Companys Resources And Competitive Position

Companys Resources And Competitive Position In Dubai, the Jumeirah groups present portfolio includes many multi-hotel complexes such as Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort Spa, Mandinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Club Resort Spa, Jumeirah Emirates Towers and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. At the same time, it is also negotiating to operate new resorts and hotel contracts in big cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Milan and Beijing. The company is operating in order to achieve its vision that to become a world class international hospitality and hotel company and also committed to being the leader of the industry in all operating activities through the process of dedication to their colleagues and customers (About Jumeirah Group). The Jumeirah group also has been a member of Dubai Holding since the duration of year 2004 under the leadership of CEO Gerald Lawless. The companys achievement can be estimated by the data that in the year of 2006, the revenues were recorded more than $1 billion (About Jumeirah Group). The project would help us to analysis a companys resources and its competitive position in the world. This will aim to get deep understanding of its current strategy and to create a strategy which would be more effective as per the current scenario. This would be helpful to gain insights about the flaws and their solutions of the company as per the current scenario and current strategy. The study would analysis strength, weakness, opportunities and threats and eventually the proposed alternative can be adopted to enhance the current situation of the company. Company Background: The Jumeirah group was founded in Dubai in the year of 1997, owned by ruling Al Maktoum family with the Gerald Lawless, with an aim of becoming a global hospitality leader. After ten years of development the company has been realized with the groups portfolio that has been regarded as among the most innovative and luxurious globally (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). The brand of the Jumeirah group can be summarized as A global brand having name synonyms of Luxury. A brand having professional team of experts and professionals having wide experience in entire aspects of hotel management that handles the functions from development phase to the daily operations. A strong distribution system with the help of more than ten sales offices in major locations of the world. A strong emphasis on an adapting approach to the owner (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). The Jumeirah branched from the strength of Dubais ruling Maktoum family in order to develop the UAE member into one of the regions as well as in the worlds top tourism destinations. In the early period of the year 1990s, Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum commissioned a new project for the hotel which was supposed to build on land that reclaimed from the sea in the Dubai port, called the Burj Al Arab (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). However the first three year of the project were held in the land reclamation phase that lead to the launched of the construction by the year 1997. At the same time, Al Maktoum joined with the Gerald Lawless who was an Irish native had more than twenty year of work experience in the hotel industry and had fifteen year of experience as a head of the Forte hotel group in Dubai only. After join with the Lawless, Al Maktoum had begun to start others hotel projects for the wide market of Dubai such as Jumeirah Beach Hotel. In addition to the hotels and restaura nts, Maktoum developed Water Park and theme park also (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). Hallmarks: The companys vision is to become a world class luxury international hotel management company that committed to the industry leader in all the operational activities through the medium of the dedication to colleagues, customers, stake holders, owners and business partners (Jumeirah Guiding Principles Vision). The companys Hallmarks considered as the reason of their success in the past as well as guidelines for the future. The Hallmarks are seems to reflects in design of inspiration and would remain in the core of operating philosophy along with the new adopted philosophy of Stay Different. In Jumeirah culture their guiding principles plays a major role which are supposed to be consider as foundation of the business and strength of their culture (Jumeirah Guiding Principles Vision). They are: Integrity :Honesty and Sincerity Teamwork: win-win attitude and mutual support Recognition: Success are supported and recognized Innovation: Implementation of new ideas Continuous Growth: Positive Environment People Focus: Focus on individual as colleagues, business associates and customers. Stay Different : provides unique experience to the customers (Jumeirah Guiding Principles Vision) Strategic Objective: The Jumeirah group strategic objective is to fulfill their vision and mission through the commitment of resources to learning and innovation. Through the Business Management System the company is delivering benefits to the business partners, customers, colleagues, society and owners by developing mutually beneficial relationships, listening and building loyalty. In order to fulfill the companys vision, the Jumeirah strategic approach is summarized in the four key components. They are Engaging stake holders in order to understand their expectations so that they can be fulfilled or expanded and value can be added. Managing key factors of the social, environmental and economical aspects like their risk, opportunity and their impacts. Embedding responsible business practices and standards in the business daily operations and activities. Reporting back to the stakeholder about the progress and development of the company. With the implementation of the above four key strategies the company is trying to be expanding and delivering services all over the world. The company is focusing on current strategy in order to fulfill their objective. The companys current strategies inclusive of global expansion, Stay different, provide unique and different services, value to stake holders, provide luxury and comfort to the customers and implementing the process of learning and innovation (Jumeirah Guiding Principles Vision). Project Undertaken/ Completed: The following are the list of projects which are undertaken or completed under the Jumeirah group are: S. no Name Specification Location Burj Al Arab Hotel Dubai (Middle East) Jumeirah Beach Hotel Hotel Dubai (Middle East) Madinath Jumeirah Three Hotels Dubai (Middle East) Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Hotel buzzing bazaar Dubai (Middle East) Jumeirah Creekside Hotel Hotel(opening summer in 2012) Dubai (Middle East) Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, Spa, Shopping boulevard, Club and Lounge Dubai (Middle East) Jumeirah Living World Trade Centre Residence Residence Dubai (Middle East) Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Hotel Abu Dhabi (Middle East) Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel Spa (opening spring 2012) Kuwait (Middle East) Jumeirah Essex House Residence New York (America) Jumeirah Carlton Tower Spa, Club, Hotel Resort London( Europe) Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel Hotel London( Europe) Jumeirah Frankfurt Residence Germany (Europe) Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel and Spa (opening spring 2012 Mallorca Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel Hotel (opening spring 2012) Europe Grosvenor House Apartments Residence London Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto Hotel Rome Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Hotel Shangai (Asia pacific) Jumeirah Dhevanafushi Island Resort Maldives(Asia pacific) Jumeirah Vittavel Five star family deluxe resort Maldives(Asia pacific) Wild Wadi waterpark Waterpark Dubai (Middle East) Talisa Spa Middle East Academy of Excellence Education Dubai( Middle East) (Jumeirah Hotels Resorts) Analyzing Current Scenario of Hospitality Industry in the UAE: During the past decade, the UAE has witnessed with the rapid growth and changes in terms of socio-economic and demographic factors. The regions economy are not perceived as oil and gas exporter but also as major investment destinations due to growing hospitality and tourism sector as well as large scale infrastructure projects. At the same time, the expansion of the Middle East is greatly contributing in the tourism receipt in the Gulf Council Corporation countries. In current situation, the region remains an attractive destination for tourists as well as for the investors for medium to long term returns. The Jumeriah group has provided tremendous growth in the hospitality sector in Dubai and globally also. The study aims to evaluate a companys resources and its competitive position in the world. This analysis will be undertaken by the following described process: Value Chain Analysis Michael Porters five force Model SWOT Analysis Benchmarking Competitive Strength Assessment After analyzing on the above aspects, we will be able to determine competitive position in the world as well as would be able to create a strategy in terms of its position. Value Chain Analysis: The value chain approach was developed for creating and sustaining superior performance in the market. The value added concept is utilized by Jumeirah Group for sustaining competitive advantage in the arena of 21st century. The organization comprises of activities that associate together in order to enhance business value. These activities include inbound logistics, operations such as purchasing, manufacturing, financing, distribution etc. The central aim of Jumeirah Group to adopt this value chain approach is exploiting value creation with minimum possible costs (Jumeirah Group, 2008). http://bettyfeng.