Poetry and Harlem Renaissance Essay Example for Free

Poetry and Harlem Renaissance Essay According to this poem, is there an answer to the question asked in the first line: What happens to a dream deferred? Explain how the poem does or does not answer the question. This poem was written in 1951, approximately twenty years after the end of the Harlem Renaissance. It is the only poem in this chapter on the Harlem Renaissance that was written years after its end. How is the content of the poem possibly related to Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance within a post-Renaissance perspective? Explain. The Weary Blues (pages 959-960) Listen  to the poem being read at this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdmp5lnj2WQ . Listening to the audio is well worth the time. After listening to the spoken version, Listen  to this version, which includes musical accompaniment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyqwvC5s4n8feature=related . Who is the narrator of the poem? Is the narrator different from the piano player in the poem? Is there a difference in the style of the poem as it shifts between the voice of the narrator and the voice of the singer? Explain. Are there any clues within the poem about the life of the singer? Why might the singer have the blues? How do you interpret the last line of the poem? Why does Hughes, the poet, choose to use the word dead? The Harlem Dancer (pages 963-964) This poem is an English (or Shakespearean) sonnet with three quatrains and an ending couplet. What celebration seems to be made in the three quatrains? How is this celebration deflated in the ending couplet? From the preface to The Book of American Negro Poetry (pages 964-966) According to Johnson, what are the contributions that can be made by Negro poets? Do you think that Johnsons statement the richest contribution that the Negro poet can make to the American literature of the future will be fusion into it of his own individual artistic gifts has been realized from 1921, the year the preface was written, to today? Why or why not? Explain your answer thoroughly.

Financial Analysis of Ryanair and British Airways

Financial Analysis of Ryanair and British Airways Financial analysis The purpose of financial analysis is to determine the financial health of a business. Generally, this analysis is performed by the professionals who prepare reports using the ratios taken from various financial reports. The financial ratios calculated are also helpful to compare with different business. The following analysis studies the four major financial positions of BA and Ryan air; Profitability, Efficiency, Liquidity and Financial gearing. Profitability: It is the primary goal for any business, without this the business cannot be projected in long run. The purpose of measuring profitability is the key contribution for success of business. The ratios which are used to evaluate profitability are listed below: Return on ordinary shareholders funds (ROSF) Return on capital employed (ROCE) Net profit margin Gross profit margin. ROSF: It compares the amount of profit for the period available to the owner’s average stake in the business during that same period. The ratio is expressed below: ROSF = (Net profit after taxation and preference dividend (if any) / ordinary share capital +reserves) Ãâ€" 100 The Ratios calculated for BA Ryan air are shown below: From the above table, it is clearly seen that BA values are inconsistent but whereas Ryan air tends to show improvement every year which gives more profits to the shareholders. From the definition we can say that the high ROSF %, the more profit available to shareholders. The year 2011 considered to be good for both airlines BA and Ryan air, since they are making huge profits and improved revenues compared to their previous year performance. As a result, their ROSF had risen to 26% 11.34% which resulting high profits to the shareholders. This scenario has changed completely when it comes to 2012 for BA. If their investors left their money in bank, they could have got some positive returns. But instead BA returned (3.6%) to their investors. Though its revenue is increased by 8% and operational cost by 11% it continued to show appreciable operating results. However, due to exceptional costs items like expense related to pensions, BMI’s acquisition affected the BA economy. On the other hand, Ryan air returned 16.11% which is higher than previous year to the shareholders. This is because Ryan air revenue increased by 25% and profit by 50% approximately compared to 2011. (According to annual report 2012).Though its operating costs are increased due to (fuel price rise) it managed to balance that by increasing passengers fares of about 15%. In 2013, BA has raised from loss of (3.6) % to 10.78%. This is because of company attains the profit from exceptional items ( £57m) and IAG part of BA contributed  £ (265m) and also revenue rose by 5.5%. Though inconsistent in fuel prices affects their operational costs which is almost 0.3% of their total operational costs. But BA managed to stabilise it by non-fuel costs which has risen in 2012. Whereas Ryan air revenue increased by 13% which is less compared to 2012 change. Since it’s a low cost carrier it should maintain passenger fare as low as possible in order to compete with its rivals but, inconsistency in fuel prices had raised their operational costs by 45% and passenger fare by 6%. At the end company operated in profits and returned 17.35% to the shareholders. Based on ROSF results, we can say that Ryan air has performed well continuously in three consecutive year’s period by giving profits to its shareholders but BA shown some ups and downs in its results. Further ratios will give us more idea why the difference has