PETRONAS | Employee Health and Safety Case Study

PETRONAS | Employee Health and Safety Case Study 1.0 Introduction The topic that we choose for our assignment in Human Resource Management is employee safety and health. Nowadays, safety and health is a significant issue for an organization to its employees. What is meant by safety and health for employees? Firstly, safety means the condition for employees are being protected from getting any danger, risk or injury in a working environment during the working hour. Meanwhile, health means the organizations efforts to prevent its employees from suffering physical or mental illness. In short, every organization should ensure the safety and health condition in the working environment since employee is the asset of the company. If the employees feel secure in their working environment, they will perform efficiency and effectively to achieve the companys goal. However, if the working environment is not safety and may cause them illness, it will affect the performance quality as the employees will think why should I going to do this, this is not safe for us. Inevitably, it is very important for an organization to ensure that their employees are working in a safe and healthy environment so that it will greatly influence the productivity and overall efficiency in any organizations. Secondly, it will also help to reduce and prevent industrial accidents. Consequently, the enforcement of employee safety and health will definitely help to reduce the absenteeism among employees. Also, it will also boost the morale among the employees inside the organization. Moreover, team spirit could be developed and the sense of belongingness among the employees could be enhanced as they are protected. As a result, the main objective of our topic is to determine the regular review of safety and health performance in an organization. Therefore, the employees can have a better working condition to perform their specific tasks. 2.0 Content: Theory and concept The first theory that we are going to apply for the chosen topic is Bounded Rationality. Bounded Rationality state that a decision maker makes decision at a satisfactory level rather than the maximum level because of the lack of resources and information needed. In order to implement a successful employee safety and health program in an organization, the managements have to well-planned with various choices of alternatives and decide the optimum one. Having said this, when a company intend to install employee safety and health program to replace the existed one, the switching cost involved may be much more higher than expected, that makes it difficult for the company to bear the cost. Therefore, the management shall decide the appropriate method with the sources available to fix the problems, so that both employers and employees could enjoy the benefits from the implementation of the safety and health policy activity. Herzbergs two factor theory is the second theory that we will apply to our topic. The Herzbergs two factor theory is also known as the motivation-hygiene theory. This theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that can cause employees satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the working environment (NetMBA, 2010). The factors that affect employees to become satisfied are the sense of achievement, recognition for their accomplishment by the top management, meaningfulness of the work, growth and promotional opportunities. On the other hand, the factors that lead employees to become dissatisfied are the strict company policy, no fringe benefits, bad physical work condition and low salary. If employees are not satisfied with the working environment, it will decrease the productivity. In order to maximize the profit in an organization, the company should provide a good working environment for employees so that it can maintain the company production quality. Thus, the motiva tion of employee is the key factor for an organization since it is one of the several factors that significantly affect the productivity which in turns increase the profitability in an organization. In the third place, we are going to apply Maslow hierarchy of needs in our topic. Maslow hierarchy of needs can be categorized in five independent levels of basic human needs which are physiological, safety, love or belonging, esteem and self actualization that must be satisfied in a strict sequence starting from the lowest level. Physiological needs are the lowest level of basic human needs while self actualization is the highest basic human needs. In this topic we will focus on safety level, which safety needs security of body, employment, resources, morality, family, health and property. Furthermore, safety needs for an employee plays a vital role for an organization to take the responsibility because the employees are helping the organization to generate income. In return, the company should provide a proper working environment for the employees. In a nutshell, Bounded Rationality, Herzbergs two factor theory and Maslow hierarchy of needs are the theories that we are going to apply to our topic employee safety and health. Keeping to the adage that safe operations are smooth operations, these theories are extremely important for an organization to follow because it will assist the organization to increase the profit by providing a safety and health working environment to the employees. Significance and contributions In order to utilize individuals to achieve organization objective, we should have five human resource management functions such as staffing, human resource development, compensation, safety and health and employee and labor relations. Consequently, we know that the assignment topic that we choose is pivotal for an organization because this is one of the five human resource management functions. In addition, we know that safety and health not only for the organization to take the responsibility on the employees but also the employees themselves should aware and responsible for their own safety and health. Having said this, when