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/a-value-chain-analysis1.jpg Source: http://bettyfeng.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/a-value-chain-analysis1.jpg By adopting the concept of value chain analysis, Jumeirah managers identify the key activities within their group and provide potential sustainable advantages to the company. In Jumeirah Company, the value chain analysis starts with the initial stage such as inbound logistics. At this stage, planning is performed for plant scheduling, plant capacity, estimate time for fulfilling objectives. After this stage the next step is operations under which company emphasized on the quality of services, customers expectations, fulfilling orders and customer visit operations. The main theme of Jumeirah Group is to enhance and implement their core services in such a way so that can meet the customers expectations and create positive and sustainable brand image in their eyes. The company more emphasized on the development of innovative programs, current strategies and their Research and Development programs in order to support business by facilitating new openings and high quality services to their customers (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Jumeirah Group incorporates value chain for synchronizing the flow of business operations from input to the delivery of benefits given to the customers. This flow comprises of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales operations and at the end gets feed back from customers and resolve problems if there is any (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Benchmarking: Benchmarking is the process of analyzing the internal processes of organization and then identify and adapting the practices from other organization in order to considered being best for the organization. This process comprises of five stages such as operation, identification of assess, development of several alternatives, define that alternatives and at the end implementation of that alternatives. Benchmarking is the systematic tool for identifying and implementing best possible practices in the organization so that it can enhance their operations and human assets as per the todays need. In this competitive arena for sustaining in market, it is mandatory to implement benchmarking in the organization (Jumeirah Group, 2008). http://pipdev.com/content/images/wheel/RouteDiag.png Source: http://pipdev.com/content/images/wheel/RouteDiag.png Jumeirah Group has been designed this exercise for enlighten participation of organization in order to achieve outstanding results. Jumeirah Group and other organizations such as Dubai Ports World, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, are aimed to explore best methods and practices for enhancing Human Resource Management in the view of planning, empowering, training and recognizing human efforts. It is also aimed to identify the gaps between the adopted approaches and the enhancement of improvement plans so that can analyze the effects of adopted approach in the organization. This approach develops new ideas that acts significant role in the formation of future strategic plans (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Five Force Model and Analysis: The Michael Porters five force Model articulates the Competitive position modal which describes the industry analysis and business strategy development for evaluating the competitive strength and position of any business organization or Entity. This model used to analyze the market attractiveness of the industry and competition. Porters develop the five force model to analyze to these five forces to analyze the industrial competition (porters five forces model, 2009). Five force model of Porters- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRadz3n9EPht-mB4uTLm2j_RX-xvNVUdUYLeVJp58akgtLl1GL_ogRiAYg_uuwrS5uKGiy9P18m5EARs_cSU1vyriuExNJfRVCy6bQxDe9b1vXeVAUPZWZkn5gPUZIJiX87QIvgWNhAE/ Threat of new competition. Threat of substitute products or services. Bargaining power of customers (buyers). Bargaining power of suppliers. Intensity of competitive rivalry. Threat of new competition: This step articulates the competition in the market, new entrants, brand equity, sunk cost, customer loyalty and industrial profitability in the market for the existing industry which can be challenging for the firm. Barriers to new entry- Customer switching cost Distribution channel Government Policies Economies of scales. 2. Threat of substitute products or services- Entry of substitute product in the market may increase the possibilities to the switching towards the new product it can be challenging for the existing product. Barriers of the substitute product or services- Substitute product price and performance over the existing product. Switching cost of buyer. Quality depreciation Product differentiation. 3. Bargaining power of buyers: Bargaining power of the buyer may be challenging factor for the existing industry or firm such as- Purchasing power of the buyer. Byers face new switching costs. Prices sensitivity of buyer. Buyers are concentrated Industrial product diversity. 4. Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers for any particular firm like supplies of raw material, components and labors can switch the firms due to the bargaining power scubas- Buyers is not the customer to the. Distribution channels. Supplier concentration Supplier switching cost. Supplier completion to the other firms. Intensity of competitive rivalry- Competitive rivalry can be the challenging factor for the existing firm some factors are- Different competitive strategies Promotional tools Competitive advantage to the other industries. From the Porters five force model we analyze the Jumeirah group world class portfolio of resorts and hotels (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). Threat of new competition- As we analyze the competitors of the Jumeirah Group these are the competitors of the Jumeirah Group- Hyatt Hotels Corporation Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Inc. Four seasons Holdings Inc. Jumeirah Group has the partnership with the UAE government, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in association with Tanmia (The National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority 2) Threat of substitute products or services- Jumeirah Group has a strong product and services portfolio in the luxury hospitality sector including world class hotels and resorts. In the hotels and resorts category the products of Jumeirah- Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Beach Hotels Jumeirah emirates tower Jumeirah Zabeel Sara.y Pera palace Hotel. In the services sectors- Includes of services of Jumeirah Living Jumeirah Restaurants, Wild Wadi Waterpark, Talise and The Emirates Academy of Hospitality management. Jumeirah group is offering the best services and performance over its competitors. They have brand loyalty and offering the qualitative services to its customers and Jumeirah group have different product strategies to compete with the competitors 3) Bargaining power of customers (buyers)- Jumeirah groups customers can be classified on the bases of several categories- hotel guest, clients, bulk room purchaser, customers book room for events and conferences and partner such as tour operators and airlines. Jumeirah Group has strong commitment towards its customer. Customer value feedback for the Jumeirah group is- Personalized products and services delivering high quality. Favorable impact on the community. Group offers the customer health, safety and security services. Customer privacy and information security service. Customer satisfaction result of the Jumeirah group is for the year 2008 is 81.265 which show the customer loyalty to the group over its competitors. 