been evolved in their performance. ROCE (Return on capital employed): It is a fundamental measure of business performance. ROCE is defined as the ratio of net operating profit to the capital employed. Capital employed is the difference b/w total assets and current liabilities. The ratio is expressed below: ROCE = (NET PROFIT BEFORE TAX / CAPITAL EMPLOYED) Ãâ€" 100 The ratios calculated for BA and Ryan air is shown below: The above table describes the ROCE of a company for a period 2011-2013. From the definition we can state that higher the value of ROSE is indicating that the company c generates more earnings per dollar of capital employed. It enables us to analyse and compare BA and Ryan air without the impact of tax. It also considered the long-term debt as a part of capital, which is not the case of ROSF.Thus; this ratio reveals how BA and Ryan air economized on its overall capital. In 2011, BA performed well by giving a positive result due to increased revenue in 2011 from premium travel passengers. But the performance is shrined in 2012 due to rise in operational costs and loss of  £ 41m on exceptional items and also  £66m due to partnership with IAG. Due to this it had shown negative result in 2012. But in 2013, it again rises to 4.11% from (1.86%) because of the factors explained in ROSF. Ryan air has shown continuous improvement for three years. In 2011 its profit increased by 26% and carefully balancing the fuel costs and operating costs. For the other two years also it continuous to shown good result even though operating cost rise to 45%. Thus, we can say from ROCE ratios Ryan air performed much better than BA. The gross-profit margin is studied below to measure the profitability. GROSS PROFIT MARGIN: It is a key financial factor that asses the profitability of a company core activities excluding fixed cost. Gross profit represents the difference b/w sales revenue and the cost of sales. The ratio is represented by gross profit to the sales revenue generated for the same period. It is a given by the formula shown below: Gross profit margin = (gross profit/sales revenue) Ãâ€" 100 Gross profit margin ratios of BA and Ryan air is shown below: It can be seen from above table that Ryan air performed well compared to BA. Though the values over three years slightly fluctuate but they were generating good profitability by improving their sales and proper balancing and control of fuel costs which has almost rise to 38% in 2013. Similarly airport charges and other operational costs were stabilised to make airline in profitable condition. On other hand, BA also performed well except for the year 2012.in which its fuel costs rise by 14 %, maintenance by 15% and operating lease costs by 34%. Due to this they showed lower values. But by gaining proper control over the above costs mentioned they started to improve their profitability by 2013. Now net profit margin is studied in order to see whether the airline is able to improve its profitability. NET PROFIT MARGIN: It is the defined as the ratio b/w net profit before tax to the sales revenue. It also measures how much each of dollar earned by the company is translated into profits. If the value is low it indicates low margin of safety and higher risk that the sales decline will erase profits and lead to net loss. It is given by the formula as shown below: Net profit margin = (profit before tax / sales revenue) Ãâ€" 100 Net profit margin ratios for BA and Ryan air shown below: The above table depicts us Ryan air is operating much better than BA. From annual reports it is known that BA invested much money for long-term asset. Hence, their net profit margins are quite low in these three years. In 2011, it invested in IAG, bought BMI at  £172.5m in 2012 and from 2011 it’s investing  £5 billion every year for new fleet and up gradation of fleet and other.in 2011 it opened T5 which will be home to A380 fleet from 2013. On the other hand, Ryan air net profit margins are high since its investments for long term assets are low compared to BA. Ryan air continuously invest to buy new a/c’s hence it’s the reason that it has youngest fleet of planes in the world. In 2013 it decided to buy 175 new Boeing 737-800 a/c which will be a long term asset for the Ryan air to transport more no. of passengers. In conclusion to the analysis of BA and Ryan air, profitability is measured by using various ratios. The results are fluctuated for BA whereas Ryan air tends to show improvement year by year from 2011-13. Both BA and Ryan air increased their revenues, gained some control over operational costs along the analysis and deliver positive returns except for the year 2012 for BA. EFFICIENCY: The efficiency ratios measure the efficiency in which various resources are managed and used in the business. The following ratios are used to evaluate the efficiency of the business: Average settlement period for receivables Average settlement period for payables Sales revenue to capital employed Sales revenue per employee Average settlement period for Receivables: A business will usually be concerned with how long it takes for customers to pay the amounts owing. The efficient and timely collection of customer debts is a vital part of cash flow management. So this is the ratio which is very closely watched in many businesses. It is given by the formula as shown below: Avg.settlement period for receivables = (Trade receivables/sales revenue) Ãâ€"365. The ratios calculated for BA and Ryan air shown below table: The values in above table depict the average number of days used to collect its revenue from debtors. Both BA and Ryan air has got appreciable shorter period to collect their revenue. In the analysis period from 2011- 13, BA managed to get back his revenue from receivables by an average of 17 days with