The impotance of market structure to a firm Essay

The impotance of market structure to a firm - Essay Example It is likely that all the small firms have similar costs of production and this is shown in the cost curve named as ATCo. It is a natural process for one of them to become larger than others, and then it can produce items at a cost lower than others and then the cost curve for it may change to ATC'. This permits the larger firm to sell its products at a lower cost than others, and this hurts the other firms which are smaller as they incur losses at that price. It is not only development of production capacities that leads to this situation, and this concept of "natural monopoly" was first used to explain the development of the telephone industry in United States. (Microeconomics: Chapter 11) The situation in the early years was that most cities had more than one Telephone Company to provide telephone services. This was not an efficient operation as it required subscribers to contribute to the services of more than one company for getting a call through as the companies were not interconnected. Due to the fact that it was one of the first to start, Bell was larger than other companies. Since the cost of providing services to additional customers was relatively small, it was able to provide services to new customers at lower costs than others. ... The situation changed only at the end of the 20th century when the government decided to break up the company. This was believed to be a result of technological developments. (Microeconomics: Chapter 11) There are also other reasons for development of monopolies, and it happens in New Mexico due to the ownership of most known sources of desiccant clay by a single family. Even in the personal desktop industry, there are monopolies due to ownerships of software and chip technology. Monopoly also takes place due to high costs of investments for entering an industry and these come in various forms - high advertising costs for establishment of brand names, special purpose machinery needed for production, establishment of stocks at different levels for being able to make the goods available in the market, and so on. Patents and licenses are also methods of prevention of entry for new organizations, though there is justification for the provision of patents to ensure a return for research. At the same time, this permitted Polaroid to hold on to its business of instant film for a long time. (Microeconomics: Chapter 11) In UK, the distribution of industry was to a large extent controlled by the government and its public sector which changed through the privatization program that began in 1979. The first phase continued till 1983 and during this period, the government sold shares of organizations that were small in size and operating in competitive markets. The value received for the shares was more than the value of property sold, and at the same time, it reduced competition. There were some sales that did not affect competition, like the sales of more than one million publicly owned housing which gave the government a value of more than 15 billion pounds. The second phase

How death penalty can prevent repeat offenders

How death penalty can prevent repeat offenders Sentence to death penalty seldom arises in criminal cases like murder, robbery with violence, forgery amongst others. This paper shall look into: How death penalty can prevent repeat offenders, how it provides justice, how it acts as deterrent when properly implemented, the costs associated to the victims and the offenders; and finally how the long justice process associated with it affect or help the offended. Origin of death penalty This is dated back to 18th century, in the code of king Hammaurabi of Babylon that involved death penalty of 25 different cases. Death penalty was as well part of 14th Century B.Cs Hittite Code, this made death penalty as the punishment for crimes, and such were done through beating, stoning, and burning alive and other crude methods  [1]  . This was later replaced with hanging. The cases that led to death penalties included marrying a Jew, failure to confess sins and treason; these mainly took place in Britain. In Britain, this law was reformed due to severity of the death sentence; this took place in1823 to 1837 by allowing a number of offenders free. Britain influenced America to adopt the capital punishment even for the slightest crime like stealing the grapes .Though in US it varied from state to state. A leading Case of death Penalty In Clark Circuit Court, a case involving a 23 year old Christian and her 11 month baby. These were allegedly murdered by Zachariah the husband and the father of the victims. He stuffed the two in a plastic bag. Autopsy revealed the wife was strangled to death and the child died out of suffocation. Meanwhile Zachariah was out on supervised probation on charges of burglary  [2]  . He admitted to have committed the crime; pled guilty of three counts of murder, and was sentence to life imprisonment with no parole on count, life imprisonment with no parole on count, and 65 years of imprisonment on a fixed term on count. Death Penalty prevents future offenders or murderers The society must lead in fighting for the fundamental rights and freedom of people and this include right to life and hence anyone trying to take this away should be capitally punished to avoid those prospecting to commit the same  [3]  . According to a report by Michigan State University Lab and Death Penalty Information Centre, 2000 -2004.The rates of murders reduces with more convictions of murderers. Though the slow process of justice delays determination of the case affecting the outcome; death penalties need to be fast to be a sure way of deterring the criminals. Ironically, some states do not have death penalties and still record lower criminal cases, but this should not be used as an argument for this vice. This, if allowed for example in the U.S; things can be worst; in that even with death penalties crime rates are still high. Generally, this report concludes that most people fear death and hence death penalty can be used to prevent further criminal acts in the society. Death Penalty does not prevent future offenders or murderers In the above report, it is believed that the society isnt happy with death penalties, and hence its practice may increase the likelihood of more murders. In America, states that do not apply the death penalties have generally lower crime rates including murder cases. Besides, in most European countries and in Canada there are fewer cases of murder compared to the America yet; they do not use the death penalty as the capital punishment for murder. Most of the offenders normally do not consider the death penalty before the actual murder because they commit this out of anger or through drug influence. In America it is reported that most the murder related cases are link to substance abuse. Infact, most states in America have adopted the sentence of life in jail without parole, and hence the offenders will never be released thereby; the security of the society is assured, most of whom tend to settle down in life as prisoners and are rarely a threat again to the community, as opposed to d eath penalty that society perceive to be brutal and in human. Alternatives to death penalty The death penalty has been an issue of great concern among most of the Americans and policymakers have been trying to devise alternatives. The various alternatives have been contested heavily by both the proponents and the opponents. However, there is an overarching concern among most of the America and that the death penalty must be dispensed with and this emanates from both the moral and legal platforms. According to opinion polls carried out in America today there a strong support for the abolition of the death penalty and most of the Americans are advocating for its abolition. The death penalty has been blamed for being used as a tool of racial injustice in the criminal justice system. Alternatives to death penalty include: life imprisonment without parole and restitution, this is less costly than death sentence an keeps the offender away from the society. Restitution, the prisoner will be working while in jail and all the money made goes back to support the family of the victim. Another solution though, controversial is allowing the offenders after serving the jail term to go back to the society where they continue working in the community to support victims family post-release restitution. Rehabilitation or reformatories can also be put in place, this has been used to reform young offenders under the age of twenty; turning their lives around  [4]  . It is as well suggested to be applied to reform the older offenders. Costs of death penalty Privately appealing a capital offence is expensive and hence the poor may not be able get justice, tax money is also used to keep offenders in jail of whom some may be innocent. Most of the offenders and their relatives suffer emotional stress during the slow justice process  [5]  . The death penalty is regarded as an excessive to law and is socially and morally degrading. Recommendations Life is regarded extremely sacred in the society, this does not matter how one kills another. Hanging one in name of crime, however much it could be legal sparks debate. The alternative death penalties described in this paper should not be used by offenders as a gap to commit crime. I still recommend stiffer penalties that could help deter further criminal activities. The rehabilitation and reformation recommendations is a good idea because in most cases under -age offenders involved in such crimes may have acted oblivious of the outcome or accidentally; and hence this opportunity can be used to mould their character other than throwing them to jail; on the contrary , this should not used as a correction tool to adult murderers. Life imprisonment without parole and restitution may be another noble alternative; but it may present a lop-hole in post-release restitution; where the offenders if not supervised well could revert to their usual criminal act. Conclusion This paper has generally discussed death sentence and its results in the society in broader terms. The main issue that, compromises this situation is the enaction of the idea in some countries or states while others do not see it as a good way for correcting a criminal. The option taken by a nation to deter murder should not go against the social ethics or believe; that life is God given. Both schools of thoughts against or for death penalty; should try to reach a common ground to avoid escalarating criminal activities or increasing mortality rate by; either failing to create measures to curb illegality or hanging the murderers respectively.However one fact stands out from the debate, that the death penalty has failed to achieve the intended results that it was intended to and as a result there is a general need for its complete abolition.

Impact of Film and Television: 1950’s to Present Essay -- Television M

Impact of Film and Television: 1950’s to Present Today, Film and Television are among the most internationally supported commodities. Financially, their contributions are enormous: both industries are responsible for the circulation of billions of dollars each year. Since their respective explosions into the new media markets during the mid-twentieth century, film and television have produced consistently growing numbers of viewers and critics alike. Sparking debate over the nature of their viewing, film and television are now being questioned in social, political, and moral arenas for their potential impact on an audience. Critics claim that watching films or television is a passive activity in which the viewer becomes subconsciously absorbed, and creates a reliance or "addiction" to the media. Advocates, however, argue that viewing such programs is an active process in which audience members are able to choose to what they are exposed, and interpret messages based on their individual needs and background. Perhaps both views are t oo extreme. Film and television from the 1950s to present, as will be explored in this essay, are extremely useful media, often underestimated within the label of "entertainment"; unfortunately, they may be partially responsible for current socio-cultural problems, too. A few of the benefits of these media are obvious. It is generally agreed that film and television create a psychological escape and state of relaxation for the viewer, and that as communications devices they deliver important information within a moment’s notice. The most widespread argument in support of film and television, however, is their power as a tool of education and awareness. As they deliver varying global perspecti... ...Deal. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001. Grenier, Richard. Capturing the Culture: Film, Art and Politics. Washington: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication on Data, 1991. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1949. Barnouw, Erik. Tube Of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Greenfield, Patricia Marks. Mind and Media: The Effects of Television, Video Games, and Computers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984. Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender Of Culture To Technology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Williams, Raymond. Television: Technology and Cultural Form. New York: Schocken Books, 1975. Supplementary Resources: Crowther, Jonathan, ed. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

