Four Seasons Competitive Advantage

Four Seasons Competitive Advantage The firm creates value by performing a series of activities that Porter identified as the value chain. To achieve a competitive advantage, Four Seasons must perform more value creating activities in a way that creates more overall value than do competitors. Identify Four Seasons core competence Isadore Sharp was graduated architecture degree. This subject was including buildings, design modules and so on. It assisted Sharp in building and designing hotel more uniqueness, sharp and feature design etc. In technology development activities support the inbound logistics, Four Seasons was innovation constantly, such as Sharp build luxury hotel with then-modern amenities andprovide air conditioning service, Four Seasons also combination of a motel and a down town hotel result in success immediately. Four Seasons hotels design in such can meet with ergonomic to make more comfortable. These valuable activities enable Four Seasons to implement strategies that improve more efficiency. Four Seasons possess these unique capabilities in building and design the hotels. The talented person (Sharp) was not easy to imitated and no equivalent strategic capabilities. For that reason Four Seasons hotel has superior innovation capabilities for developing and exploiting innovation ideas. In its operations, Four Seasons hotel offered accommodation. Also, it satisfies different customers different demand such as offer workout options, spa etc. The support activities of firm infrastructure are support the Four Seasons sustainability develop and create valuable resources. Nevertheless these operations can be copied by other rivalry. Four Seasons in order to continue to refine exceptional quality. In its outbound logistics, the first one provided 24-hour room service. E.g. when the guest arrive the hotel and check in at night, receptionist will allocate the room to guest immediately as if serves to guest in a day. As this result, Four Seasons had been transferred their service to their customers. For human resource management, Four Seasons was strong focus on hiring superior employees their attitude in particular and trained them extensively in order to treat others to provide friendly services which enable the hotel on the island became number one. In its firm infrastructure, Four Seasons had a clear strategic direction, planning, market needs and understand the market position currently. E.g. focus on build small to medium sized hotels of exceptional quality. Four Seasons in order to offer excellent service, it hired employees of different working time group i.e. night shift employees, it make Four Seasons can support to open 24-hour room service. These support activities support the outbound logistics. By this means, it created a significant value contribution to success. Four Seasons offer exceptional service to provide 24-hour room service. The first hotel chain open 24-hour room service in North America enable outbound activities was very rarely. However it is not easy to sustain its competitive advantage. In its marketing and sales practice, Four Seasons sustained build luxury hotel until current possess operate 72 hotels in 31 countries and became a leading player in luxury hotel. The brand name spread over luxury hotel business worldwide, because Four Seasons acquired very much hotel quality recognition awards. As the result Four Seasons was a very well-known brand. In the eyes of the customers, Four Seasons just like luxury feelings. Moreover, Four Seasons specializing in hotel management. Four Seasons had laid down performance standard enable the staff provided comprehensive service to customer so that the hotel even more famous. In firm infrastructure support the Four Seasons to international expansion, F. S. George V gave an easy way to enter the Paris market help Four Season can signed a management agreement with HRH Prince, it enable Four Seasons own unique capabilities to international expansion. Four Seasons create a famous reputation throughout worldwide; it provided a real distinctiveness that rivals cannot match. Four Seasons hotel provided more convenience services to customers, such as overnight service, room service breakfast and so on. In its firm infrastructure and human resource management to support that can provide good customer service capabilities and better quality service relative to rivals. Four Seasons to enforce the corporate culture down to the front-line employees, encourage self-discipline and setting performance standard so as to provide excellent service. Four Seasons service able give the guests feel at home. These valuable and rare capabilities that are difficult to imitate or substitute can contribute to sustained competitive advantage. Weaknesses Four Seasons hotel had not focus on an independent procurement department; it may lead to cannot purchase the lowest price and highest quality for the activities of the company. Thereby, it may affect go down attractiveness and reputation. Also, Four Seasons suffer recession in the early 1990s, result in plummeting stock prices and big losses drove Sharp sold almost all the ownership. These reflect that Four Seasons weak finances, poor cash flow and only dependent on luxury hotel revenue. Clear Identification of Core Competencies Four Seasons has a superior innovation, famous reputation and unparalleled service of core capabilities. These core potencies can provide a particular benefit to customers. Core competencies cover an integration of skills, knowledge and technology. This combination can then leads to Four Seasons possess competitive advantage. 1b) Identification Of Generic Competitive Strategy Based On CCs Four Seasons sustain to pursuing differentiation strategy and increasing the value of a service offering in the eyes of customers. Four Seasons clearly differentiated by its core capabilities to charge a premium price. Four Seasons provides its guests with a wealth of amenities in prime downtown locations, richly designed rooms, elegant restaurants, room service and unparalleled service. Its guests pay a premium for this clearly differentiated product. Also, Four Seasons possess unique capabilities to expand international market and owned a very famous brand. These unique capabilities were superior to that available from most competitors. Four Seasons current marketing strategy is to target the luxury traveler and to target the growing affluent people in the markets and provide them of luxury travel and accommodation. Four Seasons initiating the transformation of the traditional hotel into a sort of dream home for guests. Although Four Seasons were possess core capabilities to charge a premium price. However, no competitive advantage is sustainable; everything can be duplicated, so Four Seasons pursuing differentiation persistently. A differentiation strategy will give the Four Seasons a competitive advantage so it can capture more consumer demand. 