The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company In Jamaica Tourism Essay

The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company In Jamaica Tourism Essay Introduction Executive Summary: Ritz Carlton was founded by Mr. Cesar Ritz who initially worked in finest Hotels and restaurants in Paris. He owned grand Hotel Ritz and within one year he expanded wings in London and opened Hotel Carlton which became Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. He believed in excellent personalized services which satisfied the discerning guest. Ritz Carlton expanded to North America and ownership changed during 1983 to Johnson Company. During 1983 1987 Ritz Carlton expanded domestically and internationally under new ownership.  [i]   During 1997 Marriott International purchased Ritz Carlton and by 2000 it became primarily a management company operating 38 Hotels and resorts worldwide with minority stake in 10 properties and outright ownership of 3 hotels. The company used to obtain management contracts for new hotels and resorts around the world. Over the years hotel conglomerate won acclaimed for its services and had been awarded Best Hotel in Asia Pacific in the eight Business Traveler Asia / Pacific magazine Travel Awards Subscribe Survey and for two consecutive years Best Business Hotel in Malaysia. The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company for the first time now wants to open a hotel in historic Foggy Bottom district of Washington D C in Multi Use facility complex owned by Millennium Partners. The Hospitality Complex is 162 Luxury Condominiums, sports club, splash Spa, three restaurant, and 40,000 square feet of street -level restaurants and retail shops and 300-room hotel. Millennium partners founded in 1990 that set up high end luxury apartments and Lincoln square four building complex in New York was their first project and exhibited their future intensions. Millennium partners ended up in hotel business. In this case study Essence of Ritz-Carlton experience, the Ritz-Carlton selling, how the Ritz-Carlton creates Ladies and Gentlemen in only 7 days. Also McBride, Ritz-Carlton GM, to lengthen the amount of time spent on training hotel employees before hotel opening. McBride should consider a total overhaul of the hotel opening process. Products and Services Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company develops and Operates luxury hotels. Hotels are designed and identified to appeal to and suit the requirements of major customers including meeting event planners, Business travelers and leisure travelers. Ritz- Carlton set out to open any new hotel Ritz-Carlton including detailed analysis of site selection, new product and service development and feasibility study. The detailed analysis also includes target customers, their needs and expectations. The each hotel customized to meet local market demand. Innovation through make use of latest technology for enhancing customer satisfaction level Link restaurant services through internet KobaltExpress.com. It allows customers to decide menus ahead of time and also select the choice of table. Differential aesthetic look and best quality interior was few of the additional features. Core Values Business Model Following are the core values and Business model exist at Ritz Carlton: Core values: Trust, honesty, integrity and commitment. A great emphasizing on human resources, believes it important and biggest assets Foster work environment to fulfill individual aspirations Focus on Service but not sales Guest greets at Airport with mimosas and discount coupons on a silver tray Airport check in concierge Techno savvy to ensure customers needs satisfied Event Planners Ritz -Carlton managed properties for Millennium partners who were one of several hotel owners. Ritz Carlton charged management fees of 3% of total revenue besides wholly owned luxury hotels around the world. The customer segment was Independent travelers and Meeting Event planners. The key success indicators of hotel business were Average Daily Rate and Revenue per Available Room. Independent travelers were influenced through special services like providing discounting coupons at airports, created hotel room at airport and also introduced Technology Butler. The specialized services increased customer convenience and outpaced the competition. The nature of services is perishable and individual travelers are aiding in profitability. The event business / meeting business are growing and desirable for the sustainable profitability. The management contracts tend to meet needs of owners and operators. Quality at Ritz Carlton: Ritz Carlton has a great emphasizing on human resources. Robust HRM practices envisage right people for the right job and inducted to become perfect lady and gentleman. The total quality management philosophy began to permeate the organization. Company focused on new activities and measures including quality standards, continuous improvements for delivering better service quality. New programs designed to meet customer specific need and service quality indicators. The Quality policy believes in Exceeding Standards. Warm and sincere greeting, anticipation and compliances of guest needs and warm good bye are key service steps. Human resources at Ritz Carlton: Human resources is critical element in the process for understanding of the service to be delivered and priorities in doing so, are aligned closely with customers expectations and marketing communications by the organization. For managers, the service climate needs to support and reward employees in their efforts to deliver the service product reliably at the promised standard. The value creation for customer If the customer perceives quality of the service to be higher than the cost incurred, the customer receives value. The greater the difference between the quality of service and the cost, greater will be the satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Ritz Carlton turnover rate was 20% compared to hotel industry average rate of 100%. This exhibits how Ritz Carlton cares about their employees and viewed their employees as one of the important and biggest assets and has passion for the people. Ritz Carlton nurtured and maximizes talent of each individual. Through the extensive formal and informal training employee were prepared to meet current obligations and also higher responsibilities in future. Employees were also trained to meet futuristic obligations and encouraged to cross train and learn about many different aspects. Performance was not only criteria but also managed by the employees themselves. Employees monitoring their own performance and recognized for outstanding work. Staffing: To