The importance of human touch (like hugs) in personal health and how Research Paper

The importance of human touch (like hugs) in personal health and how the amount of touch a person receives varies depending on that persons culture - Research Paper Example It has been demonstrated that hormonal reactions take place with hormones such as oxytocin being released leading to production of beneficial effects. One instance of beneficial effects is experienced during emotional support shown by human touch such as by a hug. According to Berkman (1995), lower cardiovascular risk is experienced by emotionally supported patients through hugs. Consequently, the adverse effects of the condition such as related mortalities considerably fall in people experiencing emotional support such as by hugs. Besides human touch, there are other quality practices expressing emotional support that contribute to personal health by producing beneficial effects to the body systems. Such practices include friendly facial expressions, speech and quality of words, hand holding and sitting together. Health benefits experienced through touch can not leave out enhanced oxytocin activity, a hormone with several roles in the body human systems. According to Insel and Young (2001), oxytocin roles in social recognition as well as partner preference are major sources of connectivity between individuals. Stimulation of oxytocin release by mere touch is useful in the mechanism of its operation especially in emotional touches such a hug. The specific benefit of reduction in blood pressure assists in personal health stability especially in healing conditions. In an experiment conducted by Amico et al (2005), it was observed that pre-menopausal women who live with emotional support from their husbands are exposed to lower blood pressure due to high oxytocin levels produced on touch. Emotional support is paramount to healthy existence according to the authors. Keating in her book (1987), lists several beneficial impacts of hugging in relation to personal health which range from easing tension to fighting insomnia. Physical touch among human beings is portrayed as a powerful tool for healing processes, and the author reports that the

Marketing in Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Marketing in Fashion" concerns the fashion marketing. Marketing research is a primary strategy used by marketers to assess the market environment and the customer-mix and to learn the customers’ needs. A shop-window provides 24-hour advertising and creates and identity for the shop. Using celebrities as models has also been a successful marketing strategy. Advertising has always been an effective marketing strategy for fashion clothing. Creating and using catchy terminology to describe fashion apparel is a recent and effective trend in fashion marketing. PR events such as press and commercial events play a significant role in fashion marketing communications. Meeting sociological needs of the people like overweight, age and utility is an emerging trend. An example is the marketing of designer clothes for plus-size women. Building customer relationships can help create new customers and keep the old ones. A well-recognised brand name is the most valuable asset of any business. This can increase customer loyalty in the short term as well as retain substantial value long term. Lastly and most importantly, assuring employees that the organisation values their input is important for the success of any campaign.Marketing fashion is a process that ensures that the products, from the producers’ hands, reach the consumers’ hands by motivating the consumer to buy the products. However, marketers cannot coerce customers into buying and this is especially true for the fashion industry as evidenced.... Lastly and most importantly, assuring employees that the organisation values their input is important for the success of any campaign. FASHION MARKETING: A CONTEMPORARY REVIEW 1. Introduction Marketing fashion is a process that ensures that the products, from the producers' hands, reach the consumers' hands by motivating the consumer to buy the products. However, marketers cannot coerce customers into buying and this is especially true for the fashion industry as evidenced by the failure of the Woolworths womenswear retail chain (Bohdanowicz & Clamp 1994, p.2). Marketers of fashion will have to consider all factors that influence the industry to ensure successful reception of products. While consumer preferences and utility would be the main factors to be considered while marketing fashion, with the increasing popularity for green products, social marketing strategies will have increased significance in fashion marketing in the coming decades. This report aims to analyse all marketing issues including those relating to the market environment, consumer behaviour and consumer relationships, marketing research, promotions like shop-window dressing, advertising, fashion shows , using celebrities as models, advertising, advertising jargons, creating brand equity, PR events, etc., sociological needs and staff involvement. Marketing tools like brochures, catalogues, press kits, look books, etc. have not been included in the report as they are routine and general, and do not have any specific use in fashion marketing in particular. 2. Market environment In the fashion industry, the external environment poses several challenges to marketing, which can be classified as

The History Of Listeria Biology Essay

The History Of Listeria Biology Essay Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Yersinosis and many other infectious diseases were named after the one who discovered them unlike Listeriosis. Once the causative agent was discovered by Murray, Webb and Swann, generic names such as bacterium monocytogenes was used and finally Listeria (Pirie) to honor Dr. Lister, the discoverer of antisepsis. Hence, in the past the disease was known as Listeriosis until, Listeria came into the general usage. Listeria was first known to be the causative agent of epidemic and sporadic cases in 50 species of animals, now the disease has been appearing on an increasing rate in the population of mankind. In 1926, Murray, Webb identified Listeria Monocytogenes and the bacterium was named by Swann. The bacterium was then renamed by Pirie in 1927 and was given its current name, Listeria Monocytogenes. In 1891, doctors in France and Germany discovered a gram positive bacterium in samples of tissues of patients who suffered and died from a disease similar to Listeriosis. In 1929, Nyfeldt described the first confirmed report of Listeriosis in humans caused by Listeria Monocytogenes. Listeria was first known to be the cause of epidemic and sporadic cases in 50 species of animals. Characterization of Listeria Monocytogenes. Listeria Monocytogenes is a small highly motile gram positive rod. It is a non spore-forming cocco-bacillus, facultative anaerobe which is catalase positive. These ubiquitous saprophytes are widespread in nature that is they can be found in soil and water. Vegetables can get contaminated if the soil, manure or the water used is contaminated. The bacterium can also be carried away by both wild and domestic animals that may apparently appear healthy. The bacterium is an opportunistic pathogen. It is capable of surviving and multiplying outside animal hosts and in quite simple nutrient medium. (Chapman and Hall, 1996.). It grows under refrigeration conditions from 1 °C up to 44 °C. However, its growth rate decreases below 1C and it is easily destroyed by heat. Normally pasteurization and cooking kill Listeria, but in certain ready-to-eat food, it can be found. This is due to contamination which occurs prior to packaging. Serology: Listeria Monocytogenes can be further characterized based on the presence of specific heat stable somatic (0) and heat-labile flagella (H) antigens. Based on the O and H antigens, strains of Listeria Monocytogenes, isolated from pathological sources are subdivided into serotypes: 1/2a,1/2 b, 1/2c, 3a,3b,3c,4a,4ab,4b,4c,4d,4e,4f,5 and 6. Serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b are responsible for greater than 95% of all human infections (Frances Pouch Downee, Keith Ito, 2001). Factors affecting growth and survival of Listeria Monocytogenes. Listeria Monocytogenes is a psychotropic bacterium that is it has the ability to resist the cold temperature of refrigeration. However, Listeria Monocytogenes is also thermo tolerant when subjected to temperatures above the optimum. The broad pH range for growth for Listeria Monocytogenes allows it to survive. pH 7.0 7.5 is the optimum pH for the growth of Listeria Monocytogenes (Dean, 1990). The bacteria can resist a high concentration of salt that is an environment with a low water potential. It has been shown that the organism can tolerate environments of 25.6 % Nacl for at least 132 days at 22 °C and 5 days at 37 °C (Adams; 2001; Lovette, 1989). Moreover the presence of other microorganisms in the same medium (on the same contaminated food) can cause a decrease in the population of Listeria Monoctyogenes. Listeriosis: Also known as the Circling Disease or Silage sickness, Listeriosis is a sporadic bacterial infection caused by Listeria Monocytogenes. It is a worldwide disease and a serious food borne disease for humans. The term Listeriosis encompasses a wide variety of disease symptoms that are similar on animals and humans. Persons of advanced age, pregnant women, new born and adults with infected immune systems are normally prone to attract this disease. A normal person without those criteria mentioned above can also be affected. He can be infected by consuming contaminated food. Babies may get infected at birth itself if their mother had consumed contaminated food during pregnancy. According to the world health organization (WHO), outbreaks of Listeriosis have been reported from many countries, including Australia, S Switzerland, France and the United states. Two recent outbreaks of Listeria Monocytogenes in France in 2000 and in the USA in 199 caused by contaminated pork tongue and hot dogs. CASES IN MAURITIUS MISSING!!!!!!!!!! Health risk of listeria: Hayes (1992) considered Listeria Monocytogenes as a low grade pathogen since there is no clinical manifestation in healthy individuals upon ingestion of low numbers of viable cells. According to the center for food security and public health 1-10 % of the population is thought to carry Listeria Monocytogenes asymptomatically in the intestines (May, 2005). Vomiting, Nausea, Cramps, Diarrhea, severe headache, constipation ad persistent fever are the symptoms that may occur suddenly. Meningitis encephalitis is the infection of the brain and its surrounding tissue. Septicemia is the poisoning of blood caused by listeria. The overall mortality rate in the group of susceptible people mention in sectionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Are 20 -30%. Listeria Monocytogenes can be identified in tissues using ELISA, PCR and other molecular techniques. It is treated with antibiotics depending on the form of the disease. Mode of invasion and spread of Listeria in host cells: Listeria Monocytogenes is acquires by ingestion. The bacterium must find and adhere to the intestinal mucosa or the intestinal crypt cells, which are the only undifferentiated mucosal cells. Once the bacterium is phagocytosed, it becomes enclosed in a phagolysosome, a sub cellular organelle. Normally the low pH and the contents of the phagosomes are toxic to microorganism, however, environment of low pH causes Listeria Monocytogenes to produce hemolysin, Listeriolysin O (LLO).LLO lyses the cell membrane of the phagolysosome and this causes release of the Listeria into the cytoplasm. According to F.S Southwick and D.L Purich all pathogenic strains of Listeria produce Listeriolysin-O which is important for their escape and pathogenesis. Once in the cytoplasm, the bacteria multiply and proliferate and the bacteria become surrounded by an electron-dense material. The bacteria are then known to be polarized at one end. The electron-dense material give the bacterium an elongated protrusions form and filopods which are in turns ingested by adjacent cells and the cycle begins anew. Spreading from cell to cell without directly being in contact with the extracellular environment is how Listeria Monocytogenes invade the cells of its hosts. Isolation of Listeria Monocytogenes: Since there has been increasing interest in the presence or absence of Listeria Monocytogenes in foods, as a result of some substantial outbreaks of food borne listeriosis in North America and Europe, there has been a vital need to develop methods to isolate it in various type of food. Several methods such as ELISA, PCR and genetic hybridization technologies (Entis and Lerner, 1991, RMR Labs, 2000, certification, Report, 2000; Klein and Juneja, 2001) have been developed. Department of agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are the two US agencies that made use of different protocol for analysis of Listeria Monocytogenes. The techniques for isolation of Listeria Monocytogenes involve two- stage enrichment, the pre-enrichment followed by enrichment and plating for isolation. The enrichment procedures helps to keep the level of contaminating microorganisms to a reasonable numbers and allow multiplication of Listeria Monocytogenes to levels that are enough for detection of the organism. Half Fraser Broth and the University of Vermont broth (UVM) are examples of broths for the pre-enrichment procedures. They allow revival of injured Listeria cells. The Fraser broth is used with a selective Fraser broth supplement in enriching for the enrichment steps after the pre-enrichment and for detecting Listeria. Both the Fraser and Half Fraser Broth contain sodium phosphate and potassium phosphate which are buffering agents. The presence of ferric ions acts as an indicator since the bacteria produces 6, 7- dihydroxycoumarin that reacts with the ferric ions thus resulting in the blackening of the medium. Lithium chloride, nalidixic acid and acriflavine give the broth a higher concentration of salt and inhibit growth of enterococci. However, it is only after 48 hours that there is blackening of the broth. For plating, PALCAM, Oxford and Modified Oxford (MOX) are used as selective agars for isolation of Listeria Monocytogenes. Lithium chloride, polymyxin B sulphate and acriflavine HCl, present in the PALCAM medium Base and ceftazidine found in the PALCAM supplement ensure the selectivity of the medium. These elements suppress other bacteria present in food except Listeria. For differentiation, the PALCAM medium provides esculin and mannitol. Hydrolysis of esculin by Listeria causes production of 6, 7, dihydroxycoumarin, which reacts with the ferric ions that are present in the PLACAM medium to form blacken halos. USDA method: The USDA method involve a two- stage enrichment procedure with a 24-48 hours primary enrichment with UVM medium followed by a second enrichment phase with Fraser broth. Black colonies on the MOX plates show the presence of Listeria Monocytogenes. FDA method: This method involves 48 hour enrichment at 30 °C in buffered Listeria Enrichment Broth (BLEB). Pre enrichment procedure is optional which is done 4 hours at 30 °C prior to the addition of the selective supplements. After 24 hours to 48 hours the culture is streaked onto Oxford, PALCAM, Lithium chloride-phenyl ethanol moxalactant (LPM). After 24-48 hours at 30 °C, black-halo colonies prove the presence of Listeria. ISO method: The ISO method and the USDA method are alike with only the difference of using Half Fraser Broth for enrichment in the ISO method. The enrichment is done using Fraser Broth. On PALCAM or Oxford agar, the Listeria colonies are gray green with the black halo and black respectively.

