Ethical and Socially Responsive Business Essay Example for Free

Ethical and Socially Responsive Business Essay Chipotle Restaurant first opened its door in 1993 (www.chipotle.com) in Denver Colorado by Steve Ells. There are currently 1600 franchised restaurants in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom specializing in burritos and tacos. Careers range from accounting and management, information technology, cashiers and cooks. The success of any business, particularly the restaurant industry relies heavily on its code of ethics. Chipotle has an â€Å"open door† policy of which any of its employees who feel that any of its code of conducts is being violated are free to partake in. As the CEO of Chipotle, there are several key areas in Chipotle’s code of conduct significant to its success. Chipotle will do its best to protect the privacy of its employees who decide to partake in its open door policy. Some of those key areas relating to Chipotle’s code of conduct include: 1. Anti-Discrimination Policy- Chipotle believes that all of its employees should be treated with respect regardless to race, religion, national origin, disability, origin, gender, marital status or sexual orientation (ir.chipotle.com). The also applies to its hiring practices, as well as pay, performance reviews, training advancements and the ability to advance. 2. Sexual Harassment Policy- Chipotle strictly prohibits such behaviors posed upon any of its employees, male or female. Sexual harassment encourages intimidation and could lead to abuse of power. Chipotle defines sexual harassment as unwelcomed sexual advantages, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal and nonverbal conducts sexual in nature. Examples of this type of behavior include verbal comments regarding physical body parts and jokes that are verbally offensive. 3. Discrimination Policy- Chipotle stands firm  this policy and includes discrimination of race, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, and any other discrimination practice and like the anti-discrimination, applies to its hiring practice, pay, performance reviews, training and the ability to advance (ir.chipotle.com). It is every employeeâ⠂¬â„¢s responsibility at Chipotles to ensure that each code of ethics is being carried out and any such violation must be reported. Every employee is expected to use good judgment and act reasonable and responsible and avoid potential conflicts that may interfere with the day to business of Chipotle. However, it is the responsibility of those in management to enforce the rules. As soon as management sees for them self or receives confidential information regarding any ethical violation, management should immediately respond to that violation by informing their immediate supervisor/ director. Behaviors such as sexual harassment and discrimination may be grounds for immediate dismissal. Chipotle will also take actions against management that fail to recognize any ethical violation upon its employees. There are several ways Chipotle can engage in socially responsible behavior within the communities they operate. This can be achieved by donating a portion of their profits to the communities they operate out of. An example would be Chipotle pledging to donate a percentage of all orders for carne burritos to the local community center. Chipotle can also help the communities they operate out of by offering each employee paid time off for agreeing to volunteer for specific tasks performed throughout the community. An example of employee volunteerism is offering all employees two hours paid time off per quarter for volunteering to assist with the grounds maintenance at the local elementary schools. Lastly, but not least is through the offer of employee incentives. Employees can receive bonuses for meetings the company’s goal for reducing energy costs for the quarter. References: http://ir.chipotle.com/phoenix.zhtml www.chipotle.com/en-us/company/about_us.aspx

Thailands Tourism Industry In The Globalization Era Tourism Essay

Thailands Tourism Industry In The Globalization Era Tourism Essay CHAPTER 1 At present, that the world is in the globalization era which causes more aggressive competition on businesses in several regions. This explain more about concepts of various countries in the free world or capitalistic world where there is the centre in the western countries those focus on development. As countries use developmental strategies to maintain economic, political, and military power and influence of the capitalistic world (Hongthongkham, 1976). Tourism today has become an industry that is now crucial to the world economy, it is now a widely held view that in almost every country tourism has grown, and has become a core product in the international trade of those counties. Tourism now rates between 1-3 out of the top 10 key industries globally this industry is now vital to economic prosperity (http://thai.tourismthailand.org/about-thailand/economy/, 2010). Thailand has a significant tourism industry which has the potential, with Government policies and assistance, to be developed much more this growth for Thailand provides an excellent source of foreign currencies. Since ancient times mankind has explored and travelled and now with modern technologies especially in transportation and communication, and an increasingly mobile world population there can be almost limitless growth. This growth has changed the way business is being done, from clusters of techniques to a more specialized planning organization. With market integration now called tourism industry is now a very important factor in the economies of many countries today (Nuntajak, 2010). The tourism industry of Thailand has change dramatically and is now a major industry in world tourism. Over the past decade, international tourist arrivals in Thailand have grown faster over the past 10 years, from 8.58 million in 1999 to 14.09 million arrivals in 2009 by the Tourist Authority of Thailand or TAT (2010). Thailand has been gaining an increasing market share of international tourists. During that period, the tourism industry has been one of the great significant sectors for economic growth and each year there were each tourists spending money, at least 3,000.00 baht per person per day when tourists come to Thailand (TAT 2009). For Thailand, the number of international tourists are increasing every year, a number of factors are responsible for tourism growth and development of the tourism industry in Thailand over other destinations, Owing to the friendly, welcoming, and peace loving nature of the Thai people. There are many reasons why Thailand appeals to wealthy tourists of foreign and different cultural destinations who have travelled to Thailand, to enjoy a unique and fulfilling experience. An important part of the Thailands tourism industry success is because of the physical geographic diversity of Thailand (TAT 2010). Due to Phuket, a part of Thailand, is another world class destination. This place is serenely beautiful and is well known for the beaches and the blue seas and also one of the top ten diving destinations in the world. There are many activities available around Phuket such as, scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, parasailing, fishing, surfing beach, jet skis and the place for honeymooners. Generally Speaking, international tourists are focusing not only on the product, but also on the people who work for the hospitality and the tourism industry can give the right information to tourists. Therefore, there are many international tourists increasing arrivals to Phuket. According to the statistical reports by Department of Tourism (2006), the number of international tourists arrivals in Phuket was 1.2 million in 2008 and 1.1 million in 2009 and is now a significant share in the Thai market. The statistics showed the number of international tourists that generate revenue, prosperity to the local and more importantly to create a multi-professional occupations, such as interpreter, translator, waitresses, airline