slightly increased in 2013 compared to 2011. When it comes to Ryan air it has got very shorter period of an average of 5 days. From the table it is clearly seen that debtor days have fallen which means business is converting credit sales into cash much quicker than BA. This shorter period certainly asset for Ryan air liquidity. Average settlement period for payables: The average settlement period for payables measures how long, on average, the business takes to pay its trade payables. The ratio is calculated by a formula shown below: Average settlement period for payables = (trade payables/credit purchases) Ãâ€"365 The ratios calculated for creditors as shown below: Sales revenue to capital employed: This ratio examines how effectively the assets of the business are being used to generate sales revenue. Greater the value represents higher productivity. The ratio is calculated by a formula shown below: Sales revenue to capital employed= (sales revenue/ (total assets-current liabilities)) The ratios are calculated for BA and Ryan air as shown below: From the table it is clearly seen that both BA and Ryan air have utilised their assets properly to improve their productivity and hence it is the reason their values of productivity rising over past three years. The values of Ryan air is small compared to BA because Ryan air revenue is almost half of BA’s total revenue. At last despite of their company size both are making use of their assets properly. Sales revenue per employee: It is the ratio relates sale revenue generated to a particular business resource, which is labour. Higher the value indicates greater staff efficiency. Its ratio is calculated by a formula shown below: Sales revenue per employee = (sales revenue / number of employees) The ratio calculated for BA and Ryan air shown below: The above tables describes about sales revenue per employee. Both companies uses different currency so for better analysis BA revenue is converted to euros according to exchange rate in that periods. The values clearly states that Ryan air is more labour productive than BA and other fact is noticed from table is that two companies increasing their efficiency over the analysis period 2011-2013. LIQUIDITY: These ratios are concerned with the ability of the business to meet its short-term financial obligations. Higher the ratio, the more liquid the business is considered to be, since liquidity is vital to the survival of a business. Liquidity is measured by the following ratios shown below: Current ratio; Acid test ratio. Current ratio: It is defined as the ratio b/w liquid assets to the current liabilities. A higher current ratio is preferable to a normal one since liquidity is vital part in business. It is given by the formula as shown: Current Ratio = (current assets/ current liabilities) The current ratio values for BA and Ryan air shown below: Values in above table clearly depict that BA current ratio values over three years On the other hand, Ryan air maintained its current ratio values >1 throughout analysis period in which it properly balanced short-term assets over liabilities and has got more liquidity compared to BA. In 2013 Ryan air current ratio value is decreased compared to 2012 because it has decided to buy 175 new Boeing 737 planes over next five years. Overall, Ryan air liquidity is better than BA. Acid-test ratio: This is an indicator that determines whether a company has enough short-term assets to cover immediate liabilities without selling inventory. This ratio is more reliable compared to current ratio because it doesn’t include inventory. This is given by a formula as shown below: Acid-test ratio=current assets / current liabilities. (Excludes inventories in current assets) The values for BA and Ryan are shown below: From the table it is seen that BA values during analysis period is 1.so, this ratio indicates that company experiencing good growth, fastly converting receivables into cash and also it can also overcome its financial obligations without depending on inventories. In conclusion to the analysis of BA and Ryan air, liquidity is measured by using various ratios. The results are fluctuated for BA whereas Ryan air tends to show improvement year by year from 2011-13. Ryan air has got more liquidity compared to BA and it can easily overcome its financial obligations. 3.4 Financial Gearing: It is the relationship b/w the contribution to financing made by the owners of the business and the amount contributed by others in form of loans. A business level of gearing is an important factor accessing risk. Gearing takes place of owner’s insufficient funds. Any business borrowing money from others agrees to pay interests; if the borrowing is heavy then this can be significant financial burden to the company. The ratios used to measure gearing are shown below: Gearing ratio; Interest cover ratio. Gearing ratio: It is defined as ratio b/w long-term lenders to the long-term capital structure of a business. It is given by a formula as shown: Gearing ratio = (non-current liabilities/capital employed) The gearing ratios for BA and Ryan air calculated below: The values from table states that both companies are highly geared businesses since their gearing ratios > 50%. Both the companies have high shares of long-term debt in their long-term capital structure. So both companies are subjected to financial risk. Ryan air tends to decrease its debts during analysed period which can be seen from the table by controlling their operational costs effectively during analysed period. Whereas, BA managed to decrease their debts with some fluctuations in values which can be observed from the years 2011-2013.so, a cash flow which is strong and reliable can handle high gearing effectively compared to cash flow which is unreliable .

