Slavery In US Essays - Slavery In The United States, Racism

Slavery In US Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core, was a cruel and inhumane institution. From the idea behind it to the way that it was enforced, it degraded the lives of human beings and forbade the basic liberties that every man deserves under the Constitution of the United States. Three major areas where cruelty was especially prevalent were in the slaves working conditions, living conditions, and loss of fundamental freedoms. Working conditions for slaves were about as bad as can possibly be imagined. Slaves worked from dawn till dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes his experience as a slave on his Louisiana plantation: The hands are required to be in the cotton field as soon as it is light in the morning and with the exception of ten or fifteen minutes, which is given them at noon to swallow their allowance of cold bacon, they are not permitted a moment idle until it is too dark to see, and when the moon is full, they often times labor till the middle of the night (Northrup 15). The slaves lived in constant fear of punishment while at work, and it was that fear that drove them to obey. Northrup continues to say that, "No matter how fatigued and weary he may be...a slave never approaches the gin-house with his basket of cotton but with fear. If it falls short in weight?if he has not performed the full task appointed him, he knows he must suffer" (10). He goes on to explain that after weighing, "follow the whippings" (10). This was not the end of the workday for a common slave though. Each slave had his or her own respective chores to do. "One feeds the mules, another the swine?another cuts the wood, and so forth (Northrop 11). Then there were jobs to do in the slaves' quarters, jobs that were necessary for their basic needs and survival: Finally, at a late hour, they reach the quarters, sleepy and overcome with the long day's toil. Then a fire must be kindled in the cabin, the corn ground in the small hand-mill, and supper, and dinner for the next day in the field prepared (Northrup 12). The slaves got very little sleep because, "an hour before day light the horn is blown," and it was "an offense invariably followed by flogging, to be found at the quarters after daybreak" (Northrup 14). "Then the fears and labors of another day begin; and until its close there is no such thing as rest..." (Northrup 14). After an extremely difficult day of labor, the cruelty continued when the slaves returned to housing that could be described as "inadequate" at best. Jacob Stroyer, one of fifteen children, was born on a plantation in South Carolina in 1849. He relates the conditions that his family lived in: Most of the cabins in the time of slavery were built so as to contain two families; some had partitions, while others had none. When there were no partitions each family would fit up its own part as it could; sometimes they got old boards and nailed them up, stuffing the cracks with rags; when they could not get boards they hung up old clothes (Stroyer 14). Families were forced to live under less than ideal conditions, and sleeping was a challenge: When the family increased the children all slept together, both boys and girls, until one got married; then a part of another cabin was assigned to that one, but the rest would have to remain with their mother and father, as in childhood, unless they could get with some of their relatives or friends who had small families, or unless they were sold (Stroyer 14). The hot summer months made it impossible to sleep indoors so, "when it was too warm for them to sleep comfortably, they all slept under trees until it grew too cold" (Stroyer 16). Francis Henderson was another slave who, after escaping from a slave plantation outside of Washington, D.C. at the age of 19, described living conditions on his plantation: Our houses were but log huts- - the tops partly open- - ground floor- - rain would come through. My aunt was quite an old woman, and had been sick several years; in rains I have seen her moving from one part of the house to the other, and rolling her bedclothes about to try

L1 8 - Presentation Skills 1 ( Ans ) Essays - Presentation Software

L1 8 - Presentation Skills 1 ( Ans ) Essays - Presentation Software L1 8 - Presentation Skills 1 ( Ans ) Task 1 D B C A Task 2 Academic presentations What is the main difference between academic and secondary school presentations? Academic presentations include research , which means you need to cite references . Academic Style In academic style, you need to show authority and to establish that what you are talking about is relevant , correct and valid . Reference List You should choose references that are relevant and that also support your arguments properly . What are the two ways to cite your references? provide the reference in the slide cite it orally / verbally , e.g. as John Chan points out in his article in 2010 Structure A good structure enables the audience to follow the content very clearly . Make sure each section of your presentation is organised properly. What is Signposting? it is the outline at the beginning. it gives direction to where the presentation is leading. it is the use of citations. Language Why is Language tricky for some students? Because oral presentations use lot of spoken language and they need lots of interaction . What happens if a student just reads a presentation? dull boring low grade Be careful: Not to use very emotional language Voice, body language and interaction. Body language includes: very good eye contact ; good posture ; good facial expressions ; and a ppropriate gestures . Interaction means: ask questions create interest get your audience to ask questions Slides What is the advice for slides? best to keep it simple not to use too many fancy animations or sound effects Remember: You are the one delivering the presentation , but not the PowerPoint which is delivering the presentation. Summary Which of the following features belong to a cademic presentation'? Very well researched content Reliable references Clearly organised Good intonation Good body language Appropriate language Simple but effective slides Effective signposting Task 3 " intro 2" is better because of the following features: good eye contact; good pronunciation and articulation; confidence; any other reasonable answers . Task 4 Task 5 Ex.8.1 Task 6 Task 7 Ex.6.1

