The Beginning Of The End For The Postal Monopoly Essays

The Beginning of the End for the Postal Monopoly The Beginning of the End for the Postal Monopoly The Postal Service has been a government agency since 1775, and since 1872 it has been illegal for anyone but government employees to deliver a letter. Because of this and many other reasons, the USPS is a prevalent example of a government-controlled monopoly. The United States Postal Service is the largest postal service in the world. With over 800,000 employees (778,171 being part-time lobbyists), it is the US's largest employer. In the past few years, the Postal Service's profits have risen and productivity has declined. This essay will discuss why this is happening, and look deeper into the government-controlled monster that is the Postal Service. In the 1980's, few scholars focused on the Postal Service, and today there are many. This is because of all of the controversial issues that have been discovered regarding it. The USPS handles over 43% of the world's mail volume, and Japan is in second with 6%. The USPS is also the largest airline shipper in the United States. The USPS delivers about 102 billion pieces of first class mail every year, and 20% of these letters arrive late. The average household gets 24 pieces of first-class mail every week, so almost 5 of these every week arrive late. In New York City in 1998, only 52% of the mail were delivered on time. Swimming champion Mary Meager had her parents send her the 2 gold medals that she won in the Olympics; the medals vanished when her parents sent them via USPS Express Mail. Why are these facts so appalling? Most of it can be blamed on the unproductive postal workers. Postal workers, who are considered unskilled, make over $35,000 a year, and that number keeps increasing. These are very high wages for an unskilled worker. The workers also waste a considerable amount of time. A survey by the Postal Inspection service discovered that the average letter carrier wasted 1 hours every day. Basically, 23% of all postal workers time is unproductive. A GAO study found that the average worker takes 50 days of paid leave every year. And sometimes, mail sent with the USPS doesn't even get delivered. There are numerous stories of Postal employees stealing mail. For instance, in Chicago, 2,300 lbs. of undelivered mail were discovered at a postal worker's home. Once in Rhode Island, 94,000 letters were found buried at a letter carrier's home. A Colorado carrier was arrested after 3 tons of undelivered mail was found at his home. These are just a few of the stories of the workers keeping mail as their own. And some undelivered mail isn't even because of employees stealing mail. During the 1970's, the CIA opened mail routinely. The reason behind this is because of the spying going on at this time between the U.S. and Russia, but this is still unnecessary. A Postal Inspection Service audit found properly addressed mail dumped in the trash at 76% of the Post Offices visited. This number is completely unnecessary and uncalled-for. At USPS headquarters, there are 11 members of the board and 50 economists, accountants, and lawyers on the commission. With all of these workers, you would think that the service wouldn't be having problems like this. The Postmaster General is the head of the service. The current Postmaster General is Marvin T. Runyon. Former Postmaster General William Henderson had this to say about the Postal monopoly: "...I believe that the Postal monopoly will not last forever." Hopefully, he is right. According to Henderson, one in every 200 letters is delayed or missorted. In 1970, the USPS created the Postal Reorganization Act, trying to be redeemed. This was when the service officially became the United States Postal Service. Before that, it was just the Post Office. This Act had limited accomplishments. When the service was losing vast amounts of money in 1979, there was talk of privatizing it, but nothing pulled through. Many people hope that the service would once again consider privatization. If the Postal Service did privatize, it would be the tenth largest company in the U.S. The USPS attempted reorganization again in 1983, and once more in 1993. Both attempted reorganizations failed miserably. The Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) codes were introduced 1990's; this code added 4 non-required digits, for 9 in all. Since 1958, the price of a postage stamp has increased in 1963. In the early by 825%, and in the last 20 years, that price has increased by 18 cents. On January 10, 1999, postage rates for non-profit organizations increased by

Crm Practises In The Indian Hotel Industry Tourism Essays

Crm Practises In The Indian Hotel Industry Tourism Essays Crm Practises In The Indian Hotel Industry Tourism Essay Crm Practises In The Indian Hotel Industry Tourism Essay Customer is the most of import individual for a concern. He is non an break to our work but the intent of it. He is non an foreigner ; he is a portion of it. We are non making him a favor ; he is making us a favor by giving us an chance to function him. ( By Mahatma Gandhi ) CRM includes all facets of interaction a company has with its client, whether it is, pre-sales, gross revenues or post-sales ( service related ) . Customer relationship direction ( CRM ) is a scheme that can assist them to construct durable relationships with their clients and increase their net incomes. The client demands can be categorized as: ( a ) Service ( B ) Monetary value ( degree Celsius ) Quality ( vitamin D ) Action and ( vitamin E ) Appreciation. ( By Raghunath A ; Shields 2001 ) CRM can take to cross-selling and up merchandising of merchandises and services. Cross-selling agencies selling the right merchandise to the right client. 1.2 Hospitality Industry Hospitality is all about offering heat to person who looks for aid at a strange or unfriendly topographic point. It refers to the procedure of having and entertaining a invitee with good will. Hospitality in the commercial context refers to the activity of hotels, eating houses, catering, hostel, resorts or nines who make a career of handling tourers. The cordial reception industry is a 3.5 trillion dollar service sector within the planetary economic system. It is an umbrella term for a wide assortment of service industries including, non limited to, hotels, nutrient service, casinos, and touristry. The cordial reception industry is really diverse and planetary. The industry is cyclical ; dictated by the fluctuations that occur with an economic system every twelvemonth. Today cordial reception sector is one of the fastest turning sectors in India. It is expected to turn at the rate of 8 % between 2009 and 2016. 1.3 Indian Hotel Industry Harmonizing to a study, Hotel Industry in India presently has supply of 110,000 suites and there is a deficit of 150,000 suites fuelling hotel room rates across India. Harmonizing to estimations demand is traveling to transcend supply by at least 100 % over the following 2 old ages. Five-star hotels in metro metropoliss allot same room, more than one time a twenty-four hours to different invitees, having about 24-hour rates from both invitees against 6-8 hours usage. Hotel rates in India are likely to lift by 25 % yearly and tenancy by 80 % , over the following two old ages. Hotel Industry in India is traveling to witness a roar with Delhi hosting 2010 Commonwealth Games. 2. Scope of the Study This survey aims to understand the stairss taken by the hotel industry to better their relationship with their clients. The survey would be limited to documenting the practises and plans followed by merely the taking participants in the hotel industry. The survey would analyze the stairss taken by the taking participants to heighten client keeping, client satisfaction, and client delectation which leads to constructing the trade name image in the heads of the clients and hence increased profitableness. 3. Aims of the Study To analyze Customer Relationship Management in the Hotel Industry . To analyze the plans and patterns of CRM employed by the taking hotels in India. To analyze the steps to construct a better relationship between the client and the cordial reception unit. To understand the new selling attacks in hotel industry. To analyze how CRM helps to retain clients. 4. Research Methodology The survey involves secondary research of the similar surveies done in past, hotel duty cards, magazines, newspapers, articles, and cyberspace and company records. The type of informations taken into consideration for this subject is the Secondary informations. This survey is descriptive in nature while it seeks to place the present scenario of the patterns being followed by the taking hotels in India for heightening client keeping, satisfaction and trueness. 5. Restrictions of the Study A · Due to the handiness of merely secondary informations, hallmark of the information is non certain. A · Since the hallmark of the information is non certain, the consequence of the undertaking may non be precise. 