Food production and urban living with key challenges Essay - 1

Food production and urban living with key challenges - Essay Example This essay discusses that If thoughtfully implemented, community-based sustainable initiatives can open new doors of opportunities for women (IAASTD, 2009, p2). Women’s involvement in agricultural production ranges from 20 to 70% globally; their participation is rising in many developing countries, especially because of the popularization of export-oriented farming. Although such developments have benefited women, the still larger proportion of rural women faces deteriorating health and work environment because of a number of factors like low education, etc. A policy that takes into account interest of women while formulating sustainable agriculture can be very effective.In Canada, agriculture is a $50-billion-a-year industry, employing directly and indirectly 14% of Canada’s workforce and contributing about one-third of the nation’s trade surplus. According to IAASTD, the commitment of the government in implementing any project is of vital significance. In North America in particular, implementation of sustainable development would require mobilizing citizens and states to empower all forms of community capital. If sustainable community- based initiatives are applied creatively with the active involvement of stakeholders, misuse of natural resource can be reversed, leading to the judicious use of water bodies, land, and ecosystem as a whole. Any long-term strategy for sustainable development would require linking the ‘three pillars’ of ‘sustainable development,’ namely ‘economic, environmental, and social.’

Careers in health care industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Careers in health care industry - Essay Example Health Information and Medical Records TechnicianThey are concerned with keeping patients health information records. The Department of labor in the US estimates 20% growth in this career before 2018. To be in this field, a degree in an associate’s degree is required (Parker 1).Medical AssistantThey work directly with patients. They work on the patient’s medical history and also take their vital signs. An Associate’s degree or a certificate program are the requirements.Pharmacy TechnicianThey provide customer service and also prescribe medication to patients. Only an Associate’s degree or certificate are needed.Environmental health directorTraining environmental regulations as well as offering education concerning the government in public operations and also in private. Degree in Bachelor’s and also Master’s is needed.Offers quality of services agrees with government regulations, and they are also consulted by them, medical professionals.Dire ctor of EpidemiologyHave the responsibility to determine the cause of a disease as well as health problems providing protection against further recurrence.Industrial waste directorThey focus on keeping the society clean to public health is safe. They ensure that the public employees do their work of collecting the garbage to keep the community cleanRadiation safety specialistThey offer facilities related to public health in dealing with environmental laws. This individual ensures that hazardous materials are kept safe to prevent accidents (Tommy 1).

Jacob Lawrence Essay Example for Free

Jacob Lawrence Essay 1.0 Background Jacob Lawrence, one of the most important artists of the 20th century and best known for his series of narrative paintings depicting important moment in African American history was born on 7th September 1917 in Atlantic City (pbs.org, para. 1). He spent a portion of his childhood life in Pennsylvania after which his parents separated in 1924. Jacob and his siblings went with the mother to New York and settled in Harlem. He was introduced to art at his teen age when his mother enrolled him in Utopia Children’s center which provided an after school art program in Harlem. By 1930’s he could participate in the art programs at the Harlem Art Workshop and the Harlem community art centre, where he got a chance to meet leading American artists of the time such as Augusta Savage and Charles Alton, the director of Harlem workshop at the time and who later became a professor of art at Howard University (pbs.org, para.1). Having trained as a painter at the Harlem workshop inside the New York Public Library’s 113 5th street branch, and despite being much younger than   most of the artists and other writers who took part in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s, Lawrence was a force to recon with (Hughes, para.2). He was not interested in the type of idealized and fake primitives of blacks otherwise referred to as the Noble Negroes in art Deco guise, as they were usually produced as an antidote to the stereotypical racists. He gained confidence particularly from Alain Locke, who was a Harvard trained artist and also the first black Rhodes scholar in America. Locke strongly believed in the pieces of work done by blacks, as it could speak explicitly to African-Americans while still embodying value as well as self critical powers of modernism. Precisely, Locke believed that, â€Å"There is in truly great art in no essential conflict between racial or national traits and universal human valu es† (Hughes, para. 2). 