Business proposal letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business proposal letter - Essay Example ng light regarding the concerns about the practical aspects of Constitution of the United States of America.   This declaration is the supreme legal authority of the US and confers the kinds of privileges that the people of the US could enjoy within the ambit of the law. There have been twenty seven Amendments to this Constitution, the first ten of these amendments now being known as the Bill of Rights. Perhaps, one of the main objectives that the drafters of the world’s oldest and shortest written Constitution had in mind while drafting has undoubtedly been the protection and safeguard of the prerogatives and rights of the people of the country, perhaps against authoritarian administration and the potential threat of infringement of individual rights as autonomous citizens of a free and sovereign State.   Paradoxically, however, there has been no mention of the word ’slavery’ anywhere in the US Constitution, although its ominous portent is one of the fundamental motives of the framing and enunciation of the American Constitution.   The American Constitution is subdivided into three parts- Executive, Legislative and Judicial. They have their roles and responsibilities carved out and more often than not, there is no overlapping, or transgression between these three constituent divisions. The political process, including appointment of Presidents and other important matters require the approval of Senate too. Perhaps the farsightedness of the crafters of the American Constitution is now evident. â€Å"When viewed through the lens of the twenty first century, the creation of a durable, democratic nation among thirteen disparate and far flung sovereign states assumes an aura of inevitability.† (Beeman). A research study of this genre in the realms of American Constitutional laws is as interesting and absorbing as it is challenging. This research would fundamentally seek to convey the modern views and perspectives on an important piece of constitutional laws,

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Critical Thinking - Essay Example s and ideas, to understand them at a deeper level or to make judgments about them, to make connections between them or even to develop beliefs and ultimately to arrive at appropriate relevant action derived from these thoughts. Critical thinking has been defined in many different ways. Scriven and Paul (2007) define critical thinking as â€Å"the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action†. However in order to understand what it means to think critically one must look at the components of critical thinking and the attributes of people who think critically. The best description of what it means to think critically is the ability of the thinker to take charge of their own thinking. In order to do this it means that the thinker is engaging in a number of processes including questioning, interpreting and evaluating information, assessing and analyzing information, examining their own beliefs and assumptions and weighing up opinions against facts. One of the important criteria for thinking critically that differentiates it from other kinds of thinking such as creative thinking is that the thinking leads to reactive behaviors that are rational. To think critically therefore means more than just having thoughts; it means analyzing and evaluating an assessing not just thoughts but beliefs to improve life. Scriven, M. & Paul, R. (2007). The Critical Thinking Community. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from Foundation for Critical Thinking Web site:

Managing oganisational relationships Essay Example for Free

Managing oganisational relationships Essay Introduction No Organisation can hope to keep up with the fast pace of change of the world today without enthusiastically embracing change within itself. [www.thecommonwealth.org 2005] The above statement is very powerful, but one I strongly agree with, because changes are taking place everyday and if managers dont respond to these changes then the business is most likely to suffer. Managers may have little ability to prevent change, but awareness that change is coming can make it easier to deal with. If an organisation is prepared to handle an event, then many problems can be prevented or solved without difficulty. Management versus Leadership There is a continuing controversy about the differences between management and leadership. I think its obvious that a person can be a leader without being a manager and vice-versa. According to the management theorist Mary Follett: Management is the art of getting things done through people [M.Follett 1989] However, the idea that a Manager only manages people I think is over-simplified. This is because managers hold many responsibilities. I have outlined below the role of a manger: Decision Maker Are held responsible for results Have conflicting goals to achieve Need to Plan and Budget Work with and through people organise staff. Whereas, leadership is; the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organisation. [House et al., 1999] From the above statement I can gather that the role of a leader is to mainly to: Communicate Motivate and, Encourage employees Leadership is a managerial activity where employees work together towards achieving company goals. The difference between managers and leadership is that managers are elected to supervise the work of other people in the organisation and carry out formal duties. While, leaders influence the behaviour or actions of others. Managers value stability, order and efficiency. Meanwhile, leaders value flexibility, innovation and adaptation. Managers are concerned more about how things get done and try to get people to perform better. Whereas, leaders are concerned with what things mean