6. CRM and the Hotel Industry Hotel Industry is a service sector where there is a major function played by relationship selling. Several large organisations have failed to cognize what the client truly wants and several others, after cognizing, could non truly interpret these demands into rescue. Hotels exist for no other grounds than to run into client demands and outlooks. CRM is a concern scheme to choose and pull off the most valuable client relationships. In cordial reception, each client relationship has value and should be managed efficaciously. There is chance for redemption and recommendation from each past client. The disposal of the information about this past invitee and the effectual integrating of the information into frontline invitee services plans is the challenge of CRM execution. Two parts of CRM: The operational CRM trades with those which make client contacts or otherwise called as touch points. Analytic CRM does the occupation of analysing the accumulated information from the assorted touch points with the assistance of concern intelligence. Integration of Customer Information through CRM: The informations beginnings may include guest history, external invitee profiling systems, eating house nine plans, gross revenues and providing system information and other informations. 6.1 Customer profiling: Demographic and Psychographic information is collected and a big per centum of the client database is built. This is followed by the execution of effectual selling plans to pull similar clients to construct gross. 6.2 Direct selling: The use of the integrated client information for direct selling is the fruit of CRM attempt. Highly profitable offers can supply concern during slow periods. These offers can be communicated via mail or electronic mail. 6.3 Best customer/extraordinary service: It is true that the 20 % of clients contribute to 80 % of gross and therefore it becomes all the more of import to acquire the most profitable clients wholly satisfied. This involves really elaborate satisfaction analysis, combined with valid fiscal informations about each client all appended to the client database. It is the integrating of all the elements that cordial reception has to concentrate on: 1. Personally acknowledging clients ; 2. Offering appropriate value and great service to promote repetition concern ; 3. Sing that employee and guest satisfaction continues to better ; and 4. Beating the competition by offering a better merchandise, viing on the service experience instead than monetary value entirely. 7. Customer Relationship Management Software for the Hotel Industry Guest Ware is a alone Customer Relationship Management System ( CRMS ) designed specifically for the housing industry to supply individualized invitee acknowledgment and exceeding service quality. Leading hotel direction companies use Guest Ware to better guest satisfaction, lower operating costs, construct guest trueness, and increase revenues.Guest Ware is installed in over seven 100 hotels and resorts worldwide ; including Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels, Star wood and many independent hotels and resorts. Customer Acquisition is six times more dearly-won than Customer Retention. The undermentioned tools are provided by Guest Ware for Customer Retention. 7.1 Improvement Analysis Implement Process Improvement Industry studies show that invitees are less likely to return if they experience a job during their stay. Guest Ware s Improvement Analysis tools provides with the information to extinguish repeating jobs and maintain invitees coming back, so to take down operating costs and increase guest satisfaction at the same clip. ( Raghunath A ; Shields 2001 ) 7.2 Comment Card Tracking Listen to your Customers Customer study on eating house or an extended questionnaire of invitees, the GuestWare Comment Card Tracking system assists to pull off client feedback. Guest Ware improves productiveness in the follow-up procedure and supply valuable direction studies to maximise the benefits of studies. Develop comprehensive invitee profiles from reserve information and demonstrate to guests/customers that the belongings is in touch with their demands. Drive guest-centric informations down to the dealing degree, leting employees and guest-facing engineering to present greater value to the guest/customers. Generate a realistic profile on the disbursement and remain forms of invitees, leting the belongings to make guest-centric selling for increased trueness and disbursement. Examples: ITC Maurya Sheraton Field merchandising, Loyalty plans, Reservation systems, Web A ; Call centres are the major beginnings of database development. The hotel has 35,000 members in its database. They regard this direction of their database as an plus because it enables a superior client apprehension. Figure 1 GuestWare Enterprise Edition s Preference entry screen. Note Global Preferences denoted by ruddy G . The fast one is to acquire the relevant information in forepart of the line employees instead than maintaining it locked up in an offline analytical database or centralized system non available to hotel forces. An indispensable construct in discoursing guest acknowledgment is that of penchants. Capturing, retaining and doing effectual usage of expressed client penchants is the kernel of guest acknowledgment. The platform shops and communicates planetary or cosmopolitan penchants for the guest across all hotels in the company ( smoking or newspaper penchants, for illustration ) . Yet it besides supports the gaining control of local penchants, unique to the single belongings, so that a penchant of room off from snowmaking appears at the ski resort, but non the halfway metropolis belongings. 7.3 Using the Database: Product and service betterment is merely one consequence of tapping into a database. Developing particular publicities and using direct mail to advance these runs is another major usage of database selling. For illustration: A gross revenues squad of Mughal Sheraton, Agra had completed a reappraisal of an approaching weekend. This reappraisal revealed that engagements to day of the month were slightly below prognosis and that a particular publicity may be done in order to rush up the concern. The gross revenues squad so enveloped particular publicity packing to promote engagements for weekends. They searched their welcome interruption vacation bundle database and scratched it to place and section the clients who tend to: Book on long weekends Book on a short term footing Respond to promotional runs It is aggressive merchandising to the possible clients who have peculiar demands and wants. ( Sheth, 2002 ) 7.4 Database Mining The systems analysis tools allow users to profile their most profitable clients, analyze their purchasing wonts, develop amp ; measure the public presentation of targeted selling runs. The biggest advantage of database excavation is that it helps to concentrate the attempts and available resources into one way which is most profitable and out-base excavation helps to extinguish the non-profitable clients and hence reduces the costs and enhances the net incomes. The net incomes enhanced are non merely in pecuniary footings but besides in footings of client trueness and long term keeping. ( Rmana A ; Somayajulu, 2005 ) 7.5 Relationship Selling Relationship selling is cognizing the client and utilizing that information to bond with them. Form the initial personal contact and so function as the foundation for fostering this brief brush into a friendly and adjustment relationship by concentrating on personal invitee information. In add-on to cognizing the purchase wonts of members ( room choice, certain agreeableness penchants, and so forth ) , personal information such as partner s name and avocations are added to a member database. The company uses this information to orient particular events and merchandises to little sections of the rank. ( Swift, 2001 ) 7.6 Complaint Handling It is estimated that 90 per centum of disgruntled clients whose jobs were non solved will neer make concern with the retail merchants that sold them the merchandise nor will they once more buy the merchandise that caused the job. In instance of hotels customer/guest is more likely to exchange if the provided service is non satisfactory to their outlook. The amazing intelligence is that those people who do ailment and have their job taken attention of, be given to be more loyal to the company than the people who were satisfied in the first topographic point. First companies see ailments as chances to better, to affect clients and to turn kicking clients into loyal 1s. ( Schneider and Bowen, 1999 ) 7.6 Priority Selling Priority Marketing focuses on what s of import to the client. What is of import to one client nevertheless, may non be every bit of import to another. See the varying demand placed on a hotel: An air hose air hostess may happen the 24 hr room-service highly valuable, a retired twosome may necessitate dietetic bill of fare options, a tour jobber may prefer low monetary values, and a immature female executive considers a security a precedence. Hotels should interrupt down their services and ask clients what is of import to them. This attack can field really valuable penetration about altering client penchants. Identifying groups of clients who have similar penchants or even similar gustatory sensations ( such as sharing common perceptual experiences of quality or provinces ) , hotels can aim publicities to capitalise on known features and individualise the experience. 8. Some Hotels who excel in Customer Relationship Management 8.1 ITC WELCOME GROUP HOTELS ITC hotels stepped into the cordial reception industry in 1975 and are one of the most approaching hotel ironss in its category. They started their first hotel in Chennai and now they have 66 hotels across more than 50 finishs in India. ITC collaborated with Sheraton hotels, which is a portion of Starwood hotels and resorts and is a well-known planetary cordial reception concatenation. They were the first 1s to follow this sole logo which has non been thought or taken by anyone to fit this The Namaste-Nobody gives you India like we do . It is represented by four typical trade names functioning the demands of the travellers, viz. : ITC Hotels Super deluxe and premium hotels in strategic concern location. Welcome Hotels Five Star first category cordial reception for concern and leisure travellers. Fortune Hotels and Resorts Full service cordial reception at mid-level monetary values for concern travellers and leisure travellers. Welcome Heritage Palaces, garrisons, havelis, resorts and places that conveying alive the history and love affair of India s heritage. 