2.0 The work of Jacob Lawrence Lawrence became well known at the age of 21 years when he did his â€Å"Toussant L’Ouverture Series†, a 41 painting collection that depicted a successful rebellion by the Haitian slaves. Three years later at the age of 24, his work became the first from an African American to be included in the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art (Lawrence, para. 1). Lawrence therefore considered himself to be both an artist and an educator. He used his art to tell stories about the black American history as he felt that this was being overlooked in the teaching of history in America. For instance, Lawrence did a forty panel series which he called â€Å"The Life of Harriet Tubman† who in the 1800s had helped many slaves in the north to free through an Underground Railroad (Sernett, pp. 218). From his childhood, Lawrence had been steeped in stories about movement and migration and therefore with encouragement from Locke, he worked hard to get historical background and related facts right. Months of research in the Schomburg Collection of the Public Library which is the chief archive of African American life and history in New York, saw the realization of his other piece of work, â€Å"Migration Series† which could help trace the mass influx of African Americas from the south to the North as a result of World War I. The two series are known for use of detailed titles and creative images to create narrative history of events (Lawrence, para. 2). Additionally, the series are notable for lack of language use. The author was in no way a propagandist. He however advocated for front social realism which was at its peak in America at the time as evidenced by labor camps, prisons, deserted villages, city slums and race riots which were mainly his subject matter. Lawrence attributed his success to his black experience which was his heritage, more so as far as black Americans struggle to secure independence and justice was concerned. Even during adult hood, he extended this theme to include all human struggles for liberty, and although each of his paintings evidenced his sense of humor as well as human pain and misery, they offered hope for the human condition. In 1937, Lawrence secured a two-year scholarship to the American artist school, where he studied with the   Wilson, Philip Riesman and Eugene Moreley before marrying one of the pupil of Savage who was also a west Indian painter, Gwendolyn Knight in 1941.This scholarship took him out of Harlem but he still maintained a close contact with the community which was the focus of his work as evidenced by his work â€Å"Street Scene Restaurant†, â€Å"Street orator†, â€Å"Interior† and â€Å"Interior scenes† which were shown in 1938. Other notable work that was done by Lawrence were a 32 painting series, â€Å"The Frederic Douglass† and the 22 panel   series that he painted while on honeymoon in 1941. In the explosive 1960s, Lawrence painted what most critics have called his work of â€Å"Protest† in favor of civil rights struggle in the South. In one of his paintings, â€Å"The ordeal of Alice†, he showed a black girl dressed in white trying to get into a newly desegregated school in the South but demonic tormentors attack her with arrows in a scene that is common only with religious martyrs. In the late 1960s though, Lawrence progressed from portraying racial injustice into showing racial harmony. At this time he did his series, â€Å"Builders†, which showed both whites and blacks working together in building projects, scenes which could be interpreted to mean rebuilding the society. Despite the changing trends, both political and in artistic field, Lawrence remained true to his own original and creative path until his death in June 9, 2000 (Sernett, pp. 82). 3.0 His work compared with others A comparison between the work of art done by Jacob Lawrence and that of other artists of his time reveals a lot of difference, with most these differences inclined to Lawrence’s outstanding. While most of the artists, especially those doing watercolor paintings like him, are usually inclined to beauty and elegance, Lawrence was different. Even the most recent artists such as Thomas Deir, despite making  Ã‚   the highest sale of $ 10,000 in the Waikiki gallery, do not seem to belong to the same school of thought with Jacob Lawrence (hawaiiart.com). The work of Lawrence, despite bringing out beauty, also carries some real life meanings as far as human life is concerned. The â€Å"Toussant L’Ouverture Series†, for example is a series that is not only elegant but also carries success. Depicting a successful rebellion by slaves, especially at the time when slave trade and slavery accompanied with a lot of other human misery was rampant, the painting can be said to carry more than Thomas Dier’s   â€Å"Mokulua Milky Way   valued at   over $2000† as far as   human values and relevance   is concerned (hawaiiart.com). Other renowned artists such Judy Abott or Michelle Amatrula, though recognized for making huge sales from their pieces of work, do not address contemporary issues like Lawrence does. The other artist who could in away compares to Jacob Lawrence is Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) who is particularly known for his Luminists landscape particularly of the storms and marshes in South America as well as still life paintings. Martin Johnson Heade (originally Heed) was equally a talented artist of the nineteenth century. He is remembered for   his flora, fauna and landscape paintings that do not only have a rich effect of color and light but could also portray some poetic sentiments. Lawrence however still appears to outweigh Heade in what can be drawn from a critical analysis of their work. Put in simple terms, while the work from both artists share beauty, Lawrence has some educative aspect injected into his work. By all definitions, Lawrence was better than most of the other artists of the time as evidenced by the numerous awards and credit that goes to his name. In 1974, the Whitney Museum of American Art held a major retrospective of the work done by Lawrence which later resulted to his election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1983, while in 1977, he received an invitation to paint during the inauguration of Jimmy Carter. In May 2007, the White House Historical Association bought Lawrence’s â€Å"Builders† shown below for $2.5 million at auction. This painting today hangs in the white House Green Room (Crehan, para.5). 4.0 Conclusion Jacob Lawrence is probably one of the best artists that ever appeared on the face of earth. His work reveals a rare talent that he recognized and exploited fully. Despite being a black American, he beat all odds to become one of the best artists of the 21st century while the plight of fellow black Americans remained a dear concern to his heart. This is what his work addressed.  Jacob Lawrence is no doubt a legend whose life deserves recognition by and over generations while his artistic work will continue to demand respect over centuries.