Download Sites Violate Copyright Rules

Download Sites Violate Copyright Rules Many years ago technology wasn’t as popular as it is today. At most there may have been one computer in the home that the family had to share, the Internet wasn’t wireless†¦ you had to utilize your phone line in order to get on the Internet. Cell phones weren’t popular, at best there were two phone lines in your home and there were cordless phones that could be used. There may have been cable television, but not every room had a television in it. And there definitely weren’t any sites that you could get to in order to download things such as movies and music. How do Download Sites Violate Copyright Rules? Download sites have become very popular for many people to utilize these days. It’s a lot easier to get to these download sites with wireless Internet, everyone having a tablet, smart phone, smart television and so much other technology of their own. But what many people, that do utilize these download sites don’t take into consideration, is that these very download sites they are using violate copyright rules. Download sites violate copyright rules because these sites allow people to copy and get the media from the Internet that has been copyrighted without paying for it and without gaining permission from the person that did copyright the media. When You Download Content Without Paying for It, Youre Committing a Crime Anytime there is a form of media that has been marketed or produced, those that are involved in the process of doing so, get paid from the sale of the media content that has been produced. While they are producing that media they become the owners of it and at the end of the production copyright the media. The process of copyrighting says that the media cannot be reproduced, copied or resold without the permission of those that produced this very media. No matter what format the media is in†¦ whether it is music, a movie or games; if it is copyrighted you must pay to download it. If you are getting any form of media from a site that allows downloads without paying for it, you are committing a crime. It is also a crime if you share the music, movie or game without permission from the person or people that copyrighted the media. It’s not okay to just get the media format without getting permission from the copywriter. The exact crime that is being committed is copyright in fringement. In short, you are interfering with the exclusive rights that only belong to the person that is the copyright owner. If you choose to reproduce, display, distribute or even try to perform the work that has been copyrighted and protected by the owner you are performing copyright infringement. You should also enjoy these articles: Fraternity Violence in Higher Education The Bright Sides of Academic Intellectuals We Call Nerds Violent Video Games Are Dangerous for Psychological Health Violence in Children and the Media Violence Against Female University Students As much as some don’t like to admit, there are people that are watching out for people that are committing copyright infringement by downloading media from these download sites. There are certain groups that are monitoring these sites like these ones: the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).These are groups that are put in place just to monitor the illegal download. Although these groups tend to focus a lot of their attention on universities and colleges, they also look at repeat users and track where they are. Once they see who is downloading the media that has been copyrighted, they get in touch with the university or college (if it is someone that is a student). They let them know that illegal downloading is taking place, the school then tracks the student down and the authorities can begin legal action and in a lot of cases, they will seek ramifications from the person that has downloaded from the sites ille gally. Those that aren’t students get reported to local authorities and the same actions are taken place with them as with the students. What Are the Consequences? As a result, you should pay for the illegally downloaded media. Although it may not seem like it, if you are found guilty of copyright infringement there are a lot of things that you could be facing. You could have to do up to five years in jail. There may also be fines charged to you†¦ in a lot of cases those fines could be up to $150,000 for each file that you have downloaded. And if the copyright holder decides to file a legal suit against you, you could have more legal fees that you would have to pay. These sites aren’t safe for anyone involved. You don’t want to continue to download media from these sites. If you are found, you don’t want to have to endure the consequences that may follow. Although it seems like it’s easy and that you’ll get away with it, you don’t want to take the chances that you will get caught performing this illegal act.

