History of Management

Without any doubt, the question of work, roles and skills of a manager gets a mixed response. Some believe that these features are the shared by managers all over the world, while others maintain that there are significant differences in management of different countries that have given rise to such a notion and a process as the intercultural management. Which one of the above-stated arguments has an element of truth and could they be both regarded as authentic?First of all it cannot be denied that the science of management has a long history and perhaps all modern mangers employ principles and theories that have been introduced earlier. To start with, it was the Industrial Revolution that established big business and created the need for professional leaders. Furthermore, years of military and church rule added management models and terminology that are widely used today. Let us only recall Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory or that of Frederic Taylor who is commonly regarded th e Father of Scientific Management and proposed some ways of increasing workers’ productivity.On the basis of his research at Bethlehem Steel Company (Pittsburgh) he drew conclusions that the job can be split into minute parts and its performance can be improved by timing performance of each part separately. Furthermore, he suggested rest periods of special interval and duration and a differential pay scale that can be found in the practice of today’s managers (1). The famous method of overlapping tasks during the period of working day in order to avoid workers becoming tired easily was offered by Henry Gantt and displayed in the form of his ‘the Gantt chart’.Though not all of the managers may know the name of inventor of this tenet, but, for sure, most of them are acquainted with its expression and benefits it can provide. Moreover, it was Gantt who stressed the significance of the leadership and management qualities and skills for creating successful indu strial organizations. The man who is dubbed as the Father of Modern Management is Henri Fayol, a French industrialist who developed a framework for studying management and wrote General and Industrial Management (1).He distinguished five functions of managers, such as: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. As we see, all theorists and pioneers of management theory originated from various countries (England, France, United States, etc. ); however this did not impede the principles they have set out from becoming universal. Times are changing and so are doing the people but some essential things and useful hints are immortal and not subject to ageing. Let us take a closer look into the work of a manager disregard of the geographical location of his working place and language he speaks.Nobody would argue that the better we understand the management role; the better it will be performed and more qualitative services will be provided. Some people wrongly consid er managers to be emotionless and cold fish and claim something like: â€Å"managers see work as something that must be done or tolerated,† â€Å"management focuses attention on procedure,† and â€Å"management sees the world as relatively black and white† (2, 2005:25). Yet, from our point of view, such standpoint is biased and far from being impartial.One should keep in mind that managers are also humans but the best among them have that gift for organizing and feel themselves capable of being at the head of other people and controlling not only their work but their lives in a way. Nevertheless, the manager’s work is not restricted to the above-mentioned issues only. Putting it by words of Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, leadership is just one of the numerous facets of management, â€Å"just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess† (3).Therefore, it would be easier to determine the aim of a manager, which can be expressed as maximizing the output of his company with the help of effective administrative measures. This brings us to the definition of management itself that for short can be rendered as â€Å"the process of attaining organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, controlling, and directing organizational resources† (2). Therefore, any manager must undertake the already mentioned above functions:? organizing ? planning ? commanding ? coordinating ? controlling Note, that leadership is covered by the single function of controlling. Planning comprises development of company strategies and goals. To put it differently, on this stage a manager has to define the direction of his business and some milestones to be taken into account. Moreover, planning involves also defining budget and plans of operation, i. e. methods of achieving previously fixed goals.In brief, on the phase of planning a manager proves to be a good forecaster capable of determining the far-r eaching objectives. The following function and stage is organizing, which means right people on the right working places. In other words, this function presupposes that a manager must objectively consider knowledge and skills of his employees and offer them jobs that are most appropriate. Remarkably that some theorists of management call this function as â€Å"staffing† but to our mind, this notion is an element of organizing.Admittedly that â€Å"given the high levels of discretion enjoyed by knowledge workers, managers' decisions over work distribution, content and resources become more critical for commitment and knowledge creation† (4, 2005:383-424). To sum up, organizing function covers establishing superior/subordinate relationships, as well as determining the scope of staff’s obligations and responsibilities. The ‘controlling’ function means checking that work is carried out in a proper way and funds are spent with regard to their purpose. Th e coordinating function covers training, team building, etc.and refers mainly to work with human resources, but not the production process. It should be added that effective managers should be good communicators and analysts. They should â€Å"have guts† to resist constant stress and be able to operate under unfavorable conditions. Furthermore, managers are responsible for friendly environment within a company, which engages problem-combating, settling conflicts, searching for best solutions, etc. What is more they should be assertive enough to bring forward their ideas and convince the opponents to give preference to their views.Still, that does not mean that all managers should be inborn leaders, whatever. Even more, as J. P. Kotter wrote in his 1991 â€Å"The Best of the Harvard Business Review† article, What Leaders Really Do: â€Å"Leadership is different from management, but not for the reason most people think. Leadership isn't mystical and mysterious. It has n othing to do with having charisma or other exotic personality traits. It's not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it.Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment† (5, 1991:26). However, in spite of the fact that there are some common features of manager work found in different countries and irrespective of borders, such as the key principles of management in a whole and functions of managers, it has been stated above that managers are the same people. Consequently, their cultural and personal peculiarities are reflected on their work.The former has even given rise to the completely new theory – intercultural management. The most significant factors that have enabled the emergence of this theory are the following: continuous globalization of economy and merge of businesses, establishment of joint ventures, foreign representative offices, etc. As a result, people started to pay more attention to the intercultural diversity of managing styles and traditions along with all-nation values and convictions. Should to go, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but in order to comply with this rule one should know it.Notably, that in her article in the Financial Times by Elisabeth Marx titled ‘Shock of the alien can sink a merger', for example, it was mentioned that â€Å"Research on cross-border acquisitions has shown that differences in management style (particularly in attitudes towards risk) have a negative effect on company performance. Sadly, very few companies consider the softer, cultural factors of mergers, which may be a significant contributor to their subsequent failures. Far too few companies even begin to consider the effects on staff or the human implication of a merger†.Furthermore, the article goes on to manifest that â€Å"it is easy to end up in a situation where the whole is worth less than the sum of its two parts†. Hence, the reasonable solution here may consist in following the statement and credo: â€Å"Managers' first task is to conduct more extensive business analysis before taking the decision to merge. In addition to carrying out traditional financial and commercial due diligence, they should complete a thorough examination of the cultural compatibility of the parties involved† (6, 2005:2).The same can be applied to all spheres where business is conducted and companies in any country. Yert, the most frequent use of intercultural management tenet is observed within such association as, for instance, international markets, by merging with foreign companies, projects involving multi-cultural teams, international negotiations and so on, and so forth. Other supporting the intercultural management view theories are three well-known analyses of intercultural management by Edward Hall, Geert Hofs tede and Philippe d'Iribarne that illustrate the differences between American and French management styles (7).Citing Edward T. Hall, intercultural differences in communication are based on the context, on time and on space: â€Å"Understanding between people results from the combination of information and its context. Some cultures have a rich context (close links between people, high level of the unspoken/unsaid): these cultures are highly † implicit†; other cultures valuing communication only when it is very clear in itself are said to be † explicit † (7).This can be exemplified by the French dislike of clearing procedures or by their creativity and flexibility, American productivity and utilitarianism etc (8, 2003:1333-1349). To sum up, there are common features that can be found among managers all over the world. Managers employ experience of earlier generations as well as coin modern ones. Today, theorists of management clearly define functions and goa ls of managing work and scope of their responsibilities and obligations. However, on the other hand, it remains disputable wither work of a manager is the same in different countries.Quite to the contrary, the intercultural management theory declares that every nation has its own management style that should be taken into account when conducting international negotiations and making business with foreign countries. The majority of businessmen can no longer escape the necessity to purchase, sell or communicate and work with people from different cultures and thus with different traditions and convictions. And we are strongly sure that our future is multinational one! Bibliography 1. History of Management. Retrieved on December 21, 2005 from: http://ollie. dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/1overview/management_history/mgmt_history. htm 2. MANAGERS; PERSONALITY; ENTERPRISES |AU| Welbourne, TM. ; Cavanaugh, M. A. ; Judge, T. A. |AD| U. S. A. ; Cornell University. Centre for Advanced Huma n Resource Studies, IRL School. Ithaca, NY 14653-3901 3. Leader or Manager? Which Are You? Which Should You Be? The Case for Being Well-Rounded by Dick Mooney. Bradford University Journal. Retrieved on December 21, 2005 from: http://www. amputee-coalition. org/communicator/vol3no2pg2. html 4. The difference a manager can make: organizational justice and knowledge worker commitment by Marc Thompson.International Journal of Human Resource Management, Volume 16, Number 3, March, 2005, pp. 383-404 5. The Best of the Harvard Business Review by J. P. Kotter, 1991. 6. Shock of the alien can sink a merger by Elisabeth Marx. Financial Times, 5 April 2001 7. French management style. Retrieved on December 21, 2005 from: http://www. understandfrance. org/France/Intercultural3. html 8. Comparing business ethics in Russia and the US by Rafik I. Beekun, Yvonne Stedham, Jeanne H. Yamamura, Jamal A. Barghouti. International Journal of Human Resource Management. Volume 14, Number 8 / December 2003

