Value gap in the hospitality industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Value gap in the hospitality industry - Essay Example The literature review section (above) gives a detailed summary of the information that was obtained in the course of the secondary research. From this research two primary objectives for the study could be identified. These are: To evaluate the discrepancy gap between the customers’ expectations and perception of their overall experience with the offered service To identify the factors that enhance customer satisfaction in the hotel industry In order to investigate these objectives both qualitative and quantitative research were used. It was not practical to examine the hotel industry as a whole, an as a consequence four London based hotels were used in order to examine these factors. 3.2 Research Philosophy Yin (2003) considers two different methods that can be used while conducting research, either qualitative or quantitative. These methods refer to the way the researcher treats and analyses the collected data as well as the data itself. The qualitative research approach is less formal and based on unsystematic and unstructured observations. There is little to no numerical component of the research, and consequently it consists mostly of observations and can be difficult to analyse. According to Corbin and Strauss (2007) qualitative verbal analysis is often used in order to gain proper understanding of the phenomenon. The use of this method is to value and study the entire situation. Quantitative research has a foundation of numerical data, which then are calculated and accessible in figures with statistics; therefore, the quantitative research is more standardized (Corbin & Strauss 2007). A positive side of the quantitative approach is that it is rather easy to generalize from the gathered resources. This study took an interpretive paradigm that stresses differences in individuals’ perceptions of social reality that vary across time and place. Interpretive approach thus requires the researcher to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the phe nomenon before drawing any inferences (Klein & Myers 1999). However, since interpretive approach is predominately qualitative, elements of positivism, notably quantitative and statistical techniques were incorporated into the analysis to enhance the generalisability of results. A combined approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods enabled the researcher to understand why customer experience and customer satisfaction are different, and to identify the specific factors that make the two different. To accomplish this both interviews and the survey questionnaire were used in this study. 3.3 Population The primary mandate of the researcher was to choose a sample whose collected data could be generalised for the entire population of managers, employees and customers from the hotel industry in London. The management including CEOs, supervisors, department heads, managers, and team leaders were among the population targeted to be included in this study. This population was releva nt for this study because it has the knowledge and experience of the perceived differences between customer experience and customer satisfaction. Therefore, their views and perceptions were ideal for this study particularly in answering the research questions. For this study, staff members from four hotels were used as the study population. The specific hotels were

Are Offender Profiles Useful in Police Investigations?

Are Offender Profiles Useful in Police Investigations? In recent years, there are more and more people have become increasingly fascinated by offender profiling because of the influence of media. An example of this is the well-known criminal profiling film The Silence of the Lambs, which is based on the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. Some television shows such as Millennium, Profiler and The X-Files are also based around the premise of criminal profiling. However, Hicks and Sales (2006) emphasize that these portrayals encourage the view of profiling as an art rather than a science though these profilers have academic backgrounds and law enforcement experience. The prevalence of offender profiling has grown over the past three decades (Snook, Eastwood, Gendreau, Goggin and Cullen, 2007), although studies suggest that profiles have been found to be most effective as an additional tool, not as a solution to specific crimes (Wilson, Lincon and Kocsis, 1997:2). Using offender profiling would appear to be more beneficial than relying so lely on traditional methods of detection (Ainsworth, 2001). In addition, it is important for police detectives to know which crimes are connected in order to collate and compare the information between these related cases (Egger, 1984 as cited in Rossmo, 2000). This essay will discuss the underlying assumptions of both offender profiling and case linkage, and then argue the usefulness of these practices in criminal investigations. Offender profiling has been defined by different authors using different terminologies such as specific profile analysis, psychological profiling, criminal profiling and criminal personality profiling. However, the underlying concept of definitions remains the same (Jackson and Bekerian, 1997). Beauregard, Lussier and Proulx (2005) state that offender profiling provides some descriptive information about behaviours and personality of an offender by analysing crime scene characteristics, which can narrow suspects and finally solve the cases. Muller (2000) describes the information which the criminal profiler uses is often taken from the scene of crime, and profilers will take into account some factors such as previous crime scene, weapons, behaviours and words to the victim and the geographic patterns of crime. Davies (1992 as cited in Beauregard et al., 2005) emphasizes that offender profiling is an investigative tool which focus on the analysis of offenders behaviour and accordingly infers some of the criminals personal characteristics. In Europe, offender profiling is defined as attempting to produce a description of the perpetrator(s) of a criminal offence on the basis of analysis of characteristics of the incident and other background information (Stevens, 1995: 10), and this definition is adopted by the Association of Chief Police Officers Behavioural Science Investigative Support Sub-committee in UK (Ainsworth, 2000). Although the actual process of profiling differs from one profiler to