Obesity The United States - 1268 Words

Joy Ekeoma Professor Beamen English 102 – OL 20 October, 2015 Obesity in America Over the past few decades, obesity rate has grown drastically in the United States. â€Å"A third of U.S. adults are obese† (Brady 519), placing them at a higher risk for diseases, and increased healthcare spending. It a preventable nutritional problem that affects people of all ages, gender and race, with minority groups and people of low socioeconomic status disproportionately affected. It is a multifaceted problem with many issues at its root. Obesity is the result of our agricultural policies, present economic condition, and unhealthy lifestyle. Food is critical to human survival; however, cheap food although an indispensable part of our current economy does†¦show more content†¦Astyk and Newton, in their essay: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Go Hungry, explains that â€Å"around the world, industrial agriculture has consolidated land ownership into the hands of smaller and smaller populations† destroying local self-sufficiency (518). Individuals are no longer able to grow own fresh, healthy foods to feed their family. They now depend on industrially grown crops and processed foods loaded with chemicals for food. Additionally, because of the farm policy, farmers that continue to cultivate healthy produce like fruits and vegetables get little or no government support, thus the higher prices of fresh produce seen today at our grocery stores. With this increase in the productivity of farmers, came a proliferation of food processing industries and fast food restaurants. These food processing industries and restaurants capitalized on the abundant, overly cheap commodity crops to their advantage; to make profit, and to the disadvantage of poor Americans. During processing of these commodity crops, the natural nutrients that give these foods their natural flavors are destroyed. To replace these, food additives and flavorings are added to restore their taste and prolong their shelf life. Often these chemicals contain some harmful elements that affect the way our bodies use food. These highly processed foods, dense in calories,

Negotiation Between Countries Free Essays

I want to do that from three different fronts, namely; Cultural differences in communication The patterns of communication between the countries are different even though tooth countries communicates basically in English language as an accepted language of communication. Communication in this sense can be verbal or non-verbal. Non- verbal also Includes written communications. We will write a custom essay sample on Negotiation Between Countries or any similar topic only for you Order Now Nigeria has over 400 languages but English language Is the accepted lingua franca. The united States has other native languages but English Is still the accepted language of communication. Though I will communicate in English with my American business partners but I must also understand that the way the Americans write and pronounce some words is different from the way we write and pronounce our words in English language. The American counterparts for instance will write the word â€Å"favor as favor† but I will write the word â€Å"favor as favor† because Nigeria was colonized by the British, so we take our language after the British pattern of writing and communicating. Nigerian are exclusion minded in communication; we will tend to see how the conversation does not align with what we already know and would usually want the American counterpart to align with our own position of knowledge. The American partner will rather communicate based on an Inclusive mindedness; they will rather want to know how what I am saying makes sense. American look for the sense In the conversation, does the numbers tally, are the figures correct, so they have a broader view to the conversation. Also Most Nigerian communication style follow after the collectivists’ culture; (Grove Hallowed; 1994) â€Å"Collectivists convey negative feedback indirectly via an intermediary or by quiet withdrawal of a perquisite. Sometimes they omit saying anything that’s negative. If you are managing employees in (or from) a collectivist culture, you might not find out what’s going wrong in your operation until the proverbial eleventh hour; there’s deep reluctance to upset group harmony by ailing you the bad news†. This means we would rather not say â€Å"no† to you openly even though we disagree, but we will rather let the conversation go on peaceably until we have another time to object to most of the Initial points of our conversation. My American partner would rather tell It the way It Is If It doesn’t go down with them. (Grove Hallowed; 1994) They pattern after the Individualist culture In conversations. Generally speaking, American culture communication style are usually Comfort talks, they are emotionally objective and practical in approach, their interactions are usually very direct and open. They don’t hide any cards off the table, they play all the cards on the table. But when it comes to reactions, they react to issues analytically and they remain persistent in their analysis until otherwise convinced. These are the factors that influences how Americans communicate. Cultural differences in negotiation and conflict-resolution Let’s think of a scenario of negotiation with our U. S. Partner for a presentation from an IT company overseas. The American makes his presentation