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 34

Letter #5-December 3, 2006 Dear Nikki, The night after the Tennessee Titans destroyed the Eagles on their home turf – a game in which Donovan McNabb tore his ACL, ending his season and maybe even his career – Andre Waters shot himself to death. I realize you don't care about any of this, but Waters was one of my favorite players back when I was a teenager. He was a big part of the Gang Green Defense. People called him Dirty Waters because he was fined so much for hitting too hard. And when I was a kid, Waters was a god to me. Jake says Waters probably killed himself after watching the Eagles play so poorly against the Titans, which was not a funny thing to say at all. My father is not talking to anyone, because he is upset about McNabb's injury, which will most likely ruin the Eagles' chances of making the play-offs. My new favorite player, Hank Baskett, is not getting many balls thrown to him anymore, but he actually threw an interception during a stupid trick play during the Indy Colts' win over the Birds just this past weekend. And of course, there was also your last letter. So I'm thinking this is the part of my movie where things appear as if nothing is going to work out. I have to remind myself that all movie characters go through this sort of dark period before they find their happy ending. It was hard to wait two weeks for your reply. Your letter made me very sad, and in the past twenty-four hours I have written my reply at least a hundred times. I don't know if Tiffany read you the part of my memoir where I described my therapist's office, but he has two leather recliners – one black, one brown. My therapist lets his patients choose which seat they want to sit in just so he can see what type of mood we are in. I've been picking the black one lately. I've read certain parts of your letters to Cliff – that's my therapist's name. He doesn't know about Tiffany's involvement, because I promised her that I would not tell anyone that she has agreed to act as our liaison. When Cliff asked how I was able to make contact with you, I refused to answer. I hope that you don't mind my reading some of your words to my therapist. It's funny. Cliff keeps hinting that I should pursue a relationship with Tiffany. And I know Tiffany is reading this letter to you, so this part will be awkward for everyone involved, but Tiffany will just have to deal with it because this is what being a liaison requires, and I already danced so well, fulfilling my end of the bargain. Cliff says that Tiffany and I have a lot in common at this point and that you and I have very little in common, because we are in very different places. I thought he meant that you were in Maryland and I was in New Jersey, but it turns out he means that I am still fighting to regain my mental health, and you are mentally stable. I asked Cliff why he would want me to pursue a relationship with someone who is as mentally unstable as me, and he said that you were not able to support me in the way I needed to be supported, which is why our marriage failed. I got very mad at Cliff when he said that, especially since I am the one to blame, but he insisted that you allowed me to become the person I was by enabling me – never putting me in my place and allowing me to emotionally abuse you for so long. He says that Tiffany will not allow me to do this and that our friendship is based on a mutual need and a commitment to bettering ourselves through physical fitness and dance. Tiffany and I are great friends, and I appreciate all that she is doing for me now. But she is not you. I still love you, Nikki. And you can't control or alter true love. Mom checked out The Catcher in the Rye from the Collingswood Public Library. I liked Holden Caulfield very much and felt a lot of sympathy for him because he really was a nice guy, always trying to do right by his sister Phoebe, yet always failing, like when he bought that record for Phoebe and broke it before he could give it to her. I also liked how he was always so worried about what the NYC ducks do in winter. Where do they go? But my favorite part was the ending, when Holden takes his sister to the carousel and she rides on the horse and tries to reach for the gold ring. Holden says, â€Å"I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddamn horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.† When I read this, I thought about your writing that I was in my second childhood and that I would have to â€Å"leave the basement† someday. But then I thought about how my improving myself and learning how to dance with Tiffany was like reaching for the gold ring, which is you. Nikki, you are my gold ring. So maybe I will fall off the goddamn carousel, but I have to reach for you, right? I want to see you. I want to talk to you face-to-face. Just once. Afterward, if you never want to see me again, I can live with that. Just give me one chance to show you how much I have changed. Just one chance. One face-to-face meeting. Please. Love, Pat

Deception Point Page 45

Sexton would lie. Was this truly her first instinct regarding her candidate? Yes. He would lie†¦ brilliantly. If these photos hit the media without Gabrielle's having admitted the affair, the senator would simply claim the photos were a cruel forgery. This was the age of digital photo editing; anyone who had ever been on-line had seen the flawlessly retouched spoof photographs of celebrities' heads digitally melded onto other people's bodies, often those of porn stars engaged in lewd acts. Gabrielle had already witnessed the senator's ability to look into a television camera and lie convincingly about their affair; she had no doubt he could persuade the world these photos were a lame attempt to derail his career. Sexton would lash out with indignant outrage, perhaps even insinuate that the President himself had ordered the forgery. No wonder the White House hasn't gone public. The photos, Gabrielle realized, could backfire just like the initial drudge. As vivid as the pictures seemed, they were totally inconclusive. Gabrielle felt a sudden surge of hope. The White House can't prove any of this is real! Tench's powerplay on Gabrielle had been ruthless in its simplicity: Admit your affair or watch Sexton go to jail. Suddenly it made perfect sense. The White House needed Gabrielle to admit the affair, or the photos were worthless. A sudden glimmer of confidence brightened her mood. As the train sat idling and the doors slid open, another distant door seemed to open in Gabrielle's mind, revealing an abrupt and heartening possibility. Maybe everything Tench told me about the bribery was a lie. After all, what had Gabrielle really seen? Yet again, nothing conclusive-some Xeroxed bank documents, a grainy photo of Sexton in a garage. All of it potentially counterfeit. Tench cunningly could have showed Gabrielle bogus financial records in the same sitting as the genuine sex photos, hoping Gabrielle would accept the entire package as true. It was called â€Å"authentication by association,† and politicians used it all the time to sell dubious concepts. Sexton is innocent, Gabrielle told herself. The White House was desperate, and they had decided to take a wild gamble on scaring Gabrielle into going public about the affair. They needed Gabrielle to desert Sexton publicly-scandalously. Get out while you can, Tench had told her. You have until eight o'clock tonight. The ultimate pressure sales job. All of it fits, she thought. Except one thing†¦ The only confusing piece of the puzzle was that Tench had been sending Gabrielle anti-NASA e-mails. This certainly suggested NASA really did want Sexton to solidify his anti-NASA stance so they could use it against him. Or did it? Gabrielle realized that even the e-mails had a perfectly logical explanation. What if the e-mails were not really from Tench? It was possible Tench caught a traitor on staff sending Gabrielle data, fired that person, and then stepped in and e-mailed the final message herself, calling Gabrielle in for a meeting. Tench could have pretended she leaked all the NASA data on purpose-to set Gabrielle up. The subway hydraulics hissed now in L'Enfant Plaza, the doors preparing to close. Gabrielle stared out at the platform, her mind racing. She had no idea if her suspicions were making any sense or if they were just wishful thinking, but whatever the hell was going on, she knew she had to talk to the senator right away-P.E. night or not. Clutching the envelope of photographs, Gabrielle hurried off the train just as the doors hissed shut. She had a new destination. Westbrooke Place Apartments. 51 Fight or flight. As a biologist, Tolland knew that vast physiological changes occurred when an organism sensed danger. Adrenaline flooded the cerebral cortex, jolting the heart rate and commanding the brain to make the oldest and most intuitive of all biological decisions-whether to do battle or flee. Tolland's instinct told him to flee, and yet reason reminded him he was still tethered to Norah Mangor. There was nowhere to flee anyway. The only cover for miles was the habisphere, and the attackers, whoever the hell they were, had positioned themselves high on the glacier and cut off that option. Behind him, the wide open sheet of ice fanned out into a two-mile-long plain that terminated in a sheer drop to a frigid sea. Flight in that direction meant death by exposure. The practical barriers to fleeing notwithstanding, Tolland knew he could not possibly leave the others. Norah and Corky were still out in the open, tethered to Rachel and Tolland. Tolland stayed down near Rachel as the ice pellets continued to slam into the side of the toppled equipment sled. He pillaged the strewn contents, searching for a weapon, a flare gun, a radio†¦ anything. â€Å"Run!† Rachel yelled, her breathing still strained. Then, oddly, the hailstorm of ice bullets abruptly stopped. Even in the pounding wind, the night felt suddenly calm†¦ as if a storm had let up unexpectedly. It was then, peering cautiously around the sled, that Tolland witnessed one of the most chilling sights he had ever seen. Gliding effortlessly out of the darkened perimeter into the light, three ghostly figures emerged, coasting silently in on skis. The figures wore full white weather suits. They carried no ski poles but rather large rifles that looked like no guns Tolland had ever seen. Their skis were bizarre as well, futuristic and short, more like elongated Rollerblades than skis. Calmly, as if knowing they had already won this battle, the figures coasted to a stop beside their closest victim-the unconscious Norah Mangor. Tolland rose shakily to his knees and peered over the sled at the attackers. The visitors stared back at him through eerie electronic goggles. They were apparently uninterested. At least for the moment. Delta-One felt no remorse as he stared down at the woman lying unconscious on the ice before him. He had been trained to carry out orders, not to question motives. The woman was wearing a thick, black, thermal suit and had a welt on the side of her face. Her breathing was short and labored. One of the IM ice rifles had found its mark and knocked her unconscious. Now it was time to finish the job. As Delta-One knelt down beside the oblivious woman, his teammates trained their rifles on the other targets-one on the small, unconscious man lying on the ice nearby, and one on the overturned sled where the two other victims were hiding. Although his men easily could have moved in to finish the job, the remaining three victims were unarmed and had nowhere to run. Rushing to finish them all off at once was careless. Never disperse your focus unless absolutely necessary. Face one adversary at a time. Exactly as they had been trained, the Delta Force would kill these people one at a time. The magic, however, was that they would leave no trace to suggest how they had died. Crouched beside the unconscious woman, Delta-One removed his thermal gloves and scooped up a handful of snow. Packing the snow, he opened the woman's mouth and began stuffing it down her throat. He filled her entire mouth, ramming the snow as deep as he could down her windpipe. She would be dead within three minutes. This technique, invented by the Russian mafia, was called the byelaya smert-white death. This victim would suffocate long before the snow in her throat melted. Once dead, however, her body would stay warm long enough to dissolve the blockage. Even if foul play were suspected, no murder weapon or evidence of violence would be apparent immediately. Eventually someone might figure it out, but it would buy them time. The ice bullets would fade into the environment, buried in the snow, and the welt on this woman's head would look like she'd taken a nasty spill on the ice-not surprising in these gale force winds. The other three people would be incapacitated and killed in much the same way. Then Delta-One would load all of them on the sled, drag them several hundred yards off course, reattached their belay lines and arrange the bodies. Hours from now, the four of them would be found frozen in the snow, apparent victims of overexposure and hypothermia. Those who discovered them would be puzzled what they were doing off course, but nobody would be surprised that they were dead. After all, their flares had burned out, the weather was perilous, and getting lost on the Milne Ice Shelf could bring death in a hurry.

