Attributes Of Customer Satisfaction In Hotels

Attributes Of Customer Satisfaction In Hotels Relationship between customer satisfaction and hotel attributes, such as; service or facilities, will impact the preference of someone in choosing a hotel. Research in hotel selection criteria has focused on the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality or services and facilities. Whether or not they have experienced or it is their first time staying in a certain hotel, the hotel products characteristics which are intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable can create a perception to the potential customers as well as expectation which may results in future patronage (Parusaraman et al., 1985; Bitner, 1990). The attributes, features or benefits of the hotel consumer products can directly influence potential consumers to choose a certain hotel to stay which acts as determinant attributes. The chance to acquire potential customers increased when there is a attribute that is different with the competitors (Alpert, 1971; Kivela, 1996). Wuest et al, (1996) mentioned that travellers satisfaction can be increased by service qualities and facilities given that match their perceptions of hotel attributes. Moreover, there have been researches on needs and characteristics of travellers. Many researchers have found that travellers consider the cleanliness, location, room rate, service quality, security and reputation of the hotel (Lewis, 1984 1985; Atkinson, 1988; Cardotte and Turgeonm, 1988; Wilkinsky and Buttle, 1988; Burton, 1990; Rivers et al., 1991; Ananth et al., 1992; Marshall, 1993; McCleary et al., 1993; Clow et al., 1994; Clow et al., 1994). Atkinson (1998) findings showed that first of all the customer will consider cleanliness of the hotel as the most important thing, security comes into second, followed by the value for money and last but not least is the service quality provided buy the staff such as helpfulness, sincerity and courtesy. This is strengthened by a research that mentioned travellers really take personal service, physical attributes of the hotel, standard of service, image and worth for money into their consideration (Wilensky and Buttle, 1998). The results of Rivers et al (1991) study in examining factors affecting hotel selection for members and non-members in a hotel showed that convenience of location is the most important thing after service. Moreover, Ananth et al (1992) research asked 510 travelers to list down 57 hotel attributes in choosing a hotel. The result was price and quality was the priority in selecting a hotel regardless the age of the guests, security and convenience of location come in their mind after price and quality. Furthermore, there are five hotel factors that attract and signaling hotels image to the guests which are: physical environment, identity of hotel, staff, service quality and accessibility (LeBlanc and Nguyen, 1996). They also suggested highlighting the environmental factors in hotel marketing efforts in order to attract potential customers. Attributes of Customer Satisfaction in Hotels According to Wilkins et al (2007), customers have perceived value of the attributes to judge the hotel service quality during their stay in a hotel and Ekinci et al (2008) found that physical and service qualities of a hotel play important role on customer satisfaction. The criteria or factors sometimes are related to intangibility of service, tangibility of physical fundamentals and factor of value for money for instance, are more complicated to be determined (Mohsin and Lockyer, 2010). Normally, service or customer service are related to intangible elements of a hotel as well as understanding the division of hotel management, guarantee and the ease of dealing transactions during a hotel stay. These kind of intangible elements in a hotel are as well received by restaurant customers. While the tangible elements are normally associated with the physical facilities or attributes of the hotel, the accessibility and quality of facilities provided in a hotel, for instance; facilities in the room itself (for example: air conditioner, coffee machine and towels or bathrobe) as well as facilities in the entire hotel (for example: swimming pool and fitness facilities). The employees physical appearance (for example: uniform), the cleanliness of the public area of the hotel (for example: lobby and corridor) as well as the cleanliness of the room itself are also included in physical factors of the hotel. If the hotel owns a restaurant in the hotel itself, the cleanliness of the area and the food quality of the restaurant are also part of physical attribute that affect guests judgement of the hotel (Han et al., 2009; Wu and Liang, 2009). Customers use a variety of attributes to judge the quality of service that they receive during their stay in a hotel (Wilkins et al., 2007). Both physical and service qualities of a hotel have positive impact on customer satisfaction (Ekinci et al., 2008). Some of these criteria or factors are related to the intangible service elements, some are related to the tangible physical elements, while some other factors for instance value for money are more complex to define (Mohsin and Lockyer, 2010). The intangible elements are essentially service related customer service, understanding and caring on the