Blogging Digital Media And Society Series Essay Example for Free

Blogging Digital Media And Society Series Essay Jill Walker Rettberg new edition â€Å"Blogging: digital media and society series† can be described as a key book in an emerging field. Blogging has come to be associated as a landmark in the current social cyber studies and even more. Blogging is all about the way today’s popular culture has become an important element in large magnitude changes in how culture is produced. With her book, Jill digs into the deep and broad of blogging to give the reader the real meaning of what is involved in blogging as the evidence and driver of a shift in epochal culture (Rettberg, 2014). Jill’s capability in ensuring that she reaches out to the right audience and puts the points on blogging across is enhanced by experience. Being a prolific blogger herself, Jill uses her experience as a blogger in pointing out the various issues to her audience. Jill also utilizes examination which is enhanced by use of an expert’s eye of a communications researcher with experience to reveal the historical, psychological, social and political meaning of the blogging initiative. Borrowing from various disciplines, it is evident of her good understanding on the blogging issue and its impact. The other strong point in her writing is the fact that she brings and uses various disciplines such as media studies, marketing, ethnology, literary studies, sociology and journalism into an excellent exploratory framework (Rettberg, 2014). Jill’s book expands blogging into a wider context of the decline in print culture to the emerging trends. The updated and revised edition provides a good study of the now each and every day phenomenon placing it in a theoretical, contemporary and historical context. The use of the most recent of the researches and developments in the blogging world is taken care of with an analysis of the new tools for visual blogging and micro blogging (Rettberg, 2014). In the book, Jill discusses the changing trends where in the current times blogs are being integrated into the mainstream social media ecology. This helps to show the reader the direction the blogging element is taking in the formation and continuation of popular culture. Jill notes that the comments and the links from social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become more important than networks between blogs which was important five years ago. Jill also questions the new trend where there is a shift towards increased corporate control and commercialization of blogs (Rettberg, 2014). The cultural shift has also seen its share of influence from blogging as Jill illustrates using examples. Jill delves into the analysis of how the current smart phones equipped with cameras together with the social media has led to the shift towards more emphasis on the visual aspects in the blogs with the use of graphics and photographs being in the foreground. Jill puts in a convincing analysis of how blogging together with related genres have come to change the world of communication and media (Rettberg, 2014). The design of the book is in such a way that each of the chapters is a self-sufficient review of areas in blogging which makes the structure repetitive across the work. The book is more suitable for beginners or anyone with an interest in blogging as Jill puts the chapters in a loose connection to blogging. Though Jill has borrowed from many disciplines to help the reader in understanding the different aspects of blogging, there is some diversion, however when the discussion shifts from blogging as a phenomenon into the related and convergent forms like the social networking sites. There are lengthy discussions of the various sites such as MySpace and Facebook which though put with the right intention in mind, they do not achieve this as there is no clear elaboration to the reader how this relates to the overall topics (Rettberg, 2014). Walker’s work begins by tackling the question of what a blog is. She starts with an introduction to the history of online text based communication. She then moves on to the development of blogging tools such as Blogger. Walker develops a shred understanding of material aspects in blogging. An interesting section also discusses blogs as genre and medium which is a distinction that is not addressed directly most of the time. In â€Å"From Bards to Blogs†, Walter takes the discussion on the blogging place within media culture and the shift from one-to- many towards many-to- many. Walter positions the internet as a counterpoint to Plato’s complaint of a written text being unresponsive. Walker shares the view that there is potential for interactivity between authors of blog posts, the blog post itself and the reader in blog comments (Rettberg, 2014). Also of particular interest is the chapter â€Å"Citizen Journalist?’ where Walker puts her focus on the three ways in which blogging intersects with traditional journalism. There are bloggers acting as journalists, the bloggers who report on mainstream media and the bloggers giving first-hand reports on ongoing events. Walker goes ahead to discuss bloggers as the chance to witness big historical events. Her example of Kaye D. Trammell account on Hurricane Katrina is meant to show how blogs can be used as sources of information by both the public and mass media however understudied. This is an avenue that can be used for future works in blogging (Rettberg, 2014). Walker also discusses how blogs have expanded to various forms of narratives in â€Å"Blogs as narratives† She gives an account of the three forms of narratives namely the goal-oriented narrative, ongoing narration and fragmented narratives. In the same chapter she evaluates the ways in which blogs can be used as a means of self exploration with one discovering their strengths and what they can do best to contribute to the society (Rettberg, 2014). Walker finishes the book off with a review of the future of blogs and the future of social media. In the chapter, Walker also touches on the use of language, privacy government access and control each of which one gets the feeling that they could be well covered in a different book each on its own. An addition of some scholarly works using quantitative methods would have added some balance to the various discussions such as the one on protypical blog and blogger. Another limitation in Walker’s book is that there is a small number of scholarly works cited on bloggers and blogging (Rettberg, 2014). In general Walker provides a popular view on blogging culture and blogs and steers away from in-depth analysis and critical discussion. The text however is a good introductory resource for both non-academic and academic audiences (Rettberg, 2014). Reference Rettberg, J. W. (2014).  Blogging. Source document

