Thursday, November 28, 2019

Bahuvrihi Compounds

Bahuvrihi Compounds Bahuvrihi Compounds Bahuvrihi Compounds By Mark Nichol Have you ever described someone as a blockhead? Have you explained an action as heavy-handed? Have you ever referred to someone as white-collar? If so, then you’ve employed a bahuvrihi compound. Such terms are compounds in which the first word of each pair is a feature of the second; the composition is an adjective (or, occasionally, a noun) attached to a noun to itself serve as an adjective or a noun. The name, from Sanskrit, is itself a bahuvrihi compound that means â€Å"much rice† but refers, as a form of synecdoche, to a rich man. (A synecdoche is a term that uses a part of something to refer to the whole, such as hand in the direction â€Å"Give me a hand† when what one is asking for is the use of one’s entire person.) Bahuvrihi compounds often refer to a characteristic of a person. They can be neutral (barefoot) or derogatory (lowlife). They can refer to a physical feature (graybeard or redhead) or to status within a profession or pursuit (blue-collar and white-collar, or tenderfoot) or an attitude associated with one’s place in society (bluestocking or highbrow). Compounds such as heavy-handed can describe an approach or a personality trait. They can also pertain to an object (houndstooth, to describe a fabric pattern; also styled hound’s-tooth) or to an animal (sabretooth); other compounds that, like these, consist of two nouns include several pejorative terms for someone perceived to be dumb or foolish: blockhead, bonehead, half-wit, and knucklehead. By contrast, a person considered highly intelligent is called an egghead. Note that bahuvrihi compounds are usually closed; the aforementioned blue-collar and white-collar, as well as half-wit and heavy-handed, are exceptions, as is the term â€Å"old money,† to refer to a family that has been wealthy for generations (or an individual from such a family). Whether the compound is open, hyphenated, or closed, is, as is the case with compounds in general, random; note blue-collar and bluestocking, for example. Bahuvrihi compounds are useful resources for writers as expressive ways to describe a person or, occasionally, a place or a thing. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and TimesOn Behalf Of vs. In Behalf OfApostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns

Monday, November 25, 2019

Dolphin Safe Tuna

Dolphin Safe Tuna Environmental and animal welfare groups promote dolphin-safe tuna, but the dolphin-safe label is in danger of being weakened in the U.S. and some animal protection groups do not support dolphin-safe tuna. Do Some Cans of Tuna Contain Dolphin Meat? No, cans of tuna do not contain dolphin meat. While dolphins are sometimes killed in tuna fishing (see below), the dolphins do not end up in the cans with the tuna. How are Dolphins Harmed in Tuna Fishing? Two types of tuna fishing are notorious for killing dolphins: Purse seine nets and driftnets. Purse seine nets: Dolphins and yellowfin tuna often swim together in large schools, and because dolphins are more visible and closer to the surface than tuna, the fishing boats will look for dolphins to find the tuna. The boats will then set a purse seine net in a circle around both species and capture dolphins along with the tuna. Purse seine nets are giant nets, typically 1,500 - 2,500 meters long and 150-250 meters deep, with a drawstring at the bottom and floats at the top. Some nets are equipped with fish aggregating devices that attract fish and help prevent the fish from escaping before the net can be closed. In addition to dolphins, the animals who are caught unintentionally - the incidental catch, can include sea turtles, sharks, and other fish. The crew is ususally able to release sea turtles back to the ocean unharmed, but the fish usually die. The problem with dolphins being killed in purse seine nets occurs mainly in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that between 1959 and 1976, over 6 million dolphins were killed in purse seine nets in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Driftnets: EarthTrust, an environmental NGO, calls driftnets the most destructive fishing technology ever devised by humankind. Driftnets are giant nylon nets that drift behind a boat. The nets have floats on top and may or may not have weights on the bottom, to keep the net hanging vertically in the water. Driftnets come in a variety of mesh sizes, depending on the target species, but they are a wall of death, killing everyone who gets caught in them. The United Nations banned driftnets over 2.5 kilometers long in 1991. Previously, driftnets up to 60 km long were in use and legal. According to EarthTrust, before the ban, driftnets killed over a hundred thousand dolphins and small cetaceans every year, along with millions of seabirds, tens of thousands of seals, thousands of sea turtles and great whales, and untold numbers of non-target fish. Pirate fisheries still use giant, illegal driftnets and will sometimes cut the nets loose to avoid getting caught, leaving these walls of death to continue drifting and killing indiscriminately for centuries to come. Although dolphin deaths from both methods has been greatly reduced, a 2005 study titled, Non-recovery of two spotted and spinner dolphin populations in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean found that dolphin populations have been slow to recover. Can Tuna be Caught Without Harming Dolphins? Yes, a purse seine net can be made to release dolphins. After encircling both the tuna and dolphins, the boat can conduct a backdown operation in which a portion of the net is lowered enough for dolphins to escape. While this technique does save dolphins, it does not address other incidental catch issues, such as sharks and sea turtles. Another way to catch fish without harming dolphins is long line fishing. Long line fishing uses a fishing line that is typically 250-700 meters long, with several branches and hundreds or thousands of baited hooks. While longline fishing does not kill dolphins, the incidental catch includes sharks, sea turtles and seabirds like albatross. The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, 16 U.S.C. 1385, which charges the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with regulating dolphin-safe tuna claims. The dolphin-safe claim means that the tuna were not caught with drift nets, and that â€Å"no tuna were caught on the trip in which such tuna were harvested using a purse seine net intentionally deployed on or to encircle dolphins, and that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured in the sets in which the tuna were caught.