The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe :: European Europe History

The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe The Black Death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of labor hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts; in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely reduced the intellectual vigor of the church. "In less than four years the disease carved a path of death through Asia, Italy, France, North Africa, Spain and Normandy, made its way over the Alps into Switzerland, and continued eastward into Hungary" (Microsoft Bookshelf, page 1). After a brief respite, the plague resumed, crossing the channel into England, Scotland, and Ireland, and eventually made its way into the northern countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and even as far north as Greenland. In other words, the plague touched almost the entire known world. So much death could not help but tear economic and social structures apart. Lack of peasants and laborers sent wages soaring, and the value of land plummeted. For the first time in history the scales tipped against wealthy landlords as peasants and serfs gained more bargaining power. Without architects, masons and artisans, great cathedrals and castles remained unfinished for hundreds of years. Governments, lacking officials, floundered in their attempts to create order out of chaos. The living lost all sense of morality and justice, and a new attitude toward the church emerged. Medieval people could find no Divine reason for the four-year nightmare, and dissatisfaction with the church gave impetus to reform movements that eventually broke apart the unity of the Catholic Church. The plague itself was disastrous enough, especially in the appearance of more than one form during the same epidemic. But coming when it did was as catastrophic as its form. The middle 14th century was not a good time for Europe. The European economy was already in difficulties. It was approaching the limits of expansion, both on its frontiers and in reclaiming land from forest and swamp. The arrival of the Mongols and the Ottomans had disrupted trade routes, and certain areas of Europe were edging into depression. "The Church was in poor shape as well. The popes resided at Avignon, not at Rome, to the scandal of many.

Communication Styles Worksheet Essay

You spent the past few days exploring the resources available to students at University of Phoenix, and you want to share what you learned with a friend who is interested in enrolling.  Write a 150- to 200-word e-mail to your friend summarizing the resources available to students. Hi,  I wanted to follow up with you on the conversation we had last night about you attending University of Phoenix. There are many resource’s available to help you with reaching your goals. To start there is the CWE (Center for Writing Excellence). It has a wealth of information and guides to help you with grammar and writing. There is also the program Riverpoint Writer which will actually take your information and turn into a well formatted paper. It will even help with quotes and references and turn them into properly formatted citations. The University also has the plagiarism checker which will review your papers and help you to avoid plagiarism. Last but certainly not least there is WritePoint. When you finish writing your papers and before you turn them in you can send them to Write Point. This is just like having your very own proofreader available any time day or night. The program will actually add suggestions to your paper to let you know what needs to be fixed or help you make changes to have them sound better. All of these programs are available to all students starting the day you enroll. Hope this helps in you decision! You asked your facilitator to review your e-mail draft. She liked what you wrote and asked you to write a summary to post in the class forum for the other students to read.  Write a 150- to 200-word summary for your class of the resources available to students. Remember to write using an academic tone. The University of Phoenix has many resources available to students to help be successful in continuing their education. For example the Center for writing excellence (CWE) is found in the University’s online library. This is a tool that helps students become better writers. It has many programs such as Plagarisism Checker which will review your writing for any possible palgarisism and guarantee you turn in original work. There is also WritePoint which will review your writing and give feedback on how to improve your paper. Riverpoint writer is another good tool to help students learn to format in the APA style. Another useful program is the Center for Mathematics Excellence which is also found in the online library. This program has many tutorials, videos, and practice problems to help students become more comfortable with mathematics. There is also the building mathematics confidence which students can use to become reacquainted with math before starting their first mathematics class.

Cultural Anthropology Social Organization Essay

In the United States the practice of serial monogamy, where one goes through a series of marriages then divorce; and unwed parenthood seem to have replaced the cultural traditional marriage. (Nowak & Laird, 2010) Single parent families and the accompanying socioeconomic circumstances usually warrant social intervention from state agencies and that places a strain on public funds. The fact is, every single parent household is unbalanced. In the household where both parents are present the children usually benefit because each parent brings; not only a gender based perspective to the relationship and child rearing cultural traditional practices; but he/she also brings a level of stability that is not easily quantified. Stable marriages are usually founded upon the couple’s religious beliefs, kinship traditions of stable relationships, friendship, trust, similar backgrounds, traditional values as well as kindred cultural practices that include gender role expectations. Persons in stable marriages tend to understand each other’s moods and idiosyncrasies; so they are able to co-exist and live as friends. In the film, people adhere to the traditions of their kindred, they hold them sacred and they marry their own kind. It might seem bizarre to the outsider but it is normal behavior for their kinship. Arranged marriages are basically bilateral agreements between two families. The groom’s family gives the bride’s family a bride wealth of livestock, jewelry land and other valuables depending on the traditional culture of the tribe. The bride wealth forms a part of the wealth of the bride’s kinship. The groom basically has to pay the bride’s family for the loss of her labor. (Nowak & Laird, 2010). The women accept and submit themselves to the cultural traditions of their kinship. They have no choice in the arrangements. In the film, the women are hard workers. They take care of the men, children, fields, livestock wash the clothes, cook but the most bizarre was the Indian polyandrous family; the woman was married to three brothers. The children in this family do not know their biological father; and it is normal behavior so nobody really cares about a DNA match. It is also interesting to note that the wife in the feature film is illiterate and she knows no other way of life. The family is stable and the brothers look out for each other. This arrangement is economical as all the wealth is kept in the groom’s kinship. As strange as it may sound, this marriage seem to be more successful than the marriages of choice; in that the wives know there roles and stick to their list of duties. On the other hand, in marriages of choice, after a few years have passed, the wives tend to place pressure on the husbands to change into their likeness and to be what they, and their families want them to be. Arranged marriages are basically bilateral agreements between two families. The gang/crime family is a rather incredible one. I prefer to consider it as a social group with its own set of operational tenets but not a family. Rference Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural Anthropolgy, San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc.