Importance Of Political Scandals To The Newspapers Media Essay

Importance Of Political Scandals To The Newspapers Media Essay The aims of this research are focused on assessing the importance of political scandals to the newspapers, on the role that the press assumes and how it is influenced by the fact that newspapers are supportive of political parties and on general trends that may be found in the coverage of political scandals by the quality press. The methodology used involves a comparative research that places side by side the study of three different scandals. Comparing the conclusions taken from the three cases studied this research aims to find general trends that are transversal to the newspapers while covering political scandals, but also to generalize the results to the British quality press. The reason to choose as object of the study newspapers instead of other media is related with the fact that in the United Kingdom the press is openly supportive of political parties, in contrast to what happen in television and radio broadcasters that are said to be independent. By studying newspapers it is possible to take an in-depth look at the conflict of interests of supporting a party, reporting the events to the readers and manager to report the situation keeping or increasing the profits of the newspaper. The relationship stated before influences the coverage produced by newspapers and the level of impartiality and independence that must be expected from them. The present dissertation will also take a look at the quality press instead of analysing the tabloid newspapers. While the tabloid press if often more connected with infotainment rather than serious news reporting, they are likely to have more scandals. Notwithstanding the fact that they report more scandals does not mean that they report it better, nor people who buy these newspapers expect it to be serious. In opposition to this reality there is the quality press. Even if openly supportive of political parties, the quality press is expected to give more serious news (Niblock, 1996:23; Conboy, 2005:12). People who buy these newspapers expect to be informed about issues related with international and political affairs. The reason why the Guardian, the Independent and the Daily Telegraph (including the Sunday versions) were chosen to be analysed is that they allow the coverage of the entire political spectrum. Analysing one newspaper would not be enough to generalize or to find trends that could be transversal to the quality press. However an analysis that includes the whole political spectrum in a system that is effectively bipartisan allows a more detailed comparison. In this context, one can expect that the Guardian will provide a Liberal/Labour vision of the facts, the Telegraph is expected to present a Conservative vision, and the Independent is expected to give an independent vision since the newspapers claims to be free from editorial connections since its beginning. The articles analysed are from the following dates: Cash for influence 25/01/2009 to 31/01/2009; Expenses Scandal 8/05/2009 to 15/05/2009; and finally Lord Ashcroft tax status 01/03/2010 to 07-03-2010. The criteria by which the articles were chosen to be analysed was if there was in them references to the scandal. The access to the newspapers was guarantee through the online archives present in the newspapers websites. In total 400 articles were analysed. Scandals The first story to be study is known as Cash for Influence and it is a scandal concerning four Labour Party life peers who were supposedly accepting money in order to help to make amendments to legislation. The peers involved were Lord Moonie, Lord Snape, Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor. The four Labour members were accused of breaking two principles of the Code of Conduct for the House of Lords. The story was first published in the Sunday Times on the 25th of January of 2009, when staff from the newspaper approached the four peers pretending to be lobbyists from an unnamed company. The peers told them that for the right amount of money they could help them introducing some changes to the legislation. The second story is about the British Parliamentary expenses scandal that was revealed by the Telegraph after a leak. The story broke on May 2009 and it involved the revelation of the expenses claimed by the Members of Parliament. The scandal received a lot of attention as it was shown that MPs were abusing the system of allowances and expenses related with their duty in the House of Commons. The last case to be studied involves Mr. Ashcroft and his tax status. The controversy around Lord Ashcroft is not recent, but in 2010 Ashcroft decided to come public with his tax status. The controversy aroused not from the legal wrongdoing but due to the fact that it was thought that the Conservative Party deputy chairman had agree to become resident in the UK for tax purposed when he was recommended for a peerage in 2000. The three stories involve financial transgressions/ controversies. The same logic that decided the newspapers to be analysed was also used in the selection of scandals. In the coverage of scandals: one of them is associated with peers from the Labour party, other is associated with people connected with the conservative party and the expenses scandals involve MPs from