another, the aim remains the same: to deduce the behaviour, personality, and physical characteristics of the offender (Muller, 2000). According to Holmes and Holmes (1996), profiling has the following three main goals: assessing the offender from social and psychological aspects, the evaluating suspected offenders relevant possessions, and consulting with law enforcement officials about some strategies when interviewing offenders. The process of constructing a profile of an unknown offender typically includes three stages (Snook et al., 2007). Firstly, collecting crime scene data by police officers is needed and then the data will be forwarded to a profiler; secondly, the profiler starts to analyze the data which stems from the crime scene; and the last step is the predictions about the personality, behaviours, and demographic characteristics of the likely criminal (Snook et al., 2007). Snook et al. (2007) also describe that the processes of analyzing crime scene data can be classified two types: clinical and statistical in nature. Clinically oriented techniques are based on the profilers intuition, knowledge, experience, and training, in order to generate predictions. Comparing these with statistically oriented techniques, the latter predictions are based on descriptive and inferential statistical models which derive from the result of analysing offenders characteristics who have committed similar crimes previously (Snook et al., 2007). It would seem that profiling can offer more accurate results in some kinds of offence (Stevens, 1995). Hazelwood and Burgess (1995) claim that some serial rapes, murders, arson, child abusing are extraordinarily appropriate for profiling. Ainsworth (2000) suggests that murder and some serious sexual offences are the most common crimes for using offender profiling. In addition, Ainsworth (2001) comments that such serious, personal contact crimes involve attacks on strangers are the most difficult cases to solve for the police. Wilson et al. (1997) also point out that profiling is most useful in serial offences, because profilers can extrapolate and compare data from the various crime scenes. However, the FBI holds the point that property crimes and robberies probably are not suitable for profiling because sometimes these offences cannot reflect the personality of offenders (Ainsworth, 2000). Police forces are always required to focus their investigative efforts to identify crimes which committed by the same offender, because the majority of the crimes come from the minority of offenders (Woodhams and Toye, 2007). Woodhams and Toye (2007) believe that case linkage can be used to examine the likelihood of a series of offences being committed by the same unidentified offender when lacking suitable physical evidence, such as DNA evidence. Crime analysts analyze crime scene actions to consider whether there are some similarities in behaviours which committed by a common offender (Woodhams and Toye, 2007). In addition, Holmes and Holmes (2002) suggest that linkage analysis can identify connections between similar crimes committed by different offenders. Alison, Bennell, Mokros and Ormerod (2002) state that offender profiling rests on two key assumptions in order to make profiling be possible. The first one is the behavioural consistency assumption, which means if serial offenders commit similar offences, they must exhibit behavioural consistency. According to Alison et al. (2002), the variation in behaviour an offender shows must be less than the variation in behaviour by different offenders. The second assumption relies on what Mokros and Alison (2002) have termed the homology assumption, which requires that similar offence behaviour of two offenders will match similar characteristics (Goodwill and Alison, 2007). In addition, the process of case linkage also rests on two key assumptions. The first one is the offender consistency hypothesis, the same with the first assumption of profiling. The second assumption of case linkage is that there is variation in the way different criminals commit crimes (Woodhams, Bull and Hollin, 2007). Thus, for it to be possible to link crimes which committed by the same offender, criminals must behave in a stable but distinctive manner (Woodhams et al., 2007). In terms of the behavioural consistency assumption, it has been hypothesized that each person has a cognitive-affective personality system which would affect the behaviour produced in a given situation (Mischel and Shoda, 1995 as cited in Woodhams and Toye, 2007). This theory implies that when people encounter situations which have a similar psychological meaning to them, they will produce similar behaviour (Woodhams and Toye, 2007). Salfati and Bateman (2005) studied 94 variables relating to serial homicide offences which were obtained from police case files of the Homicide Investigation and Tracking System (HITS) database in Seattle, Washington of USA. They state that serial homicidal offenders are consistent across the series of homicides in their crime scene behaviours. Bennell and Canter (2002) analyzed 86 solved commercial burglaries committed by 43 offenders, they demonstrated that commercial burglary offenders are consistent in their burglary behaviours. Moreover, Santtila, J unkkila and Sandnabba (2005) studied 43 serial stranger rape cases which occurred in Finland during the years 1983-2001, they confirm that rape has a consistent thematic structure (Santtila et al. 2005: 102) instead of being a haphazard collection of behaviours. Whether offenders show more consistency in some criminal behaviour than in others also has received great scrutiny. Researchers group the specific offender behaviours into domains, comparing with others in order to investigate whether offenders show greater behavioural consistency across their series of crimes (Woodhams and Toye, 2007). Grubin, Kelly and Brunsdon (2001) imply that behaviours within the domains of control and escape are less dependent on the situation and the victims behaviour, thus, the control and escape behavioural domains show greater behavioural consistency comparing with the sex and style behavioural domains. Besides that, Bennell and Canter (2002) found that target selection and entry behaviours showed relatively consistent comparing with property stolen by studying the sample of commercial burglaries. However, Goodwill and Alison (2007) stress that the situational determinants of an offence can cause enormous variation in the way of committing the offence. In addition, Goodwill and Alison (2007) also hold the point that the behavioural inferences made about an offender across a crime series are especially vulnerable to violating (Goodwill and Alison, 2007: 824) the consistency condition. Similarly, Snook, Cullen, Bennell, Taylor and Gendreau (2008) emphasize that offender profiling approaches are based on the lacking empirical support typologies and are often based on an outdated understanding of human behaviour. In terms of the homology assumption, perhaps the empirical evidence to support this assumption is a little weak. Mokros and Alison (2002) studied the cases about the number of 100 British male stranger rapists which had some similarities in the crime scene actions. They tested whether increased similarity in offence behaviour coincided with higher resemblance in characteristics and previous convictions. The characteristics they examined including age, ethnicity, employment, education, marital status, and criminal record. They concluded that in their study, there was no evidence could prove the assumption of homology according to the relationships between crime scene and rapists characteristics. Hà ¤kkà ¤nen, Puolakka and Santtila (2004) analysed the number of 189 arsons in Finland from 1990 to 2001 by using non-metric multi-dimensional scaling procedure. In order to find the associations between crime scene actions and criminal characteristics, they divided the crime scene actions into four types: expressive-object, instrumental-object, expressive-person and instrumental-person. In terms of criminal characteristics, they also divided into four types: adolescent, self-destructive arsonist, serial arsonist and criminal. As a result, they found that offenders who committed different types of arsons with some similar characteristics. Obviously, their study failed to offer strong empirical evidence to support the homology assumption. Similarly, Doan and Snook (2008) examined the number of 87 arsons and 177 robberies, and compared the different types and the various criminal characteristics. They stressed that the evidence is low to moderate to support the homology assumption. Furthermore, Goodwill and Alison (2007) declare that the homology assumption may be in effect in some cases but not others. Furthermore, they argue that the homology assumption may be dependent on the extent to the behaviours which influenced by situational, psychological or interpersonal fac tors. In terms of the second assumption of case linkage, some studies have investigated that crimes committed by the same offender can be differentiated from crimes by different criminals. Bennell and Canter (2002) studied 86 solved commercial burglaries, they found that 43 offenders had distinct behavioural features. Bennell and Jones (2005) reported that various linking features exist in different burglaries, and this research also supports the assumption of inter-offender behavioural variation. However, the above studies indicate that the process of case linkage is not perfect and the linkage accuracy appears to vary with crime types (Woodhams et al., 2007). In contrast, Woodhams and Toye (2007) used measures of predictive accuracy which called areas under the curve (AUCs), and they found that there was high predictive accuracy in their study of burglary. It tends to be the case that both the findings of offender profiling and case linkage will be greatly useful for solving the offences in criminal investigations. Offender profiling can inform the prioritization of suspects possessing specified characteristics (Oldfield, 1997 as cited in Woodhams and Toye, 2007: 60), and case linkage can combine police investigative efforts and information from different crime scenes (Grubin, Kelly and Brunsdon, 2001). Besides that, profiles can also be used in providing interviewing skills or approaches for detectives to the potential suspect (Gudjonsson, 1992), and it is important for the trial process, because profiles can provide useful suggestions for prosecutors by assessing the accused, witnesses and juries (Wilson et al., 1997). Furthermore, Holmes and Holmes (2002) stress that linkage analysis systems not only can locate possible suspects from records of similar past offenses, but also can provide maximum information for psychological and geo graphic profiling efforts through confirming similar crimes. In spite of the usefulness of profiling and case linkage, Ainsworth (2000) is worried about that people may be over-optimistic for profiling because it has attracted such widespread public interest. Wilson and Soothill (1996) hold the point that a profile will rarely solve a crime or catch a criminal by itself, but it is designed to be an aid to the investigating police. Profiling experts also state openly that offender profiles are merely another investigative aid, they have never meant to lead exclusively to the apprehension of offenders (Ressler and Schactman, 1992 as cited in Wilson et al., 1997: 8). Furthermore, Jackson and Bekerian (1997) stress that offender profiles do not solve crimes and the answers they are offered are not solutions, accordingly, profiling should be viewed as a tool which can be extremely helpful in offering some strategies, supporting information management, and improving case understanding. Similarly, Gerberth (1995 as cited in Holmes and Holmes, 2002: 1 4) asserted that Criminal profiling is an excellent law enforcement tool. However, it is just one of many tools and does not replace good investigative techniques. Although psychologists have offered very detailed and accurate profiles in a number of famous cases (Canter, 1994), profiles do not always have dramatic and successful results (Ainsworth, 2000). To date, there have been few accurate and systematic tests to examine the exact usefulness of profiling even though some profiles have been proved to be accurate and have led to the conviction of offenders (Ainsworth, 2000). Studies suggest that although criminal profiling is being utilized by police agencies around the world, there is no strong evidence can show that the profiling is reliable, valid, or useful (Snook et al., 2007). Accordingly, many researchers are reluctant to accept criminal profiling is reliable and valuable. For example, Godwin (1978 as cited in Holmes and Holmes, 2002) asserts that profiling has little effect in solving crimes, and he even describes profiles themselves are dull and tedious. Similarly, Levin and Fox claim that profiles are of little use in identifying th e murderers, unfortunately, this tool, no matter how expertly implemented, is inherently limited in its ability to help solve crimes (Levin and Fox, 1985 as cited in Holmes and Holmes, 2002: 275). Snook et al. (2007) conducted a narrative review and analysed the published literature, they concluded that the criminal profiling relied on weak standards of proof and profilers were not better than other groups in predicting the characteristics of an unknown criminal, they even declared that the profiling was extraneous and redundant in investigations. Similarly, Snook et al. (2008) argue that criminal profiling has the potential to mislead criminal investigators, hinder the apprehension of guilty criminals and lead to wrongful convictions. It would seem that profilers can provide more accurate profiles than nonprofilers even though some of the above researchers are reluctant to see profiling as a useful tool. Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990) examined profiles which conducted by professional profilers, detectives, psychologists, and students for a series of cases. Their study found that the profiles offered by the profilers were more accurate than by all of the other groups in most cases. In the sex offender case, the profilers significantly offered more accurate items such as the gender, age, and education of the offender. In addition, their study also shows that profilers can offer richer and more detailed reports (Pinizzotto and Finkel, 1990). However, with regard to the homicide case, the detectives were significantly more accurate than the profilers in the items such as the offenders employment and residence. Kocsis and his research team compared the accuracy of professional profilers, psychologists, self-identified ps ychics, college students, and various groups of law enforcement officers. They found that the profilers provided the actual offenders in the largest number of correct predictions (Kocsis, 2003), with the accuracy rates ranging from 46 per cent to 70 per cent (Kocsis and Middledrop, 2004). However, there was a notable amount of variability within the profiler group, Kocsis and Middledrop (2004) observed that some profilers were much more accurate than others, even though the cause of the variation was still unclear, whether it was due to overall differences in the profilers skills or to specific aspects of the cases. The popularity of profiling is often seen as a measure of its success (Wilson et al., 1997). Copson (1995) shows that in UK, 29 profilers have been responsible for providing 242 instances of profiling advice between 1981 and 1994. However, Snook et al. (2008) claim that profilers always overemphasize the number of correct predictions rather than the proportion of correct predictions. Although there have been very few pieces of research which have tested both the accuracy and usefulness of profiles in live criminal cases, Copsons study Coals to Newcastle? Part 1: a study of offender profiling is one of the few studies (Ainsworth, 2001). Copsons (1995) study demonstrates that 82.6% of respondents reported that the advice they received had been useful, though only 14.1% of officers reported the profiling advice had assisted in solving the case and only 16.3% of respondents reported that the profiling advice had opened new lines of enquiry. Besides that, there are more than 50 per cent o f respondents said that the advice had offered new information for the case. In Copsons (1995) study, 126 officers (68.5%) reported that they would seek profiling advice again definitely in similar circumstances, though less than 50 per cent officers reported that they would definitely use the same profiler again in the similar situation. In addition, Pinizzotto (1984 as cited in Wilson et al., 1997) found that from 192 requests for profiles, actually only 17 per cent were used to help identify the suspects, however, 77 per cent of the respondents reported that the profiles had helped to focus on the investigation. Furthermore, in the earlier survey, Douglas (as cited in Snook et al., 2008) demonstrated that in USA, 46 per cent solved cases of the 192 instances were attributed to the offender profiling which provided by the FBI. Similarly, Jackson, van Koppen, and Herbrink (1993 as cited in Snook et al., 2008) showed that in Netherlands, five sixths of surveyed police officers reported some degree of usefulness about the profiling advice which provided by an FBI trained profiler. Another research shows that in USA, a significant portion of police officers hold the point that offender profiling has its value (Trager and Brewster, 2001 as cited in Snook et al., 2008). Similarly, Torres, Boccaccini and Miller (2006) surveyed forensic psychologists and psychiatrists through the Internet in order to examine their experiences and opinions about profiling. They found that approximately 40 per cent of these professionals feel the criminal investigative analysis is scientifically reliable or valid, and 86 per cent believe that offender profiling is a useful law enforcement tool (Torres et al., 2006). Ainsworth (2000) points out that many senior detectives do not trust the usefulness of offender profiling which provided by profilers. Copson (1995) explains that the negative views taken by senior detectives may come from the misunderstanding of profiling. Copson and Holloway (1997 as cited in Ainsworth, 2000) show that profiling helped to solve only 16 per cent of the crimes in which it was used, and identified the offender in less than 3 per cent of cases. In contrast, Ainsworth (2001) emphasizes that we should look into these figures in a little more detail because normally profiling would only be considered when the case was too difficult to be solved. Another reason is that organizations such as the FBI are reluctant to offer the figures about the successes and failures of the profiles they provide (Muller, 2000). Brittons implication that a large amount of cases have been solved by routine police work, not by offender profiling (Britton, 1997 as cited in Ainsworth, 2000). Howe ver, Canter argues that profiling has advantages in terms of the resources especially for some particular crimes comparing with that the police throw more and more resources at the crime hoping that something will turn up (Canter, 1994: 21). When evaluating the usefulness of profiling, it is necessary to take into account if the profile is seen in isolation or merely as one part of more general guidance which a psychologist might provide to investigators (Ainsworth, 2000:119). Muller (2000) also emphasizes that although some profiles