Workplace Observation Essay Example

Workplace Observation Essay The workplace is a subject of many studies because it is characterized by rich diversity, communication practices, conflict management, organizational policies, technology, and so on. The three areas of organizational culture including communication, organizational diversity, and conflict management are challenging aspects in the restaurant business.I own an Italian restaurant named Gabbiano which offers pizza, salads, pasta, and sandwich to our customers. It is located near the ocean; thus, summer is the busiest time for the restaurant. The restaurant also employs 30 people, 10 of which are the dine-in workers, five delivery persons, three cashiers, and two cooks. As the restaurant is near the ocean, I require my staff to wear something for the summer such as comfortable shirts, black pants, closed-toe shoes and hats. The hats and shirts should be blue and must bear the logo of the store, which consists of a seagull and ocean. The word Gabbiano means ‘seagul.’Communicat ionCommunication is one of the most important aspects of every business. It is an essential component towards the organizational success at different levels (Northeastern University, n.d.). Communication is essential for organizing, coordinating, and controlling activities (Rouse, 2002, p.4).The success of the business is also largely dependent on the communication. Internal communication must be facilitated between the management and the employees and external communication between the company, clients, and suppliers. Having an effective communication in the workplace will result to job satisfaction among the employees and will reduce cases of underperformance. In addition, effective communication can spare the business from conflicts (Kondrat, 2009).In my restaurant, communication is an area that the employees and I strive to enhance. Even from the start of my staff’s employment, I make sure that they understand the importance of communication especially between the managem ent and the customers. Customers keep the restaurant in business, thus employees should learn to listen to what they have to say about the food and service. I have also taught my employees to communicate effectively with each customer because it definitely keeps them coming back to the restaurant. Most of the customers in the restaurant are only there for the summer. But there was this time when a customer told one of the waiters that he had been at the restaurant before and planned to return for his next vacation. Although we serve good food, I believe that establishing a business-customer relationship will attract and retain more customers.Communication is also important between the management and the employees and between employees themselves. During one time, a misunderstanding happened between one of the delivery persons and one of the cooks. The root of the problem was so solvable but it took days before the problem was finally settled due to lack of communication between the concerned parties. The delivery guy did not want to listen to the cook because he thought that he had been working at my restaurant longer than the cook. The cook, on the other hand, took the opportunity to talk away and gather the empathy of the other employees as back-up against the delivery guy. The problem could have been the cause of a rift between the employees had it not been for a one-hour man-to-man talk that required them to listen to each other.Organizational DiversityOrganizations are becoming more heterogeneous when it comes to gender, race-ethnicity, age, and national origin. There were studies which showed that diversity â€Å"have negative effects on social integration, communication, and conflict† (Pugh, Dietz, Brief, and Wiley, n.d., p.4). This can be explained by the fact that people coming from different cultures have different values, expectations, and communication styles. Despite these differences, an organization can be successful when these are unders tood by each employee and incorporated into the organizational culture (Workforce Diversity Network, 2008).My restaurant is home to cultural diversity. I have Vietnamese, Mexican, and American workers. During the hiring of my staff, one of my visions was hiring people from different cultural backgrounds. I have good friendships with people coming from race different from mine, and I believe that it can extend to my business. Although the start of the business with workers from mixed races was shaky, my staff finally came to befriend each other. However, it was not very easy. In fact, having employees of different races and ethnic backgrounds was a lot challenging than I thought it would be. Everyone had a hard time getting used to each other. However, effective communication was one of the key solutions in bridging the gap between the employees.Conflict ManagementConflict management is another aspect which can be very challenging. Conflict can arise from poor communications, differe nces in values, and leadership problems. If managed properly, conflict can lead to positive results such as participation of people, recognition and benefiting from their differences, and raising and addressing of problems (McNamara, 2008).In the restaurant, conflict has happened more than once. The likely causes were the differences between the employees and poor or lack of communication. For instance, the two cooks had a verbal fight about how things should be in the kitchen. Each wanted to have his or her way in the activities inside the kitchen. The conflict worsened because no one was willing to give in and did not want to settle the problem. Both avoided the problem by ignoring each other. Although after the verbal fight the cooks continued to work in silence, it affected the whole organization. The problem was only solved when I required them to talk it out like two grown up men and come up with alternative solutions.ReferencesKondrat, A. (2009). Effective communication in th e workplace. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://human-resources-management.suite101.com/article.cfm/effective_communication_at_workplaceMcNamara, C. (2008). Basics of conflict management. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.managementhelp.org/intrpsnl/basics.htmNortheastern University. (n.d.). The importance of effective communication. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/interper/commun.htmPugh, S.D., Dietz, J., Brief, A.P., and Wiley, J.W. (n.d). Looking inside and out: The impact of employee and community demographic composition. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/faculty/Dietz_JAP_Diversity_08inpress.pdfRouse, S. (2002). Business communications: A cultural and strategic approach. United States: Cengage Learning EMEA.Workforce Diversity Network. (2008). The importance of diversity in 2008 and beyond. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.workforcediversitynetwork.com/news_0806_impt.aspx

The Importance of Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility in Sport Creating and Maintaining the Perfect Balance