minimize failure in delivering services, key HRM practices like employee recruitment, selection and training focused and implemented. People having aptitude, talent and attitude to serve people, training schedule made sure to shape out staff for delivering exceptional services. The key of maintaining exceptional service standards was to keep high morale and motivation of each employee. Various tools were used to attract applicants for the various positions include visiting competitors restaurants, advertisement in news papers and visiting hospitality schools. Ritz Carlton job fair was organized for mass recruitment. Aspirants treated well including convenient reaching to destination of job fair, offering snacks and beverages, make them aware about organization. Service Oriented Approach of Ritz-Carlton The customer service oriented approach has three elements: For whom services and products created who will deliver and how will be delivered. Customer Value Customer relationships and customer loyalty Different communication and pricing strategies Assessment of customer satisfaction and complaints Making customer value more tangible People Role of employees in value creation Nature of competencies required to deliver services Empowerment of employees Reduction of stress Operations and Technology Designing processes to create value Design and location of facilities Role of technology Capacity management The Ritz Carlton having different value and philosophy in business which includes and they operate The Credo, The Motto, The Three Steps of Service, Service Values, the 6th Diamond the Employee Promise. The company is engage in the services oriented which have the unique characteristics for providing the services in order to meet the expectation of the customer. Some of the highlights have been captured depicted below:- Excellence in service not in Selling The Ritz-Carlton Philosophy states as they are not in the hotel business. The Ritz-Carlton is selling an experience, and experience that is based on excellence of service. As stated by Schulze, We are not in the hotel business. The hotel business is about selling rooms, selling food, selling the bar. We do those things incidentally, but our business is service. We charge for service. Our commitment to our customers is excellence in service. Their commitment to customers is excellence in service. Service is their profession. The total service oriented approach. The Credo The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of guests is the highest mission. Pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience. The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfils even the unexpressed wishes and needs of guests. Motto At The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. This motto exemplifies the anticipatory service provided by all staff members. Motto of the company, Employee commitment, The credo, employee promises and twenty basics are gold standards and success mantras. Gold standards reinforced on daily basis in order to build the habits of employees to deliver the highest level of services The three steps of service,- A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guests name. Anticipation and fulfillment of each guests needs Fond farewell give a warm good-bye and use the guests name. Service Values: Employees feel proud To Be Ritz-Carlton as they have opportunity to do following which gives them job satisfaction. The Ritz Carlton is known for service excellence and follow following principals to provide excellent service to their customers.. 1. Employee satisfaction. 2. Leadership involvement. 3. Determination, commitment, and accountability. 4. Attend to voice of the customers. 5. Two-way communication. 6. Freedom to act. 7. Employees as ambassadors. 8. Adapt service recovery model (L.A.S.T.: Listen, Apologize, Solve, and Thank You.) 9. Anticipate needs. 10. Scripting to convey the right message  [ii]   The 6th Diamond is Mystique, Emotional Engagement Functional , these all cared by Ritz- Carlton and known 6th Diamond. Employee Promises At The Ritz-Carlton Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in service commitment to guests. By applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment, they nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the company. The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton Mystique is strengthened.  [iii]   Creating Service Oriented culture through orientation Servitisation approach means bundling goods services and makes a integrated package. This approach more focus on associated services than product Four steps in creating servitisation approach:- Knowing your customers Organizing service delivery systems Making sure employees have appropriate skills Employing technology A services discipline is defined by the following main features: The benefits it offers to customers The need to integrate, manage and deliver processes The importance of establishing and maintaining relationships The Ritz-Carlton As a premium hotel whose utmost mission is to provide genuine care and comfort to guests, The Ritz-Carlton pledges to provide the finest personal service and facilities to the guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed yet refined ambience.And this objective can only be fulfilled by satisfied and engaged employees. The three goals of Ritz are financial results, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. These goals are not exclusive from each other. They are very closely interrelated. Without satisfied and engaged employees, there is no way to achieve excellent financial results and guest satisfaction. To ensure such high service standards, Management team look for people who will fit the existing culture and see the following qualities in the people. People who share the same values and purpose. People who care for and respect others. People who smile naturally. People who seek a long term relationship. People who have talent for the job Process of Ritz to create Ladies and Gentlemen in only 7 days The seven days countdown was formulated for hotel opening process which was refined during in the process of last several years , this was the new employees first encounter with hotel, which started exactly seven days before the grand opening of the hotel. The first two (2) days were devoted to orienting employees to the company culture and values. The next five days were devoted to more skills training and trial runs of service delivery. To ensure that employees are get aligned with organization mission and core values. Trainers from 23 nationalities The orientation process is slow and thorough, and ensures that the employees are aligned with the organizations mission