Operation management and service analysis

Operation management and service analysis 1. Task 1 1.a Introduction The Waterlander hotel is a part of major international hotel chain world-wide. The hotel was running but was without satisfactory results. Customers did not seem to be satisfied with their services. It was the day when one corporate customer seriously had a problem and was noticed by the senior management. Everyone was blaming each others fault. It was Plastix International Plc, who asked for the service at Waterlander hotel but could not express exactly what they wanted and they were dissatisfied by the service of the hotel. It actually wasnt the satisfaction level that Plastix International expected but unfortunately that they did not meet. The line managers who were not internally satisfied with the hotel system couldnt give the highest level of satisfaction. Hence total quality management was the only medium for customers to get satisfied and then only they would meet their satisfaction level. Total quality management refers to all operations related from lower level workers till managers like operation management, gap analysis, time management. Total Quality Analysis would be extremely useful for this situation for an organisation like Waterlander hotel. Here in the case study of the Waterlander hotel shows different time gap, information gap and deficiency in operation management. Mainly we see few internal characters of hotel as general manager, line managers, conference managers, head chefs and headwaiters and external were electrician, vice president of global marketing, Plastix International Plc and the photographer. There was no proper information flow from one person to another, which was the main cause of the whole disaster. Every one seemed to be upset due to problems in flow of information. The vice president of Global marketing, Plastix International Plc was mostly upset due to the poor quality service and told that he would not pay excessive charger for that banquet and wanted a written apology for the upset caused by the service they received. The manager of Aalsmeer electronics was upset since they were asked to set up by 7 PM and so they started to do their jobs at 4.30 PM but they were forced to wait for the hotel staffs to clear them for it. Hotel service managers got upset since they were not informed about the colours of flowers that client ordered which were red and yellow. The red would not look good against the dining room dÃÆ'Â ©cor. Suddenly electricians moved all the arrangements. When they got the needed flowers, electricians completely the rearranged themselves. The conference manager was upset since he was not told that the client wanted to use the video equipment, which was sent for maintenance. He did not have the checklist for the conference hall by the client. He could have hired one if he had known about the video equipment. Head chiefs got upset because he did all according to the detailed schedule he received from headwaiter. He made every thing on time but was not served when it was ready. Waiters were also badly behaved by the customers. The headwaiter the upset since they were not informed about the set-up that had to be done by electricians for loudspeaker and amplifiers. Those electricians told them to clear all the tables that were now ready to be used and which they had put everything right within half on hour. The photographer was upset since he was scheduled to come at 10 PM and they needed only for half an hour during the speeches. When he reached inside the conference hall, every thing was late and had to rush for another concert hall at 11 PM. He would have arranged another guy to take photographs if he were informed to start the program late. So here we see every person is blaming each other. This would have been better if the flow of information was correctly done. 1.b Operation management in Hotel Waterlander: The operation management refers to the framework for understanding operations management and its organisation and manager context .the nature of operations may be goods or services. According to Samuel K M Ho Operations and Quality management, Operation Management can be defined as the deployment of effective and efficient methods for the reaction and delivery of goods and or services to satisfy the needs of the customers. Without an effective and efficient operation functions, no organisation can hope to stay in business. Since it will fail on the key dimensions of competition quality, speed or price. Here in the case of Hotel Wanderlander, every where there is operations management. In the kitchen chefs convert raw foods into meals, waiting staffs provide meals to customers. Process in operation management Heart The transformation process. The customer gets the final output and they are the only way to evaluate the quality of service. There exist different operations inside an organisation for a service to be delivered. So for the proper management operation, the proper flow of information is needed, According to the above figure A, customers are attracted using different business competitive strategies. Customer has the right to choose an efficient and cheap service available in the market. There must be a proper planning and control of resources inside the organisation. As we see inside the Waterlander Hotel, every where are disturbances in the flow of information among service providers. The general Manager of the hotel was supposed to transfer the information to the right person in the right time, but he seems to be not doing his job properly. He was the only person to meet with customers to know what they really wanted in their services. The transformation process is greatly effected by the transforming resources either they are staffs or material. It they are not unsatisfied with their management, the quality services can be poor which reflect to the bad operation management. When those transformed resources of staffs and materials are in sufficient enough, then the only flow of information and planning and control makes efficient service. The proper concept of improvements and design also effect the quality of service which are directed by the operational strategy of the organisation how they are processed to be served for the customers. 