The Importance of Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility in Sport Creating and Maintaining the Perfect Balance Introduction Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of self-regulation incorporated into organizations which functions as an instrument by which the corporation examines and ensures its active conformity with the provisions of the law, ethical norms, and global practices (Sà ©guin and Parent, 2010). The main role of social initiatives is to uphold responsibility and promote a positive impact through its conduct towards the environment, customers, staff, the immediate community, and all members of the public domain.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Importance of Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility in Sport: Creating and Maintaining the Perfect Balance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, CSR actively promotes the community’s growth and development and eradicates norms that harm the public, irrespective of legality. Although there is no single universally accepted definit ion of CSR, it can be summarized as the intentional inclusion of public interest into corporate or organizational decision-making processes, and the honoring of the three corporate pillars: people, planet, profit. CSR ensures that a corporation goes beyond its legal requirements so as to handle staff with dignity, operate with integrity and ethics, respect human rights, sustain the environment for future generations, create strong positive relations with the surrounding communities, being responsible in the community, and a good ‘corporate citizen’ (Inoue, Kent, and Lee, 2011). For a long time, stakeholders have recognized the potential of sports venues and sporting activities to form a platform for undertaking CSR activities. This has resulted into most corporations engaging in some form of CSR activity in sporting events. However, companies have recently shifted their focus driven by profit motivations, and are beginning to move away from CSR related activities to foc us more on increasing their profit margins through such undertakings (Inoue et al, 2011). Although both sponsorship and corporate social responsibility offer sources of funds, resources, and in-kind services to organizations, they differ in the nature of what they expect in exchange. Indeed, some scholars have suggested that marketing and corporate philanthropy sit at opposite ends of a donation continuum. While CSR involves noble donations that are made based on personal values and not on personal gain, corporate decisions to sponsor sport properties are normally driven by business objectives although they may include intention to generate public goodwill regarding the organization and hence lead either to publicity of the whole company or of some of its products (Sà ©guin and Parent, 2010). However, one thing is clear: both CSR and sponsorships help a company in its marketing initiatives. In fact, sponsorships can wholly be regarded as a marketing initiative.Advertising L ooking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly important to organizations, governments, and service providers as they strive to meet the challenges of social and economic problems while altering welfare environments and this can be attributed to a number of factors, economic, social, cultural, legal and technological and so on. However, according to Sà ©guin and Parent (2010), progress in this area is often hampered by the fact that the field is under researched even as corporations face new demands to improve their accountability, transparency, integrity, and ethical behavior while observing the interests of its staff and that of the general public. Indeed, a study by Ludwig and Karabetsos (1999) reported that few researchers have focused on how corporations and organizations can create an equilibrium between corporate social respon sibility and marketing or sponsorship roles. The objective of this study is to identify the primary factors that influence a corporation’s involvement in CSR, and make recommendations on how a balance between marketing and corporate social responsibility can be achieved Methodology A mixed-methods approach was employed to analyze the motivation and level of involvement of corporations in CSR. A case study of teams participating in the NBA league in the United States was conducted to investigate the use of CSR in a major sporting event. Analysis looked at individual corporations’ contributions, sponsorship activities and the motivation for engaging in these activities. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were helpful in examining the research objective and drawing conclusions. The research incorporates the following: Data gathered from IRS Form 990, 990-PF, and 990-EZ Statistical F-tests Related polls and surveys Additional information from articles and other st udies This research study examines sports foundations in the three major leagues across three quantitative measures: revenues, grants distributed, and net assets. Analyzing annual revenue gives incite into a foundation’s potential for generating income through contributions, gifts, or from charging fees for services. Grants distributed indicate the organization’s current involvement in CSR and net assets indicate their ability to support activities in the future. Assessing these three variables is essential in understanding a sports’ foundations level of CSR and its ability to engage in CSR in the future.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Importance of Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility in Sport: Creating and Maintaining the Perfect Balance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The qualitative statistical methods used include One-Way ANOVA F-tests and Chi-Square/Contingency Tab le tests. These tests will determine the statistical significance of the relationships between CSR and different variable factors (including marketing and CSR roles). The ANOVA-test reveals if there is a significant difference between the level of contributions, profitability, and levels of CSR activities. Qualitative analysis focuses on the NBA and its recent spike in CSR activities. Conclusions are drawn from polls and surveys conducted by ESPN, and analysis of articles on the topic. Organizations normally fill Form 990, 990-PF, or 990-EZ with the IRS. The form details information on the corporation’s mission, programs, and finances. The goal of the qualitative methods is to determine the extent of CSR in the NBA, their impact on the league and players, and the factors that influence a franchise’s CSR decisions. Results and Discussion This study used a mixed-methods approach to develop an understanding of the involvement of professional sports franchises in CSR. The underlying research question looked to identify the extent to which sports franchises engage in CSR and factors that influence this involvement. Quantitatively, this study proved that the league a corporation is involved in does impact its CSR activities. ANOVA tests showed that performance impacts the level of CSR. In the NBA, there is a relationship between