The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 33. Forever

â€Å"Charlie, we've still got that strictly need-to-know company situation going. I know it's been more than a week since you saw Renesmee, but a visit is just not a good idea right now. How about I bring Renesmee over to see you?† Charlie was quiet for so long that I wondered if he heard the strain beneath my fagade. But then he muttered, â€Å"Need to know, ugh† and I realized it was just his wariness of the supernatural that made him slow to respond. â€Å"Okay, kid,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can you bring her over this morning? Sue's bringing me lunch. She's just as horrified by my cooking as you were when you first showed up.† Charlie laughed and then sighed for the old days. â€Å"This morning will be perfect.† The sooner the better. I'd already put this off too long. â€Å"Is Jake coming with you guys?† Though Charlie didn't know anything about werewolf imprinting, no one could be oblivious to the attachment between Jacob and Renesmee. â€Å"Probably.† There was no way Jacob would voluntarily miss an afternoon with Renesmee sans bloodsuckers. â€Å"Maybe I should invite Billy, too,† Charlie mused. â€Å"But†¦ hmm. Maybe another time.† I was only half paying attention to Charlie – enough to notice the strange reluctance in his voice when he spoke of Billy, but not enough to worry what that was about. Charlie and Billy were grown-ups; if there was something going on between them, they could figure it out for themselves. I had too many more important things to obsess over. â€Å"See you in a few,† I told him, and hung up. This trip was about more than protecting my father from the twenty-seven oddly matched vampires – who all had sworn not to kill anyone in a three-hundred-mile radius, but still†¦ Obviously, no human being should get anywhere near this group. This was the excuse I'd given Edward: I was taking Renesmee to Charlie so that he wouldn't decide to come here. It was a good reason for leaving the house, but not my real reason at all. â€Å"Why can't we take your Ferrari?† Jacob complained when he met me in the garage. I was already in Edward's Volvo with Renesmee. Edward had gotten around to revealing my after car; as he'd suspected, I had not been capable of showing the appropriate enthusiasm. Sure, it was pretty and fast, but I liked to run. â€Å"Too conspicuous,† I answered. â€Å"We could go on foot, but that would freak Charlie out.† Jacob grumbled but got into the front seat. Renesmee climbed from my lap to his. â€Å"How are you?† I asked him as I pulled out of the garage. â€Å"How do you think?† Jacob asked bitingly. â€Å"I'm sick of all these reeking bloodsuckers.† He saw my expression and spoke before I could answer. â€Å"Yeah, I know, I know. They're the good guys, they're here to help, they're going to save us all. Etcetera, etcetera. Say what you want, I still think Dracula One and Dracula Two are creep-tacular.† I had to smile. The Romanians weren't my favorite guests, either. â€Å"I don't disagree with you there.† Renesmee shook her head but said nothing; unlike the rest of us, she found the Romanians strangely fascinating. She'd made the effort to speak to them aloud since they would not let her touch them. Her question was about their unusual skin and, though I was afraid they might be offended, I was kind of glad she'd asked. I was curious, too. They hadn't seemed upset by her interest. Maybe a little rueful. â€Å"We sat still for a very long time, child,† Vladimir had answered, with Stefan nodding along but not continuing Vladimir's sentences as he often did. â€Å"Contemplating our own divinity. It was a sign of our power that everything came to us. Prey, diplomats, those seeking our favor. We sat on our thrones and thought ourselves gods. We didn't notice for a long time that we were changing – almost petrifying. I suppose the Volturi did us one favor when they burned our castles. Stefan and I, at least, did not continue to petrify. Now the Volturi's eyes are filmed with dusty scum, but ours are bright. I imagine that will give us an advantage when we gouge theirs from their sockets.† I tried to keep Renesmee away from them after that. â€Å"How long do we get to hang out with Charlie?† Jacob asked, interrupting my thoughts. He was visibly relaxing as we pulled away from the house and all its new inmates. It made me happy that I didn't really count as a vampire to him. I was still just Bella. â€Å"For quite a while, actually.† The tone of my voice caught his attention. â€Å"Is something going on here besides visiting your dad?† â€Å"Jake, you know how you're pretty good at controlling your thoughts around Edward?† He raised one thick black brow. â€Å"Yeah?† I just nodded, cutting my eyes to Renesmee. She was looking out the window, and I couldn't tell how interested she was in our conversation, but I decided not to risk going any further. Jacob waited for me to add something else, and then his lower lip pushed out while he thought about what little I'd said. As we drove in silence, I squinted through the annoying contacts into the cold rain; it wasn't quite cold enough for snow. My eyes were not as ghoulish as they had been in the beginning – definitely closer to a dull reddish orange than to bright crimson. Soon they'd be amber enough for me to quit the contacts, i hoped the change wouldn't upset Charlie too much. Jacob was still chewing over our truncated conversation when we got to Charlie's. We didn't talk as we walked at a quick human pace through the falling rain. My dad was waiting for us; he had the door open before I could knock. â€Å"Hey, guys! It seems like it's been years! Look at you, Nessie! Come to Grampa! I swear you've grown half a foot. And you look skinny, Ness.† He glared at me. â€Å"Aren't they feeding you up there?† â€Å"It's just the growth spurt,† I muttered. â€Å"Hey, Sue,† I called over his shoulder. The smell of chicken, tomato, garlic, and cheese issued from the kitchen; it probably smelled good to everyone else. I could also smell fresh pine and packing dust. Renesmee flashed her dimples. She never spoke in front of Charlie. â€Å"Well, come on in out of the cold, kids. Where's my son-in-law?† â€Å"Entertaining friends,† Jacob said, and then snorted. â€Å"You're so lucky you're out of the loop, Charlie. That's all I'm going to say.† I punched Jacob lightly in the kidney while Charlie cringed. â€Å"Ow,† Jacob complained under his breath; well, I'd thought I'd punched lightly. â€Å"Actually, Charlie, I have some errands to run.† Jacob shot a glance at me but said nothing. â€Å"Behind on your Christmas shopping, Bells? You only have a few days, you know.† â€Å"Yeah, Christmas shopping,† I said lamely. That explained the packing dust. Charlie must have put the old decorations up. â€Å"Don't worry, Nessie,† he whispered in her ear. â€Å"I got you covered if your mom drops the ball.† I rolled my eyes at him, but in truth, I hadn't thought about the holidays at all. â€Å"Lunch's on the table,† Sue called from the kitchen. â€Å"C'mon, guys.† â€Å"See you later, Dad,† I said, and exchanged a quick look with Jacob. Even if he couldn't help but think about this near Edward, at least there wasn't much for him to share. He had no idea what I was up to. Of course, I thought to myself as I got into the car, it wasn't like I had much idea, either. The roads were slick and dark, but driving didn't intimidate me anymore. My reflexes were well up to the job, and I barely paid attention to the road. The problem was keeping my speed from attracting attention when I had company. I wanted to be done with today's mission, to have the mystery sorted out so that I could get back to the vital task of learning. Learning to protect some, learning to kill others. I was getting better and better with my shield. Kate didn't feel the need to motivate me anymore – it wasn't hard to find reasons to feel angry, now that I knew that was the key – and so I mostly worked with Zafrina. She was pleased with my extension; I was able to cover almost a ten-foot area for more than a minute, though it exhausted me. This morning she'd been trying to find out if I could push the shield away from my mind altogether. I didn't see what the use of that would be, but Zafrina thought it would help strengthen me, like exercising muscles in the stomach and back rather than just the arms. Eventually, you could lift more weight when all the muscles were stronger. I wasn't very good at it. I had only gotten one glimpse of the jungle river she was trying to show me. But there were different ways to prepare for what was coming, and with only two weeks left, I worried that I might be neglecting the most important. Today I would rectify that oversight. I'd memorized the appropriate maps, and I had no problem finding my way to the address that didn't exist online, the one for J. Jenks. My next step would be Jason Jenks at the other address, the one Alice had not given me. To say that it wasn't a nice neighborhood would be an understatement. The most nondescript of all the Cullens' cars was still outrageous on this street. My old Chevy would have looked healthy here. During my human years, I would have locked the doors and driven away as fast as I dared. As it was, I was a little fascinated. I tried to imagine Alice in this place for any reason, and failed. The buildings – all three stories, all narrow, all leaning slightly as if bowed by the pounding rain – were mostly old houses divided up into multiple apartments. It was hard to tell what color the peeling paint was supposed to be. Everything had faded to shades of gray. A few of the buildings had businesses on the first floor: a dirty bar with the windows painted black, a psychic's supply store with neon hands and tarot cards glowing fitfully on the door, a tattoo parlor, and a daycare with duct tape holding the broken front window together. There were no lamps on inside any of the rooms, though it was grim enough outside that the humans should have needed the light. I could hear the low mumbling of voices in the distance; it sounded like TV. There were a few people about, two shuffling through the rain in opposite directions and one sitting on the shallow porch of a boarded-up cut-rate law office, reading a wet newspaper and whistling. The sound was much too cheerful for the setting. I was so bemused by the carefree whistler, I didn't realize at first that the abandoned building was right where the address I was looking for should exist. There were no numbers on the dilapidated place, but the tattoo parlor beside it was just two numbers off. I pulled up to the curb and idled for a second. I was getting into that dump one way or another, but how to do so without the whistler noticing me? I could park the next street over and come through the back†¦. There might be more witnesses on that side. Maybe the rooftops? Was it dark enough for that kind of thing? â€Å"Hey, lady,† the whistler called to me. I rolled the passenger window down as if I couldn't hear him. The man laid his paper aside, and his clothes surprised me, now that I could see them. Under his long ragged duster, he was a little too well dressed. There was no breeze to give me the scent, but the sheen on his dark red shirt looked like silk. His crinkly black hair was tangled and wild, but his dark skin was smooth and perfect, his teeth white and straight. A contradiction. â€Å"Maybe you shouldn't park that car there, lady,† he said. â€Å"It might not be here when you get back.† â€Å"Thanks for the warning,† I said. I shut off the engine and got out. Perhaps my whistling friend could give me the answers I needed faster than breaking and entering. I opened my big gray umbrella – not that I cared, really, about protecting the long cashmere sweater-dress I wore. It was what a human would do. The man squinted through the rain at my face, and then his eyes widened. He swallowed, and I heard his heart accelerate as I approached. Tm looking for someone,† I began. â€Å"I'm someone,† he offered with a smile. â€Å"What can I do for you, beautiful?† â€Å"Are you J. Jenks?† I asked. â€Å"Oh,† he said, and his expression changed from anticipation to understanding. He got to his feet and examined me with narrowed eyes. â€Å"Why're you looking for J?† â€Å"That's my business.† Besides, I didn't have a clue. â€Å"Are you J?† â€Å"No.† We faced each other for a long moment while his sharp eyes ran up and down the fitted pearl gray sheath I wore. His gaze finally made it to my face. â€Å"You don't look like the usual customer.† â€Å"I'm probably not the usual,† I admitted. â€Å"But I do need to see him as soon as possible.† â€Å"I'm not sure what to do,† he admitted. â€Å"Why don't you tell me your name?† He grinned. â€Å"Max.† â€Å"Nice to meet you, Max. Now, why don't you tell me what you do for the usual?† His grin became a frown. â€Å"Well, J's usual clients don't look a thing like you. Your kind doesn't bother with the downtown office. You just go straight up to his fancy office in the skyscraper.† I repeated the other address I had, making the list of numbers a question. â€Å"Yeah, that's the place,† he said, suspicious again. â€Å"How come you didn't go there?† â€Å"This was the address I was given – by a very dependable source.† â€Å"If you were up to any good, you wouldn't be here.† I pursed my lips. I'd never been much good at bluffing, but Alice hadn't left me a lot of alternatives. â€Å"Maybe I'm not up to any good.† Max's face turned apologetic. â€Å"Look, lady – â€Å" â€Å"Bella.† â€Å"Right. Bella. See, I need this job. J pays me pretty good to mostly just hang out here all day. I want to help you, I do, but – and of course Tm speaking hypothetically, right? Or off the record, or whatever works for you – but if I pass somebody through that could get him in trouble, I'm out of work. Do you see my problem?