† Not all tuna sold in the U.S. is dolphin-safe. To summarize: If the tuna were caught without driftnets and without chasing, encircling or killing dolphins, it can be sold in the US and is dolphin-safe.If the tuna were caught by chasing and encircling dolphins, but no dolphins were killed or seriously injured (and other requirements are met), the tuna can be sold in the U.S. but cannot be called dolphin-safe.If the tuna was caught by chasing and encircling dolphins, and dolphins were killed, it cannot be sold in the U.S. Of course, the above is a simplification of the law, which also requires tuna canners to file monthly reports and requires large tuna purse seine vessels must carry an observer. NOAA also conducts spot-checks to verify dolphin-safe claims. For more details on the NOAAs tuna tracking and verification program, click here. You can also read the full text of the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act here International Law International law also applies to the tuna/dolphin issue. In 1999, the United States signed the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP). The other signatories include Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, European Union, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Vanuatu, and Venezuela. The AIDCP seeks to eliminate dolphin mortality in tuna fishing. Congress then amended the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to effct the AIDCP in the United States. The AIDCP definition of dolphin-safe allows dolphins to be chased and encircled with nets, as long as dolphins are not killed or seriously injured. This definition differs from the U.S. definition, which does not permit the chasing or encircling of dolphins under the dolphin-safe label. According to the AIDCP, 93% of the sets made by chasing dolphins resulted in no deaths or serious injuries to dolphins. Challeges to the Dolphin-Safe Label Despite the dolphin-safe label being voluntary, and the fact that a fishery need not attain the dolphin-safe label in order to export tuna to the U.S., Mexico has twice challenged the U.S. dolphin-safe label as an unfair restriction on trade. In May of 2012, the World Trade Organization found that the current U.S. dolphin-safe label is inconsistent with the United States obligations under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. In September, 2012, the U.S. and Mexico agreed that the U.S. would bring its dolphin-safe label in line with the WTOs recommendations and rulings by July of 2013.   To some, this is yet another example of how environmental and animal protection are sacrificed in the name of free trade. Todd Tucker, research director for Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, states, â€Å"This latest ruling makes truth-in-labeling the latest casualty of so-called ‘trade’ pacts, which are more about pushing deregulation than actual trade . . . Members of Congress and the public will be very concerned that even voluntary standards can be deemed trade barriers.† Whats Wrong with Dolphin-Safe Tuna? The UK-based Ethical Consumer site calls the dolphin-safe label somewhat of a red herring for several reasons. First, the vast majority of canned tuna is skipjack tuna, not yellowfin tuna. Skipjack tuna do not swim with dolphins, so they are never caught using dolphins. Also, the site points out that, It has been estimated that saving one dolphin, by using (fish aggregating devices), costs 16,000 smaller or juvenile tuna, 380 mahimahi, 190 wahoo, 20 sharks and rays, 1200 triggerfish and other small fish, one marlin and ‘other’ animals. The very strong implication that dolphin-safe tuna is sustainable or more humane makes the label problematic. Some animal protection groups object to dolphin-safe tuna because of the impact on tuna. Tuna and other fish populations are threatened by overfishing and from an animal rights perspective, eating tuna hurts tuna. According to Sea Shepherd, bluefin tuna populations have fallen 85% since industrial fishing began, and current quotas are too high to be sustainable. Environmentalists and animal advocates were disappointed in 2010 when the parties to CITES refused to protect tuna. In September of 2012, conservation experts called for better protections for tuna. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, five of the worlds eight tuna species are threatened or nearly threatened. Amanda Nickson, Director of Global Tuna Conservation at the Pew Environment Group stated, There is sufficient science available to set precautionary limits . . . If we wait five, 10 years for the science to be perfect, in the case of some species we may not have anything left to manage. Aside from concerns about extinction and overfishing, fish are sentient beings. From an animal rights perspective, fish have a right to be free of human use and exploitation. Even if there were no danger of overfishing, each individual fish has certain inherent rights, just as dolphins, seabirds and sea turtles do. Buying dolphin-safe tuna recognizes the dolphins rights, but fails to recognize the tunas rights, which is why many animal protection groups do not support dolphin-safe tuna.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Human Resource in Coffee Masters Company Assignment