part of hotel management, assurance, and the relative convenience of dealing with transactions while staying in a hotel. This will also include the service that the customer receives at the restaurant, if any, in the hotel. The tangible elements are essentially related to the physical facilities the availability and quality of various facilities in the room (e.g. coffee facilities and bathrobe) and in the entire hotel (e.g. swimming pool and gym). The physical appearance of hotel personnel, the cleanliness of the room as well as the entire hotel will also be included in the physical elements. If the hotel has its own restaurant for use by the guests, the cleanliness of the restaurant and quality of food are also some of the physical elements customers use to judge the quality of a hotel (Han et al., 2009; Wu and Liang, 2009). Claver et al (2006) and Holverson and Revaz (2006) found that The intangible and tangible factors have been recognized to be able to win good feedback or may result in complaint from the hotel guest, however, the ability of the intangible and tangible factors to affect guests experience are different from one to another. The study of which factors or attributes that will increase the possibility of getting good feedback or factors that might result in complaints are important for the management of the hotel in order to enhance the customer satisfaction and to ensure customer loyalty to their hotel. Moreover, Cadotte and Turgeon (1988) classified service attributes into four main factors or categories which are: criticals; satisfiers; dissatisfies and neutrals. Critical attributes are the attributes that normally contribute high possibilities for good feedback of the performance and at the same time provide high possibilities for complaints of poor performance. Cadotte and Turgeon (1988) found that rooms quietness in a hotel and the food quality in a restaurant are normally categorized in critical attributes. The critical attributes provide both an opportunity as well as a threat to the management. If the managers are able to identify the critical attributes of their establishment, they could overcome the threat and make it into an opportunity to perform better in the future. Furthermore, according to them, satisfiers are in a category whereby unusual god performance by the staff results in compliments from the guests while if the staff perform below the par performance, there will be no complain from the guests. For example: hotel lobbies or the portions of food in a restaurant. Silverman and Grover (1995) have categorized hotel service attributes using the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) theory. The categorization is according to necessary, desirable and passive in order to describe the attributes ability in influencing the guests perceptions of quality that results in customers loyalty. They mentioned that in order for the guest to judge the hotel has a high quality service, necessary attributes must be performed or functioned properly. Whereby, desirable attributes put a base of quality perceptions that the quality is good but, desirable attributes might tend to reduce the quality perception of a guest, however, the judgement is not to the point whereby the service quality is poor. Moreover, by using the same theory which is Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) theory, a framework has been found to identify the level of importance of perceived value of six hotels attributes that affect business and leisure guests to choose their hotel selection in Hong Kong. Recently, there was a research using the same IPA framework that identifies the behaviour of luxury hotel customer. The researcher (Mohsing and Lockyer, 2010) found that luxury hotel customers are associated with value for money of the hotel which is considered as high importance for the luxury hotel customers. In addition, room furnishings or physical quality of the hotel and rapid response of the hotels reservation system play an important role as well. By combining the ideas from Cadotte and Turgeon (1988) and Silverman and Grover (1995), Hartline et al (2003) classified the performance of hotel service in hotels as necessary, desirable or neutral. The survey found that, in order to guarantee the good perceptions of quality in a hotel, the front desk staff performance is the necessary factor that affects guest experience. The research has also found that the availability of parking lot in the hotel and the housekeeping staff performance are considered as desirable factor, whereas the room service performance and concierge or known as bell man were considered as neutral factor that affect customer satisfaction. Last but not least, works of Ingram (1996) which were cited in Briggs et al (2007) mentioned that there are 2 types of hotel management: independent vs chain hotel) and assumed that high service quality are mostly provided and emphasized by hotels which are part of a chain hotel than an independent hotel. However, that assumption was not correlated to the findings which were obtained using questionnaire survey data. The findings showed that there is no significant difference in customer service ratings of operational attributes in a hotel (for example: friendliness of staff, standards practiced, personalized service and tangibles factors of hotel). In