† I thought for a minute, chewing on my lip. â€Å"You've never seen anyone like me here before? Well, sort of like me. My sister is a lot shorter than me, and she has dark spiky black hair.† â€Å"J knows your sister?† â€Å"I think so.† Max pondered this fora moment.I smiled at him, and his breathing stuttered.†Tell you what I'll do.HI give Ja call and describe you to him. Let him make the decision.† What did J. Jenks know? Would my description mean something to him? That was a troubling thought. â€Å"My last name is Cullen,† I told Max, wondering if that was too much information. I was starting to get irritated with Alice. Did I really have to be quite this blind? She could have given me one or two more words†¦. â€Å"Cullen, got it.† I watched as he dialed, easily picking out the number. Well, I could call J. Jenks myself if this didn't work. â€Å"HeyJ, it's Max. I know I'm never supposed tocall you at this number except in an emergency___† Is there an emergency?1 heard faintly from the other end. â€Å"Well, notexactly. It's this girl who wants to see you___† fail to see the emergency in that Why didn't you follow normal procedure? â€Å"I didn't follow normal procedure 'cause she don't look like any kind of normal – â€Å" Is she a badge?! â€Å"No – â€Å" You can't be sure about that. Does she look like one ofKubarev's – ? â€Å"No – let me talk, okay? She says you know her sister or something.† Not likely. What does she look like? â€Å"She looks like . . .† His eyes ran from my face to my shoes appreciatively. â€Å"Well, she looks like a freaking supermodel, that's what she looks like.† I smiled and he winked at me, then went on. â€Å"Rocking body, pale as a sheet, dark brown hair almost to her waist, needs a good night's sleep – any of this soundingfamiliar?† No, it doesn't I'm not happy that you let your weakness for pretty women interrupt – â€Å"Yeah,so I'ma sucker for the pretty ones, what's wrong with that? I'm sorry I bothered you, man. Just forget it.† â€Å"Name,† I whispered. â€Å"Oh right. Wait,† Max said. â€Å"She says her name is Bella Cullen. That help?† There was a beat of dead silence, and then the voice on the other end was abruptly screaming, using a lot of words you didn't often hear outside of truck stops. Max's whole expression changed; all the joking vanished and his lips went pale. â€Å"Because you didn't ask!† Max yelled back, panicked. There was another pause while J collected himself. Beautiful and pale?J asked, a tiny bit calmer. â€Å"I said that, didn't I?† Beautiful and pale? What did this man know about vampires? Was he one of us himself? I wasn't prepared for that kind of confrontation. I gritted my teeth. What had Alice gotten me into? Max waited for a minute through another volley of shouted insults and instructions and then glanced at me with eyes that were almost frightened. â€Å"But you only meet downtown clients on Thursdays – okay, okay! On it.'7He slid his phone shut. â€Å"He wants to see me?† I asked brightly. Max glowered. â€Å"You could have told me you were a priority client;7 â€Å"I didn't know I was.† â€Å"I thought you might be a cop,† he admitted. â€Å"I mean, you don't look like a cop. But you act kind of weird, beautiful.† I shrugged. â€Å"Drug cartel?† he guessed. â€Å"Who, me?† I asked. â€Å"Yeah. Or your boyfriend or whatever.† â€Å"Nope, sorry. I'm not really a fan of drugs, and neither is my husband. Just say no and all that.† Max cussed under his breath. â€Å"Married. Can't catch a break.† I smiled. â€Å"Mafia?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Diamondsmuggling?† â€Å"Please! Is that the kind of people you usually deal with, Max? Maybe you need a new job.† I had to admit, I was enjoying myself a little. I hadn't interacted with humans much besides Charlie and Sue. It was entertaining to watch him flounder. I was also pleased at how easy it was not to kill him. â€Å"You've got to be involved in something big. And bad,† he mused. â€Å"It's not really like that.† â€Å"That's what they all say. But who else needs papers? Or can afford to pay J's prices for them, I should say. None of my business, anyway,† he said, and then muttered the word married again. He gave me an entirely new address with basic directions, and then watched me drive away with suspicious, regretful eyes. At this point, I was ready for almost anything – some kind of James Bond villain's high-tech lair seemed appropriate. So I thought Max must have given me the wrong address as a test. Or maybe the lair was subterranean, underneath this very commonplace strip mall nestled up against a wooded hill in a nice family neighborhood. I pulled into an open spot and looked up at a tastefully subtle sign that read JASON SCOTT, ATTORNEY AT LAW. The office inside was beige with celery green accents, inoffensive and unremarkable. There was no scent of vampire here, and that helped me relax. Nothing but unfamiliar human. A fish tank was set into the wall, and a blandly pretty blond receptionist sat behind the desk. â€Å"Hello,† she greeted me. â€Å"How can I help you?† â€Å"I'm here to see Mr. Scott.† â€Å"Do you have an appointment?† â€Å"Not exactly.† She smirked a little. â€Å"It could be a while, then. Why don't you have a seat while I – â€Å" April!a man's demanding voice squawked from the phone on her desk. I'm expecting a Ms. Cullen shortly. I smiled and pointed to myself. Send her in immediately. Do you understand? I don't care what it's interrupting. I could hear something else in his voice besides impatience. Stress. Nerves. â€Å"She's just arrived,† April said as soon as she could speak. What? Send her in! What are you waiting for? â€Å"Right away, Mr. Scott!† She got to her feet, fluttering her hands as she led the way down a short hallway, offering me coffee or tea or anything else I might have wanted. â€Å"Here you are,† she said as she ushered me through the door into a power office, complete with heavy wooden desk and vanity wall. â€Å"Close the door behind you,† a raspy tenor voice ordered. I examined the man behind the desk while April made a hasty retreat. He was short and balding, probably around fifty-five, with a paunch. He wore a red silk tie with a blue-and-white-striped shirt, and his navy blazer hung over the back of his chair. He was also trembling, blanched to a sickly paste color, with sweat beading on his forehead; I imagined an ulcer churning away under the spare tire. J recovered himself and rose unsteadily from his chair. He reached his hand across the desk. â€Å"Ms. Cullen. What an absolute delight.† I crossed to him and shook his hand quickly once. He cringed slightly at my cold skin but did not seem particularly surprised by it. â€Å"Mr. Jenks. Or do you prefer Scott?† He winced again. â€Å"Whatever you wish, of course.† â€Å"How about you call me Bella, and HI call you J?† â€Å"Like old friends,† he agreed, mopping a silk handkerchief across his forehead. He gestured for me to have a seat and took his own. â€Å"I must ask, am I finally meeting Mr. Jasper's lovely wife?† I weighed that for a second. So this man knew Jasper, not Alice. Knew him, and seemed afraid of him, too. â€Å"His sister-in-law, actually.† He pursed his lips, as if he were grasping for meanings just as desperately as I was. â€Å"I trust Mr. Jasper is in good health?† he asked carefully. â€Å"I'm sure he is in excellent health. He's on an extended vacation at the moment.† This seemed to clear up some of J's confusion. He nodded to himself and templed his fingers. â€Å"Just so. You should have come to the main office. My assistants there would have put you straight through to me – no need to go through less hospitable channels.† I just nodded. I wasn't sure why Alice had given me the ghetto address. â€Å"Ah, well, you're here now. What can I do for you?† Tapers,† I said, trying to make my voice sound like I knew what I was talking about. â€Å"Certainly,† J agreed at once. â€Å"Are we talking birth certificates, death certificates, drivers' licenses, passports, social security cards†¦ ?† I took a deep breath and smiled. I owed Max big time. And then my smile faded. Alice had sent me here for a reason, and I was sure it was to protect Renesmee. Her last gift to me. The one thing she would know I needed. The only reason Renesmee would need a forger was if she was running. And the only reason Renesmee would be running was if we had lost. If Edward and I were running with her, she wouldn't need these documents right away. I was sure IDs were something Edward knew how to get his hands on or make himself, and I was sure he knew ways to escape without them. We could run with her for thousands of miles. We could swim with her across an ocean. If we were around to save her. And all the secrecy to keep this out of Edward's head. Because there was a good chance that everything he knew, Aro would know. If we lost, Aro would certainly get the information he craved before he destroyed Edward. It was as I had suspected. We couldn't win. But we must have a good shot at killing Demetri before we lost, giving Renesmee the chance to run. My still heart felt like a boulder in my chest – a crushing weight. All my hope faded like fog in the sunshine. My eyes pricked. Who would I put this on? Charlie? But he was so defenselessly human. And how would I get Renesmee to him? He was not going to be anywhere close to that fight. So that left one person. There really had never been anyone else. I'd thought this through so quickly that J didn't notice my pause. â€Å"Two birth certificates, two passports, one driver's license,† I said in a low, strained tone. If he noticed the change in my expression, he pretended otherwise. â€Å"The names?† â€Å"Jacob†¦ Wolfe. And†¦ Vanessa Wolfe.† Nessie seemed like an okay nickname for Vanessa. Jacob would get a kick out of the Wolfe thing. His pen scratched swiftly across a legal pad. â€Å"Middle names?† â€Å"Just put something generic in.† â€Å"If you prefer. Ages?† â€Å"Twenty-seven for the man, five for the girl.† Jacob could pull it off. He was a beast. And at the rate Renesmee was growing, I'd better estimate high. He could be her stepfather†¦. â€Å"I'll need pictures if you prefer finished documents,† J said, interrupting my thoughts. â€Å"Mr. Jasper usually liked to finish them himself.† Well, that explained why J didn't know what Alice looked like. â€Å"Hold on,† I said. This was luck. I had several family pictures shoved in my wallet, and the perfect one – Jacob holding Renesmee on the front porch steps – was only a month old. Alice had given it to me just a few days before†¦ Oh. Maybe there wasn't that much luck involved after all. Alice knew I had this picture. Maybe she'd even had some dim flash that I would need it before she gave it to me. â€Å"Here you go.† J examined the picture for a moment. â€Å"Your daughter is very like you.† I tensed. â€Å"She's more like her father.† â€Å"Who is not this man.† He touched Jacob's face. My eyes narrowed, and new sweat beads popped out on J's shiny head. â€Å"No. That is a very close friend of the family.† â€Å"Forgive me,† he mumbled, and the pen began scratching again. â€Å"How soon will you need the documents?† â€Å"Can I get them in a week?† â€Å"That's a rush order. It will cost twice as – but forgive me. I forgot with whom I was speaking.† Clearly, he knew Jasper. â€Å"Just give me a number.† He seemed hesitant to say it aloud, though I was sure, having dealt with Jasper, he must have known that price wasn't really an object. Not even taking into consideration the bloated accounts that existed all over the world with the Cullens' various names on them, there was enough cash stashed all over the house to keep a small country afloat for a decade; it reminded me of the way there were always a hundred fishhooks in the back of any drawer at Charlie's house. I doubted anyone would even notice the small stack I'd removed in preparation for today. J wrote the price down on the bottom of the legal pad. I nodded calmly. I had more than that with me. I unclasped my bag again and counted out the right amount – I had it all paper-clipped into five-thousand-dollar increments, so it took no time at all. â€Å"There.† â€Å"Ah, Bella, you don't really have to give me the entire sum now. It's customary for you to save half to ensure delivery.† I smiled wanly at the nervous man. â€Å"But I trust you, J. Besides, I'll give you a bonus – the same again when I get the documents.† â€Å"That's not necessary, I assure you.† â€Å"Don't worry about it.† It wasn't like I could take it with me. â€Å"So HI meet you here next week at the same time?† He gave me a pained look. â€Å"Actually, I prefer to make such transactions in places unrelated to my various businesses.† â€Å"Of course. I'm sure I'm not doing this the way you expect.† â€Å"I'm used to having no expectations when it comes to the Cullen family.† He grimaced and then quickly composed his face again. â€Å"Shall we meet at eight o'clock a week from tonight at The Pacifico? It's on Union Lake, and the food is exquisite.† â€Å"Perfect.† Not that I would be joining him for dinner. He actually wouldn't like it much if I did. I rose and shook his hand again. This time he didn't flinch. But he did seem to have some new worry on his mind. His mouth was pinched up, his back tense. â€Å"Will you have trouble with that deadline?† I asked. â€Å"What?† He looked up, taken off guard by my question. â€Å"The deadline? Oh, no. No worries at all. I will certainly have your documents done on time.† It would have been nice to have Edward here, so that I would know what J's real worries were. I sighed. Keeping secrets from Edward was bad enough; having to be away from him was almost too much. â€Å"Then HI see you in one week.†

