The Triple Bottom Line In Hospitality Tourism Essay

The Triple Bottom Line In Hospitality Tourism Essay The last few years have been very challenging for the whole hospitality sector, as the majority of business people and travelers moved to online conferences whenever possible and holidays became a luxury for many people. Beside this shortage the most important hotels in the world and its shareholders have decided to give a lot of emphasis in sustainability and green technology. This happened because they understood that in order to be a key player in this competitive market, they absolutely needed to set up a long term strategy, which consisted in profitable operation combined with particular focus to the needs of the people who both use and work in the hotel and also focus on careful trusteeship of natural resources. These ideas, well known as the triple bottom line, were pointed out for the first time by John Elkington  [1]  in 1997,who basically assumed that in order to be sustainable, without particular regards of the industrial sector, it is vital and necessary for a corpora tions business to operate with more responsibility, and concerning of not only economical margins (profit), but also environmental (planet) and social issues (people). My purpose in this research is to investigate how these three pillars of sustainability should fit the nowadays hospitality sector. According to Dr. Hervà © Houdrà ©, General Manager of the Willard InterContinental Hotel, the triple bottom line in hospitality is achievable giving a lot of emphasis to all the three steps, starting from the economic viability: The Sustainable Development concept is not the consequence of the delusion of people who determined that this world would be better if we were going back to our natural roots and resources. SD is definitely geared toward profitability and the future. Without profit it seems obvious that no business would be sustainable(Hervà ¨,2008). From this quote we understand that it is very important to remember that an hotel it is not a NGO or a NPO and must be profitable to remain sustainable. With this crucial principle, the idea should be to drive a business with also an ethical point of view and use sustainable development to reach an high turnover but also lowering the costs, in order to have a better profit margin, wich creates value for the shareholders. The second step concerns social responsibility. As briefly pointed out in the introduction, hotels two major components in this issue are employees and the community. An hotel should be recognized as a fair employer and be sure that its employees are happy and proud to be associated with its name, for instance Accors hotels motto is encouraging its 170,000 employees through the idea that one employee can make the difference.. The hotel should also be well integrated in the community by helping worthwhile causes and every organization should select those that are appropriate to its goals and community. Not only it is right and ethical to offer our help across borders, but if an international clientele sees that the hotel is involved in international causes, this will probably reinforce the perception of generosity and caring of both the hotel and the country, facing in this way a double outcome. The last pillar is about the environmental protection. Among other steps, the hotel will apply for national and international environmental certifications and awards, such as ISO 14001, ISO 22000 (both are international environmental certification), and the IHRA environmental award. An hotel may also consider the idea of starting a his own initiative concerning the environment, like Taj Hotels Group did with EARTH (Environment Awareness Renewal at Taj Hotels), a project which is about the effort of one of Asias largest and finest group of hotels to commit to energy conservation and environmental management. This project has also received a certification from Green Globe, the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism. Moreover, in everything that an hotel does in order to reach this kind of goal, it will be useful to research for an association with a well-known organization to benefit from their existing infrastructure and consequently to ensure the c orrect and ethical application of the funds that will be donated or, more in general, the actions that will take place. STAKEHOLDER APPROACH As pointed out by Business Ethics,Ethical Decision Making Cases: O. C. Ferrell, John Fraedrich, Linda Ferrell,it is crucial for a 21st century company to build a strong relationship and interaction with its stakeholders, because they are both influenced by and have the ability to affect the business, as noticed before in the second pillar of sustainability. This general view has been transposed also in the hospitality sector, where now it is frequent to witness this kind of stakeholder approach in order to maximize the positive impact and minimize negative impact on society. Although there are many different approaches, it is important to highlight key features, which include assessing the corporate culture, identifying stakeholder groups and related issues, and gaining