officers, including tourist guides who close with international tourists all through the time they are stay in Thailand (tourism.go.th, 2010). Moreover, tourist guides are the personnel group having roles in encouraging and supporting tourism. They are the cultural diplomat because they tell tourists about various stories on society, tradition, cultural arts, economy, and politics (Ritthirak, 2002). Therefore, tourist guides are a career which creates a lot of benefits to the country. But in fact, 22, 732 tourist guides apply for the tourist guide licenses from Tourist Guide and Tourism Business Registration Office on December 31, 2001. A tourist guide may have ability to use more than 1 language (Ritthirak, 2002). Before applying for the tourist guide licenses, those tourist guides have to pass the quality creating process in order to have knowledge, ability, moral, and code of conduct. In practice, Tourism Authority of Thailand coordinates and provides Tourist Guide Training Standard Curriculum for implementation of educational institutes in the university level all over the country. The standard curriculum contains basic knowledge subjects which are necessary for working. After receiving the training, tourist guides can bring the evidence to apply for the tourist guide licenses from Tourist Guides and Tourism Business Registration Office of Tourism Authority of Thailand. In the beginning the status of the tourist guide was not recognized. Supaporn Makjeang mentioned in Tourist Guide Principles (1996) that anyone could be a tourist guide if he or she could speak English and it was not necessary for them to receive high education. It was not until the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) was founded in 1977 and the professional tourist guide training course was created that professional tourist guides were developed. The training courses have been operated until now and expanded to other major provinces. Moreover, the Professional Tourist Guide Association of Thailand was founded on July 29th 1975 as the center of all tourist guides (Tourist Guide Association Thailand, 1992). Nowadays, the basic knowledge of the tourist guide is mentioned as the basic requirement except from the fluency of foreign languages. This policy makes the university graduates get more jobs. Travel agencies always employ the tourist guides who finish the training courses from the institute guaranteed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). This stimulates people who are interested in the tourist guide occupation to finish the training before the job application. Moreover, some government places, especially the Grand Palace and the royal temples, allow only the tourist guides who already passed the training course and have tourist guide licenses to operate the tour (Khummanon, 1996). The expansion of tourism industry and the increasing of the number of tourist guides in Thailand, caused some immoral competitions among tourist guides. They try to do everything to get their own benefits regardless of the rules and their major duty. For example, do not do their job as best as they can, do not pay attention to their clients or take their clients to the shopping area where they received the commission, trying to persuade the tourists to believe that the goods and services are of high qualities with fair prices. In the case of jewelry, some tourist guides said the color mirror are the precious stone, some said gold but its only the metal guilt with gold or said the dog bones as tiger bones (Lookdamnoen, 1989). Lookdamnoen also advises that the first place where the travelers arrive in Bangkok, Bangkok International airport, there are some people trying to submit tendered place where the tourists can meet upon arrival and claim that they are the officers of the airport and favor some services, such as accommodation, sightseeing, excursion and transfer services. They advise some information with documents for tours and excursions with unfair price. In additional, the bad manners of tourist guides such as shouting, crapping to call tourist groups, showing boredom when some tourists came late for the appointment because of the misunderstanding of language or any mistake, showing anger when tourists ask for some explained information, etc (Charoenmuan, 1992). The Tourism Authority of Thailand in the conference of 1/1995 mentioned the tourist guides behaviors that ruin the reputation of their occupation as follows: Forcing tourists to purchase some optional tour by deceiving or intimidating the tourists to accept that tour beside the original deal with the tour company. Taking tourist to the cheating or unfair price shops so that they receive tip or commission from the shop. Requesting some tips or special payments by convincing the tourists to be sympathetic with the management that has no benefit. 4. Taking the tourists passports or air tickets until the tourists pay some additional costs. At the conference of 1/1996 there are some other behaviors that caused the bad reputation and the loss of the honor of the code of ethics as mentioned in the second Ministerial Regulations (1996) of the Act of the Tourist Business and Guide 2008. 1 Explaining or informing some unreal or incorrect information that causes harm to the nation, religion, and the monarchy. 2 Not performing his own duties as a tourist guide who should be concerned with the benefit of tourists as the first priority. 3 Being dishonest, seeking some improper benefit or forcing tourists to do something they are unwilling to do. 4 Disobeying the moral standard. 5 Not believing in the local tradition and regulation of each travelling place. Therefore, the above problems that can say the causes of Thai tourist guides unsuitable behaviors are based on the loss of their moral of the rules and they forgot the importance of their own duties, though they are educated from acceptable institutes as professional tourist guides. Therefore, the assumption of these is the lack of the code of ethics that is the basis of all behaviors and caused people to do the right or suitable things, concerning the collective benefits, and feel responsible for society. All these can be taken as the principle or rules of the suitable performance that the researcher is interested in the ethics of Thai tourist guides and the ways to solve them that can be applied to be the basic idea and promote the professional tourist guides effectively. Related Literature Tour guiding is a highly regarded profession today and being a tourist guide comes with great responsibilities as lives of people while on holiday are entrusted in tourists care. Therefore, it is of vital importance that tourist guides strictly follow and adhere to the tourist guide standards and professional tourist guides code of ethics in order to promote ethics and high moral behavior in the perspectives of international tourists who are travelling in Phuket. This study will look at related fields of business ethics, some ethical theories, moral, and tourist guides ethics in Thailand. Therefore literature review covers the following The importance of tourist guide Tourist guide situation in Thailand Classification of tourist guide in Thailand Qualifications of tourist guide Manners of tourist guide Role and responsibilities of tourist guide The Characteristics of tourist guide Code of ethics of tourist guide Business ethics Normative ethics Moral theory Virtue theory Duty theory 1.2.10 Related research 1.2.1 The importance of tourist guide A tourist guide is a significant component of the travel industry as he has the sole responsibility of taking care of the tourist including all travel arrangements of providing information and explanations (Pongsabuth, 1997). In addition, Supaporn Makjeang in the Principle of Tourist Guide (1996) mentioned that tourists are strangers to their destinations because they are not familiar with the local people, cultural and custom. When travelling alone without a tourist guide, they face problems and challenges and in most cases