Hawthorne effect Essay Example for Free

Hawthorne effect Essay In today’s competitive climate lots of business owners are trying to get more from their workforce at the same time however their employees are trying to get more from their jobs. Reward and recognition programmes are one way that employers can motivate their staff into changing their key behaviors and work habits, thus benefitting the business. At the same time these schemes can also give the employee that little bit extra they are looking for from job. Motivation and reward are closely linked and there have been many credible theories written on the subject. It is widely recognised that human beings have a need to feel valued, both in their home lives and in the work place. To keep people motivated they need to be encouraged, rewarded (where appropriate) or recognised in their endeavors. One of the most valued of the motivation theories was written by Abraham Maslow from the USA back in the 1950’s. As part of his study into motivation Maslow developed a five tiered hierarchy of needs. He argued that the way to motivate individuals in the workplace and indeed in life is to satisfy the need sets one by one and in order. The first of the need sets and the most basic are the biological and physiological needs. These are survival requirements ingrained into us and evolved with mankind for tens of thousands of years, things such as food, shelter, warmth etc. In Maslow’s model it’s these needs that need to be satisfied before anything else, for example there is little point offering status as a motivator, when the individual has not yet satisfied basic requirements such as achieving a livable wage in order to eat, secure shelter etc. Reward Systems Peformance at Mark-it-Down Co Ltd is not what it should be and it has been decided between senior mangement and the Human Resources department that the introduction of a reward scheme is whats required to motivate the workforce and improve performance overall. The team in charge of deciding on the reward system to implement have come up up with the following suggestions: Variable Pay/Bonus Scheme A scheme of variable pay is one possible solution for the supermarket. In this scheme a portion of the employee’s pay would be considered at risk. This portion of the wage will be rewarded according to the performance of the company as a whole, on the basis of personal acheivement or based on the results of a department or team (this would probably be the most effective for this type of commercial business) Targets will be set at the beginning of a specified period (per annum is the common period) at the end of this period depending on the how well the targets have been met, a percentage or full quantity of the â€Å"at risk† part of their pay will be paid to the individual. This payment could take a few different forms, possibly a cash bonus, a quantity of stock or shares in the business. Whilst monetary reward has been proven to be effective and can encourage hard work amongst a team or individually, it has the disadvantage of impacting on profit made by the supermarket, for example if the grocery team meet their target for keeping the produce displays replenished to a defined level, then the whole grocery team will have earnt the bonus which must be paid from the profits. You also may have a situation where part of the workforce become demotivated, if their team or they personally have missed out on a bonus. Bonus and pay based rewards are considered differently depending on which motivation theory you study. For example in Maslows hierachy of needs, financial remuneration is only mentioned within the first tier of the hierachy which covers the most basic and obvious survival needs (physiological needs) Money was not considered by Maslow be a long term motivator. Frederick Herzberg considered financial reward to be amongst his â€Å"hygiene factors† that is that money in itself is not a motivator but actually will only act as a â€Å"dissatisfier† if the individual feels that their financial expectations and requirements of the role are not being met. In contrast to Maslow and Herzberg, John Stacey Adams might have argued that bonus schemes and pay related rewards can indeed be effective motivators. If the individual percieves that they are gettting a fair input to output balance in comparison to their peers eg, works hard (input) for a pay bonus (output) However that motivation through financial reward might not last. If the individual learns that a colleague or peer is benefiting from a better input to output ratio (eg doesn’t work as hard, but gets paid more) then the individual can quickly become dissatisfied. Promotion The introduction of a promotion programme could be a viable option. If the employee’s are aware that there is a realistic opportunity for them to progress within Mark It Down Co then they will likely feel motivated towards improving their standard of work in the hope that they will be one of the employee’s chosen for promotion. Maslow’s heierachy of needs supports promotion as a motivator, however depending on the person promotion/status as a form of motivation might be quite high up on the tiers and as such it would only work if the tiers below have already been satisfied. There could be several downsides to this however; often with promotion comes a rise in salary for the individual, which will of course impact on any profit made by the supermarket. There might also be a risk of a culture developing within the company whereby individuals take the attitude that they are â€Å"out for themselves† Employee of the Month One of the suggested recognition programmes is an employee of the month scheme. The idea is that all employee’s and managers are provided with a brief form to be used to nominate an employee that they believe deserves recognition (they should also explain the reasons behind there nomination) Due to the nominations for employee of the month being business wide not only is the playing field for recognition level, but there is the scope for recognising excellance in all of the different area’s of the organisation. This reward system could be as low or high cost as Mark it Down Co directors see fit. There is support for this type of recognition reward in Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Effect theory. Following his studies of workplace behaviour at the Hawthorne Plant Chicago in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s Mayo deduced that emotional factors acted as far better motivators than economical ones, as such a reward scheme of this nature could be very effective indeed, not to mention low cost. On the downside employee of the mon th schemes can have a tendancy to be considered a little cheesy and may require a little effort on the part of the programme managers in order to keep all of the staff motivated to particiate by completing the nomination slips. Pass on Praise Something as simple as passing on positive comments you have heard about an employee direct to the individual can have an extremely motivational effect. Again the hawthorne effect supports this belief. The praise could passed on by way of email, copying in managers or even with a visit to a senior managers office in order to receive thanks directly. The main advantage of this idea is that it costs nothing and is extremely easy to implement, however it may not