Systems of Social Stratification Essay Example for Free

Systems of Social Stratification Essay The caste, the class and the colour-bar are among the systems of social stratification. The main aim of this essay is to compare and contrast these systems as well as indicating their advantages and disadvantages to development. The essay begins with defining the key terms which include comparing, contrasting and development. It further goes on to define as well as explain social stratification itself, the caste, the class and the colour-bar systems respectively. The essay further talks about the advantages and disadvantages of these systems of social stratification and how they affect development. Lastly but not the least comes the conclusion of the essay. The term â€Å"comparing† can be defined as the way of coming up or finding out the similarities between two or more items. On the other hand, the term â€Å"contrasting† means finding out some differences between two or more items. However, the term development refers to the act or process of bringing positive change or improvement. It also referred as a multi-dimensional improvement in people’s well-being at all levels. Social stratification on the other hand is defined as a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. The caste is the system in which people are categorised in a fixed arrangement of strata from the most to the least privileged, with a persons position determined unalterably at birth. However, class system is a system of categorising people which is based on individual achievement depending on their social and economic statuses. The colour-bar system on the other hand is the system in which involve inequalities between people and they are categorised on account of their skin colour or race (Giddens 2006). According to Joan Ferranti (1982), there are four fundamental principles of stratification: firstly, Social stratification is a characteristic of society and not just due to individual differences. Secondly, Social stratification persists over generations yet most societies allow some sort of social mobility or changes in peoples position. Social mobility may be upward, downward, or horizontal. This means that social mobility may increase, decrease or remain constant. Thirdly, Social stratification is universal but variable (it changes), and lastly Social stratification involves both inequality and beliefs. Furthermore, social stratification is a trait of society and not simply reflection of individual and it is universal, though it varies from society to society. Ferranti further indicated that Stratification is usually based on three major premises: Power which he described as the ability to impose one’s will on others, Prestige and described it as Horner given to someone by others and Property which he described as forms of wealth. If a person’s or group’s respect is given to know whether that person or group possess or does not possess certain traits, then it will be able to predictable with reasonable accuracy how this person or group is likely to fare in the social hierarchy. He also defined Social Hierarchy as a set of ranked statuses and Social Inequality as some types of people systematically experience advantages in society while other types of people are systematically disadvantaged in the society. This determination is based on who is socially advantaged and who is included among the ranks of the socially disadvantaged and it is on certain characteristics that these individuals possess and how society values or devalues these characteristics. Social stratification affects people’s lives and can be manifested in various ways in society (Ferranti 1982). As articulated in the above statements, social stratification is the system of classifying people in terms of gender, race, social-economic conditions, and many other conditions that affect their lives. Social stratification is divided into six major systems, but this assay concentrate much on explaining three of them as listed above. According to Hindson, D (1987), the caste is a system in which groups are separated from each other on account of religious rules of ritual purity. He indicated that this system has recently been practiced much in India and reflect on the Hindu religious belief where the caste system is more than two thousand years old. According to the Hindu belief, there are four major types of castes: The â€Å"Brahmans† mostly priests and scholars, the â€Å"Kshatriyas† warriors, rulers, and large landholders, the â€Å"Vaishyas† merchants, farmers, and skilled artisans, the â€Å"Shudras† labourers and unskilled artisans, However, there is an additional group called the â€Å"Harijans† Sometimes called untouchables,† they are ranked so low that technically, they are outside the caste system itself. According to Krishnamurti Badriraju (2001), the caste system has many advantages: It helped in the preservation of culture because it was passed on from one generation to another. Preservation of purity; because of its endogamous nature, it permitted marriage within the caste thus preserved purity for each caste. Division of labour; caste system required each individual to do work prescribed for each caste. It promoted co-operation within caste to preserve their culture and protect it from degradation from other caste. Caste system was also responsible for protecting the society from alien cultures. Furthermore, the caste system promoted permanency and continuity such that each caste had a permanent constitution to guide its behaviour and action. The caste system also improved living standards because each caste struggled hard to prosper. Badriraju did not only look at the positive side of the caste system but also looked at its negative side and came up with some disadvantages. The caste system was found to undemocratic. This means that it denied equal opportunity for advancement of people belonging to different castes. There was no mobility among the caste because each individual adopted the occupation prescribed for his/her caste. The caste system also prohibited physical contacts or communication between the Brahmin and the Sudra. Furthermore, the caste system is a class of idlers where Brahmins were well entrenched at the top of the social hierarchy and stopped devoting themselves to study, teaching and started living on alms provided by other castes. This made the low caste people to be oppressed regarding their place of living, movements and other activities and this was against the integrity of the nation. The caste system promoted discrimination by the false sense of superiority and inferiority between the Brahmin and the Sudra. Class system is a form of social stratification in which society tends to divide into classes whose members have different access to resources and power. An economic and cultural rift usually exists between different classes. In the early stages of class stratification, the majority of members in a given society have similar access to wealth and power, with only noticeable members displaying more or less wealth than the rest. As time goes on, the large share of wealth and status can begin to concentrate around a small number of populations. As the members of the community begin to spread out from one another economically, classes are created (Hawley, John Charles 2008). Karl Max saw classes as defined by peoples relationship to the means of production. According to him, the Capitalists (bourgeoisie) are people who own factories and other productive business and the proletariat are people who sell their productive labour to the capitalists. Marxs theory has been enormously influential and his work has been criticized for failing to recognize that a system of unequal ewards may be necessary to motivate people to perform their social roles effectively. According to Marxist theory in a class system, social stratification benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor. Karl Marx also described two other classes, the petite bourgeoisie and the lumpenproletariat. The petite bourgeoisie is a small business class that does not accumulate enough profit as compared to the bourgeoisie, while the lumpenproletariat is a low life part of the proletariat class which include beggars, prostitutes and many others (Gimbutas, Marija 1992). Unlike Karl Marx who defined social classes in terms of ownership of the means of production, Max Weber identified three distinct