Answer 3 required and 3 of the optional questions from the uploaded Research Paper

Answer 3 required and 3 of the optional questions from the uploaded information - Research Paper Example These financial statements are to be prepared using a predefined set of standards and guidelines, widely known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Types of Accounting, 2013). Managerial accounting is an accounting process that reportedly produces information for the sole us of management of the organization. The form and the details to be included in the reportorial information would depend on the intricate and extensive requirements and purpose of management. It was actually disclosed that the information could be more detailed, as compared to financial accounting statements which were identified to be prepared exclusively for external uses. Thus, management could require budgets, forecasts, and financial highlights that would be used to make decisions regarding strategies and plans that would achieve identified goals. Cost accounting was noted to be a branch of managerial that focuses on monitoring and controlling costs. Tax accounting, on the other hand, as the term implies, focuses on accounting facets which are tax-related and are reportedly governed by tax rules and regulations, as well as observance to the GAAP. Governmental accounting, or also known as public accounting (or even fund accounting) was noted to be a type of accounting process and information system that is used by government agencies or public organizations. The main disparity of this type of accounting with private organizations’ accounting system is that their funds are governed by budgets set by the federal government. Likewise, the disbursement of funds are to be allocated subject to the aims or goals of the government agency. Internal auditing accounting focuses on an ongoing appraisal of the financial condition of the organization subject to conformity to accounting standards and accounting laws. Finally, international accounting is the type of accounting process or information system governed by international accounting standards, as contrasted with GAAP. 2. Describe the purposes of financial statements and corporate annual reports. The purposes of financial statements and corporate annual reports include the provision of accurate financial information to various users to serve various needs (Purpose of Financial Statements, 2013). For instance, financials statements are mandated to be published to the public to give them a general overview of the organization and provide information regarding the potential effects of the organization to the local community or to the economy, as a whole. Likewise, financial statements and annual reports are needed by management for decision-making purposes. The companies’ shareholders, on the other hand, use these financial information to determine returns on their investments and any potential risks from currently disclosed external or internal factors that impinge on the organizations’ operations. Concurrently, the investors of the organization need to be given accurate information on the financial condition and status through financial statements and corporate annual reports that contain profits, returns on investment, risks, and market value, as needed. In addition to these various users, financial statements are needed by other financial institutions, such as banks or lending institutions when organizations apply for loans or financial assistance in various endeavors. Suppliers also need the information disclosed in financial stateme

How Has Amazon Used Technology Essay Example for Free

How Has Amazon Used Technology Essay 1. How has Amazon used technology to revamp the bookselling industry? Amazon uses technology envelop in search engine of a website. The company captures comments and recommendations of buyers for site visitors to read and also recommends which book to buy. The website captures all the information of the customer such as what pages they are looking at, how much time they spend on site, no of visitors etc. This information is used by the company to evaluate buying and selling patterns of the book industry. 2. Is Amazon using disruptive or sustaining technology to run its business? Amazon is using disruptive technology where it uses new ways to do things that doesnot satisfy the existing customers. This technology brings up new market and destroy the old one to run the business successfully. 3. How could Amazon use kiosks to improve its business? Amazon released a free website that enables its business partners to interact with its website. This website allows partners to create, access to data, populate and even initiating checkout process so that business can improve. This is the way Amazon uses kiosks to improve its business. 4. What is Amazon’s e-business model? Amazon uses Business-to-Customer model because here it sells the product or services to customers over the internet. 5. Which metrics could Amazon use to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of Amazon’s website? Efficiency: Amazon uses following metrics for its efficiency. Throughput: amazon introduces new techniques and brings infront of the customers in a given time and according to time Transaction speed: the website speed is so fast that all transactions of the customers are done quickly. Availability: amazon provides everything for the customers so that it is available for everyone and everything is available in its website. Effectiveness: amazon uses the following metrics for its effectiveness. Customer satisfaction: amazon always thinks about the requirements of the customers so that they will be satisfied.  Ã‚  Conversion rates: amazon charges for the customers for using their site but it be reasonable for the customers to bear.  Sell-through increases: as amazon fulfills the requirements of the customers, sales also increase automatically. 6. What are some of the business challenges facing Amazon? Amazon has been spread global wide. But there are some issues with some countries where language became the main barrier. Site has been forbidden because they include foreign languages through which bookseller site could not be operated. So amazon have to face this challenge for its business improvements.