2 a) The challenges of entering French market The global marketplace provides many opportunities for a company to increase their profitability. However not all countries are attractive equally. In addition, one of the major concerns of companies competing in foreign markets is whether to customize their offerings in each different country market to match the tastes and preferences of local buyers. Pankaj Ghemawat introduces a CAGE framework which help the company to find out the issue of different dimensions of distance. Mason A. Carpenter (2009) states that Any international expansion strategy would still need to be backed up by the specific capabilities possessed by the Four Seasons hotel, regardless of how rosy the CAGE analysis paints the picture. Culture Distance Different countries have different local cultures and customs. Frenchs vogue taste sensitivity different culture from North American domestic market. For instance French expect world-class restaurant with floral arrangement, but North American Four Seasons restaurant normally understated and providing delicious food. In addition, Different languages also affect management communication problems. Gregory G. Dess (2007) states that different languages may have the same roots but different meanings or connotations.  [1]  These differences may influence the success of a strategic initiative. Administrative Distance Four Seasons against administrative distance of incompatible. i.e. Four Seasons lay down 800 rules, but some of the rules are incompatible in France, such as waiters leave the coffee pot so that they can refill their cups, this approach viewed as poor service. Besides, French laws are more demanding: more taxes, more protection for the employees and more legal constraints1. The provision of Four Seasons must retain former employees unless they wanted to leave in France, owing to the some former employees do not reach the Four Seasons hiring standard required that might impede the competitive position of Four Seasons. Besides, the French government is constantly making changes in polices affecting your business.  [2]   Four Seasons need hiring policies and service performance standards homogeneously between French and North American domestic market. Also, Four Seasons specialize in medium-sized hotels with French. Geographic Distance The challenges face to Four Seasons differs from Frenchs geographic distance. It includes the size of country, differences in climates, information networks, nature of transportation and time differences. Economic Distance Four Seasons need to face differs France economic conditions which affect luxury hotel significantly. France provides expand opportunities obviously, due to bulk demand luxury hotels, but enter into France market also need to aware of the stability of a country i.e. currency risks. Currency fluctuations can pose substantial risks. Four Seasons must constantly monitor the exchange rate between own and French currency, even a small change in the exchange rate can result in a significant different in the cost of hotel operation or net profit. Moreover, France economic condition also affect luxury hotel significantly. Fast-growth economies obviously provide opportunities, but also was aware of the stability of a country 2b) The culture gap of French and North American was totally different i.e. French against luxury restaurant taste. French expect that world-class restaurant should provide elegance amenities with floral arrangement, but North American Four Seasons restaurant normally understated and only providing delicious food. Also, French leave the coffee pot on the table for guests, so that they can refill their cups themselves, but this approach was viewed as poor service in France. As a result of different culture context, therefore Four Seasons must go to meet them in order to provide exceptional quality to reduce the cultural differences. Four Seasons also had to upgrade some of the more tangible amenities to meet the French standards of luxury. Understanding the basis of some culture differences may help people not to react personally to behavior they dont understand. This is shown that Four Seasons persistently pursuing exceptional quality of luxury hotel. It enabled Four Seasons still able t o keep its competitive advantages in French market. In addition, Different languages distance also affect management communication and service quality management. Four Seasons should adopt common language to avoid unnecessary mistake. Owing to Four Seasons expand to France where should adopt French language, it can avoid unnecessary wrong in language aspect. Also, the frontline staff must spoke fluency local language, it enable the guest feeling a tenderness service. Four Seasons should adapt the above of distance when it entered into the French market enable Four Seasons keep the competitive advantage of exceptional of service. Four Seasons against administrative distance of incompatible in France. A lot of law and regulation were protecting local. Besides, the French government is constantly making changes in polices affecting your business.  [3]  Also, France government provision protect its local employee, thus Four Seasons must retain of George former employees. However some foreign employers find French employees difficult to deal with and lacking in initiative. They tend not to relate well to others: the French are too individualistic. They dont always identify strongly with the company. One Austrian executive said, On occasion the French can be brutal and rude.  [4]  Result in Four Seasons need recruit mass employees provide train simultaneously to keep exceptional service and reputation. The challenges face to Four Seasons differs from Frenchs geographic distance, the Frances competition environment, market and the labor force problems, Four Seasons must clear understand 2c) Four Seasons was pursuing a multidomestic strategy. However, Finance and North American culture not the same, therefore culture differences may also require Four Seasons to adapt its local culture when it expands internationally such as service performance standard.. In North American, the guest valued time particularly and productivity. Thus phone calls will be answered before the fourth ring and no guest will wait longer than 60 seconds at the reception desk. Whereas French pursuing living standard such as required staff spent more time take care them. So Four Seasons need customize its services to meet the specific needs and preferences of local customers. Also, Four Seasons so as to meet local adapt French guest needs to enlarge rooms, from origin 300 to 245 rooms. It was able to detect potential opportunities for attractive niches in a given market, enhancing revenue. France governments regulated that required Four Seasons retaining a large number of former employees for new recruiting unless they wanted to leave result in Four Seasons need screen more than 10,000 applicants to recruit 400 position. Thus Four Seasons must localization to meet local specific needs. In order to make Four Seasons more localization, Four Seasons choose Didier Le Calvez as a Frances general manager. In doing so Four Seasons can decentralized strategic business units in France with considerable strategic autonomy and focuses on the specific competitive forces with France.