conclusion, hotel attributes of customer satisfaction in hotels are related to intangibility of service and tangibility of physical factors (Mohsin and Lockyer, 2010). According to Han et al (2009) and Wu and Liang (2009), the tangible elements are related with physical factors of the hotel, for example, design of hotel, staff appearance, cleanliness, etc while the intangible factors are related to customer service. Both tangible and intangible aspects of hotel are important to win compliments from the guests or may result in complain from the guests (Claver et al., 2006; Holverson and Revaz, 2006). While there are many methods in determining the hotel attributes, it has been found that rooms quietness and food quality in restaurant as well as hotel are categorized as critical factors that affect customer satisfaction (Cadotte and Turgeon, 1988) and also front desk staff performance (Hartline et al, 2003). Hotels Attributes Preferred by Leisure and Business Hotel Guests As most of hotel guest are mainly consists of leisure and business guests, there have been researches on the attributes affecting leisure and business guests. Hotels generally meet the needs of both business and leisure guests. There were an attempts to understand the preferences of both leisure and business guests. Past study by Clow et al (1994); McCleary et al (1993); Yavas and Babakus (2005) have shown that the most important attributes considered by business guests are cleanliness and location of the hotel while determining in which hotel they should stay. While in the same research, It has been found that security, personal interaction or service and pricing (room rates) are considered as major attributes in leisure guests hotel selection. There was a research by Yavas and Babakus (2005) that examined whether the preferences of hotel attributes are equivalent between business and leisure guests. Their research discovered that availability of general amenities is the highest priority for both business and leisure guests. However, after general amenities, the next attributes are different between them. Business guests next ranked attributes were convenience, core service, room amenities and ambience accordingly, whereby, the order of preferred attributes of leisure guests were core service, convenience, ambience and room amenities which mean that there were no significant in preferred attributes by both type of guests. Another research has found that guest perceived prices and guest perceived quality of hotels public areas were important in determining the ratings and return intention for both leisure and business guests. However, the findings showed that the impact or the effect of perceived quality and price of both type of guests were different. The quality of hotels room was the most factor affecting return intention and ratings for business guests but it was not significant in determining the behaviour or return intention of leisure guests. Customer Satisfaction in Service Industry Determining customer satisfaction is essential in order to delivery efficient and effective service. The idea involves reasonable and emotional processes (Churchill and Suprenant, 1996 ; Gundersen, Heigh and Olson, 1996). According to numerous studies, customer satisfaction can be described as evaluative post-consumption judgement by customers before purchasing a product or service. Oliver (1980) defined customer satisfaction as a result of a process that evaluate the pre-purchase service expectation of customers with the perceptions of service performance while experiencing as well as after experiencing the service or consumption. There has been varieties of researches that were dedicated to investigate the satisfaction determinants. Barsky (1995) categorized the customer satisfaction as followed : expectations, consumer preferences and consumer satisfaction. Moreover, there was a finding that found atmosphere, availability, location, flexibility and communications between customers and service providers are the factors that may affect customer satisfaction (Choi and Chu, 2001). Zeithaml and Blittner (2003) explained that the customer satisfaction determinants are products and service characteristics, emotions of customers, success or failure of service attributes, fairness or equity perceptions, family members and friends or other consumers. In hospitality industry, there have been several researches regarding attributes that customers seek in a hotel that are important to their satisfaction in a hotel stay. Based on Atkinson (1988); Barsky and Labagh (1992); Choi and Chu (2001) studies, it has been found that the most important attributes a customer seeks are staff service quality and friendliness, the location of the hotel, the cleanliness and comfort of room and security. He also mentioned that those factors are the factors that affect customer satisfaction in a hotel stay. Even though researches have never clarified the connection between customer satisfaction and service quality, but Churchill and Surprenant (1982) ; Oliver (1997) ; Oh (1999) ; Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) researches acknowledged that one of the key triggers to enhance customer satisfaction is service quality. Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) argued that the gap between customer satisfaction and customer perceptions of a certain service is the most common comparison that customers make to determine whether they are satisfied or not. Therefore, according to Fornell (1992), in order to achieve customer satisfaction in service industry or hotel, service providers should meet the point of expectation or surpass beyond the guests expectation and perform an exceptional high quality service continuously as studies of customer satisfaction could affect the business results of a company. Whether the customer satisfaction is affecting the business directly or indirectly, it is understood that, customer satisfaction has an effect to a business future profits and customer satisfaction is touted as one of the most important indicators to improve and gain more profits in the future. Those statements from Fornell (1992) are strengthened by a research that found there is a significant correlation be tween customer satisfaction and business profitability in a hotel (Anderson et al., 1994; Yeung et al., 2002; Luo and Homburg, 2007). Moreover, Sà ¶derlund (1998); Dimitriades (2006); Faullant et al (2008) also mentioned that customer satisfaction may lead to the spread of a good word of mouth, behaviour as well as the customer repurchase intentions of the hotels service or facilities. Last but not least, the reasons why firms attempt to obtain and maintain customer satisfaction is the fact that attracting new customers is much more expensive than keeping the old ones (MarkoviĆ¡ et al, 2010) Factors Contributing Customer Satisfaction Towards Guest Experience in Hotel Stay According to Clowe et al (1994), McCleary et al (1993) and Yavas and Babakus (2005), there are 6 factors affecting guests experience in a hotel stay. The factors are customer service, cleanliness, facilities, price, food, and location which will be described one by one below. (1) Customer service Due to the direct communication or interaction between tourists and hotel staff, to maintain the quality service of a hotel is very important in order to create customer satisfaction. The statement is strengthened by numerous studies that argued service attitude provided by the staff has a critical effect in affecting customer satisfaction (Tas, 1983; Larsen and Bastiansen, 1991; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Heskett and Schlesinger, 1994 Bach and Milman, 1996; Mayo and Collegain, 1997; McColl-Kennedy and White, 1997; Kriegl, 2000). Moreover, there is a research that found employee service attitude is vital in successfulness of hotel operation (Guller, 1985). It has also been confirmed that there is a relationship that exists between customer satisfaction and service quality and attitude that are provided by the employee (Tornow and Wiley, 1991). From the investigation of hotel attributes affecting customer satisfaction in hospitality industry, researches have suggested the hotel to consider or to maintain the cleanliness of hotel, rooms, service quality and staff behaviour, location, security as well as the goodwill of the hotel brand name or hotel chain, as those factors are considered important for hotel guests (Cadotte and Turgeon,1988; Atkinson, 1988; Barsky and Labagh, 1992; Ananth et al., 1992; Verespej, 1994; Worcester, 1999; Dube and Renaghan, 2000; Choi and Chu, 2001)

How Alcohol May Affect Human Behaviour :: essays research papers fc

How Alcohol May Affect Human Behaviour 4. A young man started behaving in an aggressive and abusive manner after he had a number of alcoholic drinks at a party. The next day he was behaving quite normally and was quite concerned when shown a video of his behaviour the previous night. Explain how alcohol may affect human behaviour. Some Facts(1) Australian industry loses more than one billion dollars a year because of sickness caused by alcohol. Alcohol plays a part in more than 50% of serious crimes in Australia. In violent crimes it plays an even bigger part: more than 75% of them are linked to alcohol. About half of the people killed in road accidents are killed because somebody has drunk to much. Effects of alcohol on human behaviour From the above facts it is clear that alcohol has a major impact on the lives of Australians. This is particularly more so because it is not illegal and because it is so widely used. The effects of alcohol on a individual's body vary according to: (2) with the amount consumed. the way the alcohol is taken. the individual's body (size weight, health). the individual's experience. the individual's mood. the circumstance in which alcohol is consumed (with food, in a social gathering, with other drugs etc.) The immediate effects of alcohol on an individual varies but can produce a wide range of effects including: (2) Loss of inhibitions. Flushing and dizziness. General impairment of brain and nervous system functions. General loss of co-ordination. Impairment of motor (movement) skills. Staggering. Slow reactions. Blurred vision and slurred speech. Aggression. General impairment of senses (e.g. touch, sight, speech, etc.) Vomiting. Unconsciousness. Children and young people are usually more affected by alcohol than adults. This is because of their lower body weight and lack of tolerance. The disturbing aspect is that one is not generally aware of these changes. Instead, the individual think's he/she is behaving more efficiently than normal. In fact, performance is much poorer. In relation to Topic (4) the change in behaviour in the young man at the party following a number of alcoholic drinks can now be explained. As shown above young people are generally more affected by alcohol than adults. The loss of inhibitions and aggressive behaviour can by typical changes after alcohol consumption. It is not surprising that when shown a video of his behaviour the previous night that he was quite concerned about his aggressive behaviour. Again as mentioned previously one of the effects of alcohol is that one is unaware of the changes taking place. As the young man was behaving normally the following day he did not have a hangover. A hangover is a body's reaction to being poisoned by alcohol and