4) Bargaining power of suppliers- As we analyze the supplier chain of the Jumeirah group has strong corporate buying policies with its suppliers provision of high quality and good products and services. The Group follows the principles- Stability in the dealings with the suppliers Provide equal and same opportunities to the all suppliers Consistent delivery of services such as health, safety and legal aspects. Transparency in the system. Best distribution channels such as advertising for its services offering. Intensity of competitive rivalry- Jumeirah Group has the different competitive strategies over its competitors. They promote their products and services by different promotional tools such as by advertising, Sales promotion and by the different occasion. SWOT Analysis: Dubai is the fast emerging player in the worldwide along with the China and South East Asia. Dubai attracts the attention of business and corporations across the world through its infrastructural art and cosmopolitan culture. Along with the real estates and financial sectors, petroleum and tourism, it is also known for its exotic resort and hotels. Jumeirah Group is the main player in the hotel and resort industry (Jumeirah Group, 2008). This group has certain strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which are as follows: Strength: The art of infrastructure with the surplus of international convention centers added value to the Jumeirah Group. The cosmopolitan culture in UAE gives rise to the Jumeirah Group in the hotel industry which becomes strength of this group. Crime rates are low in UAE as compared to the other nations which facilitate economic support and social support to the company. Middle East is the epicenter of trade that comprises of various standard businesses and corporations which gives hike to the hotel and resort industry. In Dubai, government has pro- active authorities that give aid to the company in order to control situations rather than just responding to it. Jumeirah Group has been linked with other nations in the world wide. Special travelling packages are the additional advantages to t he company. It offers several packages according to each living standard so that easily can be reach. Jumeirah Group is strategically placed in Dubai, which is situated between Asia and Europe while it is also closure to the Africa so there is probability that several tourists can rushed here which motivates hotel industry. This group works for the enhancement of their human resource by adopting various techniques in order to update their strategies and tools with the recent time. The Jumeirah Group diversified itself into various sectors such as academics, water parks, spa, residents etc which strengthen the company (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Weakness: In the year of 2010, Dubai is considered as the expensive city that lies at fifty five positions in the list of most costly cities. These days it is becoming extremely expensive in the terms of travelling, hospitality, hotels etc. which may affects the economy as well as businesses. In the recent time Dubai has undergone in the bubble crash of real estates because of the reason that there was a sudden drop in the investment being made in the sector and due to the lack of investments the real estate sector crashed. It affected economy and still it is on recovery mode. In the Middle East, the rate of crime is low in spite of that it had been noticed that there is an increase in sex and drug crimes and which got huge media publicity which influence the hotel industry. In Jumeirah Group, employees are working belongs to various nations that have there own culture sometimes this differences in culture affects the working of company (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Opportunities: Prospective economic development opportunities due to increase in prices of oil, this economic development leads to contribute remarkable benefits to the hospitality business. Further growth prospects in the tourism industry of UAE with 15 million foreign tourist visitors expected up to the year 2015 proves to be very helpful in the tourism business of Jumeirah group. Dubai is considered as the business and tourism hub of UAE and Middle East, it has high business growth prospects including geo political opportunities from the west and emerging authority from the east and ultimately helpful in providing good business opportunities to the Jumeriah group. Initiatives taken by UAE government towards the development of hospitality sector provides ample amount of opportunities to the Jumeirah group. Unique experience offer by the Jumeriah group in the form of ethnic heritage services pertaining to the hospitality leads to enhance the number of potential customers. UAE is the business hub of Middle East and hence various business tourists are prospective customers for the Jumeriah group. Various promotional schemes provided to the customers helps in the boosting of business of Jumeriah hotels. Enhanced brand image and brand equity for the augmented quality service deliverance to the customers helps in the further growth and expansion of the business of Jumeriah group. Jumeriah group provides a wide variety of cuisines including the Arab cuisines, Indo Thai, Chinese, Italian, Mughlai cuisines etc. to its customers which helps in increasing the profitability of the group. The augmented exteriors and interiors of the hotel in comparison to the competitors delight the customers and attract them to take the services of Jumeriah group again and again. Delivering the world class hospitality services at the affordable rate helps in increasing the number of local as well as foreign customers of the Jumeriah group (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Threats: The development of the various other cost effective and stirring competitive locations like Muscat, Kuwait City and Doha puts major barriers in the development of Jumeirah Group. Prague and Istanbul are the cities which offer effective cultural tourism along with the fabulous contemporary services at the best possible price and hence attract most of the business tourists globally. Due to political turbulence the business pertaining to the tourism and hotels affected a lot in some regions of UAE and ultimately affects the Jumeriah group in the region. Lack of proficient training and development to the human resource in the hotel industry act as a major barrier in the quality service deliverance of the group. Customer tastes and preferences and market trends pertaining to the hospitality industry changes dynamically and hence there is difficulty in the implementation of the latest trends frequently due to the limitation of cost and time. Increase in the number of guest houses act as hindrance in the development of hotel business. Various economical range hotels which provide the services at the cheapest rate are the major barriers in the developmental path of Jumeriah group (Jumeirah Group, 2008). Competitiveness of Jumeirahs Pricing Strategy: Jumeriah provides a wide range of services in the hospitality business which encompasses a wide array of activities for the customers inclusive of diving and photography. With respect to the pricing of the hospitality services, Jumeirah ensures that the prices are maintained at competitive levels in keeping with the current market standards for pricing of hospitality services. Then exact pricing of the hotels and resorts have not been disclosed by the organization but from the reports available, it can be deduced that Jumeriah has competitive pricing strategy for its services (Course Pricing). The pricing of the various courses offered by the organization are described as follows: Certification Courses AED e-Scuba Diver 1,450 e-Open Water Diver 1,850 e-Open Water Referral 1,000 e-Rescue Diver 1,850 Emergency First Response 700 Experience Programs AED Discover Scuba Diving Beach 325 Scuba Review (inc two o/w dives) 650 Scuba Review Pool Only 300 Bubble Maker (ages 8+) 275 Seal Team (ages 8+) 1,500 Master Seal Speciality Dives 275 Instructor Development Courses AED Dive master 3,000 Assistant Instructor 3,000 e-Open Water Scuba Instructor 4,000 PADI e-IDC 7,000 IDC Staff Instructor 2,500 Master Scuba Diver Trainer MSDT 2,500 Emergency First Response Instructor** 2,500 Speciality Courses AED Wreck Diver 1,400 e-Enrich Air Nitrox 700 Deep Diver 1,600 Peak Performance Buoyancy 700 Search and Recovery Diver 1,400 National Geographic Diver 1,200 Underwater Navigator 1,200 Digital Photographer 1,200 Oxygen Provider Courses 800 Night Diver 1,200 Musandam Courses AED e-Open Water Courses 2,550 e-Adventure in Diving 2,550 Source: (Course Pricing) These prices are in accordance with the industry standard for the pricing of these services which is indicative of the competitiveness of the pricing strategy of the organization. In terms of the costs incurred by the company in obtaining raw material and resources for their business units, they are able to source the requirements at competitive prices. Moreover they have undertaken efforts to minimize their operational costs by adopting green practices and this has enabled them to maintain their prices at adequate competitive levels (Course Pricing). Competitive Strength and Leverage of Jumeirah Group in comparison to its Rivals: Jumeirah is faced with adequate competition in the hospitality industry from major organizations that have provided competition on a global scale also. The main competitors of Jumeirah group are: Hyatt Hotels Corporation Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Inc. (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008) Four Seasons Holdings