Business Ethics and Tourism - 5065 Words

†¢UTTERWORTH II~E [NEMANN 0 26 I-5177(95)00015- I Tourism Management, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 26.3-268, 1995 C opyright  © 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0261-5177/95 $10.00 + II.00 C urrent issues B usiness ethics and tourism: from m icro to macro perspectives A lf H Walle Travel and Tourism Program, University of Nebraska, West Center C226, Kearney, NE 68849, USA Business ethics is a complex field which the tourism industry must understand. In addition, t ourism is a unique industry; although general concepts of business ethics are often useful, t ourism transcends mainstream business and must be evaluated accordingly. By forming alliances with subdisciplines of business†¦show more content†¦Is the strategy legal? H as the organization r esponded to problems and i ssues which have emerged as s ignificant? F uture problems are addressed e ven if the organization is not d irectly involved in causing t hem 2. Is the strategy profitable e nough (however measured)? m anner if executives perceive that doing so is a good t actic. W hile Friedmans arguments are most powerful f rom a theoretical vantage, Keith Davis analyzes m odern business as it actually exists. 34 Davis e mphasizes the powerful position of modern busin ess; as a result of this clout, he argues, stockholders a re merely one of several legitimate stakeholders which must be considered when strategies are being f orged: economic power and its impacts create moral a nd ethical responsibilities. O nce Davis establishes this point, however, he p arallels Friedman by asserting that socially res ponsible behaviour ultimately benefits the organ ization and can help prevent government intervent ion and regulation. In addition to merely staving off g overnment interference, furthermore, the good pShow MoreRelatedA Report On Eco Tourism Essay1695 Words   |  7 PagesINTRODUCTION: This report is all about the eco-tourism business in South Africa. The chosen business is wild life experience park in which different activities are included like wild life safari, eco-friendly boating, whale and dolphin watching. In the wild life experience park the species are protected because the different species are placed at different part of the jungle. This report demonstrate the brief knowledge about the eco-tourism, Sustainable eco-tourism, sustainable practices, Impact are minimizedRead MoreBusiness Memorandum Analyzing Market Feasibility in India1354 Words   |  6 PagesBUSINESS MEMORANDUM analysis, the following conclusions were derived: 1. Scale the Philippines facilities to increase the production of parts and products created to supply the orders from the Asian markets, while decreasing the U.S. production. 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The French Revolution Essay - 5811 Words

The French Revolution The French Revolution was one of the most traumatic events in human history. Over seven million people may have died as a result. The immediate reason was the financial crisis caused by French support for the American Revolution. France invested 2 billion pieces of silver to win the war. Her tax system could only support the government during peace. A war called for extraordinary measures. This was the beginning of the first phase of the revolution, which is referred to as the Aristocratic Revolution. The aristocrats saw this crisis as an opportunity to reassert their power. The French Finance Minister, Necker (1776-1781) didn’t use new taxation to finance the war, he borrowed the money. In 1781, he published the†¦show more content†¦The Estates General was the legislative body of France and had not been called together in a hundred years. Louis XVI ordered the Parlement to register his new taxation edicts. At this point, Louis XIV would have sent in troops to shoot down the members of the Parlement – but Louis XVI was not as tough as Louis XIV and he only banned the Parlement. Protests against the King’s action broke out all over France. Louis XVI backed down on November 19, 1787 and called the Parlement back. On May 3, 1788, Parlement issued the Fundamental Laws. These stated, among other things, that new taxes have to come from the Estates General. Louis XVI’s reaction was to exile Parlement and to set up a new Parlement. However, riots started throughout France. These were so severe that the French government ceased functioning. Louis XIV would have sent in the army, but Louis XVI backed down. Brienne called for opinions as to how the Estates General should be set up on July 5, 1788. Unfortunately, for the French government his statement ended censorship, since all you had to do was relate what you were talking about to choosing an Estates General. As a result, political discussions ran rampant and all of France became stirred-up by the political rhetoric. Brienne resigned on August 25, 1788 and the King brought Necker back. Necker was able to secure an 80,000,000 pieces of silver loan to keep France fromShow MoreRelatedThe French Revolution And French Revolutions2006 Words   |  9 PagesAlthough the American and French revolutions both took place in the late 18th century, both fought for independence, and both portrayed patriotism, the revolutions are markedly different in their origins; one which led to the world’s longest lasting democracy and the other to a Napoleonic Dictatorship. Political revolutions in America and France happened because people felt dissatisfied with the way their country was run. 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The economy was in bad shape. But before all of this the French had a few goals but there was one goal that they all wanted and that was to get rid of the monarchy. This idea did not arrive out of nowhere, the commoners were influenceRead MoreThe French Revolution And The Revolution1336 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis The French Revolution was such an important time history. Not only was it a massacre with many lives being lost, including that of Queen Marie Antoinette and her husband King Louis XVI, it was also a time of great political turmoil which would turn man against man that being the case of Edmond Burke and Thomas Paine. Edmond Burke a traditionalist who believed the people should be loyal to the king against his former friend, Thomas Paine a free thinker who believed in order for things toRead MoreThe Revolution Of The French Revolution1040 Words   |  5 PagesWhile there were political and social causes of The French Revolution the most important cause was actually economic. A few years before the French’s revolution the French spent approximately 1.3 billion livres, 13 billion dollars, on the American Revolution. This gracious contribution caused trouble at home. The French Revolution was one of the most important events in history. While it changed the social structure in France it also affected many different countries across the world. â€Å"the treeRead MoreThe French Revolution And The Revolution1640 Words   |  7 Pages The French Revolution is often seen as one of the most influential and significant events in world history (Voices 9). The surge of rebellion present in those against the old regime, or Ancien Rà ©gime, inspired reformers for generations to come. Nevertheless, the French Revolution would not have occurred without the aid of the Enlightenment Thinkers, or Philosophà ©s. These Philosophà ©s’ ideas sparked the French Revolution. Prior to the French Revolution, France was radically different. 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England was affected positively and negatively by the Revolution in that there was an increase of political involvement, but there was a collapse in the economy due to war declared by France. The French Revolution created a battle of conflictingRead MoreThe Revolution Of The French Revolution1636 Words   |  7 Pageswas an old fortress that had served as a royal prison and in which gunpowder was stored. This will be the place where Parisian crowds will lay siege on and use the gunpowder for their weapons, and this will become a great turning point in the French Revolution. 3) The Great Fear was the vast movement that the peasant insurgency of sacking nobles’ castles and burning documents would blend into. This attack was mainly because of seigneurial dues and church tithes that weighed heavily on many peasantsRead MoreThe French Revolution And The Revolution1180 Words   |  5 PagesLooking at the historical timeline, one can see that the French Revolution derived after the Enlightenment, which brought different ways of thinking, and different outlooks on government and society (553),(555),(558). The Enlightenment also changed the world of public debate, and established some ideas central to the French Revolution. The French Revolution of 1789 occurred due to government debt, class conflict, bankruptcy, the Enlightenment, and the rule of absolutism. These social, economic, and

Sexuality and Television Essay Example For Students

Sexuality and Television Essay After viewing only a few hours of television I asked myself, How is it that people can spend as many as 20 hours watching television per week? A whole day wasted, and what has come out of it? More garbage that will further distort any real comprehension held about what it means to be a male or a female. What it means to be male or female in the American culture cannot be defined with simple words, but yet can be easily distorted when viewing any commercial on television. It is amazing how a story about an entire cultures views about sexuality can be told in only a small portion of the day. This story about sexuality was unraveled as I forced myself to watch something I have absolutely no interest in and have not seen in almost four months. Women wearing extremely revealing clothing (i.e halter tops, mini skirts, breast accentuating shirts, and translucent clothing), men inconsequentially fooling around with whom ever they please, and negatives attitudes about genders were all common issues in my 19 inch box of colorful sound. Could it really be possible that the programs on television accurately portray how we Americans view sexuality? Watching only five hours of television led me to the conclusion that no matter what channel I happened to turn on, there was always an attractive person being displayed, and Americans choose to be promiscuous because they can. Viewing such an abundance of attractive people on television makes me wonder if a normal American even exists. If our lives do not resemble those of the characters we view on television, does that mean that there is something wrong with us? In the American society, if we see something that we like, we will keep watching it and obsessing over it until the trend is exhausted, even if this trend is a human being. According to Byrnes law of attraction, our liking for a person is influenced by the reinforcements we receive from interaction with them. This also says that shared activities provide the basis for sm ooth and rewarding interaction. In other words, the more time a person spends with someone doing things that they mutually enjoy (shared activities), the more attracted they will be to each other. Byrnes law is completely contradicted when it is applied to the notion that many adolescent girls fall madly in love with stars such as the members of Backstreet Boys. There are no interactions between the obsessive girls and the superstars, but yet these girls believe that they are destined to be with the group members. There are never shared activities with these stars, but yet the ones who feel an unexplainable bond with their destined one cry when beautiful women are seen around their man. One can only assume that attractiveness is all that matters in the America, and if you dont have attractiveness, you are hopeless. Although music videos contain a variety of musical styles, they have many common visual themes that inaccurately portray famous artists. These themes are the degradation of women, and the promiscuity of men. Many of videos display women as sexual objects to be looked at while they rhythmically dance to the beat of the song. Women are not the only dancers though; men can often be seen grinding against many different women throughout the same song. This implies that being promiscuous is okay if you are a male, and that the more partners you have, the higher the regard with which you are held. During these dances a lot of attention is drawn to the pelvic region. Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Madonna, *NSYNC, Lil Kim, and Kid Rock represent a very small percentage of the videos shown on MTV that bring focus to the crotch. In my viewing, all of these artists grabbed, held, flashed or portrayed their genitals in some sexual manner. This again gives the message that promiscuity is normal, and if you want some action, many are willing to put out. And because of this, we are constantly reminded that promiscuity will bring happiness along with fortune and f ame. .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 , .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .postImageUrl , .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 , .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:hover , .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:visited , .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:active { border:0!important; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:active , .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3 .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uabcee37571351f24222343734aa5eed3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: 1984 vs Brave New World Essay While viewing late night television, the promiscuity is only intensified because younger viewers are usually in bed at this time. This only proves that the producers of these shows know that something is wrong with their material, but yet will provide viewers with this information because it sells and satisfies Americas addiction to sex. Throughout the course of one episode of Saturday Night Live, there were several skits that implied characters were participating in sexual activities with numerous partners. (These activities of course cannot be shown because there are certain limitations that are placed on public television.) Many of these skits also focused on ex-president Bill Clinton because he was caught being promiscuous by the media. He appeared in several scenes wearing a giant penis, yelling Suck it! repeatedly, and checking out many different women at a party. This is another example of explicit behavior on television which shows that promiscuity is not just portrayed by ar tists, but also in parodies of political figures. While analyzing the content of television commercials, the portrayal of gender roles are extremely over exaggerated, and at times are very disturbing. An Old El Paso commercial shows a mother opening the refrigerator. She wonders what to cook for dinner when she sees only one pound of hamburger inside. A cowboy comes riding to save the day; he gives the woman a taco mix so she can cook her family a good meal. She is amazed with the cowboy, but he cant stick around so he proudly rides away into the night. This is a sickening and unrealistic portrayal of female stereotyping in agreement with the age-old myth that a womans place is the kitchen, and that men are always the heroes that save the day. Children do not need to view such prejudice. At a time where we are greatly evolving as a race, we need to break away from these stereotypical norms. In a commercial for the television network Do It Yourself (DIY). Men are shown working with tools, making home improvements, while the women are shown gardening and working with crafts. Once again the message revealed is that a womens place is in the home. In an advertisement for the Princeton Club gym in Madison, males are the only ones shown to be exercising on the equipment. Are women allowed to exercise? Do female athletes exist? Of course the answer to these questions is yes! But apparently the owners of the club are still living the mid twentieth century. The commercials shown during the late night television programming portrayed images that were anything but from the mid twentieth century. In one commercial during the late night television program, never before seen Playboy mansion party footage was being advertised. This footage included censored naked women, and many of the Playboy bunnies being kissed by Hugh Hefner. Once again promiscuity is viewed as a good thing because everyone in the commercial was having a good time, so there is no reason to think that something could be wrong with these actions. It is very hard to analyze the content and intent of any form of entertainment, since viewing is such an individualized experience. What is offensive to one person may seem completely normal to the next, and what one innocent being takes to heart, may easily be sloughed of by a more educated individual with a hardened exterior. There is always going to be opposition, positives, and negatives to any subject. America represents an individualistic and controversial society filled with a population diverse in every aspect from race to religion. As our culture progresses in its sexuality so does the medias portrayal of our sexuality. Human sexuality is a sensitive and influential topic which holds a different, but special meaning within the heart of every individual. Therefore, in publicly addressing this subject, one simple question must be asked: is publicly available viewing material greatly influencing the beliefs of our culture, or is it simply an aid to ones own personal discoveries and life lessons pertaining to sexuality? We may never know the answer. .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 , .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .postImageUrl , .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 , .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:hover , .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:visited , .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:active { border:0!important; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:active , .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082 .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc330557785946fa59586b110a64cf082:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Burial Practices Of The Ancient Egyptian And Greco EssayBibliography:

