Monday, September 30, 2019

Fashion positives

Echo fashion positives and negatives. Negative effects of fashion, this includes the use of highly toxic pesticides on the cotton for example it can harm the environment and also wastes large amounts of water, this can have a negative impact on the general health of the people around the area. (Collier at all, 2001) In the production of clothes we can see that non- recyclable materials are used and this also has a negative effect on the society and the health of the people in the area. Barclay, 2008) Things like cloth dust and chemicals have a negative effect on the people who actually work In the factory and an make them sick, this contributes towards people not being able to work and more people are dependent on the government and tax goes up. (Barclay, 2008) Positives of echo fashion: Echo fashion on the other hand promotes a more environmentally friendly way of producing clothes, where they used recycled materials to produce clothes which helps clean up the environment and also h elps take of the pressure In the Industrial areas and also for example the cotton fields (Understructures, 2008).This then can open the window for people who can use their hands to create fashion or echo fashion teems like handbags made of reads and plastics. This then contributes economically towards the local people so in short it helps local empowerment. When I was on the web pages of shops like Blossom and ETC you can see that the want to make people more aware and give them a better understanding of what echo fashion is and how it positively contributes to the environment.Echo fashion shops like Blossom, ETC, Hemorrhoid and Thinkers are all promoting the idea of echo fashion in Cape Town. Not clearly understood or known about, echo fashion has had little exposure because cost of the people I interviewed did not know what it is, but with time and the constant environment friendly campaigns going on it will get more exposure and people will definitely get the idea of how echo fas hion helps conserve the environment so in time they will buy more echo friendly clothes.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Business Process Reengineering Essay

Whenever we order our drinks at the coffee shops on a daily basis, we are actually triggering a business process. When the waiter at the coffee shop takes the order at our table, he will pass our orders to the kitchen by yelling our orders from one end of the coffee shop to another. Most of the time, the kitchen helper will hear the order and start to prepare. The waiter will then go around taking a few other orders. After he is done with taking orders, he will collect the drinks from the kitchen and serve it to the customers. Customers will then pay up for the drinks. In the event there isn’t enough change for big notes, the waiter will have to go back to the counter to break the notes into smaller variations in order to return the correct amount of change to the customers. In some cases, he might deliver the wrong order as he doesn’t note down the orders in pen and paper, he just passes on the order to the kitchen by shouting. Restaurant scenario Many years down the road, the coffee shop has earned enough to pay for a renovation and overhaul. The boss of the coffee shop has decided to upgrade the coffee shop to a restaurant. He realises that he need to retrain his staff to operate the restaurant as the methods of operating a restaurant differs from the methods of operating the coffee shop. He also realise that he can incorporate some equipment to help him process orders more efficiently. In summary, he needs to change the way the restaurant does things (processes) and how he does things (Method/tools used to carry out the task). The boss has to do a total revamp of the methods and processes of how he was previously used to in the coffee shop. This is what is meant by business process reengineering. In definition, business process is an organizational change in its methods used to redesign an organization to improve efficiency and effectiveness (Mehta, 2011). Reengineering is the organizational change characterized by drastic process transformation. Concepts BPR focus & Objectives In order for companies to operate more efficiently, reduce waste, retain their customers and drive sales, understanding and applying BPR is essential for this change to happen. Firstly, we have to map out the organization’s goals, objectives, primary business function, the people they have and the tools they use. The second objective would be to analyse the current process and redesign/revamp them. By doing so, companies will be able to achieve better ROI and eliminate waste. This will help the company to gain competitive advantage over others in its efficiency and also profits (Muharram, 2007). Perspective of BPR BPR is a framework designed for companies to adopt. This framework helps to optimize processes by making it more streamlined. A good example to explain this point would be the difference between a vertical and cross functional organization. Horizontal organization In a horizontal organization, the customer interacts only with one party but in a vertical structure, customers might have to deal with different departments. Figure 3 shows a customer dealing with his account manager for the application of a loan. In the process, the customer does not need to deal with the different departments involved in the application of a loan. This allows the loan application to be more streamlined (Zigiaris, 2000). A vertical structure is not as efficient as customers will have to deal with several departments to process their requests. In a call centre environment, when the customer logs a call for a IT issue, the calling department will answer his call and log the case. He will then be transferred to the technical department who will assist him with 1st level troubleshooting. In the event he cannot solve the problem, the matter will be escalated to a level 2 support and also a product specialist. After his issue has been resolved, he will be transferred to the payment department where he will pay for the IT services he has used. After making payment, he will receive an email from the feedback department where they will ask the customer for feedback for the case. This slows down the entire process of resolving the problem from end to end. One of the main goal in BPR is to optimize the processes that takes place within the organization and reduce lead time. In order to do so, businesses has to look at its processes from a clean state perspective. For a company to be able to streamline their processes, they have to add value to their customers through their processes. Processes should maintain its ability to add value to customers. For those processes that do not, we can automate them and put the focus on adding value. This will result in higher customer satisfaction, better efficiency, elimination of watse and greater ROI(Park, 2008). BPR Methodologies There are several techniques to business process redesign and reengineering. We will discuss a few in this section. Hammer and Champy A major overhaul in the organization’s process and structure is one of the keys to ensuring that cost is lowered and service quality is being improved. The means of implemeting these is via the use of information technology. Besides reorganization and using IT to power the business, redesigning the work process and optimizing it, helps the organization to reduce time taken, lower costs and improve quality (Rouse, 2009). A Case study of Ford Motor Company Ford used to employ 500 accounts payable staff in the past. These 500 staff are running the tasks of tracking faults between purchase orders, receipts and invoices. After Ford decided to reengineer their process, the number of staff needed reduced from 500 to 125. Their reengineering efforts include: * Creating an online database where all purchase orders issued by the buyers are being captured * Goods are being checked when received. The shipment being sent has to match with that in the database. This allows the staff to check if the goods were actual orders being indented. This system of checking eliminates the need to check for faults between purchase orders. * Goods being received will be marked as received and the database is being updated real-time. (Hammer & Champy, 2000) Perspective of process reengineering by Hammer and Champy 1. Organize around outcomes, not tasks. 2. Identify all the processes in an organization and prioritize them in order of redesign urgency. 3. Integrate information processing work into the real work that produces the information. 4. Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized. 5. Link parallel activities in the workflow instead of just integrating their results. 6. Put the decision point where the work is performed, and build control into the process. 7. Capture information once and at the source. (Rouse, 2009) The methodology preached by Hammer and Champy clearly reflects what was being discussed in the BPR focus and objectives at the start of this report. Its focus is to eliminate waste and also to focus on deliverables that will add value to customers. In order to do so, IT systems can be employed in order to automate processes which do not add value. This point of automation is being reiterated in the case study of Ford Motors. This concept of rethinking and redesigning the business process radically helps us to improve many areas of the business such as lowering costs, improving customer service, ensure quality is being maintained and speed up the entire workflow.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Case study anaylsis ( marketing management) Essay

Case study anaylsis ( marketing management) - Essay Example Another weakness for SCAD is the company’s lack of diversity. Presently, the company deals with one product hence; it is likely to face challenges in case of inflation, or immense competition. The company has various opportunities that can improve its status. Since estimates show that that company grows at about 30 percent every year planning (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). It is possible to lay succinct strategic plans to help the company do well in future. Proper strategic plans will aid company operation even in times of inflation. The UAE economic growth is an opportunity the company can utilize by ensuring product quality and diversity. The threats the company faces emanate from the likely competition from other emerging companies. The two companies are diverse in terms of super car sales contrary to SCAD which lacks diversity. However, the companies are devoid of experience and adequate finances planning (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). The lack of proper plans and management is a threat to the company’s effectiveness. SCAD lies in the star section due to its present share in the market. In the UAE market, the company is the leading due to low competition from other companies. Jumeirah motors and Al Ameri cars lie on Dogs quadrant planning (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). This is because the two companies are new in the market. In order to improve the condition, the companies will require adequate input. Such actions include market strategies aimed at improving brand name and market segment. The questions quadrant indicates opportunities which are not utilized planning (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). The quadrant characterizes units with low market share but high growth rate. The cash flows portion shows units with a large market segment, although the growth rate is slow. The quadrant displays presence of low opportunities for development. The unit requires a small input to improve its status. SCAD should lay strategic plans responsible for helping the

Friday, September 27, 2019

Microsoft To Issue Record Number of Patches Essay

Microsoft To Issue Record Number of Patches - Essay Example To find the average of values in B3 and B4, a formula = (B3+B4)/2 is typed into, say cell E2, giving the4 average. Entering a value into the cell causes the value to be visible in the formula thus enabling it to be changed without edition of the formula. The easiest way to enter cell references into formulas is by typing the reference. To use values in B4 and B6 in a formula meant to calculate monthly revenue, one types in = B4+B6 then enter to get a result. However, it is much easier to utilize functions, which are algorithms that can be followed, by excel, to attain a result (Smart 5). To get the average of values in B3 and B4, one could type = then type the average function’s name, followed by a left parenthesis, then the two cells. After typing a colon, excel discerns that one is defining a cell range. On entering the cell references, one types, a right parenthesis and then presses enter to get the result. Charts display a series of numeric data in the form of a graph in order to make it easier to understand enormous quantities of data, in addition to the relationships, between the data series (Smart 7). Excel supports many chart types that help one to display data in a meaningful manner. Charts have many elements with some displayed by default, and others added when needed. The display of the elements in the chart can be changed by moving them to different chart locations, adjusting their size or reformatting them. The spreadsheet consists of a chart area, plot area, plotted data points, category (horizontal) and value (vertical) axes, chart and axes titles, and data labels. After the creation of a chart, any of its elements can be modified. One can change the chart axes’ display, add data labels and titles, add a data table or legend, and apply a special option for every type of chart. To add a chart title, one click where the title is to be added, clicks chart title on the layout tab, clicks above chart, then types the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Harley Davidson marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words - 1