Human Resource in Coffee Masters Company - Assignment Example Between this major entity and the minimal waged consumer, there are untapped resources in form of reaching out to these menial waged consumers (Edgar & Fiona 45). Coffee Masters have an objective of offering the quality coffee at a much lower price. Additionally, the organization has branches in suburbs which hold a significant number of people in its target market. Also in its objectives, the organization aims at using the human labor of the locals to fuel the activities in the organization. To aid in this the organization has a total of 100 employees in all its branches. Each branch has an internal staff, 30 members. The rest of the employees are involved other activities like marketing, sales, logistics, branch supervisors and the organization has a large transport system which has a significant number of employees depending on the size of the branch’s logistics activity (Turner, 76). The organization is controlled by a management team located at the main branch of the organization. Additionally, the organization has employed human resources representatives at each branch. The HR rationale in this organization involves minimal contact between the employees and the main management team. The management team greatly relies on the operations of branch supervisors as the human resource representatives. In this particular organizational setting, the human resource is a simple arrangement with three levels. The top level of human resource management in this setting is the top management team. The team is led by the founders of the enterprise who carry out the task of decision making and approving recommendations (Fielding 89). From the CEOs, the organization has branch managers as the second in command. The branch managers run the branches under strict instructions from the CEOs. Below the branch managers lie the other staff members with the highest ranked staff member being a branch supervisor. In  Ã‚  terms of human resource management, the organization has an HR manager who has the responsibility of hiring and terminating employment contracts.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Disscuss odyssey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Disscuss odyssey - Essay Example 27). Several examples of father/son relationships are provided, including those of Odysseus and Telemachus, Laertes and Odysseus, Poseidon and Polyphemus, Nestor and Pisistratus, and Eupithes and Antinous. Through these relationships, Homer portrays the idea of continuity between generations as traits of the fathers are carried forward and reflected or as they are rejected and refused in the sons. By tracing the relationships between fathers and sons as they relate to Odysseus and Telemachus and each other, Homer shows not only how the strength of family can overcome seemingly insurmountable outcomes, but also how the continuity of traits and characteristics between generations can help a family succeed or bring it to ruin. Odysseus and Telemachus have an absent relationship despite the fact that they are father and son, yet the traits of the father can still be recognized in the activities and thoughts of the son. Because Odysseus embodies the values of hospitality, good manners, loyalty, intelligence and patience, the reader should be able to see these traits in his son. However, having not had his father’s influence, Telemachus instead demonstrates an inability to manage his houseguests and an awkwardness in cultured manners when he arrives in Pylos at the beginning of the tale, aspects of his character that take the goddess Athena by surprise when she decides to send him on a hero’s quest. â€Å"Although the goddess is at once impressed by Telemachus’ physical resemblance to his famous father, his insecurity is such that he is even unsure of his own identity and never refers to his father by name† (Clarke, 1967, p. 32). His contacts with first Nestor and then Menelaus pr ovide him with the examples he needs of a healthy father/son relationship as well as the example these leaders set in being a â€Å"father figure† to their

Monday, November 18, 2019

English literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English literature - Essay Example Two of Hardy’s novels, Jude the Obscure and Far from the Madding Crowd. Far from the Madding Crowd has much in common with a Shakespearean comedy on its surface. From its rural setting to its errant sheepdog to its misinterpreted Valentine, it has all the elements of good country comedy. And yet, that superficial lightness runs atop a current of deep suffering. The errant sheepdog is responsible for Gabriel Oak’s poverty, which leaves him forced to sell his land and take a job working for Bathsheba Everdene, who has capriciously rejected his offer of marriage. The repercussions of that anonymous Valentine lead to violent murder and life imprisonment. Everything is much, much more serious than it seems. Life is uncertain, and lighthearted schemes are as likely to succeed — or fail — as more carefully laid out ones: â€Å"It is safer to accept any chance that offers itself, and extemporize a procedure to fit it, than to get a good plan matured, and wait for a chance of using it.† (68) There are no guarantees. Indeed, the novel plunges more and more toward chaotic misery, as Bathsheba’s charmingly unscrupulous husband vanishes after learning of the death of his former paramour and conveniently reappears just as Bathsheba is celebrating her engagement to the steadfast, obsessively adoring farmer who has loved her for so long. Driven to madness by the appearance of his old rival, Farmer Boldwood shoots Bathsheba’s husband and tries to turn the gun on himself. Later, Bathsheba returns to Oak — wiser, sadder, older — and agrees to be his wife. Steadfast Oak has won the day, but his victory must be cold — this broken woman who has nothing left to lose and little left to give. Their great romance has devolved to a mutual sharing of burdens: â€Å"Theirs was that substantial affection which arises (if any arises at all) when the two who are thrown together begin first by knowing the

Friday, November 15, 2019

Analysis of Internal Service Quality