Hotel project management

Hotel project management SUMMARY Kerrison Park Hotel in London, is a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author will explain here how a project management approach will help the hotel to make changes to turn the loss making situation around. The Author has explained to the management of Kerrison Park Hotel the meaning of Project Management, the process involved in it, the tools and techniques used in it and the benefits of using a Project management approach in developing of the improvement opportunities. The Author has identified all the improvement opportunities of Kerrison Park Hotel, London, and done a detailed SWOT analysis which has given an insight to the problem and improvement areas along with the companys strengths and weaknesses. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or a service. The act of managing, controlling, coordinating, directing, etc is called management. Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project. Projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints. Traditionally these constraints have been listed as ‘scope, ‘time and ‘cost (Burke, 2003). PROCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agree precise specification for the project. Plan the project time, team, activities, resources, and financials. Communicate the project plan to your project team. Agree and delegate project actions. Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, enable the project team. Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. After explaining all this the author has given recommendations as to how to develop those improvement opportunities identified in SWOT. INTRODUCTION Case Study Background: This case study refers to Kerrison Park Hotel in London, a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased this hotel as a part of a financial package that also involved the takeover of three aircrafts and routes serving Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Oslo. The hotel is situated 25km from Heathrow Airport and is well connected by public bus and Underground. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author has been given the role of a project manager to use his project management skills and investigate the hotels SWOT analysis and make a proper project plan to retain business and turn this loss making situation around. Aims and Objectives: Define the benefits of the Kerrison Park Hotel, London of adopting a Project Management approach towards the development of the improvement opportunities. Identifying these improvement opportunities within the hotel, recommend a project plan that should be tackled within the next 18 months. Research Methodology: The author has used a lot of secondary resources to research and collect data related to case material like books, websites, etc.. Initially all about Project Management is explained along with some techniques and their importance. Then a detailed SWOT analysis is done for the Kerrison Park Hotel, London. On the basis of this SWOT analysis a Project Plan is prepares and recommendations are given. There is no primary research undertaken for this report. MAIN BODY Kerrison Park Hotel in London, is a Part of Kerrison Travel group. GGTA, a French business conglomerate has recently purchased this hotel as a part of a financial package that also involved the takeover of three aircrafts and routes serving Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris and Oslo. The hotel is operating at a loss unlike other Kerrison Park hotels across the European mainland. The author will explain here how a project management approach will help the hotel to make changes to turn the loss making situation around. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or a service. The act of managing, controlling, coordinating, directing, etc is called management. Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project (Burke, 2001). Projects are executed and achieved under scope, time and cost constraints. These constraints when combined together form the Project Management Triangle. As these constraints are linked together therefore, the triangle would be affected if either of the constraints is changed. The advanced enhancement of scope, time and cost produces a fourth constraint called Quality. ‘Scope describes what must be done to produce the end result of the project, ‘Time constraint specifies the available time to meet the project and ‘Cost refers to the total amount available for the project completion. The main purpose of Project Management is to offer the appropriate tools and techniques that initiate the team to work towards the achievement of these constraints. Time The time required can be estimated through Work Breakdown Structure where each task is separately broken down into the time required to complete each task contributing to the completion of each component. Cost The cost constraint is estimated on variables like resource costs, labour rates, material rates, risk management, Earned value management, plant, equipment, cost escalation, indirect costs, and profit. Scope Scope describes the actual project to be accomplished and the end result. Quality of the actual output product is one of the major components of scope. The quality of the project is determined on the actual amount inputted towards the individual tasks. (URL: http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/62/The-traditional-triple-constraints.html) PROJECT LIFE CYCLE: Project Management Life Cycle comprises four phases Initiation involves starting up the project, by documenting a business case, feasibility study, terms of reference, appointing the team and setting up a Project Office. Planning involves setting out the roadmap for the project by creating the following plans: project plan, resource plan, financial plan, quality plan, acceptance plan and communications plan. Execution involves building the deliverables and controlling the project delivery, scope, costs, quality, risks and issues. Closure involves winding-down the project by releasing staff, handing over deliverables to the customer and completing a post implementation review (URL: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php). PROCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agree