Rajasthan tourist destination

Rajasthan tourist destination The promotion of Rajasthan as a heritage tourist destination 1. Introduction In order to accomplish the aims and objectives, this piece of work focused on the promotion of Rajasthan as a heritage tourist destination in the world. The vital idea behind the selection of this topic is to discuss the importance of heritage tourism. Tourism plays an important role in the socio-economic development of any country. It is also one of the major sources to earn foreign exchange, and generating employment for urban as well as rural public. This chapter have 6 parts. Background of the study Background to the study: Tourism industry in India is on a great boom at the moment. India has a great potential to be a major tourist destination in the world. It’s the second highest foreign exchange earning industry and government gave travel and tourism industry an export status. Indian tour and travel industry is one of the most profitable industries in the country. During the year 2006, four million tourists visited India and spent US$8.9 billion (Economy watch, 2006). The buoyancy in the Indian tourism industry can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the tremendous growth in the Indian economy, because of that the disposable income of the middle-class increased to expend on their recreation. Secondly, the IT sector in the country by which India famous as an IT hub in the world. Which attract people globally for business trips. Thirdly, the aggressive advertising campaign â€Å"Incredible India† by the tourism ministry of India also changes the image of India worldwide. Tourism industry also provides employment to millions of people directly and indirectly in the country. Which help the society and solve the big issues of unemployment in the country. Estimates of 20 million people are directly employed by this sector in the country currently. According to the above lines Rajasthan the north-west state of India is very popular among the national and international visitors. The royally palaces and forts, endless golden desert, hardworki ng and colourful people make the state more exciting to visit. Besides all this, Probably India is the only country which offers various categories of tourism. These include history tourism, adventure tourism, medical (Ayurvade and other) tourism, eco tourism, culture tourism, rural tourism, religious/pilgrimage tourism, spiritual tourism and beach tourism etc (I love India, 2007) Justification of the study: Heritage tourism is now big business. In economic and entrepreneurial terms, it is one of the major success stories of recent years. At a time of declining Industrial activity and rising unemployment in any society, heritage tourism has provided an alternative form of enterprise, creating jobs and generating wealth for local economies (Herbert, 1995). Tourism in India has the potential to do wonder in this upcoming industry of profit as well as fun. Rajasthan the largest state, and one of the most eminent tourist destinations, which is famous for its pictureqous natural beauty and wonderful construction. Rajasthan are usual attractions for first time visitors (Mintel, 2008). The outlook for travel industry in India looks extremely bright. â€Å"Conde Nast† rank India 6th amongst the top 10 tourist destination in the annual â€Å"Reader’s Award† in 2004, which was 9th a year before. The magazine ranked Raj Vilas, in Jaipur (Rajasthan) as 3rd in the overseas leisure hotel category for Asia (Business Standard, 2004). The JBIC (Japan Bank of International Cooperation) rank her 5th most attractive investment destination. The report â€Å"Indian Tourism Industry Analysis† provides an insight into the Indian tourism market. According to the report, India is one of the most potential tourism markets in the world. India expected to see 10million international tourist by 2010, which was 5million in 2007. Andhra Pradesh, Utter Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan are the leading tourist destinations in the country (Bharat Book Bureau, 2004) Aims and Objectives: To critically assess the opportunities to promote Rajasthan as a heritage tourist destination Objectives Evaluate the potential of Rajasthan’s heritage to develop as tourist destination. Critically evaluate the present tourism promotion system and the government policies on Rajasthan tourism. The development of recommendations for the promotion of Rajasthan as a heritage tourism destination. State profile: The colourful and exotic state of Rajasthan lies in the north-western part of India. It is the largest state (132,150 sq mi) and also knows as the land of kings, the home of Rajputs (Indianhills). Rajasthan is bordered on the west by Pakistan. In the west of state is the Thar Desert and the upland region of Deccan in the eastern part. The Aravalli hills cross the state from north-east to the south-west. The state was formed in 1948 from several former principalities states of Rajputana. Rajasthan is one of the strongholds of the conservative Hindu (75% of the population) then Muslims, Jains and native people (Encyclopaedia). The largest state with 33 districts and a population of 56.47million (2001 census) with a literacy rate of 61.03%, Jaipur is the state’s capital as well as the cultural, financial and trade capital of the state. Rajasthani, Sindhi and Punjabi are the regional languages of the state. Hindi and English also commonly used by people (Answer.com). Heritage is not only the monument or historic buildings, but everything which relate us to the rich past of that particular culture or tradition is heritage. The folk dance and music, souvenir (cloths and jewels), craft work (handicraft like paintings, iron or wood work) and festivals, fairs food and lifestyle are also the part of the rich cultural heritage of any destination. Rajasthan is a state with entirely different visage, the most scenic state of India. The culturally rich state of Rajasthan is popular for its festivals fairs, luxury trains, folk dances/music, arts/crafts and royal legacy in the form of palaces, forts and gardens. It medieval forts and palaces, the very distinctive nomadic desert lifestyle is unique all over the world. A world of colour, splendour and spectacle awaits visitors to India’s largest and the most romantic state. With its wild desert scenery, ancient sandcastle forts, pastel colour cities, dust speckled light and its swathes of scarlet, and marigold textiles (The Independent Asia), which creates Rajasthan one of the most popular tourist destinations in west India. It can be said as; it is the cultural capital of India. There are various popular destinations in Rajasthan but the main tourists attracting cities are Ajmer, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Udaipur. All these cities were the former Princely states, as the result tourist can witness the imperial legacy everywhere in these cities. Here we have the brief panorama of the famous cities and their heritage. 1.5.1 Panorama of the Heritage Cities of Rajasthan: Ajmer Founded in the 7th century by ruler Ajaypal Chauhan. Have a famous fort called â€Å"Ajaimeru† or Invincible hill, lakes gardens and many other visiting places. Ajmer is about 130km south-west from Jaipur is the major religious centre for Muslims. This city is famous for the tomb of Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chisti, a medieval Sufi Saint, where pilgrims gather from over the world (India hills.com). 16km from Ajmer, Pushkar a very small town named after the holy lake â€Å"Pushkar†. 