be enough on its own, I would suggest that this tactic be used in conjunction with one of the other employee recognition schemes. All of the afore mentioned reward options have the potential to be effective, however the success of the chosen scheme could have a lot to do with the indviduals in nbeed of motivation. For instance in McGregors theory, the two employee types, X and Y differ greatly. What might motivate a Y employee (someone that is naturally happy to take on repsponsibilty and excepts work as part of life) might have the opposite effect on an employee of the X variety (someone that’s avoids repsonsibility and needs to be heavily supervised. The type of employee’s to be motivated should be considered before a motivation and reward scheme is decided upon. Monitoring Performance There are various ways to monitor the performance of your workforce. In the supermarket setting of Mark it Down Co, these could be; Physical: the number of sales made, the number of employee’s served, punctuality or attendance. There can be no disputing these types of performance indicators they are unambiguous and offer a realistic insight into the performance of a team or individual. Qualiative: these indicators are based on opinions and judgements (the view of a supervisor or the such like). These indicators are just as important as physical ones but managers should be careful to ensure that any measures of performance are considered fair by both the employees and employers. Goals and Targets Performance measurement can also be linked to the companies appraisal system, that is performance can be measured by assessing progress made on targets and goals agreed at the previous review. Appraisals are valuable in this respect. In order to effectively monitor performance in this way it is important to ensure that your employees are aware of the difference between target and goal. Goals: These are long term ambitions that should relate to the individual aims for progressing within the company. Targets: These are the steps taken in order to achieve the goal. There is an acronym that can act as a guide for the criteria that any targets should adhere to. They should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. There is little point setting targets outside of these parameters. Monitoring progress towards identified goals and objectives as a way of determining who deserves reward does have its pros and cons though. On the one hand it can be considered an easily measurable method of monitoring performance, but on the other (particularly when the goals and targets have been set for a team or group) it could be argued that the fact that a company/team or individual is achieving its set goals and targets is not a true indication of who has made the most effort towards making that happen and as such is not an effective method for identifying who should qualify for reward. This is an important thing to consider when applying motivation and reward schemes, as an incorrect or ill managed monitoring technique could be costly to a business. For example a company will not want to be handing out cash bonuses to a whole team for reaching a set goal if it transpires that 3 out of 5 team members have made no improvement to their work output and had nothing to do with the team’s progress or achievement! When considering target setting as a way of monitoring progress and establishing where reward, praise or recognition should be given, serious thought should be given to how the company plans on pinpointing exactly who has been responsible for progress, both positive and negative. Benchmarking Another way to monitor company performance is to measure its successes and failures against those of other businesses in the same market. For example Mark it Down Co could measure its sales figures against one of its competitors, Lidl for instance. This method is known as bench marking and it’s all about taking the best practices of the highest achieving businesses in the same market and applying them back in the business in question. Job Evaluation Its has been brought to management attention that one of the employee’s at Mark it Down Co believes that he is receiving less salary for the same work as one of his peers. The following two methods can be used to evaluate the jobs of the individuals in question in order to assess whether theses concerns are justified or not. Job Ranking Job ranking is one of the simplest methods of job evaluation. Its considers the job as a whole and ranks it against another whole job within the organisation. This is usually carried out by the raters comparing the jobs using their general knowledge of the roles themselves. The jobs are ranked in order of the difficulty of the job itself or the importance of the role to the company. The procedure is followed for each department and then a comparison of jobs at all levels is made and jobs are given grade levels which define salary groups. The job ranking method is easily understood by all employees and simple to administer, however it does have its disadvantages, this technique is not really suitable for large organisations with complex structures where its is much harder to gain familiarity with all of the job roles. With this in mind it is probably not the solution that should be used at Mark it Down Co Ltd. Point Factor Method The point factor method establishes job values by assigning points to each area within a group of defined factors, below are some examples but there any many different factors that could be defined further and given points in order to be used for job evaluation; Skill: Within this group there might be points available for, experience or training. Effort: The points available for effort might be divided between mental and physical effort. In this method each job is rated using the defined points system. The points are totaled to form the final score for that particular role. From there jobs are grouped into salary grades (jobs with similar points ratings would be placed together in the same salary grade) This method can be tailored to meet the needs of specific companies and is suitable for use within larger organisations where there are a large number of jobs to evaluate. It’s an easy model to work with once it’s in place but can be very expensive and time consuming to develop in the first instance. In my opinion the point factor method would be a the better job evaluation model to use for Mark it Down Co. Job ranking is just too simplistic to cope with the amount of individuals roles at this organisation. The factors I think should be used to develop the point system are as follows; Skill – Experience, Training, Ability, Education Responsibilities – Monetary, Supervisory, Reporting Effort – Mental, Physical Environment – Job Location, Hazard’s In order to establish if the employee in question has a case for querying the wage he is on in comparison to his colleague. His overall score for the above factors should be calculated in order to establish his pay bracket. If the pay grade is the same as that of his colleague then his concerns are justified and his wage should be brought into line. If it is not and he is in a lower wage group then there is no case for a wage increase. Equally if the individuals wage bracket is determined to be higher than that of his colleagues then his wage should be adjusted to reflect as much.