8.2 THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS The Oberoi Group of Hotel has played a prima function in the growing of the hotel industry in India. Oberoi hotels today operate the largest concatenation of luxury hotels with 30 hotels in 9 states and are quickly spread outing into new finishs around the universe. In order to guarantee individualized attending to all invitees, anexclusive pantryman service has besides been introduced on all floors. The Oberoi has 8 floors with even numbered suites confronting towards the Golf Course ( pool side ) and uneven numbered suites confronting Humayun s Tomb ( monument side ) . Leisure Facilities: Health nine, Swiming pool, Delhi Golf Club installations. Particular services: Bank, Barber Shop, Shoe Shine, Beauty Parlor, Laundry, Drug Store, Flower Shop, Book Shop, Mercury Travels ( fining A ; auto hire ) , Executive Center ( Typing, Fax, Photostatting, Board room ) etc. Shops: Shoping Arcade located at the anteroom degree. 8.3 TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS Taj group of hotels is the largest concatenation in India- with several Hotels abroad besides. The parent Hotel-The Taj Mahal Hotel, Bombay is rated among the 10 best hotels in the universe. Taj has been runing in the USA, the UK, the Maldives, Oman and Srilanka and the Taj Empire continues to spread out farther. Today Taj has 50 Hotels of which 48 are operational, 38 finishs and is the largest Hotel concatenation in the state. Merely one hotel group knows India and South Asia so good, and does so with such masterful manner. The singularity of the Taj Group lies in the amount of its parts in supplying a living heritage of India, together with superb amenitiess and modern installations. All of these combine to do The Taj Experience a must. The Taj Club It is a known fact that a concern traveler is a much pampered individual indulged with amenitiess and comfortss unheard of even a decennary ago. However a longing has doubtless arisen for a particular privilege, an interior sanctum, an Exclusive Club. Born of desire, The Taj Group of Hotels offers the Taj nine which offers alone universe of installations and privileges, both indispensable and extraordinary. Business Centre It offers several utile installations 24-hrs a twenty-four hours, seven yearss a hebdomad. These include Facsimile, Internet, E-mail, Color photocopying and legal library, every bit good as laptops, metropolis beepers and nomadic phones on rental footing. Taj Palace Business Centre is designed to give the best to the concern community who do necessitate sophisticated communicating installations and other appliances to remain connected to the remainder of the universe while at the Hotel. With no hyperbole it could be said that the guest gets the best of best services and installations which are more than necessary for a modern concern adult male, and besides feel at place piece at work. The hotel calls this construct An office off from place . Other Services A ; Facilities: A · 24-hour room service A · Free safe sedimentation cabinets A · Express laundry/ prohibitionist cleansing A · Purified H2O supply A · Doctor-on-call A · Full-equipped Business Centre A · 24-hour fax/ teletypewriter installations. A · 3 Meeting suites A · Work station handiness A · Laptops on hire A · Secretarial service A · Knight Rider online service A · Currency Exchange A · Travel aid . Car hire service A · 24-hour Coffee Shop A · 6 Restaurants A ; Parallel barss A · Night Club A · 8 epicurean Banquet Rooms A · Shopping arcade A · Fitness Centre A · Agreements made for golf and tennis 9. CRM Practises at Some of the top Hotels: 9.1. ITC GROUP OF HOTELS ITC MAURYA SHERATON DEFINES CRM AS: Customer Relationship Management is a procedure of pull offing client dealingss in an organized manner . They aim at pull offing each Moment Of Truth that is experienced by the client. There are assorted contact points where the hotel comes in direct contact with the client which are known as Touch points in the CRM linguistic communication. These touch points are considered of import as there is direct interaction with the client and they provide valuable input to the hotel. The input provided by the client has to be captured in such a manner that it becomes information and can be used by assorted procedures within the hotel. This can be done with the aid of engineering and the purpose is that whenever there is a client interface with any of those procedures they are able to utilize that information in serving the invitee in a most efficient mode. ITC Maurya Sheraton has been following an unstructured signifier of CRM with a narrow focal point of functioning the client well and in a most efficient mode. The construct of Customer Relationship Management has a broader focal point of non merely functioning the client but besides making the client and retaining him for measurable and significant returns. CRM is a huge topic where the construct of one to one selling is supported by Database Marketing. CRM procedure at ITC Maurya Sheraton has been divided in 2 stairss: 1. Designation of all Customer Relationship direction vehicles 2. Integration of these Customer Relationship direction vehicles DATA CAPTURE VEHICLES Maurya Sheraton has identified 5 such vehicles ( from marketing point of position ) which are besides the touch points for the hotel in the procedure of pull offing its Customer Relationship. These vehicles are: Field merchandising Loyalty Plans Distribution Points Web Call Centers 9.1.1 Field Selling When a gross revenues group or a selling executive of the hotel makes a gross revenues call to a corporate, so it is called Field Selling. Field Selling includes Prospecting which means searching and seeking for new clients. Current Histories are one of the best beginnings to bring out new concern that is within these current histories, as they harbor many beginnings of untapped concern potency. They besides provide Leads and referrals. Leads are possible clients with whom no contact has yet been made and larning of possible clients from current clients is called Referral. 9.1.2 Loyalty Plans Second vehicle for CRM identified by Maurya Sheraton are the Loyalty Programs. These plans are designed to honor the loyal invitees of the hotel. Every clip a invitee cheques in the hotel at his every touch point or interface with the hotel, every clip he spends on a service provided by the hotel ( usage of Room, Restaurant, Laundry, Telephones etc. ) , the dealing is recorded at each single point and is added to the concluding measure presented to the invitee at the terminal of the stay. There are certain points attached to the figure of rupees spent by the invitee. Therefore higher the sum of the measure, the higher will be the figure of points attained by the invitee. These points are credited to the history of each invitee with the aid of engineering. These are called Loyalty points. These histories holding the trueness points are alone to every invitee. Therefore, whenever after the first clip that guest cheques into the hotels, the guest history besides affects the trueness points. The higher the figure of points, more loyal is the invitee. The points can be redeemed by the invitee for either free corsets at the hotel or free gifts as listed by the hotel or free repasts depending upon the figure of points accumulated. The aim of holding a trueness programme is non merely to do the guest feel rewarded for his stay but besides cross-sell other services which can be used by the invitee like wash, telephones, eating houses etc. and the gross generated from these could be earned by the hotel. Therefore, alternatively of loss of gross by supplying free stay, they really gain the gross every bit good as certain clients for life with the aid of the trueness. 9.1.3 Distribution Points/ Central Reservation System A client can merely do a call at the reserve Centre to do a engagement with the hotel. It sounds simple but it could acquire complex in instance he does non have the expected or the coveted response. The information sing all guest reserves is managed through computing machine package, hence, when a client brand calls to question about a reserve, all his hotel usage history pops up in the system which gives a opportunity to the executive at the reserves to immediately acknowledge the client and reference him by his name. This minute of truth is experienced by the client with a feeling of acknowledgment and feels it as good service at the first touch point itself. The input or direction received from the client at the phase is recorded in the reserve system for farther mention by the hotel operations. 9.1.4 World Wide Web ITC has an information portal which merely allows the client to bespeak a reserve which has to be checked manually by the hotel reserves and so merely the verifications are given. This is a touch point of client relationship because a speedy and accurate response could win you a client. And since it is on an single footing, it is more individualized and customized because the client puts in his penchants when bespeaking a engagement. Therefore, once it is entered in to the hotel s informations base the client does non hold to reiterate his penchant as they are automatically suggested by the reserve signifier on the cyberspace. 