelers. Companies of all sizes can exert influence over these programs – in some cases aggregating stay points for pooled corporate benefit, in other cases permitting travelers to retain points but only in approved locations/chains/brands. 3. Internal and External Roles Hotel selection is influenced by relationships that are cultivated over time. Full time corporate traveler managers guide purchasing decisions. Others within an organization may also greatly influence hotel choices. Corporations may use mega agencies to provide soup-to-nuts purchasing management. Mega agencies may be limited to making recommendations only. Mega agencies may be used for their buying power in selected markets and not others. Here again the total travel buy can influence both corporation and agency behaviors. 4. Power is Local – Sometimes overlooked and taken for granted is the principle of local selling: look in your own backyard. This backyard can extend many hundreds of miles in less densely populated area, or it can literally be next door in major centers of commerce. Inbound demand to hotels can be driven by external business factors pushing business to an area. Demand is also driven by factors that pull the business into an area. Local companies who supply good and services to larger corporations up the food chain can create a gravitational force on their customers. Examples of these include product demonstration facilities, heavy equipment sales, science

The Changing Information Environment :: Technology Technological Essays

The Changing Information Environment The phrase, "nothing is permanent except change itself" certainly applies when it comes to technology. In the past 10 years, because of changes in technology, expectations about providing and accessing information have changed dramatically. Instead of waiting to receive information from a provider or making a trip to the library, the current assumption is that information will be instantly available through the Internet. Previously, an intermediary such as a librarian may have performed the service of selecting information, but now the user is faced with sifting through and selecting the most relevant material from what frequently is an information glut. Although some individuals are comfortable with and relish the changing information environment, others may be struggling with understanding and managing the changes. Once change was incremental and meant more of the same, only better. Today, however, we are experiencing discontinuous change in many areas of life. Discontinuous change makes it impossible to predict with any confidence what will happen, so it does not guarantee more of the same (Handy 1991, cited in Edwards and Walton 1998). The movement of information resources from internal library holdings to external, electronically accessible materials represents both an incremental and discontinuous change (Edwards and Walton 1998). The information is still available (i.e., more of the same, only better), but the new information environment places new demands on the information user. These demands make it impossible to predict whether the information sought will be acquired, how useful the information will be, and so forth. Although these same issues may have existed before, a familiar information provider could then be consulted for assistance. Many websites offer contact information for ass istance or further information but the quality of this assistance, its timeliness, and so forth are unknown. Understanding the changes that are occurring in the information environment can help reduce the uncertainty that accompanies change. From the users perspective, some of the uncertainties might be the extent to which they should become dependent on technology for information, the changes in their roles related to accessing and selecting information, and possible feelings of inadequacy related to understanding and keeping up with the technology. Rather than reacting negatively, individuals can adopt a perspective that changes are ultimately productive and beneficial. Adopting this perspective can help in gaining a sense of control over the changes, especially the rate at which electronic systems change and the fact "that some aspects of the new electronic environment are paradoxical" (ibid.

The Fish Gone Fishin :: Bishop Fish Essays

The Fish  - Gone Fishin' "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop is saturated with vivid imagery and abundant description, which help the reader visualize the action.     Bishop's use of imagery,   narration, and tone allow the reader to visualize the fish and create a bond with him, a bond in which the reader has a great deal   of admiration for the fish's plight.   The mental pictures created are, in fact, so brilliant that the reader believes incident actually happened to a real person, thus building respect from the reader to the fish.   Initially the reader is bombarded with an intense image of the fish; he is "tremendous,"   "battered," "venerable," and "homely."   The   reader is sympathetic with the fish's situation, and can relate because everyone has been fishing. Next, Bishop compares the fish to familiar household objects: "here and there / his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper, / and its pattern of darker brown / was like wallpaper;" she uses two similes with common objects to create sympathy   for the captive.   Bishop then goes on to clearly illustrate what she means by "wallpaper": "shapes like full-blown roses / stained and lost through age."   She uses another simile here paired with descriptive phrases, and these effectively depict a personal image of the fish. She uses the familiar "wallpaper" comparison   because it is something the readers can relate to their own lives.   Also the "ancient wallpaper" analogy can refer to the fish's age. Although faded and aged he wit hstood the test of time, like the wallpaper.   Bishop uses highly descriptive words like "speckled" and "infested" to create an even clearer mental picture.   The word "terrible" is used to describe oxygen, and this is ironic because oxygen is usually beneficial, but in the case of the fish it is detrimental.   The use of   "terrible" allows the reader to visualize the fish gasping for breaths and fighting against the "terrible oxygen," permitting us to see the fish's predicament on his level.  Ã‚   The word frightening does essentially the same thing in the next phrase, "the frightening gills."   It creates a negative image of something (gills) usually considered favorable,   producing an intense visual with minimal words.  Ã‚   Another simile is used to help the reader picture the fish's struggle: "coarse white flesh packed in like feathers."   This wording intensifies the reader's initial view of the fish, and creates a visual, again, on the reader's level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bishop next relates to the fish on a personal basis: "I looked into his eyes.