to people and try to get people to agree about the most important things to be done. As you can see there are many differences between management and leadership. I believe leaders are more effective than managers, as they influence workers to achieve company targets and their leadership approach is usually very effective. At Morrisons the leadership style is very effective as the leader has many good characteristics. I have outlined these below; * Good communication skills * Is decisive * Good at delegation These characteristics help employees feel more valued as they know what is going on in the company and so try harder for the company to achieve targets. There are many approaches leaders can emphasise on: Trait approach Behaviour approach Power-Influence approach Situational approach Integrative approach There are strengths and weaknesses to each of these approaches and the approach used highly depends on the nature of the organisation and the situation they are in. I would say that at Laurens cake factory, the managers implements a behavioural approach. They are very authoritarian where they focus on power, decision making and hold authority with the leader. The management style they hold is Task Management. This is when they: * Focus on production * Expect schedules to be met * Problems arise from other peoples mistakes I dont believe, that this approach is very effective because employers dont involve employees in decision-making and dont provide opportunity for training and development. I think this would make staff feel less valued and not part of a team so, will not motivate them to perform better to achieve targets. Performance Management performance management includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. [www.managementhelp.org 2005] Performance management can focus on performance of an organisation, a department, processes to build a product or service, employees etc. Performance management reminds us that training, strong commitment and working hard alone are not results. The major contribution of performance management is its focus on achieving results. Performance management redirects our efforts away from business and gets managers to think towards effectiveness. Recently, organisations have been faced with challenges of increasing competition from businesses across the world. This means that all businesses must choose effective strategies to remain competitive. Employees must commit to these to ensure strategies are implemented effectively. This situation has put more focus on effectiveness, to achieve results. All of the results across the organisation must continue to be aligned to achieve the overall result for the organisation to survive and thrive. It is only then that organisations can really tell if they are performing. Culture of an Organisation Every organisation has its own unique culture, based on values of the top management who direct the organisation. However, over time individuals attempt to change the culture of their organisations to fit their own preferences or changing marketplace conditions. This culture then influences the decision-making processes and effects styles of management. Mullins defines the culture of an organisation as: a collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs and attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an organisation. [Mullins 2002] A key role for culture is to differentiate the organisation from others and provide sense of identity for its members. At Accordia the culture is very democratic as the manager delegates responsibilities on others. It is also creative and innovative because they are always open to new ideas. They build their culture around quality based upon commitment to the company as a whole. Cross Culture As a business becomes more global the need to understand cultural differences is critical to success. [M. BERGER 1996] Berger highlights the importance of cultures. I think it is essential to understand the basics of good cross-cultural relationships, because when people do things differently, they are not necessarily wrong they just dont follow this in their culture. I have drawn out a table below giving an example of how UK and France have different styles of conducting meetings: UK France Purpose of meetings is to agree actions and make decisions Acceptable to astray from agenda in discussions Stick to agenda, deviate only if new priorities emerge Purpose of meetings is to give input to decisions, not necessarily to make decisions Time conscious Dont challenge the Big Boss Defined follow-up actions are generally agreed The key decision-maker may not be at meeting People are expected to attend on time and stay through out the entire meeting Not time-conscious people come and go during meetings, there can be side discussions. Figure 1 [M. Berger 1996] As you can see there are many cultural differences. The UK and France have completely opposite managing styles. From respect and understanding people can find ways to work together based on mutual strengths. I think cultural values affect attitudes and behaviours around the world and we need to examine how one can adapt their skills to the cultural approach in which they find themselves in. Flexible Working Flexible working is the term used to describe the ability to employ people when and where required in the interests of everybody. [R. Pettinger 2002] There has been a huge movement towards flexible working over the years and Neatly Hurstfield found that: Employers were making increasing demands on all employees to become more flexible, both in working hours and in functional flexibility. [Hurstfield 1995] Flexible working involves the creation of work patterns and arrangements which are based on the need to maximise organisational output, customer and client satisfaction and staff expertise and effectiveness. I found out that there