Air Jet Best Parts Inc Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Air Jet Best Parts Inc - Coursework Example The reason for it is the lower effective annual rate which Regions Best as offered the company. Their EAR is fifty basis point lower than National First which is a substantial ground to make this decision. When the coupon rate increases, the yield to maturity will rise. The bond will be attractive for the investors which will push the demand for bond upwards and the price of the bond will rise. This will result in decreasing yield to maturity to the point that it matches your required rate of return. When the YTM decreases, the investors will not find it lucrative to hold the bond as their required rate of return would be higher than the YTM. This will lead to increased supply of the bond which will eventually result in decreasing prices. When the date to maturity increases then the maturity risk is subsequently increased. This will increase an investor’s required rate of return for an investor. Therefore, it will result in a decrease in the price of the bond to push YTM up and match the increased required rate of return. Bond prices are depended on the interest rate prevalent during the period. An investor’s required rate of return is dependent on the interest rate level during the period. Bond prices are inversely proportional to the interest rates. As interest rate rises, the bond prices will fall and vice versa. For Greece, the interest rate is high in that region which has pushed the required rate of return higher and subsequently decreased the yield to maturity. In order to match the required rate of return, the bond prices should be low. On the other hand, Germany has kept their interest rates lower in comparison to Greece. This has reserved the investor’s to demand a lower return for their investment. The lower required rate of return pushes the yield to maturity upwards and hence, the bond prices will surge in that

The Importance of Ethics to Sustainable Growth in Engineering Research Paper - 1

The Importance of Ethics to Sustainable Growth in Engineering Enterprise - Research Paper Example Findings reveal that China’s rules and regulations related to ethical standards are not implemented strictly but it has given more importance to CSR programmes. UK on the other hand has ignored CSR programmes but is successful in incorporating various employee training programmes. While UK companies apply technology to monitor whether ethics are practised in the workplace, Chinese companies use compliance programmes. Theft of asset is a serious problem in UK while the problem of deficiency of stringent laws causes lack of ethical practices in workplace. Chief CSR officer is given the responsibility of making profit making decisions and monitoring ethical standards. The green officer along with board members takes the authoritative decisions in the company. Employees both in UK and China want ethical code of conducts in the office. However, Chinese employees believe that small firms are unable to properly implement ethics in the workplace. According to Daft (2012), data analysis is a process of evaluating the study on the basis of findings and literature review. The project is primarily based on secondary data accompanied by the interview conducted on six Chinese Engineering Companies. The secondary data is collected from journals and books of eminent authors. The primary data in the form of questionnaire survey aims at providing knowledge regarding the existing conditions of the company’s policies and the perspectives of the employees about ethical standards. Since work culture in UK represents the work environment in western companies and China represents eastern work culture, wide contrasts are noted in the study. It has been observed in the UK that titles like â€Å"chartered engineer†, â€Å"engineering technicians†, â€Å"information and communications technology technicians† and â€Å"incorporated engineer† are granted by the Engineering Council UK (Basart, Farrà ºs and Serra, 2015). The incorporated engineers of UK are

Investigating the effects of heat treatment on metals Essay Example for Free

Investigating the effects of heat treatment on metals Essay Metals have various uses in a wide range of industry, where the properties of each metal determine what the metal will be used for. When a metal properties need to be changed to satisfy particular needs, it can be modified by processing the metals with treatments such as cold working and heat treatments. Structure of metals Metals are made from their ore, at extremely high temperature. In this form, metals are in a liquid form. The liquid metals are cast by pouring it into moulds where it is cools down and solidifies. When metals are frozen, crystals start forming. These crystals begin to form throughout the metal, where they keep they keep rapidly growing until they reach a neighboring growing crystal structure. These crystals are called grains, where crystals that meet with one another are called grain boundary. Dislocation Dislocation are formed when defects are found in the crystal structures. This is often caused by when atoms are missing in a layer, This is shown in figure one. Secondly, the metal trip should be placed on top of the hottest part of bunsen burner. The metal should be kept there until is is seen glowing red. Once the metal has gone red, it should immediately be plunged into the previously filled beaker in step 1. Lastly swirl the beaker vigorously for thirty seconds. Tempering With any metal strip that has been quenched, place the strip unto a bunsen flamer until the metal strip goes a dull red. Once the metal has gone dull red, slowly remove the metal from the bunsen flame and pace on a heat proof mat, where it should be left to cool to room temperature. Annealing Firstly, heat metal strip for five minutes on the hottest part of bunsen flame. the whole length should of the strip metal should be heated. Next, half close the bunsen flame and continue heating the metal on the non luminous flame. When a minute or two has passed, starting moving the metal strip in and out of the flame, top start cooling down the metal. After a couple of minutes, remove the strip from the flame and place it on a heat proof mat, where it can cool to room temperature. Cold working Once the metal has been cooled down, a marker should be made 30mm from the tip of the metal suing a felt tip pen. The shorter end of the metal strip should then be put in between two wooden blocks(the marker line should still be visible). The wooden blocks should be clamped firmly on the table or bench to keep the two blocks in place. With leather gloves, bend the metal strip through 90 degrees where the strip is lying alongside the wooden block ( shown in picture B). The metal should be bending where the marker was made. Now the metal should be bent 180 degrees from its position, this is shown in picture C. This in total counts as two bends. To conclude, the strongest metal in the cold working was steel where it snapped after 44 bends. This changed when the metals where quenched, copper showed the most significant change, where the metal bent 64 times before snapping; indicating an increase in strength of copper. Significant changes was also present in aluminum. Quenching on the other hand had very little affect on steel, as the data shows that steel bent 43, slight decrease compared to cold working where the steel bent on average 44 times. Overall the most affected by quenching was copper, followed closely by aluminum, with the lowest being aluminum which has broke on average after 42 bends. In annealing, copper by far was the strongest metal where the average number of bends was 75. Aluminum and steel however, only bent 32 and 35 times, respectively. This shows that annealing heat treatment does little in increasing the strength of steel and aluminum. The heat treatment tempering, managed to increase the strength of copper and aluminum by a large margin, compared to the other two treatments. This indicates that tempering may be the best heat treatment due to it making copper bend on average 84 times and aluminum 64 times, which are the highest average for both metals. The strength of steel on the other hand decreased under tempering. Generally, aluminum showed the most changes on all three treatment, with tempering having the most effect. Copper strength also increased under all heat treatment, with it also showing the most significant change under tempering. Steel however, was either unaffected or decreased under all heat treatments, this may due to experimental errors Evaluation The procedure for each metal on the table above was repeated three times, to ensure that the experiment was reliable. New strips of metals were used for each new treatment to ensure that the accuracy of the results is not changed. In addition, the length was each metal was made the same, to make the results valid. The metals also needs to be bent as close to the strip as possible, as bending the strips to far may cause the metal to bend quicker, affecting the accuracy of the results.