1.c Problems in Waterlander Hotel: There are different information gaps between every individual. Customer expects the highest level of expectation and is they dont get it, the level of satisfaction is lowered. This situation is the worst for any business firms to loose valuable customers and have to bear losses. An author sees lots of gaps in the case study of hotel Waterlander. It is mainly with the customer and the management, how the service performance is and how much skill was used to maintain the standards of quality. As a whole, gap is seen in every factor. A big gap can be seen between consumer Expectation and service performance when the customer dont meet the desired expectation., Service performance is wholly interrelated with service standards. Every service is categorised with some standards and is they do not has good standards then there exists a gap with service performance. If the manpower dont use their skill properly, then they cannot maintain their standards, which then create a gap between skill and standards. If the proper skills were used but there is not good management, there also exists a gap. The gap is also seen between standard of service and customer expectation while the consumer doesnt meet the level of satisfaction. The huge gap can be seen between customer expectation and the management. Expectations: Plastix Internal Expectations: They had a minimum expectation like others. They just expected red flowers on the table, dinner on time, no food on dresses, simple things, video equipment, photographer, lastly smooth performance. Service: There was no exclusive standard to be measured. It was informally agreed standards, which didnt work while working in a team. Finally the expectation were not relevant to customers satisfaction. Standards: The organisation seemed to under skill. There were too many issues with internal staffs and huge gap was seen with kitchen staffs and waiting staffs. Management: A huge was seen in between persons skill and management since a manager was not able to handle them properly. He was the only person who was responsible to flow the information to its juniors who work under him. 1.d Solutions: The problem with the Waterlander Hotel can be overcome by efficient training to its staffs and quality of service offered, to its customers otherwise it falls under its standards. The solution can be found with the four main key issues as * management and supervision * employee perception of specification and rules * customer needs and expectation * lack of technological support Management seemed to be irresponsible to the organisation and not supportive in quality behaviour and lack in quality specification. The problem in skills is the main issue and the attitude of the person who cannot adjust. Recommendations for Improvement: * Sort out the internal problem occurring inside the management. Till it wont be sorted tout then the same situation will definitely repeat again. * Consider the employee Reward System. It could be the encouraging point for a staffs to have some reward of they do best, which will let them to do better in every moments. * Arrange training to internal staffs of Hotel that aware the impact of performance * Improvement of the recruitment process so that highly skilled can be available who can perform better even without certain training. * The execution of the quality system specification of organization, to improve by training and internal marketing. 1.e Conclusion: Total Quality Management refers to a quality emphasis encompasses the entire organisation from the supplier to the customer (Heizer, Jay, Operations Management 1999). The only problem with the hotel was mis-communication. The hotel should stop depending on the inspections to find out the problems, and should think to improve quality and service. It is the fact that every organisation has different views on quality. It is also known fact that customers have their own attitude on quality rather than on organisation. However internal staffs may have different aspects and definition, which could harm on organisation a lot, which could lead to unsatisfactory service by an employee. Which could lead with customer dissatisfaction like what happened with Plastix International. 2. The Mystery Shop 2.a Introduction: The author tries to select the fast-food service in the UK like Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Pret A Manger. When there are choices among the before stated names ten definitely a student would choose Starbucks because the principle customers are students itself. They have cafÃÆ'Â © society where they can use most of their time in reading. It is also need to replace alcoholic bars to non-alcoholic Starbucks society. Starbucks also have wifi zone, which attracts college students and businesspersons for research purpose and business meeting locations. Starbucks: Starbucks is the largest company in the world having more than 13,100 stores world-wide spreading over forty countries. The stores sells drip coffee, espresso drink, tea, blended drinks, coffee mugs and other coffee accessories. Starbucks has entertainment division selling books, music and film. Starbucks was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971, since then Starbucks Company spent a minimal account on advertising to promote the brand concept. 2.b Service Analysis of Starbucks of Ealing Broadway An author was at the Starbucks Coffee Shop at Ealing Broadway on December 6th, 2009. He entered there at about 3 PM. There were three employees who were serving customers. An author now prepares questionnaires regarding the services and level of satisfaction to be received by their service. Did they give an author a value when he entered the shop? What was the first reaction while an author was entering Starbucks? How much does he need to wait in the queue to get the service? How many choices of items were there in the shop? How many staffs were there for the service? Were they smiling while serving? How was the taste? How long is the speed of Internet provided freely inside the shop? How long can we stay inside the shop? How was the toilet facility? Did they understand authors language? What did an author ordered? Did he find the product he ordered satisfactory? Was the content of espresso, steamed milk and a dollop of foam quite good enough to drink? What about the location of the shop? What about the price? Was it competitive of expensive? What were the advert strategies? Were they good at customer management? Were the staffs skilful so that they served quickly? What was the quantity of drink in the cup? How was the environment? How did an author saw the life in Starbucks? How did an author rate the standard of quality? Did an author find any scrap pieces around him? Where the tables and floor regularly cleaned? Did anybody ask how was the service? How did they behave while getting out, did they greet? The author tries to find out the answers of above listed questions. It was a Sunday at 3 PM so there ware 4 customers in front of an author while he was in the queue. It took around 5 minutes to get his turn to order for a cup of Cappuccino. There was a guy who was taking my order. He didnt even saw me well saying what do I want. Then an author replied with bid cup cappuccino. He seemed to be rude while talking and asked to wait for 30 seconds but he had to wait for around two minutes to get the drink. A beautiful lady was shouting Cappuccino. So an author hurriedly answered yeah it is mine. An author didnt find it so easy with how they treated with him. All the tables were almost packed and finally an author went to tall chair placed beside entrance door facing to the road. The cappuccino was very hot to drink but the contents of espresso and milk foam was very tasty but much little in quantity. There were one guy taking order but other was preparing drinks and serving and the other one was roaming around cleaning some tables and picking up some scraps around. Since the environment was quite good but the disturbance was allergic. The place was congested. It seem like they emphasis mostly in take away rather than come and eat strategy. An author could see some guys with their laptops doing their work. The WIFI facility of Starbucks could attract youths, which could be seen by an author. An author could see only youths ranging from 20-40 of ages but could not attract people older than that. This could be seen as a disadvantage of Starbucks. He could also see very little business class people and most of them seem to be college students. While an author was there for about half an hour, he could see the life in Starbucks tough as there were only three peop le working outside to serve customers. An author sees there was a need of one more staff that would be enough to serve customers easily without hassle. An author also saw some scrap pieces below his table. It showed that staffs were not responsible to work. An author visits a restroom and finds to be satisfactory but without handicapped accessibility also there was no baby changing station. An author then gets out of the Starbucks but there was no one to ask how was the drink neither greets saying, have a nice day. The drink was somewhat expensive as compared with the market price but the flavour was superb. 