400 temples and 52 Ghats around the lake make it a very popular religious centre of Hindu community. The one and only lord Brahma temple is here. Otherwise sleepy town turn into a hub in the annual Pushkar festival in October or November every year (Travel 2 Rajasthan.com) Mount Abu, Rajasthan’s only hill station is home to Dilwara Jain temples known’s for their amazing marble carving. The oldest of the five temples dates to AD 1031. Nikki Lake, sunset point, Achal Garh fort and Guru Shikar the highest point of Rajasthan are the other famous visiting spot in Mount Abu. Chittaurgarh located 70 miles northeast of the City of Udaipur is the home of Chittaur fort India’s largest fort and the ultimate symbol of Rajputs chivalry and pride. The nine-story Vijay Sthambha or Tower of Victory is the most highlighting feature of the fort (Ref J). http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=6hid=5sid=af82485a-215e-4122-a4ff-0942348b33c5%40sessionmgr11 Located on the foothills of a sandstone hillock, the city of Jodhpur seems like an oasis in the vast desert was founded by Rao Jodha Ji (Rathore clan) in 1459. It named after him only. Jodhpur is the second largest city of Rajasthan, divided into two parts the old city (which is inside the 10km wall) and new city. Jodhpur is a very popular tourist destination. The city landscape is very pleasing and attractive. The city has lots of attractions in the form of forts, palaces, gardens, temples and lakes. The city is known as â€Å"Sun City† because of its bright and sunny weather throughout the year (Jodhpur India), and also the building were painted in light blue hue. Located at the edge of the endless golden Thar Desert, Jodhpur is a fascinating medieval city known for its amazing architectural splendour, lively culture, brilliant craftsmen, gourmet cuisines and lots of shopping. The city has various attractions in the form of Maharangarh fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace, Mandore gard en, Mahamandir temples and Jaswant Thada the royal cenotaphs. This attracts the domestic and international visitors equally (Palace on wheels). The ‘City of Lakes’ (often referred to as the ‘Venice of the East’) Udaipur is the home to lakes Pichola and Fateh sagar, both are amazingly beautiful for cruise and sunset. The city is also famous for City places and Lake palace (hotel), Sahelion Ki Bari or â€Å"Garden of the Maids of honour†, museum and temples are the other visitors attractions. Marwar festival fall in the spring is also very famous in national and international visitors. The Golden city of Jaisalmer is famous for its fort, havelies, national park and Sam (sand dunes). Nothing else in India is remotely similar to Jaisalmar, with its fort that straight out of an Arabian Night fable. The capital city and the natural gateway to the exotic state Rajasthan, Jaipur popularly known as ‘Pink City’ in the world is the main visitors delight. Founded in 17th century and named after is founder Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh. Jaipur is the cultural, trade and financial capital of Rajasthan. With Delhi and Agra, jaipur is the third important vertex of the ‘Golden Triangle’. Stunning backdrop of ancient forts: Nahargarh, Amer, Jaigarh and Moti Doongari fort. Hawa Mahal, City Palace, and Jal Mahal are some well-known landmark palaces in the city with famous Albert hall museum. Significance of tourism to the Indian economy: 2. Literature Review Literature pays a major role in any research or case study. Virtually no research can be done without the benefit of references, whatever the scale or nature of the project will be (Brunt, 1998). Fink (1998:3) believes that literature review is a â€Å"systematic method for identifying, evaluating and interpreting the work produced by researchers, scholars and practitioners† Yin (2003) also suggest that evidences for good literature may also come from six sources suck as documents, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant-observation and physical artefacts. Yin (2003) further suggested that literature review provided all sort of information like data, statistic, graphs and scholar view about the topic. A useful overview of the six major sources considers their comparative strength and weaknesses. You should immediately note that no signal source is highly complementary, and a good case study will therefore desire to use as many sources as possible. A good literature review is not just a description of previous work; it also appraises, compares and contrasts it with other relevant work, and with the authors own work (Brown, 2006). Literature review is the section which will provide reference, if followed up, will widen your knowledge and stimulate independent thought (Altinay el at, 2008:25). Hart (1998) explained the importance of literature review by suggesting that â€Å"without it you will not acquire an understanding of your topic, of what has already been done on it, how it has been researched, and what they key issues are† (Hart, 1998:1). At this point of report the critical review of the available literature is important in order to achieve above mention aims and objectives. In order to get main aim which to promote Rajasthan as a heritage tourist destination, number of academic Books related on heritage tourism and development will help to critically evaluate the prosperous cultural heritage of Rajasthan, which is the first objective of this report. Through this literature the value and significance of the heritage can identified, and it will also help to check the scale of the heritage in Rajasthan. As the new trend of getting information by electronic media like: Television, internet will be a great help, particularly the official tourism websites of Rajasthan or India tourism will provide the latest information on this sector. And also provide information about the recent tourism development promotion, policies and issues. Internet is the best ever, faster and the more efficient information provider these days, and also the information on the sites are more authentic and quick. Daily news papers contain articles, interviews and editorial will give the current updates about tourism industry and its achievement. Editorial column will provide critical analysis of government’s tourism policies and tourism forecast. Leading national and local dailies (Rajasthan Patrika and Danik Bashkar and The Times of India) will show case current events and news on Rajasthan tourism. The official statistics compiled by the government department and public sector agencies provide a valuable source of information (Burnt, 1998). This can provide by the official website, news dailies and journals based on Rajasthan. 2.1 What is Heritage and Heritage Tourism? In 1983 National Heritage Conference defined heritage as: ‘that which a past generation has preserved and handed on to the present and which a significant group of population wishes to hand on to the future’ (Hewison, 1989). Hardy (1988) said most researchers accept that heritage is linked to the past that it represents some sort of inheritance to be passed down to current and future generations, both in terms of cultural traditions and physical artefacts (Dallen et al. 2003:2). These definitions indicate culture choice; its focus on preservation and the fact that some people will adopt a conservationist view of heritage. (Herbert, 1997:8). Heritage is like a gift which is passed by one generation to another in the form of culture, nature, customs which is different and unique from others. Prentice (1993) said heritage can be classified as tangible immovable resources (buildings, natural areas) and tangible movable resources (objects in museums, documents in archives); or intangibles such as values, customers, ceremonies, lifestyles, and including experiences such as festivals, arts and cultural events. Heritage can also classified according to type of attraction (Dallen et al. 2003:3). Oxford English dictionary define heritage (1983) as which has been or may be inherited. That’s mean anything which pass from previous (old) generation to another (new) in the form of physical, cultural, natural and financial or other can be heritage. Tourism is not just an aggregate of merely commercial activities; it is also an ideological framing of history, nature and tradition; a framing that has the power to reshape culture and nature to its own needs said by MacCannell in 1992, (Herbert, 1997:1) The origins of tourism are ancient. Urry (1990) suggested that tourism was known in Imperial Rome with the use of seaside ‘resort’; certainly in medieval times pilgrimages to the Holy Land involved pleasure and sightseeing as well as religious duty. As a concept and a reality, the Grand Tour was established by the late seventeenth century as a component of polite society’s social round (Herbert, 1997:6). Heritage is not just the historic monument or cenotaphs buildings, but all which relate people with the rich past of that particular culture or tradition is heritage. These above lines explain that tourism is nothing recent, by which we can say that it’s a very new concept in the society. Tourism is very old and was present in the different form like seaside or pilgrims. But in 21st century it become more immense and fascination by the media. And tourism is different from leisure because in tourism people go out from there home overnight and stay there and enjoy the place by any reason. It can be religious, medical or just leisure. To show case the historic monuments to handicrafts or artefacts, and allow for community to view and be taught about there great past is heritage tourism. 