Overview of a Luxury Fashion Brand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Overview of a Luxury Fashion Brand - Essay Example This paper "Overview of a Luxury Fashion Brand" looks at one Burberry as a luxury brand that has been successful despite the challenges that have existed in the fashion market. In this paper an overview of Burberry is given based on its success in the industry. The brand has been outstanding and is defined by the Britishness, independent luxury positioning and heritage as well as history. Compared to other brands in the fashion industry such as Prada, Zara and Ralph Lauren, the brand has been doing fairly well. Burberry is a distinctive global luxury brand that was founded in 1856. The group has a British background. Over the years the company has built a strong and outstanding reputation for innovation, design, and craftsmanship. The group has much focus on outwear, best known for its trench coats. The company designs, produces as well as sell products under the Burberry brand. The company based in London sources its raw materials from UK and other external suppliers it forms networ k with. The content of marketing as well as marketing programs; analogue and digital, are internally designed to promote the brand and product features to the consumers. Being that its products are sold globally through proprietary retail shops as well as third party wholesale customers, the brand needs a strong fashion marketing strategy to counter the competition in the fashion world. Marketing is in fact one of the core corporate functions that keeps the brand at par. The brand has also embraced digital marketing.

Global Warming Affects Biodiversity Essay Example for Free

Global Warming Affects Biodiversity Essay There has always been a link between climate change and biodiversity. As the climate changes, the animals in the affected areas have to either adjust or leave. Although climate changes have been occurring throughout history, the rapid climate changes of today are resulting in species not being able to adapt quickly enough and undergoing species loss. Some species may adapt well to the climate changes such as an increase in bugs and pests, but others, such as Arctic animals are being forced away from their homes as the glaciers that they live on melt and break away. The Arctic and areas that are in higher latitudes have a higher rate of warming and this pattern is expected to continue as climates everywhere changes and temperatures go up. As Earth warms up, the glaciers in the Arctic start to melt, and species such as the polar bear and the arctic fox that depend on the sea ice, will start to disappear and only be available for viewing in places such as zoos. The polar bear and the arctic fox are not just the only species that will be affected. The fish, birds, marine mammals, and even the algae that grows on the undersides of the glaciers will be severely impacted as the ice melts and eventually disappears all together. The climate changes do strictly impact the Arctic, but the whole world. As ice melts in the Arctic, the temperature in seas and oceans change and the salt levels change which affects the reproduction of marine species. Once this happens, Alaskan fish will be a delicacy only available for the rich and special. Also once the all the sea ice melts, the water levels will rise and much of the land bordering oceans and seas will be covered and people will be forced to relocate and adjust, just like the Arctic animals. The change in ecosystems all over the world will result in loss of food sources, jobs, natural resources, and some natural pharmaceutical products. Rising temperatures will also affect the health of humans by exposing them to more forms of disease. Cold temperatures help regulate and control the spreading of many diseases. Diseases such as malaria are likely to spread because mosquitos will not die during the winter because temperatures are slightly lower than they are in summer. Parasites that originate from sub-tropical environments may migrate to more moderate biomes and reproduce and attack there.

Problems With the ACT and SAT Essay -- Standardized Testing Essays

Throughout high school and college we will go through a vast amount of testing but why? Testing is used to show a person’s amount of knowledge on a particular subject. Usually it’s for one specific subject and not a majority of them, the standardized tests include all testable subjects as in English, math, science, writing, and reading. However, before we can all begin our college careers we have to take one of two tests, the ACT or the SAT. These two tests determine the college you get into, the amount of scholarships you will receive, and even whether or not your will be accepted into any college. These standardized tests are used by schools because they find that it is an easy way to test a student’s ability. However, the issue in doing this is for example, the ACT is all multiple choice. Exams such as these do not give the option to include worded feedback to show that you at least know something about the subject. Multiple choice exams have this problem, they can’t test the information that a person fully knows, it only tests whether they chose the right answer or possibly just guessed it. With only a slew of multiple choice questions it can be easy to get a â€Å"good† score or a â€Å"bad† score. That’s why these tests are flawed, the results they show don’t prove anything or really show anything for that matter. So, using these long multiple choice exams are what college’s consider to be a reflection of a student’s grades during their first year at college. The test maker itself explains that grade point averages during high school paint a better picture than their tests ("The ACT: Biased, Inaccurate, and Misused" 1). College’s use these standardized tests as a quick measure of ability. However, a test cannot explo... ...Mar. 2014. Kohn, Alfie. N.p.. Web. 25 Mar 2014. . (Kohn) "The ACT: Biased, Inaccurate, and Misused." Fair Test. FairTest, 20 Aug 2007. Web. 25 Mar 2014. . ("The ACT: Biased, Inaccurate, and Misused") Meaghan, Diane, and Francois Casas. Bias in standardized testing and the misuse of test scores: Exposing the Achilles heel of education reform. Canadian Centre Policy Alternatives, 2004. 35-50. eBook. (Meaghan and Casas 35-50)

Essay --

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The plot involves characters living in summer of 1922 in a fictional town on West Egg on Long Island. The book is centered on Jay Gatsby, a mysterious young millionaire, who has a quixotic passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. The Great Gatsby is said to be the magnum opus of Fitzgerald. 500,000 copies of the book are sold annually. The Great Gatsby is Fitzgerald's third novel. Maxwell Perkins, the editor, thought the novel needed revision because it was too vague. Considered to be classic literature, The Great Gatsby is a contender for the title "Great American Novel". Over 25 million copies of the book have been sold all over the world. On April 10, 1925, Charles Scribner's Sons first published the novel. Only 20,000 copies were sold in its first year of release. What Fitzgerald wanted when he wrote The Great Gatsby was to make a work of literature that would be evidence of his talent as a writer. The Great Gatsby is the most popular title of the publishing company Scribner The 1920's societal developments were used by Fitzgerald to form Gatsby's stories, from the automobiles to where Gatsby's fortune came from. In June 1922, Fitzgerald began planning for the book, but was stalled around summer and fall by the production of his play, The Vegetable, which miserably failed. Fitzgerald's play, The Vegetable, contained "Winter Dreams" which Fitzgerald described as "a sort of first draft of the Gatsby idea" In Great Neck, New York of Long Island was where The Great Gatsby scenery came from. Fitzgerald and his family moved here after the birth of their child i... ... by Le Grand Meaulnes, a novel by Alain-Fournier. Cugat finished the cover even before the book. Fitzgerald loved it so much that he had "written it into the novel", said the publisher. Fitzgerald himself originated the term Jazz Age (1920), and all his works are centered on that theme. Fitzgerald's remarks about writing the cover into the book resulted in the interpretation that the eyes belong to Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, a fictional optometrist which Fitzgerald wrote as "blue and gigantic — their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose." Even though this passage has similarities to the cover, a more accurate passage can be found of Daisy Buchanan described as the "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs."