English Journal Essay

â€Å"Within the diamond haze of the beach something dark was fumbling along. Ralph saw it first and watched till the intentness of his gaze drew all eyes that way. Then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand, and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing. The creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing. † (Golding 1954, Ch. 1, p. 19) | This analysis explores the literary feature characterization. In this passage of the novel Golding describes the setting as â€Å"the diamond haze of the beach† to make the reader experience darkness and mystery, as if the reader is actually there. But not just the setting is important in this passage. The author’s choice of words to characterize the choir boys is impeccable. In this quotation the readers see the mysterious â€Å"creature† coming closer and closer to the two boys, Ralph and Piggy. Golding uses imagery to make the reader experience this spooky event. It is evident in the phrase â€Å"Then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand, and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing. † By using the noun â€Å"creature†, Golding instills a scary, horrifying appearance to the group of boys. Also, he uses the word â€Å"mirage† to provide the reader with a mysterious, almost horror-like feeling as the group comes closer and closer. These nouns signify mysteriousness and darkness, providing the readers with a spooky, eerie atmosphere which helps us understand that the group of boys seem dangerous. This passage is taken from the author’s point-of-view and it makes a great impact on the reader. | â€Å"That’s enough! † said Ralph sharply, and snatched back the conch. â€Å"If you didn’t you didn’t. â€Å"-then you come up here an’ pinch my specs-† Jack turned on him. â€Å"You shut up! †(Golding 1954, Ch. 2, p. 46)| This analysis explores the literary feature imagery. In this dialogue of the novel Golding shows an argument between Ralph, the leader, and the other boys. The author uses words and phrases like †You shut up! † and â€Å"That’s enough! † to stress the harshness and seriousness of the situation to the reader. By using â€Å"enough! † the author deeply signifies the disturbance and frustration that Ralph is experiencing as pack leader. Jack is also portrayed as rude and bossy by using the phrase â€Å"You shut up! † This makes the reader feel a scuffle going on between the two, as if two factions are ready to be formed. This short passage shapes the theme â€Å"Inherent evil within humanity† as a whole by giving the reader a rude argument scene to show that there is inherent evil within humanity. | â€Å"Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig! â€Å"But we want meat! † â€Å"And I work all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don’t even notice the huts! † (Golding 1954, Ch. 3, p. 54) | This analysis explores the literary feature characterization. In this passage of the novel Golding shows Ralph gives a rap on the knuckles to all those who didn’t participate in the hard-working day. By using the words â€Å"don’t even notice†, Golding wants the reader to experience the anger that Ralph has for these children. He states that he â€Å"work all day with nothing but Simon†, which means no child wants to do the hard work, except for those who actually are optimistic and think they have chance to leave this island. The other children’s egoistic behavior becomes problematic for the faction to develop any further. Golding emphasizes the state of stress Ralph is in as the leader of a faction in this sentence: â€Å"And I work all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don’t even notice the huts! †This passage in the novel is used to let the reader the reader there are lots of egoistic people in the world and that it is very hard to get those people to work. By mentioning the repetition â€Å"pig, pig, pig!†, the children make themselves seem as they only about their personal lives, rather than the life of the faction. | â€Å"Roger and Maurice came out of the forest. They were relieved from duty at the fire and had come down for a swim. Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction. † (Golding 1954, Ch. 4, p. 60)| This analysis explores the literary features setting and characterization. In this passage of novel Golding makes it known that the quietness of the forest is disturbed by using verbs like â€Å"burying†, â€Å"kicking†, â€Å"scattering†. These words add to the destructive mood of the passage. Also, the setting is described as horrendous, menacing, and violent because one of the boys, Maurice in particular, laughs during this passage, meaning his carelessness towards the forest may result in shortage of necessary figures for their faction. Golding makes this scene stick out like a sore thumb because of the complete indiscretion that Roger and Maurice caused to the forest.

Fall of Ibm

CASE 15: THE FALL OF IBM Justin Marc C. Tariman B. S. B. A. MKTG 4March 14, 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Purpose The purpose of this case study analysis report to understand and formulate a set of actions for the case of a company that is experiencing rapid environment changes and difficulty in protecting its core business such as how IBM perceived its mainframes as king of computers. Problem IBM biggest problems include its huge size, highly bureaucratic decision making approach,and its management's difficulty in accepting the fact mainframes become obsolete sooner.The company lost on its focus toward meeting the needs of customers and instead over-emphasizing the needs of the mainframes. Methods of Analysis Methods of analysis used in the case were S. W. O. T. Analysis and Porter's 5 Forces of Industry Attractiveness to identify IBM's competitive advantage in a rapid changing environment and where in particular area the company failed to achieve in maintaining its position as market lead er. Alternative Course of ActionTake advantage – Enter into systems integration, outsourcing, and consultancy services to fully provide a package of IT products and services. Sustain – Using IBM's â€Å"contention† system to achieved scale economies in production and cost advantages. Build – Building competitive advantage on every division while maintaining interdependence among these divisions and prevent rivalry among these divisions. Avoid – Avoid building one-side selling on product lines by giving each division its own sales force instead of having a separate division for sales force.Recommendations It is recommended for IBM to ready its company in entering into systems integration, outsourcing, and consultancy services to fully provide a package of IT products and services. It's a new business but it could greatly give more value on its products. This is also an advantage for IBM to used the size of its organization to outsource some of its r esources to successfully create a niche in the industry. Outline of the Action Plan Objective |Activities |Targets |Resources |Indicators | |To enter into systems |Going into outsourcing and |Within 5 years, IBM will be |Research and development |The changes of demand in | |integration, outsourcing, |system integrations business|able to take lead in | |outsourcing | |and consultancy services to| |outsourcing and integrate |Talents and skills of IBM's | | |fully provide a package of | |this business to other |employees |Market share | |IT products and services. | |product lines | | | | | | |Global divisions |Share of revenue earned from| | | | | |outsourcing and services. | | | | |IT infrastructures | |

Yogh - A Letter of the Alphabet in Middle English

Yogh - A Letter of the Alphabet in Middle English Yogh  (Ê’)  was a  letter  of the alphabet in  Middle English. According to the editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, yogh was used to represent the sound (y) and the voiced and voiceless velar fricatives. Yogh can be found in the original manuscript of the late-14th-century romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight [Sir Gawayn and à ¾e Grene KnyÈ t], but the letter  died out during the 15th century. Middle English yogh was derived from the insular g in  Old English.  As explained below, the letter was pronounced in different ways according to a number of factors. Although the yogh has no exact equivalent today, it can  correspond to Modern English y as in yet, Modern English gh as in light, and Scottish English  ch as in loch. Examples and Observations The yogh ... asks us to make the sound that most Germans make when they say ich, which most Scots people make when they say loch, which most Welsh people make when they say bach, and which some Liverpudlians make when they say back. As the Old English said this kind of sound a good deal, it was very useful to have a letter for it. They had the Roman g which we see in the first line of Beowulf. The yogh was used in the Middle English period (late 12th-15th centuries) to represent the ch sound, perhaps as g had other work to do.(Michael Rose, Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story. Counterpoint, 2015)Pronunciations of Yogh in Middle EnglishYogh (Ê’) was pronounced in several different ways, according to its position in the word. Initially, yogh was pronounced like y, as in Modern English yet. It had the same sound after the vowels e, i, or y, for example in the Middle English words yÊ’e (eye) and hiÊ’e (high), which unlike their Modern English counterparts were pronounce d with two syllables. Within words or at the ends of words, yogh or gh sometimes represented the sound of w, as in folÊ’ed (followed), or innoÊ’e (enough), which we know from its use in rhyme was pronounced enow rather than with an f sound as in Modern English enough. Before t and after e, i, or y, yogh or gh was pronounced like ch in German ich (for example, in the Middle English ryÊ’t, right); before t and after a and o it was pronounced like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach (for example, in Middle English soÊ’te, sought). It had the same value word-finally in the word à ¾aÊ’, though. However, at the ends of words, it more often represented the unvoiced sound of s as in Modern English sillthough it may also at times have represented the ​voiced sound of z as in Modern English zeal (Vantuona 176).(David Gould,  Pearl of Great Price: A Literary Translation of the Middle English Pearl. University Press of America, 2012)   The gh Pronunciation of Yogh- [I]n Old English, ... one of the sound values of the letter yogh was /x/. ... Words like niÊ’t, hiÊ’, burÊ’, miÊ’t and thoÊ’ were respelled by French scribes with a gh, so we get night, high, burgh, might and though as common spellings for these words in early Middle English. To begin with, the gh continued to be pronounced. When we read in the opening lines of The Canterbury Tales about the little birds sleeping all through the nyght, we need to take that spelling at face value and read it as /nIxt/, with the ch sound of Scots loch or Welsh bach. But the /x/ disappeared from southern English during the 15th and 16th centuries. North of the border, and in some other provincial accents, it stayedhence modern Scots spellings such as moonlicht nicht.(David Crystal, Spell It Out. Picador, 2014)- [T]he breathy English g or y sound (once denoted by the English letter yogh) came to be spelled as GH. ... However, it was GHs bad luck to be left beh ind by subsequent, general changes in English pronunciation. Originally, in words like sight, although, cough, or enough, the Norman GH-spelling mirrored the medieval pronunciations. Yet these pronunciations later changed, variously, and today the whole family of English GH words is notoriously unphonetic in spellingto the frustration of purists. ...(David Sacks,  Letter Perfect: The A-to-Z History of Our Alphabet. Knopf, 2010)- The digraph gh causes difficulty. It is commonly a relic of a velar or palatal fricative that is preserved as a velar fricative /x/ in Scots, as in bricht night (bright night). (1) It is normally silent after u as in taught, drought, naughty, thought, though, through, thorough, bough, and after i as in straight, weight, height, high, light, night. (2) It is pronounced /f/ in a few words such as cough, enough, laugh, rough, tough. (3) In the following place-names in England, each gh is different: Slough (rhymes with how), Keighley (Keethley), Loughborough ( Luff-). (4)   In hiccough, the gh was substituted for p (hiccup) in the mistaken belief that the word derived from cough. (5) It has disappeared in AmE draft, plow (formerly also used in BrE) and in dry, fly, sly, although preserved in the related nouns drought, flight, sleight. (6) It sometimes alternates with ch in related words: straight/stretch, taught/teach.(Tom McArthur,  Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 2005) From Yogh to Zee in Scottish EnglishThe yogh owes its origin to the Irish scribes who arrived in Saxon Britain in the 8th Century and began teaching the Anglo-Saxons to writebefore this, old English was written in runes ... .It fell out of favor with the Normans, whose scribes disliked non-Latin characters and replaced it with a y or g sound, and in the middle of words with gh. But the Scottish retained the yogh in personal and place names, albeit mutating into a z to please the typesetters of the day.Inevitably, however, the euphemistic z became a real z, in some quarters at least. The surname MacKenzie now almost universally takes the zee sound although it would have originally been pronounced MacKenyie.(Why is Menzies Pronounced Mingis? BBC News, January 10, 2006) Pronunciation: YOG or yoKH Also see: From A to Z: Quick Facts About the AlphabetKey Events in the History of the English LanguageSpelling