land up wasting their money and time. Therefore, with time, tourists have come to favor having a tourist guide for their trips. The term tourist guide is used in the travel business with on ease of the understand. However, academics have defined the concept of tourist guides more in terms of rules and responsibilities. A numeral of terms are use to explain those whose responsibility it is to take care of and to inform of tourists. Courier was the term most generally applied to describe tourist guide , today a courier can be called tour captain, tour escort, tour manager, and tourist guide (Jafari, 2000). During the 19th century Thomas Cook became the first travel company that operated group tours by train to Loughborough and other places in Europe (Kruttawacho, 2008). This required tourist guides who could explain and guide tourist on these trips. The Tourism Authority of Thailand in cooperation with Chulalongkorn University in 1961 (Mr. Sumonchart Sawaddikul, a professor at the Faculty of Arts), designed a training course training on professional tourist guides. The first tourist guides student for this course were the third year and upper Faculty of Arts students at Chulalongkorn University. Thereafter the course gained popularity and interested student began to in role. After Chulalongkorn University offered the course for 13 years, Silapakorn University implemented the same course for the first time in 1973 (Khummanon, 1996). In addition, the Humanities Faculty of Kasetsart University started the same course for its own students and opened a new tourism course for the graduated who were still unemployed. Nowadays the course has become widely recognize and other University as the Rajaphat and the Rangsit, ect. have capitalized on its importance and have started offering it to the general public. Due to tourism growth the government realized the need to pass a bill on standards and procedures for tourist guides. The bill stipulated that the Tourism Authority of Thailand be the support and controlling body for the tourist business and tourist guides, by making sure that they meet the standards required by law (that each tourist guide have a tourist guide license) as set out in the Tourist Business and Tourist Guide Act 2008 of Thailand (Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2010). The tourist guide licenses are issued after a person completes the training course arrange by the government service. Each course requires different levels of education. The qualifications stipulation is that one has to be a Thai citizen, aged 20 years or older, with good written and spoken Thai. Tourist guide situation in Thailand Increasing number of registered guides in Thailand demons that working as a tourist guide has become a popular career in the tourism industry. The language requirement in the number of tourist guides in Thailand, (see Figure 2.1). One reason of tourist guides increasing because students who studied in tourism industry course when their graduated TAT approves the tourist guide license. Therefore, the number of registered guides is quite high. Figure 2.1 Number of tourist guide license requirement and approval during January 2010 to November 2010 Source: Tourist Business and Guide Registration Office, Centre (2010) From the implementation year of the Tourist Business and Tourist Guide Act of 2008 until November 2010, there were 42,075 registration tourist guides in Thailand and 35,010 for General guide and 7,065 for Specific guide. Most tourist guide (30,781) was in English language (see Table 2.2) Figure 2.2 Tourist guide classification by languagesJ:ToonioWork_TWitoon20 02 54figure 2.2.jpg Source: Tourist Business and Guide Registration Office, Centre (2010) Classification of tourist guide in Thailand There are two main types of tourist guides: the general guide and the specific guide, as followings: General guide: a tour guide who has knowledge about general tours to places around the kingdom, able to speak Thai and also convey information in other languages to tourists. General guide (Foreign): silver bronze card color, a tour guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists all over the Kingdom in Thailand. General guide (Thai): golden bronze card color, a tour guide who can conduct tours specifically only for Thai tourists all over the kingdom in Thailand. Specific guide: a tour guide who has specialized knowledge; e.g. history, archeology, trekking, etc. to give the information to tourists with specific interests. Specific guide (Foreign-specific area): pink card color, a tour guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists only for provinces listed on the card and those in the adjacent areas. Specific guide (Thai-specific area): light blue card color, a tourist guide who can conduct tours specifically for Thai tourists only using the provinces listed on the card and the provinces of adjacent areas. Specific guide (Forest trekking): green card color, a tourist guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists specifically in the forest trekking areas. Specific guide (Art cultural): red card color, a tourist guide who conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists specifically on areas concerning history, archeology, art, cultural, or Thai literature all over the kingdom in Thailand. Specific guide (Marine): orange card color, a tourist guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists specifically about history, archeology, art, cultural, or Thai literature to tours all over the kingdom of Thailand. Specific guide (Seashore): yellow card color, a tourist guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists in the areas by the sea or on islands, with the distance from the coast to the tourist attractions of no more than 40 nautical miles. Specific guide (Natural destinations): purple card color, a tourist guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists only on the natural attractions printed on the card. 2.8 Specific guide (Local cultural): brown card color, a tourist guide who can conduct tours for Thai and foreign tourists on the culture, history, geography, and archeology particularly within the local cultural attractions named on the card only. Moreover, there are three kinds of tourist guides; an on-site guide, a city guide and a specialized guide (Mancini, 1996). 1.2.4 Qualifications of tourist guide Wannathanom (2003) mentions that being a tourist guide, one should have some specific qualifications since it is a career for those who have to interact with many people from different cultures and different behaviors. Eighteen attributes which are of importance to the tourist guides were identified, which are Klamsaengsai (2006) mentioned that: Good personality: before taking care of others, the tourist guide has to initially concentrate on his or herself, especially with regards to cleanliness and overall neatness. Human relations: this is about the ability to impress tourists and to create friendships with their automatically. Be a knowledgeable person: the tourist guide should be erudite about the destination and related topics, and possess a broad and deep knowledge for the benefits of the tourists. Eloquence: in the career of a tourist guide cannot be avoided because verbal communication is one tool for achieving success. Perceptiveness: good tourist guides should be able to notice and memorize surroundings quicker than tourists, since some notices can be useful for the tourist guide in answering popular questions from tourists. Service mentality: this qualifying is most important for tourist guide who works in the service industry. Tourist guides need to have the spirit of being a service provider to make others happy instead of doing the work just for money or temporary experiences. Travel Experience: the more travel experience they have the more confident the tourist guide will be. Punctuality High responsibility: one big responsibility of the tourist guide is to take care of all tourists, all throughout their traveling, therefore tourist guides