2.c Backgrounds and problems The main objective of Starbucks is to serve customers within three minutes has some how added customers a loyalty. Starbucks attracted mostly students who only wish to study. The problems, an author faced during the service. * No greetings while entering to Starbucks. * Had to wait for more than five minutes to order the drink, the timelines were beyond the expectation. * The guy at the reception looked rude enough to talk. * Service was not satisfactory but the drink was the best. * Staffs didnt look qualified since they acquired a bit long time in their service. * No one asked for any thing or after sales reaction, saying how was the drink. * Some scraps around showed that the staffs did not paid attention in the hygiene. * Could not attract people of older ages. * No accessibility for handicapped and no baby changing station. GAP Analysis: During the mystery shop analysis, an author finds few gaps, which could be filled up. GAP 1 is in between the customer expectation and the service performance which was seen while an author had to wait more time in the queue to get a cup of drink. If staffs were qualified enough, they would have served it very fast. GAP 2 is seen in between service performance and standards. While some scraps were found near an author, the level of standards did not meet the customer satisfaction. GAP 3 is seen in between standards and skill when Starbucks staffs served an author with very hot drink which was not drinkable, showed to the skills of staffs. GAP 4 is seen between manpower of skill and management. The manager could manage the staffs especially when the flow of customers were high, he have to think of extra one extra staff needed that could easily serve customers. If customers had to stay longer in queue then customers could find another coffee shops. GAP 5 is seen between customer expectation and standards when an author could not get the standard service as expected. GAP 6 is seen between customer expectation when the management could not serve its customer as they expect. An author had not expected expensive drink and had to wait for long for a service. 2.d Solution: The solution for the problem in Starbucks services analysis could be achieved using Marketing Mix of 7 Ps. Product: Cappuccino was very hot to drink while it was served to an author. Very hot to drink while served to an author. Espresso content was satisfactory but the quantity of foam of milk was little bit less. They also have other different varieties of coffees express cappuccino, beverages, and music. Place: Since Starbucks is near at Ealing Broadway station, it is centre for customers to visit. It is nice place and the surround is also pleasant. Though it is very near to the station, it has focused in take away coffee shop by congesting the place to sit and eat. It is seen that small and congested space inside Starbucks. Price: The price of the products in Starbucks is found to be expensive then that of other coffee shops. Though it is expensive but they have got varieties of coffee like express, cappuccino etc. The products bought by customers can achieve the value of price. Production: Starbucks is found to be the company with least advertisement in compare with its rivals like McDonalds, Pret A manager, Burger King. People: Starbucks staffs were not found to be so much skilled according to on author. Stuffs were very slow in serving for that reason, customers had to wait for long time to get service. Starbucks staffs were not very good at customer management as an author was going out from the coffee shop, there werent any response from the staffs. Process: The process at Starbucks was found to be simple. The staffs did not avoid customers. Physical Evidence: With the flow of customers inside Starbucks we can find that Starbucks lovers and in many. People still believes in Starbucks knowing it contains wide variety of coffees. The major customers were student rather then elderly people. Staff members were also very young and fresh faces. Since Starbucks has been a best place for student to start up their career, every individual seems to be students. Due to free WIFI, people find it luxurious to go and stay. 2.e The important of quality Standards: Quality Standards means for planning, designing, developing, implementing, maintaining and improving customers service quality and customer satisfaction issues are important as companion attempt to differentiate their services and complete effectively in the market place (Paracisuraman, Zenthaml and berry 1988, Brown and Schwartz 1980) According to the above statement it is clear that every companies should make a target to provide quality service by satisfying their customers. Total quality management is the only way to maintain service standards to the customers. Here total quantity management is combined the way of managing for the future and is for wider in its application then just assuring product or service quality .It is a way of managing people and business. Processes to ensure complete customer satisfaction at every stage, internally and externally. Total quality management is combined with effective leadership results an organisation doing the right things right, first time. Customer Supplier Interface: The heart of total quality might is this customer supplies interface where the internal and external lies with many process. Their foundations of Total Quality management surround the core of customer supplier, which are commitment to provide quality. Communication of the messages within and outside the foundation and lastly the culture of the organisations in creating total quality and these foundations are back supported by key roles of people, process and systems in any organisation. Quality as a whole bundle consisting of performance, appearance, delivery, reliability, availability, maintainability, price and cost effective. As we compare the definition of quality with quality achieved by an author in Mystery Shop analysis, performance was not satisfactory so do price, appearance was also not so very fine but others were found to be somewhat satisfactory. Bad practices: Bad practices could be recognised in most of organisations and also was seen in the mystery shop analysis. * Managers not giving clear direction * Each department working only for itself * Confusing quality with grade When customers get bad impression they are least likely to choose the same service in the future since they have Varity of choices. So if staff members of service providers did not respond in good behaviour they will definitely loose their valuable customers. 