Inc. (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008) Jumeirah is able to manage the competition in the market adequately and this has been made possible due to the continuous adaptation of the company to the environmental changes and the incorporation of the technological advancements to provide a comprehensive set of services aimed completely at achieving consumer satisfaction. Jumeirah Group is credited with having some of the most complex and biggest projects in the hospitality industry which itself speaks about the high quality standards that the organization has assured in these facilities (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). The organization also has its projects in America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In these regions also, the company is able to successfully manage the competition by providing a wide range of consumer oriented services are competitive pricing. One of the main strategies of the organization has been to constantly upgrade themselves in terms of technical infrastructure and the aesthetic ambience in the facilities. It is this feature which has provided Jumeriah with a significant leverage even in the international hospitality market (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). The company has started pondering over the possibility of entering conservative foreign markets such as China as they have highly prospective business opportunities. Moreover their advanced technical infrastructural knowledge has enabled them to compete effectively even in new markets and their portfolio of globally acclaimed projects has enabled the creation of a strong brand image by means of which the organization is able to effectively reach out to the target consumer segments (Corporate Responsibility Report 2008). Strategic Issues and Challenges in the Achievement of Strategic Objectives: The achievement of strategic objectives is a challenging task and is easily affected by the presence of environmental cha

Analysis Of Luxury Hotel Emirate Palace

Analysis Of Luxury Hotel Emirate Palace Introduction The Emirate palace is the most luxurious hotel in Abu Dhabi being the second seven star hotel of the world. Construction of the hotel is done with the maximum possible standards of comfort and luxury. It is built in 1000 hectares of beautiful landscapes. Infrastructure of the hotel is highly commendable with all the facilities. It has 20 different places for culinary delights, vast parking place, 2 helipads, 300 rooms, 90 suits, 48 conference rooms, and a huge conference centre. The level of various services provided by the hotel is of very high quality. (Minghetti., 2003) Some of the major services in the hotel industry are the customer services, room services, layout services, quality services etc. These services hold a great importance in the hospitality industry and even more for a hotel like Emirate Palace. Providing good customer services in the hotel industry is the most critical objective to remain competitive and profitable in the long run of the business. Customer service is a very significant facet of the hospitality industry. Customers of hotels need the employees to fulfill their various requirements and thus keep on interacting with them all the time during their stay in the hotel. (Fitzsimmons., 1999) Tourism is an important sector of the UAE and thus the hospitality and tourism industry is flourishing and competitive there. There are a large number of hotels in Abu Dhabi which fulfils all the requirements of location, accommodation and budget of the customers. To gain a competitive edge in the market it is advisable for a hotel to work rigorously for the improvement of the customer services. Providing exceptional customer service is a very critical issue for the hospitality industry. Customers of hotels expect a good level of service from the hotel employees and if not provided than they may often feel dissatisfied but if they are given better service than the expectations they can be made feel special and important for the hotel and can make sure that during the next visit in the city they will stay in the same hotel. The main objective of good customer service is bringing the customers back. This can be done if the level of service provided to the customer is good enough to sat isfy him so that he should a spread a positive feedback about the hotel that will attract more customers to the hotel. The main focus of customer services is the customer satisfaction to gain retention by making strong and long term relations. (Dominici., 2010) Following figure show the service blueprint of a luxury hotel: Mission and Vision of Emirate Palace The mission of the hotel is to provide clients the most exclusive and unique experiences. The strategic vision of the Emirate Palace is to serve as a worlds most luxurious hotel and leisure destination and to lead the industry. Another vision of the hotel is to contribute in making Abu Dhabi the centre of cultural activities of the Middle East and Emirate Palace a milestone in the country which can host any prestigious sporting event in Abu Dhabi. Customer Services in Emirate Palace Following are the main customer services offered in the Emirate Palace: Hotel Reservations Emirate Palace has a very nice facility to make reservations in the hotel. It has an online reservation portal where customer can make advance bookings for their stay in the hotel. Customer can also check the status of availability of rooms on the future dates when he wants to visit the hotel. Many online payment options are available on the website for the convenience of the customer to choose payment option which suits them the most. Reservation portal also gives many offers on the advance booking of rooms. (Dhabi.) Meetings and Conferences The Emirate Palace has 48 conference rooms, a large conference centre, a ballroom with a capacity of 2400 guests, a huge auditorium able to accommodate 1100 seats. These meeting and conference halls are best suitable for a gathering of 1000 people or a private confidential meeting of 10 people. The conference rooms have projectors, LCD screens, microphones, Wi-Fi data system and audio and video conference system preinstalled. (Dhabi.) Guest Relations Emirate Palace used to provide high level of customer service to the guests of the hotels. It is one of the most superior hotels in the world so the list of the hotel guests is also very exclusive. After getting pampered with the world class customer service the customers are welcomed to provide an honest feedback about their stay in the hotel. This feedback is helpful in maintaining long term relationship with the customers. (Dhabi.) Membership The hotel provides the facility of membership with the group. This membership facility is very useful in case of urgent bookings in the hotel. Members of the hotel are the customers who used to visit the hotel more often. This facility is the benefit of the long term relationship between the hotel and its customers. The members of the hotel are given priority in case of unavailability of enough vacancies in the hotel. Comments/Suggestions Collecting feedback from the customers is a critical issue for providing the best customer services in the industry. Words from the customers are very important for the hotel. These feedbacks are used to improve the quality of service if needed. Transit Visas for UAE UAE is the main place of attraction for the tourists all around the globe. Tourism is an important industry in the UAE and people used to visit UAE both for work and fun. The hotel helps its customers to provide transit visas for the UAE during their stay in the country. Acquiring visas is the most time consuming task for a visit in a foreign country. This herculean task is made easy for the customers by the Emirate Palace by providing them the transit visas for the UAE. The Emirate Palace get transit visas of 14 days issued for the customers within 7 working days. (Transit Visas for the United Arab Emirates) Events Calendar Schedule of the coming events in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Emirate Palace is available on the website of the hotel. This information can be very helpful for the customers of the hotel to make reservation accordingly if they want to attend a certain event in the hotel. The event calendar is used for getting information about the latest events going to be held at the hotel. (Dhabi.) IT Butler Service Till now the Emirate Palace used to provide a personal butler for every room and suite but now the butler service has taken a step ahead and the hotel is providing an IT butler for private consultation. This IT butler service is 247 facilities for IT assistance and support of the customer. Emirate Palace is used to host many conferences and workshops for many IT companies. Online Printing In case a customer needs printed copy of some of his document then he does not have to go to a printer to get his document printed. The Emirate Palace provides the service of online printing. The customer has to upload the electronic copy of the document on the web portal of the hotel and order it for printing. Nominal charges are