winning and charitable grants distributed. Teams with a winning season attract a larger level of sponsors and donations from corporations than losing teams. Qualitatively, a case study of the NBA revealed that player perception and league image is a motivating factor in determining the league’s level of CSR. Hence, CSR activities impacted positively on player performance on the pitch. The question on the factors that influence corporations to engage in CSR was observed as an intervening, or confounding variable, as it featured strongly in both the ANOVA and quantitative analyses. Corporations that invested more in CSR ac tivities experienced a steady increase in profitability and product awareness. Surveys conducted showed that persons who supported a particular team were more likely to purchase products from the sponsors. When faced with two options of purchasing two similar products, a person was more likely to purchase the sponsor’s product. Hence, it was concluded that marketing and profitability were major factors in corporations’ engagement in CSR activities. However, it was postulated that corporations’ engagement in sports is purely from a corporate social responsibility perspective and that the numerous benefits come automatically in virtue of the corporations’ CSR activities. Further research should be undertaken on this topic.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Future of CSR in Professional Sports Several theories have been put forward to explain why corporations engage in sporting activities. Some of these theories point to a corporation’s objective of increasing its involvement with the local community, to increase general public awareness of the company, to enhance the corporation’s image, to alter or influence public perception of the company, to block competition, to increase sales and/or market share, to increase product awareness, and to reach a target market (Mullin, Hardy, and Sutton, 2000). Either way, corporations need to establishing a perfect balance between CSR and marketing so that both the company and the public can benefit the corporation’s involvement in the event, rather than the current situation where corporations are the predominant winners in many sporting activities(Mullin et al., 2000). This balance can be achieved through the following strategies. Responsibility Corporations can create a balan ce between marketing and CSR by engaging in responsible advertising and in the dissemination of information. While the sponsors are accorded the rights to air advertisement of their products and engage in product awareness campaigns during sports events, corporations must refrain from running programs or commercials that may harm participants, the audience, and viewers in any way. This observation mainly applies to corporations that produce alcoholic products such as Heineken and Anheuser-Busch (Polonsky and Speed, 2001). Corporations should run responsible drinking programs at their own will and not just due to coercion or pressure. Similar policies should be adopted by tobacco manufacturers. This would create a balance between marketing and CSR. Life, Health, and Safety of all While signing sponsorship agreements, corporations should bear that every party within the particular sporting scene is important towards the successful staging of the event, be it the spectators, participan ts, or persons watching at home. Consequently, the corporations’ sponsorship package must include programs aimed at enhancing the lives, health, and safety of all parties involves whenever they can (Walker Kent, 2009). The activities could include programs to prohibit any doping practices; preventing accidents (or improving safety); providing medical care to the participants; workers and people involved in the organization of the games; prohibition of exploitation of Child Labour and forced Labour; and realization of buildings, equipment, and facilities in compliance with national and international laws and ILO Conventions (Polonsky and Speed, 2001). Environment Sustainability Sponsors must understand the effect of sports activities on nature as well as the flexibility of the natural area being used to withstand the various activities being undertaken during the sporting activities. Consequently, they must guarantee the highest level of safeguard of the territory and pursue the objectives of environmental improvement, taking into account the principles of sustainable development (Mullin et al., 2000). Environmental sustainability is spelt out in many policies pertaining to particular sports, for instance, in the Olympic Games, the Olympic Movement Agenda 21 focuses on the reinforcement of environmental education of youth during the games. Environmental sustainability is a very important subject and each sponsor must strive to play a role in enhancing environmental protection and conservation. Integrity and transparency Integrity, transparency, and participation should be viewed not as constraints, but rather as conditions of efficacy and efficiency, because they enhance the credibility and authority of the complex action of â€Å"governance† on which the success of the sports events hinges (Walker Kent, 2009). The corporation must embrace integrity and transparency in all of its activities in relation to the sponsorship deal. Conclusion A recen t shift in CSR activities has seen activities transform their corporate goodwill to a profit-motivated venture while sponsoring sporting activities. This shift has seen companies pay less attention to societal needs but engage in aggressive marketing techniques in total disregard to the well-being of the rest of the society. Consequently, there is an urgent need for companies to realign their sponsorship activities so that a balance is created between marketing and CSR. Elements such as responsibility, taking the matter of all stakeholders at heart, environmental sustainability, and integrity and transparency can significantly help in bringing back the balance between CSR and sponsorship of sporting activities among corporations. References Inoue, Y., Kent, A., and Lee, S. (2011). CSR and the Bottom Line: Analyzing the Link between CSR and Financial Performance for Professional Teams. Journal of Sport Management. In press, uncorrected proof.  . Ludwig, S. and Karabetsos, J.D. (199 9). Objectives and evaluation processes utilized by sponsors of the 1996 Olympic Games. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 8(1), 11–19. Mullin, B., Hardy, S. and Sutton, W. (2000). Sport Marketing (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinesics Polonsky, M.J. and Speed, R. (2001). Linking sponsorship and cause related marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 35(11/12), 1361–1385 Sà ©guin, B., and Parent, M. M. (2010). Corporate support: a corporate social responsibility alternative to traditional event sponsorship. Int. J. Sport Management and Marketing, 7(3/4), 522-30. Walker, M., Kent, A. (2009). Do fans care? Assessing the influence of corporate social responsibility on consumer attitudes in the sport industry. Journal of Sport Management, 23, 717-742.