Harley Davidson marketing plan - Essay Example The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was incorporated in 1981, and primarily designs, manufactures, and sells heavyweight (i.e. engine displacement of 651+cc) touring, custom, and performance motorcycles, and a complete range of motorcycle parts, accessories, clothing and collectibles. It is the only major US-based motorcycle manufacturer, and leading marketer of heavyweight motorcycles. It has the largest share of US heavyweight motorcycle market since 1986, in terms of retail sales of new motorcycles. It markets its products and services through a worldwide network of more than 1,300 dealerships. The principal HD dealership for the entire European region has its headquarters at Oxford Business Park in the UK, and it was incorporated in 1989 (Key Note, 2012). The purpose of this study is to arrive at a strategic marketing plan that would enable Harley-Davidson UK to maintain its market competitiveness and possibly advance its position in the motorcycle manufacturing and retail industry . It shall examine the macro-economic environment of the motorcycle industry in UK, provide a micro-economic analysis of the industry in the form of a SWOT analysis, and construct perceptual maps of the company before proceeding to specify a marketing mix by which HD-UK may best address its market. 1. Assumptions This market plan aims to provide a forward-looking study into the prospects of Harley Davidson-UK insofar as it caters to the UK motorcycle market. Inasmuch as the study shall be proposing courses of action which will extend into the future, and therefore be constrained by environmental conditions beyond what can be foreseen at present. Certain assumptions shall therefore be made pursuant to which the following analyses and discussions shall be guided by. Global economy shall continue to gradually recover, but no strong growth is expected; Reduced emissions targets to be imposed, as agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol, for the global markets; The UK economy shall continue to be burdened by large budget and trade deficit. Present trends in tastes and preferences for heavyweight motorcycles remain constant; and It is also important to identify at this point the particular segment of the market which this market analysis shall deal with. Technically, motorcycles are two-wheelers that cover a wide range of specifications, engine designs and capacities. These include low-powered bikes that are more typically referred to as mopeds; also on-road (street legal), racetrack only, and off-road motorcycles (Research and Markets, 2011). For the purpose of this study, the segment of the market for heavyweight touring, custom, and performance motorcycles, referring to models with engine displacement of 651cc and higher, shall be the focus of study since it is to this particular market that HD products cater to. 2. Macro-environmental Analysis (PESTLE) Political – The UK adheres to the Westminster system, a strong democratic, parliamentary system of governance tha t ensures sufficient separation of powers among the executive branch (led by the prime minister), the bicameral legislature, and the judiciary. The structure also ensures that checks and balances apply. The World Bank avers that the UK is one of the most successful countries in so far as the application of the rule of law, control of corruption, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality are concerned. For government

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Human bodys nonspecific second line of defense Assignment

Human bodys nonspecific second line of defense - Assignment Example Immunity is further subdivided into a number of concepts to facilitate the learning for students. The concept chosen here to demonstrate the learning method is human body’s nonspecific second line of defense. This is aimed towards college students and it has been assumed that they have prior understanding of the components of the defense mechanism and know the structure of proteins and WBCs (Glucksman, 2006). In Part 2, using examples and non-examples the concept will be explained in an east-to-grasp manner for students. These examples and non-examples have been chosen to make the concept easier for the students and will be analyzed further to allow students to distinguish between the relevant and irrelevant details based on their relation with critical features to gain clarity of concept. Part 3 will finish the learning exercise with a set of questions aimed at testing the comprehension of the project by the student. They will be different than the examples and non-examples so as to gauge student’s learning. For each short question, the student should be able to give a brief explanation and identify the critical feature involved. Answers have been provided in the Appendix for reference of both students and teachers. Human body’s second line of defense system protects the body against all types of nonspecific infections and antigens. All the features work together to provide the body with the immunity enabling it to survive and fight the foreign invasions. The critical features are: Each critical feature will be further explained in detail. Their function, site of action, and effectiveness in combating the disease will be discussed with the students. Also, the results if second line of defense is compromised will be highlighted. Phagocytic cells are involved in the nonspecific immunity as they attack and ingest the foreign particles, antigens. There are a few types

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Small Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Small Business Plan - Essay Example The tag line or the mission statement of the hotel will be â€Å"Wish it, Dream it, Do it!† â€Å"Wish it† means consumers whose desires are the hotels external pursuit (Yoo, Donthu & Lee, 2000). â€Å"Dream it† mean consumers’ desires will be the hotels ultimate goal. â€Å"Do it† means the actions of the hotel will prove everything. The NAIS number of the hotel business will be 721111. The approximate annual revenue in the first year that the business is expecting to generate is $ 73,000 projecting the hotel to operate successfully. The business plan proposal for the theme hotel will include feasibility study, financial planning and marketing plans for opening this new venture (Brown, 2001). The Dream Paradise Theme hotel will be built on the parking lot 2 which is near to the Ontario place. The Ontario place will reopen to public by 2016 and this is the main reason the place is most suitable to choose (Nissim & Penman, 2001). Moreover, another reason for selecting the area is that most of the hotels are situated in the downtown area. When the consumers look at these hotels, they might face difficulties in decision making (Der Foo, Wong & Ong, 2005). However, this theme hotel will have special theme rooms and a proper location to attack tourism. The hotel will offer its customers various themed rooms to its customers and according to the demand of the customers Dream Paradise theme hotel will design its rooms. The hotel has decided to categorize its hotel rooms into primary rooms, silver rooms and gold rooms. The primary room will be designed as per the demands of its customer groups (Mason & Stark, 2004). Themes for kids will be like frozen, hello kitty, Disneyland and Legoland, etc. The themes for teenagers are angry birds, Sea world, Cars, Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc. Themes for adults will be of popular movies, countries and sights, etc and lastly, the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Human rights in Turkey and United Kingdom Research Proposal

Human rights in Turkey and United Kingdom - Research Proposal Example The intention of this study is human right that covers thousands of years of religious, cultural, legal and philosophical developments of history. Many ancient documents philosophies and religious texts included concepts that can be considered as human rights of those times. For example, the Edicts of Ashoka given by Ashoka the Great of India, the Constitution of Medina in 622 A.D., issued by Mohammad. One of the most significant historical documents is the English Magna Carta of 1215. Modern interpretation of human rights is significantly influenced by the various historical documents that lay considerable importance on human rights. Many events led to the formation of the philosophy of human rights. The British Bill of 1689 made many harsh governmental acts illegal in the United Kingdom. Two other important events were when the United States and France adopted the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen respectively, both these revolutions established certain legal rights. These events were followed by many philosophers such as Thomas Paine, Hegel and William Lloyd contributing to the development of the philosophy of human rights. The term ‘human rights’ came into use sometime between Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man and Lloyds writings in The Liberator. In North America and Western Europe many labor unions worked towards making labor laws, regulating or forbidding child labor, the right to strike and the like. National liberation movements, like Mahatma Gandhi's independence movement in India, proved successful in driving out colonial rule. The women's right movement was successful in getting women the right to vote. Among other movements were the civil rights movement and movements on behalf of women and minorities. The foundations of the International Humanitarian Law were laid by the establishment of the Red Cross, the Geneva Conventions and the Lieber Code in 1864. This set the stage for further development of human rights after the two

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Critically evaluate, in relation to the common law duty of care, the Essay - 9

Critically evaluate, in relation to the common law duty of care, the liability of employers for references. How, if at all, does - Essay Example While the intention of the common law duty of care is to protect the aggrieved parties from incurring damages resulting from negligence, the law extends to promote sanity in the relationship of the employer and the employee. Arguably, the duty of care predisposes the human resource departments of various organization tend create organization policies that respect the rights of the employee in order to avoid legal feuds. Many institutions are hesitant to provide information about form students to prospective employers due to the fear of potential legal feuds. The fact that former employer had a direct engagement with the departed employee to a given extent makes him liable to any issue which he disseminate to the prospective employer that might amount to damages. The student or employee is likely to sue or seek legal arbitration in a situation where he or she feels that the former institution violated his or her right by offering certain information that damages his or her identity. U nder the duty of care, defamation is a communication that intends to harm the reputation of the target party so as to limit the ability of the ability of the party to associate with a third party. The law protects offer punitive and compensatory damages for successful defamatory claims. The issue that is contentious in acting as a referee for the university student is the fact that such association might attract legal liability. In some situations, the institution might be willing to provide the confidential information about a former student whom in the institution’s view does not deserve consideration for employment because of his or her conduct. There is no legal provision that dictates that the institution must provide a reference to prospective employers. However, the existing legal obligation provide that universities should exercise due care when compiling a reference report of a student. The institution owes a duty of care to the student to whom such reference informa tion is provided and to the addressee who sought the reference. The employer might sue the University for Negligence if it fails to provide reference information requested about the student (Williams and Zumbansen 2011 pp134). On the other hand, the student might sue the institution if it feels that the information addressed to the addressee violated his or her right. Most institutions feel obligated to respond to request for a reference where reasonably requested for employment or academic purposes (Grace and Gravestock 2008 pp 46). Failure to provide the reference could disadvantage a student application and could be deemed to be discriminatory on grounds of race, sex, disability, or age and be subject to legal action. Some people have failed to secure job opportunity from prospective employers or have faced the sack based on the reference information addressed to the prospectus employer by their former employers. Such outcomes often attract legal suits. In case Spring vs. Guardia n Assurance Plc and Others; HL 7-Jul-1994, the complainant submitted before the court that the reference given by his former employer influenced his sacking. In the reference letter, his former employer indicted that he was a man of little or no integrity. In this case, the opinion of the court held that an employer was liable for negligence and damaging reference given on behalf of the employee. The court noted that a duty of care was owed to the former employee.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Broadsheet and Tabloid Comparison Essay Example for Free