Global Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism

Global Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism According to the authors research, the basic summary of this report is that Accor is one of the leading hotel brands in the hospitality market with more than 4,000 hotels world wide. The Accor is the brand name for various hotels such as Sofitel, Novotel, Motel 6, Studio 6, Red Roof Inn, Ibis, Etap, and Formula1. For the expansion of the business in the global market, the Accor group of hotels are continuously concentrating for the expansion of the new properties in various emerging countries like China, India where the rate of tourism has been increasing at a tremendous rate and help to improve the economic structure of the country. The following report will outline the overall information about the companys global brand, strategies, global competitors, its promotion strategies etc. The report also focuses on the total global operations of the company that how its doing the promotion of its brands in UK as well as in India. The Accor brand have to organise their strategy very carefu lly as they have huge competitors in the market. Accor brand have different segment market hotel like Budget, economical, midscale upscale. INTRODUCTION Paris-based Accor is Europes leading hospitality group with almost 4,000 hotels in 85 countries around the world. In 1967 Gà ©rard Pelisson and Paul Dubrule opened their first Novotel hotel on a roadside near Lille in northern France. Accor provides hotels in every range, from the five-star Sofitel chain to budget-priced Formule 1, Etap, and Ibis in Europe, Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns in the United States, and midrange Novotel and Mercure in Europe and the Asia/Pacific region. In addition to its hotel properties, Accor also provides its worldwide customer base with foodservices (restaurants and employee vouchers), casinos, and onboard railway services (sleeping berths and dining) (www.accor.com/history.html).The Accor group primarily operates a chain of hotels and also provides corporate service. The group has a global presence and has properties worldwide. The Accor brand manages 899 hotels in Europe (excluding France) with 53 Sofitel, 161 Novotel, 270 Mercure, 6 Suite hotels, 278 Ib is, 85 Etap Hotels, 44 Formule 1 with 39,000 employees. All hotels have a different rating according to their standard and services under Accor. Accor hotel has a rich history started its first hotel in 1967 and now managing more than 4000 hotels world wide with different brand names. Sofitel: Sofitel hotel operates worlds leading business in the upper scale market. The Sofitel hotels consist of 185 hotels worldwide with leading competitors for the 5 star rating hotels in the market. Novotel: The Novotel hotels comes under mid scale rating brand in the market with 398 hotels world wide and mostly business depends on the business travelers. Mercure: The Mercure hotel includes several other brands such as Libertel, Parthenon, Orbis hotels. The Mercure brand consists of 736 hotels worldwide. Suite hotels: Suite hotels were introduced in the year 1999 with a very new concept of attracting price conscious customers with better services. Currently, the Suite hotels consist of 30 properties with in France, Germany. Ibis: The Ibis hotels comprise of 720 properties world wide providing excellent services to their customers and most of the Ibis hotels are located in the centre of the city. Redroof: The Redroof consists of 344 properties with in the United States and have the economy rating image in the market in terms of excellence in services in the hospitality market. Motel 6: Motel 6 offers the best price of any national chain .In the year 1962, the Motel 6 were offering there accommodation at a very low price of $6 per night and now a days have a great image in the budget segment in the hospitality sector. The Motel 6 operates 862 hotels in the United states and Canada ( www. motel6.com) Etap: The Etap brand operates 331 hotels worldwide. Etap hotels are basically known for there economy accommodations (www.accor.com). Accor focuses repeatedly on a specific vision for growth, and believes in sustainable, profitable growth through three pillars: A geographically and structurally balanced business portfolio. A disciplined, result oriented management of resources and assets. A set of powerful aligned brands. These pillars stood throughout Accors network expansion and continue to guide Accors growth. Accor also adjusted its strategy for moving into India in late 2002. While entering into the Indian market they decided to focus on the brands such as Ibis, Formule 1 and Etap brands in the markets through a joint venture. The basic rationale for introducing small brands into India was to see the response of the people in Indian market that whether they prefer budget hotels or they would like to go with big brands such as Sofitel, Novotel and then depending on these tests Accor determined to fully enter the Indian market (www.accorcompanyhistory.mht.com). MAIN BODY History of the chosen brand (Sofitel) Accor Group:- The first Sofitel hotel was opened in France in 1964. In 1974 Sofitel did grand opening of their hotel in U.S.A. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Till the year 1995 it included 100 hotels with, 12,500 employees throughout 40 countries worldwide. In 2002 it did major International expansion, Sofitel opens its doors in Europe (London, Marseille, Cologne) Africa (Marrakech) North America (Chicago, Washington, Montreal)South America (Quito) and Asia (Shanghai, Bangkok) (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.shtml). The company undertook extensive renovation work at several establishments, in 2006 including Los Angeles the signature Sofitel hotel in the United States, and Polynesia and continued expanding in Europe. Sofitel brand awareness of continually increasing 10 of its hotels made the Gold list of the prestigious Condà © Nast Traveller magazine, and it was voted Best Hotel Chain in Europe by the readers of Business Traveller Magazine. Sofitel became an independent business unit last year (2008) w ithin the Accor group and implemented its new luxury strategy on its network. With a network comprised of 161 hotels in 2008, Sofitel has received 23 awards since January. By the end of the year, 70 properties were brought in line with the brands new prestige image. In 2009 Sofitel launched its two sister brands, Sofitel Legend and So by Sofitel (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.shtml). Rationale for selected country: As Emerging Markets turn into the growth engines of the 21st century, slower growth at home has led investors and hotel companies to pursue aggressive expansion abroad as they look to capture new customers and grow winning global brands. At time when most companies