may lead the wrong directions to the investigation, this may only be a problem if the police place a greater amount of faith in the profile than they do in their own investigative skills (Muller, 2000: 259). Another problem should be concerned is that when evaluating the accuracy of a profile, police officers are excessively subjective (Kocsis, 2003). Smith and Alison (2001 as cited in Kocsis, 2003) found that police officers were unable to discern the difference in the amount of accurate information in two profiles, and they tended to interpret ambiguous statements by their own subjective intentions. Kocsis and Hayes investigated the perceptions of police officers concerning the utility and accuracy of the profile, also found that perception of the accuracy of a profile is quite likely to be associated with the readers perception regarding the identity of its author (Kocsis and Hayes, 2003 as cited in Kocsis, 2003: 129). Kocsis and Middledorp (2004) examined a sample of 353 participants in order to explore Kocsis and Hellers findings that the relationship between ones belief of a profile and the perceived accuracy of that profile. Kocsis and Middledorp (2004) found that there is a posit ive relationship between belief and perceived accuracy. They point out that the extent accuracy which participants perceive depending on their beliefs in profiling. Ainsworth (2001) also suggests that the dangers of the self-fulfilling prophecy should be concerned because police officers have the cognizant sense that any psychological profile may fit some individuals, which leads to the inaccuracy. Psychologists will tend to be focus on the probabilities of offence; in contrast, the police officers tend to operate in terms of guilt or innocence (Ainsworth, 2001). It would seem that it is difficult to assess the accuracy and the value of profiles. One important issue should be considered is that whether profiling can bring new information to an enquiry or whether the profiling can confirm those cases which the police already suspected (Ainsworth, 2001). Ainsworth (2001) implies that in many cases, it is difficult to discern the new material because there may be an overlap between the information which the profiler offers and that which has already been collected by the police. In some cases, although the profilers advice may not be seem as the new information, profilers input may help police prioritize the information which they are considering (Ainsworth, 2001). Moreover, the value of profiling may depend on different cases. For example, profilers can offer deeper insights of some more serious forms of mental illness and some sexual assault cases than non-experts and some police who have little previous experience about those cases (Ainsworth , 2001). In conclusion, the future of psychological profiling and case linkage appear promising, research seems to be supporting the underling assumptions of these practices even though there have been few systematic and accurate studies to test the exact usefulness of offender profiling and case linkage. In terms of the homology assumption, the empirical evidence is especially weak to support it. Profiling as an additional tool plays an important role in criminal investigations, especially in serial offences. Studies suggest that profilers can provide more accurate profiles than nonprofilers. Case linkage provides a good way to collate and compare the information between related cases, thus, investigative efforts can be combined and officers can avoid the repetition of investigations. Most police officers would seek profiling advice and case linkage because of the agreement of their usefulness. However, over-optimistic vision of profiling and case linkage should be concerned because they do not always have dramatic and successful results even though many solved cases were attributed to offender profiling and case linkage. Finally, profiling and case linkage are useful tools and cannot replace the other good investigative techniques.

Brain Development :: Child Development, Neurons

Child development is crucial throughout the early years, during this time the development of the brain occurs. The development of the brain contributes to the functioning of the body. The anatomy of the brain is made up of neurons and divided into four different lobes. The temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes control a variety of cognitive functions. The brain controls simple functions such as fine and gross motor skills, vision, and memory. According to Meadows (1993, p.263), at all sorts of levels in the brain there are programs for functions such as breathing, sleeping, and producing coherent language. Brain development in children is vital during the early years. During the early years, children brains are active enabling children to learn a variety of information. Many studies have been conducted and they have concluded a healthy lifestyle, physical activity, and exposing young children to a variety of education material assist with child development. The first few y ears of a child’s life is crucial as far as his intellectual as well as socio-emotional abilities are concerned (Bose, 2000). Brain Development Brains and the more nonessential parts of the nervous system are made up of neurons (Meadows, 1993 p. 266). The brain is made up of neurons, axons, dendrites, and synapse. They all have their individual job that contributes to the functioning of the body. The weight of the brain increases as a child develops into adulthood. According to Siegler & Alibali (2005, p13), the changes in the size of the brain make it possible for advanced thinking. The neurons are the functioning core of the brain (Brotherson, 2005). The brain begins to develop in the mother’s womb and continue to develop as the child develops. The neuron has branches protruding from the cell sending signals to the synapse and axon. The synapse and axon shapes the brain which allows connections to be made. Young children learn new information when they follow the same routine on a regular base. If a parent repeatedly calls a child a certain name, then connections form that allow the child to recognize that name ove r time and he or she will begin to respond to that name (Brotherson, 2005). Through repetitive experiences the axons and synapse strengthen causing learning to take place. The brain is divided into four major lobes: the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and the temporal lobe. Each lobe contributes to cognitive development in young children.