How to Say What in Spanish

How to Say What in Spanish Perhaps you have seen the word what translated to Spanish in Spanish in various ways and wanted to know the differences in how they are used. Common ways of translating what include include  quà ©, cà ³mo, lo que, and cul. To know when to use the correct version of what, it is helpful to know how what is being used and how it functions as a part of speech. Key Takeaways: Using "What" in Spanish To translate what to Spanish, you need first to determine how it is being used in a sentence, for example as a pronoun or adjective.The most common translation of what is quà ©; the accent mark is mandatory.Cul is sometimes used for what when implying a choice. Quà © as 'What' Most of the time, especially in questions and exclamations, quà © is a good translation for what. Note the accent mark; quà © and que have substantially different uses and can be thought of as different words. Here are a few examples of how to say quà ©Ã‚  as what:  ¿Quà © hora es? (What time is it?) ¡Quà © mujer! (What a woman!) ¿Quà © es la verdad? (What is the truth?) ¿Quà © es la ONU? (What is the U.N.?) ¿Quà © pasa? (Whats happening?) Quà © is also used in indirect questions, in which a question is raised within a statement. This is is most common after forms of saber (to know): No sà © quà © hacer con mi vida. (I dont know what to do with my life.)Quiero saber quà © te preocupa. (I want to know what is bothering you.)El nià ±o sabe quà © es. (The boy knows what it is.)No me pregunta quà © hago aquà ­. (Dont ask me what Im doing.) Cul and Cuales for 'Which One(s)' As a pronoun, cul or cules is used to say what when it means which one or which ones. In other words, cul or cules suggests there is a choice of some sort.  ¿Cul prefieres? (What do you prefer? Which one do you prefer?) ¿Cules prefieres? (What do you prefer? Which ones do you prefer?) ¿Cul vas a comprar? (What are you going to buy? Which one are you going to buy?) Note how cul can be made plural even though what can be either singular or plural, depending on the context. Sometimes, cul is used as a pronoun where a choice of some sort is implied, even though which wouldnt work in English. Theres no clear rule on these, but as you learn the language the word choice will seem natural. Notice the difference between the phrases below:  ¿Cul es el problema? (What is the problem? Literally: Which is the problem? In other words, of the possible problems, which one is it?) ¿Cul es su motivacià ³n? (What is her motive? Literally: Which is her motive? Of the possible motivations, which one is it?) ¿Cul es la diferencia entre un asteroide y un cometa? (What is the difference between an asteroid and a comet? In other words, of the possible differences between an asteroid and comet, which one is it?) Quà © or Cul As an Adjective Meaning 'What' or 'Which' As an adjective that is before a noun to mean what or which,  quà ©Ã‚  is usually used, although cul is used in some regions or by some speakers. Quà © is almost always the safer choice; cul might be considered substandard in some areas. For example:  ¿Quà © manzana prefieres? (What/which apple do you prefer?) ¿Quà © camisas vas a comprar? (What/which shirts are you going to buy?Esta prueba tiene nueve preguntas para descubrir quà © fruta describe tu personalidad. (This quiz has nine questions for finding out what/which fruit describes your personality.) Lo Que Meaning 'That Which' Lo que can be translated as what when it means that which. This is especially common when what is the subject of a statement in English. Although it would sound awkward, what could be replaced by that which in these examples: Lo que me dijo es una mentira. (What she told me is a lie.)Lo que me enoja es su actitud hacia mi madre. (What makes me mad is his attitude toward my mother.)Veo lo que pasa. (I see what is happening.) Cà ³mo Meaning 'What' Cà ³mo is seldom used to mean what, except as an interjection expressing incredulity. In some areas,  ¿cà ³mo? is used to ask someone to say something over again, although in some other areas it can be considered mildly rude. Take a look at how these translations differ:  ¡Cà ³mo! No lo creo. (What! I dont believe it.) ¡Cà ³mo! No puede ser. (What! It cant be.) ¿Cà ³mo? (What? In other words, what did you say?)

Into the Wild - Letter to Ronald France essays

Into the Wild - Letter to Ronald France essays Dear Ronald France, I am a student of Kingsborough Community College from Brooklyn, NY. Our class has read the book Into The Wild and many of us enjoyed it. Christopher McCandless really seemed like a hell of a guy. Although I have never met Chris, I totally understand his mentality and of all the people I think you would be very interested of what I have to say. All people develop differently and have different approaches to certain circumstances. Some people might view Chriss adventure as being crazy only because they themselves have never reaches the level of self-understanding. I believe there are three most important development stages of a man. First stage is from ten to thirteen; a man begins to understand very basic structures and realities, which were never before seen in his eyes. Second stage starts around the age of seventeen, a man begins to see more complex life patterns and understanding of loss, gain and mixed messages. The third stage begins in the middle fortys, this is the last and probably hardest stage of all, this is when a man feels life like hes own five fingers. Chriss development stages of a man evolved unbelievably faster then of his peers. After college, Chris wanted to feel the world but because of his lack of experience, he could not pass through this stage. The decision Chris made was very well thought-out and reasonable to fulfill his need. When I look at Chriss photograph I see a simple man smiling into the camera saying that he is not trying to be some special superhero but just learn to understand his emotions. He looks into the world with simplicity, which is actually a huge step in life. This is the reason Chris reached so many people, even though it was not his intention. Hes eyes tell us that hes belief gives him the strength to go on. Although Chris looks very thin, he has more strength then any regular city man does. ...

How to write facilities management tenders - Emphasis

How to write facilities management tenders How to write facilities management tenders Theres usually one guest at a party with a perennial case of its all me, me, me. This is the type of male or female who will wedge you in a corner, and wax lyrical about their latest business success, holiday or views on Americas political landscape. Its difficult to get a word in edgeways and you feel as though youre being assaulted with unwanted information. Most of us would flinch at the thought of being such a social bore. But in business we often make the same mistake of bombarding potential clients with too much information about how great we are. In fact, we should be focusing on their needs and interests. Theres no doubt that facilities managers are great at dealing with people and offering integrated workplace solutions. But translating these skills into a written proposal in order to sell your services is not an easy task. Unless your bid or tender proposal is carefully structured to be reader-focused rather than company-focused, it can have the same effect as the unwanted party guest. It doesnt matter whether youre responding to a warm or a cold lead, showing understanding is more important than trying to dazzle. Your company facts and testimonials should just confirm that you know what youre talking about. Here are seven tips that will help you write bids and tenders that shine the spotlight back onto your prospects and help to win you new business in the process. Grab a pencil and paper Its important to separate the thinking process from the writing process. So get away from your computer screen and ask yourself what core issues you want to address in your proposal. Better still, bounce ideas off a colleague. Decide which ideas are important, essential, desirable and unessential and aim to only include those that are in the first two categories. Put the reader first Always put the prospect first, by starting with their situation and the problems they need to solve. Use the Four Ps technique, which stands for: position (where they are now), problem (why they cant stay there), possibilities (where they could go) and proposal (where they should go). Resist the temptation to write down everything you think will win the contract. Instead, focus on the possible solutions before backing up your recommendations with information about your capabilities. Remember, it doesnt matter whether you are an in-house department; specialist contractor or a large multi-service company, the reader always comes first. And always highlight the benefits of the services in terms of cost reductions for the client, health and safety or other key measurements. Be inclusive Its likely that a variety of decision-makers will read your proposal. Consider the varying needs of the head of finance compared to a business development executive, for instance. And add in facts and figures that will keep everyone happy. But use appendices for detail, rather than stuffing the body text with too many facts that only one person will be interested in. Youre in it to win it Dont forget that you still need to sell the solutions youre proposing. Use persuasive language that will connect with the reader. For example, its useful to use the terms you, we and us to help the prospect visualise you working together. And use the active voice where possible. Check your facts Simple mistakes can seriously undermine what youre offering. Always check the spelling of product and place names and get a colleague to proofread your work carefully. Its easier for a fresh pair of eyes to spot any mistakes. Typos and other errors can still go unnoticed though, so proof-read extra slowly by stopping a pencil at each word to check that its accurate. Jargon is not the bogeyman Ask yourself how much the prospect knows about facilities management. And remember, its very easy to over-estimate this. Dont be afraid to use jargon though, as long as youre certain that your reader will understand it. Keep it short and sweet Many people think that tenders need to be long in order to show the client that youve made an effort. In fact, the opposite is true. It takes more effort to keep a tender clear and concise. Go through and cut out meaningless phrases and unessential information. And keep your sentences short, with each one no more than 15-20 words. A tender process may be your first foot in the door, with what you write determining whether or not youre invited to a face-to-face meeting. But dont be tempted to use flowery language. Instead, write to express rather than impress and youll keep your prospects interested and wanting to find out more. Want to win more business with your tenders? See our tender writing-courses for individuals and our tender-writing course for groups. Robert Ashton is the Chief Executive of Emphasis.

One page summary ISO9000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

One page summary ISO9000 - Essay Example Various types of documents are required for ISO 9000 certification. Apart from the details of quality management systems, details of management responsibility, resource management, production realization, Measurement, analysis and improvement etc are required to submit by a company if it applies for ISO 9000 certification. The 1994 version of ISO certification emphasized quality assurance via preventive actions, instead of just checking final product whereas the 2000 version of ISO 9000 certification brought the concept of process management front and center (Process management" was the monitoring and optimizing of a companys tasks and activities, instead of just inspecting the final product). ISO does not itself certify organizations; but it provides certification through the accreditation bodies and certification bodies formed in different countries. These bodies charge some fees for giving ISO certification. ISO certification can create a more efficient, effective operation, incre ase customer satisfaction and retention, reduce audits, enhance marketing, improve employee motivation, awareness, and morale, promote international trade, increases profit and reduce waste. At the same time in order to get ISO certification an organization should spent a substantial amount of money, time and also it requires massive paperwork for