Flannery O’Connor Essay

Flannery O’Connor was a devout Catholic on the protestant south. All her life she was a white crow, the rest of her life she was diagnosed by lupus and has spent on the farm in Georgia with her mother. Religion was a huge part of her life besides writing, O’Connor gave lectures on faith and literature about her religion and once she said: â€Å"I feel that if I were not a Catholic I would have no reason to write, no reason to see, no reason ever to feel horrified or even to enjoy anything. † (Niederauer, George H. Flannery O’Connor’s vision of faith, church and modern consciousness† Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thoughts. 27 Sep. 2007.   Lane Center Lecture Series. 19 Oct. 2011) It is obvious if a person interested in something it will reflects on his or hers life. Flannery O’Connor was a catholic and we see how her religious belief reflects on every storyline. Flannery was interested in raising peacocks, and enclose feather of this beautiful birds into every letter. Through the letters which was edited after her death by Ellie Fitzgerald it is shown the way how Flannery searching for a God. Flannery was a Roman Catholics on the south, but her stories are about Protestants who are searching for the Truth. She wants to show a grace in every main character, devotion to the Christ and to force her characters to suffer, go through the pain and violent to reach grace. In Revelation we have met with a main character Mrs. Turpin who is very faithful to the Christ not to a God. Here Flannery O’Connor reminds about herself in this character. Because she believed in Incarnation doctrine which Church taught that God become a human and converts to a Jesus. Mrs.  Turpin always talking with Jesus asking questions, arguing with him about problems that has appeared in her life. The main character in this story not a true believer, she is just talking that she is so good and very religious person, but she is not. She doesn’t have this gift called faith in her heart; probably she lost faith as she loose her appetite. Mrs. Turpin doesn’t realize is how much religion cost and she understands that is better to believe than no to believe. Flannery was worry about the thought that people do not understand how religion is important and how it’s worth. Mrs. Turpin character is the figure of a person that Flannery O’Connor don’t wanted to be. Mrs. Turpin is a self-righteous, very shallow thinking person she doesn’t look into people’s inner world she is judging them by their race and the way they look alike. Mrs. Turpin is egocentric which is not allowed in any of religions how she can convince herself in true believing if she is thinking she is better than every person in this waiting room. Such things as: is it better to be a white trash or a Negro woman will never came to her narrow mind if she would be a true believer. Mrs. Turpin has been wrestling with grace, Flannery O’Connor believed that we all does she puts her characters into the situations which allows them to fight for grace she thought grace change us and to wrestle with grace means that you don’t want to change yourself in order to became a true believer. Here it is a scene in the story when Mrs. Turpin sitting in the waiting room and hears a song she doesn’t catch every word but she caught the spirit of this song, which makes her thoughts sober. She starts to think that she is very helpful women and it doesn’t matter which race or social class she would placed to it is rather to be kind and ugly woman than to be rich and not a good woman. Through the story it is shown the way Mrs. Turpin changing her mind, her thoughts became sober it seems like she is transforms as the story goes. But still Mrs. Turpin thinking she is better than everyone she is towering over everyone and she is a decent believer and she is showing to visitors in the waiting room the way how grateful to a Jesus she is for everything that she has. And exactly at this moment the book stroke her by an ugly girl and Flannery O’Connor uses this moment as a moment of violence to forward her character into a way religious people supposed to be to reach a grace. This ugly girl called Mr. Turpin a wart hog which was very offending to her she is a clean and goes to church regularly and this is what redeems her. This moment is a breaking point in the story that makes Mr. Turpin to think about her inner world and not to lie to her. These words are message from the God she received to reach revelation. She is judging people and she will be judged by a God as others. The last scene in the story reveals this judgment, when Mrs. Turpin imagine heaven scene where she saw whole companies in heaven. She didn’t expect it; she thought she and people from her social class deserve to be in heaven but not a white trash or black people and freaks. This is a new class Mr. Turpin highlight during the story and includes in this class the ugly girl who attacked her. All this social classes that were divided into groups by Mrs. Turpin were tumbled into heaven. White trash, black people in white robes, freaks leaping like frogs and bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people to whom Mrs. Turpin concern herself and her husband Claud. Mrs. Turpin was kind of a woman who knows exactly what she thinks who sees a lot and understands nothing; she was a good religious woman who has never tried to look deeper into religion aspects. At the end of the story it is eternal time giving to Mrs. Turpin to think about her mistakes and her attitudes to religion to people and finally find grace and to receive revelation from God. Flannery O’Connor’s characters go through short and harsh lifecycle as a challenge and searching for revelation. She was a white crown in front of thousands of Protestants who wants to show through her short stories the Truth that her characters are searching for during their short life in the stories. Her rare inherited decease lupus misunderstanding from the Protestant society, loneliness the fact that she was never married, her spiritual life all this facts goes through her veins to the pen and expressed as a basement for writing her stories.

How I Got my Indie Novel Into the Nations Largest BrickMortar Store

How I Got my Indie Novel Into the Nations Largest BrickMortar Store "How I Got my Indie Novel Into the Country's Largest Brick-and-Mortar Chain" - By Carol Cooper Carol Cooper is a journalist, author, and doctor. She writes for The Sun newspaper, broadcasts on TV and radio, and has a string of non-fiction books to her name including an award-winning textbook of medicine. In this post, Carol reveals how she got her latest novel, Hampstead Fever, into Britain’s largest chain of booksellers. For the last few weeks, I’ve bragged to anyone who’ll listen that my self-published novel, Hampstead Fever, is in a prestigious front-of-store promotion in WH Smith travel bookstores. And no wonder I’m proud. Not only am I distributing my novel as an ebook - readers can now get it at over 700 airports and train stations around the UK.  WH Smith, after all, is the go-to place to grab a good read for a journey or holiday.I don’t have a sure-fire recipe for other indie authors to follow, but I can certainly explain what worked for me. Read how @DrCarolCooper got her latest novel into UK's largest brick-and-mortar chain 1. Get out and listen to peopleI owe a lot to the London Book Fair, circa 2015. That’s where I came across WH Smith Travel buyer Matt Bates. He spoke at Author HQ, a part of the fair dedicated to writers. He was charming, knowledgeable and enthusiastic and he wasn’t full of himself, which, as I recall, one or two other speakers at the fair were.I said a bland ‘Hello’ to Matt at the end of his talk. I don’t remember my exact words, but I said nothing about my writing. Hampstead Fever  at the WH Smith at London Gatwick AirportNo harm in trying, especially as by then my book was in many bookstores including Waterstones, Heffers Cambridge, and a sizeable number of independent bookshops, and had featured in local press and radio.   I sent Matt a brief email, attaching that eye-catching cover.Matt asked to see a copy of the book. There followed a longish silence. Then he replied, proposing a promo in over thirty of WH Smith’s travel bookstores as part of a buy one, get one half-price offer.I needed to do nothing more, except talk to Clays about a reprint and arrange the discount and return terms that WH Smith requires.I’m certain the stunning cover did much of the work for me. As for the content, people have been kind enough to say that Hampstead Fever captures multicultural urban life. It’s an easy read and makes people laugh, but it also covers some weightier issues.To other self-publishing authors wanting to get into booksho ps, my single best piece of advice is this: aim for a quality product that booksellers will love to have in their stores. "Aim for a quality product that booksellers will love to feature." @DrCarolCooper In your chain of priorities, how important is it to you to get your book in stores? If you have any thoughts, comments or questions for Carol Cooper, leave them in the comments below. Find out more about the author on her website or by following her on Twitter.