all the parties that are represented in the House of Commons. The scandals are all very recent and that, I hope, will provide an up to date perspective of the coverage of political scandals. Content Analysis The first decision that was to be made was considering the approach that should be used to answer the research questions. After looking at some studies concerning media studies produced before such as the works produced by Gans, 1979; Fishman, 1980; and Canel and Sanders, 2006; It was decided that an ideal approach to the study would be combining qualitative and quantitative research techniques. This is so because the questions involve a different type of answers but also because by combining different approaches the work will follow a principle of triangulation presenting greater validity. Triangulation is: the traditional view that quantitative and qualitative research might be combined to triangulate findings in order that they may be mutually corroborated (Bryman, 2006:608). For the combination of different approaches it would be used first Content Analysis of the articles published by newspapers related with the scandals and interviews with journalists from the three newspapers that are study here. However the journalists were not very accessible and many did not show availability to be interviewed. Due to this fact, the interviews were dropped from this project. The main technique to be used will be Content Analysis as it allows a, comparative analysis of the coverage of the scandals. Using this method it is possible to study the prominence and the importance that the stories may assume to the newspapers (Hansen et al., 1998:95). The comparative approach also allows the identification of the trends and changes in the position adopted by newspapers during the coverage of the stories. These questions are similar to those that this dissertation has to deal with in order to answer the research questions. Other advantage of Content Analysis is that it produces, if well-conducted, data that is less likely to suffer from subjective selectiveness and idiosyncrasies as it is a transparent and systematic technique of analysis (Hansen et al., 1998:94: Bryman, 2006:289). The difficulties that are inherent to the Content Analysis are related with the fact that the categories and units of analysis may demand some interpretation form the coders (Bryman, 2006:291). This can result in some disputes over the interpretation when the study is replicated. However, as these limitations were taken into account the codebook was design in order to guarantee its consistency and reliability. While coding the Content Analysis the first seven categories the newspaper where the article was present, the story covered, the date, the headline, the article length, the reporter and position and the genre of the article are basic information related with the characteristics of the articles. However this basic information will provide answers to questions related with: the scandal that received most attention, the newspapers that wrote more about the scandals, the newspaper that included more articles concerning these stories, the moment where the interest in the stories peaked and when it began to decrease, the nature of the genres that are more prominent in the coverage. The analysis of the position of the journalists is also very important because it is can show the importance that the article assumes for the newspaper. If a story is considered very important then it is more likely to have an experienced and high-positioned journalist in the newspaper hierarchy writing the ar ticle. Possibly these variables are expected to provide data to analyse general trends and the importance that the stories assumed for the newspapers. The exclusive content claim is a category that aims to give indications about the role of the newspapers while covering the stories. If newspapers are releasing information that they claim to have exclusive content, it is assumed that they are investing time and money on the story. The scandal category is used to evaluate the coverage of the stories. It is expect to give a perspective on whether or not the stories were defined as scandals. It can also be a point to analyse potential changes related with the editorial choices of the newspaper. The position of the articles towards the people involved and towards the acts committed by those is also coded. As the scandals are disclosed, the newspapers tend to assume positions towards it. This point is interesting to understand the reactions of the newspapers to the stories and if they are transversal or if they tend to change as more is known about the scandal. The variables involving the name of the party in the headline or lead are present to provide data to study if the connection between the party and the actors of the scandals is considered important to the newspapers. It is expected to indicate if newspapers are likely to identify more often, in these two parts of the articles, the name of the party they do not support rather than the party they support. This category is also expected to give information about the importance of the party identification for the newspaper when covering political scandals. The access to newspapers by the political parties is also coded by looking at the different stances that are present in the articles. This information is provided by the category concerning the inclusion of different political stances in the articles. The identification of the party that is less heard is also important to test the capacity of the parties to access the different newspapers. The number of people quoted is also a focus of this study. The number of persons coded is assumed as one indicator of the time that was spent with the article. However to better evaluate the role of the quotes used they are counted in three different categories: the number of sources that assume neutral, accusative or sympathetic positions towards the people involved in the scandals. It is believed that by doing this it is possible to test the bias of the quotes used towards