A policy dictating mandatory marriage classes before couples get Essay - 1

A policy dictating mandatory marriage classes before couples get married should be introduced - Essay Example This method is expressive and therefore I found it most appropriate for my work. It gives me room to express the project using figures, diagrams, tables, different colouration and symbols. The mode of presentation has a big room for creativity which allows the presentation of the work to be lively, attractive and entertaining. Some of the pictorials added to the presentations are very expressive and helps the reader to understand well the explanation made in the presentation. This mode also makes the work appear smart and memorable to the audience. Because of this attractiveness, the audience is more likely to be attentive to the presentation when it is made. My project is directed especially to policy makers at all levels. This is because this is a presentation which is building up support for an enactment of a policy therefore I need to convince the policy makers that this is a good policy for the society. There are other bodies which may care about this policy and thus about this presentation. The church is one of such bodies. In most churches divorce is discouraged and therefore church leaders may find this policy worth adopting in their policies. It is important for the government to formulate a new policy, one which will require couples to take mandatory marriage classes before they officially get married. This move will minimize the ever-rising cases of divorce and all the negativity and pain that are associated with it. In this presentation, the need and urgency for the institution of this policy is shown. This is done by showing that the causes of divorce can be handled if proper counseling is carried out. It is noted, with a lot of concern, that in first five years of marriage many couples opt for divorce. This is especially the trend for those who marry when they are young. A number of misconceptions about marriage are associated with this trend. Different states are making

Art extra credit Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art extra credit - Research Paper Example The major interest in the design results from the presentation of the real story in art. The actual story tells of the last supper comprising of a huge feast. The twelve disciples and Jesus had a great time and at the same time, Jesus informed the disciples of the traitor and they reacted harshly about the issue. The disciples spoke and showed their anger. The art reflects all the actions that took place in the last supper. However, the art shows how at that time people were united, loving, caring and honest. At the same time, a major lesson is derived from the art. Enemies are within the list of your friends as Judas was among the twelve disciples, but he betrayed Jesus. This lesson applies in real life, and one is greatly advised to take caution of his or her friends. The art designer Leonardo da Vinci did a great work. The actual date of the art is not well known, but the creation of the art was between 1494 and 1498. The dimensions of the art measure 460cm by 880cm. The art located at Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan. The designer regards the art as a huge lesson that every individual should take into consideration. Everyone should study the art as well as the actual baseline of the art for life

Customer preference for Thomas Cook

Customer preference for Thomas Cook FINDINGS DISCUSSSIONS Customer awareness, taken as a dependent variable and customer preference towards Thomas Cook taken as the independent variable, showed that the former has no significant impact on the latter (as described in the analysis of the first hypothesis where the null hypothesis was accepted and the alternate hypothesis was rejected). Therefore, it can be concluded from the first hypothesis that customer awareness does have a significant impact on customers’ preference towards Thomas Cook. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons, none of them conclusive however, with the lack of further research on the subject. Keeping in mind that the sample respondents reside mainly in Bangalore, it is possible that despite customers being aware that Thomas Cook is a travel management company, they do not prefer it because in Bangalore it does not provide good or satisfactory service. Customers may be unhappy or dissatisfied with the services that are provided by the Thomas Cook branches in Bangalore. Here again it cannot be said that Thomas Cook does not provide good service overall because it is still one of the top travel management companies in the world. Another possibility as to why customers do not prefer Thomas Cook despite being aware of the services can be the price factor. Thomas Cook provides its services at a premium price and customers might see this as too expensive and/or not worth the price that they have been asked for the service. In a country like India where disposable income is not an abundant resource that companies can exploit, it becomes difficult to market a premium service that the customers can