also feedbacks from them. After that being stated it stands to reason that communication is a key part of this project and letting all stakeholders know about the strategy is just as important as setting and implemen ting the triple bottom line strategy in the first place. The hotel industry is well positioned to demonstrate to the world that a sustainable development is possible, because every year hundred millions of people enter in contact with it. Consequently, as a major player, hospitality can reach many families and individuals through a good communication plan. Travel and tourism represents one of the most important sources of economic activity in the world, and therefore a single hotel can influence many industry stakeholders. It has already been noticed how an hotel may enter in contact with some of its primary stakeholder such us employees, clients and shareholders in the three pillars. It is also interesting to investigate more deeply the links with other primary stakeholders like suppliers and then to have a look at a secondary stakeholder like the media. Regarding the suppliers, hotels are in the right position to share the values of sustainability development and they should actually encourage them to embody this principles in their strategy. One big example is given by the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, which is actually asking its suppliers to deliver sustainable products, also forcing them to search for and add these products to their catalogues, in order to be available also to other clients. This is really important because in this industry, usually, one supplier deals with more clients and consequently the approach of a sustainable product strategy by a supplier may lead to a massive usage of these sustainable products throughout the entire hospitality sector. In fact, as highlighted by dr. Houdrà ¨, Willar Intercontinental procurement company, Avendra, represents also Fairmont Hotels, Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Club Corp USA. This means that, thanks to the hotel efforts (in this case the Willard Intercon tinental), if Avendra completely embraces the strategy its 3 billion dollars buying power will reflect in 3 billion dollars of sustainable products purchased, which furthermore will be sold at all their hotel clients and which will finally enter in contact with the final customers, creating in this way a real virtuous circle of sustainable awareness. How anticipated in the introduction an organization should also be conscious of its secondary stakeholders, in order to handle efficiently its position with particular focus in the external market. In the hospitality sector a key player may be identified as the media. Nowadays, in fact, they are facing a lot of interest and coverage of initiatives related to the sustainable development. All the regards shown about global warming and oil prices means that the media are seeking for stories concerning the strategies to thwart these issues. A hotel should make efforts to be acknowledged of its initiatives and values by the media representatives (both normal and web-based) and also share news of its actions in order to encourage its clients to spend their nights in it. By doing this, sustainable development becomes a unique selling point for a hotel, which enables him to gain also competitive advantages. There may be also another step, where the hotel encourages or shares the initiatives even with its competitors (for instance exactly as Willard Intercontinental did with Avendra) but, in this case it will be paramount for the hotel to be acknowledged by all the stakeholders as the early mover and pioneer in the sustainability field and to do that clear values that support the hotel vision should be provided in a mission statement: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Accountability: We are dedicated to performing our assigned tasks with excellence and to deliver outstanding results; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Education and development: We provide everyone the opportunities, knowledge, and skills to grow both personally and professionally; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Empowerment: We have the authority to take ownership, anticipate needs, and make decisions which exceed our customers expectations on first contact; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Integrity: We believe in honesty, ethical behavior, respect, and trust; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Professionalism: We are an action-oriented team of savvy experts who are passionate and quality driven; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sustainable Development: We are committed to economic viability, and social and environmental responsibility; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Working smart: We encourage innovation, proactivity, agility, and a safe work environment. Houdrà ¨, H., 2008. Sustainable Hospitality ©:Sustainable Development in the Hotel Industry.Cornell Industry Perspectives No. 2. Ã¢â‚¬ ºOnline Ã‚  P.5-20. Available at willarddc.com/sd/docs/willardwhitepaperproof.pdf  Ã¢â‚¬ ºAccessed 20 Oct 2010 Ã‚ 