The Green Concept In The Hotel Industry

The Green Concept In The Hotel Industry Tourism industry is one of the leading industries around the world. It has been proved that this industry generates billions of money and it also helps people around the world to travel and increase their knowledge about other cultures and languages. But unfortunately, after thousands of years we found out that the tourism industry have a negative impact on the environment. However, there has been awareness both for the research arena and people since decades in the protection of the environment, and the need to safeguard the natural resources for the future generation. This awareness has spread all over the world starting first in US and Europe. The green practices were put into action after the deal Mauritius made with France for the contract of Maurice Ile Durable. The population of Mauritius comprising both consumers and producers have recently shown an increase concern about the environmental impact of products Considerable attention has been directed toward green products such as organic foods, recyclable paper, phosphate-free detergents, energy-efficient lighting. Consumers make product choices based on which combination of product attributes that meet their needs based on dimensions of value, cost, and prior satisfaction (Kotler, 1997). Considering the tourism industry in Mauritius, we can say that it is the leading growth sector. Somehow the country depends a lot on this industry and same as foreign countries, Mauritius also has made a lot of evolution. Big hotels were built in every coastal area to accommodate tourists and the minister of tourism has also embellished our historical gardens and other visiting sites. It is also well known that tourists are attracted by the 3S of our country, that is, the sea, sun and the sand. Mauritius is a small Island and we must conserve and preserve the natural resources and also protect the environment surrounding us. As mentioned above, same as in Goa, Mauritius as well is facing serious problems concerning pollu tion and over use of resources. At present hotels, travelers and other tourism industries are aware of the measures that should be taken to preserve the nature together with the satisfaction of customers. This is why, nowadays it can be seen that there are hotels that are innovating into green hotels and more green hotels are built so as to be sustainable. 2.1 The Green Concept in the hotel industry The Green concept of the hotel industry is an increase in awareness since the late 1980s. The hotel sector is said to be one of the most energy and water intensive sectors in the tourism industry. (Bohdanowicz, 2005). When hotels are constructed there is a need to make use of the environments resources like the land. Hotels can operate in different parts of the environment. The facilities like comfortable services, supplies (heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, etc) to customers are necessary for their operations. (Bohdanowicz, 2005; Han et al., 2009). All these are said to be contributions to negative impacts on the environment. However, the success of the tourism industry, as well as the hotel sector will depends on the availability of a clean environment. Hotels operation lead to pollution, waste, and other elements represent a threat for the environment. The Green concept in this context is to turn these elements into a recycling process that will cause less harm to the envir onment. It is believed that hotels have produced great harm to the environment by, for example, consuming vast quantities of non recyclable products that generate tremendous waste, consuming substantial amounts of water and energy and emitting carbon dioxide and air, water and soil pollutants (Bohdanowicz, 2005; Chan, 2005). According to Wolfe and Shanklin (2001), the term green, which can alternatively be called eco-friendly, environmentally responsible, environmentally friendly, sustainable and environmentally oriented (Han et al., 2009; Pizam, 2009), are referred to actions (for e.g. recycling) that diminish harmful impacts on the environment. Green hotels are therefore described as environmentally responsible hotels that actively follow environmentally friendly guidelines, practice environmental management, implement diverse eco-friendly practices, institute sound green programs and commit themselves to achieving environmental improvement by displaying eco-labels or a green globe logo (Department of Environmental Protection, 2001; Green Hotel Association, 2008; Han et al., 2009, 2010; International Hotels Environmental Initiative, 1993). There is a public concern over environmental damage and customers desire for environmentally oriented products have stimulated hotel operators to green their operations (Han et al., 2009; Manaktola Jauhari, 2007; Wolfe Shanklin, 2001). Researchers and practitioners agree that the greening of a hotel contributes to satisfying eco-friendly customers green needs, avoids criticism of existing tourism practices, fulfils the requirements of government regulations and substantially decreases costs through waste reduction, water or energy conservation and recycling (Chan, 2005; Han et al., 2009; Wolfe Shanklin,2001). 2.2 The Green Building Green building is a new term which refers to environmentally friendly practices from the building design to the landscaping choice. With the introduction of sustainable development, building also need to be sustainable because buildings generate large amount of wastes from its construction and during its lifetime. And these wastes impacts on the surroundings, the environment and the people. According to Scatterfield (2009) the less impact a building has on human health and the environment, the more green it is. A green building can cost a lot at the beginning, but is profitable in the long run. It brings more benefits such as less pollution, more comfort for the employees and guests, and increase in productivity. The U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2010 organised a competition with the aim to identify the best and brightest vision in the designing of an environmentally friendly hotel suite. The title of the competition was the sustainable Suite Design Competition. The judges have to consider several elements such as the resources efficiency of the suite (water, energy and materials), the guest room overall attributes, innovation nad aesthetic and lastly the cost associated with the design of the suite. The winners name was Haptik. The techniques developed by Haptik concerns the saving of energy in the room by using the PIS which is the passive infrared sensors. Th e PIS switch off light automatically when nobody is in the room. Haptik utilized the Trombe wall in the bathroom which uses sunlight to heat the water. A model of the suite was shown to the public during the HD Expo 2010. 