Motivational Methods Paper Essay

Every manager in an organization must develop the necessary skill of motivation, and apply it to their staff in order to work more efficiently. This ability is a key role for each department and it is of utmost importance that it be applied in a manner that is both beneficial to the organization and staff as well. Each staff member has a role to play in accomplishing goals and it is the duty of the managers to facilitate and motivate their staff. This paper will address three motivational methods to motivate staff for upcoming changes for the organization. Motivation can be defined as: â€Å"Forces within individuals that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort they expend at work.† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007). Individuals who possess a strong work ethic and integrity will put 110 percent into their job, those who do not will do just enough to slide by and stay under the radar. Managers must motivate and inspire staff to continue to give that 110 percent while receiving acknowledgment and respect. In other words; â€Å"Motivation is getting people to do what you want them to do because THEY WANT to do it. The challenge is to give them a reason to want to do it because doing it will satisfy a need they have. You have to tune in to their needs, motives and reasons, not yours.† (Saleem, 2007). Upon learning that upper management is going to implement changes within the organization a manager is tasked with identifying what makes their staff motivated, what makes them perform at peak levels? What does the staff need? â€Å"Needs are unfulfilled physiological or psychological desires of an individual†. (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007). Each individual will have different needs; however it is possible to identify what the team needs by simply asking them. One may think that by developing a list of needs and instructing each member to put them in order of priority it is possible to get an accurate picture of where  to start with the team and how to introduce the up-coming changes in a manner that will motivate the team to accept these in a positive and professional manner. Howev er, â€Å"A study, published in 1999 by Kenneth Kovach of George Mason University, compared associates’ ranking of what they wanted from their jobs with what their bosses thought was important to the associates. The results of the study were somewhat surprising. At the top of the associates’ list was interesting work, followed by appreciation of work, a feeling of being â€Å"in on things†, job security, and good wages. Employers thought good wages, job security, promotion/growth, good working conditions, and interesting work were most important to their staff.† (Bessel, 2012). The key here is to listen to the responses from the staff when asked what is important to them, and then we can identify their motivation. One motivation theory is the Two-Factor Theory, developed by Frederick Herzberg, (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007), which identified that what really made the 4,000 respondents he questioned, enjoy their jobs were factors which related to the job itself, he labeled this satisfier factors. These are items such as feeling pride and a sense of achievement, recognition, and room for advancement. As it turned out, things relating to the setting of the job were what they enjoyed least about the job, he labeled this hygie ne factors. These are items such as work environment and conditions, interpersonal relations, policies, quality of supervision, and salary. These negative factors can be remedied with improving policies to enable staff to feel more satisfied in their environment, such as adding soothing environmental sounds, music, or providing chair message for example can help create a less chaotic work environment and positive hygiene factors. However, in using this method it is also important to be conscious that the two-factor theory is a complementary theory, improving the hygiene is also along with improving the satisfier factors as well. Common sense means that one follows with the other, recognition must also come along with environmental motivation. A second motivation theory is Acquired Needs Theory, from David McClelland, which is based on the needs of individuals. He identified three needs; first, the need for achievement as a desire to go above and beyond the norm of what is expected. Then second is the need for power, which could include control over others, or to be able to provide influence and responsibility over them. The third is the need for affiliation which  is a desire to have friendly and warm friendships with others. (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007). These are all needs that people acquire over time of life experiences and a savvy manager will create a work place that is responsive to these needs. The manager must allow these staff members to takes risks and challenges and encourage their ability to work with little supervision. Delegating higher responsibilities to these individuals creates security for the team and enables the manager to respond to other concerns that normally they may not be able to give the proper attention to. The third method of motivation is motivating through job design. Utilizing the two previous methods of motivation based on the needs of staff, a manager can then create jobs by assigning the required tasks to those individuals who are appropriate to accomplish job performance and job satisfaction for themselves as well as the organization. To make the future changes the organization is anticipating it is essential that the managers utilize their skills to â€Å"tailor job design† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, 2007), to fit the strengths of staff with their own specific qualities and needs, this includes four specific areas, one, job simplification: identifying work processes and tasks for staff to work in clearly defined and specialized tasks. Managers can utilize lesser skilled staff to perform duties of lesser complexity, allowing others with higher skill levels to focus on areas of greater need. Job rotation allows the manager to create flexibility and understanding of other areas, creating a better relationship and moral between departments. Job enlargement integrates or combines tasks previously done by separate workers, this is an option that a manager should do with caution because it could have an opposite reaction to the motivation they are trying to create. The final alternative in job design is job enrichment which is essentially delegating some of the responsibilities of the manager to another individual creating a broader scope to their current position and allowing the manager to take on other responsibilities they may have had a hard time giving the appropriate time to. By focusing on these three types of motivational methods I intend to accomplish introducing the staff and motivating them into the future of the organization while taking into consideration their needs and skill levels to better serve them and the organization. Through personal experience, being motivated to provide superior service and customer satisfaction in the health care  industry, individuals who are appreciated, recognized, and offered more responsibility will work hard to meet deadlines and provide excellent patient care. This is a win-win situation for any health care organization and management team. References: Bessel, I. (2012). Understanding Motivation: An Effective Tool for Managers. Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr017 Kovach, Kenneth. (1999). Employee motivation: Addressing a crucial factor in your organization’s performance. Human Resource Development. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Lombardi, D.M., & Schermerhorn, J.R. (2007). Health care management: Tools and techniques for managing in a health care environment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Saleem, H. (2007). Motivating your staff. Retrieved from http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/motivating-your-staff/

Airline Customer Relationship Management Tool

* Airline Customer Relationship Management Tool INDEX 1. Introduction 2. System Analysis a. Existing System b. proposed System 3. Feasibility Report a. Technical Feasibility b. Operational Feasibility c. Economical Feasibility 4. System Requirement Specification Document a. Overview b. Modules Description c. Process Flow d. SDLC Methodology e. Software Requirements f. Hardware Requirements 5. System Design a. DFD b. E-R diagram c. UML d. Data Dictionary 6. Technology Description 7. Coding 8. Testing & Debugging Techniques 9. Output Screens 10. Reports 11. Future Enhancements 2. Conclusion 13. Bibliography * INTRODUCTION The Main Objective of this System is to design a system to accommodate the needs of customers. This application helps a customer to know about the flight’s information and can reserve seats throughout the globe irrespective of the location. This is a computerized system to make seats reservations, keep ticket bookings and availability details up-to-date. This w eb based system provides all flight’s information, availability of flights, availability of seats. It contains information about pilots, air hostess and airport information.It also provides time schedules for different flights and source, destination details. It provides cost of tickets and enquiry details. Features of the project Reduces the complexity present in the manual system and saves time. 1. Users can access the required data easily. 2. It maintains accurate information. 3. Provides instantaneous updated information to all users. 4. Communication is fast and clear and avoids misunderstandings. It is a computerized system to make room reservations and keep room bookings and availability of details up-to-dateSystem Analysis Purpose of the System This web based system provides all flight’s information, availability of flights, availability of seats. It contains information about pilots, air hostess and airport information. It also provides time schedules for diff erent flights and source, destination details. It provides cost of tickets and enquiry details. Existing System * This system doesn’t provide register the multiple Flights * This system doesn’t provide online help to the public Proposed SystemThe development of this new system contains the following activities, which try to develop on-line application by keeping the entire process in the view of database integration approach. * This system provide online help to the public * This system provide agents registration and book the bulk tickets * This system provide late running flights information before 3 hours * Online status of the tickets must be provided in real time Feasibility Study TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY Evaluating the technical feasibility is the trickiest part of a feasibility study.This is because, at this point in time, not too many detailed design of the system, making it difficult to access issues like performance, costs on (on account of the kind of technolog y to be deployed) etc. A number of issues have to be considered while doing a technical analysis. i) Understand the different technologies involved in the proposed system Before commencing the project, we have to be very clear about what are the technologies that are to be required for the development of the new system. i) Find out whether the organization currently possesses the required technologies * Is the required technology available with the organization? * If so is the capacity sufficient? For instance – â€Å"Will the current printer be able to handle the new reports and forms required for the new system? † OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY Proposed projects are beneficial only if they can be turned into information systems that will meet the organizations operating requirements. Simply stated, this test of feasibility asks if the system will work when it is developed and installed.Are there major barriers to Implementation? Here are questions that will help test the op erational feasibility of a project: * Is there sufficient support for the project from management from users? If the current system is well liked and used to the extent that persons will not be able to see reasons for change, there may be resistance. * Are the current business methods acceptable to the user? If they are not, Users may welcome a change that will bring about a more operational and useful systems. * Have the user been involved in the planning and development of the project? Early involvement reduces the chances of resistance to the system and in * General and increases the likelihood of successful project. Since the proposed system was to help reduce the hardships encountered. In the existing manual system, the new system was considered to be operational feasible. ECONOMICAL FEASIBILITY Economic feasibility attempts 2 weigh the costs of developing and implementing a new system, against the benefits that would accrue from having the new system in place. This feasibility study gives the top management the economic justification for the new system.A simple economic analysis which gives the actual comparison of costs and benefits are much more meaningful in this case. In addition, this proves to be a useful point of reference to compare actual costs as the project progresses. There could be various types of intangible benefits on account of automation. These could include increased customer satisfaction, improvement in product quality better decision making timeliness of information, expediting activities, improved accuracy of operations, better documentation and record keeping, faster retrieval of information, better employee morale.System Requirement Specification Modules Description No of Modules The system after careful analysis has been identified to be presented with the following modules: The Modules involved are 1. Admin 2. Flight 3. Reservation SDLC METHDOLOGIES This document play a vital role in the development of life cycle (SDLC) as it de scribes the complete requirement of the system. It means for use by developers and will be the basic during testing phase. Any changes made to the requirements in the future will have to go through formal change approval process.SPIRAL MODEL was defined by Barry Boehm in his 1988 article, â€Å"A spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement. This model was not the first model to discuss iterative development, but it was the first model to explain why the iteration models. As originally envisioned, the iterations were typically 6 months to 2 years long. Each phase starts with a design goal and ends with a client reviewing the progress thus far. Analysis and engineering efforts are applied at each phase of the project, with an eye toward the end goal of the project.The steps for Spiral Model can be generalized as follows: * The new system requirements are defined in as much details as possible. This usually involves interviewing a number of users representing all the external or internal users and other aspects of the existing system. * A preliminary design is created for the new system. * A first prototype of the new system is constructed from the preliminary design. This is usually a scaled-down system, and represents an approximation of the characteristics of the final product. A second prototype is evolved by a fourfold procedure: 1. Evaluating the first prototype in terms of its strengths, weakness, and risks. 2. Defining the requirements of the second prototype. 3. Planning an designing the second prototype. 4. Constructing and testing the second prototype. * At the customer option, the entire project can be aborted if the risk is deemed too great. Risk factors might involved development cost overruns, operating-cost miscalculation, or any other factor that could, in the customer’s judgment, result in a less-than-satisfactory final product. *The existing prototype is evaluated in the same manner as was the previous prototype, and if necessa ry, another prototype is developed from it according to the fourfold procedure outlined above. * The preceding steps are iterated until the customer is satisfied that the refined prototype represents the final product desired. * The final system is constructed, based on the refined prototype. * The final system is thoroughly evaluated and tested. Routine maintenance is carried on a continuing basis to prevent large scale failures and to minimize down time. The following diagram shows how a spiral model acts like:Fig 1. 0-Spiral Model ADVANTAGES * Estimates(i. e. budget, schedule etc . ) become more relistic as work progresses, because important issues discoved earlier. * It is more able to cope with the changes that are software development generally entails. * Software engineers can get their hands in and start woring on the core of a project earlier. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT AND HARDWARE REQUIREMENT Software Requirements Operating System:Windows XP Professional or Above. Languages:C#. NET, ASP. NET Data Base:SQL Server. Web Server: IIS 5. 0 OR Above. Hardware Requirements Processor:Pentium IV Hard Disk:40GB RAM:512MB or more