applicable on printing of documents. This service adds value to the customer services provided by the hotel. (Dhabi.) Leisure Healthcare The hotel has unlimited leisure and recreational facilities available. The hotel has health spa, fitness suites, energy zone, tennis and paddle programs for health and fitness of the customers. Many water sports activities are facilitated by the hotel where the customers can enjoy the thrill of the open sea. Sarab Land is a children playground well equipped with slides and swings and many child activities organized by the beach club. (Dhabi.) Analysis of Customer Service Operations in Emirate Palace Service operation management is all bout the process by which organization produce services which are useful for the customer. Operation management takes care of managing the process of production of services. The process of transformation of input resources in the output of services is called an operation. (JPC Media LLC ) The operation process of transforming inputs into outputs certainly adds some value (apart from the cost of input) to the final product or service which is called the value added to the service. The Emirate Palace provides a very high level of service to its customer. This level of service can be produced only if the organization incorporates a service operation management which keeps a watch on the process of production of services. Various customer services in the Emirate Palace are discussed above and here these services are being analyzed on the framework of service operation management. (JPC Media LLC ) Hotel Reservation In the Emirate Palace the hotel reservation system is a customer service. In the operation of this service the inputs given are the web portal for the reservation system where the queries for the availability of rooms on are asked, and information (like number of rooms, number of guests, adults or children, date of reservation) from the customer is also required. Another input is the payment options for the advance booking. The transformation process of this service includes the changes in the database of the hotel reservation system. The database provides the results of the queries made by customer regarding the vacancy of room on the given date. The process of reservation also includes the transaction of amount for the reservation made in the hotel. Output from the transformation process is the customer service for making advance reservations in the hotel. The process provides information about the availability of rooms or suites on the particular date when customer wants it. The process also provides the information about all the types of rooms and suites in the hotel, their specifications, facilities in the rooms, and charges of the rooms. Using this information customer can choose the type of room and services they need. After making the payments for the reservation customer can get his room booked in the hotel on the desired date. (JPC Media LLC ) Meetings Conferences The Emirate Palace is one of the best venues for government conference and summits. Meetings and conferences of many multinational companies are arranged at the conference rooms and auditorium of the hotel. The input in the operation of this facility are the space of the meeting rooms, gadgets like the LCDs, microphones, projectors, other services like, Wi-Fi internet, audio or video conferencing systems. These additional services act as input of this customer service. Another input is the piece of information provided by the customer about his requirements of the meeting or conference rooms. Transformation process of the above input gadgets and services into the desired output of the service include a few steps. Conference rooms or auditorium are booked for various purposes. So first of all the requirements of the customer are studied and an estimation of the budget is given to the customer. If the customer needs any changes then the budget is revised otherwise next step that is installation of the extra facilities like Wi-Fi, projectors, LCDs are done in conference rooms and the rooms are ready and well furnished for the meetings going to held there. Successful business meetings and government conferences and summits without any disturbance or interrupt due to some missing equipment or service are the output of this service operation. Satisfied customer is the intangible and most important outcome from the operation. (JPC Media LLC ) Guest Relations Emirate Palace is one of the few hotels which provide seven star facilities to its customers. So the list of guests of the hotel becomes very exclusive as many government official, Hollywood stars, and sports star used to visit the hotel. The input in the service operation is the guests and the employees of the hotel. The process of the operation involves the interaction between the customers and the employees of the hotel. Guests used to keep on communicating with the hotel staff during all the hours of the day and the response of the staff plays a crucial role in the process of transforming inputs in the desired output. The hotel staff is well trained in the field of hospitality and fulfills all the needs of the guests of the hotel. The output of this service operation is the long term relationship with the customers. A happy guest with the facilities of the hotel will give a positive feedback of the customer services of the hotel. Apart from the positive feedback another important output will be the next stay of the guest in the hotel. Managing healthy and long term relations with the guests is important in the retention of the customers. (JPC Media LLC ) Transit Visas for UAE Emirate Palace helps its customers in getting the temporary tourist visas of the UAE. Input for the service operation is the customers documents, and charges of the visa. These are the requirements for getting the transit visa for UAE for the customers of Emirate Palace. The process of the service operation involves many steps as it has to go through a government protocol which is a bit time consuming but less than what it takes to get a transit visa directly from UAE embassy. Processing of the visa application takes at least 7 working days. The issuance of visas is under control of the Immigration department of Abu Dhabi. Transit visa valid for 14 days from the day of arrival in UAE is the output of the transformation process. A scanned copy on the mail of the customer is sent as soon as the visa is approved. The customer can receive the original copy of the visa from the Immigration office at the UAE airport. (Transit Visas for the United Arab Emirates) IT Butler Service Personal butler service for each room is being provided by many hotels and is not enough for the Emirate Palace so has decided providing a perfect hospitality service according to day todays requirements of the customers. Input in this service is the employee of the hotel who is well trained in the hospitality business and in IT skills as well. The process of service operation is the training of the staff for the role of IT butler. They are trained to solve IT related problems of the customers. Solution of the IT issues of the customers is the output of the operation. The IT butler helps the customers in setting up their office network, companys VPN, or any handy issue with some technical tool or application. The IT butler is available 247 for the service of the customers. Analysis of Supply Chain Management Precisely speaking Supply Chain Management is a set of approaches utilized to efficiently integrate suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and stores, so that merchandise is produced at the right quantity, to the right location and at the right time, minimizing the cost and improving the service quality. This definition of Supply Chain Management depicts that each and every facility plays an important role in making the product according to customers requirement. The supply chain in the hotel industry is used to provide the best service in the industry to the customers. The Supply chain of the Emirate Palace is designed with a certain objective of each link in the chain. Designing the right service for the customer with flexibility should be delivered to the customer in appropriate quantity, at the right time when he customer really needs it should be provided at the minimal cost. (Supply Chain Management) In the Emirate Palace various decisions are made at times at different levels of management for the advancement in the customer services. Long term decisions are made at the strategic level. Issues like ambience of the rooms and suites, type of customer services etc are decided at the strategic level. Decisions regarding the customer services like what services to provide, how to provide, what should be cost of a particular service etc are taken at this level. Medium term decisions like the menu of the week, theme of a particular party, other offer on services, duty of the hotel staff etc are taken at this level of the chain. The operational level is to take day to day decisions like the attire of the staff, celebrity guest of the day etc. There is a very thin line between the functions of tactical and