the organization is providing the methods on how to use the machine in a safety way but the employees do not follow the instructions. Therefore, no matter how the organization implement the safety and health policy to employees, it is not effective if the employees do not follow the instructions given. Inevitably, it will cause danger to them and other employee s in the working environment. As a result, the organization and employees should take the obligation together on safety and health. Subsequently, it will assist the organization to increase the productivity by the workers if they are focusing on employee safety and health because employees can have a better satisfaction with the working environment which is safe and secure to perform their task. If the productivity increases, the company tends to sell more products. Thus, it will affect the overall profit of the organization. In addition, it will boost the morale among the employees inside the organization. Team spirit could be developed and the sense of belongingness among the employees could be enhanced as they are protected. As a result, the employees tend to spend more time to perform their task in a safety and health environment to assist the organization to generate income. In short, safety and health is not the only importance HRM function of an organization but also other HRM functions as well. This is because the relationship between these five functions is link together. Without one of them, the organization cannot operate well. Therefore, the organization should focus on all HRM functions areas. 3.0 Case Development (Practice) The company we have chosen to be discussed in our assignment is Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS). PETRONAS is the national oil and gas company in Malaysia. It established in 1974 and wholly-owned by the government of Malaysia (Abdul Ghani Pg.Hi.Metusin and Ooi Kee Beng, 2005). Together with 127 direct subsidiaries and 54 associated companies, PETRONAS, a multinational corporation, has fully integrated oil and gas operations in a broad spectrum of the oil and gas value-chain and with global presence in 31 countries (S.A Zainal Abidin, O.Bekri, A.Jalaludin, 1996). In addition, it also conducts a variety of business activities include exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in Malaysia and overseas; the liquefaction, sale and transportation of LNG; the processing and transmission of natural gas and the sale of natural gas products; the refining and marketing of petroleum products; the manufacture and sale of petrochemical products; the trading of crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemical products; and shipping and logistics relating to LNG, crude oil and petroleum products.ÂÂ   Safety issue always is high concern in the oil and gas industry especially since the Gulf of Mexico incident happened in 2010. PETRONAS has around 44,000 of employees. Therefore, it strives to contribute and take care of the well-being of people as well as nations, regardless wherever it operates by developing and adding value to oil and gas resources. It balances the commercial, environmental and social considerations carefully. A report from Social Security Organization shows the construction is one of the highest fatality rate in the accidents among the industry. PETRONAS experiences the worst ever group safety record in 1998 with 31 fatalities and followed by 13 and 17 fatalities in 1999 and 2000 respectively. To ensure the PETRONAS Corporate Policy Statement on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is implemented effectively, a proactive approach must be adopted in promoting Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). First of all, company HSE policy is the basis requirement to implement in PETRONAS as well as to any other organization. Thus, the legal liability of projects and the penalties imposed to owners and stakeholders are clearly outlined in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. A good OSH management will be able to prevent and reduce accidents and ill health in the working environment. For example, HSE Management Procedure will be preparing for every project run by PETRONAS. This is to ensure that all phases of the project and the OSH requirements are clearly defined and spelt out. The purpose of this procedure is to helps the management in complying with the related local OSH Acts or rules and regulations, establishing the minimum OSH objectives to be met at the various stages of the project, developing the necessary guidelines to carry out a proactive management of consultants and contractors on OSH matters and ensuring a continuous OSH improvement for all project activities. In addition, with such procedure and policy, the management can make decision more efficiency and effectively. In the meanwhile, it applies the Bounded Rationality theory in which the decision maker or the management makes decision at a satisfactory level with limited resources and i nformation. When problem occur, the management can make decision at a limited time with the best alternative according to the procedure stated. Furthermore, PETRONAS enhance the governance of HSE through the restructuring of Group Health, Safety and Environment Division to enable Business Units to have greater accountability. It also proactively in developing a framework to consolidate the mandatory HSE standards to be implemented Groupwide. The Herzbergs two factor theory can be seen in this practice by developing a safety working environment with pervasive HSE culture. In addition, it can decrease the cost of common infrastructures, management system and services. Employee will feel secure and satisfied with their working condition and environment with international HSE standards. For example, PETRONAS won Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Grand Award from Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) in 2010. Such honors definitely will add credit to PETRONAS that lead to the increase of employee confident to company HSE condition. To improve PETRONAS safety