easily look upon as an unnecessary luxury. Services such as premium tourism services may not appeal to the common man. Another possible reason for this is that the sample customers, a majority of whom do travel via a travel agency at least some of the time, are already satisfied with the travel agency they currently employ and find no reason thereof to shift to another agency despite knowing that another agency exists which perhaps provides slightly better services. These consumers are â€Å"set in their ways† so to speak and are happy with the current agency of their preference. They find no good enough reason to shift to Thomas Cook for their travel needs. Thomas Cook offers a variety of value added services. The specific value added services that were taken in this study are: Inbound and outbound travel reservations Foreign Exchange Travel insurance Travel packages Visa and passport services Reservations for car and hotel Foreign Exchange These services combine the core functions and services that Thomas Cook offers with added value to give them a uniqueness. This research found that there is a significant difference in these services and that consumers, when asked to rate these services, have a variety of views of these services, that is to say, the services that are provided for foreign exchange are of different quality than those that are offered for travel packages or travel insurance. It was found in this research that most of the sample do use Thomas Cook for their foreign exchange services and these were rated the best. Indeed, the foreign exchange services of Thomas Cook have been rated to be amongst the best in the world, and in fact, most people identify Thomas Cook only for their foreign exchange services and not their travel packages, which is in fact the company’s core business. It is shown in the hypothesis that the various services of Thomas Cook vary in quality, as per the respondents view. In the third hypothesis, it was found that there is a significant difference in customers’ preferences with respect to customers’ awareness about travel agencies. In other words, it is apparent that despite their knowledge about many travel agencies and their services, there is still a lot of variations in what the customers prefer to choose as the travel agency for their travel needs. This shows that customers have their own reasons to choose a specific travel agency and awareness of the services is not the only factor that they take into consideration. Customer preference for an agency is not a factor that can be easily studied or examined. For each customer, the deciding factor is different, and for each factor of customer preference that is taken, there is another that is left out. Studying customer psychology is an in depth with infinite variables that need to be considered, and it still may not be accurate due to the fact that human nature itself is unpredictable. The fourth hypothesis showed that there is no significant relation between the nature of the travel and the agency preference that a customer has. Here, the null hypothesis was accepted and the alternative hypothesis was rejected. This shows that whether a customer needs to travel for business or wants to travel for leisure does not determine the choice of travel management company that the customer makes. There can be a variety of other reasons that can be deduced to find out what other things may determine the customers’ choice of travel management company. Again, none of these are conclusive and need to be looked into with further research on the topic. Social status is one factor that is likely to have a significant relationship to agency preference. The higher up a customer is on the social ladder, the more premium will be the nature of his agency preference. When customers can afford something they have a tendency to show that they can afford it by very publicly using that product or service. This is human nature, and very likely to have an impact on agency preference. Affordability is a very important factor that needs to be considered in terms of preference for an agency. A premium agency may be unattainable by those who cannot afford its services no matter how much they may be aware of it, or no matter what the nature of their travel may be. Affordability and purchasing power of the customer are likely to have a strong relationship with the travel agency that they prefer. Expense is always an important factor that needs to be considered when measuring or trying to ascertain customer preference. Expense was not a factor that was given enough significance in this study. Social sentiments also need to be considered when looking into the customer preference towards any product or service. Certain customers from India may not choose Thomas Cook because despite its being registered in India as Thomas Cook (India) Limited and is now owned by Fairfax (Canada), its name is Thomas Cook, and was originally a company from England. On the other hand, certain customers may choose it for exactly that reason. There are a variety of social sentiments that have a strong relationship with and impact on customer preference towards an agency. They