very apt and technically done by expressing his overwhelming objective points and reasons why the product is best for my company in Nigeria. Well, we would say â€Å"the presentation is brilliant but I still do not trust this guy. He thinks objectively while I think subjectively, so our negotiations can either stall or proceed based on how we handle this cultural differences between our cultures. (Mimicked, 2010) To most Americans, difference is a threat, they will naturally tend to overl ook similarities and take note of the difference when they first begin the negotiations. We Nigerian are looking for similarity with what we already know and experience, similarity makes us comfortable in the negotiation. During negotiations with Americans, you must understand that they hate silence, and they would often interrupt you at intervals during negotiations, while that is rude in my country, to interrupt someone while he is still talking, the Americans have that as a normal way of life. Cultural differences in problem-solving and decision-making In terms of problem solving, the American approaches it from a highly objective point of view, they would naturally first carry out a critical analysis of the problem and then cake decisions based on the facts on ground. While we Nigerian usually make decisions based on sentiments sometimes, we decide to enter a business agreement when we feel intuitively inclined to do so, there is mostly no objective reason except we feel convinced inside that this is a good buy so we make the money decision. I would first seek an understanding of the cultural differences that have been highlighted earlier. After which I will approach the negotiation objectively, knowing that is how my American partner thinks. I will also approach most of our negotiation room an individualist point of view while also letting my American friend understand the collectivist point of view. My approach would be to achieve a win-win situation. In my country I can afford to have a win-lose situation during negotiations but I understand that the American is highly objective and would not go by my sweet talks or by my expressing an overwhelming emotional conviction about the business I am trying to sell to him. So my thought pattern will naturally change from when negotiating with my fellow country man. The factors of negotiation and business allegations to consider in this case would be; Listening skills- I will need to be more active in listening so that I get the objective point the American is making rather than rely on my emotions to guide my decision making in the negotiation. People skills – I need to feel comfortable with our differences and not look hard for similarities between us before I connect with the American counterpart. BATAAN – I must establish what the Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement is. This is vital to my than what I may have done otherwise. The BATAAN is what I can or might do if an agreement cannot be reached. This is my final position in case an agreement is difficult to reach. Have a Plan – I would consider having a plan ahead of the negotiation. My plan would likely include the following: (Yachted, D; ND) Trying to establish the negotiating style of the other party. This helps me think through how best to communicate and go through the process of negotiation and making educated guesses as I go along. What are my interests? This is gives me a perfect reason to answer the question of why? Before the negotiation. What is my real interest? What are the interests of the American Partner? I must understand where y American partner is coming from what are the shared interests we have and what are the opposing interests. Opposing interests is what I must negotiate. What do I have that I can trade that is of lesser value to me and of higher value to the American Partner? This helps me consider the options in the give and take phase of the negotiation. I must know beforehand what I can trade off at any time during the negotiation that is of a lesser value to me and of a higher value to my partner. What are three options I can implement to move the negotiation from compromising to joint problem solving? How to cite Negotiation Between Countries, Papers

Hospitality Management Crown Resorts Limited

Question: Discuss about the Hospitality Management Crown Resorts Limited. Answer: Introduction The hospitality industry entails the provision of quality goods and services in restaurants, casinos, hotels, and resorts (Brotherton, 2012, p. 6). Crown Resorts is an Australian based company ranked 92 out of the largest 200 companies in the country. Crown Resorts Limited operates in the casino, entertainment, and gaming sector which all fall under the hospitality industry. Crown Resorts operates various gaming and entertainment complexes in Australia such as Crown Melbourne, Crown Perth, Crown Aspinall's, and Cannery Casino Resorts among others. These complexes deal with hotels, casinos, entertainment, convention centers, online social games, and accommodation services to the tourists and other visitors. Domestically and globally, Crown Resorts faces stiff competition from other hospitality companies some of which include: Wynn Macau Limited, Wynn Resorts Limited, MGM Resorts International, Vail Resorts Inc, and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited among others. The target marke t of Crown Resorts is both children and adults of all ages, both local citizens, and tourists