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Bad News Letter
Bad News Letter
Mr. John Chikwen,
I appreciate you reaching out and for the contributions that you have made to our division in the last year. However, I am denying your request for a recommendation for promotion. As much as you have contributed as an IT recruiter, there are also some key areas of improvement that must be honed before I can recommend you to the Account Manager Position.
As I mentioned, I am grateful for your dedication to our team, and your willingness to stay late in order to complete your work does not go unnoticed. However, as you are well aware, I hold my employees to stringent performance standards, and if I were to grade you today, I would give you a C. This is not to say that I cannot recommend you in the future, but I want to see you prove yourself as a successful IT Recruiter before you move on to the Account Manager position – one that requires yet more planning, dedication, and leadership.
As I am sure you recall, you have barely met the minimum standards for performance during my last two appraisals. Rather than exceed expectations, you have skimmed the surface and done just enough to get by. Mind you, the work you have completed has been satisfactory, but our division needs excellent Account Managers, not ones that are barely meeting requirements. In order for me to recommend you for a promotion, you must push beyond your regular capabilities and prove to me that you will not only meet requirements as an Account Manager, but exceed expectations.
In order to prove yourself a worthy candidate for promotion, you must accomplish the following benchmarks within the next six month period. First, you must average sixty phone calls per day and schedule at least five in-person interviews per week. Of the five interviews per week, I expect you to place at least one tech professional in a job every two weeks. Furthermore, your attrition rate must be less than eight percent, and I want to see a twelve percent average spread per contracted worker. In addition, you must average a 95 percent over the next six phone shops. If you accomplish each of these benchmarks, and I witness a measurable increase in effort over the next six months, I will gladly reconsider recommending you for promotion.
I encourage you to continue working hard in the office; the benchmarks I have set for you will be difficult to attain but you are more than capable of accomplishing them. Thank you again for your request, and I look forward to helping you grow professionally over the next six months.
Sincerely,
Your name here
A Critical Analysis On Whether Experiencing A Building Is Individual Or Personal
A Critical Analysis On Whether Experiencing A Building Is Individual Or Personal
Introduction
In situations when one visits or gets an experience with buildings, whether they are historical, contemporary, buildings which have very different backgrounds culturally or even the ones of our very own culture a possibility that one will be affected in one way or another by the said buildings. The term ‘affect’ can be defined as one that produces change or effect in the individual who is having experience on the actual building (This is on the base level). From the architectural perspective, the term could mean harboring emotions, feelings or even making the experiencer’s mind be impressed. Even if the the mind’s intellectual impressing could suggest a reaction that is positive, the triggering emotion’s notion could either be negative or even positive. People will have different experiences on one building hence will have different stimuli, express different views which are from the liking and disliking the perspective of the building fully or partially.
The paper will focus on developing a critical analysis that will look into whether experiencing a building is individual or personal or whether it relies on the assumptions or agreements among certain groups of people, professionals or subcultures. It will also look at the extent in which the response and interpretation depend on the prior knowledge, experience or education or taste. I will continue to look into the way architects build on special effects and qualities of designs which are able to trigger emotions that are positive to the audience, and the way they get to know that the effects will be able to work on the intended ways. Towards the end, I will look at whether the architecture audience is pre established so that the positive or negative reactions from illiterate people is irrelevant and only the ones from the educated architectures are accepted with seriousness as they have informed and intelligent views.
Emotions
People have always talked of the way people’s emotions are affected by architecture. However we also need to ask ourselves how emotions affect designs. People need to be very courageous to be in a position to talk about the way they feel when they are invaded by emotions. At this moment, the feelings are negative. The ones who ate in a position to express themselves will laugh, cry, talk, shout or even scream. Others will show their emotions through things such as creative expressions sometimes done unconsciously (Word press, 2010). It is possible to look at the architectural movements which have been in the past which would give an idea of what caused certain situations for instance what could be created by an architect who is relaxed, or sad. Le Corbusier who taught architect for a long time later thought that whatever he had taught throughout his career was wrong. He later created a Ronchamp, France which was meant to prove this. One thing that is evident in this field is the fact that the experience which is obtained over many years of learning and practicing is a major factor in the evolution that an architect undergoes. This is true in any field all together. However, emotions play a great role in the lives of artists.
Some times people do not like to accept the fact that our feelings affect the things we do or create and imagine that it is the external agents that inspires what we do. This feeling is as a result of the fact that we feel it could reduce the extent of seriousness we have on the same. It is important however to look at it as an idea of enriching so that the moment we learn and be able to control by utilizing the emotions that are positive, we could have a better emotionality level when it comes to the buildings.