Journal entry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Journal entry - Essay Example During this exercise I managed to make an observation practice that regards evidence bias on hygiene among care providers. Later on I had a conversation with my preceptor regarding hygiene among care providers (Rutledge, 2011). My preceptor prepared me for the need to ensure hygiene in health institutions to reduce infections. My preceptor also gave me information regarding departments that ensure hand hygiene and how important it is. Hand hygiene helps to reduce hospital acquired infection. A meeting where I participated was held to discuss ways to sustain hand washing program. At the meeting, it was suggested that, to ensure hygiene, hand washing materials have to be availed to the employees in every department (Beauchesne, 2010). I then presented my practicum manual to the preceptor. The preceptor explained her role in this exercise and also asked me to let her know of my goals expectations in the next meeting. I engaged with the personnel from infection control department to evaluate the need of hand washing exercise to maintain hygiene in all the departments. I then had a meeting with my preceptor where we had a discussion on the following: the last weeks’ assignment, how we can work together with my preceptor to achieve the set objectives for the for the practicum experience. Rutledge, C. M., Renaud, M., Shepherd, L., Bordelon, M., Haney, T., Gregory, D. & Ayers, P. (2011). Educating advanced practice nurses in using social media in rural health care.  International journal of nursing education scholarship,  8(1),

Reflection Paper - TRENDS & ISSUES IN TOURISM Research

Reflection - TRENDS & ISSUES IN TOURISM - Research Paper Example petite for these distinctive horns has led to the rapid reduction of rhinos to the extent in some regions have become extinct (â€Å"Rhino horn use: Fact vs.Fiction†). Although importation of rhino horns was banned in Yemen, they are still used by Muslims as handles for their curved daggers commonly referred as â€Å"Jambiya†. Many Asian countries such as Malaysia and china also manufacture their medicine from rhino horns, hence contributing to heightened termination of these species (â€Å"Rhino horn use: Fact vs.Fiction†). Africa is the home to the largest population of elephants commonly known as â€Å"Jumbos† (Joyce). Currently, a pound of ivory goes for$1,000 (Joyce). The sudden rise in the value of elephant tusks has led to an increase in the level of poaching throughout the continent (â€Å"BBC News World†). Recently, Kenya port officials managed to confiscate a large consignment of elephant tusks at their Mombasa port from Uganda destined fo r Malaysia (â€Å"BBC News Africa†). Tourism education can help curb poaching. Most of those who take part in poaching are normally citizens of that specific country. They should be made aware of how lack of tourists will greatly affect their economy, hence no income for citizens who own businesses such as lodges and restaurants (Craig). Based on the information presented in these articles, authors have explicitly elaborated the issue of poaching whose statistics are high in the developing states. This is by giving exact figures worth of recent consignments already captured by respective states’ wildlife authorities destined to the eastern states. These articles’ core theme encompasses predicament evident in developing states especially in Africa where poachers and cartels are exterminating â€Å"jumbos†, rhinos to get their tusks and horns respectively. However, they do not highlight measures which respective states have ensured to curb poaching except education. These materials have been of much benefit to me. This is

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With reference to specific topics and issues, discuss whether the current spread of Western culture is a positive phenomenon or a threat to diverse cultures around the world - Essay Example The spread of Western influence maintains both negative and positive impacts on cultures, making it rather subjective as to whether this extension of Western values and beliefs poses a threat or an opportunity for foreign cultures. Not all cultures are founded on Western values. Western values, typically those of the United States, Canada and Great Britain, are founded on individualism, a set of values that place particular emphasis on securing the goals and needs of the individual rather than maintaining concern over group desires (Wagner 1995). Nowhere else are these values reflected than in American-style consumption patterns that often include opulence and excess as the individual attempts to justify their social class or social status using material goods as a tool for identity formation. The United Nations (2001) identifies that there is a growing concern that Western values being spread on the heels of globalisation is degrading cultural capital (unique tastes and values) and creating a type of social deprivation when Western culture is superimposed over other diverse cultures. How, though, could social deprivation be attributed to Western consumption behaviours? There are many collectivist cultures across the world that have been built through years of patriarchal values and respect for familial traditionalism. Collectivist cultures maintain a very strong belief in the integrity of group membership and often build their personal identities and goals on the sentiment and opinion of important social reference groups and family members (Cheung et al. 2008). Collectivist societies seek to provide protectionism for important familial figures where it is commonplace to preserve their security and well-being. In most instances, Western individualism defies the importance of building social trust when interacting with different cultures, wanting to gain instant self-gratification whilst collectivists emphasise the importance of

Shakespeare's life Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Shakespeare's life - Research Paper Example Speaking about the personal history of the Shakespeare himself, we cannot state the precise date of his birth, because only according to the information from the church archives we can know that Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564. He lived in Stratford-upon-Avon. Some details about the origin of legendary playwright we can take from his plays, sonnets, and other poems, however, more light can shed official documentation. However, they provide only very brief sketches of the important events of the Shakespeare’s life. From the official documents comes the information that the Shakespeare was baptized at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. From this moment many people consider the beginning of the Shakespeare life. On November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Hathaway was from Shottery, it was small village a mile west of Stratford. William was 18 and Anne was 26, and, she was pregnant. Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Then, after two years they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. However, Hamnet died of unknown causes when she was eleven. Then the history of records ends and seven years considered to be the â€Å"lost years†. These years are undocumented and there are much information from various sources regarding this hidden period of time. Some of them tell that Shakespeare has gone into hiding from the local landlord. Another possibility that Shakespeare could work as an assistant to the schoolmaster of the Lancashire.

Asset Manager Discussion Post 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Asset Manager Discussion Post 3 - Assignment Example The two questions will assist in determining the best investment plan for the customer, one that will suit his income, expenses, and the plans he has (Mentz, CWM, CAM & CTEP, 2009). Considering the client has an interest in portfolio, it is essential that he consider diversifying his investments. The move is critical because of risks of loss of investments in the future. For this case, the client will combine investments with negative or low correlations and eliminate some risks unique to a given portfolio. Another way of handling speculative risks is through insurance, which gives the investors an assurance of safety of their wealth (Godfrey, 2005). The companies work in a way that they compensate clients in cases of a loss. It is a means of ensuring financial stability and continuity of business. If the customer wishes to have a guaranteed financial safety, he should consider insuring his invested property. It, as a result, follows that risks are inevitable for all investments, which planners must plan to curb in the process of advising

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Martin Luthers objective or purpose on writting on indulgence Essay

Martin Luthers objective or purpose on writting on indulgence - Essay Example lieve that if they have purchased letters of indulgence they are sure of their salvation; again, that so soon as they cast their contributions into the money-box, souls fly out of purgatory.† And then, â€Å"Thus souls committed to your care, good Father, are taught to their death.† In this statements Luther is advancing his rhetorical argument by implying that by the Church convincing people that they can buy their way into heaven they may actually be being their way into hell, as true salvation cannot be achieved through such means. In this regard, Luther’s intention is to make an injunction in papal policy that will save these people from eternal damnation. Luther also considers the practical aspects of allowing the sale of indulgences, indicating that he believes it will have a deleterious effect on an individual’s spirituality. Luther writes, â€Å"works of piety and love are infinitely better than indulgences, and yet these are not preached with such ceremony or such zeal; nay, for the sake of preaching the indulgences they are kept quiet.† Even as Luther understands that salvation can only be achieved by accepting God and asking him for forgiveness, he still indicates that pious behavior and love are great elements of spirituality. In promoting the sale of indulgences, preachers have disregarded these tenants of spirituality and have instead shifted focus to the promotion of these indulgences. Luther’s argument is that in order to effectively sell the indulgences, preachers have adopted an approach to spirituality that emphasizes redemption through money, rather than piety and belief in God. An even worse sin h owever is the willful disregard for the scripture. Luther writes, â€Å"Christ never taught that indulgences should be preached. How great then is the horror, how great the peril of a bishop, if he permits the Gospel to be kept quiet, and nothing but the noise of indulgences to be spread among his people!† Here it seems as if Luther is

European States in 18th century, The French Revolution Assignment

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Physics Project Essay Example for Free

