Stock trading experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Channel Strategies and the Value Chain Assignment

Channel Strategies and the Value Chain - Assignment Example he diverse channel techniques and worth chain inside an association is fundamental in ad libbing the benefits of the procedure units with a useful or operational unit. A model is that is single information is required by various hierarchical units, the advantages which can be gotten here will include making one capacity to buy, store and appropriate that solitary unit to different specialty units inside the association. Further, this will help towards cost decrease forms inside the association making the job of the channel techniques unquestionable inside the worth chain (Osterwalder, Pigneur and Tucci, 2005). Car industry is influenced by the impacts of development going worldwide and flexibly chains. An examination into the impacts of development going worldwide uncovers that not at all like before where car businesses would amass their items in a single spot, the change towards development going worldwide has prompted move inside the car business as they currently diffuse their items, administrations, innovation and representatives across national outskirts hence diminishing their gracefully chain. When there is a decrease in the flexibly chain, it implies an extensive decrease in the dispersion methodology is acknowledged consequently car ventures profits by this as their income is expanded due to the reasonableness of their items to customers. Most car businesses in this manner acquires influence inside the channel and the worth chain by opening up their sub branches in various regions to help in chopping down the expenses related with such things like vehicle and dissemination of ite ms in this way making their item viable in the market as costs charged on these items are constantly corresponding to the expense caused in the creation procedure (McClendon and Robinson, 2013). A genuine model is that expanded utilization of car items, prompts an expansion sought after to arrange inconstancy in the gracefully chain which is being enhanced as it climbs the flexibly chain

How Open Office Plans Affect Workplace Productivity

How Open Office Plans Affect Workplace Productivity QUICK INTRODUCTIONThe idea of open office plans has been gaining its popularity in the recent years.However, some people still doubt whether the open office layout can lead to employee productivity.There are also individuals who have worked in both open office layouts and cubicles and still, they cannot decide which of the two setups is better for them.This article will discuss how open office plans affect workplace productivity and what can be done for open office plans to fully work.WHAT IS AN OPEN OFFICE PLAN?Open office plan is an office layout where all the employees and office equipment do their work from a single room.Under an open office layout, every department is usually allocated its own space and all the team members from a given department are located in the same room.Most open office layouts are partitioned by shelves or filing cabinets.The main concept and aim of an open office plan it to improve collaboration, workflow, and employee communications. Many companies see walls as barriers to employee productivity and that is the reason why they opt to use open office layouts.Open office plan ideasOnce you come up with an open office plan concept, you will have endless open office layout possibilities.You can always utilize any open office space in different ways irrespective of its size and achieve maximum productivity.Here are a few open office plan ideas:Desk groups â€" here, you can group several desks together. This setup should allow the employees to face each other but still allow them to walk around their group. Desk groups are very effective for teams and departments because it allows the teams to communicate openly and still feel that they are separated from the other teams or departments sharing the same room.Reduce open-back visibility â€" most of the open office plans are just work desks lined against walls or placed in front of the windows to allow the workers get light that is more natural. Although this is one of the best layouts of a n open office, it is good to minimize the open-back visibility. Rather than having the employees face a window or the wall, you can try to turn the desks to face into the room and that way protects the privacy of their computer screens especially when dealing with sensitive corporate data.Diverse spaces â€" when designing an open office plan, you should understand that it is not necessary for it to have the same plan in the entire office space. You can create private spaces and unique groupings to accommodate different needs. For instance, you can design booths to allow employees have private phone calls as it helps in giving the employees a break from the office monotony as well as reduce the workplace anxiety. Additionally, you can add couches in the office as it also helps in encouraging employee movement in the office, thus affecting the office ergonomics positively.HOW OPEN OFFICE PLANS AFFECT WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITYOpen office plans have their benefits as well as drawbacks.This means, implementing an open office plan can either improve or hurt workplace productivity.As a result, there have been mixed reactions from different people when it comes to the impacts of open office layouts.So, how does open office plans affect workplace productivity? POSITIVE IMPACTSEnhanced communication between employeesWhen an office does not have physical barriers, you are more likely to communicate with your fellow employees, thus improving teamwork.Enhanced teamwork, on the other hand, boosts the collaboration with your workmates and even the top management employees. Open office plans are also the best choice for freelancers who do not like working alone from their home.Open office plans allow such freelancers to rent shared workspaces/coworking space, thus giving them the opportunity to network and communicate with other freelancers. This is very beneficial to their wellbeing and it can improve their business through networking.FlexibilityOpen office plans can allow you to convert the office to different layouts on regular basis. These offices can be redesigned at any moment without large expense to the company’s budget.Open office plans can also allow you to accommodate more employees at a short notice when a big project comes along unexpectedly.As your company continues to grow, you can easily rearrange the open office layout to fit in more employees; whereas, other office layouts (like cubicle offices) would require you to expand the office space by looking for extra space to rent out, which can be very costly.Enhanced collaborationBy far, this is the greatest benefits of open office workplace plans. When you are working together with your fellow employees in the same office, then you will be likely to share your ideas and ask for input from each other.Although we now have many web-based tools that help with collaboration in our workplaces, person-to-person interaction is much better than these virtual tools.This is because we are social being s and workplace productivity can benefit from interpersonal communication.Improved relationshipsOpen office plans are very effective in building relationships between the employees, which also improves productivity amongst the employees. Cubicle offices can encourage you to work in a single-minded manner, which tends to be unproductive.Open plan offices, on the other hand, make you be more accessible and approachable. It also assists in leveling the playing field and bringing all the team members to the same level of shared information, which also improves productivity.It eliminates barriersMany companies are opting to use open offices because they want to eliminate the barrier between the supervisors and the employees. In open office plans, there are no separate offices for supervisors or managers, and this makes them be more approachable.Once the physical barriers are eliminated, even the CEO can work at the same office with the junior employees, and this makes them feel respected and valued equally.Because everyone in the office feels as the part of the same team, there is usually increased communication and innovation between the employees and the departments.Reduced costsApart from helping employees to work together and in harmony, open office plans also assist the employers in saving a considerable amount of money.When your company is not required to construct a lot of rooms and walls, it ends up saving a significant amount of money.Also, the company can easily construct extra workspaces in the open plan office in case it requires additional employees. In addition, open office plans are more economical when it comes to paying for heating, air conditioning, and electricity bills.Better employee healthA study has shown that sitting down and staring at your computer all day can cause you negative health effects.However, open office plan can be very beneficial for your health since its arrangement can encourage getting up and moving around more often.Further more, open office plans allow natural sunlight from outside and it increases airflow, thus enhancing air quality.As a result, employee alertness and focus are increased, thus improving productivity.NEGATIVE IMPACTSDistractionsOne of the greatest disadvantages of open office plans is the great levels of distraction. If you work in an open office, you will get to hear many conversations and other sounds (for example, mobile phone ringing) occurring around you, which are very distractive.In addition, working in open office plans makes you start noticing the annoying habits of your fellow employees, and this can also distract you from your work.Additionally, open office plans make you develop more innovative ways to prevent the noise from your fellow co-workers from reaching you so you remain focused and it makes you more considerate of other employees working. Privacy issuesIf you have ever worked in a cubicle office, then you will find it hard to work in an open office since it does n ot offer any privacy.Since open office plans require you to work in close quarters to someone else, you will find it hard to do some things like making private phone calls. In addition, the lack of barriers to an open office plan gives your boss the ability to monitor the employees.Even though this is very beneficial for the boss, it can have negative effects on you, especially if you tend to feel anxious when you are closely monitored.Mental health issuesSince open office plans come with increased distractions and lack of privacy, they tend to make employees feel stressed out.Actually, researchers have proved that open office plans make older employees feel discriminated. This, in turn, can cause cardiac issues, anxiety and other issues related to stressful workplaces.When such things happen, these employees quit, increasing the staff turnover rate of the company.Moreover, open office plans make the employees feel that they need to have the ‘productivity appearance.’ As a resul t, these employees start to overwork themselves and they end up being burned-out and ineffective in the end. Open-back visibility, associated with open office plans is also known to cause neurological issues like vertigo.Also, it can make you feel paranoid, especially if you are always looking over your shoulder.Physical health issuesSince open office plans do not have walls, there is a high possibility that an employee with flu or other contagious diseases can spread their viruses or bacteria to their fellow workers.If a significant part of the employees become sick, then the entire company’s productivity will be negatively affected, especially after a great number of their employees take sick leaves.Job satisfactionYes, it is true that open office plans affect employee satisfaction and morale negatively.Research has revealed that there is a direct correlation between reduced job satisfaction and open office plans. The research, which studied 21 employees who were moved to open o ffice plans revealed increased stress levels, the employees were unhappy and negative coworker relations.Six months later, the employees were still unhappy and their employee relations had not improved. HOW TO MAKE AN OPEN OFFICE PLAN WORKToday, many big companies such as Google, eBay, Yahoo and even Facebook have adopted the open office plans.This is because they believe that open office layouts provide more opportunities for employee collaboration, eliminate many phone calls and emails, boost employee relationships and improve transparency.In addition, some companies are switching to open office plans because of cost-saving benefits as well as they tend to attract millennials.However, there are certain things that you should do if you want your open office plan to result in increased productivity and employee satisfaction. These things include:Giving the office workers a choiceThe 2016 UK Workplace survey revealed that “…there is a correlation between workers who rate their or ganization highly on innovation and being able to have flexibility and choice in where to work at different times throughout the day”.The findings from surveying 1100 UK workers, pointed out if staff choose to work in the same shared workspace, they are happier than if they do not have that choice (4.1/5 compared to 3.7/5).This suggests that any fear the management might have of their staff members disappearing to work unobserved in a private location if such space was offered is not backed-up in reality, but also that the employer, if possible, should ask the employees what kind of space they prefer to work in.Optimizing the open office plan for positive workplace productivityOften, there are empty workstations because the employees are spending more time in meetings, or the employees are using most of their time moving from one workstation to another or employees installing desk lamps in their workstations. All of this is an indication of poorly designed office.When designing an open office plan and especially when buying the office furniture, you should always pay attention to both the available space and the desired productivity.You need to address the above-mentioned issues if you want the employees to be productive.So, the question remains â€" how can you optimize an open office layout?Try these few pieces of advice:Do your research â€" conducting research is one of the best ways to determine how your current office layout affects employee productivity. You can monitor your employees for a number of days, monitor how specific areas of the office are being used and even ask the employees to monitor their personal movements. Indications for poor open office layout can include things like employees meeting in the cafeteria because there is no space in the office to meet.Go for efficiency â€" the best way to track the movement of your employees is to determine how much they walk from one place to another within the open office. It is good to keep the emplo yees who work together or the same departments in the same place in an open office in order to boost collaboration. In addition, office equipment like the printer and fax machine should be located conveniently to allow easy accessibility for anyone who uses them.Allow natural light â€" natural light boosts employees’ morale, mood, productivity, and creativity. Therefore, it is essential, to ensure that every employee has access to natural light in the office. Gone are the days when it was believed that only the top executives should have an office with natural lighting. Design the office in a manner that will allow all your employees to access natural light and you will be surprised by the returns.Optimize acoustics â€" the biggest challenge in an open office layout is the increased noise levels. It is good to understand that noise can be a distraction to your employees and it can affect their productivity. Therefore, it is a good idea to ensure that you keep the noisier departmen ts together and separate these departments from the quieter ones (for example, marketing from accounting department). Also, ensure that the office has sound barriers surrounding noisy office equipment. Lastly, you can install carpets, ceiling tiles, and panel systems as they help in absorbing noise.Be mindful of wiring â€" sometimes the cords and wires coming out of the landline phones and computers in the workstations can make the office to look messy and untidy. In addition, these cords can be dangerous to the employees, particularly if they crisscross the walk areas anyhow. Therefore, it is a good idea to design the office in a manner which all the wiring is centrally located to avoid making the office look untidy and posing danger to the employees.Create cluster pods â€" these are also known as cluster workstations or circular core stations and they allow an organization to maximize its floor space and still give its employees a larger work surface and the privacy they desire. T his is usually a win-win for the company. When designing an open office layout, you should understand that there are various workstation design options that can allow you to use the space you have efficiently.Look after ergonomics â€" this is not only about preventing the employees from suffering from backaches or the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. You should ensure that the office has furniture that supports ergonomics as it helps in improving the employees’ mood and health, thus leading to positive productivity.Make space for human natureBy nature, humans are territorial. Everyone believes they need their own space, from ‘my space’ in the cafeteria to personal bubbles.At some point in time, you will need some space that feels like it has and it will give you some level of autonomy and control. While trends come and go, research has revealed that everyone needs personal space at their workplace.A recent report released by the State of the American Workplace revealed that employees a re likely to be more engaged and productive so long as they have a personal workspace.Therefore, employees can feel somehow demotivated if they lack their own personal workspace in the organization and this needs to be addressed. In addition, employees tend to get defensive when told to move from a cubicle office to an open office.Because of this, managers will be required to compromise if they want a successful office transition.There are two lessons that leaders can learn from here:Every employee should have his or her home base, even in the case of open office plans. This can be something like a personal table, chair, shelf or even a locker.You should expect to face negative reactions at the moment when you tell your employees that they must move into an open office. However, good communication and clarity of the reasons for this decision can assist in reducing or eliminating their negative reactions.Use physical space and cultural norms to create flexibilityInterestingly, compan y culture plays a very big role in determining the acceptable and unacceptable methods of working. Many offices have nonverbal signs that demand personal space. In private offices â€" it means closing the door, and in open-plan offices, it means putting on earphones.Once you move your employees into an open office plan, are they able to move to various places that signify that they need their own personal time?Does the office support personal phone calls or even allow private conversations with other employees? Lastly, does every employee understands and accepts these non-written rules and expectations?Every employee knows that it is hard for an employer to satisfy fully his or her needs every time and to predict how the business’ workflow might change in the days ahead.Every job has its work requirements, and every job requires workers who possess unique talents. If this is taken seriously, then we cannot have a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution in our workplaces.However, it is im portant for employers to provide different types of workspaces, ranging from booths, big group tables, comfortable chairs, both small and large meeting rooms, and even soundproof areas.All these should be provided in order to allow the employees have the freedom to choose where they can work best.According to research, employees who are allowed to move to various parts at their workplace are known to be more productive compared to employees who work from a single workstation.You should focus on the following three things if you want to create flexibility in the workplace:Be considerate how your employees convey the ‘Do Not Disturb’ signal nonverbally.Allow your employees to have different workspaces and give them the freedom to adapt throughout the entire workday.Give your employees an option to work remotely, as well as flextime options as long as the requirements of their roles allow them to do so.Redefine productivityThis is the most critical part when you want to make open o ffice plan to work. It all boils down to collaboration vs. productivity.Those who oppose open office plans have published different articles proving that open office plans have negative effects as they affect privacy and concentration. Therefore, they claim that these offices affect employees’ productivity.However, open office plans are known to promote employee collaborations. Brainstorming and idea-creation sessions can make employees start thinking in new ways.Some people claim that collaboration is not productive when perceived from a traditional office setup. This means that we might be forced to discover new ways to prove how collaborative environments bring business value.The following are some things that assist you to redefine productivity:Engage your employees in conversations about how the company understands the idea of collaboration improving productivity in the workplace.Have more coaching conversations with employees who report to different supervisors to assist the m in resolving their unclear expectations and priorities. TO SUM IT UPIf open office plans are done right, they give your employees the freedom to choose how they want to work.Also, it helps in creating a work environment where employees can develop organic brainstorming.Open office plans can lead to positive productivity when managers put into consideration the organization’s culture, the needs of the employees, and the nature of work done by your employees.

Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy - 1318 Words

Jordan Kriegel Basic Philosophical Questions November 2, 2017 Cogito Ergo Sum Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy and his questioning of our existence in reality is a question which philosophers have tackled throughout time. Cogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am, a phrase brought about by Descartes is the backbone of his whole philosophy of our existence in reality. As long as we are thinking things, we exist. When we look at this approach to our existence we must first deny that any sensory data that we receive is believable or it is conceivable that it is false. This means that we can’t really know that anything we perceive through our senses is actually an accurate interpretation of reality. After we’ve established that our†¦show more content†¦Everything else, which he has learned throughout his entire life and believed in, is to be thrown out because it is not known clearly and distinctly. Descartes method and theory on knowledge was well planned and carefully thought out. It is evident that he spent a great deal of time d etermining the principles that he would use as determinants for judging whether a specific idea was justified and true. Descartes has an apparent determination to prove his theory on his individual existence in the world and the existence of God to backup and prove himself and his theories. At the beginning of meditation two, Descartes is stuck in the middle of nothingness. He has nothing, nothing to believe in and everything around him he regards as false. This is because he cannot believe what he has learned and he is also unable to trust his senses due to the fact that they deceive him. He feels like he is drowning in a whirlpool and cannot reach the top and get out nor can he put his feet on the bottom and stand. Everything in the world at this point he has called into doubt, including himself. Everything that he has ever seen, learned or thought is now external from what he deems to be true. In the beginning of the third meditation, Descartes proclaims that he is certain he is a thinking thing based on his clear and distinct perception, and he couldn’t be certain unless all clear and distinct perceptions are true. Before diving into the existence of God, Descartes introducesShow MoreRelatedDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy807 Words   |  4 PagesConner Ruhl Professor Copley Philosophy 1000C 4 May 2015 Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes was the first great philosopher of the modern era, He had a new approach which was focused on scientific and mathematical truths. Descartes came to reject the scholastic tradition, one of which he was educated, due to his pursuit of mathematical and scientific truth. Much of Descartes work was done to secure advancement of human knowledge through the use of the natural sciencesRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1079 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes argues for the ideas and philosophical beliefs behind skepticism. In his writings, he describes the fallibility and importance of the body of man and through extension the senses with which we observe the world. This paper will first show that within Descartes’ writings the body is an extension of the mind. Secondly, this paper will prove that the senses are a false form of understanding which leads to the deception of the mind. FinallyR ead MoreDescartes Meditations Of First Philosophy857 Words   |  4 PagesChristopher Joao Philosophy- 201 Mr. Jurkiewicz 4 March 2016 Descartes’ - Meditation #2 Rene Descartes was a French philosopher born in 1596. He is considered by many the father of modern philosophy and continues to have tremendous influence in the philosophical world to this day. The book, Meditations of First Philosophy, consist of six meditations and describes one meditation per day for six days. In meditation two, he claims that we have better knowledge of our own minds than of the physicalRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1264 Words   |  6 PagesDescartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy is a first-person record of Descartes’ descent into the bowels of disbelief, in order to eradicate all flawed belief from his life. In his first meditation, Descartes explains his argument for universal doubt, which leads him to doubt every truth he has ever established. Even the veracity of his sense perception is doubtful, as he renders those perceptions useless by arguing that in dreams, sense perceptions create the wildest of fantasies that can not beRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1712 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) contains six Meditations. In the first two of these Descartes addresses doubt and certainty. By the end of the second Meditation Descartes establishes the possibility of certainty by concluding that he is a â€Å"thinking thing† and that this is beyond doubt. Having established the possibility of certainty, Descartes attempts to prove the existence of God. The argument he presents in the Third Meditation for the existence of God has been nicknamed theRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1536 Words   |  7 Pagesdid I formerly think I was? A man, of course. But what is a man?† (Descartes 340). This question that Descartes addresses in Meditations on First Philosophy is important because it outlines his core philosophical view in his work. His philosophy primarily focuses on dualism, which is the concept that there is another world that exists with ideal forms and is separate from the world of perception. The part of dualism that Descartes focuses his work on is the distinction between the soul and the bodyRead MoreDescartes Meditation On First Philosophy943 Words   |  4 Pages In the third meditation of Descartes Meditation on First Philosophy, Descartes argues that his idea of God must have come from God himself. One can also wonder whether that very own argument could also apply when Descartes has an idea of the Evil Demon. In this paper, I will argue that Descartes would not think that his having an idea of the Evil Demon proves that the Evil Demon exists. In his paper, Descartes was trying to find the source of his idea of God in order to prove that GodRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1080 Words   |  5 PagesRene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, God is not mentioned until the third meditation. Descartes point of view on God simply claims his existence through the act of being. According to his claim, God must, essentially, exist as well as being an outcome of His own creation. Descartes was greatly interested in the idea that God’s being promoted an external force that controlled all beings that supported his presence. Descartes declarations, presented in his Meditations on First PhilosophyRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1961 Words   |  8 PagesIn Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, I will be considering if Descartes resolution to the â€Å"dreaming argument† seems acceptable to trust. The First Meditation is where the â€Å"dreaming argument † is first mentioned and then gets resolved later in the Sixth Meditation and the Objections and Replies. I will be touching on the idea that our experiences could be dreaming experiences based on personal experiences and thoughts I have had regarding this topic. Then I will go on to explain how it isRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy922 Words   |  4 PagesIn Rene Descartes’ excerpt, Meditations on First Philosophy, he proclaims, â€Å"It is beyond question that I shall reach the truth if I think hard enough about the things that I perfectly understand, keeping them separate from all the other matters in which my thoughts are more confused and obscure† ( §104). When Descartes made this statement in his fourth meditation, what was he conjecturing by the term â€Å"perfect?† According to the standard interpretation, perfect encompasses all required or desirable

America Land of Opportunity or Land of the Wealthy Essay...