dimensions of stratification. He argued that social standing consists of three parts or dimensions: class, which he regarded as determined mainly by economic standing or wealth; party, which was equivalent to political power; and status, or social prestige and honour. Following Webers lead, contemporary sociologists often use the broader concept of social-economic status to refer to a persons ranking along several social dimensions, particularly education, occupational prestige, and income. He added on by saying that people had different qualifications and skills on the basis of which they can be differentiated. Wright, E. O. (1997), found the class system to have both advantages and disadvantage: It promoted group solidarity and co-operation between people belonging to the same class, it promoted hard work among the lower class as they strived to be as those the higher class, it also promoted pride on one’s success or achievement through hard working. For example, if a lawyer would be seen to the same as a garbage man and get the same salary, he would feel inferior and think that his hard work was in vein as has the same income with someone who did not spend 18 years in school. On a negative part, wright found the class system to be undemocratic as it denied equal opportunities for advancement of people’s belonging to different groups. Another system of social stratification is the colour-bar system (also known as the race system). Jeremy Seekings (2003) described it as a system which involves inequalities between groups of people by the colour or race of its people. Mainly these inequalities deal with the antagonistic action between the whites and black racial groups. The colour-bar is associated with the apartheid in South Africa where people were categorised in four groups: on top of the hierarchy being the whites (Caucasians) followed by the coloureds, then the Asians (mongoroids) and lastly, the black (negroids). This system is also associated with discrimination and prejudice. Furthermore, the system is characterised by racial segregation where racial or ethnic groups inhabit the same territory but do activities separately also termed as â€Å"mix but not combine†. Similarly to other systems, the colour-bar also promotes solidarity among groups of the same race by the preservation of culture because it passed on from one generation to another. However, the colour-bar system was found to have more disadvantages than advantages because promoted racism, discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping, and ethnocentrism because people in the lowest category could feel to be more inferior. In comparing the three systems of social stratification, it would be found that they have some features in common; at the same time they would be found to have some differences depending on how they occur or practiced. According to how scholars have been describing each of these systems, they all come to a common conclusion of classifying people into different categories, they share the same principles as well as dimension which are: wealth, power and prestige. Although these systems share the same principles and dimensions, it is clear from their descriptions that they vary in the way they are practiced. The caste system is a system in which groups are separated from each other on account of religious rules of ritual purity, and the class system as articulated by Karl Marx is a system where people are classified on account of ownership and non-ownership of the means of production. Furthermore, it is a system where people are classified depending on their social and economic statuses. On the other hand, the colour-bar system as shown by Jeremy Seekings (2003), it is a system which involves inequalities between groups of people by the colour or race of its people. However, this clearly shows that although these systems of social stratification have some similarities, they are different in the actual way they occur. During the Conference on Race in Durban in 2001, Dalit participants made out a strong case that caste discrimination was not different from race discrimination and casteism was no different from racism [United Nations 2001]. The Indian Government rejected this equation, just as it rejected calling Indian forest dwelling communities as ‘indigenous peoples,’ though its own terminology of ‘adivasi’ means exactly that. It has maintained that such classifications are not rigorous enough. The Indian government apparently has forgotten that it was the intervention of the Indian delegation in 1965 that forced the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination [CERD] to include the term ‘descent’ as a factor. It has also been pointed out that in practice racial and caste discrimination coalesce â€Å"be it exclusion, inequality, institutionalised prejudices or discrimination† (Khan 2010). On the other hand, the colour-bar system is different from the class system in many ways: the colour- bar is a closed system of social stratification whereas the class is open. This means that in the colour-bar system there is little or no interaction between people of different colour/race, but people of different classes are free to interact in the class system. Social mobility is restricted in the colour-bar system, and open in the class system. Inequality is based on one’s skin colour in the colour-bar system whereas in the class system, it is based on one’s social and economic status. In the colour-bar system, the lowest race (blacks mostly) are denied development opportunities, whereas in the class system everyone is not hindered but eligible of developing his status. The colour-bar system does not allow marrying outside the race (it is endogamous), and this is what makes it similar to the caste system (John S 1983). John did not only look at the differences between these systems, but he also talked about their similarities by outlining that they both have elements of slavery because in the colour-bar system, the whites exercise absolute control over blacks and in the class system, the owners of the bourgeoisie exercise absolute control over the proletariats. Little do these systems of social stratification contribute to development, Davis and Moore argued that the most difficult jobs in any society are the most necessary and require the highest reward and compensation to sufficiently motivate individuals to fill them. This promotes development as it makes people work hard (mostly academically) in order to acquire those positions. However, this argument has been criticised by many scholar as it only apply to the class system and not the caste and the colour-bar where one cannot change his race (the new york times 2005). Since development comes through hard work, these systems play a vital role in promoting development because those in lower class work hard in order to become like those in higher class. However, this development is limited to the class system because it does not occur at a broader level in the caste and the colour-bar systems but occurs within the particular caste or race. The reason is that no matter how much one succeeds in these two systems, he will remain a black, coloured or Sudra. This can hinder development because a Blackman will feel it is better to remain poor and being looked down by a Whiteman than to succeed while still being laughed at. However, this same applies to the caste system where a Harijan thinks that even if works hard; he will not be as pure as the Brahmin. In summary, it would be concluded that these three systems of social stratification hinder development because they all involve inequalities between groups of people. For as long as these systems promote racism, discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping, and ethnocentrism, development cannot occur because people in the lowest category (such as the blacks, Sudra, harijan, the proletariats and lumpens) would feel to be more inferior and think that they cannot do anything where development is concerned. This analysis can be interpreted in a range of ways as regards the positions in society concerning the classification of people. Looked at one way, almost the whole of society can be considered as ‘a society of classes’. For this reason, Karl Marx advocated the attainment of classless society after the workers overthrow the owners of the means of production from power of which it has not been attained even today.

