Pesonal Response Nicholas Sparks The Notebook Essay

What is this Novel about? The structure of the novel is told on two levels – one is the present day when Allie and Noah have grown old and live in a home; the other is the story Noah reads from the notebook in which he tells how he and Allie met, fell in love, lost each other, and then found each other again. The end of their love story is tragically altered by Allie’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but even that has no power over their love. Who introduced you to this novel? A friend called Emily introduced me to this novel; she was reading it in the library lessons we get at school and I remember her saying that it was very different to the movie. She stated a scene that was played near the end of the movie had already been written in the novel by the page number of 30. What appealed to you in this novel? This novel is a typical love story, of teenagers that fall in love over summer and are forced to part. What appealed to me in this novel was that I had seen and read some of Nicholas sparks other movies and books including Dear John, A walk to remember, and his newest book Safe Haven. Is it realistic? In my opinion no I don’t think it is realistic, the notebook and books similar to the notebook are giving teenage girls a different perspective on Love. The romance portrayed in the book represents both everything that’s wrong in relationships and what woman want in relationships. This is a bad example for young adults, 1 because it is getting there hopes up that everyone will find love just like Allie and Noah and 2 because Love isn’t going to be easy. What do you think the message is? The Message behind the notebook is simply true love, no matter what you go through, Allie got diagnosed with a disease called Alzheimer, but despite this Noah read a Notebook every day to Allie hoping for a miracle to happen. A quote I found that pretty much explains everything is ‘behind every great love, is a great story’ Who was your favorite character in this novel? My favorite character in the book is Noah, because he has pure commitment. Because he wrote to Allie after they had spent a summer together. He wrote her 365 letters one every day of the year, even with no reply because Allies mum had kept them from her. Why did the setting interest you? The book was set in early October 1946, and Noah Calhoun lived in North Carolina, in one of the largest homes in New Bern. The setting interests me because how the author describes the town that Noah lives in sounds a lot like the town I live in, very small, everyone knows everyone, people are so generous. This setting is where Noah meet Allies as Allies family were spending there summer in this town because her father worked for R.J. Reynolds. Was the Title a good one? Yes I do think the title was a good one, it perfectly describes the book in 2 words. The story is been read as a notebook and in fact it is a Notebook that Ally started writing when she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer so she would remember her life.

