Collective Bargaining Dispute Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Collective Bargaining Dispute - Research Paper Example The main focus of the dispute is the request for wage increase and the problem of teachers not doing administrative work.The negotiations have been going on for a year and five months already but no resolution has been reached (Strandberg, 2012). A third party has been brought in to assist in the dispute’s settlement.A need for an acceptable collective bargaining agreement between the two parties must be structured in such a way that both associations will be satisfied with the resolution of the various issues on hand. The dispute stems from the situation wherein the teachers are not doing administrative work such as writing report cards, supervising recess and other administrative tasks(Strandberg, 2012). Furthermore, the teachers are requesting for a 15% wage increase over three years but the employers are not willing to give such an increase because the government has a â€Å"net-zero mandate†(Strandberg, 2012). British Columbia Teachers Federation President Susan Lambert claims that the other teachers in Canada are receiving higher salaries compared to what they are receiving(Knickerbocker, Teachers table new reduced package to kick-start negotiations, 2012). They are citing inflation as one reason for their request for a wage increase. On the other hand the British Columbia Public School Employers Association maintains that increasing the teachers’ salary would be a violation of the government’s net-zero mandate for public sector unions(Steffenhagen, 2012).An increase may only be granted if there is any realized savings from the contracts. One believes that the teachers’ refusal to write report cards is unethical because as a teacher that is their duty. It is, however, not illegal for them to ask for a wage increase. It may be considered unethical on the part of the British Columbia Public School Employers Association to

View of Class Essay Example for Free

View of Class Essay Karl Marx’s view of class as exposed in his Communist Manifesto suggests firstly the existence of two distinct classes with irreconcilable differences. These are the proletarian and the bourgeoisie. The proletarian or proletariat was initially a derogatory term used for people who had no other wealth aside from their children. Marx’s sociological take on the term refers it to the working class. True to its derogatory origin, the proletariat is the class in society that does not own the means of production (Martin, 1998). In short, they are those who are employed to do work and get paid by salaries. The bourgeoisie or capitalist is a term to connote the owning class. They are considered the upper class of society who owns the means of production. They are the merchants, landowners, and other capitalists. Marx’s theory in class revolves around the interactions between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie and the inevitable consequences thereof. Marx argued that the bourgeoisie constantly exploits the proletariat. Since the workers do not own any means of production like their own farm or business, they must seek employment from the bourgeoisie in order to survive. They are hired by capitalists to work on making goods or providing services. These fruits of production then become the property of the capitalist, who sells them and gets a certain amount of money in exchange. Some of the money earned from the selling of the products or services is used to pay the workers wages, while the rest called surplus value is used to pay for other expenses of the capitalist and his profits. This gives the capitalist the ability to earn money out of work done by his employees with very minimal effort on his part (Martin, 1998). Since obviously, new wealth or profit was created through work done by the employees; the capitalist gained wealth or an excess of wealth which he did not work for. If that happened, then that means that other people, that is the laborers did not receive the full wealth which they should be receiving as just compensation for the work they did. In other words, the workers were exploited by the capitalists. On the other hand, Scott and Leonhardt (2005) argued that society cannot actually have the distinct perception of classes that is proposed in Marxist doctrine. They base this on the fact that people regardless of race or social stature are experiencing luxuries that were not as equally distributed just a few decades ago. Marxist principle usually claimed that the normal, everyday worker is of an inferior class to the capitalist. This principle was based on external markers that connote poverty in one and wealth in the other. Scott and Leonhardt’s article makes an attack on the markers of such a principle, arguing that at present, it has become very difficult to know a person’s class from the color of his skin or the gods they worship, much less on the clothes they wear or whether they’re employed or are running heir own business. However, the article itself does not belittle the concept of distinct classes and in fact moves on to argue that class is actually still a very powerful factor in society. What the article simply argues is that this difference in classes can no longer be seen in Marx’s idea of proletariat – bourgeoisie dynamics but has transferred to other aspects such as meritocracy, where a man who starts out poor can actually strike it rich if he had what it takes. It is my stand to agree with Scott and Leonhardt that the concept of class has shifted into from hereditary wealth to the idea of meritocracy. On the first level of argumentation, I say that the assumption of untouchability of the upper class no longer applies today, where big companies such as Enron can be brought to its knees by the public and where several big business tycoons such as Bernard Ebbers of Worldcom can actually be put behind bars for a good long time. This means that both worker and capitalist stand on equal footing where the law is concerned which implies that the supposed unfair, overwhelming power that big companies hold over its employees has been reduced to a memory. On the second level of argumentation, I believe that meritocracy has transcended barriers between countries and provided an avenue by which worth is determined by what a person can do rather than what his heritage is. The first support to this is the advent of public corporations. These entities build an administrative base that is dependent on meritocracy. A public corporation is owned by all the people who invest in it which can be considered as capitalists, but the top notch directors that they hire don’t need to be stockholders, nor do these executives get hired because they are relatives of the shareholders. More so they get hired because their credentials, from educational background to previous work experiences, says that they can get the job done better than anyone who has money in the company, and that if they should be handsomely compensated if they are expected to work for that particular company. The top CEOs’ incomes usually surpass the lot of a public corporation’s investors. I disagree with Marx’s portrayal of class and class struggle on two levels. The first level is that workers have at present various protections against exploitation by their employers. Labor unions lobby for progressive compensation based on the company’s own profits. This means that laborers today are actually getting their wages based on their company’s progress. The more profits they bring in, the better leverage their union has in negotiating wage increases. On the second level, even today’s capitalists recognize the importance of obtaining and maintaining an efficient labor force. Corporations consistently compete for worker bases in the country and abroad, trying to outdo each other with better benefits, more convenient working conditions, and higher salaries. This indicates that the capitalist can no longer be viewed as the laborers’ enemy. Rather, quality labor itself has become the product of laborers that makes them capitalists in their own right, since the demand for quality labor has become so that capitalists are willing to purchase their labor at their price. In conclusion, class is a concept that has evolved through the years. Situations that may have been applicable during Marx’s time may no longer be effectively used to describe what is apparent in today’s economic world. We must reflect on the value of labor today and see our own worth that for us to market, making us all equitably equipped for life’s challenges ahead. Sources: Martin, Malia. (1998). The Communist Manifest of Marx and Engels. New York: Penguin group. Scott, Janny Leonhardt, David (2005). Shadowy Lines That Still Divide. Retrieved May 6, 2007 from New York Times Website: http://www. nytimes. com/2005/05/15/national/class/OVERVIEW-FINAL. html? ex=1273809600en=2fb756e388191419ei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss

Water And Wastewater Analysis Focusing On Formaldehyde Environmental Sciences Essay