2.2 Modelling of heritage and heritage tourism This debate reveals that heritage and heritage tourism is complex. To simplify and to make it more clearly the following model is proposed; model of heritage and heritage tourism. Figure 1 This model is approach the behavioural perspective within behavioural geography. It suggests that heritage exists within the two types of environment; ‘phenomenal (unique) and ‘behavioural’ (human behaviour). The previous is an expansion of the normal concept of environment that include natural phenomena and cultural and built environment that have been either altered or created by human activity on the other hand, the behavioural environment is where the social and cultural facts existing within the phenomenal environment are passed through a filter of human values (Dallen et al. 2003:7) According to Kirk (1963), these environments forms on the basis on which decision are made which may, or may not, be acted upon to be translated into action within the phenomenal environment. Heritage tourism experience is in the core of this model, and the key outcome is good experience out of every trips. As the expanded inner section of the model illustrate, the heritage tourism experience is formed within what is labelled here as the â€Å"experimental heritage environment†. The core heritage tourism experience is influence and shaped by mixed elements like supply and demand (of the destination), politics (government policies), authenticity, conservation (of heritage) with in any destination region. How all those element influence each other and by their role they play in heritage tourism experience. The model of heritage tourism clearly gives answer, that heritage and the heritage tourism is very complex and they overlap each other in different environments. And they both (phenomenal and behavioural) affect the destination with other components in the core; economic filter and cultural/societal filter. It is important now to return to the question of a heritage spectrum (range) as advocated earlier by Richards (1996). This concept is very important as it helps to clarify the existence of many types of heritage experiences and heritage landscapes. It purely means that when we talk about tourism experience it has all types of tourism with its landscapes types and heritage attractions. The heritage spectrum model suggest that the heritage landscapes pass through a multiplicity of setting ranging from the natural and immaculate to then built urban and artificial heritage landscapes. The model also shows that heritage tourism has common characteristics of ecotourism (nature based) on the left side and urban tourism (theme perks) and cultural tourism (viewing cultural heritage, architecture) in the right side and middle respectively. The following model also demonstrates that the tourism types (eco-tourism, cultural-tourism and urban-tourism) should not be viewed as mutually exclusive as overlaps most certainly exist. Because of this reality the model refers to heritage tourism as an overlapping concept. Types of tourism in heritage tourism overlap each other but also give types of landscapes and type of heritage attractions separately. In which ecotourism give natural and rural types of landscape if visiting national parks in the type of heritage attraction. 2.3 Value and significance of heritage The focus of value shifts to the significance people place on heritage. Hall and McArthur (1993) identified four interrelated areas of significance in heritage: economic, social, political and scientific significance. Economic significance: Heritage is not cheap! Restoring a property maintaining it, installing necessary facilities (i.e. toilets and drinking water) and establishing and running an interpretive programme can easily cost twice as much (Dallen, 2003:143). Zeppel and Hall (1992) believe heritage is preserved because of the value it offers in terms of expenditures, of visitors to site (Dallen, 2003:13). Tourism is big business and really in demand. People have started paying these days for outdoor fun, and if the destinations have potential they will not think twice to visit there. Rajasthan heritage have the potential to attract the tourist all over and generate foreign exchange. Social significance: this refers to the private and collective identity that people and society have with ‘their’ heritage. That’s what local person and community think about their heritage, and how they value to it. The people of Rajasthan feel pride on is rich and colourful cultural heritage. A social ethics will often be the driving force to consider preservation in the first instance (Dallen, 2003:13). Political significance: As Hall and McArthur note, heritage by definition is political, in terms of reinforcing what is conserved, how heritage is told, and placing the wishes of private owners of heritage into conflict with government or public interests. In the words of Johnson (1999:187), ‘heritage tourism is not just a set of commercial transactions, but the ideological framing of history and identity’. Politics is in its very essence about power, and heritage by its very nature is apolitical phenomenon, since history is always told from the perspective of winners of wars and people in positions of power (Hall 1994, 97, 2000), (Dallen, 2003:257). The history of Rajasthan is all about war and warriors. Politic is all over the place in Rajasthan. Even though in literature, arts and crafts there are a pinch of politic. Scientific significance: many national parks and protected forest areas may contain genetic material and ecosystems (flora and fauna) that will be useful to medicine and research work. They also provide habitats for rare and endangered species. There is also an educative part to heritage-providing visitors with information about the living history, culture, and people of areas (Dallen, 2003:13). Not only the national parks, protected forest and wildlife’s had their scientific significance in the heritage of Rajasthan, but the agrological site as well. The site of Indus valley civilisation in Indian sub-continent is very important for the study of river valley human history. The Harappa civilisation considers one of the oldest civilisations on earth. 2.4 Scales of Heritage Heritage is not homogeneous (uniform); it exists in different level and scales, namely world, national, local and personal (Graham et al. 2000; Swarbrooke 1994; Timothy 1997). Given model illustrates these scales of heritage tourism experience, suggesting that they are all linked by the notion of ‘shared heritage’ (Dallen, 2003:14). Heritage is very heterogeneous (varied); it can be different in one destination. And if the destination is in India the probability is much because India is a very diverse country with the birth place of many cultures and civilisation. Rajasthan which is the largest and the most colourful state is also not an exception in is cultural heritage. World: Timothy (1997) noted that world scale heritage attraction draw large masses of tourists from many countries. How ever, for most foreign tourist, these sites themselves are likely to be only a small part of more extensive itinerary. For example visiting a historic agrological site of Harappa visitor can witness the life and culture of that era. Visiting an international heritage attraction is a way of appreciating universal civilisation and achieving some degree of human unity (Moulin 1991). The idea to conserve our heritage came first in the early 1970s by UN’s environment programme and UNESCO’s Man Biosphere Programme. National: ‘Through time, certain heritage features came to symbolise a society’s shared recollection (Lowenthal 1975:12). Foe example the Holy town of Pushkar is a symbol (pilgrim) of Hindu community and Ajmer is for Muslims in Rajasthan. On this level, historical monuments often represent durable national ideals, and national pride can be an important stimulus of preserving the built environment in western societies (Lowenthal 1975; Timothy 1997) these type of historic site can be pride of any society like Taj Mahal is a pride for each and every Indian. Local: Lowenthal (1979:554) noted that the local level, communities need familiar land marks so that they can remain in touch with their own collective pasts in a rapidly changing world. There are many sites which are not very popular but they still have their local importance like, The nine-story Vijay Sthambha or Tower of Victory is the most highlighting feature of Chitturghar fort is the memorial of their local hero’s, women and children who sacrifice their lives for the motherland. For visitors it just a memorial tower but the significance for the local were very different, it very important for them. ‘Memorials erected in memory of a community‘s earliest pioneer efforts, or a local historical museum can provide an important experience for local to which outsiders may not be able to relate’ (Timothy 1997:752). Personal: Lowenthal (1979) asserted that modern-day destination of historic relics has deepened people’s sense of nostalgia for the past. A search for root and historical identity and an increased appreciation for one culture and family legacy are evidence of this phenomenon. Timothy said (1997) of the four type of scale of heritage here personal heritage has received the least attention in the literature and hence is least understood. Personal scale of heritage is very private. For example family reunions travel to historic or religious place, cultural and vocational interest is another form of personal scale of heritage. The attachments with family houses or souvenirs are perfect example of personal scale of heritage. 