performance towards achieving operational excellence, it has carried out a Third Party Process Safety Assessment on its implementation across the Group. The latest external assessment and benchmarking exercise was conducted in August 2010. The assessment recognized that process safety standards and requirements have been adequately established at Group level and translated into site-specific systems and documents at operating units. Action plans have been identified to address implementation issues on specific elements such as management of change, integrity management, work planning and procedures in order to improve process safety performance. As stated before, PETRONAS restructure its Group Health, Safety and Environment Division to enable all Business Units to have greater accountability, the objective is to raise PETRONAS HSE performance, reduce business risks and exposure and maintain consistency in the implementation if HSE standards and requirements. Therefore, defining a clear roles and responsibilities of all personnel involved in OSH activities for those projects are necessary. Workers should and must know their duties and the knowledge that have to apply in their tasks. The effectiveness after the implementation Indeed, PETRONAS has exercised the human resource practices well in ensuring the safety and health of its employees. As above mentioned, PETRONAS obeys and follows the stated laws and regulations. Besides, PETRONAS also conducts an excellent HSE management system. However, there is still room to improve. It is because many fatal accidents have taken place in 2012. First, there are three fire accidents happened at PETRONAS sites, and two of which involved casualties. Second, the most recent incident that related to PETRONAS involved an oil tanker which caught fire and exploded at the jetty of PETRONAS Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd on 26 July 2012. This incident follows closely from another fire which blazed at the PETRONAS Caligalis Tukau B Platform offshore Miri on 11 June 2012. Moreover, there was a PETRONAS gas process plant in GPP Complex A in Kerteh was rocked by two explosions. Unfortunately, a worker died on the spot while 23 others were injured. There were 2000 workers at the site when the explosions occurred (Koh, 2012). Again, these accidents have indicated that it is time for PETRONAS to reevaluate the safety standards over again. 4.0 Recommendations Even PETRONAS has exercised its practise well in ensuring its employees are safe and health, but there are still a number of accidents that lead to the injuries and death of its employees. Its strongly to be suggested that PETRONAS might use joint labour-management safety team approach to involve its employees in developing safety program as the employees know the potential problem in their workplace more well compare to the management. A safety programme is launched to identify and minimize the unsafe condition to prevent the accidents that might happen in the workplace. It should contains an extensive training and enable autonomy for the employees who perform dangerous job. For example, PETRONAS might held a meeting for the employees and management to come together in order to evaluate the previous safety program and see if there is anything went wrong. If there is anything should be changed or a new program should be established, employees will be given autonomy in voice out their opinion in the meeting according to their working experience on what should be establish, what training should be provided, and what should be done. (Dessler, 2007) Secondly, top management of PETRONAS is suggested to involve themselves in the safety activities. Instead of just giving instruction from the top to bottom, managers and supervisors in safety and health department of PETRONAS are encouraged to involve themselves directly by going to the workplace and discuss with the employees with the production scheduling before the work of the day. Toolbox meetings are the meetings which held in a workplace involving the supervisors and employees to discuss about the work hazard and safety awareness. Toolbox meetings are suggested to be held in every time before the work at the workplace. The SHELL companies in the same industry with PETRONAS, practise it in this way: the supervisor and other employees will first discuss in the general safety with the employees and after this, employees are grouped into a smaller group to discuss in detail about the job procedure of the day, the hazards of the job, the precautions that should be taken to prevent anything bad happen in the workplace and what should be done in order to protect themselves for the duties that they are going to perform after this. The toolbox meeting is not only being held in each time before the work, but also should be held if there is any changing in hazard found. (Steve Beckett) Evacuation plans should be enhanced in PETRONAS as the accidents happened in the workplace often has caused death and injuries on its employees. An evacuation plan should include the three main things: an early detection of problems, the methods to communicate the emergency externally and the communication plans to initiates an evacuation. For example, an initial alarm to alerts the employees on emergency and following by the instruction given on what to do in next. This minimizes the number of death and injuries cause by fire and exploitation effectively(Dessler, 2007). Furthermore, PETRONAS is recommended to establish behavioural-based safety programme which it is to identify its employees working behaviour, understand the way they work and advice and lastly train them to avoid the working behaviour that might lead to accidents (Dessler, 2007). PETRONAS may use Human Resource Internet-Based System to manage their safety programme for it is more efficient and more effective in the way to communicate the safety and health information to its employees from the whole organization. The HRIS included the material safety data sheets from OSHA which stated the precaution that should be taken by employees when performing their duties and what to do in dealing with the accidents. The data sheet based on the new OSHA information can be uploaded and communicate faster to the employees if HRIS is to be used. In the other hand, PETRONAS might create also its own training websites which will allow the company to communicate the safety issues to its employee in the form of video, PowerPoint presentation sheets and etc. By this, PETRONAS will be able to organize and deliver the individual course to its employees according to their needs in anywhere and anytime (Dessler, 2007). 