Water And Wastewater Analysis Focusing On Formaldehyde Environmental Sciences Essay Formaldehyde (FA) has been widely used in wood, paper and textile industries as well as in the production of a number of chemicals and for the preservation of biological material. It also present in almost all common foods and its estimated that adult dietary intake is 11 mg/day. Occasionally, it is used as a disinfectant to disinfect water filters. (ADWG, 2004) FA can be toxic allergenic and carcinogenic to human beings (Lyon, 2006). Several epidemiological studies of occupational exposure to formaldehyde have indicated an increased risk of nasopharyngeal cancers, leukemia and eye irritations (OSHA, 2008). The International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that FA is probably carcinogenic to humans (IARC 1987). FA may be present in water through industrial effluents, ozonation of naturally occurring humic materials, contamination by accidental spills and overflows as well as deposition from the atmosphere (ADWG, 2004). A study showed that the FA concentrations in rainwater are expected to be up to three orders of magnitude higher than in surface water, which indicated that atmospheric deposition is a significant source of FA in aquatic systems (Kieber et al., 1999). Generally, the concentration of formaldehyde in water is very low which has a low environmental risk to human and organisms. However, when accidental spills or overflows happened, chemical analyses and monitoring programs are needed. 1.1 Formaldehyde in drinking water FA enters in drinking-water mainly from the oxidation of natural organic matters such as humic materials during ozonation (Glaze et al., 1989) and chlorination (Becher et al., 1992). Leaching from polyacetal plastic fittings in which the protective coating has been broken can sometimes be one of the resources of FA in drinking-water (IPCS, 2002). According to Australian guideline value, the concentration of formaldehyde in drinking water should not exceed 0.5 mg/L (ADWG, 2004). 1.2 Formaldehyde in wastewater FA has been used in many industrial activities as a key chemical. In organic synthesis industry, the synthesis of special chemicals such as pentaerythritol and ethylene glycol used FA as one of the agents. In addition, FA is essential in production of resins, textiles, paper products, medicinal products and drugs (Khiaria et al., 2002). Therefore, effluents arising from these industrial applications may contain significant amounts of FA which is needed to be determined and treated. 1.3 Chemical analysis of formaldehyde in water and wastewater Since the concentration of formaldehyde in water can be occasionally high which may be potential risk to human health, we should conduct some methods to measure the accurate concentration of it. The chemical analysis of formaldehyde can provide meaningful information on the quality of water therefore actions can be taken immediately to ensure that water suppliers provide consumers with water that is safe to use and meet the public recreational and aesthetic requirements if changes occurred. Advice on sample collection In sample collection, the sampling site, time and weather conditions are needed to be considered to obtain a volume of water which can be the representative of the water body. Before it is analyzed in laboratory, we should try to keep it in such a manner during store and transport processes, sometimes preservatives can be added in order to minimize any changes that may occur (Private Water Supplies website). The essential steps in sampling program are shown below (From unit 5, lecture notes). Problem Definition Formaldehyde Sampling Program Design Sample Preparation Chemical Analyses Field Sampling Reporting Data Analysis 2.1 Sample containers Formaldehyde belongs to volatile organic compound, therefore, its recommended to use 40mL brown glass vial or transparent glass vial with aluminum foil covered outside as the sample container to prevent it from releasing to air or deteriorating after exposing to light. The cap must have teflon-lined septum. The polypropylene screw caps should be used instead of typical phenolic resin caps due to the possibility of sample contamination from FA (US EPA 1998). In addition, when taking samples, we should use pre-cleaned bottles that are free from volatile organics (Standard operating procedures for water sampling methods and analysis, WA, 2009). 2.2 Sample collection Sample collection is very important in determining the safety of water, so its essential to ensure that the samples are representative, reliable and full validated. For complicated and unstable water quality such us wastewater effluent, sample collection should also cover the random and regular variations in water quality as well as the fixed conditions. 2.2.1 Types of Sampling The types of sampling include grab sampling, composite sampling, flow-related sampling, automatic sampling and continuous monitoring. Each method has its own characteristics and suitable for different water body and sampling purpose. For drinking water, we use grab sampling method. For grab sampling, all of the test material is collected at one time. So the grab sample can only reflect the water quality state at a particular site and time, and then only the sample was properly collected can it represent the water body we concerned (Norwalk Wastewater Equipment Company website). Grab sampling has some advantages. For example, some specific type of unstable parameters such as VOCs, chlorine residual and nitrites in water treatment plant can be effectively analyzed. Sometimes, grab sampling can also be conducted for pH, temperature and DO monitoring (NWEC website). For drinking water, the water was well mixed, stable and generally free of contamination. Therefore, grab samples can already be good representations of the water quality. In addition, this method is very common, easy and low capital cost. For wastewater, we use composite sampling method. Composite sampling is another sample collection technique which consists of many individual discrete samples that have been taken at regular intervals over a period of time. Therefore, the collected samples can reflect the average performance of water quality during the collection period (NWEC website). Wastewater treatment plants receive unfixed and variable amounts of sudden increased waste flows from industries and households during a day followed by intermittent periods of no flow (NWEC website). Analyzing a single grab sample of effluent at a fixed time and site can introduce some bias and cannot reflect the real varying flow patterns in effluent outlets. Therefore, composite sampling method is more plausible for evaluating the holistic performance and state of wastewater quality. 2.2.2 Sampling sites Drinking water sampling For drinking water sampling, we can either take a sample from a customers tap, or storage tank or some representative places. From a tap Choose a tap which is most frequently used. Any external fittings such as filters and contaminants such as grease and sediment build-up around the spout should be removed prior to testing. Since tap outlets are suspected to be contaminated, disinfection should be conducted by swabbing both outside and inside of the tap several minutes before sample collection. The disinfection reagent can be 0.1% sodium hypochlorite solution (Forensic and Scientific Services, Queensland Government 2008). To get a representative fresh water sample, the tap should be run for a while (about 2-3 minutes) to remove the stagnant water in the tube. From a storage tank For shallow depth (Small water supply tank), To get a representative sample of the source of supply, the sampling depth is recommended to be 0.5m. The bottle inside and the cap inside should not be touched. The neck should be plunged downwards into the water and then turned upwards until the water is overfilled and mouth is towards upside (FSS, QLD Government 2008) For deep depth (Large water supply dam), To get a representative sample, the water sample should be collected by using a suitable depth sampling device such as hosepipe, sampling rod or pump etc. Be careful not to disturb bottom sediment. Wastewater sampling For wastewater sampling, we should take the samples from outlets of wastewater treatment plant. Since we use composite sampling method for wastewater analysis, we should pour equal portions of freshly collected samples into the appropriate container. 2.2.3 Collection instructions According to surface water sampling methods and analysis technical appendices in Western Australia in 2009, the recommended collection techniques are listed as follows: The containers for holding samples should not be pre-rinsed. It is recommend that the bottles should be used to collect sample directly rather than decanting. However, in some cases, decanting samples from big collection vessels into sample vials are acceptable provided that all the containers are free of contamination. For example, sometimes a clean bucket with about 10L capacity or a large 1L breaker can be used to collect the surface sample and then transfer to the laboratory sample container. To minimize the exposure to air and light, samples should be overfilled containers and then the cap should be tightly sealed free of air bubbles and faced down to help prevent leakage. 2.2.4 Complete lab form and sample label After sample collection, we should complete the lab form which contains the sampling information such as water volume, sampling sites, etc and stick label on each sample container which recorded sampling location and time. 2.3 Preservation Filtration For wastewater samples, the filtration treatment should be conducted since some suspended particulates may block the testing instruments. Preservation Some experiments indicated that aldehydes are susceptible to microbiological decay. To inhibit microbial decomposition of organic compounds, it is recommended to add 0.1 ml of CHCl3 (Economou et al., 2002) or alternatively, 15 mg of copper sulfate pentahydrate in water samples (US EPA 1998). 2.4 Sample transportation and storage Transportation During transportation process, we should minimize the contamination and disturbance to water samples, conserve them in the dark and maintain in cool condition with a chilled insulated container and then return to the lab as quick as possible (Environmental health guide, WA, 2006). Storage Before the lab analysis, the samples are recommended to be refrigerated but not freezed at 1-4 °C in the dark. Available techniques for sample extraction 3.1 Available techniques Sample extraction is used to concentrate the analyte for its successful analysis by instruments. There are various methods for FA extraction. Each method has its own characteristics. The object is to choose an optimal technique to avoid excessive loss of the analyte and achieve desired performance. Soxhlet extraction and solvent extraction are traditionally common extraction techniques, particularly for organic compounds. However, since their limitations such as the need of a large volume of solvent, lack of thermal stability and volatility of some analytes and interference from contaminants in the extraction thimbles (Grob et al., 2004), they may not desirable for FA extraction. According to recent studies and researches, some extraction techniques have already achieved good results. They are listed as follows. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) SPE is a technique including two extraction steps. The first step is the non-equilibrium removal of the analytes from the liquid sample by retention on a sorbent. The second step is the solvent elution or thermally desorption of the selected analytes (Grob et al., 2004). One successful approach for determining formaldehyde in drinking water has been to use colorimetric-solid phase extraction with EmporeTM Anion Exchange-SR 47-mm extraction membranes as extraction cartridges and elution from the SPE cartridge by sodium hydroxide solvent (Hill et al., 2009). Another successful approach for formaldehyde analysis in water was by using poly (allylamine) beads for solid-phase extraction and eluting from the C18 cartridge by hydrochloric acid (HCl) solvent (Kiba et al., 1999). SPE is one of the most widely used techniques in FA analysis. Due to its high sensitivity and efficiency, it can determine the low FA concentrations down to 80 ppb by several minutes (Hill et al., 2009). However, one of the drawbacks of it was its e high packing and sorbent selection requirements which might be costly and time-consuming in stuff preparation. Another problem is SPE may have analyte loss during elution when analyte passing though tube. Ultrasonic extraction (USE) USE is a fast technique using ultrasound assisted method to assure good contact between sample and solvent (Grob et al., 2004). One of the researches has stated the successful use of USE in FA extraction. Formaldehyde was first extracted with water by ultrasound assisted, and directly introduced into a derivatization column which was packed with a moderately sulfonated cation-exchange resin. The resin was charged with 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) previously and used as solid support. The formaldehyde DNPH derivative was eluted by sodium dihydrogen phosphate in 50% ACN solvent (Chen et al., 2008). Compared with traditional techniques, this method was proved to be fast, accurate, sensitive and labour-saving. In addition, only small quantities of solvent and sample were required. Therefore, its a promising extraction method (Chen et al., 2008). However, the drawback of this method was its low recovery efficiency. For low concentrations of analytes in samples, multiple extractions are often required (Grob et al., 2004). Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) SFE is a fast and efficient technique. Analytes are more soluble in supercritical fluids (SFs), which are dense gases above their critical temperature and pressure, when they are in their liquid state. Therefore, the important properties such as the melting point and solubility of analytes in the SF are needed to be considered (Grob et al., 2004). A study has stated the SFE in FA analysis using CO2 as the extraction fluid, and the experiment was carried out at 13.8 MPa, 120 °C with 15 min of static extraction time, 15 min of dynamic extraction time and 80 ÃŽ ¼l of modifier (methanol). The DADHL derivative which was the product of the condensed FA with ammonia and acetylacetone can be detected by UV spectrometer (Reche et al., 2000). However, one of the drawbacks of SFE in FA analysis was the use of supercritical CO2 fluid. Since the low polarity of CO2 but the polarity of FA, the extraction was difficult and recoveries are poor. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) SPME is a good extraction method which can incorporate with GC or HPLC to get the high performance in sample analysis. It used a fiber coated with an extracting phase which can concentrate the analytes and then the fiber is transferred to the injection port of separating instruments and analytes are desorbed from the fiber and rapidly delivered to the column (Pawliszyn, 2009). One of the researches has stated the SPME experiment for FA analysis. Prior to use, the 75 ÃŽ ¼m Carboxen-Polydimethylsiloxane fiber was conditioned in the injection port of GC at 300 °C under helium flow for 1.5 h. Then the extraction was carried out at 80 °C for 30 min using the fiber with a medium stirring of sample. Next, the thermal desorption was reacted in a splitless mode at a temperature of 310 °C for 3 min (Bianchi et al., 2007). SPME technique has some advantages in FA. SPME is a simple, easily-conducted and solvent-free technique. The detection limits can reach parts per trillion which is really useful in FA analysis since the concentration of FA is water is very low. In addition, SPME is fast and low cost which can minimize sample holding times, reduce analyte loss and sample contamination (Trenholm et al., 2008). However, one of the problems is SPME may have analytes loss during extraction that nearly 1% of analytes goes on fiber (Leap technologies website). Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) The theory of SBSE is similar to SPME which used a spinning glass-covered magnetic bar coated with a thick layer of polydimethylsiloxane to extract analytes, then thermal desorption can be carried out in the GC injection port (Grob et al., 2004). SBSE has been applied successfully to trace analysis especially VOCs and semi-volatile compounds in environmental, biomedical and food applications. The detection limits can be extremely low which are suitable for FA analysis in water (David et al., 2003). Theres limited information of FA analysis relating to SBSE technique, however, its still a promising method in the future. Newer techniques Newer techniques such as pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), subcritical water extraction (SWE) and microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MWE) are enhanced liquid extraction techniques. Compared with traditional soxhlet extraction and solvent extraction, these methods are less time-consuming, less solvent consumption and more efficient and can be exerted to low concentrations of analytes in samples. 3.2 Water and wastewater sample extraction For drinking water formaldehyde analysis, we can use solid-phase extraction (SPE) which is commonly used, easy-operated and available in laboratory. For wastewater formaldehyde analysis, we should remove particulates by filtration prior to extraction because particulate matter in the sample can interfere with the analysis such as absorbing some analytes of interest and causing low analytical recoveries. And then we can use SPE, USE, SPME or other advanced techniques for sample extraction. Current techniques for sample analysis Spectrophotometric methods The theory of spectrophotometer is to measure the intensity and amount of light which have been absorbed or reflected by the analytes as function of colour or wavelength (Skoog et al., 2007). 4.1.1 Reflectance spectrophotometer One of the studies has developed a method that successfully monitored the FA concentrations in water samples using purpald as the colorimetric reagent (Hill et al., 2009). Firstly, a colourless intermediate was formed by purpald reacting with FA in alkaline solution. And then an intensely purple tetrazine was formed due to the oxidization of intermediate. The purple tetrazine was served as the colorimetric product (Dickinson et al., 1974). After completing the colour reaction in the syringe, the 1mL sample is passed through an extraction disk. The amount of extracted analyte is then measured on-disk using a BYK-Gardner diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The reflectance data can be collected at 20nm intervals over the visible spectral range. After that, the BYK-Gardner QC-Link software in PC is used to calculate the Kubelka-Munk function F(R). Then the analyte was compared to a calibration plot of F(R) at 700nm which was the most effective analytical wavelength to determine the FA concentration (Hill et al., 2009). This method successfully analyzed the FA concentrations at the range of 0.08 to 20ppm using only 1mL samples and just costing several minutes. 4.1.2 UV/Visible spectrophotometer UV/Visible spectrophotometer can be used to measure the absorbance which is the difference of intensity of light before and after passing through a sample by an object as function of wavelength or color (Skoog et al., 2007). One of the studies for FA determination used Hantzsch Reaction for derivatives. The colourless solution became yellow colour gradually owing to the synthesis of DADHL which formed from the condensed formaldehyde and acetylacetone in the condition of excess of ammonium salt. Then UV/Vis detection was carried out with a UV-1603 Spectrophotometer (Reche et al., 2000). The maximum absorbance was approximately at 415nm which was used in analyzing FA concentration in sample and the standard solution (Shimadzu Application News). 4.1.3 Advantages and disadvantages The spectrophotometers are widely used in many laboratories and institutes. This method has advantages such as the lower instrument capital and operational cost and easy operation. However, the sensitivity and selectivity are lower than GC and HPLC method. For extremely low FA concentrations in water sample, this method is limited in application. 4.2 Chromatography methods For chromatography, since FA concentrations in water and wastewater are very low, it must be derivatized prior to analysis to ensure quantitative and qualitative detection. Nash reagent, dinitrophenylhydrazine and PFBHA reagent are typical agents which can have color reactions with FA. Then their derivatives can provide better sensitivity for UV, fluorescence or MS detection (Michels et al., 2001). 4.2.1 GC GC is widely used in FA analysis. According to many researches using GC for FA determination, the mobile phase is usually helium and the different stationary phases were covered on column. By measuring the different retention time of the analytes, FA concentrations can be calculated out. 1. GC/MS In FA analysis, different molecules in solution can be separated during the sample travel by GC and then the mass to charge ratio of ionized fragments of FA can be detected by MS (Robert et al., 2007). One of the researches used the pentafluorobenzyl hydroxylamine (PFBHA) reagent to form derivatives and then used a Varian CP-3800 GC system connected with a Varian 4000 ion trap MS system for detection. The injector was operated at 250 °C in split mode and separation was conducted on a 0.25ÃŽ ¼m DB5-MS capillary column. Electron impact ionization (EI) in full scan from 150 to 275m/z was used in MS analysis (Trenholm et al., 2008). Then the FA concentrations can be measured by recording mass to charge ratio. Another similar study also used PFBHA derivatization reagent and GC/ MS method (Bianchi et al., 2007). Advantages and disadvantages of GC/MS: Combining GC with MS can have better identification and separation of molecules than single GC since molecules behave different in GC and MS. For FA analysis, GC/MS is widely used due to its rapid operation, high precision and selectivity. Having considered its good performance and cost effectiveness, it is proposed to be an alternative of traditional methods (US EPA 1998). One of the drawbacks is GC/MS is less sensitive than HPLC in identification of the FA derivatives. Another problem is GC/MS is susceptible to interference. For wastewater sample, the compounds are often complex, therefore the interferences may lead to imprecise analysis. 2. GC/ECD US EPA offers another alternative method to measure FA.  The oxime derivatives were formed by adding pentafluorobenzyl hydroxylamine (PFBHA) reagent to FA solution at pH of 4. Then they are extracted from the water with 4mL hexane. After processing through an acidic wash step, the extracts are analyzed by GC with electron capture detection (GC/ECD). After comparing with the calibration standard, the analytes can be identified. Two chromatographic peaks have been observed for FA that both (E) and (Z) isomers are formed for FA carbonyl compounds (US EPA 1998). Comparison of GC/MS and GC/ECD: ECD offers better detection limits (