2.2.1 The Green Building Certificate There are several certifications given to hotel all over the world to encourage them to move towards eco friendly attitude. The certification includes specific norms from energy saving to waste water disposal. Having a certification is often considered as a marketing tool also. The certifications are often internationally known. 2.3 The Green Tourist Nowadays, tourists are showing preferences for destinations that protect and preserve the environment. In the literature there has been a tendency to use the terms green and sustainable interchangeably. However, there are very distinct differences between the two. Green is defined as a product or service that is both environmentally and socially responsible. It is accountable to and respectful of the places and people that provide and use them (Mc Laren, 2006). Sustainable is defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Brundtland, 1987). Green Tourism is defined by the Green Association as travel and exploration within and around an area that offers visitors enjoyment and appreciation of the areas natural assets and cultural resources, while inspiring physically active, intellectually stimulating and socially interactive experiences (Blackstone Corporation, 1996). The United Nations designate d the year 2000 as the international year of Ecotourism. Eco tourists or green tourists attempt to travel in a manner not harmful to the environment. To travel green means to travel responsibly while conserving the environment and minimizing the social, cultural and ecological impacts, a green tourist enables other people to visit the same place later and still enjoy the same experience. Green tourism is informative because travelers learn their destination and local people learn what to appreciate what they have to offer. It supports the integrity of the place because conscientious travelers seek out things that are characteristic of the locality in terms of architecture, cuisine, heritage or environment. Quality not quantity should be the goal of Green Tourism, therefore permanence and richness of experience is what both parties are striving for. According to environmentalists, the Green Practice was put into action when the view of the Earth was broadcasted through satellites programs. From that moment itself an increase concern to protect the earths fragility, and there is a need to conserve and protect it. This is the result in an increase of awareness of the following terms like; the ozone layer, greenhouse effect and acid rain. (Walker, 2000). Despite the complexities surrounding green behavior the tourism industry is still keen to understand how the green concerns of consumers correlate to tourists and how the concerns convert to travel- or holiday-related behavior. Moreover, Peattie (2001) has claimed that although all consumers are green consumers at some point in their lives, most green purchases involve a trade-off. These compromises include paying a green premium or accepting a lower standard product or service for better eco performance. However, differences in concerns and behaviors among tourists highlight the l ack of homogeneity in this market. For example, concerns about the impact of transport and conservation of wildlife tend to be more mainstream issues, whereas erosion of recreational areas by walking or riding may only concern niche market segments, such as eco-tourists, environmentally responsible tourists or ethical tourists, which are the alternative terms given to green tourists ( Horner and Swarbrooke, 2006 ). These differences have been explained according to four factors awareness and knowledge of the issues; attitudes towards the environment in general; other priorities in life; information obtained from the media and pressure groups; and their health, family commitments and housing ( Horner and Swarbrooke, 2006, p. 181 ). Although many in the tourism industry question whether the environmental concerns of tourists influence decision making, there is evidence that some tourists may choose anairline based on their environmental management practices ( Horner and Swarbrooke, 2006 ). They may also boycott events involving animal cruelty (for example, bull-fights) or campaign against tourism development that destroys wildlife habitats. Furthermore, the extent of change varies from one type of tourist to another. The very dark green consumers may convert their beliefs into action by not taking holidays away from home so as to prevent harm to the environment and in doing so do not become tourists. On the other hand, the not all green tourist may show only a passing interest by reading about the environmental issues caused by tourism (Hornermand Swarbrooke, 2006). 2.4 Attitudes towards the Green Practice Over the last few decades, protecting the environment has been a major issue in our society (Easterling et al., 1996). Recognizing the seriousness of ecological problems, people have become increasingly environmentally conscious. This ecological awareness has led an increasing number of individuals to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors in their everyday lives. (Kalafatis et al., 1999; Laroche et al., 2001). In addition, Amyx et al. (1994) has focused on the perceived importance of the environment to the degree to which individuals express their consciousness of environmental issues. In conceptualizing the perceived importance of the environment as the primary indicator of attitudes toward environmentally compatible behaviors, Laroche et al. (2001) determined the levels of these attitudes by whether individuals considered eco-friendly behaviors to be essential to themselves or the entire society. This ATGB mainly involves the perceived importance or inconvenience of environm ental consciousness, the severity of environmental problems, and the level of responsibility of corporations (Laroche et al., 2001; McCarty and Shrum, 1994; Roberts, 1996). In other words, individuals ATGB can be established by the level of their awareness of these dimensions of ATGB for themselves and for society as a whole. Some researchers has also pointed out that only a small portion of environmentally conscious customers actually purchases eco-friendly products in the marketplace because of high monetary and non-monetary costs and inconvenience (Maibach, 1993; Roberts, 1996). However, numerous findings indicated that more environmental concern tends to result in more environmentally friendly buying behaviors (e.g., Kalafatis et al., 1999; Laroche et al., 2001; Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007). Consumers may be willing to purchase environmentally-friendly products but are faced with constraints or conflicts that create a resistance to adopting pro-environmental behavior. For example, consumers may want to be environmentally responsible but still want to maintain their existing life-style (Schwartz, 1990; McDaniel and Rylander, 1993). They may not be prepared to sacrifice convenience (Simon, 1992; Stern, 1999), accept lower performance levels, or pay a price premium (Peattie, 1999b). Based on Ajzens (1988) theory of planned behaviour consumers environmental purchasing intentions and behaviour may be influenced by a number of factors, such as the individuals knowledge and motivation, the ability to perform the behaviour and the opportunity to behave in an enviro nmentally-friendly way (Pieters, 1989; O  ¨ lander and Thà ¸gersen, 1995). 