5.0 Conclusion Employee Safety and Health is a significant issue for every organization because employee consider as asset of the organization. Working environment is very important for every employee. It to ensure that provides a safety place for employee to prevent getting any danger or injury. Organization also need to concern employee health to prevent its employees from suffering physical or mental illness. The employee safety and health is high concern especially in the oil and gas industry. PETRONAS is a multinational corporation that has integrated oil and gas operations in a broad spectrum of the oil and gas value-chain. Employee has safety and health condition can perform the job efficiency and effectively and achieve the companys goal. Safety and health can impact the productivity and overall efficiency in organization. Organizations can put efforts to develop the team spirit among employees and to enhance as they are protected in the working environment. It can help organization to prevent industrial accidents and to reduce the absenteeism among employees. An important theory and concept such as Bounded Rationality, Herzbergs two factor theory and Maslow hierarchy of needs for an organization to apply in order to increase the profit by providing a safety and health working environment to the employees. The organization and employees should take the obligation together on the safety and health. Employees themselves should aware and responsible for their own safety and health in the working environment. PETRONAS conducts a variety of business activities in 31 counties. PETRONAS obeys and follow the stated laws and regulations and conducts an excellent HSE management system to ensure the safety and health of its employees. PETRONAS strives to contribute the commercial, environmental and social considerations carefully. A proactive approach adopted in by Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) to ensure the PETRONAS Corporate Policy Statement on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is implemented effectively. HSE policy is the basis requirement to implement in PETRONAS. OSH management can make decision at a limited time with the best alternatives according to the procedure stated. PETRONAS is restructuring the Group Health, Safety and Environment Division to enable Business Units to have greater accountability. It developed a framework to consolidate the mandatory HSE standard to be implemented in a safety working environment. Employee will feel secure and satisfied with their working condition and environment international HSE standards such as Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Grand Award from Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) in year 2010. It will lead to increase the employee confident during working time with company HSE conditions. The objective of implementation in HSE performance is to reduce business risks and exposure and maintain consistency. Employees must know their duties and knowledge in order to apply in their tasks. Therefore, PETRONAS enable to have greater accountability.

Toni Morrison and bell hooks Represent Blacks in American Literature :: Biography Biographies Essays

Toni Morrison and bell hooks Represent Blacks in American Literature Two widely known and influential authors, bell hooks and Toni Morrison, share similar beliefs and themes with regards to the black community. One theme in particular that the two writers emphasize is the representation of blacks in American literature today. hooks feels that African Americans are misrepresented, where Morrison believes that blacks are not represented at all. hooks' evidence of this theme is portrayed primarily in the sexist and racist representations the characters exhibit. Overall, both authors feel that the negative portrayal of the black community needs to stop in order for a better understanding of our national literature. Toni Morrison believes that the literature in America has taken as its concern the white man as its character base. Morrison states, "American literature is free of, uniformed by, and unshaped by the four-hundred-year-old presence of the first Africans" (205). She believes the entire history of the African culture has had no important place in the present state of our culture's literature. The American literature evident today tends to depict the white males' views, genius, and power leaving out all concerns for the black race. Morrison is convinced that, "the contemplation of the black presence is central to any understanding of our national literature and should not be relegated to the margins of the literary imagination" (205-06). Morrison's quote stresses the importance of the representation of black presence in today's literature for a better national comprehension of this writing. Two primary reasons Morrison believes that blacks are left out are the writers themselves, and the silence that has historically ruled literature. She believes, "National literatures, like writers, get along as best they can and with what they can. Yet they do seem to end up describing and inscribing what is really on the national mind" (208). This is the interest in the white man. Writers produce, and companies publish what the public wants to read about. According to Morrison, this is not the black presence, rather views and interests in the white man. The other reason she believes blacks are left out are, "that in matters of race, silence and evasion have historically ruled literary discourse" (207).