INTERIM PROJECT REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INTERIM PROJECT REPORT - Essay Example They have become an expensive and drag-back problem in many ways. Accidental though avoidable back injuries are responsible for thousands of hours of lost output in the place of work and millions of dollars in lost returns. If you add health related costs, that including employee reimbursement claims and medical care that includes a range from simple first aid to key surgeries, and the expenditures incurred by the World’s business and industries makes them slug behind. Project scope and introduction In reference to The National Safety Council 1990 "industrial accident specifics", job related accidents caused injuries to the back more than any other body parts that were studied during the1989 research study. It was noted that back injuries were responsible for twenty-two percent of all the reported cases. All industry stakeholders, including employers, workforce, customers and the economy in general are all enormously affected. (Daltroy, L.H., Iversen, M.D., Larson, M.G., Lew, R., Wright, E., Ryan, J., Zwerling, C., Fossel, A.H., Liang, M.H. (1997). A controlled trial of an educational program to prevent low back injuries. The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 337, Number 5, 322-328.) Guidance, education and preventive methods in work surroundings are not only a requirement for the wellbeing and safety of the workforce; they are also a legal obligation. Most countries’ labour laws require that employers meet the terms of the safety principles and policy in the place of work or they face huge fines. The aspect of plummeting the causes and frequency of back injuries in the places of work is not only critical for the well being of the workforce but also for the economic well-being of the business. As an employment prerequisite, each worker has the duty to work and act carefully on all jobs, at all times. An individual’s responsibility is to the business, their family and to an extent, themselves. (Amdam, R. P. (2010).  Insights into the S ustainable Growth of Business. Bradford: Emerald Group Pub.) Project Control It is very essential for a business like JIM’S CLEANING to make available a secure and healthy work environment. There are numerous situations where the regulations do not always comprise a specific situation hence you have to take time to constitute a level playing status and put into practice one’s own intelligence and education in order to carry out the task at hand without any injury incidents. . Any employee contributing to an injury has to explain what caused the injury thus the employer will be able to comprehend the reason and thwart any potential similar injuries. It is referred to as safety counselling. Counselling serves two essential roles: 1) To give details on how the worker contributed to the injury, hence getting to know what went wrong and how to go about the predicament. 2) To put into a document the actuality that the business is concerned about the safety of all workers and takes the necessary action to guarantee that injuries can be avoided through training. Safety counselling is not planned as a punitive action. It is simply a training means to make workers aware of what they did wrong and the procedures that should be taken to avoid similar injuries. With such kind of measures in place should an employee continue demonstrating hazardous activities or continue to defy

Family Gathering as a Time for Joy and Celebration Essay

Family Gathering as a Time for Joy and Celebration - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that as both of the author's and his friend's families gather together at Thanksgiving, and, really, no other time except maybe Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving will be the example that will be used to illustrate what the author means. First, there are similarities that must be pointed out. Both of them have large extended families, and both of them see the members of the extended family on Thanksgiving. The food at these gatherings is traditional. Turkey, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, stuffing, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and gravy. With her family, there is pot-luck, where guests bring a dish, and typically the dishes are of the dessert variety. So, one year the gathering had carrot cake and fruit salad to go along with the other offerings, while somebody else brought a small casserole to serve. The author’s family is much the same, although his mother makes all the main courses. There is another difference, and that is that the author’s family buys the processed and canned stuff, whereas her family does not. So, instead of real potatoes being used in the mashed potatoes, their mashed potatoes are from a box. Her mashed potatoes are actual potatoes which are put into a food processor with butter and sour cream to whip them up. The author’s gravy is from a jar; her gravy is made from scratch, from animal drippings, wine, and flour. The author’s sweet potatoes are from a can; hers are made from actual sweet potatoes which are roasted and put through a food processor. The author’s cranberry sauce is from a can; hers are real cranberries, boiled and sweetened. The author’s pumpkin pie is made from canned pumpkin pie filling; hers is made from actual pumpkins. The author used to think that her mother was Martha Stewart, but her mother insists that it is just as easy to make food homemade then to buy it from a can. At any rate, the author spent one Thanksgiving with her, and he has to say, the difference in the two meals is amazing. The author wishes that his mother had as much energy as hers when it comes to preparing meals. While the menus are the same, except that her family’s menu is made from scratch and theirs isn’t, there is a large difference in the atmosphere. The main reason for this is because the author’s family typically gets drunk at Thanksgiving. And by family, he means everybody, from age 14 to age 90, partakes in the festivities. One year, a guest brought a large bottle of Petron Tequila, and everybody did shots. The author didn’t do shots because he doesn’t like tequila, but he was the exception. The author doesn’t remember a family gathering where people did not end up throwing up, dancing manically, and screaming at each other for little or no reason. Because hard alcohol is a staple at these gatherings, things get pretty loose. By the end of the evening, the music is blaring, and people are dancing around the living room while others are passed out on various couches. Some people are hanging on everybody, telling them how much they love them, while others are crying. People start skinny-dipping in the hot tub. If it weren’t for the tension that inevitably marks these gatherings, these gatherings would be pretty fun. On the other hand, her gatherings are much more subdued, although not boring.   Wine and beer are served to the guests, but no hard alcohol.   This makes for much less blatant drunkenness, yet people still have a good time.  