are trading carefully, Accor Hospitality is showing confidence in the Indian market by its continued investments in Indian projects whereas freezing those in China until 2011. As Jean-Michel Casse, VP India Operations for the group talked about its assured investments and developments in India. India market is unpredictable, yet there is a strong hope of demand increases this year because in 2010 the Commonwealth games are taking place in Indian in New Delhi. Accor hotels group is investing in India through a joint venture with Inter Globe Hotels, for Ibis hotel brand in India. The products developing in India are much more advanced than its existing European properties and the Accor group is putting best efforts in devel oping them. The short term target for the company is to have 30 hotels under its operations, under different brands by 2011. Accor has also successfully bid for two sites at Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) proposed hotel district development, for which market feasibility study is being carried out to identify the right brand positioning. The company is opening Sofitel Mumbai (which is the main business hub of the country as well as house of the Bollywood or Indian film industry) Juhu Beach. This will be third property in the country, after Novotel Hyderabad Airport and Novotel Hyderabad. On the other hand, the group is also progressing with its budget brand Formule1. The group committed to open nine Formule1 developments in cities including one in Thiruvananthapuram (most tourist visited city in Kerala) and targeting to add 10 new deals each year for this brand as the business will grow. The first Formule1 brand will be operational by the second half of 2010 in Pune (the famous city for best engineering colleges), Bangalore (garden city of India) and Ahmedabad. Accor Hospitality also brought its mid scale Mercure brand to India.. (http://www.expresshospitality.com/20090630/market07.shtml) On managing its properties in India, Accor has taken a decision to train managers for top positions from within to address the groups stringent brand philosophy and strategy need in India, looking at future demand for manpower. Their different brands have different approach. They look at empowering skills to remove layers, for example, in Ibis and for Novotel, Mercure and Formule1, just cannot take anybody who doesnt understand their brand structure. To inculcate that understanding, the group plan to conduct training for employees of the hotels so that they can be trained to manage properties as they expand, in future. The group has already planned for a training university Accor Academy, to be opened in 2010 and would be established with possible partnership along with an Indian hotel management institute. The group is taking this step to get more Indians for the management level by first getting them trained, positioning them in the European market and bring them back to manage pro perties in India. The Accor Academy will be established in Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Delhi, depending on the volume of employees (http://www.expresshospitality.com/20090630/market07.shtml) According to the (Keegan1995) global marketing is the process of focusing on the resources (people, management and physical assets) and the objectives of an organization on its global markets opportunities and threats. Today global marketing is essential not only for the realization of the full success potential of the business, but even more critically for the survival of the business. Key drivers for the global marketing:- Market needs: According to Keegan (1995) this is the factor that generally focuses the company to operate globally by seeing overall marketing needs like what customer demands. Every human has its own preferences and due to which demand for everyone differs. Company before going globally should first target the market needs as to see what kind of product will be useful to the customer. According to the selected company (Sofitel) and the chosen country (India) should introduce the product which is affordable to everyone in the market so as to capture the good market share. For this company should first target that what kind of customers it is going to provide the services. Market needs in context to hospitality industry means that what kind of facilities the hotel is providing. Accor group of hotels have different brands operating under it. So every brand has its own target market and different strategies. Generally, customer demands when they travel a good comfortable place to stay, quality food and leisure activities or facilities. So the hotel should first analyse its target market, that what kind of customers, it is going to provide its facilities and services. Doing analyses on the market needs helps the company to compete globally with its other competitors. Some basic segment needs can be met with a global approach in selected product markets. The advertising campaign for a global product may be a good appeal for a company to introduce its product all over the world and also meeting the market needs (Keegan 1995). Technology: It is a universal, uniform, consistent factor across national and cultural boundaries. If a company knows how to manage the technology in one country it becomes easier for the company to manage globally. There are no cultural boundaries limiting the application of technology. Once, technology develops it becomes available everywhere in the world. For the chosen company for this report it is necessary to develop its technology accordingly by considering both the markets UK as well as India. It should do so, to make its product familiar everywhere (Jobber, 2001 Anderson, 1994). Cost: The pressure for globalisation is intense as new products involve major investments and long period of development. Uniformity can drive down research, engineering, design and production cost across business functions. The large cost incurred on new products and risk of product development may be recovered in the global market place as no single market is enough to support investment of the size. Quality: The quality of the product reflects the intended function and performance of the product in the market. Quality of the product which a global company offers to the market is the main driver which forces the company to operate globally. If, the response of the product quality is good in one country, than company may seek to open or become global by providing the same level of product quality to other global markets, so as to sustain in the global market. As Sofitel, which in high category is the most preferred brand of the Accor group of hotels for the customers, is due to its product similarity and quality which it provides to the guest (Hennesey1995 Keegan 1995). Brands Global Competitors: As Sofitel hotel comes under upscale star category