Analysis of Internal Service Quality Internal Service Quality is a visible expression of an organizations culture and it can be thought of as the quality of work life. It is about the workplace design, job design, employee selection and development, employee rewards and recognition and tools for serving customers. Service Quality: Services are intangibles and it is more difficult to measure it physically as compared to the products. Service quality is delivery of superior services to their customers according to their desires and expectations. (Zeithaml V.A and M.J.Bitner, 1996) In todays fast-paced and increasingly competitive market, the bottom line of an organisations strategies and tactics is to make profits and contribute to the growth of the company. Customer satisfaction, quality and retention are global issues that affect all organisations. Many companies are interested in studying, evaluating and implementing strategies that aim at improving both internal and external customer retention. Internal Service Quality in Mauritius is starting to emerge in the fast expanding economy in order to add a competitive edge to both our public and private sector. In the tourism sector, hotels are starting to apply Internal Service Quality. In this competitive environment, organisations believe that they have to maintain the quality of products to sustain, survive, leading the market and achieving the competitive advantage which depends on organisational valuable assets, that is, employees. The quality of the services or products can be judged by its customers perceptions and expectations about that services or products (Parasuraman et al.1991). External customer loyalty and satisfaction strongly depends on internal customers. Employees satisfaction is directly related to superior services. The strong relationship between an organisation and an employee leads to a real improvement in the services provided to customers (Scheinder and Bowen, 1995) 1.1 Background of Tourism Sector in Mauritius The hotel sector, being an important pillar in the Mauritian economy has to provide first class service to their clients in order to maintain level of competition with other reputed touristic venues across the world. Since 2005, the tourism sector has averaged a growth of approximately 5 % (www.gov.mu) from arrival of tourist in Mauritius. This growth is encouraging but at the other end other sectors, such as the textile or sugar industry sector has gone on decline following open trade treaty in 2005. As a result of that, our economy is dependent on the Tourism Sector and in order to attract more tourists to Mauritius, the Internal Service Quality must be enhanced to improve our service to clients in hotels. Legends Hotel provides Internal Service Quality since year 2002. Internal service quality forms part of the Human Resource strategies to attract and retain both internal and external customers. One among many strategic examples at Legends Hotel, employees are empowered with more training and development programs so that they can better handle customers queries. 1.2 Problem Definition At Legends, Internal Service Quality has been more or less beneficial to the company as a whole. However, some key areas within the business still need consideration. First and foremost, communications within different departments and teamwork among employees are not that effective. There are always complaints about employees not cooperating while performing their job or information is not well communicated. Effective communication within a business is considered as a vital tool in the day to day management of an organisation and improper communication can lead to decline in the performance both in terms of customer satisfaction and in managerial perspective as a whole. Moreover, remuneration is another important factor that affects the performance of employees. The latter consider that they could get better remuneration for similar work performed elsewhere. Hence attitude and behaviour towards providing dedicated service to clients and the organisation are somewhat affected. And since a fierce competition exists among hotels in Mauritius, it is very important for management to provide good internal service quality for survival of the organisation as it has a direct impact on profitability and customer loyalty. 1.3 Aims and Objectives: The effectiveness of Human Resources Practises in delivering Internal Service Quality. The effectiveness of the SERVQUAL Model using Internal Service Quality battery. To provide an insight into the process of improving Internal Service Quality. 1.4 Outline of Chapters Chapter 1: Introduction It provides a general outline of the project, with the different sections included and the objectives of the study. Chapter 2: Legends Hotel This chapter consists of a brief overview of the company and the structure of the organization. Chapter 3: Literature Review This chapter consists of the different theories used in the dissertation together with background study of the subject. Chapter 4: Methodology and Research This chapter includes the hypothesis of the study as well as sampling and questionnaire design utilized during the project survey. Chapter 5: Results and Analysis This chapter comprises of the analysis of data obtained during the questionnaire survey followed by discussion on the results obtain. Again, appropriate statistical tools, such as the SPSS technique was used for the analysis of results. Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations It deals with the conclusion of the main findings and based on them, it puts forward some recommendations in order to have an effective Internal Service Quality. 2.0 legends hotel 2.1 Company Overview Legends Hotel, set up in 2002, is a 5 star hotel located at Grand Gaube and it consists of 198 rooms. It forms part of the Naiade Group which owns hotels like Le Tropical, Les Pavillons, Beau Rivage, Merville Beach, Ile des Deux Cocos, Tamassa, Hotel Le Recif (Reunion Island), Grand Hotel du Lagon (Reunion Island) and Dive in Maldives. The five core values at Naiade are Guests, People, Leadership, Responsibility and Excellence. Guests are to be put at the forefront of everything, People are the employees who are provided with opportunities to grow within the business, Leadership is about fast management reaction to secure maximum advantage of changes, Responsibilities to recognize and honour investments of shareholders and Excellence is about building competitive edge on superior innovation and customer responsiveness. Naiades vision is to be an international hotel group offering wide range of product in all market segments of leisure in the hospitality industry. It wants to be recognized as the business community leader, continuously improving share holder value and welfare of staff whilst fulfilling corporate social responsibility. The purpose of Legends is to help people enjoy good times together, to celebrate life. The five beliefs at Legends are consideration for people, serving with passion, insistence on