The components of HRM's success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The components of HRM's success - Essay Example Despite Guest’s hesitancy in concluding that HRM contributes to organisational performance, other scholars provided an empirical link between HRM strategies, policies and practices and certain aspects of individual and organisational performance (Liu et al., 2007; Nohria, Groysberg and Lee, 2008; Huselid, 1995: 635; Wall and Wood, 2005: 430; Pfeffer; and Pfeffer and Veiga 1999). This paper aims to determine HRM issues and to offer some solutions. After reviewing several studies, including opposing ones, HRM systems, policies, and practices are believed to drive company performance through shaping recruitment, selection, and retention strategies that develop engaged and creative employee, who can serve as one of the company’s sustainable competitive advantages. The role of human resource systems in strategic recruitment cannot be undermined (Liu et al., 2007). Recruitment should not be dismissed as something that can easily be outsourced to other parties because recruitm ent strategy should meet existing HR strategy goals. Walker, Bernerth and Tocher (2009) studied job seekers’ organisational attitudes at different phases of the recruitment process by evaluating the interactions among the variables of job seekers’ procedural justice anticipations, procedural justice perceptions and preliminary screening feedback quality. After using two phases of data collection that included 392 participants in phase 1 and 351 in phase 2, findings showed that participants who were engaged in the recruitment process with high procedural justice expectations were more affected by initial screening feedback quality than those with low justice expectations (Walker et al., 2009: 5). Procedural justice perceptions throughout the preliminary screening affected their organisational attitudes (Walker et al., 2009: 5). These authors concluded that how firms recruit candidates can affect the quality of perceptions regarding the organisation (Walker et al., 2009: 6). Rehman (2012) affirmed the same findings for his empirical work on the recruitment efforts of public sector organisations in Pakistan. He discovered that organisations with poor promotion and governance systems tend to recruit fewer competent applicants and tend to have higher turnover rates. Managers must be clear in explaining what they expect from their employees and what employees can expect from the organisation, in terms of rewards, culture and other organisational and managerial factors. HRM managers who carefully carve the right organisational image and job expectations for its employees during the recruitment process can hire high-performing employees than those who do not care on the image and expectations they provide to applicants. HRM affects individual performance through its recruitment strategies because they influence individual decisions through organisational factors, which when affirmed through hiring, can result to employee job satisfaction and retention. H an and Han (2009) explored the relationship between hiring perceptions and retention and found a correlation between the two. Another studies emphasised that in recruiting the right people, job experience, skills, and personality are critical. Newman and Lyon (2009)

Ethical dilemma essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical dilemma - Essay Example Besides, if we pushed the deadline back, we would run the risk of the client withdrawing from the case because his extremely busy schedule might prevent him from attending to the extra paperwork that would be required if the document was to be notarized. I went home that night and thought it over. I knew that since I had my supervisor’s approval, I wouldn’t be held accountable if anything went wrong. However, I believe that as a financial advisor, I had the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the clients are aware of all aspects of the investments. Also, in order for me to provide my best services, I always try to imagine myself in the situation that my client is in. I knew that if I were the client, I would be extremely disappointed if I found out that my financial services provider treated me as just â€Å"another filed folder† rather than a valued client who deserved the best service possible. The following day, I asked my supervisor to assign the project to me so that I could amend the complication before the deadline. Though unwillingly, my supervisor agreed. I immediately contacted the client, briefed him about the situation, and apologized that due to the prevailing circumstances, we might not be able to make the deadline that he originally set for us.

A cultural experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A cultural experience - Essay Example The Geography of China focuses on not only the position of China but also the enormous human source it has in the world. Located in South East Asia it is the third largest country in the world with 6.5% of land area and second largest in population. China has one more self importance in the world of history that is has the oldest civilization background tracing back to 3500 years. It is a mountainous country. Mountains and hills occupy 65% of the total area of China’s Landscape. China has lot of rivers and lakes Yangtze and The Yellow River are the most famous in the world. Nearly 95%of the population dwells in the North and South regions of China. The highest population count is in fact a strong supporting feature of China. The unity among the people had been a supreme cause in the development of China. Religion too has a great significance in China. Buddhism, though came from India initially, took its massive support only from China. As a result artistic and admirable monuments were built in order to set a strong belief in the Buddhist thought. Religion is cooperated with large family organizations. Either the father or husband takes care of the family. Children live with their parents till they get married. After getting married they will be shifted to a separate apartment. Coming to the food culture of China, they give importance to nutritional values. Colors seem to play an important role in the daily intake of China. Chinese associate colors with the main organs of the human body. Color, flavor, and smell have their equal partake and contribution in their food habits. They combine two to three colored ingredients such as green, light green, dark green, red, yellow, white etc added with sauces and cook. The Chinese had a strong traditional belief that type of food has medicinal values in it. A theory called â€Å"harmonization of foods† by Yi Yin reflects on the link between the five flavors and major organs of human body. They are sweet,

Corporate Governance Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corporate Governance Models - Essay Example The essay "Corporate Governance Models" presents the comparison of the two models of corporate governance: Shareholder value and Stakeholder. The shareholder value is designed in such a way that the only the shareholders and executives will earn high returns on the stocks they have invested. As seen above, the shareholder value focuses wholly on the shareholders and ignores the other stakeholders of the company such as employees, suppliers, and customers. As the time passed and new developments came about in corporate governance, the theory underlying the shareholder value model changed to a certain extent but the theory is still followed as the new theory "The Stakeholder Model" are yet fully developed. But this model keeps in view all the stakeholders related to the company especially the employees. Under the shareholder model, it is believed that as the management is focused on one objective of maximizing shareholders’ wealth, the strategies are planned in that direction an d ultimately increases the total wealth of the firm. Thus, everyone in the firm can get a bigger share of the pie if the pie is large. Therefore this model does not believe in transferring the rights of voting and cash-flows to the employees. A principle of proportional ownership has being identified by the EC as an important factor that could reform the internal markets. It is ‘one share, one vote’ rule which seeks to strengthen the shareholder rights and thus weakening the protection of the employees.

Obesity, Sleep Apnea and Cognitive Functions in Children Research Paper

Obesity, Sleep Apnea and Cognitive Functions in Children - Research Paper Example Obstructive sleep apnea is caused when the airways are significantly narrowed, and again increased neck weight can contribute to this narrowing and the subsequent breathing problems (Chan et al, 2004). Although the links between sleep apnea and obesity are well-researched, the links between impaired cognitive function, obesity and sleep disruption are minimal, although studies have been done comparing two of the above. The article in question (Clark, 2005) illustrates the possible links found between all three of the conditions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the biology behind the research and investigate the possible reasons for the connection. The structure of the pharynx is illustrated in figure 1. From this diagram, it is evident that the windpipe is a narrow structure and any further narrowing could cause a lowered ability to receive sufficient air into the lungs. Obstructive sleep apnea is categorized by a cyclic closing and opening of the pharynx during sleep, which can lead to disrupted gas exchange and disturbed sleep (Strohl, 1996). Evidently, any disruption in sleep is going to cause excessive fatigue/sleepiness, but research suggests that the effects of sleep apnea go beyond this and cause behavioural problems (such as impulse control and hyperactivity) and cognitive deficits. It has been suggested that these are caused by intermittent states of hypoxemia as well as reductions in brain metabolism (Clark, 2005). Figure 1 – Diagram of the neck illustrating the pharynx (Clark, 2005) There are also suggestions that obesity is linked to cognitive deficits. Learning, memory and abstract reasoning were all shown to be lower in people suffering from obesity and hypertension, although the effects were seen in men only (Elias et al, 2003). Despite this evidence, it is unclear whether obesity is a result of or a cause of these impaired cognitive facilities. People who have taken part in cognitive skill building exercises as younger children ar e shown to have less chance of developing obesity as adults (Hill et al, 2003), but this could be partly due to socioeconomic factors. Other suggestions have been made that show that impaired cognitive function is a result of obesity. The glucocorticoids (GC), for example, are implicated. Figure 2 shows the chemical structure of cortisol, an important example in this group of steroid hormones. GCs are found in almost every vertebrate cell, and bind to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). GCs are important in several areas of the brain, including the hippocampus, the amygdala and the frontal lobes (Clark, 2005). In obesity, individuals may be exposed to an abnormally high amount of glucocorticoids (Masuzaki et al, 2001), and evidently if they play an important role in brain function, obesity could well be a cause of impaired cognitive function. Image 2 – The Chemical Structure of Cortisol (Clark, 2005) Obesity has also been linked to a number of neurological conditions, primarily stroke. A stroke is characterized by a swift loss of brain function because of a blockage or other disturbance of the blood supply to the brain (Clark, 2005). Thrombotic stroke is the most common type of stroke in obese individuals (Clark, 2005). Blood supply in