the story. The victims of the scandals identified by the journalists in the articles are counted as well. This provides information about how the consequences of the scandal are perspective by the newspaper. This information is expected to offers information if scandals are seen as a morality tale or if there is space for the political game perspective. In continuation to the analysis paid to the political parties, it is tested if the coverage has presented the idea of elections and the consequences that the scandal may have for the outcome of the polls. This is done by the inclusion of a category that counts if the article mentions the elections. In order to understand the role of the press during the scandals, and the positions adopted by the newspapers and it was not possible to interview the people involved in the coverage of the scandals the editorials will be more profoundly analysed that the other articles. The profound analysis is applied to these articles because in the United Kingdom this genre is assumed to be the place where the opinion of the newspapers is exhibit (Canel and Sanders, 2006:10). The extra variables that are coded in the analysis of the leading articles are six. Two variables are named praises and criticisms and they will record who is being attacked and protected by the newspapers. Are newspapers more confortable attacking newspapers they do not support? Or can it be said that they will attack whoever is involved in a scandal in the same way? While attacking the people involved from one party, are newspapers softer with the party they support? The other four categories coded are concerned with the role assumed by the quality press. Right to information is a category that aims to measure the posture of newspapers towards its readers and the information it provides them. How often do newspapers look for legitimacy by claiming that they are providing information that is of the public interest? As for the solidarity and we vs. them categories, these target to analyse if the quality press tries to establish a close relation with its readers or if it tries to assume a more isolated position of a neutral vigilant. Lastly, the role of the papers towards the political system is tested in the claims for reform done by newspapers. Do we have newspapers that are very active claiming for politicians to be changed, or is the quality press passive? The claim for reform category is probably expected to give an answer to those questions. The biggest limitations to this research are related with the second technique of research used and the access to newspapers. The fact that the journalists that were covering the stories were not interviewed omits one set of accounts of the events in question. The access to newspapers also imposes limitations to the study. While accessing to online editions variables such as pictures, front-cover and size of the article in relation with the format of the page of the newspaper are not available. In excluding such variables information that may be relevant for the research is not included. The similar nature of the scandals may also be question, as Lord Ashcroft in opposition to what happen to the peers of the Labour Party did not perform any act that was illegal. The fact that this scandal was closer to the general elections can influence the coverage that it received. Contrary to the other scandals, Lord Ashcrofts controversy was rumoured before, and so this scandals when noticed may have lost the impact that the other cases attached.

Heart :: essays research papers

PRACTICAL EXERCISE 4 HEART STRUCTURE AND CIRCULATION Q.1 Describe the heart sounds you hear. Explain the origin of two sounds. Two heart sounds are normally heard through a stethoscope on the chest wall, "lab" "dap". The first sound can be described as soft, but resonant, and longer then the second one. This sound is associated with the closure of AV valves (atrioventricular valves) at the beginning of systole. The second sound is louder and sharp. It is associated with closure of the pulmonary and aortic valves (semilunar valves) at the beginning of diastole. There is a pause between the each set of sounds. It is a period of total heat relaxation called quiescent period. Q.2 Which structures are responsible for these sounds? If these structures were damaged or functionally incorrectly, what do you think would happen to the heart sound? The structures responsible for these sounds are: pulmonary, aortic and atrioventricular valves. These sounds are results of vibration caused by closure of these valves. Other sounds known as "heart murmurs" are sometimes a sign of heart disease. "Murmurs can be produced by blood flowing rapidly in the usual directions through an abnormally narrowed valve" (Vander, Sherman and Luciano, 1985, p.326) and in some cases, as mitral valve prolapse, the individual does not show any symptoms. Q.5 If a glass probe is poked into the pulmonary trunk which chamber will it enter? The glass probe poked into the pulmonary trunk will follow the cycle of blood from the pulmonary artery to the lungs and then through pulmonary veins will enter the left atrium. Q.6 From which chamber does the aorta arise? Aorta arises from the left ventricle. It is the largest artery in the body and it transports the oxygenated blood away from the heart. Q.7 (a) Where do the coronary arteries start? (b) Use this knowledge to explain how the coronary arteries only fill with blood during diastole. The heart, like other organs, receives its blood supply through the smaller vessels of arterial branches. In this case, coronary arteries, which starts from the base of ascending aorta. The blood circulates through coronary arteries and then to smaller vessels into cardiac muscle (myocardium). The blood flow is influenced by aortic pressure, which increases in systole, and the pumping activity of the ventricles. When the ventricle contracts, in systole, the coronary vessels are compressed by the contracted myocardium and partly blocked by the open aortic valve therefore the blood flow through the myocardium stops.