9.1.5 Call Centers ITC Maurya has a Call centre dedicated to serving the trueness programme members. Here the clients can name in and happen out about any information related to their rank. Whether question relates to accumulation or salvation of points, it can be accessed through these centres. This installation has been outsourced by Maurya and is out of the premises of the hotel. This has been done to serve the quest in a most individualized and efficient mode. Call centres can now even be accessed via electronic mail as it is the most cost effectual and clip effectual manner of accessing 9.1.6 OTHER INCENTIVES TO THE CUSTOMERS BY ITC WELCOME GROUP HOTELS Welcome Award Honoring Relationships Welcome Award has earned the differentiation of being India s premier and most powerful frequent invitee programme. The Welcome Award programme recognizes client as a concern traveller and through its strategic confederations with travel spouses enterprises to construct a rewarding relationship client. As a Welcome Award member clients can gain Stars on every facet of their concern tripaˆÂ ¦hotel corsets, concern amusement, Car leases and even air travel. Welcome Link- Bring place the wagess Welcome Link, India s most popular programme for cardinal professionals offers many value-added benefits. It is designed to assist members in doing reserves for their company executives. For every materialized room dark booked by a member at ITC-Welcome group Hotel, points are earned that can be redeemed for a broad scope of wagess. With Welcome Link, the member can look frontward to many exciting publicities and awards coming their manner plus an exciting scope of wagess, complimentary dining, free vacations, air tickets, auto leases and privilege shopping with Citibank Diners Gift Vouchers countrywide. ITC s STEPS IN THE CRM PROCESS: The first measure in CRM is for the internal client ie the employees. At Maurya, they are trained to larn more about the invitee and his background so that when he talks to the invitee, he can strike a conversation that is of some involvement to the invitee. That may non be needfully related to his stay at the hotel but these informal conversations with the invitee can assist construct an first-class resonance with the invitee which will take the guest to cognize the employee by the name. In future interactions, it is possible that the invitee may merely wish that most of his work done through that employee. This is besides a signifier of customized and individualized merchandising within the hotel. The 2nd measure in CRM procedure is to incorporate the information which is received through touch points. From a selling point of position, it is of import to acquire the desired input back from touch points in such a manner that all the spots and pieces picked up by different touch points can be organized and used as valuable information by assorted other touch point to offer the right merchandise to the right client and that excessively at the right clip. All this is done by making a information base 9.2 THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS Oberoi has a really loyal backing from its invitees, which has ensured a high market portion in the high-end section of the market, which they cater to. CRM PROCESS AT THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS Harmonizing to the Oberoi the terms-Customer Relationship Management and Relationship Marketing are used interchangeably therefore they do non hold a separate CRM section as the sketching maps of the CRM procedure are integrated in the Gross saless and Marketing operation. They use a assortment of after gross revenues tactics for client bonding and trueness. Co-operative and collaborative relationships with clients seem to be the most prudent manner to maintain paths their changing outlooks and suitably act uponing it. The Oberoi has ensured the above by the assorted end user and booker plans such as: ( Starkov, 2006 ) 9.2.1 Top The Oberoi Plus This is an end-user plan with an enrolment fee of Rs.575 merely. It is good for invitees who use the services of the hotel. Each clip a invitee spends, he accumulates points which can be redeemed for any services of the hotel. By inscribing and honoring clients with the aid of this plan, the hotel ensures that a greater bonding towards long-run client keeping. They have besides tied up with the air hoses for interchangeable salvation of points. 9.2.2 Connections Bookers Program Bookers are an of import nexus in happening an existent sale therefore they need to be kept motivated to force the hotel when the reserves are made by a corporate history. Each clip a booking agent gives as reserve to the hotel he gets recognition points for that and which can be redeemed for gifts or any hotel services. 9.2.3 Food Festivals The Oberoi conducts assorted nutrient festivals at its Restaurants. Regularly and sends invitations to its more profitable Clients. 9.2.4 Tie-Ups The Oberoi invites top clients like CEO, Managing Directors and cardinal determination shapers of different companies to societal eventides specially arranged to further heighten the Customer relationship direction maps. 9.3 THE TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS The Taj Group is besides puting to a great extent on CRM systems to keep client databank with their profiles to give a quicker and individualized service to their loyal patronage. The Taj gives high precedence to guest satisfaction. They even have an SMS service to maintain path of lost/missed calls by the clients while they are off. They have employed applications like PMS, CRS and CIS to maintain path of clients profiles which includes information such as their disbursement forms and their particular demands besides. They employ informations excavation technique to acquire and move on informations and besides give recognition to the employees who get regards from the invitees. TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS TO ITS CUSTOMERS/GUESTS 1. Taj Inner Circle Taj Inner Circle, the frequent invitee programme, allows invitees to gain points whenever they stay or dine at The Taj. Guests can so deliver their points for specially selected wagess like complimentary corsets at Taj hotels, resorts, and castles. 2. Taj Epicure Plan The Taj Epicure Plan is an optional add-on dining program to the Taj Inner Circle. Members earn Epicure points for outgos incurred on nutrient and drinks, at take parting Taj eating houses in India. 3. About the Taj Inner Circle The Taj Inner Circle has three rank degrees Blue, Silver and Gold. Customers/Guests articulation at the Blue degree and get down gaining on their stay or dining or both disbursals at all Taj belongingss. To measure up for the Taj Inner Circle Silver rank degree, client demand to roll up 250 points in any uninterrupted 60-day period i.e. pass Rs.25,000 ( INR ) , excepting revenue enhancements, in any uninterrupted period of 60-days. Members who spend Rs.2,00,000 ( INR ) , excepting revenue enhancements, in uninterrupted 12-month period, will be automatically upgraded to Gold position. Gold card members enjoy enhanced privileges and accumulate points at a faster rate i.e. they earn at the rate of 1 point for every Rs.80 spent, excepting revenue enhancements. Gold and Silver card members of the Taj Inner Circl

Grow a Magic Crystal Christmas Tree

Grow a Magic Crystal Christmas Tree The magic part of the magic crystal Christmas tree is partly how quickly the crystals grow and partly the whole notion of a paper or sponge tree magically sprouting crystal foliage. This project is a variation on the charcoal crystal garden, except the crystals are grown on a tree form. Magic Crystal Tree Experiment Difficulty Level: BeginnerTime Required: OvernightMaterials: Salt, Water, Ammonia, Laundry BluingKey Concepts: Crystallization, Dissolving Magic Crystal Christmas Tree Materials 6 tablespoons or 90 ml water6 tablespoons or 90 ml table salt (preferably uniodized)6 tablespoons or 90 ml Mrs. Stewarts liquid laundry bluing1 tablespoon or 15 ml household ammoniaFood coloring (optional) Make the magic solution by dissolving the salt in the water and stirring in the bluing liquid and the ammonia. Grow a Magic Crystal Christmas Tree There are ​a  couple of different ways you can go here. You can cut a sponge into the shape of a Christmas tree, set it in a shallow dish, and pour the crystal solution over the sponge. Set the dish someplace where it wont be disturbed. You can dot the sponge with food coloring (like ornaments) if desired. Depending on the temperature and humidity, crystals may start to appear on the sponge Christmas tree in less than an hour. You should have a nice set of crystals if you let the dish sit out overnight. The other method is to cut out a cardboard or blotting paper Christmas tree. If you make two of these trees, you can cut one halfway down the top and the other halfway up from the bottom, match the cut ends together, and create a standing 3-dimensional tree. You can decorate your tree with food coloring ornaments. Set this tree in a shallow dish that contains the crystal growing solution. Crystal leaves will start to grow on your tree as the liquid is wicked up the paper and evaporates. If you cant get laundry bluing, you can get inexpensive kits to grow magic crystal Christmas trees.