Tqm in Starwood

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide In partial fulfilment Of the requirements in Total Quality Management 12 October, 2010 I. INTRODUCTION Being one of the of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. already has nearly 1000 properties in some 100 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels and Resorts is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with different internationally renowned brands of St.Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element. It also owns one of the premier developers and operators of high-quality vacation interval ownership resorts, Starwood Vacation Ownership Resorts, Inc. The company began as a small investment firm and then became a real estate investment trust (REIT). In 1998, Starwood acquired ITT Corporation, a company seven times its size, in which during tha t time, the world's largest lodging and gaming company.Founded by Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Hotels and Resorts has been acquiring many other hotels and companies, at the same time, unloading some of its own properties to make room and money for new ones. Starwood Hotels and Resorts still face challenges in their worldwide operations. This led to a decision of adapting Six Sigma in the year 2000. The roll out of Six Sigma in the company started in the first quarter of 2001and was targeted to end in the year 2002 – also the time they say they will reap the fruits of their efforts. According to the founder, and previous chairman and chief executive officer of Starwood, Barry Sternlicht he launch of Six Sigma is one of the most important strategic initiatives since the formation of the company. It will be a multiyear effort encompassing thousands of associates. It will also sustain and build new momentum, strengthen their global brands, enhance their ability to share best practi ces globally, speed the adoption of new technologies, prepare them for the challenges of constant change, provide critical focus on the customer and overtime help them derive a dramatic improvement in the bottom line. All these will happen only with the successful implementation of the strategy.Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worlwide, Inc. was the first hospitality chain to adapt Six Sigma in its global operations. The company continuously improves with the Mission: â€Å"To our shareholders, our goal is to grow EBITDA at least 8-10% per year and EPS at least 15% per year. To our customers, we want Starwood to be the easiest company with which to do business. And to our employees, our commitment is to make Starwood a great place to work. † â€Å"At Starwood, we don’t just ‘do’ Six Sigma, we ‘use’ Six Sigma,† wrote one Starwood employee in iSixSigma’s Best Places survey. That means that we use it every day in our daily work to solve problems, regardless of their size. We follow the DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma principles and use tools daily (VOC translation tables, Pugh matrices, SIPOC†¦DOE, etc. ), but don’t necessarily have to make every problem into a project. We just get it done here. † This made Starwood the top best place to work in according to isixsigma. com’s Top 10 companies Best Places to Work list. To sum it up, Starwood Hotels and Resorts was able to pull off great opportunities of development and growth in the company through Six Sigma.II. COMPANY PROFILE A. Brief Description about the company: As a top company in the Hotels, Casinos, Resorts industry, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts specialize in the operation and management of hotels, resorts, casinos and spas. Starwood is now one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 925 properties in more than 95 countries. Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. , incorporated in 1980, is a hotel and leisu re company. The Company conducts its hotel and leisure business both directly and through its subsidiaries. Its brand names include St.Regis (luxury full-service hotels, resorts and residences), The Luxury Collection (luxury full-service hotels and resorts), W (luxury and upscale full service hotels, retreats and residences), Westin (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Le Meridien (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Sheraton (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Four Points (select-service hotels), Aloft (select-service hotels), and Element (extended stay hotels). The Company is organized into two business segments: hotels and vacation ownership and residential.In January 2010, the Company announced that it has completed the disposal of Bliss World Holdings, Inc. to Steiner Leisure Limited. History of the company: Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the top hotel companies in the w orld. The company owns and operates hotels under leading brands such as Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Four Points, and its recently developed W brand. The majority of Starwood's hotels are owned by franchisees, and the company directly owns or leases about 170 of its approximately 750 hotels worldwide.Close to 500 of the company's hotels are in North America. Starwood also runs hotels in some 80 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America, including a chain of prestigious European palaces called the Ciga Group. The company began as a small investment firm and then became a real estate investment trust (REIT). In 1998 Starwood purchased ITT Corporation, a company seven times its size and at the time the world's largest lodging and gaming company. Starwood beat out the Hilton Hotels Corporation to get ITT, in what was one of the most dramatic takeover battles of the 1990s.Starwood is run by Barry Sternlicht, whose consummate dealsmanship parlayed the small trust into a global lodging company. B. Different Scope of the Company: a. Starwood’s Managed Hotels The Company manages hotels worldwide, usually under a long-term agreement with the hotel owner (including entities in which it has a minority equity interest). Its responsibilities under hotel management contracts typically include hiring, training and supervising the managers and employees that operate these facilities.For additional fees, it provides centralized reservation services and coordinates national advertising and certain marketing and promotional services. It prepares and implements annual budgets for the hotels it manages and is responsible for allocating property-owner funds for periodic maintenance and repair of buildings and furnishings. In addition to its owned and leased hotels, at December 31, 2009, it managed 440 hotels with approximately 153,800 rooms worldwide. b. The Brand Franchising and LicensingThe Company franchises its Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element brand names and generally derive licensing and other fees from franchisees based on a fixed percentage of the franchised hotel’s room revenue, as well as fees for other services, including centralized reservations, sales and marketing, public relations and national and international media advertising. In addition, a franchisee may also purchase hotel supplies, including brand-specific products, from certain Starwood-approved vendors.It approves certain plans for, and the location of, franchised hotels and reviews their design. At December 31, 2009, there were 476 franchised properties with approximately 116,300 rooms. c. Vacation Ownership and Residential Business The Company develops, owns and operates vacation ownership resorts, market and sell the vacation ownership interests (VOIs) in the resorts and, in many cases, provide financing to customers who purchase such ownership interests.Owners of VOIs can trade their interval for in tervals at other Starwood vacation ownership resorts, for intervals at certain vacation ownership resorts not otherwise sponsored by Starwood through an exchange company, or for hotel stays at Starwood properties. From time to time, it securitizes or sells the receivables generated from its sale of VOIs. At December 31, 2009, it had 22 residential and vacation ownership resorts and sites in its portfolio with 16 actively selling VOIs and residences, and two that have sold all existing inventory. C. Business Industry:The general business activity and principal products or commercial enterprise of Starwood Hotels & Resorts are categorized as being part of the Hotels, Casinos, Resorts Industry. D. The Company Values: â€Å"Go the Extra Step by taking actions that build lasting connections and loyalty ; Play as a Team by working globally and across all teams in the company; Do the Right Thing by using good judgment, respecting our communities, associates, owners, partners and the envir onment† E. Principal Subsidiaries: Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. F. Principal Competitors: Marriott International, Inc. Hilton Hotels Corporation; Four Seasons Hotels Inc. G. Key Dates of the company’s operations a. 1991: Starwood Capital Group is founded. b. 1993: Starwood begins buying hotels. c. 1994: Starwood buys Hotel Investors Trust; gains special REIT status. d. 1998: Starwood acquires ITT Corporation. e. 2001: Implementation of Six Sigma Strategy for the company’s overall operations III. BEFORE HAVING SIX-SIGMA IN THE COMPANY Starwood Hotels and Resorts did not follow a particular Total Quality Management program. Although they do have goals, such as: Starwood is entering a new stage in its development,† said Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. â€Å"The world is changing rapidly. While we own superb physical assets around the world, it is our 30 million customers who represent the critical and unrecognized asset of our com pany in this internet age. We are determined to build a customer-centric organization, a company that will take advantage of unprecedented advances in technology to improve nearly every facet of its core operations while increasing brand loyalty in an effort to create significant long-term shareholder value,† Mr.Sternlicht said. Starwood, though were very successful before their implementation of the Six Sigma also encounter several problems. One of which was when the Congress acted to change the law governing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). This made Starwood lose its tax advantage thus converting itself to the traditional corporate structure. The change made accounting difficult, particularly in comparing financial results from before and after the restructuring. In addition, there seemed to be trouble in the top echelons of management.Starwood's stock price fell, and in December 1998 the company announced that fourth quarter earnings would be less than estimated. Oth er lodging stocks did badly as well, but Starwood was clearly struggling to integrate its vast new holdings. IV. THE COMPANY’S ADAPTATION †¢ The slowing economy hurt Starwood and other hotel companies in 2001. The September 11 terrorist attacks were a huge blow to the industry. Starwood's North American business fell drastically immediately after the attacks, and two weeks later the company announced that it would lay off 23 percent of its North American workforce.Revenue fell in 2001 and 2002 as the global economy remained weak and business travel was less than robust. The company's European operations did better than its North American business, and Asia became the company's next frontier. Less than 10 percent of Starwood's operating profit came from its Asian operations in 2002, but the company aimed to increase that to 25 percent by 2007. †¢ â€Å"We have spent $1 billion in our ongoing effort to bring consistency to our branded hotels around the world,† says Bob Cotter, chief operating officer, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts. It is time and we are ready to complement this effort with a global focus on the delivery of consistent and exemplary service to our guests. From the reservation and check-in process, to room standards and cleanliness, it is our goal for every Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood Vacation Ownership and St. Regis/Luxury Collection guest to have a flawless experience during each and every visit. Six Sigma will help us reach that goal. † V. THE SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT STARWOOD In 2001 Starwood Hotels & Resorts became the first hospitality company in the world to embrace Six Sigma, an internationally recognized approach that enables Starwood associates to develop innovative customer focused solutions and to transfer these solutions across the global organization. Six Sigma is a customer-focused, fact-based, analytical system (approach and tools) for improving processes so that customers are more satisfied and Associates’ time is spent more on value-added activities, leading to increased profitably.The Six Sigma tools enable Starwood hotels to transfer solutions and innovations across their properties and offices globally. This gives the company a competitive advantage on speed to market in implementing Best Practices and Brand Standards. †¢ By launching Six Sigma, Starwood made a long-term commitment to radically improving the way it does business. For Starwood Six Sigma is a powerful business system that focuses on consistently delivering superior value to existing and potential customers. Six Sigma will roll out across Starwood Hotels & Resorts starting in the first quarter of 2001, completing implementation through the entire company by the end of 2002. While the company has budgeted a net cost for the program in 2001, as training and process reengineering begins, the company expects the program to begin delivering benefits in 2002 and beyond. Pioneered by Motorola and made famous by GE, Six Sigma has helped some of the world’s leading companies greatly improve customer service and increase financial returns.Starwood expects to save millions of dollars through improved efficiencies and maximized targeting of employed capital. Further, Starwood expects to generate significant incremental revenue and profit due to enhanced  loyalty and additional products and services. Former GE executive James Hyman has been named executive vice president, Six Sigma, for Starwood and will have global responsibility for executing the strategy, designing the tools and overseeing the implementation of Starwood’s Six Sigma initiative. Before joining Starwood, Hyman served as President of Europe for GE Capital Modular Space.Hyman will report directly to Bob Cotter. Starwood has also enlisted the expertise of renowned Six Sigma specialists Peter S. Pande, co-author of â€Å"The Six Sigma Way† and president of Pivotal Consulting, and the George Group to assist with the launch. During the first five quarters of implementation, Starwood will primarily redeploy current Starwood associates to fill approximately 450 Six Sigma specialist roles. Starwood will fill these roles with many of the company’s highest performing associates, in addition to some external candidates from all fields.These Six Sigma specialists will have strong analytical and organizational skills, and most will hold the title of â€Å"black belt† or â€Å"master black belt. †Ã‚   Each â€Å"black belt† is expected to drive EBITDA gains of $200,000 or more per year. †¢ Instead of hiring the usual ethnographers or consultants, Westin owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. turned to Six Sigma, a management process known for reducing defects and increasing efficiency. It was a surprising move given Six Sigma's rap as a creativity killer. But under Geoffrey A.Ballotti, president of Starwood's North America Div. , the company is using Six Sigma's strengths to promote innovation–and generate tens of millions in new revenue. Combining creativity and efficiency is a delicate managerial manoeuvre that few service companies can pull off. Starwood succeeded, in large part, because it began with a culture of creativity before introducing the management tool. Design has long played a major role in the company, with noted architect David Rockwell designing its hip W Hotels brand back in the '90s.Starwood gets a boost out of Six Sigma by using its techniques to dream up projects across the company. Massage is just one of hundreds of ventures done this way. This year's food and beverage engineering program, which rejiggers the choices on room-service and catering menus based on their popularity, has generated $20 million in extra revenue. In 2006, programs developed under Six Sigma delivered more than $100 million in profit to its bottom line. As a result, the White Plains (N. Y. company is on e of the world's most profitable hotel operators: Its net margin is nearly 15%, higher than those of rivals Hilton Hotels Corp. (HLT ) and Marriott International Inc. (MAR ) â€Å"We have been driving our margin growth faster than our competitors,† says Ballotti. â€Å"When people ask why, I point to Six Sigma. † The group that runs the effort is headed by Brian Mayer, who claims the quirky title of vice-president for Six Sigma, operation innovation, and room support. â€Å"I grew up in the hospitality industry,† says Mayer, whose grandfather and father ran catering businesses. The joke is that I was born in a chafing dish. † Since the program launched in 2001, Mayer's crew has trained 150 employees as â€Å"black belts† and more than 2,700 as â€Å"green belts† in the arts of Six Sigma. Based mostly at the hotels, black belts oversee the projects while green belts hammer out the details. The key to their success, says Mayer, is that instead of acting like â€Å"suits† imposing their will from â€Å"corporate,† the Six Sigma specialists operate more like partners who help local hotels meet their own objectives. Indeed, almost 100% of the creative concepts come from in-house staff.And every project must be overseen by a hotel employee. â€Å"By focusing on their goals and budgets it enables us to become a partner in the operation,† says Mayer. †¢ The SWAT Team: The innovation process begins when hotel teams pitch Mayer's group on a new idea. â€Å"They fight for our resources,† says Mayer. A Six Sigma Council composed of Ballotti and his 13 direct reports, including his senior vice-president for sales and marketing, then evaluates an idea's merit based on the division's priorities and the project's expected payoff.If the council approves a project, black belts and green belts are deployed like SWAT teams to the hotels to carry it out. †¢ London, 14 July 2004: A sign of the growing im portance of SIX SIGMA at Starwood Hotels & Resorts is that by 1 August this year, the hotel company, with over 740 properties globally, will have trained over 1000 associates from all over the world to become SIX SIGMA Green Belts the first training stage in the SIX SIGMA development program.The latest group of 12 associates from the Europe, Middle East and Africa region are heading to Warsaw on 19 July for a week of intensive Six Sigma tuition. This innovative project has re-designed all the individual reservation channels for hotel, golf, spa, transport, restaurant and outdoor activities into one single point of contact – a multi-purpose, multi skilled Resort Sales team that immediately can confirm and cross sell any request received by the hotel. The benefits for this project to Turnberry were immediate. To date there has been an 11. 