operational level. Inventory management and Customer service hold a trade off with each other. If the hotel staff start being very rigid with their inventory management system then they will not be able to provide the level of customer service they are providing currently. The Emirate Palace provides a very high level of customer services which will not be possible if the hotel management is more concerned about the stocks in the inventory rather than the customer satisfaction. (Supply Chain Management) Electronic Operations at Emirate Palace The Emirate Palace provides many services to the customer. These services are the measure of customer satisfaction with the hotel. The hotel Management use to manage most of their tasks using technologically advanced resources these operations are also called electronic operations. The major electronic operations of the hotel are the following: (Minghetti., 2003) Reservation System The Reservation System of the hotel is completely web based. A web portal is provided for the customers to check the availability of rooms on particular dates and make reservations if available. There the customers can also look at the images of the different types of rooms and suites of the hotel and choose one of them for their stay in the hotel. Payments are also done online via credit card and many other payment options. The payment link is provided extra web security for security reasons of the customers. Overall the reservation system of the Emirate Palace is a value added service operation of the hotel. Online Printing There is another facility of online printing provided for the customers of the hotel. This facility can be availed by a customer if he has a meeting early in the morning and he needs hard copies of some of his documents of which he has electronic copy. Customer can go to the website of the hotel and click on the link of online printing. Now he can upload the soft copy of his document and order it for printing. The print outs cost nominal printing charges. (Transit Visas for the United Arab Emirates) ATMs The electronic operations of the Emirate Palace include all the electronic services provided by the hotel. There are three ATM machines in the hotel from where customers can make transactions in case if they need cash amount. Internet Facility The Emirate Palace also provides internet facilities to the customers. All the rooms and suites have a Wi-Fi internet connection of 20 mbps. This complementary line is spread in all parts of the hotel. On special demand of the customers a broad line of 80 mbps Wi-Fi internet connection is provided which has additional charges. SWOT Analysis of the Emirate Palace Strengths Exclusive service and features and high brand value. Patronage of the high profile clients thus maintained profits. Weaknesses Extremely heavy cost of rooms so 50% rooms vacant every year. Exclusive and the quality service cost very high. Opportunities Reduction in prices may attract more guests. Threats Another 5 star hotel Burj-Al-Arab is a major competitor. Profits might get reduced because of the global economic melt down. Business Process Map of the Emirate Palace Business process mapping is a methodology to improve the performance and efficiency of the organization by improving the process steps in the delivery of product or service. The business process of the delivery of customer services in the Emirate Palace is depicted in the figure below: (Business Process Modeling) Customer Order for Service Apologize for delay and ask for time. Deliver Service to customer Update Service customer Database Database Service booked for the customer Yes Forward order to Inventory Management No Check time to make available Available? Processing order Check Availability The notations of the various figures are different in the above flow chart of the business process of the. Decision point Activities Actions Events Service Quality Management Quality of the service is the ability of satisfying customer needs and meets his expectations consistently. It is the duty of the hotel staff and employees to provide the level of service which is up to the mark or even better than their expectations. The Emirate Palace is a seven star hotel so the quantity of customer service will be obviously large. But the quality of service they provide should be tested on various dimensions. (Dominici., 2010) Dimensions of Quality The dimensions of quality are: Performance: The services provided by the hotel are very exclusive. The innovation tem of the hotel has worked hard to provide the customers with the unique customer services. Aesthetics: Customer services provided by the Emirate Palace are very lucrative and well designed. The reservation system of the hotel is very user friendly i.e. any newbie can use the portal and book a room for him. Special Features: Each and every customer service of the Emirate Palace has certain unique and special feature in it. Like most seven star hotels provide a private butler for every room and suites. But the Emirate Palace is providing a private IT butler for every room and suite. The job of this butler will be to help the customers with the IT related problems. Conformance: All the customer services of the Emirate Palace are up to the mark of the expectations of the customer. Reliability: The consistent performance of certain customer services in the Emirate Palace is doubtful. Like the IT butler service. (Dominici., 2010) Durability: The services offered by the hotel seem to have a long useful life. All the services provided to the customers today will be also are needed by the future customers of the hotel. The following figure shows the Gap Model of the Service Quality Total Cost of Quality Failure Cost: This cost of quality is the cost of defective and faulty parts of service. The failure cost of quality of the customer services will be high for the hotel. This cost is further classified in two types: Internal Failure Cost: This is he cost when the fault in the service is detected before the launch of the service. Some employees of the hotel must have gone under training of IT skills for doing the job of IT butler. External Failure Cost: All the cost incurred to determine and repair the fault of the service which is detected after it is offered to the customer. Appraisal Cost: This is the cost paid to ensure that the quality of service is maintained during the use of it. Like the cost of maintenance of the database of the hotel reservation system because if the database or the system crashes then one of the most important customer service of the hotel will be finished. Prevention Cost: This cost is paid for the training planning of total quality, customer satisfaction, and quality improvement costs so that defect can be prevented. A separate team of innovation and customer service is always working for the improvement in the current services and remove the faults if any. The Emirate Palace has received the Environment Management System ISO 14001: 2004 Certification of Hospitality Services. Recommendations Suggestions The Emirate Palace provides a wide range of customer services to its guests. Most of these services are value added and costs pretty high for the hotel. The reservation system of the hotel is a wonderful customer services but there are some improvements required in the system so that it can be more valuable for the customers. Reservations made on the web portal cannot be withdrawn later if the customer has any case of urgency. Full amount of the payment is forfeited by the hotel. If a customer has booked a room advance in 1 month but on the day of reservation he got stuck with some important work than the instead of forfeiting the whole amount a particular percentage of the payment should be deducted and the rest should be transferred back. The process of providing transit visas of the UAE is a bit time consuming so the hotel management must try to reduce the time taken in the process. Conclusions The Emirate Palace is one of the worlds few seven star hotels providing excellent level of customer services. These customer services are produced by passing through various processes of service development. Operation management, process design, service supply chain strategies, and service quality management. All these frameworks and tools are helpful for the improvement of services. Developing a service involves 3 phase of giving input, process transformation, and obtaining output. Each service is the output if this process. This objective behind these high levels of services is customer satisfaction. In the hospitality industry the guests should be treated to make hem feel special. Every customer has a certain level of expectations from the service provider and if the service provided does not live up to the expectations of the customer then the customer will never come back to buy the service again. But a satisfied customer is always necessary for spreading the word of mouth about the quality of service of the business. So an organization must always vigorously strive to provide customer services to the guests so that they get satisfied and give a positive feedback of the organization.