Galileo's Distinction Between Science and Religion Essay

Galileo's Distinction Between Science and Religion - Essay Example He talks of the need for such a distinction in the light of the events that had led him to be at the centre of a controversy regarding the position of the celestial bodies in relation to the earth. Many were of the opinion that his views contradicted those of the Bible. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, these times followed eras where science and theology existed together in harmony (Sickler). This harmony however, tilted the balance in favor of theology and the scriptures on more occasions than not. This led to the stunted development of science in many ways. It is such a scenario that Galileo critiques in his letter and he also comments on the vested interests that had started to operate the forces of the church. He thus, takes the social and material conditions of the church into account while talking about the conflict that had developed between science and religion during his times. While evaluating Galileo’s position, thus, one also has to keep in min d the historical aspects of the seventeenth century. Galileo’s main objection against the intermingling of the interests of science and religion lay in the fact that most of the people who would sit in judgment over the work of a scientist were not qualified to do so. Galileo’s objections are thus, rooted in an urge to allocate duties and functions in a society to the people who are most worthy for it. The ones who accuse Galileo of blasphemy are the ones that do not possess any knowledge of how to assess a book of science. According to Galileo, such people are likely to condemn a work of science â€Å"without understanding it, weighing it, or so much as reading it† (Galilei, 87). Such people are not capable of judging anything but matters that relate strictly to theology. As such, a divide should be effected between science and religion, according to the letter to the Duchess from Galileo. Galileo thus, is one of the first to argue for the introduction of speci alization in different fields. The humanist spirit of the times in which Galileo lived was one of the reasons as to why he argued for the separation of the sciences from religion. Science for Galileo was a field that had endless possibilities that could be exploited to a great extent. Religion, on the other hand was a strict set of rules that prevented this very mobility that was a part of the scientific project of the Renaissance. This was probably why Galileo wanted a separation between the two areas- it would lead to greater freedom for the scientists. They could also assume greater power in the working of the society and thus, be able to assume a position that was similar in the power that it wielded, to the church. An urge to improve one’s position not just in a spiritual sense but also in the monetary and materialist sense was something that the humanist spirit taught people to possess. The letter emphasizes the need for people who were a part of the church to understan d their sphere of work and not act as a result of their vested interests. Galileo talks of how Copernicus was understood during his own times. However, in the seventeenth century, theologians had started to take advantage of certain circumstances and had started to condemn Copernicus without so much as understanding the theories that were discovered and advanced by this scientist and theologian. Religion was something that the church derived from the bible and its teachings. Galileo debates the literal understandings of religion that were endorsed by the church. The word of God, according to Galileo, cannot be understood in a literal way and thus, much of the meaning of

Are women trated differently in the legal system Essay

Are women trated differently in the legal system - Essay Example Although conditions are very much different between these two periods, this particular research will discuss arguments why women should not be treated differently in the legal systems. A. Discrimination of women in the past. There are conditions wherein women were treated separately in the legal systems of the past and today. During the 19th century, women were not allowed to vote and were denied of their legal rights to exercise the right to suffrage in the U.S. At that time, women were not treated equally with male counterparts and were subjected to the social tradition and English common low that denied their rights to vote, own property, keep their own wages, or obtain the charge of their own children. Even the wife of US President, Abigail Adams, took note of this women’s condition, and reminded Pres. John Adams in 1776 as she wrote to him, â€Å""In the new code of laws, remember the ladies and do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands." John Adams replied, "I cannot but laugh. Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine systems" (Francis, Roberta, n.d.). This author recalls in her article that the fight to win women’s right to vote took 72 years before it was finally acknowledged in the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The heroines of the movement for the constitutional rights, as related in the history, suffered long years of persecution and humiliation but were not moved out of their protests. Accordingly, the specific written guarantee of the 19th Amendment, when won, was the following, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex" (Francis, Roberta, n.d.). This victory of women led to other protests on further amendments to equal rights to women; similar to their first protest, it took many years because of many laws in the workplace and in the society that had categorized women as second class citi zens and perpetuated gender inequalities. In the past, the proposal of women for equal rights for employment was contradicted by the labor movements on the reason that it was a threat to power structures and also by business interests because of economic costs. 2. Should the current law system be changed in order to treat women equally? This issue is still very much debated upon today, that even the United Nations took it upon as one of their duties to be responsible of ensuring that it promotes and protect gender equality and women empowerment (Gender Equality, n.d). The U.N. argues that gender-based discriminations are often times permitted by laws, policies and practices of institutions and nations. For instance, in many countries in the Middle East, women do not have the same rights for inheritance and property and even are not allowed to testify in court. According to the writings of J.Arlandson, the superiority of men over women was drawn from the rulings of the Islam’s Qu’ran, which Islam followed to the letter. Wage gap also exists in the U.S. today, as shown in the Pay Equity information of the National Committee on Pay Equity, which states that women are paid an average of $36,931 in comparison with $47,715 paid to male counterparts. The Pay Equity Information also stated that working women, particularly colored ones, were undervalued due to sex, and race; the numerous cases filed in several courts in the US could attest to inequality in

Response to DQ1 and DQ2 Different Financial Information Users and Essay

Response to DQ1 and DQ2 Different Financial Information Users and Isolation - Essay Example Along with the annual report which includes the financial statements for a fiscal year public companies also release trimester financial statements to keep the public informed about the financial performance of the company. DQ2 You mentioned that employees want to know about the financial performance of a firm because they want to know how stable their company is whenever it comes to job security and benefits. Another reason that employees need to be informed regarding the financial performance of a firm is because many employees receive stock options and bonuses that are tied to the financial performance of the firm. The most important output of the income statement is that last line of the report which states the net income or net loss achieved during an accounting period. The goal of all public corporations is to maximize shareholder’s wealth (Besley & Brigham, 2000). Investors must analyze the financial statements using multiple techniques including ratio analysis, horizon tal analysis, variance analysis, and vertical analysis. The CEO of public corporations since the creation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act must sign the financial statements and are personally liable in case of fraud. References Besley, S., Brigham, E. (2000). Essential of Managerial Finance (12th ed.).

Taylorism Is An Outmoded And Outdated Form Of Technical Control Essay Example for Free