Multics Operating system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Multics Operating system - Essay Example Significantly, more than just the design and aesthetic feature of a certain operating system is the critical role that security in operating systems is playing in ensuring that important data are stored securely. It also serves as an interceptor to potential threats in the Internet. Thus, this treatise will elaborate on the security features of Multics and its relative contributions to the world. Further, in this exposition, we will also explore the history, impacts and the influences of Multics to our modern times and how these interactions resulted in a progressive stint that the world has taken. Multiplexed Information and Computing Service, or most commonly known as Multics, is a "comprehensive, general-purpose programming system which is being developed as a research project" (Corbato & Vyssotsky, 1965). The first Multics system was applied on the GE-645 computer. According to Corbato and Vyssotsky (1965), the prime goal of designing the system was to provide a computing system which has the capability to meet the entire current and future requirements of a large computer utility. In other words, this system must be able to function continuously and reliably even with large amount of data. It was Professor Fernando Corbato from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who spearheaded the development of the system together with his colleagues in 1964. Initially, it was a joint project by MIT led by Professor Corbato, the General Electric and the Bell Laboratories; however, Bell Labs decided to back out leaving GE and Multics behind until it was later conquered by Honeywell. Following Honeywell’s acquisition of GE’s computer business, the prime Multics production machine was Honeywell 6180 mainframe which was widely recognized following 1969. Multics network implementation likewise became one of the pioneering sites after its forerunner, the ARPANET. Two MIT production machines were linked to ARPANET, the MIT 645 and the MIT 6180, which were assoc iated to ARPANET in 1971 and 1973 respectively. The development of Multics gave rise to the development of some other operating systems such as the UNIX. The operating system UNIX was created after Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie employed ideas used to develop Multics. UNIX was finally completed in 1969. But since UNIX was developed using the C language, it became widely popular with colleges and universities worldwide because of its simplicity. In November 1992, the source code of the concluding Multics version, the MR 12.5, was released to the public through MIT. This particular version comprised "5839 files of PL/I code in 337 archives" (Gedda, 2009). The authorization is relatively lenient and gives anybody the "right to use, copy, modify and distribute the code and its documentation for any purpose and without fee" (Gedda, 2009). However, while anyone can be given access and right over the archives, a copyright notice and historical background must be provided to appear in all copies according to Gedda (2009). Multics had manifold elements aimed to bring about great accessibility in order to provide massive support for computing utility comparable to that of telephone and electric services. By adjoining more of the applicable resource such as memory and computing power, the entire system could substantially expand in size. Multics has numerous unique features which distinguish it from the rest. These features were

Social Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Social Security - Essay Example   Going by the success of his 2004 re-election campaign, President Bush listed Social Security reforms as his primary domestic priority, regarding which he received ample support from many Republican stalwarts (Galston, 2007).   The whole premise behind this advocacy of a partial and systematic privatization of the Social Security Program was that this program was getting way too unwieldy and was poised to get financially unviable in the times to come (Galston, 2007). The annual report submitted by Social Security Board of Trustees in the year 2009 estimated that the program was poised to register a massive shortfall to the amount of US Dollar 15 trillion over a period of 75 years in the times to come (Social Security Administration, 2009).   This gave credence to the claims made by the Republicans that the only way to make Social Security pragmatic and financially viable was to systematically transfer the social security taxes towards the creation of private investment funds, engaging in large scale borrowing by the government to sustain the immediate Social Security liabilities and to plan drastic cuts in the social security aimed at the future retirees, believing that the gains made by the private investment funds will compensate for these cuts.   This proposal was further supported by the statistical evidence pointing towards the fact that the Federal mandatory spending primarily covering Social Security and social insurance entitlements was also soaring every successive year.

Children of Illegal Immigrants and Education Research Paper

Children of Illegal Immigrants and Education - Research Paper Example 5). In turn, this has placed them at a disadvantage especially in the job market. A greater percentage of the 62% is of children whose parents are legal immigrants. A survey of five counties in 2004 revealed that 45% of US born children had undocumented parents and the studies further revealed that the education levels of children of legal immigrants were much higher than that of children of illegal immigrants born in US (Caps et al. 6). This has been attributed to the fact that children of illegal immigrants born in US are likely to be faced with higher levels of poverty, which hinders their academic progress as most of them are forced to drop out of school to work. This study seeks to explore medical, psychological, emotional and economic factors contributing to a wide gap in education between children of illegal immigrants born in U.S.A and children of the natives, in order to equip the illegal immigrant parents with a better understanding of what challenges these children are goi ng through so that they can help in bridging the gap in education between their children and those of the natives. ... Sometimes children are forcefully obligated to drop out of school to work in order for them to cater for their basic needs. Undocumented parents may also be reluctant to approach organizations that can aid in financing their children’s education for fear of deportation as opposed to the legal immigrants who can freely ask for financial aid (Capps et al. 12). The other contributory factor is that majority of the illegal immigrant women are less likely to work and because most of them are in the child – bearing age, they are more likely to have more children as opposed to the working class women. As a result, the parents of these immigrant children may find it difficult to finance the education of their many children (Tanakshi 24). Poor educational background of parents of illegal immigrants children Most illegal immigrant parents have less formal education as compared to the native parent. Studies indicate that thirteen percent of parents of immigrant children have less than grade nine educations and a greater percentage lack a high school diploma. The spectrum of higher education also indicates that parents of native children are better educated than the immigrants (Fix and Jeffrey 36). Therefore, this implies that the children of the natives are more likely to be inspired by their parent’s achievements and follow their example or the parents may also be of great assistance especially if the children are having problems with their homework. The studies further indicate that six out of every ten parents of immigrant children are not proficient in English and that a quarter of the immigrant children have at least one of the parents who speaks another language apart from English at

Environmental Sustainability in Hotel Industry