What is useful in Freuds theory of dreams? Essay -- Psychology Psycho

 « The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind  ».1 While Freud already used hypnosis and free association with his patients, he soon felt the need to include the interpretation of dreams in psychoanalysis as well. Freud decided he would developped his 'theory of dreams' to go further in his analysis. According to Freud, dreams allow unconscious desires, fears or emotions to express themselves in a disguised way. Dreams are an expression of wish fulfilment communicating through symbols. Throughout this essay, we will ask ourselves how dreams and their interpretation can be useful to psychoanalysis. Why pay attention to night unconsciousness to go deeper in the analysis? How and why do we dream? What relationship is there between sleeping, dreaming and stimuli? How far can the interpretation of dream lead? Are there limits to Freud's theory of dreams? Freud's theory of dreams completes the method of psychoanalysis : free association and interpretation when studying the meaning of dreams allow a deeper understanding of the patient. Through his theory's 'dream-work' process, Freud explores the mechanisms of unconsciousness to analyse the process of imaginary wish fulfilment. ** * Dreams and their interpretation appear to be a controversial issue never reaching consensus. Before focusing on the elaboration of his theory of dreams, Freud noticed there were three different appreciations commonly made of dreams : (1) dreams are the expression of a superior state where repressed fantasies reappear ; (2) medical experts believe dreams respond to sensorial and stomatic stimuli ; (3) the public consider dreams have a meaning.2 On those premises, Freud has developped and strenghten... ...or the understanding of dreams and the psychoanalysis research, it seems to have its limits and uncertainties. The arbitrary involved in the interpretation and the generalization relevant to Freud's seduction theory can be easily criticized. Works Cited FREUD, Sigmund, Sur le Rà ªve, (Gallimard Paris : 1998) FREUD, Sigmund, 1. Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, translated by James Strachey, (Penguin Books : 1991) FREUD, Sigmund, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, The Standard Edition, (W.W. Northon and Company : 1989) FREUD, Sigmund, The Interpretation of Dreams, translated by A.A. Brill in 1911, Plain Label Books, (Chumley P. Grumley:1913) LACAN, Jacques, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XI, (W.W.Northon and Company : 1998) LAPLANCHE, PONTALIS, Vocabulaire de la Psychanalyse, 4e à ©dition (Quadrige : 2004)

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye :: essays research papers

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was younger, I loved to watch cartoons. Although I watched many cartoons, there was one cartoon in particular that caught my attention the most. This cartoon was a science fiction story about robotic lifeforms called The Transformers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At that time, The Transformers was the most exciting and important thing in my life. It came on everyday, and I tried not to ever miss an episode. If I knew I would miss an episode, I made sure I had someone record it for me so I could watch it later. I even recorded many shows just to be able to watch them over and over again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One day when I was away somewhere, I had my mother record it for me. After returning home, I immediately began to view the tape only to find out that the tape ran out about half way though the show. I remember I was so incredibly angry over not being able to completely watch the episode, that I threw a childish tantrum by crying and yelling at my poor mother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I later began buying The Transformers action figures; which were developed by Hasbro from the television series. Over the years, I accumulated a collection of about thirty different characters; which I still have stored in my room. I don't think I could ever get rid of them. Also, each Transformer came with a stat card on the back of the box he was sold in that described his various skills and attributes. I used to always cut these stat cards from the back of the boxes, and tape them onto large sheets; which I hung on my bedroom wall. Along with the action figures, I also had Transformer books and Transformer bedsheets. I couldn't get enough of the Transformers. I saw about every episode, and I knew about everything there was to know about them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Transformers were intelligent robots with the ability to transform from a robot shape to some other shape. The very first Transformers were the Autobots and the Decepticons. The Autobots, who transformed into cars, were the heroes, while the Decepticons, who transformed into jets, were the villains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two groups originated over a millennia ago. A race called the Quintessons were the heads of a huge galactic corporation. They built the planet of Cybertron into a huge factory in which to build robotic slaves. They created two basic models: household and entertainment robots, and warrior robots. Whenever one to the slaves began to show signs of intelligence, the Quintessons destroyed them to be used as materials for new robots being created.

01.02 What is Citizenship? (Honors Extension) FLVS Essay

The bill, titled to provide discretionary authority to an immigration judge to determine that an alien parent of a United States citizen child should not be ordered removed, deported, or excluded from the United States, â€Å"amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, in the case of an alien subject to removal, deportation, or exclusion and who is the parent of a U.S. citizen child, to authorize an immigration judge to decline to order such removal if the judge determines such action to be against the child’s best interests†. It also states that â€Å"such discretion shall not apply to an alien when the judge determines that the alien is, one, excludable or deportable on security grounds, or two, has engaged in sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking in persons†. This bill was originally introduced to the House Committee on the Judiciary in late January of this year. It was later referred to the subcommittee of Immigration and Border Security in February. Representative Jose Serrano introduced the bill to protect the parents of US citizen natural born children from being deported or removed from the country, who are at illegal status, at discretion of the immigration judge. If the bill was passed, many of the illegal immigrants who have children who are citizens of the United States will be able to stay and be legalized into the country, just because they have a child born on U.S. grounds. The people it would affect are illegally residing on U.S. grounds, but have children who were born here. The government will be positively affected through this bill. The numbers of immigrants in the country will decrease by a significant amount if this bill is passed. Many citizens may find this to be a controversial issue. On one hand, the bill allows for these families to be kept together and not separated from one another, but other citizens may argue that there are too many immigrants residing in the country as is, and permitting the parents of these children to stay would be a mistake. Family is a very important thing in life. Immigrant or not, family is family. Intentional separation of a family is unmoral and wrong. This bill would make a positive impact rather than a wrongful one. It gives this group of illegal parents of citizen children and opportunity and a chance to make a good life and provide for their children. If these parents can prove that they deserve to be here and that they can provide a good life and are willing to work to deliver and meet all the necessities of their children if given the chance, why would it be a negative impact on our government or society to pass this bill? Equality makes the United States the so-called â€Å"land of freedom† it is. A mother is a mother, a father is a father, and a child deserves to grow up with the warmth and love from each one. Every child, immigrant parents or not, deserves this opportunity. That is equality.