cannot abandon their duties of looking after the tourist. Punctuality is one significant thing that the tourist guide who acts as a tour leader needs to respect. Patience: the tourism industry can be called a people based industry where both demand and supply are mainly related to individuals with different characteristics. If there is pressure from tourists or other problems, tourist guides have to refrain themselves. Intelligence: this does not mean being a genius but tourist guides have to be conscious of every situation and so that everything goes smoothly. Sense of humor: not exactly like a comedian, but tourist guides should have some talent in sharing jokes and general information. Good mentality and good health: in tourist guides, it is a hard based type of work taking care of a group of tourists. Tourist guides always have limited time to relax, therefore they should take care of themselves as well. Good memory: besides recognizing tourist information, tourist guides must try to remember. Then, they can call tourists by their correct name and making a tourist impression Leadership: in conducting tours, tourists always believe that the tourist guide is the head or the leader of the tour who can help them in every difficulty. Tourist guides should be able to control the group. Honesty: this is the quality needed for every career including that of the tourist guide who have to take care of tourists, follow the itinerary, or recommend good shops to tourists without cheating. Foreign Language: in case of inbound or outbound tours, proficiency in foreign languages, especially English is one important attribute for tourist guides to achieve in communicating with foreign tourists and to make the tour go smoothly. Be enthusiastic: as being a leader of the group, tourist guides need to be active and reactive anytime to make tourists feel confident. Problem solving ability: for both predicable and unpredictable problems, tourist guides are the heroes in the eyes of tourists, so they have to use their experience and their talent to solve the problem. Referring to H.Q. Zhang, I. Chow (2004) conducted to assess tourist guide performance that service quality of tourist guide should/should be or has as followings: Punctuality Ability to solve problems Knowledge of the destination Honesty and trustworthiness Knowledge of information about safety regulations Ability to deliver the service promised in itinerary Politeness Being good at presentation skills Well trained Ability to briefing visitors on daily itinerary Ability to respect for customer Ability in communicating in foreign languages Ability to being friendliness Ability to general friendly atmosphere Ability to neat and tidy appearance Ability to always being available for help Ability to paying attention to detail Ability to informing visitors about destinations customs Ability to introducing reliable shops Ability to sense of humor According to Hall mentions that in Handbook of Professional Tour Management (1993) the tourist guides should have some qualifications that make an advantage trip as follows: The ability to attract prospects: the tourist guide should be a positive sales factors, some travelers want a status symbol, and security. Tourist guide should be able to command and control the group by the follow factors. Knowledge of the area: tourist guide should knowledge of historical place and have been there before when the tourist guide speak with more empower to advice facilities and attractions, to assess the period of travel days, and to remember and handle the possible problems. First aid skills: tourist guide must be prudent about any medical burdens. And another skills as artificial respiration, CPR, water safety, and first echelon first aid are important. Having someone available in these areas to provide the convenient thing to tourist. Forcefulness and decisiveness: tourist guide should have able to manage people and decision making. This is no job for an unsteady, timid personality. A positive outlook: tourist guide should be an optimist and optimism must be made communicate, definite maturity is essential, enabling them to maintain a perspective to communicate this with confidence. Honesty and loyalty: tourist guide should have moral must be practiced on behalf of the tourist guide, no cheating the tourist. This is both unfair and unwise, and ultimately reflects on the escort. Assertiveness: tourist guide had better possess self-assurance, self-pride, and a certain amount of ego. When a receptionist insists there are fully single rooms as promised by the vouchers, tourist guide must be stable. Get me a supervisor this does not mean being loud and abusive, or acting tough; that it mean exhibiting inner strength and resolution. It means insisting on the rights of the tourists. A claim demeanor: the best tourist guide do not panic, even internally. They are able to think clearly when riot threatens. A warm personality: tourist guide must be a bit of the commanding officer in the tour, while establishing leadership credentials, must still communicate a sunny disposition, flash that ready amile, and reveal an enthusiastic. Tourists expect their escort be lively, gifted with attractive voices, and having that essential sense of humor. A clean and neat appearance: tourists can afford to look casual or untidy, but tourist guide present a perpetually appearance. Tourists wonder how he or she can keep looking fresh. Good health: tourist guide should be reasonable a good health, free from weaken complaints, and blesses with a reserve of power. Tourist guide must always be up and stay ahead of their passengers who wake up first and sometimes the last to bed. Even when the escort is not feeling in top form. Tourist guide should have ability to bounce back from the head cold or upset stomach, along with the power to persevere. Flexibility: tourist guide should have ability to change directions when they might face with equipment breakdowns, failure in communication, disagreeable and troublesome passengers, illness, natural disasters, transportation delays, and so on. Anticipation: tourist guide figures out in advance everything that might go wrong and tries to insure against this occur. That means frequent conversations with the bus driver or cruise personnel, advance phone calls, a survey of facilities before leading in the group Negative qualities: the thing that the tourist guide should acknowledge tourist do not want the tourist guide who are dishonest, who are congenitally lazy, whose manner is abrasive, who are frightened and unstable, and who have no talent for managing others. Therefore, there is not yet concluded rather than well-designed to give all conclusions of the tourist guides qualifications. In what it mostly depends on governments tourism policys development and adaptation of each country Manners of tourist guide Manners and ethics of tourist guides is their verbal behavior, interaction and the best practices of tourist guides in order to maintain prestige of the professional status, and professional tourist guides who make a profession of honor which has been respected as representatives of the country and the Thai people (Makchang, 1996). Tourist guides are responsible the full time and not leave tourists on their own. Integrity to tourists do to not lose the integrity tourists benefits such as, taking the tourists to buy only at shops where tourist guides get more commission with no regard for the quality of the product. Tourist guides should understand that they are in the position of service providers to tourists and not show inappropriate reactions to tourists when tourists do not perform according to schedule. Tourist guides should have an understanding of the desires and needs of their tourist. They should also give equal attention to everyone, and maintain harmony. Tourist guides should have compassion, A desire for others to be happy the purpose of tourism is to help as tourists want to be happy and enjoy travel that tourist guides can willingly provide to tourists.