precise specification for the project: Often called the project terms of reference, the project specification should be an accurate description of what the project aims to achieve, and the criteria and flexibilities involved, its parameters, scope, range, outputs, sources, participants, budgets and timescales Plan the project time, team, activities, resources, financials: Plan the various stages and activities of the project. A useful tip is to work backwards from the end aim, identifying all the things that need to be put in place and done, in reverse order. Communicate the project plan to your project team: This serves two purposes: it informs people whats happening, and it obtains essential support, agreement and commitment. If your project is complex and involves a team, then you should involve the team in the planning process to maximise buy-in, ownership, and thereby accountability. Agree and delegate project actions: Activities need to be very clearly described, including all relevant parameters, timescales, costs, and deliverables in a plan. This plan will then be published to all team members and the tasks will be issued to all on the basis of their capability of their own forward planning Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, and enable the project team: Manage the team and activities by meeting, communicating, supporting, and helping with decisions. Your role here is to enable and translate. Face to face meetings, when you can bring team members together, are generally the best way to avoid issues and relationships becoming personalised and emotional. Communicate progress and successes regularly to everyone. Give the people in your team the plaudits. Conversely you must take the blame for anything that goes wrong never dump on anyone in your team Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others: Check the progress of activities against the plan. Review performance regularly and at the stipulated review points, and confirm the validity and relevance of the remainder of the plan. Adjust the plan if necessary in light of performance, changing circumstances, and new information, but remain on track and within the original terms of reference. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team: At the end of your successful project hold a review with the team. Ensure you understand what happened and why. Reflect on any failures and mistakes positively, objectively, and without allocating personal blame. Reflect on successes gratefully and realistically. TOOLS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT: PERT: The Program Evaluation and Review Technique is a model for project management designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e, precedence network) relationships between activities. A work breakdown structure or WBS is a tree structure, that permits summing of subordinate costs for tasks, materials, etc., into their successively higher level â€Å"parent† tasks, materials, etc. It is a fundamental tool commonly used in project management The Critical Path Method, abbreviated CPM, or critical path analysis, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management. A Run chart, also known as a run-sequence plot is a graph that displays observed data in a time sequence. Often, the data displayed represent some aspect of the output or performance of a manufacturing or other business process. IMPORTANCE AND BENEFIT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH TO KERRISON PARK HOTEL, LONDON: Develops Exponential Effectiveness: In most organizations, people work on cross-functional teams to complete projects. When people from different departments know and understand a common Project Management process to get their work done, they can start to work together without having to design how they are going to do it. Empowers Individuals and Team Leaders: When there is a common, simple approach for Project Management and the correct tools are available throughout the enterprise, people are empowered to reach their goals, together and individually. Creates Institutional Memory: Industry standard Project Management practices require a critical project closeout phase that collects lessons learned and gives your organization powerful historical knowledge from across the enterprise. Realizes Return on Innovation: An easy-to-use Project Management methodology gives organizations a framework that makes it achievable for people to move from vision to action with a comprehensive project plan that supports their objectives. Turns Information into Insight: You capture best practices and know what is and isnt working in your organization, giving you a competitive advantage by turning information into insight. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective. Here we need to do the SWOT analysis of the Kerrison Park Hotel, London which will help us further to make a Project Plan to make recommendations as to what changes are required by this Hotel to run successfully. Strengths: The Hotel has a very good location as it is just 25 Km from Heathrow and is well connected by Bus and Underground. Hotel owns a large reception area out of which a part can be used for other purposes. A large full functioning kitchen builds up the backbone of the hotel Hotel has 150 rooms. All rooms have ensuite facilities, tea and coffee facilities, satellite TV, Air-conditioner and mini-bar which shows it provides all the facilities which a normal 4star hotel should have. The double rooms have adjoining lounges. The hotel provides an elaborate English and Continental Breakfast which is considered to be the main meal of the day. Hotel owns a Big Conference and a banqueting suite with a separate bar and four syndicate rooms. The Hotel gets a regular business from the parent companys aircrew and passengers. The Hotel also possesses a successful In-house Laundry which also has a contract for companys airline uniforms which ensures fixed revenue. Weaknesses: The hotel is suffering from a low occupancy rate of 45% as compared to other hotels in the city with 65% on a typical day. It has an inappropriate and a weak marketing strategy as the hotel principally relied on tour operators who use the