5% increase in incremental spend by customers and  increase in rooms revenue of more than 19%. In addition, The Spa revenues have increased from GBP 91 per booking to GBP 141 per booking as a result of the newly centralized  reservation  group, which enables the maximum utilization of treatment rooms and therapists. †¢ Energy Summit for Starwood Hotels and Resorts: Starwood Hotels & Resorts has taken a leaf out of the recent G8 Summit by implementing an awareness program which focuses on Climate Change and Carbon Management across its 400 hotels in Europe, Middle East & Africa.The hotel group, whose brands include Sheraton, Westin, St Regis and Luxury Collection, has over the past few years been committed to becoming a ‘green’ operator at all levels. In the UK Starwood is part of the Hospitality Energy Consortium (HEC)*, a group of hotel companies who partner together in the procurement of energy. Lead by Chairperson, Angela Tomlinson, Director of Purchasing UK and Ireland, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the Consortium has partnered with the Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by Government to help the UK meet its climate change obligations.In partnership with the Carbon Trust, Starwood has recently taken part in a scoping study by Enviros, environmental consultants. The initial results, which will be available in August 2005, will enable Starwood and the other consortium members to review their energy consumption/carbon footprint, and provide better ways of working to achieve reductions in volumes used.In addition to this, as a huge element of energy management is dependent on buy-in from the associates in the hotels, a comprehensive energy toolkit and training program has been distributed to every Head of Department in every Starwood hotel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This is part of a wider awareness program with a focus on protecting the environment. As well as associate and corporate activity, Starwood has been active with guest energy conservation initiatives for a number of years already.In 1999 the company was the first in the hotel industry to introduc e a Green Room Program, to reduce water and electricity use for laundering guest towels and linen. Guests place a card on their bed each day if they wish to have their bed linen and towels changed. If guests do not put this card on their bed, their bed will be made without changing the linens and their towels will be hung up but not changed. A green card would be left for the guest as a thank-you for ‘going green'.Since then the Green Room Program has been fully incorporated into the ABCs of House-keeping in the Sheraton, Westin and Four Points by Sheraton EAME Brand Standards. As a result of this ongoing focus on Energy, Starwood has also created a North West Europe Energy Champions team, a group of associates who are responsible for driving support for this project. Starwood’s change management process, Six Sigma, is being used to drive this commitment and the implementation of the Energy Conservation Toolkit is now a required best practice at all hotels owned and man aged throughout EAME.This project is the result of Six Sigma Methodology delivering tools that will in turn deliver energy and carbon reduction, to the benefit of future generations but also the associates and hotel guests of today. †¢ Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of the group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line.The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. VI. AFTER SIX-SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION A. COMPANY IMPROVEMENTS: o While Starwood incurred $17 million in training costs to launch Six Sigma in 2001, the company reaped tangible EBITDA increases of more than $17 million. Training costs will be significantly reduced in 2002 and Starwood expects a substan tial increase (perhaps double) in the EBIDTA improvement achieved by Six Sigma-related programs. † o Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of he group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line. The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. o Higher net margin than its key competitors – but also with helping spark and act on innovative ideas. The impact is based on global culture: most ideas and solutions come from hotel staff throughout the world. Last year, according to Starwood management, programs developed under the famed management technique delivered more than $100 million in profit to its bottom line. As a result, the White Plains (N. Y. ) company is one of the world's most profitable hotel operators: Its net margin is nearly 15%, higher than those of rivals Hilton Hotels (HLT) and Marriott International (MAR), as well as the industry average of 9%. â€Å"We have been driving our margin growth faster than our competitors,† says Ballotti. â€Å"When people ask why, I point to Six Sigma. o Growth of their hotels (See Appendix 1) Starwood Hotel and Resorts Ranks Number 1on iSixSigma’s Best Places to Work list. (See Appendix 2) o Starwood Hotels and Resorts top ranked â€Å"The Top Best Places to Work List† because of adopting 6 Sigma in their operations. They use 6 Sigma every day in their daily work to solve problems, regardless of their size. They follow the DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma principles and use tools daily. Starwood requires that its full-time Six Sigma practitioners learn firsthand about the inner workings of all the various departments (housekeeping, food and beverage, sales and marketing, etc. in o rder to develop large-scale initiatives. At the same time, the Belts are also expected to lead process improvement projects at the individual hotel level. o The company measures quality with a three-pronged approach: improving the Guest Satisfaction Index (an independently determined numerical value based on guest surveys), increasing revenue and controlling costs. The last one – cost reduction – is where they had the most success so far, given the economy. They continue to go after revenue, but they try to take a balanced approach.If they’re too heavy on the cost side, they get some snap-back in other areas like customer satisfaction. They can’t take their eyes off the ball in any area. They are committed to all three prongs. One example of this three-pronged approach is â€Å"Make a Green Choice,† which was launched at Starwood’s Sheraton and Westin brands in September 2009. To help save on water, chemicals and detergents, the hotel gives guests the option of not having linens changed or the room cleaned altogether for up to three days. Those who participate can receive gift cards or points to be redeemed for food service. Starwood’s commitment to providing challenging cross-departmental opportunities for continuous improvement personnel, along with its policy of promoting Black Belts from within, truly makes it one of the premier companies for Six Sigma practitioners. Companies on the Top 10 list, announced in December 2009, had to meet the highest standards for providing an outstanding Six Sigma program, culture, training, compensation, and recognition and job satisfaction for employees. B. ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION: From Indonesia to Malta, Six Sigma is a welcome guest at Starwood hotels. Launched early in 2001, Six Sigma is entering its sixth year at the hotel, which still holds the acclaim of being the only hotel with a corporate-wide Six Sigma initiative. o Starwood properties each have a Six Sigma Council that organize and prioritize projects. Successful projects are then leveraged across additional properties. Six Sigma is emphasized in Career Paths at Starwood as reporting to divisional leadership and aligned with that division’s goals and priorities. A Starwood Six Sigma team received recognition at the IQPC 2004 European Six Sigma Excellence Awards with the Best DFSS Project. o Six Sigma at Starwood has helped increase our financial performance by improving the quality and consistency of our guests’ experiences as well as those of our internal customers. It provides the framework and tools we need to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties while dramatically improving the bottom line.The Six Sigma organization reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. o Six Sigma professionals make decisions based on data, not emotions, share responsibility and know how to generate results . They are enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. These are the skills and qualities that make Six Sigma professionals most successful and that Six Sigma helps build in future leaders. o Starwood’s has been resourcing the firm with workers who are mainly divided into three work categories: Green Belts (GBs) have full-time positions with a portion of their time dedicated to being the Six Sigma point person and transfer project champion and manager. o Black Belts (BBs) are full-time resources who typically work on new projects. They are a resource to GBs in their property or area. They are a member of the property’s Executive Committee. o Master Black Belts are a full-time resource dedicated to overseeing/creating a portfolio of Six Sigma projects in a given division, area or region. They are a resource to BBs, GBs and Six Sigma Council members in their area. Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide Inc is the first hospitality company in the world to embrace Six S igma since 2001 and extends this best practice to all properties worldwide, including the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Tower. o Barry S. Sternlicht, chairman and CEO, Starwood Hotels and Resorts had stated, â€Å"The launch of Six Sigma is one of the most important strategic initiatives since the formation of our company,† he continued. â€Å"It is our goal for every Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood Vacation Ownership and St. Regis /Luxury Collection guests to have a flawless experience during each and every visit.Six Sigma will help us reach that goal. † o Starwood Hotels & Resorts is a leader in the Hospitality industry in technology innovation. Smart Rooms, Wireless Internet Access, Self Check-in Kiosk, and state-of-the-art ERP systems are only a few technologies in place to improve our guest and associate experience. C. SERVICE-BASED ACHIEVEMENTS: †¢ For several years now Starwood has had an edge on its competitors because of its strong bra nd awareness amongst its target markets and the way in which it has developed a range of differentiated experiences. The company’s key asset is the associated diversification of the variety of brands, and the different market segments they serve, provide a broad base from which to enhance revenue. It aggressively attracts and cultivates new customers and maintains loyalty among the world’s most active travellers: As one example, Starwood Preferred Guest, its award-winning frequent guest program, first made headlines when it launched with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls, allowing members to redeem free nights anytime, anywhere.Since then, it has grown to include more than 33m members and is cited for its hassle-free award redemption, outstanding customer service, dedicated member website and innovative promotions and benefits for elite members. †¢ Although smaller than some of its peers, Starwood uses its scale to support its cor e marketing and reservation functions across its brands and reduce costs in areas such as insurance, energy, telecommunications, food and beverage, furniture, fixtures and operating supplies. Its size also limits exposure to any particular type of lodging, brand or geographic region. Strategically Starwood has also moved away from investment in owned real estate and increased its focus on its management and franchise business. In furtherance of this strategy, it has been selling some of the older hotels in its portfolio to, in turn, release capital to fund its ambitious international and branded growth plans. Simultaneously the company has retained one of the world’s most profitable hotel net margins of around 15%, higher than many larger rivals. †¢ Starwood has made a great success of its growing product innovation prowess.Having identified the bed as the key area for innovation opportunity in its mid-range Westin brand, Starwood designed the ‘Heavenly Bed’ providing the best night’s sleep by far of any comparable brand. Not only did this well-targeted development improve the all important occupancy rates in Westin properties, it also created a new business line as customers started to buy the Heavenly Bed for their homes. This has now been extended into the W chain where whotelsthestore. com now enables anyone to buy the key ingredients of the unique W experience.From the W bed, pillows and towels to books and an increasing range of male and female apparel, this is the latest incarnation of high-impact product innovation from this service sector pioneer. D. COMPANY ACTIVITIES DONE: o In January, 2006, the Westin Chicago River North hotel was picked to pilot a project, dubbed Unwind, for the upscale hotel chain. The purpose: to think up a set of nightly activities that would draw guests out of their rooms and into the lobby where they could mingle, develop a greater loyalty to the hotel group, and maybe spend a little more mone y.Westin spied an opportunity after a study found that 34% of frequent travellers feel lonely away from home. The Unwind project led the Westin to develop dozens of activities, including massages, at the Chicago hotel. o Starwood Preferred Guest: it is Starwood’s award-winning frequent guest program which first made headlines when it launched with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls, allowing members to redeem free nights anytime, anywhere. VII. SOLUTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONSUpon seeing all of their achievements, Starwood Hotels and Resorts should definitely continue using the Six Sigma method in order to maintain meeting their company goals and also to retain all of their company’s success. Aside from increasing profit, using the Six Sigma method really helped Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide improve the service that they are giving to both their customers and their employees. They should conduct more training regarding it so that their employees would know how the Six Sigma method works and not only the top management. Such employees of the companies consist of the Black Belts and the Green belts.The Black Belts should have trainings that will hone their knowledge about different creative ways on how to do a strategy for the whole company which will serve the changing needs and preferences of the company’s target market. Moreover, the green belts must have trainings in which they will be more knowledgeable about Six Sigma approach to different strategies that will be deployed by the company, these people are mainly responsible in delving into the little and detailed concepts of each strategy done by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. These greenbelts should also be trained to know and put into their heart the DMAIC Methodology.This DMAIC Methodology will help the Greenbelts solve a certain problem of the company, reducing the defects done by the company and improving, leveraging the customer’s e xperience to a higher value. The DMAIC Methodology should train the Greenbelts in defining the problem or what is specifically called the Project Scoping, Measure the relationships between the occurring problem and symptoms, analyze the nature of the problem, improving the operations by resolving the problem and control, which is mainly focused on maintaining the improvements through the use of different tools and instruments.As Starwood Company have different branches scattered all over the world, there must be one Six-Sigma team for each branch wherein they will be mainly responsible for their assigned branch so as to increase effectivity of the business operations and to better serve the target markets in those hotel and resorts location.The Six Sigma teams will be doing information-gathering processes wherein they will ask for comments and feedbacks from the existing customers and those who are the potential ones. Doing such, Starwood can think of strategies and tactics that sho uld be done to capture the potential market and by making things more attractive to the existing customers and make them more loyal to avail the services offered by the company.In times when the company faces visible losses from declining service consumption from the market, Starwood Company must achieve solutions through the use of the Six Sigma Problem Solving wherein it involves redefining and analyzing the problem, generating ideas from the team and the management, evaluating each idea and selecting the most appropriate one and implementing the chosen idea. Through the Six Sigma Problem Solving, the company will have a more systematic way of thinking solutions for a certain problem by delving first into the details, symptoms and underlying assumptions of such matter.Using such method, the employees who are in the Six Sigma team will be trained and honed to be more effective in decision-making and examining all the things that causes the problem to exist. Furthermore, through the problem solving method, the company will be more united as each one of them will have a voice in the company’s operations and they are also responsible for the strategy implementation as all of them make the final decision of how to address the certain problem.By having such cooperation and teamwork within the workers in the company, there will be higher satisfaction for the employees which will in turn affect the quality service experience of the customers when they avail the offered service of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Moreover, to improve the service of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, the teams of the company must focus on examining and sustaining four key measures of organization performance which includes Accuracy, Cycle time, Cost and Customer satisfaction.In Accuracy, the team should measure if the company is giving correct financial figures, completeness of information, or freedom from data errors; applying the accuracy concept to Starwood Hotels and Resort s, the company must make sure that each branch located at different locations should be visible and transparent in terms of their prices for each distinct service, and also information about the whole service experience, like the service transactions and process that the customers must go through should be made known to them to give them ease in availing the service of the Hotels and Resorts.Next is Cycle time which is a measure of how long it takes to do something; with such thing, Starwood company working in the hotel industries must maximize well their service time so as to not waste the limited resources of their customers, it can be further applied to the company’s operations in terms of efficient availment of the different services through optimal number of employees assigned to different work divisions that will make the customers not wait for their turn for such service consumption.Thirdly, Cost should be measured in terms of the internal cost of the company’s process activities; to have lower costs, Starwood Hotels must have effective workers who are focused and motivated to work and communicate well to the customers so as to decrease the time needed for the service process that should be done by each one of them. As the employees of each hotel and resort become more productive with their assigned work, the cost of the company in sustaining each service process will decrease and will definitely have a greater impact on the company’s profitability.Lastly, the team must measure the Customer Satisfaction, which is typically the measure of the company’s success and will give a view of how the company will be in the near future years of business operations in the industry. The Customer Satisfaction can be measured by getting the direct feedback from the customers after they experience the service form Starwood Hotels and Resorts.Also, the company can do personalization and customization wherein the existing customers will alread y have their service ready after they booked a reservation, making all the things like foods, drinks, kind of bed sheets, store maintenance customized to their needs which in turn make them more satisfied to the service that will make them also more loyal to the company. Furthermore, as the world goes by, the market have acquired higher buying power and have ore sophisticated and changing needs as before; the company can focus on improving its service adapting form the customers’ needs and preferences so as to give higher value proposition to them in relation to the direct competitors of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Appendix 1: Different Branches of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide [pic] North America United States Arizona Phoenix The Westin Phoenix Downtown  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 10, 2011 Tucson Four Points by Sheraton Tucson Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 14, 2010 [pic] California Modesto Four Points by Sheraton Modesto – Opening October 30, 2010 F loridaBal Harbour The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Jacksonville Aloft Jacksonville Tapestry Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 13, 2011 Jacksonville Beach Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Beach  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  Nov. 30, 2011 Miami Element Miami International Airport – Opening May 5, 2011 Georgia Atlanta Aloft Atlanta Buckhead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Element Atlanta Buckhead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Kennesaw Four Points by Sheraton Atlanta Kennesaw – Opening June 30, 2011 Illinois Chicago Aloft Chicago City Center  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Kentucky Louisville Michigan KalamazooFour Points by Sheraton Kalamazoo – Opening September 2, 2011 Mississippi Biloxi Four Points