Magic in The Descent of Innana and Sappho Essay -- Descent Innana Sapp

Magic in The Descent of Innana and Sappho In the ancient text The Descent of Innana and the lyric poetry of Sappho, language is viewed as magic. Not only are the words themselves acting as magic, as in an invocation, but other things manifest themselves as magic throughout the works. The most common throughout the works of Sappho is that of love. Sappho also shows us the magic of everyday life in many of her poems. Finally, the writing down of the works performs a magic all of its own; the magic of continuation. Through the writing of their works the story of Innana and the poetry of Sappho will live on forever. The most obvious use of language as magic is in The Descent of Innana. This text is actually all about language as magic. It originated as a ritual that was reenacted along with group participation as part of a religion. Innana is the earth goddess and in this ritual the story of the past is invoked to reproduce the happenings in it and guarantee the passing of one season to the next. The words also held the power to unite people in the cause. At certain times, the priestess would say a line such as â€Å"my lady abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, to the nether world she descended. Innana abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, to the nether world she descended. Abandoned lordship, abandoned ladyship, to the nether world she descended (Descent 790)†, the audience would have chimed in on the repetitive parts of the lines. It is also possible that, due to the repetitive nature of the ritual, people memorized the ritual and would recite along with the priestess. This s hows how the ancient people bound themselves together through language, they had a common ritual, which they took part in and knew the... ...s could also have eternal life. This is another way that these works are sacred magic. The Descent of Innana is one of the first written pieces of literature we have. Sappho is one of the earliest lyric poets that we have a record of. These works are an example of the idea of the magic of writing itself coming to life. The idea that something can be written down and outlast the writer is truly something the Greeks would have held as magical. As you can see, the writing of ancient Greeks shows sacred magic in many ways. There is magic in it’s most literal form in the ritual of The Descent of Innana. Magic also manifests itself within these texts. There is magic in love, everyday life, and in the writing of these texts, which brings about eternal life. Seen in this way, it is easy to see why people would agree that these texts hold sacred magic.

Casey at the bat ESSAY

He allowed the first pitch to pass him by, as though it was unworthy of his attention and skill, with the second pitch the same, and as the third approached to crop wad was ready to jump to fence at take the field. Casey now with determination and a fierce anger in his eyes, ready to hit the third pitch and prove his overly hyped skills. As the ball approached the crowd fell silent, Casey swung with all his might, creating a thick dust clog d. The dust settles as an overwhelming disappointment fell across the crowd, Casey had s truck out.The short narration of the game show flaws in Case's character, best reveal by the crowd's perception of him, and his pride, ultimately leading to his death as the e character of ‘the mighty Casey†(20). Casey is just a man, nothing more, the crowd made him to be more, because t he outcome of the game is looking poor and they needed a hero. All the men before Casey struck out or made base by a stroke Of luck. Casey happens to be at the end 0 f the roster, the last chance, the hero of the game.The crowd speaks of him as though he is the e only chance the team ever has of a victory, the only reason the sun came out this morning g, â€Å"if only Casey could 2 get but a whack at that / We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat†(78). The only reason for showing to the game was to watch Casey at the bat, â€Å"for Casey, mi eighty Casey, was advancing to the bat' (20). Casey is known by all the fans as mighty, confine dent, prideful, and the only decent player they have seen all game. Making themselves and C ease blind to any mistakes Casey has and will make.Casey is a baseball player for the mudslide nine whose demise as a character s shown because he is too prideful. During the failures of the other batters, the only thing the onlookers can think of is watching the beloved Casey hit the ball. And Casey, h myself knows it, â€Å"For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat. / There was ease in Case' s manner as he stepped into his place; / There was pride in Casey bearing and a smile on Case's face† (2022). Though Careers true colors are shown when he allowed the first pitch to pass him right by, as he says â€Å"That anti my style†(32).Come the second pitch the as me, as though the ball is unworthy of even one more glance, â€Å"But still Casey ignored T here is a very fine line between having self confidence and being conceited, Casey flirts co insatiable with that latter of the two. Often an over the top display self confidence can be an tempt to try and hide their shortcomings and failures. Case's pride is nothing more than s elf hype. By the end of the poem his character flaws and downsides are revealed entirely.He s so sulfanilamide and overzealous his pride becomes the only thing on his mind, an d in doing so he loses his mighty reputation, â€Å"But there is no joy in Mudslide mighty Casey has struck out†(53). Pride can kill any man, no matter their intelligence or ability to reason, because e it is rarely a good quality to possesses. Pride, it can have a tremendous impact on how you perceive yourself and how others think of you. It impacts your behavior tow rd others and he manner in which you speak to them, how you chose to live your life, how you dress and present yourself, 3 and your attitude towards the day.It comes down to measuring yourself gaga nest everyone else, â€Å"The rest / Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast; / They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that / We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat. But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake†(59), instead of looking tat ourselves and discovering what makes you, you, uniquely and without compare. It comes aft ere someone has harmed us, after we've achieved something monumental, or done something against perceived odds.Pride can be the boost we need to protect ourselves from an y further harm or disappo intment from others. But pride can have a strong negative impact, â€Å"B UT there is no joy in Mudslide mighty Casey has struck out†(53). Pride can ruin you by giving you the false illusion of knowing more than you do, or even make you believe you know eve retrying. Instead of you hearing a suggestion or a cautionary warning, you hear a dare, some en assuming you will fail. Pride was Case's superpower but also his krypton, leading to his own personal destruction. English 100002 Rewrite one of your topic sentences.