so the competitors of this brand in hospitality industry are mainly Grand Hyatt (Hyatt group), Taj hotels, the Oberois, Radisson, Crown plaza, Shangri-la. Due to such high range of competitors Sofitel is providing good services to its guests so as to get good revenue from its customers. In order to compete in the market it is opening its 5 new hotels in India (Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Jaipur Pink City, and New Delhi). Keeping in mind the current scenario of business environment that is recession the hotel should also keep an eye on its price .Due to recession, customers now seek quality service at low price(e.g.: Holiday Inn brand has been relaunched with upgrading its services and this is done in time of recession so that it gets attraction from the customers to get good business) so in order to get in stand with their competitors it should introduce some good price to the market and try to provide good level of services as it is already providing but at a affordable rate. Sofitel believes it is essential to contribute to their development and well-being, which includes employment and training, contributing to health, local purchasing and, in general, any measure that contributes to local social and economic development. The quality of their local roots also depends on the ability to protect the natural environment. So the employees look for new ways every day to use less water and less energy, to reduce waste. Since, from the opening of the first Sofitel in France in 1964, team members have been driven by a pioneering spirit of conquest. A key to their success, this attitude has over the years shaped the brands culture, which is the cement that binds their team members while respecting difference in their ages, cultures and positions within the organization (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.html). Cultural issues which may affect the companys operation: Language differences: this is problem concerning towards the different languages spoken in different countries. So, company operating globally should take care and respect the languages of different countries. The trade names, brands slogans, sales presentation material and advertising content used by companies in their domestic market may have to be changed when used in other foreign market. A slogan or advertising material which is effective in one language may mean offensive in other language. Companies while advertising or marketing their brand should see that translation is accurate and must convey similar meaning (Kotler and Armstrong (2004). Cultural differences: as stated by Chee and Harris (1993) dimensions of culture (e.g. religion, beliefs and attitudes, education) also play important role in the communication process. Cultures also affect the likes and dislikes of the customers, their attitudes towards things and preferences for particular product and services. Keeping in mind the Indian market, company needs to take care of the cultural values and should know cultural likes and dislikes in order to get success in the future as company is going to introduce new products and properties in the market. Economic differences: economic condition also affects the communication process. Literacy level and the degree of urbanization have a significant influence on communication. The discretionary income of individuals and families directly affect their attitudes towards products. Necessities in one country can be luxurious in other country (Kotler and Armstrong (2004). Pricing for the brand and its strategies: One of the major elements of the marketing mix is price. As stated by Anderson (1994), Pricing is an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. But according to Jobber (2001) price is a vital part of whole marketing process. It may also be a factor in determining the sales of the product. Every company should fix it price according to the demand of the product, high price may result in less demand in highly competitive market. If company wants to sell the product at higher price, then it should add more value to its existing product as to compete in the market with other similar products. Before deciding the price, company should set a target of what it actually wants to achieve in the marketplace. Setting the price which is affordable to everyone can help the company to increase the sales of the product and also helps to capture a large m arket share. While there is no single definition to determine pricing, the following is a general sequence that might be followed for developing the pricing of a new product as Sofitel is deciding to open its more hotels in India. Develop marketing strategy perform marketing analysis to ensure that what kind of customers they are going to target and positioning of the older products so as to see what was the response of customers towards it and also to set the price according the target market which help in increasing demand. Make marketing mix decisions define the product through advertising so that the customers are known about the upcoming product in the market as Indian customers are very easily attracted towards new products by seeing its more and more advertising, distribution of the product in the target market by marketing professionals in that area, and by adopting several promotional techniques such as using media (television, newspapers, magazines and broachers(www.hospitalitybusiness.com Jobber(2001). Estimate the demand curve understand how quantity demanded varies with price. Because there is a relationship between price and quantity demanded, it is important to understand the impact of pricing on sales by estimating the demand curve for the product. As during this time in the UK market recession has affected very badly so hotel group should reduce the price of its rooms but shouldnt cut down the level of service it is providing currently to its customers. Where as Indian economy is increasing at good rate so it can increase its price little bit by increasing some added facilities to its products. If in future the company sees increase in demand then it can increase the price accordingly. Calculate cost -as discussed by Hennesy (1995) include fixed and variable costs associated with the product. If the firm has decided to launch the product, there likely is at least a basic understanding of the costs involved otherwise, there might be no profit to be made. The production cost of the product sets the lower limit of what the firm might charge, and determines the profit margin at higher prices. The total unit cost of a producing a product is composed of the variable cost of producing each additional unit and fixed costs that are incurred regardless of the quantity produced. The pricing policy should consider both types of costs. Understand environmental factors evaluate competitor actions to compete in the market and