MHE509 Module 2 - Case, Planning for Emergencies -- NIMS; Hazard and Essay

MHE509 Module 2 - Case, Planning for Emergencies -- NIMS; Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis - Essay Example In other words, the pattern of human environmental intervention is directly related to this growing frequency of small to medium scale disasters. The threat we face due to our own conditioning of our environment is to our very existence on this planet. The occurrences of hurricanes and floods along the west coast and the greenhouse effect are testimony to this. 2) Goals are defined when there are viable chances of achieving them. It is by all means a good thing to identify the risk posed in highly vulnerable regions among social groups with low institutional capacity for disaster management. But the issues involved are too deep and enmeshed to be resolved easily. The main reason for the ‘low institutional capacity’ is related to low incomes and being unskilled. Most people residing in the highly vulnerable regions or in close proximity to them, tend to be from social groups in which people are poor, unknowledgeable about the risks, and untrained to cope with any disasters. Their homes too are often poorly constructed and unlikely to be insured. The attachment to the place means that even after a disaster has occurred, they are unlikely to relocate elsewhere. Thus, any strategy to minimize this risk will need to address a host of related needs to do with raising awareness, education programs, social and medical training, giving financial assistance, implementing economic policies and establishing health and social welfare projects. 3) Mitigation should definitely be the primary component of disaster plans because if the measures are taken appropriately they can not only lead to minimizing the risk of a disaster but may even prevent a disaster from occurring. This does not mean that a naturally occurring disaster can be prevented but that we could save ourselves from a calamity. Being successful at preventing a disaster from occurring is better than having to deal with the after

Business and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business and Society - Essay Example Every company has got a certain number of stakeholders who play a crucial role in the growth of the company. Therefore the companies should make serious attempts to make sure that the stakeholders can also have a good growth and have good economic and social conditions. I believe that the laws that are been made by the different governments of different countries focusing on the welfare of the human beings and the society are to be followed by the company strictly so that they don’t face any kind of legal obligations. The stakeholders for the company are owners, suppliers, customers, local community, employees and management. But I think increase in welfare of the stakeholders is possible only when the cycle is been completed that is the company also in return does help the stakeholders in their growth and for having a good and happy life. The owners of the company give their money and have financial stake in the company in the form of stocks and bonds and they also expect that they get some kind of financial return from the corporation as well (Freeman, 2005). The employees do give their best and work efficiently for the growth of the company but in return they also look for a good salary and also want to avail some good facilities which can help them in having a good and comfortable life. The company should look to take care of the safety and health of the employees and also of their families. It should provide good educational facilities for the children’s of the employees. I can see that if the company provides such facilities to the employees than the employees feel motivated to work more eff iciently. For any company the suppliers do play a big role as they are the one who supply good quality materials to the company helping them in producing good quality products for the customers. So the company should always make attempts to see that the suppliers also keep growing along with the company and they also

Current Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Current Issues - Essay Example The need to enhance knowledge and skills has also been realized. These changes have been politically, socially, economically and technologically triggered. Decision-making processes concerning healthcare provision also continue to change due to the full action of legal measures and requirements. However much health and social care faces various challenges, the changing landscape has had positive implications (Parton, 2002). During the past few years, social change has transformed operations of the health and social care sector from an independent paradigm to an all inclusive approach. Changing social perceptions and belief systems have necessitated the inclusion and adoption of various reforms. Participation of different players in all spheres of health and social care development has been embraced to the extent of including a wide range of stakeholders. Most leaders around the world are now focused on one agenda which is to improve the implementation of health and social care programs. Different stakeholders from both the private and public sectors have taken an active role in ensuring the health and social care providers meet their expectations (Davis, Finlay & Bullman, 2005). Reforms in the National Health Service (NHS) are enough evidence of the changes that health and social care continue to experience. In the United Kingdom, major health reforms have been realized through the Care Act 2014. The act has presented care providers with necessary support and control that they require to deliver services. For the very first time, this Act was able to limit the cost of health care (Department of Health, 2014). The Act has also given caregivers the right to receive support for their services. Carers are also being granted the legal right in terms of receiving support. They receive this support after being assessed and deemed eligible. Initially, health and social caregivers did not enjoy such privileges. These are just but a few among

Markets & Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Markets & Marketing - Essay Example A Market is the demographic and/or geographic group or groups of buyers for products and services on offer. It may be limited to a small area or may be worldwide but that is dependant on the type of product or service on offer. But a market can be defined only through the Marketing effort that is put in to exploit this market. The potential market may be larger but the market for a product or service is the targeted market for which it makes this effort. Using different methods, Marketing determines the size of the market that is being approached but this has to be a controlled exercise otherwise the effort will be aimless. Usually this data is drawn from valued sources such as the U.S. Postal Service Deliverable address counts, Equifax TotalSourceâ„ ¢ consumer database household counts, as well as state and local agencies. Some important databases are: National Change of Address (NCOA) is a database owned and updated by the United States Postal Service (USPS) It containing approximately 160 Million permanent address records filed with the USPS over the last 48 months. (NCOA) ï‚ · Mail Preference Service (MPS)  -   This list is managed by the Direct Marketing Association and lists people who have opted not to receive advertisements through mails. ï‚ · Deceased Master File Suppression  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ This list flags addresses whose primary residents have died. With this data it is possible to segment the market and subsequently to determine the target customers for the organization’s products. Once this data is available, the serious exercise of Segmentation begins. Markets are heterogeneous and are created by reasons of different values, needs wants, constraints, beliefs and incentives. Customers differ in their values and perceptions and want to purchase things that have value for them. Value is not just the monetary part, but also the usefulness and emotions that with go with it. The need and want play a great role in

Securities Act of 1934 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Securities Act of 1934 - Essay Example SEC offers a one-time registration of all the securities that wish to trade on the national stock exchange. The registration incorporates companies with 2000 shareholders or 500 unaccredited investors. Moreover, the company’s assets should amount to $10 million. Through regulating voting information calls for full exposure as an objective of the proxy solicitation. Here, representing the interests of shareholders and earlier filling is priority. The proxy statement should be detailed with the soliciting information. The 1934 Act antifraud provision entails regulating the propriety of sales within the marketplace. The specific sections of the antifraud act are Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. Here, it is stated that withholding of information interferes with the free market, and it is committing fraud through violating Section 10(b). Lastly, SEC objective calls for periodic filing under the 1934 Act. Companies have to file a quarter and annual financial reports known as 10-Q and 1 0-K respectively.

Markets & Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Markets & Marketing - Essay Example A Market is the demographic and/or geographic group or groups of buyers for products and services on offer. It may be limited to a small area or may be worldwide but that is dependant on the type of product or service on offer. But a market can be defined only through the Marketing effort that is put in to exploit this market. The potential market may be larger but the market for a product or service is the targeted market for which it makes this effort. Using different methods, Marketing determines the size of the market that is being approached but this has to be a controlled exercise otherwise the effort will be aimless. Usually this data is drawn from valued sources such as the U.S. Postal Service Deliverable address counts, Equifax TotalSourceâ„ ¢ consumer database household counts, as well as state and local agencies. Some important databases are: National Change of Address (NCOA) is a database owned and updated by the United States Postal Service (USPS) It containing approximately 160 Million permanent address records filed with the USPS over the last 48 months. (NCOA) ï‚ · Mail Preference Service (MPS)  -   This list is managed by the Direct Marketing Association and lists people who have opted not to receive advertisements through mails. ï‚ · Deceased Master File Suppression  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ This list flags addresses whose primary residents have died. With this data it is possible to segment the market and subsequently to determine the target customers for the organization’s products. Once this data is available, the serious exercise of Segmentation begins. Markets are heterogeneous and are created by reasons of different values, needs wants, constraints, beliefs and incentives. Customers differ in their values and perceptions and want to purchase things that have value for them. Value is not just the monetary part, but also the usefulness and emotions that with go with it. The need and want play a great role in

The last scene Essay Example for Free

The last scene Essay The monster eventually gets up the courage to introduce himself to the old man (Mr Delacey). The old man is blind, so I think the monster thought that if he met the old man, the man would look below the skin and get to know the monster on who he is, not what he looks like. The old man is welcoming to him; he offers him food, warmth and overall friendship. He speaks in a kind manner at one stage he says there is something in your word which persuades me that you are sincere. In Mr Dalaceys words, he really does come from the heart and it is the greatest and kindest way that anyone had spoke to him so far from his original creation. At the end of this chapter, the monster is found with the old man, by Felix who is the old mans child. Immediately he strikes out and attempts to kill the monster. He beats him with a stick till the monster eventually left. At this point, you begin to start feeling sorry for him, as he has no friends, family or even any dignity. As he leaves the house, you begin to wish that you were the old man, and wishing that someone would actually run after the monster and tell him youll help him, and be friends with him because in this chapter this is all I think he needs, is someone there for him. After he was beaten he treks across the wood-land, until he meets a little boy who comes running up to him. The boy starts to make a fuss and reveals that his brother is Victor Frankenstein. He seeks revenge by killing the boy. At this stage in the novel you seem shocked, from what we thought was a change in character in the last scene, where he seemed so sweet and innocent, he has now just killed a boy in revenge for Victor. At this stage you can tell that his character is defiantly changing. You can hear this in his words, for example he says to the little boy I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim. When we read the last chapter you would never have imagined the monster saying this to a little boy. The monster seeks revenge to Victor, as Victor left the monster on his own, with no friends in the world and no clue what-so-ever of how to speak or to seek any kind of help. After the monster seeked revenge, he finally reunited himself with Victor. He tells Victor all about his troubles and his problems that he has faced since Victor abandoned him. But Victor turns around and tells him to go away and leave him alone, but the monster keeps speaking and asks Victor to create another human, for The monsters wife. But Victor responds with; Begone! I do break my promise; never will I create another like yourself. To this comment, the monster becomes furious with him, and threatens to make his life hell until he does. I feel more sympathy for Victor as he has no other choice, the monster has already killed his son and he knows that the monster is willing to go further. The monster does use threatening language in this scene though. At one stage he gets so angry he says; Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. This means that Victor may-be miserable now but the monster is willing to make it a lot worse.  The monster demands that Victor should make him a wife, because the monster has had enough of being a freak and being on his own, he wants someone to be there for him and someone who actually understands what he is going through. The monster decides that if Victor does this one thing, he will leave him in happiness forever. Victor refuses to do this as he doesnt want to create something the same as the monster. As he would be constantly worried. At this stage I do still feel sorry for the monster, he is still all alone, no-one there for him to speak to.  The monster finally decides that if Victor wont create a companion for him, then he wants to be killed. He is fed up of being alone, and all he wants is someone. But no-one will give him that someone. He is also annoyed on how he has turned out, for example him killing the innocent. My quote to this is when the monster says; I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; He understands what he has done and I still feel sorry for him. At the end of the day, it is true, if someone looked like the monster in our country, people would treat him as an outsider. He would constantly be attacked. Underneath his skin he proved that he was a nice person, but he had a temper, which I believe was the cause of Victor leaving him. The monster was always seeking revenge and he finally got what he wanted.  Mary Shelley must have had a vivid imagination, as well as a scary one. This novel isnt a horror story like people may think it is in-fact a deep down romance. It isnt a love story, but how the monster describes the leaves on the trees and the flower beds, it definitely comes across in a romantic way.