How Do You Actually Learn to Love Yourself Essay

5 ways to learn to love yourself more 1-Do something kind: There are lots of different ways to do something kind, but one of the best, long-term ways you can do something for someone else is by volunteering. For example, you could help out at a local swimming club, befriend an elderly person or use your marketing experience to promote a local charity. 2-Become your hero for the day: If you want to try this out for yourself choose someone that you can identify with, but who is also well known for his or her confidence. Then begin to act like them. Although you don’t have to speak in their accent, envisioning your hero can have a surprisingly positive impact upon your own body language and tone of voice. 3-Retrain your thoughts: How many times in a day do you think negatively about yourself? Now ask yourself how many times you compliment yourself during the day.A great way to alter your behaviour and learn to love yourself is to retrain the way you think. You can do this by following up every negative thought you have about yourself with a positive. For example, if you tell yourself that you are ugly, old or overweight, follow this bad thought up with something positive, like: ‘I have great skin, hair and a good smile’. Increasing the number of positive thoughts you have about yourself during the day will hopefully help you to enjoy being you and will help to boost your self-esteem. 4-Admit your flaws and take action: We all have flaws and that’s fine. It is just something that we have to accept. Yet some people’s flaws can interfere with their life and become an obstacle that stands between them and their happiness. If you have a flaw that is becoming a problem it is time to admit that you need to change. 5-Relationship analysis: There are some people in this life that are just no good for us. If you have friends, boyfriends, girlfriends or colleagues who undermine you, belittle you or are just plain mean, you need to have a thinking about confronting them about their behaviour. This can be extremely daunting, especially if they bully you. Remember though that no one has the right to put you down and the only way people will stop acting in this way is if they know you won’t accept it. Be brave, plan what you are going to say so that you can communicate clearly and then sit down and talk through your issue face to face. If the problem continues it might be time to consider cutting them out of your life altogether. Life is too short to waste on people that don’t make you feel good and hanging around with negative people will make it hard for you to love yourself.

Gillette Marketing

Gillette Razor corporation was founded in 1901 by King Camp Gillette as the American Safety Razor Company. In 1895, while working as a salesman for Gillette envisioned an inexpensive, double-edge blade that could be clamped over a handle and simply disposed of when the blade dulled. Gillette spent many years searching for an inventor or engineer that could help him in making the dream a reality. Many people told him it couldn’t be done but in 1901 William Nickerson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology educated machinist, took on the task aided with the designs provided by Gillette.Production of the razor started in early 1903 and in October of the same year, the newly renamed, Gillette Safety Razor Company began advertising and selling their razor sets for $5 each. Additional blades sold for $1 for twenty As we mentioned earlier King Gillette vision was to make the shaving experience simpler, safer, inexpensive and time saving. The Gillette Company is globally focused on c onsumer products marketer that seeks competitive advantage in quality, personal care and personal use products.On their very beginnings Gillette Company was mainly focus on men’s grooming products; in 1902 they introduced the first safety razor using a disposable blade and they started advertising their product with the first ad appearing in a magazine. By 1908, Gillette Company started operating not only in U. S. but also in Canada, England, France and Germany. Around this time they introduce their second best advertising campaign which was the face of King’s Gillette on each of their razors pack.This advertising campaign was very successful on countries outside of U. S. because people recognized the face of King’s Gillette and they referred to them as â€Å"the king with the man’s face. † During the following twenty years the company kept introducing new products with new technology. By 1939, the company developed a sports advertising campaign an d they purchased the radio broadcast right to the World Series. Later on, in 1942 the company sponsored a group of sport advertising which they called â€Å"Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. This included the orange bowl, the sugar bowl, and the Kentucky Derby; which according to the company history website this â€Å"sports advertising programs, remained an important vehicle for Gillette advertising. Later on, around 1970’s the company developed a new advertising campaign to advertise their product line of