Taylorism Is An Outmoded And Outdated Form Of Technical Control Essay Perfected by Henry Ford, Taylorism was developed in the early 20th Century and was a revolutionary outlook on scientific management. Its aim was to make the workplace a science, taking all control away from the worker and placing total power in the hands of management. By observing workers behaviour and how long it was taking for tasks to be completed he believed he could say how much an average worker could produce under optimum conditions. Using this he devised a means of detailing a division of labour in time-and-motion studies and a wage system based on performance. At the time and throughout the last century Taylorism was and has been the only way to manage, but is it now outdated and irrelevant. I hope to be able to provide some of the arguments for and against this viewpoint and give examples of Taylorism. First, what exactly is Taylorism? Simply Taylorism is the breaking down of the production process into simple, menial tasks to the extent that even the most unskilled worker can be efficient. He researched these methods knowing that management lacked the knowledge to maximise production and that workers were not efficient. Taylor spoke about rewarding good men i.e. good employees, with higher pay for completing tasks or working harder. He called for scoring and ranking workers, thus posing the argument: how can one compare someone who is really good at a given task against someone who is good at another task? The two individuals may well be very good at what they do; however, it quite often requires a mix of these talents to produce a quality product or service. Taylor also aimed to transfer the control of the work process away from the individual worker and instead have the work performed in a way that is detailed by management who train the worker and share all the responsibilities. He used pig-iron handlers during the American-Spanish war to test his theories. He picked the four best workers and, in exchange for a higher wage, asked them to work under a managers orders. The manager had complete control, telling them when they could have a break, when to pick up more iron, how much to lift etc. The experiment was a resounding success; with one man Schmidt working at a constant 47.5 tonnes a day. This was used to show that Taylorism could work. However it could be argued that the experiment was fixed as it used workers who were mentally sluggish and therefore, by their nature, were more likely to follow orders than to think for themselves. Nevertheless Taylorism became the standard for businesses worldwide and this led to a clockwork world of tasks timed to the hundredth of a minute for standardized factories, machines and the de-humanising of men and women. A man named Braverman argued in his book in the 70s that because of Taylor and Ford, more and more jobs became and are becoming deskilled and de-humanised and the thought processes are being taken over by managers and programmed into machines (Braverman 1974). This raises a very important point about Taylorism; it makes processes so precise and repetitive that humans are being turned into machines. In this state as machines, humans are very easy to control and so it could be argued that Taylorism, whilst being effective as a production method, is also designed to control the workforce and thus highly skilled workers threaten labour control. Read more:Â  Scientific Management Taylorism Such early 20th century thought is being practised not only in business, but in the schools as well where students, like workers, are be scored and ranked. Now we have moved to a system where this ranking and grading of students and schools is of such importance that they are no longer run by teachers, but managed by managers to improve efficiency. Whilst not being a strict example of Taylorism, it shows how Taylors ideas have changed the way people think in that people now assume anything and everything can be ranked. Whilst on the subject of culture changes that have been influenced by Taylor, it can be argued that Taylorism has led to gender differences. Women have been, at least they were, categorized into certain jobs; mainly clerical and secretarial. This may not be as true today with many high-powered businesswomen in the world but, especially in the 60s, this was true. Taylorism is scientific management but how scientific is it? In Websters book there is a case where a businessman complained about how slow his secretary worked and asked, How many times a minute should she be able to open and close a file drawer? The workers handbooks answer would be Exactly 25 times. Times for other open and close operations would be .04 minutes for opening and closing a folder, and .026 minutes for opening a standard centre desk drawer (Webster, J 1990). Another example of the scientific nature of Taylorism can be seen in UPS, the parcel company. Management have said that workers should walk at 3ft per second, packages should be carried under the left arm and that drivers should step into the van with their right foot first whilst holding the keys in the middle finger of the right hand. These are two classic and blatant time-and-motion pigeonholing that leads to the de-humanizing of the worker. This pigeonholing can be classically seen in some of todays big business, especially in fast-food chains. McDonalds, the most classically discussed example, where there is absolutely no autonomy for the worker; they have no option about what to do. Machines are set to cook quarter-pounders in 107 seconds and fries in 150 seconds. Guns exist that put exactly the same amount of sauce in each burger and fill the drinks to the right level. All the worker has to do is put it together and place in a bag. Even the bagging process is Taylorised; workers must place the goods in the bag in the correct order. Ritzer sees McDonalds as a paradigm of efficiency that has led to a consumer being able to go into any McDonalds in the world and expect the same service and the same product. This very tedious monotonous work has very little job satisfaction and so to keep the worker motivated McDonalds have used Taylors idea about incentives. McDonalds have a star system which rewards hard working individuals with stars. These stars are worn on the name badge to show the consumer that they are a noted worker. More importantly it develops a friendly rivalry within the store as workers compete to win stars. This leads to more productive and efficient workers. Some workers can take this to extremes however. A friend of mine started in McDonalds and almost straight away was working up to two hours overtime on closing shifts. He earned his stars very quickly as well as employee of the month two months in a row and within 8 months was promoted to floor manager. This is, in my view, a slightly extreme case as he is naturally a hard worker but shows how hard work is rewarded in McDonalds. The efficiency of McDonalds and its ability to retain workers has made it a very successful multinational company. Leidner argues in his book that the drive for efficiency within McDonalds has led to inefficiency for the consumer as it turns them into involuntary unpaid labour because they have to queue for the food, clear their own rubbish away etc. For McDonalds to be as efficient as it is, it must offer a very restricted menu so that deliveries and production can be streamlined. This leads to a loss for the consumer who can only expect a very small choice from McDonalds. In the beginning this may have been a problem but now people go to McDonalds and expect a burger, fries and a drink which are the same every time. Despite these critiques of Taylorism there are authors who believe that Taylorism is as relevant today as it ever was. Taksa argues in her 1992 article that Taylor and his ideas are still useful in resolving todays management issues especially as firms are larger these days. The limiting of verbal exchange due to written instructions means that the teaching mangers are also under as much control as the workers from the planning group (Taksa,1992). This is especially useful in the large firms of today where middle management can be very large and therefore they must be put under the same controls as the workers. Many firms however are extremely efficient and successful without adopting Taylorist methods. It can be argued that Taylorism is not suitable for every type of business. An example of this is Dixons, where I used to work, where if any type of technical control would greatly hinder the sales of goods and insurance. The salesperson must have the freedom to react to the customers situation and what they say. There would be no way of, for example, telling sales staff that this type of person must have this product or that the sale must be complete in x minutes. It would be impossible to implement as, unlike McDonalds, every customer is different with different needs and without talking these needs cannot be ascertained to result in the sale of a product. Even shops are individual, while common theme run from shop to shop, where products are placed and how they are displayed is up to the mangers discretion and not controlled by main management. So to conclude; Taylorism is a very restrictive practise which leads to the de-humanising of the worker and complete management control. However it is an extremely efficient and productive system. I would say that in certain business environments, like McDonalds, it is the only way to manage that would produce effective results. However nowadays individuals require job satisfaction out of their roles and to that end Taylorism is outdated as it allows no sort of autonomy and thus make working very dull. To that end I cannot conclude either way; Taylorism is very effective in the food sector where customers are indistinguishable from each other but would be highly ineffective once individuals needs must be catered for. Bibliography Braverman, H.: Labour And Monopoly Capital: The Degradation Of Work In The 20th Century, 1974. Monthly Review Press, NY Leidner, R: Fast Food, Fast Talk, 1993. University Of California Press Ritzer, G: The McDonaldisation Of Society, 1993. Pine Forge Press Taksa, L: Scientific Management: Technique Or Cultural Ideology?. Webster, J: Office Automation, 1990. Harvester Wheatsheaf