The Marriott International Incs Development Marketing Essay

The Marriott International Incs Development Marketing Essay The former of the Marriott International Inc was founded by J. Willard Marriott when he and his wife Alice Sheets opened a nine-stool AandW Root Beer stand which they later called The Hot Shoppe in Washington, DC the spring of 1927.It sold hot food such as tamales, chili, and tacos were added to attracting customers during the winter months. In the following few years, with the hot shoppes kept expanding, Marriotts food service had a good development. In 1957, Marriott opened its first hotel which was a 365-room Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. In 1967 its name was changed from Hot Shoppes, Inc., to Marriott Corporation and J.W. Marriott, Jr., became President and CEO. During the next 26 years, Marriott was developing fast by opening different kinds of hotels to meet the need of people and acquiring other companies. In 1985, J. Willard Marriott passed away and his oldest son J. Willard Bill Marriott, Jr., was named CEO and took over most major responsibilities. Marrio tt International Inc was established formally in 1993 when the former company splits into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation. With its establishment, Marriott International Inc starts to become a worldwide operator and franchisor of hotels and related lodging facilities step by step. ( http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/culture/heritageTimeline.mi) Today, Marriott International Inc headquarters in the Bethesda area of unincorporated Montgomery County, Maryland. And it is a leading worldwide hospitality company with about 3150 lodging properties located in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. In 2010, its sales is $10,908.00M, And there are 137000 employees in this company. With its excellent business achievement and economic strength, Marriott International Inc has become one of Worlds Fortune 500 for many years. And its rank is 213 in 2010. This big company is still developing and making progress continually. (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2010/snapshots/10664.html) Marriott International Incs development cant be achieved without the key people in this company. Nowadays, this companys CEO and chairman is J.W. Marriott, Jr. His leadership spans over 50 years, and he has taken Marriott from a family restaurant business to a global lodging company with 3500 properties in 70 countries and territories. Arne M. Sorenson, the president and COO of Marriott International, Inc. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. And he joined Marriott in 1996 when he specialized in mergers and acquisitions litigation and now he is responsible for the performance and growth of all of Marriotts worldwide brands and businesses. Marriotts Executive Vice President and CFO is Carl T. Berquist. Mr. Berquist holds a B.S. in accounting from Penn State University and is a member of Penn States Smeal Business Schools Board of Visitors. In 2002, he joined Marriott as a partner at Arthur Andersen LLP. And now Mr. Berquist become the CFO with responsibility for global finance, including financial reporting, project finance, global treasury, corporate tax, internal audit, and investor relations. (http://news.marriott.com/our-leadership.html) Although it has steady growth and profitability every year, Marriott International Incs Mission Statement is still to be the best lodging and food service company in the world. It will achieve this goal by treating employees in ways that create extraordinary customer service and shareholder value. And its Vision Statement is to be the worlds lodging leader. To be the leader, this company keeps focusing on serving the guest, extensive operational knowledge, the development of employees skills, and offering the best lodging brands in the lodging industry. (http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/culture/heritageJWMarriottJR.mi) Marriott international Incs steady growth and profitability is also related to its strategic alliances. Such as Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, Black Culinary Alliance, Gay Lesbian Alliance against Defamation and Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility. (http://www.marriott.com/marriott.mi?page=diversity_partners) Acquisitions play an important role during the development of Marriott International Inc. The recent acquisition on Mar 16 2011, Marriott International Inc acquires AC Diplomatic, Barcelona from AC Hotels SA. And later in March 1997, Marriott International acquired Renaissance Hotel Group N.V. for $916 million in cash and the assumption of $54 million in debt. This acquisition is the largest acquisition in Marriott history. (http://www.alacrastore.com/mergers-acquisitions/Marriott_International_Inc-1065110) Section2 Marriots is committed to global diversity to provide services that are above and beyond its customers experience. This strategy and concept has become its blueprint in its marketing plan to match the needs of the customers to the various products and services and provide the best possible experience for their guests during their stays in the hotel. The company is global having three thousand properties in sixty eight different territories and countries by franchising hotels under different brands. Marriotts marketing plan will entail research in the industry to gather critical information and experiences to better generate marketing strategies that would be effective through application of customer care and integrity. Cost leadership and product differentiation has been integrated at Marriotts which offers different brands either luxurious or moderate to fit various clients needs http://www.marriottconsulting.com/planning_services.php#business_plans Standard packages in service and products provide a more variety to the different atmospheres created by the different products offered by Marriotts. Other parameters must be included in the marketing plan like the marketing concept, product lifecycle and focus strategies that are important to guide a hotels marketing plan. The Hotels entry and foundation in the market place plays a major role in its marketing plan by detailing its goals, marketing objectives and the necessary factors to consider while implementing its marketing plan processes. Marriotts marketing strategies are geared towards the plan of maintaining its tradition of cherished service through the hotel brands to elevate guests stays, thus accomplishing its overall marketing objectives. http://www.academicwritingtips.org/component/content/article/35-social-sciences/562-marriot-hotel.html Our company met previous goals. Marriott International fourth-quarter net profit of 173 million, Marriott International Hotel Management Group, the fourth-quarter net profit of 1.73 billion U.S. dollars, earnings per share were 46 cents, this performance better than last year. The fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009, Marriott International hotel management group net profit of 1.06 billion U.S.evenue was 36.4 billion U.S. dollars, 3.38 billion higher than the same period last year dollars. Marriott International Hotel Management Group, the fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 39 cents per share, exceeding analysts had expected. Market research firm FactSet Research survey, analysts on average expected to Marriott International hotel management group for the fourth quarter of 36 cents per share on revenue of $ 3,580,000,000. http://sandiego.jobing.com/catering-sales-manager-courtyard-by-marriott-old-town/job/2710752 Marriotts commitment to society blends corporate financial contributions with in-kind giving and the volunteer service of our associates around the world. We participate in efforts to provide shelter, food, and childrens health, while creating career opportunities for our associates in the workplace and supporting education in the hospitality industry. http://www.marriott.com/corporate-social-responsibility/corporate-values.mi Marriotts environmental vision is to demonstrate that corporate responsibility in hospitality management can be a positive force for the environment while creating economic opportunities around the world. Marriott International has expanded its goals for its Diversity Outreach Initiative with a $1-billion pledge to minority-and women-owned suppliers over the next four years, relationships with four newly signed minority- and women-owned and managed financial services firms, and a plan to double the number of minority owners and franchisees in five years http://www.resource-recycling.com/rr_conference/hotelandtravel.html Section3 Marriott International Inc. is a participant in the Lodging industry. But it is not only a participant but also a leader. Its industry is stable and keeping growing everyday. Marriott International Inc. has been earning strong profits recently, even through comparable periods last year. With the improvement of economy and room rates have bolstered the industry. Figures from a recent report show that average daily rates revenue per room, and occupancy for U.S. hotels all increased during the first week of 2011. Expansion from the ground up, as well as through acquisitions, has been going on in South and Central America, as well as in China and India. With a growing middle class in India and China, MAR meet the need for increased accommodation in the area. As the economy continues to recover, the Lodging industry will be hoping to continue to develop fast. So MAR will be full of motivation and energy to develop. Whether in China or the world, the service quality, advanced technology, and services of Marriott International advanced the worlds first hotel group. Which has won wide public recognition and customers a high degree of trust? Marriott launched a number of brands through market segmentation for different market segments: they are Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton, Ramada and other hotel brands. Marriott has its own characteristics and different market positions. For example, a luxury-class hotel is JW Marriott, Marriott and Renaissance hotels w ith a high quality, but the brand image of the Renaissance is more flexible. Marriott Executive Apartments is the market for long-term accommodation. Courtyard is for mid-range market. (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-rewards/139599-marriott-reluctant-reward-program-participant.html) Marriott hotels, resort hotels and suites are for upscale, full-service hotels. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is the high consumption-oriented class, which it is able to provide the best facilities, food and service symbol. Ramada is a high-quality mid-priced brand, mainly for business and sightseeing tourists. (http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/glance.mi) Marriott international competitors have begun doing so more pro-actively. The industry of hotels is highly fragmented. Competition with hotels is generally based on the quality of rooms, restaurants, meeting facilities and services, attractiveness of locations, availability of a global distribution system, price and other factors. There are 3 competitors of Marriott international: Hilton Hotels: Hilton is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world. It is primarily involved in the management and development of hotels across the globe. Initially Hilton focused on acquiring and owning more real estate. However, it has recently changed its growth strategy, and it now focuses on spreading its operations through franchisees. InterContinental Hotels: IHG is the largest hotel company by number of rooms, with 590,361 rooms in over 100 countries around the world. It operates a diverse portfolio of brands across multiple economic segments, including Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts. Crowned Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express. Orient-Express Hotels: Orient-Express Hotels is a hotel and leisure group, which is focused on the luxury market. The company owns and operates luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains, and river cruises in over 25 countries. (http://www.dailyfinance.com/company/marriott-international-inc) The ways to counter the competition: Marriott prefer to use multi-brand strategy to meet the needs of different market segments Marriott for different market segments successfully launched a series of brand They has been struggling to improve the service details and content, customers will be related to differences in the details of effective records, as well as the attitude of its staff and overall good quality Marriotts corporate culture summed up as: Marriotts staff to create a practical action for the guests to experience the service, its purpose is to serve the people. Marriott full play the enthusiasm of employees and retain talent, and attaches great importance to the role of human resources (http://www.academicwritingtips.org/component/content/article/35-social-sciences/562-marriot-hotel.html) As we all know, Marriott face large competition. So they should invest in research and development. Here are their investments: 1 Project construction area of over 20,000 square meters, is expected to invest over 100 million Yuan, the construction of a 16-story, 300 or more rooms of the modern high-star hotels. 2 Marriott said its hotel owners and new franchise partners will invest a total of $ 190,000,000 bed. 3 1.5 billion of investment in large projects settled Marriott International Ming Shan Hall Here are Marriotts ways to promote their products or services. 1. Know your Hotel: You must be a product expert for both your hotel and your competitors. 2. Prime Selling Time: Adhere to prime selling hours, by market, and ensure those hours are dedicated to pure selling activities and customer interaction. 3. Access to Manager: No Messages on any enquiries, even if the General Manager has to take the call. 4. Customer Rapport: All transactions with customers and sales activities demonstrate our desire to know them and build relationships. 