BMW Product inovation Essay Example

BMW Product inovation Essay Example BMW Product inovation Essay BMW Product inovation Essay BMW wants to attack the small Lifestyle car market gap. This gap has customers such as young professionals with a high disposable income. BMW has limited opposition, and as such there is a large usage gap, which means there is good potential for high sales. This market gap has the potential for giving BMW the growth it is striving for. BMW should target this gap using the Mini brand, as the Mini has the right image unlike any BMW branded products. The main risks for BMW are its limited knowledge of the market sector, and its limited financial resources. The main sector rivals of BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagon (Smart and Beetle), both have more sector experience and greater financial resource. These rivals will simultaneously attempt to out-price the Mini, and develop replacement products. The core established products of BMW, the 3, 5, and 7 Series, provide a stable cash flow, enough to develop and introduce replacement models. BMW is however an ambitious company and wants to grow. To do this BMW has been expanding its portfolio and attacking new markets, a risky, but profitable strategy. This strategy began with the launch of the Z3 sports car, and more recently the Z8 sports car and X5 44 vehicle. The latest stage of this strategy is the launch of the Mini brand. BMW has not produced a small, affordable, lifestyle vehicle since the days of the bubble car. The introduction of the mini range is the most risky of all BMWs strategies for growth. BMWs ability to inject personality, eccentricity, and fun into the Mini is the big risk. BMW is a not just a company, it is a brand. The BMW brand manufactures automobiles built on engineering precision, manufacturing excellence, and being German. As the adverts tell us all, a BMW is The Ultimate Driving Machine. The Mini is also a brand. The Mini brand is built on personality, eccentricity, and being British. BMW cannot just re-badge, re-engineer and re-sell the brand as the BMW Mini. The very appeal of the Mini brand would be lost. Huge media and public interest greeted the launch of the Mini1, the first model to be released. The Mini Cooper, perhaps the model most greatly associated with the brand, is soon to be launched, and it is this model that will perhaps determine the success of the product range. BMW is a multi-product, global manufacturing company. The BMW marque is well established as a maker of high quality automobiles. To maximize the performance of the company, its products need to be evaluated and classified so as to decide whether to invest, hold, or withdraw support from them. These are strategic decisions, and are made according to the information derived from the analysis of the company portfolio. The tools that will be used in the portfolio analysis and management are as follows: * Product lifecycle analysis * Boston Consulting Group Growth-Share Matrix * General Electric Multifactor Matrix These are all flexible tools that can be used to analyze both products and brands. The first step is to analyze BMWs product portfolio. BMW has a range of products, some currently on the market, and some awaiting launch (Mini CooperS). Below is an array showing BMWs current product portfolio, this will form the basis of the analysis of BMWs current and future market. The array above describes BMWs current portfolio in terms of the products themselves, but what about the markets. Each product follows the product lifecycle, each will be at a different stage of that cycle, and each will have different market characteristics. Although it is attractive to have all the products within a portfolio at the peak of their sales at the same time, this does create problems. BMW knows the importance of making sure that not all of its products are at maturity at once, as this might result in the products beginning to decline at the same time. It is clear from the time scale chart above, that BMW has staggered the lifecycles of three products. These are the 3, 5, and 7 Series saloons. This staggering not only helps to ensure a more constant income, but also allows for the development of replacement products, such as the imminent replacement of the 7 Series. BMW has also been expanding its portfolio recently and this can be seen by the presence of some new product launches in the last few years. The Mini being the most recent, and the Mini Cooper still to be launched. In order to classify BMWs products, an analysis of the portfolio is needed. The first formulated, and most simple is the Boston Consulting Group Growth-Share Matrix. The Boston Matrix shown over the page consists of four quadrants derived from Market Growth rate and Market Share. Market growth rate is the vertical axis of the matrix. This indicates the annual growth rate of the market sector in which each product falls, and can be used as a proxy for Market attractiveness. Market share is the horizontal axis of the matrix. This indicates the Market share of each product relative to its biggest competitor. The Boston Consulting group argued that the cash flow generated by a product is dependant on which quadrant the product falls in. BMW has a fairly settled portfolio of products. Each product is more a family of slightly different models, varying by specification. The BMW 3 Series is placed within a very crowded sector of the automobile industry; the Luxury small saloon. The 5 and 7 Series are larger and more expensive saloons than the 3 series, and are placed within slightly less volatile sectors of the market. The 3 Series is positioned just below the Star, in the Cash Cow quadrant in the matrix. The current 3 Series model is a market leader in a mature market sector. Its high market share leads to a high cash flow rate, and its position in a mature market means that investment support in areas such a product and process development is low. The 5 series too, is comfortably positioned as a Cash Cow. It is a mature product, placed and sold in a less volatile market than the 3 series. This means that the 3 and 5 series family of products have extremely high profitability, due to their high level of sales, and the low level of expenditure needed to maintain the sales levels. The 7 series however is a model in decline in terms of its lifecycle. It is found at the ultimate destination of all products, a pet. The product does have market share, but its desirability is waning and its performance relative to its competitors is not what it once was. The market for the 7 series however, is still performing well. This means that BMW should, and will review the model with a view to re-launch in the near future. The above products are all fairly settled. Many of them have been being manufactured for many years now with several re-designs and re-launches. BMW has however recently begun expanding its portfolio, and the result of this is some new star and problem children. One of these stars is the X5. The X5 is a new market area for BMW. The 44 market can be extremely profitable, especially the On-road 44 products. This market is very large and growing, and BMW have made an attempt to get a slice of the cake with the X5. The Z3 and Z8 are very similar products. They are both small sports cars, differing in the Boston Matrix in terms of market share and price. The Z3 is a star, but the Z8 could be described a problem child. More affordably priced than the Z8, and with a larger share of the growing market, the Z3 is a product beginning to mature and generate a good positive cash flow. The Z8 however has a tiny share of the same market. This is not due to overpricing, or poor performance. It is because BMW has taken the step of deliberately limiting production to ensure a high level of prestige and desirability for the product. Why do this? The Z8 could be described as an exercise in marketing itself. It is not about making profit for the company in terms of direct sales, but about raising awareness of the BMW brand and the values BMW wants its customers to believe the brand stands for. Even the placement of this product in a recent James Bond film reiterates this point. An exciting, debonair character, using a BMW during his technology packed adventures. These are all characteristics of the brand that BMW want to imprint upon the psyche of its customers. The second available tool is the General Electric Multifactor Matrix. Products are evaluated in terms of Competitive Position and Market Attraction. This matrix shows more clearly how the established 3, 5, and 7 Series are performing. The 3 Series has a large share of a large, attractive market. Its competitive position is also strong. The short arrow shows that it is only moving from this position slowly, it is maintaining its position. This reiterates the description of the 3 Series as a Cash Cow. The 5 Series is also in a similar position, if weakening more quickly. The 7 Series however, is different to the previous two models. It has a comparatively small share of a less attractive market. The long arrow shows that the competitiveness of this product is reducing rapidly and it is fast becoming a Pet. Once again the imminent re-launch of the 7 Series confirms this analysis, and BMW will hope it goes some way to improving the position of this product. The more recently launched, new products can generally be found to the right of the main three BMW products. With the exception of the Z3, their competitive positions are still fairly weak, but all three have good market attractiveness. This is logical; as BMW would not have launched products into markets it deems to be unattractive. They show the characteristics of problem children as newly introduced products finding their feet in the market. The emphasis of product portfolio analysis is the management of existing products to maximize their strengths. BMW also needs to look for new products and markets to remain profitable and grow. The most simple support tool for looking at growth opportunities is the Ansoff Matrix, which combines existing and new products, with existing and new markets to form a matrix. The four quadrants formed describe different strategies for growth. This type of analysis is also known as the Strategic Thrust of the company. As mentioned previously, BMW has a strong base consisting of three established products. These are the 3, 5, and 7 Series saloons. Along with the Z3, these constitute BMWs existing products being sold in existing markets. The most common strategy used here is to try to increase the market share of these products. This is done by increasing sales, either to current buyers and or finding new customers in the same market. This strategy is intuitive, but may lead to long-term product development problems. Hence strategies are required whereby new products are introduced to the product portfolio. These products can be aimed at either new or existing markets. The Z8 is BMWs supercar, and is aimed at the same market sector as the more affordable Z3. The intention of this product strategy is not to replace the Z3, as it could appear to be. The Z8 is a special case, intended to reinforce the BMW brand image. A more risky strategy is a new product for a new market, and this is where the X5 and Mini range fall. The X5 may seem entirely unlike any vehicle BMW has produced before, however it is not total diversification. For example, a four-wheel drive system has already been developed and used on models such as the M5, a high performance 5 Series. This engineering expertise is also coupled with experience in the sector derived from the acquisition of Land Rover, which BMW kept after the sale of Rover. Also from the ownership of Rover, came BMWs acquisition of the Mini brand. BMW has not produced a small, affordable, lifestyle vehicle since the days of the bubble car. The introduction of the mini range is the most risky of all BMWs strategies for growth. BMWs core competences of engineering precision and manufacturing excellence will no doubt ensure that the Mini is well made and functional. It is BMWs ability to inject personality, eccentricity, and fun into the Mini that is the risk. However, the greater the risk, the greater the potential rewards. A useful tool to analyse the environment of BMW is PEST analysis. PEST is an analysis of the external environment and is useful in identifying potential customers, markets and developing product strategies. BMW believes there is a market gap for a lifestyle vehicle, and PEST will aid the targeting of that gap. This analysis, although highly subjective, is useful in the decision making process. It confirms the idea of a young, professional customer base, looking for high quality in a small car. Another tool is SWOT analysis. SWOT is a structured approach to evaluating the strategic position of a business, providing more information in developing product strategies. SWOT identifies a companies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It can successfully be used in conjunction with gap analysis, as it assesses the factors affecting those gaps. For example, BMW does see the small Lifestyle car as a very attractive market gap, but SWOT may show that the risks are too high and BMWs resources to low, to enter that market. The marketing Potential of a product is the maximum number of potential customers. There cannot really be any certainty to the maximum number of potential customers for the Mini. Estimates nearly always come from market research data and evaluation of the markets of similar products such as the VW Beetle. BMW, as a global manufacturer, would be interested in the world Market Potential for the Mini. In Europe and the US, stable, growing economies mean that an already large number of young professionals are on the increase. The existing usage is the total number of customers purchasing a certain type of product. Data for evaluating this number is usual derived from market research again, as companies are unlikely to reveal exact sales figures to each other. There are really only two rivals competing in the same sector that the Mini will be targeted. This infers that the existing usage is relatively small. The Usage Gap is the difference between the Market Potential of a product, and the Existing Usage of similar products. If this is a large number, then there is the potential for a rapid expansion in sales. As the market potential for the Mini has been identified as being large, and the existing usage of the Mercedes SMART and VW Beetle small, then the potential for a successful product is good. The product gap is created by segmentation of the market via the requirement for different features. BMW is primarily a luxury brand, manufacturing large luxury products. BMW wants to attack a market with the Mini, where the main brand characteristics are eccentricity, and fun. Therefore the Mini cannot be sold as a BMW Mini, a stand-alone brand has been set up, so as to give the Mini its separate image. The competitive gap for the Mini is a measure of how well BMW markets the brand. The Beetle and Smart have similar features to the Mini, but good customer relations and clever promotion will help to make the Mini a success. BMW has identified a Product Gap that can be filled by a small Lifestyle car. This gap has customers such as Young professionals with a high disposable income. BMW has limited opposition, and as such there is a large usage gap, which means there is good potential for high sales. BMW can target this gap using the Mini brand, as the Mini has the right image unlike any BMW branded products. This market gap has the potential for giving BMW the growth it is striving for. BMW has core competences of excellence in design and engineering, and as such will be sure to make a product that is technically sound. However, BMW has little or no experience in manufacturing small, fun cars and no knowledge in how to market a product that bears little relation to the typical BMW. Coupled with the limited financial resources of BMW compared to its rivals in this sector, then there is a high risk of the failure of the product if it is not right first time. BMW has identified an excellent potential new product opportunity. This opportunity is within a new market which BMW has no experience, and the BMW brand has no association. To ensure that BMW is successful in this venture, a specific, structured new product strategy is required. It is extremely useful for marketing directors and designers of BMW to receive strategic guidance from the senior management about their vision and priorities for new product development. By this report suggesting guidelines about which products and markets BMW should be interested in targeting, management can identify a focused new product strategy. The importance of making sure that a product is introduced correctly can be seen in the finances of companies that do not introduce their products successfully. Poorly launched products will quickly fail due to high levels of competition. These high levels of industrial competition have come about due to three driving forces. These are international competition, fragmenting markets, and rapid technological change. Missing the desired launch date of a product, or spending more than planned in its development has the effect of significantly reducing eventual profits. As around 80% of the eventual total product costs are committed to be spent by the end of the concept design stage, spending wisely at the design stage and ensuring launch dates are met will maximize profits. This financial plan will look forwards three years, and will consider the potential UK market only. Target Market: The market to be discussed here is the UK Market for a small Lifestyle car. This gap has customers such as Young professionals with a high disposable income. Size: Large Market Potential. BMW has limited opposition, and as such there is a large usage gap, which means there is good potential for high sales.