John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Essays Papers

Of Mice and Men In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there was a character by the name of Lennie, a mentally challenged man. Lennie who had the mind of a three-year-old and the body of a giant was a sweet, outgoing guy. Although Lennie never remembered anything, he always remembered the words of his father figure George’s words. One of Lennies most passionate qualities was his love for animals; the way he cared for the touch of soft things made that love even stronger. In Lennie there was a special, passionate, and forgetful man. Lennie, whose brain didn’t develop properly often acted like a small child, yet had the strength of 10 men put together. These characteristics were presented to us by the way he would always ask questions and run around like a young rambunctious kid, although he had the power to kill animals by simply petting them. Lennie was childlike by the way he portrayed his emotion, like running away and crying when yelled at. Even though Lennie never meant any harm to anyone he had more power than he knew what to do with, when trying to stop the wife from screaming, he snapped her neck without even knowing it. In conclusion Lennie was a strong powerful man, even if at heart he was a simple child. The passion Lennie often showed was that of his love of soft things. Lennie couldn’t resist petting and stroking the smooth, lovely beings. Lennie when trying to explain his desire for nice surfaces, to prove he wasn’t crazy said to the wife â€Å" No I ain’t,† â€Å" George says I ain’t. I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof’ things.† This was 1 of many statements Lennie used to describe this passion. So after al, Lennie who may have often hurt animals and people, never meant for it to happen, it was just his way of trying to show his true love for the species. Although time and time again Lennie was told things, that for any other man would be simple to remember, Lennie constantly forgot. â€Å"I forgot,† Lennie said softly. â€Å"I tried not to forget. Honest to god I did, George.† This was a close resemble to the constant reply heard most from Lennie. Although there was one thing Lennie always remembered and that was the stories and answers that came from George. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men :: Essays Papers Of Mice and Men In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there was a character by the name of Lennie, a mentally challenged man. Lennie who had the mind of a three-year-old and the body of a giant was a sweet, outgoing guy. Although Lennie never remembered anything, he always remembered the words of his father figure George’s words. One of Lennies most passionate qualities was his love for animals; the way he cared for the touch of soft things made that love even stronger. In Lennie there was a special, passionate, and forgetful man. Lennie, whose brain didn’t develop properly often acted like a small child, yet had the strength of 10 men put together. These characteristics were presented to us by the way he would always ask questions and run around like a young rambunctious kid, although he had the power to kill animals by simply petting them. Lennie was childlike by the way he portrayed his emotion, like running away and crying when yelled at. Even though Lennie never meant any harm to anyone he had more power than he knew what to do with, when trying to stop the wife from screaming, he snapped her neck without even knowing it. In conclusion Lennie was a strong powerful man, even if at heart he was a simple child. The passion Lennie often showed was that of his love of soft things. Lennie couldn’t resist petting and stroking the smooth, lovely beings. Lennie when trying to explain his desire for nice surfaces, to prove he wasn’t crazy said to the wife â€Å" No I ain’t,† â€Å" George says I ain’t. I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof’ things.† This was 1 of many statements Lennie used to describe this passion. So after al, Lennie who may have often hurt animals and people, never meant for it to happen, it was just his way of trying to show his true love for the species. Although time and time again Lennie was told things, that for any other man would be simple to remember, Lennie constantly forgot. â€Å"I forgot,† Lennie said softly. â€Å"I tried not to forget. Honest to god I did, George.† This was a close resemble to the constant reply heard most from Lennie. Although there was one thing Lennie always remembered and that was the stories and answers that came from George.

