Strategic Planning In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

Strategic Planning In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay The rapid development in the hospitality industry which has lead to importance of strategic planning required in order the firms can have a steady rise in the industry. The life standards of people have been improved due to globalisation which in deed contribute to the development of the hospitality industry. The diversification was a most important priority of the firms in order to utilise the high profiled customer base which they possessed .It is easy to target the customers who are in your door step and this lead to various formulation of strategic plans to target them. Key words: hospitality, strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization frame work of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats ) and PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis) or STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors) and EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatics, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal). Strategic planning is the official consideration of an organizations future course. All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions: What do we do? For whom do we do it? How do we excel? The  hospitality industry  consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes  lodging,  restaurants,  event planning,  theme parks,  transportation,  cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income. A hospitality unit such as a restaurant, hotel, or even an amusement park consists of multiple groups such as facility maintenance, direct operations (servers,  housekeepers, porters, kitchen workers,  bartenders, etc.), management, marketing, and human resources. The hospitality industry includes a wide range of organizations offering food service and accommodation. The hospitality industry is divided into sectors according to the skill-sets required for the work involved. Sectors include accommodation, food and beverage, meeting and events, gaming, entertainment and recreation, tourism services, and visitor information. (wikepedia n.d.) Strategic planning for the hospitality industry (1) The increasing popularity of strategic planning in recent times is attributed to accelerating changes in industries and economies and increasing global competition. (2) The rapid development of strategic-planning that executives find useful. Firms that engage in strategic planning tend to have higher performance. (3) A recent study of hotels in the United Kingdom found that business performance was positively associated with the thoroughness, sophistication, participation, and formality of strategic-planning processes. (4) Strategic analysis the systematic investigation of a firm and its environment is the foundation of the strategic management process. STRATEGIC PLANNING IN JACK IN THE BOX Jack in the Box recently announced plans to open 100 to 150 restaurants combined with convenience stores over the next five years. The stores will feature full-size restaurants and also sell gasoline and other typical convenience store items such as bread and milk. How did Jack in the Box arrive at this decision? According to the companys CEO, Bob Nugent, an analysis of the convenience-store market indicated that there was plenty of opportunity, primarily because no individual company dominates. The largest player in the convenience-store industry which dominated the market, 7-Eleven, Inc., controls slightly over 4 percent of the market. Compare this to fast foods, where McDonalds controls 43 percent of the market and Jack in the Box a mere 4.6 percent. Nugent also justifies his decision on the basis of research which indicates that a convenience-store customer is twice as likely to eat fast food as a non-convenience-store customer. (5) Strategic analysis can provide excellent information on which to base long-range decisions such as this one. Knowledge is one of the most important competitive weapons a firm can possess. (6) As the Jack in the Box example illustrates, detailed knowledge about a firm and its environment can be used to generate new ideas for business  and to evaluate the feasibility of ideas before they are actually implemented. Strategic analysis also allows a firms managers to become more aware of the companys strengths and weaknesses and to understand the reasons behind successes and failures. Knowledge about the competitive environment can help to anticipate and plan for changes and predict how competitors or other stakeholders such as customers or suppliers will respond to new strategies or other organizational activities. Strategic analysis can open up channels of communication between high-level managers and subordinates, allowing them to share ideas and perspectives. The participative process will help subordinates to accept changes more readily after decisions are made. (Harrison April, 2003) STRATEGIC PLANS AT FelCor LODGING TRUST For FelCor Lodging Trust, one of the largest hotel real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the United States, a strategic planning exercise led the company to rethink its strategy. Calling itself the New FelCor, the firm has made dramatic steps toward repositioning itself. The firm business strategy is to dispose of nonstrategic hotels, including all of its Holiday Inn Hotels located in secondary and tertiary markets. After the sale, it will have lower exposure to markets with low barriers to entry. Other elements of the new business strategy are (1) To acquire hotels in high barrier to entry markets (2) To improve the competitive positioning of core hotels through aggressive asset management and the judicious application of capital in the industry (3) To pay down debt through a combination of operational cash flow and the sale of nonstrategic hotels. The company will become a lower leveraged company with a stronger and fully renovated portfolio of