hotel seasonally and local corporate business, gained through minimal advertising. The computer systems on the front of the house have become obsolete and needs to be upgraded to be in sync with the parent companys airline reservation system. Many of the Hotels facilities were not marketed successfully because of poor coordination and irregularity within sales and marketing departments. Lack of security of cleaning stores and linen on floors and their distribution. Lack of regular preventive maintenance of rooms and corridors. Internal painting, re-grouting of tiles, etc. needs attention. Restaurant is not big enough with 90 covers to handle major rush hours during peak season. Lunch time business is poor. Garden side of the restaurant which can be used a n additional room in quite weekends was not publicised properly. The staff seems to be lacking the sales and service orientation. The department heads are given the responsibility for recruiting and training of staff members rather than a proper Human Resource Management system which leads to inconsistencies in approach and quality. Gymnasium is not well equipped and there is no swimming pool facility provided by the hotel. There is no health bar either where a guest could refresh himself after a workout. Opportunities: Since the Hotel has a good location, it can easily pull up the chartered tourism. Students and Backpackers use London as a base for visiting other parts of the country who can be wooed by attractive discounts and offers. Large reception area gives the opportunity to use a part of it for some other purposes for eg. Extending Coffee Shop. Laundry Business can be improved by recruiting more skilled staff and sign up more contracts on revised prices with airlines. Hiring more experienced staff and training the existing one will help in upselling in all FB areas. Coffee Shop is more popular than the restaurant and the bar and is also doing well, so the covers can be increased and it can be livened up for young clientele. There is a good opportunity to start a new buffet style menu in the restaurant after convincing the Head Chef of its advantages. Hiring more efficient and professional Sales and Marketing Team will help the Hotel to boost up its sales volume. The Human Resource Department have a lot of knowledge and experience of working in different cultures which makes it easy for the hotel to understand its staff better and provide them efficient training through proper communication and practice. Threats: The airlines are in doubt as to continue with the laundry contract with the hotel due to the high prices offered as compared to other competitor laundries. The FB staffs have a low skill level; and therefore it leaves the guest into a bad impression of staff lacking service orientation and hotels poor standards. Inappropriate Security systems might lead to loss by theft. Storage of food is disorganized and sometimes no stock rotation is done which can be very dangerous and also lead to wastage. Competition in terms of prices and facility given by other hotels is leading to lower occupancy rate which is not good at all for the hotel. There is no Job satisfaction due to which motivation is lacking in staff. RECOMMENDATIONS After completing this detailed SWOT analysis the author is clear about Hotels situation inside out. Now the author would like to give recommendations for how to overcome the problems and weak areas of the hotel in a Project Management approach. Following are the areas and the changes that need to be done in them: Reception: Since the front of the house systems are obsolete and 12 years old, they require an upgrading to cope up with the expected increase in the business and interface with the parent companys airline reservation system which will create ease of work and efficiency for the reception staff. Changing the system will also require hardcore training to the staff who are habitual of using the old system. This whole process will take about 3 months to come into existence. Accommodation Operations: Author would suggest to turn 20 twin rooms into double rooms which will help the reception to give out more options to the customers. Secondly 10 suites should replace either of the rooms for fulfilling special needs of the guests like honeymoon couples. This operation will take around 4-6 months. In House Laundry: The Laundry has shown a return on investment recently and is running successfully. It is suggested to add up more storage space and recruit more efficient staff. The hotel also needs to take into consideration the prices of the laundry as they are too high compared to competitors due to which it might lose its present contracts. Prices needs to be lowered down. This will take about 2 months. Housekeeping and maintenance: To Control the security of the cleaning stores and linen, the author suggests to put up security alarms and CCTV Cameras in all important areas where undesignated staff isnt allowed. The storage areas should be moved away from back door entry to avoid loss. The rooms need to undergo minor maintenance like internal painting, re-grouting of tiling, replacing shower curtains, etc. Carpeting on first and second floor corridor will be replaced and reinstated as soon as possible. This will take approximately 6-8 months to complete. Food and Beverage: The covers in the restaurant should be increased to at least 120 to cope up with busy hours. The idea of introducing buffet style of menu is very appropriate. The FB manager must convince the head chef about the advantages of buffet style menu for eg, it will save labour force and the guest would get a choice of wider variety of food. Various schemes like ‘Sunday English Roast Lunch or ‘Happy Hours should be introduced which will attract local clientele and families. This operation will take around 1 month to come into existence as there are no major physical changes taking place here. Since the Coffee Shop is very popular and generally remains busy it is suggested to liven and pep it up in sync with the young and modern customers with some exciting decor, video games, darts, etc.. which will attract more people. We have the advantage of having coffee shop next to the large reception area. So it can be extended