and a great deal of focus is kept on the conveying the values of the organization. The trainers for the orientation program are gathered from 23 different countries, all considered the best of the best in their role within the organization. These trainers are responsible for ensuring that each employee is at the required level or standard in their specific job function at the hotel. Schulze addresses the new team by stating, You are not servants. We are not servants. Our profession is service. We are ladies and gentleman. We are ladies and gentleman and should be respected as such. He conveys a message of unity, a message of equality and team work during his address, and he again insists that We are ladies and gentleman serving ladies and gentleman, as per the Ritz Carlton motto. The Ritz-Carlton employed the Gold Standards to ensure this message was communicated effectively to all employees; the Gold Standard included The Credo, The Three Steps of Service, The Motto, The Employee Promise and the Twenty Basics to ensure employees were focused on the organizations values. Through continuous communication and brain storming session and directives from top to down level and intensive training, skill development and an aligned HRM strategy, within 7 days the Ritz-Carlton managed to create ladies and gentleman out of their employees. The steps for making Ladies and Gentleman Training and daily line-up: During the first two days employees were aware, trained and dipped into the culture and values of the organization and remaining five days devoted to specific skill training and trial runs of service delivery ensuring everything perfect and meeting service standards. The orientation process ensures aligns the worker with the mission of company and ensured service philosophy ingrained in all its employees, they ingrained the message that all employees are in the service business and not the hotel business. The executive team and Human Resources explain The Ritz-Carlton Credo, Employee Promise, and 12 Service Values. After that, they will receive 30 days of training from a certified trainer from the department. On Day 21, new employees are asked to give the management feedback on how they can improve their training program for future training and recertification. In addition, every employee gets a minimum of 130 hours of training every year, which spans training for his or her department, company culture, and language and computer skills. Day 365 is recognition of one year of loyal service and is an opportunity to reinforce the hotels culture. Every employee will also go through annual recertification after they pass written tests, role-play and interviews on culture and skill. Daily line-up is a daily briefing to reiterate the companys standard and convey important business messages. It takes place every morning in each department. While each department may conduct briefings differently, the message they convey is the same worldwide: they will talk about one of the 12 Service Values. Listening and communication: Communication is important and creates abundant opportunities to interact with employees beginning with the interview and continuing through monthly breakfast meetings and his daily rounds of the hotel: Human Resources also holds a monthly feedback session with randomly selected employees for 1 to 1.5 hours to discuss their concerns. Overall, every employee has one opportunity every year to speak with the General Manager or HR Director in private. In addition, the hotel conducts annual employee satisfaction surveys, and on an ongoing basis, collects opinions on employee issues and posts them in public areas identifying those responsible for solving them. The executive team then notes the number of issues solved and measures the satisfaction of the employees. Empowerment and continuous improvement: Employees are also encouraged to be innovative and creative when it comes to improving their jobs. Money is not the key motivator; employees are rewarded for improving the goals measured by guest satisfaction, financial performance and employee satisfaction at year-end. Employees are rewarded and recognized for their outstanding customer service.  [iv]   Information support: Through their numerous interactions with guests throughout their stay like check in, room service, and housekeeping, employees continuously record guest preferences and needs in Guest Preference Forms. Every night, such preferences and needs are entered into The Ritz-Carltons worldwide database Project Mystique, so whenever guests make a reservation at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, their needs and preferences are known and taken care of. Reward and recognition: At The Portman Ritz-Carlton, employees are recognized and rewarded both financially and non-financially. Mark DeCocinis believes if you want your people to be the best, you must pay them top market salaries. While money is not the key motivator, employees are rewarded for improving the goals measured by guest satisfaction, financial performance and employee satisfaction at year end. Employees are rewarded and recognized for their outstanding customer service. Every quarter, a Five-Star Employee Award is granted; with the winner receiving a five-night stay for two at a Ritz-Carlton anywhere in the world, along with round-trip tickets for two and US$500 allowance. At Ritz -Carlton human resources are very well planned they treat with hospitality. As per their President who says you are not servant. We are not servant. Our profession is service. We are ladies and gentleman, just as the guests are whom we respect as ladies and gentleman. If you impart such culture be sure you will create ladies and gentle to serve. Give the respect take the respect, which costs nothing only wins, the heart of the customer who is taking the service will have regards for the service provider. Employee orientation schedule Employee orientation is key part of the training and development process which introduces employees to the jobs, colleagues and organization. Researchers have found that formal orientation can achieve significant cost savings by reducing anxiety of new employees, fostering positive attitudes, job satisfaction and sense of commitment at the start of the employment relationship. The 7 day countdown was a Hallmark of Ritz Carltons well defined hotel opening process which synchronized all steps leading to the opening of a new hotel.  