Cat Dissection Lab Report Essay

At the conclusion of the cat dissection, you will be required to submit a formal report. The format for this will differ from that of the osteoporosis lab report because the dissection is used as an opportunity to review structure and function for the major systems rather than to test a hypothesis and draw a conclusion. Please the following information as a guideline for compiling the lab report. Only one lab report per group is required. You do not have to answer the questions listed during the actual dissection, but you should be familiar with what is being asked of you before beginning. The lab must be typed and divided into sections according to systems (Meaning each system will be individually labeled like you would label a section of any other lab (materials, methods etc). You may divide the labor among group members, but the work should be compiled as a single document before being turned in. The front page of the lab report should include the names of all group members as wel l as the date submitted. You do not need a separate title page. Note: If group members are working on sections individually please be consistent with margins (1 inch or less), line spacing (single or 1.5) font size (12pt or less) and font used throughout the document. The document should not look like it was pieced together randomly at the time of submission. Keep in mind that each group member is responsible for knowing all information in the lab report. Please note that you will be writing about and also observing some systems we have not yet covered. This will require you to reference your book or another source for information to complete the lab report. Please include citations for any sources used (this includes information about systems that have been covered in class). You should consider the assignment an opportunity to begin preparing for the final exam. The hard copy of this report is due to me by Friday, April 15th. (It must also be submitted via turnitin.com before 11:59pm on April 15th) Any time you are asked to diagram the system you are working through, you must label the structures in the diagram. For any of the diagrams in the lab report, you may include pictures (using your phone or a camera) of your dissection instead of an act ual drawing. If you  choose to take pictures of the cat, you may label the structures with tags and dissecting pins at the time of dissection if time permits or you may go back and label the pictures after pasting them in your report. The photos may be embedded into the associated sections or attached at the end of the document as an appendix. Hand-drawn diagrams will have to be attached at the end as an appendix. If your diagrams will be in an appendix, they should be referenced in the appropriate section. The lab report should look like this: (It will be longer than three pages!) Essential System Structures to Include : Lymphatic Spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes, thymus gland, tonsils Digestive Mouth/tongue, pharynx, larynx, Esophagus, stomach, S.I., L.I., rectum, salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, pancreas Cardiovascular Heart, aorta, vena cava, pulmonary arteries, pulmonary veins, coronary arteries, cardiac veins, brachial artery & vein, carotid artery, jugular vein, renal vein, iliac artery & vein, femoral artery & vein, hepatic portal system Urinary Kidneys, ureters, bladder, urethra Respiratory Larynx, Trachea, Bronchi, Lungs (bronchioles & alveoli) SYSTEM REQUIRED INFORMATION YOUR PTS External Features Discuss two interesting observations/discoveries (2) Define: vibrissae, pinnae, tori (3) Skeletal Distinguish between the axial and appendicular skeleton in terms of structure and function (4) Muscular (NOTE: Includes questions about endocrine & lymphatic systems) Describe two interesting observations/discoveries; take note of muscle layers. (2) Define: tendon, origin, insertion and superficial fascia (4) Explain the purpose of both thyroid gland and lymph nodes (4) Describe how the endocrine system works as one of the two major controlling systems in the body. Be sure to discuss its means of communication, length of effect and response time. In addition, outline an example of a feedback mechanism involving the endocrine system. (4) Identify the main structures of the lymphatic system and describe their functions. (3) Digestive (NOTE: Questions may be grouped together and do not need to be answered in the order listed). Describe two interesting observations/discoveries (2) Diagram labeled with major digestive structures/organs (5) Describe the functions of the major digestive organs (6) Describe the diaphragm and identify its function (2) Identify the location & function of the epiglottis. (2) What is peristalsis and what is its function? (2) Explain the function of sphincters and identify some places they are located. (2) What is chyme? How is it produced? (2) Why are the small and large intestines labeled as they are? (2) Where is the gallbladder in relation to the liver? Why? (2) Explain the importance of bile. How and at what point does it enter the digestive system? (2) Respiratory Describe two interesting observations/discoveries. (2) Diagram the Respiratory System. (3) Describe the functions of the structures of the respiratory system (3) Cardiovascular Diagram of the heart (Include chambers, valves & major vessels) (6) Diagram tracing the path of circulation in the adult mammalian heart. You may do a separate flow chart or build this off of your heart diagram. (5) Describe two interesting observations/discoveries. (2) Discuss the structures of the Cardiovascular System (including major veins & arteries serving the body) & describe their functions/locations served. (9) How are blood vessels named? (2) Urogenital Describe two interesting observations/discoveries. This would be an ideal place to discuss reproductive structures. (2) Diagram the urinary system – four structures to include. (2) Describe the function of each urinary structure. As in the labeling, there are four main structures that you need to include in the answer to this question. (2) Nervous Describe how the nervous system works as one of the two major controlling systems in the body. Discuss its means of communication, length of effect, and response time. Outline an example of a feedback mechanism involving the nervous system. (4) Describe the difference between the central and peripheral nervous system in terms of function and structures. Describe the pathway that communication within the nervous system would follow from a receptor to an effector. (4) NOTE: We will not be looking a nervous system structures. If time permits, you may attempt to extract and view the brain. If you choose to do so, please note that opening the skull is often a difficult task, especially avoiding damage to the brain in the process. Please use extreme caution.)

Animal Profiles

A Good Plan Violently Executed Now Is Better Than A...

â€Å"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.† What is it about this quote from General George S. Patton that some leaders are able to grasp and others cannot? Throughout military history, untold number of plans have been developed and executed with both success and failure. It is not the plan that moves entire Army’s across a land mass or storms a country’s beach head, but the plan that is developed during a split second between rounds cracking over your head that defines the battle at hand. In today’s Army, we as leaders have become inundated with having to know every little piece of information out there that we have become afraid to make certain tactical decisions for fear of not doing it†¦show more content†¦The next day, the driver and I went out to the truck early just to make sure Murphy’s Law hadn’t struck and everything was still set for the prisoner transport. We drove down a couple of dirt roads on the FOB, less than a mile, and I found the NCOIC I was to link up with. He started off briefing me what the timeline looked like and where I needed to be. My driver and I went inside to get the mission brief, after we waited by the truck to be inspected. That’s when the games begin. The Sergeant First Class looked over our license and dispatch paperwork; that tarp that we didn’t have just became a problem I never foresaw coming. This SFC didn’t think it was safe to put prisoners in the back with no way to hide them. So, out came 1SG. Surely I figured she would be to say yes or no. I was sadly mistaken because before it was over, I was answering questions from the Battalion Commander of this unit. He explained that it wasn’t safe to have prisoners being seen by the local populace, which made no sense to me at all. 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