by Sheraton Biloxi Beach Boulevard  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  Jul 01, 2010 Nebraska Omaha Element Omaha Midtown Crossing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 11, 2010 New Jersey Fort Lee Sheraton Fort Lee Hotel †“ Opened September 1, 2010 New Mexico Albuquerque Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 11, 2010 New York Aloft Harlem  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 21, 2010 Element New York Times Square West  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 09, 2010 Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 14, 2010 W New York – Downtown  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 09, 2010Brooklyn Aloft New York Brooklyn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 21, 2010 Long Island City Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City/Queensboro Bridge – Opening January 13, 2011 Niagara Falls Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 07, 2011 North Carolina Asheville Aloft Asheville Downtown  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2012 Chapel Hill Aloft Chapel Hill  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 29, 2010 Oklahoma Oklahoma City Four Points by Sheraton Oklahoma City Quail Springs  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 22, 2010 Tulsa Aloft Tulsa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  A ugust 19, 2010 Pennsylvania Philadelphia Le Meridien Philadelphia  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 06, 2010 Puerto RicoRio Grande The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 04, 2010 Tennessee Memphis Four Points by Sheraton Memphis East – Opening December 9, 2010 Texas Austin W Austin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 09, 2010 Galveston Four Points by Sheraton Galveston  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 24, 2010 Houston Four Points by Sheraton Houston Hobby Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Houston The Westin Houston, Memorial City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 03, 2011 Virginia Winchester Aloft Winchester  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  June 04, 2010 Canada Alberta Calgary Four Points by Sheraton Calgary Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 06, 2010 EdmontonFour Points by Sheraton Edmonton West – Opening December 1, 2011 Red Deer Sheraton Red Deer Hotel – Opening January 27, 2011 Ontario Niagara Falls Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Fal ls Fallsview  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 22, 2010 Saskatchewan Saskatoon Four Points by Sheraton Saskatoon  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 22, 2010 Mexico Campeche Campeche The Westin Campeche Resort & Spa, Campeche – Opening June 1, 2011 Chihuahua Chihuahua Aloft Chihuahua – Opening January 1, 2011 Federal District Mexico City The Westin Santa Fe, Mexico City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 05, 2010 Santa Fe W Santa Fe, Mexico – Opening March 31, 2013 Jalisco GuadalajaraThe Westin Hotel Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico – Opening June 1, 2011 Quintana Roo Puerto Juarez The St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya – Opening March 31, 2014 Riviera Maya W Kanai Retreat, Riviera Maya, Mexico – Opening March 31, 2014 Africa Algeria Oran Le Meridien Oran Hotel & Convention Centre  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 Egypt Cairo Le Meridien Cairo Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 31, 2012 St. Regis Hotel Cairo  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2014 W Ca iro – Opening January 1, 2016 Libya Tripoli Four Points by Sheraton Tripoli  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Sheraton Tripoli Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Mauritius Le MorneThe St. Regis Mauritius Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011 Morocco Marrakech W Marrakech Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2011 Nigeria Lagos Lagos Four Points by Sheraton Lagos  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 15, 2010 Le Meridien Ikoyi Towers – Opening January 1, 2013 [pic] Asia Pacific China Anhui Hefei Four Points by Sheraton Hefei, Shushan – Opening January 1, 2014 The Westin Hefei Baohe  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 23, 2010 Beijing Beijing Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 W Beijing – Chang'an – Opening January 1, 2014 Chongqing Chongqing The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 FujianFuzhou The Westin Fuzhou Minjiang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 22, 20 10 Xiamen The Westin Xiamen  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2011 Guangdong Foshan Aloft Nanhai-Foshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Guangzhou Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Sheraton Huadu Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 The Westin Pazhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 28, 2011 W Guangzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Aloft Guangzhou University Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Heshan Four Points by Sheraton Guangdong, Heshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Huizhou Sheraton Bailuhu Resort, Huizhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 QingyuanSheraton Qingyuan Lion Lake Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Zhanjiang Sheraton Zhanjiang Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Zhongshan Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 10, 2010 Zhuhai Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2015 Zhuhai The St. Regis Zhuhai – Opening June 30, 2015 Hainan Haikou Th e Westin Haikou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Sanya Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2012 Sheraton Sanya Tufu Bay Resort  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2013 The Malus Resort, Sanya  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2012 The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Wanning CityFour Points by Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2010 Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2010 Heilongjiang Daqing Sheraton Daqing Hotel  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Henan Kaifeng Four Points by Sheraton Kaifeng  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Luohe Four Points by Sheraton Luohe  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Zhengzhou Aloft Zhengzhou Shangjie  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Aloft Zhengzhou Zhengdong New District – Opening January 1, 2014 Le Meridien Zhengzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Sheraton Zhengzhou H otel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 HubeiWuhan The Westin Wuhan Wuchang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Jiangsu Changzhou Sheraton Changzhou Wujin Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Jiangyin Sheraton Jiangyin Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 Lianyungang Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 28, 2010 Nanjing The Westin Nanjing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 28, 2011 Suzhou Four Points by Sheraton Taicang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  June 30, 2010 Wuxi Sheraton Wuxi Binhu Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 27, 2010 Yancheng Aloft Yancheng  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Yangzhou Four Points by Sheraton Yangzhou Hanjiang – Opening July 1, 2013 ZhenjiangSheraton Zhenjiang Hotel  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Jiangxi Nanchang Sheraton Nanchang Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Liaoning Dalian Aloft Dalian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Sheraton Dalian Xinghai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 31, 2011 The Chengbao Hotel, Dalian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Macau Cotai Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Strip  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Shaanxi Xian Sheraton Xian Da Ming Gong Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2011 The Westin Xian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Shandong Qingdao Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Chengyang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Jiaonan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Sheraton Qingdao Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Tai'an Four Points by Sheraton Tai’an  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 10, 2010 Weifang Four Points by Sheraton Weifang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 30, 2013 Yantai Aloft Haiyang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Sheraton Yantai Golden Beach Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Shanghai Shanghai Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Twelve at Hengshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 0 1, 2012 W Shanghai – The Bund  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Shanxi Taiyuan The Westin Taiyuan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012Sichuan Chengdu The St. Regis Chengdu  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Tianjin Tianjin Sheraton Tianjin Binhai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 15, 2010 The Astor Hotel, Tianjin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 28, 2010 The St. Regis Tianjin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Tibet (Xizang) Lhasa The St. Regis Lhasa Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Yunnan Jinghong Sheraton Xishuangbanna Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Zhejiang Hangzhou Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 31, 2011 Huzhou Sheraton Huzhou South Tai Lake Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Ningbo The Westin Ningbo  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011Pinghu The Westin Nine Dragon Hill Resort, Zhejiang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 31, 2012 Taizhou Four Points by Sheraton Yuhuan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Openingà ‚  July 01, 2012 Wenzhou Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 18, 2010 Wenzhou The Westin Wenzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam Four Points by Sheraton Visakhapatnam  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Sheraton Visakhapatnam Seaview Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Gujarat Ahmedabad Aloft Ahmedabad, SG Road  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Haryana Gurgaon The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Karnataka BangaloreSheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Bengaluru Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 15, 2010 Mysore Sheraton Mysore Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Maharashtra Lonavala Le Meridien Lonavala Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2013 Mahabaleshwar Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  Januar y 01, 2013 Pune Four Points by Sheraton Pune, Nagar Road  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Punjab Amritsar Sheraton Amritsar Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Chandigarh Aloft Chandigarh Zirakpur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011Sheraton Chandigarh Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Rajasthan Jaipur The Westin Jaipur Infotech City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Udaipur Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 01, 2010 Tamil Nadu Chennai Aloft Chennai, OMR – IT Expressway  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 01, 2010 Coimbatore Aloft Coimbatore Singanallur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 West Bengal Kolkata The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Indonesia Bali Bali Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Seminyak W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 15, 2010 Japan Miyagi SendaiThe Westin Sendai  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  Au gust 01, 2010 Osaka Osaka The St. Regis Osaka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2014 Sandakan Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 15, 2011 New Caledonia Bourail Sheraton New Caledonia Bourail Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 13, 2013 Singapore Singapore W Singapore – Sentosa Cove  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 30, 2012 South Korea Seoul Sheraton Seoul D-Cube City Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2011 Taiwan Taipei Le Meridien Taipei  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 W Taipei  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 14, 2011 ThailandAmphur Koh Samui Bangkok Aloft Bangkok – Sukhumvit 11  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 Bangkok Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sathorn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sukhumvit 15  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Le Meridien Suvarnabhumi Golf Resort & Sp a  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2011 The St. Regis Bangkok  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 15, 2011 W Bangkok  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Koh Samui W Retreat Koh Samui  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 Phuket Four Points by Sheraton Phuket, Panwa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 01, 2010 VietnamCam Ranh Bay The Westin Cam Ranh Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Ho Chi Minh City Le Meridien Saigon  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 [pic] Central & South America Argentina Buenos Aires Buenos Aires The St. Regis Buenos Aires – Opening June 30, 2014 Chile Villarrica Villarrica Park Lake Hotel & Spa, Villarrica – Opening December 1, 2010 Colombia Bogota Aloft Bogota Airport – Opening January 1, 2012 Cartagena Sheraton Cartagena – Opening March 31, 2012 Panama, Republic of Panama City The Westin Panama – Opening September 1, 2012 The Westin Pl aya Bonita, Panama  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Peru CuscoPalacio del Inka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011 Lima The Westin Libertador Lima  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 Urubamba Tambo del Inka Resort & Spa, Valle Sagrado  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 04, 2010 [pic] Europe Zaporozhye Four Points by Sheraton Zaporozhye – Opening June 1, 2011 Austria Hof bei Salzburg Schloss Fuschl Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 05, 2010 Belgium Brussels Aloft Brussels Schuman  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 01, 2010 France Paris W Paris – Opera  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Germany Hamburg The Westin Hamburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Greece Athens W Athens Astir Palace Beach  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2012 Costa NavarinoThe Romanos, Costa Navarino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 20, 2010 The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 01, 2010 Italy Malpensa Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel & Conference Cen tre  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Milan W Milan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Latvia Riga Sheraton Riga Hotel – Opening December 1, 2013 Poland Mikolajki Sheraton Mazury Lakes Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Portugal Algarve The Westin Verdelago Beach, Spa & Golf Resort, Algarve – Opening January 1, 2013 Russia Rostov-on-Don Sheraton Rostov-On-Don Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 SochiSheraton Sochi Hotel – Opening June 1, 2013 St. Petersburg W St. Petersburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Switzerland Verbier W Verbier Retreat – Opening January 1, 2013 Turkey Ankara The Luxury Collection Hotel, Ankara – Opening January 1, 2011 United Kingdom England London Aloft London ExCeL – Opening January 1, 2012 W London – Leicester Square  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 14, 2011 Middle East Jordan Amman W Amman Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2013 Aqaba Al Manara, Aqaba  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 The Westin Saraya Aqaba  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Pakistan Islamabad Sheraton Islamabad – Opening January 1, 2012Sheraton Islamabad Golf City Resort – Opening January 1, 2012 [pic] Qatar Doha Le Meridien Doha – Opening January 1, 2012 The St. Regis Doha  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 [pic] United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi The St. Regis Abu Dhabi – Opening January 1, 2013 The St. Regis Saadiyat Island – Opening October 1, 2011 The Westin Hotel & Spa, Abu Dhabi – Opening October 1, 2011 W Abu Dhabi – Opening January 1, 2012 Ajman The Ajman Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel – Opening October 1, 2012 Appendix 2: Article Starwood Hotels and Resorts Ranks No. 1 on iSixSigma's Best Places to Work ListStarwood Hotels and Resorts Ranks No. 1 on iSixSigma's Best Places to Work List FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact: |  Jessica Harper, Editor in Chief | |  206-774-3685 | |  editor ial. com (at) isixsigma. com | Miami, Florida (February 3, 2010) –  Starwood Hotels and Resorts, a global hospitality company with nearly 1,000 upscale properties worldwide, earned the No. 1 spot on the list of iSixSigma's Top 10 Best Places to Work for Six Sigma professionals at the iSixSigma Live!Summit today in Miami. â€Å"Starwood’s commitment to providing challenging cross-departmental opportunities for continuous improvement personnel, along with its policy of promoting Black Belts from within, truly makes it one of the premier companies for Six Sigma practitioners,† said Jessica Harper, editor of iSixSigma. Katie Barry, associate publisher of iSixSigma, presented the award to Brian McGuire, senior director of Hotel Operations and Six Sigma for Starwood’s North America Division. Starwood – which owns some of the most recognizable hotel brands in the world, including Sheraton, Westin, W, St.Regis, The Luxury Collection and Le Meridien †“ was the first hospitality chain to launch a formal Six Sigma program, back in 2001. Today, Starwood is in the process of rolling out a Lean Six Sigma program to all of its properties worldwide. Companies on the Top 10 list, announced in December 2009, had to meet the highest standards for providing an outstanding Six Sigma program, culture, training, compensation, recognition and job satisfaction for employees. Making a repeat showing on iSixSigma’s second-annual Top 10 list was 2008’s overall winner McKesson Corp. , which earned the No. 2 spot for 2009.Other returning companies included Xerox Corp. (No. 3) and Vought Aircraft Industries (No. 5). Reflecting the growth of Six Sigma in healthcare systems, half of the companies on the list are involved in the pharmaceutical or healthcare provider industries (McKesson, Pfizer, Merck, Piramal Healthcare and Cardinal Health). Highlights of Starwood's top-rated Six Sigma program, as well as short profiles of the other nin e finalists, will be published in the March/April 2010 issue of iSixSigma Magazine. Here are the rankings of the Top 10 list of iSixSigma's 2009 Best Places to Work: 1. Starwood Hotels and Resorts (North America Division) . McKesson Corp. 3. Xerox Corp. 4. Ecolab Inc. 5. Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. 6. Pfizer Inc. 7. Merck & Co. Inc. 8. Piramal Healthcare Ltd. 9. Cardinal Health Inc. 10. Computacenter AG & Co. oHG iSixSigma will be accepting nominations later this year for the 2010 Best Places to Work list. Last modified on Sunday, 28 February 2010 04:49 REFERENCES: o http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/history2/82/Starwood-Hotels-Resorts-Worldwide-Inc. html o http://www. isixsigma. com/index. php? option=com_k2&view=item&id=802:starwood-hotels-and-resorts-ranks-no-1-on-isixsigmas-best-places-to-work-list&Itemid=157 o http://www. ospitalitynet. org/news/4007061. html o http://www. corporate-ir. net/ireye/ir_site. zhtml? ticker=hot&script=410&layout=6&item_id=149848 o http://www . starwoodhotels. com/corporate/directory/new-hotels/all/map. html? sortType=region o http://www. businessweek. com/innovate/content/aug2007/id20070830_103596. htm o http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/07_41/b4053096. htm o http://www. sixsigmacompanies. com/archive/six_sigma_at_starwood_hotels_amp_resorts. html o http://www. starwoodhotels. com/sheraton/careers/paths/description. html? category=200000304