2.f Recommendations for Improvement: * Consider the employee Reward System Large number of the staff are near the age of twenty to thirty so if they are rewarded then company will benefit with its service outcomes including benefits package which focus on medical, dental, and vision care, as well as the employee stock options. * Site does not have handicapped accessibility Condition of restroom was satisfactory but had no baby changing area * Prompt staff meeting * Training to the staffs * Changing method of selection Action Plan For Improvement: * Focus on hiring older employees more appropriate with the high interest to work. * Develop and maintain a reward system for staffs * Develop a system of regular staff meetings * Improve site accessibility and cleanliness * Upgrade front door and restrooms for handicapped accessibility * Add a baby changing station * Enhance Starbucks wide or big atmosphere 2.g Conclusion: Customers are always right seems to be the final conclusion of the mystery shop analysis. Customers are free to choose services anywhere so they want to be cared by the service provider. This could be possible only if the services provider follows customer care quality standards keeping in mind that customers are always behaved properly from the time they enter to the shop. While answering, greeting providing services within time scales, welcome any complains or suggestion. The analysis of mystery shop comes up with the conclusion of unsatisfied the level of satisfaction. There must be good coronation of mangers and staff members. 3. References Heizer R, Barry; H, Jay H, 1999, Operations Management, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall Inc, USA. Business Link, 2009, Quality management standards [online]. Available from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.s=slr.lc=entopicId=1074431977 [24 November, 2009] De La Salle University, 2009, Total Quality Management [online]. Available from http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/library/pathfinder/business/tqm.asp [25 November, 2009] Starbucks UK Corporate site, 2009, Homepage [online]. Available from www.starbucks.co.uk/en-GB/ [25 November, 2009]

Body Dysmorphic Disorder Essay -- BDD Self Image Health Essays

Body Dysmorphic Disorder People now a days have a problem with the way they appear. For hundreds of years, people, especially females, have been concerned with their weight, the way they look, and the way people perceive them. In the article, Do You Have a Body Image Problem? author Dr. Katharine A. Phillips discusses the concerns with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Dr. Phillips uses her knowledge or ethics to discuss the effects that BDD has on people today. She also uses emotion to show the reader how people are seriously affected by this disorder. In Dr. Phillips article, she discusses how people are emotionally and socially affected by the body dysmorphic disorder, and how society is also affected by it. The human body is one of the most beautiful things that anyone can have. There is not one body that appears to be the same. However, many people think that their body should look the same as somebody on the cover of a magazine. But little do people know that the bodies on the covers of magazines are airbrushed, or are a combination of a couple of different people put into one body. If it is so simple to see that we should not idealize others bodies, then how come people do? That is where media plays a role; they make the average person believe that they should look like the models today. When people realize they cannot look like models, they develop different disorders. One of the disorders that Dr. Phillips discusses is BDD, which is body dysmorphic disorder. This disorder consists of people who are obsessed with how they appear. Everybody is concerned with how they appear, but people who have BDD are overly concerned with how they look. This disorder can socially affect them by not al... ..., the picture has good symbolism because it shows that you should have fun, and you should enjoy how you look. Another advertisement that this site contains is a rounded rectangular box that contains the words â€Å"Everyone tells you how to look good† and it shows a lady in a sitting position possibly doing yoga. The box does not contain what it is advertising for, but it gives the viewer the eagerness to check out what it contains. This web site contains plenty of examples of ethos, pathos and logos. Women.com and Dr. Phillips did a good job creating a web site that appeals to the human eye. This site gives someone comfort in trusting the information that it contains due to who wrote the article and who sponsors it. I found this site to be very informative, and I liked how it allowed the spectator to link to many other trustworthy and helpful sites.

Employee Motivation Essays -- Employment Management Workforce Labor

Employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity that a company's workers apply to their jobs. In the increasingly competitive business environment of recent years, finding ways to motivate employees has become a pressing concern for many managers. In fact, a number of different theories and methods of employee motivation have emerged, ranging from monetary incentives to increased involvement and empowerment. Employee motivation can sometimes be particularly problematic for small businesses, where the owner often has spent so many years building a company that he/she finds it difficult to delegate meaningful responsibilities to others. But entrepreneurs should be mindful of such pitfalls, for the effects of low employee motivation on small businesses can be devastating. Some of the problems associated with unmotivated workers include complacency, declining morale, and widespread discouragement. If allowed to continue, these problems can reduce productivity, earn ings, and competitiveness in a small business. On the other hand, small businesses can also provide an ideal atmosphere for fostering employee motivation, because employees are able to see the results of their contributions in a more immediate way than in large firms. Besides increasing productivity and competitiveness, a highly motivated work force can allow a small business owner to relinquish day-today, operational control and instead concentrate on long-term strategies to grow the business. ... ... advancement. Managers who recognize the "small wins" of employees, promote participatory environments, and treat employees with fairness and respect will find their employees to be more highly motivated. One company's managers brainstormed to come up with 30 powerful rewards that cost little or nothing to implement. The most effective rewards, such as letters of commendation and time off from work, enhanced personal ful-fillment and self-respect. Over the longer term, sincere praise and personal gestures are far more effective and more economical than awards of money alone. In the end, a program that combines monetary reward systems and satisfies intrinsic, self-actualizing needs may be the most potent employee motivator.