Restructure Health and Facilities Management

Question: Discuss about the Restructure Health and Facilities Management. Answer: Introduction: The main aim of the report is to establish health and safety management at work place. It helps in setting reasonable responsibilities of management while considering the legal, moral and economic aspects at work place. It is an essential practice undertaken to ensure the health and safety of the employees which may lead to illness, accidents, etc. (Construction, 2016). Consultation with employees ensures an effective health environment at a work place. It helps in focusing upon any health issue that is related to the health and safety welfare of the employees. It helps in promoting a healthy work environment and ensures that everyone has received an opportunity regarding the health and safety policies and guidelines. The result can only be attained with mutual cooperation in between the management and employees. As per the Intergovernmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety it is mandatory to follow the work safety and health rules. Consultation arrangements with the workers include information related to information regarding health and safety information. It is more effective and recommendable job to appoint consultation arrangements frequently in order to understand workers opinion (Hughes Ferrett, 2013). It is recommended to appoint a health and safety representative to arrange the systematic consultation arrangements recognized to go with the workers and the work place. It can be carried through regular scheduled meeting in between the management and the workers. Team meeting is a most effective method to discuss the agenda related to health and safety measures. One off meetings and face to face meetings is essential to be arranged for discussing the health and safety at workplace (Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996, 2016). The issues faced by the employees are discussed in the open meetings. It helps the management to formulate a more concrete plan to resolve the issue raised by the employees. Employees should be given a platform to raise the problem they face in an organization related to health and safety. Highlighting the core issue will benefit the organization on a long run. Health and safety is the primary issue in an organization essential to be considered in order to retrieve maximum benefit. Majority of issues related to health and safety can be resolved through open discussions. Management has an obligation to understand the issues bought into consideration that is affecting the workers (Department of Commerce, 2016). Decisions related to health and safety is formulated by the top management as per the necessary requirements in an organization. Final policies are communicated through the notice issued at the place of work. It is necessary to create awareness among the workers related to newly framed policies. The outcome is communicated by the designated employees union head that is in direct touch with the employees (Stranks, 2010). The following assessment is related to identification of hazardous activity in a property industry. It examines the information related to the hazard and safety measures. It sets the responsibility of each individual who is responsible to set the objectives while measuring the risk. An expert is appointed to seek advice related to the property industry (Public consultation, 2016). The main hazard facility of an Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 sets the legal duty of the facility operator and management while operating a facility efficiently. In order to operate a facility an operator needs to submit a safety case. The guidelines mentioned in the safety case help the operator in identify the potential risk associated with the facility. The document also carries additional information related to the factors that may cause major amount of risks due to any external conditions (SAFE WORK AUSTRALIA.2016). The result of the hazard identification includes: Identification of the major event which can occur at the facility irrespective of the safety control measures. It gives sufficient amount of knowledge to employers and employees in order to prevent the harm caused by the activity. It provides a foundation for recognizing, calculating, and the measured risk involved in the process illustrate proper relations amid danger and potential effect of it (Department of Commerce, 2016) It gives an organized documentation regarding identified hazards and major risks associated with the facility. The hazard recognition procedure is supposed to be feasible as per the requirement in a facility. Planning, organize a fresh view of a change bought to an organization A facility should recognize a fresh view to be taken related to any presented information and one should not assume any new knowledge without prior information. the systematic data is given to the person who requires it. Group workers and team is involved in order to make an appropriate decision. Doubts are clearly recognized and documented for the future analysis. All the data related to the hazard identification is documented for the future reference. It is frequently used as a live document by the authority. Procedure for risk measurement and control measures: It is advised to identify the existing control measures make sure that all feasible steps to reduce the risk are considered to avoid the risk It is necessary to recognize possible added controls measures. Sufficiency evaluation of various control measurement is recommended to identify the risk control process. Identify possible supplementary control measures. organize routine standards undertaken and procedural audit. Implementation of new measures in the facility: Hazard must be properly understood and acted upon to reduce the amount of risk associated with it. The operator has to utilize the output related to the hazard identification to minimize the effect of risk It is important to determine the Safety Assessment to measure all the risk associated and to be discussed. To offer hazard consciousness instructions to employees. It ensures that workers have enough information of hazards to carry out their role carefully. The hazard register ensures the process of updating related to the information of hazards and facility information. Efficient and viable tools to be undertaken in order to assess the risk and control the amount of danger pertaining to it (Model Work Health and Safety Regulations, 2016). External expert health and safety advice: It is mandatory to appoint an appropriate qualified personto counsel on matter affecting the health and safety employees. In case if there is no one with an appropriate set of skills to guide on health and safety. It is suggested to hire a legal advisor to seek advice in an appropriate manner. It's alike to utilizing a lawyer or an accountant to seek expert advice (Getting the right advice, 2016). Duty of the legal experts is as follows: Creating, sustaining or improving a systematic work environment identifying, eliminating or calculating workplace hazards they should try to eliminate the hazards involved in the facility while calculating the risk involved to take samples of the work place from time to time in order to measure the risk and ensure healthy and safe environment Recommendation Elucidate Health and Safety Responsibilities in the organization in a relevant manner. Aim to achieve the result through the formulated plan. Promoting the interest of individual worker is recommended while formulating the policies. Strengthening the inspection process and working condition to avoid the future risk. Strengthening the internal capacity of the construction site. Property industry believes in safe work environment to be the major focus in a business. Construction at the site should not pose harm on the health and safety of the workers as well as the people who are using it. Safety officer has a duty to safeguard the interest of the workers. The improvement is implemented through consultation with workers, stakeholders etc. Harm of any kind is reported to the management to avoid future consequences (WHS/OHS acts, regulations and codes of practice, 2016). Health and safety management systemis a process used by an organization to decrease the amount of risk associated with the injury at the workplace. It is conducted by identifying, assessing and controlling various risk associated with the job (Real estate, 2016). Responsibilities of the following personnel while dealing with risk: Top level management Formulation of policies related to the safety and hazard after consulting with the employees Manager Implementation process: there role is to implement the policies in an effective manner to seek the desire result Low level manager To seek the desired result by keeping a regular check on day-today operations. workers To follow the guidelines as per the information given to them. They have a right to express their views related to any change. Financial and human resource helps in effective implementation of health and safety provisions. Human resource helps in coordinating with the effective tools related to implementation of policies. Whereas financial resources help in providing funds for scheming efficient safety measurement program. GAP analysis There is a wide gap in between the policies formulation and achievement of goals. There is a necessity to implement the policies in a careful manner in order to procure the maximum benefit. There should be an equal coordination in between the resources allocated and their utilization while assessing the goals. The health and safety measurement tools need to be established in coordination with the goals of an organization (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015). Health and safety induction program is enforced in an organization through the safety measurement tools undertaken while compiling the guidelines related to training program Work health and safety license is introduced while establishing a WHS allied requirement details is recorded in order to establish relationship. Awareness related to emergency procedures and other contact details are established. The requirements related to new staff are introduced while establishing relationship with each individual activity to be conducted in future (Model Codes of Practice, 2016). All the identified training needs are recorded. Health and safety framework is effectively enforced as per the rules and guidelines formulate by the management as per the requirements. Health and safety measurement frameworks evaluated with the current development at the workplace. It helps in keeping a record for future reference. A systematic record helps in avoiding the future risks associated with the object. Facility quality system framework guarantees equal rights to each individual associated with the organization. The record need to be utilized in an effective manner to decrease the future injuries in a process All the risk associated with a process needs to be recorded systematically in a register moreover it helps in reducing the future casualties. It helps in identification of the pattern which are affecting the smooth functioning. The supervisor gets an idea related to pattern of hazard occurred at the site. Improvement in health and safety measures is necessary to be adopted in order to accelerate the growth in an organization. Work health safety motive is to ensure the safety of the workers in an organization. Improvement of inline management framework ensures the quick achievement of objectives in a systematic manner. This not only help in achieving objectives but help in synchronizing the desired targets. Health and safety legal compliance is maintained in order to achieve synchronization in between the various goals and objectives with the legal framework. It is the mandatory duty of a property industry to follow the guidelines as assimilated by the legal body in order to achieve the desired goals. The government has made it compulsory to follow the required framework as mentioned in the legislation. Procedural guidelines are the basic necessity of an organization to ensure the work and health safety. References Construction. (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/whs-information/construction/pages/construction Accessed on: 4/11/16 Department of Commerce. (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe Accessed on: 4/11/16 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. (2015). Built Environment and Property Management: A Focus on Australia. Emerald Group Publishing Getting the right advice. (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/safety-and-prevention/health-and-safety-topics/professional-ohs-advice Accessed on: 4/11/16 https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/model-whs-laws/model-whs-regulations/pages/regulations Accessed on: 4/11/16 Hughes, P. Ferrett, E. (2013). International Health and Safety at Work: The Handbook for the NEBOSH International General Certificate. Routledge Model Codes of Practice. (2016).(Online). Retrieved from: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/model-whs-laws/model-cop/pages/model-cop Accessed on: 4/11/16 Model Work Health and Safety Regulations. (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996.(2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/occupational-safety-and-health-regulations-1996 Accessed on: 4/11/16 Public consultation, (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/consultation/pages/consultation Accessed on: 4/11/16 Real estate. (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/safety-and-prevention/your-industry/real-estate Accessed on: 4/11/16 SAFE WORK AUSTRALIA.2016. (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications/pages/quicksearchresults?PublicationType=National%20Standards Accessed on: 4/11/16 Stranks, J. (2010). Health and Safety at Work: An Essential Guide for Managers. Kogan Page WHS/OHS acts, regulations and codes of practice. (2016). (Online). Retrieved from: https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/workplace-health-and-safety/whs-oh-and-s-acts-regulations-and-codes-of-practice Accessed on: 4/11/16