are many approaches to flexible workforce Atkinson was one of them, where he produced the flexible firm model in 1984. Diagram flexible firm I believe that this model has more relevance today because when we look at the retail sectors every employee is flexible. For example; At Woolworths they have their core managers who work contracted hours. And then all the other employees are part time workers with high flexibility hours. I think they take advantage of the functional flexibility, where they recruit more staff and create short-term contracts when sales are likely to be high, eg) Christmas. This maximises flexibility as they are getting workers in only when needed. I think the flexible firm model shows that the environment is more competitive and the need for cost effectiveness is important. I think Atkinson was well ahead of his time and predicted accurately. I consider the greatest emphasis was based on the flexibility in part time working as many retailers implement this model. Psychological Contract The term Psychological contract is; the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other. [www.adelphi-associates.co.uk] It is the psychological contract that effectively tells employees what they are required to do in order to meet their side of the agreement, and what they can expect from their job. There has been conflict in employees not commiting to their contract, but due to the changes occuring recently, employees have been persuaded to taking the contract more seriously. I have listed the changes below: The nature of jobs more employees are on part time and temporary contracts, so, functional flexibility is more popular Organisations have downsized and delayered so individual employees are carrying out more tasks. Markets, technology and products are constantly changing customers are becoming more demanding. So, quality and service standards need to be of high standards Traditional organisational structures are becoming more inflexible so, new methods of managing are required. The effect of these changes is that the ability of the business to add value, rests on employees, where they are seen as the key business drivers. Organisations that wish to succeed have to get the most out of their resources. In order to do this, employers have to know what employees expect from their work. This is where the psychological contract is used as a framework for monitoring employee attitudes. Since 1990s employees have low job security due to the impact of globalisation. This has completely changed the traditional contracts where there is no job for life. The new contract mainly focusses on fair pay and treatment and also opportunities for training and development notion of continuous learning. On this analysis, employers can no longer offer job security and this has underminded the basis of employee commitment. Conclusion To conclude, I have found out that change within an organisation is inevitable and managers need to respond to these changes for their business to remain successful. The trend towards globalisation is accelerating as foreign competition intensifies. This leads to a change in managerial responsibilities where managers must be able to understand and communicate with people from different cultures. Cultural diversity is increasing within the workforce where managers require the understanding of values, beliefs and attitudes of people from different cultures. I believe it is necessary for managers to have the understanding of building mutual relationships and have respect for diversity so they can work together without difficulties. Flexible working has also become very popular, where employers are constantly seeking flexible staff. This is so they can fully utilise their resources effectively. Organisations are familiar with the notion of high-quality staff willing to work when required. This is due to the fact that the staff, expertise and resources have to be engaged when customers and clients demand. The psychological contract enables employers to look at the welfare of employees. eg) what employees want: fair pay, continuous learning, opportunity for training and development etc. Overall, I have found out that the nature of organisations are changing with the times and both employees and employers are benefiting from these particular changes. Also, these changes have a huge impact on Managerial theories today. References Books: STREDWICK. J. (2005). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford. PETTINGER. R. (2002). Managing the Flexible Workforce. Capstone Publishing: Oxford. BERGER. M. (1996). Cross-Cultural Team Building, McGraw-Hill: London. BJERKE. B. (2001). Business Leadership and Culture. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham. MARTIN. G, KEATING. M. (2004). Managing Cross-Cultural Business Relations. Blackwell: London. MILES. R. (1975). Theories of Management: Implications for Organisation Behaviour and Development. McGraw-Hill: Oxford. WATERS. M. (1995).Globalization. Routledge: London. STREDWICK. J, ELLIS. S. (1998). Flexible Working Practices. Institue of Personnel Development: Wiltshire. YULK. G. (2002). Leadership In Organisations. Prentice Hall: New Jersey. ATCHINSON. T. (1978). Management Today. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New York. Web Sites: (2005). Culture of Organisations. [online]. Available at: URL:http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/learn/business/aim/culture [Accessed on 20/1/2006]. (2003). Employee Peformance Management. [online]. Available at: URL:http://www.managementhelp.org [Accessed on 20/1/2006]. (2005). Psychological Contract. [online]. Available at: URL:http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/ [Accessed on 21/1/2006]. (2005). Academic leadership: Online Journal. [online]. Available at: URL:http://www.academicleadership.org/ [Accessed on 27/1/2006].