Pros and Cons of Obamacare

Controversy always surrounds change. Healthcare is this kind of controversial topic where people refuse to accept changes, even though changes must be made. Obamacare details many changes, how they will be made, and whom they will affect. As with any bill, there are pros and cons that exist as the bill helps many, but makes some a little worse off. Taking into account the pros that include the minimum benefits package and expansion of Medicare coverage as well as the cons that include rising costs to government and a shortage of doctors, I would vote against the bill.Obamacare is an extensive bill that completely transforms the healthcare system. The main part of the bill is the individual mandate that requires all citizens and legal immigrants to have health care coverage. If individuals do not have health insurance by 2014 there is a monetary penalty. In order to allow many Americans to obtain coverage, it outlines a major change in insurance practice in that companies are no longe r allowed to deny individuals health insurance because of pre-existing conditions; individuals are able to buy into health insurance at anytime.Obamacare expands Medicaid for those who cannot afford health insurance; the expansion will supply more than 17 million more Americans with health insurance than before the bill. People who are employed can fulfill this health insurance requirement by enrolling in their employer’s plan. Health insurance must be provided through employers if the company has 10 or more employees. Small businesses will be subsidized so that they can afford to provide insurance.People without insurance through their employer will be able to buy plans through health insurance exchanges, where most will qualify for subsidies, greatly reducing the premiums. Exchanges are run by the state or non-profit organizations and require that all insurance companies offer certain plans that make it easier for Americans to determine the differences between companies and plans so they can choose one that is best for them. The cost of implementing the changes the bill puts forth will be paid for through budget cuts and taxes.Though the bill provides many individuals with the opportunity to have health insurance, taxes and budget cuts will not be enough to sustain it (MacGillis 2010, 85-92). Within Obamacare there is a minimum benefits package that outlines the benefits that I believe every American has a right to. The package allows for equality under health insurance and allows those who are less well off to be able to have access to the benefits even if their coverage is minimal.The package includes: â€Å"ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse services, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services and devices, laboratory services, preventative care and wellness care, chronic disease management, and pediatric services (including vision and dental care). † The federal government outlines the services that must be included in the exchanges to make sure everyone has the minimum coverage. The government also makes sure that individuals are not being taken advantage of by profit seeking insurance companies.Even though the government controls the plans there is still competition between the companies because of the other benefits that the insurance companies may offer in addition to those that are required. Without competition the insurance companies would take advantage of the consumers and charge higher prices solely to make a profit. The minimum benefits package helps all Americans not only receive better benefits, but also easily compare insurance plans (Whitman 2010, 32-34). Along with the minimum benefits package Obamacare addresses the problem of spotty prescription drug coverage found in Medicare.Currently, there is a gap in coverage when the beneficiary consumes between $2,250 and $5,100 worth of prescription drugs a year. Many people do not realize that they have fallen into this donut hole until they are required to pay for the full amount of their drugs, but are unable to (Dorgan, 2006). The new policy will make the insurance companies pay for 75 percent of the drug expenses and leave the consumer to pay 25 percent. However, when the drug expenses reach the catastrophic threshold of more than $5,100, then the insurance Medicare will pay for 95 percent of the drug costs.The government has already started to try and close this gap by subsidizing those who fall into the donut hole. Each year they will slowly increase the subsidy until the consumer only has to pay 25 percent. By addressing the donut hole that has occurred in the current health coverage Americans will be better off and no longer face drug expenses that they are unable to pay (Goldstein 2010, 113-121). However, the major changes come with huge monetary costs. Even with huge increases in taxes the government will not be able to pay for it. Oba macare requires all businesses to provide insurance; if the business chooses not to they must pay a penalty. The quantity of the penalty is less than the cost of insurance; so many businesses opt out of providing insurance plans. If employees do not receive insurance through their workplace, they must buy insurance plans on the exchanges. The plans provided on the exchanges are heavily subsidized in order to make sure that they are affordable for the average American. When more Americans buy from the exchanges the government must provide more subsidized plans, creating a huge expense for the government.Since the penalty for the businesses is so low, the government is unable to directly use that money to completely subsidize the insurance exchanges and instead must use money from the federal fund, further increasing our deficit. Moreover, another problem Obamacare faces with increasing costs is that more benefits can be added to the minimum benefits package as Congress sees fit. With the addition of more benefits the package and coverage for individuals will become more expensive and those expenses will fall directly on the government.The government will continue to add benefits making it more and more expensive to insure. Overall, the rising costs of providing more benefits and the costs of subsidizing the exchanges are far too great to sustain and therefore make Obamacare implausible (United States, 2013). Another problem Obamacare faces is how all of the newly insured individuals will be able to receive care. Currently, America faces a shortage of physicians; this insufficient amount of physicians is projected to worsen as Medicare expansion almost doubles the strain of physicians with the passing of the new bill.Obamacare takes into account the need to increase the amount of doctors with changes to health-care delivery and improved prevention. However, these increases will not be enough. The U. S. will face a shortage of more than 125,000 physicians in the next 15 years; however, only 27,000 new doctors are trained a year, and each year many more doctors retire (Feldman 2011, 113). Massachusetts already has put in place a health care reform that increases the number of people insured. However, they have already noticed the effect this increase in insured citizens has on the amount of doctor’s needed to treat the increased amount of patients.