Unity3d Game On Android Platform Computer Science Essay

Unity3d Game On Android Platform Computer Science Essay Unity3D is a popular 3D game engine in recent years, which is particularly suitable for independent game developers and small teams. It is a cross-platform game development software which mainly comprises eight products such as the Unity, Unity Pro, Asset Server, iOS, iOS Pro, Android and Android Pro. Without writing complex codes, programmers can quickly develop a scene by using the visual integrated development environment of Unity3D. Unity3D has special tools in easily programming a game. For example, platform-related operations are encapsulated in its internal, the complex game object-relations are managed by different visual views, and JavaScript, C # or Boo scripting languages are applied to program a game. A script program will be automatically compiled into a .NET DLL file, so the three scripting languages, in essence, have the same performance, their execution speed is 20 times faster than traditional JavaScript. These script languages have good cross platform ability as well. That means developers can deploy games on different platforms such as Windows, Mac, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iPad, iPhone and Android. In addition, games can run on the Web by installing a plug-in. That means developers can deploy games on different platforms such as Windows, Mac, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iPad, iPhone and Android. In addition, games can run on the Web by installing a plug-in. There are many techniques for de veloping Unity3D game. These methods have some of the drawbacks. Analysis: This part summarizes existing method related to my research work on Unity3D game on Android platform. 1. Augmented Reality and Image Recognition Based Framework for Treasure Hunt Games (2012) Zsolt Balint, Botond Kiss, Beata Magyari and Karoly Simon introduced the new possibilities in game creation and customization [1]. They proposed the framework that supports the development of these types of games, and provides exciting new possibilities offered by virtually. The framework is based on client-server architecture and its complexity is relatively high, being composed by several subsystems. Client applications have been developed for the iOS and the Android mobile platforms. While playing, the checkpoints provided by the server are displayed on a map, and a proposed route is marked to help the user finding and reaching them. The Android client also uses the Mina framework for establishing the connection with the server. The communication between the server and the mobile client applications is based on the TCP/IP protocol .The main advantage of Mina is efficient concurrency handling. Thousands of client requests can be served at the same time, using a single execution thr ead on server-side. It is not necessary to perform expensive thread creation operations when new clients are connected. They proposed new software that consists of three subsystems: server, Android client and iOS client. The development of a new game requires the customization of some framework elements. A framework for the development of augmented reality- based adventure games for Android and iOS platforms has been proposed. Due to the software architecture, a high number of simultaneously connected clients can be served; the system can be easily maintained and upgraded. By customizing specific elements from the framework online treasure and scavenger hunt games can be easily created and published. The searched treasures are part of the augmented reality, in this way the cost of game creation is significantly reduced in contrast to games with real objects. Furthermore, augmented reality can serve with many other interesting solutions, allowing the transformation of scenes. For treasure localization image recognition methods are used. In this way objects can be localized more precisely, and the application can be used inside buildings. 2. A Study and Implementation of Graphics Engine on Android Platform (2012) Cuixia Ni, Guang Jin and Xianliang Jiang developed a new graphics engine [2]. They used testing environment is the Android and the testing tool is Android Virtual Device. This study can be divided into three modules. It includes text spirit module, animation module and auxiliary module. The text spirit is the text content that is displayed on the scene. Due to the improvement of games and high expectations from players, games scenes have transformed from static to dynamic. The players hope that the games scenes are dynamic and variable. In this paper, they used the timer, tiled textures and some basic transformation to realize those functions. Timer Handler Class sets a series of time for the events and triggers them at the given time. Physics Handler Class is the base of the movement effect. The functions are to make an animation according to the simple physical rules and the interaction effect more verisimilitude, which can give players a better experience. 3. An Innovative ICT Service Creation Approach based on IMS and Android Collaboration ( 2011) Chung-Shih Tang, Yi-Kai Chiang, Chin-Yuen Twu, Ying-Dian Tsou, and Gong-Da Fan proposed a typical network architecture including the IMS core network for voice communication and Android Apps network for application download and execution [3]. This paper describes the SIP Clients in Android CPEs register to the IMS Core, which is mainly composed of Home Subscriber Server (HSS) and S-CSCF, and communicates to each other through the IMS session control. The Android CPEs, at the same time, can download applications from any Android Apps market. Some applications are stand-alone and fully executed on local Android CPEs. Some others may need the Android CPEs to cooperate with their corresponding 3rd party AP Servers. An integrated ICT service creation platform is proposed and implemented by them to support the development of IMS-initiated collaborative Android applications. Based on the proposed approach, telecom operators not only operate and manage their own Android markets, but also mak e best use of the telecom services and thus increase their competitiveness. Introducing such an ICT service creation platform into IMS-based NGN is expected of great advantage. They described, significant effects at least include: (a) revenue gained from Android apps download and execution; (b) enhanced utilization of existing telecom resources; (c) adhesion degree improvement of telcos subscribers; (d) a new-style use case of integrated ICT Android apps; and finally (e) without large investment on an IMS based NGN. 4. Design and Implementation of the Game Engine based on Android Platform (2011) Wu Yan-hui Yao Xia-xia He-Jin proposed the game engine design which is need to analysis the operating mechanism of the game [8]. They took Android for example and analyzed the design principle that is behind the game engine on Android and executed the game engine whats going on it. From their programming understanding, they said that the game on Android platform has an activity class, a process control class, a game thread class and some others game objects. Activity is the basic execute unit of one game and it is responsible for control the life cycle of the game, such as, start the game, pause and exit from the game and so on. In this part of the paper the authors mentioned that a process control class provides switch way between multiple interfaces (such as the start screen, main menu, game scene, help information and so on), besides that the users can control the running of the game. Game thread class continuously cycle between events that may occur, calculates the game state and refresh the screen. The event that the game program deal with can be divided into two types: one is generated from hardware device (such as the keyboard is pressed), and the other type is produced by internal objects in game program (such as the collision between game objects). Game objects are the actual movement entity of the game. The authors also mentioned that the game objects need to define the corresponding pictures and actions to perform in the game. When special event occurs, game objects will execute corresponding action according to running logic of the game. In order to enhance the running effect of the game, the player, timer, labels and other components are often used in games. More complex games also can be divided into a number of units according to the game plot and each unit is regarded as a game scene. In order to improve the running efficiency of the game, they introduced JNI into the development of game engine. 5. Adaptive Classification and Strategy Making System for Android Soccer Games (2012) Ming-Yuan Shieh, Juing-Shian Chiou, Chun-I Ko proposed the signal processing procedures in an android robot soccer game [5]. While the game starts, the top view image sequences of the field captured by the global CCD camera firstly, then the objective features of the robots, the ball and the environmental objects such as the door will be determined after digital image processing procedures. These objective features will offer the strategy making subsystem decision making data for path planning, game strategy decision and movement control command determination. There are two necessary steps before the proposed image processing procedures. The one is to execute a global image indexing scan; it intends to determine the center locations of objects such as ball and robots. Another step is to perform another scan for local recognition of objects. It aims to distinguish what the object is the ball, or a mated robot, or an opponent. The visual subsystem in the proposed system mainly consists of a CCD camera, a frame grabber card, attached modules and digital image processing programs. The key goal is to determine objective parameters of every object in the game field such as the locations of the ball, the robots, the door and the sidelines. He describes the sequences of image processing procedures are used in the proposed visual subsystem. He implemented a vision based android robot soccer system in actual FIRA AndroSot game. A visual subsystem is designed for recognition of objective features based on an omni-directional vision system. The host computer accomplishes image processing, strategy making, control command decision, and offer appropriate commands to every android robot to kick ball, trace, or defense. Based on SOMNN scheme, the object segmentation is insensitive of variant illumination. The adaptive algorithm of background generation provides proper salient motion detections. 6. Research on Key Technologies Base Unity3D Game Engine (2012) Jingming XIE developed the component model which is applied in the Unity3D game and provides a scalable programming architecture [6].Unity3D has many predefined components. Programmers can combine some of them to create a featurerichGameObject. In game development, besides directly using GameObjects predefined in Unity3D, programmers can create an empty GameObject with the information about position, rotation and scale of an object, and then add scripts or other components into it. In order to facilitate the same type of game object management, Unity3D affords the Prefab that is a technology like a template. A Prefab can contain both objects and game resources such as 3D models. There are a number of scripts in a game. A script is a class controlling the behavior of a game, which should inherit a base class called MonoBehaviour. MonoBehaviour defines common event triggering methods. When a predefined event occurs, an appropriate method will be automatically executed. They used distri bution of four android classes in Unity3D are AndroidInput, AndroidJNIHelper, AndroidJNI, AndroidJavaObject. They had generated the Random NPCs using Dynamic Algorithm. NPC is the abbreviation of non-player character. That the number and location of NPCs are dynamically changed can keep players strong interesting on a game and extend the vitality of the game. NPCs can be designed by the difficulty and logic of a game, this algorithm can be called when some NPCs need to be created in a game. There are mainly two ways of firing bullets in game development. One is that a true 3D object is modeled by decorating a bullet with texture and color. This approach needs to control the flight path of a bullet and destroy the bullet when it is out of bounds. Another method is to use ray tracing technology. That the light collides with an object means a bullet hits the object. In order to get more realistic effects, cartridge cases are pop-upped or sparks are twinkled at the gunpoint when bullets are fired. Moreover, drawing light between the launch point and target point can more realistically simulate the firing of bullets. In a 3D shooting game, a sight is usually provided to players. Players can move a mouse to control it for firing. The principle of this technique is to place a graphic sight in the center of the screen. Moving the mouse is equal to move the camera, which will cause the illusion of the sight moving in the screen. In fact, the coordinates of the camera are real target coordinates in game codes. 7. Mobile Technology for Games and Augmented Reality (2011) Jon A Preston, Jeff Chastine proposed the object-oriented approach which is utilize more advanced game engines such as the Unity Pro engine [7]. The main objective of this paper is Students are quickly able to utilize these in their games to realize advanced games, and this drives a deeper understanding of the concepts. They utilized the Unity engine, which was also free but can be upgraded to a pro edition to deploy to mobile devices. Beyond traditional games as many would imagine, these technologies can be utilized in interesting ways that appeal to a broad audience. They described one such example in a mobile augmented reality smart book where the user can interact with virtual objects which show atop the real world via the phones camera. When the user flips a page of the book, the characters on the phone can change, move around, and also interact with objects on the page of the book. Such experiences can be useful to bring creativity to students as they design not only the comput ational aspect on the phone but also the artistic aspect within the book. The virtual character within the phone standing on top of a picture in the real world, and this captures the type of experience and knowledge. Given the ubiquity of mobile computing devices and their appeal to students and given the accessibility of modern game engines, students can benefit from working with Unity and the Qualcomm Augmented Reality Toolkit. 8. Implementing Gymkhanas with Android Smartphones, a Multimedia M-Learning Game (2011) Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona presented a design of a generic game (gymkhanas) using Android mobile phone technology [4]. The main advantage of their work is participants, web-based infrastructure for the organizers and web services that allows interaction between them. The main objective of their work is to simplify and increase the experience of the participants. They have presented this, a game where users, usually in teams, have to surpass one challenge after the other. These type of games can be used with learning purposes by focusing questions on the content to be learned, and also consider other type of learning such as cooperative working and geographic (or local, in the case of a city) knowledge. They have shown how this implementation of system using smartphones outperforms traditional system both in technical terms as well as in the human resources devoted to organizing and controlling such an event. Once the system has been installed, no complex technical kn owledge is required for organizers and participants: organizers may set-up and run a gymkhana using a simple web interface, while participants face a typical smartphone application environment to surpass challenges. Depending on the type of challenge, participants will make use of the technologies commonly found in smartphones, such as geopositioning and pictures. Additional features include instant messaging between participants and organizers and the possibility of using augmented reality. 9. A New Method of Virtual Reality Based on Unity3D (2010) Sa Wang, Zhengli Mao, Changhai Zeng, Huili Gong, Shanshan Li, Beibei Chen. Used Unity3D as the development platform for virtual reality [9]. They designed Browser-Server three-tier architecture VR-based framework which is including 3 layers: presentation layer, logic layer and data layer. They adopted the hierarchical approach of geographic information system and they divided the study area into four layers: Terrain layer, Building layer, Transport layer and Vegetation layer. Unity3D has a highly optimized graphics pipeline for both DirectX and OpenGL. During the process of creating a scene, works in Unity3D are as follows: Shading, Programming, Collision Detection, and Showing Information by GUI Control, Publishing and Integrating. Unity3D comes with 40 shaders ranging from the simple to advance. All the built-in shaders integrate perfectly with any type of light, with cookies or without. They described, in order to publish online; the virtual reality system is generated by the first kind: Web Player. The project generates the system by build settings in File. We can also generate other kinds of systems, such as Windows Standalone, if we choose this kind of build settings, there will be an executable file and can set up in users computers. So, the virtual reality system could be run in different purpose even different operation system. 10. PicoLife: A Computer Vision-based Gesture Recognition and 3D Gaming System for Android Mobile Devices (2011) Mahesh Babu Mariappan, Xiaohu Guo, Balakrishnan Prabhakaran developed PicoLife which is powered by two engines [10]. First one is a mobile optimized computer vision engine based on OpenCV that tracks the users hand in realtime. Second one is a 3D engine that runs their motion-capture guided 3D models, which make up the game characters. They described the object tracking and the 3D modeling processes involved in PicoLife. This paper describes three main implementations: a) the training procedures for Cascaded Haar Classifiers later for performing real-time object tracking efficiently on the mobile platforms. b) the procedure for real-time object tracking using Cascaded Haar Classifiers. For the purpose of tracking, they used the Haar training XML file that they obtained after training the Haar classifiers. Firstly, get the image from the live video sequence. Secondly, convert the image to grayscale using a call to the cvtcolor function. Thirdly, they improve the contrast of the image that is getting processed. c) the 3D modeling process that they used to create the game characters. To obtain realistic animation effects, they used motion capture equipment to accurately capture human motions in a 3D space. They gave the specific focus on (1) advanced mobile-optimized real-time object tracking engine for recognizing hand gestures for a novel vision-based gaming interface and (2) advanced motioncapture guided 3D modeling pipeline for creating the game characters. They benchmarked three different mobile platforms, namely, Texas Instruments OMAP3630 (Motorola Droid X running Android Gingerbread), Qualcomms MSM8660 Snapdragon (HTC Evo 3D running Android Gingerbread) and the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 (Blaze Development platform running Android Gingerbread) using four computer vision algorithms used in PicoLife (FAST, STAR, SURF, Cascaded Haar Classifiers) and our 3D models(static and dynamic). Conclusion: Unity3D is not only applicable for game development, but it can also be used to develop applications in real world. If we want to develop some special functions of the scenes in a simple way, we can use the script or editor of unity3d. The most powerful editor is Visual Studio; the scenes in Untiy3D can also be compiled with Visual Studio by adding UnityEngine.dll. C. The affinity of the development language makes the existing mobile applications easily transplanted to Android platform. At the same time, Android is a Linux-based system, the large number of open source application library included in Linux can be used to develop abundant applications. Based on the Linux kernel, Android provides a variety of available library and a complete application framework. Android owns Apache copyright, and also provides Google-made Dalvik virtual machine to run applications. The Platform of Android with Unity3D Game can shorten the development cycle significantly. The combination of Unity3D and Android is efficient, user-friendly interface, and provide more parameters to be customized, so that new users can use this game better to play and quickly.