The Relationship Between Host Community And Guest Tourism Essay

The Relationship Between Host Community And Guest Tourism Essay 2.0 Introduction Tourism is a product that relies totally upon simultaneous production and consumption. The implication of this for the destinations host community is that it will come into contact with an alien population during the production process. This contact can be beneficial or detrimental to the host community depending upon the difference in cultures and the nature of the contact. Tourism can develop and grow when host community has a positive attitude toward it and when they see their role in the process of the tourism development. At the point when a tourism destination is born, the quality if the life of the local hosts goes through radical changes, which are not necessarily negative. Literature suggests that tourism development has created both positive and negative impacts on communities. As a consequence, community residents hold different attitudes towards tourism development. Residents who do not support the development of tourism have been identified in almost all segmentation studies concerning attitudes towards tourism, namely Haters (Davis et al. 1988; Madrigal 1995), Cynics (Williams and Lawson 2001) or Somewhat Irritated (Ryan and Montgomery 1994). Host communities do see new business opportunities in tourism and are motivated to explore them. At the same time, they know that some negative physical, cultural, social and economic impacts will emer ge. The most complex problems that accompany tourism development, reside in the relationship between local host and tourist. Furthermore , there are limits of tourism growth that are closely associated with the place capacity and with the quality of life in the local community. The most complex problems that accompany tourism development, reside in the relationship between tourists and local host. Furthermore, there are limits of tourism growth that are closely associated with the place capacity and with the quality of life in the local community. When these limits are exceeded, local residents develop negative attitudes towards tourism. When negative attitudes become beliefs, tourism development obstacles appear. The beliefs of the local hosts become the most reliable indicator of the limits to the growth of tourism. 2.1 Tourism Development Tourism development is an expression that encompasses not only destinations, origins, motivations and impacts, but also the complex linkage that exist between all the people and institutions of that interconnecting, global supply and demand system ( Pearce, 1989). It has been widely recognized that tourism development is a double-edged sword for host communities. Not only does it generate benefits, but it also imposes costs (Jafari, 2001). By evaluating these benefits and costs, host community develop their perception toward tourism. Tourism is an industry which uses the host community as a resource, sells it as a product , and in the process affects the lives of everyone ( Murphy,1981). In general, tourism development within a host community often impacts the community both in negative and positive ways. These Impacts have been well documented and are usually classified as socio-cultural impacts, environmental impacts and economic impacts ( Allen et al., 1988; Ap, Farrell et al., 2001; Liu and Sheldon, 1987; Liu and Var, 1986; Nepal,2008; Pappas, 2008; Van Winkle and Mackay,2008). Residents attitudes will be positive if they can use tourism resources such as recreational facilities or if they perceive that tourism development will protect or preserve the environment ( Lankford et al, 2003). Conversely attitudes towards tourism were found to be negative if residents perceived the impacts as negative, or if the resources within a host community diminish as a result of tourist activity ( Lankford et al.,2003; Perdue et al., 1990). Tourism development initiatives usually center around the economic benefits derived from tourism. This typically includes job creation, taxes and other indirect income. 2.2 Tourism Planning Based on the World Tourism Organisations Hainan Declaration in December 2000, it is noted that one of the reasons for the failure of tourism planning in the past can be attributed to the lack of consultation with the local residents (Yahya et al. 2005:According to Williams and Lawson (2001) and Gursoy et al. (2002), research on residents reactions to tourism can help tourism planners understand why residents support or oppose tourism. Such information can help planners select those developments that can minimize the negative impacts and maximize support for tourism development amongst certain members of the local population. It has now become widely recognized that planners and entrepreneurs must take the views of the host community into account if the industry wants to pursue the goal of sustainable development (Allen et al. 1988; Ap and Crompton 1993). Success of a regional tourism development plan depends on the successful involvement of the community (Inbakaran and Jackson 2006: 64).Difference between success and failure could be location or temporally based so this research aims to set the foundation for continuing studies and inform local policy makers, planners and managers. This is particularly relevant in light of recent changes to local government structures in the region. Moreover, the successful development of a tourism industry requires effective planning that both recognises tourists demands and emphasizes the values of the local host community (Lankford, 1994). 