5. Determine Customer Needs: You must determine objectives of event, definition of event success and qualitative decision-making criteria in addition to quantitative dates, rates and space.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Marriotts advantages in its area are that Marriott Hotel: Marriott Hotel was at the service management group, the basic philosophy of people serving people, which has two aspects: fair treatment of every employee, while focusing on the feelings of employees, so that they understand home feeling. Marriott nearly 50% of managers are promoted from within the company, the companys job vacancies to give priority to internal staff, only no suitable internal candidate before hiring from the community, and outside recruitment, salary levels provided by the general high the industry average of 50% to 75%. The hotel is a typical service industry, Marriott that only a good company to employees, employees will be good guests. There are five systems to ensure its Marriott Hotel in the real implementation of its people at the service concept. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriott_International) How does the Marriott Internet develop so fast and Marriott will what the situation introduced new brand or new product on-line? The answer is: when its through in the hotel market survey found there is enough, not yet fill blank or the demand is not fully satisfy customer demand, the company will launch when demand for these new products or services this means that companies need to continuously for customer demand research. Through the analysis can be found, Marriott, the core competences lie in her customer survey and customer knowledge, Marriott will be applied to all this from fair hotel to li jia all hotel brand. So, Marriotts superiorities are not Hotel management, but the customer knowledge acquisition, processing and management. Marriott has been committed to seek it the gaps between different brands. If the investigation shows that some segments of the market has enough targeted customers need some new product or service features, so Marriott will ascend product or service to meet customer new demand; If the survey shows that in one subdivision target audience, many people to a range of different characteristics have needs, Marriott will put these people as a new customer group and developed a new brand. Marriott international company provides beneficial for brand development thinking. For an existing product or service for, new features added to what extent is only necessary to ascend? And to what extent can create a new brand? The answer is: when additional features can create a kind of new things and can attract different target customer, you will have the product or service ascension or brand new born. Marriott company announced the development of the elastic suite this brand of practice is a good example. At the time, Marriott will elastic suite price at $75 between 95 and plans to March 1, 1999, 14 home built in when the two years later add 55 house. Elastic suite fair suite and fair suite originally is fair hotel part. Male was founded in 1997, at the time, the Wall Street journal is so describe the fair suite: capacious but lack adornment, toilet no door, sitting room of the shop is linoleum, its pricing is 75 dollars. In fact, people who are sensitive to the price and terms, this suite are fair in the hotel room of the sample more spacious. The question is: fair suite customers may not like linoleum, and are willing to pay for decorate a bit better room some more money. Hence, Marriott by increasing the ironing board and other pleasant thing to change fair suite image, and through laying carpet, adding the fireplace and breakfast room to improve the sitting room conditions. T hrough these aspects of ascension, Marriott hotel clued into the new batch of target customers emphasizing value buyers. But later, Marriott found fairness suite of the ascension is not always effective, price sensitive type customers dont want, and pay attention to value its customers and the pig. Hence, Marriott consider fair suite convert elastic suites, and restart the customer market segmentation. By measuring, Marriott got this data: relative to price sensitive type customers as fair suite brings the income, those who pay attention to the customer value for elastic suite at least $5 more income. In a competitive market segment for product promotion, we must pay special attention acquire and maintaining customers. For the price sensitive type customers, you must undertake product or service to avoid they turn to the ascension of competitors. Without competition or no foreseeable competition exists, then there is no need for ascension. In fact, competition often always exist, the key is to adopt necessary ascension to ensure that competitive advantage. Face price sensitive type customer, too much room doesnt help fair hotel create a competitive advantage. For China, we can learn a lot from the Marriott. Usually, hotel business income can be divided into three parts, one is relatively stable guest room, it is the hotel accommodation income that came with the catering business income, and three is including offices, shops, apartment rent and entertainment business, miscellaneous income each. Now, with all kinds of office buildings, shops, apartment hotel time, a lot of the fat, the hotel by wantonly robbed in this competition, almost crumbled; in big cities is entertainment speaking, the entertainment blossom everywhere, hotel entertainment income is increasingly atrophy. For example, 2000 Guangzhous biggest garden hotel total operating income is RMB 4.1 billion, compared with 1996 garden hotel revenue 5.4 billion, short four years time, incredibly shrunk more than 24 percent. The garden hotel general manager LiaoMingHua some helplessly say, we pulled out all the way, but the garden hotel business performance is still in step by step and sliding into deep In 2000, the China hotel reve nue is 3.9 billion, the white swan hotel revenue for 3 million, compared to 1996 5.2 million and 3.4 million, in a big shock, and Oriental hotel and international hotels performance is also down dramatically. 2001 is attempting to rumors China industry has been the United States has a good hotel in hotel management ability of the Marriott hotel management group purchase; this makes Guangzhou hotel industry sticker shock. China hotel, said to the outside of the top hotel management control only by Hong Kong new world change, in order to Marriott hotel shareholders did not change, the more there is no takeover, said. It is reported, China hotel grunde Hong Kong new world hotel limited company management, but from the beginning of the change in 2001 by Marriott management, accordingly, Marriott hotel every year from China, turnover extracted from 2.5 percentage points in return. With Chinas eventual entry into the WTO, the famous hotel groups like Sheraton, Hilton, west in brand has an grily blew the trumpets into Chinas hotel industry, the international brand and local hotels exchange unavoidable. Domestic even heavyweight hotel even so big alligator, other colleagues situation can be seen, international and domestic hotel gap also therefore! In fact, the biggest gap between Chinese and foreign hotel management, especially in it is the management strategy of the brand as the core. China hotel industry wants to win in the competition and obtain continuous development, it is necessary to learn modestly from foreign peer learning and solid improve their management level. Marriotts approach is to provide some new ideas for us? Nowadays, the hospitality industry is same as consumer goods is undergoing drastic changes. As a hotel operator, you must always ask yourself: I am ready to compete in upgrading of product or service in order to protect their market, or prepare for new segments of the market to develop new product? If choose the former, pay attention to product or service, thus reduces ascension is not incremental cost, because the existing customers often dont want to pay more. If choose the latter, new product or service must contain many new targeted customers expect things, further says, is the need to have a different brand this brand wont impact the original brand, and new customers can accept this new product or service and are willing to pay higher prices. Marriott hotel through creating elastic suite successfully will a make price sensitive type dissatisfied customers mode is transformed into a emphasizing value customer mode, it is a typical case. Section4 MARRIOTT REVENUES totaled $11.7 billion in 2010 compared to $10.9 billion in 2009. Total fees in 2010 were $1,185 million, an increase of 9 percent from the prior year. Stronger base management and franchise fees reflected the increase in worldwide REVPAR and unit growth across the system. Incentive management fees increased 18 percent reflecting higher property-level profit due to worldwide REVPAR increases and continued cost control, as well as international unit growth. For full year 2010, 27 percent of company-operated hotels earned incentive management fees compared to 25 percent in the prior year. Approximately two-thirds of incentive management fees came from hotels outside North America in both 2010 and 2009 BALANCE SHEET : At year-end 2010, total debt was $2,829 million and cash balances totaled $505 million, compared to $2,298 million in debt and $115 million of cash at year-end 2009. Adjusting for the debt associated with securitized Timeshare mortgage notes now required to be consolidated under new accounting rules, adjusted total debt, net of cash, totaled $1,308 million, a decline of $875 million since year-end 2009. At year-end 2010, Marriott had no borrowings outstanding under its $2.4 billion revolving bank credit facility Google: http://www.finchannel.com/Main_News/Travel_Biz/80829_Marriott_International_Announces_Plan_to_Spin_Off_Timeshare_Business_/ 29 March 2011 The stock price of the company and major competitors: Key Stats  MARMore Stock Ind Avg Price/Earnings TTM 29.6 41.8 Price/Book 8.3 3.3 Price/Sales TTM 1.2 1.8 Rev Growth (3 Yr Avg) -3.5 -3.1 EPS Growth (3 Yr Avg) -11.3 Operating Margin % TTM 5.9 7.7 Net Margin % TTM 3.9 2.9 ROE TTM 33.6 5.8 Debt/Equity 1.9 1.0 Top Marriott International, Inc. Competitors Companies Location Accor SA Évry,  France Hilton Worldwide, Inc. McLean,  VA InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Denham,  Buckinghamshire Competitor on file Minnetonka,  MN Competitor on file Toronto,  ON Competitor on file Spartanburg,  SC Competitor on file Chicago,  IL Competitor on file New York,  NY Competitor on file Boca Raton,  FL Competitor on file White Plains,  NY Competitor on file Phoenix,  AZ Competitor on file Silver Spring,  MD Google: http://www.hoovers.com/company/Marriott_International_Inc/hjfkxi-1-1njea3.html 29 March 2011 But what happened to the stock prices and why, this is because Marriott Internationals asset-light business model, premier brands, and experienced management team have helped the firm carve out a narrow economic moat. Although 2009 was challenging, the travel market  has stabilized and a slow recovery  has taken hold. In our opinion, Marriotts long-term prospects remain bright. Google: http://quote.morningstar.com/Stock/s.aspx?t=MAR 29 March 2011 And what the company will be in the future, The companys 2011 full year guidance assumes that the spin-off of the Timeshare segment does not occur in the current year and does not include pro forma adjustments or transaction expenses.    For the full year 2011, the company expects a strong pricing environment. The company assumes full year 2011 systemwide REVPAR on a constant dollar basis will increase 6 to 8 percent in North America, outside North America and on a worldwide basis. The company expects to open approximately 35,000 rooms in 2011 as most hotels expected to open are already under construction or undergoing conversion from other brands. Given these assumptions, full year 2011 fee revenue could total $1,310 million to $1,340 million and owned, leased, corporate housing and other revenue, net of direct expense, could total $115 million to $125 million. The company estimates that, on a full year basis, one point of worldwide systemwide REVPAR impacts total fees by approximately $15 million pretax and owned, leased, corporate housing and other revenue, net of direct expense, by approximately $5 million pretax. The company expects 2011 Timeshare contract sales to be in line with 2010 adjusted levels. The company expects its 2011 general and administrative costs to increase 3 to 5 percent over 2010 adjusted levels reflecting increased spending for brand initiatives and higher costs in international growth markets. The company expects investment spending in 2011 will total approximately $500 million to $700 million, including $50 million to $100 million for maintenance capital spending. Investment spending will also include other capital expenditures (including property acquisitions), new mezzanine financing and mortgage notes, contract acquisition costs, and equity and other investments. Based upon the assumptions above, full year 2011 EBITDA is expected to total $1,170 million to $1,230 million, a 12 to 18 percent increase over the prior years adjusted EBITDA. Google: http://www.finchannel.com/Main_News/Travel_Biz/80829_Marriott_International_Announces_Plan_to_Spin_Off_Timeshare_Business_/ 29 March 2011 A financial advisor said about the companys stock as an investment. Marriott International Inc.s shares slipped 2.2% premarket to 36.80% after Goldman Sachs lowers its stock-investment rating on the hotel operator to neutral from buy, where it has been since January 2009. Goldman remains bullish on the hotel sector, but says valuation of Marriotts timeshare unit, which it is spinning off, is creating a drag. Goldman says the timeshare division may produce lower margin than expected and units earnings are more cyclical, meaning the remaining hotel entity multiple would have to expand dramatically to offset the possible dilution of the spinoff. Google: http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/03/28/hot-stocks-this-morning-nokia-alcatel-lucent-and-many-more/ 29 March 2011