This disillusionment sentiment experienced by American society towards its wealth biased government is substantiated as many members are wealthy or has direct ties to wealth, perpetuating the trend of income inequality through policymaking. The legislative branch of the government, or the branch that is directly involved in policymaking and lawmaking is populated by various members of massive wealth that represents many sectors of the economy that had a hand in the financial collapse of 2007 and 2008. As a whole, the members of Congress are undeniably more wealthy than the constituents that they represent in the government. In 2012, the â€Å"median wage† for a member of the Senate was around $2.7 million dollars and the average wealth for a†¦show more content†¦Moreover, numerous members of Congress also invest in stocks and individual companies, investing in private sectors such as Finance, Business, and Energy. The amount of money invested the financial sector of t he economy, which was widely blamed for approving subprime mortgages that ultimately led to the financial collapse, was estimated to be between $630 million and $1.974 billion dollars in 2012. A substantial section of this capital was invested in sectors with direct ties to the financial collapse as well as the growing income inequality such as real estate, with an amount estimated to be between $450 million to $1.443 billion, and securities and investments at around $85 million to $260 million (â€Å"Top Industries†). This amount of money overshadows the next two sectors, Business and Energy with a value between $395 million and $164 million respectively (â€Å"Top Sectors†). This mutualistic relationship between the wealthy Congress and corporations was observed in a study conducted at Princeton University and Northwestern University, where â€Å"1,779 policy issues from 1981 to 2002† were analyzed and â€Å"compared to the changes of the preferences of media n-income Americans, the top-earning 10 percent, and organized interest groups and industries.† The conclusion drawnShow MoreRelatedAmerica: Land of Opportunity or Land of the Wealthy in Occupy Wall Street788 Words   |  4 Pagesdiversity in America, the social aspect, and while social diversity is an integral component to the foundation of American society today, the issues of income and wealth diversity is also paramount. Income inequality and its implications can be traced to the beginnings of the country and will follow the country to its end. In the era following the War of 1812, the economic conditions of early United States were similar to the fiscal circumstances that Occupy Wall Street was protesting; wealthy aristocratsRead MoreJacksonian Dbq Essays1637 Words   |  7 PagesJacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. However, the Jacksonian Democrats were in a catch 22. In order for them to protect the interests of the common man, they at times had to violate the very things for which they stood. By doing this, the Jacksonian Democrats stressed the importance of the power of the common man, at times by violating their own principles. TheRead MoreThe Colonial Elite : The Most Powerful Citizens Of The Colonies879 Words   |  4 Pages The Colonial Elite were known to be the most powerful citizens of the colonies. Although, they weren’t as rich or powerful as the English aristocrats, they still enjoyed a wealthy lifestyle. Most of the colony’s elite included the rulers of proprietary colonies much like Pennsylvania and Maryland. Elites who were in connection with imperial centers pretty much controlled the political and economic life of every colony. The wealthier of the colonists had so much wealth that they re able to buildRead More The Decline of Education: Social and Economic Inequality Essay1193 Words   |  5 Pages titled â€Å"The Fable of the Lazy Teenager† by Ben Stein. It is about the decline of America through the degradation of the American educational system. If the educational system fails, than we will become no better than our ancestors in that we will have no education, and therefore people would be back to the starting block positions of hard manual labor. However, according to James Loewen’s â€Å"The Land of Opportunity,† even the educational system is slipping, stating that when he asked questions likeRead MoreThe Effects of Christopher Columbus Essay794 Words   |  4 Pageshomeland. Columbuss discovery of the new world sparked colonization of the Americas. There was an ample amount of vast, arable land thus creating economic opportunity for the wealthy and the common-man. The people longing for this opportunity intruded on the Native Americans land and completely changed their way of life. When Christopher Columbus discovered the new world, it caused the two different worlds (The Americas and Europe, Asia, Africa) to collide hence creating the Colombian ExchangeRead MoreThe American Dream1612 Words   |  7 Pages for a belief is to have trust and full faith on something or even an idea and in the end, it becomes true. An idea, however, is a thought or even a suggestion to do something, but one does not have to anything. In Langston Hughes poem, Let America Be America Again, the idea or belief of the American Dream appears to be tested, especially during Hughes time period. Although the American Dream will always be around, that does not mean there will not be times of disbelief, a power race or even grabRead MoreLet America Be America Again Poem Analysis792 Words   |  4 Pagesor Nightmare? In â€Å"Let America Be America Again,† Langston Hughes addresses the reality of inequality and discriminative behaviors of the American people in the pre-Civil War era. Many Americans during this time felt the American Dream was just an illusion because they can never get the opportunity to make it their reality. In this poem, Hughes voices these silent Americans’ concern of how the founding principles of America are not being fulfilled unless a person is wealthy or powerful. He showsRead MoreAll Men Are Created Equal1014 Words   |  5 Pageswhen dealing with equality in America. A feature through the different selections in American Dreams is equality because America is a place where everyone has the same opportunity to achieve anything. Equality and opportunity given to people has evolved since the founding fathers, but there’s been stages in America’s history where equality is only given to specific people, not everyone. Equality and opportunity are elements in involved in the song, â€Å"This Land is Your Land,† by Woody Guthrie. EveryoneRead MoreThe Puritans And William Penn On Their Groups1131 Words   |  5 PagesPennsylvania wasn’t established, it was voluntary to come to services and he condemned the right to worship as they desired. The puritans wanted a land based on only their belief. they held certain requirements while the Quakers welcomed everyone. The Puritans churches were unknown and religious services. for them was mandatory. ( Foner pg. 100-101, 2014 ) North America had many events that led to slavery. When Pennsylvania opened this led to an immediate decline in the number of indentured servants who wantRead MoreThroughout the centuries, social class and mobility has always been a big concern for Americans.1100 Words   |  5 Pageswith a lot of social mobility and equal opportunities. However, that is ironically not true. According to a graph from a 2005 New York Times series on income mobility, the United States is ranked second to last when it comes to the rate of income improvement or poor families in the last four generations. Professor Kathryn Wilson, associate professor of economics at Kent State University states that: â€Å"people like to think of America has the land of opportunities. The irony is that our country actually

Environmental Laws of Bangladesh Free Essays

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0959-6119. We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental Laws of Bangladesh or any similar topic only for you Order Now htm IJCHM 18,4 Hotels’ environmental management systems (ISO 14001): creative ? nancing strategy Wilco W. Chan and Kenny Ho School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong Abstract Purpose – Environmental concerns have been increasing in the travel industry. However, most hotels are unwilling to develop an international environmental management system (EMS) probably due to a lack of resources and knowledge. In order to encourage more organizations to take part in the EMS, three cases adopting international EMS are investigated to ascertain the ways to support the formation of EMS. Based on their experience, hoteliers are encouraged to team up with green members to apply for research funding for the investigation and implementation of EMS. Also, â€Å"energy performance contracting† methods to ? nance environmental improvement projects in hotels were also discussed. Design/methodology/approach – A single case study approach was adopted to illustrate the differences in the resources mobilization for setting EMS in these three hotels. A search of documentary evidence and interviews with hotel staff was the main instrument for data collection. Findings – The Shangri-la Hotel used its own resources to set up its EMS and strategically used its developed template for other hotels in the group to follow. The other two hotels, Nikko and Grandstanford, adopted a creative and â€Å"non-balance sheet† approach to mobilize resources for the formation of EMS. Both hotels have recourse to external resources including a university’s engineering department, hotel management school, green bodies, government funds and trade associations to develop and implement the EMS. The study further identi? ed energy performance contracting as another promising ? nancing tool for the implementation of the energy-related part of the EMS. Research limitations/implications – The representative and general nature of the ? ndings are limited to large hotels in metropolitan areas, as the three case hotels are located in the metropolis of Hong Kong. Practical implications – The ? ndings provide informative details on how to secure external resources to set up internationally recognized environmental management systems and the safe way for hotel operators to trial use energy-saving facilities. Originality/value – This study provides indications and details on some creative ? nancing techniques for setting up EMS in hotels. These ? nancial strategies are the ? rst of their kind in print and can serve as a useful reference for hotels to develop international EMS. Keywords Environmental management, Hotels, Financing Paper type Case study 302 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol. 18 No. 4, 2006 pp. 302-316 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0959-6119 DOI 10. 