should see that what strategies are used by others competitors in the market in order to get good business, understand legal constraints towards the environment, to save it and to become environment friendly. Pricing must take into account the competitive and legal environment in which the company operates, Anderson (1994). From a competitive standpoint, the firm must consider the implications of its pricing on the pricing decisions of competitors. For example, setting the price too low may risk a price war that may not be in the best interest of either side. Setting the price too high may attract a large number of competitors who want to share in the profits. Determine pricing using information collected in the above steps, select a pricing method, develop the pricing structure, and define discounts (Jobber, 2001).For new products, the pricing objective often is either to maximize profit margin or to maximize quantity (market share). To meet these objectives, there are two main strategies which company can use. Skimming price attempts to skim the cream off the top of the market by setting a high price and selling to those customers who are less price sensitive. Skimming is a strategy used to pursue the objective of profit margin maximization. As in regard to Sofitel hotels they can charge high price in Indian market at present because the economy is developing at a good rate by which people have now started to prefer good quality of products and services by not keeping in mind the price which they have to pay for their product. And also keeping in mind the Common wealth games which are going to take place in 2010 in New Delhi, company can increase its price for the product as many tourist and different people will be visiting the country to enjoy the games so its nice time to do a good business, and that too by charging products at some high price, also keeping an eye on the competitors in the market or near by area. Penetration pricing as stated by Dobson and Anderson (1994) this strategy aims to achieve highest possible sales volume by fixing the price aimed to achieve the target sales. This is done so that sales level is high and enough for the achievement of sales in production and distribution of the product thus leading to high level of long term profits. The pricing objective depends on many factors including production cost, existence of economies of scale, product differentiation, rate of product diffusion, the firms resources, and the products anticipated price elasticity of demand (Kotler Armstrong (2004). Marketing Strategy: According to Fill (2004) before the product is developed, the marketing strategy is formulated, including target market selection and product positioning. As stated by Keegan (1995) marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segment, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. Marketing strategy is a powerful process that gives an organization a competitive advantage in the marketplace. A marketing strategy also serves as the foundation of a marketing plan. In 2005, Sofitel focused on customer relaxation and wellness, variety of food service offering country by country and introducing the employee training programs for excellence service and reception quality (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.html). As part of Accors new business model announced in October, the company is repositioning its Sofitel brand to stand for luxury, while simultaneously launching two sub-brands (Sofitel Legend and So by Sofitel) and a sister brand (Pullman Hotels and Resorts), all with the goal of increasing average room rates and meeting more fragmented demand from a growing international clientele. The brand already is working to redefine itself, focusing specifically on implementing new luxury service standards through significant investment in staff training. To help solidify Sofitels new identity, the brand has a new logo (the link, which means that human relations are at the heart of luxury), and a new advertising campaign is set to launch in June. Overall, Acco r for its brand has invested some à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬35 million for marketing the new Sofitel and its sub- and sister-brands (Ref: http://www.hotelsmag.com/article). Relationship marketing strategies: Relationship marketing strategies helps to motivate their employees to maintain a good relationship with there customers for the repeat business. To retain customers, the company have to offers various best deals, package discounts, complimentary gifts. Various loyalty and incentive programs have been organized by the Accor group of hotels to motivate distribution channels. Loyalty Cards Loyalty programs The Accor hospitality group facilitates their customer with various loyalty cards such as Mouvango loyalty cards. In 2007, the Accor Mouvango loyalty card generated 320,000 room nights in Accor hotels, compared with 250,000 in 2006, an increase of 28% (http: //www. accor.com). In 2007, Accor loyalty programs were further enhanced: New discounts were offered to holders of the Accor Favorite Guest card. Holders of the Accor Favorite Guest and Accor American Express cards can now earn points. Corporate Payment Cards Accor hotels have done partnership with American Express to create corporate payment cards: The Corporate Card: The corporate cards are created by Accor group which enables their cardholders customer to pay for their expenses direct to their card and enjoy various beneficial reductions in the payment of their bills. The Corporate American Business Cards: The Corporate American Cards allows members companies to benefit from an annual retroactive reduction on expenditure at Accor properties. (http: //www.accorhotels.com). The Six foundations of Accors strategy: Stepping up the transformation process A growth and innovation dynamic Powerful, complementary, recognised brands Unique skills to support the brands People, the companys most important asset. Growth that creates opportunities for everyone. (http://www.accor.com/en/group.html) Brand Advertising:- According to Hennessy (1995) brand can be defined as an identifying symbol, words, or mark that distinguishes a product or company from its competitors. Usually brands are registered (trademarked) with a regulatory authority and so cannot be used freely by other parties. For many products and companies, branding is an essential part of marketing. But on the other hand, as stated by Jobber (2001) its all about getting noticed. A quality, well thought through brand concept is essential for making your product different from others in the market, doing publicity of the product under the brand and using effective promotion techniques to make the product known to the customers. Promotion: According to Walters and Toyne (1993) promotion is the most visible and probably the most controversial