Physics Project Essay Eyes are organs that detect light, and convert it to electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement. In higher organisms the eye is a complex optical system which collects light from the surrounding environment; regulates its intensity through a diaphragm; focuses it through an adjustable assembly of lenses to form an image; converts this image into a set of electrical signals; and transmits these signals to the brain, through complex neural pathways that connect the eye, via the optic nerve, to the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. Eyes with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system.[1] Image-resolving eyes are present in molluscs, chordates and arthropods. [2] The simplest eyes, such as those in microorganisms, do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, which is sufficient for the entrainment of circadian rhythms. From more complex eyes, retinal photosensitive ganglion cells send signals along the retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nuclei to effect circadian adjustment. Contents[hide] * 1 Overview * 2 Evolution * 3 Types of eye * 3.1 Normal eyes * 3.2 Pit eyes * 3.2.1 Spherical lensed eye * 3.2.2 Multiple lenses * 3.2.3 Refractive cornea * 3.2.4 Reflector eyes * 3.3 Compound eyes * 3.3.1 Apposition eyes * 3.3.2 Superposition eyes * 3.3.3 Parabolic superposition * 3.3.4 Other * 3.3.5 Nutrients of the eye * 4 Relationship to life requirements * 5 Visual acuity * 6 Perception of colours * 7 Rods and cones * 8 Pigmentation * 9 See also * 10 References * 10.1 Notes * 10.2 Bibliography * 11 External links| [edit] Overview Eye of the wisent, the European bison Complex eyes can distinguish shapes and colors. The visual fields of many organisms, especially predators, involve large areas of binocular vision to improve depth perception; in other organisms, eyes are located so as to maximize the field of view, such as in rabbits and horses, which have monocular vision. The first proto-eyes evolved among animals 600 million years ago, about the time of the Cambrian explosion.[3] The last common ancestor of animals possessed the biochemical toolkit necessary for vision, and more advanced eyes have evolved in 96% of animal species in six of the thirty-plus[4] main phyla.[1] In most vertebrates and some molluscs, the eye works by allowing light to enter and project onto a light-sensitive panel of cells, known as the retina, at the rear of the eye. The cone cells (for color) and the rod cells (for low-light contrasts) in the retina detect and convert light into neural signals for vision. The visual signals are then transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve. Such eyes are typically roughly spherical, filled with a transparent gel-like substance called the vitreous humour, with a focusing lens and often an iris; the relaxing or tightening of the muscles around the iris change the size of the pupil, thereby regulating the amount of light that enters the eye,[5] and reducing aberrations when there is enough light.[6] The eyes of most cephalopods, fish, amphibians and snakes have fixed lens shapes, and focusing vision is achieved by telescoping the lens—similar to how a camera focuses.[7] Compound eyes are found among the arthropods and are composed of many simple facets which, depending on the details of anatomy, may give either a single pixelated image or multiple images, per eye. Each sensor has its own lens and photosensitive cell(s). Some eyes have up to 28,000 such sensors, which are arranged hexagonally, and which can give a full 360-degree field of visio n. Compound eyes are very sensitive to motion. Some arthropods, including many Strepsiptera, have compound eyes of only a few facets, each with a retina capable of creating an image, creating vision. With each eye viewing a different thing, a fused image from all the eyes is produced in the brain, providing very different, high-resolution images. Possessing detailed hyperspectral color vision, the Mantis shrimp has been reported to have the worlds most complex color vision system.[8] Trilobites, which are now extinct, had unique compound eyes. They used clear calcite crystals to form the lenses of their eyes. In this, they differ from most other arthropods, which have soft eyes. The number of lenses in such an eye varied, however: some trilobites had only one, and some had thousands of lenses in one eye. In contrast to compound eyes, simple eyes are those that have a single lens. For example, jumping spiders have a large pair of simple eyes with a narrow field of view, supported by an array of other, smaller eyes for peripheral vision. Some insect larvae, like caterpillars, have a different type of simple eye (stemmata) which gives a rough image. Some of the simplest eyes, called ocelli, can be found in animals like some of the snails, which cannot actually see in the normal sense. They do have photosensitive cells, but no lens and no other means of projecting an image onto these cells. They can distinguish between light and dark, but no more. This enables snails to keep out of direct sunlight. In organisms dwelling near deep-sea vents, compound eyes have been secondarily simplified and adapted to spot the infra-red light produced by the hot vents–in this way the bearers can spot hot springs and avoid being boiled alive.[9] [edit] Evolution Main article: Evolution of the eye Evolution of the eye Photoreception is phylogenetically very old, with various theories of phylogenesis.[10] The common origin (monophyly) of all animal eyes is now widely accepted as fact. This is based upon the shared anatomical and genetic features of all eyes; that is, all modern eyes, varied as they are, have their origins in a proto-eye believed to have evolved some 540 million years ago.[11][12][13] The majority of the advancements in early eyes are believed to have taken only a few million years to develop, since the first predator to gain true imaging would have touched off an arms race.[14] Prey animals and competing predators alike would be at a distinct disadvantage without such capabilities and would be less likely to survive and reproduce. Hence multiple eye types and subtypes developed in parallel. Eyes in various animals show adaption to their requirements. For example, birds of prey have much greater visual acuity than humans, and some can see ultraviolet light. The different forms of ey e in, for example, vertebrates and mollusks are often cited as examples of parallel evolution, despite their distant common ancestry. The very earliest eyes, called eyespots, were simple patches of photoreceptor protein in unicellular animals. In multicellular beings, multicellular eyespots evolved, physically similar to the receptor patches for taste and smell. These eyespots could only sense ambient brightness: they could distinguish light and dark, but not the direction of the lightsource.[15] Through gradual change, as the eyespot depressed into a shallow cup shape, the ability to slightly discriminate directional brightness was achieved by using the angle at which the light hit certain cells to identify the source. The pit deepened over time, the opening diminished in size, and the number of photoreceptor cells increased, forming an effective pinhole camera that was capable of dimly distinguishing shapes.[16] The thin overgrowth of transparent cells over the eyes aperture, originally formed to prevent damage to the eyespot, allowed the segregated contents of the eye chamber to specialize into a transparent humour that optimized color filtering, blocked harmful radiation, improved the eyes refractive index, and allowed functionality outside of water. The transparent protective cells eventually split into two layers, with circulatory fluid in between that allowed wider viewing angles and greater imaging resolution, and the thickness of the transparent layer gradually increased, in most species with the transparent crystallin protein.[17] The gap between tissue layers naturally formed a bioconvex shape, an optimally ideal structure for a normal refractive index. Independently, a transparent layer and a nontransparent layer split forward from the lens: the cornea and iris. Separation of the forward layer again formed a humour, the aqueous humour. This increased refractive power and again eased circulatory problems. Formation of a nontransparent ring allowed more blood vessels, more circulation, and larger eye sizes.[17] [edit] Types of eye There are ten different eye layouts—indeed every way of capturing an image known to man, with the exceptions of zoom and Fresnel lenses. Eye types can be categorized into simple eyes, with one concave photoreceptive surface, and compound eyes, which comprise a number of individual lenses laid out on a convex surface.[1] Note that simple does not imply a reduced level of complexity or acuity. Indeed, any eye type can be adapted for almost any behavior or environment. The only limitations specific to eye types are that of resolution—the physics of compound eyes prevents them from achieving a resolution better than 1Â °. Also, superposition eyes can achieve greater sensitivity than apposition eyes, so are better suited to dark-dwelling creatures.[1] Eyes also fall into two groups on the basis of their photoreceptors cellular construction, with the photoreceptor cells either being cilliated (as in the vertebrates) or rhabdomeric. These two groups are not monophyletic; the cnidaria also possess cilliated cells, [18] and some annelids possess both.[19] [edit] Normal eyes Human eyes are examples of normal eyes Simple eyes are rather ubiquitous, and lens-bearing eyes have evolved at least seven times in vertebrates, cephalopods, annelids, crustacea and cubozoa.[20] [edit Pit eyes Pit eyes, also known as stemma, are eye-spots which may be set into a pit to reduce the angles of light that enters and affects the eyespot, to allow the organism to deduce the angle of incoming light.[1] Found in about 85% of phyla, these basic forms were probably the precursors to more advanced types of simple eye. They are small, comprising up to about 100 cells covering about 100 Â µm.[1] The directionality can be improved by reducing the size of the aperture, by incorporating a reflective layer behind the receptor cells, or by filling the pit with a refractile material.[1] [edit] Spherical lensed eye The resolution of pit eyes can be greatly improved by incorporating a material with a higher refractive index to form a lens, which may greatly reduce the blur radius encountered—hence increasing the resolution obtainable.[1] The most basic form, still seen in some gastropods and annelids, consists of a lens of one refractive index. A far sharper image can be obtained using materials with a high refractive index, decreasing to the edges; this decreases the focal length and thus allows a sharp image to form on the retina.[1] This also allows a larger aperture for a given sharpness of image, allowing more light to enter the lens; and a flatter lens, reducing spherical aberration.[1] Such an inhomogeneous lens is necessary in order for the focal length to drop from about 4 times the lens radius, to 2.5 radii.[1] Heterogeneous eyes have evolved at least eight times: four or more times in gastropods, once in the copepods, once in the annelids and once in the cephalopods.[1] No aquatic organisms possess homogeneous lenses; presumably the evolutionary pressure for a heterogeneous lens is great enough for this stage to be quickly outgrown.[1] This eye creates an image that is sharp enough that motion of the eye can cause significant blurring. To minimize the effect of eye motion while the animal moves, most such eyes have stabilizing eye muscles.[1] The ocelli of insects bear a simple lens, but their focal point always lies behind the retina; consequently they can never form a sharp image. This capitulates the function of the eye. Ocelli (pit-type eyes of arthropods) blur the image across the whole retina, and are consequently excellent at responding to rapid changes in light intensity across the whole visual field; this fast response is further accelerated by the large nerve bundles which rush the information to the brain.[21] Focusing the image would also cause the suns image to be focused on a few receptors, with the possibility of damage under the intense light; shielding the receptors would block out some light and thus reduce their sensitivity.[21] This fast response has led to suggestions that the ocelli of insects are used mainly in flight, because they can be used to detect sudden changes in which way is up (because light, especially UV light which is absorbed by vegetation, usually comes from above).[21] [edit] Multiple lenses Some marine organisms bear more than one lens; for instance the copepod Pontella has three. The outer has a parabolic surface, countering the effects of spherical aberration while allowing a sharp image to be formed. Another copepod, Copilias eyes have two lenses, arranged like those in a telescope.[1] Such arrangements are rare and poorly understood, but represent an interesting alternative construction. An interesting use of multiple lenses is seen in some hunters such as eagles and jumping spiders, which have a refractive cornea (discussed next): these have a negative lens, enlarging the observed image by up to 50% over the receptor cells, thus increasing their optical resolution.[1] [edit] Refractive cornea In the eyes of most mammals, birds, reptiles, and most other terrestrial vertebrates (along with spiders and some insect larvae) the vitreous fluid has a higher refractive index than the air, relieving the lens of the function of reducing the focal length. This has freed it up for fine adjustments of focus, allowing a very high resolution to be obtained.[1] As with spherical lenses, the problem of spherical aberration caused by the lens can be countered either by using an inhomogeneous lens material, or by flattening the lens.[1] Flattening the lens has a disadvantage; the quality of vision is diminished away from the main line of focus, meaning that animals requiring all-round vision are detrimented. Such animals often display an inhomogeneous lens instead.[1] As mentioned above, a refractive cornea is only useful out of water; in water, there is no difference in refractive index between the vitreous fluid and the surrounding water. Hence creatures which have returned to the waterâ €”penguins and seals, for example—lose their refractive cornea and return to lens-based vision. An alternative solution, borne by some divers, is to have a very strong cornea.[1] [edit] Reflector eyes An alternative to a lens is to line the inside of the eye with mirrors, and reflect the image to focus at a central point.[1] The nature of these eyes means that if one were to peer into the pupil of an eye, one would see the same image that the organism would see, reflected back out.[1] Many small organisms such as rotifers, copeopods and platyhelminths use such organs, but these are too small to produce usable images.[1] Some larger organisms, such as scallops, also use reflector eyes. The scallop Pecten has up to 100 millimeter-scale reflector eyes fringing the edge of its shell. It detects moving objects as they pass successive lenses.[1] There is at least one vertebrate, the spookfish, whose eyes include reflective optics for focusing of light. Each of the two eyes of a spookfish collects light from both above and below; the light coming from above is focused by a lens, while that coming from below, by a curved mirror composed of many layers of small reflective plates made of g uanine crystals.