Cultural Border Crossing And Collateral Learning Education Essay

Cultural boundary line crossing is said to happen when a individual is traveling from one societal community to another. A pupil late excelled in her GCE ‘O ‘ Level June Examination and was transferred to an International School of the state from a scientific discipline premier school of the state by her parents. This miss for case will be sing cultural boundary line crossing as she is traveling from a local authorities school to an international school where the civilizations of this international school is mostly typical from her old school ( as this school ‘s system is an version of the United Kingdom ‘s educational system ) . Collateral larning on the other manus is covering with how the scholars build their scientific cognition with little intervention and interaction of their autochthonal constructs. In a simple educational impression, indirect acquisition can be said as a solution to how the pupils cope with the cultural boundary line crossing. There are different types of collateral acquisition ( as this peculiar subject of acquisition is non of the involvement of the authorship, it will non be elaborated further ) for case, for the miss who merely entered the international school, she has learned that in this new school the schoolroom acquisition environment is different from what she has been sing even when she was in the premier scientific discipline school for about four and a half yeasr. She was said to be truly quiet in the category by her Biology instructor and the instructor thought she was sort of non interested in her survey but her consequences showed the otherwise. She did n't anticipate t hat her instructor would see her that manner as she was largely expected to be quiet during the lesson in her old school. Now she learned that she needs to be more actively involved and she is easy going actively take parting in the lesson. This might be termed as dependent collateral type of acquisition. Integrating the learning what scientific civilization entails in the mundane life of the scholar into the scientific discipline course of study in Brunei Darussalam as a scheme for assisting pupils transverse cultural boundary line A cultural attack to learning and larning harmonizing to Aikenhead ( 2001 ) involves pupils in cultural dialogues. This dialogue happens in a state of affairs where larning scientific discipline is experienced as â€Å" coming to cognize, † a phrase borrowed from Autochthonal pedagogues ( Ermine, 1998 ; Peat 1994 ) . The dialogue in school scientific discipline is termed as â€Å" multi-science instruction † ( Ogawa, 1995 ) . Through the cross-cultural scientific discipline learning these dialogues can be facilitated ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . Coming to cognize is about developing cultural individuality and self-pride ( Cajete, 1999 ; McKinley, 1998 ; McKinley et al. , 1992 ; Richie & A ; Butler, 1990 For most autochthonal pupils, the cultural attack to science instruction in the acquisition of Western is a cross-cultural event ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . Students frequently made passage from their mundane civilizations associated with place to the civilization of Western scientific discipline ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . The smoothness of one ‘s ability to traverse cultural boundary line can partially find their success at larning the nature of another civilization ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . Teachers ‘ aid is frequently needed by these, in the same manner a tourer in a foreign land necessitating the aid of a circuit usher ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . In short, a scientific discipline instructor needs to play the function of a tour-guide civilization agent ( Aikenhead, 1997 ) . This is where the instruction approaches come into context in which the instructor acts as a civilization agent. As a civilization agent, the instructor clearly recognizes the boundary line to be crossed, escorts pupils across that boundary line, and assists pupils negotiate cultural battles that might originate ( Aikenhead, 1997 ) . A culture-brokering scientific discipline teacher demand to do the being of boundary line crossings obvious to the pupils during the instruction and acquisition by acknowledging pupils ‘ personal prepossessions and Indigenous worldviews that have a intent in, or association to, pupils ‘ mundane civilization. The instructor as a civilization agent identifies the civilization in which pupils ‘ personal thoughts are placed, and so introduces alternate cultural point of position, that is, the civilization of Western scientific discipline, in the context of Indigenous cognition ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . At the same clip, a civilization agent demand to do pupils cognizant of what civilization he/she is speaking in at any given minute ( e.g. Autochthonal scientific discipline or Western scientific discipline ) , as instructors might unconsciously exchange between civilizations, much to the confusion of many pupils ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . An illustration of schoolroom ( or labs ) scene in which pupils are made cognizant of what civilization he/she is speaking in at any given minute as illustrated by Aikenhead ( 2001 ) is by holding two different black boards or in about all schools in Brunei would be white boards- 1 for Autochthonal scientific discipline, another for Western scientific discipline. Aikenhead ( 2001 ) explained that one of the boards is used to enter thoughts expressed in the discourse of the community ‘s Indigenous cognition, while the other board is used to show the civilization of Western scientific discipline. By substituting from one board to the other ( cultural boundary line traversing ) , pupils consciously change linguistic communication conventions and conceptualisations. This cross-cultural instruction every bit claimed as Aikenhead ( 2001 ) AIDSs pupils expand their entree to Western scientific discipline without losing sight of their cultural individuality ( Aikenhead, 2001 ) . An option to the above attack is by implementing a technique to recognize any elucidation emerged from the Melanie survey ( Aikenhead, 1996 ) . The thought of the technique is to pull a clear differentiation between the linguistic communication pupils use to research and develop their ain thoughts about natural phenomena, and the linguistic communication scientists normally use. In this technique pupils split a page in their notebook in half, labeling the left-hand column â€Å" my thought † ( personal cognition of an event or account from the point of position of one of the pupil ‘s life-world subcultures, and utilizing its linguistic communication ) and the right-hand column â€Å" subculture of scientific discipline † ( canonical cognition utilizing appropriate scientific linguistic communication ) . The instruction in civilization brokering should advance discourse ( Cobern & A ; Aikenhead, 1998 ; Driver et al. , 1994 ) to supply pupils with chances to to the full prosecute in the acquisition. The instruction should give pupils chances to sound and show their thoughts in their ain cultural manner without being judged for being â€Å" unscientific. Teachers can easy make this by being unfastened yet still being sensible to the pupils. For case, follow more treatment type of lesson instead than teacher spoon feeding the pupils with the cognition at all clip or better known as the ‘chalk & A ; talk ‘ lesson. Students should besides be allowed every bit much as possible to use their autochthonal civilization cognition during any treatment or any category activity. ) . To ease pupils ‘ boundary line crossings, instructors and pupils both need to be flexible and playful, and to experience at easiness in the lupus erythematosus familiar civilization ( Lugones, 1987 ) . Based on different but related research plans in Western educational systems, Costa ( 1995 ) , Cobern ( 1994b ) , and Layton et Al. ( 1993, Ch. 8 ) semen to really similar policy recommendations: we should learn scientific discipline embedded in a societal and technological surroundings that has range and force for pupils ‘ universes, worldviews, or practical experiences ( severally ) that is the instruction in any manner should do connexion or relation with the society every bit good as the technological context. There is a demand for instructors to level barriers between pupils and scientific discipline, by doing the bringing of the scientific discipline content easy understood and supplying a vision of the importance of scientific discipline in their mundane life. For illustration in biological science, the factor impacting the rate of transpiration is besides applicable to factors to hanging apparels outside under the direct Sun. Teacher should show the scientific discipline learning with a different representation to avoid pupils to comprehend scientific discipline as something complex and abstract and in a manner that it is interesting and ever catching their attending and eliciting wonder doing them desire to larn more so they know more. The instruction should be presented in a simple mode in a manner that it should be directing that is utilizing simple 2nd communicating linguistic communication ( most of the clip for Science schoolroom would be English ) so it would be easier for the pupils to hold on the chief construct, for case in biological science, use the term little and big bowel alternatively of ileum or colon severally. The instruction should be inclusive particularly during category activities. It is inclusive in a manner that all pupils are made involved and they have the impression that every individual of them is capable of making what is instructed in the scientific discipline lesson during category activity on any scientific experiment for illustration the ability to utilize microscope to look at micro-organism. Students besides need to be given chance to research and play to show to them the merriment and prosecuting facets of larning scientific discipline. This is like giving them firsthand experiences in scientific discipline acquisition to supply a agency for them to entree scientific discipline, and to get down oppugning their topographic point in scientific discipline ( Howitt, www.aare.edu.au ) . Aikenhead ( 2001 ) one time stated that â€Å" When we perceive our pupils otherwise, our direction can alter consequently † . As a whole, Solomon and Aikenhead ( 1994 ) stated that instructors need to link the class content to pupils ‘ academic involvements by building a span to the civilization of Western scientific discipline out of proficient and societal issues, and out of the history, epistemology, and sociology of scientific discipline. Aikenhead et Al. ( 1998 ) suggested that instruction of scientific discipline should be able to pull upon the cultural universes of pupils and makes sense in those universes. Teaching methods should be developed to take in integrating the content or facets of another civilization into a pupils ‘ mundane civilization and enable pupils to bask and build intending out of Western scientific discipline without the demand to absorb scientific discipline ‘s cultural luggage ( Aikenhead et al. , 1998 ) .

SWOT Analysis for Amazon Company

SWOT Analysis for Amazon Company Amazon.com Inc, commonly denoted as (AMZN) is a leading global electronic commercial company and the most visited internet retail shopping destination internationally.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on SWOT Analysis for Amazon Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main headquarters of the company is in Seattle, Washington. Commercial icon, Jeff Bezos founded the company in the early 90s as Cadabra and later renamed it as Amazon.com. Amazon sells a variety of products, such as books, video, consumer electronics, music, household products and clothing (Mennen, 2010). The following is a detailed SWOT analysis of the company. Strengths Amazon.com, the U.S. largest internet retailer, commands three times the revenue of its close rival, the Staples Inc. It sells educating and entertaining media products. Amazon has had enormous acquisitions that resulted in the growth and faster delivery of purchased products. In the recent past, Amazon.com boasts on its strategy of rebuilding and investing in Research and Development, establishment of technology and innovative research centers. Seven years ago, it invested $700 million to establish offices for customer services, fulfillment and software development centers majorly in America, Europe and Asia. Moreover, the viewers’ assessments and comments provide feedback for any adjustment aimed at increasing revenue (Bangs, 2002). Weaknesses For the past four years since 2006, Amazon’s profits were negative implying that they are not able to cover operational costs. Outsource delivery firms contribute to low earnings and Amazon Associates, their marketers, receives 40% of revenue for marketing efforts. There have been reports of price bias within the Amazon marketing strategies. For example, DVD prices are different on some buyers. This posed as a competitive and a divisive barrier in on-line trading. In 2008, it received a lot of critics for i nhibiting publishers from directly selling at a compromise from their websites. The reason behind was that Amazon does not prioritize on those customers with heavy purchasing power. It has also reduced most of its services to major customers. Recently, it attracted negative publicity due frequent tax avoidance in Britain and U.S. Amazon is also under criticism for poor warehouse environment for staff, price discrimination and anti-competitive actions. Amazon sells products at zero margins to reap the market and do away with the competition. Though it is a tactical strategy in the short term, it reduces the profits in the long run (Madura, 2007). Competitors, on the other hand, will adapt by undertaking a differentiation strategy, thus losing customers.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Opportunities There are plenty of opportunities for Amazon to invest and uphold cu stomer beliefs that endorse the customer’s allegiance towards the company. Investing into technology is desirable for all their phases of interaction with buyers and suppliers which will augment the company’s reliability (Stubbs, 2011). Ventures in carrying out will present an enlarged level of sincere customer services, therefore, meeting consumer prospects. Moreover, partnerships in the private and community division such as with the famous British Library, will offer the surrounding community with the essential services of being competent to search for historical books. Amazon must initiate joint ventures, acquisitions and partnerships in order to increase the delivery time and efficiency. Amazon should consider partnering with other firms especially for the on-line retailing to promote seasonal stuff and attract new customers. Amazon can pursue niche clients by providing goods and services in diverse cultures and religions. They can also open more online retail sto res in those countries experiencing growing economies such as Asia and Europe so as to maintain growth levels. The company can consider releasing their own products and services and brands in its markets. Threats Amazon customers have to wait longer to take their delivery as compared with the time they can get from nearby retail stores. The enormous internet trade has attracted a lot of competitors making it difficult for Amazon to differentiate their services. Increasing delivery costs impacts negatively on the end user giving rise to poor reputation of the company. New alliances, networks and partnerships, shaped by the rival firms have strengthened battle for the market, thus increasing the marketing cost (Weber, 2010). High delivery period and charge have a tendency to divert the present and potential customers to regional bookstores. This gives rise to loss of revenues on those customers opting for local retail stores other than shopping at the Amazon website. When a customer m akes a transaction, personal bank details leak to unauthorized persons, therefore, posing a security threat leaving customers with an option to make their purchases on local bookstores. Concerns, over how these global companies avoid the payment of taxes to various countries is on the rise. Therefore, the governments will have no other option other than make it mandatory the payment of taxes based on their incomes. In this instance, Amazon’s earnings would be drastically reduced (Weber, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on SWOT Analysis for Amazon Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Given its global size, Amazon will not evade the growing competition from its competitors. For example, alliance between e-books providers and Apple Inc posed a challenge to them on internal pricing strategies. Without such a strategic alliance, most content providers were powerless to compete versus Amazon’s bargain ing power (Mennen, 2010). In conclusion, there are mixed perception on whether Amazon will remain leading in internet retail or not. From above, it is clear that Amazon is in a strong position because of more strengths and opportunities than the weaknesses and threats respectively. Reference Bangs, D. H. (2002). The market planning guide: Creating a plan to successfully market your business, product, or service. Chicago: Dearborn Trade Pub. Madura, J. (2007). Introduction to business. Mason, OH: Thompson/South-Western. Mennen, M. (2010). Global Corporate Strategy A Critical Analysis and Evaluation of Amazon.com. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH. Stubbs, E. (2011). The value of business analytics: Identifying the path to profitability. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. Weber, P. (2010). Abercrombie Fitch Marketing Analysis: A macro-environmental and competitive audit. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

buy custom World War I and America essay

buy custom World War I and America essay World War I was among the challenging moment in the history of America. As much as United States had a stable government, the war would have destroyed the nation if it were not for the progressive reforms. The war brought division of people in their ethnic groups, economic classes and their line of race. Moreover, President Woodrow Wilson conquered this by drafting reforms that united American as they faced the challenges of the war. By this, it was evident that the progressive reforms went hand in hand with the war efforts at home. The impact of the war was felt everywhere as it affected peoples lifestyle ranging from the poor to the rich. As a result, union officials, American civilians, civil right leaders, cooperate executive and women suffragists decided to turn the war to their advantage. The republicans used their resources to repay their efforts inthe war by introducing progressive taxation. This significantly boosted Americas economy as they gained from the war (Jaycox 27). As the war progressed, it was evident that people had started accepting their positions in the war. In other words, Wilsons effort to advocate for democracy may have been appreciated by people more than he anticipated. However, people contributed willingly than Wilson imagined because of the vengeance they had for the enemy. By this, Wilson did not rely on volunteers for the battles; instead, his draft was clear that the war was for all. Moreover, as much as the war was regarded as destruction of progressive reforms, it was the other way round. It was evident that the war fulfilled most of the progressive reforms through the intervention of effort at home and from the military (Carlisle and Golson 32). Through the coallition of prominent businessmen led by the house of Morgan, their interests were pursued by the government. In other words, they took advantage of this period, to heighten the economy, by regulating prices and production, restrict competition, and protect foreign investments. To sum up, the war was a means of social empowerment, social capital rose, activists credited the war to promoting progressive reform, wartime agencies helped corporate profits triple, working people were given eight-hour and living minimum wage as well as it boosted stalled moral move to ban alcohol. Although he declared neutrality, his sympathies lay with Great Britain and France that were being attacked by Germany. Wilson remained absolutely neutral a condition that raised different reactions including resignation of Bryan- secretary of state, protesting Wilsons handling of the situation. Buy custom World War I and America essay