Environmental Sustainability in Hotel Industry The project is related to the sustainability of environment in the hotel industry on the basis of waste management, and by taking other concepts from existing hotel industries. The ultimate aim is dependent on many of the vital stages of the thesis like environmental practices in hotel industry, assessment of different tactics of waste reduction in kitchen area, their importance, need for environmental sustainability etc. Research was performed to understand closely the environmental concerns of the hotel industry and recent development and trends in the same. A deep literature review was performed to evaluate the current stages of sustainable development in the environment and it indicates a lot of work has been done and lot has to be done in the field of hospitality industry especially in the hotel segment. According to eco-hotels, concept of sustainable environment is becoming familiar as days go by. The analysis of hotel was purposefully done to get an idea about the preferences in customer demands so as to get the main drivers of the market. Waste management is very useful in identifying the weaker points related to the environmental concerns and impacts. It helps to prioritize different aspects of environmental study. INTRODUCTION: The concept of Sustainability is not new to us. It is the capacity to endure. Now a days because of global warming, tourism and hospitality industry are facing so many problems. It is essential for us to know each and every factor which affects hospitality industry positively or negatively. Now tourists are very concerned about environmental issues. They are demanding eco products, places which are managed in environmentally-aware or friendly manner. But again in hotel industry it is very difficult to convince guest to use eco products or recycled products. Because guests think if they pay a high price for one night stay, why should they compromise with the facilities provided. For example, if guest pays 150 GBP a day and hotel asks the guest to reuse same bed sheet or towel for 2 days then the hotel should reduce room rate. Again the customers reactions to the customer experiences are main concern for the service industry. This is all about environmental sustainability. Ryan (2002) states, future tourism must be concerned with more than just sustainability. Perhaps, after three decades of academics and planning literature on sustainability, we might change our view and speak of sustainable value creation for each of the tourist, the tourist industry and communities. Sustainability is not only about environment. There are four main types of sustainability: human, social, economical and environmental. Out of the four, concentrating on environmental sustainability is the need of the hour. United Nations defines it as: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Environmental sustainability maintains the balance between social and economical development keeping in mind environmental protection. As we all know that the hotels are a part of the tourism industry. For Tourism industry it is very essential to protect our environment i.e. Environmental Sustainability. So we can automatically sustain the hotel industry. The hotel industry is correctly managed in protected areas, and it can become an effective instrument and an economic resource towards conservation. The main factors affecting an organisation in its effort to improve its market share involve hoteliers, consumers and employees in ways that contribute to an eco friendly environment. This proposed study will serve to offer such an understanding of these environmental demands in regards to the Hotel industry and potential/existing organisational success based on proper focus surrounding them. There are a number of hotels which are participating in environmental programmes. Ecotourism destinations tend to be self destructive and risky due to improper audits and environmental assessments. Sustainable hotel operations are the once that aim at minimizing their impact on surrounding natural environment and society. Environmental management in hotels is that minimises the impact of hotel practices on environment such as. BACKGROUND OF STUDY: In the last decade of the 20th century, incorporation of environmental sustainability began in the hotel industry. This philosophy changed into an agenda. This was developed into Agenda 21 which is a programme run by the United Nations and is related to sustainable development. This was the first summit that discusses global warming issues. One of the projects launched in 1995 within the framework of Agenda 21 i.e. Sustainable Salen. The main aim of this project was to relate to the threat of erosion of some slope, waste management and waste water treatment within Salen area. With the adoption of Agenda 21, hotel industry was also encouraged to adopt practices which helped in environmental sustainability. [Halme M. [emailprotected] LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILE DEVELOPMENT IN TOURISM NETWORKS. JAN 2001.] Now more and more hotels are taking part in sustainability practices to reduce their impact on nature. *Around 80% of European hoteliers are involved in this environmental programme. Like promotion of eco products, energy conservation programme, waste management programme, recycling, reusing product etc. But again this helps in increasing the profit levels of the organisation by controlling the expenditures. This is for the organisations benefit. But looking for an environmental benefit what are the measures hotels take internally. Hotels should identify areas for improvement and innovation at the property level and support the efforts of the Green Teams at each of the departments. Work diligently to minimize the organisational waste stream and conserve natural resources like water, energy, and food as well. STUDY RATIONALE Environmental Sustainability is required for the protection of the natural resources. Because of pollution, population these resources are on the way of vanishing. Human activities are responsible for these problems. They are using these resources in an improper way which is the cause for global warming. It is a big issue in front of the world and because of those historic monuments are damaged and places of visit are polluted and the flow of visitors is decreasing. As studying about this industry it is very essential to know each and every factor which affects positively and negatively on hotel industry. As we all know that again the hotel industry is a part of environment. If hotel industry is correctly managed in protected areas it can become an effective instrument and an economic resource toward conservation. In terms of learning about sustainability development it seems that there need to be stakeholders to make wider understanding of it. So now hotels are also taking efforts t o improve its employees share in ways that they contribute for eco friendly environment. Kitchen is an area where the most of the waste is produced compared to the other departments of the hotel. This area was neglected some years ago but now most of the hoteliers are focusing to treat the waste in kitchen area. This proposed study will serve to offer such an understanding of these environmental demands in regards to the hotel industry and existing organisational successes in waste management programme in kitchen department based on proper focus surrounding them. 1.4. OBJECTIVES: Previous study has identified waste management as a key with respect to the environmental sustainability in hotel industry. Therefore waste management, which includes the recycling, reuse etc., plays a crucial role in the success of environmental sustainability in hotel industry. This study is concerned with the kitchen waste management practices in hotel sector. The selection of kitchen area particularly because a number of studies have noted a significant performance in other department like Housekeeping and Front Office etc. than kitchen. This lag has been largely attributed to the lack of attention or participation of staff in kitchen area. The dissertation is therefore concerned with the reasons for this lag and how they might be addressed based on investigation in this area. Following are some of the objectives which we have examine To assess the need for Environmental Policies and Management in the hotel sector. To evaluate the current situation with regard to environmental policies and actions in the hotel sector. To undertake a case study focusing on waste management in hotel kitchens in order to assess a. The effectiveness of current environmental management practices b. The barriers to further improvement in waste management practices c. The factors influencing attitudes of kitchen staff to waste management practices 4. To assess the contribution that waste management can make to environmental sustainability in the hotel sector 5. To make recommendations on how waste management practices in the hotel sector can be improved. 