2.3 Host community According to Sherlock (1999), it is difficult to define the term community precisely; nevertheless, the word can be used to refer to a group of people who exist in one particular location. Aramberri (2001) suggests that host societies are in fact communities, made of one piece. For Williams and Lawson (2001) community is defined as a group of people who share common goals or opinions. Host Community is particular is defined by Mathieson and Wall (1982) as the Inhabitants of the destination area. Similarly, Swarbrooke (1999) defines it as all those who live within a tourist destination. According to Gursoy et al.(2002) and Williams and Lawson (2001), the community consists of different groups of people who live in the same geographical area, which does not mean they necessarily belong to the same community. In the light of the previous definition, it can be concluded that a host community consists of all those people in the destination, whether they are homogeneous or heterogeneous an d regardless of whether the impacts of tourism are beneficial or otherwise. Tourism is an industry which uses the host community as a resource to sell it as a product, and in the process affects the lives of everyone (Murphy, 1980). The community as a product of amalgam of the destinations resources. As such the tourism industry is dependent on the host communitys hospitality, and therefore it should be developed according to the communitys needs to desires. Before host communities begin development of tourism resources, it is imperative to gain an understanding of hosts opinions regarding development. Tourism development in a community is not simply a matter of matching product supply with tourist demand, local acceptability must also be considered ( Menning, 1995). Moreover, it is the host community to who has a voice in concluding which tourism impacts are acceptable and which impacts are problems. However, the host is community is often the last to be notified of tourism development (Thyne and Lawson,2001) and quite often they are not given a chance or encouraged to give their opinioin on tourism issues. 2.4 Relationship Between Host Community and Guest A good relationship between local hosts and tourist is essential for the long term development of tourism destination. ( Ap and Crompton, 1998). The relationship between host community and tourists is mainly affected by the socio-cultural impacts that are caused due to tourism development (Smith, 1995). The variation in the relationship between hosts and tourists depends on the level to which the benefits of tourism are perceived to exceed costs ( Faulkner and Tideswell 1997). In other words, this mean that if the tourism industry brings in benefit rather than cost to the host community, the relationship between both parties would be much more stronger. Smith (1989) conclude that contacts between tourist and host community if different cultural background take the form of direct face to face encounters between tourists and host of different cultural groups. The interaction between hosts and international guests raises another issue linked to cultural tolerance. As argued by Bochner ( 1982), the mutual understanding between cultures can create an opportunity for acquaintance leading towards enhanced understanding and tolerance and, consequently, reduce prejudice, conflict and tension between hosts and tourists.This type of contact is experienced by tourists when they travel from home culture to a host culture by hosts when they serve tourists from a foreign culture. That is, both tourist and the host community participate in exploring each others culture. Tourist exploring the host culture by learning and exploring it and on the other hand the host community is interacting with tourists, who are of foreign cultures. 2.5 Host community perception towards tourism development Research has been conducted for the convenience of tourists, while local community perceptions and attitudes towards the industry have been given less of a priority (Murphy 1985). Butler (1980) claimed that there is a correlation between the development of tourism and the attitude of the domestic people towards the tourists. The domestic people show a very positive attitude towards the increasing number of tourists in the region at the beginning because they have high expectations from the tourist in long term basis. However this positive attitude is gradually replaced by the negative attitude as the time passes. Local residents perceptions are strongly influenced by the benefits and costs of tourism development. Those who received benefit from tourism stated that they are dependent on tourism, but the case was contrary for those who received nothing For instance, destination communities have been inconvenienced by congestion and some other negative impacts brought by tourism (Brunt and Courtney 1999). Any impacts from tourism causing annoyance or anger in the host community may lead to problems for the long-term development of the industry. Therefore, Murphy (1985: 133) argued if tourism is to merit its pseudonym of being the hospitality industry, it must look beyond its own doors and employees to consider the social and cultural impacts it is having on the host community at large. Studying host community attitudes and the antecedents of resident reaction can help both residents and planners (Williams and Lawson 2001).Williams and Lawson argued that it was possible to select those developments that can minimize negative impacts and maximize support for the industry. By doing so, on one hand the quality of life of residents can be maintained or enhanced; and, on the other hand, the negative impacts of tourism in the community wil l be reduced. 