Right Guard and soft & dry deodorants and Adorn and white Rain hair sprays. The company continues introducing innovation in shaving technology, and at the same time developing new ad campaigns to emphasize the more profitable shaving systems over disposable shavers.Around 1990, the company decided to change a little bit their target market so they introduce the Gillette Venus Vibrance, which is the female version of the M3 power Venus blades for man. The introduction of fema le razors was very positive for the company, but this was not the only new program development that Gillette Company will have. Around the same year Gillette’s company acquired four successful U. S. divisions, and those were the personal care division (Oral-B product care),the Toiletries Division (right guard deodorant and antiperspirant), the paper Mate Division and The Safety Razor Division.These divisions did help the company’s revenues but most of the company’s revenue was generated by the razors division. The company found sport advertising campaigns to be very successful so around the year of 2005, the company introduce a new advertising campaign featuring sports champions; such as Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Thierry Henry to announce the new Gillette’s new product line. â€Å"Fusion Gamer Saver† and the line of this campaign was â€Å"prepare to be your best today. † this advertising campaign was very successful not only in U. S. b ut also in many different countries. In addition, to this campaign the company also introduced multimedia advertising, store promotions, direct marketing, sponsorships and celebrity television commercials; for instance Jennifer Lopez, she is the celebrity that advertises the Venus Razor. Another important advertising that Gillette Company introduces is their web page. In this page the company introduces their line as â€Å"Being a G man means taking pride in grooming to help you look, feel and be your best.So here people can find their products, Gillette science (innovations of the product, from then to now), and product coach, for man and women. Product coach is a very interesting feature, because guys can play with this picture and see how they might look with certain type of beard color or hair color; and it is also available for women, so they can also choose how they want to look. One of the most recent successful advertising campaigns that Gillette introduced was the Young Gu ns, with Ray Rice, Kyle Busch, Evan Longoria, Carlos Gonzales, Matt Ryan and Denny Hamlin.This current promotions are focusing on Young man, so this shows that Gillette is not only focus on targeting older man, they are focus on personal care and personal use product for man and women of different ages. Gillette has an incredible amount of the market share of disposable razors. Gillette holds 72% of the market, while their closest competitor, Schick has a mere 18 % and the number 3 company, Bic has 6%. When compared all other brands in the world, through 2010, Gillette is ranked 13th according to Interbrand. com. They currently have a brand value of 23,298,000,000.

Women of ancient greece and egypt essays

Women of ancient greece and egypt essays Equality in the ancient world was not the same as it is today. In ancient Greece women were not looked upon as equals. They were considered to be secondary in relation to men. On the other hand the women of ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same freedoms as the men did. They, unlike women in most cultures of the time, were considered more or less equals. Ideally this social equality would have been the same for all ancient women. Ancient Greece was the cradle of western civilization. It was a land comprised of small city states. Often in history books, the men of this time are only mentioned and the women are too easily forgotten, but we must not forget the women that lived in this time, for they played just as significant a role in creating and in making this culture inspiring to this day. Women in archaic Greece were prepared for marriage and motherhood through dancing and singing and participating in other religious events. Athenian girls knew how to dance, but music was not something that was considered to be very respectable. In Sparta, and generally among Dorian city-states, women enjoyed more freedom and thus participated in music, dancing and telling stories without being looked down upon. An example of this was the maiden songs which were sung by young women on the brink of adulthood, as rites of passage into adulthood. Women writers, most often, wrote lyric poetry. They tended to focus on emotions, lovers, friendships, and other events in their lives. Their honesty and simplicity conveyed sincerity, thus making these poems very popular. Most poems and songs were accompanied by the playing of a lyre. The lyres sound was considered dignified and soothing, and was often associated with upper class women. Flute music however, was considered to be more exciting and thus was the resort of professional musicians, slaves, and prostitutes. Hetairai used flutes to provide background music at symposiums. Women wrote...