marketing activity undertaken by the firm. Basically, the company involved in foreign marketing generally faces two main steps for promotion. Firstly, the company has to develop a customized or modified promotion strategy for each foreign market to take into account differences in some things such as product offerings, brands distribution activities and sales goal. Secondly, the promotion strategy may also have to be adjusted because of local differences in socio cultural, educational and economic attributes of the targeted buyers. The main purpose of promotion for a company is to inform, educate persuade and timed response from a particular market or market segment. Brand Promotion in India:- Use of vehicle: in this the brand is promoted by putting the location of the website on the personal vehicle and business vehicle. It is very effective when it comes to the promotion of a new launched product of the brand. This is considered as the most appropriate method for promotion because when at any times if people are struck in traffic how many people will see the advertising of the brand and website of the company at one time and also does not require much high cost to advertise by this method(Fill 2004). Use word of mouth: Word of mouth is one of the very effective promotion strategies. The main reason is because it passes on a message of trust. When someone has already used your product and services they passed a favorable word to someone else it is great because the recipient of the information is already listening to someone they trust. In India this things matters a lot for a brand to get familiar in the public and customers are also attracted towards your product when they listen the goodwill of the product from others mouth (http://marketing.about.com). Promoting through public transportation:- in this , the brand can be promoted by putting logos , posters , broachers in the public transport means such as in India it can be done by pasting adds of the brand in metro(Delhi) , in Mumbai it can be done through Mumbai local trains and taxis. This helps in making the brand known to the general public easy and in a faster way. As lots people travel daily for their workplace through local transport so its become easy to advertise the brand. And also everyday if people are seeing the same advertisement everyday they tend to buy or use the product once. Brands global promotion techniques: Global Promotion Strategies as stated by Kotler and Armstrong (2004) deal with the way a business advertises when it expands to a global market and sells to a consumer base in a different country and culture. Global promotion strategies deal with delivery of marketing concept that does not always translate into the language of the target consumer nation. If global promotion strategies are done poorly by a business it could kill any chances of gaining market share in a target nation economy. Here are some global promotion strategies. Use the right translator: This global promotion strategy will include designing marketing and communications materials that are written in the native language of the foreign country or of the target consumer culture. This is an obvious strategy however one must use the right translator to do this. According to this report the Sofitel should promote its brand in (Hindi language) which is known as native language of India. Remember that translators only translate into a target language. So, company should select the translator who is having good knowledge of the language so that the brand is promoted through right message in the foreign country and the customers should also understand it. Unless a translators target language (what the communication is getting translated to) is also that persons native language, it is highly unlikely that company will get the proper translation for their marketing materials (http://www.marketwire.com Fill (2004). Be culturally sensitive: as said by Anderson (1995) this is obvious for each brand to do a cultural study of targeted market in which they are going to provide the services. For the chosen brand Sofitel its necessary to study the culture and ethics of Indian customers so that the brand is able to provide the

The Break Through in American Baseball :: essays research papers

The Break Through in American Baseball   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Baseball, what is baseball? Baseball is a game about runs, hits and errors; 73 homers by Barry Bonds and seven no hitters by Nolan Ryan, a .367 lifetime mark by Ty Cobb and 511 wins by Cy Young. It’s all about the 15,000 people who have had the privilege to make it in the league and more, from homerun hitting Babe Ruth to the lately retired Cal Ripken Jr., but there is more to baseball then records and fame; the thing, the man, goes by the name of Jackie Robinson.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jackie Robinson. The name alone is inspiring and pure. Jack Roosevelt Robinson (Jackie) was born on 1919, in Cairo Georgia and quickly found out that life wasn’t going to be easy. When Jackie was one-year-old his father, Jerry, packed up and left his whole family, after his deserting; Jackie’s mother, Mallie, then rounded up her five children and moved to Pasadena, California, where she found work as a maid.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not long after moving to Pasadena Jackie soon enrolled at George Washington High School at the age of 17. Not only did he play four sports in high school but he also won the city’s Ping-Pong championship. While Jackie was still young and in high school his brother was way over in Berlin, Germany competing in the Summer Olympics. Mack got second in the 200-meter dash, finishing behind the all-time great Jesse Owens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After graduating high school Jackie then attended UCLA in 1941 and was the first athlete in UCLA history to ever letter in four sports (baseball, football, basketball, and track) in a single year. Not only did he make history there, but he met the love of his life, Rachel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After one year of college, Jackie entered the army for World War II. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, and while he was there he was denied entrance into the Officers’ Candidate School because of his skin color. Being the man he is, he protested and protested and stood up for what he believed in and in 1945 was discharged as a lieutenant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After being discharged, Jackie met Branch Rickey on August 28, 1945 and Rickey offered Jackie a contract with one of the Dodgers farm clubs, the Montreal Royals of the International League. Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the International League, and as you can guess had to overcome a lot of adversity.