2.5 What is Marketing and Destination Marketing ‘Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirement profitably’ define by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, CIM UK. And the other hand the American Marketing Association ‘Marketing (management) is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives’ (Seaton et al.1999:6). As per Adcock remark ‘The right product, in the right place, at the right time, at the right price’. The most influential and dominant word of 21th century is marketing or if said like this, that everything is saleable if the packaging is good i.e. the right product marketed at the right place at the right time (season) with a right price (in compression to competitors) is marketing by Adcock. It means that marketing is not only selling or advertising, but also to promote the brand value and quality to the customers. And also build a connection between the producer and customers. The aim of marketing for an organisation is to achieve profit or other objective. Marketing is not only important for the manufacturing or production industries, but equally necessary for the promotion of hospitality and tourism industry to achieve desire goal. A social and managerial process by which individual and groups obtain what they need and what through creating and exchanging products a nd value with others is called marketing (Kilter, P 2003). Destination marketing: Seaton (1999:351) said that the destination marketing is the spirit land of tourism marketing. The destination has the internal connection to all the other industries (stakeholders) in the tourism sector like transport, hotels and attractions. Destination management is not just managing the physical product (i.e. the venue, hotels, transport system, visitor attractions) but also very much to do with building companies reputation and teamwork across the destination, its also has an important component to play in creating understanding and recognition across the community for the economic importance of the conference, trade and events sector (Davidson et al. 2006:35). Marketing is the process of planning and execute and the promotion of the product of achieve the desire goal and objective in terms of profit and brand success. Like the same theory functioning behind the destination management or tourism marketing management. Destination marketing management show case the destination as product and highlights to get profit out of it heritage and culture. Benefits of destination management Marketing Mix: ‘Kotler (1984:68) define it as ‘The mixture of controllable marketing variables that the firm uses to pursue the sought level of sale in the target market’. The marketing mix is the most primary concepts of marketing (Seaton, 1999; Holloway, 1992; Middleton, 2001), it show how important all the four variable (4Ps) that comprise the marketing mix for any business prospect or destination. Marketing mix is the most controllable element of any marketing plan (Davidson et al. 2006:84). These marketing mixes are categories in 4Ps- product, price, place and promotion (Hollway et al., 1992:28). But Booms and Bitner (1982) added three more ‘service Ps’ to service (hospitality and tourism industry) marketing namely, People, Process and Physical Evidence. So altogether there are 7Ps for the hospitality and tourism industry. What are they and how they help the marketing managers to get their targets, are examine below: Product: Median (1984) suggested that in tourism, Attraction of the destination, facilities and accessbility are three main compnents of product marketinh mix. Meidan, A. (1984) The Marketing of Tourism, The Service Industries Journal, Vol. 4, No.3, pp: 166 – 186 Example-The Yahoo Finance, (2009) Information about the KFC outlets [online] [24th April 2009] The Linked In, (2009) what is YUM Brands [online] [24th April 2009] http://www.rajasthantourism.gov.in/Rajasthan/Naturopathy.aspx Rajasthan Tours,http://www.tour2rajasthan.com/rajasthan-tourism.html abt raj cul, stste, history http://www.iloveindia.com/economy-of-india/tourism-industry.html visit 4th July 2009 http://www.economywatch.com/business-and-economy/tourism-industry.html visit 4 July 2009 http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Indian-Tourism-Industry-An

Life is Glamorous Essays -- essays research papers fc

â€Å"Life Is Glamorous†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether you wander down random roads or plan precise paths, the exciting journey we call life involves many choices. The decisions we make on a day-to-day basis affect everything. Questions such as, â€Å"What should I wear today?† or â€Å"Should I really be eating this?† are asked by many people everyday. Sure, a simple beauty magazine could probably answer both questions in one article, but in order to live a happy, healthy life there are more important questions to be resolved. Glamour magazine answers every question, and includes unique highlights. Because of its superiority in the periodical market, Glamour has won over 75 editorial awards since 1990 (PRNewire 2). Much of this is due to its effective design in which the magazine is split up into seven main sections: beauty, fashion, health & body book, [men, sex & love], life & happiness, glamour news, and glamour buzz. Although there are numerous sections, they all tie into helping educate wom en on how to be happy with who they are and how to also make the most of what that is. Each part proceeds to give detailed professional advice on these topics. Also by understanding the broad range of potential readers, this periodical includes less inappropriately intimate articles like some other fashion/beauty magazines do. By providing factual information that is also interesting, Glamour makes it easy to find the answers to every quintessential question one might have about being a woman, and in doing so, empowers them with the knowledge needed to enhance their lives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A visible enhancement Glamour can provide deals with physical appearance. Beauty is a very important part of womanhood. Many people weight their self-esteem solely on this alone, and although this may be unhealthy, it is a common occurrence in today’s society. To help relieve some of the pressures of societal demands, Glamour features articles that inform readers of the most recent methods to help them look their best. In the beauty section, the magazine includes reviews on new beauty products and the latest technology. This proves to be very helpful when purchasing cosmetics, moisturizers, and cleansers, or when pondering a surgical enhancement of some kind. The product reviews detail how effective each product is and if the dollar value is reasonable for t... ...en need someone to tell them they are beautiful just the way they are (Bear 1). Glamour knows that with exceptional beauty, fashion, and health knowledge every woman can look and feel their best. The professional advice on men and relationships helps a woman expand socially, as do the various styles of news. By educating them on all of these levels, the magazine empowers women with the knowledge and capability to improve their quality of life. In doing this, Glamour magazine proves to be comprised of quality worthwhile journalism, equipped with factual and entertaining information that profoundly benefits all women. Works Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bear, Merryl. Friend Indeed. Winnipeg; Jul/Aug 2003. Vol. 20, Iss. 3; p.1, 1p. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Craig, Courtney. Great-fitting Jackets for All Shapes; Feb 2005. p.77, 1p. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hudephohl, Dana. The Dangers of Yo-yo Dieting; Feb 2005. p.92, 1p. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ostrow, Melissa. Jamie Lee Curtis: No Barbie doll. Mar/Apr 2003, Vol. 33 Iss. 3/4, p7, 1p. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  PRNewswire. The American Society of Magazine Editors; Mar 21, 2004. p.2, 2p.