1108/09596110610665311 Introduction Many efforts on environmental protection work in hotels in the 1990s were a continuation of some long-standing environmental concerns such as energy Support for the author from Mr Tamiyasu Okawa and Mr Jean-Marie Leclercq, the present general manager and ex-general manager of The Hotel Nikko Hongkong is gratefully acknowledged. The author would also like to thank The Hong Kong Hotel Association for the help in providing valuable information. onservation, sewage discharge, air and noise pollution that occurred over the past few decades (Stipanuk, 1996). Coupled with this development have been the growing concerns for a â€Å"green† hotel in the eyes of customers. A study indicated that 75 percent of interviewed customers claimed that they were environmentally-minded consumers and would choose hotels which showed concern for the environment (Feiertag, 1994). Also, Cook et al. (1992) pointed out that business in the travel industry was required to adapt to new environmental realities and to implement environmental policies and strategies. In 1995, a comprehensive environmental action checklist and action development guide for small and medium-sized hotels was jointly published by international hotel and environmental associations (International Hotel and Restaurant Association, 1995). This publication provided hotels with more detailed information to launch environmental management systems (EMS). Under these circumstances, EMS, as across the world, has recently become more recognized in the hotel industry. Almost all hotels have implemented their in-house EMS with varying degrees of intensity. Kirk’s survey found that the most signi? cant bene? t of environmental management was the improvement in public image and better relationships with the local community (Kirk, 1995). However, many hoteliers with written environmental policies saw the greatest bene? t in ? nancial management performance. Thus, to implement the EMS, the ? rst step is to have a clear environmental policy, objectives, targets and good planning. To further enhance effectiveness, hoteliers should always monitor and review the system after the implementation. However, due to resource limitations, many hotels’ environmental efforts pause after they have taken some environmental actions such as implementation of water saving campaign, installation of energy-ef? cient lighting, reuse of waste paper and other initiatives. Recent ISO 14000 series provides an effective guideline on the content of EMS, auditing, environmental performance evaluation and so on, as shown in the appendix. Among them, ISO 14001 documents all essential elements in the EMS as shown in Table I. Most importantly, a successful EMS requires a lot of resources, including manpower, cost and time for planning (Sayre, 1996). The costs arising from the implementation of ISO 14001 include those associated with initial set-up, maintenance and improvement (Chin et al. , 1998). The cost of initial set-up refers to all costs associated with the provision of hardware and software facilities, plus tools for establishing the system in compliance with the ISO 14000 EMS standards. Speci? cally this category of cost involves the purchase of monitoring and measuring equipment, documentation processing and storage equipment/accessories, hiring specialist environmental assistance, initial staff training, computer software as well as staff recruitment. Added to the cost pool is the ? nancing of maintenance and improvements. This category of expenditure refers to the costs of maintaining and continually improving the EMS in the company so that optimum environmental performance can be achieved with the changing environmental conditions and requirements. It also includes the costs associated with ongoing staff training, environment equipment replacement and upgrading, periodic environmental auditing and third-party certi? cation and so forth. Environmental management systems 303 IJCHM 18,4 1. 2. 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 3. 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3. 4 3. 5 3. 6 3. 7 4. 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 5. Environmental policy Planning Environmental aspects Legal and other requirements Objectives and targets Environmental management program(s) Implementation and operation Structure and responsibility Training, awareness and competence Communication Environmental management system documentation Document control Operational control Emergency preparedness and response Checking and corrective action Monitoring and measurement Non-conformance and corrective and preventive action Records Environmental management system audit Management review 04 Table I. ISO 14001 environmental management system elements Source: Fredericks and McCallum (1998) In addition, EMS certi? cation costs at least HK$100,000 (about US$13,000) should also be budgeted (Anon, 1996). The cost is paid to the certifying body, which would examine whether the hotel has ful? lled all the necessary conditions of international EMS standard ISO 14001. However, most organizations lack the knowledge, experience and expertise required to develop an EMS and many are unable or unwilling to commit the required staff and ? ancial resources to undertake this development (Chapman, 1997). Earlier studies also found that lodging customers in the US are not willing to pay extra to support environmental policies (Watkins, 1994; Jaffe, 1993). However, some hotels launched pilot schemes to encourage guests to contribute to local environmental schemes (Green, 1995). Though new international EMS standard ISO 14001 certi? cates in Hong Kong have recently been obtained by several hotels, the progress on industry-wide adoption is still slow. The phenomenon is not just con? ned to Hong Kong. Pryce (2001) highlighted, according to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ report, that only 40 percent of large hotel groups surveyed in Europe had a formal EMS and only one was externally veri? ed. Pryce (2001) further quoted the results of a survey of small and medium-sized hotels in three UK countries and pointed out that none of these hotels had implemented a formal EMS. Thus, it is valuable to understand how environmental pioneers in the hotel sector, Shangri-la, Nikko and Grandstanford set up their EMS under resource constraints. Especially after the Asian ? ancial crisis, 9/11 event and SARS, the resources available to the hotel sector appear to be less than before. Therefore, the principal objective of the study is to identify and analyze the ways that these hotels mobilize resources to establish EMS up to ISO 14001, especially any creative and non-conventional ? nancing (that is neither debt or equity issues, nor borrowing or requesting funds from the hotel owners). Methodolo gy The approach adopted in the study is close to action research, using case studies that aim to explore the rich background of the cases. As the purpose of this study is to explore the variations in environmental management systems and its associated ? nancing measures, the study adopted a non-traditional case selection criterion. Decisions are based on which case studies provide the most fruitful data for the research question (Doyle, 2003) or provide the most â€Å"opportunity to learn† (Stake, 2000). In addition, the investigating topic is new and falls into the â€Å"timing in the early stages of the ? eld†, studies of individual cases are particularly suitable (Eisenstadt, 1991). These single cases have been used to offer vivid, powerful and penetrative descriptions of events, relationships, and ways of working that are not captured by existing theories (Cunningham, 1997; Crane, 1998; Dyer and Wilkins, 1991). To analyze these cases strategically, a descriptive framework consisting of search of documentary evidence and interviews with hotel staff of the hotels studied was developed to organize case studies. The documentation encompasses hotel EMS manual, university’s published reports, fund application documents, periodicals, and hotel reports. The total number of interviewees is 14 including one owner representative, two general managers, one resident manager, three chief engineers, four green managers or quality assurance managers and three departmental head’s assistants. Shangri-la case The island Shangri-la hotel is a ? ve-star hotel located at the top of a large shopping complex near Central Hong Kong, and with 565 rooms and seven catering outlets. In September 1996, it started the process of developing an EMS and soon became the ? rst hotel in Asia to obtain ISO 14001 certi? ation. Its prompt development of EMS up to international standards is based on its existing â€Å"best practice† in each department. The EMS brings signi? cant bene? ts – reputation and competitive edge – to the hotel and these bene? ts have always outweighed the cost (Tsai et al. , 2003). In general, the funding sources of most large business are mainly derived from equity and debt issues. For Shangri-la’s envir onment management system, it most likely came from internal resources of the group (Tan, 2004). A further investigation of the group’s annual reports indicate that, apart from funds originating from regular income, the group issued convertible bonds with the total principal amount of US$258 million with interest at the rate of 2. 