The Quest for the Good :: Essays Papers

The Quest for the Good Is the Good something concrete to be obtained, or is it a way of life unique to individuals? This question is asked most assuredly in a biased manner, directing us along a path to the answer. It raises many logical questions of how, exactly, the Good is framed, and what it means to live a good life. To do this, an understanding must be found of what exactly the Good is. The questions of how the Good is structured and what the Good is are intricately tied together, and as such both shall be explored. The most important step in terms of the Good is the quest, as shall be found, because it is only by actively seeking the Good that one can find any understanding of it. As such, the quest for the Good shall be explored in The Republic by Plato, Confessions by Saint Augustine, and Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. These works will help give a full understanding of what the quest for the Good is, and how it is difficult to define because it is so multiplicitous. Also, an outside framework will be explored, to be able to look at a world conception that includes many o f the themes explored by the authors, and the opposites which tend to be left out. Overall we will find the Good and the quest. To understand the breadth of the answer, the meanings of the question must be understood. The important questions are: can the Good be concrete? Can the Good be obtained? Is the Good a way of life? How is it unique? A concrete Good would be an immutable, unchanging Good. This would be a Good that exists in an abstract realm, something of a Platonic Form of the Good. If there were a less abstract Good, one more easily attained, we would all know it explicitly. Therefore, if there is an exact idea of what the Good is, it is hard enough to find that philosophers exist. The corollary to this question is, can the Good not be concrete? In other words, can the Good change or evolve, or is there always the same Good, forever? St. Augustine saw the Good as God, and saw God as non-physical and unchanging (Augustine, 4, ii(2)). As such, the Christian lifestyle, the Good life, would be a single path, the same throughout the ages.

Quality Education in the Philippines

We know that Philippines country is rich in agriculture and economics. But don't you know that Philippines are one of the top that is great in terms of education. And I can prove that in simply observing the status of my country and surveys in the rank of schools. Literacy rate in the Philippines has improved a lot over the last few years- from 72 percent in 1960 to 94 percent in 1990. This is attributed to the increase in both the number of schools built and the level of enrollment in these schools. The number of schools grew rapidly in all three levels – elementary, secondary, and tertiary. From the mid-1960s up to the early 1990, there was an increase of 58 percent in the elementary schools and 362 percent in the tertiary schools. For the same period, enrollment in all three levels also rose by 120 percent. More than 90 percent of the elementary schools and 60 percent of the secondary schools are publicly owned. However, only 28 percent of the tertiary schools are publicly owned. A big percentage of tertiary-level students enroll in and finish commerce and business management courses. Table 1 shows the distribution of courses taken, based on School Year 1990-1991. Note that the difference between the number of enrollees in the commerce and business courses and in the engineering and technology courses may be small – 29. 2 percent for commerce and business and 20. 3 percent for engineering and technology. However, the gap widens in terms of the number of graduates for the said courses. Aside from the numbers presented above, which are impressive, there is also a need to look closely and resolve the following important issues: 1) quality of education 2) affordability of education 3) government budget for education; and 4) education mismatch. In Quality There was a decline in the quality of the Philippine education, especially at the elementary and secondary levels. For example, the results of standard tests conducted among elementary and high school students, as well as in the National College of Entrance Examination for college students, were way below the target mean score. In Affordability – There is also a big disparity in educational achievements across social groups. For example, the socioeconomically disadvantaged students have higher dropout rates, especially in the elementary level. And most of the freshmen students at the tertiary level come from relatively well-off families. In Budget – The Philippine Constitution has mandated the government to allocate the highest proportion of its budget to education. However, the Philippines still has one of the lowest budget allocations to education among the ASEAN countries. In Mismatch – There is a large proportion of â€Å"mismatch† between training and actual jobs. This is the major problem at the tertiary level and it is also the cause of the existence of a large group of educated unemployed or underemployed. Improved quality of education in the Philippine schools The Philippine education system is plagued with problems from the basic level until the tertiary level, and although previous and present administrations took steps to reform the system, these reforms failed to improve the country’s education system. According to the latest â€Å"Economic Policy Monitor†, released in April 2012 of government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies, despite the reforms pursued by the Aquino administration to address these failures, even more reforms are needed to improve the quality of education in the Philippines. The same study found that even the reforms initiated by the government may even bring more problems to the education system. Foremost among the problems in the early childhood education is the inequality to access to kindergarten education. THE INTENSE ECONOMIC CRISIS that the Philippines are currently undergoing has certainly buried the sanguine and unreasonable hopes that the government had projected for the near future. The triumphalism of Philippines 2000 has been shaken to the core and reduced to a laughable joke for the history books. This crisis only confirms that the Philippines have yet to liberate itself from the age-old problems, which have plagued it in the economic and political spheres. The much-trumpeted new epoch of free competition and borderless economies has not resulted in any real development but only in a more intense form of economic domination and exploitation of the poorer countries by the advanced capitalist countries. The seemingly neutral facade of Globalization has turned out to be more of the same old Imperialism that just cannot be wished away. Nevertheless, it would be too much of a simplification to arrive at the conclusion that the present global order has not resulted in any significant changes. It would certainly be correct to ay that for the educational system, as in Philippine society as a whole, that â€Å"nothing of the essence has changed. † However, even if it is true that the essential traits and defining characteristics of Philippine education has remained the same all throughout this so-called period of â€Å"Globalization,† it is also equally unavoidably true that certain changes have occurred and are still occurring that may not have actually touched the â€Å"essence† of things as they are but still have important implications for the understanding of the current situation and the various effective political responses that can lead to genuine social transformation. One of the main tasks is to attempt to identify what these â€Å"changes† are without losing sight of the â€Å"meaning† of these phenomena in relation to an essentially unchanged exploitative global economic and political system which must be identified as â€Å"imperialism. † The