The Business of tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Business of tourism - Essay Example Obviously, the unaffordable travel cost in developed countries and all other impacts of economic recession on them have compelled people to choose India especially Kerala as one of the best tourist destinations. In addition to the unforgettable travel experience in this state of rich and dynamic culture, Kerala offers comparatively low-cost travel, cheap rate hotel pay and a variety of tour packages. It has become a choice for many western people to stay for the whole vacation in order to escape from the unbearable living expenses of their own home land. Besides the above mentioned features, as an emerging trend, medical tourism industry has become a fastest growing segment of the Kerala tourism. As the recent global financial crisis hit largely on European Countries, Asian countries have been highly benefited from medical tourism industry. The high cost of treatment in home countries has been pushing people to this region as alternative cost-effective destinations; and the trend has remarkably increased during recession. Majority of the patients in this category come from the countries like the United States and UK. Kerala enjoys its own remarkable share in medical tourism by providing its ancient system of medicine Aurveda. This herbal medication and technique of body massage known as ‘Panchakarma’ gained international admiration especially during the last decade. Traveling or staying in Kerala during recession would be an excellent idea to gain money and materials. As compared to other regions, living cost in Kerala is rather affordable. Moreover, recently there has been a notable fall in room rent and hotel bills since the economic downturn. (Iyengar P., 2008 p.59). Mumbai terror attack (2008) also affected Kerala tourism/hotel industry as there is only 1000 km distance between these two regions. (PRlog). Suppose in the United States, a room rent cost $10 for a day, it must

Select a historic building that you consider to be at-risk and Assignment

Select a historic building that you consider to be at-risk and suitable for rescue by a Building Preservation Trust - Assignment Example Rothesay Pavilion still continues to act as the center of the island community for many activities being that it has a large carrying capacity (Primack, 2003). Until then, the building management team, the council and the entire population were not aware how important Pavilion was to the surrounding location. When it was neglected, the community came to realize how multi-activity pavilion was including fitness, leisure, accommodation, attraction site to visit to mention but a few (Eberhardt & Thomas, 2011). When the council realized the importance of the pavilion which was at a great risk of losing its Art Deco splendor, tourist center and generally how it positively impact on the environment, they ordered for a rebirth of pavilion to restore back its beauty. The process of achieving regeneration and restoration was not all that easy with pavilion managers alone but it became a successful activity with the involvement of the prince’s regeneration Trust. The regeneration of Rot hesay pavilion has received support from the Heritage Lottery Fund with a great amount of development funding (Becker et al, 2009). ... th the endorsement of regeneration activity, the local project will therefore progress with the input of funds from the various sources in order to create and develop a strategy to the BPT as the charity group in ensuring that the project is completed early in 2016. Its completion will restore back the functions it used to serve of being a cultural center, visitor attraction which will change the Rothesay seafront and impact positively on the economy of the area and the United Kingdom at large (Fanger, 2000). The involvement of the Prince’s Regeneration trust gave Scotland a real progress in the resurgence of the Rothesay Pavilion to its initial cultural venue for the community (Fanger, 2000). It would not only serve an important heritage but also a positive regeneration of the town. The pavilion is a building that is loved by so many people because of its unique architectural style and so many memories it holds for the people. Therefore, the main goal the entire population sh ould have is that is to bring back the beauty, magnificence and greatness back to the Pavilion its initial glorious state (Becker et al, 2009). The only challenge at Rothesay is not only to organize for the funds for restoration of this iconic building but also to reinvent as a feasible community building that will have an appeal to visitors nationally (Eberhardt & Thomas, 2011). It is therefore important for the restoration of the building in order to avoid many logistics involved in the environmental planning in setting up a new building. This initiative also helps in environmental conservation by avoiding new constructions which that can lead to land denudation as a result of ground excavation during new construction. Hence, restoration of the already existing buildings is the best

Overview of Cancer Treatment Trials

Overview of Cancer Treatment Trials Knowing the Enemy In an era gripped by the promise of cytotoxic chemotherapy, a few dissenting voices was heard. Indiscriminate chemotherapy could not be the only strategy to attack cancer. To attack a cancer cell, one needed to begin by identifying its unique biological behavior, and vulnerabilities. Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer Charles Huggins, a urological surgeon at the University of Chicago, was a specialist in diseases of the bladder, kidney, genitals, and prostate. The prostate is a small walnut shaped gland wrapped around the outlet of the urinary tract in men. Cancer of the prostate represents one-third of cancer incidence in men, six times that of leukemia and lymphoma. In the late 1920s, by performing surgical castration on dogs, Huggins found that the hormone testosterone kept both the normal and cancer cells in the prostate alive. Rather than performing a surgical castration on his patients, Huggins injected a female hormone into their bodies to inhibit testosterone function. He called the method chemical castration. As with surgical castration, Huggins found that patients responded to the therapy, with minimal side effects. But many of the patients who responded to the therapy eventually relapsed. Beatsons Riddle In the late 1890s, a Scottish surgeon named George Beatson had learned that the removal of the ovaries from cows changed the quality of their udders and altered their capacity to lactate. Intrigued by the inexplicable link between ovaries and breasts, Beatson surgically removed the ovaries of three women with breast cancer. To his astonishment, the breast tumors of his three patients shrank dramatically after the surgery. But when surgeons in London tried to apply the method to a larger group of women, only about two-thirds of the breast cancer patients responded. Solving the Riddle In the mid-1960s, Elwood Jensen, a young chemist in Chicago, working with Huggins, came close to solving Beatsons riddle. He found out that estrogen, the principal hormone secreted by the ovaries, worked by binding to a receptor in a target cell. He discovered that breast cancer cases could be divided into two types, depending on whether its estrogen sensitive or insensitive, ER-positive and ER-negative tumors. ER-positive tumors, possessing the receptor, would respond to Beatsons surgery. ER-negative tumors not possessing the receptor, would be unresponsive. The simplest way to prove this theory was to launch an experiment. But the surgical procedure had fallen out of fashion. An alternative was to use a drug to inhibit estrogen function. But Jensen had no such drug. Tamoxifen Trial Tamoxifen was an anti-estrogen compound developed by the hormone biologist Arther Walpole in the early 1960s. In the summer of 1969, Moya Cole, a Manchester oncologist specializing in breast cancer, launched a clinical trial at Christie Hospital in Manchester. Forty-six women with breast cancer were treated with tamoxifen. The response was almost immediate in ten patients. The tumors in the breast and the lung metastases shrank. But like Hugginss prostate cancer patients, many of the patients who responded to the therapy eventually relapsed. Halsteds Ashes Moya Coles tamoxifen trial in 1969 was designed to treat women with late stage metastatic breast cancer. But Cole wondered about an alternative strategy. What if women with early stage tumors were treated with tamoxifen? Bonadonnas Adjuvant Chemotherapy Trial A similar idea occurred to a 33-year-old oncologist named Paul Carbone at the NCI ten years ago. Inspired by Min Chiu Li, Carbone had launched a small trial in 1963 and found out that adding chemotherapy after surgery reduced the rate of relapse from breast cancer. Carbone and his team called this treatment adjuvant chemotherapy. It would remove microscopic deposits of malignant cells left behind after surgery, completing the cancer-cleansing task that the surgery had set out to do. In 1972, an Italian oncologist name Gianni Bonadonna proposed to the NCI a large randomized trial to study adjuvant chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer. In the summer of 