It was Ritz Carltons orientation process aimed at aligning the employee with the vision and mission of the organization. The 7 day orientation process was standardized and ensured that Ritz Carlton has the right employees to support its vision which was Excellent Personalized Service. The seven day countdown was a worldwide best practice for the organization but in our opinion McBride should lengthen the 7 day countdown because of the following reasons: Current difficulty faced in training new hires to meet the high expectation of Ritz Carltons standards in only 7 days. An increase in the training period would help employees understand their role in achieving the key success factors and creating the The Ritz Carlton Mystique. By lengthening the 7 day countdown the service could become flawless which in turn could help translate the 5% dissatisfied customers to satisfied customers. This would result in occupancy going up from 80% to 88% due to increase in satisfaction level translating to $300 million. Extending the 7 day countdown means investing in long standing excellence in areas such as employee orientation and customer oriented training resulting in increased customer engagement and satisfaction. Research on guest-spending patterns indicates that a four percent increase in customer engagement company-wide would generate an extra $40 million in incremental revenue. Employees morale is boosted as they are protected from feeling overwhelmed. A longer employee engagement would also mean further decrease in the annual turnover which stood at 18%. Adults by virtue of having lived longer accumulate greater volume, knowledge and mind-sets. It would help to have more time for the employees to o un-learn and learn new things. Continuous improvement was absolutely critical to keep the commitment to customer for excellence in service and extending the 7 day countdown would help the process. Would help thwart competition from The Four Seasons by offering flawless service which can be achieved by increasing the orientation period. Would help meet the expectations of the Millennium Partners about this hotel offering great great service which means it expected Service par excellence. Thus we believe that Ritz Carlton should therefore increase the length of the orientation to further ingrain service excellence in its new employees which will ensure higher productivity and foster competitiveness. An assessment of 7 days vs 14 days training program 50% occupancy revenue = $5,000,000 Cost of the 7 day training program = $10,00,000 (estimated) 80% occupancy revenue = $8,000,000 Cost of the 14 day training program = $20,00,000 (estimated) Benefit of the program = 3,000,000 Additional Cost = 1000,000 Return On Investment = 300% Every investment including investment for employee training associated with cost and benefit. The cost and benefit mean cost involved in training of employees, direct revenue benefit, intangible benefits. The increase / decrease training schedule also adversely / favorably impact. Ritz Carlton is well known name to the industry and known for service centric approach. Initial Occupancy may not affected by training period but message of customer care approach need to be ingrained. Local culture also affects the training schedule as behavior of individual employees need to framed up in line of the global approach. Change in hotel opening process Change is part of life. World scenario is becoming dynamic and industry is coming up with innovative products to lure customers. In order to stay ahead in competition, Ritz Carlton also need to think differently. The entire training module, customer expectancy needs overhaul of the hotel opening process. The defects need to eliminate within shortest time frame.. Additional training and development will increase the cost but it will build up confidence and set new industry bench mark. Ongoing operation is very different from the opening a new hotel. The opening hotel require two core competencies One is dealing with the development of the site. Human resource processes necessary to get the hotel up running. Ritz-Carlton regarded employees as the cornerstone of its exceptional service culture. The company understood that, as a service organization, the quality of its end product was only as good as the people providing it. Therefore it took care to see that it not only recruited the right kind of employees, but also provided them with the necessary inputs to enable them to provide exceptional service. Although Ritz-Carltons salaries were not significantly higher than those of other comparable organizations in the hospitality industry, the company was a preferred employer because of its organizational culture and the way it treated its employees. Ritz-Carltons organizational culture not only helped the company provide exemplary customer service, but also created an atmosphere where employees felt valued. It is difficult to train new hires to meet the high expectation of the Ritz Carlton service standards in only seven days, but it worked in Ritz Carlton. Training should not be longer which will not be cost effective in the short span of the time. The employees already working should be given chance to in the second opening millennium to avoid taking risk at the opening itself. Recruitment should be done for the Ritz Carlton not for the millennium because the employee can be transferred as per the requirement. The employees of the Millennium partners can be taken for the opening, as the partners employees will feel proud to work jointly as a team. This will give opportunity to the partners employee who knows the brand fame of the Ritz Carlton by giving the Ritz Carlton basics. Ritz-Carlton management takes the following four steps to ensure that employees maintain the companys high standards for quality and service Excellence, as articulated in the Gold Standards: (i) rigorous employee selection process, (ii) employee orientation, (iii) employee training certification, and (iv) continuous coaching. Conclusion: The service industry is becoming more competitive. Global aspirations and technological innovations are challenges for the industry. Customers are loyal to the services rather than company. The services need to revisit and provide latest offers. Worlds best organizations believe in beating their own standards and developing innovating products to serve and win customer hearts. 100 % employee pride Joy, Zero customer difficulty and 100% customer loyalty are performance criteria of performance excellence set by Ritz Carlton Hotels. The road map created for performance excellence through strategic planning, leadership, Human resources, Processes Systems, customer focus, information analysis finally business results. Employees groomed and equipped to exceed (Not meet) customer requirements. Regular updating training needs, deliverance evaluation, PDCA (Plan, Do Check, Act) and Z- back approach; unlearning learning approach aided in meeting industry challenges.