The Poetry of Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin Essay -- Biography Biogr

The Poetry of Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin   In reading poetry, from many different genres, its seems that politically motivated verse seems to dominate, next to love that is. It also seems that poets have a desire to live in a different time, a different place. No one ever seems to be content with the condition of their world, yet, I suppose that is in the nature of humans. We all want something better or something from the past that we can't have. Wither it be the simplicity, the passion, the technology that we don't have, the peace that once was or the greatness that has long been gone, poets that are political in nature suggest a very personal, yet pervading utopia. Two poets who, political in nature, that were born in the same year, lived in the same part of the world, and who attending the same college prove to be an interesting contrast to one another. Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin are both natives of England and are considered 'Modernists', but what they suggest isn't a "better place" or a different time. Their wo rk represents a change in attitude, from looking at what isn't to looking at reality and what is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of   course, each of these poets has a different perspective, for there is not one single motive, desire or drive that can be defined as the essence of life. One cannot describe someone's work as being all or none of this or of that. What is interesting, though, is the subjective nature each poet has in their view of life and how that is portrayed in their poetry. Each one has a unique quality that sets them apart from the rest and each has characteristics that provide the reader with clues as to their perspective on life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In reviewing the poetry of Amis, one can’t help but read Again... ... Larkin, Philip. Collected Poems. Victoria: The Marvell Press; London: Faber and Faber, 2003. Print â€Å"Philip Larkin†. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. 8 January 2009. "Larkin Study Notes." Chaeron.net. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. . "Philip Larkin." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. . "Philip Larkin." New World Encyclopedia. 29 Aug. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

Roger and Me1 Essay -- essays papers

Roger and Me1 The Modes Moore Employs Roger and Me is the story of Michael Moore’s quest to right the wrong done to Flint, Michigan by Roger Smith, CEO of General Motors. GM factories closed down in Flint, resulting in unemployment for of thousands of workers. These laid off auto workers are products of generations of auto workers. GM has been a Flint way of life since the factories first opened. But, finding that operation and labor costs were substantially less in Mexico, Roger Smith filled for bankruptcy and closed the plants down. The consequences of this shut-down were devastating to Flint. The rat population exceeded that of humans, houses were abandoned, and families who couldn’t afford the rent were evicted. The citizens who remained in Flint were now residents of the city with the highest crime rate in all of America. These are just a few of the issues which spurred Michael Moore’s pursuit for the illusive Roger Smith. Roger and Me, on a basic level falls into the Interactive category with its involved interviews and archival footage. On page thirty-three, Nichols comments on the use of archival footage in the Interactive Mode of Documentary. Writing that old news clips are often appended onto expert and witness interviews as to avoid reenactments and voice of god commentaries. Moore uses archival footage in several different ways. First, he uses it to show the way Flint t used to be. There are shots of a parade used while Moore talks about growin... Roger and Me1 Essay -- essays papers Roger and Me1 The Modes Moore Employs Roger and Me is the story of Michael Moore’s quest to right the wrong done to Flint, Michigan by Roger Smith, CEO of General Motors. GM factories closed down in Flint, resulting in unemployment for of thousands of workers. These laid off auto workers are products of generations of auto workers. GM has been a Flint way of life since the factories first opened. But, finding that operation and labor costs were substantially less in Mexico, Roger Smith filled for bankruptcy and closed the plants down. The consequences of this shut-down were devastating to Flint. The rat population exceeded that of humans, houses were abandoned, and families who couldn’t afford the rent were evicted. The citizens who remained in Flint were now residents of the city with the highest crime rate in all of America. These are just a few of the issues which spurred Michael Moore’s pursuit for the illusive Roger Smith. Roger and Me, on a basic level falls into the Interactive category with its involved interviews and archival footage. On page thirty-three, Nichols comments on the use of archival footage in the Interactive Mode of Documentary. Writing that old news clips are often appended onto expert and witness interviews as to avoid reenactments and voice of god commentaries. Moore uses archival footage in several different ways. First, he uses it to show the way Flint t used to be. There are shots of a parade used while Moore talks about growin...

Roles and Responsibilities of Teacher

Unit 008 :Roles ,Responsibility and relationship in lifelong learning. This assignment is about the role and responsibility of teachers in lifelong learning. In order to teach in lifelong learning, a teacher will need different tools, support, understanding and above all a good knowledge of teaching codes of practice. As with all professions, teaching has to be done within the boundaries of the law to achieve a safe learning environment for the student. The legislations are very important to safeguard the teacher, student and adult learners.For example the Health and Safety at work act (1974) (Gravells, 2008, p. 19)is about the safety of the student and teacher. It is crucial for the teacher to ensure all learners are aware of their safety procedures at the beginning of any course. Furthermore, a risk assessment is carried out by the teacher, to reduce any risk on the premise. For example, when a teacher is carrying an experiment which includes heating, the teacher ensures students a re wearing safety goggles. ’The Disability Discrimination Act(1995 and onwards), which has been enforce to ensure nobody is discriminated against irrespective of disability(physical or mental ), gender, religion ,age, ethnicity, sexual orientation or social (domestic circumstances)’’ (Wilson, 2008, p. 20) In order to implement the above legislation, a teacher needs to assess what the requirements of his/her learners’ are, and how they could be supported. A teacher has to make sure that every learner has equal opportunities to access the learning experience. Similar essay: PTLLS Assignments Examples FreeFor example someone who lip reads, the teacher needs to speaks very clearly and avoids standing in darker area which will make it difficult for that particular learner to lip read. For example a learner who uses wheelchair, prior to the course, the teacher ensures the learner has access to all facilities without any problem e. g. a ramp is installed outside the room. At this point the teacher would require internal support services to install the ramp. Data Protection Act (1988) (Wilson, 2008, p. 20), each learner has their own file which holds personal and confidential information (address, contact details and medical history).These files are kept in a safe and secure place in a filing cabinet, which restricts sharing of data. The teacher should be a good team player to encourage and welcome people’s differences and use these qualities to broaden the learning experience. Teaching in a simple language helps the learners to understa nd the