1.5 DISSERTATION STRUCTURE: This dissertation consists of six chapters in which main subjects about environmental sustainability are outlined and analysed. This dissertation starts with the execute summary in which the whole dissertation is explained briefly. First chapter is Introduction where the aims and objectives, background as well as the structure of this study are described which give a main scenario in this particular subject. Chapter two consists of Literature Review where the previous research is critically reviewed for the good understanding of environmental sustainability and waste management concept, theory and new trends which came into the hotel industry that are very essential and relevant with this study. Different authors research and thoughts serve very informative about environmental sustainability as well as their importance. This chapter represents the deep study and conceptual framework related topic leading to the research. Chapter three is the methodology of this dissertation. It is about how the research is done, what are the strategies used, sampling of data, case study approach with the evidence of case study and procedures of interviews are introduced in this chapter. Finally the research model is presented at the end of this chapter. Chapter four demonstrate the finding and analysis of the data collected from interviews. This analysis of data collection is the stem for conclusion and recommendation. Chapter five is about result of finding and analysis. This study outlines some important recommendation and limitations of the case study as well as some suggestions for future research. The flow of this study is illustrated in Figure 1. Identify Research topic and Research Questions Critically Review Literature Develop Conceptual Framework Selection of Methodology Data Collection Sample Selection Secondary Data Primary Data Analysis of Data Presenting Findings and Results Conclusion, recommendation, and Suggestions for Future Research 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this chapter is to identify and review the relevance of previous literature in order to better understand environmental sustainability and waste management programme in hotel industry. This chapter is divided into seven sections. The second section presents a brief summary of the Sustainable development in hotel industry. Third section focuses on environmental management in hotel sector. Section four argues about the motivation for ISO 14001 in hotels and other environmental certifications. Section five introduces the waste management definition and concept. Section six examines the role of waste management programme in hotel sector. And lastly chapter seven focuses on the kitchen department and waste management in kitchen area. 2.2 ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN HOTEL INDUSTRY: The term sustainability first came into existence used in 1970s when more attention was given to taking care of environment and overutilization of it. The most common used definition was named by the World Commission on Environment and development in 1983. Later in the year 1987, this report called as Brundtland report. According to Brundtland report, Sustainability Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It is also explained by John Elkington in the book Cannibal with Forks that it is a triple bottom line which covers factors like economic, environmental and social. In practical terms, company should not only consider the financial benefits but also look at the environmental and social functioning. A Sustainability Development, though it is a vital component of profitability for hotel industry today and an opportunity for the industry, again it is about meeting the ever-increasing chal lenges due to environmental, social, economic and technological changes that are faced by hotel sectors. Sustainability is a crying need for hotel industry on the path of rapid economic growth. Practitioner should emphasise the efforts of hospitality business to promote sustainable development by conserving natural and cultural resources on which hospitality industry depend. The simple and easy to understand definition of Sustainability Development is the 3Ps acronym: Profit, People, and Planet. It means profit is for people on the planet. *But planet is at risk. Approximately 6 million people are at risk due to natural disasters like flooding and droughts. Climate change is a big problem which is concern for this risk. Our planets natural resources are on the way of vanishing. Human activities are responsible for overutilization of these resources. People should focus on renewable resources rather than non-renewable such as solar, water, etc. Now governments, consumer groups, non-g overnment organizations are taking part to make awareness of this programme and to educate people about this. In recent years, Sustainable Development has taken centre stage in the hospitality industry. So much has been written and spoken about sustainability, but not much has done for the implementation of sustainability practices. There are very few examples about sustainable initiatives There is a need of more critical evaluation of existing things and techniques in the area of sustainability. The main purpose of sustainability development is to secure economic development, social equity and environmental protection and they are interdependent on each other. As we are not sure about our future, but it should be preferably sustainable one. 2.3 An Overview of Environmental Management in Hotel Sector: There are currently a number of significant environmental threats which creating risk for future generation like the green house effect and depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, over-consumption of non-renewable resources and global air pollution, etc. The hotel industry discovers many of the conflicts which arise when carrying out environmental policies. Hotel is industry which comes more contact with people and can make more awareness of environmental management programme Environment Management is management of an organization in such a way that it will reduce or eliminate the negative impact on the environment without having any harmful impact on our future generation. In other words its fulfilling the present needs without harming the future generation needs. In this era of time all the different types of industries are trying to step forward and help prevent or minimize the negative impact on the environment for the betterment of the future. Our Hotel Sector is one of those industries which have been taking very active participation in this area. Hotel industry as compare to the other big production industries has a relatively less impact to the environment and as the people have started realizing the importance of the environment impact so its a kind of way to improve the image of the brand in front of the guests and also a way to help the environment. In order to carry out the environment management properties carry out an audit which helps them to understand the scope and areas where they can implement new standards. Many properties form a committee which meets on a periodical basis and discuss policies and standards to improve the system. Government have also started many rewards which motivates the properties to take active part in the environment management. As any rewards achieved will help to improve the brand image and as this generation is more interested towards the environment friendly things so it helps the property to improve their image and get more business. Some of the methods followed in our industries to help improve environment management are: Conserving