Dowry, an Investment System

Dowry system is when the bride’s family gives goods, money, or estate to her husband and his family during marriage (E. Pauls Prine (Ed. ), 2008). This practice is mostly common in South Asia, specifically the Indian culture (E. Pauls Prine (Ed. ), 2008). On the other hand is the practice of bride price system which is where the husband gives cattle, land or goods in exchange for a woman’s hand in marriage (Schwimmer, 2002). This is mostly practiced in Africa among traditional households, where it is a price for the economic services and children a woman adds to another family (Schwimmer, 2002).Dowry and bride price are mostly practiced in exchange for the bride’s well being (E. Pauls Prine (Ed. ), 2008). There is a strong possibility that a wife might be mistreated if the dowry was not enough or satisfying for the groom’s family (E. Pauls Prine (Ed. ), 2008). Most times if the husband leaves or mistreats his wife the dowry is to be returned to her (E. Pau ls Prine (Ed. ), 2008). It is also used as a means to discharge a husband of his duties to provide well for his wife, this is most common in marriages where two young people are wedded (E.Pauls Prine (Ed. ), 2008). Although the practice of dowry from the bride’s family to the groom’s is a norm in the Indian culture it the opposite for the African culture. Where as in Africa a groom’s family gives bride price to the bride’s family. These practices seen in the context of their culture are completely normal, but seen from a modern perspective are primitive and inhumane since they resemble a system of slave exchange (Schwimmer, 2002). This is due to the over turn in the practice in the twentieth century.In South Asian culture dowries have been demanded and paid to the groom’s family conjugating the term â€Å"groom price† (Maitra, 2007). In India it is evident that there is a great inflation in dowry practice (Maitra, 2007). There was also an ev ident increase in violence against brides who were unable to fulfill the dowry payment demanded (Maitra, 2007) . This was against the fact that in 1961 there was a Dowry Prohibition Act which made it illegal to give dowries (Maitra, 2007). This has flamed many women’s rights issues due to many cases of mistreatment of brides in India (Dowry system in, 2010).It is also criticized because it is not to provide for the bride in unforeseen circumstances but to appease the groom’s family’s greed (Dowry system in, 2010). For example, it was reported by the Vancouver Sun that a bride had died and her 13-month old daughter had suffered severe burns after the bride’s family started a fire after being dissatisfied with the dowry (Nelson, 2012). The article also highlighted that such dowry dissatisfaction causes for deaths of up to 8, 000 women in India each year (Nelson, 2012).Therefore, even though there is awareness of the cause of such mistreatment against women in India it is still a norm to practice dowry which can possibly put a daughter’s life in danger. Where as in the African culture the system of bride price is most practiced. Here bride payments are mostly interpreted as the wealth received by the bride’s family which compensates for the daughter that will be of economic use and will bare children for another family (Schwimmer, 2002). Among the Dani of New Guinea there are 3 occasions where a groom must give a bride’s family valuables, such a cattle or shells (Schwimmer, 2002).First, when the groom marries the bride and she starts working on his farm; second, when the groom has sexual rights to the bride and consummates the marriage; third, when his wife bears a child (Schwimmer, 2002). In the Igbo culture of South Africa, bride price is considered as the payment to have fertile woman and if the bride is not fertile or chooses to leave the marriage before producing children she must return the wealth given to he r family by the groom (Schwimmer, 2002). With such cases of bride price many men choose marry many women and it is usually the older man that marry before the young (Schwimmer, 2002).This is due to the fact that older men have had the time to accumulate more wealth and necessary resources to pay for a bride (Schwimmer, 2002). Such practices have also raised cases where the brides have been divorced or are infertility so the families of the bride have to return the price paid to the groom (Schwimmer, 2002). For example, in the Zulu culture in South Africa there is an exchange of cattle among the groom and the bride’s father or brother (Schwimmer, 2002). This exchange is called lobola and has to be returned if the bride is divorced or cannot bare children (Schwimmer, 2002).Also, in such cultures when a son receives his first lobola from his daughter’s marriage he must give it to his father as repayment for his marriage (Schwimmer, 2002). These practices observed by outsi des would resemble much to slave exchange; morally this is wrong yet it is normally practiced in South Africa because of its wide acceptance in the culture (Schwimmer, 2002). In conclusion, from an anthropological point of view there is a cultural norm set by traditions and human greed which causes for such immoral practices of dowry and bride price.Although, these practices are considered a norm in these cultures, an outsider observing would be very shocked to see such inhumane treatment of women. This is a type of degradation which is still to this day present even with government