Factors Affecting The Rate Of Photosynthesis Biology Essay

Factors Affecting The Rate Of Photosynthesis Biology Essay The purpose of this experiment is to observe the factors affecting the Photosynthetic rate of leaves, which is measured in two ways. Firstly changing the light intensity, this will determine the rate of increase or decrease in photosynthesis. Secondly changing the availability of nutrients (Concentration of CO2) to the plants, this will directly affect the photosynthetic rate. To test the light intensity, an elodea submerged in a beaker was placed at different measurement away from the plant, to see if oxygen (bubbles) is produced. To test the availability of nutrients, different molarities of Sodium Bicarbonate was diluted in 500 ml of water with Elodea, to see if rate of photosynthesis increased or decreased. The result shows, as light intensity increases, the rate of reaction will increase at a proportional rate until a certain level is reached. At a light intensity of 400 the average increase in rate of reaction was 746v. At 4 the average increase in rate of reaction was 8676v, a difference of 7930v, which shows the rate of reaction is greatly influenced by light intensity. As the molarity of Sodium Bicarbonate increases, the rate of reaction will also increase at a proportional rate with respect to light intensity. At 0.05M the average increase in rate of reaction was 0.80r. At 0.1M the average increase in rate of reaction was 1.90r, a difference of 1.1r, which shows the rate of reaction is also significantly influenced by the availability of nutrients. Both light intensity and availability of nutrients are important factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis. Aim To investigate how different factors affect the rate of photosynthesis. The variables that will be changed are different intensity of light and different molarities of Sodium bicarbonate and then measuring the rate of reaction (photosynthetic rate). Hypothesis Throughout this experiment the light intensity and different molarities of Sodium Bicarbonate will be varied. The variable that is measured will be time, for rate of reaction. As light intensity increases the rate of reaction will increase at a proportional rate. As the concentration of NaHCO3 increases the rate of the reaction will also increase at a proportional rate. Introduction Every species on earth needs some kind of energy source in order to survive. In animal cells, the mitochondria produce ATP from cellular respiration. However, the plant cells have a different type of center that produces energy-chloroplasts. Plants go through the process of photosynthesis. The main process of photosynthesis is the absorption of light by chlorophyll, found in leaves and the immersion of carbon dioxide from the environment, and together they produce oxygen and sugar (energy). The equation below represents the photosynthesis reaction: The purpose of this experiment is to test whether factors such as light intensity and level of Carbon dioxide, will affect the rate of photosynthesis, which are the two most important variables in the photosynthesis process. This was demonstrated by Robert Hill in 1938, known as The Hill Reaction. Robert Hill and his associates at the University of Illinois found that the photosynthetic rate varies with light intensity, and as the light intensity increases, the reaction rate also increases up to a certain point. Apparatus needed for the Experiment Elodea 20mm ² syringe Capillary tubing Stand Stopwatch Ruler NaHCO ³ Solution Bench lamp Distilled water Figure A) Potometer Method The apparatus is set (see Fig. A) with the syringe full of the 0.01M solution of NaHCO3 solution. Two marks 10cm apart are made on the capillary tubing. The syringe is placed 0.05m away from the lamp. Using the syringe plunger the meniscus of the NaHCO3 is set so that it is level with the first mark. A stopwatch is then started. The meniscus should gradually move down the capillary tube as the elodea produces oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. As the oxygen is produced it increases the pressure in the syringe and so the meniscus is pushed down the tube. Light Intensity = 1 / Distance ² (m) When the meniscus reaches the level of the bottom mark the stopwatch should be stopped. Light intensities have been worked out using the following equation: 6. Using the same piece of elodea and the same distance between the lamp and the syringe the experiment (steps 1 to 5) should be repeated for the other concentration of NaHCO3. 7. The experiment (steps 1 to 6) should then be repeated at each different distance between the syringe and the light for all the NaHCO3 concentrations. The remaining distances are 0.05m, 0.06m, 0.07m, 0.08m, 0.1m, 0.2m, 0.3m, and 0.5m. 8. The entire experiment should then be repeated three times in order to obtain more accurate data and to get rid of any anomalies that may occur in a single experiment. In order to make this experiment as accurate as possible a number of steps must be taken. The same piece of elodea should be used each time in order to make sure that each experiment is being carried out with the same leaf surface area. The amount of NaHCO3 solution should be the same for each experiment. 20mm ² should be used each time. The distance should be measured from the front of the lamp to the syringe. Although taking these steps will make the experiment more accurate, its accuracy is still limited by several factors. From these recorded times I will work out the rate of the reaction using the following equation. Rate of the Reaction = 1 / Time (s) Results Table1. (Average of the 4 trails of Molarity against Light intensity): Molarity of NaHCO3 Light Intensity 1/d ² (m) 0.00 (Distilled water) 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.07 400 3571 1666 1099 523 200 278 1670 5183 988 600 375 204 4998 4485 1175 1005 473 156 5590 2300 1770 1445 621 100 9990 3150 2900 2552 1224 25 4762 3984 2850 1640 11 5945 4348 3780 2830 4 16480 11904 5196 6578 Using these results I worked out the rate Rate Of the Reaction = 1 / Time(s) x 1000 The rate was multiplied by 1000 to make the numbers easier to handle. Table2.Average of the 4 trails in rate of reaction: Molarity of NaHCO3 Light Intensity 1/d ² (m) 0.00 (Distilled water) 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.07 400 0.28 0.60 0.91 1.91 5.00 278 0.60 0.19 1.01 1.67 2.67 204 0.20 0.22 0.85 1.00 2.11 156 0.18 0.43 0.56 0.69 1.61 100 0.10 0.32 0.34 0.39 0.82 25 0.21 0.25 0.35 0.61 11 0.17 0.23 0.26 0.35 4 0.06 0.08 0.19 0.15 Light intensity against NaHCO3 Graph1. Analysis Discussion of Results Analysis: Distilled water: With the distilled water the rate of reaction went up from 0.1 to 0.4 when the light intensity was increased from 100 to 400. This is a 4 times rise which is quite large. The curve on the graph does however level out quite soon showing that the rate is being limited by the lack of NaHCO3 in the water. 0.01M NaHCO3: At a light intensity of 4 the rate is 0.06 but this rises to 0.6 when the light intensity is brought up to 400. The curve is very shallow and levels off towards a light intensity of 350 400. 0.02M NaHCO3: The amount of NaHCO3 is double that of the 0.01M NaHCO3 experiment. The rate also finishes off twice that of the 0.01M experiment. This would suggest that there was a directly proportional relationship between the amount of NaHCO3 and the rate of reaction. 0.05M NaHCO3: The curve for the 0.05M NaHCO3 is steeper than the previous curves. The rate rises to 1.9 at a light intensity of 400. 