Armed with Oxyglobin for the veterinary market and Hemopure Essay Example

Armed with Oxyglobin for the veterinary market and Hemopure Essay Example Armed with Oxyglobin for the veterinary market and Hemopure Paper Armed with Oxyglobin for the veterinary market and Hemopure Paper In a market that is yet to experience the ingenuity and brilliance of a safe yet potent blood substitute, Biopure Corporation is at the verge of carving a niche segment for itself. Armed with Oxyglobin for the veterinary market and Hemopure for the human market, the company is all set to make a difference. No doubt, the need for a human blood substitute continues to rise, given the number of elective and emergency surgeries that are taking place, the shelf-life of donated blood, and the fear of transmitted diseases such as AIDS. On the other hand, the demand for blood in the veterinary market is not as acute as that of the human market. Nevertheless, the need does exist. The absence of blood substitutes in the field has resulted in veterinarians viewing blood transfusions as the absolute last resort. It is this situation that Biopure’s product will soon address. When will it begin to do so is the question at hand, to which an answer is yet to be found. Welcoming markets? Set against this background, one needs to take a closer look into the situation that Biopure is facing at the moment. Having to swing between the veterinary and human market, the company has got to study both closely. In the case of the human market, blood donation is currently enabling operations and other procedures that require blood. Clearly, this is not adequate for the number of trauma cases that occur in the United States alone in a single year ? 500,000. Add to this the fact that shelved RBCs are only 50% efficient in transporting oxygen. Evidently then, when a product addresses all the above issues and is a cut above its competitors, being the bovine sourced blood substitute that it is, Hemopure’s potential in the human market is enviable and comes nowhere close to that of its competitors. While Hemopure enjoys this position in the human blood market, the veterinary market seems as promising, if not more. In a survey that was conducted merely among 15,000 veterinary practices alone, primary care itself showed gross revenues of $570,000 and emergency care showed revenues of $770,000. This is a clear indication of the opportunity that abounds in this field. The potential size of this market is seen in a second survey conducted on a group of 285 veterinarians and 200 dog owners. Even at a rate of $200, 60 per cent of the veterinarians were willing to opt for Oxyglobin. More interestingly, and an important factor to consider while setting the price for Oxyglobin, is 65% of dog owners were willing to pay $400 for blood transfusions in critical operations. The size of the veterinary market clearly wasn’t going to be a problem for Biopure Corporation. It was large, it was accepting and definitely, it was waiting for the product to release. Painting the present picture†¦ However, Biopure’s success in the human market is largely dependant on a few factors that have been pointed out and wisely at that, by certain employees. To begin with, the problem of what goes before what arises in the case of Hemopure and Oxyglobin. While some at Biopure Corporation are of the opinion that Oxyglobin should hit the market first, some others believe that it would be wiser for Hemopure to be the first to arrive. If Oxyglobin were to be Hemopure’s predecessor, it would cause a series of challenges, the first of which would begin with pricing. While Oxyglobin is priced at a mere $150 per unit, Hemopure is priced at a slightly ambitious $600 to $800 per unit. It could be perceived as a similar product and the high price would be severely debated, causing an unnecessary stir.

Reading projects Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reading projects - Assignment Example She served as an advisor to the White House on health issues (Blumenthal 1). Her service as the chief of behavioral medicine renders her qualified to write on subjects of nutrition. She also served in the branch of nutritional institute of health in America. Her role as the chief of the institutes renders her a distinguished professional to write on the topic. She served as a clinical professor at Georgetown medicine school. Additionally, she served as a policy and medical consultant at the amfAR. She is equally qualified having served as director of a health commission that guides the president and congress on critical decisions related to health and medicine. The article was published in the U. S. at the Dartmouth College. The collaborating publisher is a senior pursuing a degree in Global Health. She is also an intern at the New American Foundation based in Washington. The intended audience of the article is the public that is affected by the great public concern of obesity. The author intends to address the American public that faces the challenge improper nutrition. Americans living in food deserts are possible targeted audience of the article. They are the group facing a great challenge of proper access to nutritious food. In addition, the article targets the low-income earners that cannot afford nutritious food to prevent the challenge of obesity. Another vital audience of the article is the policy makers. The author encourages adequate funding of programs aimed at improving the public access to proper nutrition including SNAP (Blumenthal 1). She equally highlights the contribution of vital laws such as the Farm Bill to address challenges of improper nutrition. Policy makers and departments mandated to implement relevant policies, therefore, are targeted audience of the article. The author’s purpose in writing the article is to inform and educate the public on addressing the challenge of obesity as a serious health concern. According to