should not be disregarded if the company intends to survive in the environment. It is apparent from the research (hypothesis 5) that customers’ preference towards an agency and the value added service that they prefer have a strong relationship. This relationship can be easily envisioned. Customers will do their research on which travel agency provides which services and which value added services. With the advent of the internet, there is an enormous amount of information available to the customers at their fingertips and in this day and age customers are not easily fooled or misleaded. Customers will accordingly filter travel agencies according to the service that appeal to them and ultimately choose the one that best suits their needs. This will become the agency that they prefer and use for all their various travel needs. Hence, preference of travel agency and the value added services that they prefer have a strong, unmistakable relationship, which marketers can soon look to exploit. The sixth hypothesis works to find out whether or not there is any difference between the value added services and those services which offer mainly the core functions. Here the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted. Therefore a conclusion can be made that there is a significant difference between the satisfaction levels of the services that are offered by Thomas Cook that is, value added and non-value added. On further inspection of the analysis and the questionnaire it is abundantly clear that the value added services are much more profitable, than other services, in the sense that the customers of Thomas Cook are much more satisfied with these services and perhaps don’t mind paying a bit more for these services than the others. The seventh hypothesis finds that there is a significant difference in the customer preference with regards to the services that are offered by an agency. This means that customers prefer certain services provided by certain agencies and there is not necessarily any one agency which provides all the services that the customers prefer. Even in the agency that they prefer, the satisfaction levels of various services provided and the customers’ preference towards those services are not uniform throughout but vary. One service provided by one agency may good and another service may be better in another agency. Therefore, most of the sample respondents use more than one travel agency for their travel needs instead of sticking to one 1

Comparing the Escape Theme in Raise the Red Lantern, Handmaids Tale, and Dolls House :: comparison compare contrast essays

Raise the Red Lantern,   The Handmaid's Tale, A Doll's House:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freedom Through Escape  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Women have suffered as the result of harassment and discrimination for centuries. Today, women are able to directly confront their persecutors through the news media as well as the legal system.   Three important literary works illustrate that it has not always been possible for women to strike back. In Raise the Red Lantern, The Handmaid's Tale, and A Doll's House, the main female characters find ways to escape their situations rather than directly confronting the problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Songlian, the main character in the foreign film Raise the Red Lantern, finds unusual ways of dealing with her oppression. For example, Songlian often takes her stress out on her maid, Yan'er. Whenever Songlian feels the need to relieve her tension, she screams at Yan'er. Songlian's treatment towards her maid results in a bitter rivalry between the two and ultimately leads to the death of Yan'er. Instead of expressing herself publicly, Songlian chooses to keep her emotions bottled up or take them out on Yan'er. Another example of this concept occurs when Songlian becomes intoxicated. Due to her unfortunate situation, Songlian chooses to drink an enormous amount of alcohol on her birthday. In her mind, she feels that she has nothing to look forward to in life. So Songlian escapes real life by drinking. This is yet another example of Songlian's feeble attempt to escape her troubles. Furthermore, Songlian's outlook on life becomes so bleak that she literally goes insane. Si nce she witnessed the death of the third mistress, she confirms her fear that there is no escaping her situation. Thus, she drives herself crazy. Therefore, we can see that Songlian uses techniques to try and escape her fate. The next work, entitled A Doll's House, deals with Nora, the main character, struggling to achieve happiness in life. While Nora lives with her husband, Torvald, she pretends to be happy and satisfied with life, but in reality, Nora lacks purpose in her life. For eight years, she never discusses her situation with Torvald because she does not want to face the truth about herself. Nora feels obligated to live her life as a caring mother and an obedient wife. Also, Nora pretends to be happy for a reason. Whether she knows it or not, Nora tries to be the ideal wife and mother by letting herself be governed by the laws of society.