Quality Assurance Systems in the Hotel Industry

Quality Assurance Systems in the Hotel Industry Quality assurance systems in the upscale hotel sector 1.  Introduction Quality assurance systems are an important element of any business strategy. As Porter (1985 and 2004) suggests, quality is now seen as a major force for gaining competitive advantage, particularly with the consumer. There is no commercial activity where this is more important than in the hotel sector. As Yavas et al (1995) state, â€Å"the question is no longer whether to have quality assurance programmes, but rather how to make these programmes work,† within this sector of hospitality. It can be argued that in terms of quality assurance systems delivery the hotel sector is in a distinctive position, particularly when it is related to service satisfaction (Parasuraman 1997, Schiffman and Kanuk 2000). Unlike most other industries, where customer contact and engagement during a visit might be fleeting, as happens in retail shop environment, a hotel’s interaction with customers can last from a few hours to several days. Furthermore, as Kandampully et al (2001, p.28) the quality of the hotel product also has to take into account the â€Å"customer-to-customer interactions.† Following a brief literature review, the intention of this essay is to examine quality assurance systems and evaluate the effect that these systems have upon service quality and customer satisfaction within the upscale Hotel market. 2.  Literature Review Quality assurance and management within the hotel environment is focused upon satisfying the customer. Therefore, this review concentrates on the existing literature relating to customer satisfaction and the various methods and frameworks of service quality related to this focus. 2.1  Customer satisfaction Academic literature relating to customer satisfaction falls within two main categories, these being the psychological perceptions of the customer and the practical ways in which customer satisfaction can be implemented to help a business achieve its objectives. In the hotel sector, this objective is â€Å"to try and engender a high level of customer satisfaction in order to positively influence our customers repurchasing and communicative behaviour† (Hennig-Thurau and Hassen (2000, p.62). However, to achieve this aim the business has to understand what drives customer satisfaction. Christopher (1984), Holbrook (1999), Schiffmand and Kanuk 2000 and Brennen (2003) all agree that satisfaction is related to the consumer’s perception or judgement of a product experience and value when set against their expectations and the payment made. Zeithaml’s (1998, p.14) describes it as follows, being that â€Å"Perceived value is the consumer’s overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given †¦ value represents a trade-off of the salient give and get components,† in other words the cost paid is measured against the value expected . Therefore, it can be suggested that the greater the service quality the higher the satisfaction (Kandampully et al. 2001, p.8) and, conversely, the higher the price the greater the perception of value. Bostepe (2007) further identifies that, within a service environment such as a hotel, consumer satisfaction does not simply rely upon the quality of service satisfaction received from business employees, although this is an essential element. The physical environment, for example the dà ©cor, bedrooms and other facilities offered, are also elements of the consumer’s perceived value and service satisfaction. If any of these are deemed as sub-standard, particularly when related to the price paid, this will reduce the customer’s enjoyment and levels of satisfaction. It follows therefore that only by concentration upon providing quality within all of these areas of the product will the business be able to assure satisfaction and encourage customer loyalty (Holbrook 1999, p.121), which Porter (1998), Parasuraman (1997) Agrawal (2000) and Harrison (2003) all agree is essential to competitive advantage. 2.2  Methods used to measure customer satisfaction and service quality There are numerous â€Å"quality assurance† measurement systems and standards available for use within the business environment. Customer feedback is one such measurement. Client feedback can be achieved by two methods. The first way is to provide questionnaires that hotel guests are asked to complete before the end of their stay. The second is to rely upon externally conducted questionnaires, interviews and polls, which can be conducted on a continuous basis. However, whilst comments and responses provided by customers may act as a good testimonial for the business (Porter 1998, p.1478), these systems have their drawbacks. In addition to the fact that not all customers might respond, the design of the process itself is often flawed (Kandampully et al 2001) and can therefore be misinterpreted. For example, a simple complaints procedure would not necessarily identify areas of quality success. Secondly, these feedback processes tend to lack definition. Their use may therefore be inhibited by the fact that they do not provide management with sufficient detail to be able to locate and resolve the specific areas of the business where deficiency of service quality is occurring. Furthermore, a system of continuous surveys adds to the business administration costs and, in addition, raises the inherent issue of sampling (Visit Britain 2008 b). Evidence of these limitations can be seen in a recent survey conducted by Visit Britain (2008 a) (see figu re 1). Whilst it is clearly apparent from these results that customer satisfaction in related to encouraging loyalty and retention, as well as being inherently useful in turning existing customers into promotional tools for the hotel, this does not provide management with a detailed analysis of the areas where satisfaction has been achieved or denote what areas were not satisfying. To provide detailed quality service observations therefore, a more robust quality assurance system is required and most of these are based upon variations of the â€Å"Total Quality Management† (TQM) system (Dotchin and Oakland 1994 and Ziethaml et al 2000). These methods are designed to assess and monitor the level of quality being maintained throughout all areas of the business process and its supply chain, from an internal as well as external viewpoint. One such variation, particularly applicable to the hotel industry, is the SERVQUAL method, which originated from the works of Parasuraman et al (1991). 3  SERVQUAL Measurement Kandampully et al (2001, p.68) observe that many academics and practical studies have used SERVQUAL as a â€Å"true measure of customer service† and that it has been â€Å"extensively applied† (Shahin 2005, p.4) in service based organisations. Amongst these service industries will be included the hospitality and hotel sector of the tourism industry. Despite the fact that recent researches have sought to extend the elements of quality measurement with the SERVQUAL model, fundamentally it is still based upon the level of quality assurance to be measured and gained within five key sectors of the business processes, which are: Tangibles Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel. Reliability Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Assurance (including competence, courtesy, credibility and security). Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy (including access, communication, understanding the customer). Caring and individualized attention that the firm provides to its customers. Source: Sahney et al 2004 The SERVQUAL measurement can be used internally, through measurement against preset quality assurance standards such as the ISO 9001 Quality certification process (BSI 2008) and the â€Å"Star Rating system† operated by Visit Britain (2008) in conjunction with the Automobile Association. In this case the hotel services and processes are measured against pre-determined sets of quality criterion and monitored at least annually by those who regulate these standards. The internal quality assurance programme is also complemented by external consumer questionnaires and interview surveys. The SERVQUAL quality assurance method has been in existence for some years and is â€Å"tried and tested† (Shahin 2005, p.5), making it a firm favourite within the hotel service industry, where managers are comfortable and confident with the outcomes of these measurements. An element of SERVQUAL that is considered particularly important in this respect is the fact that the system and its measurements are monitored and updated on a regular basis (Holbrook (1999), Sahney et al (2004) and Boztepe (2007)), for example annually (Shahin 2005, p.6). Both ISO 9001 and the â€Å"Star Rating† systems conform to these determinants. 4  Quality assurance in Upscale Hotels As will be seen from the following analysis, the â€Å"quality assurance† systems applied to the hotel in terms of both the internal industry â€Å"Star Rating† and external SERVQUAL systems are virtually synonymous in terms of the standards and factors they rely upon for measurement. To maintain their perception as upscale or â€Å"5 star† hotels, in each of these cases the hotel will have to achieve much higher levels of standards. 