concept easily as for most learners’ English is not their first language. The teacher needs to ensure that learning tools like handouts are unbiased and exclude inappropriate comments from the classroom. It is important for a teacher to practise equality and diversity effectively so as to have a maximum impact on the learners.A good teacher needs to tailor their lessons according to learners’ needs and requirements; this is known as inclusive learning. ’’By inclusive learning we mean the greatest degree of match or fit between how learn best, what they need and what is required from the sector, a college and teachers for successful learning to take place’’ (Tomlinson, 1996, p. 200) . These qualities should be within a teacher, which is gain by using the teaching training cycle. The training cycle has five stages which are identifying needs, planning and designing, delivering, assessing and evaluating.A teacher must be certain of his/h er role, responsibilities and boundaries within these stages. During the initial stage of identifying needs and planning, the teacher will identify the needs of his/her learners (Yvonne Hillier,, 2005, p. 61). Firstly, by assessing any physical needs like wheelchair users. A questionnaire can also be used, to find out learners aim, previous experience, learner background, preferred learning style. The teacher would keep the questionnaire in a safe place and ensure no details are left on desks. Also make sure this confidential information is not available to anybody.Some learners’ needs may exceed what the teacher can offer; at this point the teacher will refer the student to another professional. For example, someone who has literacy needs, the teacher would refer the learner a literacy teacher to address his/her needs. During designing phase of the lessons, a teacher’s responsibility is to provide high quality materials example handouts, tutorial and games which will motivate and increase concentration in learners and facilitate learning. Thus, resources should be relevant and easy to access within the premises. The next stage is the delivery of the session.The teacher will ensure that the learners’ are equally involved and engaged in all the activities in order to facilitate the learning by using different learning tools and style . The lessons should be well-structured, clear aims established to ensure that lessons run on time. It is a teacher’s responsibility to establish a good professional relationship with the learners, so that they are comfortable asking any help for learning. Stay within boundaries so that the teacher should not be over friendly, and should always maintain a professional relationship.Avoid touching / leaning across learner during an explanation. In the assessing phases, the teacher ensures the lessons objectives are clear to the learners and check their progression. For example, quizzes can be organised to check the learner’s achievement and development feedback from learners will identify the development areas. However, the teacher should not set task which is not link directly to learning objectives. Among the duties of a teacher in the Lifelong Learning sector, the teacher also has to undertake responsibilities towards the other professionals in the organisation.One of the principal responsibilities as a teacher is to remain within the teaching code of practice. The collaboration between teachers and other professionals is important to maintain smooth running of the organisation. Good communication between professionals ensures that learners are getting the most efficient and effective support. The teacher will need to consult other professionals when needs exceeds his/her boundaries. For example, if a learner has not been able to finish his assignment on time and the reason could be financial problem.The role of the teacher should also include maintaining a safe and appropr iate learning environment to facilitate the learners. For example, before the start of the lesson, the teacher needs to ensure that the classroom layout is safe and accessible to all learners. To implement a safe environment, ground rules are set. Ground rules within a class, is a mutual agreement by the tutor and learners who attend the class. There are three ways of setting ground rules: teacher imposes, learner imposes or through negotiation. The ground rules can be promoted by displaying on the wall of the classroom, video or even by using pictures.

The Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimension Business Essay Essay

This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section defines culture, its importance in international business and the various cultural dimensions for working globally. The next section describes the culture of India and U.K. and reviews the impact of culture on the working of Hilton Hotel Group in both the countries. Finally, it ends with a brief summary. CULTURE Hofstede (2003) defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from another.† It is evident that people from diverse environment can misunderstand each other. When two people interact in an organization, culture characterizes their behavior and attitude towards others. When a company plans to start a business in abroad, employees with good communication skills and with the ability to adapt into new environment are chosen to travel and interact with people of various cultures and nationalities. (Mead, 1992) This table shows the division of world’s population according to Region, Language and Religion which are the major aspects of determining ones culture. Taylor (1870) defines culture as â€Å"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society†. Culture plays a very important role in business. All civilizations have its own cultural elements like language, religion, values, attitude, customs, education, aesthetics and social institutions. (Czinkota, 2007) Culture passes from one generation to the other, however it can vary from one group to the other. Every society has its own point of view and opinion about various situations; however, it acts as a barrier to communication. (Daniels, Lee and Sullivan, 2004) CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Geert Hofstede, a much known professor carried out the study of impact of culture on individuals at a workplace. It took him six years to complete this study as it consists of interviews of more than 100,000 employees from 70 countries. According to Hofstede 2004, â€Å"the UK has 35 points in power distance, 89 in individualism, 66in masculinity, 35 in uncertainty avoidance and 25 in long term orientation†. Power Distance – According to Hofstede, 2004, â€Å"Inequality exists in every culture; however the extent to which less  powerful members of the society agree to the inequality differs from one culture to the other. Power distance is related to the different solutions to the basic problem of human inequality† High power creates less communication amongst the bosses and employees whereas when the power is low, employees communicate more with their superiors for the decision making purposes. Individualism vs. collectivism- Individualism is defines as the cap ability of a human being to only take care of himself or his family where as collectivism describes a group of people who look after each and every member of that group. (Hofstede, 2004) These two dimensions describe the individualist or collectivist culture of a human being. Masculinity vs. Femininity – The third dimension is one of the most dominating factors of a culture. Countries where men are considered to be more strong and tough and women are considered to be more delicate and soft follow masculine culture where as countries where men and women are considered equal in terms of strength and tenderness follow feminine culture. (Hofstede, 2004) Uncertainty Avoidance – It is the level to which an individual can accept sudden changes and situations. Companies which have the tendency to admit unpredicted circumstances and dislike uncertainty have high uncertainty