ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Like many other industries, the hospitality industry faces new challenges and opportunities today. With the technological advancements of the modern world, newly arising uncontested demand, and changing standards of operation, companies providing various services to visitors in New Zealand recognise either new issues or factors present in the industry before but currently growing to become more important issues. First of all, there are socio-cultural issues requiring companies to respect their clients’ needs related to social and cultural backgrounds and to meet expectations associated with what is normal and acceptable in different cultures. Second, there are economic issues, including external market influences and internal considerations of clients’ economic capabilities. Third, there are issues of creating comfortable and enjoyable environments for those who receive hospitality services. Then, there are sustainability issues that change the way hospitality managers approach their work, the use of resources, and the generation of waste. Finally, there are global issues that present both opportunities and challenges. To address every group of issues, general conceptual understandings were provided, then the impact of those issues on the financial and operational hospitality management was assessed, and finally, recommendations were provided to the hospitality industry players to successfully address each group of issues. Socio-Cultural, Economic, and Environment Issues In hospitality management, it is recognised that socio-cultural, economic, and environmental issues play a significant role. First of all, what is meant by socio-cultural issues is a number of considerations related to potential and existing clients’ backgrounds, such as their cultural origin and social position. In other words, these issues address the differences among people and communities in terms of what is thought to be acceptable among them and what they might expect from the hospitality industry based on the socio-cultural context in which they live (Tajeddini & Trueman, 2012). In any business, socio-cultural issues are a factor because any business works with clients and strives for meeting their needs. However, it can be said that, in the hospitality industry, socio-cultural issues are even more important than in other industries because a major goal in hospitality management is to provide comfort. When an establishment accommodates people, it becomes their temporary home, and home is the place where one’s socio-cultural aspects are most vividly displayed, manifested, and exercised. One cannot be comfortable when finding himself or herself out of the context to which he or she is accustomed. Hospitality managers m
In the article by Nicholas Bloom, economic uncertainty is described as a concept that exists on all the levels of economic events, experienced by all the players concerned, and can be caused by non-economic reasons. The author answers four questions about uncertainty by reviewing an amount of then-recent research on the topic and analyzing the behavior of the market. The first question is devoted to uncertainty itself, its features and facts. Bloom points out that the uncertainty he is discussing is, in fact, risk and uncertainty entwined, the first of which describes the predictable desired and undesired possibilities while the second presupposes complete unpredictability (154). According to Bloom, the macro uncertainty increases during recessions as a result of leverage (firms taking increased loans), risk aversion and the following increase in the options price, the diversity of forecasts and the personal uncertainty of the forecasters, as well as the tension caused by the media. Micro uncertainty behaves similarly on industry, plant, and product level all over the world even though there is a degree of vagueness as to how strong a unit (industry, for example) will be hit. Apart from that, wages and salaries also grow more uncertain during a recession. Finally, low-income, developing countries seem to experience the worst uncertainty. All these factors characterize uncertainty. The second question is concerned with the factors that cause varied levels of uncertainty, its sources. The first one that Bloom mentions is the “bad news,” negative events, including oil price shocks and terrorist attacks alike (161). According to Bloom, “good news” can also increase uncertainty, but do so with lesser frequency since they rarely cause shock and occur more gradually (162). Other causes of uncertainty, according to the research, include reduced information flow (in the times when business is “bad”), reduced confidence as a result of changes and unfamiliar situations (like recessions), hyperactive or unclear public policy (especially since change provokes experiments in politics as well) as well as the possibilities of experimenting and researching caused by the change that increase the micro uncertainty, which can spread to the macro level. As for lower-income countries, their economies are often not differentiated and depend largely on particular goods, which makes them vulnerable; the goods are typically volatile as they are (for example, oil); the “bad news” are more likely to occur in these countries. These factors explain the higher susceptibility to the uncertainty that is characteristic of developing countries. The significance of uncertainty fluctuations is discussed as the third question. In this respect, Bloom mentions the real options theory and demonstrates how uncertainty affects the choice of options and makes the actors respond less actively to the changes in the market. Bloom makes the conclusion that, at the time of uncertainty, stimuli need to be more aggressive to get a reaction, which is not likely to happen since all the actors have r