Music Exorcism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music Exorcism - Essay Example Musical exoticism is not included in some specific devices. In its entire works, it arises through the interaction or association between the listener and the work. Let’s reinforce the distinctions reminding of individual characters and exotic environment, often portrayed in opera, rendered by non-exotic musical means. This tendency’s example includes Giuseppe Verdi, Il trovatore and Habanera &Don Joses "Flower Song" both illustrating and showing Milieu or culture in some foreign way to potential audience (Locke, 2012). Work is neither entirely composed nor consistently composed, of the elements to be identified as part of an exotic medium, distinctly. The listeners expectations and the composers’ intentions and means synchronization, will then produce an exoticism that’s a type of reception ultimately (Locke, 2012). Musical exorcism recent writings reflect the assumptions that are unspoken that a listener perceives a work as exotic only if it distinctivel y incorporates unusual or foreign musical style elements. In musico-dramatic works such as opera, set in exotic locales, music is often heard, by contrast, within a frame of narrative that shapes the response of the listener. Yet in the existing writings, music exorcism restricts its attention to the passages and few scenes that tend to sound non-western (Locke, 2012). It also leaves unmentioned the dramatic oratorios and Baroque-era operas that tend to focus on eastern tyrants that are despicable.

Peer review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Peer review - Essay Example on which are; the skin-to-skin attachment between mother and child after birth is essential for bonding and what is the effect of delayed skin-to-skin contact for up to one hour? respectively. To these extents both thesis and question are addressed adequately. However, a more likely research question not brought out though slightly discussed is, â€Å"what are the long-term effects of immediate skin-to-skin contact when compared to delayed skin-to-skin contact? 2) Are the links between the concepts and examples in the research articles clearly made? If not, list here some issues that were left out or some important examples from the article that were left out. Yes, the writer has clearly made the links between the concepts and examples in the research article. A clear point of reference is when the writer mentions that, effective mother and child skin-to-skin attachment leads to proper bonding, and then correlates the same with a question that asks the contrary effect supposing there is no attachment for a period more than one hour. The writer also expresses that early skin-to-skin attachment affects emotional attachment of the baby to the mother including breastfeeding, physiological and neurobehavioral responses for up to one year. However, a great concern is expressed that too much concentration is made on the bonding rather than on the baby’s health should be checked hence the question, â€Å"How is the optimal bonding experience obtained?† the writer should have elaborated more on this topic to enhance the readers’ perception and clear understanding of this concept. This could have been achieved through the use o f an appropriate question as illustrated above. 3) Does the writer use research terminology appropriately and correctly? If so, give some examples of good uses. If not, put an asterisk (*) in the margin where the vocabulary should be more clear and specific. The writer does truly make good use of the research terminologies appropriately and