Education of the Generations Essay

Most of today’s generation is said to have a higher education and achievements compared to those of previous generations or the generation of their parents. Children’s of this generation are also said to be more active and eager than the children of before. Youth of today’s generation are more vigorous and attentive compared to their parents and their grandparents. It is believed that modernization is a big factor to consider regarding this matter. As we all know that the only thing that is permanent and thing that is constant within this world is change. In the present day there are inevitable growth in modernization computers are widely use technologies are more advance and this changes have largely affect people from generations to generations as change continually takes it’s place. A rapidly changing world whose likeness is not sees before. They are all doing better to make the nation as the nation they know today – a better one. A new study shows that in today’s time most of college students are more self-centered than the youth on the past generations. They are to be more focused on their selves. Their determinations are of high and this believe to be the root regarding the overall self-centeredness these today’s youth. Many studies now undergone by some researchers described scores in some test undergone by students have risen steadily since it was introduced in the year 1982 in the a more present year, 2006 according to the latest data they are said to be two-thirds of the students had above average scores, and is note thirty percent more than in 1982. There is really a big gap between the educations of today’s generation or all of those college students in counterpart with the generations of their parents. Schools and universities of the two generations are also different, environments, facilities, adaptations of technologies and training opportunities are also different. Innovation and institutional change occurred. It all becomes better now. There have been expansion on the availability of technologies to improve teaching and learning strategies such as computers and Internet and other modernized technologies. On the other hand, this modernization of technology has brought us changes regarding educational attainment of most college students. According to some researchers â€Å"We find strong intergenerational progress in generation,† they also write, â€Å"Across all generations for all groups, we consistently find that children acquire more education than their parents† (Public Policy Institute of California, 2005,p1). This successful education attainment is said to be good news for the state as a whole and also for individuals making an educational advancement for it they believe that having a higher education is a key into a higher economic opportunities. Though today’s education is said to be more advanced, as a result today’s generation are more capable of learning many things in a more easy and more convenient way the education attain by the parents also had a great impact on the education of youth today. Education of today’s youth are more in at risk due to their parents who doesn’t able to get better education. But parents could be a great help too. Education help improve language, literacy and vocational attainment of all the people. It also a fact to be considered that education of the parents may have higher effect on the education of their children. Education through the help of this new and advanced technology could be attain and help today’s youth achieve their goals of reaching their dreams considering also the guide of their parents who by reality have greater experience in life than we ever had now. Because things may get into even worst and unusual this advancement and modernization in technology also brought youth of today’s to be more extremely vigorous, negligent and irresponsible. So parents are expected to rear their children and they should also help in molding their child helping them to attain a good education and much better life in the future.

Economics and B. Government C.

1. Which of the following is not a key trade-off faced by society? A. who gets good and service? B. whether or not to produce. C. how to produce? D. which goods and services to produce. 2. Most microeconomic models assume that decision markers wish to A. act selfishly. B. make themselves as well off as possible C. make others as well off as possible. D. none of the above. 3. What links the decisions of consumers and firms in market? A. coordination’s officials B. government C. prices D. microeconomics 4. The price of a good or service is: A. Always equal to the cost of producing the good B. Never affected by number of buyers and seller.C. Usually determined in a market. D. None of the above. 5. Economists make many assumptions to simplify their models because. A. they are lazy B. no one would understand complex models. C. the real world is too complex to analyze fully. D. none of the above. 6. Which of the following is an example of a positive statement? A. if you consume this good you, will get sick. B. since this good is bad for you, you should not consume it. C. if this good is bad for you, you should not consume it D. none of the above. 7. Which of the following is true. A. A normative economic stament is a testable hypothesis about cause and effect.B. a positive stament concerns what somebody believes should happen; a normative stament concerns what will happen. C. A normative stament concerns what somebody believes should happen; a positive stament concerns what will happen. D. none of the above are true. 8. Microeconomic models used to. A. evaluate policy alternatives. B. make predictions. C. explain real life phenomena D. all of the above 9. Which of the following choices is an example of a negative externality. A. educations B. mercury emissions from a coal-fired power plant C. your neighbor is trimming the hedge between your houses. D polio vaccinations