avoidance score culture whereas countries which take things as they come and are prepared for any change at any point of time have low uncertainty avoidance score culture. (Hofstede, 2004) Long term vs. short term orientation – The fifth dimension known as the Long term vs. short term orientation was discovered quite later by Hofstede with the help of a survey intended by Chinese scholars. According to Hofstede (2004), â€Å"long-term orientation means focusing to the future whereas short term orientation is focusing on the present and past. In long term oriented societies, pragmatism, perseverance is valued more; in short term oriented societies, respect for tradition and return favours is valued more†. HOME CULTURE VERSUS FOREIGN CULTURE Tayeb (1998) says that the decision to become involved in international business depends, among others, on the size of the company’s domestic market, its production capacity and capability, and the financial and other resources that the foreign market requires. In that way, firms can be placed on an internationalisation scale ranging from domestic single nation to  totally globalise. The extent to which national culture becomes relevant to a firm can be shown in the following table. The company’ own home country culture is of high relevance, though the managers and other employees may not be aware of its influence. The relevance of other people’s culture becomes greater for a firm as it spreads its activities and products past its national boundaries to reach foreigners with different value systems and tastes (Tayeb 1998). IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Understanding culture and its impact on international business is very important for the firm and its employees. Organizations differ not only on the basis of international culture but national culture as well. According to Ball et al. (1996), doing business with another culture is not an easy task and to be successful, every foreign company should be aware and follow some rules that make their business activity more compatible. They state that there are six rules of thumb for doing business in another culture. Even if these can be important when doing business in the home country, they become more crucial when going abroad. Johansson (2000) states that it should be kept in mind that even if adaptation to the foreign culture is good when it comes to future negotiations and co-operations, there is a limit for how far a manager should go to try to accommodate this foreign culture. Mistrust from the other part can be created if for example a manager is trying to adapt to the foreign cul ture and is doing this superficial and with lack of deeper meaning. This can lead to misinterpretation and seen as matter of insincerity. When a company begins to work outside its national country, it encounters various environmental and cultural changes which is not the case in own country. If one does not understand these cultural differences, then he might to face barriers in the success of the organization globally. (Lane et al, 2001). More international operations lead to more interaction and communication with people and companies working in different culture. Therefore, in order to operate productively, it is a basic need to understand or have knowledge of different cultural attributes and contrast. (Adler 1983). Ferner and Quintanilla (1998), state that â€Å"companies need to operate as one organisation which face global environment although they are consisted of different subunits which carry the characteristics of the local environment  they operate in and the companies also bring the cultural elements of the home countries which they o riginated in† Since the study of national and international cultures has become of the most acknowledged topic, therefore, it is important to learn culture, its importance and impacts in international business. IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS According to the article on Cultural impact on international Business, 2011, Culture influences international business in many ways. When culture and business interrelate with each other, it directs to the growth of fascinating circumstances or situation. When diverse cultures come together at an ordinary point with business as the podium, the spar is bound to happen. But most significantly, such circumstances assist us in becoming accustomed to demanding situations. Various societies or nations around the globe pursue different gestures and manners. The technique to see a difficulty might vary from country to country in the world. The global business culture, altogether, is an assembly of a variety of industry tradition, cultural power and the consideration development followed in different countries. Below are discussed the impacts of culture on an international business on the basis of body language, communication, time etc. Body Language Every country follows a different culture, which can be clearly found or seen in the behaviour and body language of its people. In order to work internationally, accepting the facts about underneath gesture or motion becomes essential. There is likelihood that people can get the wrong impression about the actions of different cultures. Thus, it calls for an accomplished planner to handle tricky state of affairs for the duration of conference. (Moran et al,2011) Communication Communication is another aspect of culture that affects the international business. Different countries have different ways of communication. The words and vocabulary used by a few people might sound unkind to others. The pronunciation of some words could have a different impact on the cultural ways of communicating in the commercial sector. This can also act as an obstacle in the progression of business communication. (Moran et al, 2011) Time The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about time in business in Punctuality. Britishers and Germans are very punctual and follow a time-bound schedule. The various ‘time-cultures’ could be one of the major factors for creating differences amongst people from miscellaneous ethnicity. Multinational Companies follow a schedule for meetings while doing a business and the way in which meetings are handles could also be the cause of having different point of views. (Moran et al, 2011) â€Å"It is necessary for corporate houses to understand the social conditions of different countries, to successfully tap the respective markets. Being sensitive to the values and beliefs of different cultures of the world is necessary†. (Leung 2005) The marketing executives sent abroad to operate business out of the country go through various problems and difficulties in trading with the commercial tradition and customs of that country. To target the international market and customers is not an easy task. It requires qualified experts who are trained and talented to deliver the best of their capability to the clients. CULTURE OF INDIA India is a vast country which houses diverse cultures, ethnic groups and races. The immense population of more than a billion people has resulted from invasions, relocations and inter-marriages that took place over the centuries. According to an article published in the Inter science Management Review (2012), the various customs and traditions followed by people reflects in the business mores of India. With the advent of technology, the companies have now started to venture out into international markets. It has thus helped the human resources and the organizations to get exposed to diverse working environments across nations. India has greatly benefited by this turn of events as the gap in the work culture of India and other nations has thus decreased to some extent. INDIAN WORK CULTURE First and foremost, the Indian etiquette calls for Namaste being a fundamental mode of greeting or saying goodbye. Recently though, education has brought about a reform in this practice as men and women now prefer to shake hands. Due to their politeness and respect towards their guests,  