US Hotel Lodging Industry Essay Example for Free

US Hotel Lodging Industry Essay 1. According to the text, there are several stand-out economic characteristics of the macro-environment of the U.S. hotel lodging industry. The general economic characteristics of the macro-environment would include such items as rate of economic growth, unemployment rates, inflation rates, and interest rates. Those that stand-out for the U.S. hotel lodging industry include headline unemployment, mostly due to declining business and conference travel. There was relatively unchanged real GDP, and due to the housing crisis and recession in our economy, rampant foreclosures. 2. The Good Hotel brand, I feel, did well in its strategy implementation efforts. They went to a strategy designed to inspire â€Å"good in us all†. One that was good for the plant and socially conscious with a â€Å"lighthearted twist†. Going â€Å"green† is definitely part of their strategy to gain a competitive advantage in the green movement and to continue growth. Those that are heavily interested in the green movement feel connected to Good Hotel’s overall plan for the environment. 3. Part of the key strategy implementation effort is by Pam Janusz. She has gotten to know staff, guests and those from the neighborhood. Training is ongoing for management to increase their standards of offering service and pushing guest loyalty. The hotel has also started recycling programs and using energy efficient lighting. Yes, I feel management has allocated sufficient resources to the strategy execution by how well the company has been doing recently. The strong leadership by Janusz has propelled them forward; she is heavily involved in all aspects of this hotel. Also, due to the leadership, all employees seem to be on board with the hotel’s vision, strategy implementation, and have a high satisfaction rate. These everyday written and unwritten policies and procedures go a long way in executing a strategy. 4. According to Janusz, the financial results are right on target with beating their financial forecasts for the 1st quarter of 2010 and the fact that guest service has been on the rise over the last few months. According to the statistics provided in the text, RevPar ($) has increased over the past couple of years and in comparing this number to the peer group has a higher RevPar. Their occupancy levels have increased which can lead to larger overall revenue. So, yes, they are doing just fine in producing good financial results, especially since they just implemented the strategy in 2008. 5. I am sure Pam Janusz will do just fine seeing as how she is a strong leader in how to handle this situation. If I were to make any recommendations to her it would be to be sure that the transition is explained to everyone in the organization, and fully, without leaving anything out. I would have her set up meetings with interactive media to promote clarity and support from the staff and start working with top management and having this information filter its way down. I would recommend her setting up a resistance to change program for those that will find the transition difficult. I would recommend the overall concept of Good Hotel be continued and maybe even expanded further to leave the company on a good note and in a good financial position. They have done a fine job so far and feel it can be and should be continued and hopefully this will lead to continued increase in its revenues and market position.

raising a child with a disability Essay -- essays research papers

Raising a Child with a Disability: Journal Entry #2: Summary:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article mainly examines ways in which parents can deal properly with the news of being told that their child has a disability. There are a few stories in the article which emphasize the way the parents felt when they found out about their child’s disability. In most cases, the parents felt shattered, overwhelmed and completely shocked. The article explained that parents have an expectation of having that â€Å"perfect† child and when one is told that the child is not so perfect, their dreams and their lives become devastating. The reading examines ways in which to build a support system as well as ways in which to keep a balance in your life. The author indicates the importance of keeping a positive attitude when in this situation. Main Points:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article was very interesting and there are a few key points that stand out. The author explained that it is important to be an advocate for your child by learning as much as you can about the disability that they have. Also, she mentioned that if a parent keeps on living in denial about the illness or disability, that this will never help the child or the parent. I also found it interesting when she spoke about support within the family as well as outside the family. Lastly, I thought it was important for her to mention the strain that a family with a disabled child will incur. Reflection:   Ã‚  Ã‚  ...