using a part of the reception area and covers will be increased from 50 to 70. Professional English speaking and permanent staff must be hired for the coffee shop as it will lead to good service and better guest satisfaction. The Coffee Shop menu should be renewed. This will take around 3 months to complete. Bar staff needs to be trained to be multi-skilled so that they can help in other areas when busy. A fool-proof method of controlling and counting sales should be introduced. A versatile drink list should be developed. Night porter facility should be provided to fulfil the needs of late night residents. This will again take around 1 month to come into existence. Gymnasium: It is suggested to install modern and state of the art machinery in the gym. At least 2 trainers should be employed. A proper changing room with modular fittings should be constructed with sauna, spa and a small swimming pool should be built up. Swimming pool will be a great attraction for the in house guests and local residents. The gym kitchen should be refurbished and spruced up and used as a sports bar offering health food and beverages.the Gymnasium and swimming pool will take a long time say around 12 months so should be started well in advance. Goods Delivery and Storage: Food storage in the main cold room must be organised using the FIFO (first in first out) system and keeping HACCP (hazard and critical control points) into consideration. Delegation of responsibility to the heads of the departments and supervisors is of utmost importance for all the storage areas as to keep a control on food storage, rotation, inventory keeping, etc.. The responsibility of the keys should also be delegated to either Head chef or FB manager. A proper inventory management system must be installed to analyse the sales level appropriately. This process will take 2 months. Management and staffing: a lot of emphasis needs to be put on the training and development of the staff as most of the staff is unskilled and unprofessional. A detailed training and development programme needs to be developed. The recruitment responsibility needs to be taken solely by the HR department in coordination with the Heads of the Departments to select only eligible staff. All the lousy and unskilled staff must be replaced by the professional ones. Work incentives and motivational schemes needs to be introduced to ensure job satisfaction and improved performance. Training and Development is an ongoing process so time cannot be calculated here. Replacing staff will not take more than 1 month. Sales and Marketing: First of all a strong, experienced and highly skilled marketing team needs to be hired as the previous one could not prove itself. Then coordination between Sales and Marketing needs to be built up by proper communication and regular meetings. All the facilities of the hotel must be advertised on websites, buses, trains, etc., showing attractive pictures of the hotel rooms, coffee shop, and gymnasium and highlighting the new facilities added. Promotion should be done at trade fares. Hotel must tie up with major tour operators. To increase the sales volume the hotel needs to revise its rack rate in accordance to competitors and give more discounts and attractive offers. Students and Backpackers can be wooed by good discounted rates and offers if they make the bookings in advance which will help hotel to increase its occupancy rate. The marketing team should also promote the in house laundry and get more orders from airlines to make additional revenue. Time Management: There are a lot of tasks to be done here. If we calculate the total time it will be more than 18 months, whereas we only have 18 months to get things done. So we need to manage our tasks in a timely order where two or more tasks can be done in a particular time side by side. The next important thing which we need to consider is that in what sequence the tasks will be accomplished. The activities should be put in such an order that they do not become a hindrance for one another and the hotels routine operations. The time that will be saved will indirectly save our costs as well. CONCLUSION The purpose of the report was to define to the hotel the benefits of adopting a project management approach towards development of improvement opportunities. Then these improvement opportunities were to be identified within the hotel and recommendations were to be given that prioritise and justify the projects that should be tackled within 18 months. The author would like to conclude that these purposes were solved by explaining in detail about the Project management, its process, tools and techniques. A detailed SWOT analysis is done to justify all the changes and improvement to be done in the hotel. Then the author has given recommendations for all that is to be done to retain the business and make profits. This will help the Kerrison Park Hotel to become a successful running Hotel in the city. BIBLIOGRAPHY A quick and comprehensive introduction to Project Management and its advantages Building the Buzz on Project Management (Available from URL: http://www.pmhut.com/a-quick-and-comprehensive-introduction-to-project-management-and-its-advantages-building-the-buzz-on-project-management) (Accessed on 11th March 2010) Burke, R. (2003) Project management planning control techniques (4th edition), England, Wiley Lock, D. (2000) Project Management (7th edition), England, Gower House Project Management Process, Techniques, tools, tips and training (Available from URL: http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm) (Accessed on 10th March 2010) Project Management Methodology: Project Life Cycle (Available from URL: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php) (Accessed on 10th March 2010) The Traditional triple constraints (Available from URL: http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/rh/62/The-traditional-triple-constraints.html) (Accessed on 11th March 2010) Wiest, J.D. and Levy, F.K. (1994), Management Guide To PERT/CPM (2nd edition), New Delhi, Prentice hall of India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management, accessed on 19th October 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis, accessed on 19th October, 2008.