Foreign Aid and the Development of African Nations

The African Nations, particularly those lying in the Sub-Saharan region have been subject to poverty, inadequate financial resources of their respective governments, lack of proper infrastructure and essential services like health, sanitation and water supply. These countries have also long been plagued by corrupt leaders, who have no concern about the sufferings of their citizens, despite growing their personal wealth based on the countries’ natural resources and foreign aid.Despite billions of dollars of foreign aid pouring in the region by countries like the United States, U.  K. , Germany and Japan there is no tangible change in the development of these countries. This paper will discuss the role of foreign aid in the development of the African Countries. Though, the common perception among the people is that the sub-Saharan Africa receives fairly large amount of foreign aid, but there is no proper outcome of it. They often complain that most of aid given to the African governments is consumed in non-development expenditures, or either is directly deposited in the overseas accounts of the rulers.But the fact is that the amount of aid given to these countries is never enough, particularly when considered the amount of development work done. Another problem is the method of distribution of the foreign aid, as there is very little amount, which is directly handed over to the African governments for their projects. Most of the aid is either in the form of technical support in which most of the aid is used in paying the officials of the aid giving country in exchange of their services. For e. g.the United States, which is considered as a major ODA, provider in the region does not spend, as she should have and as much resources she has. Most of the foreign aid provided by the United States is either in response to catastrophes like famine, earthquakes and tsunamis etc. , or in the form of emergency relief, like the U. S. wheat supply in cases of shortage of food supplies due to draught in many African countries. (Sachs, 82) On the other hand the actual amount of Official Development Assistance is far below as it is thought by many Americans.It is simply because large portion of ODA is disbursed primarily to the strategic nations like Iraq and Afghanistan. The remaining amount left for the non-strategic countries is then distributed either via NGOs or in the form of technical expertise and services. In both cases none of the amount is directly handed over to the recipient government. Thus the leftover of the ODA, which is directly handed over to the aid recipient nations, is significantly low. The same is the case of most donor nations like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Italy etc.The amount of aid actually handed over to these governments, which may help them to practically implement the public development projects like hospitals, schools, water supply and sanitation etc. (Sachs, 82) According to the 2003 U. S. gove rnment statistics regarding the ODA given by the United States to the sub-Saharan Africa, the total amount given was $4. 7 billion only. The sad story is that out of this huge amount only $118 million were directly handed over to African governments in order to support public development programs run by the government and communities.  (Sachs, 83)Therefore the given statistics regarding the U. S. aid depicts the inadequate amount of direct aid given to the African nations. Now speaking about the output and consequences of the foreign aid in the development of sub-Saharan African nations, the results are not encouraging. Partly because of inadequate amount of aid, ineffective method of aid distribution and disbursement, corrupt governments and leaders the outcome is not overall satisfactory regarding virtually the entire sub-Saharan region.The United States and other donor countries can shed their burden by using the United Nations as a platform of foreign assistance to the sub-Sah aran regions. (Tharoor) Kenya is a good example to analyze the role of foreign aid in the economic and public development of the country. Kenya had been among those countries, which have received huge external aid flows from the donor nations and institutions in order to foster economic growth and reduce poverty.But unfortunately the outcome has never been satisfactory as there is no major improvement in the economic growth of the country, neither there is any significant reduction in poverty or any tangible public development as an outcome of foreign aid. The country like other sub-Saharan African nations faces high indebtedness, unemployment and absolute poverty. The poor economic performance of the country has led to high dependency of Kenya on foreign aid. (Njeru, 1) The Kenyan development expenditures were slightly above 10% of the total government expenditures during the late 90s.This shows a development expenditure decline of about 50% from the 70s, which was just below 20% a t that time. Due to poor economic performance the government development budget has increasingly become dependent on donors. For e. g. in the 80s only 40% of the development expenditure depended on foreign aid, while in the next debate the dependence had raised to 70%. (Njeru, 6) This increasing dependence was the result of poor performance and using the local government resources on non-development expenditures.Most of funds disbursed by the donors is either in the form of appropriations-in-aid or revenue, the most common of which is appropriations-in-aid method. Using this method the donors have direct contact with the project coordinator, but there is a drawback of this method as the government loses control of these projects there is a big chance that they may become white elephants. (Njeru, 9) On the other hand, under the revenue system the funds are disbursed directly to the Treasury via special accounts in the central bank, but here are some other risks, like misuse of the fu nds because of weak accounting system at the Treasury.  (Njeru, 9)During the post-independence period Kenya receive heavy inflow of foreign aid particularly from the British. In the 70s and 80s there were high development activities in telecommunication networks, land settlement schemes, health and education sectors. During the 80s Kenya had enjoyed the highest level of foreign aid flow and there were about 600 active development projects in the above-mentioned sectors. (The Role of Foreign Aid in Development, 37)The major setback in the initial development progress was brought by former president Kenyatta and his successor Daniel arap Moi, as they not only backtracked the on going progress by making some unsound decisions like price control, marketing boards which soon adversely affected the prices and production incentive. Import substitution was also an important drawback, which resulted in poor economic condition and forced the government to stall many public development proje cts. (Erixon, 14) Corruption is also an important factor, which has led to the wastage of large amount of foreign aid.According to the Transparency International’s index of corruption Kenya was among the 10 most corrupted countries. According to TI the incidence of corruption is about 50% in most ministries, city councils, parastatals, SOEs and other governing bodies. (Erixon, 14) President Kenyatta’s regime was plagued by his so-called land reforms in the name of which he received large amount of foreign aid and subsequently became the largest landowner in the country. His alleged favor to his tribesmen and kinsmen, the Kikuyu, also resulted in mass corruption and loss of large amount of donor’s money.Using foreign aid to support their own kindred has become a norm in the Kenyan politics. (Cohen, 7) Presidents Moi’s regime is also marked by misuse of foreign aid in favor of the relative and political supporters. For e. g. the Kenyan government received $ 873 million in official development assistance in the fiscal year of 1991/92. All this aid was either on grant basis or loan basis and supported some 654 public development