Learning Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Learning Journal - Essay Example During this time I gained insight into my strengths and weaknesses and realized that my strong work ethic and reliability made me an effective leader and manager of people. I realized that management was the path in life I am best suited for, so I entered University, and these module courses to further strengthen my management skills and develop my areas of weakness. I appreciate the environment of people with whom I carry out my learning experience. It’s essential to have an informative and critical group of minds that can offer constructive advice on a variety of issues that I can then incorporate into my individual learning experience. I also think that my University experience challenges me to develop greater time management skills and learn better ways to balance my priorities. I believe that my University experience will help me strengthen my writing and analytical skills. I believe that there is an important social realm to obtaining a University degree. While itâ€℠¢s absolutely necessary to have a degree to attain many jobs, the accomplishment of being accepted to University, attending lectures, and successfully completing a University degree is a great personal accomplishment that will bring me confidence and a sense of accomplishment in my life. I’m idealistic. I believe in meaning, or at least something that transcends blind allegiance to the dollar. I understand that I am possibly in the prime of my life and I want to grasp hold of it and make the most of my situation. I am studying at University because I believe ideas and concepts are essential, and that they offer much needed supplements to the ideas and experiences we encounter in our daily lives. I believe the same thing is true of students and professors and I want to make the most of my collaborative relationships with them. Because I am not sure if it Socrates (Plato, p. 32) was right when he said, â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living,† but I constantly am reassessing the

Dysfunctional Families of the 1920s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dysfunctional Families of the 1920s - Essay Example Even McBee (1999) points to the fact that "men enjoyed nothing better than staying out late and getting drunk" to wash away their more serious problems. Therefore societal issues such as divorce, discrimination, and economic distress as McBee (1999) describes, can be extremely damaging to the family's well being no matter what time table we are living in. They can in fact lead to the idea of the dysfunctional family. I do believe the Great Depression had a severe impact on the functioning of families in a way that led to many adversities such as drug abuse, alcoholism, and even sexual promiscuous in that defined time period. It is my belief that one of the greatest challenges for the male gender during this time period had to do with the beliefs and ideals that they were raised with. Men felt (and still do) that they had to provide adequate sustenance for the family at all times and if they could not do that then they considered themselves weak and became vulnerable to societal issues, specifically addictions. One of these beliefs is consequently the need to appear "perfect". Another belief that was evident in this time was the belief that men had in regard to the woman's role in the family. Because of the fact that men did not want women to work and also seemingly alienated them, as well as discluded them to a certain degree, it impacted the family during the Great Depression and promoted addictive behaviors onto women as well. However, Chasnoff (1989) claimed that women "were quick to seek help," while men lived in a disillusionment of what was really transpiring within the family, therefore creating more dysfunction whether it was intentional or unintentional. This of course was the central plot of beliefs that, in my opinion, created more disparity among the genders and of which promoted the psychological thought of dysfunctional families in America. In general it is true that there existed those who already had poor moral values, but due to the poorer outlook of the economy it promoted more of a hardship and again took many down a path towards mental incapacity and an inability to function normally on a daily basis. Addictions such as alcoholism, chronic drug use, eating disorders, and uncontrollable anger slowly began tearing at the families and disintegrating life as it was known in that time before the Great Depression. As was stated, the dysfunction of women was brought on by the acting of the men during the 20's and 30's. Therefore their inability to cope is far more understandable than the male genders actions were. After all, history has shown that men are suppose to carry the more heavy burdens for the family, not crumble beneath them like many men did during the Great Depression. "Many women turned to alcohol and drugs", according to Degler (1980) in order to try and wipe away their own inadequacies that society itself was placing on them. These stemmed from inequality and gender discrimination in their lives. For instance, women have been treated almost like property by men for a good number of generations and these feelings were very high in the 20's and 30's; specifically with so much economical disparity occurring all around everyday people. Women in society were basically "demoralized and held down" (Degler 1980). Although women desired to be treated as self-individuals many times in Ame rican society they were not and any form of independence was

Norman Finkelsteins The Holocaust Industry Term Paper

Norman Finkelsteins The Holocaust Industry - Term Paper Example In 2000,Norman Finkelstein published his book The Holocaust Industry.He claims,on his webpage,that its publication â€Å"marked the beginning of the end† of his academic career. The outrage it evoked from what he calls â€Å"the Jewish-Holocaust-Israel establishment† resulted in losing his assistant professorship at Hunter College in New York City Since then, however, some of the allegations he makes in his book have turned out to be accurate, and events have occurred that have provided justification in some of the assertions he made in The Holocaust Industry, in spite of significant personal and professional loss. In The Holocaust Industry, Finkelstein, whose parents were both Holocaust survivors and inmates of concentration camps during World War II, argues that the American Jewish establishment exploits the memory of the Holocaust for financial and political gain, and to further the interests of Israel. Finklestein believes that this â€Å"Holocaust industry† has corrupted authentic memories and interpretations of the Holocaust, and has established Jewish culture as victimized. The book has been a bestseller in every part of the world except for the United States. Finkelstein believes that the American Jewish mainstream panned it, most powerfully through The New York Times, which he sees as a promotional vehicle of the powerful Jewish elite in America. To be fair to Finkelstein’s critics, though, it does seem that he had adopted the same victim mentality as those he criticizes. Historian Omer Bartov (n.p.) of Brown University accuses Finkelstein of this very thing, in his review in The New York Times Book Review, a review that Finkelstein blamed for poor sales of the book in the U.S.: I find so striking about The Holocaust Industry is that it is almost an exact copy of the arguments it seeks to expose. It is filled with precisely the kind of shrill hyperbole that Finkelstein rightly deplores in much of the current media hype over the Holocaust; it is brimming with the same indifference to historical facts, inner contradictions, strident politics and dubious contextualizations; and it oozes with the same smug sense of moral and intellectual superiority. One of the biggest criticisms of The Holocaust Industry is that it provides Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites with fodder to continue their conspiracy theories. This does not mean, however, that Finkelstein’s theories should be discounted. He has proven to be correct in his description in chapter three of the book (â€Å"The Double Shakedown†) regarding the blatant corruption of many of the lawyers and politicians involved in forcing Swiss banks to pay reparations to the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. Most of the billions of dollars the banks agreed to pay had not even been seen by individuals yet, but rather to Jewish organizations, memorials, Holocaust education projects, and to aid with Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe (Ross n.p.). H olocaust historian Raul Hilberg has agreed with Finkelstein about the Jewish reparations, as well as his claims about forced Jewish labor, which Finkelstein insists is exaggerated to gain more sympathy for Jews and for Israel, stating that they are â€Å"conservative† and â€Å"moderate† (Finkelstein n.p.). Finkelstein believes that there are those in the American Jewish mainstream that have used the Holocaust to benefit themselves financially and politically, and to garner unshakable support for the state of Israel. He states: Indeed, the Holocaust has proven to be an indispensable ideological weapon. Through its deployment, one of the world’s most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, has cast itself as a ‘victim state,’ and the most successful ethnic group in the United States has likewise acquired victim status. Considerable dividends accrue from this specious victimhood—in particular, immunity to criticism, h owever justified (3). Finkelstein