Broadsheet and Tabloid Comparison Essay The media is undoubtedly one of the most influential and powerful force within our society today. Its means of mass communication has the ability to report news in a way which often affects and distorts a persons opinion and interpretation of a certain story. Yet its importance in our society is immeasurable, since its the main way of informing the public of national and international events. The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyse how two contrasting newspapers a broadsheet and a tabloid report the news. We often view the broadsheet as having higher status than the tabloid as it is more serious, sophisticated and elaborate. The tabloid in contrast is dominated by sensational stories. I would be scrutinizing The Daily Mirror, a typical tabloid paper and The Independent which is the conventional broadsheet paper. The story in question which both newspapers are narrating concerns the fatal murder of Yetunde Price, sister of the famous tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. Different papers frequently vary the way news is portrayed in order to engage and captivate different audiences, yet their primary purpose is to inform and entertain. The Daily Mirror is likely to entice those who are less well educated and classified as Social class III, IV and V in the Registrar Generals Scale the working class. Therefore the stories that attract them are likely to concern violence, showbiz and sporting events, stories which are glamourised. This is shown by the way how Yetunde Prices death was highlighted by the fact that her sisters were distinguished tennis players and also the article was contextualised to feed the readers curiosity. The Independent is aimed at the more conservative, middle classes who are categorized as Social class I and II in the Registrar-Generals Scale. They are more likely to have had an extensive education and prefer upmarket newspapers. Yet it is much more complicated than this: both articles would have not existed if not for the prominent status of Yetundes sisters, and so The Independent has defied the stereotypes of a broadsheet by focusing more on her glamourous and famous sisters. It is often thought that the newspaper influences the reader, yet the readers themselves influence the way news is reported as the newspapers have to adapt their stories to the readers taste in order to attract their attention. The style of The Daily Mirror is one which is explicitly written, containing many gr aphic, vivid information on the deathly event, undoubtedly in order to sensationalise Yetundes untimely demise as well as reveal the great dissimilarity between her life and her sisters. The article begins by presenting Venus and Serenas wealth and prestige: they had the fame, the fear and the bodyguards, this use of triplets and alliteration not only emphasis their greatness but is also an attention grabbing introduction, inveigling the reader to read further. It then goes on to mention the sad story of their shy sister so that the reader may understand the significance of this story. The details then becomes more disturbing and horrific, describing plainly the fusillade of shoots, how Yetunde was lying in blood and hit in the chest. Such emotive descriptions may be sickening but the writers agenda in a tabloid newspaper is to focus on the blood and the gore in order to make it more realistic for the reader. The varied sentence structure also contribute to the glamourised effect. The article from The Independent begins with having short sentence structure which goes straight into the story, capturing the readers attention, Yet the information given are uncertain and rather vague, using phrases such as: perhaps, no one yet knows and but for some reason. This combines the facts with an element of mystery and so it creates suspense and stirs the readers inquisitiveness.The Independents style is based on the conventions of a fairytale story genre and it is centred on the Williams sisters rise to power. Yet, like all fairytales there is the feature of tragedy and sadly in this particular story, the tragedy triumphs. Yetunde is the victim of this tragedy yet the article concentrates more on the power pair sisters and the glitz and the glamour of countless tournament trophies, of commercial endorsement, of fashion lines. The writers device on using alliteration and anaphora again gives greater impact and excites the reader. It is also part of the fairytale style narrative which prevails throughout the article. The article is also not as harsh and blunt as The Daily Mirror and contains a lot of euphemism. Apart from the euphemistic descriptions of her final hours, Yetunde is little mentioned in comparison to her sisters in The Independent. This is due to the fact that she is virtually unknown and so the writer does not want to lose the readers attention. However, the reader may then come to view fame, wealth and prestige is more important then the main story. There is undeniably a disproportionate focus on the more admired of the Williams sisters, which centres on their background, upraising and lifestyle that it overshadows the main story. Little of the article is dedicated to Yetunde as there is hardly any mention of her upbringing and characteristics. The pictures creates the impression of all the sisters close bond which emphasis their grief over the loss of Yetunde. Despite of this, Yetunde herself is not central figure of the picture. She is instead placed on the far left and she is facing away from her sisters. The edit or may have this particular image because of her posture and the sombre clothes she is wearing, perphaps as a sign of her approaching demise. The Independent contains some of the important facts on how Yetunde was killed and provides only one witness account. The Daily Mirror contains more witness accounts and expert opinions on the case, which gives a more comprehensive view of the case. Yetunde is also given more attention and the text explores thoroughly the cause of her death by having more of these witness accounts so that it conveys a more striking and stirring effect. As well as this, The Mirror focus more on the the area and the environment the Williams sisters were brought up in, with a small section at the end dedicated to exposing the terrible history of the notorious Crompton district. There is also more background knowledge of their lives, yet it tends to intrude into their private lives as the details given are very personal. The pictures include one of the scene of the crime, which is very much like a scene from a Hollywood film and a picture of the weapon used so that the reader may feel more disturbed at the killing yet inclined to read on. The biggest picture shows Yetunde and her sister Serena attending a glittering awa rd ceremony which again dramatise the story. The striking headline of The Daily Mirror, Killed With AK47 is not only blunt but written in capital letters and spread across the page so that it conveys shock to the reader. The smaller headings above and beneathe it is a brief explanation of what happen yet it creates an element of suspense. The Stars Sister is Murdered in particular outlines the nature of the story so the reader would expect a lot of sensationalism. The main picture of Yetunde and Serena is in fact bigger than the the text itself but it has been enlarged so that the reader would think that Yetunde herself is a celebrity and raises the importance of the article. The other pictures are placed on the left side of the main image so the reader could see the contrast between them, and so come to understand the harsh reality of Yetunde life. The small section at the end has the heading Streets of Fear which is a metaphor and conveys to the reader the true nature of the district they were brought up in. The Independent shows none of these pictures of Crompton but instead has only one picture which is the same size of the text, so there is less sensationalism. The article itself is half the siz e of The Mirror due to lack of information so the reader may come to view this story as insignificant. It is also placed on page 11 as opposed to the tabloid which placed it on page 4 and 5, so here there is not as much hype around the story. The headlines are less blunt and there is also the use of italics on the words: fairytale, close-knit family and grief which sways the readers emotions. As I have analysized above, the two newspaper articles shows contrasting representations of the same story. The Mirror with its tendency to exaggerate the stories, presents this article with the features of fame, glamour and explicit descriptions. The editor is obviously aware of the fact that sensationalism sells. The Independent, despite its lack of information, has actually taken the more dignified approach by showing respect for the deceased with going into too much information the gory details. It could be argued that The Mirror is rather inappropiate in immorally cashing in on Yetundes death, yet their story is in the readers interest since not only is Yetunde mentioned more but it covers many aspects of her life and personality in tribute to her. Whereas the editors motive in presenting the article the way it does in The Indep endent might be in conflict with the reader as they are likely to want more information on Yetunde and the nature of her horrific death instead of Serena and Venus. In our society today, we as the audience are becoming increasingly concerned, bordering on obsessiveness, with the lives of the rich and the famous. The media understands and encourages our curiosity by publicising more and more stories on celebrities. This could affect the quality of the news we consume, especially in tabloids, where instead of presenting the more serious stories, we are swamped with excessive news on the famous.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Literature Review On The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