0.07M NaHCO3: The 0.07M NaHCO3 test produces a line which is steeper than all the previous curves. The plant is using the extra CO2 to photosynthesize more. As the plant has more CO2 the limiting factor caused by the lack of CO2 is reduced. This test did produce a big anomaly. The rate for a light intensity of 400 is 5. By following the line of best fit I can see that this result should be more like 3.5. The elodea for this test was very close to the light source. It is possible that it had been left here for a while which caused the lamp to heat the elodea up. This would have increased the rate of reaction of the plants enzymes which would have increased the photosynthesis rate. 0.1M NaHCO3: The 0.1M NaHCO3 produced the steepest line. Near the end of the line it looks as if the rate of reaction is hit by another limiting factor. The line goes up steadily but then between a light intensity of 300 and 400 levels off very quickly. This would suggest that at a 0.1M NaHCO3 is sufficient for the plant to photosynthesize at its maximum rate with its current environmental conditions. Increasing the NaHCO3 concentration after this level would therefore have no effect unless the next limiting factor was removed. Discussion: The hypothesis was that the rate of photosynthesis would increase if the light intensity and NaHCO3 levels were increased (please refer to Graph1). As the elodea absorbed the light and CO2 it produced oxygen gas which increased the pressure in the syringe. This pushed the air bubble in the capillary tube down. The chloroplasts produce ATP and reduce NADP to NADPH2 when exposed to light. It is at this stage of the reaction that oxygen is produced as a waste product, furthermore, the data collected was supported by the results obtained by Robert Hill and his associates at the University of Illinois, where they predicted, as the light intensity and NaHCO3 levels increased, the rate of photosynthesis will also increase up to a certain level (please refer to Graph2) As predicted when the light intensity increases so does the rate of photosynthesis. It was predicted that a level would be reached where increasing the light intensity would have no more effect on the rate of reaction as there would be some other limiting factor which limits the rate of the reaction. The rate increases at a steady rate as the light intensity increases until near the end of each line where the rate decreases. This is either because the photosynthesis reaction has reached its maximum rate of reaction or another factor is limiting the rate. As 6 different CO2 concentrations were used I can see that the first five reactions are not occurring at their maximum rate as there is the 0.1M NaHCO3 rest which is occurring at a faster rate then the other 5. The photosynthesis reactions of the other five tests must therefore be limited by the concentration of CO2 to the plant. As predicted when the NaHCO3 concentration is increased the plant in able to get more CO2 which causes the rate of reaction to go up. It was predicted that once the NaHCO3 had been raised above a certain level increasing the rate further would have no effect as there would be other limiting factors limiting the rate of the reaction. As the NaHCO3 concentration the water was increased the rate of photosynthesis also increased. The plant therefore made more oxygen as a waste product. At a NaHCO3 concentration of 0.1M once the light intensity gets above 300 the rate of reaction decreases significantly. This could be because photosynthesis is occurring at its maximum possible rate or because another limiting factor is restraining the rate of reaction. The fact that the curve levels off so quickly indicates that there is another limiting factor restraining photosynthesis. It could be temperature. These tests are being carried out at room temperature so the temperature would have to be raised another 15 °C before the enzymes in the plants cells were at their optimum working temperature. More tests could be done by using water that was at a higher temperature to see what effect this would have on the photosynthesis rate. It is however impossible to raise the plants temperature without affect other factors. For instance the actual amount of oxygen released by the plant is slightly more than the readings would suggest as some of the oxygen would dissolve into the water. At a higher temperature less oxygen would be able to dissolve into the water so the readings for the photosynthesis rate could be artificially increased. It is also possible that the photosynthetic reactions in the plant are occurring at their maximum possible rate and so cannot be increased any more. The light is probably not a limiting factor as all but one of the curves level off before the maximum light intensity of 400 is reached. The maximum light intensity that the plants can handle is therefore just below 400.Water will not be a limiting factor as the plants are living in water. They therefore have no stomata and absorb all their CO2 by diffusion through the leaves. Graph1. Light intensity against NaHCO3 MY RESULTS Graph2. Light intensity against NaHCO3 SOURCE Limitations and Improvement The accuracy of this experiment is limited by a number of factors. Some of the oxygen give off is used for respiration by the plant. Some of the oxygen dissolved into the water. Some was used by small invertebrates that were found living within the pieces of elodea. The higher light intensities should be quite accurate but the smaller light intensities would be less accurate because the light spreads out. The elodea will also get background light from other experiments. The lights are also a source of heat which will affect the experiments with only a small distance between the light and the syringe. This heating could affect the results. Using the same piece of elodea for each experiment was impractical as the elodeas photosynthesis rate decreased over time. By using a different piece of elodea for each experiment did create the problem of it being impossible for each piece to have the same surface area. This experiment could be improved in a number of ways. It could be repeated more times to help get rid of any anomalies. A better overall result would be obtained by repeating the experiment more times because any errors in one experiment should be compensated for by the other experiments. Each person should have done their experiments in a different room to cut out all background light. All the experiments should be done sequentially. A perspex screen could have been placed between the light and the syringe to reduce any heating effect that the light may have. The experiment could have been carried out with higher NaHCO3 to see if increasing the concentration would increase the rate of photosynthesis, or if a concentration of 0.1M NaHCO3 produces the maximum rate of photosynthetic reaction. Conclusion The intention of this experiment was to investigate different factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis. The hypothesis was, as light intensity increases the rate of reaction will increase at a proportional rate. As the concentration of NaHCO3 increases the rate of the reaction will also increase at a proportional rate. This was correct, supported by the data collected which shows at a light intensity of 400 the average increase in rate of reaction was 746v. At 4 the average increase in rate of reaction was 8676v, a difference of 7930v, which shows the rate of reaction is greatly influenced by light intensity. This was demonstrated by Robert Hill and his associates, with similar results to this experiment, which they found that the photosynthetic rate varies with light intensity, and as the light intensity increases, the reaction rate also increases up to a certain point.