Nursing care and treatment of cerebral vasospasm following Essay

Nursing care and treatment of cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid haemorrhage - Essay Example Cerebral vasospasm is one of the devastating complications following subarachnoid hemorrhage and is associated with high mortality.Despite extensive study and research,the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of this complication remains poorly understood Despite extensive study and research, the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of this complication remains poorly understood. Because of this, medical treatment of this condition is largely limited to calcium channel blockers, triple-H therapy and the most recent papaverine infusion and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. More often than not, clinical signs and symptoms of cerebral vasospasm are first recognised by a nurse, who then alerts the physician. Thus, nurses caring for patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage must be aware of cerebral vasospasm and the necessary steps that must be taken after detecting the condition (Kosty, 2005). Also, treatments for vasospasm are at risk of several complications which must be monitored by the ca re taking nurse closely. Thus, nurses play a very important role in the recognition and management of cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (Campbell, 1997). In this review, critical analysis of nursing management of cerebral vasospasm will be done. Aims The aims of the review are to critically analyse and evaluate treatment of cerebral vasospasm secondary to subarachnoid hemorrhage through a nursing perspective. Objectives ... There are several causes for subarachnoid hemorrhage, the most common cause being pre-existing aneurysm. Subarachnoid hemorrhage due to aneurysm is not preventable because; it is very difficult to detect aneurysms that are unruptured (Kosty, 2005). Aneurysms are lesions that are acquired on the arterial walls because of hemodynamic stress. They usually occur over bends and points of bifurcation. There are several types of aneurysms, those which occur in intracranial arteries are saccular and berry aneurysms (Kosty, 2005). This is because; intracranial arteries do not have external elastic lamina and have adventia that is very thin. Both these predispose to aneurysms. Another factor that makes intracranial arteries vulnerable to aneurysms is the fact that they lie in the subarachnoid space without any support. Aneurysms mainly occur in the internal carotid artery's terminal portion and also from the branches arises from the anterior aspect of the circle of Willis (Becske, and Jallo, 2 010). The estimated prevalence of subarachnoid hemorrhage in populations all over the world is 0.3- 5 percent (Becske, and Jallo, 2010). The incidence is slightly more in women than in men. The mean age of this emergency is around 50 years (Becske, and Jallo, 2010). The mortality associated with this condition is very high. 60 percent of the patients die within 30 days following the hemorrhage (Becske, and Jallo, 2010). Of these, 10 percent die without any warning (Becske, and Jallo, 2010). 30 percent of patients die within the first 2 weeks (Kosty, 2005) and 15 percent of the patients develop severe disability (Kosty, 2005). Only less than 30 percent patients have moderate or good recovery (Kosty, 2005). Other than mortality, sub-arachnoid hemorrhage also leads to

Three Accomplishments Essay Example for Free

Three Accomplishments Essay Describe your three most important accomplishments to date. You may address Civic Services, Community Services, and Volunteer work, if applicable, as well as work related experience: Three accomplishments: Coming to united States – Career Accomplishment Fulfilling the Family Responsibilities Starting a Charity – Social Accomplishment My childhood dream was to go to United States and study. So, I worked hard to get good grades. Unfortunately, in my second of college, June 1986, I met with a bus accident, which critically damaged my right hand. Subsequently, I completely lost my wrist movement. I could regain the arm movement by going though one year of physical therapy, however. The doctors informed me that I had to take a break from my studies if need be. I was upset, to say the least, though I did not lose my entire self-confidence. I began to practice writing with my left hand instead. Within three months, I was able to accomplish this. I wrote my second year exams and got distinction. Simultaneously attending college and physical therapy, I ultimately graduated without losing a year. Few years later, for the first time, when my feet touched the soil of USA, my joy knew no bounds. As a matter of fact, the feeling of triumph that I regained enabled me to see through any problem whatsoever. During my final year of college, July 1988, my father passed away. At that time, my younger brother and younger sister had not completed their studies, and so I felt that it was my responsibility to provide support to them. Therefore, I began to look for work, putting on hold my dream to go for higher studies. Financially supporting my family until my siblings were old enough to look after themselves; I did not regret my decision at all, despite the fact that many of my friends had obtained their postgraduate degrees from USA by that time. What I had gained was priceless, too: the pleasure of acting responsibly. One of my friends lost his eyes in an accident in Aug 2002. Seeing his misery, I decided to do something useful for blind people. So I actively participated in organizing charities and leading awareness programs for organ donation. I was also fortunate to start a charity in Vizag in Andharapradesh, India, on behalf of my mother in July 2006. At present, I am in talks with Shankar Eye Foundation in India to increase the number of eye surgeries. So long as I am helping myself and society, I believe I am accomplishing something.

Charleston Dance Essay Example for Free

Charleston Dance Essay The Ibans perform a unique dance called the ngajat. It serves many purposes depending on the occasion. During Gawais, it is used to entertain the people who in the olden days enjoy graceful ngajats as a form of entertainment. The origin of this indigenous dance is not clearly known but it is believed to have been in existence along with the Iban tribe since the 16th Century. The Ngajat dance is believed to have been performed by warriors on their return from battles. . The male dancers wear large feathers as part of their headgear, hold an ornate and long shield in their hand with chains, beads and a loincloth called the ‘cawat’. The female dancers have an elaborate headdress, chains, beads and a ‘dress’ that reaches to below their knees with intricate weaving. Traditionally this dance was only performed by male dancers but not anymore. The dance is arranged straight lines and in a circle and does involve dramatic leaps and jumps performed by the male dancers. If the real tradition, the music if we dance ngajat we use the life music which have someone o group who play the music such as gong, Gongs and other ethnic percussion instruments such as the ‘enkeromong’, ‘bendai’, ‘canang’ and ‘dumbak or ketebong’ provide the music. The musicians may be either male oThe pride in knowing how to perform the ‘ngajat,’ the Iban traditional dance must be kept burning among the Iban youngsters. The young Ibans should look back to the days of their parents or forefathers when there was so much pride in knowing how to perform the ‘ngajat’. Ngajat is a warrior dance of the Iban tribe in Sarawak. It is said that ngajat is performed by the warriors upon their successful return, to celebrate their victory in battle. Today, the dance is performed as part of the Gawai Dayak celebrations. When performing the dance, the male dancers wear a headgear made from the tail feathers of the hornbill (though nowadays most likely artificial feather may be used, to save the birds). He holds a long sword in one hand and an ornately decorated shield in the other. Around his chest are necklaces made of beads and cowrie shells, and he wore a ceremonial cawat, or loincloth. The dancer make slow movements, as though stalking the enemy. This is interspersed with dramatic prances as though he is leaping forward to attack. The dance is performed accompanied by the music from tribal musical instruments, usually percussions, including the enkeromong, bendai, canang and dumbak or ketebong. There are several Ngajat dance such as Ngajat Induk, Ngajat bebunoh, Ngajat Lesong, Ngajat Semain, Ngajat Berayah and Ngajat â€Å"â€Å"Ngemai antu pala† Moreover, it symbolize the happy ending of another cycle of padi planting season, welcoming the God of Farming to the feast and giving thanks for the bountiful and successful harvest. In the past, a â€Å"Ngajat Semain† was performed by young Iban boys and girls who have just complete their Ngajat lessons taught to them after the heavy work of clearing the forest and burning season is over. The tempo of this Ngajat performed by the girls is slow and graceful displaying the beautiful design pattern of the newly completed â€Å"Pua Kumbu† woven by the girls during the farming cycle. As for the young boys, the tempo is also slow displaying their martial artistic and balancing skills in preparation to enter their adulthood life. This means that they will take more adult responsibility in the next farming season. This is also an opportunity for them to display their beautiful costumes, headgears, amulets such as Engkerimok, Simpai, Tumpa Bala and of course their new fully decorated swords and its design. At the present day, the Ngajat music and dance are perform to preserve the Iban Culture and for the younger generation to value the unique of it the dancer dance follow the music that have a group who play the music. These is the traditional dane,which the most popular in Sarawak. The Ibans perform a unique dance called the ngajat. It serves many purposes depending on the occasion. During Gawais, it is used to entertain the people who in the olden days enjoy graceful ngajats as a form of entertainment. The origin of this indigenous dance is not clearly known but it is believed to have been in existence along with the Iban tribe since the 16th Century. The Ngajat dance is believed to have been performed by warriors on their return from battles.. The male dancers wear large feathers as part of their headgear, hold an ornate and long shield in their hand with chains, beads and a loincloth called the ‘cawat’. The female dancers have an elaborate headdress, chains, beads and a ‘dress’ that reaches to below their knees with intricate weaving. Traditionally this dance was only performed by male dancers but not anymore. The dance is arranged straight lines and in a circle and does involve dramatic leaps and jumps performed by the male dancers. If the real tradition, the music if we dance ngajat we use the life music which have someone o group who play the music such as gong, Gongs and other ethnic percussion instruments such as the ‘enkeromong’, ‘bendai’, ‘canang’ and ‘dumbak or ketebong’ provide the music. The musicians may be either male oThe pride in knowing how to perform the ‘ngajat,’ the Iban traditional dance must be kept burning among the Iban youngsters. The young Ibans should look back to the days of their parents or forefathers when there was so much pride in knowing how to perform the ‘ngajat’. Ngajat is a warrior dance of the Iban tribe in Sarawak. It is said that ngajat is performed by the warriors upon their successful return, to celebrate their victory in battle. Today, the dance is performed as part of the Gawai Dayak celebrations. When performing the dance, the male dancers wear a headgear made from the tail feathers of the hornbill (though nowadays most likely artificial feather may be used, to save the birds). He holds a long sword in one hand and an ornately decorated shield in the other. Around his chest are necklaces made of beads and cowrie shells, and he wore a ceremonial cawat, or loincloth. The dancer make slow movements, as though stalking the enemy. This is interspersed with dramatic prances as though he is leaping forward to attack. The dance is performed accompanied by the music from tribal musical instruments, usually percussions, including the enkeromong, bendai, canang and dumbak or ketebong. There are several Ngajat dance such as Ngajat Induk, Ngajat bebunoh, Ngajat Lesong, Ngajat Semain, Ngajat Berayah and Ngajat â€Å"â€Å"Ngemai antu pala† Moreover, it symbolize the happy ending of another cycle of padi planting season, welcoming the God of Farming to the feast and giving thanks for the bountiful and successful harvest. In the past, a â€Å"Ngajat Semain† was performed by young Iban boys and girls who have just complete their Ngajat lessons taught to them after the heavy work of clearing the forest and burning season is over. The tempo of this Ngajat performed by the girls is slow and graceful displaying the beautiful design pattern of the newly completed â€Å"Pua Kumbu† woven by the girls during the farming cycle. As for the young boys, the tempo is also slow displaying their martial artistic and balancing skills in preparation to enter their adulthood life. This means that they will take more adult responsibility in the next farming season. This is also an opportunity for them to display their beautiful costumes, headgears, amulets such as Engkerimok, Simpai, Tumpa Bala and of course their new fully decorated swords and its design. At the present day, the Ngajat music and dance are perform to preserve the Iban Culture and for the younger generation to value the unique of it the dancer dance follow the music that have a group who play the music. These is the traditional dane,which the most popular in Sarawak.