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the role of the social media Essay

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the role of the social media or social news sites in reporting the Arab Spring in Egypt - Essay Example Within the context of the social media, the Arab Spring has become a more significant phenomenon, especially as the social media has propelled the issues preceding the Arab Spring into the very forefront of both the national and the international political discussions. However, the social media has also engaged the political discussions towards a less truthful direction, one swayed by public opinions which are not necessarily based on facts or contextual discussions. These conflicts indicate that there are strengths and weaknesses relating to the impact and role of the social media or social news sites in reporting the Arab Spring in Egypt. As such, these conflicts will now be discussed in this paper. First, a discussion of the strengths will be presented, followed by its weaknesses. A conclusion will summarize and restate the important points for this discussion. Body The social media has taken on a life on its own, especially in recent years with the entry of Facebook and Twitter i nto the electronic fray. The easy accessibility of electronic devices as well as the affordability and widespread use of the internet has also spurred the social media phenomenon into even greater heights and greater power. The momentum of social changes has now shifted from the political leaders to the general public who have discovered their power to bring down governments, political personalities, and other influential individuals with a simple click of their mouse. On the other side of the social media spectrum is the fact that the social media has become a rabid and non-contextual social tool which has taken on a dangerous life all on its own. Inasmuch as its strengths for the purposes of public welfare have become apparent, its weaknesses also represent the fickleness of a public eager to point any finger on perceived political failures. Strengths In the case of Egypt, protests started on the 25th of January 2011 and went on for 18 days (Aday, et.al., 2012). During such time, the protesters were spurred on by encouraging posts from the social media, not just from local users, but from different parts of the globe as well. Some of these encouraging posts were seen in the Facebook page Kullena Khaled Said allowed anonymous posts about the Egypt unrest from any interested individual anywhere across the globe (Scott, 2013). At one point, the government sought to curtail the internet use in the country in order to control the protests and limit the impact of the social media (Aday, et.al., 2012). This attempt proved to be unsuccessful and eventually the protests would result to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak who was a political power in the country for close to 30 years. In the above case, the social media was a vital cog in the Egyptian movement, and it was also further pushed further by the new generation of technology-savvy Egyptians (Chebib and Sohail, 2011). Facebook pages like â€Å"We are all Khalid Said† represented groups of individuals who were united in their cause and sentiments against the violence and oppression from the Egyptian government (Eltanwany and Wiest, 2011). These protestors were also widespread and active internet users, especially of the social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, allowing for the coordination of their activities. Facebook and Twitter helped the protesters anticipate when and

Capital Structure Decision and the Cost of Capital Essay

Capital Structure Decision and the Cost of Capital - Essay Example About These Firms Headquartered in California USA, eBay Inc. is an online auction website that was started in September 2005. You can buy almost anything on eBay, but it has to be legally admissible and not dangerous or restricted items. People bidding for items on eBay can use auction price listings, fixed price format or fixed price format with best offer. Presently eBay operates in around 30 countries. When it went public in September 2008, the price went up to $53.50 from $18.00 on the opening day of the IPO offer. As of 14 February 2012, the stock price of the eBay company (EBAY) was $32.89 and its market capitalization was 42.39 billion. It has a beta of 1.29. The Clorox Company is headquartered in Oakland, California and is best known for its Clorox bleach product that is a mixture of mainly chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The company was formed in May 1913 by a group of five entrepreneurs from different professions who decided to set up a commercial scale liquid bleach factory in the USA. Originally concentrating on industrial grade bleach, the founders nevertheless decided to create a less potent form of the bleach for household use in 1917, and sales skyrocketed. The FTC prevented a takeover bid from Procter & Gamble in 1957 from being successful due to monopoly and antitrust laws and Clorox was again made independent in 1967. In its quest for expansion and diversification, the company has experimented with everything from bottled water to beauty and cosmetics, but is still best known for its cleaning products such as Glad, Liquid Plumr, Formula 409, Pinesol, SOS and Tilex. As of 14 February 2012, the stock price of the Clorox Company (CLX) was $67.96 and its market capitalization was 8.83 billion. It has a beta of 0.7. Founded in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida by William Darden, Darden Restaurants operates and owns a chain of around 1800 restaurants mainly in the USA. However the franchise has expanded to Canada as well, having about 35 outlets there. Its casual dining themed restaurants include among others the Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Long Horn Steakhouse labels. Lacking the funds for further expansion, Darden had sold the chain to General Mills in 1970, but the purchaser rewarded him by placing Darden as President of the newly acquired business when the headquarters moved to Orlando. He was subsequently promoted to VP of Operations while the first Restaurant Manager, Joseph R. Lee assumed the position of President of Red Lobster. As of 14 February 2012, the stock price of Darden Restaurants (DRI) was $48.66 and its market capitalization was 6.25 billion. It has a beta of 0.41 (Yahoo Finance Website, 2012). Ratios and Financial Data Looking at the Yahoo Finance website, it appears that eBay earned revenues of $11.65 billion in 2011. Its profit margin was 27.72 percent, while ROA was 6.01 percent and ROE was 19.43 percent. When it comes to the Clorox Company, revenue earnings were $5.31 billion in 2011. The profit margin was 10 .45 percent, while ROA was 13.47 percent and ROE figure was not available. Taking the Darden Restaurant figures, this chain earned revenues of $7.74 billion in 2011. Darden’s profit margin was 5.80 percent, while its ROA was 7.89 percent and the ROE stood at 25.08 percent. Of course, though on the face of it, a comparison would make eBay the best of the three in terms of revenues earned, with Darden second and

U.A.E - the Greatest Industrial Hubs Term Paper

U.A.E - the Greatest Industrial Hubs - Term Paper Example Huge amount of investment is going on in this industry all over the world. This situation is not only encouraging more innovations in the field but also creating great and positive competitions in the world between different telecommunication companies. Middle East known by its enriched oil resources all over the world and this region is also a part of economical, political and social changes taking place all over the world since the time being. Most of the Middle East is known by west as biased towards fundamentalism concepts of religion. U.A.E has played a vital role in developing healthier and positive relations between west and east effectively (Etihad). Etisalat is the major telecommunication company in United Arab Emirates U.A.E and it is also one of the main companies present in Arabian Peninsula and Africa. It was founded in 1976 and became leading telecommunication service provider in the region. Over the last few years it has became one of the greatest corporations in the w orld creating partnerships with different telecommunication companies that are present in the world. It not only enabled U.A.E to have basic telecommunication services. ...Etisalat is the first company of the region which used Geographical information systems (GIS). Network convergence which is a concept becoming reality now days GIS is used by the company to specify network operations, increasing of customer satisfaction and relations and providing a way for innovations and developments. Over the years Etisalat is the company which has done many in-house updates accommodation all the modern ideas happening in this field. Etisalat is the company which has focused itself delivering innovative services and speeding of social and economic growth (Etislat 2011, 2-9). Etisalat’s international acquisition started from 2004 by wining second mobile phone license and first 3G services license in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Etisalat is the company which has experienced a great innovation in the field and became one of the greatest expanding companies. The satellite network of company covers almost two-third of earth’s surface. For almost 40 years Etisalat has helped its mother nation U.A.E to sustain its image as one of the greatest business hub present in the region. It provides reliable and high quality services favoring foreign investments. It is the one of the companies which has put its mother nation in top 10 countries regarding telecommunication services. Etisalat is the pioneer regarding the practicing of new technologies for both fixed line and wireless networks. It has installed first fiber optic network making Abu-Dhabi first city to have fiber optic network (Etisalat 2011, pages 3 to10). Etisalat is a multinational company which has companies from all over the world as its partners.

Anti- corruption and integrity at the car insurance company Essay

Anti- corruption and integrity at the car insurance company - Essay Example The study identifies the main causes of fraud cases and corruption in this industry. It has been identified that the major cause of fraud cases in the insurance companies is poor management in these organizations. It is necessary to have cooperation among the leaders in order to facilitate the policy formulation process. This essay declares that the issue of corruption and integrity in car insurance has become one of the major problems facing many insurance companies. Integrity is of great significance in any insurance company. Many companies have incurred huge losses through corruption. The long run success of any insurance company is determined by its ability to maintain a high level of integrity. Corruption and fraudulence in the car insurance companies has significantly affected their ability to provide quality services to their clients. For instance, when the company compensates fake cases, this may lower their ability to offer best services on the genuine cases. This may significantly affect the company’s performance both in the short and the long run. Frauds lead to increase in the car insurance premiums. The number of fraud cases has become very high while the companies incur too much in attempt to reduce the level of such cases. In many cases, companies encounter the cases of corrupti on in their day to day operations. These significantly hinder the company’s efforts to achieve their targets.