AITKEN Surname Meaning and Family History

AITKEN Surname Meaning and Family History Found primarily in Scotland, the surname Aitken is a diminutive form of the patronymic name ADAM, meaning man, derived from the Hebrew adama, meaning earth. Surname Origin: Scottish Alternate Surname Spellings:  AITKIN, AIKEN, ATKIN, ATKINS, AITKENE, ADKINS, AITKENS Famous People with the AITKEN  Surname James Macrae Aitken  - Scottish chess player and World War II cryptographerRobert Aitken  -  18th century American bible publisherRobert Grant Aitken  - American astronomerMichael Aitkens - British television writerJacqueline Aitken  - British childrens writer Jacqueline WilsonA. J. Aitken - Scottish lexicographer​ Where is the AITKEN Surname Most Common? According to surname distribution from  Forebears, the Aitken surname is  a  characteristic surname in the central counties of Scotland, found most commonly in West Lothian (ranked 21st),  Peeblesshire (22nd), East Lothian (33rd) and Stirlingshire (41st). It is also fairly common in Midlothian and Lanarkshire. The surname is much less common in England, where it is found in greatest numbers in Cumberland, but fairly widespread through Northern Ireland, especially in County Antrim. WorldNames PublicProfiler  indicates a similar distribution, although it also indicates fairly widespread distribution of the surname in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It also points to the Aitken surname being found most commonly throughout central Scotland.   Genealogy Resources for the Surname AITKEN Meanings of Common Scottish  SurnamesUncover the meaning of your Scottish  last name with this free guide to the meanings and origins of common Scottish surnames. Aitken  Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Aitken  family crest or coat of arms for the Aitken surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. The Aitken DNA ProjectIndividuals with the Aitken surname or one of its variants (Aitkin, Aitkins) are invited to join this Y-DNA surname project to explore the use of DNA and traditional genealogy research to find family origins. AITKEN  Family Genealogy ForumThis free message board is focused on descendants of Aitken  ancestors around the world. Search the archives for messages about your Aitken family, or join the group and post your own Aitken query. FamilySearch - AITKEN  GenealogyExplore over 3 million  results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Aitken surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. AITKEN  Surname Mailing ListFree mailing list for researchers of the Aitken  surname and its variations includes subscription details and a searchable archives of past messages. DistantCousin.com - AITKEN  Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Aitken. GeneaNet - Aitken  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Aitken  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Aitken  Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Aitken  surname from the website of Genealogy Today.- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to  Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

The Importance of a Residency Statement

The Importance of a Residency Statement Whether you are writing your residency statement or a nursing essay, there are several rules you must follow in order to ensure success. As someone with a great deal of experience writing and proofing college application essays, I have compiled a list of four fundamental rules that I believe are essential to writing good composition. If you are interested in learning about these rules, please read on. There are four crucial chapters in writing a good application essay. They are: creating an outline, composing the body, revision, and proofreading. As elementary as these might seem, youd be amazed at how well they work. Despite the desire you might have to rush through your essay and get it done, I must insist that you remain calm and allow yourself plenty of time to execute each step. As I said before, creating an outline (and/or road map) for your paper will help drastically in keeping your thoughts organized and your thesis on track. Writing the paper is, of course, the bulk of the job and will probably require the most time. Just as important, however, are the revision and proofreading processes. As these are the final (and often most crucial) steps, you might want to look into hiring a professional to help. While often difficult, writing a residency statement (or any personal essay for that matter) should not be complicated. Following these steps will aid in keeping the writing process on course and save you from getting to lost in the work. For more information about composing a residency statement and/or if you would like someone to proof-read your residency personnel statement, please dont hesitate to contact me.

Improving Patient Satisfaction through Noise Reduction Activities Essay

Improving Patient Satisfaction through Noise Reduction Activities - Essay Example It increases stress levels, heart rate and risk of cardiac problems, disrupts sleep, produces confusion, affects cognitive function, alters hormone levels, and reduces the confidence of patients on their caregivers (Call, 2007). Shelton (2000) also points out that environmental noise and its possible effects on healing and the rate of recovery of hospitalized patients is a special concern to nurses. At the same time, it has been found that healthcare givers functioning in a noisy environment are vulnerable to irritability, depression, exhaustion and burnout. The purpose of the program or project Improvement of Patient Satisfaction through Noise Reduction Activities is a quality improvement initiative. The purpose of this project is to enhance patient-satisfaction scores by 20% within a period of six months. To achieve this, the project aims at evaluating the impacts of the most common sources of excessive noise within the hospital environment and developing a long-term solution to the problem. The major sources of excessive noise that have been identified in the hospital environment include nursing activities during the day, evening and night and, talking and laughing by visitors, employees, other patients and occasionally, construction.

Communicating Total Rewards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communicating Total Rewards - Essay Example The desired information concerning total rewards, benefits and compensation to the prospective employees of One Click Marketing Company will be communicated by use of the internet, television sets, radios and newspapers will be employed in delivering the message to the desired audience (Kaplan 2007). For instance, television and Radio advertisements will be mostly aired before and after most preferred programs, by many viewers and listeners. Also, newspapers and magazines with wide coverage will be utilized in targeting and delivering the message to the desired audience. DeliverablesThe preferred form of deliverable selected for the project is total rewards statement. Total rewards statement was selected basing on the deliverables ability to capture the desired information being expected by prospective.   Total reward statement provides satisfaction to the prospective employees by recognizing their contribution towards the organization, through provision of equitable compensations as well as being recognized during organization’s decision making process.   Delivery of the information regarding total rewards to prospective employees will be carried out by the sales’ and marketing department, in conjunction with human resource department. The two departments will have to liaise with one another so as to deliver quality information regarding total rewards to prospective employees at the right time.The total rewards information about One click Marketing Company will be communicated to prospective employees.

Childlink Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Childlink - Essay Example Yet, sometime despite our best efforts, children and even the parents fall further into social problems with crime, substance abuse, and destructive behavior. This creates questions of how to moderate social crisis in families, and relates to the professional development of my career in counseling and social work. Findings, or discussion: The basis for most foster care placements are deterioration of the family structure through crime, substance abuse, domestic violence, and poverty as they combine to create a situation where a child may be taken from his or her birth family to a safer environment under the auspices of Child Protection Services, a court order, or a recommendation from social welfare. The psychological effects of these family traumas may affect all involved in a profound, life-changing manner, hurting the children the worst in learning how to process emotions born out of abusive or abnormal patterns of family behavior. Because of this, I decided to do a literature rev iew of academic sources in psychology and sociology relating to the foster care experience as it is reported from all of the different perspectives in the relationship, including: the child, the birth family, the foster family, the counselor, social services, and the legal or judicial aspects of the process. In reading the academic literature related to psychology, for example, I became interested in child development stages and also the patterns or reactions of the children as they developed through different responses to the alienating situation. I began to realize that some of the children naturally reacted passively to the situation, and that they were apt to close up emotionally more often when confronted with confusion or emotionally charged situations. Conversely, others were always active and aggressive and more apt to resist violently or irrationally when confronted with conflict. The recognitions of patterns of introversion and extroversion led me to the conclusion that di fferent approaches should be prepared in advance to address the needs of the children uniquely, for example introducing activities to calm or moderate the behavior of the active children while attempting to stimulate a more positive response from the withdrawn children. I feel that further research on this topic can lead to a better understanding of what a counselor needs to do in order to recognize signs in individuals and introduce treatment through unique diagnosis of the psychological issues and personality types underlying the individual cases. The same approach can also be taken with regard to family members who are displaying outward signs of substance abuse, or alcoholism. These two combined are the usual gateway to family destruction, especially when intersecting with the prison justice system. The roots of substance abuse in theory are important to academic research for my work at Childlink and also for further progress in the field of social work and counseling. Substance abuse and alcoholism are the most common problems that lead to the further domestic violence, criminal behavior, and deterioration of the family structure that tragically results in foster care. The question of treatment and recovery for those suffering from long term or chronic alcoholism and drug abuse is an important part of my research at Childlink, as they relate as a key cause to the social and personal breakdowns that create the family

Law for Non-Lawyers Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law for Non-Lawyers - Case Study Example Thereafter, Billy is under the influence of Alcohol, and he slaps the nurse when he is denied permission to see the wife in the hospital. Under these circumstances, the crown court has to put into consideration the various fields of law that Billy fails to adhere to; for instance, the Family Law- under the domestic violence, the criminal law- Assault on a public servant (Nurse) (Ferraro and Boychuck 209). Further insights into this situation is the place where the crime occurred, there is the presence of Children aged 5 and 8. Based on family laws, it is apparent that domestic violence propagates perilous effects on children because, at this ages children are at a critical stage of growth and development and exposure to domestic violence may change their perception and strategies to use in making decisions (Ferraro and Boychuck 209). Finally, the Crown Court may file a case against Billy on attempted murder on Hilda in using a chair leg to hit his wife. Using some peer reviewed journ als, secondary sources, publications, and statutes, the paper shall analyze a justified decision that the Crown Court may take concerning Billy’s situation (Asmus 115–158). According to Dr. Badawi & Jamal (1971), the both civilization and Christianity values the wellbeing of women and restores their rights. Therefore, a woman is a companion to the husband but not a legal obligation to him. In the first case, Billy assaults his wife by hitting her with a chair leg harming her. This is against the laws defined under section 47 on offences Against the Person Act 1861. Based on the offences Against the Person Act 1861, Billy’s act of assault falls under the intent of causing resulting to bodily harm or wounding (Asmus 115–158). In view of both the Crown Court sections, the court has every right to file a case against the assaults committed by Billy on Hilda and the nurse. However, the Crown Court will only open a case against Billy if Hilda accepts to file a case against Billy for the injuries sustained. For this reason, any course of action by the crown court is dependent on the Hilda’s decision, and the testimony that the children may provide to the Court on what they saw. They are the eyewitnesses on the circumstances surrounding the guilty consciousness of Billy (Asmus 115–158). Therefore, if Hilda takes a decision of opening a case against her husband, then, these puts the Crown into a better position of prosecuting Billy and justifies the issues surrounding the violence Act against Hilda. Hilda is a victim of violence to her husband the moment her rights are violated by Billy. It is very apparent that, Billy intended to cause violence because at the time of the crime, he was in his right frame of mind. Under the Family Violence Act, domestic violence is any form of mistreatment caused to a family member. The form of violence may involve children, close/elderly relatives, but violence occurs between spouses (Asmus 115 –158). Based on all these facts and the course of action taken by Hilda, Crown Court prosecutor may consider sentencing Billy for approximately 4 – 5 years. Considering the case, or rather, this incidence occurred in May 2004, a man