Qualified Employees In Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

Qualified Employees In Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay The need of qualified employees in hospitality industry, their commitment to service quality and to what extent it impacts customer satisfaction is not any more a matter of question; it is an important issue that concerns not only hospitality management education in Bulgaria but it is recognized all over the world. The industry suffers from high turnover (Mehra, 2006) which directly reflects to the product and service quality offered (Pizam and Thornburg, 2000) and respectively to low revenues and profits (Tracey and Hinkin, 2008).Furthermore, problems occur in graduates perception of future career in hospitality industry due to disappointment of the work experience they gain during their mandatory practices in this industry which decrease their willingness for further professional development in this field (Waryszak, 1999; Jenkins, 2001).The gabs in hospitality management education system is an important issue of serious concern and represents a huge interest among researchers and a cademics. According Mr. Ilian Ilchev a manager of Vocational Training Center (VTC) Bourgas who is responsible of the training of cadres in hospitality industry, Bulgarian tourism sector faces serious problems finding qualified employees in this field. Most of the students in Bulgarian universities and colleges offer low quality of education. There is no interaction between the practice in tourism sector and the higher education offered in Bulgarian schools. Moreover, after graduation students are not attracted from the low payment in this sector, and the inability to start career on managerial level is from great disappointment for them. As far as the education of hospitality management is concerned, there is a need to classify the supply side of the Bulgarian education. The institutions that provide tertiary education in Bulgaria are separated into two types: universities with duration of study from four to six year, depending on the object of study which offer bachelor and master degree, and colleges with duration of study three years offering professional bachelor degree. There is existence of Private Professional Colleges (PPC) with duration of study two years offering certificate for professional qualification which are 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree (National Statistic Institute) and so called Vocational Training Centers (VTC) which are working at the same principle as PPC and offer the same levels of professional qualification. The difference between them is that PPC give opportunity for the student to continue their education for professional bachelor/bachelor degree in its partner Bulgarian university or colle ge but VTC on the other hand is considered to be not only for students but for everyone that wants to acquire craft knowledge in particular field. There is small percentage of private colleges which are part from any statistic that offer courses based on educational programmes similar to foreign colleges that suits the students needs in particular industry. The period of study in these colleges is from two to three years and after completing the course, student can continue their education in university abroad. Most of the courses are franchised and validated by the foreign college or university and the majority of them are based in Nederland, Great Britain, Norway etc. However, the degree awarded by their Bulgarian college or university partner is not acknowledged by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education. Here comes the question how effective is the education offered from these institutions connected with hospitality industry and how many of them produce qualified employees and leade rs that could suits the needs of this industry? According to Jenner, 1992 and Sneed Heiman, 1995 the concern for a good quality of education in tourism sector should be equally high for both government and hospitality and tourism industry. Bulgarian government does not subsidize the colleges that offer higher education in hospitality management and very few hotels do have clear structured training system. The limitation of Master and doctoral programs in this field in Bulgarian universities with specialization in hospitality is an obstacle for development of further academic resources and researches which could be in favor for the progress of these programs. Furthermore, courses such as Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Marketing Management, Corporate Finance etc. which are essential for the hospitality education do not exist in Bulgarian State universities. Such courses are recognized in the Bulgarian colleges which are affiliated by foreign universities but from financial p oint of view, not every student can afford it. Unfortunately, such gaps in the hospitality education are not rare phenomena in other countries such as India that faces the same problems (Jauhari V.2006). A serious issue of concern in Bulgaria is connected with the jobs opportunities that the Bulgarian students have after graduation. It is generally known that the aim of the higher education is to prepare qualified cadres which are able to find a realization on the labor market. The quality of education is a leading factor that influences students opportunities of finding the most suitable job placement according to the acquired qualification (Georgieva Y., Kalinov K. 2005).Unfortunately, in Bulgaria it is a well known fact that the students find difficulties to find job in the sphere of their higher education and most of them start working something which is totally different or similar to what they have studied in the university, mostly at minimum wage rates.Moreover,the number of graduates in hospitality industry exceed the number of available managerial positions on the labor market, something that happens in India as well and that leads to : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦mismatch of supply and demand of certain skills in hospitality industry (Jauhari V.2006). According to Zhang and Wu (2004), China faces the same difficulties in hospitality industry, namely: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦lack of qualified staff at both operational and managerial level, high staff turnover rates, unwillingness of university graduates to enter industry, gap between what is taught in school and college and realities of the industry itself In most cases, it leads to job dissatisfaction, low productivity and respectively to low quality of service. Researchers have found that there is absence of positive and strong interaction between job satisfaction and education (Gordon, 1975; Weaver, 1978). One of the assumptions is that the students with higher education expect their work during the years to be rewarded and when their expectations are not met it easily leads to dissatisfaction of the job position (Wright and Hamilton, 1979).However, a recent statistic shows that the number of people who mostly leave the country are young people between 25-29 years old (NSI). This means that higher educated or not, young people in Bulgaria prefer to work and to look for a better career opportunities abroad instead of develop their skills at home which directly reflects on the different branches of the Bulgarian economy, namely to operate with young and qualified cadres. It is a reasonable explanation why Bulgarian hospitality industr y desperately has a need of qualified employees and managers who can offer good quality of service and ability to compete with other popular hospitality industries such as Turkey, Greece, Malta etc. The good quality of higher education in hospitality management plays crucial role of providing the tourism market with well trained, skilled and educated managers, but on the other side, frontline employees are those who has direct contact with the customers, and the quality of service provided by them is essential for the success of any organization within the hospitality industry (Chang, 2006).Customer service is viewed as customer perception of what he/she had experienced and remembered (Beaujean, Davidson, and Madge, 2006; Bymes,(2005). Most of the time, when a customer leaves a hotel or a restaurant dissatisfied from the received service, it forms immediately a negative perception (Bymes, 2005).Thats why, it is essential and not fully recognized in Bulgarian hospitality industry that the successful organizations are those that perceive customer service as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the starting point and ending point for any effective account relationship in which the key to success is clear thinking about what it feels like to walk in the customers shoes (Bymes, J., 2005). Employees commitment to service quality is also an important factor that contributes for a strong organizational performance. Organizations with high commitment among subordinates could only benefit from it with lower turnover and comparatively higher motivated employees. It is important for every company to know how to motivate its employees and to create better relation between customers and frontline employees. It is considered as a step ahead of creating a sustainable customer service (Cadwallader, S., Jarvis, C, Bitner, M., and Ostrom, A., 2009; Spector and McCarthy, 1996). It is also assumed that committed employees are more likely to provide customers with better quality of service (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry, 1990).According to Kini and Hobson (2002) the good quality of service entirely depends on: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦employees commitment, satisfaction, involvement, and morale. In hospitality industry in Bulgaria is very difficult to be found such employees. Frontline employees are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦typically underpaid, undertrained, overworked and highly stressed (Hartline and Ferrell, 1993), a statement which apply pretty much to the Bulgarian hospitality employees working environment. It concerns mostly the seasonal workforce in Bulgarian winter and summer resorts where people work almost at minimum wage, in most cases relying on tips or small percentage of their daily profit. Hotel and restaurant employees are occupied ten-twelve hours per day, sometimes even more, depends on how busy is within the organization. Furthermore, a common practice is working without days off which easily contribute for stressful working environment, a topical issue that contributes to low quality of service (Ross F. G 1995).All these factors reflect negatively on employee satisfaction, productivity and loyalty to the organization and respectively to customer satisfaction and pr ofitability. The link between frontline employees satisfaction, loyalty, productivity, customer satisfaction and companys profitability is well depicted in so called Service profit chain (Heskett, Sasser Schlesinger, 1997); illustrated in Figure.1.According to Crowford, A. and Hubbard, S. (2007), in the Service profit chain: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is a link between employee satisfaction and the service concept, directly impacting customer satisfaction. This impact affects customer loyalty, which in turn influences revenue