Change
Change in architecture and buildings is seen to be a paradigm shift which embraces transience in life and culture of today which advocates for change. The architecture has always been in the service of providing shelter and protection, memorialize and contain our lives and enterprises. The architecture has been able to work hard and provide better buildings. The buildings made have been able to adopt and withstand forces of elements and time. This calls for very enduring mind and also durable materials. The current trend is such that we are provided with very many trends, styles and other different changes. New methods to sustain the adaptability of the buildings in the world has started and is called architecture of change. It is able to make people free from environments and buildings that are bland boxes which are made up of mute walls and immutable materials. This makes architectures be in a position to design buildings with emotion so as to be able to deliver experiences which are controlled by meaning as well as content. The design as well as architecture shows culture’s ideas, traditions and values. Now that we are very much mutable and the initial world which is built has mostly been about permanence, new tools are required to be in a position to reflect the society. The change in architecture designs make use of information that is refreshable, contents, messaging, images, luminosity, transparency, digital technologies and activity as major components used in choreographing and shaping the social experience. The main target is on the setting of people stages for the roles and lives making use of the communication as a medium and message (Foy, 2004).
People hold the believe that the buildings are used as a means to be able to strengthen the traditions and counterchange them as well as confirm the presence of the cultural values. There is however the need to be in a position of sharing information, perpetuate myths, tell stories, knowledge and lessons through the structures. Some of the evidences of this in the early days include the Egyptian tombs which have hieroglyphic tattoos, the early Asian and South American temples which have sculptures and also bas reliefs, the Palaces and Cathedrals are full of paintings, mosaics, murals, glass windows that are stained all with messages. On the other hand, if we consider the current generation which has been trained digitally are able to process several images which are interactive. The importance of telling narrations on buildings to cultures of media savvy and also possibilities of having the technology that is digitally empowered may combine to make places where one is very much likely to become engaged in sight, sound, thought and touch.
References
Word Press.com. (2010) Emotional Architecture. Word Press. Com Retrieved from JuhaniPallasmaa( the eyes of the skin
A Critical Analysis on the Development Trends of the Management of Hospitality
A Critical Analysis on the Development Trends of the Management of Hospitality
Background Information
The field of hospitality management is diverse. It has got both academic and professional connotations. From an academic standpoint it entails the study of the proper ways of managing the hospitality industry, while from a professional standpoint it comprises of all efforts geared towards the management of all hospitality industry institutions such as hotels, tour and travel agencies, etc. In this regard, it can be argued that hospitality management begins right at the school level and proceeds into the active professional practice (Singh, 2000).
Ideally, the hospitality industry comprises a vast network of services. For instance, when persons travel to new places, book hotels, eat out in restaurants, watch movies, visit cultural sites, and engage in other leisure activities they are patronizing various institutions forming the broad hospitality industry (Talwar, 2006). In this regard, managers of these institutions need to be well aware of their duties as well as the expectations of their clientele so as to accord them the optimum hospitality. For instance, they (managers) should be experienced enough so as to comfortably accommodate any known and unknown managerial challenges that may crop up (Boella & Goss-Turner, 2005).
To achieve these seemingly complex feats the realm of hospitality management has undergone phenomenal developments over the years. When looking at hospitality management from an international standpoint many aspects emerge as may be determined by a number of factors such as, disposable income, assess to credit facilities, availability of leisure time, varying cultural needs and most importantly the urge to preserve unique cultural practices while still embracing globalization and integration (Talwar, 2006).
Studies that have addressed the Topic
Boella and Goss-Turner (2005) asserts that the management of the hospitality industry and/or institutions encompasses several chains of personalities. Over the years these salient management areas have experienced significant developments as institutions have struggled to remain competitive and hospitable (Andal-Ancion, 2003). Perhaps in trying to conceptualize some of these development trends in the management of hospitality it is wise to perceive a hospitality institution as a conventional business entity, say a beef factory. Under normal circumstances, business entities are expected to generate profit, hospitality institutions are also expected to make profit. Though hospitality institutions are meant to provide leisure-based services to their patrons, it is wise to assert that they can only be in position to achieve this feat if they are making profit.
As such therefore, one of the most phenomenal development trends in the management of hospitality institutions and/or industry is sales and marketing. Other salient development trends may be indentified from the realms of human resources, finance, risk mitigation, conservation of the environment, renovation of old captivating sites, and launching of new products among many other areas. Tellingly, these development trends have been taking place within Boella and Goss-Turner (2005) five-point job description framework whose central premise is that, development trends in the hospitality industry should be in harmony with the customer’s, society’s, colleagues’, employer’s and employee’s expectations (p.40).