[22] [edit] Compound eyes An image of a house fly compound eye surface by using Scanning Electron Microscope Anatomy of the compound eye of an insect Arthropods such as this carpenter bee have compound eyes A compound eye may consist of thousands of individual photoreceptor units or ommatidia (ommatidium, singular). The image perceived is a combination of inputs from the numerous ommatidia (individual eye units), which are located on a convex surface, thus pointing in slightly different directions. Compared with simple eyes, compound eyes possess a very large view angle, and can detect fast movement and, in some cases, the polarization of light.[23] Because the individual lenses are so small, the effects of diffraction impose a limit on the possible resolution that can be obtained. This can only be countered by increasing lens size and number. To see with a resolution comparable to our simple eyes, humans would require compound eyes which would each reach the size of their head. Compound eyes fall into two groups: apposition eyes, which form multiple inverted images, and superposition eyes, which form a single erect image.[24] Compound eyes are common in arthropods, and are also present in annelids and some bivalved molluscs.[25] Compound eyes, in arthropods at least, grow at their margins by the addition of new ommatidia.[26] Structure of the ommatidia of apposition compound eyes [edit] Apposition eyes Apposition eyes are the most common form of eye, and are presumably the ancestral form of compound eye. They are found in all arthropod groups, although they may have evolved more than once within this phylum.[1] Some annelids and bivalves also have apposition eyes. They are also possessed by Limulus, the horseshoe crab, and there are suggestions that other chelicerates developed their simple eyes by reduction from a compound starting point.[1] (Some caterpillars appear to have evolved compound eyes from simple eyes in the opposite fashion.) Apposition eyes work by gathering a number of images, one from each eye, and combining them in the brain, with each eye typically contributing a single point of information. The typical apposition eye has a lens focusing light from one direction on the rhabdom, while light from other directions is absorbed by the dark wall of the ommatidium. In the other kind of apposition eye, found in the Strepsiptera, lenses are not fused to one another, and each forms an entire image; these images are combined in the brain. This is called the schizochroal compound eye or the neural superposition eye. Because images are combined additively, this arrangement allows vision under lower light levels.[1] [edit] Superposition eyes The second type is named the superposition eye. The superposition eye is divided into three types; the refracting, the reflecting and the parabolic superposition eye. The refracting superposition eye has a gap between the lens and the rhabdom, and no side wall. Each lens takes light at an angle to its axis and reflects it to the same angle on the other side. The result is an image at half the radius of the eye, which is where the tips of the rhabdoms are. This kind is used mostly by nocturnal insects. In the parabolic superposition compound eye type, seen in arthropods such as mayflies, the parabolic surfaces of the inside of each facet focus light from a reflector to a sensor array. Long-bodied decapod crustaceans such as shrimp, prawns, crayfish and lobsters are alone in having reflecting superposition eyes, which also have a transparent gap but use corner mirrors instead of lenses. [edit] Parabolic superposition This eye type functions by refracting light, then using a parabolic mirror to focus the image; it combines features of superposition and apposition eyes.[9] [edit] Other The compound eyes of a dragonfly Good fliers like flies or honey bees, or prey-catching insects like praying mantis or dragonflies, have specialized zones of ommatidia organized into a fovea area which gives acute vision. In the acute zone the eyes are flattened and the facets larger. The flattening allows more ommatidia to receive light from a spot and therefore higher resolution. There are some exceptions from the types mentioned above. Some insects have a so-called single lens compound eye, a transitional type which is something between a superposition type of the multi-lens compound eye and the single lens eye found in animals with simple eyes. Then there is the mysid shrimp Dioptromysis paucispinosa. The shrimp has an eye of the refracting superposition type, in the rear behind this in each eye there is a single large facet that is three times in diameter the others in the eye and behind this is an enlarged crystalline cone. This projects an upright image on a specialized retina. The resulting eye is a mixture of a simple eye within a compound eye. Another version is the pseudofaceted eye, as seen in Scutigera. This type of eye consists of a cluster of numerous ocelli on each side of the head, organized in a way that resembles a true compound eye. The body of Ophiocoma wendtii, a type of brittle star, is covered with ommatidia, turning its whole skin into a compound eye. The same is true of many chitons. [edit] Nutrients of the eye The ciliary body is triangular in horizontal section and is coated by a double layer, the ciliary epithelium. The inner layer is transparent and covers the vitreous body, and is continuous from the neural tissue of the retina. The outer layer is highly pigmented, continuous with the retinal pigment epithelium, and constitutes the cells of the dilator muscle. The vitreous is the transparent, colorless, gelatinous mass that fills the space between the lens of the eye and the retina lining the back of the eye.[27] It is produced by certain retinal cells. It is of rather similar composition to the cornea, but contains very few cells (mostly phagocytes which remove unwanted cellular debris in the visual field, as well as the hyalocytes of Balazs of the surface of the vitreous, which reprocess the hyaluronic acid), no blood vessels, and 98-99% of its volume is water (as opposed to 75% in the cornea) with salts, sugars, vitrosin (a type of collagen), a network of collagen type II fibers with the mucopolysaccharide hyaluronic acid, and also a wide array of proteins in micro amounts. Amazingly, with so little solid matter, it tautly holds the eye. [edit]Relationship to life requirements Eyes are generally adapted to the environment and life requirements of the organism which bears them. For instance, the distribution of photoreceptors tends to match the area in which the highest acuity is required, with horizon-scanning organisms, such as those that live on the African plains, having a horizontal line of high-density ganglia, while tree-dwelling creatures which require good all-round vision tend to have a symmetrical distribution of ganglia, with acuity decreasing outwards from the centre. Of course, for most eye types, it is impossible to diverge from a spherical form, so only the density of optical receptors can be altered. In organisms with compound eyes, it is the number of ommatidia rather than ganglia that reflects the region of highest data acquisition.[1]:23-4 Optical superposition eyes are constrained to a spherical shape, but other forms of compound eyes may deform to a shape where more ommatidia are aligned to, say, the horizon, without altering the size or density of individual ommatidia.[28] Eyes of horizon-scanning organisms have stalks so they can be easily aligned to the horizon when this is inclined, for example if the animal is on a slope.[29] An extension of this concept is that the eyes of predators typically have a zone of very acute vision at their centre, to assist in the identification of prey.[28] In deep water organisms, it may not be the centre of the eye that is enlarged. The hyperiid amphipods are deep water animals that feed on organisms above them. Their eyes are almost divided into two, with the upper region thought to be involved in detecting the silhouettes of potential prey—or predators—against the faint light of the sky above. Accordingly, deeper water hyperiids, where the light against which the silhouettes must be compared is dimmer, have larger upper-eyes, and may lose the lower portion of their eyes altogether.[28] Depth perception can be enhanced by having eyes which are enlarged in one direction; distorting the eye slightly allows the distance to the object to be estimated with a high degree of accuracy.[9] Acuity is higher among male organisms that mate in mid-air, as they need to be able to spot and assess potential mates against a very large backdrop.[28] On the other hand, the eyes of organisms which operate in low light levels, such as around dawn and dusk or in deep water, tend to be larger to increase the amount of light that can be captured.[28] It is not only the shape of the eye that may be affected by lifestyle. Eyes can be the most visible parts of organisms, and this can act as a pressure on organisms to have more transparent eyes at the cost of function.[28] Eyes may be mounted on stalks to provide better all-round vision, by lifting them above an organisms carapace; this also allows them to track predators or prey without moving the head.[9] [edit] Visual acuity A hawks eye Visual acuity, or resolving power, is the ability to distinguish fine detail and is the property of cones.[30] It is often measured in cycles per degree (CPD), which measures an angular resolution, or how much an eye can differentiate one object from another in terms of visual angles. Resolution in CPD can be measured by bar charts of different numbers of white/black stripe cycles. For example, if each pattern is 1.75 cm wide and is placed at 1 m distance from the eye, it will subtend an angle of 1 degree, so the number of white/black bar pairs on the pattern will be a measure of the cycles per degree of that pattern. The highest such number that the eye can resolve as stripes, or distinguish from a gray block, is then the measurement of visual acuity of the eye. For a human eye with excellent acuity, the maximum theoretical resolution is 50 CPD[31] (1.2 arcminute per line pair, or a 0.35 mm line pair, at 1 m). A rat can resolve only about 1 to 2 CPD.[32] A horse has higher acuity through most of the visual field of its eyes than a human has, but does not match the high acuity of the human eyes central fovea region. Spherical aberration limits the resolution of a 7 mm pupil to about 3 arcminutes per line pair. At a pupil diameter of 3 mm, the spherical aberration is greatly reduced, resulting in an improved resolution of approximately 1.7 arcminutes per line pair.[33] A resolution of 2 arcminutes per line pair, equivalent to a 1 arcminute gap in an optotype, corresponds to 20/20 (normal vision) in humans. [edit] Perception of colours Colour vision is the faculty of the organism to distinguish lights of different spectral qualities.[34] All organisms are restricted to a small range of electromagnetic spectrum; this varies from creature to creature, but is mainly between 400 and 700 nm.[35] This is a rather small section of the electromagnetic spectrum, probably reflecting the submarine evolution of the organ: water blocks out all but two small windows of the EM spectrum, and there has been no evolutionary pressure among land animals to broaden this range.[36] The most sensitive pigment, rhodopsin, has a peak response at 500 nm.[37] Small changes to the genes coding for this protein can tweak the peak response by a few nm;[2] pigments in the lens can also filter incoming light, changing the peak response.[2] Many organisms are unable to discriminate between colours, seeing instead in shades of grey; color vision necessitates a range of pigment cells which are primarily sensitive to smaller ranges of the spectrum. In primates, geckos, and other organisms, these take the form of cone cells, from which the more sensitive rod cells evolved.[37] Even if organisms are physically capable of discriminating different colours, this does not necessarily mean that they can perceive the different colours; only with behavioural tests can this be deduced.[2] Most organisms with colour vision are able to detect ultraviolet light. This high energy light can be damaging to receptor cells. With a few exceptions (snakes, placental mammals), most organisms avoid these effects by having absorbent oil droplets around their cone cells. The alternative, developed by organisms that had lost these oil droplets in the course of evolution, is to make the lens impervious to UV light — this precludes the possibility of any UV light being detected, as it does not even reach the retina.[37] [edit] Rods and cones The retina contains two major types of light-sensitive photoreceptor cells used for vision: the rods and the cones. Rods cannot distinguish colours, but are responsible for low-light (scotopic) monochrome (black-and-white) vision; they work well in dim light as they contain a pigment, rhodopsin (visual purple), which is sensitive at low light intensity, but saturates at higher (photopic) intensities. Rods are distributed throughout the retina but there are none at the fovea and none at the blind spot. Rod density is greater in the peripheral retina than in the central retina. Cones are responsible for colour vision. They require brighter light to function than rods require. In humans, there are three types of cones, maximally sensitive to long-wavelength, medium-wavelength, and short-wavelength light (often referred to as red, green, and blue, respectively, though the sensitivity peaks are not actually at these colours). The colour seen is the combined effect of stimuli to, and responses from, these three types of cone cells. Cones are mostly concentrated in and near the fovea. Only a few are present at the sides of the retina. Objects are seen most sharply in focus when their images fall on the fovea, as when one looks at an object directly. Cone cells and rods are connected through intermediate cells in the retina to nerve fibres of the optic nerve. When rods and cones are stimulated by light, the nerves send off impulses through these fibres to the brain.[37] [edit] Pigmentation The pigment molecules used in the eye are various, but can be used to define the evolutionary distance between different groups, and can also be an aid in determining which are closely related – although problems of convergence do exist.[37] Opsins are the pigments involved in photoreception. Other pigments, such as melanin, are used to shield the photoreceptor cells from light leaking in from the sides. The opsin protein group evolved long before the last common ancestor of animals, and has continued to diversify since.[2] There are two types of opsin involved in vision; c-opsins, which are associated with ciliary-type photoreceptor cells, and r-opsins, associated with rhabdomeric photoreceptor cells.[38] The eyes of vertebrates usually contain cilliary cells with c-opsins, and (bilaterian) invertebrates have rhabdomeric cells in the eye with r-opsins. However, some ganglion cells of vertebrates express r-opsins, suggesting that their ancestors used this pigment in vision, an d that remnants survive in the eyes.[38] Likewise, c-opsins have been found to be expressed in the brain of some invertebrates. They may have been expressed in ciliary cells of larval eyes, which were subsequently resorbed into the brain on metamorphosis to the adult form.[38] C-opsins are also found in some derived bilaterian-invertebrate eyes, such as the pallial eyes of the bivalve molluscs; however, the lateral eyes (which were presumably the ancestral type for this group, if eyes evolved once there) always use r-opsins.[38] Cnidaria, which are an outgroup to the taxa mentioned above, express c-opsins but r-opsins are yet to be found in this group.[38] Incidentally, the melanin produced in the cnidaria is produced in the same fashion as that in vertebrates, suggesting the common descent of this pigment.[38]