4.1  Star Rating system Although the Star Rating system is formatted in a slightly different way to SERVQUAL, the quality elements of this process are still graded in a similar manner. The main difference is the fact that there are minimum quality requirements before the hotel will even be considered for a rating. However, even these equate to the tangible element of the SERVQUAL system (figure 2). Once the minimum entry requirements have been met, to assess which star level is applicable to the establishment independent inspectors will monitor five quality bands and award a quality percentage to each. These percentages determine what rating the establishment has achieved (figure 3). Figure 3 Quality bands for star rating Source: Visit Britain (2005, p.6) Furthermore, this standard of quality has to be achieved across a range of five product elements, which include cleanliness, service, food quality, bedrooms and bathrooms. Simply complying in one of the areas is not sufficient to earn the highest star. Therefore, if the hotel fails to achieve the required 85-100% standards during an annual monitoring it risks its rating being downgraded to four stars or a lower standard. For instance, in the example shown below (figure 4), despite the fact that the hotel being monitored has achieved the five star requirements in three of the five bands, its failures in the other two would demote it to a four star hotel. Figure 4 Quality bank achievement Source: adapted from Visit Britain (2005, p.7) 4.2  SERVQUAL system When using the SERVQUAL system, which is largely based largely upon the results of customer satisfaction surveys, although all hotels would be looking to achieve the maximum â€Å"service quality† satisfaction level of 100% in terms of the overall scoring, there is a significant difference in the way this would be achieved when related to the different standard of establishments. To provide an example of how this equates in practice, the following is a comparison between the SERVQUAL requirements of a 5 star hotel against lower rated hotel, such as the budget Travelodge hotel chain (figure 5). Figure 5 SERVQUAL comparisons It is apparent from the above comparison that the 5-star establishment requires their quality of service to be more balanced, in other words no one area of their product should be delivering a lower quality of service than any other. However, with the budget chain, which operates on a low cost strategy that eliminates much of the human resources and food elements, these specific areas are shown to have less importance to the business, but need to be compensated by increased levels of satisfaction in other areas of quality if the business is to remain successful. 4.3 Findings What is immediately apparent from the analysis of the two quality assurance systems identified above as being used within the hotel sector is their compatibility. This not only applies to the systems per se, but also to the measurement of the results. In both cases an upscale hotel would need to achieve a balanced score with high ratings in all of the quality determinants if it is to maintain its market position and be perceived by the potential customer as a quality (5 star) hotel. Conversely, the lower quality hotels pay less attention to those areas of the standards that are more directly related to the quality of service provided by their human resources, relying instead upon other elements to satisfy customer quality perception, such as low cost (Porter 2004). Whilst it could therefore be stated in simple terms that quality assurance is related to the price being paid for the product, what research such as that conducted by Shahin (2006), Ziethaml et al (1990) and Holbrook (1999), and the fact that all hotels, irrespective of their standards, operate quality assurance systems, shows is that price is simply one element required to fulfill customer satisfaction needs. Whatever price is being charged for the hotel product the customer will still weigh the experience received against the value they expect from the product enjoyed at that price (Zeithaml 1988 and Parasuraman et at 1994). A customer who decides to spend a greater amount of his or her disposable income on arranging to stay in a 5-star hotel will have a much greater value expectation than one who chooses a budget hotel stay. The former will expect the service quality to exist in all aspects of the hotel product. This includes the dà ©cor and the ambiance of the environment, the facilities that are being offered, including meals and room service, and the performance of the hotel’s human resources. If these quality expectations are not met that customer will perceive that they have not received value for money and therefore will view the experience as less than satisfactory. Therefore, they will be unlikely to promote the hotel in a positive manner to others or re-use it. 5  Conclusion It is apparent that in the case of an upscale or5-star hotel the combination of the industry â€Å"Star Rating† and â€Å"SERVQUAL† quality assurance systems will have a significant impact upon their service quality and the level of customer satisfaction achieved from using the product. In terms of the â€Å"Star Rating† system, the higher the star rating the greater the expectation of the customer in terms of their perception of the quality that will be found in this establishment. Therefore, the five star establishments are likely to attract customers who wish to avail themselves of the higher quality experience. With regard to the external â€Å"SERVQUAL† system of measurement, because these are results from customer experiences, the greater the levels of quality achieved in the areas measured, the more likely it is that customers will be retained and act as recommenders to other potential customers. In both cases therefore, it can be concluded that the quality assurance system is designed to achieve competitive advantage by attracting additional market share, thus improving the hotel’s revenue and profitability levels. References Agrawal (2000). Managing service industries in the new millennium: Evidence is everything. Paper presented at the AIMS Convention on Service Management Berry L L and Parasuraman, A (1991). Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality, Free Press. New York, US Boztepe, Suzan (2007). User Value: Competing theories and models. International Journal of Design, Vol. 1, Issue. 2, pp.55-63. Brennan, Ross (2003). Value in Marketing: Confusion or Illumination? Available from: http://mubs.mdx.ac.uk/Research/Discussion_Papers/Marketing/dpap%20marketing%20no25.pdf (Accessed 22 December 2008) BSI (2008). ISO 9001Quality. Available from: http://www.bsi-global.com/en/Assessment-and-certification-services/management-systems/Standards-and-Schemes/ISO-9001/ (Accessed 22 December 2008) Chetwynd, Catherine and Knight, Jenny (2007). Time to capitalise on falling hotel occupancy. The Times. London, UK. Christopher, M. (1996). From brand values to customer value. Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, Vol. 2, Issue.2, pp.55-66. Dotchin, J.A and Oakland, J.S (1994). Total Quality Management in Services: Part 3: Distinguishing perceptions of Service Quality. International Journal of Quality reliability Management, Vol. 11, Issue. 4, pp.6-28 Gale, B. T. (1994). Managing customer value. Free Press. New York, US. Harrison, Jeffrey S (2003). Strategic Management: Of Resources and Relationship. John Wiley Sons Inc. New York, US. Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten and Hansen, Ursula (eds) (2000). Relationship Marketing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidleberg. New York, US. Holbrook, M. B. (Ed.). (1999). Consumer value: A framework for analysis and research. Routledge. New York, US. Kandampully, Jay., Mox, Connie and Sparks, Beverley (2001). Service Quality Management in Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure. Haworth Press. New York, US. Kotler P (1999). Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control (Millennium ed.) Englewood Cliffs, N J; Prentice-Hall, 279-317. Parasuraman, A. (1997). Reflections on gaining competitive advantage through customer value. Academy of Marketing Science, 25(2), 154-161. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1991), Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 67, pp. 420-450. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1993), Research note: more on improving service quality measurement, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, No. 1, pp. 140-147. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1994), Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: implications for future research, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 111-124. Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. Free Press. New York, US Porter, M.E (2004). Competitive Advantage. Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors. Free Press. New York, US Sahney, S., Banwet, D.K., and Karunes, S. (2004), A SERVQUAL and QFD approach to total quality education: A student perspective, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol.53, No.2, pp. 143-166. Schiffman, L g and L L Kanuk (2000). Consumer Behaviour. FT Prentice Hall, New Jersey, US. Shahin, Dr. Arash (2005). SERVQUAL and Models of Service Quality Gaps: A Framework for Determining and Prioritizing Critical Factors in Delivering Quality Systems. Available: Visit Britain (2008 a). UK Market Profile 2007. Available from: http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/Images/UK_DMarketing_tcm12-22850.pdf (Accessed 21 December 2008) Visit Britain (2008 b). Britain Inbound: Overall Market Profile. Available from: http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/Images/InboundFINAL_2008_%20BritInbound3F_tcm12-40935.pdf (Accessed 21 December 2008) Visit London (2005). Hotel Accommodation; Quality Standards. Available from: http://www.qualityintourism.com/content/pdfs/Standards/Hotel%20Standard%20INT.pdf (Accessed 21 December 2008) Yavas, U., Yasin, M and Wafa, m (1995). Front and back-stage strategies in service delivery in the hospitality industry: a conceptual framework. Market Intelligence Planning. Vol. 13, Issue, 11, pp.22-26 Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). 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Analysis of Air Quality in the UK