Managing Change Essay -- essays research papers

"Managing Change" Massive change is impacting on all facets of society, creating new dimensions and great uncertainty. Instant communication, super small high-tech equipments, the globalization movement, the deadly terrorist attacks in the U.S., the emerging of foreign investments in China nation are all the changing dimensions of the world. These are few of the changes which have occurred around last two decades. The issue facing people in business today is how to manage such changes. The origin of one change has an impact on other origin of changes. For example, technological break thorough of the communication in computers resulted in tremendous change of behavioral through an extensive and immediate involvement of the average citizen in world event. In the past, it took time and a lot of money to reach the person across the continent but now it is only one click on the button and a cost under $1. The impact of the change affects the individual, on organization, and on geopolitical. The management of change by individual, organization, and national and international bodies is critical to survival in the decades ahead. The individuals who invest their most formative years in an education and their most productive years in occupational activities must be able to build to personal competence both to survive and manage change. Organizations require flexibility in structure and appropriate strategies if they are to survive and be viable in the future. And government, institutions, and international coordination must create the appropriate environment to permit individuals and organizations to prosper and create the fruits of civilization. The emphasis is primary on how individuals and organizations can deal with change successfully and develop appropriate strategies and structures for the effective management of change. Management of change must provide guidelines for institutional and structural change as well as for individual. (Scott and Jaffe, 1995) If persons have a motivation to face a change, they are likely to take people with them and they can bring organization to change. This is an effective one. Also, there are many changes that are brought by the change in an institution, such as the go... ...n; prevent crisis. Nonetheless, Basil and Cook (1974) state crisis can be a danger that weakens or destroys the organization or crisis can be a growth opportunity. Therefore, successfully dealing with change in the organization means choosing to grow and develop continuously. References Robblins, P. Stephen, Organization Behavior 10th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003. Carnall, Colin A. Managing change, London : Routledge, 1991. Scott, Cynthia D. and Jaffe, Dennis T. Managing change at work : Leading people through organizational transitions, Menlo Park, CA : Crisp Publications, 1995. Basil, Douglas C. and Cook, Curtis W. The management of change, McGraw Hill, 1974. http://www.prosci.com/ADKAR-overview.htm

The Chrysalids Joseph Strorm Character Sketch Essay -- essays research

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Written by John Wyndham, The Chrysalids tells the reader about Joseph and his life, which revolves around religion. Joseph, as the reader learns, is an extremely religious, authoritive, and temper mental man. As the story progresses, Joseph’s character traits begin to show more and more. Joseph’s character traits become more prominent, and Joseph begins to choose his religion over his family. Towards the end of the novel we learn that Joseph is out to kill two of his children. Joseph is a man with many problems, which would get the best of him in the end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Living in Waknuk makes it extremely easy to be controlled by your religion. Joseph was a very religious man towards his family and the community. In the community of Waknuk Joseph was considered the â€Å"Head Priest† of his religious group. Each time a deviation was notified Joseph would quickly stop everything he was doing to pray for forgiveness. Stopping everything to pray for forgiveness is a big thing considering that the deviations were not his. This shows that he does not want God or his religion to look down on himself. Lastly, Joseph is always trying to do his best because he believes God is always testing them. He shows that he does not want to upset God in any way. All of these examples show how religious Joseph truly is. Joseph Strorm was a devoted and completely reliant man upon his religion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As being the leader in Waknuk, it ...