Hotel Description Location The Grand View Hotel Tourism Essay

Hotel Description Location The Grand View Hotel Tourism Essay The Grand View Hotel is a traditional hotel built in the 1950s offering traditional facilities. It is sited on the seafront at a convenient location, which is close to its competition hotels and the main shopping center. Accessibility of the hotel is high. It is less than 30 minutes from the nearest airport and supported by good road, rail and bus linking to major cities. The Grand View Hotel is a 250 rooms establishment in which 200 are double rooms and 50 are king bedded rooms, all includes private bathroom. The rooms are of a good size, comfortable and with different decorative styles. At present, there is a large garden and a small swimming pool in the hotel, parking space with a capacity of 120 cars is also available. On top of that, there is a restaurant which serves buffet for breakfast and lunch as well as a la carte for dinner. The lobby lounge area is fairly large which is suited to a business type of hotel. There is also a pub; however it is in poor decorative order. There were several refurbishment programs launched which included the signs replacement, renovation and redecoration of front desk, restaurant and bar. Generally speaking, the hotel is in good physical condition except the front desk. On top of that, the hotel used to redecorate 25 guest rooms each year. Consistent Standard of Excellence: We will consistently provide our guests with a superior quality product and make a conscious daily effort to be better than our competition. Personalized Guest Service: We will meet the specific meet of each guest with a professional, friendly, prompt, courteous, and enthusiastic, attitude from all staff all times. Company Goals The purpose and values of Grand Ford are to generate a multi-faceted success. Maintaining the financial well-being of hotel by the strict control of all costs at all times without exception. Gain reputation by providing high quality of products and services which beyond the guests expectation. Increase the quality of the entire workforces and reduce the staff turnover rate by providing better staff training benefit. Provide a fantastic and comfortable environment to every valuable customer in order to satisfy their needs. Company Objectives In order to reach our goals, several objectives should firstly be achieved: Reduce the total labor cost from 46% to below 35% within the first year. Reduce the cost of sales in FB department to 35% within the first year. Reduce the annual staff turnover rate from 102% to 50% within the first year. Increase the average room occupancy rate from 19% to 55% within 2 years and reach the standard of 70% within four years. Human Resources Human Resources Policy The hotel is able to reduce labour costs and staff turnover by hiring the right person for the right position at the right time for the price, or salary in another word. Training programs will be provided to staff mambers in order to enhance their performance thus the guest satisfaction and finally increasing profitability. Organizational Structure Staffing It is known that reduction of staff can be a de-motivator, however, there will be a huge over staffing if we do not reduce any workforce on such a low occupancy. It is planned to reduce serveral staff in some particular departments such as housekeeping and front office. With the growth of business and new coming construction projects, the hotel will certainly relocate and hire a certain munber of staff in order to maintain a smooth daily operation. Staffing level will be monitored on a monthly basis in the first year operation and quarterly in the rest of the operation with high level of flexibility. Recruitment With the aim of having the most suitable person to be crew members who are able to generate an overall experience beyond guests expectations, both internal and external recruiting methods will be applied in the Grand View Hotel. Positive attitude, enthusiasm, outstanding interpersonal relationship and high standard of qualification will be required for appliances. Aiming to reach the potential pool of appliances, recruiting advertisement will be placed in industry journals and in the hotels official website. For the internal preparation, the hotel will review the job analysis on a regular basis to ensure that the documents best describe the job and that they are properly prepared for effective recruitment and selection process. On top of that, laws and regulations will be taken under serious consideration during the process. Selection In order to be fair and to get the most suitable person to fill up vacancies, a multi-hurdle strategy will be applied meaning that elimination of candidates during selection process will be based on the job specification. Interviews will be the most commonly used tool to assess a candidate. Furthermore, for external appliances, job tests will be another method that the Grand View will use to select an operational staff while group assessments will be applied for the rest. For internal selection meaning promotion and relocation of staff, potential employees performance and past records will be taken under consideration. Orientations Orientation programs are designed to provide new employees a clear direction of their job and the hotel directions. The hotel can benefited from a good orientation program in terms of higher morale in the workplace thus improving the performance and the productivity and therefore a higher bottom line. Regarding the above factors, orientation programs will be provided to each staff member within their probation period in the Grand View Hotel with the following elements. Aimed to improve the skills and performance of staff members, thus enhance the customers comfort and satisfaction therefore raise the reputation and influence the revenue of the hotel. Training for staff in all levels is considered as the main step to achieve goals. On the job training is one of the training methods that will be applied in the Grand View focusing on operational and entry level staff. It is effective in both cost control and performance improvements as it is conducted during business operation in actual work settings. For managerial level staff, group discussion and workshops will be useful in order to share experience and keep track of the hotels operation generally. All training programs will be reviewed on an annual basic. Besides on-site training, off-site training is also encouraged. The hotel will support staff to take job relevant courses organized by recognized organizations. Staff Payroll We intend to maintain an annual staff payroll with a maximum of 35% of total revenue. Salary of level 1 will be offered to entry level employees and level 2 for department heads for the first half year in order to control costs. However, salary levels will be adjusted according to the performance which will be reflected by the bottom line in order to motivate the staff and ecourage better performances. Salary reduction will unusually be seen in the Grand View Hotel since this will de-motivate the employees and as a result, the staff turnover rate will increase. Environmental Scan Political The political environment includes such areas as government policies, political trends and internal political issues. The political environment is very stable and beneficial for the hotel meaning that the political situation supports local businesses and establishments. This is extremely beneficial for the hotels future because this means it can concentrate on attracting more markets meaning more variety in customers. We can also concentrate on the customer satisfaction which involves their needs and expectations. September 11th had a huge impact in the tourism in the USA. The uncertainty of political situation because of the September 11th attracts, have led potential customers to think twice about travelling abroad or within the country itself. This has a huge effect on the hotels business which we will also have to contain in to the analysis. Economic Since the main industries of the area are Distribution/ Hospitality, Banking and Finance. We intend to meet the demand in these areas by offering various services especially in the area of conferences since our target market is business costumers during the weekdays. Unemployment levels also have a big effect on the economic situation. The employment level is high especially in the areas of management/professional and clerical/secretarial work. This in return aids our hotel in the way that the environment is safer due to the high employment rate and this attracts more travelers, giving us the opportunity to catch the attention of these customers, to maximize our revenue. Social The employment level is very high; it is currently half of the national average. A large proportion of the populations of that employment level are in management/professional and clerical/secretarial jobs. But also the employment levels for skilled non-manual, skilled and semi-skilled manual work is also high. But that is not the case for unskilled employment. A large proportion of the population is families with the average of 2 children per family. Since one of the main industries is Banking and Finance, we will be looking to attract business travelers whose aim is to locate a convenient and appropriate property that accommodate their needs for a professional working ambience. Technological The continuous changing world of technology can pose a lot of threats, but if the right actions are taken at the right time it can also be an opportunity. Technology can give us the competitive edge in terms of conference and meeting equipment. Equipment is expensive, but with a large variety of suppliers and different options like buying, renting and leasing, it can become a relatively in expense way of modernizing our facilities. The hotel technologies include fast wireless internet, security cameras which ensure the safety of the guests, conference equipment, transportation, and so on. We will also try to build up and maintain good relations with our technological and safety partners to ensure that when problems do occur, that they can be solved as fast as possible. Legal In the United States there are 3 different kinds of legal systems. The first being Local legislation, the second State legislation and the third being Federal Legislations. There three have a huge amount of impact on how the hotel is run. The legislations meaning the laws that are imposed on the hotel include and are related to the operators of the hotel, consumers and employees. These 3 legal systems enforce various laws and regulations which include the minimum wage, health and safety laws, anti-discrimination laws, employee rights and employer rights. Environmental The environmental aspect is a very critical issue since it encompasses a wide range of aspects. It ranges from ecological issues to staff attitude/morale to environmental regulations. This is where we split up the environmental issues into 2 sections. They are internal and external. Internal is everything that is within the hotel that has a moderate amount of affect on the hotel. External is everything that affects the hotel coming from outside the four walls. Internal environment includes staff attitude and morale which has been low since the poor performance of the hotel which can also be seen from the high staff turnover. These will decrease tremendously due to the new regulations, training and vision of the hotel. External Environment includes environment regulations which are set by local, state and federal legislations which the hotel has to abide by. Marketing Plan The marketing plan is a very important guide to lead a successful establishment. Our marketing plan will be based on the companys target market, as well as the goals and objectives of the property. Situation analysis: Internal environment The guest rooms, front desk, restaurant and bar, are all in poor condition. The restaurant and the front desk were last refurbished 7 years ago. Only 25 guestrooms were redecorated each year, which demonstrates that the guest rooms are potentially not in the most desirable standard and lack of modern amenities. As the hotel is located in a popular area for conferences during both on and off seasons, there will be a very high demand of business travelers. But when considering internally, there are no conference facilities or any sort of business services in the hotel. Moreover, the guestrooms are not suitable for holding conferences or meetings. Those problems have drawn the attention of the management team, and proper investments and constructions will be conducted in the very early stage of the operation in accordance with the aforementioned. By reviewing the information and statistical facts which were provided by the previous owner, we found that the hotel occupancy was always below the average. On the other hand, the staff turnover rate was extremely high, which means that the morale of the employees was unacceptable. The customers were all disappointed by the food, the facilities and the service quality of the hotel. As the reputation of the hotel was bad, occupancy rate will inevitably be affected. In regards to the financial situation, it was terrible to see that the net income was growing negatively. Furthermore, there were plenty of long term debts and accounts payable, which even worsened the financial situation of the hotel. Those liabilities should be of concern by the management team as they can potentially affect the upcoming operation of the property. Customer environment Referring to the marketing research and statistics, we found out that there are 2 main types of customers, them being business and leisure travellers. As the local area is becoming well known in terms of