1973, Bonadonna began his trial by randomizing nearly four hundred women half to treatment with CMF (a toxic three-drug cocktail) and half to no treatment. Bonadonna presented his results in the winter of 1975. About half of the women in the no treatment group had elapsed while only one-third of the group receiving the adjuvant chemotherapy had relapsed. So adjuvant chemotherapy had prevented cancer relapses in about one in every six patients. The Fisher Adjuvant Tamoxifen Trial What if the adjuvant therapy was done with hormonal therapy instead of chemotherapy? In January 1977, Bernie Fisher recruited 1,891 women with early stage ER-positive breast cancer. He treated half with adjuvant tamoxifen and the other half with no tamoxifen. By 1981, he found out that adjuvant therapy with tamoxifen reduced cancer relapse rates by one-half. In 1985, Fisher reported that the effect of tamoxifen treatment was even more dramatic. Among the 500 women older than fifty assigned to each group, adjuvant tamoxifen had prevented fifty-five relapses and deaths. Lessons Learned By the 1980s, the old paradigms of treatment had evolved into new paradigms. Halsteds radical approach to attack cancer cells was reborn as adjuvant therapy. Ehrlichs magic bullet was reincarnated as hormonal therapy. Although neither of these alternatives offer definitive cures, these trials had confirmed two important principles of cancer biology and cancer therapy: These trials etched the message that cancer was heterogeneous. Cancers came in variety of forms, each with unique biological behaviors. The heterogeneity was genetic: some responded to hormonal treatments, other not. And the heterogeneity was anatomic: some cancers were local, while others spread to distant organs. Understanding that heterogeneity was of deep consequence. It was essential to know the cancer as intimately as possible before rushing to treat it. For instance, tamoxifen treatment only applies to ER-positive breast cancers. Palliative Care Palliative care is the branch of medicine that focuses on symptom relief and comfort, founded by Cecily Saunders, an English nurse, physician and social worker. She created a hospice in London in 1967 to care specifically for the terminally ill and dying. Counting Cancer In November 1985, a Harvard biologist named John Cairns measured the progress in the War on Cancer by revitalizing old records that had existed since World War II. He went through the cancer registry, and state-by-state statistics on cancer-related deaths to get a portrait of cancer over time. He used the cancer registry to estimate the number of lives saved by the therapeutic advances since 1950 and divide these therapeutic advances into various categories. His findings were: (1)Less than 5 percent of patients diagnosed with cancer in America; and (2) Less than 10% of patients who would die of cancer, had enjoyed the advances in cancer therapy and screening. Cairns analysis was widely influential, but it needed some measure of the comparative trends in cancer mortality over the years. John Bailar and Elaine Smith from Harvard provided such an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 1986. Bailar-Smith Analysis In the analysis, Bailar-Smith did not use survival-rate analysis because survival-rate analysis can be sensitive to biases such as cancer screenings. They used overall mortality instead. To compare samples over time, they normalized the population to the same standard. According to Bailar-Smith: Cancer-related deaths had increased by 8.7 percent from 1962 to 1985. The increase reflected many factors, but mainly because of the increase in lung cancer caused by the increase in smoking rates in the United States. Bailar-Smith noted that the 35 years of intense efforts to improve the treatment of cancer must be judged a qualified failure. As Cairns had already pointed out, prevention was the only intervention known to reduce the aggregate mortality for a disease. Bailar argued that prevention, as a strategy, had been neglected by the NCI in its pursuit of cures. Treatment strategies received 80 percent of the money while prevention research received about 20 percent. A similar bias existed in private research institutions. Bailar-Smith noted, A shift in research emphasis, from research on treatment to research on prevention, seems necessary if substantial progress against cancer is to be forthcoming

Conflict Resolution Essay

Merriam-Webster (n.d) defines conflict as, â€Å"the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction†. Interpersonal conflicts, whether they are between family members, students and teachers, employees and supervisors, or groups, have certain elements in common. Coser (1967) asserts that conflict is â€Å"a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources, in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the rivals.† (p. 8) Coser’s definition grew out of the cold war, when conflict between the United States and the former U.S.S.R. dominated Western method to conflict. Conflict was viewed as a win-lose solution. According to Dana (2001) there are only three ways to resolve any conflict; power contests, rights contests, and interest’s reconciliation. Power contest is based on Coser’s (1967) win-lose situation. Each party views their point as right each wanting power over the other. Rights contest is an orderly system which has rules, regulations, policies, precedents and a hierarchy of authority which is used in order to â€Å"win† again this model is a win-lose resolution. The solution to conflict resolution is interest reconciliation. This approach enlists support from both parties to find the best solution. All parties win with interest reconciliation model as their solution. Conflict in the workplace is a condition between or among two or more workers whose jobs are independent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and act in a way that causes a business problem. Conflict has three elements feelings (emotions), perceptions (thoughts) and actions (behaviors). â€Å"Psychologists consider these three the only dimensions of human experience. So, conflict is rooted in all parts of the human nature† (Dana, 2001, p. 5) some confuse conflict with indecision, disagreement, stress, or some other common experience that may cause or be caused by a conflict. However, those elements are not best handled by conflict resolution. The question many ask, is conflict normal? Conflict is a fact of any organizational life. On the job, â€Å"conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life† (Kolb and Putnam, 1992, p. 311). Rather than seeing conflict as abnormal, Pondy (1992) suggests we view organizations as â€Å"arenas for staging conflicts, and managers as both fight promoters who organize bouts and as referees who regulate them† (p. 259). In addition, Pondy states that in the company, agency, or small business, conflict may be the very essence of what the organization is about, and if â€Å"conflict isn’t happening then the organization has no reason for being† (p. 259). One study surveyed workers and found that almost 85 percent reported conflicts at work (Volkema and Bergmann 1989). With an increasing awareness of cultural diversity and gender equity issues, it is essential that employees become familiar with issues surrounding promotions and harassment. In fact, one can see training in organizations as a form of preventive conflict management (Hathaway, 1995). The recognition of the frequency of conflict at work has led to books on mediating conflict in the workplace (Yarbrough and Wilmot 1995), showing how managers can learn conflict management skills to intervene in disputes in their organization. As employees, daily work with clients, customers, co-workers, or bosses can be a struggle. Conflict is as Wilmot (1995) wrote, â€Å"What determines the course of a relationship . . . is in a large measure determined by how successfully the participants move through conflict episodes† (p. 95). Conflict resolution has five styles, giving in, avoiding, fight it out, comprise, and work together style. No style is right or wrong; however some do work better than others. Accommodation, giving in to the other’s wishes or smoothing waves sacrifices one’s own goals for the sake of the other person. Accommodators often use phrases like: â€Å"Whatever you want is fine with me.