changes in question can be identified by analyzing the so-called â€Å"three major areas of concern† in education which have been underlined in the Medium Term Education Development Plan (MTEDP). These are: â€Å"(1) increasing access to and improving of the quality of basic education; (2) liberalizing the regulation of private schools, and; (3) rationalizing the programs of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). † The question of â€Å"increasing access to† and â€Å"improving the quality of† education have been constant themes since even before the intricate and obfuscators jargon of â€Å"globalization† entered the scene. It cannot even be asserted that these ideas have changed in the sense that they previously had an altruistic meaning which has currently been lost in this period of technocratic appeals to â€Å"efficiency† rather than â€Å"morality. Reyes, John Christian A. BSIT-109I Improved quality of education in the Philippines schools This is the first major issue that the Philippine government should resolve but somehow it is recently improving. The quality of Philippine education has declined few years ago due to poor results from standard entrance tests conducted among elementary and secondary students, as well as the tertiary levels. The results were way below the target mean score. High dropout ates, high number of repeaters, low passing grades, lack of particular language skills, failure to adequately respond and address the needs of people with special needs, overcrowded classrooms, and poor teacher performances, have greatly affected the quality of education in the Philippines. Philippine education is strongly viewed as a pillar of national development and a primary avenue for social and economic mobility. It has undergone several stages of development from the pre-spanish time to the present. It is handled by three government organizations, namely, the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the TESDA. The DECS govern both public and private education in all levels, with its mission â€Å"to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all by the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good. † The government was mandated by the Philippine Constitution to allocate the highest proportion of its budget to education. However, among the ASEAN countries, the Philippines still has one of the lowest budget allocations to education. This is due to some mainstream political issues and humungous problems that the government is facing specially corruption. There are some measures that the Philippine government has looked into for the reformation of quality education. Technology use is starting to gain momentum in the overall education of this country. This helped improve the quality of education in the Philippines and to be globally competitive in this millennium. Improving the Quality of Education in our Country The Philippines has the highest number of college graduates among developing Asian countries, but that isn’t a substitute for quality. The role of education in economic development is widely acknowledged: education increases the innovative capacity of an economy and facilitates the diffusion, adoption, and adaptation of new ideas. More specifically, education increases the amount of human capital available, thereby increasing productivity and ultimately output. Education is especially important in a rapidly evolving economic environment where a rapid rate of job destruction and creation might otherwise lead to a gap between the skills demanded in the labor market and the skills of job-seekers. So how can regional cooperation improve the quality and availability of education? The role of regional cooperation in a particular country and what means of cooperation are viable will largely depend on that country’s position on the development ladder and the status of its education sector. The role of regional cooperation in a particular country and what means of cooperation are viable will largely depend on that country’s position on the development ladder and the status of its education sector. Since 1975 both GDP and education levels in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have been catching up. Over the same period GDP growth and improvements to education levels have been losing momentum in developed countries including the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. The Philippines exhibits a curious pattern in this respect, because even as the level of education attainment plateaued, its GDP has been falling behind. This is an apparent contradiction. Given the well-established beneficial effects of education on GDP and on GDP growth rates, the Philippines should have witnessed an era of high growth since 1975, when it had the highest rate of completion of tertiary education among developing Asian countries – higher than Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or Singapore. This suggests that the problem in the Philippines has been the quality of education, rather than its availability or accessibility. Regional cooperation in education is often identified with trade in education services. In the Asia Pacific, this most commonly takes the form of direct exchanges of people, whether they be students from less-developed countries going to study in more-developed ones, or, as in the case of Singapore and Malaysia, academics from more-developed countries encouraged to relocate to universities in less-developed countries by partnerships between the two institutions. Trade in education services also takes place through transnational education, for example when foreign institutions are encouraged to establish campuses in developing countries. Yet these forms of cooperation are not the most appropriate for the Philippines – for instance because poor local infrastructure makes it difficult to attract foreign institutions and academics. And, moreover, the principal effect of these forms of education cooperation is to make education more available, when the problem in the Philippines is the quality of education – not its availability. Regulatory reform is needed to ensure that the quality of education received at home is high enough to give domestic Filipino students access to education and work abroad. This reform process must start by establishing a credible accreditation system, because under the current system of voluntary self-regulation, less than 20 percent of higher education institutions in the Philippines are accredited. Forms of international cooperation other than through trade in education services would allow the Philippines to improve the quality of domestic education by following the example set by Malaysia, which has linked its own accreditation system to international ones. Malaysia has also been active in promoting the development of a regional quality assurance framework, the ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN). The AQAN was organized in 2008 in order to promote collaboration among quality assurance agencies in individual ASEAN countries. Though the Philippines has not yet fully acceded to the AQAN, negotiations are underway to formalize an agreement to adopt common standards in the education sector. The Philippines can also pursue bilateral mutual recognition agreements. Such agreements should include quality assurance on the part of both countries. In this way, even if the standards are not at the same level as in higher-income countries, there will be pressure on some of the higher education institutions in the Philippines to improve their programs and facilities in order to gain accreditation. Such agreements, whether bilateral or as part of the AQAN, might make it easier for Filipino policy makers to argue for domestic reform on the basis that it is necessary to meet international agreements. With a higher-quality higher education system, the Philippines would then be better placed to reap the well-documented economic benefits of an educated population.