2.5 Tourists willingness to buy Green Products Products are defined as environmentally friendly if in some way they aim at reducing a products negative environmental impact. Some authors have suggested that the failure to reassure consumers on the products functional performance was partly attributable to the early failure of many environmentally-friendly products (e.g. Davis, 1993; Ottman, 1999). Although it has been found that some consumers may, for example, accept a lower functional performance in order to buy a product that delivers environmental benefits, the environmental benefit in itself is neither the primary benefit sought nor the primary motivation for purchase (Speer, 1997; Ottman, 2001). As Wong et al. (1996) observed: Green is seldom the over-riding determinant of product or brand choice but just another benefit or attribute that adds value, usually a feel good factor to the overall product. (Wong et al., 1996, p. 269). Some marketers appear to have overlooked this and assumed that an environmental positioning alone was sufficient to guarantee product success (Ottman, 1995). Product performance appears to play a key role in influencing consumer adoption and retention of environmental products. So, when there is consumer skepticism of the relative performance of environmental products or a performance gap exists (i.e.consumer expectations of the products performance have not matched up to the in-use experience), this may strongly influence the products acceptance (Wong et al., 1996).Within the hotel sector, increasing numbers of customers prefer to choose a green lodging facility that follows environmentally friendly practices, showing concern about the seriousness of ecological degradation (Han, Hsu, Sheu, 2010; Manaktola Jauhari, 2007). In recognition of this eco-friendly consumption need, nowadays many hotel firms seek to incorporate customers emerging concerns about the environment in their man agement or a marketing decision-making (Bohdanowicz, 2006; Lee, Hsu, Han, Kim, 2010; Mensah, 2006). Altering their hotel operations to be green (i.e. significantly reducing environmental impacts) is becoming a necessity to attain noticeable improvement in their competitiveness in the market (Han, Hsu, Lee, 2009; Manaktola Jauhari, 2007). One of the most credible pieces of evidence demonstrating the increase of environmentally friendly customer behaviors is the increased number of customers who have a strong intention to pay more for green products (Laroche, Bergeron, Barbaro-Forleo, 2001). In the hotel context, in reality, green hotel prices do not significantly differ from those of comparable conventional (or non-green) hotels (Han et al., 2009; Manaktola Jauhari, 2007). The green hotel operators interest is in whether travelers are willing to pay comparable regular-hotel prices for their hotel, perhaps sacrificing little conveniences while staying at their green hotel (reusin g towels, limited use of disposable products, use of recycled products/furniture, recycling bins, buffet-style foods without garnishes, meeting tables without tablecloths, minimized decor, non-smoking areas, dispensers for soap/shampoo, etc.). For consumers who are more receptive to environmental products and purchase them through choice, there may be a segment that are willing to pay more for the environmental benefit. But, whilst some authors suggest that consumers are willing-to-pay more for an environmentally-friendly products (Kassarjian, 1971; Freeman, 1989; Klein, 1990; McCloskey, 1990; Kapelianis et al., 1996; Laroche et al., 2001), others suggest otherwise (Wood, 1990; Simon, 1992; Sims, 1993). Marketplace examples also suggest that in reality consumers are not always prepared to pay the premium prices suggested by research (Fuller, 1999). Although our knowledge about consumers acceptance of paying a higher price for environmentally-friendly products appears to be inconsist ent and inconclusive, it has often been found that consumers will pay on average around 5 percent more (Schwartz, 1990; Kapelianis et al., 1996; Speer, 1997). 2.6 Cost of going green in the hotel industry With a broadly point of view, there are two approaches in the environmental cost analysis. One emphasizes the costs associated with environmental damage and its remediation, the other stresses on the price of control. In practice, this damage costing approach faces some essential problems in estimating the environmental impact as described by Bernow at al. (1991). Hotel developers still face specific barriers in developing and operating green properties, such as finding vendors, contractors, engineers, housekeepers, landscapers and managers that understand new systems, products and procedures. Complicating matters for hotels is to cover the typical hotel management and franchise agreements. The highly structures arrangements negotiated between hotels owners and hotel managers have not yet addressed a number of issues raised by green development, redevelopment or operation that affects the bottom line of both entities. Finally, there is the issue of meeting the expectations of paying guests. Although we believe guests expect hotels to operate in an environmentally conscious fashion, it may also be that those same guests may have unrealistic expectations of luxury and comfort in terms of green operation. To take simple example, do hotels still need to put out individual shampoo bottles and does the spa need to smell faintly like chlorine to satisfy guests expectations. The costs arising from the implementation of ISO 14001 include those associated with initial set up, maintenance and improvement (Chin et al., 1998). The price of initial set up refers to all costs associated with the provision of hardware and software facilities, plus tools for establishing the system in compliance with the ISO 14000 EMS standards.