2.6 Tourism Impacts Researchers in the early years of the twentyfirst century list an impressive range of both positive and negative impacts on the host community as a result of tourism development (Fredline and Faulkner, 2000; Upchurch and Teivane, 2000; Gursoy et al., 2002; Besculides et al., 2002) The study of impacts from tourism on local communities takes in a range of literature that includes both the positive and negative effects of hosting tourists to a community. Andereck and Vogt (2000) point out that residents of a tourist community differ with respect to the impacts resulting from tourism development. However, researchers agree that a necessary condition of successful tourism development strategy is the inclusion of residents of the entire community if tourism investment is to yield substantial returns (Allen et al., 1988, 1993; Jurowski Uysal, 1997; Long et al ., 1990; Snepenger Johnson, 1991). 2.6.1 Socio-cultural Impacts Tourism is a socio-cultural event for both the guest and host (Murphy, 1985) and the contact between host and tourists can be beneficial or detrimental to the host community depending upon the difference in cultures and the nature of the contact .Tourism development also affects the social, cultural and environmental aspects within a destination. Socio-cultural impacts are concerned with the ways in which tourism is contributing to changes in value systems, individual behaviour, family relationships, collective lifestyles, moral conduct, creative expressions, traditional ceremonies and community organization (Pizam Milman, 1984, cited in Haralambopoulos Pizam, 1996, p.503). Host community has always been viewed as victims having to accept the social and cultural changes that are brought by tourism development (Sharpley and Telfer, 2002), while guest who imposes their own values on the host communities are viewed as the villain. Socio-cultural aspects within a destination may be positively affected through increased tourism Research (Ap Crompton, 1998; Easterling, 2004) suggests that tourism brings an increased understanding of other cultures, and strengthens the cultural identity of the host destination and increases community pride. Furthermore, tourism development increases and promotes cultural exchange between tourists and residents. Tourism can also be a force to preserve and revitalize the cultural identity and traditional practices of host communities and act as a source of income to protect heritage sites (Easterling, 2004). Tourism on the socio-cultural aspects can contribute to the revitalisation of arts, crafts and local culture and to the realization of cultural identity and heritage. In order to attract more tourists, architectural and historical sites are restored and protected (Inskeep, 1991). According to a study by Isik (2005) in Denmark, it was common that local people are not happy because tourism narrowed their alternatives of life, they do not have jobs, for children and the youth there are no activities for fun, no cinemas and entertainment. Life is too monotonous. Many years ago, citizens were very happy; there was a perfect friendship between the neighbors but now they do not even greet each other. However, the same study was carried out in Gà ¼zelà §amlÄ ± in Turkey reveals that hosts are very happy with tourists and every summer they organize festivals to get more tourists From a cultural perspective, tourism development and the appearance of tourists could cause a series of changes in host communities, such as increased price and identity, cohesion, exchange of ideas and increased knowledge about cultures ( Stein Anderson 1999). In other word, meaning that the host community will gain in about the tourist culture, helping them to expand their knowledge. Other changes included assimilation, conflict and xenophobia as well as artificial reconstructio (Besculides, Lee McCormick 2002). Relevant literature acknowledged that perception of host community on such impacts ambivalent that is they have a feeling of both hate and love towards changes occurring with the tourism development. To others, the cultural changes caused by tourism threatens to destroy traditional cultures and societies (Brunt Courtney 199, p 495) and to others it represented an opportunity for peace, understanding and greater knowledge ( Brunt Courtney 1999, p.495).With an expansion in the international tourism, the contact between guest and host would increased automatically. Such an increase would deepen the cultural impacts of tourism on host communities. In an extreme situation, the host communities could become culturally dependent on the tourism generating country ( Sharpley 1994). 2.7 Factors Influencing Host community perception towards tourism development Tourism development does not only generate benefits, but it also imposes costs ( Jafari, 2001). By evaluating these benefits and costs, host community develop their perception toward tourism development. However, previous research indicates that the development of locals hosts attitudes toward tourism is not determined by those perceived benefits and costs but is modified by various moderating variables ( Lankford, 1994). Those tested variables are classified as the intrinsic dimension which includes residents socio-cultural economic and demographic attributes , but the results are mixed.