Literature Review On The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay The hospitality industry is experiencing growth even in times of recession. Between 2004 and 2014, the hospitality industry is expected to add 17 percent in wage and salary employment (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006-07). A growing demand of hospitality workers can be translated into a growing need of hospitality educational programs to adequately prepare the workforce to meet present and future demands in this enormous industry. Programs need to provide an education that improves the employability of the hospitality graduates. However, employability of the future graduates will not increase until and unless they convincingly demonstrate the skills and competencies required in the workplace. In an education program, students develop skills and competencies through courses in various subject areas. In that aspect, the hospitality curriculum needs to prioritize the subject areas according to the perceived importance of the industry practitioners, and this prioritization has to be up-to-date to reflect the changing needs of the industry. Although curriculum of hospitality and tourism programs have been examined in a plethora of research studies, little attention is given to hospitality programs housed in accredited colleges of business. Because of the limitations obligated by the accrediting bodies, important aspects of the curriculum such as course offerings, and credits become restricted to certain extent. As a result, there is a need to evaluate the curriculum of such programs separately from other hospitality and tourism management programs such as the independent ones and those housed in various different colleges. Gursoy and Swanger (2004) investigated the curriculum of a hospitality and tourism management program housed in an accredited college of business. As part of their study, they ranked hospitality subject areas according to the perceptions of hospitality professionals, identified any gaps between the perceptions and the current curriculum and suggested a model of curriculum for hospitality programs in accredited colleges of Business. However, hospitality curriculum needs to be ongoing and relevant to the current industry needs and expectations. Also, the changing nature of the industry calls for recent graduates to reflect the changes and challenges of the industry. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to replicate Gursoy and Swangers (2004) study, and provide an updated ranking of the hospitality subject areas. In addition, the changing needs of the hospitality industry is highlighted through a comparison of their 2004 ranking with the current ranking of hospitality subject areas a ccording to hospitality professionals perceptions. As such, likely changes to the 2004 curriculum model are suggested based on the findings of this study. The specific research questions that will be answered through this study are: What are the current perceptions of industry professionals regarding the importance of course subject areas? Are there any significant changes in the perceptions of industry professionals in the last five years? Are there any gaps between the industry needs within the changing operational environment and the current hospitality curriculum? Literature Review Hospitality students have often been criticized for having unrealistic expectations of the types of responsibilities they may be given and consequently the types of skills they will be expected to exercise on entering the hospitality industry (Purcell and Quinn, 1996). At the same time, the industry often discounted a students formal qualifications on the grounds of lack of experience and frequently we hear the complaint that students are overqualified but under experienced for even entry level management positions (Raybould Wilkins, 2005). In order to bridge this gap, the hospitality programs underwent several changes in its content, focus, and structure. In 1996, Formica published a study of tourism and hospitality education in Europe and America that examined programs and future trends. In his study, he argued that there was an international movement that supported the emancipation of hospitality education from its vocational base to an academic field of inquiry. Formicas claim was later supported by Morrison and OMahony (2003) in their case study regarding the liberation of hospitality management education. Rappole (2000) stated that programs have shifted from a home-economics focus towards a business-related one and Chathoth and Sharma (2007) noted this as the likely reason behind the change in curricular structure of hospitality programs in the United States. Most programs in the 1980s and early 1990s were geared towards developing the operational skills of the students, but during the past decade, universities were focusing on both operational and management-related courses as part of the curriculum (Chathoth Sharma 2007; Rappo le, 2000).   Developing a hospitality curriculum broadly involve three major components: substantive knowledge, skills, and values (Dopson and Tas, 2004). While operational issues such as working knowledge of hospitality services were important (Kay and Russette 2000), managerial and behavioral issues such as managerial skills were often considered to be more important (Okeiyi, Finely and Postel 1994).  Thus, the hospitality curriculum should not only teach the students in crucial operational skills but also facilitate them to learn and demonstrate the art of management.   To accomplish this purpose, it was necessary to incorporate the perspectives of the industry professionals into the hospitality curriculum. This was basically achieved in two ways. First, regular industry professionals were invited to visit classrooms as guest lecturers and industry experts, or to participate in executive education programs, as part of the curriculum review process (Lefever Withiam, 1998). Second, comp etency models were devised through which industry practitioners ranked the competencies and content areas most important in the workplace. Educators then made a strong note of these important competencies, and likewise incorporated them into the curriculum. In the course of time, a wide number of studies were undertaken regarding identifying and ranking competencies of hospitality graduates. One of the first competency based studies in hospitality was undertaken by Buergermeister (1983) where he found human relation skills and attitudes to be a very important area for hospitality graduates. Among others, Tas (1988) put forward a hospitality curriculum by identifying 36 skills college graduates expected to possess from surveying general managers of 75 hotels. While, most competency based studies in hospitality management focused solely on the perceptions of the hospitality industry practitioners (Ashley et al. 1995; Breiter and Clements, 1996; Kriegl, 2000) a few incorporated the perspectives of educators along with the industry practitioners (Su et al. 1997; Tsai et al. 2006) and a few even added the perspectives of students to the group (Enz et al. 1993; Okeiyi et al.1994). Among the studies from the industrys perspective, the majority focused on either the hotel industry itself (Tas 1988; Siu 1998; Kay and Russette, 2000; Tesone and Ricci, 2006) or the overall hospitality industry (Ashley et al. 1995; Breiter and Clements, 1996), with a few focusing solely on other sectors such as the food service sector (Horng Lu, 2006; Okeiyi et al. 1994). Notable works in the competency-based approach include Chung-Herrera, Enz, and Lankaus (2003) presentation of an industry specific and future based leadership competency model. In their study, they identified and ranked 99 key hospitality work related competencies. In another case, Nelson and Dopson (2001) compared hotel managers, human resource specialists, and hospitality alumnis perceptions of competencies necessary for success in the hospitality field. Eventually, Dopson and Nelson (2003) ranked 37 course content areas using the same three groups, and found several differences in their perceived importance of those course content areas. Competency models were developed as a descriptive tool to identify, categorize and summarize competencies that might be relevant to perform a specific job effectively in an organization (Chung-Herrera et al., 2003). However, these competency models are often broad and generic in nature and lacks emphasis on specific hospitality skills. Employers, who generally do not want narrowly trained graduates, recognize the importance of generic competencies (Harvey, et. al., 1997). Raybould and Wilkins (2005) integrated a generic skill framework to rank important skill areas of hospitality graduates from both employers and students perspectives. However, the nature of hospitality workplace, demands mastery of both generic skill sets and hospitality specific skill sets. In that aspect, taking into account hospitality subject areas, and course content areas, provides an extensive representation of the skills and knowledge graduates will require at the workplace. Chung (2000) laid out an effective plan for reforming the hotel management curriculum of Korean universities based on required competencies of hotel employees and career success in the hotel industry. Their study found significant relationships between competencies required of hotel employees and hotel management courses of universities, between competencies required of hotel employees and career success in the hotel industry, between hotel management courses of universities and career success in the hotel industry, and last but not the least between hotel management courses of universities and their contribution to career development in the hotel industry. While this method might be easier for the industry practitioners to identify with, it might be difficult for educators to reform a programs curriculum based on such models because of the broad and diverse nature of such competencies. Since, there is a significant relationship between competencies required of hotel employees and ho tel management courses of universities, in this regard, it makes more sense if the industry practitioners rank the actual subject areas and course content areas offered in the curriculum. However, the subject areas and course content areas in the hospitality program might be difficult for industry practitioners to identify with especially if they are not graduates of hospitality programs. In this regard, the concerned school has to rank the subject areas from the perspectives of their own alumni, who are now established hospitality industry professionals so that they can easily identify the subject areas and relate them to their skill requirements in the workplace. Keeping the hospitality curricula rigorous, relevant, and current to the industry trends seems to be a clear concern of the hospitality practitioners. According to Dopson and Tas (2004) the biggest challenge for hospitality educators today is to determine clear objectives for the curriculum that takes care of the constantly changing needs of the industry. In that aspect, it is of utmost importance to close the gap between what is taught to students and what the industry expects of the students being hired (Dopsan and Tas 2004; Okeyi et al. 1994). Therefore, in addition to being an industry and faculty driven process, curriculum development needs to incorporate the changing needs of the industry, and foster innovation. In short, the process needs to be ongoing (Dopson and Tas, 2004). Methods The purpose of this study was to identify hospitality subject areas and rank them according to the perceptions of hospitality industry professionals. In addition the current perceptions of industry professionals regarding hospitality subject areas were to be compared to their perceptions five years ago to reflect the changing requirements of the industry. For gathering data from industry professionals, the same survey instrument developed using a four-step process by Gursoy and Swanger (2004) was used. The four steps included conducting a series of focus groups, developing the survey instrument to systematically measure the perceived importance of the course subject areas by industry and to investigate the gaps between hospitality curriculum and industry needs based on the findings of the focus groups, pre-testing the instrument on a sample of industry professionals using an on-line survey method and last but not the least revising and finalizing the instruments based on the pre-test results. Based on the feedback received by Gursoy and Swanger (2004) from their respondents, the survey instrument was modified in 2009. For the purpose of comparison only the common subject areas between the 2004 and 2009 surveys were retained. The final instrument was employed to collect data on hospitality industry professionals perceptions of the importance of the course subject areas. Development of the Survey Instrument The procedures recommended by Churchill (1979) and DeVellis (1991) were followed for developing the survey instrument. Initially, an item pool containing a total of 39 subject matter variables were developed or identified from the literature, current hospitality curriculum, and from a series of five focus groups conducted with the advisory board members, restaurant executives, hotel executives, university alumni, and hospitality educators. The content validity of the items that were identified from the focus groups and from the literature was assessed by ten faculty members. The faculty members feedback on content and understandability was gathered based on which the items were modified to enhance their clarity, readability, and content validity. Based on the same process any redundancy in the scale items was removed to improve the proposed scale. After the content validity check, it was pre-tested using an on-line survey method involving 50 industry professionals. The survey instrument was modified one last time based on the pre-test. Each variable was measured using a 5-point Likert scale (5=extremely important, 1= not important at all) as to their importance for success in the hospitality industry. The final version of the 2004 survey instrument consisted of four parts 40 subject matter variables, 128 course content variables, demographic information, and information regarding the performance of the company the respondent was part of. For this study, only the part that deals with the subject areas and demographic information are considered. In 2009 some changes were made based on the feedback received from the participants of Gursoy and Swangers 2004 study REPEAT. While the 2004 survey dealt with 40 subject areas, the 2009 one had only 33. 