Qualified Employees In Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

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

Does Globalisation of the media offer more or less opportunities for democracy? Essay

We live in society today where the media plays an alarmingly big part in how we see the world, and how our opinions are formed, whether it is from what we watch on television to who we vote for. The media has helped to make our society a democracy by placing emphasis on issues that at one stage in time would have been considered strictly private issues such as child birth, homosexuality, child care, domestic violence, and sexual harassment. Due to this democracy we now look differently at politics, and are more active in whom we want in office, and how we want our children to be raised. The globalisation of the media has increased our access to information about people and events around the world, but in the process it has also shifted issues on what should or should not be in the public domain.1 The media performs an essential part in our democracy socially, politically, economically and culturally. It is the main source of political information and allows us to access political debate. It allows us as an audience to be informed and to participate in how we should perceive things. Democracy needs the media to provide people with a wide range of opinions, analysis and debates on important issues. It needs the media to be able to reflect on the diversity of the audience, and it needs the media to be accountable for what is going on around them, and to be diverse and deliberate in how they communicate these issues to audiences. 2 The increased information given to audiences has a ‘democratising effect’, mobilising audiences into action, which in turn has significant implications for governments and businesses. International relations and events in our democracy are more visible and transparent, have more domestic policy ramifications and involve the public more often. While the globalised media plays a big part in our democracy, and has been characterised by the massive economic expansion and technical innovation it has also caused many problems for democracy. There is an increase in inequality, cultural and social tumult and individual alienation. The digital revolution and introduction of new technologies are redefining our notions of politics yes, but they are also redefining the structuring powers in society. Increasingly power resides in the hands of those that can produce, control and disseminate information the most effectively. This goes back to Marx’s theory that those who control the world govern it. While the proliferation of communications and increased global interdependence might create global understanding, equality and harmony it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is an increase in human communication and co-operation. If anything it is leading to the replacement of traditional structures, such as family religion, and the community with one that are supposedly more relevant.3 There are too few transnational media conglomerates dominating the world media, and fewer than 24 media conglomerates account for the majority of our newspapers, magazines, films, television and radio. With only a few big conglomerates running the show the media has become a vehicle used for commercial exploitation. There has been a steady increase of commercialisation of sports, arts, and education. This is disturbing when audiences are turning to the media to tell us how to vote, and how the government is being run. The media is constantly used by these conglomerates to spread existing structures and values, which are dominant globally and emphasise the free-market economy and the capitalist liberal democracy. The spread of the media has in fact broken down barriers to communications and international commerce, and makes it more difficult for governments and regulatory bodies to protect their cultures and societies from commercialisation and advertising.4 The main conglomerates have made the media very concentrated. Companies such as Times-Warner, Disney and Viacom have such diverse media holdings that they own both the means of production and distributing, further concentrating the media outlets and the information that we receive through the mass media. The media is vertical where production and distribution companies are allowed to own various types of networks, channels, and television stations. The media is supposed to be neutral yet how can they be so neutral when companies seem to ignore the important role that culture and social values play in shaping information. How can they be neutral when only a few conglomerate companies run them? The choices made everyday by government officials, media producers and distributors determine what topics are covered, what they want us to know and what they don’t want us to know, what information is selected and how it is portrayed. The simple choice of one story over another is not just economical and professional but also political.5 The choices that the media makes in presenting stories determines what becomes part of its audiences natural consciousness and what values and ideas take precedence to the general public. But these choices are not made by what they think the public wants but based on their own beliefs, and reflect cultural, social and national values and identity. The mass media is viewed as a means to increase diversity, democracy and the power of the individual. Yet more and more it seems that the media is a vehicle being used by the government and the producers to manipulate the community and advertise. It is assumed that the more television channels we have, the more diverse the information we receive. But this is a misconception, as Western Products, Hollywood values and advertising dominate nearly all of the media. More often now than not the information that is transmitted by the media is infotainment and advertising. The media is used so that audiences find it more difficult to have an impact on policies, goals and directions of their own social, economic and political institutions. As mentioned the media is owned by transnational corporations that command huge economies, run from the top and are interlinked in various