laws which prohibit against it (Dowry system in, 2010). In order for such practices to become a rarity and not a norm a strong education system for women is important this is a suggestion and an observation an anthropologist would make with a moral leniency. Bibliography: Nelson, D. (2012, 10 16). Woman dies in dowry spat.The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from http://www. vancouversun. com/Woman+dies+dowry+sp at/7395783/story. html Woman in coma after suicide attempt dies in sardarnagar. (2012, 10 30). Times Of India. Retrieved from http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/city/ahmedabad/Woman-in-coma-after-suicide-attempt-dies-in-Sardarnagar/articleshow/17012521. cms Dowry system in india. In (2010). Country Facts & Information. Kwintessential Ltd. Retrieved from http://www. kwintessential. co. uk/articles/india/Dowry-System-in-India/3024 Dowry. In (2008). E. Pauls Prine (Ed. , Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/170540/dowry Maitra, S. (2007). Dowry and bride price. In (2nd ed. ). International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Retrieved from http://dept. econ. yorku. ca/~smaitra/SMaitra_IESS. pdf Schwimmer, B. (2002, 05). Bride wealth. Retrieved from http://www. umanitoba. ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/marriage/bride_wealth. html (Schwimmer, 2002) Bridewealth. In (2012). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www. britannic a. com/EBchecked/topic/79255/bridewealth

Barista vs Caffe Coffe Day Essay

MILAN – The following article is a summary extract from the dissertation projects of the MBA and BBA students of Skyline College. Skyline, situated in Delhi and Gurgaon (NCR) is a premier institute providing management education specialising in MBA and BBA degrees and specialist courses for travel and tourism as well as mass communication. For further information on the article content or on the institute please clickhttp://www.skylinecollege.com/ to visit the official college website. This dissertation was completed by Saroj Shahbaz Naiyar (2007 – 2009) on the topic Barista Vs Cafà © Coffee Day a Comparative Study. Summary The objective of the thesis is â€Å"To compare and study Barista & Cafà © Coffee Day, identify areas of excellence and areas needing improvement; and provide suggestions for such improvement†. The aim of this Thesis is to successfully compare two prominent service sector companies on a common platform, analyze their working and performance, and highlight what they are doing well, while providing suggestions and recommendations for improvement. Barista and Cafà © Coffee Day were chosen because of their identical pattern of functioning and growth. They are the only two major players in the national coffee cafà © industry, and their customers consider both as interchangeable brands. This is why it is important to study how these brands differentiate themselves from each other, and attempt to improve brand loyalty amongst their customers. For the purpose of this study, I prepared a questionnaire, to find out the relevant primary data pertaining to the functioning and working of both Barista and Cafà © Coffee Day. The data was collected based on information provided by: 1. The management of the organization. 2. Customers visiting Barista and Cafà © Coffee Day outlets. Besides the primary data collected with the help of the questionnaire, I have also collected the relevant secondary data from various sources like magazines, books and Internet and newspapers. Based on the relevant primary and secondary data, a comparative analysis has been done so as to find out the areas of excellence and areas of improvement of both organizations. The areas of excellence and improvement have been identified based on factual information, in light of which recommendations and suggestions have been provided for the overall improvement of the organizations in the future. This Thesis is conducted in Gurgaon, India; so the information is relative to this city. The main objectives could be: 1. To understand market performance of Barista & Cafà © Coffee Day. 2. To do a SWOT analysis. 3. To understand consumer perception. 4. To analyze there target consumer& marketing mix(7P’s). Conclusion: Areas of Excellence Both cafà ©s have certain areas where they have been consistently performing well. These are essentially the strengths of the brand, and Barista & Cafà © Coffee Day need to capitalize on these strengths to increase their market share and brand loyalty. The main areas of excellence, based on the Case Studies & Market Survey, have been identified as follows: Barista 1. Strong Brand Image: Barista has a strong and clear brand image. Their customers can easily identify and relate to the Barista brand. This helps increase and maintain brand loyalty. 2. Excellent Human Resource: According to the survey, Barista received an excellent rating for the service and behavior of their staff. This is a huge advantage, especially in a service organization. Barista must strive to keep this advantage. 