† When one party in a conflict genuinely does not care about the outcome of the conflict, accommodation may be the right choice for that situation. However, if accommodation is the only style a person utilizes, he or she is advised to learn more skills. Avoidance is characterized by behaviors that either ignore or refuse to engage in the conflict. While avoidance is by some consider a negative style that shows low concern for both one’s own and the other party’s interests, there are sometimes strategic reasons to avoid conflict. For example, when the relationship is short-term and the issue is not important or when the situation has a potential to escalate to violence, avoidance may be the prudent choice. Fight it out, competition, or win/lose, style maximizes reaching one’s own goals or getting the problem solved at the cost of the others goals or feelings. While always choosing competition has negative repercussions for relationships, businesses and cultures, it can occasionally be the right style to choose if the other party is firmly fixed in a competitive style or there are limited resources. While competitive strategy is not necessarily dysfunctional, competition can easily slip into a destructive situation. Understanding the methods and strategies of others who use competitive styles can assist conflict managers in neutralizing the negative consequences of competition and work toward a mutual gain approach. Compromise is a give and take of resources. The classic compromise in negotiating is to â€Å"split the difference† between two positions. While there is no victor from compromise, each person also fails to achieve her or his original goal. Finally, working together to collaborate is when parties cooperatively team up until a mutually agreeable solution is found. Compromise and collaboration are win-win solution where as the other styles are win-lose. Why do people avoid dealing with conflict? People have a natural instinct of fear and some let that fear overpower them. The fear of harm causes people to fight-or-flight. Individuals will choose the flight option when in a dangerous part of a city that they have never been in before in order to avoid danger, it shows wisdom or strength to get out a of physically abusive relationship, commendable to stay out emotionally abusive relationships. In spite of this, in some cases people have the response to flight to a false perception of harm. People overstress in their minds t he emotional harm that someone can cause harm. The same is said for conflict in the workplace, people will avoid conflict for fear of being harmed by others. Some avoid conflict because of a fear of rejection from others. These individuals feel others will withdraw their friendship or push them away causing more hurt. People have the perception if they do not risk rejection they can suppress their needs and feelings. Loss of relationship is the fear of rejection taken up a level they fear totally losing a relationship. Others avoid conflict to mask their true desires because preserving a relationship is more important than getting what they want. These individuals are trapped into believing their worth is dependant on another accepting them. People avoid conflict for fear of anger. These people do not like listening to someone who is angry. They believe another will hurt them, reject them, or leave them, and they just cannot stand to witness anger. However, anger is just anger and it is not necessarily directed toward them. Individuals do not want to be seen as selfish. In some situations people are not afraid of others reactions, but rather their interpretation of the situation. They fear that they will appear selfish. However, is it wrong to have a need, feeling, or want and to express it? Society has sometimes had it seem that way. Although, there is nothing wrong with asking for what individuals want versus feeling they are entitled to always getting what they want. The truth is if one never asks, then they are depriving people around them from being able give to them effectively. Still, people who feel their wants should not be fulfilled, regardless of what others want, fall into the selfishness category. Sometimes people avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing or something they will regret. Individuals will avoid conflict rather than risk putting â€Å"their foot in their mouth† they contain their anger and frustration which often leads to that which they fear. When people have conflicts in the past that have failed so they avoid future conflict for the fear of failing those too and begin to believe the confrontation is not worth the em otional energy it takes to deal with others. The fear of failing can impact other aspects of ones life. The fear of hurting another is more than just saying the wrong thing. These individuals are extremely sensitive and caring. They would rather hurt themselves than risk hurting another. The fear of success is a fear that most over look. However, it is much like the fear of failure. Some people are afraid to get what they want; they believe they will never get it. These people feel they do not deserve what they want, the consequences of getting of what they want is regret, or the responsibility is more than they need or desire. The fear of intimacy is the most subconscious of the fears. People do not want to share their dreams, desires, and wants with others. They feel they are private and do not want to be exposed. People do not want to appear weak. If resolution involves giving in, avoiding, or compromise they may feel they appear as though they do not have confidence. People do not want the stress of confrontation. They feel it is better to avoid conflict rather than deal with the stress it will cause them in the workplace between co-workers. Our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation. People, who aggressively pursue their needs, competing rather than collaborating, are often satisfied by others who prefer to accommodate. Managers and leaders are often rewarded for their aggressive, controlling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs. Conflict resolution requires profound courage on the part of all parties: It takes courage to honestly and clearly express one’s needs, and it takes courage to sit down and listen to one’s adversaries. It takes courage to look at one’s own role in the dispute, and it takes courage to approach others with a sense of empathy, openness and respect for their perspective. Collaborative approaches to conflict management require individuals to engage in the moment of dialogue in thoughtful and meaningful ways, so it is understandable if people tend to avoid such situations until the balance of wisdom tips in favor of negotiation. People have certain perceptions in conflict when dealing with different situations. Culture shapes and frames each individual’s interpretation of appropriate behaviors during conflicts. Conflict across cultures, whether across nations or across the diverse cultures within a country, exacerbates the routine difficulties of conflict management (Fry and Bjorkqvist, 1997). There is no clear conclusion about whether men and women actually behave in different ways while conducting conflicts. However, gender stereotypes do affect conflict behaviors when individuals act and react based on stereotypes of how men and women will/should act rather than selecting behaviors appropriate for the individual one is communicating with (Borisoff and Victor, 1997). Parties respond to conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they have about the issue at hand. This includes situation-specific knowledge and general knowledge. The understanding of the knowledge they have can influence the person’s willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or undermining one’s willingness to flexibly consider alternatives. The person sharing the message is considered to be the messenger. If the messenger is perceived to be a threat (powerful, scary, unknown, etc.) the message can influence others responses to the overall situation being experienced. For example, if a big scary-looking guy is yelling at people they may respond differently than if a diminutive, calm person would express the same message. Additionally, if the people knew the messenger previously, they might respond differently based upon that prior sense of the person’s credibility. People are more inclined to listen with respect to someone they view more credible than if the message comes from someone who lacks credibility and integrity. Some people have had significant life experiences that continue to influence their perceptions of current situations. These experiences may have left them fearful, lacking trust, and reluctant to take risks. On the other hand, previous experiences may have left them confident, willing to take chances and experience the unknown. Either way, one must acknowledge the role of previous experiences as elements of their perceptual filter in the current dilemma. These factors, along with others, work together to form the perceptual filters through which people experience conflict. As a result, their reactions to the threat and dilemma posed by conflict should be anticipated to include varying understandings of the situation. This also means that they can anticipate that in many conflicts there will be significant misunderstanding of each other’s perceptions, needs and feelings. These challenges contribute to our emerging sense, during conflict, that the situation is overwhelming and unsolvable. As such, they become critical sources of potential understanding, insight and possibility. How do people respond to conflict? There are three responses to conflict emotional, cognitive and physical responses that are important windows into our experience during conflict, for they frequently tell people more about what is the true source of threat that is perceived; by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behavior to conflict, a better insig ht into the best potential solution to the situation. Emotional (feelings) are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion. Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Thus, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening. Cognitive (thinking) are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation. Through sub-vocalization (self-talk), people understand these cognitive responses. Physical (behavior) can play an important role in our ability to meet our needs in the conflict. They include heightened stress, bodily tension, increased perspiration, tunnel vision, shallow or accelerated breathing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques. Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. Dealing with someone unwilling to negotiate can be difficult for the person who is trying to resolve the conflict. However, the â€Å"8 Step Model† can be very beneficial, by focusing first on listening to the other person, and seeking to u nderstand the sources of their resistance, the stage can be set for clarifying the conditions he or she requires in order to talk things out. This is not about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the situation, but a practical strategy for getting the other person engaged as a partner in the negotiation process. Another alternative is to focus on things we can do to influence conflicts in the future, rather than putting initial energy into understanding (or solving) problems we have had in the past. By remaining relatively flexible about the agenda – taking on topics individuals care about, but not necessarily the most pressing issues – thus, creating an opportunity to reduce the fears associated with resistance. While the conflict may not be able to be truly resolved, some key issues that exist will be managed and will help to prevent the issues from getting worse. Power is an important and complex issue facing anyone seeking a negotiated solution to a conflict. Before negotiating clarify the true sources of power in the room: The boss has position power, associated with the â€Å"carrots and sticks† that come with the role. She or he may also have coercive power, supported by contracts or statute that compels employees to behave in certain ways and do certain tasks associated with the job. Some may have a great deal of expertise power, accumulated from doing your job over a period of time. Either conflict participants may possess normative power, through which they know â€Å"the lay of the land† in their department and, therefore, how to get things done. And either may possess referent power, through which others show respect for the manner in which the employee conducts themselves. Generally, referent power accrues to those who demonstrate a mature willingness to seek collaborative solutions. An impasse is the sense of being â€Å"stuck†. Impasse is the point within a dispute in which the parties are unable to perceive effective solutions. People feel stuck, frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Therefore, they might either dig their heels in deeper, anchoring themselves in extreme and rigid positions, or they might decide to withdraw from negotiation. Either way, impasse represents a turning point in our efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict. As such, rather than avoiding or dreading it, impasse should be viewed with calmness, patience, and r espect. Multi-party disputes are complex situations, and they require careful attention and persistence. However, the same â€Å"8 Step Model† can be applied to the disputes. In spite of using the same process expect everything to take a bit longer than if there where only two or three people. Patiently make sure that all points of view are heard, that issues are clarified for all to see, and that all members in the group accept the agreements being negotiated. If there are limits to the group’s decision-making power, then it is important to acknowledge those limits and understand how they are perceived by all members of the group. There are many different ideas of the steps for resolution, some claim five steps while others claim six or seven for the purpose of this paper Weeks (1992) eight step resolution style is identified. Step one – Create an Effective Atmosphere Creating the right atmosphere in which the conflict resolution process will take place is very important, yet most overlook its importance. The atmosphere is the frame around the canvas which will be painted the negotiations and building of better relationships (Weeks, 1992). Step two – Clarify Perceptions Perceptions are lenses through which a person sees themselves, others, their relationships, and the situations they encounter. Perceptions have a great influence on behavior of people. Once people perceive something in certain way, even if the perception is wrong, in the mind it is that way, and often base behaviors on that perception (Weeks, 1992). Step three – Focus on the Individual and Shared Needs This step builds on the previous step as needs as the conditions people perceive they cannot do without, those conditions critical to each persons wellbeing and relationships. However, step three focuses more on skills involved in the conflict partnership approach. There are several key points to keep in mind in this step. 1) Needs are the foundation of relationship and are an essential part of that foundation. 2) People sometimes confuse needs with desires. 3) Personal needs in relationships perceived by individuals must allow for respect of the needs or the relationship (Weeks, 1992). Step four – Build Shared Power Power is a part of every relationship. However, the way people perceive and use power is seen frequently as a dirty word. Such as when people use power as means to control or to manipulate some else to get what they want. Although, power is and of itself not corrupt, it is the way in which people use their power and whether they allow such power to corrupt. Developing positive self power through a clear self-image means that we base our perceptions of ourselves not on what others expect of us or want us to be but what we believe to be our own needs, capabilities, priorities and goals (Weeks, 1992, p. 152). Step five – Look to the Future, Then Learn from the Past. All relationships and conflicts have a past, present and future. Resolving conflicts requires dealing with all three. The conflict partnership process encourages the use of positive power to focus on the present-future to learn from the past. The past experiences people face set the landscape for present and future decision making and how relate to others (Weeks, 1992). Step six – Generate Options People have the ability to discover new possibilities in their relationships as well as conflict resolution. However, both are often impaired by the packaged truths and limited vision people hold onto in times of stress, insecurity, and conflict. Generating options breaks through the predetermined restrictions brought into the conflict resolution process. Generating options imparts choices which specific steps to resolve conflicts and enhanced relationship can be agreed upon (Weeks, 1992). Step seven – Develop â€Å"Doables†: the Stepping-stones to Action Doables are the necessary stepping-stones taken along the way to resolve conflict. Doables are explicit acts that stand a good possibility of success, meet some individual and shared need, and depend on positive power, usually shared power to be carried out. Working on and accomplishing some doables can help the conflict partners see more clearly where they need to go. Many conflict partners have changed their preconceived definitions of both the conflict itself and the expected outcome due to the lessons learned and clarified perceptions through working with doables (Weeks, 1992) Step eight – Make Mutual-Benefit Agreements Mutual-benefit agreements are the next step on the pathway to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution agreements must be realistic and effective enough to survive and the potential to develop further as challenges arise in the future. Mutual-benefit agreements replace the need or want for demands, see the others needs, shared goals, and establish a standard wherein power is identified as positive mutual action through which differences can be dealt with constructively (Weeks, 1992). Conclusion Conflict is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life whether it is with family, teachers, students, friends, or an organization. The best approach to resolving conflict is interest reconciliation. It joins both parties of the dispute to find the best solution. In so doing, all parties win. People respond to conflict in three ways emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), and physical (behavior). All are important to the conflict experience. They allow a better awareness to best furnish a solution to the situation. An important tactic to conflict resolution is to develop persuasion skills with the ability to clearly explain one’s point of view and to argue for their conclusions and convictions. Week’s Eight-Step Process is a valuable tool in helping people to become more strategic about resolving conflict. References Borisoff, D., and D. A. Victor., (1997). Conflict management: A communication skills approach, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Conflict, (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict Coser, L. A. 1967. Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York: Free Press. Dana, D. (2001). 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