integrity, responsibility of leadership and entertaining with creativity. If we quote the Mission Statement of Legends Hotel, it can be seen that they view customer satisfaction in different perspective. Mission Statement: we are unforgettable, passionate team committed to provide outstanding personalised service through our unique concept of fengshui, the art of living in harmony Employees are provided with several benefits such as pension plan, medical cover, naiade home loan scheme, discretionary bonus, hotel stays at preferential rates, Naiade fun day, kids and team member party and star team member of the month and year. 2.2 Organisation Structure Legends Hotel is administered by a General Manager and a Resident Manager, who are responsible for the day to day management of the affairs of the organisation. Legends Hotel is structured with several departments, each headed by a Head of Department. These departments are then sub-divided into a number of divisions which are each under the direct responsibility of a Supervisor. The different departments as well as the divisions are illustrated hereunder. For ease of understanding each department constituting the hotel has been illustrated in the diagram. As far as Internal Service quality is concerned, it is directly related to the Human Resource Department which is constituted of the HR Manager, the Personnel Manager, Assistant HR Manager and HR coordinator in the frontline of this department. The table below shows the number of staffs per department at The Legends Hotel. Table 2.1: No. of Employees at Legends Hotel S/No Department No. of Employees (Population) 1 Human Resource 5 2 Kitchen 77 3 Spa 15 4 Entertainment 18 5 Food Restaurant 125 6 Front Office 20 7 Security 30 8 Finance 15 9 Housekeeping 118 10 Quality and Events 2 11 Maintenance 25 Source: Human Resource Management Department, Legends Hotel Figure 2.1: Structure of Functional Organization Chart Assistant HR Manager NAIADE BOARD OF DIRECTORS LEGENDS GENERAL MANAGER LEGENDS RESIDENTMANAGER HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT- Linen Laundry and Floor Valet Front Office Department reception, guest relation officer quality and events department food and beverages department- Restaurant, room service, bar Beach Entertainment department Kitchen department pastry, main kitchen, stewarding spa department maintenance department security department finance department Human Resource department HR MANAGER HR Coordinator Personnel Manager Source: Human Resource Management Department, Legends Hotel 3.0 Literature review 3.1 What is Internal Service Quality? Quality is defined in ISO 9000:2000 as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements. Degree means that quality can be used with adjectives such as poor, good and excellent. Inherent is defined as existing in something, especially permanent characteristics. Characteristics can be quantitative or qualitative. Requirement is a need or expectation that is stated; generally implied by the organisation, its customers both internal and external and other interested parties. Internal service quality is measured by the feelings that employees have towards their jobs, colleagues and companies. It points to the ability and authority of service workers to achieve results for customers. Internal quality is also characterised by the attitudes that people serve each other inside the organisation (David, 1988) According to Grà ¶nroos (1988), service quality is commonly defined as a discrepancy between the service quality that is delivered by the organization and the service performance that employees expect. Conceptually, service quality is defined as global judgment or attitude relating to the overall excellence or superiority of the service (Parasuraman et al., 1988). 3.2 Importance of Internal Service Quality Delivering quality service is considered to be an important strategy for success in todays competitive environment. Since the 90s many service companies have pursued to enhance their performance and effectiveness in search of achieving differentiation in the market. An example of that is the attempt to convince customers that their quality is superior to the competitors. In addition, the importance of service sector has sharply increased in both developed and developing countries. The Service Profit Chain establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty and employee satisfaction, loyalty and productivity. Profit and growth are stimulated primarily by customer loyalty. Loyalty is a direct result of customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is largely influenced by the value of services provided to customers. Value is created by satisfied, loyal and productive employees. Employee satisfaction results primarily from high quality support services and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers. This is demonstrated in the diagram below. Figure 3.1: The Links in the Service-Profit Chain Source: Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work (James L. Heskett et al., 1994) Employee Satisfaction is the individual employees general attitude towards the job. It is also an employees cognitive and affective evaluation of his or her job. It is an important factor in determining service quality (Zeithaml et al., 1990). Satisfied employees are more committed to continuous improvement and quality, thus they are also more committed to delivering quality service. Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to remain in the organization for the maximum period of time. Employee loyalty is synonymous with achieving a balance that brings feelings of connection along with a commitment to produce. Ultimately, loyal employees can bring some big benefits. Economists define employee productivity as the output per worker or output per hour. With the increase in part-time employment and temporary and contract workers, many businesses use hours worked rather than output per worker to measure productivity. External Service Value- Value is a function not only of costs to the customer but also of the results achieved for the customer. It is based both on perceptions of the way a service is delivered and on initial customer expectation. Customer Satisfaction is the degree to which customer expectations of a product or service are met or exceeded. Corporate and individual customers may have widely differing reasons for purchasing a product or service and therefore any measurement of satisfaction will need to be able to take into account such differences (Pugh et al, 2002) Customer Loyalty is used to describe the behaviour of repeat customers, as well as those that offer good ratings, reviews, or testimonials. Some customers do a particular company a great service by offering favourable word of mouth publicity regarding a product, telling friends and family, thus adding them to the number of loyal customers (Gursoy and Swanger, 2007) 3.3 Internal Service Quality in Tourism Sector In tourism sector, delivering quality across tangibles and intangibles elements represented a departure from conventional manufacturing oriented approaches to Total Quality Management At the heart of Quality Service is the difficulty in ensuring consistency due to the variability of human element. Lewis (2000) argues that As the 21st century unfolds, it is clear that people accept that service will play an increasingly important part in the economy. Customer perception of service delivery will be imperative and will shape the choice of service provider (Norma Dannunzio-Green et al., 2005) In the age of service competition, the customer comes first. Such is the power of customers that the term service management is increasingly used to emphasised management imperatives in this age of service competition and market forces. Managing quality is an integral part of service management and internal development of personnel and reinforcement of its commitment to competitive goals and strategies are strategic prerequisites for success. Does quality pay? This is one of the key contemporary issues that attract attention from practitioners. The role of quality in the overall performance of service business starts right from strategic level down to the implementation details. Improved service quality and customer satisfaction lead to higher productivity, increased loyalty, lower transaction cost and customer retention. It is popularly believed that better service leads to improved performance for a service firm. Today service organizations are concerned in the delivery of quality service and the building of loyalty among employees and customers. If employees are not happy with the work, they are more readily to quit their jobs than satisfied employees. Researchers have found that satisfied employees are more likely to improve their job performance (Judge et al., 2001), be creative and cooperate with others because satisfaction is the inner force that drives employee behaviour. Previous studies have suggested that loyal employees are more willing and capable of delivering a higher level of service quality. According to Schneider and Bowen (1985; 1993) the efforts to promote service quality must be based on managing employee behaviours and training them in interpersonal skills in order to exhibit a true customer focus. Bitner et al. (1990) observed that in service encounters, employee behaviour will impact on the customer perceptions of service quality. Zeithaml et al. (1990) argue that employ ees who are not suited to their jobs will not be able to deliver quality service (Ramseook, P. et al., 2010) 3.4 Measuring Internal Service Quality Measuring the quality of internal services is relevant since an external-customer support requires internal systems aligned with external customer expectations, including each internal subsystems adding value to others systems within the organization (Gilbert, 2000). Since years ago, researchers (Reynoso and Moores, 1995; Caruana and Pitt, 1997) have pointed out that there is a positive correlation between internal service quality, business performance and services delivered to customers, motivating some efforts to measure internal service quality by applying the SERVQUAL instrument. (Miguel Cauchick et al., 2006) SERVQUAL is the most widely utilized tool for measuring service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1988; 1994; Sureshchandar et al., 2001; Chiu, 2002) and its application continues to increase in different service setting such as banks, hospitality industry, health sector, education and travel and tourism. The five dimensions of SERVQUAL are as follows: Tangibles (physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel) Reliability (ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately) Responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service) Assurance (knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence) Empathy (caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers). The present investigation can also be considered an attempt to use it for measuring internal-service quality, which is the service provided by Legends Hotel. 3.5 HR Implications on Internal Service Quality Human Resource Management can be essentially seen as an employee centred approach to management, although there is lots of definition of the term. Its an essential part of every managers responsibilities, but many organizations find it advantageous to establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource function is performed efficiently. To the modern management theory, the employee satisfaction is considered one of the most important drivers of quality, customer satisfaction and productivity. Success of any organization depends on its valuable human resource. Achieving service quality through valuable human resource strongly depends upon the organizational culture and working environment. To deal with the attitude and behaviour of the human resource, HRM best practices and quality principles play an important role to motivate, train, develop, retain and satisfy their valuable human resource. When the internal customers are not satisfied with the practices of the management, they not only are unlikely to continue their service but also to share their unfavourable service experiences to others resulting in decreased motivations and financial performance of organization. Globalization has augmented competitive pressures to help improve the quality of services provided by the tourism sector. There is the need to enforce compliance with internal services quality regarding human resource management as many researchers are of the view that the whole development in the organization is due to the potential human resource, it is therefore call of the time to the employee in the centre of development of all process to enhance the sense of ownership and hidden assets for the effective employee job satisfaction. Berry (1994) found that a several beneficial organizations competed by hiring, rewarding, training and retraining a frequent error that organization made was to look at human resources skills and knowledge development as an experience which they had acquired during their working with the organization rather than a continuing process. He further added that, even if employees received training, it was either deficient, not on time, or not the actual type of training they needed or rather it was in general not specific.