hotels. STRATEGIC THINKING AT STARWOOD When Starwood thought of expanding their business to a field which is relevant and easy to attract customers .They in hotel industry and had a close association with the luxury segment customers so they thought Expansion through Diversification strategy in order use their same luxury customer base to sell their newly introduced Heavenly Bed . Westin Hotels Resorts, with 169 hotels and resorts in more than 31 countries and territories, is owned by Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc The Heavenly Bed, first launched by the Westin brand of Starwood Hotels Resorts, has transformed the bed, a basic feature of any hotel room, into a luxurious object of desire, enhancing the revenues of the chain and leaving many hotel operators to follow suit with copycat linens and custom bedding of their own. The strategic process at Starwood began with consumer analysis and product testing. First, Westin conducted a study involving 600 business executives who travel frequently. The results showed that 84 percent said a luxurious bed would make a hotel room more attractive to them to enjoy the comfort. What is more, 63 percent said a good night sleep is the most important service a hotel can provide. Half of those surveyed said they sleep worse in hotels than at home. After testing 50 beds from 35 lodging chains, Westin developed its prototype all white Heavenly Bed with a custom designed pillow top mattress, goose down comforters, five pillows, and three crisp sheets ranging in thread count from 180 to 250. Once the product was designed and tested, the firm introduced the bed with a carefully planned marketing strategy are USA Today ran a story on the front page of its business section. The same day, 20 pristine white Heavenly Beds lined Wall Street up to the New York Stock Exchange in New York City. Inside the Stock Exchange, Barry Sternlicht, the then Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels Resorts rang the opening bell and threw out hats proclaiming, Work like the devil Sleep like an angel. Meanwhile, at New York Grand Central Station, 20 more beds graced one of the rotundas there, and commuters disembarking the trains were invited to try them out. Similar events were staged the same day at 38 locations across the United States, tailored to each city. Savannahs event featured a bed floating on a barge down the river with a landing skydiver. Seattle s event took place atop the Space Needle. To reinforce the message, a concurrent advertising campaign asked, Whos the best in bed? AN EMERGING RETAIL STRATEGY FOR THE HEAVENLY BED In the early stages of introducing the heavenly bed .In the first week of launching the Westin Heavenly Bed, 32 guests were interested to buy the bed. A light bulb went on. Westin executives put order cards with a toll free number in every room. They started placing catalogs by bedsides and desks and set up a web site. By June of 2004, Westin had sold 20,000 pillows $ 75 for the king sized version and 3,500 bed/bedding combos, at $ 2,965 each, enough to spread the idea throughout Starwood, with the Sheraton, St. Regis, and W lines all turning into retailers. The unanticipated success of the Heavenly Bed has spawned a new business companies that help hotels run their retail arms. Boxport, a spin off of San Francisco based hotel procurer Higgins Purchasing Group, operates web sites and catalogs for several chains that now sell bedding. In order to determine where it is going, the organization needs to know exactly where it stands, then determine where it wants to go and how it will get there. The resulting document is called the strategic plan. It is also true that strategic planning may be a tool for effectively plotting the direction of a company; however, strategic planning itself cannot foretell exactly how the market will evolve and what issues will surface in the coming days in order to plan your organizational strategy. Therefore, strategic innovation and tinkering with the strategic plan have to be a cornerstone strategy for an organization to survive the turbulent business climate.

Lifecycle of a Plastic Product Essay

Our life has been full with the uses of plastic in our daily life, in food and beverages to the appliances surrounding our daily life. Plastic was made from simple chains of molecules that are linked together called as Polymers. Thus, make many types of plastics are named starting with ‘Poly’ such Polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) – More commonly known as rubbish or garbage such as packaging products, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, household appliances, paint, these daily items we use then throw away, and battery. It comes from our homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses [2]. Each year, a report on the EPA Advanced Certificate Management Amendment: Facts and Figures 2013, formerly known as Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures. It contains information on municipal solid waste generation, recycling, and disposal. MSW trace after 30 years, source limit reports (waste prevention) MSW and MSW tipping landfill fees for historical information, generation and demolition Additional information on the information, which has been extended to include outside the scope. The new name emphasizes the importance of sustainable content management (CM). CM refers to the use and recycling of materials in a more productive and durable manner throughout their entire lifecycle. SMM practices to conserve resources reduce waste, slow climate change, the materials we use to reduce their impact on the environment. In 2013, nearly 254 million tons of garbage, recycled and converted to US fertilizer products of 87 million tons, equivalent to 34.3 percent recycling rate was generated. On average, we recycled and 40: 40 pounds per person per day. Even from that, plastic is a very crucial part of our everyday lives, as it been used and basically can be found everywhere. Some examples