11 subject areas were removed from the 2004 survey, while 4 subject matters were added based on the received feedback, in the 2009 survey. The subject areas that were taken out of the 2009 survey instrume nt are: Fundamentals of Cooking, Math, Accounting, Economics for Decision Making, Tourism, Gaming/Casino Operation, Distribution Channels, Secondary Revenue Management, Beverage Management, Destination Management, and Dining Room Service Management. The subject areas that were added to the 2009 study are: International Tourism, Public Relations, Convention and Meeting Planning, and Food and Beverage Management. For the comparison, the 29 common areas between the 2009 and 2004 surveys were considered. Data Collection A self-administered survey questionnaire was mailed to the selected sample of industry professionals. An individually signed cover letter containing the name and address of the respondent was included with each questionnaire, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. A reminder was sent after 3 weeks, to increase the number of responses. Data Analysis Descriptive Analysis was undertaken to rank the means of the respective variables from the survey. Independent samples t-tests were carried out to compare the 2009 rankings to the 2004 ones. All the data analysis was performed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. Results The survey was sent to a total of 2340 target participants. 369 responses were returned, resulting in an acceptable response rate of 15.8%. Profile of the Respondents: The demographic characteristics of gender, present position and company, education level, ethnicity, type of property, and size of the property were included in this study in an effort to provide a descriptive profile of the survey respondents. Gender: The survey asked the participants to indicate their gender (male or female). Out of 369, 358 respondents indicated their gender. The number of male respondents was 177 (49.4%) while female respondents were 179 (50.6%). Present Position/Name of Company: Over 180 different companies were represented in the study. Regarding present work positions, the respondents provided more than 200 different positions or titles, which were grouped into 15 categories based on their similarities. Some of the dominating categories included Sales/Marketing with 42 responses (11.4%), Finance/Accounting with 29 (7.9%), General Manager and Human Resource each with 28 (7.6%), Chairman/President/CEO/CFO/COO and Business Owners each with 16 (4.3%), Educator/Teacher/Trainer with 13 (3.5%), Other Managers (restaurant, FB, convention, events, store, regional, training, guest services, other departments) with 43 (11.7%), and Retired/Unemployed with 26 (7.1%). Besides these major categories, there was an Other category for the grouping of many positions that were listed less than 3 times and did not readily fit into another group, such as Attorney. Education Level: Out of 355 individuals who provided education level information, 298 indicated they have a bachelors degree (80.8%); 38 have a graduate degree (10.3%); 17 did some graduate level work (4.6%); 1 individual was a high school graduate (1.6%), and 1 person indicated other (1.6%). Ethnicity: Of the 352 respondents who indicated their ethnicity, 328 (93.2%), circled Caucasian/White; 10 (2.8%) circled Asian American/Pacific Islander; 8 (2.3%) circled Hispanic/Latino; 3 selected Black/African American; 1 (0.3%) circled American Indian/Alaska Native; and 2 (.6%) circled other. Size of Property: For lodging properties information regarding the number of rooms in the hotel was collected and for restaurants, number of seats information was gathered. If respondents worked in neither a lodging property nor a restaurant, they were asked to provide size information using other appropriate measures. Of the 195 individuals who responded to the survey, 92 provided the number of rooms information, 34 provided the number of seats information, and 69 provided the size information by reporting other measures such as total revenue, number of employees, square footage, and others. Of the 92 managers who provided the number of rooms, 2 (2.2%) indicated the property had less than 75 rooms, 17 (18.5%) indicated the property had 75 to 149 rooms, 18 (19.6%) had 150 to 299 rooms, 29 (31.5%) had 300 to 500 rooms, and 26 (28.3%) indicated the property had more than 500 rooms. Most of the individuals who reported managing more than 500 rooms were regional managers, vice presidents, or presidents and CEOs of hotel corporations. Of the 34 managers who provided number of seats information, 6 (17.6%) indicated the restaurant had less than 100 seats, 13 (38.2%) indicated the restaurant had 100 to 199 seats, 8 (23.5%) had 200 to 300 seats, and 7 (20.6%) indicated the restaurant had more than 300 seats. A good number of the individuals who reported managing more than 300 seats were regional managers, vice presidents, or presidents and CEOs of restaurant corporations. Due to the diverse array of survey respondents, a great many different types of responses were received regarding measure of size. Thus, among the 69 respondents who chose, other in the measure of size category, measures such as square footage of convention/conference/meeting/banquet space, number of restaurants/stores/units, number of employees, number of hotels, amount of revenue generated, number of locations, number of accounts, and various others. In addition some respondents provided multiple measures of size. Type of Property: 188 responses were recorded regarding the type of property the respondents were affiliated with. Of those, 99 (52.7%) selected lodging, 27 (14.4%) circled restaurants, 16 (8.5%) indicated managed services, and 39 (20.8%) selected other types which included vending, marketing/advertising, airlines, associations, distribution/suppliers, cruise lines casinos, clubs retail/convenience stores, cruise lines, health care, real estate/property development, banking/finance, and consulting. Type of Ownership: In the Type of Ownership category 225 responses were recorded. Of them, 124 (55.1) properties were company owned, 68 (30.2%) were independently owned, and 33 (14.7%) were franchised. Ranking and Comparison Results The 33 course subject areas were ranked in the order of importance by the industry professionals. The ranking is provided in table 1. The top ten subject areas are Leadership, Internships/industry experience, Preparation for Industry Employment, Ethics, Overview of the Hospitality Industry, Revenue/Asset Management, Hospitality Management and Organization, Hospitality Operations Analysis, Foodservice Operations and Controls, Computer/Information Technology. The results were compared to Gursoy and Swangers 2004 survey results. Results show that 10 out of 29 hospitality subject areas Hospitality Management and Organization, Principles of Marketing, Hospitality Marketing Strategy, Hospitality Operations Analysis, Ethics, Strategic Management, Service Management, Revenue/Asset Management, Study Abroad, and Innovation and Product Development are significantly different compared to the 2004 rankings. Discussion A look at the two ranking tables (2004 and 2009) reveal that highly important subject areas which were quite consistent in their perceived importance among industry practitioners include leadership, Internships/industry experience, Preparation for Industry Employment, Overview of Hospitality Industry, Foodservice Operations and Controls, and Computer/Information Technology. Leadership, the highest rated subject area, especially has been rated as one of the most important skills deemed of hospitality graduates a number of times in hospitality literature (Okeiyi et al. 1994; Breiter and Clements, 1996; Siu 1998; Kay and Russette, 2000; Kriegl 2000; Nelson and Dopson, 2001). There were some major changes in the rankings over a period of 5 years. The ranking of Ethics went down from 1 to 4, service management from 10 to 18, Principles of Marketing from 12 to 19, and Hospitality Marketing Strategy from 14 to 20. On the other hand, Revenue/Asset Management went up 14 places to number 6, and Finance from number 18 to 13. Finance, accounting, and related skills were recognized as very important by hospitality employers in various studies (Getty et al., 1991; Umbriet, 1992; Ashley et al. 1995; Nelson Dopson, 2001; Agut et al. 2003) in the past. In that aspect, this improvement in ranking of finance and related areas is consistent with past literature. As mentioned before, t-tests revealed significant differences in means between 2009 rankings and 2004 rankings in 10 out of the 29 subject areas. 8 of those 10 subject areas had significantly higher means in 2004 compared to 2009. These areas include Hospitality Management and Organization, Principles of Marketing, Hospitality Marketing Strategy, Hospitality Operations Analysis, Ethics, Strategic Management, Service Management, and Innovation and Product Development. Ethics, especially, showed a very significantly high decrease in means (t (670.079) = -5.116, p = .000). Time and again, ethics has been recognized as the most important skill in the hospitality workplace (Enz et al., 1993; Nelson Dopson, 2001; Gursoy Swanger, 2004). This significant decrease in the ranking of ethics shows that it is not quite deemed as important in the hospitality workplace as it used to be. This decrease in importance can be accounted to two reasons. Firstly, following the wake of Enron, WorldCom, an d Adelphia corporate scandals that shook the business community in early years of this new millennium, audit firms were increasingly putting a lot of emphasis on having stringent audit practices. Consequently, businesses all over the world were paying special attention to preventing corporate fraud through promoting ethical practices within the organization. This has increased the demand for ethics, as a top level competency/skill/subject area deemed of recent graduates in the workplace during the time period of Gursoy and Swangers (2004) study. However, the increased emphasis coming out of the shock the business community received from the corporate scandals has faded away a little as time went by. Moreover, business schools all over the world have been producing much better graduates reflecting ethical preparedness in response to those corporate scandals and the increased pressure from the business community. This can be demonstrated by the increased importance on ethics posed by universities in response to industry pressure. MBA programs that require students to take a course dedicated to business and society issues have increased dramatically over time: 34% in 2001 to 63% in 2007, and to 69% in 2009 (Aspen Institute CBE, 2010). In the accreditation standards of AACSB, formulated in 2003, an increased emphasis on ethics was made, and schools were mandated to integrate ethics across the curriculum to meet the accreditation standards, although there was no requirement of a standalone ethics course in the curriculum (Swanson, Fisher, 2009). Having received better prepared graduates, it can be argued that the business community no longer rate ethics as important as it rated in 2004 because they are more content now compared to six years ago. Secondly, the prolonged economic downturn has caused the business community to put more weight on other skills/subject areas. Consequently, this shifted the importance on other areas such as leadership and financial competencies, which diminished the relative importance of ethics. Also, in the beginning years of the economic downturn, firms were under shock, and had to operate under strict financial conditions prompting them to avoid any unnecessary lawsuits which might cause them to be ultra protective. Thus, they were in need of better ethically prepared employees, which are reflected in the 2004 rankings. Moving away from ethics, marketing related subject areas were also rated significantly less important in 2009 compared to 2004. 11.4% of the 2009 respondents were associated with Sales/Marketing compared to 8.9% in 2004. In this regard, it was expected that the ranking of marketing related subject areas would improve, but the results are contrasting indicating that the importance of marketing related subject have indeed gone down. According to IBISWorld industry reports, the overall lodging industry showed positive growth in revenue from 2004 to 2007. However, the report also showed huge decrease in revenue growth in 2008 and 2009. Especially in 2009, revenue decreased by as much as 9.4% for hotel and motel industry, consistent with the projections made in 2008 (IBISWorld, 2010a). This decrease in growth has caused the hospitality industry to be ultra-protective of their expenses. As a result, there has been a decrease in the importance of marketing oriented subject areas, which acco unts for a good chunk of costs in hospitality industry. The same reason can be cited for the significant decrease in hospitality operations subject area. A better argument can be presented from the employment perspective. Because of the sudden economic downturn in the lodging industry, it can be argued that firms have reduced their hiring practices in areas that greatly add to the cost of the hotels such as marketing, operations, and innovations and product development. Same holds true for managerial level positions, which accounts for the decrease in the perceived importance of subject areas such as service management, strategic management, and management and organization. However, reflected in our analysis, it can be pointed out that firms are looking for leaders, who can think out of the box, and bail them out of the financial crisis, which accounts for the high perceived rating of leadership subject area. Especially, it can be argued that hospitality firms are looking for employ ees who can lead from the front and make their decisions, instead of relying on other people such as the managers. Thus, it can be argued that, hospitality firms are trying to cut down the costs of employing specialized managers by trying to promote leadership qualities on their regular employees. The subject areas that showed significantly higher means in 2009 compared to 2004 include Revenue/Asset Management and Study Abroad, which were both highly significant (p Suggested Curriculum Model Gursoy and Swanger (2004) suggested an industry driven model of a hospitality curriculum for programs housed in accredited college of business. Based on our study, some suggestions and improvements are offered to make the semester-based model more rigorous, relevant, and up-to-date. The model of hospitality curriculum was developed based on three different components: business core requirements, hospitality core requirements, and hospitality electives incorporating the ranked subject matter by hospitality industry professionals. Based on the limitations regarding number of credits in the hospitality program and on the suggestions from the focus groups and advisory boards, some subject areas, such as ethics and leadership, were embedded throughout the curriculum. The curriculum model did not embed those subject matters in the business cores and in the general education cores as business core and general education core classes were outside the hospitality programs locus of control. The Senior-level hospitality capstone course integrated all curriculum areas in the program. Subject matters with a mean ranking of 2.0 or lower were suggested to be part of elective courses and were recommended for Sophomore or Junior level. Like the 2004 model, learning a second lang uage (M = 1.76) and studying abroad (M = 1.50) were not deemed essential for success in the industry by the professionals surveyed and hence were not included in the model. Similarly, Entrepreneurship (M = 2.34) and Real Estate/Property Development (M = 1.61) courses, which were thought to be as part of other electives under a different department or program in business, were kept outside the curriculum model. For the 2009 model, electives such as Destination Manag