The realm of event management entails the active utilization of project management skills. Over the years, the number of events falling under the hospitality industry has continued to increase. Cultural festivals, conferences, sports meetings, as well as musical events are some of these events that continue to draw large numbers of leisure enthusiasts. Tellingly, as Ramsborg et al (2008) assert, these large number of attendees have been occasioned by a range of factors which include but not limited to the following, wide-reaching and convincing marketing gimmicks, proper financial management measures, sound human resources management measures, sound product development strategies, and most importantly, sound operations management practices.
Hotels management is one of the critical facets of hospitality management. Over the years various cadres of hotels have sprouted courtesy of the new services which have been launched to carter for the diverse and highly dynamic leisure enthusiasts tastes. Today hotel management encompasses the realms of food and beverages, accommodation, conferencing, as well as indoor sporting activities. Basically, depending on the nature and scope of services accorded to clients, the following hotels cadres can easily be identified: full service, full service upscale, select service, extended stay, as well as limited service. Needless to say, these diverse services needs to be properly managed so as to enhance efficiency, as such therefore, persons occupying management position in contemporary hotels need to be academically and professionally competent (Singh, 2000).
The management of tour and travel agencies has undergone a rapid transformation. Ideally, this has made such agencies to move from the traditional businesses that merely sold transport related services to clients to more vibrant and integrated hospitality institutions. Initially, most travel agencies used to operate under large travel entities such as airlines and hotels. They used to make profit through commission given by these large hospitality institutions, however, with the advent of the internet; travel agencies have been forced to venture into other transport related services so as to remain relevant. Today, many travel agencies provide diverse range of services which include cruise vacations bookings, the provision of general tour and travel information as well as the provision of traditional transport services (Andal-Ancion, 2003).
Theme park managers have found themselves faced by new management challenges occasioned by the rapidly changing clientele demands. Technically, theme park managers are entrusted with the main duty of ensuring that proper business strategies are constantly formulated and implemented so as to ensure large numbers of leisure enthusiast throughout the year. Contemporary theme parks managers have been transformed from mere supervisors of employees tasked with cleaning and trimming overgrown bushes and lawns to active team leaders who carryout financial, technical, operational tasks related to organizing of recreational events, travel bookings, as well as the integration with other hospitality institutions (Woodside & Martin, 2007).
Scope of the Study
This study scope will be narrow by fair terms. Precisely, the study will narrow down its scope on four hospitality industry institutions – hotels, travel agencies, theme parks and event organizing firms. In each of these four core hospitality institutions the study will seek to extract critical information pertaining to the development trends that has since been witnessed in the realm of management of hospitality. The trends will oscillate within the following core areas: Dynamics of international tourism and hospitality; international tourism marketing; human resource management in organisations; managing tourism and hospitality among small medium enterprises; international hospitality case studies; decision making for managers; event management; and ethical dimensions of tourism. Even so, it is wise to point out that only information touching on the way managers in the hospitality industry go about serving their clientele while still maintaining good rapport with their employees as well the members of the public on one hand, and keeping at bay fierce competition from their rivals on the other.
Aims and Objectives
The core aim of this research study is to “carryout a comprehensive analysis of the development trends made thereof in the field of the hospitality management.” From this core aim the following objectives can be drawn out. To find out the:
Nature and scope of hospitality industry vis-à-vis the prevailing leisure demands.
Salient development trends registered among the four selected hospitality institutions.
Forces behind these development trends.
Impacts of such development trends on the four hospitality institutions.
The future of management of hospitality in the face of the contemporary challenges.
Impact of academic and/or professional training on developments trends registered in the management of the four selected hospitality institutions.
Methodology
Research Design
The realm of hospitality management falls within the social sciences domain. As such therefore, the study requires an appropriate research design capable of extracting the maximum amount of information from the respondents and the processing of such information in the most efficient yet simple methods. To this end, an exploratory qualitative research methodology will be the most appropriate as it is capable of the respondents’ perceptions of the development trends made in the realm of management of hospitality. Drawing on Creswell (2003) opinions on various research methods for tackling social phenomena it can be wisely asserted that a qualitative research design offers the best option for examining how various hospitality industry stakeholders perceive of the development trends that have since taken place within the industry.
Sampling
The study population will be practicing managers of at least four hospitality industry institutions (hotels, transportation agencies, event organizing firms, and theme parks). To enhance fair representation of the target demographic, these institutions will be distributed within a 100 square miles area in California, US. In arriving at the sample, the researcher will identify at least five entities in each institutional category, that is, five hotels, five event organizing firms, five transportation agencies, and five theme parks. From each of these four sets of institutions, the researcher will randomly select two managers to make up a total of 40 participants.
As hinted only 40 managers from this study area will be considered for the study. This will be done in accordance with Ader, Mellenbergh, and Hand (2008) opinions on the ideal size of study sample. Tellingly, these authors hold that a study sample should not be too big neither should it be too small. Selecting mangers based on the length of their service will ensure that the number of potential participants is narrowed down while at the same time enhancing the quality of information to be collected. In this regard, the researcher will rely on the willingness of the managers to take part in the study.