Free Essays on The Pros And Cons Of Technology

Anthony The Pros and Cons of Technology In today’s fast paced world, technological progress, changes, and advances are happening everyday. Occasionally the technological progress, changes, and advances are both good and bad. Certain people, like Dick Armey, in â€Å"How Technology Increases Freedom† feel technology advances are great and will help us now and in the future. Others, like the writers of the article called â€Å"Uncle Sam and the Watching Eye,† think that technology is beginning to invade our privacy. However, what I think is that technology is going to help the world more than is going to hurt it. I believe that one of the most astonishing technological breakthroughs in this world today is the personal computer. If everyone would just think about how much a computer helps us, we would appreciate it more. I can do so many amazing things with a computer. I can do my homework, talk to a friend at a chatline, or play the latest video game, all on a computer. Computers are becoming more smaller, faster, and better everyday. What makes a computer so great is the World Wide Web or the Internet. The Internet is so huge in this day and age. People can do almost everything on a computer. â€Å"People can make a phone call over the Internet† (Armey). The Internet allows people to shop for a new or used car and shoes, plus order a pizza online. The only thing that is wrong with the Internet is people’s privacy is jeopardized. that . Since the terrorist’s attacks on September 11, the government has wanted to shut down terrorism. They say the way of doing that is to check and put surveillance on citizens e-mail accounts. By doing that, the government can look for anything that can stop criminal and terrorist activity. â€Å"Uncle Sam and the Watching Eye,† talks about it. In the article, Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil-liberties group based in San Francisco notes that, â€Å"Internet w... Free Essays on The Pros And Cons Of Technology Free Essays on The Pros And Cons Of Technology Anthony The Pros and Cons of Technology In today’s fast paced world, technological progress, changes, and advances are happening everyday. Occasionally the technological progress, changes, and advances are both good and bad. Certain people, like Dick Armey, in â€Å"How Technology Increases Freedom† feel technology advances are great and will help us now and in the future. Others, like the writers of the article called â€Å"Uncle Sam and the Watching Eye,† think that technology is beginning to invade our privacy. However, what I think is that technology is going to help the world more than is going to hurt it. I believe that one of the most astonishing technological breakthroughs in this world today is the personal computer. If everyone would just think about how much a computer helps us, we would appreciate it more. I can do so many amazing things with a computer. I can do my homework, talk to a friend at a chatline, or play the latest video game, all on a computer. Computers are becoming more smaller, faster, and better everyday. What makes a computer so great is the World Wide Web or the Internet. The Internet is so huge in this day and age. People can do almost everything on a computer. â€Å"People can make a phone call over the Internet† (Armey). The Internet allows people to shop for a new or used car and shoes, plus order a pizza online. The only thing that is wrong with the Internet is people’s privacy is jeopardized. that . Since the terrorist’s attacks on September 11, the government has wanted to shut down terrorism. They say the way of doing that is to check and put surveillance on citizens e-mail accounts. By doing that, the government can look for anything that can stop criminal and terrorist activity. â€Å"Uncle Sam and the Watching Eye,† talks about it. In the article, Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil-liberties group based in San Francisco notes that, â€Å"Internet w...

Free sample - The Hilton Concept of Quality. translation missing

The Hilton Concept of Quality. The Hilton Concept of QualityAll   employees and franchisees   follow Brand recognition; offer affordable and agreeable hotels and are part of a multi international network of hotels of one to four stars. The network is growing every day as   Hilton Worldwide acquires hotels all over the world. The network promises a facility of reservations, brand recognition and inner controls that are called the Hilton Way . This was the motto of Conrad Hilton forming the corporation in the 1940's. His first Hilton hotel dates back to 1925 in Texas. Hilton Worldwide runs it's corporations under   Total Quality Management (TQM) as they train only their management and the management of each hotel whether it be corporate or franchised managed   to   brand recognition and to be customer focused. All processes done must be done the "Hilton way" (process thinking, proper environment). The internal running of hotels is the responsibility of the individual hotel. For the purpose of this Paper the Embassy Suites and the Beverly Hilton will be used to show how the Hilton way has not always been sufficient in quality assessment and it has been necessary to add additional controls.. Hilton Worldwide has created a complicated in house program of RevPar index, the Balanced Scorecard and Brand Equity. Millions of dollars have been spent in a data network aligning all hotels so that their financial and statistical data can be part of the Hilton Network. Each hotel pays approximately $70 000 to have the system installed. One cannot be called Hilton without adhering to the network.   