Intern Experience Reflection Essay -- Reflection Paper, criminal justi

As I continue exploring the aspects of Family Inc., I find myself becoming more amazed at the tragedies that occur in the lives of juveniles. Society is always pointing the finger at the children, blaming them and punishing their negative actions. With a deeper look at the family system behind these children, I have found an empathy for the delinquent children. The organization is not only for delinquent children, but it is thought that children with incarcerated parents have a higher risk of going into the prison system. Especially since these children most likely get placed with grandparents, they could become more rebellious and hard to handle. Since learning the mentor database system, I have seen a bit more of the actual family aspect of the mentees. I have been updated and informed of children, the stories of their parents, and how they got where they are now. The circumstances that I have heard about are things that I could not even imagine going through myself. Growing up in Philadelphia and even having close friends with troubled homes has not prepared me for the issues I hear. It is no wonder these children lose their self-control. I guess this just shows the cycle of the criminal justice system. The streets create criminals, whether it be through poverty or simple environmental stressors. The criminals have children, like everyone else. Their children are subject to the living situations that come with losing a parent to the system, which in turn pushes them to the streets. They follow the same path their parents walked down. I see Family Inc. as an institution that creates a fork in the road, giving the child the options to go the right way and steer clear of crime. The mentor is a guide to show the light to the r... ...me to college. I finally get to see what I learned in the class come alive in the professional world. I now yearn to learn more about my career choice from the classroom, so I can continue to make use of it in the real world. I have even decided that I might change around a couple of my classes to figure out what juvenile classes are offer the coming semester. Overall, I am enjoying the experience. I am taking each day as it comes, learning as I go. I think that working with Family, Inc. is a good interning experience. I find it to be a good mix of my life goals and personal interest. I am currently a mentor, orientation leader, and university ambassador at school and I have always been one to be there to help new people adapt. I guess this has always been in my mind because, now that I think of it, even in my lower level jobs, I trained new employees.

Why Is Religion Important? Essays -- Why Study Religion?

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." -- Dalai Lama In a world where religions plays such a major role in people’s lives, it is not surprising why it is such a major focus in the way choices and decisions are made. There are many religions throughout the world. Some are faiths with a very concentrated following in specific geographic areas, while others span the entire globe and have enormous numbers of followers. Each of the world’s major religions has definite distinctions that set themselves apart from others and that make them unique. These religions, however, all follow the same basic morals and guidelines that are quite similar. The most widely followed faith on the planet is Christianity. Followers of Christianity believe that God sent his own son Jesus to earth to save them from their own sinful ways. They believe that Jesus was killed for his teachings and was then resurrected after lying in a tomb for three days. The main Christian holy day is celebrated on the day Jesus rose from the dead. This day is known as Easter Sunday and is the center of the entire faith. The ultimate goal for Christians is to have their souls join God in heaven when they die where they will live forever in eternal happiness. Christianity is broken up into three different groups that follow similar beliefs but do differ on some. Roman Catholics are the first type. They make up the largest single faith in Christianity. Catholics are united under their leader, the Pope who resides in Rome. They interpret meaning from the Bible to use in everyday life. Roman Catholic scholars, who spend their lives interpreting ... ...s teachings say that all of life is suffering and that this suffering is caused by desire. He said that the only way to end suffering is to end desire and to end desire you must follow the Eight Paths of Enlightenment. There are other smaller groups of religious beliefs like Confucianism, which is basically a respect for elders. Most people in Japan follow this belief. Animism is a faith followed by more primitive cultures throughout Africa and Asia. This centers on the fact that spirits inhabit everything in nature and are thus worshipped for it. Religion remains a crucial part of world politics. It is the driving force behind much of today’s biggest problems, and until everyone learns to respect one another’s differences this unnecessary violence will continue. Dalai Lama Quote http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_religion.html#vM6qqb6vc2q3bDQk.99