Analysis of Air Quality in the UK Introduction Air pollution has always been a major area of concern in the developed world, especially in major cities. Air pollution is defined as- ‘the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more contaminants such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odour, smoke, or vapour in quantities and of characteristics and duration such as to be injurious to human, plant, or animal life or to property, or to interfere unreasonably with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property. In the past there have been severe problems with air quality in the United Kingdom, especially in major cities such as London. In 1952 the Great London Smog, which came about due to an increase in industrialisation, caused heavy smoke to settle over the city for days and caused thousands of deaths. Fortunately, the air quality in London has substantially improved since then and visible air pollution, such as dust, smoke, and smog has mostly disappeared due to UK and European legislation and initiatives. However, there have been more recent instances of deaths caused by air pollution. In 2003, during Londons summer smog episode in August there were a total of between 46 and 212 premature deaths from ozone and 85 from particulate matter. Londons summer smog episode in July 2006 was likely to have resulted in a similar or greater number of deaths from ozone and a slightly lower number for particulate matter. Due these events and increase public awareness or the damaging effects of air pollution, the United Kingdom government has put various legislation and initiatives in place to improve air quality. Air pollutants are mainly caused by human activities that have serious health effects on human health, wildlife, and the environment. As well, car and aviation pollution are major sources of many air pollutants and the number of vehicles and aircrafts are increasing. These pollutants all contribute to climate change, which could lead to flooding and extreme weather. Environmental legislation that deals with air pollution has aimed to improve air quality through a variety of measures. Furthermore, initiatives such as the National Air Quality Strategy and preventative systems like the precautionary, preventative and polluter pays principles also aim to improve air quality. Other proposals include reducing car emissions, buying locally produced goods and turning off electronic devices when not in use. Air Pollutants Many activities that seem harmless on the surface contribute to air pollution, from driving a car to using hairspray. The main pollutants of concern that affect air quality include, but are not limited to; particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). These pollutants can have serious health effects in both the long and short term. Particulate matter is non-visible airborne particles and the main source is the emissions from diesel engines. When inhaled, particulate matter can reach deep in the lungs where it can produce inflammation and worsen heart and lung diseases in sufferers of these conditions. Volatile organic compounds are mainly released in vehicle exhaust gases, usually as unburned fuels. These compounds can irritate the lungs and lower resistance to certain infections. Chlorofluorocarbons are a product of aerosol sprays, solvents, etc that undergo a major reaction that destroys the ozone. The ozone is vital as it protects life from ultraviolet radiation. Also, CFCs can have a more visible effect as it has been known to irritate the lungs and increase the symptoms in sufferers of asthma and lung diseases. Other possible long term health effects include cancer, liver and kidney damage, and birth defects. Sulphur dioxide is released into the air due to the burning of fossil fuels which contain sulphur, the most common source being coal fired power stations. It is an acidic gas which can combine with water vapour to produce acid rain, which has been linked to the death of wildlife in some cases, as well as to the corrosion of buildings. It can cause a decrease in lung function in persons who already suffer from respiratory problems. Thus, it is clear to see why it is important to reduce these pollutants as much as possible to ensure the safety of the population. Car Pollution Motor Vehicles are one of the major sources of air pollution in the United Kingdom by causing carbon dioxide emissions at a total of 22%. Other air pollutants from motor vehicles include nitrogen oxides, particles, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. This will not change in the near future as traffic levels are predicted to continue to rise. All of these pollutants have a damaging impact on human health and flora and fauna. The UK Government has introduced measures to combat this form of air pollution. The annual Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) was introduced in 2001 as a way to tax motor vehicles based on predicted carbon dioxide emissions and the type of fuel used. In addition, tax discounts are available for users who buy bio-fuel and hybrid electric vehicles. In this way, car owners are encouraged to buy vehicles which are less harmful to the environment. Aviation Pollution In 2006, approximately 240 million passengers passed through the main UK airports and the government predicts that by 2020 this will increase to 400 million passengers. Pollutant emissions from aircrafts are rising with the increasing amount of flights. Previously, the main pollutant that was emitted from aircrafts was nitrogen oxides (NOx). These are harmful as they contribute to the making of ozone which has a major part in global warming; however this is not a problem of recent for civil aviation with the decommissioning of the Concorde. As well, aircrafts are a major source of carbon dioxide emissions and these emissions at a higher altitude are thought to have a greater effect on climate change than emissions on the ground. In fact, it is likely that the aviation sector will become the main source of carbon dioxide in the near future. Climate Change Along with directly harming human health as mentioned, another effect that these pollutants cause is climate change, which implies a significant change from one climatic condition to another. This happens when the emission of greenhouse gases trap the radiation emitted by the earths surface which raises the air temperature. There are predictions that this can cause changes such as the melting of polar ice caps which could cause flooding in low-lying areas. The ‘greenhouse effect, as this is called, continues to increase as the emissions of these gases are on the rise and the government is following the Kyoto Protocol targets in order to reduce these emissions. As well, the UK launched a climate change program in 2000 with the aim of helping the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% by 2012 and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2010. The reduction of greenhouse gas emission is done through integrated pollution prevention and control permits. The two main economic instruments used to combat climate change in the United Kingdom are the climate change levy and the national emissions trading scheme. The Climate Change Levy (CCL), which was introduced in the Finance Act 2000, is an energy usage tax that is levied on users in the industrial and public sector. There are also discount schemes in place, as well as an incentive to companies as they can reclaim 100% of capital allowance for energy efficient products within the first year of expenditure. The national emissions trading scheme is a voluntary measure which began in 2002 and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allowing participants to buy and sell allowances to produce emissions. The scheme was devised by the Emissions Trading Authority. The allowances are based on specific reduction target agreed on by the participants. One of the critiques of the scheme is that any reduction in emissions is not necessarily linked to the trading scheme. Current Legislation Air pollution is a challenging area of environmental law to regulate. This is because emissions can diffuse quickly and it can be difficult to identity the sources of pollution. Although the UK government has been accused of being reactive rather than proactive with regards to environmental regulation, the government has passed various laws in an effort to combat air pollution. The first of such laws was passed in response to the Great London Smog, and called the Clean Air Act 1956. The act aimed to protect the environment by controlling and reducing sources of smoke pollution including smoke, dust, and fumes from all fires and furnaces by introducing smokeless zones in the city. This act was supplemented by the Clean Air Act 1968, and both acts were consolidated in the Clean Air Act 1993. As well, The Environment Act 1995 contains a number of provisions which enabled the development of various policies on air pollution. It requires all local authorities in the UK to review and assess air quality in their area. If any standards are unlikely to be met by the required date, then that area will be designated an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and the local authority must implement an action plan aimed at reducing levels of the pollutant. Furthermore, some local authorities have adopted specific bye laws to control sources of air pollution. However, these