3. Ambience & Dà ©cor: Another significant area of excellence is the kind of ambience and dà ©cor Barista cafà ©s have. Respondents to the survey, including whose who chose Cafà © Coffee Day as their choice of cafà © gave Barista a near perfect rating for their Ambience & Dà ©cor. 4. Strong base for expansion & growth: Barista have worked hard on heir brand image and human resources, and have a strong base for future expansion and growth- whether nationally or internationally. Cafà © Coffee Day 1. Highly rated Taste & Quality of products: Cafà © Coffee Day got a high rating in the market survey, for the Taste & Quality of their products. If they work on this aspect, there is huge potential for them to attract customers, just based on the taste and quality of products. This is also helped by the fact that they grow their own coffee beans, and this provides an important base for future expansion and growth. Cafà © Coffee Day even won the â€Å"Barista Coffee- Making Championship† for the Best Coffee. 2. Value for money proposition: Cafà © Coffee Day is projected as an â€Å"affordable† brand. This strategy has worked extremely well so far, and Cafà © Coffee Day got a high rating, both for their prices and for their value for money, in the market survey. 3. Strong youth orientation: The Cafà © Coffee Day brand is, and always has been, extremely youth- oriented. In a country where over 40% of the population is under the age of 20, there is huge potential for Cafà © Coffee Day to become one of the country’s largest youth brands. The untapped market share and potential for growth is enormous. Areas Needing Improvement Both Barista and Cafà © Coffee Day have under performed or not lived up to potential in certain areas. The areas are weaknesses, which need to be improved upon, as that both can eliminate any disadvantage that may have, and improve customer satisfaction. The mail areas needing improvement, based on the Case Studies & Market Survey, have been identified as follows: Barista 1. Average taste & quality of products: According to the market survey, other than their Dessert, Barista got only an average rating for the taste & quality of their products. Considering their strong brand image of being the coffee- lover’s traditional cafà ©, they have not performed up to expectations in this area. 2. Perceived as an expensive brand: Customer perceptions of Barista’s prices and value for money are quite negative. Even though the prices of Barista and Cafà © Coffee Day are almost identical, Barista is still perceived as the more expensive brand. 3. Inconvenient delivery process: On a smaller note, Barista’s self- service delivery process received almost unanimous complaints from respondents of the market survey. They found it inconvenient to go back to the counter just to receive their order. Cafà © Coffee Day 1. Weak brand image: The Cafà © Coffee Day brand, although clearly a youth- oriented brand, lacks the power and strength expected to maintain brand loyalty. The brand doesn’t project a clear image to customers about what Cafà © Coffee Day is all about. This could prove as a deterrent during future national and international expansion. 2. Inefficient human resources: According to the market survey, Cafà © Coffee Day’s staff received only an average rating for their behavior and service. Cafà © Coffee Day needs to work hard at this aspect, especially considering they are a service sector organization that is looking at large expansion. 3. Ambience & Dà ©cor: The Ambience & Dà ©cor of Cafà © Coffee Day outlets received a below- average rating from respondents of the market survey. A lot of respondents did not like the fact that Cafà © Coffee Day outlets and literature served as prime space for a lot of advertising and promotions. They felt as if the cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s had been hijacked just for advertising. Recommendation & Suggestions Barista †¢ Barista has an extremely strong brand image, but they need to work hard on improving their customer perception of being and expensive brand. Barista and Cafà © Coffee Day have almost identical pricing, but Barista is still perceived as the more expensive brand. †¢ That’s why my first recommendation for Barista is, to carry out a promotion campaign to ensure that their target market is well aware of their current low prices. This would help change customer perception and turn Barista into an affordable brand. †¢ Another backlash of having such a strong traditional cafà © brand image is that customers have very high expectations of the taste & quality of products. Barista needs to work hard at this aspect, especially for coffee and eatables products. †¢ My second recommendation is for Barista to look at its coffee beans suppliers and coffee brewing process to ensure that it is the best it can be. †¢ This is especially important considering the international expansion Barista is undertaking. Barista should also look at the Taj, their national suppliers for eatables and desserts, and either improve the taste & quality of eatable, or look at another supplier- because as of now, they are not living up to expectations, and losing customers to Cafà © Coffee Day. †¢ On a smaller note: the Barista delivery process should change, so that a cafà © attendant delivers the coffee to the table. This may seem insignificant, but it can go a long way in improving customer satisfaction. Cafà © Coffee Day †¢ Cafà © Coffee Day has done extremely well so far to project itself as an affordable youth- oriented brand. But there are still certain areas where their brand needs to be much stronger. †¢ With regard to the physical evidence associated with the brand, Cafà © Coffee Day needs to do a lot of work if they hope to catch up with Barista. My first recommendation for Cafà © Coffee Day is to clean up