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) :: e-commerce Internet IPO Essays

Initial Public Offerings (IPO's) The term "IPO" slipped into everyday speech during the tech bull market of the late 1990s. Back then, it seemed you couldn't go a day without hearing about a dozen new dot-com millionaires in Silicon Valley cashing in on their latest IPO. The phenomenon spawned the term "siliconaire," which described the dot-com entrepreneurs in their early 20s and 30s who suddenly found themselves living large due to IPOs from their Internet companies. So, what is an IPO anyway? How did everybody get so rich so fast? And, most importantly, is it possible for mere mortals like us to get in on an IPO? All these questions and more will be answered in this tutorial. Before we continue, we suggest you check out our stock basics tutorial as well as brokers and online trading if you don't have a solid understanding of stocks and how they trade. IPO Basics: What is an IPO? Selling Stock IPO is an acronym for Initial Public Offering. This is the first sale of stock by a company to the public. A company can raise money by issuing either debt (bonds) or equity. If the company has never issued equity to the public, it's known as an IPO. Companies fall into two broad categories: private and public. A privately held company has fewer shareholders and its owners don't have to disclose much information about the company. Anybody can go out and incorporate a company: just put in some money, file the right legal documents, and follow the reporting rules of your jurisdiction. Most small businesses are privately held. But large companies can be private too. Did you know that IKEA, Domino's Pizza, and Hallmark Cards are all privately held? It usually isn't possible to buy shares in a private company. You can approach the owners about investing, but they're not obligated to sell you anything. Public companies, on the other hand, have sold at least a portion of themselves to the public and trade on a stock exchange. This is why doing an IPO is also referred to as "going public." Public companies have thousands of shareholders and are subject to strict rules and regulations. They must have a board of directors and they must report financial information every quarter. In the United States, public companies report to the SEC. In other countries, public companies are overseen by governing bodies similar to the SEC. From an investor's standpoint, the most exciting thing about a public company is that the stock is traded in the open market, like any other commodity.

Governance in the CNMI Essay -- Unicameral, Bicameral, legislature, Uni

Is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) better yet with a Unicameral Legislature or with the current Bicameral Legislature? According to Wikipedia, the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature is defined as the territorial legislature of the United States of America (Wikipedia). The legislative branch of the Marianas is bicameral. It consist of twenty members in the lower House of Representatives, and an upper house Senate with nine members. The Representatives serve two-year terms, and the Senators serve four-year terms, both without term limits. Both houses of the legislature convene and conduct their meetings on the Island of Saipan, the capital island of the Northern Mariana Islands. The House seats are elected in seven districts. Two districts have one seat each, one for Tinian & Aguiguan, and one for Rota. The remaining five districts elect multiple members, two with three members and two with six members which are all located in Saipan. According to the Mariana Islands Constitution, the requirements for House of Representative are a minimum age of 21, must be a residence of the Commonwealth for at least three consecutive years, and a registered voter in the district you represented. Reapportionment occurs every ten years following the census. Together with the Senate, the Constitution permits the Legislature to enact a higher residence requirement (CNMI Government laws). The Senate seats are divided into three districts containing three seats each from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The Senate seats are divided into two classes that are similar to the classes of the United States Senate. One class consisting of a single Senator from each district, and the second class consisting of two Senators from... ... Mariana Islands, 1998- 2013. Web. Retrieved from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/northern_mariana_islands.htm Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Country Brief. Home page. Bilateral, Sept. 2013. Web. Retrieved from http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/cnmi/ Farrell, Don. â€Å"Tinian: A Brief History.† Tinian. (Original work published 2012) Northern Marianas Commonwealth. Home page. Legislature, 2006. Web. Retrieved from http://www.cnmiago.gov.mp/government.html Covenant of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Home page. Web. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mariana_Islands Covenant. Law revision commission, 2013. Home Page. Web. Retrieved from http://cnmilaw.org/cnmicovenant.html Farrell, Don. Personal Interview. 26 Nov. 2013 Cruz, Peter. Personal Interview. 29 Nov. 2013

A Singular Self-Identity Essay -- Multiple Personalities Essays