Introduction Social identity within the discipline of social psychology provides a fundamental way of defining individuals when it is necessary to do. We use this criterion to distinguish between a personal identity and an individual’s different group identities. In this regard, social psychologists have come with several models of social identity theories in their attempts to explain relations between people. This essay shall use the movie, Grand Illusion to identify and explore three bases of group categorisation and apply social identity theories in order to explain whether the characters transcend or exposed to illusion in the movie. Tajfel formulated social identity theory consisting of other sub-theories in order to explain why people identify with a given group and or behave as a part of a specific group, or adopt some shared characteristics and attitudes among them. This theory attempts to analyse both the sociological and psychological elements found in group behaviour. If we take a war scenario, we can identify the striking features of group behaviour. We can use this observation to perceive individuals and their views towards other people (Tajfel, 1978). Tajfel and other sociologists tried to analyse behaviour from a group perspective as well as individual perspective. They criticised the idea that people could only explain group behaviour from an individual’s psychology. These scholars argue that identity and behaviour take a continuous and seamless approach depending on the situation. They noted that at one end behaviour was purely interpersonal and unique to an individual (Spears, 2001). On the other hand, behaviour was purely intergroup consisting of common elements within the group. Thus, in social identity theory, every person has different sets of identities, which are both personal and social. As a result, these identities tell individuals who they are and the constituents of these identities.
Introduction Over the past 50 years, zoos have experienced changes in their modes of operation. The major change is that zoos have shifted from being entities where people go to see wild animals from different parts of the world to conservation centers for endangered species. Most zoos have dedicated their resources to enhance the survival of specific species of animals, and they have reduced the number of other animals within the protection areas (Keulartz, 2015). Zoos have also been instrumental in educating members of the society about the need to protect the endangered species. Keeping animals in zoos around the world Conservation efforts are normally faced with economic challenges such as the lack of sufficient space to house the endangered species. Many zoos have also been facing the issue of limited capacity, which entails the lack of space to increase the number of given endangered species; thus, they have to maintain a low number of the animals (Keulartz, 2015). The lack of financial resources is also one of the major issues facing some zoos across the world. Adopting the endangered species requires the zoos to have sufficient funds to meet the needs of the animals and to maintain the facilities. A species is first listed in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before it can be listed as an endangered species. The species is listed as an endangered species when its numbers decrease significantly in its natural habitat (Buse, 2014). The endangered species face a high risk of extinction; hence, the human intervention must be applied to help in breeding the species to conserve it (Reeve, 2014). The authorities also look into the status of the habitat of the species to determine the availability of resources and the presence of other factors that might endanger the existence of the species. During the 5 days observation of the rhinos, 45% of the time was spent foraging, 25% resting, 10% of social activity, and the animals stood idle for 20% of the time. This reveals that the normal day of a rhino is associated with a lot of time foraging and resting or staying idle. The animals have a rather slow social life. After viewing the webcam, it is apparent that the rhinos are not as active as I thought. They are also not as aggressive against each other as I thought. It was quite interesting to see the rhinos live in harmony with each other, and lying down in groups in the afternoons ( Rhino yard cam , 2016). Rhinos have a reputation of being highly aggressive, but the rhinos observed through the webcam seemed to be very calm throughout the week ( Are rhinoceros dangerous?, 2016). This could be influenced by the fact that there are limited sources of threat to the rhinos in the facility. Conclusion Technology has a positive influence on people’s feelings toward wildlife and conservation because it provides a clear insight into the conditions of the parks and zoos as seen in the webcam view of the rhino park. Through technology, zoos and animal parks can positively influence the society to donate toward enhancing the capacity of the facilities in the quest of enhancing the conservation of divers