Health Promotion in Nursing Care Essay

Many years ago, people focused on disease and illness and not staying healthy or preventing illness from occurring. People did not go to the doctor for wellness checks but rather only if they had an ailment. Immunizations have removed some of the diseases that were causing death among the individuals that had contracted the illness. Health promotion has come to the forefront in medical practice since the movement of Healthy People that focuses on health and not illness. Health promotion can be perceived differently by individuals. â€Å"Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions† World Health Organization website (as cited in Casey 2007). Nurses have a vital role in health promotion in all health care settings, be it at home, in a clinic, hospital, or out in the community. It is important for the nurse to understand that health promotion is not only for the healthy but also for individuals that are disabled, have a chronic disease or are dying. By administering education and referrals to other health care professionals, the nurse is providing individuals the tools they need to experience the highest level of health possible for their given situation. Often nurses are engaging in health promotion activities while interacting with patients and are not aware of this as it becomes automatic in daily practice. Health promotion in a hospital setting can be as simple as encouraging deep breathing exercises and early mobilization to prevent pneumonia. Nurses can serve as a role model and educator in different settings such as at home with their own family members, clinics, hospitals or in the community (Lazarou, C., & Kouta, C. 2010 ). One role of the nurse in health promotion is to collaborate with all providers involved. Collaboration is especially important when working in a homecare setting to make sure a diagnosis hasn’t changed or the primary provider hasn’t changed the treatment plan. Supporting health promotion will help the economy by reducing illness and disease, allow faster recovery of illness and improve one’s quality of life. Effective health promotion teaching ultimately depends on how open the individual(s) is to change (Casey 2007). Prior to providing health promotion material, it is important to assess the learner to obtain their preferred learning method and any cultural issues that would affect the teaching. The teaching material has to be age appropriate for the learner. If they do not understand what is being taught, the teaching will be a waste of time for the nurse as well as the individual(s) involved. A nurse can passively mention a health promotion idea while caring for their patient to see their response to the concept. This passive approach could spur a conversation regarding the idea and make the patient more receptive to learning. After assessing the patient for learning readiness, providing written material and encouraging individuals to make a change is a good place to start a promotion activity. Another implementation approach would be to involve the patient’s family if the teaching involves cooking or other lifestyle changes. This approach will add a support system for the patient but also make others in the household aware of changes that need to be made. Depending on what the lifestyle changes are, they could benefit the entire household, not just the patient. The patient should be involved when setting health promotion goals (Casey 2007). If the goals are set by the nurse, the patient will probably not be as receptive to making a lifestyle change. Another method effective for health promotion is motivational interviewing. The patient is involved during all stages of planning. They not only decide on the goal, but also figure out what barriers they may face that would hinder their success. This approach would work well for implementing health promotion for increased activity and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into one’s diet. (Whittemore et al., 2010) There are three types of health promotion. The first type of health promotion is primary prevention. This type of prevention is often carried out in a community setting. Fluoridation of water to help lessen cavities, smoking bans in public areas and immunizations are examples of primary prevention as they remove the risk factors or causes of disease. The second type of health promotion is secondary prevention. Annual physicals, mammograms and colonoscopies are examples of secondary prevention because they are able to detect disease early, often before the patient is symptomatic. At this level of prevention, it is hoped that the disease is caught early enough so the effects can be reversed. The third type of health promotion is tertiary prevention. During this stage of health promotion, the patient already has the disease so the aim is to slow the progression to allow the patient to have the highest quality of life possible. Blood glucose control for the diabetic to try to prevent blindness and limb amputations is one example of tertiary prevention. Rehabilitation after a stroke would also fall under tertiary prevention (Oberg 2010). Over the years, health promotion is an important responsibility that has shifted from the physician to the nurse. They can participate in health fairs or partner with organizations and schools within the community to provide seminars. If funding for a program is an issue, grants might be available for funding. Physicians, dentists or dieticians may volunteer their time or help with the funding for school programs. Nurses could also participate with corporations to promote healthy lifestyle changes to lower health insurance premiums for their employees. As more people focus on wellness instead of illness, opportunities for the nurse to encourage health promotion are endless. References Casey, D. (2007). Nurses’ perceptions, understanding and experiences of health promotion. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 16(6), 1039-1049. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2007.01640.x Lazarou, C., & Kouta, C. (2010). The role of nurses in the prevention and management of obesity. British Journal Of Nursing (BJN), 19(10), 641-647. Oberg, E. (2010). Preventive services update. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, 9(4), 22-26. Whittemore, R., Melkus, G., Alexander, N., Zibel, S., Visone, E., Muench, U., & †¦ Wilborne, S. (2010). Implementation of a lifestyle program in primary care by nurse practitioners. Journal Of The American Academy Of Nurse Practitioners, 22(12), 684-693. doi:10.1111/j.1745-7599.2010.00562.x View as multi-pages