Radio report about jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Radio report about jazz - Essay Example Ultimately, Blakey sets in the performance with his drum thus blending the mix proportionately. Benny Golson finds his way again after two and quarter minutes with his saxophone that purposes to offer liveliness and reality to the band. Lee Morgan halts but the other musicians maintain their respective roles in the band. Bobby Timmons seems to enjoy the music as he is seen very vibrant and also seems to follow everything closely. One can clearly notice the sounding of the drum set that Blakey bring into play to add rhythm to the piece. All the five band members now come in but the trumpet is higher in pitch and tune, something that is noticeable. Lee Morgan seems to struggle so as to hit higher notes to maintain the pitch and to also upkeep with the rest in the performance. The jazz slows down and picks rhythmically. Blakey is seen stepping from behind the kit and gives a brief introduction about their platter that he does in a rush. Lee Morgan is the solo who seems more involved in this piece. Morgan is likely to have found solace in his trumpet that he deliberately sounds consistently to blend the music. The trumpet is the most conspicuous in the entire piece thus Morgan is a key element in the band as he carries on strongly even when his colleagues slow down or even remain silent at some instances. He is seen to struggle to deliver the highest pitch ever in the performance but he still perseveres on. Only at some few instances does he rest although not so long like some other members. Lee progresses with success to the last point of the performance with a lot energy, lively and composed. Moanin’ Moanin’ was performed live in Belgium in 1958. The band members include Art Blakey, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons, Lee Morgan and Jymie Merritt who play the drums, saxophone, piano, trumpet and the bass respectively. This song is a rendition about the projects title that plays for nearly fifteen minutes and is basically a joyful piece of music more so to those who like the studio. Noticeably, the camera work has been done with excellence that makes the performance clear. The piece starts by the solo engaging the audience who in turn applaud the message. The piano kicks off the performance as others join the accompaniment. Benny with his saxophone and the trumpet rest at some intervals after which the trumpet carries on for the better part of the piece with others on board too. At this point Benny stops and rests for the others to continue but joins at some point after which the trumpet rests. All except the trumpet are live and active with the applause from the being noticed. I remember Clifford I remember Clifford is the title of the jazz that was written by Benny Golson who played tenor saxophone. This was done to commit to memory the life of Clifford Brown, who played the trumpet, after his death in an accident. These two were great band mates the entire album pays tribute to Brown with Lee morgan for trumpet, Art Blakey with his drums, Jymie Merritt for bass and Bobby Timmons playing the piano all on board. Timmons is seen moving his foot inconspicuously counting in the number being also in the speed and tone of the music. The entire band heightens the speed and pitch charging ahead where Golson and Morgan howl at the top of their ability thus displaying their prowess and might while at the same time revealing their respective insight and

M&S Lingerie ad 'Socially Irresponsible' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

M&S Lingerie ad 'Socially Irresponsible' - Essay Example The article compares this image to another recently banned image used by Lynx, for the same sexually suggestive reasons. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) is cited as beginning to take a tougher approach on these issues, backed by David Cameron in a bid to stop unregulated sexual imagery. This comes at a time when the Prime Minister himself is trying to uphold ‘family values’ and thus the advertisement industry is being required to comply with these new political ideas. This issue has wider implications because it involves the marketing industry as a whole as well as calling into question ethical theory and social responsibility for companies. Schlegelmilch & Oberseder (2010) have examined ethical trends in marketing (through the use of several types of marketing literature) and found the following: a generally increasing appreciation of ethical and moral issues in marketing (see figure 1), an increase in sexual imagery issues within ethical marketing, an increased understanding of the ethical needs associated with different religious and social groups, and an increased role for the internet in ethical marketing debates Figure 1 – The number of ethics related articles found in various marketing journals throughout recent decades; showing an increasing trend (Schlegelmilch & Oberseder, 2010) This general increase in scholarly articles about the ethics of marketing, as well as the evidence from the original article that the ASA is taking an increased interest in the reduction of available sexual imagery is interesting. Firstly, it suggests that there is an increased need for marketing companies to ensure that their images are socially appropriate without losing any of the impact factor needed to be effective. Secondly, it suggests that overly sexual imagery may not have the desired effect on the customer, and may have a ‘turn-off’ factor above a certain level. Finally, the evidence suggests that sexual imagery needs to be con fined to the appropriate avenues, rather than being used in outdoor advertisements like this Marks & Spencers advertisement. Interestingly, this was not the only article about the links between marketing and social effect to be published in Marketing Week recently. Another article describes the banned Final Destination poster involving disturbing imagery (see Figure 2) with a skull being shattered by steel rods (Johnson, 2011). Again, this image was for use in the public domain in outdoor locations, easily seen by children. The advertisement series was banned for being disturbing and showing horrific imagery where it was not appropriate. Again, this shows a growing concern about the type of advertising imagery available in the public domain and a need to show concern for who may be able to view this imagery. It also suggests that sexual imagery is not the only target for responsible marketing, and all types of image should be considered before release. Again, it must be noted that i mages need to fall within a small threshold of effectiveness and social responsibility (Sen & Bhattacharya, 2001). Research by Robin & Reidenbach (1987) suggests that many marketing directors believe that there should not be an issue between social responsibi

Radio report about jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Radio report about jazz - Essay Example Ultimately, Blakey sets in the performance with his drum thus blending the mix proportionately. Benny Golson finds his way again after two and quarter minutes with his saxophone that purposes to offer liveliness and reality to the band. Lee Morgan halts but the other musicians maintain their respective roles in the band. Bobby Timmons seems to enjoy the music as he is seen very vibrant and also seems to follow everything closely. One can clearly notice the sounding of the drum set that Blakey bring into play to add rhythm to the piece. All the five band members now come in but the trumpet is higher in pitch and tune, something that is noticeable. Lee Morgan seems to struggle so as to hit higher notes to maintain the pitch and to also upkeep with the rest in the performance. The jazz slows down and picks rhythmically. Blakey is seen stepping from behind the kit and gives a brief introduction about their platter that he does in a rush. Lee Morgan is the solo who seems more involved in this piece. Morgan is likely to have found solace in his trumpet that he deliberately sounds consistently to blend the music. The trumpet is the most conspicuous in the entire piece thus Morgan is a key element in the band as he carries on strongly even when his colleagues slow down or even remain silent at some instances. He is seen to struggle to deliver the highest pitch ever in the performance but he still perseveres on. Only at some few instances does he rest although not so long like some other members. Lee progresses with success to the last point of the performance with a lot energy, lively and composed. Moanin’ Moanin’ was performed live in Belgium in 1958. The band members include Art Blakey, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons, Lee Morgan and Jymie Merritt who play the drums, saxophone, piano, trumpet and the bass respectively. This song is a rendition about the projects title that plays for nearly fifteen minutes and is basically a joyful piece of music more so to those who like the studio. Noticeably, the camera work has been done with excellence that makes the performance clear. The piece starts by the solo engaging the audience who in turn applaud the message. The piano kicks off the performance as others join the accompaniment. Benny with his saxophone and the trumpet rest at some intervals after which the trumpet carries on for the better part of the piece with others on board too. At this point Benny stops and rests for the others to continue but joins at some point after which the trumpet rests. All except the trumpet are live and active with the applause from the being noticed. I remember Clifford I remember Clifford is the title of the jazz that was written by Benny Golson who played tenor saxophone. This was done to commit to memory the life of Clifford Brown, who played the trumpet, after his death in an accident. These two were great band mates the entire album pays tribute to Brown with Lee morgan for trumpet, Art Blakey with his drums, Jymie Merritt for bass and Bobby Timmons playing the piano all on board. Timmons is seen moving his foot inconspicuously counting in the number being also in the speed and tone of the music. The entire band heightens the speed and pitch charging ahead where Golson and Morgan howl at the top of their ability thus displaying their prowess and might while at the same time revealing their respective insight and

Basic Wound Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Basic Wound Care - Essay Example It results when additional pressure interrupts blood flow through the skin. This results in oxygen and nutrient deficiency in the affected skin, which makes it break leading to the formation of the ulcer. Pressure from a hard surface, for instance, wheelchair and bed can cause an ulcer (Dziedzic, 2013). Involuntary muscle movements is another cause besides moisture, which can break down the epidermis. We will focus on old age and terminal disease as some of the risk factors. Individuals, who are old have their skin aging out, which results in loss of elasticity. There is a decline in the blood flow through the skin, which is due to aging effects. Additionally, the amount of fat under the skin decreases as one gets older. All these put together makes the skin vulnerable to damage; hence, an ulcer formation. We will now look at some terminal diseases in patients that can put them at increased risk of pressure ulcers (Qaseem, Humphrey, Forciea, Starkey, & Denberg, 2015). Type one and two diabetes results in increased blood sugar levels, which disrupts the normal flow of blood. In peripheral arterial disease, build-up of fatty substance in arteries hampers blood supply to legs. Heart failure results in reduced blood supply to other parts of the body. Kidney failure results in build-up of harmful toxins, which can cause damage to tissues. Reducing the risk of infection demands regular hand washing, debridement and wound cleansing. Protect the wound from exogenous sources of contamination such as feces (Kifer, 2012). When dressing the wound, clean it using sterile water, topical antiseptic or saline, which reduces the bacterial growth and risk of infection. In cases of foul odor, debridement, and frequent cleansing is necessary. Measurement monitors progress made in the healing process through changes in width, length, volume and area of the wound. Simple measurement technique involves measuring the