The Influence of Memories on Selfhood Essay -- Memory Psychology

Memories generate a breakdown of an individual’s selfhood. In addition, memories embody unmistakable repercussions on the self. In the book Mind readings an Anthology for Writers by Gary Colombo, there are several essays that reveal how memories evoke individuals to doubt their ideas of selfhood. â€Å"The Inheritance of Tools† by Scott Russell Sanders, Sanders writes concerning his father’s passing and the strategies that he implements to survive his grief. â€Å"The Brown Wasps† by Loren Eiseley, Eiseley demonstrates why individuals conjure up memories in their imagination, his only reliable guide of happiness. Individuals hold fast to memories that take a lifetime to fabricate. â€Å"The Self and Society: Changes, Problems, and Opportunities† by Roy F. Baumeister makes use of many labels to justify selfhood. Baumeister examines the history of selfhood. The essays by Sanders, Eiseley, and Baumeister illustrate that situations shape unpredictable sets of memories that promote anxiety, and characterizes the selfhood. Memories and individual’s selfhood connect the past and present bringing about a paradox inspiring individuals to feel sane or manic. Frequently memories are simply figments of the imagination. In addition, in life, individuals have conflicts of his or her â€Å"inner self† resulting in a collision of the selfhood. Circumstances activate automatic sets of memories amplifying anxiety that distinguishes the selfhood. Sanders’ while grieving, his father’s death, instigates a flood of memories he must handle. Sanders while in the midst of building a wall in his basement hears the news about his father. Sanders recalls hitting his thumb and cursing at the hammer as if it deliberately smashed his thumb. The significance of the hammer and th... ...e, individuals battle their â€Å"inner self†. Memories generate a divide in an individual’s selfhood. Furthermore, memories leave strong impressions on the self. Memories cause individuals to experience reservation of their judgment. These conflicts are life changing or devastating to an individual’s selfhood. Works Cited Baumeister, Roy F. "The Self and Society: Changes, Problems, and Opportunities." Mind Readings an Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 320-36. Print. Colombo, Gary. Mind Readings: an Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. Print. Eiseley, Loren. "The Brown Wasp." Mind Readings an Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 150-57. Print. Sanders, Scott R. "The Inheritance of Tools†. Mind Readings: an Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 142-49. Print.