The Soul Taker

It was a dreary night of November and I was on my way back from camp. On the long journey home my friends told each other scary stories based on a myth that Miss Maiden told us the previous evening. It was a warm evening at camp, Miss Maiden and Mrs Jane were roasting marshmallows as the girls played clap games and the boys swooped Poke-mon cards, I sat there silently bringing back to mind a dream that I had about the woods next to the camp on Friday the 13th †¦ It was about a ashy castle on top of a uneven hill, it was burnt down because of all the evil spirits that was said to be lurking in vengeances for anyone who try to claim the castle. When I entered the castle on my left was a room; I struggled to open the door, a repulsive smell made my skin cells repel. the brown tarnished door I woke up. Damn! I sat there daydreaming trying to remember what I saw in the room but it didn't seem to work. Was it because I was hungry and drooling over those soft marshmallows? I think I might take a break and after eating it might sort out my ‘amnesia'. We sat in a circle around the fire eating the hot marshmallows on sticks; Miss Maiden began telling a scary myth, I didn't see the point, she might as well read a fairytale because they were never scary! I didn't pay much attention to her until she said†¦ ‘a rigidly hill were a castle stands ‘ I suddenly stop gulping down my marshmallows and looked at Miss Maiden, Her eyes were luminously shining as the moon light reflected off her pupils, she looks around at us slowly purposely catching eye connections. She then sharply points to the woods behind us making us all jump in fear. There was nothing behind us Miss Maiden and Mrs Jane started to laugh, I was furious I dropped my marshmallows on the floor, Mrs Jane told us to settle down to continue the story. She explained about a young girl called marline whose parents died when she was at the age of 12 and left there family house in her name. Her auntie moved in shortly after the death of her parents. In those times the deceased were buried in their own home. Her auntie treated her like a slave and said over and over again that the house belongs to her. When Marline was 17 her auntie decided to sell the property to a young couple. Mr and Mrs Vale. They were planning to destroy the house and build a bungalow on top of the hillside as it had the most beautiful sights in the whole town. When her auntie told her about it Marline was outraged she stood up to her auntie referring to her parents will of the house. Her auntie responded showing her authority over her. Marline ran to her room crying thinking of many evil ways to stop the couple from buying the house. Then it suddenly came across to her†¦ She knew what she had to do. Marlines auntie cried out to her to get her a glass of ginger beer. Marline runs to the kitchen and gets a glass out the left cabinet on the wall. She looks around her to see if any one was there she then opened a bottle with the caution skull sign on it and poured it into the glass. She opened the bottle of ginger beer and poured it right up to the brim of the glass, bubbles foamed up and out. Marline ran to the sink grabbed a napkin and quickly wiped up the ginger beer. She goes to the room which was on the left side of the kitchen and gave her auntie the glass with a devilish smile on her face. Her auntie drank it breathing hard collapsed and died. Marline ran to catch her before she dropped on the floor because she knew that the weight of dead people are double there size. She lays her flat on the couch and covers her with a white lace. She calls someone and says her auntie dead. She then runs up to the 4th floor leaving the phone unhooked and hides in a secret closet trying not to breathe too hard. The door bell rang continuously then she heard a loud noise and voices became crystal clear. She looked through the little gaps between the closest and saw the police searching up and down to see if anyone was in. The noise all of a sudden stopped and the door shut she came out the closet and looked out the window discreetly she saw men put her auntie behind a carriage. Marline couldn't handle it she went into her mothers and fathers old room and took her fathers razor and slit her wrists, she vowed that no one would ever step foot into her property again. As Miss Maiden told us the myth I could feel myself turning dusky pale and barley white shivering next to the fire. Mrs Jane asked me if I was alright. I just stared at her like there was something on her face. She covered me with a blanket and patted me on top of my head. All that was running through my head was my dream†¦ I said to myself I am going to find that castle! But I didn't have a chance to I fell asleep and when I woke up it was afternoon and we were in a rush to pack our stuff to be on the coach promptly for 7pm. As I sat there leaning against the window sulking, . It was a full moon tonight, I looked up and the luminous moon was as bright as ever. Under the moon was a foggy mist and in that mist was like a shadow of some kind of triangle. I squinted my eyes to see if I could make out what it was. CASTLE! I shouted. Everyone immediately looked out the window. Mrs Jane looked above her glasses and told me to keep it quite, I smiled. When I get home that night I will come back and go to the castle. I couldn't wait. It was now 8:30 pm and we finally reached school, when I got out the coach it was lashing with rain and striking with thunder, I took my little hand luggage and put my coat over my head squinting my eyes to see if I could spot mummy's new black car.