Feminist Thinking Essay -- Feminsim Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Feminist Thinking It has been said that not everything worth reading is a philosophical argument., and I agree. A glance through the shelves of bookstores, news stands, and libraries will incline one away from the idea that all valuable reading is philosophy. Thoughts back upon experiences that have touched one’s life undoubtedly will include an important novel or story and confirm the original statement. It is also fair to say that people approach literature and philosophy with different expectations. It seems fair to expect one’s philosophical reading to impart knowledge, while not necessarily demanding this of poetry or a short story. Likewise, there are different settings, goals, and different relations that exist between reader and writer, and reader and recommender. Some reading may be for enjoyment, escapism, or metaphor while other is for personal knowledge acquisition and/or a class assignment. While this is not to say that I haven’t enjoyed much of the reading required o f me in the pursuit of my degree, I approached it all with an expectation that it should fit nicely within my preconceived notion of ‘Philosophy’. In this class I was presented with reading that broke out of that mold. I want to step back a little and work my way back into the literature from some distance. This is, I hope, a fair way of coming to an understanding of the field of feminist thinking. Assigning reading for a class, and reading the assignment that the instructor has assigned involves two parties and relations of power, overt or hidden. An assigned reading for a class by an instructor carries a stamp of approval- a legitimization. Presumably, the professor has read this piece and thinks it is cogent, readable, fits with the development... ..., ‘Caring,’ and is the obvious place to start. From this starting point it is quickly evident that some feminists will disagree with the characterization of women as care-givers. However this divergence is not altogether unexpected, and a host of possible places exist within the discursive space created by Noddings, and others, to vocalize. That the discursive space has been opened up in this new way is important. Annette C. Baier offers an historical development of traditional (Kantian) ethics and its shortcomings. With this and Noddings article the relevance of care-ethics becomes established. And although I do not share the optimism that care-ethics alone can offer a complete system of ethics, it is well argued that future systems need to account for its concerns. Care-ethics is feminist philosophy, while much of the other literature falls short of this title.

Types of Businesses in America Essay -- Business Law

Types of Businesses in America American society has always been optimistic towards their future. The American nation is a capitalistic country. Many individuals are influenced to start up their own businesses with their own ideas. The government helps and regulates all business. There are three types of businesses sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. A sole proprietorship would be my best choice to start up my own business. This form of business is the easiest to start. In the states a federal license or permit is needed to sell products or serve a service to the public. A license is required in order to begin the business operation. Income or loss the owner is accounted for on the tax return. â€Å"Flow thru taxation† is the term used to state that the owner’s incomes flows through the tax return. I would keep contact daily with my accountant. The business would not be taxed twice as there would be in corporations. It is simply taxed once. I would not need contracts stating two peo ple joining in and making an effort to make a business work as there would be in partnerships. I would just rely on myself. I have better confidence of trusting myself than trusting others in forming a partnership. It is a gamble and a risk to be liable for the entire business. Life is pretty short and taking a risk would either mean it was worth it or you learn from it. Since it’s the easiest form of business to start why not take full advantage. But there are advantages and disadvantages. In a sole proprietorship there is limited capital which means the owner would have trouble getting the supplies and materials needed for. But it would also seem harder to borrow money and loans from the bank. A loan from the bank seems like the ... ...g. Businesses structures and regulations are strong and firm which help businesses around the nation. The rules and regulations from the federal government help and keep the people safe. Starting a business is easy and profitable. It may be easier to start a sole proprietorship rather than a corporation. But many can receive help from family or friend and start a partnership where there is help and support of a partner. There are advantages and disadvantages for all forms of business. There are endless opportunities for the American people. There optimistic attitudes can lead them to great wealth. Works Cited Pride, William M., Hughes Robert J., Kapoor Jack R. Business. Publisher: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 8th edition. â€Å"Sole proprietorship/Partnerships/Corporations.† Wikipedia. 5, August, 2005.7,August, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Analysis of Asian American

The United States has become the most diverse society on the face of the earth. For more than a century, most immigrants to the United States were Europeans—Germans, English, Italians, and so forth. However, according to â€Å"Globalization and Contemporary Immigration to the United States† by Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood, â€Å"non-European immigration to the United States began in the late 1960s and has accelerated at rapid speeds since the early 1990s after a long hiatus due to restricted immigration. More than one million people a year migrate, mostly from Asia and Latin American- is transforming America into a multicultural society. At the same time, diversity became a distinguishing characteristic of contemporary Asian American. Cultural, social, economic and geopolitical factors have contributed to the diversity and also has brought new challenges for immigrants and their children to adapt themselves to the new environment. (Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood) There are four aspects about â€Å"the development of a coherent vision for future Asian American† as what Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood described. Firstly, variously national origins, which make impact on both the immigrant generation and the second and third generation in language and religions. Secondly, socioeconomic diversity brings about different kinds of mobility patterns. Thirdly, diverse settlement modes influence the development of Asian American community. Finally, â€Å"immigration complicates intergenerational relations and ethnic solidarity. † As what Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood referred, â€Å"the Philippines, China/Taiwan, Korea, India, and Vietnam have been on the list of top-ten sending countries since 1980. Even though there were different kinds of laws to restrict immigration from the â€Å"Asian-Pacific triangle†, Asian immigrants found other ways to become eligible citizen. For example, marrying white Americans. With the development of globe economy, the U. S. immigration policy had been changed. On the one hand, the United States sought cheaper labor and resources abroad to develop the globalization of its economy. â€Å"Since the 1980s, about on e-third of the engineers and medical personnel in the U. S. labor market have come from abroad-mostly from India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. †( Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood) Further, more and more Asian study abroad, therefore, many international students, namely, foreign students, had found permanent employment in America so that they could stay here. On the other hand, globalization had played a significant role in immigration. For one thing, developing countries’ economics and occupational structures were interposed by the U. S. investment. The U. S. imported the abroad material and then processed, finally, exported to those developing countries. For another thing, with the increase number of labor demand, rural-urban migrat ion increased rapidly.