projects. These projects have about 2,000 sub-components, in order to give every ethnic group a fair price of the fund.Not surprisingly a large amount of the fund and project resources were not used accordingly. (Cohen, 13) Moreover the public developments on district level were also done on ethnic and political basis, as those areas where the residents are either the tribesmen of the president or loyal to him will receive a large sum of budget and public development programs, while those who oppose him like the Kikuyu, the people of the former president Kenyatta receive marginal amount of budget and public development funds. (Cohen, 16-17)President Moi’s government and leadership have been marked with more corruption and use of foreign aid on their own behalf. According to a Guardian report, President Moi , his associates and relatives have allegedly moved more than 1 billion pounds of government money to nearly 30 countries including Britain. Other relatives who have been involved in corruption of millions of dollars government money include Moi’s sons, which have moved 384m and 550m pounds respectively. (Rice) This report clearly depicts how ruthlessly these corrupt leaders have looted their country and fellow countrymen.The same is the character of NGOs in this regard, as most of the NGOs working in Kenya have their loyalties with one of the political parties or ethnic groups and they only work in their interest. Moreover those NGOs which are honest to their mission and objective face constraints and suppression from the government and they are only allowed to work according to the interest of the government officials, and their interest is always to do a favor to their kinsmen or political allies.In this way the people in real and dire need are often neglected, only becaus e they do not have enough political power or ethnic relation with the people in the office. Botswana is another case and a different story. The country has been the best example of good governance and leadership in the continent by far. It is the only country, which has been democratic in spiritually and practically throughout the entire post-independence period. The country has actively promoted the its’ citizens social and economic development throughout its post-colonial history.The country led by its founder Sir Seretse Khama and his successors were dedicated to deliberate democracy and market economy. Khama played an important role in developing a law-respecting political culture, which was wholeheartedly endured by his successors. (Rotberg) Though Botswana has received a heavy amount of foreign aid inflow the public development of the country in not based on that primarily. The main factor, which contributed in the country’s success, is its good governance and la ck of corruption.According to Transparency International Botswana is the least corrupted country in the African continent far better than many European and Asian countries. (Williams) Botswana has shown its capability of utilizing the amount of donors’ funds. Botswana has the strongest state institutions, professional civil services, strong planning systems and centralized aid management systems. All these have helped the country to utilize the funds wisely and accordingly with the minimum loss and misuse possible. The effective use of aid effectively contributes to the project plans, but also gave the country more control over the aid.This is in contrast to Kenya where the foreign aid froze twice due to poor compliance of the Kenyan government to the conditions of the donors. (Renzio, Whitfield & Bergamaschi, 1-4) After the independence Botswana was among the poorest countries of the world and there was lack of proper infrastructure and social and economic institutions. In t he initial post-independence period the country has used large amount of foreign aid, but the leadership was wise enough to use the foreign assistance in proper way.The government also preferred grants to loans and used diversified donors and also made a habit of refusing to accept aid when not necessary. (Togo, 3) The government wisely used foreign aid in not only developing the public sector like health, transportation, sanitation and water supply, but also used the chance to invest the aid heavily in the diamond mining industry which later boosted the country’s economy and help Botswana to overcome her dependence on foreign aid. (Togo, 4) But in the 90s the situation has changed and the new generation of leaders have emerged which are not willing to follow the path of Khama.They have allegedly used the government funds as their personal possessions acting double as the directors of private funds thus reserving these funds for the projects run by their firms. Furthermore in 1992 the credibility and respect of the Botswana government was further tarnished by the notorious Housing Corporation scandal in which the Vice president and other high-ranking officials were allegedly involved. (Togo, 5) Despite all these downfalls and shortcomings emerging in the new general of politicians, the country is still the least corrupt as compared to other African nations.According to recent studies Botswana has received the highest level of foreign aid up to 1980s, which has played a significant role in the development of the country. The foreign assistance had been as high as $200 per capita in 1980s. But the studies show that aid has only played siginificant role in public development in the early years of independence, when the country relied completely on the British aid for its expenditures. But in the next decade the ratio of aid had declined sharply, and the revenue from diamond mining far exceeded the aid. In the late 80s the share of aid fell to 3% of GDP fro m 29% in 1967.Therefore foreign assistance played significant role in the first two decades of the country history. (Togo, 6) The founder president of Botswana made his priority to secondary education in order to increase the proportion of the natives in the countries civil service and other comprehensive development projects, like mine development, construction of dams and irrigation. The government wanted to provide the natives jobs and reduce poverty. Thus they used the foreign aid initially to promote education and then focused on the infrastructure like roads, electric power and water supply, which will become the basis of the mining industry.(Togo, 8) The government than acquired $2. 5 million loan from the World Bank to finance the Shashe complex diamond-mining project. The government also won technical assistance from several developed countries. The foreign assistance acquired was largely used in the development of the infrastructure of the Shashe Complex project. Then the aid was used for the development of the human and physical capital. (Togo, 8)Thus Botswana used foreign assistance for the development of the human capital by promoting education and physical capital by developing the infrastructure.In this way one can easily conclude that foreign assistance played an important role in the development of the country in the first two decades. But when the case of Botswana is compared with that of Kenya, it becomes clear that foreign aid is not the sole factor in the success of a country. In the last four decades Kenya has received more foreign assistance than Botswana, but the country never became economical strong as Botswana did. The primary reason was the different in the vision and approach of the rulers of the two countries.The Kenyan first two rulers have been among the most corrupted and autocratic type of rulers and they have no interest in the welfare of their fellow citizens. They ruthlessly used the countries resources as personal possessi ons. On the other hand the Botswana founder president Khama and his successors have been honest to their country and fellow citizens and wisely used their country’s resources as well as the foreign assistance they had received to develop their country’s economy, public sector institutions and infrastructure. Therefore foreign aid has never been the primary factor in any country’s development.