from other countries. The company is extending its venture across Asia and establishing a global luxury brand based on the highest quality hospitality services. Production Systems Production systems involve the processes, procedures, arrangements, and methods which comprise all functions needed to accumulate the inputs, processes, and deliver the marketable outputs to the target market by the company (Chermack and Kasshanna, 2007, p. 390). In the hospitality sector, a production system consists of inputs and processes aimed at delivering quality hotel, casino, gaming, and entertainment services to the tourists. The management practices of Crown Resorts in respect to the production systems are explained as below: Service Transactions The service transactions undertaken at Crown Resorts are characterized by guests experience and staff performance. The company offers site entertainment, food, casinos, convention centers, and online social games as the primary service transactions. The involvement of tourists and the internal employee's team at the company are critical elements of service operations (Coman and Ronen, 2009, p. 5680). The management recommends quality control where a high standard of service transactions is achieved at little or no defects. The company empowers employees to address guests issues by focusing on transaction services that improve the quality of hospitality services. The current strengths of Crown Resorts service transactions underly on the quality of hospitality services to guests and tourists, defect free services, efficient operations cost controls, positive employees behavior, ability to satisfy guests entertainment needs and desires, excellent responses to guests complaint, and simultaneous delivery of accommodation, online social games, and entertainment services (Evans, Stonehouse, and Campbell, 2012, p. 90). The company enjoys highly skilled and qualified staff who ensure that these input services are deliverable to the target market in the right processes, methods, and procedures. As a result, Crown Resorts has generated a long-term advantage in the hospitality sector, and this provides the firm with a competitive edge over the rivals. On the other side, there are weaknesses faced by the Crown Resorts in its internal entertainment, casino, hotel, food, and gaming services to the guests. These shortcomings include ineffective corporate culture, wrong public perception of the image of the firm, strict need to adhere to the set government regulations, adverse corporate governance issues that prohibit casino gambling, and lack of conducive business environment (Groover, 2007, p. 76). The weaknesses hinder the cash-flow sensitivity analysis since the hospitality manager is mandated to combine financial knowledge with the sector experience so as to offer comprehensive and reputable services to the target market in the hospitality industry. Maintenance The hospitality manager is entitled to set goals, plan, organize, and control all the operations of Crown Resorts. The inputs involved in the maintenance of entertainment, casino, and gaming services of Crown Resorts both domestically and globally include: minor electrical equipment for repair and replacement of appliances, casino gaming machines, computer repair technology programs, music system, and well furnished sleeping logins among others (Hall and Gssling, 2013, p. 45). The hospitality manager always directs the maintenance and repair of these inputs so as to provide high-quality output entertainment, casino, hotel, and gaming services in the hospitality sector. The set down work policies, procedures, and processes are strictly observed when offering these services to the guests and tourists. The strengths underlying this production system include consistent cross training of service employees, involvement of personnel in setting maintenance standards and processes, valuing staff as the most important asset of the firm, established technology reward programs, high quality music systems, technologically casino gaming machines, and high quality sleeping rooms (Ivanov, 2014, p. 12). These strengths provide the company with a competitive edge against the competitors and hence making it thrive in the market. Based on the analysis of inputs, processes, and outputs of maintenance production systems of Crown Resorts, the hospitality firm faces various internal weaknesses. These evident weaknesses include failure of the maintenance manager to make employees the product, high maintenance costs, insufficient capital for cross training employees, inability to understand visitors and restrain from beauracratic maintenance approaches, and poor record maintenance which leads to poor planning in the next summer event (Markham and Young, 2015, p. 58). Repairs Crown Resorts Limited has a reconfiguration model based on repairs approach. Crown Resorts deals with a broad range of services which require advancements, and this needs adaptable production system. The inputs used in repairs production system of Crown Resorts include refrigerators, certified technicians, digital matrix processors, wall mounted DCP1V4S panels, and MTX3 scene memory repair systems (Testa and Sipe, 2012, p. 650). The hospitality manager has assigned work to a repairs manager whose role is to sent technicians who can fix any problem that arises to the restaurant's HVAC system. The desired outputs of these technicians processes are ensuring that the HVAC hotel systems work well