Native Americans

Introduction For many years Native Americans have endured segregation, prejudice, and racism. This has left many with the question of what place the Native Americans hold in the US society. They have struggled for many years to achieve equality. Many have died and the surviving ones are still facing many problems in their lives. This essay will look at how the Native American came to occupy America and also look at some of the injustices and conflicts they have experienced throughout the years and at present.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Native Americans specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More History of Native Americans It has not been easy to tell the exact history of the Native Americans, but estimates indicate that close to 90 million Native Americans were living in America by the time Europeans set foot in America. It is widely believed that Native Americans travelled through a land bridge from Serbia i nto the present Alaska. They were first called Indians by Christopher Columbus who by mistake, thought he had landed in the Indies. They were later called American Indians, but at present they are simply known as Native Americans. It is believed that the Europeans were the first people to get in touch with the Indians, who warmly received them in their land (Native American, 2011). Enmity Arises With time the Europeans disregarded the hospitality extended to them and disputes arose mostly concerning land. This led to the White settlers considering the Native Americans as their enemy. They saw them to be less human who were not supposed to live at the same societal level as the whites. They therefore killed those who opposed or tried to stand up against the European invasion of their land. The disregard of the human rights of the Native Americans by the Whites put in place the foundation for racism, prejudice, and discrimination for all the Native Americans for decades in the future. The whites saw Native Americans as a backward people who needed to be civilized. This idea later became an American policy. The Natives who did not budge to the pressure were removed from their land by force. This led to wars, the famous Indian wars in which many Indians perished. Those who remained were put in reserves where living conditions were poor. In such conditions, the natives were attacked by diseases such as cholera, smallpox and many other deadly diseases that wiped out entire villages (Native Americans, 2011). Outright Discrimination Prejudices become explicit when the Spanish labeled Native Americans as brutal and unenlightened. They took all the resources from the Natives land and killed many in the disguise of religious and racial superiority. Soon the Native Americans were reduced to manageable numbers and thus became subordinates to the Europeans.Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The nineteenth century experienced widespread segregation of the Native Americans. The US government policies worked to the advantage of the now dominant whites while disregarding the natives. The policies advocated for the relocation of natives to pave the way for the settlement of whites (Digital History, 2006). When the whites relocated the Native Americans, they put them in special areas that we have already identified as reservations. In doing this, they were going against environmental justice of the native people. The reservations were mostly land that the whites regarded as fruitless and therefore not useful to them. Those natives living in the western territories were relocated into rocky areas of the desert. These areas were close to deserts that become sites for testing bombs in times of war. At present, there are reservations that are located near oil plants, factories and industries. Such places present many health hazards to these people (Kamps, 20 01). Near Slavery In the 19th century, Native Americans were subjected to dual labor markets. Records show that the natives sometimes willingly undertook to work under these conditions, but the fact will always remain that they had no other choice. There culture shows that Native Americans were a people who valued trade and their stuff traded. The white traders capitalized on this by willingly putting Native Americans into debt as a way of inducing them to get them more furs. Failure to pay led the natives to work for the whites, a practice that eventually developed into peonage. Those natives who worked on the farms received varying wages regardless of the amount of work done. Financial institutions in the US are at present using redlining discriminating against neighborhoods occupied by poor Native Americans when making investments. People residing in redlined areas are denied access to loans. This is why Native Americans living in reservations are still poor today. They are denie d a chance to develop (Gillespie, n.d.). Remedy These injustices saw the introduction of affirmative action to reduce the oppression meted on Native Americans by the dominant whites. This is whereby women and minority groups are given more consideration in education, jobs and other social privileges over the dominant groups. This also led to enactment of legislations that gave more rights and privileges to the Natives.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Native Americans specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Organization advocating for affirmative action were started such as the Native American Career Education in natural Resources, a program that was started in a state university in California. Its aim is to provide education to Native Americans. The introduction of such programs came with the issue of reverse discrimination where those who are regarded as the dominant group are denied their rights in the name of helping the minority. For instances, some institutions started considering job applications from Native Americans over the other applicants (Boham, 1987). My Life I grew in Alaska and most of my childhood was spent living with my grandfather, a Native American. He told many stories about American Indians. According to him, Indians valued silence, a virtue they cultivated and was useful in their lives. It helped them in social situations to accommodate anger and discomfort. Many people see this as indifference and therefore, use this indifference to label the natives as unfriendly people. They also believed in patience, that everything unfolds with time that is why the first Native Americans valued their work which they mutually did. Mutualism was the mainstay of their lives, it promoted a sense of belonging and solidarity to their society. The other groups came into America and disturbed this order. Conclusion Although I have grown up hearing all sorts of bad things about Native Americans, I believe that all this bad traits were shaped by the bad influences that came into their lives. Being a Native American, I identify more with the mainstream American culture because I believe that the America of today should not be identified on ethnic lines but by what it stands for, equality for everyone. This does not mean that minority groups should be pushed to the periphery. We should respect and appreciate everyone, should mutually coexist. We should be proud of our heritage. References Boham, V. R. (1987). Reverse discrimination. What do the figures say? Journal of American Indian Education. Web.Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Digital History. (2006). Native American Voices. Digital History. Web. Gillespie, D. (n.d). The Plight of the Cherokee Indian. Axia College University of Phoenix. Web. Kamps, K. (2001). Environmental Racism, Tribal Sovereignty and Nuclear Waste. Nuclear Information and Resources Services. Web. Native American (2011). Native American History-Early History. All About History. Web. This research paper on Native Americans was written and submitted by user Eloise Whitaker to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

History of Sexuality by Foucault

History of Sexuality by Foucault Introduction Michael Foucault was a French philosopher. He was also recognized in other fields such as sociology and history. Foucault was born in 1926 and later died in the year 1984 leaving a markover his contributions to social institutions in the society. One of his major contributions was his writing about the history of sexuality in which his ideas about power, among other aspects, have remained to be influential in the society today.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on History of Sexuality by Foucault specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper seeks to discuss the topic of the history of sexuality as earlier and originally discussed by Foucault. The paper will look into Foucault’sdefinition of power and the fundamental characteristic of this power according to his views. The paper will also relateFoucault’s understanding of power to the current American society. History of sexuality: power In his wr iting about the history of sexuality, Foucault shifted his topicfrom sexuality to explore the concept of power. According to Foucault, in the article history of sexuality, power is defined in terms of sovereignty. Sovereignty is on its right defined as supremacy in the application of authority by a subject. It is also defined as being in the state of complete independence or beingself-governed in the sense that there is no element of yielding to any form of authority. Foucault therefore defined power as the highest force that drives activities or occurrences. In expressing the supremacy of power, he for example illustrated the determination of life and death as being subject to power (Hurley 1). Fundamental characteristics of power One of the fundamental characteristics of power as outlined by Michel Foucault is its potential to determine the â€Å"right to decide life and death† (Hurley 1). Power was identified to be responsible for the manner in which life existed. The term existence of life is used to align Michel’s meaning of how life is controlled by power. According to Foucault, life exists as an entity just like a business enterprise, for example, that is being controlled by some authority in the form of management or administration. In his view, he portrayed power as the manager who makes decisions over life in terms of whether life is to be upheld or whether it is to be stopped. One of the characteristics of power, according to Michel, is the authority over life and death. Power was also identified to be founded on two bases. One of the bases of power was the body that was perceived to be in the form of equipment while the other basis of power was applicable in the form of population.Advertising Looking for essay on anthropology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These two bases offeredthe capacity of power to be exercised at different levels starting from an individual per son to a group of people in a given society.The basis of population as an element of exercising power was then established to be the common application of institutional authority that is exercised over people by given structures of governments. Another characteristic of power as illustrated by Michel is the element of transformation that power poses over life. In the understanding of the history of population, the power that is exercised over populations as well as that power that may be possessed by a population, Michel illustrated that change the lives of people. This transformational impact of power was explained to be established due to the influence of knowledge (Hurley 1). Sex was also explained as an element that bears some relation to power. Being derived from factors such as â€Å"the hysterical woman, the sexualization of children† among other factors, sex became identified as an element that yielded influence in the authority of power over life. The relations that are created in sexual interactions were thus perceived to be contributors to the authority of power as a subject hence contributing some level of force to the administration and control of life. Relationships that are based on blood were also cited by Michel as a factor to power. Foucault explained, in the history of sexuality, that such blood relations that could take the form of relationship within nuclear or even extended families shaped the direction and effects of power. He, however, explained that such characteristics of blood relations with respect to power were undergoing transformations with time. The characteristics of power as discussed by Michel were thus based on sexuality that influences the â€Å"materiality, forces, energies, sensations and pleasures†(Hurley 1) of bodies. Foucault thus expressed the basis of power, as exercised in a general social environment, to be based on the relations between bodies that derive influence from sexuality through relations(Hu rley 1). The characteristics of power as explained in the history of sexuality, volume one also includesa number of features. Inclusive in the features of power is its origin.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on History of Sexuality by Foucault specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was explained that power does not have a specified source. It was thus established that authority can be established by any personality or any group of people in a given society. Another characteristic of power is the nature and existence of reaction forces to an established authority. Just as in the existence of action and reaction forces, an established power is characterized by a form of counter power that it has to incorporate. Power is also attributed to the development of personalities. This can be achieved through established structures of power that sets up mechanisms for the running of a society (Web 1). Application of Foucault’ s definition of power in the present American society The constitution of the United States, which is the country’s guideline to the way in which power and authority is supposed to be exercised, has an outline of the powers that are offered to the state, those that are offered to societies as well as those that are accorded to individuals. The component of the constitution that includes the bill of rights among other regulations has its basis on regulating powers that any particular entity can have. The shift of sovereignty from the government to people in what is widely known as democracy was an illustration of Foucault’s idea of transformation of power. This transition has witnessed the liberalization of citizens through limitations of powers vested in the government and strengthening thesovereigntyof people. Elements of authority as defined by Foucault is also evident in the country’s system of governance as the federal government is given the power to exerci se authority over citizens as well as authority to check on its systems (Sidlow andHenschen 37). Conclusion The history of sexuality as written by Foucault expressed characteristics of power that were witnessed in the society. These aspects of power such as sovereignty are basically experienced in the American government system with a transition to sovereignty of the people.Advertising Looking for essay on anthropology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hurley, Robert. The history of sexuality: an introduction. Foucault, 2003.Web. https://cla.umn.edu/comm-studies Sidlow, Edward andHenschen, Beth.America at odds. New York: NY: Cengage Learning, 2005. Web. Michel Foucault: the history of sexuality. Web, n.d. May 2, 2011. http://web.utk.edu/~misty/AndersonFouc.html