ways. Their first interest is profit, and to construct an audience of a particular type. One that is addicted to a certain life-style with artificial wants. Their primary function is selling audiences to advertisers. They don’t make money from their subscriptions. They make money when an advertiser pays them. They believe in free market principles for others, but not for themselves. The major corporations in every society rely very heavily on state subsidy and state intervention.6 Making a profit from their advertising fees means that media outlets are influenced by various corporate interests. News coverage and other media content is therefore affected. Stories can end up being biased or omitted so that they don’t offend their advertisers or their owners. Corporate media is not a good thing for democracy when there is a risk of an increased economic and political influence that becomes unaccountable for. That is a great concern in democracy. Companies such as Newslimited and Times-Warner are so big that they have the power to stop other companies setting in on what they consider their turf. Times-Warner owns everything from Cable TV to sports teams and smaller companies that don’t have these options find that they can not compete in the media market. The problem with this is that with so few companies in complete power they are the ones making the decisions to what information is disseminated to the public, and this is done but what they think will make them a profit, and what will be beneficial to them. Companies such as News Corp wrote about the heroics of the War on terrorism, and the Iraq War because it was beneficial for them to support the U.S Government. The information filtered through to audiences was biased because it wasn’t telling people why there was a war, but that we should be supporting it. This was done because it would make them profit, and work in their favour. This was also shown in 1998 when Rupert Murdoch personally intervened to prevent one of the companies that he owned, HarperCollins, from publishing the memoirs of former Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patton. He alleged that it was because he didn’t want the memoirs to offend the Government, but it was in fact because it might jeopardise plans by News Corp to have future expansion in China.7 Firms in the media industry compete with each other, but they also work together to reduce competition and in fact the nine largest American firms have joint ventures with nearly six of the other eight giants. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has at least one joint venture with every other of his competitors. This is not an appealing notion for we, as the audience has little say in what is produced. It also sadly it indicates that the main purpose to our media is only to make money for those huge companies in charge. If this is the case then how can Journalists be protected from the commercial interests of their owners? And how can information be filtered out evenly without bias when media owners wish to sell their space to the highest advertiser. Journalists claim to give readers the news that they think is important to their lives, but in fact tend to be assisting in the process of converting Journalism into the type of consumer news and information that advertisers want.8 Global conglomerates such as Times-Warner, News Corp, Sony, Viacom, Bertelsmann, and AT & T have an impact on our culture, especially when they are entering nations that have been tightly controlled by an already corrupt media system or nations that have significant censorship over media such as China. The Global companies don’t have respect for tradition or custom especially if it stands in the way of profits. Another problem with having such a globalised media in our democracy is that the media produces so much knowledge, information, dissemination of everything and that produces an absence of everything too, and in doing so produce a situation that causes too many images. The mode of production is then affected. The media has introduced us to a world with no fixed territory, a world increasingly without limits. This can cause us, as an audience to have a loss of sensibility, a loss of limits. This affects the mode of production. One does not produce what is absent, or what is invisible. It affects the production of culture, by mixing them with different cultures.9 If anything the consolidation of ownership across the various media remains a threat to democracy. The public’s right to information and ideas from the widest possible range of sources means little in a world dominated by a handful of interlocking media giants. The news programs that people see, and the advertisements that accompany them are dominated by the success of white, wealthy westerners and the examples of the dangers posed to them are poor, black, non-westerners. Women are also represented in the media by glamorous models, actresses and news presenters. The problem with a globalised media in a democracy is that it can ruin the public infrastructure and that in turn means the demise of the public sector, which results in privatisation and more commercialism. Media ownership and media concentration becomes a problem when audiences are not becoming well informed because the audience or public can not act as an authoritarian. The danger of living in such a world means that while there is an increase in the mode of communication, new forms of identity and community there is an equal loss in political sovereignty, economic opportunity and cultural diversity. 1 Healey, Justin Mass Media and Society, Spinney Press, 2000 2 McChesney Making Media democratic, Boston Review issue 23 3 Mowlana, Hamid Globalisation of the mass media, London-Sage Publications, 1997 4 Tunstall, Jeremy The new Hollywood Network Cartel and Europe, Carleton University Press 1998 5 Chomsky Noam Media and Globalisation Third World Network, 1996 6 OECD Globalisation: challenges and opportunities OECD Publishing 2000 7 Wiseman, John Global Nation, Cambridge University Press, 1998 8 Kortin, David, The mythical victory of Market Capitalism Goldsmith, Edward and Mender, San Francisco 1996 9 McChessney, Robert Global media, neoliberalism, and imperialism, Monthly review, volume 52 issue 10 2001