875 percent per annum. This implies that ? nancing for environmental works should not just be limited to equity ? nancing, reserve and income fund. Funds available from debt ? nancing can also be considered as an alternative. The successful ISO 14001 certi? cation in Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-la hotel provides a model for the groups’ other hotels to set up environmental management systems and its certi? ation. An environmental management manual was also developed to address the immediate and long-term environmental impact of hotel Environmental management systems 305 IJCHM 18,4 306 operations. In addition, an environmental consultant was hired to inspect hotels to ensure not merely that the EMS is being maintained but that continu al environmental improvement is achieved by setting new environmental goals (Shangri-la Hotels Group, 2005). Therefore, Shangri-la’s certi? cation in Hong Kong can be regard as a pilot practice and reusable resource for further development of EMS in the group’s other hotels that do not have a proper EMS. Nikko’s case Hotel Nikko Hongkong (Nikko) is a member of Nikko Hotels International, with headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. The hotel continues the tradition of Japanese hospitality, which is renowned throughout the world. Opened in April 1988, Hotel Nikko Hongkong is a ? ve-star deluxe hotel in Hong Kong, with 462 rooms. The hotel is located at Tsim Sha Tsui East overlooking Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Environmental protection has always been at the heart of the philosophy of Nikko. Even as early as 1992, the hotel was pushing for environmental improvements by implementing energy and water conservation practices throughout the hotel. As soon as the green practices on water and energy were on track, the hotel started looking for ways to minimize waste production (Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1999). Over the past years, the management and staff of Nikko have continued through different stages of improvement on the environment. Nikko is the leader in implementing EMS in the Hong Kong hotel industry. The environmental management system (based on the ISO 14001 standard) of Nikko was set up in April 1999 (Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1999). However, before Nikko’s completion of EMS implementation, Nikko did face many dif? culties and had spent tremendous efforts on environmental protection. Among these, resources and ? nancial support are the main concerns in launching an EMS campaign. Operating budgets may not allow hoteliers the extravagance of calling in expert consultants to set up the environmental system. While operating budgets were tight, Nikko from 1992 sought help from community bodies such as academic institutions and government departments (Department of Building Services Engineering and Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1996). Partnership with community bodies Over the past years, Nikko developed a cohesive partnership with outside bodies in implementing its EMS. The collaborating partners of Nikko are categorized as four types. These include educational establishments, green bodies, government’s departments as well as the industry council. Collaboration with community bodies is one way to reduce costs of research and enables hotels to acquire funds for ongoing environmental work. Figure 1 shows the relationship between Nikko and its partners, plus the contribution of these partners in supporting Nikko’s environmental endeavors. Nikko has gained support and recognition from partners such as the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA), government’s Industry Department (ID), Friends of the Earth and other environmentally-friendly enterprises. With the help of those partners, Nikko has successfully solved resource-oriented problems in launching the hotel’s environmental activities and eventually obtained the ISO 14001 certi? cate. Environmental management systems 307 Figure 1. Relationship in partnership of Hotel Nikko Hongkong Educational establishments The major educational partner of Nikko is the Department of Building Services Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Table II shows various projects or publications conducted by the educational department in improving many aspects of Nikko’s EMS. As can be seen from Table II, most of the student-assisted research focused on evaluating the performance of environmental improvement that required a signi? cant resource. The ex-GM said that collaboration with universities was a program of mutual bene? ts. On the side of universities, students might have on-site working opportunity provided by Nikko whilst professors might use Nikko as a test case. For Nikko, the hotelier might save a huge amount of research costs, as most of the research work is unpaid. Besides, the University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s (HKUST) Institute for Environmental Studies also lend their effort in supporting the hotel’s environmental pursuits. The former assisted in the compilation of the energy and water conservation guide and the IJCHM 18,4 Student research project 1998-2000 308 Publications 1996 and 1998 Table II. Joint projects collaborated by Nikko and the Department of Building Services Engineering of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University 1. Indoor air quality study 2. Review of building labeling scheme – checking compliance with energy ef? ciency codes 3. Parameter setting for boiler and chiller data log – calibration of equipment 4. Air ? ow balance and distribution in hotel food and beverage outlets 5. Indoor air quality survey 6. Opportunities for energy ef? cient lighting retro? t 7. Study of power factor and distribution losses 1. Keeping Hong Kong’s Hotel Industry Competitive into the Twenty-? rst Century – Environmental Management Systems for Hotels. With overall objective helping the Hong Kong hotel industry to be more competitive and pro? able and, at the same time, reduce adverse environmental impacts 2. A Guide to Energy and Water Conservation in Hotels. Aimed to contribute to reduce energy and water consumption in all hotels, contributing to their pro? tability whilst helping to protect the environment for future generations. Based on a number of energy and water conservation projects carried out in hotel bu ildings in Hong Kong, but particularly the extensive range of projects at Hotel Nikko Hongkong Source: Hotel Nikko Hongkong (1999) latter was involved in bidding for a HK$1 million fund (around US$130,000) for developing an EMS template for hotels. As such, the hotel’s environmental performance and operating ef? ciency would increase. This partnership creates a win-win situation. Environmental-supporting parties Nikko has set up a cohesive partnership with parties endorsing environment conservation. Friends of the Earth Association supports Nikko’s efforts in saving energy and improving environmental performance. The parties provided Nikko with the latest environmental information related to the hotel industry and shared their professional ideas or recommendations with Nikko. In this way, Nikko saved costs in information collection and expert consultancy. Furthermore, the environmental-supporting groups usually give recognition to environmental-friendly businesses, including Nikko, with outstanding performance. The award is not merely a simple recognition of effort in environment conservation, but also adds to their reputation and can become a strong stimulus to push environmental conscious visitors choosing Nikko. Government departments In 1997, Nikko received the Energy Ef? cient Building Award 1997 from the Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau. In 1998, Nikko further joined with other partners and successfully obtained HK$1 million from the Industry Support Fund of the Industry Department for a project entitled â€Å"Keeping Hong Kong’s hotel industry competitive into the twenty-? rst century – environmental management systems for hotels†. The project aimed to develop an EMS template for the local hotel sector. Apart from awards and funds, cohesive linkage with governments and bureaus also enable Nikko to have up-to-date environment-related legislation data more easily, and express its ideas more directly to government of? cials. Industry councils Hotel Nikko plays an active role in sharing experiences and participating in projects proposed by the local hotel association, the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA). In return, Nikko receives relevant environmental information from other member hotels of the association. The association also assisted Nikko by assigning its Environmental Committee to take up an advisory role in the above-mentioned EMS template development. In addition, the association also helped in translating the Guide to Energy and Water Conservation in Hotels developed by Nikko into Chinese by introducing Zhengzhou Holiday Inn and Zhengzhou Crowne Plaza to aid the translation. Nikko’s endeavor and effort was further recognized by international industry councils. In 1995, the International Hotels and Restaurants Association granted Nikko the award â€Å"Corporate Green Hotelier of the Year 1995†. The award further identi? es Nikko as a successful leader in the global green hotel movement. Inter-continental Grand Stanford Grand Stanford is a waterfront ? ve-star hotel