and keeping the entertainment site conducive and comfortable for the guests. The strengths involved under this production system of Crown Resorts Limited have helped the company reap the maximum profits and adaptability in the hospitality industry. These strengths include: highly qualified, skilled, and innovative technicians, comfortable restaurants, conducive HVAC fans, delicious meals which attract many tourists, the ability to understand duct and fans positioning, and well maintained walk-in coolers (Testa and Sipe, 2012. p. 640). Capacity to employ highly qualified technicians enables the company to run its restaurant, gaming, and casino services efficiently since the technicians are ever present to repair any breakdown occurring. However, grounded on the above inputs, processes, and outputs of the repairs production system, Crown Resorts if faced by various weaknesses (Slatten and Mehmetoglu, 2011, p. 98). The weaknesses underlying the replacement production system of Crown Resorts include high costs of repairs, potential disaster occurrence, the repair processes endanger the health inspection status of the company and customers, machine breakdowns, and the challenge of drafty conditions by the poorly functioning restaurant HVAC system. These weaknesses create a loophole over which the company gets competed out by its main competitors such as Wynn Resorts. Production The senior hospitality manager of Crown Resorts Limited acknowledges the production system as the best tool for estimating employees performance as well as maximizing the quality of service delivery to the target market. The key input elements of the production system in Crown Resorts include PA entertainment systems, qualified comedians and experts, attractive hotel structure across the country, and revenue management systems (Slatten and Mehmetoglu, 2011, p. 100). The desired outputs deliverable from these inputs include providing optimal room allocation to the guests, offering fun and quality entertainment to the tourists and visitors, and ensure dynamic pricing of hospitality services in the company. To achieve these desired inputs, the manager is aided by various internal strengths. These advantages present to the company in the production system include: highly equipped revenue management software, highly technology based entertainment and music systems, high quality hotel production structures, transformation systems, and top quality adhesive magic tape for automatic music production for the entertainment of the guests (Riley, 2014, p. 34). This ability of Crown Resorts to transform the production processes has made it difficult for the competitors to produce the same quality of entertainment, gaming, and hotel services to the guests. However, there are various weaknesses facing Crown Resorts internally which require the senior hospitality manager to address with immediate effect. These production related weaknesses within the company include: machines breakdowns, lack of logistical support, improper control and monitoring of tools and equipment, negligence by some departmental managers, and unpredictable production output levels due to climatic variations (Marodin and Saurin, 2013, p. 6680). These challenges lower the performance of Crown Resorts in the hospitality sector. Delivery Delivery is the final production system used by the management of Crown Resorts in delivering its entertainment, casino, hotels, and gaming services. The management of Crown Resorts uses various inputs to provide these services to the target market. The inputs include highly qualified hospitality staff, policy makers, delicious dishes, comfortable accommodation, and entertainment programs (Hjalager, 2010, p. 6). To deliver these services, the management uses transport agencies to carry guests from the airports to the company's premises, employ personnel to direct the visitors, and in strict adherence to the delivery processes and programs set by the enterprise. By this doing, quality entertainment, accommodation, gaming, and casino services get provided to the customers as the end output. The management of delivery production systems has assisted the senior hospitality management of Crown Resorts to achieve the set goals and deliver high-quality outputs (Chon, and Yu, 2012, p. 88). This has been enhanced by various strengths which include the recruitment of professional hospitality personnel, excellent service delivery processes, positive reputation from the public, loyalty by the target market, and customer recognition programs. On the other side, the company faces various challenges that to some extend hinder delivery of high-quality services to both the existing and potential target market. These weaknesses include unpredictable weather patterns, inability to use the previous data in designing the expected numbers of guests attendance, high delivery costs, large pays offered to hospitality personnel, competition from other companies, and unfavorable government policies (Chang, Gong, and Shum, 2011, p. 815). The managers have responded to these weaknesses by establishing rules, processes, and procedures of cost versus benefit analysis when initiating delivery production systems. Interrelationship of the Five Production Systems The five production systems interrelate with each other in various ways. In a hospitality firm, service transactions, repairs, maintenance, production, and delivery production systems are all based on forecasted demand spells out of