Wal-Mart Case Study Essays -- Business Analysis Wal Mart

Wal-Mart Case Study Case Review and Recommendations As we have reviewed and studied the strategy, culture, finances and the challenges and successes at Wal-Mart, there are many strategies we see that the company must undertake to hold its dominate position and drive further growth. Herein, we define our top four. These core strategies include: rebuild and recreate its reputation in the face of recent challenges; continue to show price leadership; improve the customer experience; and drive international growth. The financial performance of Wal-Mart continues to be strong. It delivered another record year in 2008 as total net sales increased 8.6 percent to $375 billion. Yet, earnings growth rates and same store sales have slowed. And, the company faces a number of challenges to its operating procedures, reputation and growth prospects. Given the company’s stated objectives of â€Å"growing operating income faster than sales† and increasing shareholder value, the strategies we recommend will directly affect the company’s ability to overcome present challenges and meet these primary financial objectives. Reputation and Brand A key strategic objective, perhaps the most critical for the company going forward, is to rebuild and recreate its reputation. While brand and reputation are closely interlinked, author and business consultant, John Foley, differentiates the two attributes in this manner: â€Å"Brand is inside out. Reputation is outside in† (Foley 3). Wal-Mart’s reputation has waned in the past several years and, according to Foley, â€Å"the... ...and - its promise, image and emotion that it creates - remains relatively strong. The Wal-Mart mission of â€Å"saving people money so they can live better† is clearly and consistently communicated. However, Wal-Mart’s reputation, the â€Å"outside in† view, built on direct experiences, outside opinions, rumors and judgments, must be strengthened. The pillar of its overall business strategy – price leadership – must be maintained. The company’s power and influence can be used to create positive affects in consumers’ lives, not only in their wallets. Finally, growth opportunities exist in the US and beyond. In order to deliver growing shareholder value, the company must continue to reach into emerging markets.

Continuous improvement Essay

What is continuous improvement means in the context of organisational success Continuous improvement is a quality philosophy that assumes further improvements are always possible and that processes should be continuously re-evaluated and improvements implemented. It is also the seeking of small improvements in processes and products, with the objective of increasing quality and reducing waste. It is believed that an organization must constantly measure the effectiveness of its processes and strive to meet more difficult objectives to satisfy customers. Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes. These efforts can seek â€Å"incremental† improvement over time or â€Å"breakthrough† improvement all at once How it is possible to lead continuous improvement systems and processes -Encouraging and supporting team members to participate in decision-making processes: Quality management is a process in business that requires participation from everyone, from senior management to those on the shop floor. Quality management can only be effective if everyone participates and contributes ideas for the overall improvement of a business. Without active participation by everyone, you are not getting everything you could get from the process. You need to involve everyone; you need to ensure that you listen to everyone’s ideas. After all, often it is not just management who know how to make improvements. Those on the shop floor deal with problems on a daily basis, and this puts them in the best position to find ways of making improvements. In this section we will look at ways of working with your team to ensure that you are getting the active participation of all team members. There are a range of tools that can be used to ensure that your team is encouraged to participate in the continuous improvement process. oBrainstoming oCheck sheets oMind mapping oCause and Effect diagram oNorminal Group technique oConsensus oVoting -Ensuring continuous improvement processes are communicated to stakeholders: In order to be successful, it is important that quality initiatives and the general concept of quality management is promoted throughout an organisation. Quality management requires solid commitment on the part of management and all staff members in order to be regarded as successful, and promotion is an extremely useful means of showing, and developing, this commitment. We will examine promotion of quality through a cyclic approach. In a sense, this approach can be likened to the idea of quality management, as it involves continuous improvement of ideas. The four major means of communicating and promoting quality initiatives within an organisation are: oNewsletters oWorkshops oForum groups oPresentations -Developing effective mentoring and coaching processes: Many industries have very high worker turnover and recruiting staff and more importantly retaining them can be quite difficult to achieve. Having a coach or mentor in place can help relieve much of the stress that new staff feel when they begin a new job. New staff may lack experience or some of the core skills required to undertake a specific job and by having a coach or mentor there to provide assistance, you can assist in reducing the stress felt by new staff undertaking a new job. The process of having a coach or mentor assigned to your new staff is not a new idea, but one which can provide significant advances in improving overall quality in the workplace. They also enhance the individual employees performance. There are a number of different methods that can be used when creating a coaching or mentoring scheme in your workplace. These include: -Personal coaching programs employing external or internal coaches -Traditional’ or peer-to-peer mentoring schemes -Buddy schemes, a form of two-way peer-to-peer mentoring The method that you decide to utilise when working towards improving quality in your work place will be entirely dependant on what you are trying to fix and the type of skills that are already present