Human Resource Management on Sheraton Hotel Surabaya

Human Resource Function: Sheraton Hotel and Tower Surabaya Alex Chandra 3104009 Raymond Kurniawan Tjiadi 3104010 Kevin Krisnadi 3104802 Julian Giovanni 3104812 Anastasia Santoso 3114701 IBN – Fundamental of Human Resource Management Universitas Surabaya 1. Overview The origins of the brand date back to  1937  when  Ernest Henderson  and  Robert Moore  acquired the Stonehaven Hotel in  Springfield, Massachusetts. The chain got its name from another early hotel that the pair had acquired, which had a lighted sign on the roof saying â€Å"Sheraton Hotel† which was large and heavy and therefore too expensive to change. Instead, they decided to call all their hotels by that name. Henderson and Moore had opened three hotels in  Boston  by 1939, continuing with their rapid expansion opening properties along the entire East Coast. In the 1940s, Sheraton purchased the famousHotel Kimball  of  Springfield, Massachusetts, and transformed the 4-star hotel into The Sheraton-Kimball Hotel, attracting guests like President  John F. Kennedy. In 1945, it was the first hotel chain to be listed on the  New York Stock Exchange. In 1949 Sheraton expanded internationally with the purchase of two Canadian hotel chains. The 1960s saw the first Sheraton hotels outside North America with the opening of the Tel Aviv-Sheraton in February 1961 and the Macuto-Sheraton outside Caracas, Venezuela, in 1963. By 1965, the 100th Sheraton had opened its doors. The multinational conglomerate  ITT  purchased the chain in 1968, after which it was known as ITT Sheraton. In 1985 Sheraton became the first Western company to operate a hotel in the People's Republic of China, assuming management of the state-built Great Wall Hotel in Beijing, which became the Great Wall Sheraton. In 1994, ITT Sheraton purchased a controlling interest in the Italian CIGA chain, the Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company, which had been seized from its previous owner, the  Aga Khan, by its creditors. The chain had begun by operating hotels in Italy, but overexpanded across Europe just as a recession hit. These hotels formed the core of what came to be the ITT Sheraton Luxury group, later Starwood's Luxury Collection. In April 1995, Sheraton introduced a new, mid-scale hotel brand Four Points by Sheraton Hotels, to replace the designation of certain hotels as Sheraton Inns. In 1998, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. acquired ITT Sheraton, outbidding Hilton. Under Starwood's leadership, Sheraton has begun renovating many existing hotels and expanding the brand's footprint including their management contracting partnership with Pakuwon Jati Tbk to build Surabaya Sheraton Hotel and Tower. 2. Field Report Q: How important are the function of HRM and the contribution towards the performance of company as a whole? In the recruitment process, what method is used by Sheraton Hotel in choosing and selecting the new employee? What competence / requirement is the major concern? A:As important as the others. Human resource in nowadays has a role as a business partner rather than only recruiting agency that only need sharpness for recruitment. Skill can be taught. But behavior is more important. Sharing about their past (know people from the past. Not a formal interview but make the condition as comfort as possible). Q: About the training and development program, how Sheraton Hotel implement in training and developing the competence from the new and existing employee? What objective that Sheraton Hotel want to achieve? A: Not only work but also study. Training for 48 hours, the orientation is about brand and etc. Have it’s own culture. Service culture needed and built for years and become loyal. We can see from their will for change and develop. We have 4 kinds of training, in our own hotel, in the department training (refreshing the previous training), training analysis (according to appraisal), and the last is training abroad or seminar. Every month they send report and attendance. Q: Human Resource Department of course inseparable from the process of giving motivation both moral and materially. In the motivation of materially or incentive, what is your view about the role of incentive towards the performance of the company? What kind of criteria that awarded that kind of incentive? We have many kinds of motivation, like promotion, associate of the month, associate gathering, care share (can be redeem), president award (star of the month will be registered to the regional), and incentives for sales. We also have two kinds of incentives, cash incentives (quarterly) and trip incentives (yearly). Q: How Sheraton Hotel respond to the violation from rules that happen by the employees? What kind of approach that the Sheraton used? Department and Supervisor manage them. Light warning (discussed) and will be given to the employee a written warning. In relation to the safety function and health care of company to the employee, what implementation that Sheraton use? How Sheraton see that benefits? Is it only as a cost or expense that arise from obligations solely or as an investment in improving company performance? We have safety and security certification (checked from the third party). We also have training for new comers. Once in 3 months, there will be a evacuation practice without any announcement. We also have an emergency response team to ensure safety. We give 4 kinds of insurance that are jamsostek, old age insurance, inpatient, and life insurance. Q: Towards the rules for giving day off compensation that Sheraton give, is there any specific regulations? We give our employee 5 working days in a week. 9 hours per day (8 hours working, 1 hour for rest). We also have some rules for day off. For those who have work for 5 years or above, that will be 12 days off + 8 days. For those who have work for 10 years or above, that will be 12 days off + 20 days. For those who work more than 15 years, that will be 30 days off + 12 days. We treat associate like we treat our consumers. 