Customer Satisfaction at The Plaza Crowne Hotel

Customer Satisfaction at The Plaza Crowne Hotel Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Introduction Tourism is frequently and justifiably described as a major phenomenon of modern times. Since 1950 the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide has increased spectacularly, from just 25 million to over 924 million in 2008. Representing an average annual growth of 7 % a year (Sharpley, R., 2004; and WTO – World Tourism Organisation, 2009). International tourism generated US$ 856 billion in 2007, representing 30% of the world’s exports of services for the related year. Under the influence of the recent global economic recession, tourism demand has significantly slowed down in the past few months. Notably in the second half of 2008 growth came to stagnation with the number of international arrivals declining slightly – a trend which is expected to continue in 2009 and probably beyond, if the economy does not show signal of reaction (WTO – World Tourism Organisation, 2009). Regardless of the current actual global recession, it is undeniable the importance of the tourism activity for the world economy, mutual understanding of nations, personal growth and development, just to mention a few benefits that tourism brings in. The hospitality industry, as a segment of the tourism industry, plays a major role in this economic activity (King, 1995). Being accommodation the biggest percentage in tourism expenditure, in average of 34% of the total expenditure per trip (Sharpley, R., 2004). The success of the hospitality industry, relies massively on the quality of the service delivered and customer satisfaction. The index of the measurement of both, quality service and customer satisfaction, will widely influence on occupancy rates, hence, on the profitability of the company (Holloway, JC, 1998; Solomon et al, 2006). Therefore, justifying the need for a reliable model of assessment of customer satisfaction and service quality that would better adapt to the hospitality field, which at present still have a lack of agreement. 1.2 Research Title The measurement of service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry: a case study of the Plaza Crowne Hotel. 1.3 Research Background For Cardozo (1965), cited by Williams and Uysal (2003), marketing researches in the consumer satisfaction field started in the early 60’s. The subject had a relevant increase in popularity by organisations and researchers only in the 80’s, when organisations, in an attempt to try to keep itselves in the marketplace, started paying substantial attention on customer’s expectations demands. 1.4 Research Aims The aim of this project is to analyse customer satisfaction and service quality measurement, using the SERVQUAL model, within The Plaza Crowne Hotel – Kansas City (USA), based upon the hotel’s own data against the highlighted gaps within the model. 1.5 Research Objectives In order to achieve the specified aim it will be necessary to: Conduct a review of service quality and customer satisfaction; Illustrate The Plaza Crowne Hotel’s current customer satisfaction and service quality measurement model to identify its positive and negative aspects; Conduct an initial diagnosis of the key issues presented in the Crown Plaza data, examining the hotel’s past assessments in order to identify areas of failure; Analyse the SERVQUAL model focusing on the hospitality industry; Identify and critically recommend suitable quality measurement practices to apply within The Plaza Crowne Hotel, if necessary; Chapter II Literature Review 2.1 Introduction To Kotler et al (1996), nowadays companies need to change their view and attitude in the marketplace and adopt a more customer centred philosophy, in order to keep competitive and profitable. Customers are changing their behaviour towards consumption, becoming more challenging to companies to attend their expectations, as they are increasingly aware of their rights, expect more than they used to, and know exactly what they want when purchasing a product or service. This increase in consumers expectation naturally leads to the need of a higher quality in costumer services delivery. Customer satisfaction and quality service became priority for companies worldwide. They are believed to generate repeated business, therefore increased profit margin. The hospitality industry is paying close attention to it. Hampton’s Inn, a well know resort in Florida, has developed a 100% satisfaction guarantee program that promises its customers no charge unless they are completely satisfied. Other companies such as Sheraton Hotels has implemented a employees’ reward system for superior services to guests, the Sheraton Guests Satisfaction System (SGSS). Hilton International has adopted as a primary goal its customers satisfaction with global diversity. Moreover, organisations are increasingly becoming adept of rewarding its employees with bonuses, incentives and salary rise, just to mention a few actions to improve service. (Oh, 1997). Therefore, marketing researchers are constantly developing and improving models of measuring customers satisfaction and quality service. Among many measurement models and theories, this dissertation will focus on the analysis of the 5 Gaps Model developed by Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml also called The Servqual Model. 2.2 Defining Service Service is any act or performance that one firm can offer to a costumer, its nature is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. The service production may or may not be tied to a physical product (Kotler, P, 2003). Addittionaly, Gronroos (1990) cited by Hsu et al (2001, p.18) defines service as â€Å"an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the costumer and services employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer’s problems†. From the consumer’s optic, service is nothing else than the experience lived in the whole process of this transaction (Hsu et al, 2001). Moreover, it was noted that services have four major characteristics that greatly affect the way it is delivered and its marketing programme. Which are: intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability (Kotler, 2003). Bellow the four charactecristics are briefly explained in the light of Kotler (2003) and Hsu et al (2001): Intangibility relates to the extent that services cannot be tried in anyway before they are actually purchased and delivered. The only thing that can be done to reduce uncertainty is to look for evidences of service quality; Inseparability is the relation that services are typically produced and consumed simultaneously. The person who provides the service, is actually part of the service purchased, therefore the importance of the interaction of providers and customers; Variability occurs because services depend on who provides, when and where, one experience is never exactly equal the other. As people are the means through service production, personal problems, mood, knowledge of the job and many other factors can interfer and widely vary the service; Perishability means that services cannot be stored as we can do with manufactured products, because services are produced and consumed simultaneously. As an example, in a hotel, a room that was not occupied yesterday, cannot be sold anymore as time does not goes backwards. For Cook (2002) the increased global competition has made many organisations realised that they cannot compete only in price. Therefore companies are developing their own strategy in providing superior customer care to differentiate their products and services. â€Å"Surveys suggest that service-driven companies can charge up to 9 per cent more for the products and services they provide. They grow twice as fast as the average company and have the potential to gain up to 6 per cent market share† (Cook, 2002, p.1). 2.3 Defining customer satisfaction and quality service Peter Drucker cited by Cook (2002, p.1), once said: â€Å"There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer () an organisation’s ability to remain in business is a function of its competitiveness and its ability to win customers from the competition. The customer is the foundation of the business and keeps it in existence†. Customer satisfaction relates to the personal opinion and result of customers’ assessment of a service based on a comparison of their expectations and actual perceptions of the service delivered (Clark, G.; and Johnston, R., 2005). According to Lancaster et al (2002) from the customer’s point of view, service is judged by the mix of customers’ previous experiences and their perception of the outcome of the service. The service experience is the customer’s direct experience of the service process and concerns the way the customer is dealt with by the service provider. The result for the customer of the service delivered is described by the term service outcome. (Lancaster, G. et al, 2002). â€Å"Service quality is more often used to mean different things. Some managers use the term to mean how the customer is treated. This is perhaps more accurately called quality of service, as opposed to service quality, which can mean the entirety of outcome and experience† (Clark, G.; and Johnston, R., 2005, p.108). Van Looy (et al, 2003) differentiates service quality and customer satisfaction stating that â€Å"service quality is a form of attitude representing a long-run, overall evaluation, whereas satisfaction represents a more short-term, transaction-specific judgement. The level of customer satisfaction is the result of a customer’s comparison of the service quality expected in a given service encounter with perceived service quality. This also means that satisfaction assessments require customer experience while quality does not â€Å"(p.124). 2.4 Benefits of service quality Kotler (1996) has listed many benefits that an organisation enjoys as a prize for delivering service quality. As listed bellow: Retaining customers – high quality builds loyal customers and creates positive word of mouth. Avoidance of price competition – â€Å"the PIMS data show that firms in the top third in quality could charge 5% to 6% higher than those in the bottom third. High quality can help to avoid price competition and help to maximise potential revenue† (p.363). Retention of good employees – employees appreciate working in operations that are well managed and produce quality services and products. When an organisation operates in high quality, it decreases turn over rates, hence, retaining good employees. Additionally, recruiting is easier and training costs are reduced. Reduction of costs – which are divided in three categories of costs: Internal costs are those associated with correcting problems discovered by the firm before the product reaches the costumers; External costs – are associated with errors that the costumers experience; Quality system costs – are costs viewed as investments in the future of the company to ensure that customers return. (Kotler, 1996) 2.5 Benefits of a customer-centred organisation An excellent service provides many benefits to an organisation, Cook (2002) has listed what some of the best-practice organisations have gain on focusing on the customer. â€Å"Differentiate itself from the competition; improve its image in the eyes of the customer; minimise price sensitivity; improve profitability; increase customer satisfaction and retention; achieve a maximum number of advocates for the company; enhance its reputation; ensure products and services are delivered ‘right first time’; improve staff morale; increase employee satisfaction and retention; increase productivity; reduce costs; encourage employee participation; create a reputation for being a caring, customer-oriented company; foster internal customer/supplier relationships; bring about continuous improvements to the operation of the company† ( p.24). 2.6 Importance of customer relationship management (CRM) Customers perceive service quality through everyday aspect of their contact with the company. In improving the quality of its service therefore an organisation needs to develop a strategy bearing in mind all aspects of the relationship with its clients. (Cook, 2002) Customers often do not perceive the service they receive from an organisation as a complete entity. Attention to detail is a key tool of the organisation’s relationship with the customer â€Å"such as an incorrectly addressed letter, a lengthy delay in receiving an e-mail response, a service which turns out to be different to how it was originally advertised, which forms customers’ impressions† (Cook, 2002, p.24). CRM involves managing the customer relationship across all its interfaces with the company as one entire process. A CRM system can help identify sales prospects from existing or potential customer databases. It also can assist with all aspects of the sale and service being provided, eg offering online access to order status and a single view of the customer status when the sale is complete. It can collect information about the customer and the queries that he or she made. It can also monitor customer-usage patterns, so abnormal patterns or a reduction in use can be identified. Hotels systems can store any peculiarity or requests made by guests, such as preferences for smoking or non-smoking rooms, higher or lower floors etc. (Cook, 2002 and Lancaster et al, 2002). Ernst and Young found elements that are essentially important for organisations to build a CRM framework. First basic step is to accumulate systematic knowledge of its markets and costumers. This could be made by complex IT systems, that are designed to store, manager and analyse informations about customer’s value. With this tool organisations can access business informations regard theier costumers, and also predict consumer’s behaviour. Enabling organisations to share informations across departments, and automatically update this informations by tracking loyalty cards costumers, any time they make a purchase or request the company’s service,for example (Cook, 2002). CRM systems helps companies to target theier segments, and also to analyse the information flow throughout the company. Making easier to identify its costumers needs, and more importantly, shows the best way to approach its most profitable clients. The more information a company holds about its costumer’s the best is the knowledge built, as it helps refines consumer segmentation and individual needs. In this particular case, data about costumers life-style is very helpful (Cook, 2002). Selling involves taking a proactive approach towards costumers, rather than a reactive. For instance, hotels can treat their most profitable business guests with special offers on their holidays. To finish the CRM framework, is essential to hold a service, providing an after-sales which should be measured to individual needs (Cook, 2002). 