Personal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Personal - Essay Example For the next three hours, we tried to fix the ATV, while finding some hospitality nearby. Suddenly, as we were driving the ATV broke down as it the bump. No one knew what events were going to happen next. One of my friends was diabetic so we knew that we did not have much time. My friend tried to fix the ATV with many futile attempts. To make matters worse, couldn’t walk, and instead had to shuffle around from a  seated position. In order to gain some relief from the heat, we decided to spray themselves with their truck’ fire extinguishers. Thankfully, we got relief for a few seconds, then developed extremely painful open wounds across their skin from the blasts. The next day people started dying.  He couldn’t get a phone signal before his battery died, and he fell over when he tried to leave his car. He decided to stick with the vehicle, as it would be easier for rescuers to spot. It didn’t take long for him to become thirsty, so he went for the only available liquid—his car’s windshield fluid. However, knowing that he was d iabetic we knew we had no other choice. His lack of insulin was really a problem because we could not afford to lose him. The ATV exploded as my friends watched in vain.   Suddenly, we saw a bunch of men emerging from a view. We began to throw our hands in frenzy asking for attention. It was a very bad decision for many reasons because the men were pirates, kidnapping and stealing things to make money. They tied us up and took to their own cave and demanded us to call our parents to ask for ransom. With type 2 diabetes, we begged our friend to receive some treatment. However, they abductors were pretty much heartless and did not even give us some food/water. With our hands tied down, we tried to get out but it was not working. Our hope was completely dissolved as we thought our fate was sealed. We tried t signaling with his foil blanket, and lit fires at night with

IT metrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IT metrics - Essay Example The economic value of IT to a company tends to depend on the particular business needs of the company under focus. Broadly speaking, IT tends to contribute to four major areas in nearly all businesses. These areas include the corporate market position and revenue generation; customer support for business operations; direct and indirect fiscal benefits such as cost savings; and investments in IT that enhance the business operations through value addition. Depending on the nature of the business in focus, it would be pertinent to measure the value of IT contribution accordingly. It has been suggested that IT’s contribution to economic value can be measured most effectively considering the absence of the relevant IT services to a business (Sliger & Broderick, 2008). The economic value of IT to a business can be measured best when considering what would happen if IT services and goods were removed. Although this may seem an extreme method of quantification, it provides the most re alistic scenario. In a similar manner, businesses should focus on areas that matter most - such as the delivery of goods to customers after booking. This allows businesses to see how IT adds to the baseline operations and lets the business realize in what way IT system would augment revenues best. The implementation of IS in a business operation is to ensure that security breaches are not able to affect the entire business operation negatively. Quantifying the returns provided by IS to a business operations environment may not be simple at all.... This allows businesses to see how IT adds to the baseline operations and lets the business realize in what way IT system would augment revenues best. IS Value Assessment Models The implementation of IS in a business operation is to ensure that security breaches are not able to affect the entire business operation negatively. Quantifying the returns provided by IS to a business operations environment may not be simple at all. On the one hand, there are businesses that are transacting secure information such as credit card numbers using IT; on the other hand, there are businesses that are doing little more than providing customer support online. Using similar methods to measure IS value addition for various businesses is highly unrealistic so various models are in place that depend in large part on the nature of the business in question. It is recommended that businesses define in detail what areas are to be valued most in terms of security. The reasons behind such value addition class ification should also be expounded based on value addition to business operations. Once such value addition areas have been specified, the next step should be to classify IS value addition (Tsiakis & Pekos, 2008). Applicability of Traditional Financial Ratios and Measurements Traditional financial ratios and measurements cannot be applied to IT and IS directly, but instead, they require some manipulation before they can be applied. It is pertinent to note that fiscal ratios and measurements are not fully applicable to a number of different IT and IS areas such as the provision of bandwidth, virus detection rates, etc. However, this does not indicate that fiscal ratios and

Anti- corruption and integrity at the car insurance company Essay

Anti- corruption and integrity at the car insurance company - Essay Example The study identifies the main causes of fraud cases and corruption in this industry. It has been identified that the major cause of fraud cases in the insurance companies is poor management in these organizations. It is necessary to have cooperation among the leaders in order to facilitate the policy formulation process. This essay declares that the issue of corruption and integrity in car insurance has become one of the major problems facing many insurance companies. Integrity is of great significance in any insurance company. Many companies have incurred huge losses through corruption. The long run success of any insurance company is determined by its ability to maintain a high level of integrity. Corruption and fraudulence in the car insurance companies has significantly affected their ability to provide quality services to their clients. For instance, when the company compensates fake cases, this may lower their ability to offer best services on the genuine cases. This may significantly affect the company’s performance both in the short and the long run. Frauds lead to increase in the car insurance premiums. The number of fraud cases has become very high while the companies incur too much in attempt to reduce the level of such cases. In many cases, companies encounter the cases of corrupti on in their day to day operations. These significantly hinder the company’s efforts to achieve their targets.

IT metrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IT metrics - Essay Example The economic value of IT to a company tends to depend on the particular business needs of the company under focus. Broadly speaking, IT tends to contribute to four major areas in nearly all businesses. These areas include the corporate market position and revenue generation; customer support for business operations; direct and indirect fiscal benefits such as cost savings; and investments in IT that enhance the business operations through value addition. Depending on the nature of the business in focus, it would be pertinent to measure the value of IT contribution accordingly. It has been suggested that IT’s contribution to economic value can be measured most effectively considering the absence of the relevant IT services to a business (Sliger & Broderick, 2008). The economic value of IT to a business can be measured best when considering what would happen if IT services and goods were removed. Although this may seem an extreme method of quantification, it provides the most re alistic scenario. In a similar manner, businesses should focus on areas that matter most - such as the delivery of goods to customers after booking. This allows businesses to see how IT adds to the baseline operations and lets the business realize in what way IT system would augment revenues best. The implementation of IS in a business operation is to ensure that security breaches are not able to affect the entire business operation negatively. Quantifying the returns provided by IS to a business operations environment may not be simple at all.... This allows businesses to see how IT adds to the baseline operations and lets the business realize in what way IT system would augment revenues best. IS Value Assessment Models The implementation of IS in a business operation is to ensure that security breaches are not able to affect the entire business operation negatively. Quantifying the returns provided by IS to a business operations environment may not be simple at all. On the one hand, there are businesses that are transacting secure information such as credit card numbers using IT; on the other hand, there are businesses that are doing little more than providing customer support online. Using similar methods to measure IS value addition for various businesses is highly unrealistic so various models are in place that depend in large part on the nature of the business in question. It is recommended that businesses define in detail what areas are to be valued most in terms of security. The reasons behind such value addition class ification should also be expounded based on value addition to business operations. Once such value addition areas have been specified, the next step should be to classify IS value addition (Tsiakis & Pekos, 2008). Applicability of Traditional Financial Ratios and Measurements Traditional financial ratios and measurements cannot be applied to IT and IS directly, but instead, they require some manipulation before they can be applied. It is pertinent to note that fiscal ratios and measurements are not fully applicable to a number of different IT and IS areas such as the provision of bandwidth, virus detection rates, etc. However, this does not indicate that fiscal ratios and