Models of Writing

Writing can be an intimidating task.   Many people of all ages will admit to avoiding and even fearing the writing process.   For some reason, the task seems daunting, so methods have been adapted to help ease the process for those that struggle. The five step writing process is typically composed of some derivation of the following steps:   prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, and proofreading.   These steps are widely taught in classrooms from the elementary school level through post graduate work.   The depth of each level is the thing that differs as writers grow and mature. Similar essay: Principles of Good Writing by L.A. Hill Summary The prewriting phase involves the production of ideas and even strategies for later writing of the essay.   This can include using one of many types of graphic organizers such as bubble charts or outlining techniques.   It can also be less organized like brainstorming lists or even random thoughts.   The prewriting phase is a time to explore all facets of an idea without judging or commitment.   During this phase, the writer will find a topic and create his questions for research.   In conducting his research, whether it be formal or informal, he will discover the answers to his questions. Thus the next sequential stage of writing is the planning stage.   Here the writer accumulates all of the information necessary and begins to sort it into categories.   This coincides with the text’s second step of finding and evaluating information from various sources.   Here the writer is still gather information without being certain exactly which he will use. These first two steps correlate with McQuinn and Roach’s first step in their writing process which is the idea step.   According to their website, â€Å"ideas are the heart of the message, the content of the piece, the main theme, together with the details (documented support, elaboration, anecdotes, images) that enrich and develop that theme by building understanding or holding a reader's attention.†Ã‚   Here the writer comes up with the central focus of his work and gather information to support it.   This information may be anecdotal, research-oriented, observed or simply created.   The ideas are important to the process because they allow for wide-ranging creativity from the writer. The third step in the general writing process is drafting.   The text suggests taking notes from the sources and making a formal outline.   It is at this point that the final decisions are made as to what information should be included.   It is important to note that a draft is not a final copy.   Many students of writing make that mistake.   The drafts are sometimes a type of trial and error routine.   Several drafts may be necessary before the writer becomes satisfied with the content of the essay. This stage correlates with the organization stage of McQuinn and Roach.   They note that organization is the â€Å"internal structure† of a piece which includes is central message and the flow of ideas seamlessly from one to another.   This particular process offers that a well-organized piece of writing will begin with a strong opening and conclude with a powerful conclusion, with many developed and stimulating ideas in between.   Of course the writer will have had to already choose his content in order to accomplish this type of structure in his writing. After the drafting stage, the writer must undertake the process of revising.   The revision stage is one that involves many steps.   The paper must be examined for its content, its logical progression, its flow of ideas, its choice of words, phrasing, and overall impact.   The revising stage is much like the drafting stage because each revision is simply a new draft.   Until the revision stage is complete, the drafting stage is not. McQuinn and Roach’s fourth and fifth area are called word choice and sentence fluency.   These two ideas are key to the revision process.   Word choice has to do with, as the name suggests, the careful choosing of the most perfect words to express meaning.   Sentence fluency is the smoothness and fluidity with which the sentences in the writing roll seamlessly from one to another. According to McQuinn and Roach, â€Å"word choice is the use of rich, colorful, precise language that moves and enlightens the reader. It is the love of language, a passion for words, combined with a skill in choosing words that creates just the right mood, impression, or image in the heart and mind of the reader.†Ã‚   To accomplish this is to really wrestle with words until the most perfect choices are made.   Likewise, sentence fluency focuses on the sounds of the sentences.   This forces the writer to consider sound devices such as rhyme, alliteration, creative phrasing, sentence structure, complexity and length.   The sentences will read, in some cases, like music. Finally, the writer has achieved a focused, organized and creatively crafted piece.   He has one more step to complete.   This step is the revision step.   This step demands that the writer proofread his paper to ensure that the conventions of the English language are followed.   This gives the writer and the writing legitimacy.   The reader recognizes that his writing will be more powerful if it is also correct in its use of punctuation, usage, spelling and other such conventions.   While proofreading may be less creative than the stylistic drafting of the piece, it is nevertheless a vital step in the whole of the writing process. While most process driven models of writing end here, the McQuinn and Roach model includes another area.   This area is that of voice.   They note that voice is the heart and soul of a piece, the magic, the wit. It is the writer's unique and personal expression emerging through words. Voice is the presence of the writer on the page. When the writer's passion for the topic and concern for the audience are strong, the text dances with life and energy, and the reader feels a strong and intimate connection to both the writing and the writer. Voice is a more abstract tenet of writing, one that is harder to explain and harder yet to produce. Voice pervades all writing, but not all voice is unique or engaging or even literate.   Many writers take years to produce a recognizable voice.   Some students never learn it.   However, voice is the quality that separates adequate and good writing from great and enlightened writing, yet it is the most elusive quality of all. The process described in the text and the process designed by McQuinn and Roach have many structural similarities.   They both depend on good ideas, organization, drafting, revising and proofreading.   However, the McQuinn and Roach model go beyond this to demand an element of uniqueness, of style, from the writers.   This style is very difficult to teach.   For this reason, it is much more difficult to use. A student of writing would find the text much easier to follow.   The steps are well-defining, and a student who carefully follows them will produce a good piece of writing.   The steps are easy to repeat and practice, and they can be applied to many situations. However, a student who has mastered this type of writing and desire another level to his work will find McQuinn and Roach an excellent step in this direction.   While the tutorial on their website cannot guarantee that one will become a stylist, it gives a mature writer more dimensions with which to experiment in his writing.   Word choice, sentence fluency and voice are all components of this dimension.   Merely good writing can exist without them, but great writing can only emerge with them.   Thus, the user-friendliness of these two models will depend on the level of adequacy that the writer has achieved. References McQuinn, C. & Roach, M.   The Writing Process. WORDSMITH A GUIDE to College Writing 3RD EDITON