Book Review: When Genius Failed Essay

Lowenstein’s ability to come up with a concise, coherent story and his experience in financial journalism is strongly evident in this book. Not only can Lowenstein weave together and tell a great story (this author felt he was being led through the history of the fund and its characters by one of its inner partners while reading through this book), he also pays attention to details whenever it is needed – and he succeeds greatly by catching many important subtleties (such as in the beginning of Chapter one when he used one of those â€Å"subtleties† in Meriwether’s early areer to explain the basis of LTCM’s core business model and the subtle, but gradual â€Å"style drift† that brought down the hedge fund afterwards) as well as making many interesting observations along the way (such as the fatal flaw LTCM committed when it started engaging in stocks arbitrage as opposed to sticking to bond arbitrage). 7. Concept: Unsystematic Risk. A specifi c risk is a risk that affects a very small number of assets. This is sometimes referred to as â€Å"unsystematic risk†. In a balanced portfolio of assets there would be a spread between general market risk and risks specific to individual components of that portfolio. Unlike systematic and market risk, specific risk can be diversified away. A diversified portfolio is the realisation of the proverb â€Å"don’t put all your eggs in one basket†. As Irish investors become more sophisticated in their strategies, they look beyond the risks of stock-picking to managing risk through diversified, balanced investment portfolios. Mr. Fitzgerald, portfolio manager for Hibernian Investment Managers said that often the first step in reducing risk is investing in pooled investments like mutual funds, unit trusts and unit-linked funds. It’s a toe-in-the-water position, they begin with cautiously-managed funds, and then as they grow in wealth or experience they may choose a managed fund with higher equity content† Source: Margaret E. Ward, The Irish Times, 2nd July 1999. 10. Concept: The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). William Sharpe the Capital Asset Pricing Model in 1964. Parallel work was also performed by Jack Treynor, John Lintn er and Jan Mossin. CAPM is used in finance to determine a theoretically appropriate required rate of return of an asset. It considers a simplified world where there are no taxes and transaction costs, all investors have identical investment horizons and identical opinions about expected returns, volatilities and correlations of available investments. This model states that the expected return on a specific asset equals the risk-free rate plus a premium that depends on the asset’s beta and the expected risk premium on the market portfolio. CAPM extended Harry Markowitz’s modern portfolio theory and of diversification to introduce the notions of systematic and specified risk. Source: www. google. com 11. Concept: Capital Budgeting. Capital Budgeting or Investment Appraisals are the planning processes used to determine a firm’s long term investments such as new machinery, replacement machinery, new plants, new products and research and development projects. This is the process of identifying which long-lived investment projects a firm should undertake. US entertainment giant Warner Brothers investigated a possible high-tech back office studio development in Belfast. Executives from the group conducted an appraisal of possible investment opportunities on the site. The group planned a high-tech quarter in Belfast, which it hoped would attract multimedia, informatics and telecoms firms to set up in Northern Ireland. Source: Francess McDonnell, The Irish Times, 7th August 2001. 18. Concept: Financial Management. This is managing a firms internal cash flows and its mix of debt and equity financing, both to maximise the value of the debt and equity claims on firms’ and to ensure that companies can pay off their obligations when they come due. This is illustrated through financial reporting; the dream of consistent and uniform systems of financial reporting around the world is a seductive one. It is also elusive. The problem is that, however great the attempts at providing a universally acceptable standard, the differing goals of the world’s reporting regimes get in the way. Europe and about a 100 other countries go for the International Financial Reporting Standards (IRFS) whereas, the US stand alone and stick to their US generally accepted accounting (GAAP) yet seek reconciliation from the IRFS. It is the electronic tagging and analysis system XBRL that will enable the elements of a company’s financial reports to be accessed by users and reconfigured to provide whatever information the user wants. Mr. Cox, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman said he was â€Å"looking forward to a future in which XBRL, US GAAP and IFRS would be interconnected and hence the problem of global comparability would be solved†. Source: Robert Bruce, Financial Times, 4th January 2007.