in your workplace. You may also need to consider the organisation and its culture. Some organisations simply do not have the kind of culture that allows for one individual to assist another easily without the staff feeling uncomfortable. It is therefore extremely important to consider the effects of the company’s culture on any systems that you may decide to implement into the workplace. Competition, for example, among employees for reaching sales targets or earning commission may mean that there is a lack of willingness to act as an effective mentor or coach. Coaching and mentoring are generally used to provide on-job training, however it can be a lot wider than this. Coaches in the workplace can become an integral strategy in improving quality by developing staff on a continuous rather than one off basis. How an organisational leader would contribute to and implement continuous improvement initiatives It is fundamental to the success of the Management System and to the implementation of continual improvement throughout the organization that senior managers provide strong leadership; visible and active support; and, demonstrated commitment. To encourage improved individual and organization performance, executive sponsors should empower and make individuals accountable for their work. The role of senior management in continual improvement includes the following responsibilities. -Establishing a vision for continual improvement -Establishing overall goals for continual improvement -Creating the motivation for change -Establishing commitment and alignment of the senior management team -Managing the continual improvement programme -Creating a continual improvement culture -Impact on staff involved in continual improvement -Recognizing staff for continual improvement success -Openness and honesty A specific example approaches used for continual process improvement (CPI): TEPCO – JAPAN In TEPCO the following 10 steps outline the process improvement methodology: -Step 1: Determine the boundaries of the process that requires improvement, Organize, Capture â€Å"as-is† SIPOC (Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers). -Step 2:Benchmark the process against industry â€Å"Best Practices†. – Set goals. -Step 3: Capture the current â€Å"as-is† process.

Obesity and Biology

Obesity and Biology Obesity isn’t classified as an eating problem anymore. It is more than that a person’s biology plays a big roll. Cells and hormones play a big roll on how big you are and how your body regulates energy. Food equals energy and the body stores that energy in fat cells and uses the energy as needed. The metabolism breaks down that food and uses the energy generated from that food for everyday activities such as walking, talking, thinking. The faster ones metabolism is the more efficient they are at breaking down food and using the energy.The slower the metabolism the more energy gets stored and gets turned into fat cells and not used. The hormone leptin, which is produced in fat cells, sends signals to the brain telling it that its levels are dropping which means the cells are reducing. When this occurs the brain processes that information as starvation and sends signals back to slow down the metabolism and store as much energy as possible. There are pe ople who eat less than other but still gain weight. That’s a biological problem. There are areas in the brain research has found that if damaged can lead to obesity.One such area is the ventromedial hypothalamus and the surrounding axons. If this area in the brain is damaged at then this can lead to overeating and more storing of fat cells. Research conducted on rats at the University of Nebraska looked at this area in the brain and how it affects food intake and body weight. With damage to that area the rat nearly tripled in size in the cores of about sixty days. Food intake does not always correspond to body weight. It is possible to excessively eat and not gain weight. It just matters how active one is and how efficient the metabolism is.There are other areas in the brain located in the prefrontal cortex that also can affect body weight. Those areas are responsible for food-seeking behaviors. If one is always hooked on seeking high fat food such as burgers and high sugar d rinks such as coke then that can lead to an overweight problem. The problem with sugared drinks such as coke is that it is high in fructose sugar and that particular sugar does not raise insulin or leptin as other sugars do. So you drink more of the soda, which equates to more calories without satiety. The brain is not the only factor in weight another factor can be genetics.Your gene makeup can be responsible for how much energy you store, and that’s all been passed down to you from your ancestors. If your ancestors were only getting by in life by eating very little as about 1000 calories a day and storing a lot of energy in fat cells and using that energy efficiently then that means you should not eat foods that are high in fat. The reason is your genetic makeup structures your body to store more energy from food. Those whose body is structured like this that eat a normal diet of about 2500 calories a day will gain weight.That is due to the fact that the genes were from the ancestors thought a normal diet of about 1000 calories was good enough to get them by. In America most foods you find these days have a lot of fat in them. Good tasting unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. A burger is way cheaper than a salad these days. The American life style requires people to be able to get food quickly. No one likes waiting anymore and barely anyone cooks anymore. Home kitchens are beginning to shrink as Americans waist size is beginning to grow. Fast food restaurants blanket almost every business street.Americans eating lifestyle is one of the biggest factors in their weight. Obese people who lose weight end up gaining it right back because the brain thinks the body is starving because there are not enough fat cells that it was normally used to. A person that loses weight cannot eat the same amount as a person who is naturally at that weight. They have to eat about 500 calories less in order to maintain their new weight. Its not only a temporary diet they have to be on, but a lifetime diet if they want to keep the weight off and they have to exercise everyday.