can be difficult to enforce because surveillance is complicated and it is not easy to find those responsible. In terms of traffic control, the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 places a duty on local authorities to continually review traffic levels on roads and to produce targets for lowering traffic numbers. Local authorities have the power to do this by issuing Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) which can be used to achieve air quality objectives by restricting traffic in certain areas. Also, under the Transport Act 2000, every local transport authority must create Local Transport Plans (LTP) which give details for promoting public transport and charging levies to vehicle uses. Finally, the Air Quality (England) Regulations 2000 sets down the targets for air quality in each area starting from the end of 2003 to 2008. These objectives are to reduce the main pollutants of concern and are set in relation to the effect on human health, as well as its effect on the environment in general. Initiatives The National Air Quality Strategy is the main policy that sets out UK air quality standards and objectives for reducing levels of health-threatening pollutants and maintaining or improving air quality levels. Its power comes from section 80 of the Environment Act 1995. The levels of reduction have been set on the basis of scientific and medical evidence on the health effects of the various pollutants, and according to how realistic the standards to be met are. Many of these standards are the product of UK incorporation of European law. The targets laid out by the strategy are usually achieved by pollution control legislation through the setting of emission limits. However, though the environment act provides a power to prescribe standards, the strategy has no statutory force. The system of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) is the main form of pollution regulation in the UK, and gets its power under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It aims to ensure that solutions that have a positive impact on one area of the environment, does not have a negative impact on another i.e. to have more integrated solutions. The system involves issuing a permit and conditions are based on the use of Best Available Techniques (BAT), which balances the costs of preventing environmental impacts against benefits to the environment. Where a breach of legally binding EU air quality limit values is caused by a particular industrial installation or sector, more stringent permit limits than BAT can be imposed. A number of smaller installations are covered by Local Authority Pollution Prevention and Control (LAPPC), which controls emissions to air only. The Precautionary and Preventative Principles These principles are methods of protecting the environment from damage. This precautionary principle states that precautions should be taken to protect human health and the environment, even in the event of a lack of evidence of harm caused. However, critics say it does not specify how much caution should be taken. As well week precaution, which is used in the UK, only requires precautionary measures to be taken when the balance of cost and benefits justifies doing so. This basically means that persons can cause environmental damage as long as it is a net gainer to do so, which does not let the public know the importance of protecting the environment. The preventative principle is more widely acceptable. It states that the damage should be prevented in advance rather than taken care of after the fact. It also requires the preventative measures to be based on scientific standards. Thus, it is more likely to be accepted by big corporations as it is a more proven measure. The Polluter Pays Principle The polluter pays principle is a policy developed by the EC. It means that the person or organisation that caused the pollution should pay for the cost of the pollution. This includes direct and indirect costs as well as costs incurred by avoiding pollution. However is should be noted that this principle, though followed, has no statutory force. This policy has major criticism because it is hard to determine the limits on payment for damage caused. It is also difficult to identify the polluter. In most instances, only certain polluters are targeted which brings harsh criticism and questions the validity of the policy. As well, it could give the impression that pollution is acceptable as long as you pay for it which sends the wrong message. Proposals The only way that the above mentioned legislations and initiatives will work in todays society is if there is a greater emphasis on public awareness of the effects of air pollution on our environment. The most efficient starting point in combating air pollution is by seeking to reduce emissions in motor vehicles, as well as reducing the number of vehicles. This can be done through the promotion of public transport and carpooling. Also, there should be more encouragement of buying local goods, as the longer the distance that goods are transported, the more air pollution is generated. Thus, if more people consumed locally produced goods it would go a long way in reducing air pollution and improving air quality. Finally, if people switch off their electronic devices when they are not using them and use energy-saving light bulbs, they can save on their electricity bill as well as reduce the amount of pollutants that are emitted into the air. Therefore, if less electricity is used then le ss power is produced and fewer pollutants will be released into the air. Conclusion The environment is obviously very important for various reasons, and every effort must be made to protect it to the greatest extent possible. It can be seen that air pollution has a significant negative impact on human health, wildlife, architecture and the environment in general. This is mostly caused by certain human activities and by reducing them we can improve air quality. These improvements include taking non-vehicle means of transportation, buying locally produced goods, switching off electronic appliances and buying energy-saving light bulbs. However, air pollution is a difficult area of environmental law to navigate, as the range of polluters and the sources of pollutants are varied and difficult to identity. It is important to continue improvements of air quality in the UK, especially in light of upcoming events such as the Olympics in 2012. As Philip Mulligan, Chief Executive of Environmental Protection UK, said: With current concerns regarding the air quality in Beijing for the Olympics this summer, it is only fitting that London takes steps to ensure that air quality standards are met in the capital, in time for the 2012 games. It is important that the United Kingdom is seen as a leader in protecting the environment, as a lot of countries look the UK for guidance on important issues such as these.

Death in Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop for Death, I Heard

Death in Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," "I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died," and "I Felt A Funeral In My Brain" Emily Dickinson's poems "Because I Could Not Stop for Death", "I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died", and "I Felt A Funeral In My Brain" all deal with one of life's few certainties, death. Dickinson's intense curiosity towards mortality was present in much of her work, and is her legacy as a poet. "Because I could Not Stop for Death" is one of Emily Dickinson's most discussed and famous poems due to its ambiguous, and unique view on the popular subject of death. Death in this poem is told as a woman's last trip, which is headed toward eternity. This poem helps to characterize and bring death down to a more personal level. Different from the more popular views of death being brutal and cruel, Dickinson makes death seem passive and easy. The theme of the poem being that death is natural and unstoppable for everybody, but at the same time giving comfort that it is not the end of a soul's journey. The reader can recognize the poem's theme by analysing its voice, imagery, figures of speech, form, diction and especially symbolism; all of which help the reader to understand the poem's meaning. The precise form that Dickinson uses throughout the poem helps convey her message to the reader. The poem is written in five quatrains. The way in which each stanza is written in a quatrain gives the poem unity and makes it easy to read. "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" starts to gives the reader a feeling of forward movement throughout the second and third quatrain. For example, in line 5, Dickinson begins death's journey with a slow, forward movement, which can be seen as she writes, "We... ...ngs are supposed to go when we die. Or we just assume that we will experience a peaceful extinguishment of life. The persona of these poems signifies that, even though we might have plans about the end, death is uncontrollable and unimaginable. Death is the supreme unknown; Mankind naturally fears what is unknown. Emily Dickinson is no different. Her works "Because I Could Not Stop For Death", "I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died", and "I Felt A Funeral In My Brain" all explored the subject of death. She was naturally scared of the thought of dying and explored many of the great questions in her poetry. Is there a Heaven or an afterlife? If you kill yourself will you still go to heaven? Is it your fate when you die? These are just some of the questions that people have asked themselves, and because Emily Dickinson is deceased, she now knows all the answers.