3. Perception The Human Resources Department is responsible for employee compensation and benefits, policy development, recruitment, affirmative action, employee relations, training and development, administration of the Sheraton’s automated human resources/payroll system and maintenance of employee records. Sheraton Human Resources strive to: Maintain consistency across the organization with regard to human resource issues †¢ Ensure that the workforce reflects the diversity of the community it serves †¢ Ensure that all employees are treated with equal respect and dignity; †¢ Ensure that all employees understand the Sheraton's pay-for performance merit system †¢ Provide departmental support to ensure that Human Resource is an integral partner of every dep artment’s operations. A top priority for the department is to implement a corporate wide training and development program to enhance leadership skills among Sheraton’s employees and managers. Human Resources is also dedicated to meeting the highest level of customer service by providing prompt and accurate service in employee relations, recruitment, compensation and benefits. And lastly, the department is committed to make the service culture better and better among Sheraton Hotel employees to make them loyal. From the interview side we can see an interesting way that they interview them from their past. And we think their recruitment system as something unique. It’s very rare to see an interview like their system. They also respect their employee, by giving a good treatment from insurance, day off and incentives. They also consider the career of their employee by giving some promotion or president award that will make them registered to the regional. 4. Summary After conducting the interview to assess the human resource function in the Sheraton Hotel and Tower, we can conclude that Sheraton had been running the whole Human Resource Function that a company should have. The Sheraton’s HRM Function consists as follow: Staffing According to the Sheraton’s management, we could conclude an excellent performance that they had been conduct. Eventhough they said that their function is more than only recruiting, in reality they had been doing an effective yet proper staffing’s system in light of the type of the industry that they’re dealing. The high customer contact that they must face everyday had made them must modify their recruiting system into a system that emphasizing their behavior and attitude which is an important element in the service industry. Furthermore, they also make a strong highlight in the company’s culture that they always put into every associate’s mind. All of those strategies is conducted by Sheraton Hotel and Tower because in the service industry, technical advantages can be copied instantly by the competitors whereas an advantage in company’s culture can only built by years of improvement. Training and Development Sheraton Hotel and Towers treat their employee more than just an hourly labor or a machine to generate revenue. Moreover, they call the employee as â€Å"associate† that refer to their principle to treat employee as a business partner that can grow together as one entity. For this reason, they also said that they want to hire a F;B waiter that can be a F;B Director. It means that they had a very big concern in the development of their associate. Their commitment of 48 hours of training and development also show their leading advantages in the training and Development aspect because they saw Training and Development as an investment to achieve Higher Company’s performance through the improvement of their associate as the front line of their services. Empowerment In giving a motivation to their employee, Sheraton Hotel and Towers focuses not only in a narrow aspect but moreover they focus on every aspect that employee had achieved. For example, if other company only consider their employee achievement in the business aspect, such as sales performance, profit earned, market share, etc. , Sheraton also appreciate the achievement in other aspect such as internal relationship, social relationship between employee, etc. Furthermore, in line of their HRD’s goal to improve the performance of their associate, they make the incentive more frequent through giving cash incentive quarterly and also yearly trip incentive. The incentives also using the immaterial empowerement using associate recognition system such as romotion, associate of the month appreciation that made the employee focus on the performance and not the material. Safety and Healthcare Unlike manufacture company that rely on the machine that had 100% Performance Rating, high customer contact firm such as Sheraton rely mostly on their associate. Therefore, any absenteeism that caused on many factors to their employee will cause a severe loss to their company. Thus, they set a high standard on the safety and healthcare regulation, such as double the insurance from the Jamsostek standard and also give a full health benefit.