The researcher will rely on the up-to-date employee inventory in each of the institutions sampled. From this employee inventory, the researcher will then single out managers with at least five years of working experience and list them in a list, for each entity, for example, five lists in the case of hotels. The researcher will then prepare consent request letters for participation and dispatch them to the identified mangers through the post office. A response form and an open “postage-paid” envelope will accompany these letters to ensure guaranteed response. The managers will be given at least one week to return the consent forms.
After studying the responses, the researcher will prepare 20 lists of managers willing to participate in the study. Each list will be numbered from number 1 to say, 20 in an alphabetical order. Then while utilizing a random number generator, the researcher will select 2 numbers from the alphabetically listed names. The names represented by these two numbers will form the study sample (Bartlett, Kotrlik, & Higgins, 2001).
Data Collection
The study will rely on primary data collected using interviews. These interviews will be structured according to the questioning techniques offered by Creswell (2003) so as to capture as much information as possible. In this regard, both open and closed questions will be used. In addition, some interview questions will include mini-questions (follow-up questions) so as to enhance depth of the information collected.
The interviews will be conducted on a face-to-face basis within the institutions so as not to interrupt the participants work schedules. Even so, to enhance participation the managers will be given the opportunity to choose the venues most convenient to them Creswell, 2003).
Data Analysis
Due to the complex nature of the proposed topic, data collected through the structured interviews will be analyzed using the coding and memoing method. This method will enhance accurateness and preciseness is enhanced throughout the process of analyzing and drawing meaning from the data (Birks, Chapman, & Francis, 2008).
This data analysis method draws its impetus from Patton (2002) who opines that coding and memoing process entail singling out key themes from the raw data. In this regard, the raw data will be scrutinized then basing on the research problem, the researcher will closely study the information so as to identify all the salient development trends witnessed in management of hospitality realm. Then while employing the services of a transcribing machine, the researcher will prepare short notes representing these salient development trends (Reiss & Judd, 2000). The transcribed data will be further scrutinized and then coded into short meaningful units. Lastly, the coded information will be taken through an ad hoc process that will involve the filling of frequency tables and graphs (Birks, Chapman, & Francis, 2008).
Study Limitations
Given the complex nature of this study topic it is expected that the study will engage a relatively large number of participants from a wide geographic area perhaps in all the US states. However, due to limitations of resources the study sample will only comprise of 40 participants selected from hospitality institutions spread across the state of California. This is by fair terms a significant weakness given that the few managers (40) may not hold similar perceptions on the development trends on the contemporary hospitality industry across the globe. Future studies should engage a larger and sample so as to enhance the validity of the collected and analyzed data.
Main Tasks and Timescale – Chart
No. Date Task
1. Jan 31, 2011- XXXX General preparation – reading of relevant literature.
2. XXXX – XXXX Sampling
3. XXXX – XXXX Fieldwork – collection of data using interviews.
4. XXXX – XXXX Analysis of data
5. XXXX – XXXX Interpretation of data
6. XXXX – XXXX Preparation of the dissertation manuscript
7. XXXX – XXXX Preparation of the dissertation fair copy
8. XXXX – XXXX Submission of the completed dissertation
References
Ader, H. J., Mellenbergh, G. J., & Hand, D. J. (2008). Advising on research methods: A consultant’s companion. Huizen, The Netherlands: Johannes van Kessel Publishing.
Andal-Ancion, A.,Cartwright, P.A. & Yip, G.S. (June 2003). The digital transformation of traditional business. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan Management Review. 44(4); 34–41.
Bartlett, J. E., II, Kotrlik, J. W., & Higgins, C. (2001). Organizational research: Determining appropriate sample size for survey research. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, 19(1) 43–50.
Birks, M., Chapman, Y. & Francis, K. (2008). Memoing in qualitative research: Probing data and processes. Journal of Research in Nursing, 13(1); 68-75.
Boella, M.J. & Goss-Turner, S. (2005). Human resource management in the hospitality industry: an introductory guide. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA” Sage.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newberry Park, CA, Sage Publications.
Ramsborg, G.C. et al (2008). Professional meeting management: Comprehensive strategies for meetings, conventions and events, (5th Ed.). Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa.
Reiss, H.T. & Judd, C.M. (2000). Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. Cambridge University Press.
Singh, R. (2000). Hotel and Hospitality Management (management, Tourism). India: Kalpaz publications.
Talwar, P. (Ed.) (2006). Hotel and hospitality management: Housekeeping. India: Isha Books.
Woodside, A.G. & Martin, D. (ed.) (2007). Tourism management: analysis, behaviour and strategy. CAB International.