Free Candide Essays: Successful Writing Techniques :: Candide essays

The Successful Writing Techniques in Candide In Candide, Voltaire uses many writing techniques that can also be found in the works of Cervantes, Alighieri, Rabelais and Moliere. The use of the various styles and conventions shows that, despite the passage of centuries and the language differences, certain writing techniques will always be effective. One common literary technique is the author's use of one or more of his characters as his 'voice' to speak out the authors views on a certain subject. For instance, in Moliere's Tartuffe, the author uses the character of Cleante to speak out against religious hypocrites (page 1419, lines 99-102): Nothing that I more cherish and admire Than honest zeal and true religious fire. So there is nothing that I find more base Than specious piety's dishonest face. In Candide, Voltaire makes use of several characters to voice his opinion mocking philosophical optimism. On page 1594, Candide is asking a gentleman about whether everything is for the best in the physical world as well as the moral universe. The man replies: ...I believe nothing of the sort. I find that everything goes wrong in our world; that nobody knows his place in society or his duty, what he's doing or what he ought to be doing, and that outside of mealtimes...the rest of the day is spent in useless quarrels...-it's one unend ing warfare. By having this character take on such a pessimistic tone, he directly contradicts the obviously over-optimistic tone of Candide. In the conclusion (page 1617) an old turk instructs Candide in the futility of needless philosophizing by saying that "...the work keeps us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty." In each of these examples, the character chosen by the author comes across as a reasonable and respectable person, making the author's point of view seem just as reasonable and respectable. Another technique Voltaire uses in Candide is that of taking actual people and events and weaving into his work of fiction. He often does this to mock or ridicule his political and literary adversaries, as shown in the conversation between the abbe' and the Parisian supper guests (page 1593). The abbe' mentions two critics who in Voltaires time have criticized his work. The critics are referred to as boring and impudent by the supper guests. In much the same manner Alighieri, in The Divine Comedy, has placed many of his enemies in various circles of Hell.

Performance Assessment Essay -- essays papers

Performance Assessment Not since the development of the objective paper and pencil test early in the century has an assessment method hit the American educational scene with such force as has performance assessment methodology in the 1990s. Performance assessment relies on teacher observation and professional judgment to draw inferences about student achievement. The reasons for the intense interest in an assessment methodology can be summarized as follows: During the 1980s important new curriculum research and development efforts at school district, state, national and university levels began to provide new insights into the complexity of some of our most valued achievement targets. We came to understand the multidimensionality of what it means to be a proficient reader, writer, and math or science problem solver, for example. With these and other enhanced visions of the complex nature of the meaning of academic success came a sense of the insufficiency of the traditional multiple choice test. Educat ors began to embrace the reality that some targets, like complex reasoning, skill demonstration and product development, "require"--don't merely permit--the use of subjective, judgmental means of assessment. One simply cannot assess the ability to write well, communicate effectively in a second language, work cooperatively on a team, and complete science laboratory work in a quality manner using the traditional selected response modes of assessment. As a result, we have witnessed a virtual stampede of teachers, administrators and educational policy makers to embrace performance assessment. In short, educators have become as obsessed with performance assessment in the 1990s as we were with the multiple choice tests for 60 years. Warnings from the assessment community (Dunbar, Kortez, and Hoover, 1991) about the potential dangers of invalidity and unreliability of carelessly developed subjective assessments not only have often gone unheeded, but by and large they have gone unheard. Now that we are a decade into the performance assessment movement, however, some of those quality control lessons have begun to take hold. Assessment specialists have begun to articulate in terms that practitioners can understand the rules of evidence for the development and use of high quality performance assessments (e.g. Messick, 1994). As a result, we are well i... ... student performance in specific academic disciplines. If and when such opportunities arise, thorough training is essential for all who are to serve in this capacity. If the teachers issuing this invitation have developed or gleaned from their professional literature refined visions of the meaning of academic success, have transformed them into quality criteria and provide quality training for all who are to observe and evaluate student performance, this can be a very rewarding professional experience. If these standards are not met, it is wise to urge (and perhaps help with) a redevelopment of the assessment. The third and final contact for counselors is as an evaluator of students within the context of the guidance function, observing and judging academic or affective student characteristics. In this case, the counselor will be both the developer and user of the assessment and must know how to adhere to the above mentioned standards of assessment quality. For all of these reasons, it is advisable for school guidance and counseling personnel to understand when this methodology is likely to be useful and when it is not and how to design and develop sound performance assessments. Performance Assessment Essay -- essays papers Performance Assessment Not since the development of the objective paper and pencil test early in the century has an assessment method hit the American educational scene with such force as has performance assessment methodology in the 1990s. Performance assessment relies on teacher observation and professional judgment to draw inferences about student achievement. The reasons for the intense interest in an assessment methodology can be summarized as follows: During the 1980s important new curriculum research and development efforts at school district, state, national and university levels began to provide new insights into the complexity of some of our most valued achievement targets. We came to understand the multidimensionality of what it means to be a proficient reader, writer, and math or science problem solver, for example. With these and other enhanced visions of the complex nature of the meaning of academic success came a sense of the insufficiency of the traditional multiple choice test. Educat ors began to embrace the reality that some targets, like complex reasoning, skill demonstration and product development, "require"--don't merely permit--the use of subjective, judgmental means of assessment. One simply cannot assess the ability to write well, communicate effectively in a second language, work cooperatively on a team, and complete science laboratory work in a quality manner using the traditional selected response modes of assessment. As a result, we have witnessed a virtual stampede of teachers, administrators and educational policy makers to embrace performance assessment. In short, educators have become as obsessed with performance assessment in the 1990s as we were with the multiple choice tests for 60 years. Warnings from the assessment community (Dunbar, Kortez, and Hoover, 1991) about the potential dangers of invalidity and unreliability of carelessly developed subjective assessments not only have often gone unheeded, but by and large they have gone unheard. Now that we are a decade into the performance assessment movement, however, some of those quality control lessons have begun to take hold. Assessment specialists have begun to articulate in terms that practitioners can understand the rules of evidence for the development and use of high quality performance assessments (e.g. Messick, 1994). As a result, we are well i... ... student performance in specific academic disciplines. If and when such opportunities arise, thorough training is essential for all who are to serve in this capacity. If the teachers issuing this invitation have developed or gleaned from their professional literature refined visions of the meaning of academic success, have transformed them into quality criteria and provide quality training for all who are to observe and evaluate student performance, this can be a very rewarding professional experience. If these standards are not met, it is wise to urge (and perhaps help with) a redevelopment of the assessment. The third and final contact for counselors is as an evaluator of students within the context of the guidance function, observing and judging academic or affective student characteristics. In this case, the counselor will be both the developer and user of the assessment and must know how to adhere to the above mentioned standards of assessment quality. For all of these reasons, it is advisable for school guidance and counseling personnel to understand when this methodology is likely to be useful and when it is not and how to design and develop sound performance assessments.