A Career As A Bricklayer :: Free Essay Writer

A good career for me would be a bricklayer. Bricklayers make a lot of money but it’s also a lot of work. It’s a job that most people wouldn’t necessarily enjoy but on the other hand you would make a lot of money, about $14-$18 an hour. (WOIS p ) A quote from my sister who works at Big Kmart is, â€Å"People work at jobs they don’t enjoy just so they can make a lot of money.† I think I could do the job well. Three reasons I think I could do the job well are, I’m a good worker, I have a lot of energy, and I know a lot about bricks. With these three reasons in mind, it would be good to think of a bricklayer as a career for me. I think that I would be a really good bricklayer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’m a good worker. If you were to give me a job to do then I would do it and do it well. If I’m focused and determined to do the job, I will get the job done successfully. That’s pretty much all there is to it. If you told me to build a wall out of bricks, for example, I’m the kind of person who will be right on the job. I’ll just start working then I’ll work until the wall or whatever it may be is built. Now everyone has days that they are tired but they still have to work. Let’s say I was tired, I would work not only because I had to but because I would care so much about my job to do my absolute best.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For my whole life I have had a somewhat large amount of energy. That means that I can do something for a long period of time, without getting tired. Bricklayers work different amounts of hours all the time. It depends on the project and on who you are working for. A lot of bricklayers are self employed so they work what they want to. So it really depends on what exactly you are doing (WOIS p ). I could work long hours, that is another reason why I’d be good at my job. Most people would hire you for the job if they know that you will get the job done in a reasonable amount of time doing a fair job. My sister says that, â€Å"One of the most important aspects about a job is having a good reputation. If your boss knows you will do the job and do it well then you should be

Don Cherry :: essays research papers

Don Cherry, born and raised in Kingston Ontario, is known for his openness, often debatable and always amusing commentary. Mr. Cherry can be seen weekly during the National Hockey League season. He has a segment during the first intermission, every Saturday on CBC's Hockey Night In Canada called the Coach's Corner. Don grew up playing hockey, for he was playing in the OHL by the time he was 17. Unfortunately, Don never made it big, but he managed to make his way around the minor league system for a good 15 years. He played a few games in the NHL, attended many training camps, but nothing to brag about. But, that is where Don is different, for he will brag about his days on the ice. He will let every one know about his toughness, grit and determination. After his days as a minor league player, Don was hired on as the head coach for the Boston Bruins, where he experienced much success including a coach of the year award in 1976. It was in 1984 where Don found his true calling though, for it was that year where he accepted a job on the popular Hockey Night in Canada. Don's first controversial television interview came after the 1986/87 World Junior Championship game, in which Canada and the Soviets had an unbelievable brawl. Don condoned the on-ice violence, and that it what he believes in to this very day. Now it is almost as though every Saturday night, Don has something new and controversial to say. It is for this reason that large numbers of people tune in for the first intermission to see Coach's Corner. Don has been very open with his dislike for European hockey players, especially Russian's. Don is the owner of the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the OHL, and he does not have one European player on the team. Don has also been very open with regards to fighting in hockey. He has stated time and time again that fighting is part of hockey, and for this he has been criticized greatly. This is an example of one of Don's many great qualities. Don Cherry's best quality is the fact that he has the ability to say what he thinks, and say what he believes. For example, during the last Winter Olympics in Nagano, Premier Bouchard of Quebec complained that the Jean Luc Brossard carried a Canadian flag instead of a Quebec flag.