Everything is measured, quantified and sent back to corporate to judge their level of service and in terms of revenues. (hiltonworlwide) RevPar index (revenue per available room) is a primary statistic used to test the financial viability of a hotel. Hilton Corporation uses the RevPar Index, brand equity and the balanced scorecard. Every hotel in their system from the 1 star to the 4 stars practices what the Brand Hilton preaches "Deliver value for Money" Revenue per available room or the % of occupancy x the average daily rate is to show the financial viability of a hotel compared to another in the same area at the same time and the same type. (strglobal) A four star Hilton Embassy Suite reserved at 90% occupancy during the Christmas season in Los Angeles compared to a four star Embassy Suite reserved at 85% occupancy at a higher rate in San Francisco will not be doing as well. "What gets measured gets managed" is part of Hilton's strategy (TQM) and tactical processes. The terminology they have developed has become to be known as the   "Balanced Scorecard" Corporate management, corporate owned and managed hotels and franchised hotels are affected. It is part of Hiltons long and short term strategy. All quality assurance is based on the data derived from performance measure data established from the type of work, the objectives achieved and the progress made. Nothing is left out. Anything which can be quantified is used for quality. The Scorecard is put into an intricate reporting data system that each hotel is required to have bought and set up in order to maintain the Hilton image. Depending on the results, each person in the organization has incentives as motivational factors. Their performance and expectations are always an important part of the system. Hilton uses the data and statistics to judge results. TQM is based on inward performance and CEM is based on outward performance. RevPar Index, Balanced Scorecard   and Brand Equity have been measured in the Hiltons across the world to judge customer satisfaction. Hilton started with Brand Equity with the use of Hilton Hotel 50 years ago. One of the earliest hotels was the Beverly Hilton. Brands with customer awareness and association with quality or consistency are effective equity brands. A customer knows in any Hilton hotel in the world, he will get the same type of service.   Now they have grown or expanded in using an additional H with   Hilton Hotel, HHonors program, Homewood Suites, Hampton. All under the umbrella of H. Measurements   of brand equity can be made but they are only approximations. Keller K.L., 1993 "Hilton's balanced scorecard   has enabled to quantify the quality of the daily growth and increased brand equity by quality control of the knowledge that one Hilton is the same from another. And in addition to share-of-market growth, non-financial measures show improvement, as well. Among company-owned and -managed hotels, current customer-satisfaction studies reveal strong increases in customers' opinions on overall satisfaction, their likelihood of recommending Hilton hotels, and their likelihood to return to a given property. The three factors comprise a measure of loyalty Hilton tracks closelyand that score recently reached its highest level ever. Hensdill (2009) The scorecard tests cleanliness and conditions. Service standards are left to the individual hotel. ("News Release", 2003) The hotels are kept to the Hilton Way because of the internal data system of check and balance and statistical controls. Whereas service has become an important part of today's industry to differentiate between hotel chains and establish customer loyalty, it is left out of the testing process of the quality assurance .(beverly) Hilton Worldwide created an additional two section of the Balance Scorecard to include quality assurance and guest satisfaction for the Embassy Suites. They have surprise visits, inspections of kitchens, and guestrooms. Guests are asked to rate different services in the hotel. Everything is still quantified and nothing is dealt with on an emotional level. ("News Release", 2003) This is an indication that they rely on Total Quality Management. Beverly Hilton is a privately owned hotel which only uses the point system of HHonors of the Hilton program. It was important to keep the name and have the brand equity of the "H" as the Beverly Hilton is one of the oldest post war hotels. As a private hotel, they are not required to adhere to TQM nor the Hilton Way. They use an external company for Quality Assurance and are   service oriented. Their managerial team uses customer experience management philosophy. Though they rely heavily on testing and auditing, they question every aspect of their operations. The voice of the customer is the priority of the hotel. The external company has their own quantitative tests of quality: research is done throughout the year in customer experience and motivation of   employees through reward and recognition, tools are established to train staff in customer service (experience); emotional audits, surveys, and surprise visits. Preparing for the yearly quality assurance audit, with LRA Worldw ide, the Beverly Hilton is able to respond quickly and on the spot of   any deficiency found. Statistical studies are done using the CEM (customer experience management).("The Beverly Hilton",2005) 1. Comparison of CEM versus   TQM by Hilton Worldwide. Statistics of the effective on revenues between two types of management - Motivation: services or needs - Fidelity: emotional or location - Emotions: necessity or pleasure Control Chart to compare the fluctuation of RevPar per franchises during the holiday season 2. Though Hilton is top of the list in customer satisfaction, more can be done to change the Henry Ford chain line feeling that everything has to be the same. With a more customer orientated managerial system, Hilton hotels will seem more homely and less industrial. 3.   Hilton keeps up to date with the various national tests. They are at the top of the list of most of its competitors: brand equity: (Equitrend study) Guest satisfaction is the highest for the past three years with the Customer Satisfaction index (ACSI)("Big Gains",June 2010) They have internal testing of the higher end hotels and statistical analysis of the whole network: balance scorecards ( The internal functioning of the hotels are up to the owners of the franchisees. As the expectations of the financial goals are high, the entrepreneurial attitude does not allow for a low level of workers' performance. Motivational compensation in financial awards is given for those who meet set goals. The whole system is based on financial success. Though guest satisfaction is the highest in the industry, it is based on American statistics. Brand recognition is becoming more and more important as globalization is without borders.