2.7 Importance of performance measurement and a programme development â€Å"You cannot manage what you can not measure† (Kelvin Anon, www.dti.gov.uk/quality/performance). According to Cook (2002) and Williams (2002) managers braves the way through customer satisfaction measurement. A measurement programme starts with a clear definition of objectives, budget and timeline. Moreover, for this task to be performed and achieve its highest level of success, it is necessary the full commitment and willingness of top management to act on the results founded. A starting point should be to decide which part of customer satisfaction the company is most concerned to measure. Is also important to be aware that expectations and satisfaction levels can widely vary between the costumers of a company, therefore, the need to identify market segments. For example, the different needs of a businesses and tourists guest of a hotel. (Cook, 2002; Laws, 2004; Williams, 2002) According to Clark and Johnston (2005) performance measurement is costly. Few organisations have calculated just how much time and energy they spend on measuring their performance and its value for money relation. Two useful tests of a performance measure are, first, what is its purpose and, second, what systems are in place to support or achieve that purpose. There are four main purposes or reasons to take measurement: communication, motivation, control and improvement within the company. In the endless improvement process, measuring performance is an important task in order to identify and track progress in harmony with the organisations’ goals; identify areas and opportunities for improvement; and compare performance with internal and external standards (www.dti.gov.uk/quality/performance). According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the main reasons of measuring performance is: †¢ â€Å"To ensure customer requirements have been met †¢ To be able to set sensible objectives and comply with them †¢ To provide standards for establishing comparisons †¢ To provide visibility and a â€Å"scoreboard† for people to monitor their own performance level †¢ To highlight quality problems and determine areas for priority attention †¢ To provide feedback for driving the improvement effort† (retrieved from ). 2.8 The SERVQUAL model The Servqual model was developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, and has been one of the most popular service quality measurement instrument since then. The model was designed to measure those components of service that generate satisfaction within five dimensions (Ryan and Saleh,1991; Lee et al, 2004; Johns et al, 2004). Originally the researchers conducted a focus group studies with service providers and costumers, and as a result they came up with a list of ten determinants or dimensions of service quality which are: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer and tangibles, (Van Looy, B et al, 2003; Parasuraman et al, 1990; Ryan and Saleh,1991) which will be briefly explained bellow: Tangibles – the appearance of physical facilities, the personnel, the tools or equipment used to provide the service and communication material. Guests of a hotel look for details of the building, web sites and reservation systems for instance. Reliability – consistency of performance and dependability. This means that the firm performs the service correctly the first time and that the firm honours its promises. Responsiveness – the willingness to help the customers and to provide prompt service. Competence – knowledge, ability and possession of the right skills to perform the job. Access – degree of approachability of service providers. Courtesy – use of good manners, politeness, friendliness, smiling during the service. Communication – ability to successfully communicate with costumers, keep them informed. Understanding – degree of interest of employees to know the costumers needs and wants. Assurance – knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy – caring, individualized attention to customers. (Van Looy, B et al, 2003; Parasuraman et al, 1990; Ryan and Saleh,1991) Later on, in another attempt of improving their models they found a high degree of correlation between communication, competence, courtesy, credibility and security. They therefore, merged them into one dimension, which they called assurance. Similarly they found a high correlation between access and understanding which they merged into empathy. Thus compacting the dimensions of service quality in five which are: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Van Looy, B et al, 2003; Dabholkar et al 2000). The diagram bellow was originally made to suit the quality service measurement and customer satisfaction of a car repair garage. Which can be easily adapted to any other service organisation, surely including any hotels to be more precise. Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/fig/0240221006003.png The SERVQUAL identified gaps between clients and organisations perceptions of attributes of service perceived, and also between customers expectations and perceptions of the service actually delivered (Ryan and Saleh,1991; Landrigan, 1999). This has led to the well known and widely used 5 gaps of service quality: Gap 1: Consumer expectations versus management perception CEO’s and managers often fail to realise what consumers expect of a service and which features needs to be pursued to deliver a high-quality service. When management does not understand what their customers want, a gap 1 exists. Very often, organisations research to find out what are their markets needs and wants, but later can occur a divergence. When customer needs change but the product remains the same, gap 1 increases, as the service becomes less attractive (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Gap 2: Management perception versus service quality specifications A gap 2 situation occurs when managers know their customers needs, but do not deliver it, either for unwillingness or incapability. Reasons for gap 2 to happen could be inadequate commitment to service quality, absence of goal setting, lack of perception of feasibility, and lack of standardization. The pursuit to achieve short-term profits refrain companies to invest in equipments and people, causing service quality issues (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Gap3: Service quality specifications versus service delivery Gap 3 occurs when employees are unwilling or unable to deliver the appropriate service that was specified by management. In this case managers understand their customers needs, develop strategies and tasks to fulfil these needs, but in the moment of employee and costumer interaction it does not occur (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Gap 3 could be minimised through training and development, rewarding and internal marketing campaigns. Human resources department plays a major role in this task. Gap 4: Service delivery versus external communications A company creates gap 4 when it promises more than it can deliver, creating disappointments to its customers. Good sense and ethic when advertising should be primordial in any circumstances (Parasuraman etal, 1991). The image of a company that cheats or lies to its costumers leads to an extremely bad reputation and negative word of mouth. Gap 5: Expected service versus perceived service Last but not least, gap 5 is a function of the other gaps. It pictures the difference among expected quality and perceived quality. If any of the other 4 gaps increases or decreases, gap 5 will follow it (Parasuraman etal, 1991). The diagram below represents the 5 gaps model of quality service. Source: http://www.kmfadvance.com/mind_the_gap_files/image004.jpg 2.9 Criticisms and limitations of the SERVQUAL According to Oh (1997) the use of the difference of the scores contributes to discrepancies and errors, affecting the reliability and valididyt of the model. Such finding suggests that caution has to be taken when using the scores, and that additional work is essential to the development of measures of assessing the quality of services. In addition it is also noticeable that the SERVQUAL lacks in ties with statistics, economics and even psychology theories, therefore many arguments has formed a doubtful opinion regards its relaibility. 2.10 Other service quality and costumer satisfaction measurement models Obviously, the SERVQUAL is not the only model available to measure service quality and costumer satisfaction. Indeed, there is a range of variety of models out there. Some of them will be quickly explained in this study. 2.10.1 The expectancy-disconfirmation model (EDM) The principle of expectancy theory was early stated by Lewin (1938) who hypothesized that individuals make decisions on the most appropriate action to take based on their expectations of the outcomes of that action. After being reviewed by many researchers, the model developed to two processes: the formation of expectations and the disconfirmation/ confirmation of the expectations through performance evaluations (Oh, 1997; available at http://proquest.umi.com.newdc.oum.edu.my/pqdweb). Chapter III Research Methodology 3.1 Research Process This research will include several components of different character, promoting the approach to new problems, providing bibliographic survey, offering a selection of methodologies, as well as providing a critical analysis of results (Saunders, et al, 2003). In order for the aims of this research to be met it is necessary to gain an understanding of the practices of the service quality and customer satisfaction assessments applied within The Crowne Plaza Hotel (please see appendix II). This data will be given by one manager of the company, and will be adapted for a experimental application of the SERVQUAL model. The research and development will comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to build knowledge accumulation, including not only the practices of the service quality and customer satisfaction assessments model researched but how would be applied within The Crowne Plaza Hotel in order to achieve competitive advantage and business success. The purpose of the literature review is theoretically discussing ideas that exist about the given topic. Data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes will be scanned for secondary data. This will produce a list of journals and newspaper articles, published books and internet sources (Saunders, et al, 2003). The secondary research will be complemented by primary research, through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders of the organization in question. In case of interviews and questionnaires, the manager cooperating with this research will be fully informed about the, methods and intended possible uses of the research, what their participation in the project entails, the strict confidentiality, and academic purpose only (Bell, 1999). The project proposes to use analytical and theoretical framework, which extends descriptive research, making suggestions of why and how practices of the service quality and customer satisfaction assessments plays an important role in the competitive advantage, profitability and success of the firm (Yin, 2003). A method of both, quantitative and qualitative approach will be applied in order to examine values, attitudes and perceptions aspects of the research subject. (Flick, 2003) The departure point will be deductive, with the observation of the SERVQUAL model, fed by the organisation information’s collected where conclusions will be critically evaluated against facts. Moreover, a phenomenological philosophy will be implemented, applying a case study approach, since this kind of research methodology is ideally suited to investigate the insights into the service quality and customer satisfaction in theory and practice (Yin, 2003). The data collected for this research was taken between the months of January, February and March 2009, it consists of 380 customer satisfaction surveys, applied by the hotel. This surveys were answered by guests, either on the check-out or on the hotel web site, after their stay in the hotel. At the time of the data collection, was common practice of the hotel’s front desk manager to put the weekly result together and send to all hotel departments, so they could have a picture of the guest’s feedback. 3.2 Research Theories In order to achieve this reaserch objectives it will be necessary to apply many reaserch theories that reinforces the reliability of it. The theories used in this research will be briefly explained one by one. 3.2.1 Case study According to Robson (2002:178) cited by Saunders et al, 2003, p.93), a case study is â€Å"a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evedence†. A case study approach is recommended to those reasearchs that essentially aims to explain ‘why’, ‘how’ such phenomenon occurs, as well as in research that includes surveys (Saunders, 2003; Yin,2003). A case study is also a scientific way of explore an existing theory, which is one of the main objectives of this research, as is analysing the use of SERVQUAL (Saunders, 2003). 3.2.2 Descriptive studies In order to have a clear picture of the scenario studied is essentially important to describe with accuration every data collected. As cited by Saunders et al (2003, p.97), Robson, 2002:59 describes the objective of descriptive research as ‘ to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations’. 3.2.3 Deductive method Complementing the case study approach, a deductive method could be simply described as way of what we would think of a scientific research or theory, moving from theory to practice (Bailey, 2006; Cottrell, 2005; Saunders, 2003). â€Å"It involves the development of a theory that is subjected to a rigorous test† (Saunders, 2003, p. 86). The deductive method has many characteristics. â€Å"First, there is the search to explain casual relationships between variables† (Saunders, 2003, p. 86). Then, hypothesis development, followed by hypothesis testing, normally using quantitative data, but could also being backed up by qualitative data. 3.2.4 Quantitative data On the other hand quantitative research apply measurements and normally considered as better than qualitative research. Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005; p. 109) explains that â€Å"the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods and approach is not just a question of quantification, but also a reflection of different perspectives on knowledge and research objectives†. A method of qualitative approach will be applied in order to examine values, attitudes, and perceptions aspects of the research subject. 