Political Analysis on China Essay

China has been under the communist party rule for many decades. The communist party exercises absolute power over legislations and economic and cultural institutions. China rules and regulations are not so transparent or absolute. Due to lack of transparency and corruption the social network with the people from the communist party can help the business avoid red tape and bureaucracy. A political risk refers to government interference in the business affairs of foreign persons or companies doing business in a particular country.China is particularly hazardous with respect to political risk. In fact this has occurred in china in 1949. There are the risk of confiscation, risk of expropriation, and risk of contract repudiation.A unique form of political risk occurs in china, and this is the constant battle between the country’s central government and the provincial and local governments over applicable law, and observance or non-observance of it. This makes it difficult for companies operating in China to know exactly what the rules are. Other Political risk of China are as follows- 1) Political Effectiveness- Political effectiveness is actually not very effective in china as compared to other countries. Barely anyone bothers to call the police and they be easily bribed. Road laws are not enforced and thus there is a high rate of accidents in China with the way they drive. The government is even less confident than outside observers regarding their nation’s political stability. 2) Institutional Stability- Corruption still plays a huge role in China. They believe that profit comes first and mostly for personal reasons. At first it was only the Chinese Communist Party who took control in 1949. Later the other branches such as the Judicial Branch came into power in 1980. 3)Currency inconvertibility – The import and export business exchange currencies in either USD or RMB. Only certain worldwide currencies can be exchanged in China, other than that they use the RMB. 4) Honest Government- There are many cases known to justify corruption among government officials. Policies and laws are not solid or stable in China, therefore everything is negotiable. The CPI ratings of China are 3.5 this year. This looks bad compared to the United States and Canada. 106,000 officials were prosecuted for corruption in 2009 which was a 2.5% increase from 2008. With China’s growing economy, it will only get worse. Minimizing Political Risk- For minimizing political risk we should understand the importance of social networks and their relationship. It is a challenging process for a company to recruit the right people with the appropriate network to overcome these challenges. Legal System- For thousands of years, the Chinese legal system was based on Confucian ideology that emphasized ethics and relationships between the people and their leaders. China does not technically have an independent judiciary or a legal system that operates outside the influence of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. In fact, China’s lack of an independent judicial system. Legal and Regulatory Risk Regulatory risk in China is high. Although many sectors of China’s economy have become more market oriented, numerous restrictions and a massive bureaucracy still hinder full implementation of regulations and make the approval process unpredictable. China’s Judicial System- Using China’s judicial system also involves risk. Because of China’s WTO membership and growing pressure from foreign investors for greater transparency and rule of law, China increasingly recognizes overseas arbitration awards and rulings. It is, however, still risky for companies to rely solely on the PRC judicial system to protect their interests. Similarly, China’s accession to the WTO has brought with it the inclusion of international business laws and patent rights amendments, but even today it is common to see technology being stolen either by the employees of the outsourced firm in China or by a Chinese competitor in the country. Protection from foreign Currency Earning Enterprises- The cost of doing business in China is frequently higher than companies expect. These issues, coupled with a recent rise in policies aimed at protecting domestic companies from foreign competition— especially in engineering and construction, legal services, and banking—create risks and obstacles that few foreign companies are aware of until too late. Minimizing Legal Risk- Hence western companies that plan to outsource manufacturing to China should be aware of these legal challenges. One way of preventing these issues is to have a strong network with the locals or to make sure that sensitive technology is not outsourced to China. Cultural Challenges China has evidenced thousands of years of history, culture and traditions. The way Chinese people behave today is the result of its historical transformations, which is very different from the transformations witnessed by western societies. Hence the modern day Chinese culture is very different from the cultures of the west. The cultural aspects of the Chinese are immensely reflected in the business world, for example, A CEO in the western world is normally looked upon as a consensus builder or as an individual who debates and discusses strategies with their employees and then executes the strategy, whereas in China the leader is looked upon as the sole decider and executor of strategies. There is a strict hierarchy in the Chinese business culture, which is very different from the business culture of some of the west countries. So to run a successful wholly owned outsourcing unit in China, the western businessmen need to understand and overcome these cultural chal lenges. Challenges in Scale and Demographics China is a vast country with a massive population, Western businesses are often at awe about China and think that the 1.3 billion people could become a large customer base, but in reality China is a complex market. 850 million people in China live in the impoverished countryside; their life is harsh, uncertain and poor.536 million people live in the urban areas out of which 247 million people are considered middle class and have an expendable income. The middle class earns over $5000 per head over the period of a year, but one must also consider the fact that the Chinese are the largest savers in the world unlike some western countries such as the US where the consumers have massive spending power and a culture that promotes spending. Hence for a western company to succeed they need to understand these Demographic differences. Challenges related to market behaviour The Chinese market is unique in many aspects, many western companies have tried to sell their product as-is in the Chinese market and failed miserably, and these are not some small unknown brands but large mega brands that have been successful for many decades and different markets. To be recognized as a brand in China, one need to market and advertise the Chinese way, marketing and branding in China should carry a strong Chinese Cultural overtone to be successful in the mainland. Successful western companies such as Google and eBay have failed to become market leaders in China. The lesson learnt from the failure of these companies is that they â€Å"did not understand the localization factor† Therefore for the long run, western companies should â€Å"Think Chinese but act western† and sell the right product at the right price to be successful in the Chinese market. Economic instability & Trade policy Challenges China is the world’s second largest economy and is among the fastest growing economies of the world. When western companies move to China they have to consider the economic stability of the country and prepare themselves for the various risks due to changes in fiscal policy, monetary policy, trade policy and other macro economic factors. China’s economy is mostly dependent on exports from the manufacturing industry and foreign economists suggest that the Yuan is undervalued by as much as 40%. Hence a Change in the Yuan can impact the profitability of the western business. Due to high economic growth there has been a strong demand for semi and highly skilled labour all over China. The labour costs have steadily increased over the last 5 years and the government has increased the minimum wage level. This will impact operating costs in China and hence a western company planning to operate in China will have to factor in this r isk. In summary western enterprises need to be aware of macroeconomic risks before they start their operations in China or face the possibility of failure.

Childhood memories Essay

Thinking about my childhood, makes me feel like I want to go back and to watch me while I was doing unexpected crazy actions, it was the funniest days ever. My childhood, sometimes it makes me laugh other times I really cry. Remembering some crazy actions that I’ve done , like jumping in the deepest part of the swimming pool while I didn’t know how to swim yet, they rescued me but, I wasn’t scared, that really makes me laugh when I remember such an action. One time, my mother was pulling me up from the swimming pool after my training, she was trying to pull me out but, actually I pulled her in water, it was really funny, I still laugh when I remember that. In other hand, when I remember my grand father I really start to cry, I was 4 years when he died, I remember him and what we did together as it was yesterday, I think remembering all memories with someone when you were 4 years old, it proves how much did you love that person and how close he was to you actually, to your heart. I wish that I can go back and to live on day from my childhood, when I was always feeling that am safe, when me and my friends living day by day and we were not planning for anything to happen in the day after. We didn’t know what’s meant by hater and, we didn’t realize black hearted people who talk bad about you in your back and, they just give a smile in your face. Even money were just papers for me but, now a days people can kill to earn money, all people now are racing for money. I really want to lay on my old bed as I used to sleep when I just put my head on my pillow I don’t care about anything, I Don’t hate any body. I really want to live just on day of my childhood, it was fun, real fun.