The Evolution of Media Essay -- Communication, New Media, Old Media

The evolution of media, from old media to new media, has transformed the way we understand the world around us. New media is interactive and is user-generated while old media is a more traditional way of communicating through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, etc (Lecture Notes. January 12, 2011). New media gives us a new perspective by allowing us to interact with one another through the Internet. Media has become much more personal and diverse as user-generated content becomes more prominent in our lives (Lecture Notes. January 24, 2011). We are exposed to various viewpoints shape our understanding and knowledge of the social world, but does the form of media actually affect the way we understand the content which is presented to us? For my paper, I will determine whether or not the medium is the message by analyzing two different types of media sources and how they affect our understanding of the content. For my old media source I have chosen a news clip from the CB S Evening News with Katie Couric that deals with the ongoing Egyptian uprising. For my new media source I have chosen a video blog, or ‘vlog’, by an Egyptian man named Omar who discusses the crisis in Egypt from a personal point of view. Both media sources deal with the same topic, but result in different understandings of the crisis. Although both mediums focus on the same issue there are a lot of differences between the two. The CBS news clip uses a lot of visually dramatic effects to engage the audience and to get them to feel a certain way. In the news clip there are several images of violence by both the protestors and the police, however most videos are shot from the viewpoint of the police. This may be simply for safety reasons, however this le... ...ts. By simply posting a picture on Facebook, a movement for basic rights began. Since the users create the content of new media, people are able to inspire a mass audience. In conclusion, the medium is the message. The way that information is presented to us plays a key role in our understanding of the topic itself. By framing the crisis in Egypt a particular way, both the old and new media sources are able to give the audience two separate understandings of the social and cultural issues at hand. The media is less interested in telling the audience about the actual story and more interested in the underlying messages of society they provide. These underlying messages lead us to define social and cultural issues the way that the media want us to. Since the media sell us both products and ideas, both personalities and worldviews, the message becomes the medium.

Racial discrimination in the Workplace Essay

Racial discrimination has long been a problem in social history. The discrimination of ethnic minorities has been a controversial issue, existent in society, and workplaces for many years. The implementation of ethnic monitoring and positive discrimination in employment has increased the number of ethnic employees and gone a long way to mend the bridge of inequality which has burdened society for a long time. Another method introduced to try and counter the racial inequality in employment is that of Affirmative Action. Affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions, to increase their number in the workplace. Affirmative action is a controversial issue which has been debated by many. In this essay I am going to look at the advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action and what affect it has on society. I will also debate whether I think affirmative action is a fair method to implement in organisations, and also whether it can be considered to be fair from a philosophical perspective. Affirmative action was defined as an attempt to enlarge opportunity for everyone, it was designed to redress the imbalances caused by long-standing discrimination. Defenders of affirmative action argue that granting modest advantages to minorities and women is more than fair, given hundreds of years of discrimination that benefited whites and men. This implies that as blacks have previously suffered from detrimental racist discrimination and wrongdoings, including slavery and not having the right to vote, they now deserve extra benefits to compensate. This is known as â€Å"reverse racism†. It argues that as whites once set themselves apart from blacks and claimed privileges for themselves while denying them to others, now, on the basis of race, blacks are able to claim special status and reserving for themselves privileges they deny to others. The question then arises: Do two wrongs make a right? This is what affirmative action is condoning. It says that we are allowed to overlook  suitable white candidates if a black candidate is available. This means that even if the white candidate were a better choice and more qualified for the job, the black person would be hired because of the past injustices his race has suffered. People say affirmative action is acceptable because it cures past discrimination (Keyes 1996). However, discrimination was not acceptable when blacks were the ones discriminated against, therefore it’s not ok when whites are discriminated against (DeWit 1996). The answer is that two wrongs do not make a right – affirmative action does not make discrimination acceptable, just because it is now against whites instead of blacks. It has been said that job discrimination is grounded in prejudice and exclusion, whereas affirmative action is an effort to overcome prejudicial treatment through inclusion. The most effective way to cure society of exclusionary practices is to make special efforts at inclusion, this is what affirmative action does. We can explain the theory behind affirmative action with this example; the logic of affirmative action is no different than the logic of treating a nutritional deficiency with vitamin supplements. For a healthy person, high doses of vitamin supplements may be unnecessary or even harmful, but for a person whose system is out of balance, supplements are an efficient way to restore the body’s balance. The equal opportunities law was introduced into society due to the discrimination ethnic minorities had received in history. The policies were implemented to counter racial discrimination and bias. Thus, the equal opportunities law was not created to treat different races differently, its purpose was to treat all people as equals. Affirmative action, however, does not adhere to this principal as by dismissing perfectly capable white candidates for a role in order to employ a less qualified black person, we are not treating everyone as equals. (Hacker 1990). A major disadvantage of affirmative action in the workplace is the affect it has on the organisation and its employees. Affirmative action can be very detrimental to the organisation as hiring an under qualified worker puts  others at risk if he or she doesn’t have enough experience. It is also financially dangerous and a company should not pay inexperienced people to do work they’re not qualified for. Affirmative action will only work short term because if you hire a minority who is under qualified they will eventually lose their job. Another problem arises as organisations can only hire so many people, and this may result in too many under qualified people working for you and will eventually have to abandon affirmative action all together. Affirmative action means that employees who benefit from it bear the mark of not being the best pick, but only the best pick from a limited group (DeWit 1996) It would be better for an employees self-esteem if they knew they got a job because they were the best person for the job, not because they were black and under-represented. It is also possible that because of affirmative action, racism within an organisation will increase. If a company hires a black person who is not as good as another white candidate, employees will begin to resent him/her. If they gained their job based on their skin colour, rather than because they were the most qualified, they may become disliked and resented because of their skin colour. This could also lead to lack of respect for a black boss which would be detrimental to the organisation and the happiness of employees. One of the arguments for affirmative action is that blacks should be compensated for injustices done to their ancestors by white people. This idea contradicts the human right of individuality. It implies that if a white persons ancestor showed racist behaviour, they will be discriminated against because of this. The reality of this is completely unfair, why should one person be punished for something they had no control over, and similarly why should black people receive preferential treatment for behaviour they have not suffered from. That is to say, a black man will be treated in a better way than a white man, as his grandfather was the victim of slavery. The implementation of this is unrealistic and immoral,  especially as we should aim to promote equality among all. As discussed above this kind of preferential treatment will only cause resentment and ultimately the resentment of the black man, purely