natural resources Recycling Waste reduction Raising environment awareness among guests and the associates Reduction of pollution Importance of environment management: Focuses on continual improvement of the system Environment Management helps cost control. As many properties have implemented recycling policies for example glass, plastic, office paper, printer and copy machine toner cartridges. In guest rooms many hotels have a recycling container which gives the guest a opportunity to be a part of the good work. Provides a systematic way of managing an organizations environmental affairs Water conservation is a very good option in this management. Hotels have started to recycle the water with proper treatment and use of low flow. Restrictors on faucets and showerheads which help to save a lot of water. Use of low-flow fixtures saves a thousand of gallons per year. Training the staff in a proper way will help to carry out this process in effective way and awarding their efforts to help the environment will make the staff more interest in putting their efforts in to it. Encouraging the guests to take part in helping the environment by using good green choice programs which will make them interested to take part in to it will also help to reach our ultimate goal. Menu planning to reduce waste food It is a system which serves as a tool to improve environmental performance Gives order and consistency for organizations to address environmental concerns through the allocation of resources, assignment of responsibility and ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures and processes 2.4 Motivation for ISO 14001 in the hotel industry: The 1SO 14001 is a standard for Environment Management System (EMS) which is developed by International Organization for Standardization. It is for all types of business and organization. It is a nongovernment organization launched in 1947. The ISO 14001 EMS is with the specification of guidance for use. According to Tibor Feldman (1996) T. Tibor and I. Feldman, ISO 14000: a guide to the new environmental management standards (pp. 237), Irwin Professional Publishing, Chicago (1996).Tibor Feldman, 1996, ISO 14000 standards were developed mainly in response to the development of national EMS standards in various countries, which forced companies to deal with dozens of potentially incompatible systems from each country in which they conducted business. There are number of hotels like Inter-Continental, Marriott, Hilton International, Ramada and Holiday Inn Worldwide have taken initiative by adopting environmental programmes to protect our planet. There are various reasons for to adopt this programme. Hotel sector can reduce their impact by implementing environmental programmes like water, energy and material conservation and reducing operating cost. By doing so, they could also achieve company image and customer satisfaction. 2.5 An introduction to waste management 2.5.1 Definition It is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal, and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics. Waste management is also carried out to recover resources from it. Waste management can involve solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances, with different methods and fields of expertise for each 2.5.2 Concept of Waste Management There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely used concepts include: Waste Hierarchy: This hierarchy generally based upon the following 3R concept a} Reduce b} Reuse c} Recycle. This classifies waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms of waste minimization. This will use as a most useful technique in todays era and which is a cost effective too. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste. Polluters Pay Principle: In this concept the waste generator has to bear the cost of waste disposal and generally he has to bear the cost which compensates the harm caused to the environment. According to the waste management, the producer of the waste has to pay/compensates against waste decomposition charges. Extended producer responsibility : Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a strategy designed to promote the integration of all costs associated with products throughout their life cycle (including end-of-life disposal costs) into the market price of the product. In this the manufacturer has to bear the all charges which are responsible for all waste produced during each phase of it like waste produced during manufacturing, packaging, selling. In this system producer has the liability of the waste generated throughout the life cycle of the product. According to the diagram which is above shows that the two approaches to the waste management: Most favoured option This contains the methods which are generally used so that it will make the waste disposal easy. They are Prevention Reduce or minimisation Reuse Recycle Least favoured option This contains the methods which are generally not used because of the expensiveness or not easily accessible or may be these methods are land, capital, time, and labour consuming. These are two viz energy recovery and disposal. 2.5.3 Procedure The few basic principles to reduce solid waste to be followed by every nation: (Jonkoping, Swedan, 1993) Reduce the amount of thrash discarded Reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging Adopt practices that reduce waste toxicity Reuse containers and products Consider reusable products Maintain and repair durable products Reuse bags, containers and other items Borrow, rent or share items used infrequently Sell or donate goods instead of throwing them Recycle -use recycled materials and compost Choose recycle products and recycle them Select products from recycled materials Compost yard trimmings and some food scraps Respond to the solid waste dilemma by reconsidering waste-producing activities and by expressing preferences for less waste Educate others on source reduction and recycling practices Make your preferences known to manufactures, merchants and community leaders Be -creativefind new ways to reduce waste quantity and toxicity 2.5.3 Importance 2.6 Role of Hotel industry in Waste Management Programmes 2.7 Hotel Waste Management in Kitchen area CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction: This chapter talks about the methodology used by the researcher for this study. This mainly focuses on the research objective and defines the specific guideline which helps to researcher for the research design, research methods and approach, process, strategy, sources of data collections, sampling issues and procedures for interviews, etc. In short this chapter illustrates the concept which used for primary and secondary data collection. According to Sekaran (1992), research has been defined as: An organised systematic, data based, critical, scientific enquiry and investigation into a specific problem, undertaken with the objective of finding answers or solutions to it. -Sekaran (1992) The research methodology of the present dissertation is influenced and structured by the process onion, which was introduced by Saunders et al. (2003). In order to write the methodology this section divided into five sections which provides clear explanation about the dissertation research process. 3.1 Research Philosophy: A research philosophy represents a researchers perception of the way knowledge is constructed (Saunders et al., 2003). There are three philosophies which we can use for dissertation such as positivism, interpretivism and realism philosophies. It is very important to clear the research philosophy which is a base for methodological framework. The philosophy, which is used in this dissertation, is interpretivism philosophy. It means where researcher can focus on exploring the topic by the application of critical interpretations and gradually establishing research conclusions (Remenyi et al., 1998). 