Of MIce and Men: Curley’s Wife Essay

Names have been an important facet of society for as long as Homo sapiens have existed. A name is defined as â€Å"a word or symbol used in logic to designate an entity. † In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck teaches a lesson about the nature of human existence and shows how grim and isolated people become without hope. Steinbeck neglects to address Curley’s wife’s character by name in order to emphasize her position as a literary element and provide commentary on society in the time period during which he lived. Curley’s wife is never named because Steinbeck wished to emphasize the ubiquitous dislike of her throughout the farm. Whilst reading the novella, it is implied that no one on the farm likes Curley’s wife. However, there isn’t necessarily a flaw in her personality from which this aversion to her stems. The characters avoid interaction with her because they fear retribution from her possessive, short-tempered husband. The men on the farm begin to foster hatred toward her because her constant need for attention puts their livelihoods in danger. The men can’t ever get too familiar with her because they are distanced by the fact that she is Curley’s wife. Steinbeck constantly reminds the readers and the characters in the book of this fact by denying her a proper name. Second in the litany of reasons why Curley’s wife remains unnamed throughout the entire novella is that Steinbeck wishes to superimpose over the entire story the idea that she was a possession of Curley’s and not an independent entity. During the course of the novella, we run across multiple instances in which Curley is angered by even the idea of his wife consorting with other men, even in a platonic manner. As previously stated, Curley would even resort to firing men if he was unpleased with the way the interacted with his wife. The reader is able to draw a parallel between the way Curley treats and acts toward his wife and the way someone would act when dealing with an object of theirs. It is very clear that she is expected (by Curley and the other men, save Lennie) to obey Curley at all times. At the period in time in which the novella is set, women are expected to submit to their husband wordlessly and this is thoroughly explored in Of Mice and Men through Curley and his wife’s relationship. The zeitgeist of 1937(the year in which the book was published) and its subsequent influence on literature written around that time period is another reason Curley’s wife remains nameless. In that time, women were considered inferior to men and weren’t nearly as important in the public eye. One must remember when reading Of Mice and Men that the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote only became an addendum in 1920. The novella was set during The Great Depression a time during which women did not have the amount of authority in society as they do today. Curley’s wife was used to depict women as troublemakers that disrupt the flow of life for men. Steinbeck failed to assign Curley’s wife a name because it was acceptable at the time for women to be undermined and overlooked. By constantly referring to her as â€Å"Curley’s wife† Steinbeck undermines her character as an independent person because she is forced to always be associated to Curley. With this â€Å"minor oversight† Steinbeck was able to use her character in idiomatic ways to enhance his writing. As indicated previously, Steinbeck writes Curley’s wife as a literary element to enhance the story as opposed to a character in the story. Almost humorously, one of the outcomes of refusing her a proper name (which I suspect was intentional) is that it caused the reader to direct more attention to her than anyone else in the story. Steinbeck is commonly known as an author who utilizes descriptions as a way to portray his characters. Curley is often mentioned as â€Å"the boss’s son. † Slim is introduced as the â€Å"jerkline skinner. † Crooks is solely referred to as â€Å"the stable buck† or simply ‘nigger’ until chapter 4. Despite the fact that all these characters have names, they are relatively miniscule parts of the story when push comes to shove, the nameless wife is the one who causes things to happen and mandates attention from every angle, be it real or fictitious (by which I mean from both readers and characters within the story). The most convincing reason yet as to why Curley’s wife remains unnamed lays in something Steinbeck once said in an interview. Steinbeck described her character as a symbol. He was recorded to have said â€Å"She has no function, except to be a foil – and a danger to Lennie. † She was the antagonist who provided the main characters something to be anxious about; she was the force that put up massive hurdles for the protagonists to overcome. A villain is defined as â€Å"The person or thing responsible for specified trouble, harm, or damage. † Inadvertently, such was the purpose of Curley’s wife. It wasn’t her plan to end Lennie’s life. She simply pursued what she felt she deserved: male attention. Her need to fill this desire for attention became so intense that it ultimately caused tragedy. In conclusion, Curley’s wife not being assigned a name was not just a mere oversight at the hands of John Steinbeck. She was an instrument used to undermine the position of women in society. Steinbeck purposefully left out her name in order to enhance his writing, and address issues during the time period in which he lived. Curley’s wife was used to depict women as the ones who threatened the happiness and well-being of men. Denying Curley’s wife a name was an integral part in the writing of Of Mice and Men. (c) Raquel Bracey, December 2012