for being black. The real factor in affirmative action, is that are blacks getting their jobs because they are qualified and able, or because they are black? If the decisive factor is their skin colour and not their ability to work, then affirmative action is a flawed method. Businesses will only ever survive and be profitable if they employ the most suitable and qualified candidate for the job. For this to happen and for the organisation to ensure they have hired the best person for the job, recruitment methods must be colour-blind. This means the people in charge of recruitment should assess each application based on its merits and qualifications, not on the ethnic background of the applicant. Discrimination can only be rooted out by enforcing strictly anti-discrimination rules, without engaging in reverse discrimination which would alienate good white male candidates for employment and promotion who, after all, are not to be blamed by past injustices. From a philosophical point of view affirmative action does not comply with deontological theory, which states that it is our duty to do what is right whatever its consequences, and what is right consists in treating all human beings with respect and due consideration for their rights and liberties. This shows us that racial discrimination goes against these deontological beliefs. However, as deontology shows us that racism is wrong, as it does not treat all human beings with respect, does this mean affirmative action is the right way to go? In my opinion, affirmative action is not a solution to the deontological problem of racism. That is because affirmative action does not treat all human beings with respect and due consideration. Affirmative action disregards the consideration of the white men applying for the jobs, as its aim is to employ black people. From a utilitarian point of view, affirmative action has some key flaws. Utilitarianism says in effect that the rightness of an action (or practical  policy) consists in its tendency to produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people than any alternative. Affirmative action would therefore only work if the people within a company were for the idea. Taking a more likely situation, based on historical facts, there are more likely to be a greater number of white males in an organisation. If this is the case and one of them is overlooked for promotion because of a less qualified black man, as the company is employing affirmative action, this goes against utilitarianism ideologies of promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. In conclusion, I do not agree with affirmative action, the unfair treatment of ethnic minorities has been a harsh reality on society for a long time and it needs to be addressed. However, the method of affirmative action, which goes out of its way to hire a black man, purely because he is black, leads us to the same racial inequality that was a problem when blacks were not hired, for being black. Although the idea of affirmative action was implemented to give black people better opportunities it is still a form of discrimination. When an employer hires someone because he or she is a minority, even if someone else if more qualified to do the job, it is discrimination. Just because it is reverse discrimination, when whites are discriminated against and minorities are being discriminated for, doesn’t make it right. â€Å"Affirmative action legalizes discrimination†. (Steele 1990) The efforts of affirmative action are no different from the policies that created the disadvantages in the first place, although the idea is trying to redress the balance of inequality, I feel it is causing more harm than good in the work place. It is undemocratic to give one class of citizen’s advantages at the expense of other citizens; the truly democratic way is to have a level playing field to which everyone has access and where everyone has a fair and equal chance to succeed purely on the basis of his or her merit. Hard work and merit, not race or religion or gender or birthright, should determine who prospers and who does not.

Learning Theories Based on Behavioral Perspectives Essay

Behaviorism is a school of thought in psychology based on the assumption that learning occurs through interactions with the environment (Cherry,2011). Two other assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes behaviour and that taking internal mental states into consideration is useless in explaining behaviour. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist discovered the classical conditioning in the 1920s. Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of involuntary emotional or physiological responses. In his laboratory, Pavlov was in a dead end by his experiments to determine how long it took a dog to secrete digestive juices after it had been fed, but the intervals of time kept changing. At first, the dogs salivated in the expected manner while they were being fed. Then the dogs began to salivate as soon as they saw the food. Finally, they salivated as soon as they saw the scientists enter the room. Pavlov decided to make a detour from his original experiments and examine these unexpected interferences in his work. In one of his experiments, Pavlov began by sounding a tuning fork and recording a dog’s response. There was no salivation. At this point, the sound of the tuning fork was a neutral stimulus because it brought forth no salivation. Then Pavlov fed the dog. The response was salivation. The food was an unconditioned stimulus (US) because no prior training or conditioning was establish the natural connection. The salivation was an unconditioned response (UR) because it occurred automatically-no conditioning required. Using the food, the salivation, a tuning fork, Pavlov demonstrated that a dog could be conditioned to salivate after hearing the tuning fork. At the beginning of the experiment, Pavlov sounded the fork and then quickly fed the dog. After he repeated this several times, the dog began to salivate after hearing the sound but before receiving the food. Now the sound has become a conditioned stimulus (CS) which bring forth salivation by itself. The response of salivating after the tone was now a conditions response (CR). In my opinion, this method can be very useful for people to train their pets. These techniques also useful in the treatment of phobias or anxiety problems. Teachers can apply classical conditioning in the class to familiarize students with new environments and help students overcome their anxiety. John B. Watson further extended Pavlov’s work and applied it to human being. In 1921, Watson started the Little Albert experiment. The goal was to condition Albert to become afraid of a white rat by pairing it with a very loud noise (UCS). At first, Albert showed no sign of fear when he was presented with rats, but once the rat was repeatedly paired with the loud noise (UCS),Albert developed a fear of rats. It could be said that the loud noise (UCS) induced fear (UCR). In my opinion, Watson’s theory of classical conditioning can be use to create a phobia. I think that this method can be applied to trigger feelings of fear toward something harmful or dangerous in order to avoid something bad from happening. It can be used in a classroom to teach students what is bad and cannot do. Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behaviour. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behaviour and a consequence for that behaviour. Operant conditioning was coined by behaviourist B.P.Skinner. He believed that internal thoughts and motivations could not be used to explain behaviour. Instead, he suggested that we should look only at the external, observable causes of human behaviour. Skinner’s system is based on operant conditioning. One of the key concepts in operant conditioning is reinforcement. Reinforcement is any event that strengthens or increase the behaviour it follows. There are two kinds of reinforcers; positive reinforcers and negative reinforcers. Positive reinforcers are favourable events or outcomes that are presented after the behaviour. Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavourable events or outcomes after the display of a behaviour. In both of these cases of reinfo rcement, the behaviour increases. This operant conditioning work all around us in everyday life. Children completing a task to get a reward from parent or teachers or even employees try hard to finish a project are examples of operant condition. In my point of view, these kind of activities are useful for they give pleasant results and make the individuals work hard when completing something. Some ill-behaviour also can be removed if it brings bad effect to the individual. Thus, operant behaviour will be enhanced and unpleasant stimulus will be removed. In a nutshell, I think all of this learning theories inspired by Pavlov, Watson and Skinner are essential in introducing the first learning theories of education. Scientists are able to produce a variety of new learning theories based on their experiments. They are the pioneers in creating the initial theories of education and a source of reference to those involved in education.