Strategic analysis Kodak Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic analysis Kodak - Essay Example Success in modern world requires constant innovation and change - things most of the organisation are not known very well. This environment changes so rapidly that even the best idea can fade fast. Perhaps this is the reason that environment is so important to an organisation. The external environment of Kodak is complex. As Kodak is focusing on imaging business, this market is the vital market for it. In digital age, more and more activities are related to digital means, same as more and more business are derived from digital technologies. Digital trend, indeed, represents a long-term threat to Kodak's core business - silver print. Although experts disagree over how long it will take for digital imaging to start shrinking the worldwide traditional imaging market, that day is surely coming. According to Lyra Research, a market research company in US, the worldwide film sales will grow only 1% annually through 2003 and slowly shrink after that, whilst digital imaging business will expand 20% annually in next five years (Kodak internal marketing article, 2001). One way to consider the competitive position of Kodak is by means of the Directional Policy Matrix (Thompdon, L. J. 1993: 470). ... a. Analysis of External Environment Success in modern world requires constant innovation and change - things most of the organisation are not known very well. This environment changes so rapidly that even the best idea can fade fast. Perhaps this is the reason that environment is so important to an organisation. Competitive Environment of Kodak The external environment of Kodak is complex. As Kodak is focusing on imaging business, this market is the vital market for it. In digital age, more and more activities are related to digital means, same as more and more business are derived from digital technologies. Digital trend, indeed, represents a long-term threat to Kodak's core business - silver print. Although experts disagree over how long it will take for digital imaging to start shrinking the worldwide traditional imaging market, that day is surely coming. According to Lyra Research, a market research company in US, the worldwide film sales will grow only 1% annually through 2003 and slowly shrink after that, whilst digital imaging business will expand 20% annually in next five years (Kodak internal marketing article, 2001). Introduction of Directional Policy Matrix One way to consider the competitive position of Kodak is by means of the Directional Policy Matrix (Thompdon, L. J. 1993: 470). This matrix is constructed above two axes: the Industry Attractiveness in horizontal axis and the organisation's competitive position in vertical axis. By evaluating relevant factors of these two dimensions we can place appropriate positions for discussed organisation. Traditional Imaging Digital Imaging Industry Attractiveness Market Growth Low High Supplier

Bacteriology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bacteriology - Case Study Example difficile microorganisms. The selected methods must be affordable for the organisation undertaking the testing. Since the different methods require different testing durations, the number of samples and the time results expected also determine the testing methods to be utilised (DuPont 2011). To ensure that all these factors have been met, optional methods can be utilised either singly or by combining two methods. The best option for testing would be combining Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) assay with enzyme immune-assay (EIA). The combination of these methods would enhance the limitations experienced by each method and increase the reliability of results. Samples would be prepared and each sample tested using both methods, and results recorded separately. A comparison of the results would then be undertaken to establish the various attributes being analysed by the results. The GDH method has been identified as having high sensitivity, but very poor specificity. The method can, therefore, accurately rule out the presence of clostridium difficile, but cannot ascertain the presence of the microbes (Goldenberg et al. 2010). The method rarely produces a negative for samples labelled true-positive using the EIA testing method. In most testing processes, GDH produces 100% specificity result because of the lack of false positive result, from the testing. The combination of these methods would enhance findings since GDH produces high sensitivity, and EIA produces relatively high specificity. Combining these methods, therefore, presents researchers with a capacity to have reliable results from the laboratory testing of clostridium difficile. GDH accurately tests the presence of enzymes produced by these microorganisms, but cannot ascertain the presence of C. difficile since similar enzymes are produced by other bacteria (Eastwood et al. 2009). The method can, therefore, rule out the presence of the microbial

Compassion Fatigue Related to Oncology Nursing Research Paper

Compassion Fatigue Related to Oncology Nursing - Research Paper Example The state of the patients affects the nurses directly by making them have mood swings. This happens due to the fact that the nurses tend to empathize humanly with the patients and lose focus on mainstreaming and creating a barrier not to affect their emotions. This condition that arises due to care given to the patients is referred to as compassion fatigue. There are other conditions that arises due to provision of care like burnout, these can be successfully be distinguished from compassion fatigue. The entire nursing profession is faced with rapid exponential increase in case of compassion fatigue due to increased number of population that demands health care and the limited number of the nurses to provide the care. This paper analyzes compassion fatigue and other related concepts. Oncology is the study of the causes, development and the occurrence of cancers coupled with treatments and mitigation of the cancerous cells. Cancer is one of the most devastating medical conditions in the contemporary world and the prevalence and incidence of cancer has been on the rife for the last couple of years (Bissett 56). In 1995, another person Figley proposed another definition of what compassion fatigue implies, he advanced that the definition of compassion fatigue is ‘the cost of caring’ (FIgley 154). ... Benign cancers are those which are restricted to one part of the body and do not spread to other types of the body. These types of cancers are easy to treat and can be mitigated easily. On the other hand, the malignant cancers are the most lethal and have the tendency of spreading to other parts of the body. This is the lethal types of cancer which poses the greatest danger to the human life (Henke, Barrie, and Thomas 111). The aim of this paper then is to relate the fate of the nurses who are care providers of these patients and are at the risk of developing emotional breakdown which may impact negatively on their lives, otherwise known as compassion fatigue. The sense of compassion fatigue is then dissected in relation to the position of the nurses in light of their duties. Definition of compassionate fatigue The term compassionate fatigue first came into the public limelight in 1992 when Joinson in a nursing article that he published. In the article Joinson described compassion fa tigue as the condition in which nurses experience a change in their feeling and instead developed a sense of helplessness and emotional changes as a result of witnessing their patient going through a series of devastating conditions of illness and trauma (Bissett 194). In 1995, another person Figley proposed another definition of what compassion fatigue implies, he advanced that the definition of compassion fatigue is ‘the cost of caring’ (FIgley 154). It is therefore imperative that the concept of compassionate fatigue be conceived well in its context by the nurses so that they may not lose focus on their roles as professional nurses at a time that patients are in dire need of their services.

Communicating within the Learning Disabilities | Reflection

Communicating within the Learning Disabilities | Reflection

Building Classroom Discipline Essay -- Education School Classroom Teac

In the past few years it seems that schools have really lost touch with the discipline of students. With the increasing frequency of school shootings and acts of violence it seems that the students are running the show instead of the teachers and administrators. There are many factors that are involved in creating a great classroom or a horrible classroom. From the way the teachers punish misbehaving students or the way they reward them when they do something right, to how involved the parents are with their children's education. The purpose of this paper is to explain how classroom management, when used effectively by the teacher, can produce an excellent learning environment for students. According to C.M. Charles, the author of "Building Classroom Discipline," the definition of discipline is, "what teachers do to help students behave acceptably in school (1999,p3)." Discipline is associated to misbehavior, wherever misbehavior is found, and discipline is needed. The main goals of discipline are to prevent, suppress and redirect misbehavior. Students can also be cruel and disruptive, which can deny the purpose of learning in the classroom. Another goal of discipline is to help students control their own behavior in and outside the classroom (Charles, 1999). My own definition of discipline is using any means necessary to keep a classroom organized, productive and accessible for learning. Discipline is necessary in a classroom, to give students an opportunity to learn to there fullest. Without discipline, the classroom would be a place where teachers could not perform their job but a place for them to baby-sit misbehaved children. Teacher quality is the most important issue when dealing with how effective a classroom will ... ...dents have the ability to learn to their fullest potential. When the environment is not controlled it is not a healthy place for kids to learn, it seems more like a day care while parents are at work. Another is having a relationship outside the classroom with students. Being involved in their life both academically and personally increases the trust and respect from a student toward the teacher. Most students go through stages as they become older. If there are misbehaved students it is important to remember that it is common to find students that are rebels. It is important to work with the students instead of just giving them to someone else to deal with. They are just looking for some attention and they want people to notice them and like them. If a teacher follows some of the thing mentioned earlier, they it will create a healthy, happy and vigorous classroom.

The Role of Strategic Groups in Understanding Strategic Human Resource Management