Indian people have trouble saying no. This aspect of their nature may act as a hurdle in sealing of contracts or doing negotiations. Paramount respect, courtesy and generosity is showered upon guests in India. It is a utopia for the international travellers. (Rai and Neelankavil, 2009) Rai and Neelankavil, 2009 also state that one of the major drawbacks of the Indian work culture is that there is no management of time. Indians don’t score too well in terms of punctuality; long delays in meetings, cancellation or rescheduling of the same are a common sight. This has found its roots in the basic mindset of people and the Indian culture. Another major failing of the Indian work system is the general slack of work in the Government offices which leads to delays in meting out results, excess of the red tape baggage that leads people not to have confidence in the system. Therefore, any transactions in India call for a huge amount of patience to be able to meet with the results. The article published in Inter Science Management Review, 2012 also states that Despite other shortcomings, Indians fare well in matters of the English language. The adeptness of the average middle class over the language is laudable. There is absolutely no hitch in sending and receiving of official letters, emails or faxes. The office environment in India is usually very formal and there are no personal relationship between the bosses and the subordinates. The decision making in almost all of the private companies is from top to bottom, which may take a long time for the decision to be made and implemented. This accounts for the general lack of management inside the working sector. Most of the Indians carry their work pressure home. They put in extra hours at work hence losing the work-life balance. This creates more pressure on them as the workplace demands are entirely different from that of the family. All this is done in an effort to earn monetary benefits and climb higher on the ladder of hierarchy of the workplace. Indians generally don’t make good mentors, they are soft critics and don’t stand up against something wrong as much as they should. This is thought to be because of the process of appraisal, the appraiser demands positive feedback despite the gaping holes in management and work. The lack of dexterity of the appraiser is usually the main reason behind lack of the much needed critical review. Indians have a hard time coping with changes of any sort, be it changes in management or work timings. A lot of time and energy is required for Indians to bring the change to practice. IMPACT OF  CULTURE ON HILTON HOTEL, INDIA One such new path is the concern with national culture. Whereas traditional IB research has been concerned with economic/legal issues and organizational forms and structures, the importance of national culture – broadly defined as values, beliefs, norms, and behavioural patterns of a national group – has become increasingly important in the last two decades, largely as a result of the classic work of Hofstede (1980). National culture has been shown to impact on major business activities, from capital structure to group performance Gibson (2002). Cross-cultural experimental literature examining the influence of individual characteristics has evolved, yielding greater sophistication and specification to our understanding of culture’s influence. Much early cross-cultural work tested only for the main effects of culture – often using national culture as a proxy variable for a given cultural orientation. That work, exploring the influence of the presence (a main effect) of a given cultural orientation, laid the groundwork for more complex experiments to follow, which test how differences in the levels (a moderating influence) of a cultural orientation (even a primed, temporary one) influence behaviours or perceptions. The research of Gelfand et al. (2002) examined both the main effects and the moderating effects of individual characteristics on the Hilton Hotel in India. Using national culture as proxy for cultural orientation, their results support robust findings of self-serving biases in individualist cultures (Thompson and Lowenstein, 1992), where ‘the self is served by enhancing one’s positive attributes to stand out and be better than others’, but find relatively less bias in a collectivistic culture, in which ‘the self is served by focusing on one’s weaknesses to blend in and maintain interdependence with others’. However, they also measured individual self-construal, and demonstrate that independent self-construal are higher in India and are positively related to self-serving biases. Thus, not only is a main effect of culture on the working of Hilton Hotel in India, but the examination of individual self-construal helps to explain why such an effect exists. Research of this type is especially valuable given that much of the theory underlying business research has been developed and tested exclusively in Western contexts. Diversity: Most organizations in the India, particularly large  ones, strive for consistency, standardization, and agreement, largely from the misleading assumption that the elimination of divergence/diversity automatically results in efficiency and success. This traditional view of organizational structure assumes that contradictions are to be first prioritized, and then eliminated, so that everything will run smoothly. We have all known managers and executives who need their subordinates to agree with their decisions, tell them they are doing a terrific job, and avoid challenging their authority. While this may be organizationally neat and psychologically comforting, it is stifling, stagnating, and, over the long haul, counterproductive. Experimental research focusing on the moderating influence of individual characteristics contributes to this literature because it directly tests whether these processes, biases, and behaviours are indeed universal phenomena, or whether they are specific to Western populations. As Oyserman et al. (2002b) point out in their Meta-analysis of research on collectivism/individualism, cultural priming is one of the most promising areas of cross-cultural research. The theoretical underpinnings of priming stem from social cognition research, which shows that accessible knowledge influences behaviour, and that temporarily accessible and chronically salient knowledge produce equivalent effects in the laboratory. Thus, priming techniques ‘create an experimental analogue of chronic differences between cultural groups by temporarily focusing participants’ attention on different cultural content or values’. (Hong et al., 2000) Examples of this research would be the study mentioned in an earlier section, as well as which primed participants with cues that were or were not congruent with their cultural orientation (e.g., using pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ for an independence priming or ‘we’ and ‘our’ for an interdependent priming) and examined the influence on factors such as cognitive speed and accuracy, memory, and attitudes. Results across all the experiments indicate the existence of a chronic cultural orientation, and one that is more malleable in the face of a primed orientation. CULTURE OF U.K There are about 3.7 million businesses in the U.K which includes 75% of jobs in service industry like hotels, restaurants, travelling, shopping, computers and finance. This sector consists of more than 20 million  employees and 22 percent of British workers work more than 48 hours a week. (Pryce, 2007) According to the Central Intelligence Agency (2007), the United Kingdom is one of the most developed countries in the world and being a leader in trade as well as the leader as the financial centre. It is seen as one of the largest five economies in Europe, with banking, insurance and other business services being an integral part of it. As the United Kingdom is a part of the EU, most of the institutions and policies are in accordance with the regulations laid out by the EU. As