Self-identity is singular. The belief in this existence of one’s self, presupposes all our experiences of consciousness. We all hold that this identity is ours alone. I speak of my experiences as experienced by me. I would seem to be talking nonsense , if I referred to myself in the plural or spoke of how the multiplicity of ‘me’s’ experienced an event. Although most will submit to the existence of levels of consciousness, we categorize those people who exhibit distinct personalities as non-ordinary. All popular theories of self-identity set about the task of proving a singular self. I will attempt to analyze the currently held theories of self-identity, and consider cases where the singular self-identity of normal individuals is called into questi on. Psychologists seeking to clarify this discussion have researched phenomena concerning the nature of self-identity, and it’s relation with consciousness. Philosophers can attempt to investigate the fund amental assumptions underlying these studies, an d examine their ramifications upon our dogmas of self-identity. To formulate a concept of our idea of self we must consider the uniqueness of our experience, and account for memories of prior experiences. Self-identity is my ownership of a personal, distinct unity of consciousness that is consistent through time. Unity of consciousness is the personal, private, owned, and discrete continuing experience of the self. For example, I believe that I am. I believe that I am, neither in part nor in whole, someone other than whom I perceive that I am, and that this â€Å"I† was the same unity yesterday as today. I also infer that I will be (if I wake from sleep) tomorrow the continuation of the same self. This self that we assume, does not ex... .... Los Altos, CA.: Kaufman, 1983.. Laurence, Jean-Roch, Perry, Campbell & Kihlstron, John. â€Å"‘Hidden Observer’ Phenomena in Hypnosis: An Experimental Creation?† Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 44.1 (1993): 163-169.. Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales. New York: Harper Perenial, 1985.. Spanos, Nicholas P. â€Å"The Hidden Observer as an Experimental Creation† Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 44.1 (1983): 170-176.. Watkins, John G. & Watkins, Helen H. â€Å"†Hypnosis, Multiple Personality, and Ego States† Handbook of States of Consciousness. Eds. Benjamin B Wolman & Montague Ullman. New York: Van Nostrand, 1986.. Wilkes, Kathleen V. â€Å"Fugues, Hypnosis, and Multiple Personalities† Self & Identity: Contemporary Philosophical Issues. Eds. Kolak, Daniel & Martin, Raymond. New York: MacMillan, 1991..

The Fungal Species

The fungal species about 100 stains which were previously isolated at the laboratory of biology department king khalid university will be used in this study. Fungi will be cultured on potato dextrose agar pda medium for 7 days at 27  °c. Identification of these species will be done basically on their microscopical and cultural characteristics. The identity will be confirmed by amplification of its gene using universal primers. The fungal genomic dna extraction will be carried out using the qiagen dneasy plant/fungi mini kit protocol according to the nstructions. The its region of fungal dna will be amplified using the fungal specific-primer set: Its1-f cttggt cat tta gag gaa gta a and its4 r tcc tccgct tat tga tat gc as described by white et al. 1990 pcr reaction will be performed in a final volume of 50 ?L containing 10 mm tris-hcl 50mm kcl 1.5 m m mgcl2 each dntps at a concentration of 0.2 mm and 1.25 iu of taq polymerase. The amplification will be carried out by pcr. The initial denaturation temperature is 95  °c for 5 min followed by 40 cycles at 94  °c for 1 min 55  °c for 1 min 72  °c for 1 min; final extension at 72  °c for 10 min and holding at 4  °c. The amplified products will be examined by electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gels in tae buffer. Then the pcr product will be purified and will be sent for sequencing at macrogen company korea. The its sequence of fungus isolate will be used for blast search in the embl genbank database. The sequence of the isolate will be further aligned and compared to publish its region sequences searched with the taxonomy browser of the national center for biotechnology information ncbi http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and retrieved from genbank. Screening for mycogenic biosynthesis of ag-nps all the identified fungal species will be screened for the biogenic synthesis of ag-nps. For the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles the biomass of each isolated fungal species will be grown aerobically in cazpeks broth medium the inoculated flasks will be incubated on orbital shaker at 27 1  °c and with agitation at 150 rpm for 5 days. The fungal biomass then will be harvested after incubation by filtering using filter paper whatman no. 1 followed by three times of washing with distilled water to eradicate the residues of the medium from the biomass. Ten g fresh weight of mycelia will be added to 100 ml of sterilized double distilled water for 48 h at 27 1  °c in a 250 ml erlenmeyer flask with shaking again at 150 rpm. After the incubation the cell filtrate will be obtained by filtration through filter paper whatman no. 1. The filtrates will be inoculated with 1 mm silver nitrate agno3 solution and incubated at room temperature in dark abdel-hafez et al. 2016 the production of the nanoparticle will be checked visual by the changing the color into brown color. Cell-free filtrate without addition of silver nitrate will be severed as control. Purification of silver nanoparticles after formation the silver nanoparticles the agnps solution will be centrifuged at 10.000-14.000 rpm for 15-20 min. The supernatant will be excluded and the pellets will be dispersed with distilled water. This dispersion will be again centrifuged. The procedure will be repeated 3 times to clean agnps the free entities and unbound biological molecules. The purified formed pellets will be dried at 50-60  °c and stored in a brown-glass container for further characterization. Characterization of