A contract occurs when one party makes an offer to another party, and the other party accepts the offer for a contract to be valid, both parties must have the capacity to contract. In this case study, two binding contracts come into existence and their breach renders the parties liable (McKendrick, 2005). The first contract takes place when Chou receives $ 25,000 as a consideration for the provision of exclusive rights of negotiation within 90 days to BTT. This amounts to a contract because BTT initiates an offer so as to prevent Chou from negotiating with any other party for 90 days. The $ 25,000 offered to Chou is the monetary consideration of this contract. According to the terms of the contract, Chou cannot negotiate with any other party in the period of 90 days, and if he does this he will be liable for breach of contract. However, one term of the contract restricts future contracts between Chou and BTT. The agreement in this contract that any valid agreement between them should be in written form makes any oral negotiations invalid if they not documented (Melvin, 2011). The second contract comes into existence when Chou replies an email from one of the managers during the board meeting. The discussion in the meeting is not enough to bring a binding contract into existence unless supported by other evidence. There is no documentation of the meeting anywhere as it can cause a breach of their past contract and both of them will be liable. The email sent to Chou by the BTT manager constitutes an offer and his reply amounts to an acceptance of the offer. Chou never opposed any terms stated in the email from the manager and he agreed to all the terms in his reply. Thus, this constituted a binding contract between Chou and BTT. The facts that may weigh in favor of Chou Breach of the second contract by BTT occurs when there is a change in their management. The new management decides and later informs Chou that they are not interested in dealing with the distribution of Strat anymore. This amounts to a breach of the contract between Chou and BTT. Since, the contract is between Chou and the Company BTT and not its management, which has no right, to terminate the contract between the two parties. Thus, the termination of the contract amounts to a breach and makes BTT the liable party in this case. Chou has a right to sue BTT in a court of law for breach of contract, and he stands to be indemnified using the relevant remedies (Melvin, 2011). The facts that could weigh against Chou The case in line with the second contract can only be lost if the two emails that brought the contract into existence do not exist in either a written or printed form. The first contract imposes a condition of the second contract. As per this condition, any
Introduction In a fast-changing business environment, it has always been expected that every new supervisor is capable in:   * Understanding the management skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing environment   * Planning, organizing, communicating and monitoring   * Applying the most appropriate supervisory style to each individual and situation   * Understanding legal responsibilities   * Learning management skills to help you give constructive criticism   * Maximizing productivity by leveraging diversity and individual differences   * Learning techniques to help you cope with difficult employees   * Using delegation for effective employee development, time management and motivation   * Increasing job satisfaction and work output through coaching.   * The following will discuss best practices for new supervisors with the indicated supervisory responsibilities. Demonstrating Communication Skills New supervisors are tasked with both management and employee expectations so that a clear balance is needed in order to maintain objectives on delivery of expectations. In demonstrating communication skills, a new supervisor delineates various company goals that is not limited to customer-satisfaction, quality products or services, but also building a positive environment among workers or employees. Goal-oriented focus on the communication process is necessary to achieve this. create an effective message and how to better understand the messages being sent to you. The new supervisor must learn how to share feelings and ideas through his messages and how to use feedback. Likewise, he learns how to recognize disruptive factors and how perceptions filter understanding. The new supervisor will learn to identify the impact of beliefs and how a situation may distort messages while being aware of language and nonverbal skills (ISI, 2007). In communicating to both superiors and subordinates, the new supervisor send clear and consistent messages that use words that are familiar to the receiver, words that are specific and concrete, and to avoid jargon as well as use supportive nonverbal cues to support message. He will also take diversity into consideration, recognizing cultural factors and gender differences. In addition, he will actively seek to understand how to recognize perceptual influences, develop effective listening skills and prevent misunderstandings through clarifying questions and use of the feedback loop (ISI, 2007). Boosting employee morale has been cited by Bryars (2004) as an effective communication strategy that indicates employees want to be recognized and feel as though they are a part of something bigger. Likewise, take employee impulse by knowing where morale stands. A multifaceted approach as suggested below may be used for taking an accurate pulse of employees:   * “First, do a cross-sectional survey of all employees.   * Get that data into the hands of managers.   * Give managers the responsibility to feed it back to their employees and create an effective action plan.   * Then, measure beha