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Kandinskys Art :: Wassily Kandinsky Artists Painters Essays

Since my first encounter with Kandinsky's art I was amazed by their complexity and always wondered about the creative and intellectual mind, which was responsible for them. The few books I managed to find on Kandinsky were extremely useful as they outlined his entire career and had a substantial amount of illustrations. There were also a number of websites available on the Internet, which contained critiques from other art historians, critics and fellow artists from around the world. But there is not a large number of his paintings available in Britain therefore could only experience his art at first hand on three occasions. If I were to attempt this coursework again I would perhaps try to widen my research by travelling outside of the U.K. and experiencing at first hand some of Kandinsky's more grand pieces, in order to fully feel their effects. Introduction Upon my first encounter with Kandinsky's painting, my eyes and indeed my mind were overcome with a sense of puzzlement, as it seemed impossible to decipher what lay beneath his passionate use of colour and distorted forms. Kandinsky hoped by freeing colour from its representational restrictions, it, like music could conjure up a series of emotions in the soul of viewer, reinforced by corresponding forms. Throughout this essay, I will follow Kandinsky's quest for a pure, abstract art and attempt to determine whether his passionate belief in this spiritual art and his theories on its effects on the soul, can truly be felt and appreciated by the average viewer, who at first glance would most likely view Kandinsky's paintings as simply abstract. Kandinsky was indeed a visionary, an artist who through his theoretical ideas of creating a new pictorial language sought to revolutionize the art of the twentieth-century. Regarded as the founder of abstract painting, he broke free from arts traditional limitations and invented the first painting for paintings sake, whereby the dissolution of the object and subsequent promotion of colour and form became means of expression in their own right. This theory stemmed from his fundamental belief of the importance of a "spiritual" art, which could be extracted only from the "inner voice" of the artist. Kandinsky believed that this spiritual domain was indestructible and therefore had the utmost authoritative power to create artistic messages that were as alive and pure as nature. His preoccupation with music and the freedom of expression that it provided, fascinated Kandinsky and inspired his observations on the "sounds" of colours, a theory based on an idea that these colours had a psychological effect on the viewer similar to the emotional effect created by a musical composition. Kandinsky the Russian Born in Moscow in 1866, Wassily Kandinsky would spend the majority of

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Beneatha as a paradigm for African American Women in A Raisin in The Su

In Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun a number of social issues are both explicitly and subtly exemplified through out the characters experiences and relationships. Living in a cramped Chicago apartment, the Youngers’ display both influential goals and conflicting restraints. Beneatha Youngers is a controversial character; she complicates society’s typical gender roles, introduces the wrestle between assimilation and ancestry of African-Americans, but specifically serves as a paradigm for her generation in the play. When Beneatha is first introduced in the play, we see her waking up on a regular morning; she is living under the same confined circumstances as the rest of the characters. Prior to Beneatha’s entrance, the audience observes Walter and Ruth over breakfast. Walter begins to complain about â€Å"colored women† through out the play his character continually spits out patriarchal and misogynistic comments, often targeted at Beneatha. As he finishes his negative complaints, Beneatha enters. The long character description molds her persona. She is illustrated not as pretty but her â€Å"almost intellectual face has a handsomeness of its own†(Hansberry, 35). This specific use of handsome portrays her character as a sharp and unfeminine. Hansberry’s word choice is extremely intentional as she connects Beneatha with masculine qualities, which inherently matches the stereotype of her feminist personality. The fact that her face is also described as intellectual imp lies that she carries an intelligent look in her features. â€Å"Her speech is a mixture of many things; it is different from the rest of the family’s insofar as education has permeated her sense of English- and perhaps the Midwest rather than the south has final... ...list, but she grows to adapt idealist thinking. Her presence in the play was symbolically targeted toward the audience. She is both inspiring and relatable to any audience. At the play’s end it is Beneatha’s character that voices her future plans, even after they successfully move to Clybourne Heights. She proves her goal fluidity by wanting to practice her medical career in Africa, blending her two passions. Beneatha Youngers is the influential prototype for a generation of people, which history has validated. Works Cited Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Random House, 1958. Print. 2) Wilkerson, Margaret B. "'A Raisin in the Sun': Anniversary of an American Classic." Theatre Journal Johns Hopkins University Press Vol. 38, No. 4.Theatre of Color (1986): 441-452. JSTOR. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. .

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Does Shakespeare matter? :: essays research papers

In today’s world the quality of the art form called writing is said to be somewhat diminishing, it is important for English literature to keep some studies of classic literature, such as Shakespeare. I think well rounded education must have a strong foundation in both modern and classical literature, for the foundation in classical literature, an in-depth study of Shakespeare’s works would be more than sufficient. Not only was Shakespeare so skilled in his writing that he has become a significant point in the history of literature, but a majority of his works were written on such basic human themes that they will last for all time and must not be forgotten. William Shakespeare has become landmark in English literature. One must be familiar with the early days of English literature in order to comprehend the foundation of much of more modern literature’s basis. Shakespeare’s modern influence is still seen clearly in many ways. The success of Shakespeare’s works helped to set the example for the development of modern dramas and plays. He is also acknowledged for being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings. Another sign of a truly dominant writer is one who finds even the entire existing vocabulary of the language limiting to his creativity. Shakespeare often did, and so on occasion created his own form of grammar and vocabulary, much of which has since become commonly used. Few modern writers have the skill to make new words which stick in the language, or to write in such a way that their words become used centuries later. By using just the right combination of words, or by coming up with just the right image, Shakespeare wrote many passages and entire plays that were so powerful, moving, tragic, comedic, and romantic that many are still being memorized and performed today, almost four centuries later. But the greatness of Shakespeare’s ability lies not so much in the basic themes of his works but in the creativity he used to write these stories of love, power, greed, discrimination, hatred, and tragedy. Therefore there can be no doubt that knowledge of the works of Shakespeare is needed for any education of English literature to be considered complete and well rounded.