(Khan,2010) It was found that that human resource management practices as actual, tangible practices were designed to develop commitment. Along with a variety of human resource management practices, it had been found that rewards and recognition had a greater influence on the organizational commitment found relationships between specific practices, such as performance evaluation, promotion policies, compensation, and benefits, and affective commitment. (Ogilvie, 1986) Moreover employee satisfaction was considered to be one of the most important drivers of quality of services, customer satisfaction and productivity. In his study he investigated an important driver of employee satisfaction. He argued that interpersonal trust (trust in management and trust in peers) robustly influenced employee satisfaction and, employee loyalty as an end result (Matzler et al., 2004) Also, associations between employees commitment to their organizations and satisfaction and argued that still there seemed little conformity about the fundamental associations between these two significant employee attitudes. Understanding these approaches was important because they had significant consequences on business performance, and these approaches could be influenced by human resource strategies and practices (Rayton, 2006) The modern management must also focus these factors which were very important to enhance the profitability in the new paradigm of service that organization not only invested in employees to enrich their knowledge skill abilities through extensive training programs but also to provide them with required technological support to manage the customers. They must reconsider their recruitment process, training methodologies and implementation of fair system of pay for performance, conducive environment and job definition. Recruitment Selection The goal of recruiting is to generate a large pool of applicants and to provide enough information for individuals to self select out the process. The Selection process on the other side follows a standard and systematic pattern beginning with an initial screening interview and concluding with the final employment decision. The recruitment and selection process demands lots of interpersonal skills and management must be very careful while selecting the right candidate for the job (Decenzo and Robbins, 2005) Training and Development It forms an important part of an organization overall HRM strategy. It implies transition in skills, knowledge, attitudes and social behavior. (Cascio, 1982).Organisations are investing to train their workforce and develop it for future so that they can perform their job efficiently and effectively and therefore it is expected that training has a positive impact on both employees motivation and commitment. Reward and Recognitions Employees reward and recognition includes focusing on employees input and peer recognition by using multiple layer methods within a system to recognize individuals and teams in accordance with the established practices and the rewards must be on the basis of their performance even tangible rewards along with an intensive communications strategy with accepted and integrated accountability systems (Khan, 2010) Job Design It has a significant and positive effect on client satisfaction which, in turn, significantly affected organizational performance and it leaded the organizations goals accomplishment which employed new service standards and customer systems. It can be said that job designs could provide high levels of control on employee also offered augmented chances for the growth and implementations of employees skills. Hackman Oldham proposed the Job Characteristics Model, consisting of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) Job Definition The job definition is basically arrangement or rearrangement of work with the motive to facilitate their employees and overcoming job frustration and enable them to be more productive, comforter while discharging their duties. It can be argued that defining the job of the employee helped the manger as well as the employee in decision making. The manger could get help regarding the decision whether the employee is the right person for promotion (Khan, 2010) 4.0 Methodology 4.1 Materials and Methods The purpose of this chapter is to outline the research methodology and processes undertaken to collect information for the report. A research is an organised inquiry which seeks to find explanations and to clarify doubtful facts so as to reach a conclusion. There must be ways of producing and analysing data so that the theories can be tested, accepted or rejected. (Clover and Balsley, 1979) defines research as the process of systematically obtaining accurate answers to significant and pertinent questions by the use of scientific method of gathering and interpreting information. 4.2 Purpose and Design of Survey A survey is a fact finding study. It is a method of research involving collection of data directly from a population or a sample thereof at particular time. For the purpose of this study, a survey was carried out to assess the status of Internal Service Quality on a sample of workers of different departments at Legends Hotel. The prime aim of the survey was to assess the following: The effectiveness of Human Resources Practises in delivering Internal Service Quality. To measure employees expectations and perceptions of service quality based on SERVQUAL model. To examine service quality dimensions in predicting satisfaction and loyalty among employees at Legends Hotel. To assess on the above, the design of the survey was very important. The survey design depends on the subject of the survey, the amount of time and the accuracy required. In effect, all depends on the proper design of the questionnaire in order to gather the appropriate information in a reasonable time frame. 