the quantity of materials and time needed in delivering entertainment, hotel, gaming, and casino services (Tsang and Hsu, 2011, p. 890). The success of providing services, which in this case is the production goal of Crown Resorts depends upon the smooth integration of all production system segments under all departments in the company. There is the maintenance, repairs, service transactions, procurement, and production managers at Crown Resorts Plc who carefully work under instructions from the senior hospitality manager (Bharwani and Mathews, 2012, p. 410). The integration and interrelationships between these managers and their roles contribute to the success of production system of Crown Resorts since all entertainment, hotels, and gaming services are delivered at the highest quality. However, the interrelationship of these five production systems poses some management challenges for Crown Resorts and these challenges include: Lack of understanding between the different production systems managers which leads to delivery of poor quality of entertainment and hospitality services in the firm. There is high vulnerability to misuse of capital since every manager in a given production system provides a budget which may not be realistic when compared to the other projections in the other systems. There is a high possibility to confuse branding rationale. Interrelationships of these five production systems have made Crown Resorts mitigate customer confusion over brand proliferation and shareholder concerns over cross services impact. Recommendations for Tactical Strategies The analysis of strengths and weaknesses facing Crown Resorts has proved that there are various challenges that the hospitality company faces in its internal operations (Ariffin and Maghzi, 2012, p. 195). The following recommendations should be adopted by the management to overcome these challenges: To gain a positive public image of the company, the management should ensure a sustained delivery of high-quality guests services. Further, the company should engage in corporate social responsibilities by participating in community work. The company should strictly adhere to government policies when undertaking hospitality services to the visitors. For instance, the company should only offer services which it is licensed and always acquire intellectual property rights for the same. The management should train, motivate, and train hospitality personnel as the most crucial assets of the firm. This will encourage the employees to deliver high-quality services and thus retain the customers. The company should conduct thorough marketing of its services to attract more customers and gain a competitive edge against the rivals. In the estimation of guests who will tour the company in the summer time, the company should always maintain past records of visitors numbers, their demands, and their evaluation of the quality of services delivered. Conclusion In conclusion, the hospitality industry has been very competitive. The change in summer patterns on tourist trends remains key to economic growth and a firm's profitability.Production systems play a critical role in the success and functioning of entertainment businesses. The interrelationship of output systems creates uniformity of direction of company's goals. Production systems offer a broad range support and comprehensive management policies which lead to efficiency of business. The fact that production systems have both strengths and weaknesses that affect the functionality of firms means that managers should be ambitious and insightful in evaluating these situations. Therefore, production systems should get integrated into the management systems of business so as to enhance production efficiency. References Ariffin, A.A.M., and Maghzi, A., 2012. A preliminary study on customer expectations of hotel hospitality: Influences of personal and hotel factors.International Journal of Hospitality Management,31(1), pp.191-198. Bharwani, S. and Mathews, D., 2012. Risk identification and analysis in the hospitality industry: Practitioners' perspectives from India.Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes,4(5), pp.410-427. Brotherton, B. ed., 2012.International Hospitality Industry. Routledge. Chang, S., Gong, Y. and Shum, C., 2011. 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A review of innovation research in tourism.Tourism Management,31(1), pp.1-12. Ivanov, S.H., 2014. Hotel revenue management: From theory to practice.Browser Download This Paper. Markham, F. and Young, M., 2015. Big Gambling: The rise of the global industry-state gambling complex. Marodin, G.A. and Saurin, T.A., 2013. Implementing lean production systems: research areas and opportunities for future studies.International Journal of Production Research,51(22), pp.6663-6680. Riley, M., 2014.Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry. Routledge. Sltten, T. and Mehmetoglu, M., 2011. Antecedents and effects of engaged frontline employees: A study of the hospitality industry.Managing Service Quality: An International Journal,21(1), pp.88-107. Testa, M.R. and Sipe, L., 2012. Service-leadership competencies for hospitality and tourism management.International journal of hospitality management,31(3), pp.648-658. Tsang, N.K. and Hsu, C.H., 2011. Thirty years of research on tourism and hospitality management in China: A review and analysis of journal publications.International Journal of Hospitality Management,30(4), pp.886-896.