Antigone Essay

Remember those people who always thought they were right, and they always ended up in trouble for it? I Sophocles’ play Antigone, the main characters Antigone and Creon show how being so hubris can be tragic to your life. Set back in ancient Greece an epic battle takes place and brothers end up killing each other. One was allowed a proper burial, yet Polyinesis was not. Antigone felt disappointed by this and decided to bury them yet Creon the newly appointed king did not appreciate the rule breaking. Due to the fact that Antigone and creon exhibited excessive pride, their lives were ruined. Antigone’s arrogance and brashness ultimately led to her death. For example, on Creon’s first day as king he made a decree that no one should bury Polyneisis body. When Antigone heard this, she went to Ismene and asked for her help; yet Ismene refused and called her a criminal. Antigone still disagreed, â€Å"But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy; I shall lie down with him in death†(673,55-57) This proved that Antigone was cocky and she was sort of stating that all her wrong doings are â€Å"holy†; she is referring to herself as always being right. This affected her though distorting her view on life. In addition to her argument with Ismene, Antigone then was caught in the act of burying Polyniesis and was brought in and questioned by Creon. â€Å"And you Antigone, with your head hanging – do you confess this thing†(679, 53) When Antigone didn’t deny her crime and boasted to the king and the elders, It proves how narcissistic that she is. If she would have not been so boastful I doubt that Croen would have been so harsh to Antigone. Furthermore, Creon then calls in Ismene to protest against her crime as well. Creon started o believe that she helped Antigone to plot against him. Ismene then lied and said she did help to Antigone’s surprise. Antigone become outraged and denied her hand in the deed. Ismene is displeased in antigone’s punishment, â€Å"Do you refuse me, Antigone? I want to die with you; I too have a duty that I must discharge to the dead†(681, 138). Antigone was then enraged further and rebelled against Ismene, â€Å"You shall not lessen my death by sharing it†(681, 139) Antigone is showing self centered and concided she was. She believed that she was so important because she did the right thing by the gods that no one should die except her because she was special. However, Antigone was not the only major character with this flaw. This proves how arrogance can really damage anyone’s life just like it did to Antigone and Creons’. Pride and the excess of it played a big role in this play, being the tragic flaw of both main characters; arrogance is not only a big part of this play but also our history, there will always be people who can never be wrong. Many people are just like Creon and Antigone, Always thinking they are right. Is your life headed for a fate just like Antigone’s plot?

Entrepreneurs are born and made Essay

There are two sides to every debate, and the â€Å"what makes an entrepreneur† argument has raged for decades with neither side able to conclusively prove their case. There are many who believe that an entrepreneur must possess personality traits such as vision, passion and drive that are innate and cannot be taught. Others argue that the skills of evaluating opportunities, motivating people and operating a business are easily passed on to eager students looking to be entrepreneurs. The truth is that both sides are right and it’s time for a compromise: Entrepreneurs are born and made. Some people may be natural entrepreneurs and immediately open a business, others will have studied and trained long and hard before doing so, and while each may enjoy some success, neither will be as successful as the person who possesses the inherent qualities and has spent the time to get the education and experience of the business world. A lot of studies and research have been done on this particular matter. In the beginning many theorists believe that people are either born entrepreneur or they are not. Professor of Psychology Alan Jacobowitz, after conducting interviews to more than 500 entrepreneurs in a period of 3 years, concludes that entrepreneurs are born not made. He maintains that his subjects share common characteristics, which include: restlessness, independence, a tendency to be a loner, and extreme self confidence. Still, other researchers maintain that there are other personality characteristics that are uniquely entrepreneurial including being innovative, action oriented, high on need for personal control and highly autonomous. In addition to this, Jacobowitz also devised a chronological schema of entrepreneurial indicator that he calls the five ages of entrepreneur. The ages are early childhood exposure, trouble in school, problems with work, desire to risk, and bliss in business independence. Jacobowitz believes that  entrepreneurial aptitude is static, which means that people are either born with the said characteristic or not. Initially this theory was supported by the majority of theorists but other scholars criticize that it has yet to be empirically proven. John Kao, in his attempt to define entrepreneur in a more satisfying manner, holds that they are catalysts. They make things happen. They use creativity to conceive new things and zeal to implement them. In short, they are both creator and innovator. They both generate new idea and serve as the human vehicle by which implementation of that idea occurs. They take the ball and run with it, overcoming obstacles in the way. Still others have also suggested what they term as entrepreneurial traits; Thomas and his colleague summarized the following traits in what they call the characteristics of entrepreneur distilled from 50 research studies. These traits include: Total commitment, determination, and perseverance; Drive to achieve and grow; Opportunity and goal orientation; Taking initiative and personal responsibility; Persistent problem solving; Realism and a sense of humor; Seeking and using feedback; Internal locus of control; Calculated risk-taking and risk-seeking; Low need for stat us and power; Integrity and reliability. In many instances, entrepreneurs are often described as impulsive, gambling adventurer, intoxicated by his or her own adrenaline. But though they put themselves at risk, they are actually motivated to achieve something greater, which is what separates them from the rest of people. Research also shows that they are more of a risk manager rather than risk-seeker. In addition, McLelland’s work on achievement motivation may also help to understanding the entrepreneurship. McLelland holds that human beings are driven by 3 motives: the need for achievement (accomplishing things), for affiliation (being with others) and for power (controlling others). Of these, the need for achievement is considered to be most relevant in understanding the entrepreneur. McLelland further maintains that this particular need derives from people who want to be responsible for solving their problems, setting their goals and  reaching these goals through their own efforts. In addition to this they also desire some kind of measure for their accomplishments. This need for achievement is highly linked to entrepreneurial tendency. The entrepreneurial characteristics largely refer to innate qualities, which separate entrepreneurs from other people who do not seem to possess entrepreneurial traits. These qualities are what drive them to have a vision and remain motivated to pursue their lifelong goals either for personal or practical reasons. It is these qualities that in turn provide jobs for people. Trait theories are not completely condoned by entrepreneurial researchers. Though many agree with what Jacobowitz identifies as entrepreneurial-type characteristics, mostly choose a more dynamic perspective on the matter. Trait theory approach does not provide a distinction particularly to those of managers â€Å"because traits that are used to describe the characteristics of an entrepreneur can just as easily apply to many managers: it lacks specificity, refers largely to men, and is not applicable in all cultures. In his book, he further holds that â€Å"entrepreneurship is environmentally determined†, which means that there are certain conditions that will encourage entrepreneurial activities. This includes capital availability, mechanisms for realizing value, and availability of other resources namely human resources, information resources such as libraries and data banks, and infrastructure resources such as inexpensive space. Other factors would also prove useful in cre ating an atmosphere conducive to entrepreneurial environment; media attention, idea-generating institution, and cultural environment. David Burnett claims that entrepreneurs can be supplied if two important factors are present: opportunity and willingness to become an entrepreneur. According to Praag, opportunity â€Å"is the possibility to become self-employed if one wants to.† And willingness is the relative valuation of work in self-employment compared to one’s other options for employment. An individual’s willingness is positive if self-employment is considered as the best available career option, thus inherently affected by the anticipated market incentives that are available for would be entrepreneurs, namely and  economic benefits. The supply of entrepreneurship is dependent on both individual level factors and general economic factors. Therefore policymakers can foster potential entrepreneurs by creating a supportive atmosphere through initiative market reforms that both increase the market incentives and the availability of capital that available for entrepreneurs. Krueger and Brazeal offer a dynamic model in their approach towards understanding the entrepreneurial behaviors. It suggests that entrepreneurial intention is based on the interaction between personal characteristics, perceptions, values, beliefs, background, and environment (situational context). They base their approach on Shapero’s models of the entrepreneurial event in which entrepreneurship is defined as â€Å"the pursuit of an opportunity irrespective of existing processes†. Basically the model places emphasis on the notion that beliefs, perceptions and assumptions are learned within the context of a given environment (such as business or community). The attitudes and perceptions bring about intentions, which in turn affect behaviors. Through indirect relationship, the Krueger and Brazeal model proposes the following order: individual’s perceptions, attitudes and assumptions are formed through environment or event. This later translates into intention, or potential, which is reflected in behavior. Thus, this approach suggests that entrepreneurial not only can be learned but can vary across individuals and situations. Naffziger even suggests a step further by stating that the intention to act entrepreneurially is influenced by the interaction of several factors namely individual characteristics, individual environment, business environment, an individual’s personal set of goal, and the existence of a viable business idea. They will make comparisons between their perceptions and probable outcome intended targets, intended behavior and actual outcomes. If the outcomes meets or exceeds perceived outcomes, positive behavior toward entrepreneurial endeavors is reinforced. The same thing occurs if otherwise takes place. Though at the dawn of entrepreneurial researches, many believed that entrepreneurs were born, things have changed now. A lot has been understood about the nature of this idea. The processes involved in the business startups have been observed and analyzed to help people better equipped in embarking an entrepreneurial attempt. An increasing number of higher learning institutions, namely tertiary college education, support the idea that entrepreneurship can be taught. While these schools may not produce entrepreneurs of Ford and Gates caliber, persuasive arguments for this notion have been made. The following examples would be cases in point in entrepreneurship-led development strategies further showing that entrepreneurs can actually be made. Conclusively, I would say that while some people are born to be successful entrepreneurs, those who aren’t born with such quality gift can learn and train to be such. Hence, entrepreneurs are born and made.