3.2 Research Approach: There are two distinctive research approaches such as inductive and deductive. This research usually associated with qualitative research method. This method is chosen in this study because it is good way to collect deep knowledge and detailed data to preserve the entire view of participant in the case study. Much of data is taken from the previous literature while to find out current trends primary research method is used like interviews and observation, etc. 3.3 Research Strategy: In research, we often refer to the two broad methods of reasoning as the deductive and inductive approaches. A research strategy is a tool which is uses for exploring a research questions. There are six strategies which uses in dissertation such as survey, grounded theory, action research, experiment, ethnography and case study (Saunders et al., 2003). The present research is a case study on Waste Management in Kitchen Area. According to Merriam (1998), if writers want to get an understanding of the situation in depth, a case study approach is a good choice. The case study approach is flexible to allow researcher to develop the research question during the research. This research is mainly focuses on extracting knowledge through literature review. Then the second step is taking in-depth interviews to collect data which is called primary research method. 3.4 Time Horizon: Another essential factor in research process is Time Horizon. There are two distinctive time horizons such as longitudinal and cross-sectional. The present dissertation has longitudinal time horizon as it is appropriate for case study approach research and data collection. A longitudinal research is a process which studies particular factor for given period of time as it constructs the ability to conduct a long term study. 3.5 Data Collection Method: In order to identify the waste management practices in the hotel industry, case study approach is used to explore the environmental programmes run by the hotel industry and their role in these practices. The present dissertation incorporates the case study research strategy and in-depth interviews. In this respect, it can be concluded that the present study is built on a combination of secondary and primary data. This both methods are depending upon each other as secondary data provides good theoretical framework whereas primary data leads to the address the most important issues in the present circumstance. 3.5.1 Secondary Data: The secondary data used described as multiple source of data collection. To identify the concept of environmental sustainability secondary data from journals, articles and hotels will be used. From this Waste management concept will be understood. Work by various accepted authors like Herve Houdre, Abraham Pizam, Philip Sloan, Joseph S. Chen, Willy Legrand, Sasikumar Gopi Krishna, etc. have been argue upon to reach an agreement. Thus, the researchers are investigating more into this matter to sustain the environment and hotel industry. 3.5.2 Primary Data: According to Sekaran (1902), primary data is a search for the information in order to build up the researchers understanding towards the area of the subject. This data is extracted through the taking in-depth interviews, survey and by observations. 3.5.2.1 The Researcher Observation Data: The researcher is also working in hotel sector and therefore able to collect data by practical experience and observation. Therefore, as employee of Hotel Crown Plaza, Wembley, London (Five star Hotel) and working in food and beverage department observer was able to collect data from kitchen area by observation. 3.5.2.2 Interviews: Interviews can be formalised and structured. It can be formal and informal conversation. According to Guion (2006, p1), an in-depth interview is an open-ended which is also known as unstructured interview. It is a common data collection method for discovery oriented study. For in-depth interviews analysis of different levels of hotels will be done. For that four types of hotels were studied like five star, four star, three star and private hotel. In this case study researcher has used unstructured and structured interviews. Due to some reasons like lack of acceptance from the five star hotel management, researcher couldnt take live interviews in each and every hotel; therefore researcher used the structured interview by email to interviewee. In four stars and in private hotels, researcher has taken live interviews which were unstructured. A questionnaire with both closed and open ended questions have used. Using a structured and unstructured interview, the roles of kitchen department in waste management programme in hotels industry will be identified. Interview was related to kitchen employee participation inside the hotel and attitude towards waste management programme outside the hotel. Are they keeping same attitude outside the hotel like when they are at work. The questionnaire made to discover the perspective of kitchen staff about environmental sustainability and waste management programme in hotel sector. Interview was conducted with head chef who is responsible for implementation and observation of the waste management programme in kitchen area. Interview is also conducted with two commi chef and one kitchen porter who are participating in this programme. On the basis of collected data the analysis and comparison was done which served the actual position of hotel industry in terms of environmental programme and what measures should be taken to improve this practice. The result of all this will help in analyzing the status of sustainability in hotel sector. Employees serve a vital important role in environmental programmes in hotels. Suitable education and training not only increases knowledge but also elevates their awareness of environment protection which supports resource conservation. 3.5.2.3 Survey: Survey is a detailed study about specific area

Minority Cultures in Pittsburgh Essay -- Sociology, Culture, Jewish Co

Minority Culture --- Jewish Theme 1 --- Holidays/Traditions There is no way to define someone as â€Å"Jewish† in terms of race; there is no â€Å"Jewish race.† Judaism has a long history; Jewish identity is a combination of this history as well as religious and ethnic variables. There are also several different ways to practice Judaism such as Orthodox, Reformed, Liberal, and Masorti. The Orthodo Jews often follow most strictly the laws and observances of Judaism and will often times send their child to privates Jewish schools at synagogues, therefore it is most likely that I would encounter students that practice as less strict form of Judaism (Chinn, Gollnick p.254). According to 2009 religious affiliation information from the US Census, Pennsylvania’s Jewish population makes up 2.3% of the total population (Table 76. Religious bodies selected data) and according to the Jewish Virtual Library 88% of the Jewish population in Pennsylvania resides in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). One holiday that is uniform amongst all Jewish cultures is Hanukkah. Hanukkah is not considered to be a â€Å"high† festival because it is not regulated in the Torah; however Hanukkah is important to Jewish families because it signifies their refusal to integrate into mainstream culture. Hanukkah has very clear origins. It was first celebrated in 165 B.C.E. when a small group of Jews (The Maccabees) overcame the Syrian oppressors to preserve their culture and way of life and re-dedicate their temple which had previously been taken over by the Syrians. The Syrians sought to destroy the Jewish faith and convert all Jews over to Hellenism (Cardoza p. 83-84). One of the most recognized practices of Hanukkah is the lighting of the eight candles on the... ...e importance of education for children. Many Jewish families will set aside time and money to ensure their children receive a good education in all aspects, including school, religion, and extracurricular activities (Jewish family life and customs: a practical guide). When Jews began immigrating to America they immediately embraced education as the proper path to success and opportunity for themselves and for their children. This is perhaps the reason from the shift in importance of strictly religious studies to the importance of a â€Å"secular† education in the public schools. In a documentary series by David Grubin entitled The Jewish Americans, one Jewish-American woman (Letty Cottin Pogrebin) describes her experience: â€Å"Succeeding academically, are you kidding me, was there anything else? I didn’t feel I had to be pretty or anything else, I had to be smart.†