the UK has a monarchical constitution, the government rarely gets involved in the matters of economy, its main concern is with improving public services like education and health (The Economist, 2007). A large number of international and global enterprises find home in the United Kingdom (Ferner and Varul, 2000). Due to diverse work environments provided by these global enterprises, the British companies get to experience the work culture provided by the international markets and manage it efficiently. An argument provided by Ferner and Varul (2000) states that the British enterprises have a niche above other companies in terms of development of customer friendly policies and structures. Also, these enterprises play an integral role in globalization of industries, thus placing UK in the top realm to play the role of international operations armed with international companies. Hence, the UK could be expected to be the place with the most number of globalized companies with leading role of international operations. KEY CONCEPT AND VALUES OF BRITISH CULTURE According to an article on International Business Negotiations 2005, United Kingdom consists of a blend of four cultural and ethnic backgrounds named as England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Such a multicultural country persists to bring together its rich culture and modern attitude. The understanding of the basic principled business standards of the United Kingdom is very important for any company that wishes to operate business in such an inherited and reputable country. Indirectness – The most important aspect of British culture is its way of approach and communication. In the U.K, people are known well for their graciousness and good manners like courtesy, politeness and civility. While undertaking business in the UK, it is seen that straight questions obtain indistinct answers and the exchange  of dialogues takes place in detail. In order to understand what one really means to say, it is necessary to take note of the nature of voice and facial expressions. (Whi ttaker, 2009) ‘Stiff upper lip’ – â€Å"The term ‘stiff upper lip’ is often used to describe the traditionally British portrayal of reserve and restraint when faced with difficult situations†. All business meetings and deals are done with entire regulations and customs. Any positive or negative form of emotion should be neglected in the british work environment. (Whittaker, 2009) Humour – A vital element in all aspects of British life and culture is the renowned British sense of humour. The importance of humour in all situations, including business contexts, cannot be overestimated. Humour is frequently used as a defence mechanism, often in the form of self depreciation or irony. It can be highly implicit and in this sense is related to the British indirect communication style. (Whittaker, 2009) The United Kingdom is renowned for its colourful history and strong sense of tradition that has been shaped by a colonial empire, both civil and European war and a constitutional monarchy. The fourth largest trading nation, the UK is fast becoming Europe’s leading business centre. Supported by a long-established system of government and economic stability, the UK is a n attractive base for overseas business, offering skills in areas such as research, development and technology. However, in order to operate successfully in the UK business environment, there are a number of important issues to take into consideration both before and during your time there. (Kenna and Lacy, 1995) IMPACT OF CULTURE ON HILTON HOTEL, U.K. There are quite a few Hilton Hotels in the U.K. The most important cultural factors that affect the business of Hilton Hotel in U.K. are as follows: – PRICING Price plays a key role in creating customer value and building customer relationship, as well is one of the four elements of the marketing mix and an indicator that affects buyer choice. Many companies today compete with each other with different prices in both the domestic and the international market. Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; all other elements represent cost (Kotler et al. 2007). Pricing is one of the most complicated decision areas encountered by Hilton Hotel, U.K.  Market prices at the customer level are much more difficult to control in international markets than in domestic market. The pricing of the Hilton Hotels in the U.K. in general is more complex and critical than those located in India. According to Chee et al. (1998), the price is critical because it affects the firm’s ability to stay in the market. The price is also complex, because of the diversity of markets, with their different environment such as, political, l egal, social, technological, consumer characteristics, etc. Thereby, price is an issue that can affect the international business and the company’s co-operations in the foreign country NEGOTIATIONS According to Tayeb (1998) language is one of the major issues when it comes to negotiations with trade partners from other cultures. Although it is not always indispensable to know the partner’s language, several studies shows that a link exists between successful company performance in winning new business in foreign markets, and the ability of the company to conduct its business in the language of the customer. Tayeb (1998) also states that there are some aspects of culture that manifest themselves in a negotiation situation. Foreign partners not only speak languages other than one’s own, but also have a tendency, for cultural reasons, to think in different ways and have different priorities in the way in which they do business. For example, some people prefer to do their business meetings with foreigners in a formal way, and would be offended to be addressed by their first name; some might believe that the use of an informal style and first name would signal to the p artners that they are trusted. Two partners from these different cultural backgrounds could easily misunderstand each other if they negotiate without a previous knowledge of one another’s assumptions and values. SUMMARY In today’s time of globalisation, international business is getting bigger and escalating for both multinational as well as local companies. Due to this, cross cultural matter have gained a lot of importance. In this literature review, the main focus has been to discuss culture, its importance and impact on Hilton Group of Hotel in India and U.K. This chapter has been presented to help the reader understand the basic  theoretical concepts which helps in the findings of the case study and answering the research question. This part of the thesis helped us in understanding the relationship between culture and international business. Development in the fields of technology and communication etc, companies from various cultures have started working together, thus making culture an important subject of discussion in International Business. This chapter discussed the Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions named Individualism, Power distance, Uncertainty, Masculinity and Long-Te rm orientation. It also explains the working culture of India and U.K and the impact of culture on the business of Hilton Hotel, India and Hilton Hotel, U.K. In international business negotiations, it is important to learn about the counterparts‟ culture and thus ameliorate the problems that can arise in the course of the negotiations. From this study, we can see that there are marked differences in the Indian and British negotiation styles which stem from cultural differences among the two countries. Knowledge of these differences will enable negotiators understand the negotiation behaviour of their counterparts with a view to making negotiations proceed with more ease. However, it is also important not to allow cultural stereotypes to determine the relationships with the potential business partners. This is because individuals may have their own distinct culture which does not always mirror the country’s perceived culture.