Quality Management Virgin Atlantic Essay

Company overview: Since it was founded in 1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways has become Britain’s second largest carrier serving the world’s major cities. Now based at both London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports, it operates long haul services to thirty destinations worldwide as far apart as Las Vegas and Shanghai. Virgin Atlantic has enjoyed huge popularity, winning top business, consumer and trade awards from around the world. The airline has pioneered a range of innovations setting new standards of service, which its competitors have subsequently sought to follow. Despite Virgin Atlantic’s growth the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation. Virgin Atlantic had carried around 53m passengers since it began operations and now employs almost 9000 people worldwide. ANALYSIS OF THE CASE STUDY: The Customer benefit package from Virgin airlines: The Tangibles: 1-Comfortable seats 2- Fairly spacious lounge for business and first class passengers 3- Overall tasty and exceptional option of food and beverages is served 4- Comfortable and cheerful atmosphere in the airplane. 5- Reasonable pricing for the guaranteed service 6- Well-organized design selection for the inside of the plane such as the separate seat and bed idea The Intangibles: 1- Caring and friendly flight attendants. 2-In flight Internet connection. 3-Highly advanced website with several checking choices such as the Check in, chill out in the Caribbean which allow customers to relax in their hotel. As the staff deliver the boarding passband, they take the luggage in a secure van to check it in the airport. 4- Several fair packages serving diverse customer demands. 5- Enable customers to book other related inquiries such as booking a car, a hotel 6- The website covers all the needed information from getting airport directions to inflight exercises. 7- Enable customers to exchange their money at different locations. 8- Cleanness and neatness of the airplanes. 9- Hip and trendy design for the logo. 10- Brand recognition. 11- Exceptional customer service such as personally calling customers before the flight time to check if they’re in need for help. 12- Involving customers in their objective which is â€Å"to grow a profitable airline, that people love to fly and where people love to work†. 13- Efficient customer complaints procedure even for non travelers. 14- Efficient baggage claims procedure even in incidents occurrence * What are the heads of Virgin’s product design? Virgin has three product heads which are the economy’s and Premium Economy’s classes design, the Upper Class and a head for Clubhouses. * What kind of structure does the organization apply? The organization has a flat structure. * What gave Virgin’s design a level of respect within the organization? Virgin’s design was granted respect by building relationships and communicating the value of design in the organization. * What is the benefit from the service design? The benefit is to ensure that the new designs of virgin’s services are improving and increasing customer’s satisfaction. *How does Virgin maintain a low staff turnover even though their promotions are limited? Virgin maintains a low staff turnover in their design by keeping employees motivated and satisfied. The organization assures this result by educating their design employees, involving them in training programs, applying a cross-functional share of ideas and teamwork. * What are the incentives of applying team works? Teamwork grants designers with the appropriate reward and grant managers the achievement of the negotiated goals. *What is the operational focus of Virgin? Virgin airlines focuses on differentiation in design. *How does Virgin Atlantic operate within its time and resource constraints? Virgin executes its projects and designs activities through a company of wide project management system. *How is the project design processed? The design process undergoes R&D, Design Development and implementation. *What are the stages of research and development of Virgin Atlantic? First, they start with product challenge in which the performance is monitored not to decrease or it’s raised. After that, the opportunity identifier stage begins where an idea is introduced into action by the group directors with the approved fundings. From the OI, Virgin develops the product brief. Then, the project design is discussed in a dialogue form between the employees responsible for the project and the design team. Finally, the approval of the board is requested with a detailed presentation in hand. *What are the risks of the OI stage? Budgets and timelines limitations are critical to OI. *What is the aim of creating a dialogue for the project design? Creating a dialogue is important for the stakeholders because it assures them that their interests will be delivered within the time and money limits. *What are the reasons behind the meetings of Design Development? 