3.2.5 Qualitative data A narrative analysis process was implemented to interpret the data that were collected from the research portion of this project. Thomas (2003; p.1) argues that â€Å"Qualitative methods involves a researcher describing kinds of characteristics of people and events without comparing events in terms of measurements or amounts† 3.3 Research Design The survey consists of a questionnaire of 44 questions (picked by the hotel’s own customer satisfaction survey) related to the quality of the service provided by the hotel. The guests (sample = 380) will answer the questions according to their perception of the service received, whilst the managers (sample = 4) will answer the questions according to what they expect the overall of the guests to answer. The answers will range between score 1 to score 5. Being 1 the best degree of satisfaction and 5 the worst degree of dissatisfaction, (Saleh and Ryan, 1991) having some variations as follows: Score 1: very satisfied / definitely would / much more than you paid / much better / excellent / yes Score 2: somewhat satisfied / probably would / somewhat more than you paid / somewhat better / very good Score 3: neither / might or might not / about what you paid / about the same / good Score 4: somewhat dissatisfied / probably would not / somewhat lees than you Customer Satisfaction at The Plaza Crowne Hotel Customer Satisfaction at The Plaza Crowne Hotel Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Introduction Tourism is frequently and justifiably described as a major phenomenon of modern times. Since 1950 the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide has increased spectacularly, from just 25 million to over 924 million in 2008. Representing an average annual growth of 7 % a year (Sharpley, R., 2004; and WTO – World Tourism Organisation, 2009). International tourism generated US$ 856 billion in 2007, representing 30% of the world’s exports of services for the related year. Under the influence of the recent global economic recession, tourism demand has significantly slowed down in the past few months. Notably in the second half of 2008 growth came to stagnation with the number of international arrivals declining slightly – a trend which is expected to continue in 2009 and probably beyond, if the economy does not show signal of reaction (WTO – World Tourism Organisation, 2009). Regardless of the current actual global recession, it is undeniable the importance of the tourism activity for the world economy, mutual understanding of nations, personal growth and development, just to mention a few benefits that tourism brings in. The hospitality industry, as a segment of the tourism industry, plays a major role in this economic activity (King, 1995). Being accommodation the biggest percentage in tourism expenditure, in average of 34% of the total expenditure per trip (Sharpley, R., 2004). The success of the hospitality industry, relies massively on the quality of the service delivered and customer satisfaction. The index of the measurement of both, quality service and customer satisfaction, will widely influence on occupancy rates, hence, on the profitability of the company (Holloway, JC, 1998; Solomon et al, 2006). Therefore, justifying the need for a reliable model of assessment of customer satisfaction and service quality that would better adapt to the hospitality field, which at present still have a lack of agreement. 1.2 Research Title The measurement of service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry: a case study of the Plaza Crowne Hotel. 1.3 Research Background For Cardozo (1965), cited by Williams and Uysal (2003), marketing researches in the consumer satisfaction field started in the early 60’s. The subject had a relevant increase in popularity by organisations and researchers only in the 80’s, when organisations, in an attempt to try to keep itselves in the marketplace, started paying substantial attention on customer’s expectations demands. 1.4 Research Aims The aim of this project is to analyse customer satisfaction and service quality measurement, using the SERVQUAL model, within The Plaza Crowne Hotel – Kansas City (USA), based upon the hotel’s own data against the highlighted gaps within the model. 1.5 Research Objectives In order to achieve the specified aim it will be necessary to: Conduct a review of service quality and customer satisfaction; Illustrate The Plaza Crowne Hotel’s current customer satisfaction and service quality measurement model to identify its positive and negative aspects; Conduct an initial diagnosis of the key issues presented in the Crown Plaza data, examining the hotel’s past assessments in order to identify areas of failure; Analyse the SERVQUAL model focusing on the hospitality industry; Identify and critically recommend suitable quality measurement practices to apply within The Plaza Crowne Hotel, if necessary; Chapter II Literature Review 2.1 Introduction To Kotler et al (1996), nowadays companies need to change their view and attitude in the marketplace and adopt a more customer centred philosophy, in order to keep competitive and profitable. Customers are changing their behaviour towards consumption, becoming more challenging to companies to attend their expectations, as they are increasingly aware of their rights, expect more than they used to, and know exactly what they want when purchasing a product or service. This increase in consumers expectation naturally leads to the need of a higher quality in costumer services delivery. Customer satisfaction and quality service became priority for companies worldwide. They are believed to generate repeated business, therefore increased profit margin. The hospitality industry is paying close attention to it. Hampton’s Inn, a well know resort in Florida, has developed a 100% satisfaction guarantee program that promises its customers no charge unless they are completely satisfied. Other companies such as Sheraton Hotels has implemented a employees’ reward system for superior services to guests, the Sheraton Guests Satisfaction System (SGSS). Hilton International has adopted as a primary goal its customers satisfaction with global diversity. Moreover, organisations are increasingly becoming adept of rewarding its employees with bonuses, incentives and salary rise, just to mention a few actions to improve service. (Oh, 1997). Therefore, marketing researchers are constantly developing and improving models of measuring customers satisfaction and quality service. Among many measurement models and theories, this dissertation will focus on the analysis of the 5 Gaps Model developed by Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml also called The Servqual Model. 2.2 Defining Service Service is any act or performance that one firm can offer to a costumer, its nature is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. The service production may or may not be tied to a physical product (Kotler, P, 2003). Addittionaly, Gronroos (1990) cited by Hsu et al (2001, p.18) defines service as â€Å"an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, takes place in interactions between the costumer and services employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer’s problems†. From the consumer’s optic, service is nothing else than the experience lived in the whole process of this transaction (Hsu et al, 2001). Moreover, it was noted that services have four major characteristics that greatly affect the way it is delivered and its marketing programme. Which are: intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability (Kotler, 2003). Bellow the four charactecristics are briefly explained in the light of Kotler (2003) and Hsu et al (2001): Intangibility relates to the extent that services cannot be tried in anyway before they are actually purchased and delivered. The only thing that can be done to reduce uncertainty is to look for evidences of service quality; Inseparability is the relation that services are typically produced and consumed simultaneously. The person who provides the service, is actually part of the service purchased, therefore the importance of the interaction of providers and customers; Variability occurs because services depend on who provides, when and where, one experience is never exactly equal the other. As people are the means through service production, personal problems, mood, knowledge of the job and many other factors can interfer and widely vary the service; Perishability means that services cannot be stored as we can do with manufactured products, because services are produced and consumed simultaneously. As an example, in a hotel, a room that was not occupied yesterday, cannot be sold anymore as time does not goes backwards. For Cook (2002) the increased global competition has made many organisations realised that they cannot compete only in price. Therefore companies are developing their own strategy in providing superior customer care to differentiate their products and services. â€Å"Surveys suggest that service-driven companies can charge up to 9 per cent more for the products and services they provide. They grow twice as fast as the average company and have the potential to gain up to 6 per cent market share† (Cook, 2002, p.1). 2.3 Defining customer satisfaction and quality service Peter Drucker cited by Cook (2002, p.1), once said: â€Å"There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer () an organisation’s ability to remain in business is a function of its competitiveness and its ability to win customers from the competition. The customer is the foundation of the business and keeps it in existence†. Customer satisfaction relates to the personal opinion and result of customers’ assessment of a service based on a comparison of their expectations and actual perceptions of the service delivered (Clark, G.; and Johnston, R., 2005). According to Lancaster et al (2002) from the customer’s point of view, service is judged by the mix of customers’ previous experiences and their perception of the outcome of the service. The service experience is the customer’s direct experience of the service process and concerns the way the customer is dealt with by the service provider. The result for the customer of the service delivered is described by the term service outcome. (Lancaster, G. et al, 2002). â€Å"Service quality is more often used to mean different things. Some managers use the term to mean how the customer is treated. This is perhaps more accurately called quality of service, as opposed to service quality, which can mean the entirety of outcome and experience† (Clark, G.; and Johnston, R., 2005, p.108). Van Looy (et al, 2003) differentiates service quality and customer satisfaction stating that â€Å"service quality is a form of attitude representing a long-run, overall evaluation, whereas satisfaction represents a more short-term, transaction-specific judgement. The level of customer satisfaction is the result of a customer’s comparison of the service quality expected in a given service encounter with perceived service quality. This also means that satisfaction assessments require customer experience while quality does not â€Å"(p.124). 2.4 Benefits of service quality Kotler (1996) has listed many benefits that an organisation enjoys as a prize for delivering service quality. As listed bellow: Retaining customers – high quality builds loyal customers and creates positive word of mouth. Avoidance of price competition – â€Å"the PIMS data show that firms in the top third in quality could charge 5% to 6% higher than those in the bottom third. High quality can help to avoid price competition and help to maximise potential revenue† (p.363). Retention of good employees – employees appreciate working in operations that are well managed and produce quality services and products. When an organisation operates in high quality, it decreases turn over rates, hence, retaining good employees. Additionally, recruiting is easier and training costs are reduced. Reduction of costs – which are divided in three categories of costs: Internal costs are those associated with correcting problems discovered by the firm before the product reaches the costumers; External costs – are associated with errors that the costumers experience; Quality system costs – are costs viewed as investments in the future of the company to ensure that customers return. (Kotler, 1996) 2.5 Benefits of a customer-centred organisation An excellent service provides many benefits to an organisation, Cook (2002) has listed what some of the best-practice organisations have gain on focusing on the customer. â€Å"Differentiate itself from the competition; improve its image in the eyes of the customer; minimise price sensitivity; improve profitability; increase customer satisfaction and retention; achieve a maximum number of advocates for the company; enhance its reputation; ensure products and services are delivered ‘right first time’; improve staff morale; increase employee satisfaction and retention; increase productivity; reduce costs; encourage employee participation; create a reputation for being a caring, customer-oriented company; foster internal customer/supplier relationships; bring about continuous improvements to the operation of the company† ( p.24). 2.6 Importance of customer relationship management (CRM) Customers perceive service quality through everyday aspect of their contact with the company. In improving the quality of its service therefore an organisation needs to develop a strategy bearing in mind all aspects of the relationship with its clients. (Cook, 2002) Customers often do not perceive the service they receive from an organisation as a complete entity. Attention to detail is a key tool of the organisation’s relationship with the customer â€Å"such as an incorrectly addressed letter, a lengthy delay in receiving an e-mail response, a service which turns out to be different to how it was originally advertised, which forms customers’ impressions† (Cook, 2002, p.24). CRM involves managing the customer relationship across all its interfaces with the company as one entire process. A CRM system can help identify sales prospects from existing or potential customer databases. It also can assist with all aspects of the sale and service being provided, eg offering online access to order status and a single view of the customer status when the sale is complete. It can collect information about the customer and the queries that he or she made. It can also monitor customer-usage patterns, so abnormal patterns or a reduction in use can be identified. Hotels systems can store any peculiarity or requests made by guests, such as preferences for smoking or non-smoking rooms, higher or lower floors etc. (Cook, 2002 and Lancaster et al, 2002). Ernst and Young found elements that are essentially important for organisations to build a CRM framework. First basic step is to accumulate systematic knowledge of its markets and costumers. This could be made by complex IT systems, that are designed to store, manager and analyse informations about customer’s value. With this tool organisations can access business informations regard theier costumers, and also predict consumer’s behaviour. Enabling organisations to share informations across departments, and automatically update this informations by tracking loyalty cards costumers, any time they make a purchase or request the company’s service,for example (Cook, 2002). CRM systems helps companies to target theier segments, and also to analyse the information flow throughout the company. Making easier to identify its costumers needs, and more importantly, shows the best way to approach its most profitable clients. The more information a company holds about its costumer’s the best is the knowledge built, as it helps refines consumer segmentation and individual needs. In this particular case, data about costumers life-style is very helpful (Cook, 2002). Selling involves taking a proactive approach towards costumers, rather than a reactive. For instance, hotels can treat their most profitable business guests with special offers on their holidays. To finish the CRM framework, is essential to hold a service, providing an after-sales which should be measured to individual needs (Cook, 2002). 