Chicken Pox and its Vaccine

1. Do you agree that the chickenpox vaccine not receive top priority? If so, what disease would you like to see get more funding? If not, why?Yes, I agree that the chickenpox vaccine should not receive top priority, but still be funded. However, I would prioritize funding intensive research on diseases that have no known vaccine such as SARS. The devastation it has caused should serve as a warning to us that there are still more unknown, yet threatening diseases out there.2. Do you know of anyone who may have died due t complications from the chickenpox virus?No. I do not know anyone who have died due to complications of the chickenpox virus.3. Is there any hard evidence that you could find to get me to reconsider my decision to `kill` the funding for chickenpox vaccine?Funding for the chickenpox vaccine should not be completely stopped as it can cause   other complications including, encephalitis, pneumonia, arthritis, Reye’s syndrome and in rare cases, meningitis (Fackler and Golonka, 2006), which should not be taken lightly.4. What other vaccines (if any) may be used to help prevent chickenpox?There is no other known vaccine for chickenpox other than Varivax, however, one effective way to prevent it is to avoid people who currently have the disease.5. If funding for the chickenpox vaccine is pulled, do you think there would be a higher incidence of Shingles among older adults?No, because based on studies, the occurrence for Shingles among adults is only 15% and there is a separate vaccine for it (Curtis and Rea, 2007).Malaria and Its Vaccine1. Should drug and vaccine research be done if financial gain is not probable?Yes. Research for vaccines should still be done because lives are at stake. I believe that if researches talk to the right people and make them aware of the potential threat of a certain virus or disease, they should be able to get the funds they needed to develop a vaccine.2. If so, who should pay for this research?The government shoul d provide initial funding for researches such as this one. However, millionaires, such as actors all around the world, most of whom have strongly supported health-related campaigns such as the AIDS awareness, should also give their share in funding for researches on vaccines.3. Should the United States and other developed countries provide grants for research if their citizens will not benefit?Yes. I believe that first world countries, such as the United States, should fund researches for vaccines even if it will not benefit their citizens because it will still benefit others. Besides, these developed countries would never know when a certain disease would break out in their own countries and the vaccine that they helped fund is actually the cure.4. It all boils down to the question. . . Is health a right or a privilege?Health is a right. It goes beyond money or social status. One of the government’s crucial roles is to ensure that laws, which benefit even the poor, are passe d and implemented effectively.SARS and its Vaccine1. Do you agree/disagree that since there is currently a clinical trial vaccine for SARS that it should be a priority for funding, which can lead to further testing and approval for a safe vaccine? Explain.Yes. I agree that funding for a SARS vaccine should be prioritized. I believe that while there is no proven vaccine that could effectively prevent or treat the virus, every country is at risk. Therefore, every country should contribute whatever they can to be able to create a SARS vaccine.2. Are there any negative side effects in the clinical trial of the inactivated SARS-CoV vaccine? If so, what are they? Explain?According to a report of the Vaccine Research Center in the US, so far, the trial vaccine has no serious side effects. Based on report, ten healthy individuals, aged 18-50 years old, who were administered with the trial vaccine, tolerated it pretty well (Vaccine Research Center).3. Do you believe that there will be anothe r SARS outbreak in the near future? Explain?Yes. As long as there is not vaccine to cure SARS, there will always be a risk of future outbreaks. However, I also believe that if ever there will future outbreaks of SARS, it would be evolved or higher forms of the virus. There is a high possibility that this could happen since another virus, the Avian flu or Bird flu, is believed to be an evolved form of a previous virus.