Critical assessment of English international private law governing the Essay

Critical assessment of English international private law governing the care of children and child abduction - Essay Example The situation of orphans, physically and mentally handicapped children is really alarming. They are also subjected to child labor, domestic violence and child trafficking. The improper care of children may result in dissatisfaction resulting in anger and militancy. Recent example of rising militancy and taking over the law and order in to the hands of students in colleges of India is believed to be originated from childhood problems (FN2). As they are not aware of their own rights, it is the responsibility of so called grown up adult population to protect their basic rights. The utmost care taken at the childhood will motivate the children to a greater extent. It is evident from the fact that motivation of students comes from encouragement in form of academic grades (FN3), the similar thing will happen if children are taken care in right perspective. Several organizations have been dedicating themselves for better care of children. To list a few, UNICEF(United Nations Children Emerge ncy Fund), JCCC-SL (Jonathan's child care center Sierra Leone). African child association etc (FN4). English International Private law has been instrumental in protecting the basic interests of children and providing solution to child abduction. This has entered in to force on 15th July 1955 with statute of Hague conference on private international law (FN5). The main purpose of the Hague conference was to facilitate the progressive unification of the rules of the rules of English international private law. Otherwise, there was a enough scope of confusion regarding interpretation of private laws of individual states. Heartening to note that the English international private law certainly established standard norms and commonly agreeable principles in solving the issues related to human rights and children protection. Provisions under International Private law for child care and child abduction: Two conventions of Hague extraordinarily contributed for the benefit of children. They are as follows: 1. Convention on the civil aspects of International child abduction 2. Convention on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition, enforcement and co-operation in respect of parental responsibility and measures for the protection of children. The first one addresses the issues relating to secured return of children subjected to abduction. It was concluded on 25th October 1980 and entered in to force on 1st December 1983. Its contribution in protecting the interests of children in issues relating to their custody is enormous. Another important objective of this convention is to protect or safeguard the children at global level from the ill effects of their wrongful removal or retention and for setting the norms for ensuring their immediate return to the country of their habitual residence. Assessment of Convention on the civil aspects of International child abduction : This convention ensures that the rights of custody and of access under the law of contracting state (FN6) are effectively respected in the other contracting sates (article 1 of the convention). This also directs the respective member states to implement suitable measures to secure with their territories the

Consultancy Report Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Consultancy Report - Dissertation Example The report gives a brief analysis of the industrial scenario within which the firm has been operating and commercial activities carried out by the firm. For resolving the problem few quantitative and qualitative measures had been undertaken. Critical evaluation has also been from different point of view and a potential course of action in a balanced and rational measure has also been suggested. The company has been established in the year 1991 and since then it had been successfully providing the catering and support services to different sectors of industries like hospitals, schools, institute, corporate, government institutes, ministries etc. Their operation presently spreads over fifty locations in all over Oman. Support services undertaken by the company accounts for services like Laundry, cleaning etc and it deals with both the government and the private sectors. Apart from this they also undertake outdoor catering services for marriage and other functions. The company affairs a re managed by a group of qualified and experience management team. They take care of all the needs of the customers by sticking a proper balance of the art of cuisine as per the taste and preferences of the particular customer. For any function they operate from their central kitchen situated at Ghala. Introduction With Oman exhausting oil wealth resources, the role of the food and catering industry had gained its significance with time with a view of sustaining the country’s economy. The food and the catering industries were of insignificant importance when the company started but now with the growing demands and with government initiatives the industry contributes well toward the GDP of the country. The government helped majorly to get a foothold of such industry in the country’s economy. The initiative was taken in 1997 by awarding the trainees of the catering and the food industry with government certified certificates for getting trained for the industry professio nals of different hotels. In this regard the paper would analyze the problems and opportunities faced by Al Althnian Company LLC in Oman (Omaninfo, n.d.). Company Details: General Background and Industry Analysis: With the growing need Al Athnian Company LLC have entered into the trading business of the food stuffs along with the catering operation. For that they import material from different countries and supply them to the corporate and ministries. The company exerts a profound importance over the in the personal safety and health of each of its employees and the society from broader aspect. They also give importance in the environmental protection through their operations. The company maintains a safe and hygienic work environment to meet the requirement of healthy food and safety management system. The company follows a strict grading system for the staff’s welfare. They exert a profound importance over the training of their employees so that they could relate accurately to the needs of the target population and the community. This reflects the mission and philosophy of the company. The company has been segregated into different departments facilitating its smooth functioning. The departments are the operation department, personnel department, finance department, cleaning department, procurement department, logistics department, HSE department and the marketing department. Prerequisites programs are also carried out by the company which is considered as the backbone of the

Communications Surveillance, Privacy and Its Ethical Implications Research Paper

Communications Surveillance, Privacy and Its Ethical Implications - Research Paper Example So in order to deal with serious issues communications surveillance becomes essential but it is not ethical. This paper also discusses the ethical validity of communications surveillance in light of Kant’s ethical theory. Introduction It is an admitted fact that in the past few years, surveillance and observation of individuals' communications have been turning out to be more common, more unsystematic and more enveloping, same as our dependence on electronic communications grown. Additionally, almost all the major global laws and regulations on human rights ensure protection of the right of individuals to be free from unnecessary surveillance. On the other hand, this assurance has trickled down into nationwide legal or official requirements ensuring the privacy of communications. In the majority of democratic countries, surveillance of verbal, telephone and digital communications are applied through law enforcement or intelligence agencies simply after approved by a judge, as well as simply in the inquiry of serious crimes (Privacy International, 2012). Up till now government agencies carry on to lobby for improved surveillance facilities and capabilities, mainly as technologies transform. In addition, communications surveillance has gone beyond the digital and Internet communications. In fact, in the majority of countries, security agencies have forced internet service providers as well as telecommunications firms to keep an eye on users’ communications. Also, the many of these actions are performed under the uncertain authorized base as well as remain unidentified to the public (Privacy International, 2012). This paper presents an overview of Surveillance of communications. The basic aim of this research is to analyze the legal, privacy and ethical implications of communications surveillance. Communications Surveillance: An overview In the past few years, telecommunications and computing technologies have seen radical changes. In fact, the typic al acceptance of modern communication platforms such as e-mail, mobile telephones and the Web as well as the ever-increasing adoption and implementation of peer-to-peer Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony have considerably changed and improved the way people communicate in the 21st century. In addition, huge increases in computing and data storage facilities and capabilities have provided governments with a wide variety of innovative tools and techniques for eavesdropping on these communications (Brown, 2009). A lot of organizations make effective use of technology to basically transform the way business tasks are carried out, by making use of technology in ways that break the traditional rules of carrying out business activities. For instance, Kmart and Wal-mart are making use of teleconferencing to facilitate headquarters-based merchandisers to provide store managers in the field with direction and recommendation, facilitating them to unite local programs with business objectives (Hers chel & Andrews, 1997) Surveillance is defined as an operation or an event during which the actions of a particular individual are monitored and documented. In this scenario, communications s

TheLesson EugeneIonesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TheLesson EugeneIonesco - Essay Example From the play, it is evident that the professor is also a domineering and violent person. He uses language to attack the student. HE shows his power and control in a very cruel manner (Ionesco 69). Later on in the lesson, he is also depicted as someone who easily loses his patience. It leads him into homicidal acts. The other character in the play is the pupil. The pupil is an 18 year old lady who wears a student smock with a white collar. During his first times in the class with the professor, she comes out as a very enthusiastic and hopeful person. She believes that the professor will help her pass the total â€Å"doctorate† exams. As the play progresses the pupil shows very absurd lack of common elementary knowledge (Ionesco 50). She does not know the capital city of France let alone the seasons of the year. As the lesson progresses, she surprisingly gets enough courage and equanimity to defy the professor. She does so with minimal success. The final character is the maid. She is a friendly and a loyal servant. She also comes out as considerate and caring person when she warns and advices the professor about his actions. The maid is submissive and this makes him accompany the professor even when he was going to engage in unacceptable acts. The power struggle in the Lesson by Eugene Ionesco comes out in the form of a satirized to â€Å"totalitarianism† in politics, education and language. The author sets it is a way that the professor only has one student at a time. This is itself is a demonstration of the control that the tutor was seeking over his student. He is teaching his student in a manner which is not only stifling but also very controlling. The professor talks nonsense and at the same time expects the student to be able to verbalize what he wants her to say. This theme in the play is meant to show how such practices have detrimental impact in the education settings.