Mexican Drug War: Drug Trafficking and its Effects on Mexico

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and annual survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, estimated that were 19. 1 million people in the United States 12 years or older who were currently users of illicit drugs. There are about 14. 6 million marijuana users, 2. 0 million cocaine users, and about 166,000 heroin users in the United States. These statistics show that there is obviously a very high demand for illicit drugs in the United States despite its illegal status. The question that most people do not tend to ask is how is this demand being met?Who is supplying it and how? American users are supplied most of their drugs from Mexico, which is very conveniently directly south of the border of the United States. Mexico is a major supplier in heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine. It is estimated that roughly 40 to 67 percent of all marijuana and about 95 percent of cocaine in the United States comes from Mexico. In order for all these drugs to be produced, organized, and transported to the United States there has been a creation of cartels and gangs in Mexico, which in turn has created what is referred to as the Mexican Drug War.Throughout the paper I will discuss the development of the organized drug game in Mexico, different drug cartels, government action and the effects that all of this has caused in Mexico. For a very long time, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the Colombians were the ones that controlled cocaine trafficking. Starting in 1975, Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria began developing his cocaine operation. Soon he became known as the king of cocaine and at his height of power he was fifteen tons of cocaine a day, worth more than half a billion dollars, in the United States.After enforcement increased in both South Florida and the Caribbean, the Colombian organized crime began to form partnerships with Mexico-based to transport cocaine through Mexico and into the United States. Mexican transpo rters were able to meet this need of reliable cocaine transporters because they already had infrastructure set up from their sourcing out of marijuana and heroin. Mexican transporters were given anywhere from 35 to 50 percent of each cocaine shipment. This allowed Mexican transporter to become involved in distribution as well, moving them  up to become full on traffickers.They soon became quite adept to trafficking globally, which allowed their organizations to flourish, most notably the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf cartel. Soon enough, Mexican traffickers took almost full control of trade, leaving Colombian organizations behind. The popular Mexican phrase, â€Å"Mas vale vivir cinco anos como rey, que 50 como buey,† which translates to â€Å"It’s better to live five years as a king than 50 years as an ox,† encapsulates the way many young marginalized people think in regards to drug trafficking in Mexico.Many believe that while they’re in poverty in marg inalized neighborhoods they would have more opportunities becoming a drug trafficker than their long-term outcome if they didn’t join. According to the short 8-minute video, The Roots of Mexico’s Drug Violence, drug cartels look to these marginalized or in poverty to recruit for this very reason. One of the major drug cartels in Mexico is the Sinaloa Cartel, based in the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa with operations in Baja California, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua.According to United States Intelligence, the Sinaloa Cartel is â€Å"the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world. † The Sinaloa Cartel is estimated to smuggle several tons of cocaine shipments from Colombia through Mexico and into the United States. They also produce, smuggle, and distribute marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin. The cartel is led by Joaquin â€Å"El Chapo† Guuzman and is estimated to have a net worth of about one billion dollars and is considered as the biggest drug lord of all time even surpassing Pablo Escobar.In 1993, Joaquin Guzman was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Mexico after being caught in Guatemala but was able to escape in 2001 by bribing prison guards. After escaping, Guzman had his eyes set on the city of Juarez, which was under the Juarez Cartel. Despite having an alliance with the Juarez Cartel, Guzman decided that he wanted to take out the leader, Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes in order to gain control of routes around and throughout the city of Juarez. He succeeded in this by hiring Los Negros, assassins for the Sinaloa Cartel, whom killed both Rodolfo and his wife.By this, the area was no longer under the Fuentes family’s control. Unfortunately, this led to a countrywide drug war, which resulted in 5,000-12,000 deaths in drug related violence. At this point, Guzman had angered the other cartels since he had broken the nonaggression â€Å"pact† between all the major cartels, bringing upon the fighting between c artels for drug routes. By 2006, it was estimated that about 50,000 people lost their lives in drug related violence. Another prominent drug cartel in Mexico is Los Zetas, which partnered with the Gulf Cartel in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.In the late 1990s, The Gulf Cartel hired a group of 31 corrupt former elite military soldiers to work with them. It is believed that many of them had received training in commando and urban warfare from Israeli’s Special Forces and American Special forces units. With this training they learned skills such as ambushes, fast deployment, marksmanship, intimidation, and counter surveillance. Throughout the early 2000s, the Zetas were incredibly important in the Gulf Cartel’s domination of the drug trade. It is uncertain whether the Gulf Cartel or Los Zetas began the disagreement that eventually led to their end of partnership.What did solidify the Zetas’ ability to strike out on their own was being able to arrest and extradition the Gul f Cartel leader, Osiel Cardenas Guillen. It had become clear that the Zetas beat out the Gulf Cartel in revenue, membership, and influence. The Zetas began to work in other areas of organized crime on top of drug trafficking, including, extortion, kidnapping, homicide, and theft. By early 2010, it was made known to the public that the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel were no longer working together and instigated a bloody drug war amongst each other for the Northeast Mexican drug trade routes.Eventually, because of cartel alliance, the Sinaloa Cartel was forced to fight the Zetas in 2010 and 2011. One of the cartel’s most notorious acts was the 2010 San Fernando massacre. Most Spanish speakers in the United States had heard about this act since it was widely reported on by Spanish media. The Zetas had a mass murder of 72 undocumented immigrants in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. 58 men and 14 women, from South and Central America were shot in the back of the head and then piled on top of each other.There were only three survivors- one of which was shot in the neck and face, faked his death and then eventually made it out and tried to seek military help. Once they were informed, the Mexican Military confronted members of the drug cartel and found them inside of a ranch. According to the article, â€Å"Migrants Killed for Refusing to be Assassins, Teen Says,† the Zetas gunmen â€Å"intercepted the migrants as they moved towards the border, then took them blindfolded to the ranch where they were told to hand over cash. † The immigrants were unable to pay the amount demanded by the Zetas and also refused the deal to work with the Zetas.Once they refused to do either, the Zetas opened fired killing everyone but three lucky survivors. Inter cartel violence had always occurred before the Mexican drug war but the government had a very passive approach to dealing with it through most of the 1990s and 2000s. It wasn’t until December of 2006, as the new Pr esident Felipe Calderon undertook Operation Michoacan and sent about 6,500 military troops into the state. This was seen as the first huge undertake to fight organized crime in Mexico since the drug trade began and is regarded as the beginning of the â€Å"war† between the Mexican government and the powerful drug cartels.President Felipe Calderon is quoted saying that the cartels are seeking ‘to replace the government’ and ‘are trying to impose a monopoly by force of arms, and are even trying to impose their own laws’. The war against organized crime continued as another 45,000 troops were sent in the following months. According to the Secretary of National Defense, the Mexican military captured 11,544 people in 2011 who were thought to be involved with drug related crime. Despite Calderon’s intentions to decrease violence throughout Mexico, the opposite has seemed to happen. Violent warfare between rival cartel leaders has actually worsened.C alderon’s methods of confronting the drug cartels directly, has resulted in a lot of public killings and torture from the cartels and also government forces. Also, as a drug cartel leader is removed from power, there is more intense, violent competition for that leadership role. It is also believed that cartels have corrupted and subverted military at high levels. All of this has created more anxiety and fear within the Mexican population due to this increased violence and the possibility that their own lives may be in danger. Other areas such as journalism and media were also being threatened.At the beginning of the 21st century, Mexico was considered the most dangerous country in the world for journalism. Many journalists have been murdered and tortured for giving out information or reporting on certain things. So the question is, how can these issues be fixed? Many believe that the violence will not end entirely but instead seek for the country to regain normalcy and not b e entrenched in this idea of violence as something normal. Another idea is demand- the reason there is such a need for supply and transport of these drugs is due to the high demand in drugs.Research And Development also known as RAND Corporation, a nonprofit global policy think tank, found that using drug user treatment to reduce drug consumption in the United States could be up to seven times more cost effective than law enforcement. This could also potentially cute the drug demand by a third. I, myself as a Mexican have known people that have gotten kidnapped and never returned and it’s believed to be because of drug cartel violence. It is an urgent matter for those that live in marginalized or poverty for the fear and violence to be taken control of in Mexico.