2.7 Importance of performance measurement and a programme development â€Å"You cannot manage what you can not measure† (Kelvin Anon, www.dti.gov.uk/quality/performance). According to Cook (2002) and Williams (2002) managers braves the way through customer satisfaction measurement. A measurement programme starts with a clear definition of objectives, budget and timeline. Moreover, for this task to be performed and achieve its highest level of success, it is necessary the full commitment and willingness of top management to act on the results founded. A starting point should be to decide which part of customer satisfaction the company is most concerned to measure. Is also important to be aware that expectations and satisfaction levels can widely vary between the costumers of a company, therefore, the need to identify market segments. For example, the different needs of a businesses and tourists guest of a hotel. (Cook, 2002; Laws, 2004; Williams, 2002) According to Clark and Johnston (2005) performance measurement is costly. Few organisations have calculated just how much time and energy they spend on measuring their performance and its value for money relation. Two useful tests of a performance measure are, first, what is its purpose and, second, what systems are in place to support or achieve that purpose. There are four main purposes or reasons to take measurement: communication, motivation, control and improvement within the company. In the endless improvement process, measuring performance is an important task in order to identify and track progress in harmony with the organisations’ goals; identify areas and opportunities for improvement; and compare performance with internal and external standards (www.dti.gov.uk/quality/performance). According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the main reasons of measuring performance is: †¢ â€Å"To ensure customer requirements have been met †¢ To be able to set sensible objectives and comply with them †¢ To provide standards for establishing comparisons †¢ To provide visibility and a â€Å"scoreboard† for people to monitor their own performance level †¢ To highlight quality problems and determine areas for priority attention †¢ To provide feedback for driving the improvement effort† (retrieved from ). 2.8 The SERVQUAL model The Servqual model was developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, and has been one of the most popular service quality measurement instrument since then. The model was designed to measure those components of service that generate satisfaction within five dimensions (Ryan and Saleh,1991; Lee et al, 2004; Johns et al, 2004). Originally the researchers conducted a focus group studies with service providers and costumers, and as a result they came up with a list of ten determinants or dimensions of service quality which are: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer and tangibles, (Van Looy, B et al, 2003; Parasuraman et al, 1990; Ryan and Saleh,1991) which will be briefly explained bellow: Tangibles – the appearance of physical facilities, the personnel, the tools or equipment used to provide the service and communication material. Guests of a hotel look for details of the building, web sites and reservation systems for instance. Reliability – consistency of performance and dependability. This means that the firm performs the service correctly the first time and that the firm honours its promises. Responsiveness – the willingness to help the customers and to provide prompt service. Competence – knowledge, ability and possession of the right skills to perform the job. Access – degree of approachability of service providers. Courtesy – use of good manners, politeness, friendliness, smiling during the service. Communication – ability to successfully communicate with costumers, keep them informed. Understanding – degree of interest of employees to know the costumers needs and wants. Assurance – knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy – caring, individualized attention to customers. (Van Looy, B et al, 2003; Parasuraman et al, 1990; Ryan and Saleh,1991) Later on, in another attempt of improving their models they found a high degree of correlation between communication, competence, courtesy, credibility and security. They therefore, merged them into one dimension, which they called assurance. Similarly they found a high correlation between access and understanding which they merged into empathy. Thus compacting the dimensions of service quality in five which are: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Van Looy, B et al, 2003; Dabholkar et al 2000). The diagram bellow was originally made to suit the quality service measurement and customer satisfaction of a car repair garage. Which can be easily adapted to any other service organisation, surely including any hotels to be more precise. Source: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/fig/0240221006003.png The SERVQUAL identified gaps between clients and organisations perceptions of attributes of service perceived, and also between customers expectations and perceptions of the service actually delivered (Ryan and Saleh,1991; Landrigan, 1999). This has led to the well known and widely used 5 gaps of service quality: Gap 1: Consumer expectations versus management perception CEO’s and managers often fail to realise what consumers expect of a service and which features needs to be pursued to deliver a high-quality service. When management does not understand what their customers want, a gap 1 exists. Very often, organisations research to find out what are their markets needs and wants, but later can occur a divergence. When customer needs change but the product remains the same, gap 1 increases, as the service becomes less attractive (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Gap 2: Management perception versus service quality specifications A gap 2 situation occurs when managers know their customers needs, but do not deliver it, either for unwillingness or incapability. Reasons for gap 2 to happen could be inadequate commitment to service quality, absence of goal setting, lack of perception of feasibility, and lack of standardization. The pursuit to achieve short-term profits refrain companies to invest in equipments and people, causing service quality issues (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Gap3: Service quality specifications versus service delivery Gap 3 occurs when employees are unwilling or unable to deliver the appropriate service that was specified by management. In this case managers understand their customers needs, develop strategies and tasks to fulfil these needs, but in the moment of employee and costumer interaction it does not occur (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Gap 3 could be minimised through training and development, rewarding and internal marketing campaigns. Human resources department plays a major role in this task. Gap 4: Service delivery versus external communications A company creates gap 4 when it promises more than it can deliver, creating disappointments to its customers. Good sense and ethic when advertising should be primordial in any circumstances (Parasuraman etal, 1991). The image of a company that cheats or lies to its costumers leads to an extremely bad reputation and negative word of mouth. Gap 5: Expected service versus perceived service Last but not least, gap 5 is a function of the other gaps. It pictures the difference among expected quality and perceived quality. If any of the other 4 gaps increases or decreases, gap 5 will follow it (Parasuraman etal, 1991). The diagram below represents the 5 gaps model of quality service. Source: http://www.kmfadvance.com/mind_the_gap_files/image004.jpg 2.9 Criticisms and limitations of the SERVQUAL According to Oh (1997) the use of the difference of the scores contributes to discrepancies and errors, affecting the reliability and valididyt of the model. Such finding suggests that caution has to be taken when using the scores, and that additional work is essential to the development of measures of assessing the quality of services. In addition it is also noticeable that the SERVQUAL lacks in ties with statistics, economics and even psychology theories, therefore many arguments has formed a doubtful opinion regards its relaibility. 2.10 Other service quality and costumer satisfaction measurement models Obviously, the SERVQUAL is not the only model available to measure service quality and costumer satisfaction. Indeed, there is a range of variety of models out there. Some of them will be quickly explained in this study. 2.10.1 The expectancy-disconfirmation model (EDM) The principle of expectancy theory was early stated by Lewin (1938) who hypothesized that individuals make decisions on the most appropriate action to take based on their expectations of the outcomes of that action. After being reviewed by many researchers, the model developed to two processes: the formation of expectations and the disconfirmation/ confirmation of the expectations through performance evaluations (Oh, 1997; available at http://proquest.umi.com.newdc.oum.edu.my/pqdweb). Chapter III Research Methodology 3.1 Research Process This research will include several components of different character, promoting the approach to new problems, providing bibliographic survey, offering a selection of methodologies, as well as providing a critical analysis of results (Saunders, et al, 2003). In order for the aims of this research to be met it is necessary to gain an understanding of the practices of the service quality and customer satisfaction assessments applied within The Crowne Plaza Hotel (please see appendix II). This data will be given by one manager of the company, and will be adapted for a experimental application of the SERVQUAL model. The research and development will comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to build knowledge accumulation, including not only the practices of the service quality and customer satisfaction assessments model researched but how would be applied within The Crowne Plaza Hotel in order to achieve competitive advantage and business success. The purpose of the literature review is theoretically discussing ideas that exist about the given topic. Data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes will be scanned for secondary data. This will produce a list of journals and newspaper articles, published books and internet sources (Saunders, et al, 2003). The secondary research will be complemented by primary research, through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders of the organization in question. In case of interviews and questionnaires, the manager cooperating with this research will be fully informed about the, methods and intended possible uses of the research, what their participation in the project entails, the strict confidentiality, and academic purpose only (Bell, 1999). The project proposes to use analytical and theoretical framework, which extends descriptive research, making suggestions of why and how practices of the service quality and customer satisfaction assessments plays an important role in the competitive advantage, profitability and success of the firm (Yin, 2003). A method of both, quantitative and qualitative approach will be applied in order to examine values, attitudes and perceptions aspects of the research subject. (Flick, 2003) The departure point will be deductive, with the observation of the SERVQUAL model, fed by the organisation information’s collected where conclusions will be critically evaluated against facts. Moreover, a phenomenological philosophy will be implemented, applying a case study approach, since this kind of research methodology is ideally suited to investigate the insights into the service quality and customer satisfaction in theory and practice (Yin, 2003). The data collected for this research was taken between the months of January, February and March 2009, it consists of 380 customer satisfaction surveys, applied by the hotel. This surveys were answered by guests, either on the check-out or on the hotel web site, after their stay in the hotel. At the time of the data collection, was common practice of the hotel’s front desk manager to put the weekly result together and send to all hotel departments, so they could have a picture of the guest’s feedback. 3.2 Research Theories In order to achieve this reaserch objectives it will be necessary to apply many reaserch theories that reinforces the reliability of it. The theories used in this research will be briefly explained one by one. 3.2.1 Case study According to Robson (2002:178) cited by Saunders et al, 2003, p.93), a case study is â€Å"a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evedence†. A case study approach is recommended to those reasearchs that essentially aims to explain ‘why’, ‘how’ such phenomenon occurs, as well as in research that includes surveys (Saunders, 2003; Yin,2003). A case study is also a scientific way of explore an existing theory, which is one of the main objectives of this research, as is analysing the use of SERVQUAL (Saunders, 2003). 3.2.2 Descriptive studies In order to have a clear picture of the scenario studied is essentially important to describe with accuration every data collected. As cited by Saunders et al (2003, p.97), Robson, 2002:59 describes the objective of descriptive research as ‘ to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations’. 3.2.3 Deductive method Complementing the case study approach, a deductive method could be simply described as way of what we would think of a scientific research or theory, moving from theory to practice (Bailey, 2006; Cottrell, 2005; Saunders, 2003). â€Å"It involves the development of a theory that is subjected to a rigorous test† (Saunders, 2003, p. 86). The deductive method has many characteristics. â€Å"First, there is the search to explain casual relationships between variables† (Saunders, 2003, p. 86). Then, hypothesis development, followed by hypothesis testing, normally using quantitative data, but could also being backed up by qualitative data. 3.2.4 Quantitative data On the other hand quantitative research apply measurements and normally considered as better than qualitative research. Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005; p. 109) explains that â€Å"the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods and approach is not just a question of quantification, but also a reflection of different perspectives on knowledge and research objectives†. A method of qualitative approach will be applied in order to examine values, attitudes, and perceptions aspects of the research subject. 3.2.5 Qualitative data A narrative analysis process was implemented to interpret the data that were collected from the research portion of this project. Thomas (2003; p.1) argues that â€Å"Qualitative methods involves a researcher describing kinds of characteristics of people and events without comparing events in terms of measurements or amounts† 3.3 Research Design The survey consists of a questionnaire of 44 questions (picked by the hotel’s own customer satisfaction survey) related to the quality of the service provided by the hotel. The guests (sample = 380) will answer the questions according to their perception of the service received, whilst the managers (sample = 4) will answer the questions according to what they expect the overall of the guests to answer. The answers will range between score 1 to score 5. Being 1 the best degree of satisfaction and 5 the worst degree of dissatisfaction, (Saleh and Ryan, 1991) having some variations as follows: Score 1: very satisfied / definitely would / much more than you paid / much better / excellent / yes Score 2: somewhat satisfied / probably would / somewhat more than you paid / somewhat better / very good Score 3: neither / might or might not / about what you paid / about the same / good Score 4: somewhat dissatisfied / probably would not / somewhat lees than you