Toyota Leadership and Change Process The modern competitive environment within industries depends on the effective usage of innovative technologies and effective leadership. The dynamic and emergent changes are possible with references to the work of transformational leaders who can demonstrate the excellent ability to establish and encourage motivation and a clear vision of the company’s strategy. In 2007, Toyota started recalling 55,000 automobiles. This period can be discussed as the pre-crisis stage in the company leading to the company’s decline. To predict and overcome the development of the crisis, it is necessary to implement rational and effective procedures and strategies which are based on changing the current leadership style to the most effective one because of leadership failures. Thus, despite the necessity to cope with the crisis effectively, the company’s leaders failed in relation to realising several important steps to avoid the progress of the crisis. As a result, the leaders failed in predicting the development of the crisis, in being transparent to improve the media awareness of the problem, in engaging the company’s stakeholders in solving the problem, and in creating the effective corporate culture. It is possible to determine three main leadership styles. Autocratic leaders pay little attention to the opinions and needs of their followers. Laissez-faire leaders provide minimal involvement in the process. Transformational leaders can focus on the capabilities of their followers and guide them effectively to achieve the company’s goals. Transformational leaders focus on the employee empowerment, the further improvement of the culture and strategy, and on the employees’ training and development. Toyota requires the change of leadership and implementation of the transformational leadership style to achieve success within the industry. Change Tool of Toyota Structure The corporate structure of Toyota during the crisis period is based on the mechanistic design. The mechanistic design depends on the clear hierarchy, strict control provided by the leaders, formal and centralised structure, and on the usage of the vertical communication to exchange and share the necessary information. The mechanistic design is not effective for the company’s development. That is why it is important to concentrate on the more progressive structure based on organic design. The characteristic features of the organic design are the integration, cooperation, work in teams, usage of the flexible and adaptive practices, decentralised structure, and rather informal communication. As a result, the company’s employees become involved in the decision-making process, and the changes are implemented with references to efficient communication channels. Thus, the implementation of organic structure in Toyota leads to effective ch
Introduction Ethics in workplace is a leadership issue that has raised concerns in the recent past. An organization depends on its employees in order to achieve its desired results. In order to do this, employees must be ethical in their actions and ensure that they work as per the expectations that are stipulated by the management. According to McCarthy & Eastman (2010, p. 25), ethics refers to a standard behavior that is acceptable within a given setting. These scholars say that although ethics may be considered as being universal, there are some cases where ethics may differ. This means that what one organization considers as ethical behavior may be unethical in another organization. Besides the need to motivate employees, one of the most important issues that a manager always tries to inculcate on their employees is ethics. When employees embrace ethical behavior, they can follow instruction given without any deviation (Taborda 2011, p. 87). Through ethics, employees will stay away from such unethical practices as pilferage that affects a firm negatively. Customer service also needs ethics in order to ensure that customers are served in a satisfactory and respectful manner. There has been an argument of how best ethics can be inculcated among employees. According to Daft (2009, p. 41), ethics is not something that can be forced into an employee. It is fear that can be generated when the management decides to use punitive measures against those employees who go against the set laws. However, Bird (2007, p. 220) says that fear is not a form of ethics, because when this fear is eliminated, then such an employee would be involved in unethical behavior with impunity. Eliminating fear at workplace can be an easy task for regular employees. They only need to understand the system and channels through which their unethical behavior can be detected. Once this is clear, then they can easily avoid paths that may make them prone to being caught. As Sharma (2008, p. 55) says, ethics is something that should be in the mind of people. It should be a responsibility of the person. It is because of this that the researcher is interested in determining the influence of formal cultural systems on promotion of ethics. Discussion Arguments about Formal Cultural System According to Sirkin, Keenan and Jackson (2005, p. 67), organizational culture is gaining popularity at a very fast rate in the current corporate world. The competition in the corporate world has become very stiff, and many firms are trying to find a way of