â€Å"A survey of Massachusetts’s physicians displayed that almost 40% of family practitioners and 56% of internists reported that they were not accepting new patients† (Feldman 2011, 115). Before the implementation of this new reform, Massachusetts’s practitioners and internists were able to accept any new patients that were applying. This is not only a problem for primary care doctors, but also specialty doctors. Current healthcare statistics reveal that a doctor sees on average 38 patients a day.That is, a patient every seven minutes of an eight-hour day. This data do es not even include the time doctors spend returning calls, entering data, and speaking to consultants. With the new expansion in health insurance there will not be enough time in the day for physicians to see all of their patients. The new expansion of coverage will lead to patients scheduling more appointments because they no longer have to pay for them. They will schedule appointments for a common cold or simply for just something to do and someone to talk to.In order for Obamacare to successfully work there must be more doctors or a more efficient way of dealing with the increased number of patients (Feldman 2011, 113-122). The positives of Obamacare, the minimum benefits package and more prescription coverage, do not outweigh the negatives, which include rising costs and a shortage of doctors. The cons are huge factors that must be addressed in order for Obamacare to be successful. If we are unable to pay for the treatments or even to provide the proper medical professionals to treat the increase in patients, then the basic goal of the bill cannot be achieved.Overall, I believe that though Obamacare is addressing a desperate need within our society, the method by which it attempts to implement reform is not realistic, and in fact will create more harm to society than good. Instead of implementing Obamacare, I would vote against the bill and believe that the President and Legislature should go back to the drawing board and figure out how to insure all citizens can have insurance without increasing our federal deficit and overwhelming our healthcare system.

Jurong Bird Park Essay

1.0INTRODUCTION The purpose of the report is research the concept and theories about the visitor behavior. This report is related to the concept of target market segment, motivation, and expectation, interpretation, satisfaction and risk analysis. Our group chooses JURONG BIRD PARK to do the case study. The reasons why our group chooses this attractions are we want to study more knowledge about the bird and there are some recreation activities in the bird park, we can enjoy it and study knowledge. The purpose of the report is to evaluate the tour guide professional knowledge, services of the attraction and research whether there have risk factors. 2.0DESCRIPTION OF TOUR We have four members in our group. Our tour is as educational tour. We choose Jurong Bird Park (refer to appendices A) to visit because we interested  about the bird and we want to learn more knowledge about birds and do the case study. We can study and play in the bird park. Before we go there, we hired eternal tour guide from travel agent because it does not provide tour guide in the bird park. The tour guide is named Wanling. (refer to appendices C) She is a Singaporean. Then we go to buy the ticket. (refer to appendices B). The tour guide can lead us to visit the bird park and teach us knowledge about the bird. The tour guide is going with us for 2 hours. 3.0TARGET MARKET SEGMENT The bird park is focus on different tourist such as the family tourist, the educational tourist and foreign tourist and. As for us, we are educational tourist, we go to Bird Park because we want to know more knowledge about the bird and do the case study; for family, parents take their children to play in the bird park, and some people are interesting the bird, so they would will to go there to play. 4.0MOTIVATION In1943, Maslow proposed the theory on hierarchy of needs based on deficiency and growth needs. He set up the human need in ascending order of physiological needs like water and food in life; safety needs which is the need for security; the need for belongingness such as love, friendship; ego need which is the need for recognition and esteem; and the final need for self-actualization which is the need for self fulfillment and to make use of the most unique abilities. (Ifedili & Ifedili, 2012) (refer to appendices H) We go to Bird Park because of our self-actualization need; we never go to the bird park, we want to visit the bird park, we interest about the bird and want to learn more knowledge about the bird. We also can play with bird; we can feed the food for bird like parrot. This is interesting; we can study more knowledge about and enjoy the travel. 