1) The ITCM is held to ensure that the project design is applicable. 2) The PDR is held so that the manufacturers demonstrate their understanding of the project and correct any misinterepretation . 3) The CDR is held so that the designers and manufacturers both agree on the final design. 4) The FAI is to ensure that the manufactured products are as planned. *How does Virgin Atlantic minimize the risks of implementation? Virgin minimizes the implementation’s risk by reducing the expensive aircraft downtime and by storing products six months before the roll out. *Does Virgin outsource and if so in which activity? Virgin uses external agencies to help with creating different designs. *How does Virgin manage the work of the internal and external design groups? Virgin manage the work between these parties by establishing weekly meetings and increasing those meetings when needed. Also, Virgin ensures that external groups reach their highest performance by giving them their space and keeping them separate from one another. *What are the methods used in improving Virgin service? Virgin collects information from internal customers, external customers, third parties. An example of internal customers are the senior mangers. Furthermore, Virgin provide customers with Xplane questionaries which are taken under consideration by the designers even in seat sizes. Virgin also uses benchmarking data to improve its design satisfaction. * How did Virgin reached success with its new upper class addition? At first, the design team discussed a number of flat beds’ layouts with the managers. Then, they prioritized the features to ensure that the important features are included in the layout. After that, the engineering department ensured that the layout is safe and undergoes the regulations. Then, the layout of separate seats and sleeping areas was passed to the development stage after the approval of the board of directors. In addition, the seat features were analyzed and tested to ensure its performance. * In which way did the upper class concept cover customer’s retention? The upper class concept didn’t only include a comfortable layout, it also included service factors such as limousine pick-up, in-flight massage, lightning specifications and dining options. Also, Virgin included customers in the assessment of its new service inquiry. In your opinion, how do you think Virgin airlines can improve their performance? I believe that Virgin have reached a high performance and established a brand image within the airlines sector. Thus, the best way to ensure their success is by benchmarking and seeking improvements even in the small missing aspects. In the end, there isn’t limit to the competing market. Primary problem: How will Virgin Atlantic airways segment and position their firm in the market in order for them to surpass their competitors and become market leader? Supporting details: Richard Banson (the founder of Virgin Atlantic) believes that knowing the needs and wants of all customers is the best core competence, the Virgin Atlantic believes that they need to accommodate all the customers who can afford to pay for the ticket, but Virgin Atlantic don’t practice the marketing segmentation. Secondary problem: How will the Virgin Atlantic Airways maintain their good reputation and their service? Supporting details: The Virgin Atlantic airways is known for its innovations, products, services, schedule, but the seats are tiny with no legroom in the premium economy class. Recommendations: Primary problem: virgin Atlantic airways need to identify their target market so they can serve and do their job effectively and efficiently Secondary problem: Virgin Atlantic should conduct a disciplinary action for their employees. Attendants should distribute a wish-list where passengers can write what they want freely either during the flight or after the flight, they can wish to buy presents instead of going to the duty free, by the wish-list the management will know the likes and dislikes of the passenger and this will result in avoiding complaints. REFERENCES http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Case-studies/Virgin-Atlantic-Airways/Designing-the-Upper-Class-Suite/ Quality management manual Worldwide flights | Africa, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, UK and USA | Virgin Atlantic. (n.d.). Worldwide Flights | Africa, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, UK and USA | Virgin Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/virginatlantic Research Methodology. (n.d.). Research Methodology. Retrieved from http://research-methodology.net/virgin-atlantic-airways/ Virgin Strategy1. (n.d.). Virgin Strategy1. Retrieved from http://fr.scribd.com/doc/60328463/Virgin-Strategy1 Virgin Atlantic Airways Fleet Details and History. (n.d.). – Planespotters.net Just Aviation. Retrieved from http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Virgin-Atlantic http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/careers/highlife/timeline/index.jsp Virgin Atlantic Limited. (n.d.). PrivCo. Retrieved from http://www.privco.com/private-company/virgin-atlantic-limited Virgin Atlantic Airways Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports. (n.d.). Virgin Atlantic Airways Customer Reviews. Retrieved from http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/vir_atl.htm AirlineMeals.net – Airline catering * the world’s largest website about airline catering. (n.d.). AirlineMeals.net – Airline Catering * the World’s Largest Website about Airline Catering. Retrieved from http://www.airlinemeals.net/browse.php?id=2325 https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/manageyourflights/index.jsp The Economist. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2012/12/virgin-atlantic