the dà ©cor at every outlet, wherever unnecessary advertising is taking place. †¢ Although it might be an important source of revenue, long-term customer perception of the brand isn’t very positive. †¢ Cafà © Coffee Day would do better to provide promotional space for its partners with the use of clever collaborations, and not printed advertisements and posters everywhere. †¢ My second recommendation is that Cafà © Coffee Day looks at its current recruitment, selection and most importantly, its current training policies. †¢ Customers are not happy with the behavior and service of the staff, and Cafà © Coffee Day is lagging far behind Barista is this aspect. *The above article was extracted from dissertations in Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Strategy, Information Systems by the students from Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR). Introduction to ccd The First Cafà © Coffee Day logo a bright red cube with a green stroke above ‘e’ in ‘Cafà © Coffee Day’. The word ‘Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ was made to appear dominant to indicate Cafà © Coffee Day’s introduction of ‘Cafà © culture’ in India. The font used for ‘Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ is called SLURRY – the font looks as though the letters have congealed or coagulated out of liquid. The current logo includes a dialogue box which highlights the connection between ‘coffee’ and ‘conversations.’ This logo also reflects their current tag line, â€Å"A lot can happen over coffee.† The logo of CCD has been changed recently, this has been done in line with the increased competition and also for the proper conveying of the message that Cafà © Coffee Day desires to tell to its customer. The famous Cafà © Coffee Day squared logo has got a fresh new avatar – a ‘Dialogue Box’ – with the words Cafà © Coffee Day written in a distinct, specially created font. The new trendy ‘dialogue’ logo symbolizes the essence of what a Cafà © Coffee Day cafà © is all really all about – a perfect place to ‘relax and dialogue.’ And as we all know, a lot does happen over coffee! Vertical integration The company is known for being vertically integrated to cut costs: from owning the plantations,[2] growing the coffee,[2] making the coffee machines[3] to making the furniture for the outlets.[2] The machines cost them [pic]1.2 lakh each, which they say is half the cost of an imported coffee machine.[3] The maintenance cost of CCD’s machines is also less than foreign machines.[3] Outlets The first CCD outlet was set up on July 11, 1996, at Brigade Road, Bangalore, Karnataka.[4] Following this, CCD crossed over 1000 cafà ©s throughout the nation by 2011. They currently have (as of August 2012) 1319 outlets spread across 28 states of India.[5] The number increases almost every week. A ‘meter’ on their official website (Cafecoffeeday.com) keeps continuous track of the number.

Freshmen and Depression Talk About it Essay - 1038 Words

As a freshman in college it is normal to have the â€Å"blues† or become homesick. More than likely you’re away from home and out on your own for the first time in your life. Therefore it is okay to feel sad or out of place from time to time. Lately, however, these blues have manifested themselves and turned into to full blown depression. The number of freshmen dealing with depression is steadily rising with each set of incoming freshmen. According to the American College Health Association (ACHA), the percentage of college students diagnosed with depression has increased 56 percent in the last six years. Many freshmen are unable to cope with the challenge and pressure that college tends to put on them. According to Doctor Michael D. Yapok†¦show more content†¦I was shocked to hear that 8 out of the 10 freshmen I surveyed admitted to showing symptoms or suffering from depression. Many college freshmen tend to suffer from depression and don’t even know i t or they just won’t admit it. They often turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with their problems. Unfortunately, they don’t realize that drugs only provide a temporary high and alcohol is a depressant which only makes the situation worsen. Take Leavenworth College Senior Melissa Farr who has been suffering from depression on and off her entire college career. Farr had a tough time settling in with roommates, broke up with her boyfriend of three years and was experiencing hormone problems. She stated â€Å"For the longest time I was just kind of naà ¯ve and sugarcoating everything and not wanting to say ‘Look, cut the crap; there’s something wrong.† Sadly, the problem is there are many students who are either ashamed or don’t want to admit that they have a problem; and Like Melissa they too tell themselves they are perfectly fine and continue to allow the problem to worsen. The most common danger of untreated depression is suicide. Accordin g to Eleanor H. 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This data showed a big increase of anxiety within students compared to the last survey done in 2008† (â€Å"Anxiety and Depression†). This great increase in mental illness among college campuses or universities is largely due to students pushing themselves beyond their limits and suffering as a result of it. Many freshmen, especially, believe that they must push themselves to obtain all A’s in their academic courses otherwise they ll be seen as less valuable to high-achieving