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0048-3486. htm The role of strategic groups in understanding strategic human resource management Judie M. Gannon Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK The role of strategic groups 513 Liz Doherty Business School, Shef? eld Hallam University, Shef? eld, UK, and Angela Roper School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK AbstractPurpose – This article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies’ attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be enhanced by insights into the concept of strategic groups within industries. Based within the international hotel industry, this study identi? es how strategic groups emerge in the analysis of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds light on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the focus on ? rm and industry level analyses.Design/methodology/approach – Senior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of company documentation complementing the interviews. Findings – The ? ndings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies used to develop hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel industry. The value of understanding industry structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis are apparent where speci? industries place occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies can adopt. Research limitations/implications – This study indicates that further research on strategic groups will enhance the theoretical underst anding of strategic human resource management and speci? cally the forces that act to constrain the achievement of competitive advantage through human resources. A limitation of this study is the dependence on the human resource divisions’ perspectives on realising international expansion ambitions in the hotel industry.Practical implications – This study has implications for companies’ engagement with their executives’ perceptions of opportunities and threats, and suggests companies will struggle to achieve competitive advantage where such perceptions are consistent with their competitors. Originality/value – Developments in strategic human resource management have relied on the conceptual and theoretical developments in strategic management, however, an understanding of the impact of strategic groups and their shaping of SHRM has not been previously explored.Keywords Strategic groups, Strategic human resources, Strategic human resource management , International human resource management, Hotel and catering industry, International business Paper type Research paper The authors would like to express their thanks to the organisations who participated in the research and the reviewers and Editors who provided insightful and excellent feedback on early drafts. Personnel Review Vol. 41 No. 4, 2012 pp. 513-546 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0048-3486 DOI 10. 1108/00483481211229401 PR 41,4 14 Introduction Most developments in strategic human resource management (SHRM) and international human resource management (IHRM) have drawn heavily on the strategic management literature (Becker and Huselid, 2006; Schuler and Jackson, 2007). Some of the earliest models associated with SHRM (such as Fombrun et al. , 1984; Beer et al. , 1984; Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986 and Guest’s (1989) model) provide insights into how leading HRM thinkers have approached the strategic dimensions of HRM. Such insights have focused on the links or ? be tween strategy and HRM, environmental analyses as the basis for strategic management informing (and in some cases informed by) HRM, and borrowing concepts and theories with their origins in the strategic management literature, such as organisational and product life cycles, and competitive strategies (Schuler and Jackson, 1987; Sanz-Valle et al. , 1999; Miles and Snow, 1984). Despite the advances made in both areas there has been minimal consideration of the ways that strategic groups, not only industries and ? rms, in? ence HRM strategies and practices in the pursuit of competitive advantage (Boxall, 2003). Strategic group research identi? es how groups of ? rms engage in similar strategies in order to compete effectively within industries and shape industry structure and competition. Panagiotou (2006 p. 440) de? nes strategic groups as: [. . . ] those groups of ? rms within an industry, which are characterised by similarities in their structure and competitive beliefs as well as t heir tendency to follow similar strategies along key strategic dimensions in a speci? operating environment. The performance differences between strategic groups are the focus for much of this research, but mobility between groups and the structural dimensions of industries have also received attention (Ferguson et al. , 2000; Leask and Parker, 2006; Porter, 1980; Reger and Huff, 1993). As such strategic group research has developed as a central research theme in strategic management. One of the most notable aspects of strategic groups research is that it highlights and reinforces the importance of particular industry contexts.This is an important consideration for the development of SHRM research as there is now growing recognition of the value of industry and sector speci? c SHRM research where the nuances and structural dimensions of industries are emphasized (Boselie et al. , 2009; Paauwe, 2008; Paauwe and Boselie, 2008; Tyson and Parry, 2008). The aim of this study is to explor e how the strategic group concept can inform SHRM approaches. Speci? cally it sets out to identify how strategic groups can help us understand why companies struggle to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.This aim is achieved by initially investigating the strategic group literature and evaluating where it adds insight and value to the SHRM approaches literature. Thereafter the ? ndings from an in-depth empirical study of the HRM practices and strategies deployed across a global industry are used to highlight the role of strategic groups in constraining companies’ capacities to differentiate their SHRM approaches and practices. Accordingly this article also satis? s the demand for more sector led SHRM research (Paauwe, 2008; Paauwe and Boselie, 2008; Tyson and Parry, 2008). This article unfolds as follows. Initially an evaluation of the strategic group literature is provided followed by an analysis of the contemporary debates in SHRM (Boxall and Purcell, 2000, 2003, 200 8; Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003). The limitations of the SHRM literature are re? ected on in light of the strategic group literature and the potential contribution this ? eld towards a more nuanced understanding of SIHRM approaches and practices.The research design for the study is subsequently outlined alongside an overview of the context of the research, the global hotel sector. The qualitative data analysis is then considered with the HRM practices and approaches which are found to be common across the whole industry, similar across particular strategic groups and distinctive to speci? c companies explored sequentially. The implications of these various layers of HRM practices and strategies, and speci? cally the strategic group dimension, are then discussed in relation to the extant research. Of speci? c note is the way such ? dings reinforce the challenges companies face when pursuing competitive advantage through human resources and how the national, industry and strategic grou p pressures for assimilation limit opportunities to develop idiosyncratic and integrated HRM interventions and strategic human resources. Literature review: building bridges between strategic groups and SHRM approaches Strategic groups The strategic group concept emerged within strategic management as an attempt to better understand the competitive backdrop and demands faced by companies operating in an industry (McGee et al. 1995; Porter, 1980; Short et al. , 2007). Strategic management analysis has typically taken place at the level of the ? rm and the industry, and has omitted the interface of ? rm and industry competitor behaviour. Originating from the broader ? eld of industrial organization economics in the 1970s, strategic groups were identi? ed as clusters of companies within industries (Porter, 1980). Such divisions arise because industries are not collections of heterogeneous companies but subsets of ? ms separated by mobility barriers limiting movement between groups (Fer guson et al. , 2000; McGee et al. , 1995). Strategic group research has facilitated a better understanding of how group structure can shape rivalry and ultimately performance, as well as group identities and reputations. It has also illustrated how strategic group reputations serve to reinforce mobility barriers to other industry competitors (Dranove et al. , 1998; Ferguson et al. , 2000; Leask and Parker, 2006; Peteraf and Shanley, 1997).The analysis of the business environment as an objective reality, achieved classically through cluster or factor analysis of company data (Reger and Huff, 1993), drives most investigations in this area. However, Panagiotou (2006, p. 441) summarises the problems of this prescriptive approach as leading to: [. . . ] a preoccupation by managers that strategic management is all about prescribing strategies for positioning a business in a particular industry structure, having ? rst carried out a thorough economic analysis based on the implicit notion th at industry structures are relatively stable and easily identi? ble. The role of strategic groups 515 More recently a cognitive approach to strategic group research has emerged based on the argument that managers’ simpli? cation of their complex competitive environments and perceptions of similarities and differences among their rivals will shape strategic decision-making (Panagiotou, 2006, 2007; Reger and Huff, 1993). Such managerial insights into competitive groupings offer clearer conceptions of the way decision-makers perceive their own organisations and their rivals and therefore how these determine and implement strategies.These arguments suggest that strategists’ PR 41,4 516 understand (and approach) their competitive environments in similar ways, and are related to the ideas of institutional assimilation and isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Powell and DiMaggio, 1991). Therefore, the capacity of ? rms to pursue distinctive practices for competitive advant age may be limited by constraints, such as organisational inertia and forms of isomorphism (Reger and Huff, 1993; Boon et al. , 2009). Strategic groups are then another important aspect of the structural dimensions which foster this organisational sluggishness.These are critical insights where the pursuit of competitive advantage through human resources, HRM practices and strategies has gained substantial support in recent years (Becker and Huselid, 2006; Boxall, 2003). However, this quest for distinctive or idiosyncratic HRM practices and strategies to attain competitive advantage needs to be resolved against the pressures to conform and achieve social legitimacy within sectors. The next section evaluates the contemporary SHRM approaches and highlights where the strategic group literature contributes to their enhanced understanding.The strategic HRM approaches Three main SHRM approaches have emerged as the keystone for understanding and achieving sustained corporate success through human resources (Purcell, 1999, 2001; Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). While the opportunities for simultaneously enacting these approaches are now well-rehearsed it is useful to revisit them brie? y as part of developing the theoretical connection with the strategic group literature. The best practice SHRM approach encourages companies to adopt sophisticated or â€Å"high performance† practices across their human resources in order to achieve competitive advantage (Pfeffer, 1998; Huselid, 1995).Considerable criticism of the best practice SHRM approach occurs in relation to what actually represents â€Å"sophisticated† HRM practices and the empirical basis on which these practices are suggested (Marchington and Grugulis, 2000; Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Furthermore, the conventional best practice SHRM approach suggests that these superior HRM practices should be adopted regardless of different industrial and national boundaries (Marchington and Grugulis, 2000; B oxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008).Recent evaluations of the â€Å"best practice† SHRM approach have emerged recognising that within industries there may be certain HRM practices and approaches which are obligatory (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). The â€Å"table stake† concept suggests there are established (HRM) practices adopted by all businesses in an industry which serve to legitimise their position in that industry. This concept has thus been recognised as an adaptation of the â€Å"best practice† SHRM approach (Boon et al. , 2009; Bjorkman, 2006; Boxall and Purcell, 2003; Paauwe and Boselie, 2003).The â€Å"table stake† version of best practice SHRM approach is based on the institutional assimilation literature where organisations struggle to distinguish themselves from their industry associates while simultaneously achieving legitimacy (institutional ? t) in their sector (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Powell and DiMaggio, 1991; Oliver, 1997). Isomorphis m is the process which constrains organisations’ attempts to differentiate themselves within the same institutional context (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).Isomorphism emerges in two broad variations; competitive isomorphism where market pressures and performance targets are emphasised and institutional isomorphism where institutional factors associated with socio-cultural, technological and economic parameters are highlighted. The adoption of best practice SHRM approach across an international setting has also been roundly critiqued (Brewster, 1999, 2006; Sparrow et al. , 2004) due to the ingrained national institutional and cultural conventions, which are seen to regulate the value of various high performance HRM practices in other countries (Brewster, 1991, 2006; Sorge, 2004).However, this does not mean that across a country all industries have the same HRM practices. Much of the IHRM literature could be seen as disproportionately focused on the parent and host country culture s and systems in light of the evidence on SHRM approaches and practices in hospitals, local government and hotels (Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003). Such studies indicate that institutional and competitive isomorphisms differ across industry contexts creating distinct table stake HRM practices in different industries within the same country (Boon et al. , 2009; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).Furthermore, such evidence recognizes that national institutional dimensions may have less of an impact than competitive institutional dimensions on some industries and their resulting people management practices. This level of industry interplay on the best practice approach is valuable but in light of the strategic group insights it is clear that companies do not compete directly with every other company in their industry. Instead they are likely to have particularly close rivals whose practices, products, managers, innovations and initiatives will be of speci? interest to them (Panagiotou, 2006; Pete raf and Shanley, 1997). As such there may be another layer of consistency and similarity in HRM