located in Tsim Sha Tsui East. It has 579 rooms and four food and beverage outlets. The hotel was managed by Holiday Inn in the 1980s and by the owner’s management company in the 1990s. The resources available to the development of ISO 14001 EMS in Inter-continental Grand Stanford mainly include Nikko’s experience, the government funded scheme of hotel environmental system, and university’s assistance (Chan, 2005). Thanks to Nikko generous sharing of ISO 14001 certi? cation experience and the data required for setting up an EMS, Grand Stanford’s senior management embarked on the development of EMS under ISO 14001 version in the early 2000s. Besides Nikko’s experience, Grand Stanford also bene? ts substantially from the government funded scheme bout the environmental assessment of the hotel buildings. The scheme includes the development of a number of environmental assessment manuals for different phases of hotels – project, new building and existing building. In addition, Grand Stanford also acted like Nikko in the past by co-operating with nearby university to conduct a number of measurements for environmental performance indicato rs. Apart from these external resources, Grand Stanford also progressively employed internal funds to install energy-saving facilities including heat pumps for the hot water system and solar-control ? m for windows. Implications Based on the investigation of these three cases, the study summarized the similarities and differences in their approaches. As shown in Table III, all these hotels have strong partnerships with green bodies and have been involved in sharing experience with trade association, other hotels and government. Two hotels were also found to have strong collaboration with a university’s engineering department and hotel school. The Environmental management systems 309 IJCHM 18,4 Collaborate with university’s: 1. Engineering department 2. Hotel school Nikko ? ? ? ? ? Shangri-la Grand Stanford ? ? 310 Partnership with environmental supporting parties Written support to apply: 1. Government fund 2. Private fund Free EMS template Sharing experience from: 1. Trade association 2. Other hotels 3. Of? cial department Internal reserve or debt issue ? ? ? ? Table III. Similarities and differences in approaches ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? former provides technical expertise and the latter provide operational knowledge in the environmental projects in hotels. In terms of monetary investment, one hotel placed a large amount on formation of EMS while the other purchased a number of energy saving facilities. In fact, the project funds secured by Nikko represent a small part of the funds available in the community. Further research indicated that there are other sources of funds available for quality environmental projects, as shown in Table IV. However if one wants to successfully secure the funds, a good and meaningful proposal for application of funds is required. This implies an experienced proposal writer and a team of related experts is a pre-requisite. Again, this type of caliber is not easily available in hotels. Thus, collaboration with educational institutes in writing up the proposal may enhance the likelihood of success. Energy performance contracting Besides applications for public or private funding for hotel’s environmental work, energy performance contracting can be considered as another alternative to ? nance environmental improvement. Performance contracting is a unique arrangement where contractors usually assume responsibility for purchasing and installing the equipment, as well as maintenance throughout the contract. Only when the installed equipment actually reduces expenses does the contractor get paid. This allows the hotel owners to make necessary improvements while investing very little money up front. Meanwhile, it is also a risk-sharing relationship between the host and the contractor that is sometimes called as the Energy Service Company (ESCO) (Woodruff and Turner, 1998). ESCO is a company that provides both the technical expertise to reduce energy costs and the ? nance for energy ef? ciency investments. In the UK, performance contracting is called contract energy management (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, 1991). In fact, the name is relatively new, but some of the companies in the industry have been in business for over 20 years. Name of environmental fund USa Richard King Mellon Foundation John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation The Pew Charitable Trusts The Ford Foundation W. K. Kellogg Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Environment Wales The Environmental Action Fund The Environmental Know How Fund The Environmental Protection Research Program Environmental Conservation Fund and Woo Wheelock Green Fund Innovation and Technology Fund: Innovation and Technology Support Program Innovation and Technology Fund: University-Industry Collaboration Program Innovation and Technology Fund: General Support Fund Sustainable Development Fund Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (CERG) University Internal Fund Departmental Research Fund in University National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) Environmental management systems 311 Europeb Hong Kongc Source: a Stein (1993); b Forrester and Casson (1998); c www. itf. gov. hk/Default. asp Table IV. Fund available for quality environmental project According to Hansen and Weisman (1998), performance contracting is now poised on the threshold of even greater opportunities to work with government, utilities, institutions and commercial establishments. In the mid-late 1990s, performance contracting received more attention in the US. For example, the US federal government has used performance contracting to upgrade facilities, even when budgets were being dramatically cut. In essence, they â€Å"sold† some of their future energy savings to an ESCO (Woodruff and Turner, 1998). In the case of Canada, trade associations urged government to fund the set up of ESCO, as there was little prospect for setting up private sector ? rms in the short-term (Association of Energy Engineers, 1998). In Hong Kong, a research report also found that most interviewees considered that performance contracting for energy conservation may be suitable in the future (Chan, 1999). The key elements of applying performance contracting suggested by the interviewees were â€Å"management commitment, government support, technical and human factors†. Conclusions Environmental management systems are well-recognized in the hotel industry across the world. Unfortunately, many hoteliers are unable or unwilling to implement the system due to resources constraints. However, two cases studied reveal that resources for the formation of internationally recognized EMS 14001 can be drawn outside the balance sheet (that is equity and liabilities). In the mid-1990s, two professors’ suggestions that sound environmental management can reduce costs also occurred to IJCHM 18,4 312 Kirk (1995) who subsequently advised the hotel business to start with easy-to-achieve and low cost environmental projects. Moderate and high investment projects can be scheduled later when hoteliers had con? dence in and established bene? ts from earlier environmental actions (Iwanowski and Rushmore, 1994; Kirk, 1995). This approach is particularly suitable to hotels with tight resources or when the hotel sector experiences a business downturn. Nevertheless, hoteliers may learn from successful cases, particularly Nikko, and collaborate with various â€Å"green† partners – universities, government, trade associations and green bodies – to work on more complex environmental matters. Speci? cally, hotels can team up with these green members to apply for research funding for the investigation and implementation of EMS. This practice, in turn, accelerates the speed of environmental actions. Apart from EMS with ISO certi? cation, Green Globe 21 also offers a certi? cation to travel-related organizations that wished to demonstrate their commitment to environmental improvement. The Green Globe program provides travel and tourism companies with a framework for achieving year on year improvement in environmental performance (Rodgers, 2002). The framework contains ? ve sections, including environmental policy, regulatory framework, environmental performance; EMS as well as requirements for stakeholder consultation and communication. Other-related certi? ed programs may include Australia’s International Ecotourism Standard, Americas’ Sustainable Tourism Certi? cation Network and Europe’s Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainability in Tourism (Hammond, 2004). Similarly, obtaining these certi? cations also requires a signi? cant amount of resources and effort. The ? nancial tools – mainly collaboration between hotel and external parties including universities, governments, trade associations and green bodies – ascertained in these case studies can thus be applied when any organization plans to pursue these programs. Other than green certi? cation granted by ISO and Green Globe, the voluntary environment assessment scheme for hotels (Hong Kong Hotels Association, 2000) also receives a considerable amount of technical resources and research expertise. The scheme sets a scoring scheme in two areas. One is to consider actions by the hotels in endeavoring to reduce environmental impacts through more effective management and maintenance practice. The other is to assess the building facilities performance by referring to indoor environmental performance criteria, local codes of good practice and benchmarked energy and water consumption. As such, hotel’s collaboration with university staff in conducting research and applying for research funds as manifested in the studied cases may provide valuable and enormous