Hotel and Information Systems Essay Example for Free

Hotel and Information Systems Essay It has been accepted for inclusion in Communications of the Association for Information Systems by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact [emailprotected] org. 102 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 OUTRIGGER HOTELS AND RESORTS: A CASE STUDY Gabriele Piccoli School of Hotel Administration Cornell University [emailprotected] edu ABSTRACT This case describes the history, strategy, and current information systems infrastructure of a midsize, privately owned hospitality firm. The case is designed to provide the substantial background information needed to engage successfully in setting direction for IS resources and their use at Outrigger Hotels and Resorts headquartered in Hawaii. It enables students to analyze the firm’s strategy thoroughly and to assess its current use of information systems resources. With this assessment as a starting point, students can develop an appropriate IS vision, IS architecture, and a strategic IS plan for Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. The case was originally designed to use the process of setting direction for IS resources as described by Martin and colleagues [2005], but is flexible enough to adapt to the structure of other approaches to planning for information systems use. Keywords: IS planning, IS assessment, IS visioning, infrastructure, hospitality. Editor’s Note: A teaching note is available from the author to faculty so requiring it that are listed in the MISRC-ISWorld Faculty Directory. I am involved with every decision that senior management takes. They look to me for an IS slant to it – whether an IT solution can capitalize on opportunities or eliminate threats. They also expect my team to independently develop an IS strategy that will further the business. Joe Durocher, Senior Vice President CIO Every manager must have an IT strategy. You can’t delegate to technologists and only worry about your allocated cost or what training your employees need. You must understand how to be master of your own destiny and make IT work best for you. Too many managers still don’t get that. Rob Solomon, Senior Vice President Sales Marketing Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 103 I. INTRODUCTION Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, a mid-size lodging firm focused on leisure travel to the Hawaiian Islands and the South Pacific, uses Information Technology (IT) in numerous aspects of its operations and therefore must carefully engage in the information systems planning process. After analyzing Outrigger’s strategy and assessing the firm’s current use of information systems resources, we can develop an appropriate IS vision, IS architecture, and a strategic IS plan for Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. On Black Friday, September 13, 1929, Roy C. Kelley arrived in Hawaii with his wife Estelle. An architect by training, Mr. Kelley joined the firm of C. W. Dickey and was responsible for designing many of Honolulus landmark buildings, including the main building of the old Halekulani Hotel and the Waikiki Theater on Kalakaua Avenue. Nine years later Kelley set out on his own, building numerous homes, apartment buildings, and hotels on the island of Oahu. In 1963, Kelley took over the land occupied by the old Outrigger Canoe Club. Outrigger Hotels then became a reality with the mission of bringing the dream of a vacation in Paradise within the reach of the middle-class traveler. Included in the agreement were leases on three Waikiki lots that later became the Outrigger East, Outrigger West, and Coral Reef hotels. The Outrigger Waikiki Hotel was built on the site of the old canoe club, arguably the prime spot on Waikiki beach, in 1967. Throughout the next two decades, Outrigger Hotels Hawaii, as the company was named, continued its expansion in Waikiki. When in the 1970’s the zoning authority put a cap on new construction in Waikiki, Outrigger began to expand through acquisition rather than construction, ultimately becoming the largest chain in the State of Hawaii, with over 7,000 rooms and a total of 15 properties concentrated in Waikiki. Thanks to its clustered configuration, with all of its hotels located within one square mile, Outrigger was able to maintain a centralized management structure fitting Mr. Kelley’s ‘management by walking around’ style. In 1989, Outrigger Hotels Hawaii, now under the leadership of Roy Kelley’s son Dr. Richard Kelley, took over management of The Royal Waikoloan Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii. When hurricane Iniki, heading for Waikiki in 1992, barely missed Honolulu and ravaged the island of Kauai, it provided further impetus for Outrigger’s geographical diversification strategy to and beyond neighboring islands. The firm, expanding into management agreements with third party owners, added properties on Maui and Kauai and ultimately grew to a total of 26 locations in the Hawaiian Islands. In 1996 the firm made its first international foray, opening the Outrigger Marshall Island Resort on Majuro Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Through partnerships, joint ventures, acquisitions, and new developments the firm continued to grow internationally, adding properties in Guam, Fiji, Tahiti, Australia, and New Zealand. While growing geographically, in 1990 Outrigger Hotels Hawaii began to diversify its product portfolio by adding condominium resorts. Because of ts geographical and product diversification, in 1995 Outrigger Hotels Hawaii changed its name to Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, and in 1999 re-branded fifteen of its hotels in Waikiki to launch a new hotel brand called OHANA Hotels of Hawaii. We had an identity crisis because the market moved up, we upgraded the onbeach properties where we had higher demand and bought some nice properties in neighboring islands. But we had huge variation in the portfolio—if you stayed at a budget property vs. a beach front property, you’d be very confused as to what an Outrigger was. President and CEO, David Carey Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli 104 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 Figure 1: Outrigger Properties in Waikiki Figure 2: Outrigger Properties in the Hawaiian Islands Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 105 Figure 3. Properties Managed by Outrigger Hotels and Resorts (International) The on-beach properties became upscale full-service hotels under the Outrigger brand. The condos, also typically on-beach upscale locations, maintained the Outrigger brand. Conversely, the OHANA brand was positioned to cater to the budget traveler looking for value on off-beach properties. Condominiums represented an increasingly important share of the total portfolio of properties, even though the firm stumbled upon the opportunity that condominiums offered. Condominiums appealed to independent travelers who would do much research and planning on their own. Condominiums were also complex, non-standard products that travel agents and wholesalers found hard to sell. Because condos were rarely built as business ventures, but rather were designed as primary or vacation homes for the tenants, they offered little office or staging space for management companies to operate in. They also lacked many of the typical hotel services and departments such as food and beverage, room service, laundry, and daily maid service. These difficulties notwithstanding, Outrigger found the condo business appealing because it provided a means for expansion through management contracts without the need to acquire expensive properties. By 2005, Outrigger was a sizable firm, with about 3,600 employees (of whom about 230 were at corporate headquarters), a portfolio of properties exceeding US $1. 4 billion, and approximate revenues of US $45 million [Hotel On-Line, 2003]. But at the heart of its strategic positioning a commitment remained to providing a ‘sense of place,’ an experience attuned to the culture and the characteristics of the destination, and to avoiding a cookie cutter approach. Our business is really about being a â€Å"window† to an experience, not the experience itself. We are the enabler through which people can engage in the leisure experience they desire. We don’t try to export Hawaii when we go elsewhere, but we do honor the same values in the places we operate hotels and resorts. David Carey Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli 106 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 Outrigger’s senior management believed that its key competencies resided in providing hospitality to guests visiting their properties and marketing those properties successfully through leisure distribution channels. To complement these basic competencies, Outrigger’s management developed what it believed to be a superior capability to manage in a multicultural environment, including multicultural and multilingual employees and guests. Aided by a turnover rate in the single digits and an average of 25 years of employee tenure with the company, Outrigger managed to be a mostly non-union shop in the heavily unionized Hawaii labor market. We operate properties that have good locations, we have a strong travel distribution network, and our employees really provide hospitality from the heart. That creates a differentiated product making price less important. David Carey Outrigger was wedded to the success of its destination markets and to the well-being of airlines serving its destinations. If Hawaii does well, so do we. I spend a lot of time working with local tourism authorities to improve the appeal of the destinations we operate in. But airlines can be a bottleneck. We may not have available lift at times when we need it. If the airlines are full or they have decided in their yield model that they are going to only sell their top fares, there is nothing we can do. From purely the hotels’ perspective, the best thing for us is an airline price war to Hawaii. David Carey III. THE HOTELS AND RESORTS INDUSTRY As the 21st century dawned, the global lodging industry was estimated to exceed $295 billion in sales (about 11% of the world’s economic output) and employed more than 250 million workers [Encyclopedia of Global Industries, 2003]. The leisure travel segment accounted for about 45% of total volume [Horwath International, 2002]. THE HAWAIIAN HOTEL MARKET In the Hawaiian market, which was Outrigger’s traditional stronghold, 2004 data showed performance levels above the average of the global industry. Being quite isolated from any large population pool, Hawaii was a classic destination market with an exclusive fly-in customer base. The major feeders were U. S. westbound traffic and Japanese eastbound traffic. These markets were thought to yield very high return rates1—estimated by some to be around 50% westbound and over 65% eastbound. This trend made for a very location-savvy customer base. Peculiar to this market was also the trend of multi-island stays, with guests visiting more than one destination during the same trip. Table 1. Performance of Hawaii Hotel Market Occupancy Avg. Number of rooms Average Daily Rate2 Revenue* * Amounts per available room 72. 1% 706 $198. 41 $78,488 In the hotel business, return rate is used to refer to the percentage of visitors who come back again for more than one visit to the same location. 2 Average Daily Rate (ADR), is the average of all rates charged on a given date for all rooms sold that day. A yearly ADR can be computed by averaging ADRs for all days of the year. 1 Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 107 PRICING Because the Hawaii and Pacific Rim markets were exclusive destination markets, the use of packages – including air and accommodations – was pervasive. Historically, packages were assembled and sold by wholesalers and tour operators who purchased both air and hotel rooms in bulk and re-marketed them to the traveling public. With the widespread adoption of the Internet, a new type of package was emerging under the leadership of large online travel agencies: dynamic packages. A dynamic package was one that enabled the guest to choose air, hotel, car rental, and even activities, ticket them independently, and then price them out as a bundle. Dynamic packages were appealing to suppliers because the price of each item was not disclosed, making price comparison difficult and alleviating commoditization fears. They were appealing to prospective travelers because they increased choice and fostered flexibility. Finally, they appealed to online travel agents because they built upon their value proposition—customer choice—and could potentially improve their margins. COMPETITORS As a mature destination, Hawaii had been entered by many of the larger branded hospitality and resort companies. The largest hospitality firms, such as Marriott International, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, and Starwood, developed a significant presence with eight, five, and eleven properties respectively. But the largest operators in Hawaii were geographically- and leisure-focused players such as Outrigger, ASTON Hotels ; Resorts Hawaii (with twenty-eight properties), and Marc Resorts Hawaii (with eleven properties). IV. OUTRIGGER CUSTOMERS AND THE COMPETITION THE OUTRIGGER HOTELS AND RESORTS CUSTOMERS Outrigger’s original mission was to bring the opportunity for a vacation in Paradise within the reach of middle-class families. As the firm began to diversify its portfolio, the profile of its customers and the competition also changed. The typical guest staying with the premium brand – Outrigger – was often a multigenerational customer with a sense of loyalty to the brand (about 25% of guests were returning to Outrigger) and an annual income exceeding $75,000. Outrigger guests were almost exclusively leisure travelers. This customer base created seasonality, with winter and summer being the high seasons when properties like the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach reached an ADR of $260 and an overall occupancy around 90%. Our customers are independent-minded and look for an experience that is more regional and attuned to the destination, but still within their comfort zone. They may stay with big brands in their road warrior capacity, but that’s not what they are looking for in a tropical destination. Rob Solomon Table 2. Outriggers Portfolio and Sample Competitors Location Properties Rooms Lowest Rate * Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Waikiki 2 1,383 $160 Starwood Hotels and Resorts Waikiki 4 4,132 $150 Marriott International Waikiki 1 1,297 $209 Hyatt Hotels and Resorts Waikiki 1 1,230 $210 Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Guam Fiji 2 895 $203 Starwood Hotels and Resorts Guam Fiji 3 995 $145 Hilton Hotels and Resorts Guam 1 587 $110 *Rates for comparable rooms as they appear on the company website, December 2004, for January 2005 stays Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli 108 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 Competing for these customers, Outrigger went head-to-head with major brands that enjoyed name recognition amongst the traveling public, a flow of customers redeeming points, available capital, and availability of programs for employees such as discounted travel beyond Hawaii and the Pacific region. In response, Outrigger leveraged its assets: some of the premier locations in the markets in which it competed, strong name recognition, long-term relationships with the travel distribution network, a strategic focus on vacation destinations, a deep local knowledge and community ties, and good employee relations. THE OHANA HOTELS CUSTOMERS The typical OHANA guest was a value-minded and Hawaii-savvy leisure traveler with income below $100k a year. Typically, OHANA guests had visited Hawaii multiple times, stayed longer than average, and visited more often. Business travel was mainly military personnel and employees of corporations who operated on multiple islands. Groups accounted for less that 10% of OHANA’s overall traffic. We have about 50% return guests. Your first trip you want a beach front hotel, the atmosphere, the ambiance—you want the full Hawaii experience. When you come more often, you still want the experience, but you look for more value and instead of spending $250-$300 a night for a beachfront you can stay longer offbeach for $70-$80 a night. Chuck Shishido, OHANA Hotels VP of Operations With seasonality similar to that of the full service Outrigger Hotels, OHANA Hotels typically achieved an ADR around $66 and approximate occupancy levels of 75% over the year. A number of small regional chains (such as Marc Resorts and Castle Resorts) and many off-beach independent hotels existed in the Waikiki market. Pricing for off-beach properties was much harder to manage because of the commodity nature of the hotels not enjoying a premium location. OHANA was the largest operator in Waikiki and the largest Hawaii-owned operator. Table 3. OHANA’s Portfolio and Sample Competitors Location Properties Rooms Lowest Rate * OHANA Waikiki 13 4564 $76 Marc Resorts Waikiki 4 314 $74 Castle Resorts Waikiki 6 N/A $75 * Rates for comparable rooms as they appear on the company website, December 2004, for January stays CONDOMINIUMS CUSTOMERS Two types of customers typically stayed at the condominiums. On the low end of the $90,000 to $160,000 income bracket were families visiting during school breaks, looking to control expenses, and control their vacation experience. They valued the full kitchen – a standard in every unit – and the two bedrooms and two baths. This assessment was substantiated by the fact that condos had four times as many reservations coming direct from the Internet and tended to recover faster after a soft economy. On the upper end were ‘newlyweds’ and ‘nearly dead’ couples who liked the privacy and space afforded by a condo. Because of the need to convince individual owners to join the pool of Outrigger managed units, the firm competed with small local management companies and individual owners’ beliefs that they could do a better job alone. This idiosyncrasy of condominium operations amounted to dealing with two customers—the unit owners and the guests. The guests were unaware of the workings of condo operations and looked for the same level of service they would receive at a resort. On average, a condominium with mostly two bedroom units would achieve an ADR around $175, while properties with mostly studio and one bedroom units would go for around $140. Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 109 MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION Outrigger operated a Central Reservation Office (CRO) in Denver, Colorado with anywhere from 40 to 70 reservationists (FTEs), mainly depending on the volume of business. A corporate marketing staff of 12 people, allocated about 6% of revenue, was responsible for managing the brand and for going to market. An additional 2% of revenue was used to fund reservation and other distribution costs. Reservations were centralized for all properties in Hawaii; beyond Hawaii reservations were only taken at each property. Outrigger’s executives believed that distribution was a cornerstone of the company’s success, with about 50% of the business coming from wholesalers. Consumer direct (via voice or the Web), travel agents, government and military, and corporate clients made up the rest. For international properties, the source of business percentage from wholesalers was close to 80% and almost all reservations were faxed to the property. V. OUTRIGGER’S ORGANIZATION Outrigger Hotels and Resorts was a management company wholly owned by a holding corporation called Outrigger Enterprises. Reflecting its real estate development roots, Outrigger Enterprises also owned a real estate ownership company called Outrigger Properties. Figure 4 shows the Outrigger organization. Figure 4. Organization Chart Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli 110 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 Outrigger Properties wrote and managed real estate contracts with third party owners and supervised the owned assets (accounting for about a third of all properties in the Outrigger portfolio), as well as the development, acquisition, and sale of properties. Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, the operating arm of Outrigger Enterprises, was responsible for the writing of new management contracts, and for overseeing property renovations and operations of the managed hotels, resorts, and condos. Outrigger Properties generally negotiated a base rent and a 3 percentage of revenue with tenants; revenues from leased space were assigned to the hosting property’s own PL. Room revenue made up the bulk of each property’s revenue. Income from leased space ranged from as low as 5% in hotels with little retail space to as high as 20% in some of the most appealing locations. Other more marginal revenue was derived from parking, in-room entertainment, telecommunications, and kids’ clubs operations. Outrigger Hotels and Resorts historically maintained a highly centralized organizational structure. As the firm grew in size and geographical distribution a more distributed structure emerged, but, reflecting its roots, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts remained consolidated where possible. We have centralized services – accounting, IT, finance, engineering, purchasing, special projects – that support all the properties on Oahu, as well as indirectly the neighboring islands. There is also one executive housekeeper in charge of all properties. We run the OHANA Hotels like a 4,200 room distributed hotel. It is very efficient. Chuck Shishido As the firm expanded internationally it became more decentralized, with resorts in the Pacific Rim working much more like independent operations and organized like traditional resorts. Recognizing the significant advantages offered by its centralized structure, Outrigger was looking at the possibility of integrating its international resorts better. However, distance presented new challenges: We need a reservation solution for Australia, a real-time coordination with a central reservation service. They are operated as individual hotels; the central 800 number today is just switched to the correct hotel. A centralized system would offer tremendous value because we get drive-in business and substantial potential cross-property traffic. Executive VP and COO Perry Sorenseon, VI. OUTRIGGER IT INFRASTRUCTURE Joe Durocher, the CIO of Outrigger Enterprises, was hired by David Carey in 1986. Mr. Roy Kelly was a hands-on manager. He once told me he hated two things: computers and vice presidents. As the VP of IT, I had two strikes against me. Yet, in 1986 I was brought in to overhaul Outrigger’s IT infrastructure and we built Stellex—our integrated CRS/PMS. At the time all our properties were in Waikiki, within one square mile of each other. Joe Durocher In this type of agreement the landlord receives a fixed payment plus a percentage of the total sales made by the tenant business (e. g. , restaurant, shop). 4 The CRS, Central Reservation System, is the computer system used by a hotel chain to support call center operations and, generally, its web site. The CRS holds chain-wide inventory and allows reservationists to sell room inventory at all the hotels affiliated with the chain. The PMS, Property Management System, is the â€Å"brain† of hotel operations. It is the computer system that is used to manage the inventory of hotel rooms at an individual property. 3 Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 111 Figure 5. Timeline of Major Infrastructure Developments at Outrigger OUTRIGGER’S SOFTWARE Stellex, to which Durocher refers, was introduced in 1987 as a COBOL application that guaranteed complete redundancy and 24 x 365 uptime. These two properties are particularly important in the hotel business, which depends on being able to make reservations at any time during the day and wants to make sure that its computer system is always operational. For the technically minded, the application ran on a Tandem NonStop platform and a proprietary Enscribe database management system. 5 In 1992, Outrigger introduced its first major update to Stellex, Stellex 2. 0, which ran on a Sun Microsystems UNIX platform and provided revenue management functionality and reservation center support. Because of its unique need for substantial wholesale interaction, Outrigger engaged Opus, a software company specializing on revenue management systems,6 to build their revenue management module for Stellex 2. 0. Outrigger retained control of Opus’ source code7 and over the years made substantial enhancements, mainly to manage wholesale relationships. Outrigger implemented JD Edwards ERP as the cornerstone of its back-office operations in 1990, years before the ERP craze swept the business world. JD Edwards ran on an IBM AS 400—widely considered to be a mature and stable platform. The firm felt that its centralized IT infrastructure was a source of competitive advantage. Durocher discussed the trade-offs associated with centralized IT: Decentralizing IT would decrease our capabilities while increasing overall costs. But centralized IT creates friction at times. When a hotel is sold for example, the IT allocation may increase for other properties. 8 Joe Durocher Stellex provided the anchor to which all other operational systems connected, including telephone switches, call accounting, and in-room entertainment. All of the properties in the Hawaiian Islands had access to Outrigger’s centralized IT systems, served from the Honolulu-based data center, through the firm’s proprietary Wide Area Network. Stellex, for example, was accessed using an ASP model by all the properties in the Hawaiian Islands, the firm’s Denver-based Central Reservation Office, and the Portland, Oregon-based Web servers, thereby greatly simplifying the achievement of single image inventory, disaster recovery, and overall IT management. This configuration enabled the properties to operate with PCs (as few as 12 in a 5 Tandem Computer Systems was bought up by Compaq in 1997. Compaq, in turn was purchased by HP. Enscribe is still in business in December 2004. 6 Opus was subsequently bought by Micros-Fidelio, the dominant hospitality-focused software company. 7 ‘Source code’ refers to the original, human readable computer program. By owning it, Outrigger could change it as they saw fit. Note that Microsoft, for example, guards its source code jealously so that others can’t change Microsoft’s programs. 8 In many companies, such as Outrigger, IT costs are allocated to users, such as hotels, on an annual basis. IT cost is relatively fixed and not affected much by the number of units it supports. If a property is sold, the fixed cost allocated to all other properties must therefore go up. Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli 112 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 Figure 6. Outriggers IT Infrastructure typical 500-room property) and networking equipment. The Point of Sales (POS) systems9 were not centralized, since Outrigger leased retail and restaurant space. This state of affairs generated some friction at times: The POS is the computer software used to support retail and restaurant operations. It enables operators to keep track of sales and accurately bill customers. Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 113 We offer to interface their POSs to Stellex and pay for interfaces to automate room charges. But many of those POS ar e old and can’t interface, they must be upgraded first. Restaurants have to write a manual charge voucher and walk it to the front desk for input. It’s not a popular or efficient way to do it. VP of Property Technology, Allen White Due to the need for local support, the high telecommunication costs to and from Hawaii, and the unacceptable reliability of international networks, Outrigger did not extend this centralized model to its operations in Australia and the Pacific. The properties in Australia and New Zealand, all condominiums, used a highly specialized PMS particularly well suited for their condominium properties and their unique tax code requirements. None of the properties in Hawaii has a server on property. In the outer regions we have standalone PMS’s and on-property reservations. We don’t even try to keep Stellex in sync, they just open and close. If a date is getting full, they issue a stop-sell. Reservations that are taken centrally are automatically emailed. Joe Durocher APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT Beyond maintaining and upgrading Stellex, Outrigger’s IT professionals engaged in minimal application development—mainly writing customized reports, and configuring and interfacing offthe-shelf applications. The use of outsourcing was limited to the Web site, developed and hosted by a third party in Portland, Oregon. Yet, in order to maintain the integration of direct channels, Stellex served as the booking engine behind Outrigger’s Web site. A key initiative for Outrigger was the development of electronic interfaces with wholesalers. These interfaces were customdeveloped by the firm’s IT group using XML. 10 With many wholesalers we have real-time electronic interfaces—they can check availability and we get their reservations instantaneously. Without the interface, if they create a reservation six or three months out, we don’t see it until reporting time, ten days out, when we receive a fax and manually input it. It is virtually impossible to revenue manage like that. Many big brands have great revenue management systems, but don’t have real-time wholesaler data. Moreover, we can write wholesale contracts brand-wide. Joe Durocher Outrigger felt that its electronic interfaces afforded it a competitive advantage and preferential treatment from interface-enabled wholesalers, a relationship that proved particularly important during slow periods or a soft economy. Electronic interfaces generated substantial efficiencies, including automatic billing and invoicing without human handling, lowering estimated costs for these functions to $0. 75 from an estimated $10 for manually handled ones. But not all wholesalers were able or interested in automating reservation processing. This lack of interest was particularly true for small operations or those for whom Hawaii and the Pacific represented a small percentage of business. The industry is a mess from a connectivity standpoint. We are fortunate that we have the in-house expertise and the recognition from senior management of how important this is. Even the big companies often don’t understand the conditions for success. The dirty little secret of the travel industry is that the fax machine still rules. Rob Solomon 10 XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. It is a language used to create a protocol enabling computer applications of partnering firms to exchange information easily. Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli 114 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005) 102-118 I spend 30-40 hours a week working with wholesalers on interfaces. There are many legacy systems out there; the fax is state of the art. We have made great progress with the more advance wholesalers or those that upgraded recently. Alan White Outrigger found the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) XML standards, specifying common message format and common content, of great help. But being able to pick the right partner, and avoid costly failures, remained the major challenge. While Outrigger felt it had been successful to date, with an estimated 33% of total reservations received electronically through the various channels, it still handled more than half a million faxes a year—about eight hundred a day from its largest wholesaler alone before that wholesaler migrated to the electronic interface. The firm felt that it had been able to capitalize on the use of technology to increase distribution efficiencies in the face of ever rising labor costs. Conversion rates at the Central Reservation Office improved from 20% to 45%-50% with widespread consumer adoption of the Internet. The firm estimated that as much as 60% of callers had already researched the Outrigger website and made a purchase decision but, as Solomon put it, â€Å"had one more question. † In an effort to provide support right on the website, the firm introduced live chat functionalities and offered email confirmation for significant savings in labor and postage costs. DATA MANAGEMENT In 2001, Outrigger acquired business intelligence software, a data mart, and analytical tools from 11 E. piphany running on a Windows 2000 platform. The data mart held detailed data for three years, enabling analysis down to the individual guest folio. Data were consolidated afterwards, enabling only aggregate analyses. While E. piphany was a recent purchase, Outrigger had been disciplined in collecting data for some time. We had 10 years of high quality data from Stellex; we are very rigid about data capture standardization like room category, naming conventions, request codes, [and] what goes where. For example, postal and country codes are mandatory fields. Our employees’ long tenure helps, and peer pressure is a great asset— nobody wants to be the one that ruins the value of these reports for all. Alan White The data collected by Stellex, including source of business, stay information, and consumption, were extracted every night by load programs that scrubbed (i. e. , cleaned) them, and transferred them to the JD Edwards ERP system for accounting and to the E. piphany system for analysis. Feeding historical data and forward looking availability and reservation activity, Outrigger learned to harness the analytical power of E. piphany to do forecasts and generate business intelligence both at the source of business and at guest levels. We want the marketing data. It is stupid to have a treasure trove like that and not use it. We mine it. We send thank you letters to recurring guests, we can give you history on who visited, how they got here, what in-flight magazine we should hit. We sold a resort once and they figured they would have to hire 3 people to achieve manually what our reports gave them automatically. They even set their rates based on E. piphany forecasts. Alan White The IT group served as custodian of the data, but any user with security clearance had access to E. piphany data though a web interface; the data was used for marketing and operational analysis (e. g. , analysis of call patterns to evaluate the appeal of Voice over IP solutions). Incorporating the information into daily operations was more challenging. Definitions of technical terms such as Business Intelligence, Data Mart, Data Mining, and many others used throughout this case study can be found free of charge at http://www. whatis. com. 11 Outrigger Hotel and Resorts: A Case Study by G. Piccoli Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2005)102-118 115 Outrigger found it hard to justify a frequent guest program—with an average repurchase cycle for returning guests of three years, a once a year purchase was considered very high in Hawaii resort operations. Speaking about recognition programs, Individual properties have their own customer database and a strong informal recognition system. We haven’t been able to justify the investment technologically to do it brand wide. It would be a natural extension of the recognition we give our return guests, but it must be cost-effective. Perry Sorenson If a guest did not tell us he is returning when making the reservation, our current system does not have a database with guest history. Many times we recognize our frequent return guests only at the door, or during check in at the front desk. We have special programs (e. g. , for honeymooners, wedding anniversaries), but we need to know their history to appropriately acknowledge these returning guests. VP of Operations for Outrigger’s Waikiki Beachfront Hotels Kimberly Agas, a 20 year veteran with the company, IT STAFFING AND ORGANIZATION Outrigger’s IT staff consisted of 26 full time employees. Of these, 4 data entry operators and 3 developers were housed in a separate limited liability company to help Outrigger take advantage of tax incentives offered by the state of Hawaii.