practices due to the close rivalry of strategic groups, in addition to those identi? ed by the â€Å"table stake† version of the best practice SHRM approach across an industry. The â€Å"best-? t† SHRM approach suggests a ? rm’s market position and strategies drive and shape its HRM policies and practices. Within the â€Å"best ? t† SHRM approach a range of theories have emerged from those that more simplistically link speci? strategy choices to HRM practices and policies (Delery and Doty, 1996; Miles and Snow, 1984; Schuler and Jackson, 1987) to more complex models (Fombrun et al. , 1984; Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986) which envision a range of corporate characteristics (strategies, positions, portfolio characteristics) determining people management practices. Within the IHRM area, much of the research has also focused on the in? uential nature of national differ ences as well as strategic models (Perlmutter, 1969; Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, 2000; Edwards et al. , 1996).For example: the models of international orientation (Perlmutter, 1969; Heenan and Perlmutter, 1979); product life-cycle phases (Adler and Ghadar, 1990); and international responsiveness versus integration (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, 2000; Edwards et al. , 1996) are all based on strategic choice arguments derived from the strategic management ? eld. The main thrust of the strategic dimension to IHRM has revolved around the question of whether HRM practices are determined by corporate or business strategies and customised or standardised across national boundaries with many authors providing detailed analyses of the contingency of speci? factors (Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003; Coller and Marginson, 1998; Easterby-Smith et al. , 1995; Ferner, 1994, 1997; Ferner and Quintanilla, 1998; Hannon et al. , 1995; Newman and Nollen, 1996; Rosenzweig and Nohria, 1994; Rosenzweig, 2006; T hompson et al. , 1998). The weaknesses of the â€Å"best ? t† SHRM approach are its distorted attention on the external context as determining strategies and practices based on market positioning, cultural and institutional factors; and its inability to secure competitive advantage where several companies within the same sector pursue similar strategies and marketThe role of strategic groups 517 PR 41,4 518 positions (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008; Kamoche, 2001; Wright and Snell, 1998). Such criticisms are similar to those voiced by contemporary strategic management researchers on the objective and prescriptive versions of strategic management being the primary in? uence on strategic thinking and decision-making at the expense of managers’ and executives perceptions of positions and rivalries (Reger and Huff, 1993).Indeed Panagiotou’s (2006, 2007) research on executives’ perceptions, as opposed to the economic analysis of the competitive terrains, compe titor strategies and industry dynamics shaping strategic groups, highlights that executives whose ? rms belong to the same strategic groups react to events and market factors in similar ways. This suggests, that not only are companies constrained by the suggested strategies and market positions they develop, but that there are limitations to the options they can take to distinguish themselves because of the added level of similarity strategic groups create.Finally, the resource based view (RBV) SHRM approach has been proffered as an alternative to the best practice and best-? t approaches due its internal focus based on creating competitive advantage through the leverage of valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable and rent achieving (human) resources (Morris et al. , 2006; Wright et al. , 1994, 2004). The empirical research supporting the RBV SHRM approach (Boxall and Steeneveld, 1999; Leonard-Barton, 1995; Marchington et al. , 2003) clearly highlights that human resources can ful? l the criteria of resources which deliver competitive advantage.The most valuable human resources are those identi? ed as the â€Å"strategic human resources† or â€Å"rainmakers† who ful? l the RBV criteria of adding exponential supplementary value to companies. By developing HRM practices, which are idiosyncratic and interdependent, the RBV approach argues that companies can capitalise on their proprietary knowledge and transfer it creatively and effectively across its workforce. Several authors (Bonache and Fernandez, 1999; Harvey et al. , 1999, 2000; Taylor et al. , 1996) have adopted this approach and identi? d that capitalising on internal resources to achieve competitive advantage is quite different from the best-? t SHRM approach because it surmounts the external views of the best-? t approach. This view is neatly outlined in the frustrations of Cappelli and Singh (1992 in Wright et al. , 2004 p. 11): [. . . ] many within strategy have implicitly assumed t hat it is easier to rearrange complementary assets/resources given a choice of strategy than it is to rearrange strategy given a set of assets/resources, even though the empirical research seems to imply the opposite.The RBV SHRM approach offers speci? c insights into the value of internal resources in securing successful international operations (Bonache and Fernandez, 1999; Harvey et al. , 2000). Speci? cally particular groups of human resources are seen to have an honoured position within companies where they transfer tacit knowledge to new markets and provide sustainable competitive advantage (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Scullion and Starkey, 2000). Taylor et al. ’s (1996) study used the RBV approach to identify the critical role of HRM competence within international ? ms, the part senior management play in identifying the company’s potential to develop HRM competence and the different groups of human resources who constitute ? rm strategic human resources. However, the weaknesses of this SHRM approach are its omission to clearly depict the interplay between internal resources and environmental factors, and the recurring evidence that ? rms struggle with the challenges of their competitive sector to achieve distinctiveness and success through their human resources and HRM practices (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Once again the strategic groups literature provides speci? insights here in querying whether the pursuit of competitive advantage through the leveraging of the ? rm’s distinctive resources is restrained by the in? uence of their closest strategic group (Panagiotou, 2006, 2007). Clearly each of the SHRM approaches (table stake best practice, best-? t and RBV) have some resonance and these perspectives are summarised in Table I in terms of their initial focus and the levels of context where their attention is directed. There is an overall tendency across the SHRM literature for tensions, contradictions and imbalance (Boselie et al. 2009) as evidenced in the overly prescriptive best practice approach, the highly contingent best ? t approach (focusing on speci? c market or national context factors) and the RBV’s spotlight on the internal resources of the organisation. Individual adoption of these approaches is unlikely to provide a meaningful depiction of how companies might pursue competitive advantage via their human resources or HRM practices. Instead it is argued that companies can use a combined and simultaneous version of the three SHRM approaches in an attempt to balance the external and internal perspectives adopted by the best-? and RBV approaches, while also recognising the important in? uence industry isomorphism (table stakes) has on the creation of a set of HRM practices (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Even where such a combined and simultaneous model of SHRM has been advocated (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008) there appears insuf? cient understanding of, and insight into, the industry or sectoral level of analysis (Boselie et al. , 2009; Boxall, 2003; Paauwe, 2008; Paauwe and Boselie, 2008). By exploring SHRM practices and approaches across an industry, rather than across speci? national or company contexts, a better understanding of the internal and external challenges faced by competing organisations to achieving distinctive HRM strategies and practices becomes manifest. Alongside this evaluation of the SHRM approaches, the strategic groups literature highlights that these clusters of close rivals may compound the SIHRM approaches Primary focus Level Company/? rm The role of strategic groups 519 Resource based view (RBV) Competitive advantage achieved through developing resources Internal which are Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutable and Rent achieving Best ? Based on crafting HRM practices tied to strategic management External models – typically through strategic analyses tools of market position Based on aligning HRM practices to different in ternational and domestic cultural and institutional contexts and company demand for standardisation Best practice Originally identi? ed as sophisticated practices capable of External achieving competitive advantage Now associated with HRM practices which are â€Å"table stakes† essential for operating with social legitimacy within an industry Competitive market National contexts and competitive market Industry Table I.The initial focus of SIHRM approaches PR 41,4 challenges ? rms already face in realising differentiation through their human resources and HRM practices. Indeed where industry analyses highlight the importance of conformance of industry members, to particular HRM practices and systems, strategic groups suggest another layer of orthodoxy among closest rivals which limit the pursuit of distinctive competitive advantage by ? rms. Research design Analysis of strategic groups requires an industry focus and this research was undertaken within the context of the intern ational hotel sector.This sector has been identi? ed as international by nature (Litteljohn, 2003; Litteljohn et al. , 2007) with companies achieving growth through a range of market entry modes, typically engaging with different equity partners (Whitla et al. , 2007). Managing portfolios of hotels with diverse ownership arrangements (such as the asset light options of management contracts, franchises and part equity agreements) has created challenges for international hotel companies (IHCs) (Beals, 2006; Eyster, 1997; Gannon et al. , 2010; Guilding, 2006).Traditionally hotel general managers (HGMs) have been seen as strategic human resources (Boxall and Steeneveld, 1999; Marchington et al. , 2003) responsible for creating pro? table hotel units through their leadership and operational expertise in the hotel industry (Forte, 1986; Kriegl, 2000; Ladkin and Juwaheer, 2000). However, the asset light market entry modes developed more recently as a result of IHC portfolio expansion have resulted in managers and executives experiencing different challenges and requiring enhanced skills sets.At the heart of this study was the aim to explore how IHCs have developed IHRM strategies and practices to manage their international managerial resources within the broader context of the sector’s competitive forces, growing industry concentration and in the presence of strategic groups (Curry et al. , 2001; Litteljohn, 1999; Roper, 1995). Any attempt to capture people management strategies and practices across an industry, as well as at the ? rm level, involves the adoption of a comprehensive sample of organisations. This study used an industry de? nition of global operations based on companies operating hotels across ? e out of the six economically viable continents, as a purposive sample technique (Saunders et al. , 2000). This research stage comprised substantial secondary data collection on the broader international hotel industry with information on service levels, ownership modes, brands, portfolios and geographical penetration and the information is captured in Table II. Only nine companies met these global criteria and eight of these nine companies granted access to their senior human resource executives (typically Vice Presidents of Human Resources) and administrative teams, and HR systems and materials.The ? eldwork interviews took place at the European corporate headquarters, regional of? ces and in hotel units for the eight companies. Interviews with the senior HR executives for each of the eight companies form the main part of the data. These interviews lasted around four hours on average. In addition, time was also spent with administrative teams, reading documentation and observing meetings. A checklist was developed to complement the interview questions and data, and to systemise the collection of company documentation, observations and interactions with the administrative teams (Robson, 2002).Documentation included HRM policies, pe rformance appraisal forms, training manuals, organisational charts, company communications, job descriptions, succession plans and demonstrations and hard copies of HR databases. The interview 520 International hotel companies Suggested strategy and methods of growth Differentiation strategies – based on the power of the company’s hotel brand name. Expansion in prime city centre and resort locations and the development of hotel clusters in countries or regions achieved through management contracts and joint ventures Various strategies deployed at the different market levels.Budget brands operate on a no frills strategy. International luxury properties follow a differentiation (premium price) strategy. One third of properties are owned and two-thirds are management contract arrangements. Growth through management contracting, franchising or marketing agreements and some ownership Focused differentiation strategy based on distinctive design and architectural features ass ociated with properties and attention to detail service style. Grows solely by securing management contract agreements with select investors Differentiation strategy based on developing modern and ef? ient ? rst class hotels. Growth achieved through management contracting, rather than ownership, and a global partnership with one of America’s largest international hotel corporations Operates at different market levels – particularly concerned with distinctiveness and value for money and therefore a broad hybrid strategy is identi? ed Mixed type of operation is used across portfolio; approximately 46 per cent owned, 21 per cent leased, 22. 5 per cent management contracts and 10. 