4.3 Questionnaire Design A survey is a fact finding study. It is a method of research involving collection of data directly from a population or a sample thereof at particular time. For the purpose of this study, a survey was carried out to assess the status of Internal Service Quality on a sample of workers of different departments at Legends Hotel. The prime aim of the survey was to assess the following: The effectiveness of Human Resources Practises in delivering Internal Service Quality. To measure employees expectations and perceptions of service quality based on SERVQUAL model. To examine service quality dimensions in predicting satisfaction and loyalty among employees at Legends Hotel. To assess on the above, the design of the survey was very important. The survey design depends on the subject of the survey, the amount of time and the accuracy required. In effect, all depends on the proper design of the questionnaire in order to gather the appropriate information in a reasonable time frame. 4.4 Pre Testing However, before proceeding with the survey, it was important to undertake a pilot survey so as to test the efficiency of the questionnaire. Firstly, the questionnaire was circulated among five staffs of different grades and with varied academic background such as valet de chambre, security officer, chef de cuisine, assistant finance officer and front office manager. Since a face to face interview technique was used mainly for staff of lower grade, the concept of the questionnaire was clearly understood and all were able to make sense of the questions 4.5 Sampling Technique Used To conduct the survey, the target population was divided into eleven categories encompassing the different departments existing at Legends Hotel as more fully illustrated in Chapter 2. As the target population was quite large, a sample had to be used. The sampling size was determined using the stratified sampling technique. A stratified sample is obtained by taking samples from each sub-group of a population. It was required that the proportion of each stratum in the sample is the same as the population. At first a sample size of 100 questionnaires were distributed among the employees of the hotel. But during administration of the survey, employees were unfortunately reluctant to complete the questionnaire. The murder of an Irish tourist on the hotel premises in January 2011 gave rise to substantial trauma at different levels. As a result of that, employees had access to counselling, but still, there is still some sign of disturbance amongst them. Of the 100 questionnaire distributed, only 50 was collected which was fully answered following face to face interview with the employees. Due to time constraint, it was decided that the sample size of 50 was a good representative of the population size of 450 employees. Table 4.2: Sampling of Employees at Legends Hotel S/No. Department No. of Employees (Population) No. of Employees (Sample for 100 Employees) No. of Employees (Sample for 50 Employees) 1 Human Resource 5 1 1 2 Kitchen 77 17 8 3 Spa 15 3 1 4 Entertainment 18 4 2 5 Food Restaurant 125 28 14 6 Front Office 20 4 2 7 Security 30 7 3 8 Finance 15 3 2 9 Housekeeping 118 26 13 10 Quality and Events 2 1 1 11 Maintenance 25 6 3 Source: Computed Expected Results The study will reveal the present status of Internal Serv

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Failures of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) :: Essays Papers

The Failures of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) One hundred and ten people were killed on board ValueJet’s flight 592 May 11, 1996. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) failure to correct the problems found in an inspection contributed to this tragic crash (McKenna 59). FAA inspections are contributing to too many deaths on board major airlines. The corruption in the system has lead to many frightening statistics and problems but there are still a lot of improvements for the FAA. The FAA’s failure to inspect and report malfunctions caused 26 cases of uncontained disk/spacers. Also 10 cases of uncontained blades, 9 reversers, 9 fires in the undercowl, 6 engine separations, 6 case ruptures and 1 cowl separation. Airworthy planes that fly into terrain are the leading cause of accidents. Pilots do not know where they are going in relation to the ground but the aircraft is under control. It has killed 2,396 people from 1987 to 1996. Statistics show that U.S. carriers are the safest in the world. However the Safer Skies program by NASA predicts by the year 2010 there will be 6 or 7 catastrophic accidents per year if changes are not made soon (Hilkovitch 4). The FAA acquired a reputation as the tombstone agency because it only addresses dangerous scenarios after fatal air disasters occur. General Accounting Office (GAO) found that inspectors often do not write up violations because they are dismissed and proposed fines are set aside by their superiors. FAA inspectors discovered that contractors painting several ValueJet airplanes improperly reinstalled rudders used to steer the plane. AirTran Airlines had falsified documents, improper maintenance, faulty repairs and repeated failures to supervise contractors. Here is an example of an inspection report for AirTran Airlines: -- 3 instances of failing to properly calculate the proper weight and balance of aircraft to determine safe take off and landing speeds. -- A senior pilot who oversees the qualifications of other pilots falsified information about the experience of an unspecified number of them. -- Failure to examine seven planes’ transponders, which sends out altitude and directional information to traffic controllers, after the planes receive major overhauls. -- Improperly trained workers renovated an unspecified number of cabins to make way for larger business- class seats and modify the passengers’ emergency oxygen system (Associated Press 12).