Final draft short story Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Final draft short story Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Creative writing Final draft short story It was a hot summer day in Bethlehem, USA, all the kids were coming home for their summer vacations. The town that was once calm and peaceful, was now crowded. Everyone was complaining about all those noisy kids in town, but deep down they were very happy, everybody loved that time of the year. Those noisy kids were the ones who brought life to that small town. Stephen, the hot guy in town was there, all the girls dreamed about him. He was tall and athletic, he had a golden blonde hair, and eyes as blue as the sky in summer; there wasnt one girl who didnt at least once dreamed about him. Oh wait, there was Sara, Sara didnt stand Stephen. According to her, Stephen was to full of himself. Let me explain why, Stephen was the son of the mayor, he had some jerk friends, and he dated a girl who would be a perfect witch if she knew how to cast spells. Now, its hard to believe that a person surrounded by people who would be perfect villains in a movie is a nice guy. Yes I know its funny, but its real, Stephen was a really good guy. Sara was short, she had red hair, green eyes and freckles on her cheeks, which was something she hated, but I personally thought it was very cute. She was the Pastor's daughter. Therefore, there were certain things that the others did, but she couldnt. For example, she couldnt go to parties because her father wouldnt let her. He even controlled what she wore every day, poor Sara if she had a dress or a skirt above her knees, shorts? Forget it, he would look at them as if he was seeing the devil itself. Pastor Thomas was very strict. There was a welcome party, which the popular guys organized every year, and only the popular guys and girls in town went to that party. This year it would be different, they would invite everyone in town, and Lindsay and her friends would take care of every single detail to make sure nothing went wrong. The party was going to be at Stephens house, they would have all kinds of food, mexican, American, chinese, and many others. As for the drinks, since they were underage, they were not allowed to have alcoholic drinks, but since Ryan and Chris, Stephens friends were so smart, when it comes to parties of course, because at school it was a whole different story. But never mind, they found out a way to sneak alcohol into the party without anyone knowing. Lindsay was Stephen's girlfriend; every girl in town was jealous of her. She was what we call "the hot girl," tall, with a perfect blonde hair and a body that even the world's most famous supermodel would want. However, even with all that outside beauty, Lindsay was very ugly on the inside. She once cut a girl's hair because she didnt like the color, can you imagine these? She dropped a bucket full of white paint on Camila's head the day she was performing in the town's local auditorium. Lindsay was just awful. So, the party was on Saturday, everyone wanted to go as pretty as they could, specially the girls. Sara was invited too, and after a war to convince her father to let her go, she finally did it. Now, the problem was what to wear. All the girls were looking for the best outfit, but they had to be very careful not to outshine Lindsay, the princess of the town, or worse, not to wear the same thing as her. Last year, the girl that wore a bracelet that looked kind of like hers, was thrown into the lake. Fortunately she is alive, but she is now traumatized and doesnt want to go to one of these parties again. Finally Saturday, Lindsay as usual was stunning, she wore a short blue dress that showed a little bit more than we wanted to see, she had her hair pulled into a perfect ponytail and a perfect makeup of course. Stephen was also there, he had a red polo

McDonalds Russia essays

McDonalds Russia essays McDonalds outstanding success in Russia is a tribute to our Russian employees, suppliers and of course our customers Senior Chairman, McDonalds in Russia It all began in 1976 with an accidental meeting between George Cohon and a Soviet Olympic Delegation in Montreal, started fourteen years of negotiations and resulted in the busiest McDonalds restaurant in the world. McDonalds in Russia would have had to consider carefully all the P.E.S.T factors before opening up the restaurant in Pushkin Square, Russia There was many political issues that needed to be covered and this was accountable for the length of time it took for the restaurant to be built. In 1988 there was finally an agreement policy introduced that was to allow the building to go ahead legally. Building started soon after and there was no conflict because of the agreement policy. Staff had to go through tough training to meet health and safety standards which was a key issue and was to be maintained always. For this to be successful a large human resource department was also needed to cope with the training of 600 + staff. This was to meet the legislations that had been set and to ensure growth and survival. The economical factors were easily dealt with. The restaurant was to operate a roubles only policy, unlike other restaurants, which would encourage the community to come in and spend their money. This would have a knock on effect and would bring capitalism to Moscow. The food produced in Russia improved the countrys agriculture and import/export business. The jobs created by the restaurant would reduce Russias unemployment numbers and also give the country more money. There were many societal factors in the building and planning of the restaurant. Leaflets were created to hand out to customers on the first opening day to inform them on how to order what they wanted. This was because this new to th ...