5 per cent franchised (continued) 150 ? Prestige international brand National UK mid-market brand 48 Number of hotelsBrands Number of countries Anglo-American Premium Britbuyer 900 Nine brands at international and domestic levels: Upscale Mid market Budget 50 Contractman International 200 Four lu xury or upscale brands 35 Euroalliance One upscale brand 16 50 * Euromultigrow 2,500 ? Seventeen brands split into: Upscale and midscale Economy and budget Leisure hotels 73 521 The role of strategic groups Table II. Pro? les of global hotel companies in sample PR 41,4 522 International hotel companies 2,300 ? Five brands: two at mid market Prestige brand Budget brand Holiday resorts 63 FranchiseKing GlobalallianceUSBonusbranda 700 Seven brands Two at both mid market and budget levels Prestige brand Suites Holiday resorts Prestige brand Mid-market brand – North America 63 35 USmixedeconomy Note: a This company did not participate in the ? nal stages of the research Table II. Number of hotels Brands Number of countries Suggested strategy and methods of growth Hybrid strategy based on presence across a range of market sectors but competitively priced in each sector. Company documentation states the aim as â€Å"To be the preferred hotel system, hotel management company, and lo dging franchise in the world.To build on the strength of the FranchiseKing name utilising quality and consistency as the vehicle to enhance it’s perceived ‘value for money’ position in the middle market. † Focused differentiation strategy based on international exposure and expertise in the luxury hotel market. Growth through management contracting, franchising or marketing agreements and some ownership Deploys several strategies including a hybrid strategy for its domestic units and a differentiation (with premium price) strategy for most of its international properties at the prestige level.Growth through management contracting and franchising, with limited ownership Adopts a variety of strategies including a hybrid strategy for its domestic units and a differentiation (with premium price) strategy for most of its international properties. Growth through management contracting some ownership and franchising 190 Prestige brand Mid-market brand – Nor th America 70 460 transcripts, ? eldwork notes and documentation allowed cases to be written for each company which were sense-checked by industry informants and against the research team’s notes and observations.Access was granted to the eight companies on the basis of offering con? dentiality to participants and organisations. Each company was protected through the allocation of pseudonyms and all data and notes collected removed company names and trademarks to provide con? dentiality. This is in keeping with the widely acknowledged dif? culties of gaining access within this industry (Litteljohn et al. , 2007; Ropeter and Kleiner, 1997). The cases built on the interview transcripts, observations and company documentation data meant that ualitative analysis was achieved through the tools and computer aided techniques recommended by key authors (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Silverman, 1997, 1999). The process of initial coding identi? ed HRM practices, management criteria and co mpany strategies and characteristics. Descriptive coding was then used to highlight speci? c activities and relationships between HRM practices and approaches, and company characteristics. Further interpretive coding and analytic coding were highlighted through the themes presented by the respondents and the theoretical relationships arising from the data and initial coding (Silverman, 1997, 1999).Of particular importance were the themes of similar and distinctive HRM practices deployed by the companies, strategic groups and across the sample. Results Across the sample of eight IHCs evidence of common HRM interventions deployed included: a reliance on strong internal labour markets for unit management positions; training programmes with universal components; the use of performance appraisal as a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating human resources talent, the deployment of speci? c contractual agreements and conventions; the recurrent use of corporate communications channels; and speci? HRM responses to cultural and international challenges. The shared aims of these practices indicated that the IHCs were adopting the table stake version of the best practice SHRM approach across their international portfolios (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008; Boselie et al. , 2003, 2009). The next stage of data examination involved the identi? cation of company speci? c HRM practices based on the best ? t and RBV SHRM approaches. However, subsequent analysis of the qualitative data began to identify another layer of similar HRM interventions centred on the appearance of strategic groups within the sample.There appeared to be similarities between the companies based on strategic variables such as parent company ownership, the scope of the hotels organisations’ activities (levels of internationalisation, geographical coverage, and market segments); resource commitments (including size, brands and market entry modes); and centric and transnational orientations. As a resul t the sample was demarcated into three strategic groups. These are labelled the Multi-branders, Mixed Portfolio Purchasers and Prestige Operators.Table III summarises the strategic similarities and differences between the three groups and their IHC members. Patterns of HRM interventions across the three strategic groups are apparent from the data supplied by the executives, their teams and the documentation. These patterns focus around six areas: The role of strategic groups 523 PR 41,4 Similarities Differences 524 Table III. International hotel company strategic groups Strategic Group 1 – The Multi-branders (two companies) National cultural origins FranchiseKing and Parent companies – related horizontally Euromultigrow diversi? d Mid-market brand dominates in Large size – 2,000 ? hotels one company while distinct High levels of internationalisation but brands used for different market strong domestic base (French and USA) segments by other Multiple brands (luxu ry to budget) Dif? culties aligning parent company, brand One company uses more names and operations franchising Hybrid strategies Range of market entry modes Ethnocentric orientation Global organisation Strategic Group 2 – The Mixed Portfolio Purchasers (two companies) Britbuyer and Similar size (between 400 and 1,000 hotels) Diversi? ation of parent companies is different USmixedeconomy Mid-position in internationalisation index Strong domestic presence and distinctive One company has more international operations ownership/partial ownership of Range of market entry modes hotels Acquisitive growth of European prestige brands One company has much smaller Brands offered at similar market levels Challenges of aligning disparate domestic budget brand domestic interests and international portfolios, corporate strategies and new acquisitions Ethnocentric orientation but with some geocentric aspirations Multinational rganisation Strategic Group 3 – The Prestige Operators (f our companies) Two companies have separate Parent companies – related diversi? ed Anglo-American domestic operations Similar size (between 50 and 202 hotels) Premium Similar levels of low internationalisation Contractman Two companies have grown Focus on luxury, ? st class hotel market International through strategic partnerships (resort and business) Euroalliance Strategies broadly differentiation and Globalalliance One company uses a broader focused differentiation range of market entry modes Growth primarily through management contracting Broadly geocentric but with some aspects of ethnocentrism Transnational organisation (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) the levels where HRM is focused; different views about management skills and transferability across brands; how international and domestic operations function; extent of owner in? ence and cultural differences; how and where managerial talent is found; and where speci? c career interventions emerge. Table IV captures some of the co mments from interviews across these six levels and the three strategic groups. The HRM interventions and features developed by the three strategic groups are outlined in Table V along with the strategic variables which distinguish the groups. Strategic group 1: Multi-branders The sheer size and scale of their multi-branded operations indicated parallels between the HRM approaches taken by the Multi-branders (see comments in Tables IV and V).Both companies boasted a critical mass of hotels in key countries or regions of the world resulting in more localised recruitment and development approaches. For example, they operated â€Å"UK only† management training schemes and then speci? c recruitment initiatives tailored to educational systems, notably the French training and German apprenticeship schemes. The size of these two companies also meant they allowed their distinct brands to develop individually which had apparently resulted in some speci? brand HRM practices. Both compan ies recognised there were few opportunities for managers to transfer between the different brands leading to bottlenecks in internal labour markets, where some brands grew more quickly and offered extensive transfer and promotion possibilities. The Multi-branders had attempted to deal with these issues in slightly different ways, though both now had structures, enabling moves between managerial levels across brands to achieve some overall parity across their company.In one company (Euromultigrow) there was a guide to the different positions within each brand to encourage internal brand transfers of human resources. This guide was based on extensive negotiations with managers across the company’s brands, although parent country nationals (PCNs) dominated among these managers and the company’s University was responsible for the roll-out training for this guide. Franchiseking had developed a competency-based HRM system designed to identify common areas of expertise across its brands and as one HR executive identi? d all managers with line responsibilities had to attend and use this framework. The competencies were developed in accordance with a HRM consultant ? rm and used existing and future â€Å"high potential† managers across the company’s portfolio to identify appropriate behaviours of successful managers. Competencies were heavily in? uenced by the company’s existing management team comprising mainly PCNs. The company then ran a series of training sessions for its senior managers so the competencies formed the basis for all selection, performance appraisal, promotion and training decisions and activities.These attempts to closely manage their large portfolios of standardised brands across geographically disparate locations meant the Multi-branders adopted an ethnocentric orientation to internationalisation with PCNs dominant in subsidiary management positions, which runs somewhat counter to their critical mass of units and attempts to localise too. The Multi-branders commented less extensively, compared with the members of the other two strategic groups, on the level of interference from property owners where management contracts were used.They argued this was probably because their highly standardised brands, even at full-service levels, meant owners knew what to expect, and they did not attempt to interfere in the day-to-day management of hotels. The selection of managers for managed properties was also less troublesome for the Multi-branders. In most cases executives could appoint whomever they wanted and The role of strategic groups 525 PR 41,4 526 The levels of focus for HRM Table IV.Responses from HR executives from the strategic groups Multibranders â€Å"Our area, regional human resource executives run national versions of our company University training and recruitment programmes to ? t with national vocational education. † Assistant HR director for Euromultigrow EAME â€Å"We have a critical mass of hotels in certain countries and have built real presence so we need to adopt some of their practices as long as they ? t now with our competences. † Corporate Training and Development Director FranchiseKing â€Å"In France, Germany, the UK and the Benelux and Scandinavian countries, where we have critical mass, they have some ? xibility for recruitment and training. It has been a bit of a struggle with our acquisition of M to get this right, though. † Britbuyer HR EAME director â€Å"Some areas, with more hotels, have a little bit more autonomy than others and we have them do their own management recruitment and training, based on our head-of? ce materials. † Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"We run a graduate management programme to ensure we have our next crop of managers waiting in the wings. We also have an executive management programme which includes an MBA – both are designed to g et us the GMs of the future. Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance â€Å"Our graduate management programme is being revitalised for next year and we’ll be targeting the brightest from the hotel schools in Holland and Switzerland for EAME. All our graduates must have language skills and meet speci? c knowledge requirements. † Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs â€Å"I don’t think graduate management schemes per se work. Instead we recruit graduates, mainly from Switzerland and the Dutch schools, into real jobs and although they’re a hotel resource, we (headquarters) monitor their progress and target them with speci? courses to try and bring them on. † HR Vice President Euroalliance (continued) Multibranders â€Å"We had to respect what was there. The predominant national culture of the newly acquired company) meant that we had a lot of communicating and educating to do within our company and within theirs. We moved managers within (names the acquired company) between units to give them a fresh start and many of them are still with us. It worked out well really. † Regional HR director USmixedeconomy Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Views about management skills â€Å"No, not so many people transferred.It was and transferability across brands quite common between one brand and also quite common between (names two other company brands at the same market level) but not at all between the others. It was dif? cult, not good. Now we will have a stronger parent company from this new structure. † HR Vice President for Euromultigrow GMs skills needs â€Å"fall into four skill sets which†¦ one is managing myself based on the premise that if I can’t manage myself then I can’t really manage anybody else. Then managing others and then the third one is problem solving and decision making and the fourth one is pro-active achievement.Very dif? cult to measure, but the actu al achievement levels and the go for it and taking that extra risk, the entrepreneurial part. And then there is the languages and â€Å"We have been training them in the use of behavioural event interviewing to help them, â€Å"When we acquired company [M] there was cultural bit. † HR Vice President Euroalliance . . . to spot the competencies. This allows us a bit of a standoff basically because they to see where in the portfolio of brands they wanted to be acquired by somebody else†¦ It â€Å"It feels it is dif? ult to see where a young manager’s next move is in an international can move to† Corporate Training and didn’t help that the CEO of our company company without the right language skills Development Director FranchiseKing went ‘round their hotels saying ‘get rid of this’ or ‘do that’. Things have changed now, to allow widening of transfer options. †Anglo-American Premium Vice again. There’s more a ppreciation of what President of HRs [acquired company] does right on the international scene and we’re a lot more â€Å"There are core or critical parts to our open to learning from them.It’s now twobusiness; marketing and sales, managing way. † Britbuyer HR EAME director human resources, ? nancial management, creative decision –making and leadership. These need to be displayed across cultures across properties to make it as a GM. † Vice President HR Contractman International (continued) The role of strategic groups 527 Table IV. PR 41,4 528 How international and domestic operations function â€Å"For an international GM you need languages and international experience – that is why some managers from brands back home don’t make it. Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Table IV. Multibranders â€Å"Most of these potential GMs do tend still to be the same nationality as the company, but I don’t know why. We don’t necessarily want that, at all. † HR Vice President for Euromultigrow â€Å"All GMs are informed that the best way to read and become familiar with the (competency) guide is to read the English version ? rst – this is the authoritative version. † Corporate Training and Development Director FranchiseKing Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"Why the four different parts of the world?Well each one has some strengths. I mean that States you take marketing and very different human resources. Asia you still have the luxury of being able to have a lot of employees and a far bigger budget because costs are lower. Japan because the way, the mentality of the Japanese market and customer is different, and Europe to do same thing but with a very tight budget because costs are so high. † Vice President HR EAME Contractman International â€Å"Our domestic brand managers aren’t our international mangers. There is no transfer, well ok I can think of one or two. You need international experience which creates a bit of a catch 22 – because it is the old thing of ‘you can’t get the job without the experience and you can’t get the experience without the job’. † Britbuyer HR EAME director â€Å"A future GM must have worked outside his or her home country before they can be promoted to this level. It is important for managers to have language skills not only to help them operate in particular locations but also because there are far more career opportunities for those individuals who can demonstrate language pro? ciency. Transfers are then an important aspect of developing a career. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs (continued) Multibranders â€Å"Well most of the time, it depends on the case of course, most of the time, the shareholder of the hotel will be an investor but he will not be an operational actor. He is interested in the bottom line, not what goes on inside the hotel. † HR Vi ce President for Euromultigrow Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"Usually owners interview the three candidates we put forward for each GM position and invariably, well they select the candidate preferred by the company, though Vice Presidents often have to use some powers of persuasion. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs â€Å"We have to know our owners really well to give them the GMs they want and need. That’s a tough call when you’re growing so much. † Vice President HR Contractman International â€Å"Some owners are really dif? cult and have to be managed carefully. That’s where our Regional guys come in. Others are great and they are our business partners, with us for the long haul. â€Å" HR Vice President Euroalliance â€Å"Owners do have a lot of in? uence because if we give them somebody and they say ‘we don’t think this guy’s any good’, well!Although we could force them on them it isnâ⠂¬â„¢t a very sensible thing to do. So the owning company does have a big bearing on the GM slot. † Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance (continued) Extent of owner in? uence and cultural differences â€Å"We have owners, for example, . . . but we have owners who are very, very clear about the people who we are likely, or more often than not, we can’t employ. Usually it’s in terms of nationalities and colours, race and sexual preferences they don’t like.It is their hotel and if they say ‘I don’t want somebody with red hair’ then you don’t put somebody â€Å"Owner interference depends on our brands, with red hair in, it’s as simple as that. † Britbuyer HR EAME director the more exclusive the brand the more in? uence but mainly we propose people ‘this candidate has our ? rm support’. â€Å"The frequency of moves our managers Obviously the quality of the relationship make are also driven by how tightly an with the owner is very important and you owner wants to hang on to them.So we’re must respect their wishes pertaining to GMs constrained by hardship factors, and but it doesn’t cause us much trouble really. † owner’s predilections and preferences. † Vice President for HR FranchiseKing Regional HR director USmixedeconomy The role of strategic groups 529 Table IV. PR 41,4 530 How and where managerial talent is found Table IV. Multibranders â€Å"We have our area, regional human resource people help our GMs identify their managers who might one day make it, who have the potential to be GMs too. The area human resource people then run some courses and do the training we have developed through our company university. HR Vice President for Euromultigrow Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators â€Å"How do we manage our GMs? Well we include all managers here – well it’s a very integrated approach to career development , or management development and the annual appraisal and it all comes together with succession planning and the work we coordinate here (gestures to the corporate head-of? ce). † Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance â€Å"We’re [the executive team] in the hotels a lot, and the President was really great, yesterday he was saying ‘You know everybody whether you’re ? ance or business development or marketing, when you’re in the hotels and you spot people who are really good, notice it, you know get a note of the name, make sure that we’re also all talent spotting our own people. † HR Vice President Euroalliance â€Å"We must therefore nurture excellence in every one of our employees, especially our local nationals – the people who live in the countries where we operate hotels. † Vice President HR EAME Contractman International â€Å"At the Vice President and divisional director levels we’re always trav elling, listening to what are people are saying and telling them about what’s happening across the company.And spotting talent too. † Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs (continued) â€Å"I mean I am very conscious from this conversation we are not doing all we could to develop the next generation of GMs. It is partly because the number two position in some units has disappeared. So there aren’t enough opportunities for heads of departments to move on and develop their experience. We haven’t had a problem so far but as we increase (grow) we might be struggling for the right calibre of GMs in a â€Å"Some of our approach to identifying GM few years time. Britbuyer HR EAME potential is systematic, some is opportunistic. We’re trying to become more director systematic, through the new competencies process. We’ve recognised we have to have â€Å"You must realise that traditionally we have more local nationals and fewer expatriates. â €  consciously developed very good resident managers/EAMs (Executive Assistant Corporate Training and Development Managers) so when these individuals took Director FranchiseKing over their own units there was a very low risk of failure.Since our purchases and down-sizing, however, there are now some properties that no longer have a number 2 manager. Thus we have effectively stopped developing this ‘almost’ risk free human resource – it may cause us problems in the long term. † Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Multibranders â€Å"Our restructuring of brands and growth in franchising means we have to be clear about what managers do to make the hotels successful. Our company university is critical for training to our brands so all our managers know. † Assistant HR director for Euromultigrow EAME Potential GMs . . â€Å"It’s very intensive (the assessment centre) with personal counselling, tests to see where their stresses and strains are, and management skills across the board, running from 8 in the morning to 10 at night. It’s really very intensive and we have people â€Å"When we go outside, well we steal from the from across the world, with different â€Å"Performance of our business is crucial and competition and just rely on the grapevine or languages and cultures, the mix of people is seen to be the best element of these maybe on-spec applications.There’s some that is why so much investment and events. †Anglo-American Premium Vice development had been made in this area of use of executive search but that’s very President of HRs expensive. † Regional HR director competencies and performance management. There’s been a clear growth in USmixedeconomy â€Å"For the assessment centre a report is pro? ts since the competencies were ? rst written on them based on what we feel they developed. † Vice President for HR demonstrated, in the way they acted during FranchiseKing th e course.What is okay and the right way, what’s to be demonstrated and what’s to be discussed, where they feel they need development in, and from that we can more or less determine the time span its going to take so that they’ll be ready to be a GM, and what has to happen in-between so the individual development is planned. † Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance â€Å"In fact it is incredibly incestuous and people just seem to appear or materialise. We wouldn’t directly poach someone, well . . . , but if someone made it clear to us they’d be interested then we’d feel ? e about calling them up. † Britbuyer HR EAME director â€Å"They all go on a leadership development programme and I design and I teach those with a co-trainer, I like to see that I’m there with them for a full week and we run an assessment process with the leadership development programme. So they’re booked for tests and exercises ba sed on the four management skills areas and they have individual feedback during the brief to let them know how they’re doing. This sets them with an individual plan for the future. † HR Vice President EuroallianceMixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Where speci? c career interventions emerge The role of strategic groups 531 Table IV. PR 41,4 Strategic groups Strategic group variables HRM outcomes Brands and market segmentation Multi-branders Hard brands, serving several different market levels 532 Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Allows more localisation of management talent due to standardisation and clear criteria for operating brands Movement within and between brands facilitated to prevent career bottlenecks Some soft (international) and some Dif? ult to facilitate movement hard (domestic) brands between international brands due to recent purchases, no transfer between domestic and international brands due to skills mismatch Importance of comm unication to assimilate new acquisitions Softer brands Emphasis on transfers to develop managerial experience of different countries/markets, and types of hotels Encourages and facilitates employees at all levels to gain international experience Large diverse organisations, structured on the basis of brands and some geographical factors Critical mass of units in some locations Organised on International and domestic divisions.Slow assimilation of newly purchased international brand Some critical mass of units Companies have developed guides to articulate management positions and skills across brands Critical mass allows multi-unit UGMs and more local recruitment and selection activities Some local recruitment and selection, less development through strong internal labour market and more acquisition of management talent Critical mass allows more localisation of management talent but not co-ordinated effectively throughout the companies Regional of? es co-ordinate transfers and HRM pr actices but also learn from subsidiaries to pass experience, knowledge and expertise on across other regions. IT plays an important role here Across company recruitment and development schemes rather than localised versions. Provides single ports of entry at (sub) department management level to locals (continued) Structure and organisation Multi-branders Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige OperatorsSmaller portfolios organised on regional lines Limited critical mass of units Table V. The IHC strategic groups, their strategic variables and the HRM outcomes Strategic groups Centric orientation Multi-branders Strategic group variables Primarily ethnocentric HRM outcomes The role of strategic groups Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Highly standardised services seem to facilitate low reliance on PCNs at subsidiary level though they are prevalent at executive level Dif? ult to discern – bypassing of PCNs still mainly in place for acquired companies, some stages through acquisitions locations with HCNs (critical (McKiernan, 1992) mass) but dominated by Western nationals Aspiring geocentric Attempts to harness managerial talent from around the world regardless of nationality through co-ordinated and integrated HRM activities UGMs still primarily from Western (European and American) backgrounds, executives in particular 533 Methods of growth and market entry expertise Multi-branders Growth through hard brands and the development of suitable investors (master franchisees and owners)Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators UGMs have speci? c knowledge and skills in operating highly standardised hotel services and passing knowledge onto others (franchisees) HRM mechanisms de? ne performance and selection criteria for managers and employees Acquisition used alongside mixed UGMs are likely to have expertise methods of market entry (mainly in exploiting value from purchased properties management contracts) De-layering of organisational hierarchies (d isappearance of deputy UGM position) and local recruitment initiatives were seen to help realise returns on their acquisitions Managers demonstrate speci? Growth primarily through pro? ciency in managing more management contracting, some marketing agreements, and equity luxurious and culturally adapted hotels and their owners investment. Global but local More extensive and integrated outlook HRM interventions, which support extensive transfers and development opportunities, throughout human resources, not just managers Table V. PR 41,4 534 only in a few hotels or in speci? c countries and with speci? c types of owners (for example, governments) were there two or three managers presented to owners in a â€Å"beauty parade†.The Multi-branders were more concerned about the co-ordination of franchise operators and training and communication were seen to be vital mechanisms for managing these issues. These were the only companies who identi? ed mandatory training courses for manag ers and held speci? c courses that their franchise partners were obliged to attend. Constant travelling by corporate executives was seen to further reinforce company values and assist in harmonization between geographically disparate franchised, managed and owned units.Both companies showed evidence of strong similarities associated with managing their multi-branded, and multi-market entry strategies and large, diverse portfolios. Dividing their HRM interventions into areas or countries where there was a critical mass of units was appropriate given the scale of their operations. Strong values, often based on the origins of the company, ? were communicated through frequent communiques and training opportunities further reinforced the brand standards and achieved appropriate levels of corporate synergy in the face of competition from their smaller but potentially more nimble competitors.Strategic group 2: Mixed Portfolio Purchasers The Mixed Portfolio Purchasers had been through consi derable periods of change and growth prior to the researchers’ ? eldwork. In addition to acquiring smaller European hotel chains they had substantially expanded their domestic and international portfolios through other acquisitions and mixed market entry methods. Both had international and larger domestic sections which were managed almost completely separately, although