Communications Surveillance, Privacy and Its Ethical Implications Research Paper

Communications Surveillance, Privacy and Its Ethical Implications - Research Paper Example So in order to deal with serious issues communications surveillance becomes essential but it is not ethical. This paper also discusses the ethical validity of communications surveillance in light of Kant’s ethical theory. Introduction It is an admitted fact that in the past few years, surveillance and observation of individuals' communications have been turning out to be more common, more unsystematic and more enveloping, same as our dependence on electronic communications grown. Additionally, almost all the major global laws and regulations on human rights ensure protection of the right of individuals to be free from unnecessary surveillance. On the other hand, this assurance has trickled down into nationwide legal or official requirements ensuring the privacy of communications. In the majority of democratic countries, surveillance of verbal, telephone and digital communications are applied through law enforcement or intelligence agencies simply after approved by a judge, as well as simply in the inquiry of serious crimes (Privacy International, 2012). Up till now government agencies carry on to lobby for improved surveillance facilities and capabilities, mainly as technologies transform. In addition, communications surveillance has gone beyond the digital and Internet communications. In fact, in the majority of countries, security agencies have forced internet service providers as well as telecommunications firms to keep an eye on users’ communications. Also, the many of these actions are performed under the uncertain authorized base as well as remain unidentified to the public (Privacy International, 2012). This paper presents an overview of Surveillance of communications. The basic aim of this research is to analyze the legal, privacy and ethical implications of communications surveillance. Communications Surveillance: An overview In the past few years, telecommunications and computing technologies have seen radical changes. In fact, the typic al acceptance of modern communication platforms such as e-mail, mobile telephones and the Web as well as the ever-increasing adoption and implementation of peer-to-peer Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony have considerably changed and improved the way people communicate in the 21st century. In addition, huge increases in computing and data storage facilities and capabilities have provided governments with a wide variety of innovative tools and techniques for eavesdropping on these communications (Brown, 2009). A lot of organizations make effective use of technology to basically transform the way business tasks are carried out, by making use of technology in ways that break the traditional rules of carrying out business activities. For instance, Kmart and Wal-mart are making use of teleconferencing to facilitate headquarters-based merchandisers to provide store managers in the field with direction and recommendation, facilitating them to unite local programs with business objectives (Hers chel & Andrews, 1997) Surveillance is defined as an operation or an event during which the actions of a particular individual are monitored and documented. In this scenario, communications s

SWOT analysis( Food Truck) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SWOT analysis( Food Truck) - Essay Example Smoothies Food Truck is not tantamount to complications. It is a quick, order and easy process that ensures many customers get services within the shortest time possible. Therefore, it has an advantage of over shops offering the same services where one has to pay a cashier before enjoying the smoothie. The opportunity allows turnover A Smoothies Food Truck market itself as it moves around. The opportunity makes it a financially viable business idea characterised by limited or no financial advertisement costs. The truck itself acts as a marketing platform; the opportunity allows proprietors to concentrate on operational costs. a Smoothies Food Truck targets customers of all ages while giving personalised services. The opportunity allows for feedback and flexibility of operations. In this light, a Smoothies Food Truck is guaranteed of success as the direct customer service promotes exchange of information for improvement of