assistance to attain a good scoring result. The lesson learnt from these cases reveal that trade association’s participation in environmental work cannot be neglected. The association in these cases not merely promoted the green activities by presenting environmental awards and organizing seminars but for instance also coordinated with enthusiastic hotels by arranging transport to ship all discarded bottles for recycling. Most importantly, the association also assisted in writing endorsement letters to apply for funds for creating a template for hotels to develop EMS according to ISO requirements. Thus, the association indeed provides a catalyst function to advance the function of EMS in the industry. Embedded in these supportive activities are enormous time and resources. On the other hand, the government also played an important role in the industry’s green environment, not just by creating environmental funds to assist the business. In fact, the government of? cials have always shared their experience on environmental work with the practitioners. In order to keep updating their environmental technology knowledge, the of? ials regularly liaise with manufacturers, professors and their colleagues in the environmental protection department as well as the engineering department. Without their endeavor in environmental improvement, the pace of environmental movement would de? nitely slow down. In the late 1990s, a survey conducted by the United Nations and the International Hotel Association identi? ed a lack of training resource as the major concern when introducing envir onmental matters in hotel management curricula. The French Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment together with some hotels have sponsored the production of teaching tools for environmental issues in hospitality curricula (United Nations Environmental Program, 2001). The Hong Kong and French government’s funding in these two cases further indicate the importance of government support in pursuit of sustainable tourism by the industry. In fact, besides funding, the government of? cials have always shared their experience on environmental work with practitioners and listen to environmental problems encountered by practitioners. This two-way communication also implies a signi? ant amount of time devoted by both parties. Thus, government’s active participation may hasten the pace of environmental change. Other than the above-mentioned stakeholders in the hotel industry’s pursuit of sustainable tourism development, green groups are also another major contributor. They often complement the university’s e nvironmental research, and green groups have also conducted some environmental research which may, to a certain extent, be applicable to the hotel environment. For instance, Friends of the Earth has investigated disappearing timber in tropical rain forests in relation to buildings. How to cite Environmental Laws of Bangladesh, Essays

Learn About WordPress 5 Great Sources for All Knowledge Levels

WordPress is easy to get started with, but that initial simplicity can be deceptive. You may not realize at first how complex and flexible the platform can be, or how vast its community is. Theres a lot to learn about WordPress – but where should you start?It isnt difficult to find resources about WordPress online. There are tutorials, wikis, dedicated courses, and plenty of blogs (like the one youre on right now). Much of this content is as free as the platform itself and provides information for everyone from beginners to developers.In this post, were going to highlight five excellent places where you can learn about WordPress. Lets begin! What it is: Wed be remiss not to start with the official source of knowledge about WordPress – the WordPress Codex. This is a wiki-style knowledge base located on WordPress.org, maintained and kept up-to-date by the community.What you can learn there: If youre looking for basic information about the platform, or tutorials on how to perform specific tasks (on the code level), the Codex can help you out. It covers everything, from what plugins and themes are and how to start using them, to more advanced development topics such as child themes and APIs.Why you should check it out: Since this is an official resource, the Codex is highly accurate and current. The way it presents information can be a little dry. However, its a good first stop whenever you have a question about the platform or need a guide.How to get started: If youre new to WordPress, the Codex offers an excellent getting started guide. More advanced users may be interested in the wide variety of lessons and tutorials  available.2. WordPress.tvWhat it is: If youre looking for an official educational resource thats a little more engaging than the Codex, you can check out WordPress.tv. This website is devoted to videos of talks and lectures from various WordCamps and similar events.What you can learn there: This resource offers advice and informatio n for moderate to advanced users. You can learn about WordPress design, development, and optimization, as well as catch up on the latest trends and technologies.Why you should check it out: WordPress.tv goes beyond simple how-to guides, providing real-world information and instruction. Its not the best resource for absolute beginners. However, it is  useful for anyone wanting to build better websites, learn about the latest happenings, and get involved in development.How to get started: Every year, WordPress puts out a State of the Word address, which is worth watching. For more practical advice, check out Marija Zarics talk on creating small business websites.3. SkillshareWhat it is: The only resource on our list thats not WordPress-specific, Skillshare is a website that hosts online courses. For a small fee, you get access to thousands of video-based classes on a range of topics, including approximately  600 that are specific to WordPress.What you can learn there: The WordPres s courses on Skillshare are aimed at beginner to moderate-level users. You can learn about WordPress basics, for example, or get started with development. Plus, you can find specific tutorials on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), building an e-commerce website, and more.Why you should check it out: Theres a diverse range of courses on offer, covering nearly any topic you might be interested in. Many span several hours, and some provide supplemental materials and even sample projects you can try on your own.How to get started: To take your WordPress knowledge to the next level, try out the course on creating a WordPress theme. Or, check out the class on monetizing your blog.4. WPSessionsWhat it is: WPSessions  offers both ‘sessions (recorded presentations by WordPress experts), and comprehensive courses on a few key topics. Some of the content is free, but youll need to pay a fee to access everything.What you can learn there: Most of the sessions and courses on this site focu s on more advanced, development-related topics, such as the WP-CLI, coding, and databases. However, you can also find more basic advice about building certain types of websites.Why you should check it out: The resources on WPSessions will provide a solid introduction to higher-level WordPress topics. If you want to learn how to create your own themes and plugins, or just fully optimize your website, you can find useful instruction here (if youre willing to invest both the time and money required).How to get started: If youre looking for some down-to-earth advice you can implement quickly, theres a free session on content creation you may want to try. Theres also a comprehensive course that will teach you how to create your first WordPress plugin.5. The ThemeIsle BlogWhat it is: While we dont want to brag, we think our own blog is a great place to learn about WordPress. We post regularly on a wide variety of WordPress-related topics, as well as provide a range of handy tutorials.What you can learn there: Our blog is welcoming to WordPress users at all levels – from total beginners to experienced veterans. We demonstrate how to optimize your website in various ways, show you how to use plugins and other tools to add specific features, and offer general advice for running a successful site.Why you should check it out: We post new content regularly and have a comprehensive archive of older posts. So no matter what you want to do or learn about, its likely we have a tutorial or opinion piece on the topic. Plus, all of these resources are completely free!How to get started: Security is vital on any WordPress website, so youre likely to benefit from reading our post on safeguarding your site. If youre looking to save yourself some time, you may also want to check out our list of ways you can automate WordPress tasks.Use these sources to learn about WordPressWordPress is a complex platform, but dont let that intimidate you. Instead, you can look at that fact as an opportunity. No matter how much (or how little) experience you have, theres always more to learn. Whats more, you can immediately apply your newly-acquired WordPress knowledge to make your site even better.To get you started, here are five excellent places where you can learn the ins and outs of WordPress online:The WordPress Codex: Includes basic information and instruction on almost anything WordPress related.WordPress.tv: Hosts videos of lectures from various WordPress experts.Skillshare: Includes structured video courses on beginner to moderate-level topics.WPSessions: Provides in-depth instruction on some basic but mostly higher-level topics.The ThemeIsle Blog: Offers tutorials and reviews for WordPress users of all skill levels.Do you have any other favorite places to learn about WordPress? Share them with us in the comments section below! Want to #learn about #WordPress? Here are 5 great websites