The Importance Of Service Quality In Tesco Marketing Essay

The Importance Of Service Quality In Tesco Marketing Essay This is about to finding out the importance of service quality, how people give importance and also how this service quality helped the Tesco to wash out the other retail firms even they are equal in size ,market share etc. While purchasing a product the consumer will consider many factors for selecting a retail outlet. Price ,service ,range of products, etc are the promenate ones among them out of this, quality of service plays a vital role the best example for this is the success behind the grocery giant Tesco . Therefore the need and scope of the study is to examine the importance given to the service quality by consumers while selecting retail. Service characteristics: many may have their own presumption regarding the service. It is basically intangible, inseparable, heterogeneity and pershhability. The first one is like people will feel they cannot see. The next state that goods can be purchased but service cannot be purchased like this service facilitates to buy a product. Inseparability is the performance or quality achieved on produced and consumed at the same time. The other one explains that the service quality cannot be determined exactly, it is hard to structure and the last characteristic of this service quality is as this service cannot be stored and provided it should reach the customers in effective manner. (Davies and Ward., P. 282.283, 285).In 1960s and 1970 the price factor was dominating the retailers and their competitor. They were concentrating more on pricing the products, higher margins etc. in 1980s retailers started working more on non price activities like customer satisfaction .service quality etc. t hese factors gave them competitive advantage. They separately worked on customer service strategies developed along with merchandising strategy to process the consumer in search, delivery, store selection process etc this all to retain the customer loyal to the store and makes them come often for the purchase and making the customer consider that their tore as first choice store. If the retailer wants to make good business he has to work on service quality, he has to work on the ways of giving the best service to the customers. (Cook and Wartlers, P.157, 159) Food enterprises started implement this quality control because customers knew the importance of health. So retailers were in stress to use it in order to extend their market growth and also to provide safety food. Small food enterprises have forced to implement because even suppliers started to demand the quality certificate. So small enterprises are forced to get this one this helped them to them compete with competitors. (Husband and Mandal, 1999 and Rodrà ¬nges-Escobar et al., 2006). This Cleary states the importance of quality and a service required by the customers and also tells how people preference has improved. (http/:www.Sundirect.com Copyright  © 2008) There should be a proper sale promotion than only it is meaningful to proper sales will be there or else people will not know about the store, this increase the sale. Like some techniques followed in like stop and shop even customer who not have any idea of getting into the store should be encouraged to do some shopping in the store like if some customer coming to shop should motivate him to buy something and buy bigger this is suggesting the buyer to buy more products in order to give him some offers for e.g. mega mart in India. The importance of this promotion activity makes the store well reputed, selling more goods making the customers comfortable by getting the things they need. for e.g. some goods may be in upper shelf they find hard to get that product there should be some representative to help them.(Pardhan ., p.171) there are lot losses in retail sector only few are able to make profit but also there are lot of difference with these stores many people had research like pric ing, products avialabtiy etc. There are various stores available now lot of oppurnities for people to choose the shops. Generally price and service are the e factors which attract the customer even all store people can reduce the price to certain level but all stores cannot provide the same service quality of another. So basically comparison starts with price and services at present they are able to give the price but not service. In 170s there were big competition between four stores Tesco, sains bury, and asda and kwik save these were making good profit in these periods. These gaining more on 1970-80 not because of own brands but through loyalty. They sold only good products as a result these all stores got well established Tesco 7.2 8.6 8.3 12.0 13.6 Sains bury 6.1 7.02 7.7 11.5 11.9 asda 1.5 2.5 11.5 5.5 7.3 international 3.2 3.0 5.5 4.0 5.2 Fine fare 4.8 4.2 4.0 4.2 5.0 Kwik save 0.3 0.6 1.4 4.0 4.9 Allied supplier 7.9 7.0 5.7 5.0 4.8 . As this table shows the constant growth of the stores like tesco, sains burys, asda and international this growth is because of their prices and service rendered by the store. In consequent years Tesco ranked as 3 from 5 having turnover around  £ 953 million. All other stores are also improving but not like Tesco. (Retail structure pg no: 101, 2nd edition) even there is lot of fluctuatations in growth because of services rendered by the stores. There are variety of competitors there they all compete with Tesco. Tesco shows it s growth only because of various fore thinking strategies. (Akerurst and Alexander., P. 106,) From all the reference we can say that Tesco is steadily growing up with various strategies but it concentrates more on service qualities. Tesco is one of the important stores in British retailing. It sells at low price and also very excellent its service as according to the customer needs it changes the business. Even it has many competitions with equal potential it survive as the first in its performance. (Ferine and Sparks.,, P. 101) Retail environment is turning rapidly, customers wants are changing and also expectations also increased, so retailers find difficult to satisfy the customers changing needs which cannot be retained by price reduction, discounts offers etc. This can be achieved by quality of service given to the customer .for e.g. appropriate space for car parking, enough space for people to shop inside the store etc. for e.g. Tesco which has a great place for car park big place to shop so people find easy to go there and also care taken in stores with public this all services make the store successful. (http://www.springerlink.com/content/230784q16g50121x/) PROBLEM DEFINITION: The main focus of this grocery store is to retain the customer its not like fashion store or footwear store for e.g. if we buy a shirt will use that for certain months or year as similar for shoe and slippers but for grocery it is totally different we will not use the products will consume it so repeated purchases will take within certain time. Grocery is totally different aspect there will be repeated purchases in this segment, because we will not use but we will consume grocery products. Main motivate of grocery retailer is to retain the consumers, which is very essential now a day consumers expectations are more, the need for service is increasing. Therefore the purpose of the study is about service quality because his makes the consumer to retain with the store. The study is about service quality which is also key contribution for the success of Tesco. Objectives of the study: Analyzing the customer satisfaction on the quality of service rendered by Tesco. How Tesco was able to succeed its rivals. What others retailers lack in their service quality. RESEARCH DESIGN: Research design is an arrangement of terms for the collection and verifying the information for a research study, which will clearly states the purpose and need of the research like (for whom ? why ?) .(Saunders ,Lewies , Thornhill .,P., P.153) TYPE OF INVESTIGATION: The research design is Descriptive in nature because; I will be having a clear idea about the person by the answers given by him. Descriptive study is nothing but showing the accurate profile of the person. (Saunders, Lewies, Thornhill., P. 134) SAMPLING DESIGN: Non-Probability sampling is that sampling procedure which does not afford any basis for estimating the probability that each item in population has being included in the sample. The sampling procedure for the study is non-probability sampling. I am also dont know the correct population, so I define my design as non probability design (Research methods pg no: 207,208,226).the technique used in research is simple random technique it can be used with the undefined population. We can select the results in simple random sampling because these are hard to get correct answers and also my research is also very similar because very large customer so I have taken simple random sampling technique. (Saunders, Lewies, Thorn hill., P. 219) Primary data is the data collected directly from the sample. The primary data will be collected through personal interviews and questionnaires from the consumers who all coming to Tesco. Secondary data are those, which have been already gathered by others. The secondary data was collected from books, company profile, project reports, journals and websites. DATA COLLECTION METHOD: Data collection method should be very appropriate when we decide the method we have to think it in various aspects because we have to yield the good interview. So we have to plan in effective manner. The instrument used for research is a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire will be collected through schedule. A schedule consists of a list of a projects terminal element with intended start and finish dates. Respondents were contacted personally and were questionnaire is collected using schedule. (Saunders, Lewies, Thorn hill, P. 152) CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY: From all my reference I am able to understand the importance of service qualities and how it induce the organization it is very important reason for success of Tesco and also because of this lack of service quality many organization lost its market. So all employee in an organization should concentrate on service quality they have to work toward the satisfying customers and retaining them with the organization and also there should be proper motivation given to the employee to give the core benefits to the customers there should be more convenience for eg.24hours opened and 24 ATM insurances car insurances etc these are the services to be rendered.