5.0EXPECTATION Expectation have been produced in response to the assessment they may shape the individual’s view of his or her travel experience as attention is now crystallized and features perhaps not previously considered. (Pearce, 2005) Expectiation is what we want to see the palce or things. Before we go to the bird park, we hope the tour guide is friendly and have interactive with us; there are some beautiful views in the bird park and the service provider is good. 6.0INTERPRETATION 6.1Principles of interpretation Interpretation is important for tourist management; it can promote the understanding, positive impression, admiration. For example, it can teach visitor protect the historical relic, it also can teach more knowledge for visitor and change their attitude and behavior. (Rabotic, 2010)Interpretation is directly or indirectly through different media and means such as map, poster, exhibit, sketch, audio, visual guide, marked tourist trails and travel guide. Face-to-face interaction and communication between tourist and tourist guide during a visit to the site is included in direct or personal interpretation. (Rabotic, 2010) The tour guide is friendly. The tour guide introduced the bird park for us. Tour guide as a leader and tell the knowledge about bird in detailed. Tour guide has communicate with us, when we askes some questions, she answers us clearly. In the bird park, it aslo has cleraly direction sign (refer appendices E) , it use bright colour, picture and obvious words, I can clearly see it and know which place we want to go, what kinds of bird in that place. Without tourist guide, If we do not know the where we are, we can search the map (refer appendices D) and congnitive mapping. (refer appendices F) It use symbol pircure to represent the place, I look at it, I can clearly know how can get to the place. There are interpretation panels (refer appendices G) inevery place in bird park, it interprter what kind of the bird is, how does it groe up, what place it born and so on. I can cleatly know more about the  bird. Tourist guide’s interprtation, map, direction sign, cognitive mapping and interprtations panels are good ways to help me understand more about the bird and will not be lost in the bird park. 6.2Evaluation of the tour guide Tour guide’s duties and responsibilities are examined by the five roles. The five roles are the leader, the educator, the public relations representative, the host and the conduit. These roles are used to treat the professionalism of the tour guide. The leadership role is the most important aspect of the responsibilities of guide. Tour guide need to control the tour and interaction with traveler. Traveler can learn knowledge from travel. Tour guide is as educator, he/she must be knowledgeable. The public relation is also as important role of tour guide’s work. The tour guide is as ambassadors, he/she represent her/his organization, she/he needs to protect the environment and culture. When she/he communicates with traveler, she/he needs to know what should say, what should not say. The tour guide need to as host, they need to create an environment that can make people feel comfortable and enjoy it. The tour guide need to make the best for people, make the traveler feel satisfy. The tour guide as conduit is important for the visitor, local culture, and the travel experience rather than to focus on the guide’s performance. (Reinhold, 1993) As for our tour guide, Wanling is friendly; she introduced herself first, then communicate with us, she as a leaded to lead us to visit the bird park, she lead us go around the bird park and tell us the knowledge about different kinds of bird, when we ask she some questions about the bird, she answer interesting and professional, she is as educator, teach us more knowledge about the bird. I think she is a good tour guide because before we go to bird park, we just know there will have many different kinds of bird, we not really know the name and knowledge of the bird, after she interpret and we ask her questions then she answers in detailed, we know more about the bird. If evaluate the tour guide 1-10 marks, 10 is the highest mark, I will give her 7 mark. 7.0SATISFACTION Satisfaction is perception higher than expectation. Evaluate satisfaction level need through three classes affective, cognitive, and behavioral (or conative). The most critical in the formation of satisfaction is affective evaluation. Satisfaction is formed by emotional evaluations like feelings, emotions and moods. (Wicks & Roethlein, 2009) I feel satisfy in the tour because Wanling is friendly and her interpretation of bird is interesting and professional. The environment in the bird park is beautiful (refer to appendices A), and there are some interesting activities such as go around the bird park by train, feed the bird. We go to feed the bird, it is fun, the bird is lovely. (refer to appendicesI). In bird park, it also have souvenir shop, and it has services of taking photo. I went to take photo and pay it, the photo is nice and as good souvenir. (refer to appendices J) 8.0RISK ANALYSIS OF THE TOUR The guide/leader may also become a ‘marker’ for risk and safety. (Wang, Jao, Chan & Chung, 2010) There are three main aspects of risk: Identification of the sources of risks, Judgement of Probability and Analysis of the consequences. (Steene 1999) There three types of risk, time, physical and economic risk. In Bird Park, when you go to feed birds, sometimes the bird will peck you, you will be hurt, and it will have some virus, it will make people be sick. People also will hurt the bird when they casual touch or catch the bird. These are some risk factor in the Bird Park Tour. 9.0CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY To sum up, the report focus to analysis the related concepts in the bird park tour. The interpretation is the most important part, people can know the knowledge and more things through the tour guide, directional sign, map and so on. Evaluate the tour guide need to base on their professional knowledge, attitude, and interpersonal skill. As we research, we found the tour guide and the service in Bird Park. I think I will go to bird park again. 10.0BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Ifedili, C. J., & Ifedili, C. I. (2012, May). PERCEPTION OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY BY NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY WORKERS – A CHALLENGE TO UNIVERSITY ADMINISTATORS. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business4. 1 , pp. 79-85. 2. 7 Tourists’Reflections on Experience. In Pearce,P. L. (2005) Tourist Behaviour-Themes and Conceptual Schemes (pp. 162-172). 3. Rabotic, B. (2010). PROFESSIONAL TOURIST GUIDING: THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERPRETATION FOR TOURIST EXPERIENCES. In Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija. Biennial International Congress. Tourism & Hospitality Industry (pp. 1157-1167). 4. (1993). Interpretation and the Role of the Guide. In Reinhold, K. L.†The Professional Guide-Dynamics of Tour Guiding† (pp. 65-85). New York. 5. Wicks, A. M., & Roethlein, C. J. (2009, Spring). A Satisfaction-Based Definition of Quality. The Journal of Business and Economic Studies15. 1 , pp. 82-97,110-111. 6. Wang, K., Jao, P., Chan, H.,Chung, C. (2010) Group Package Leader’s Intrinsic Risks. Annals of Tourism Research. Vol37 (1), pp154-179