of usage of plastics are in electronics and surgical instrument as plastic is lightweight, cheap and easy to build. Other than that, plastic is very useful when dealing with durability along with times, it is because plastics don’t easily be damaged by surrounding, unlike iron that can rust over time if in contact with water. Plastic also has a great impact on our today telecommunication, as the world evolves with the technology, a higher demand for internet is needed and fiber optics cable for faster communication with others is needed. The main substances used to produce fiber optic is plastic, in vehicles plastic parts is also one of the major parts needed as it used because it optimizes the power usage and makes them more efficient. The parts that used plastic in a vehicle are including seats, polycarbonate windows and interior panel. Basically, plastic has its own advantages and disadvantages that made it impossible to be ban completely as its usage in every part of daily lives. Even though, it has an important role as one of the vital resources in domestic and also industrial, because of plastics characteristics that are durable, water-resistant, lightweight and cheaper. The usage of plastic needs to supervise and handled appropriately for disposal. Not properly disposing of plastic could lead to plastic pollution due to the basic property of plastic that made it so durable and take thousands of years to decomposed [1]. The overuse of plastic and plastic pollution could give a number of effects on the environment and ecosystem. The effect to the environment is the landfills of plastic wastage due to overuse of plastic because of it cheaper and easier to be obtained. Other than that, an open burning with plastic will release dangerous chemical gasses to the air and could lead to impotence, cancer, asthma and etc. other than that, an authorized disposal of plastics to the sea or river could harm the animals live inside it. From a research, the turtles mostly die because of the plastics that they consume because turtles were mistaken plastics as jellyfish. Besides that, another effect to the animals is the entanglement of plastics to the body of turtles, dolphin and etc. that could affect the animal’s growth. There are several of ways that human can contribute to ensuring a smart usage of plastic to avoid plastic pollution. The easier ways to contribute is by shop friendly when shopping at the market to buy the needs for home, by having oneself shopping bag the usage of plastics can be reduced. Secondly, is to bring your own food container and drink bottle to reduce the usage of plastics from the packaging of your food and plastic bottle that cannot be reusable. Nonetheless, recycling is one of the vital ways that can help in reducing the usage of plastics because by recycling the plastics can be disposed of appropriately.

Terrorism Between Iraq And The United States Essay

After the gulf wars, a ceasefire was negotiated between the United Nations coalition and Iraq. During the ceasefire, the United Nations became aware that Iraq had started a biological warfare program in the 1980s, as well as a chemical warfare program. Upon further investigation, they found that these programs had not continued after the war. As a result, the United States main focus moving forward was the removal of the Saddam regime, their official foreign policy for years to come focused on this goal. With the suspicions that Saddam Hussein had the abilities to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration going as far as to claim he already had them, the United States and other countries began devising a plan of action. These countries strongly believed that Iraq was a treat to its neighbors and the rest of the world, and that the only solution was to invade Iraq. The United States invading Iraq in 2003 was a turning point in the reason why relationship between Ira q and the United States is the way it is today. In August of 2002, the Bush administration’s position about Iraq had changed significantly. Prior to this point, the United States and other western countries had been arming Iraq with weapons of every type. The fact the United States and other countries had been arming Iraq with weapons, shows how little they considered Iraq to be a threat. This quickly changed. A debate on invading Iraq, held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, createdShow MoreRelatedThe World Capital Of Terrorism1092 Words   |  5 PagesCRW-3 28.11.16 Terrorism in Iraq Did you know that in 2014 ISIS controlled more than 34,000 square miles in the middle east? ISIS is a terrorist group that is in Iraq. Iraq is the number one country with the most terrorist groups. ISIS is the number one terrorist group in the Iraq. 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Eudora Welty s A Worn Path - 946 Words

In the short story, â€Å"A Worn Path narrator by Eudora Welty, of an elderly African American woman takes a journey with the purpose of obtains medication for her grandson while facing many problematic obstacles. Phoenix Jackson is fragile with poor vision old lady that â€Å"Old eyes thought you was a pretty little green bush.† (649). Phoenix ability to see was difficult for her to walk the path that she remembers so clearly but wish nothing to stand in her way. The legendary Phoenix symbolizes renewal and resurrection through destruction, an example â€Å"Every time she took a step she might have fallen over her shoelaces, which dragged from her unlaced shoes† (649). She is a dedicated, persistent grandmother who could not do the duty of fastening her shoe herself. She is willing to take the dangerous quest at the risk putting her life in danger to help her grandson. The symbolism of Phoenix character begins to shift as her expedition progress further into the story showing the similarity of the mythical of the Phoenix. Phoenix resembles the mythological creature that connected with the sun, sacrifice, reborn and death based on the repeat experiences through to her passage. â€Å"Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the dark. Under the red rag, her hairShow MoreRelatedEudora Welty s A Worn Path1560 Words   |  7 PagesA person’s journey can have symbols that come through everyone’s life. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty, Eudora describes symbols by using people that come through Phoenix’s path while she’s in her journey to Natchez. Eudora uses a nickel, marble cake, big dead trees, mistletoe, and a white hunter to symbolize Phoenix’s difficulties and o bstacles that she had to go through in order to get to her destination. In the short story, PhoenixRead MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path1481 Words   |  6 PagesA very famous writer and novelist, Eudora Welty, has written many short stories and novels. Welty’s work is mainly focused with great precision on the regional manners of people inhabiting a small Mississippi town that resembles her own birthplace and the Delta country. Welty was born on April 13, 1909 and was raised by her close-knit and loving parents. In fact, Welty inherited the love of language from her mother. During her lifetime, Welty has earned many awards from her short stories and novelRead MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path970 Words   |  4 Pagesstrength to achieve any goal, or conquer any obstacle in life. In Eudora Welty s A Worn Path, her main protagonist, Mrs. Phoenix Jackson, perfectly displays the strength that a human possess. Despite being of old age, poor and out of shape, Mrs. Jackson s strength defies these odds on the worn path that she walks daily. Human strength i s abundant in A Worn Path, as the author shows the reader the reason why mankind is so strong. Welty demonstrates that love is what makes Mrs. Jackson, and everyoneRead MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path856 Words   |  4 Pages Eudora Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path† demonstrations how people in the early twentieth century could not see past the color of one’s skin and the hardships which are faced because of this blindness. Welty short story demonstrations these difficulties with Phoenix Jackson and her journey to town. Through symbolism and motifs and even the symbolism has double meaning. For example, â€Å"seem like there is chains about my feet† (Welty 1) as her path is face with a hill. Yes, it could be just the hardship of theRead MoreEudora Welty s `` A Worn Path ``2399 Words   |  10 PagesEudora Welty was a renowned American author who used literary themes and devices to describe the complexities of the human mind and soul. Through her short stories, Welty paints a vivid portrait based on morals, hardships, and human relationships. In her stores, Welty combines this with humor and psychological acuity to allow the audience a glimpse into the lives of her characters and to learn something of themselves in the process. Two of her most famous short works are â€Å"Death of a Traveling Salesman†Read MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path854 Words   |  4 Pages Eudora Welty’s A Worn Path portrays an elderly woman, Phoenix, who endures a regular, strenuous journey into town to receive medicine for her grandson from a charitable pharmacy. She encounters difficulty aroused by nature and disapproving townspeople but triumphs and succeeds her goal. The use of characterization and symbolism creates A Worn Path by representing a strong and significant protagonist, as well as offering a symbolic meaning of life and courage when faced with love. The short storyRead MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path992 Words   |  4 Pages23, but he k eeps limping forward. Phoenix Jackson, the elderly woman in Eudora Welty’s, â€Å"A Worn Path†, is a lot like the injured runner. It is her astounding bravery and her innate cunning, along with her eternal love for her grandson, which gives her the ability to endure the hardships of her journey to get her grandson’s medicine. Phoenix Jackson is able to overcome each obstacle and adversity she encounters along the path due to her unending perseverance. Phoenix Jackson is described as a frailRead MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path956 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction James Saunders wrote an interesting article â€Å"’A Worn Path’ The Eternal Quest of Welty’s Phoenix Jackson† (The Southern Literary Journal 25.1, Fall 1992: p62-73.) that not only analyzed Eudora Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path† (The Collected Works of Eudora Welty) from his perspective but also included the perspectives of other authors which makes his article an excellent source for interpretations of ‘A Worn Path’. Summary Saunders article summarizes Phoenix Jackson as a symbol of the ChristianRead MoreEudora Welty s A Worn Path1877 Words   |  8 Pagesis a symbol of evil or death. This literary technique helps the reader understand a deeper meaning of the central message that the author is trying to portray. In this case, Eudora Welty uses symbolism like a powerful tool. A manifold of symbolic connotations can be made in â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty. â€Å"A Worn Path† is a short story about an old black woman named Phoenix Jackson. She has to make this long journey to town in order to get medicine for her ill grandson; she is all he has gotRead MoreAnalysis Of Jack London And Eudora Welty s A Fire And A Worn Path 1406 Words   |  6 PagesEng. 120 Carolyn Maynard Professor Kirkby 06/18/ 2015 C/C #1 Two Troublesome Journeys In the stories To Build a Fire and A Worn Path, Jack London and Eudora Welty tell the stories of two protagonists going on arduous journeys during the winter. Phoenix Jackson, the protagonist of A Worn Path, is an elderly lady hardened by the trials of life as a black woman living in the Southern United States, prior to the Civil Rights Era. She is surprisingly limber, resilient, and healthy for her age and has