Security organizations and counterterrorism

It is explicitly declared in the manual that Muslim religious goals and quests can not be attained except by force though bombings, assassinations, as well as wanton slaughter of human beings. Anti-terror professionals are thus warned that it is almost futile to try to engage such extremists in any from of dialogue since it has been implanted into their conscious selves that only force and aggression can yield fruits. Counterterrorism efforts should thus not have discussion as one of the ways to manage terrorism since the militias are not responsive to dialogue.The manual declares that Muslims can only resist the alleged condition of unawareness by being united and conforming to Muslim religious ideals. Counterterrorist experts are thus informed to be vigilant and wary of Islamic groupings since such are the ideal places where Islamic militias congregate, strategize, and share ideas. The terrorism guidebook offers three key principles necessary for establishing Islamic military organ izations, which include: organization advisory committee and commander; soldiers; and a clearly-defined plan.This informs counterterrorism experts that Islamic terrorists are well-organized groups with a clear hierarchical power struc6ture. It is thus prudent to carry out a systematic dismantling of such organizations for effective handling of terrorism. Such measures would include firsts identifying the actual persons involved in terror activities, from planners to implementers, and then directly dealing with individual persons (Terrorist Training Manual, 2000).Several requirements for the Islamic military organizations are listed including: counterfeit money and fake documents; apartments plus hiding quarters; means of communication; means of transport; ammunition and arms; information; and transport. This implies that such Islamists are well prepared and hence counterterrorism personnel ought to have superior preparedness and planning in order to effectively tackle terrorism. Amo ng the missions of Islamic military organizations is to kidnap enemy documents, personnel, arms, and secrets.Counterterrorism experts are thus required to be vigilant in securing such entities at all times, particularly those belonging to nations which are ideological enemies with Islamic regimes. The assassination of overseas tourists and enemy personnel is another mission of Islamic militias. Counterterrorism should therefore seek to ensure the safety of tourists abroad by either offering guidelines on safe places to visit or issuing travel advisories if there is reason to fear for the safety of tourists while overseas.Another mission of Muslim jihadists is the spreading of rumors as well as issuing statements that incite the masses against he perceived enemy. Counterterrorism should thus aim to try to prevent the publication of such inciting statements, intercept and destroy them before they reach their target audience or destroy the places where they are produced. The jihadists as well have the mission of bombing and obliterating embassies plus attacking important financial centers.This calls for heightened and vigilant surveillance on the overseas facilities such as embassies and business premises owned by regimes which the Muslim jihadists consider as enemies. The jihadists also aim to blow up bridges linking cities with neighboring areas as one of their missions. It is vital for counterterrorism personnel to be on the lookout and secure vital bridges to avert any possible strikes. Recruits into the jihadist movement ought to be Muslims. This implies that counterterrorism personnel ought to concentrate on Muslim characters when managing terrorism.Members as well should be mature, that is of the age of majority. Counterterrorism should thus focus on mature Muslim persons when investigating terror activities. One requirement for membership is the ability and commitment top keep secrets even from the closest persons. Counterterrorism experts ought o be ther efore aware that it is hard to extract information from such terrorists and hence devise efficient methods of getting such information (Terrorist Training Manual, 2000).Regarding operational moneys, it is stated that they are to be split into 2 parts, with one segment going into schemes that provide monetary returns, while the other is kept to be spent only in the course of operations. This informs counterterrorism experts that the jihadists operate decoy projects which they use to earn cash for furthering their military objectives. Therefore, any enterprises having Muslim connections ought to be fully investigated to establish their owners, financiers and beneficiaries.The jihadists’ photos on traveling documents ought not to have a beard according to the manual. This should inform counterterrorism experts that the old notion that Muslims and jihadists always wear beards should be discarded so as to be able to effectively investigate the activities of suspect Muslims. Agreem ents are to be rent4ed preferably on ground floors to permit easy escape as well as digging ditches. Counterterrorism experts should thus be on the lookout particularly for suspects who live on ground floors when investigating terrorism activities.Apartments are to be rented preferably within newly-developed localities because people in such areas generally do not know each other and hence strangers are not as easily identifiable as in older neighborhoods. Counterterrorism experts therefore should particularly carry out surveillance in such neighborhoods for any suspicious characters. Organization members are instructed to offer information that is bound to mislead security agencies when they discover that their telephone conversations are being tapped into.This further complicates the work of counterterrorism agencies since they ought to be wary of volunteer information that is purported to implicate militants. Proper vetting and scrutiny of any informer-derived information is impo rtant to make sure that security agencies do not fall into the tricks of the jihadists and hence end up unnecessarily wasting time and possible resources (Terrorist Training Manual, 2000). The guidebook states that training venues for Islamic military organizations ought t to be located far away from areas with may people.Counterterrorism agencies therefore have got to conduct searches for such training sites away from major cities and towns preferably in the countryside where there are few people residing therein. The Islamic organization generally avoids overcrowded place such as, train stations, cafes, and recreation places. Security and counterterrorism agencies ought to specifically target less crowded places when carrying out anti-terrorism activities. Members of the organization carrying out strike operations are instructed not to appear Muslim-like and if possible, to completely disguise themselves.This is a challenge for security and counter-terror agencies since it appears like it is pointless to target and investigate overt Muslims regarding terrorism. Priority should be placed on members of the public who do not have outward Muslim appearances. Fighters in the Muslim military organization are taught beforehand about the answers to provide to security forces in the event that they are intercepted. Security agencies thus ought to be a bit more creative and flexible regarding the questions they field to suspects during interrogations.Routine, standard, and typical questions ought to be avoided. Questions should be asked depending on the environment so as to gather useful facts and surprise the Islamists into disclosing valuable information. The guidebook contains instructions to the effect that surveillance vehicle number plates and make should be similar to those of target vehicles. This should appropriately inform security agencies to be cautious when trailing or attacking suspicious vehicles as innocent persons, with cars matching the terroristsâ⠂¬â„¢ vehicle, may be involved.The Islamic organization is seemingly using ciphers according to the guidebook. Security organizations and counterterrorism personnel ought to be well versed with the various systems of cipher text currently employed so as to accurately and speedily interpret information when it is intercepted to facilitate quick and appropriate action (Terrorist Training Manual, 2000). Members of the Islamic organization are instructed not to confess of their involvement with the jihadist movement if they get arrested and are brought to trial.Security agencies should be aware that such characters will not provide any useful information that could lead to the dismantling of the terrorist cells. Other methods of obtaining information, other than interrogation and questioning ought to be developed to ensure effective handling of the terrorists and their activities. Members are as well instructed to be observant, alert, and watchful of the places they are interrogated at, which mostly are security facilities, so as to relay information to the jihadist movement regarding the physical set up of such buildings.This should ring a bell in security circles and appropriate places of interrogation should be created to avoid letting the Islamic militia get to know the set up of government facilities in case they plan future attacks on the same. Reference Terrorist Training Manual (May 2000). Provided courtesy of the Behavioral Analysis Program, Operational Training Unit, Counterintelligence Division, FBI Headquarters.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Importance of Break-even analysis Essay

It is an undisputable fact that every business’ objective is to survive and make profit as compensation of being in existence. Frankly, predicting a precise amount of sales or profits is nearly impossible. No business aims at making losses whatsoever. Given this, a person starting a new business often asks, ‘’ At what level of sales will my company make a profit? ’’ This question clearly predicts the uncertainty of businesses on the level of sales at which profits will be realized. Certainly, break-even analysis is the first resort. Therefore, it becomes absolutely necessary for a business to prioritize break-even analysis when making profit oriented decisions. This leads us to the reasons why businesses should pay attention to break-even analysis. Break-even point can be defined as a point where total costs (expenses) and total sales (revenue) are equal. Specifically, break-even analysis if the use of break-even point to make cost, volume, and profit analysis. Break-even analysis offers businesses lots of benefits that are worth considering. There are a number of benefits that hitherto a business would not enjoy. The break-even analysis gives an insight about the sales level a business needs in order to make profit. It gives the business a forecast on its cost, volume, and profit behavior. Managers can determine the effect of changes in cost and volume of sales on the profit. By so doing, it guides the decision making process of a business. The break-even analysis is also helpful to managers as the provided information such as margin of safety in units and sales (MOS), and degree of leverage (DOL) can be used in making important decisions in business, for example projecting the sales level needed to obtain certain targeted profit. With the help the break-even analysis, businesses can ascertain the number of units of a product to sell to generate a targeted profit. Similarly, break-even analysis is a tool used to determine the lowest quantity of sales at which neither profit nor loss will be obtained. In a situation where the demand of a company’s product begins to fall, it would be able to determine the number of employees to maintain so as reduce production cost as well as prevent surplus. Obviously, companies incur addition storage cost to store unsold goods; hence, the break-even analysis will help managers not incur such cost. Companies can use the break-even analysis to study the relationship between selling price, fixed costs, variable costs, and sales volume and its effect on the contribution margin. Therefore, business can tell which of the element to alter in order to make a certain profit. Moreover, such analysis facilitates the managers with a quantity which can be used to evaluate the future demand. If, in case, the break-even point lies above the estimated demand, reflecting a loss on the product, the manager can use this information for taking various decisions. He might choose to discontinue the product, or improve the advertising strategies, or even re-price the product to increase demand. Furthermore, managers can use break-even analysis to determine whether an investment will generate profit or not. As a result, managers will not venture into investments that will lead to losses. Another important usage of the break-even point is that it is helpful in recognizing the relevance of fixed and variable cost. The fixed cost is less with a more flexible personnel and equipment thereby resulting in a lower break-even point. The importance of break-even point, therefore, cannot be overstated for a sound business and decision making. Additionally, the break-even analysis gives managers the understanding of how profitable different product or services might be. Managers can determine how much each product contributes to the overall profit and how relevant the product is to the firm. The most important aspect of the break even-analysis gives managers the knowledge about how much product must be sold to cover costs. Therefore, it helps managers to work hard towards selling a level of product that will cover its costs so as to make profit. In conclusion, businesses that pay attention to break-even analysis tend to understand their costs, hence are very likely to take effective decisions regarding pricing, investment, and expenditure among other things.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Racism in America Today Essay