growth. Lastly, revenue growth extends back to the beginning influencing the internal service of the organization. Understanding an employees level of satisfaction, commitment, involvement, and self-esteem gives managers and strategists means to create a favorable environment where the links in the service profit chain work to the advantage of the service provider. Employees satisfaction and commitment as a starting point in Service profit chain, impacting the delivery of good quality of service and companys profitability, are major components that absence in many Bulgarian hospitality organizations. The results are higher turnover among frontline employees and managers due to the lack of quality of work life (QWL), a topical issue of great interest among researchers and academics. The delivery of good service highly depends on QWL provided by the hospitality organization, mainly when employees needs and expectations are met, so that they are motivated to work in companys favor (Kanungo, 1982 and Efraty Sirgy, 1990) or in other words through better QWL there is a significant improvement of employees productivity, performance and service quality (Havlovic, 1991).A recent research made to investigate employees expectations of QWL (Kandasamy,I, I. Sreekumar, A., 2009) indicates that during a conversation with the employees from three different h otels, they show willingness to participate, when provided, in companys service training programs which could be a good chance for them to enhance their skills. According to Rousseau (1995), in most cases, employees even expect their company to provide training programs as an opportunity for further career development: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in exchange for the employees time, effort, and skill Tourism industry in Bulgaria supported by the government and orientated in the mainstream of mass tourism, entirely depends on its seasonal workforce. Practices such as service training almost do not exist in Bulgarian winter and summer resorts because of its seasonality, where the percentage of five and four stars hotels grow dramatically in the last couple of years. As Mr.Lubomir Popiordanov, Chair of the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism (BAAT) pointed out Bulgarian mass tourism is mainly connected with quantity instead of quality and it lacks in added value (Sofia News Agency).Most of the hotel owners are mainly focused finding ways to be fully booked during the whole season instead of improving the quality of service through training programs. It is not yet recognized that through such programs frontline employees could work much more effectively when dealing with customers complaints which on the other side makes feel them satisfied with their job (Babakus et al., 2 003; Schneider Bowen, 1995; Tax Brown, 1998).Some other research papers support the thesis that organizations that invest money in service training programs are more capable to keep its employees within the company, makes them feel happy at the workplace and committed to the firms values(Babakus et al., 2003; Lee, Park, Yoo, 1999; Sweetman,2001; Tsui, Pearce, Porter, Tripoli, 1997). Other approach of keeping frontline employees committed to the organization, providing better quality of service is through companys reward system. George and Gronroos (1989) also suggest that rewarding service employees periodically ensure their commitment to service quality. Similar to the training programs, reward systems and policies are very important for motivating employees when dealing with customers complaints. The fact that companys reward structure contributes for employees satisfaction at the workplace and impacts their organizational commitment is so far supported by many service literature studies (Bowen, Gilliland, Folger, 1999; Brown Peterson, 1993; Farrell Rusbult, 1981; Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser, Schlesinger, 1994; Lawler, 2000).For the Bulgarian hospitality industry a clear structured reward system could be in favor of reducing employees turnover and to encourage more qualified cadres to enter this sector. Most industry researchers agreed that employees commitment to service quality is highly influenced by managers commitment to service quality and the way they demonstrate it (Bowen and Schneider 1985; Hartline and Ferrell 1996; Mohr-Jackson 1993; Babakus et al. 2003). As it was mentioned before the higher education is from significant importance in hospitality industry in order to generate leaders capable to show their subordinates motivation, skills, confidence and flexibility which could positively affect employees behavior towards the delivering of a better quality of service. Managerial coaching is considered as an appropriate tool of providing employees with support mainly connected with their knowledge, skills and performance within the organization. This method embrace approximately the same goals concerning employees further skill development at the workplace as training ,but coaching is presented in more informal way. It represents the ability of the managers to create sustai nable correlation between employees and supervisors so that their everyday activities and experiences are synchronized and able to became an object of learning (Phillips 1994).Coaches is design to demonstrate employees the best way of doing their job when dealing with customers. It gives employees an idea of their opportunities, and how to perform better using new and different approaches.Furthermore, through coaches employees are provided with regular feedback which aims to get the best of its employees and to show them that their work is appreciated. Bulgarian hospitality industry has a lot to learn concerning the education provided, aiming to attract qualified cadres to work in this field and their ability to be committed to service quality. It is so far recognized internationally that qualified employees who are satisfied with their job are more committed to the service quality which directly affect customer satisfaction of the received service attitude. Having in mind that todays world economy is 70 percent service based, more and more academics and people working in this sphere are looking for a way to design companies that are able to provide the best service to its clients (Schneider White, 2004). The importance of improving the quality of service is the main driver for companys successful retention of customers (Gustafsson, A., Johnson, M., Roos, I., 2005).At operational level service employees are those who creates the connection between the customers and the organization and most importantly through them and their perso nal contribution to deliver proper service, managers are aiming to attract and impress customers (Chase, 1981; Heskett et al., 1994; Oliva and Sterman, 2001), and respectively to satisfy them. Thus, managers commitment to service quality has indirect impact on customers satisfaction (Subroto, B. Natalisa, D., 2003).Even that managers also contributes for the delivering of excellent service, frontline employees are from great importance when the target is better productivity performance and gratifying customers needs (Yee,R., Yeung,A., Cheng,T.C,2008). Service quality in the modern hospitality industry is a crucial factor in creating long-term relationship between organizations and customers and to make them feel satisfied (Martin, 1986; Croby et al., 1990; Tornow and Wiley, 1991; Tsa, 1994).Many researchers have argued that there is significant correlation between customer satisfaction and service quality (Roth and Van Der Velde, 1991; Roth and Jackson, 1995).Other studies in service marketing have suggested that customer satisfaction is in emotional reply of a particular experience connected with provided service( Westbrook and Reilly (1983).According to Yoon and Suh (2003), the excellent service highly depends on employees because when they are satisfied with their job and motivated, it is more likely to deliver better services and to give more from themselves. Other research papers prove that loyalty among employees contributes for higher levels of service delivering (Loveman, 1998; Silvestro and Cross, 2000).Employees which ar e able to provide service quality are considered much more capable to solve problems easily and in proper manner which positively affects customers perception of the provided service. Bulgarian hospitality industry needs serious improvements connected with the service attitude toward customers and radical changes in employees working environment, in order to work in full capacity. Successful tourism or hospitality business could not operate without satisfied guests and subordinates (Gursoy and Swanger, 2007). As pointed out in The Service Profit Chain: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦providing employees with a superior internal working environment is likely to lead to satisfied employees who are both loyal to the organization and able to provide the customer with an excellent service experience. Customers will recognize and value the outstanding service offered to them. (Heskett et al., 1994, 1997). However, several studies indicate that employees satisfaction plays crucial role in achieving companys financial aims (Koys, 2003), which means that when a company make an affords to take care for its employees, they will do the same in return for companys customers. This care could be express through better payment, reward practiced, training and managerial coaching and not at the end, through companys ability to make feel its employees secure (Gursoy and Swanger, 2007; Koys, 2003; Schneider, 1991). Customers loyalty and satisfaction are supposed to be contributory factor for customer profitability. The relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability is considered as fundamental marketing concept which means that the companys goal is to pursue customers needs, wants and wishes (Helgesen.O, 2006).When all this consumers factors are met, customers are satisfied from what they receive, the company is pleased having a long-term financial returns on business. Customers who are highly satisfied are considered to use one and the same products and services more frequently and respectively to stay loyal to the company that provides them (Anderson et al., 1994; Gronholdt et al., 2000).Customers loyalty is an important factor in hospitality industry that contributes for consumer reuse of a certain product or service which positively increase companys profitability. Moreover, satisfied customers are much less price sensitive and they are willing to pay even at high price (Ander son et al., 1994) which directly affects companys economic performance. Satisfaction among customers reflects in positive way on organizations overall reputation which on the other side could be a premise of creating strong relationship with important distributors and suppliers. From what was mentioned so far it becomes obvious that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦customer satisfaction generates more future sales, reduces price elasticity, and increases the reputation of the firm. (Yee, R., Yeung, A., Cheng, T.C, 2008). All of the mentioned sources and publications speak of the aspects that Bulgarian hospitality needs to focus in order to function successfully, to develop and to be competitive on the market.