Writing and Proper Supporting Points

I have always used writing as method to express myself. I wrote for self-pleasure instead of Just to complete an assignment. I knew that writing and being able to express myself would help me to further my education. Before my first day of Composition one, I imagined having a lot of papers to writing in such little time. However, it turned out to be a great experience. Composition one taught me how to improve my writing, expose me to different types of essays and how to overcome difficult tasks. Composition one allowed me to recognize the strengths and weakness in my writing skills.Three of my strongest essays assigned this semester are what you will be viewing in my portfolio. These weren't easy, but having the proper guidance is what made the difference. The workload did get hectic at times, because I found myself trying to transition from one genre to another. For me, the idea of outlining a proper thesis really helped me to write well. I would experiment to see if the quality of my essay would be better if I Just wrote about the topic. I realized that if I properly outlined my thesis, it would give me a path on which I could build my essay.I would use the number of supporting points that I had, to be the amount of paragraphs I would have. By doing this, the structure of my essay would be better. If it wasn't for my Professor focusing on getting the thesis correct. The task of writing and essay would be an extremely difficult one. At times, I felt as if I should Just write without paying attention to the thesis but Just as most things, I got used to outlining it. The first essay we were assigned was a literacy narrative. This was a personal essay for me to complete.The literacy narrative allowed me to recollect situations rom my past and put them on paper. IVe always done this, but I didn't know that things such as a thesis and proper supporting points would make for a better essay. I learned that the key to a great literacy narrative is to show instead of t o tell. The use of details is important in a literacy narrative as it gives the reader the feeling of actually being in the situation. My second essay was an evaluation. It required me to be very critical of a certain webpage. Usually when I visit webpages I Just go there to use what suites me.My mind wasn't open to the site layout, how it differs from other ebsite or what could make it better. By doing this essay, I am now more in tuned to the smallest details in forms of writing that I would happen to come across. I am a soccer fan; I enjoy watching, playing or even talking about the game. IVe always wanted to pass on the passion for the game to others. My third essay was a proposal. This essay allowed me to put my dreams into perspective . 1 was able to help a group of coaches learn more about the sport. With that knowledge, they would be able to pass it down to the children.The passion I have for soccer made the proposal the asiest essay IVe done since the semester began. This e ssay didn't have as much restrictions and rules to it, so it allowed me to interact with my work. I used life situations to bring forth my point. I enjoyed intertwining life with a thing so simple as writing. Of course, by writing over and over, one will get better at it. That wasn't the only way I gained strength and confidence in my writing abilities. Having great feedback from you're pairs is very important. We are all humans and the opinions of others affect us in either a good or bad way.I received feedback from my peers, the utors trom the writing center and my protessor. Those different perspectives on my work brought to my attention the things I need to work on. Composition one was definitely not the tedious class that I thought it would be. I didn't think I was going to be groomed to be a better writer. The different exercises that we were exposed to made the class very interesting. It was as if by writing a new essay, a new part of the brain was being activated. I enjoyed exploring certain thing than the other but the different skills that were being tuned made it worth it.

The Barbie Effect

Barbie has it all. Every career imaginable and what women perceive to be the perfect body. In real life this could transfer into bankruptcy, low self-esteem and materialistic behavior. There is much controversy surrounding Barbie and whether she has an effect on young girls’ self esteem. There have been studies on both sides of the issue with no clear definitive answer. Barbie was a sensation almost from the moment she hit the shelves, promoting and quickly spreading the idea of materialism and superficiality among young girls. Barbie has lots of clothes, cars, the dream house and even her own credit cards. She is extremely thin and good-looking, fashionable, she has perfect blonde hair. We all know â€Å"blondes have more fun†. Barbie clearly promotes materialism and portrays this lifestyle as being fulfilling, which gives children a false sense of what life is, and an empty goal for them to pursue. Body image distortion is created, as the majority of women cannot achieve Barbie’s proportions. . Look instead at Ken, Barbie’s long time boyfriend. When researchers at the University of South Australia scaled up Mr. Barbie to life-size proportions, they concluded that the chances of a man having his body shape are one in 50. That is a lot more achievable than the one in one hundred thousand chance a girl has of achieving Barbie’s dimensions-this defiantly gives weight to the argument that the media puts unrealistic expectations and pressures on women. (Wintermann) Magazines have morphed stars onto smaller bodies, models that walk the runway are anorexic, and pictures are airbrushed making men’s expectations of women unrealistic as well as women’s expectations of themselves. Body image is not just appearance,† said Karen Way, a licensed clinical social worker with 18 years' experience. â€Å"Your body image has to do with your health, your various talents, how able you are to be in tune with sensations in your body. â€Å"(Way LCSW) Men are having problems as well as women just not to the same degree or level. Men trend toward steroid use, valuing strength and muscle ripped appearance over slimness. Mattel the makers of Barbie perpetuate the stereotype that boys are smarter than girls in the math and science area. Mattel introduced the irst talking Barbie and her words were† math is tough† Studies show that boys surpassed girls in math (Geary) Mattel has attempted to change this image with the Barbie I can Be website. Many people have the myth that anorexia is all about being thin. More often it has to do with control. It often begins as pressure to be perfect. Other things in your life are spinning out of control and this is somethin g you are in charge of, thinness is just an effect. Control implies strength; strength implies simplicity, which equals perfection-perfect control. Anorexia is an addiction and recovery is possible by finding meaning in life. One of the quotes that helped in recovery came from a book a psychiatrist gave me. The quote from is from William Ward a notorious writer. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. ? William Arthur Ward Moral development in children follows a predictable developmental path. When presented with an ethical dilemma, children under the age of eight typically judge an action as wrong or incorrect when it results in punishment or goes against the rules set forth by authority figures (Kohlberg in Dolgin2011) As children mature, they begin to consider multiple perspective s in a situation; they take into account the intentions and motives of those involved and recognizing the often-conflicting rules inherent in moral dilemmas. In other words, their moral reasoning becomes more flexible and â€Å"other† oriented. When Children see idols such as Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton who have the Quintessential† Barbie â€Å"image not subject to the rules and standards in society that others are held to, it creates the false illusion that those who are beautiful and have money and things are worth more and have more value. Barbie throughout her 125 careers has never portrayed a real woman with other desirable qualities other than being beautiful and fashionable. One can certainly believe the media from magazines, the fashion industry and Mattel have played a huge role in the self-esteem of girls and they value they place on themselves as a person.