the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles the obtained silver nanoparticles will be characterized using different advanced tools including uv -visible spectroscopy at absorption curve range between 410-480 nm. Determining of size and shape of agnps by electron microscopy sem will be carried out. Particle sizing experiments will be carried out by means of laser diffract meter using zeta sizer nano-series nano zs the crystallinity of agnps will be confirmed by their xrd pattern. Ft-ir spectra will be recorded in the range 4000–500 cm?1. Uv-visible spectrometry measurement: Biotransformation of metal ions will be affirmed by uv–visible spectroscopy measurement. Labomed uv–vis double beam within the wave length ranged from 200 to 600 nm will be used mourato et al. 2011 x-ray diffraction xrd measurement: Xrd technique will be used for examination of quality of the prepared nanoparticles. Xrd pattern of the obtained nanoparticles on glass material will be estimated in wide selection of bragg angles 2? At a scanning rate of 20 min-1. Fourier transform infrared ft-ir spectrometry analysis: Sample containing nanoparticles will be scanned by ft-ir spectrometry using a spectrophotometer. Ft-ir spectra will be scanned in rang 4000–400 cm–1 in ftir spectrometry at a resolution of one cm-1. Transmission electron microscopy tem the morphology and size of produced nanoparticles will be determined using tem. Antimicrobial activity of the characterized nanoparticles antimicrobial activities of ag-nps will be performed by the agar well diffusion method in muller hinton agar plates selvamohan et al. 2012 human pathogenic bacterial species such as escherichia coli pseudomonas sp. Proteus mirabilis klebsiella pneumoniae and staphylococcus aureus will be used for the assay. The bacterial species will be grown in muller hinton broth at 37 oc for 24 h. The bacterial growth will be prepared on agar medium and wells will be cut using sterile cork borer. In to the wells agnp will be applied at different concentration and incubated at 37 oc. The plates will be examined for appearance of inhibition zone and then their diameter will be measured and will be compared with standard antibiotic such ciprofloxacin. Optimization of silver nanoparticles for large scale production and stable mycofabrication of agnps using fungi it is necessary to investigate the ideal physical and chemical parameters required for the production of effective and small sized agnps mishra et al. 2014 different parameters such hydrogen-ion-concentration ph temperature t  °c concentration of silver nitrate agno3 and time t of reaction will be studied. The absorbance of the resulting solution after color change will be measured using uv–vis spectrophotometer. For each condition respective controls will be maintained.the length of the text: 6244 (no spaces: 5243)get new reportthe uniqueness of the text: 65.1 %we strongly recommend not to use this text for academic purposes   

Ukrainian Wedding

The traditional Ukrainian weddings differ in details, but all of them follow the same pattern in the order of wedding actions. The very first action of the Ukrainian wedding is a formal engagement. The groom invites two married men (they call them starosty) to visit the home of the bride and to request her parents for her hand in marriage. The wedding ceremony starts at least one week after engagement. Usually on Thursday or Friday they bake special wedding ritual bread – korovai. Before the wedding both groom and bride have separate parties with their close friends. At the girl party (divych vechir) they make a ritual tree (giltse). Together with korovai it stays on the wedding table as a symbol of youth and beauty of the bride and groom. Saturday and Sunday are the days of the church service or the main civil marriage ceremony. Before the church ceremony, the bride, the groom and their families meet at the home of the bride's parents for the blessing, the blahoslovenya. At the blessing, the parents express their approval and good wishes for the couple. The most touching and important moment to the couple, their parents, friends and relatives is the church ceremony. The priest blesses the new family for happiness, health, luck, faithfulness, understanding, love and respect for each other. God's blessing is the most important blessing for the new family. After the ceremony the groom takes the bride to her parents home and returns to his own home. Both families have meal with their friends and relatives. After meal it is time for the groom to take a wedding train (poizd) and bring his bride to his home. The most joyful, surprising and unexpected things may happen this evening. There are many fun wedding party traditions involving everybody. Little children adore weddings of their older sister or brothers, because this is the time for them to steal a bride’s shoe and then demand any ransom for it. The party takes place in a restaurant, cafe, at the home of the bridegroom or bride. All the guests come with gifts. The word â€Å"Vesillja† is derived from â€Å"fun†. The wedding (â€Å"vesillya†) was meant to be fun for the young couple too, but the newlyweds in ancient times did not have the right to drink anything bitter. They ate honey, bread and they had a little wine for the evening, but nothing more. There is usually a master of ceremonies, the â€Å"starosta†, who plans the party with toasts, endless jokes and games, making sure that every guest is involved. Dancing continues often until morning. At the end of the wedding party guests sing the song called â€Å"Mnohaya Lita†. It is a song of good wishes and means â€Å"many happy years†. Time changes, so do traditions. But even today every wedding in Ukraine has the elements of the ancient rituals preserved by people memory.