conferences, it is important for us to realize that many events will be held throughout the year. Therefore, we predict that the demand for accommodation of the business travelers will increase. Besides, we can see from the statistics that 80% of the customers came for business purposes in the first quarter and more than 50% for the entire year. In addition, around 154,000 of those travelled during the weekdays according to the research provided by local Chamber of Commerce and Tourist Board, which contributed the most to the customer base. These factors and numbers provided us with significant information about the importance of investing in business and in conference facilities. Also, the hotel is located along the seafront, just 30 minutes away from the airport, therefore the leis ure travelers will also be our main customers as our property can easily be accessed by the customers due to the geographical reason. Tourists nowadays are expecting more they are willing to spend more in order to get better experiences for their stay. By this, we reckon that services and facilities rank the first when it comes to choosing hotels. Therefore our upcoming investments, constructions, and strategies would be tailored for our customers in order to satisfy or even to exceed their expectations. SWOT analysis Strengths Convenient location for customers because of the nearby airport and excellent transport links. Prefect venue for conferences. Having the biggest capacity while comparing with the competitors within the same area. Weakness Lack of development in terms of facilities and services. No clear guidelines and competent management team to operate the hotel. High turnover rate. Poor image and reputation. Poor and inconsistent service. Limited financial support. Of poor condition including the front desk, restaurants, guest rooms. Low liquidity and high liabilities. Opportunities Plenty of conventions and events will be held within the area. New technologies to reduce the operation cost. Fast market growth Threats The ever-changing market trends and needs. Government regulations and laws which may restrict expansions and developments Economic instability New entrants Target Market: The main target markets of the Grand View Hotel are Business and Leisure travelers. Special packages and facilities will also be promoted to attract the customers. Marketing Mix: 4Ps Product As Grand View Hotel will be a 3 diamonds hotel, we provide different facilities to fit with the needs of the market. We guarantee that the services will be delivered with high quality and all the employees will be trained for enhancing the skills and knowledge. . The Grand View hotel has 200 Double rooms and 50 King rooms, a restaurant, a lounge and a bar. We also provide room services, conference facilities, fitness facilities including a fitness club and a swimming pool. Furthermore, parking spaces are also available. Some of the facilities will be constructed within one year and we plan to constantly refurbishing the guest rooms and to provide more amenities and entertainment. There will be also some modifications for the restaurant so as to provide better services. Different packages will be provided to attract more guests, such as Honeymoon packages, conference packages as well as leisure traveler packages in order to diversify our customer base. Price As there is high elasticity of demand in the hospitality industry, its a big challenge to establish the most appropriate price. Therefore, the price should be flexible to handle and fit in different target markets. The room rate will be modified seasonally according to the demand and from the surrounding competitors as well. Special price and discount will be offered for large group and business travelers. But, the groups have to discuss with the sales department for more details. The price for the regular guests will be consistent to keep their loyalty. The leisure travelers will be upgraded for free during the low seasons and also free use of the facilities depends on the demand and season. The discount will be offered for weekends. The price will be differentiates at different times. But, the main idea for the price is to maximize the revenue but also to satisfy our guests. Place The location of the hotel is fixed. The hotel is sited along the seafront, close to other hotels and a short distance from the main shopping center, and also it is near the airport and with good transport links to major cities and other resorts. Moreover, the area of the resort has become a popular location for conferences, both in and out season. Its also the best place for holding conferences which includes conference facilities, fitness club, good infrastructure and superstructure in the city, and a fantastic sea view. We will provide shuttle bus to take customers from the airport and to the airport every 30 minutes from 6a.m to 1a.m. Promotion We will promote through direct and indirect distribution channels. We will approach our potential customers who are already targeted through the direct sales call and mail, to communicate with them and find out whats best suitable for them. And then, we will also advertise in local newspapers and business press to let people know about the hotel. Moreover, we will also put the hotel on the Local Visitor Guide to attract more transient guests and place posters throughout stations and airports. Furthermore, we will pay the Public Relation Agency to find more potential customers and transient customers from all over the world. We will use different advertising media depending on different conditions for different markets. Moreover, we will set up our own hotel website so that the potential guests can have access to the hotel easier. Competitive advantages: As we are going to be a 3 diamond hotel, we are going to provide quality services and comfortable ambience for our customers, and re-create customers satisfaction and professional image. The employees are the ones to deliver the quality service so they will be trained to be professional and efficient by effective training programs. As the employees can learn by working and training, they will be motivated and the morale will increase in order to provide and give the best services to the guests. Furthermore, the guests can also keep their memorable and happy experiences with us. These factors will contribute to our uniqueness among our competitors and gain the reputation. The Grand View hotel will provide many different business services and facilities such as photocopying, stationary preparing, direct dial phone, fax, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Moreover, we have a fitness club, including a swimming pool, stair climbing machines, treadmills, fitness walking, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Since our hotel focuses heavily on our guest rooms, we will provide a wide range of guest amenities and entertainments. We try our best to maintain a very competitive edge and we strive to be the best amongst our competitors with our comfortable guestrooms and quality services. Action Plan In order to turn around the worst situation that we are facing currently, we are going to do several revolutions, investments and constructions according to the marketing plan and try to improve and gain back the reputation within the first operating year. The first action that we are going to do is to adjust the staff numbers of different departments since effective staffing schedule can save the hotel dozen of money. In order to schedule the staff effectively due to the low occupancy, the number of staff in food and beverage, hotel service and front desk will be cut down. The main goal for the FB department is to maximize revenue. For that to happen, the first action that will be taken is that employees are required to participate in numerous training sessions (training program 3), which include general training for example up selling, but also on the job training and coaching which will be carried out by the supervisors and/or the FB manager. Targets will be set for each and every employee, which they will have to achieve. If these targets or requirements are not met then some corrective actions will have to be taken, and this will be done in the form of further training and coaching sessions but also severe employee evaluations. The menu types will be shortened (Menu type 1), to ensure that we can minimize our costs but also we will find a right supplier with the right quality for the right price (Supplier type 2) to ensure that we find the perfect equilibrium between the quality of our food and the production cost and the selling price. All these d ecision will be in affect as soon as we reopen the hotel. Revision of Standard operating procedures will be set in place to ensure speed, quality and to satisfy guests to the fullest. Moreover, we will do the refurbishment (level 2) of the rooms and front desk upon we start the operation in order to create better working environment to our staff and more enjoyable lodging venue to our customers. The refurbishments will include the new decorative scheme. Replace carpets, curtains, linen, light fittings, deep clean other furnishings. Paint woodwork and ceilings, wallpaper walls. We are planning to refurbish 50 rooms every year. In order to provide a better lodging experience to our customers, the in room entertainments and amenities will be added into service. Since our first mission is to attract the guests to come to our hotel and gain reputation by our excellent services and facilities. As advertising helps to promote our hotel, therefore we are going to do our advertising in accordance with the most profitable market timely. First of all, we will do our advertising through the local newspaper, business press and direct mail in the first three months. We will focus on advertise the weekday and weekend rooms, and also the meal. Since the above media are the most effectiveness in advertise the rooms and meal, therefore we will use those media for our first advertising. Risk Assessments and Control Risks are inevitable. We have to identify different risks to avoid and reduce the possibility of risks occurring. Investing in insurance is essential because if these risks occur, it will cost more and at the same time affect the reputation of our hotel. Here are some risk assessments identified: Asset Property risks There are some risks, such as fire, explosion, crime or natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and tsunamis which could possibly occur and destroy our assets and property. Legal risks Large amount of money are being won in consumer, individual lawsuits and in class action suits. Our hotel is liable to its employees, its guests and, in some instances, to the general public. Bomb threat After the 911 incident, the United States has the essential risk of more terrorist attacks. Economic Crisis threat A loss amount of money may be happened due to the economics crisis of country. For example: the great depression. Leakage of private and confidential information of the hotel There are a lot of private and confidential information of the hotel and there is a risk of employees leaking out the other information which can greatly affect the business of our hotel. Budget 1st year Assumptions: Room Division Totally 50 rooms under renovation Contribution to revenue: 65% Food and Beverage Department Cost percentage: 35% Contribution to revenue: 35% Sales Room 4,823,174 FoodBev 2,597,094 7,420,268 Cost of Sales Room 353,246 Food Bev 908,983 908,983 Payroll Related Room 558,495 Food Bev 506,584 1,065,079 Gross Profit less Wages Room 3,911,433 Food Bev 1,181,527 5,092,960 Central Admin Payroll 154,140 Other Direct Costs 256,250 Income before Fixed Charges 4,682,570 Total Fixed Costs 674,325 Income before Taxes 4,008,245 Business Tax Paid 1,202,473 Income after Business Taxes 2,805,771 2nd year Assumptions: Average room rate states the same Average occupancy increased to 55% New facilities: in room mini bar, second bar, data point, quick check in/out, shop business service and additional parking area Sales Room 5,863,284 FoodBev 3,420,249 Other 1,465,821 9,772,140 Cost of Sales Room 353,246 Food Bev 1,197,087 Other 879,493 2,076,580 Payroll Related Room 609,450 Food Bev 506,584 Other 34,000 1,150,034 Gross Profit less Wages Room 4,900,588 Food Bev 1,716,578 Other 552,328 7,169,494 Central Admin Payroll 154,140 Other Direct Costs 678,250 Income before Fixed Charges 6,337,104 Total Fixed Costs 674,325 Income before Taxes 5,662,779 Business Tax Paid 1698834 Income after Business Taxes 3,963,945 3rd year Assumptions Average room rate states the same Average occupancy increased to 62% New facilities: health club, conference and function rooms Sales Room 6,570,348 FoodBev 3,832,703 Other 1,642,587 10,950,580 Cost of Sales Room 353,246 Food Bev 1,341,446 Other 985,552 2,326,998 Payroll Related Room 738,899 Food Bev 680,428 Other 85,000 1,504,327 Gross Profit less Wages Room 5,478,203 Food Bev 1,810,829 Other 572,035 7,861,067 Central Admin Payroll 154,140 Other Direct Costs 1,613,625 Income before Fixed Charges 6,093,302 Total Fixed Costs 674,325 Income before Taxes 5,418,977 Business Tax Paid 1625693 Income after Business Taxes 3,793,284 4th year Assumptions Average room rate states the same Average occupancy increased to 70% Sales Room 7,394,419 FoodBev 4,313,411 Other 1,848,605 12,324,032 Cost of Sales Room 353,246 Food Bev 1,509,694 Other 1,109,163 2,618,857 Payroll Related Room 834,449 Food Bev 680,428 Other 85,000 1,599,877 Gross Profit less Wages Room 6,206,724 Food Bev 2,123,289 Other 654,442 8,984,455 Central Admin Payroll 154,140 Other Direct Costs 1,634,000 Income before Fixed Charges 7,196,315 Total Fixed Costs 674,325 Income before Taxes 6,521,990 Business Tax Paid 1,956,597 Income after Business Taxes 4,565,393