Racism has been a terrible problem in American society for hundreds of years. Racism issues are not limited to one specific race, but include all races. It is the responsibility of the people of this nation to address racism and learn to accept and embrace each other for our differences, and allow this great nation to become even more united for our sake and the sake of future generations. To eliminate racism it is imperative to know first, where racism started and how it has developed, why it continues to be present in our nation today, and what we must do as a people to overcome this major problem. History The Middle Passage was the system set up as a form of triangular trade that forced millions of innocent humans from their homes in Africa, and forced them to become slaves as part of the Atlantic slave trade. These people were essentially traded as slaves for materials, food, supplies etc. Many of the enslaved Africans were shipped to the Caribbean and the Americas. The Middle Passage route began in Europe where they left with the manufactured goods and headed to Africa. The goods were then traded for the slaves, and then the ships set off for the Americas and Caribbean islands (Stoddard). After the trading was done there the ships would return back to Europe. According to Elizabeth Mancke, and Carole Shammas authors of, â€Å"The Creation of the British Atlantic World,† they write, â€Å"An estimated 15% of the Africans died at sea, with mortality rates considerably higher in Africa itself in the process of capturing and transporting indigenous peoples to the ships. The total number of African deaths directly attributable to the Middle Passage voyage is estimated at up to two million; a broader look at African deaths directly attributable to the institution of slavery from 1500 to 1900 suggests up to four million African deaths. † Historian Lisa Vox expounds on the origin of slavery in North America in her article â€Å"The Start of Slavery in North America. † Vox states that, â€Å"Historians normally date the start of slavery in the North American colonies to 1619. That year, a Dutch ship carrying African slaves docked at Point Comfort, which served as Jamestown’s checkpoint for ships wanting to trade with the colonists. The crew of the Dutch ship was starving, and as John Rolfe noted in a letter to the Virginia Company’s treasurer Edwin Sandys, the Dutch traded 20 African slaves for food and supplies. † It was not until the early nineteenth century that this practice was banned with a hefty penalty for those individuals that were found participating in it. Other groups of people were affected by racism as well. When Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, he discovered the Native American Indians which he referred to as â€Å"savages. † The Europeans deemed the Native Americans as uneducated, uncivilized creatures, and treated them as such. Native Americans were manipulated and taken advantage of by the European people, and treated more like animals than human beings. This was another historical beginning of racism in America. As America began to flourish in the mid nineteenth century, many immigrants (Irish, Chinese, Norwegians, and the Italians to name a few) flocked to the New World to seek fortune and freedom. The accumulation of many different cultures, beliefs, and ethnicities resulted in nicknaming the United States as the â€Å"melting pot. † While they were all united in their resolve to be free and determined to live the â€Å"American dream,† prejudices began to form as one race considered itself superior to the others. Americans were not happy that there were others so willing to take low pay for the jobs that they were scarcely available. There was low tolerance for different cultures and beliefs. Immigrants sought refuge and segregated themselves from one another by forming their own communities, thus resulting in â€Å"Little Italy† and â€Å"Chinatown† etc. Prejudices dissolved somewhat with the initiation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, along with the Bill of Rights. The Emancipation Proclamation was released in 1863 at the conclusion of the Civil War; however, slavery was not made illegal everywhere in the U. S. until the Thirteenth Amendment took effect in December 1865. Even though slavery was outlawed, there continued to be a strong segregation between the whites and African Americans. Although the Constitution states that â€Å"all men are created equal,† Latinos, Native Americans, African Americans, and other ethnicities were not receiving this kind of treatment. During the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, many groups were formed to combat this problem of inequality. Groups such as the Black Panthers, and the Japanese American Citizens League sought to protest to gain equal rights. Such Civil Rights leaders like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. participated in nonviolent protesting to fight for these rights. In Alabama Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person and was arrested for it, this lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott where African Americans refused to use the buses for almost a year, and then the state ruled that it was unconstitutional to have segregated buses. It was through leaders and acts like the one just mentioned that have ended segregations and given equal rights to all Americans. Post- Racial In 2008 after Barack Obama was elected president, during the time leading up to his inauguration, it was said that many people heard for the first time, the term post-racial. The term post-racism represented a new era initiated by putting the first African-American president in office. Several people expected, believed, hoped or wanted that this new presidency would change how racism was viewed and experienced in this land of the free and home of the brave. Many individuals wanted to be able to come to this country and be a part of the great opportunity that is presented in America. They wanted to embrace a country with freedom and with a democratic government. These are a few of the things that people from other countries can only hope for and dream that someday they might make the money for the documentation and be able pay for the trip over to this land of opportunity. There are many who make the trip with expectations in their heads of how wonderful it will be upon arrival to the United States. Unfortunately not all of these individuals receive a warm welcome upon entry to this country. Racism happens to every race. Depending on what race someone might be, or what town or city that person may go it is very possible that they will feel that they are not wanted there. In the following example Kevin Merida, a writer for the Washington Post, writes about an incident in his article, â€Å"Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause. † While campaigning for Barack Obama in Indiana, Danielle Ross and her group experienced a horrible response that none of them expected. Ross recalled on that day that, â€Å"The first person I encountered was like, ‘I’ll never vote for a black person. † This does not sound like racism is out of our mists. On a National Public Radio broadcast, Rebecca Roberts interviews Ralph Eubanks author of â€Å"The House at the End of the Road. † Roberts asks Eubanks to define post-racial and his response is as follows, â€Å"I think there are two popular definitions of post-racial. I think the first definition is that we are – it’s where race is no longer an issue or an impediment to progress in American society. I think that’s one way that it is often defined. Another way that it is defined is that moving – that post-racial means a color-blind society where race is not an issue. We are all Americans, and we’re just completely color blind. So, there are issues with both of those definitions, and where we’re actually moving is somewhere in between those. † For a majority of Americans, this is the goal that is in the back of their minds. Every man is created equal; everyone has the same rights, and is not judged by the color of skin they were born with. This great nation has taken steps in that direction. America is not the same place as it was in the 1950’s. Members of minority groups are not invisible like they were back then. Eubanks talks more about how he does not think that there will ever be a post-racial society because of our demographics. He believes that a post-racial society is something to always hope for, and strive towards, but pictures a multi-racial society with many different components to it. And a lot of that depends on, over the next 20 years, where our demographics take us (Roberts). Striving towards the ideal of having a color blind society will not come to past by evading the issue. Stopping racism When the topic of racism comes up many may think, â€Å"Oh no, here we go again, someone else complaining about racism. Or, why do we have to talk about this? Isn’t it time we moved on? † This may be a very uncomfortable the topic for countless American, but this is a conversation that needs to happen and continue to happen until this problem ceases to exists. It won’t disappear just because we choose not to mention it. Tim Wise, writer for timwise.org, talks about the problem of racism here in America in his article â€Å"Denial, Evasion Won’t Solve Racism. † Wise says that, â€Å"Indeed, the problem is not talking about racism but racism itself: Contrary to popular belief, race is not merely a card played by those who wish to stir up resentment. Instead it is a real and persistent determiner of who has what and why in this country. † Nobody can help what family they are born into, or what color their skin might be. Looking at the issue of race from a spiritual stand point, we are all sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. Why would one human being think less of the other? The golden rule says that we do unto others like you would want them to do unto you. These are simple solutions to a giant problem. Like mentioned earlier, many are tired of hearing about these things, but however tired many are of hearing about this, people of color are more sick and tired of living it. Conclusion To eliminate racism it is imperative to know first, where racism started and how it has progressed so that mistakes from the past can be avoided. By understanding why it continues to be present in our nation today, one can understand that there are significant changes that need to take place in order for this problem to be overcome. In concurrence with Wise, â€Å"until whites join with our black and brown brothers and sisters to put an end to the kind of racial inequity described above, we’ll continue to be confronted with the uneasy conversations, as well we should be. † It will take courage, consistency, and time just as it has already, but we are making progress and in due time this nation will become all that our founding fathers dreamed it would be. Works Cited Mancke, Elizabeth and Shammas, Carole. The Creation of the British Atlantic World. 2005, page 30-1. Merida, Kevin. â€Å"Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause. † Washingtonpost. com. Web. 13 May 2008. Roberts, Rebecca. The ‘Post-Racial’ Conversation, One Year In. Interview with Ralph Eubanks. National Public Radio: 2010. Print. Stoddard, B. , Murphy, D. Ph. D. â€Å"The Issue of Slavery†. Netplaces. com. Web. 25 April 2012 Wise, Tim. â€Å"Denial, Evasion Won’t Solve Racism. † Lexington Herald-Leader. 10 Nov. 2003.