Allegory Of George Orwells Animal Farm And The Russian...

The book called Animal Farm demonstrates that the story is an allegory for the Russian Revolution. The story explains about power and how is the society being ruled. At first, it has been nice, until there is power and nobody is actually equal to each other. Mostly, the animals or people do not accept anything like that, but the society has changed and it will never be the same. Therefore, the book, Animal Farm, and history, Russian Revolution, have similar connections of what do the animals and people have a role to play. There is Snowball, who is an allegory of Leon Trotsky from the Russian Revolution. Snowball and Trotsky have a same role: they are both leaders and don’t think about only themselves for dictatorship. After the Battle of†¦show more content†¦This demonstrates that he is telling the animals that there is a place called Sugarcandy Mountain, which is like Heaven where others go to when they die. The other reason that Moses is like the Russian Orthodox Church because Joseph Stalin (Napoleon) ruled the church from higher values. â€Å"He was quite unchanged, still did no work, and talked in the same strain as ever about Sugarcandy Mountain† (Orwell, 117). This explains that Moses is still talking about Sugarcandy Mountain and after that, the pigs still did not believe him and thought he is lying, but other animals do. It is more like a sign that the place is still waiting for the animals when they die, like an opportunity. Moses has a lot of connection for the Russia n Orthodox Church because they both symbolize religion and are very similar with each other. Finally, there is Mr. Jones and the whole society, which is more likely Tsar Nicholas II and the whole revolution. Mr. Jones is the guy who owns Manor Farm, like Nicholas who’s in charge of the revolution. During Old Major’s speech, â€Å"...Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Orwell, 9). This explains that Mr. Jones had treated the animals terribly and that he will slaughter them. Mr. Jones, and the whole farm is similar to Nicholas II and the revolution: they were both kicked out of power. â€Å"...Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was theirs† (Orwell, 20). ThisShow MoreRelatedAnimal Farm Literary Analysis710 Words   |  3 PagesGeorge Orwell, a writer of many novels and other literature, one of his most known is Animal Farm.This book is where Orwell’s political style as well as other techniques he used in his writing were used most. Animal Farm is about farm animals who are being neglected by their owner, and they decides to overthrow him and take control of their farm. However, that is only the the outer layer of the story, looking under the surface, this is an allegory detailing the Russian Revolution. 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What made Animal Farm so controversial among the â€Å"British socialists† and WesternRead MoreGeorge Orwell s Animal Farm1957 Words   |  8 PagesAlthough George Orwell’s Animal Farm was created in order to mimic individuals as well as occurrences that took place during the Russian Revolution period, it is still possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the text without a past knowledge of history through the exploitation of human nature’s imperfections. Following the publishment of his novel, Orwell confirmed that his goal in writing this fable was to expose the wrongdoing of the Soviet Union as well as the treachery of the true ideas