Graffiti Art Essay Example for Free

Graffiti Art Essay In the late 1960s’s, another art genre was recognized and developed although its lack of form and other basic aesthetic elements has been once a topic of debates as regard its acceptance in the artistic world. Obviously, it differs from the works of art found in museums and galleries and its kind are not found in those elite locations because its location is specific. The location of graffiti art has been actually a subject of oppositions as well as its bold, unexpected and unconventional presentation. Although still, its location, may it be illegal, does not disqualify it as art. Thus, graffiti art is a form of art despite criticisms on its legality, coherence and presentation. It is also argued that graffiti art is a form of vandalism, but this is true only if they appeared on private or public property without permission. Graffiti art is indeed another genre of visual masterpiece. Graffiti comes from â€Å"grafficar†, an Italian word for drawings, markings, patterns, scribbles, or messages that are painted, written, or carved on a wall or surface. Graffiti is the plural of grafficar. Grafficar also signifies a process meaning to scratch. Examples of which are different wall writings ranging from cave paintings, bathroom scribbles, or any message that is scratched on walls. In the ancient Egypt and Rome, in particular, graffiti has been visible in monuments and building walls which are now being explored. It is originally used to term inscriptions, figure drawings, and other carvings found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins. Examples are the Catacombs, or those found at Pompeii. (Whitford, 1992. pp. 137) In the modern era, present day graffiti is also associated to any unsolicited markings on a private or public property, usually considered to be vandalism. In the early 1970s young New Yorkers has started to adopt tags, signatures and signs using aerosol sprays and markers in public places. The youngsters, belonging to the black and Puerto Rican communities have initiated the tagging which eventually developed and soon covered the citys walls, buses and obviously in subway trains. Tags even cover the entire train. Some may contain screen names or reflections of the writer, comes in subtle and often cryptic messages. Taki, an artist of Greek-American descent, was the first modern identified tagger in New York. He signed himself Taki 183, the number probably derived from the number in his apartment block. Some names also made their appearances in some real urban murals painted with spray-paint. Tags such as Futura 2000, Dust and Pink gained fame and recognition in the world of hip-hops. There were also Basquiat and Haring who also started to work in the street and the subway but their works swiftly spread beyond the works of graffiti. Their works attracted the attention of influential dealers which put them in great demand although their works were considered one of the rare forms of graffiti art. (Graffiti†¦ 2007, p. 1) Tagging and graffiti differs from each other although arguments about this difference still arise. Tagging is associated negatively as gang-motivated and illegal because it is usually meant as vandalism. It is also viewed as too vulgar or controversial to have public value. On the other hand, graffiti can be viewed as creative expression, not to mention its usual link to politics. Main Types of Graffiti Art The main types of graffiti fall into different categories and have their own names which are recognized in cities all over the world. First is â€Å"Hip Hop Graffiti†. This is characterized by ‘pieces’ which hip hop graffitists create by aerosol spray paints. They are large and colorful works, usually including either a complex mix of letters or a cartoon-style picture. This type of graffiti often lacks much thought and planning in design and usually takes an extended period of time. Second is the â€Å"Opportunistic Graffiti† which location is selected impulsively, on the basis of low risk and low natural surveillance. Graffitists of this type usually use tags or scrawling to mark their territory. Third type is the â€Å"Gang Graffiti†. Gang graffiti is not art work but a sophisticated communication to publicize gang power, status, and territory. This type is somehow related to opportunistic graffitists because they also use tags or scrawling to mark territory. But in addition to this, gangs use graffiti to create notoriety or show off their defiance of the law and society, and as a mode of marking their presence. The fourth, the â€Å"Political Social Graffiti† is obviously of racial or political motivation. This is uncommonly regarded as part of the graffiti subculture, although it is recognized as damaging to property. The last type is the â€Å"Commercial Graffiti† which is an emerging civic problem. This involves huge compensations paid by private organizations to graffitists to spray advertising logos onto walkways and buildings for promotions of their products. This type is an illegal form of advertising that avoids normal planning laws. (Stowers 1997, pp. 1-2) Gang Graffiti: The Most Dangerous Graffiti The gang graffiti is the most controversial not just because of the characters of its writings but because of its social impact in the neighborhood. Gang graffiti is an indication of gang presence in the community. Gangs use graffiti as their newspapers, thus they usually call it â€Å"newspaper in the wall† as gangs use them to send messages. This is their way of marking boundaries and warning rival gangs. Graffiti may also be an instrument to advertise drug market or, as a memorial to a killed gang member. Symbols and cryptic writing style is exclusive in each gang. Death warrants and beat downs are known to be posted in graffiti. Upside down or crossed out graffiti generally means a put down or threat to a rival gang or person. (Bland and Read 2000) According to Michael Carlie (2002), graffiti is the most common method of gang communication and a major symbolism of their gang affiliation. Jonathan Kellerman (1994) as cited by Carlie referred to graffiti as â€Å"the hieroglyphics of rage† because of the violence associated with it. On the surface, a person who is not familiar with it might think of graffiti as a simple nonsense painting on the wall or in poles or elsewhere, or just a plain vandal. Carlie adds that among other things, graffiti communicates the â€Å"role call† or the roster of gang members, or the hierarchy of gang members. It also implies whos around, whos with who, whos disrespecting who, which gangs are claiming what territory and which areas are in dispute. It may be an announcement of current gang activities and whos getting ready to attack who, or whos already been killed. A familiar language, for example, is the â€Å"X† which if marked on a member’s name means he is the likely target for an attack or murder. (Carlie 2002, pp. 2) An important not on gang graffiti is, in many ways, it is a code and codes in general are subjects to analysis. Deciphering gang graffiti requires the understanding of the symbols, abbreviations, structure, that composes the gang language. In the United States, gang graffiti is usually based on two dominant styles the L. A. and Chicago styles which vary greatly and influence to some degree across the country. Some gangs use an exclusive style while others use a combination. For example, the Gangster Disciples originated in south-side of Chicago might combine L. A. style gang lettering with Chicago Folks Nation symbols. In New York, Latin Kings might use Chicago Latin King symbols but with New York tagger style graffiti lettering. (Graffiti 2010) These styles and some of the variations are seen throughout the country and a person who understands both styles is more likely to understand most, if not all, gang graffiti. Characters of gang related graffiti has sharp, angular stick letters, or mostly contains religious, even â€Å"satanic† imagery, or is done in one color of paint. Most of the times they are very simple and flat-out which make them easy to figure out. But no matter how simple they appear, it still requires some basic code-breaking skills. (Deciphering Gang†¦2010. p. 1) Figure 1: WS 18 St, HGS West Side Eighteenth Street (gang), Hoover Gangsters (a clique of 18th Street) Two-digit numbers, especially â€Å"13? , â€Å"14? , or â€Å"18? , signifies graffiti for a hispanic gang while three digits, especially if they are the area code of your neighborhood, it’s almost certainly not a hispanic gang, but a typical prison or street sort. Exception to this is numbers followed by â€Å"K† which means a threat from a rival gang. â€Å"WS18? (figure 1) is a tag for the (hispanic) West Side 18th Street gang out of California. â€Å"WS18K† means a threat towards 18th Street by a local gang. Note that â€Å"K† is short for â€Å"Kill†. If there are two digits, see if they’re prefixed by â€Å"N†, â€Å"S†, â€Å"E†, or â€Å"W† (or â€Å"NS†, â€Å"SS†, â€Å"ES†, or â€Å"WS†) which relate to the cardinal directions, and form part of the gang’s identity. Hispanic gangs more often use 13 and 14 the 13th letter of the alphabet is â€Å"M†, which generally stands for â€Å"Mexico† or â€Å"La Eme†, the Mexican Mafia and the 14th letter â€Å"N† generally means â€Å"North† that symbolizes which end of California the gang originated from. It is a division as gangstas from the north and south parts of California frequently clash. Figure 2: Lil Capone WS VSLC, crossed out BK, Crossed out PBGK Lil Capone (name of gang member) West Side Venice Shoreline Crips, Blood Killer, Playboy Gangster Killer (disrespect to rival gangs) Certain patterns appear without the numbers. As always, â€Å"K† is a threat to â€Å"(K)ill†, as are any crossed-out letters. â€Å"A† as in â€Å"Almighty† â€Å"N†, that virtually stands for â€Å"Nation† can be safely ignored. When seen together, which usually occurs, it show up that the gangs used to calling themselves the Almighty Whatever Nation. Figure 3: GD around Star of David with number six inside the star, pitchfork extending from the D Gangsters Disciples with six point star representing GDs and Folks. Pitchford represents GDs and Folks Gangs which are known in the country carry a finite code which makes them easy to identify. â€Å"GD† is the Gangster Disciples and â€Å"VL† are the Vice Lords. â€Å"LK† are the Latin Kings, and â€Å"LQ† the Latin Queens; sometimes when they’re getting along, they’re the LKQ Latin Kings and Queens. Crossed-out letters in gang graffiti usually mean a threat. Letters â€Å"B†, â€Å"C†, â€Å"F†, â€Å"P†, or â€Å"S† crossed-out in a piece of gang graffiti, it signifies a threat towards a gang whose name, â€Å"nation†, or nickname begins with that crossed out letter. In the Vice Lord tag, the letter â€Å"C† is not crossed out which tells you the local Vice Lords don’t have complaints with the (C)rips. Gangs should write very carefully because all too often, little slights in graffiti like crossing out letters, or painting over rival gangs’ tags, are a sure warning sign of impending gang war. Figure 4: CVLN Conservative Vice Lords Nation. Cane extending from the L is a CVL symbol. Upside down pitchfork shows disrespect towards Fold Nation gangs. Knowledge in deciphering gang graffiti introduced you to a neighborhood of gangs. In (figure 4) the â€Å"C† is short for â€Å"Conservative†. The â€Å"Conservative Vice Lords† are one of several dozen larger Vice Lord â€Å"sets† around United States. Some communities have taken a massive campaign against graffiti and also intensifies gang reduction. In Florida, the Florida Department of Corrections website posts information to help educate the public in reducing gang activities, which imposes threat to the community. Some gangs, the website says, even use graffiti as Death warrants to authorities specifically to police officers. Community awareness program in most part of America uses the 4 Rs of graffiti to intensify campaign against gangs and gang graffiti. The slogan says, â€Å"READ IT, RECORD IT, REPORT IT REMOVE IT†. (Deciphering Gang†¦2010, p. 1) Thus, citizens should read it and report it to police, and police will record it and then remove it. These steps are important but the removal of the graffiti is the most risky. Removal of graffiti manifests the neighborhoods refusal to be dominated or intimidated by gangs which is a language most gang members understand. Neighborhood residents who ignore graffiti and bother not to remove them are viewed as frightened and weak by the gangs who made them. At the worst, there are instances that gang members attack people who attempt to remove or cover their graffiti. Gang graffiti is the most dangerous of all graffiti and can usually be found around community rail stations. It marks territory and rival gangs usually challenge for territory by crossing out another gangs graffiti. It imposes real and great danger to the residents. Messages in graffiti are taken seriously by gangsters and the longer graffiti is, the greater the risk that the threats will be acted on. Graffiti is a gateway crime and membership in gangs certainly guarantees a criminal record. Since juvenile of minor age receives more lenience when it comes to punishment, the minors are the usual target of recruitment and the doer of crimes. Residents Against Graffiti Everywhere (RAGE) is a community group that looks at social issues and works with local councils and Governments towards promoting a zero tolerance policy on graffiti. (Bland and Read 2000, p. 179) By legal definition, graffiti is vandalism. It is the unauthorized application of markings on someone else’s property, especially without permission. Therefore, legality wise it is a crime. The manner that graffiti is regularly produced as illegal detracts it from the concept to be considered an art form. Very unfortunately that graffiti is responded with outrage over the abuse of someone’s property. This negative connotation may take away the value or impact of the artist’s original message. Perhaps, it would be better to get permission from the owner of the â€Å"canvas† to display the art. Yet, graffiti still elicits emotional response even in its illegal state. Furthermore, it is composed of lines, shapes, color, tones, and forms in a display that conveys a certain message and elicits an emotion. Therefore, it is safe to say that graffiti is indeed an art. As George Stowers (1997) presented four criteria as basis that some forms of graffiti become a work of art. First, the artists intention to produce a work of art separates graffiti art from everyday graffiti markings. Second, graffiti art established a history of development in style and technique. Third, the art world has already recognized graffiti as an art form. Fourth is the public response to graffiti art indicates that it is art. Regardless of the message it conveys, the fact that graffiti carry the aesthetic and creative symbolism and expression, public agrees that graffiti is a form of art. Like other art forms, graffiti art is a definite art when both the artist and the audience agree on the works ability to provide maximal aesthetic satisfaction. Graffiti is presently known as spray can art which is a form indeed recognized as art. It has form, color, and other base properties as any other art pieces. It also has as an arrangement of these elements into structures that qualify it aesthetically as being art. However, something that is done with spray paint might make it graffiti, but not necessarily qualify as art or graffiti art. Location and presentation still are the factors that hinder the general acceptance of graffiti art. However, the instances that the art world’s acceptance of graffiti art shows that conventional methods of presentation are not all that matters in determining graffiti as an art. Graffiti in the form of spray can art is art like any other work that might be found in a gallery or a museum. References Bland, N. Read, T. (2000). Policing Anti-social Behaviour. Police Research Series 123, Policing and Reducing Crime, British Home Office, London, UK. Carlie, Michael. (2002) Graffiti and Other Gang Identifiers. (Into the Abyss: A Personal Journey into the World of Street Gangs) Retrieved 23 May 2010 from http://faculty. missouristate. edu/m/MichaelCarlie/what_I_learned_about/GANGS/graffiti _and_other_identifiers. htm. Deciphering Gang Graffiti (2008). The Slugsite. com. Retrieved 23 May 2010 from http://www. slugsite. com/archives/825. Graffiti. (2007) The Huntfor. com retrieved 23 May 2010 from http://www. huntfor. com/arthistory/C20th/graffiti. htm.

HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment

HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations.These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says â€Å"HRM is a means of achieving management objectives at least in enterprises which haverecognized, or have been compelled to recognize, the utilization of the human resource inachieving competitive edge becomes clear from an examination of four important goals ofeffective.† The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices acomprehensive corporate strategy is essential to continuing business success in many cases,human resource planning is not an integral part of strategic planning, but rather flows fromitDavid E. Guest (1987). This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee committment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioural. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further says: The theoretical proposition is therefore that organizational commitment,  combined with job related behavioural commitment will result in high employee  satisfaction, high performance, longer tenure and willingness to accept  change. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if employees at all levels display highorganizational commitment, high trust and high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the â€Å"Impact of HRM on performance depends upon  workers response to HRM practices, so the impact will move in direction of the  perception of HRM practices by the employee†. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have  stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that â€Å"by adopting best practices in selection, inflow of bestquality of skill set will be inducted adding value to skills inventory of the organization.† He also highlighted the role of personnel training as a accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that â€Å"compensation is a behavior aligningmechanism of employees with business strategy of the firm†. â€Å"Career planning is a tool that aligns strategy with future HR needs and encourag esemployee to strive for his personal development† (William et al, 1996). By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). â€Å"Use of best HR practices shows a stronger association with firmsproductivity in high growth industry† (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that â€Å"an employee will exert discretionary effort if proper  performance management system is in place and is supported by compensation system  linked with the performance management system.† Similarly, â€Å"Job definition is combination of jobdescription and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, workingconditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi M Tahir, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that   â€Å"an organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization.Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. HR PRACTICES HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitmentand performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- Recruitment and Selection: One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. The process of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a particular position is called Selection. â€Å"In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximise the profits by means of their merit and talent† (Vlachos 2008). A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivity and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organisation) for enhancing financial performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted a immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the feedback and suggestion of employee past performance, employees training needs, financial expectations salary, employee merit appraisal, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is the official arrangement of periodical evaluation and assessment of an individuals or teams job performance and providing feedback. Stone (2002) said that â€Å" in the competitive environment, organisations need to keep improving performance to survive†. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced employee accountability result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in relation to organisational objectives. Performance related rewards target those who meet the performance requirements (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Performance appraisal provides information that is dealt with employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee feedback by (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more mod ern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people.Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognised as employee merit and it is widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all monetary payments and all commodities used instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organised to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that ‘compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practice is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manages wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparision to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negativly on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performace as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment.Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the significance of pay is a strong determinant of job satisfaction. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channelsthat are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking a nd higher will be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. Training and Development Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability , flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. There is an indirect relation betweentraining and firms performance (Vlachos 2008). In most of the manufacturing industry, unstructured on the job training programmes are prevailing. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. Also they have a direct impact on high performance practices, work force skill level innovative labour demand features. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updation of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms are a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvement practices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often.An increasing in high-performance work practices converts decreasing in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpfulwhen an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainity. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other traing programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explain that creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace has a highly significant effect on job satisfaction, in addition on their study indicates that training increases the probability of work being either completely or very satisfied that enhance employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that aqusition or know ledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. poor career growth ,seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attritation rate and retaining employees.Riley et al. (2000) to recognise the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favour these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress thenegative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These type of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that humanresources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque(2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and unstrategic isnow outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the polices and practices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all these polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality industry should be on delivering quality service, it should be able to attract and retain enthusiastic, competent staff and should consistently focus on high performance. This is exactly what Pechanga Resort and Casino did two years ago with excellent results. VP of HR and Talent Management, Tony Chartrand explains: â€Å"Since implementing Halogen eAppraisal at our organization over two years ago we have been able to include all of our staff across the resort and casino as part of our strategic approach to talent management. Subsequently, weve seen real business results with lower turnover and better alignment. Every single employee has a clear picture of what is expected of them, which helps to ensure were delivering customers with the best service in the industry†. Organizational commitment refers to a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target. Commitment could manifest in terms of three ways i.e., affective, normative and continuance and each type of commitment ties the individual to the organization in different ways and will differently affect the manner in which the employee conducts him/herself in the workplace. The roots of affective commitment can be traced to exchange principle. An organization provides rewards or punishment at its disposal i HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations.These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says â€Å"HRM is a means of achieving management objectives at least in enterprises which haverecognized, or have been compelled to recognize, the utilization of the human resource inachieving competitive edge becomes clear from an examination of four important goals ofeffective.† The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices acomprehensive corporate strategy is essential to continuing business success in many cases,human resource planning is not an integral part of strategic planning, but rather flows fromitDavid E. Guest (1987). This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee committment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioural. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further says: The theoretical proposition is therefore that organizational commitment,  combined with job related behavioural commitment will result in high employee  satisfaction, high performance, longer tenure and willingness to accept  change. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if employees at all levels display highorganizational commitment, high trust and high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the â€Å"Impact of HRM on performance depends upon  workers response to HRM practices, so the impact will move in direction of the  perception of HRM practices by the employee†. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have  stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that â€Å"by adopting best practices in selection, inflow of bestquality of skill set will be inducted adding value to skills inventory of the organization.† He also highlighted the role of personnel training as a accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that â€Å"compensation is a behavior aligningmechanism of employees with business strategy of the firm†. â€Å"Career planning is a tool that aligns strategy with future HR needs and encourag esemployee to strive for his personal development† (William et al, 1996). By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). â€Å"Use of best HR practices shows a stronger association with firmsproductivity in high growth industry† (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that â€Å"an employee will exert discretionary effort if proper  performance management system is in place and is supported by compensation system  linked with the performance management system.† Similarly, â€Å"Job definition is combination of jobdescription and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, workingconditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi M Tahir, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that   â€Å"an organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization.Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. HR PRACTICES HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitmentand performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- Recruitment and Selection: One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. The process of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a particular position is called Selection. â€Å"In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximise the profits by means of their merit and talent† (Vlachos 2008). A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivity and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organisation) for enhancing financial performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted a immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the feedback and suggestion of employee past performance, employees training needs, financial expectations salary, employee merit appraisal, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is the official arrangement of periodical evaluation and assessment of an individuals or teams job performance and providing feedback. Stone (2002) said that â€Å" in the competitive environment, organisations need to keep improving performance to survive†. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced employee accountability result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in relation to organisational objectives. Performance related rewards target those who meet the performance requirements (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Performance appraisal provides information that is dealt with employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee feedback by (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more mod ern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people.Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognised as employee merit and it is widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all monetary payments and all commodities used instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organised to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that ‘compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practice is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manages wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparision to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negativly on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performace as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment.Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the significance of pay is a strong determinant of job satisfaction. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channelsthat are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking a nd higher will be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. Training and Development Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability , flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. There is an indirect relation betweentraining and firms performance (Vlachos 2008). In most of the manufacturing industry, unstructured on the job training programmes are prevailing. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. Also they have a direct impact on high performance practices, work force skill level innovative labour demand features. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updation of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms are a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvement practices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often.An increasing in high-performance work practices converts decreasing in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpfulwhen an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainity. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other traing programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explain that creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace has a highly significant effect on job satisfaction, in addition on their study indicates that training increases the probability of work being either completely or very satisfied that enhance employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that aqusition or know ledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. poor career growth ,seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attritation rate and retaining employees.Riley et al. (2000) to recognise the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favour these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress thenegative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These type of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that humanresources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque(2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and unstrategic isnow outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the polices and practices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all these polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality industry should be on delivering quality service, it should be able to attract and retain enthusiastic, competent staff and should consistently focus on high performance. This is exactly what Pechanga Resort and Casino did two years ago with excellent results. VP of HR and Talent Management, Tony Chartrand explains: â€Å"Since implementing Halogen eAppraisal at our organization over two years ago we have been able to include all of our staff across the resort and casino as part of our strategic approach to talent management. Subsequently, weve seen real business results with lower turnover and better alignment. Every single employee has a clear picture of what is expected of them, which helps to ensure were delivering customers with the best service in the industry†. Organizational commitment refers to a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target. Commitment could manifest in terms of three ways i.e., affective, normative and continuance and each type of commitment ties the individual to the organization in different ways and will differently affect the manner in which the employee conducts him/herself in the workplace. The roots of affective commitment can be traced to exchange principle. An organization provides rewards or punishment at its disposal i