Services

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright  © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2 2-2 Variations of the Gaps Model Five Service Quality Gaps Variations of the Gaps Model Six Service Quality Gaps Variations of the Gaps Model 13 Service Quality Gaps (Gaps Model gone wild) Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality ? The Customer Gap ? (Sometimes referred to as Gap 5) 2 ? The Provider Gaps: ? Gap 1 – The Listening Gap ? not knowing what customers expect Gap 2 – The Service Design and Standards Gap ? not having the right service designs and standards ? Gap 3 – The Service Performance Gap ? not delivering to service standards ? Gap 4 – The Communication Gap ? not matching performance to promises ? Putting It All Together: Closing the Gaps 2-6 Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2 †¢ The Customer Gap Chapter 3 – Customer Expectations of Service Chapter 4 – Customer Perceptions of Service 2-7 Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2 Gap 1 – Not Knowing What Customers Expect (The Knowledge Gap) Chapter 5 – Listening to Customers through Research Chapter 6 – Building Customer Relationships Chapter 7 – Service Recovery 2-8 Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2 †¢ Gap 2 – Not Having the Right Service Quality Designs and Standards (The Service Design and Standards Gap) Chapter 8 – Service Innovation and Design Chapter 9– Customer-Defined Service Standards Chapter 10 – Physical Evidence and the Servicescape 2-9 Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2Gap 3 – Not Delivering to Service Standards (The Service Performance Gap) Chapter 11 – Employees’ Roles in Service Delivery Cha pter 12 – Customers’ Roles in Service Delivery Chapter 13 – Managing Demand and Capacity 2-10 Chapter Conceptual Framework of the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2 Gap 4 – Not Matching Performance to Promises (The Communication Gap) Chapter 14 – Integrated Service marketing Communications Chapter 15 – Pricing of Services 2-11 Objectives for Chapter 2: The Gaps Model of Service Quality ? Introduce the framework, called the gaps model of service quality, used to organize this textbook. Demonstrate that the gaps model is a useful framework for understanding service quality in an organization. ? Demonstrate that the most critical service quality gap to close is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations and perceptions. ? Show that four gaps that occur in companies, which we call provider gaps, are responsible for the customer gap. ? Identify the factors responsible for each of the four provider gaps. 2-12 Gaps Model of Service Quality 2-13 The Customer Gap Think about a service you receive. Is there a gap between your expectations and perceptions of that service?What do you expect that you do not receive? 2-14 Key Factors Leading to the Customer Gap Customer Gap Customer Expectations ? Provider Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect ? Provider Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards ? Provider Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards ? Provider Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises Customer Perceptions 2-15 Gaps Model of Service Quality ? Customer Gap: ? difference between customer expectations and perceptions ? Provider Gap 1 (Listening Gap): ? not knowing what customers expect ? Provider Gap 2 (Service Design & Standards Gap): not having the right service designs and standards ? Provider Gap 3 (Service Performance Gap): ? not delivering to service standards ? Provider Gap 4 (Communication Gap): ? not matching performance to promises 2-16 Provider Gap 1 CUSTOMER Customer expectations Perceived Service COMPANY Gap 1: The Listening Gap Company perceptions of customer expectations 2-17 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 1 2-18 Provider Gap 2 CUSTOMER COMPANY Customer-driven service designs and standards Gap 2: The Service Design and Standards Gap Company perceptions of customer expectations 2-19 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 2 2-20 Provider Gap 3 CUSTOMERCOMPANY Service delivery Customer-driven service designs and standards Gap 3: The Service Performance Gap 2-21 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 3 2-22 Provider Gap 4 CUSTOMER COMPANY Gap 4: The Communication Gap External Service delivery communications to customers 2-23 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 4 2-24 Gaps Model of Service Quality 2-25 Gaps Model of Service Quality Think about a service that you receive regularly and put yourself in the wish mode. How would you change the service and the way it is provided? 2-26 Gaps Model of Service Quality Think about a service that you receive regularly and put yourself in the wish mode.How would you change the service and the way it is provided? †¢ I wish my oil change service could be done at my home, or where I work, so that I would not have to drive to a specific location and wait in line. †¢ I wish my dry cleaning service would pick up clothes from my home and deliver them to my home. †¢ I wish my bank would allow me to make additional mortgage payments (or, student loan payments) online rather than having to physically go into the bank and execute a teller-assisted transaction. †¢ I wish my gas station would check under the hood of my car like they used to do many years ago. -27 Gaps Model of Service Quality †¢ If you were the manager of a service organization and wanted to apply the gaps model to improve service, which gap would you start with? †¢ Why? †¢ In what order would you proceed to close the gaps? 2-28 Gaps Model of Service Quality If you were the manager of a serv ice organization and wanted to apply the gaps model to improve service, which gap would you start with? Why? In what order would you proceed to close the gaps? The most efficient way to use the gaps model is to begin with provider gap 1, determining what customer expectations are.This allows the company to concentrate on the factors that will have the greatest impact on improving service quality. Following the gap 1 with gap 2, then gap 3 is the best progression. Gap 2 ideally would result in service design and service standards that are based on gap 1’s findings about customer expectations. Then gap 3, the most complicated gap to close, would be informed by what is found in the first two gaps. 2-29 Gaps Model of Service Quality †¢ Can provider gap 4, the communication gap, be closed prior to closing any of the other three provider gaps? †¢ How? 2-30 Gaps Model of Service QualityCan provider gap 4, the communication gap, be closed prior to closing any of the other t hree provider gaps? How? Gap 4, which deals with lowering customer expectations, can be closed at any time. While the first three gaps are concerned with raising company performance to meet expectations, gap 4 aims to lower customer expectations to meet perceptions. The two approaches to closing the customer gap operate on different principles and therefore can occur independently. Incidentally, closing gap 4 can be more economical than closing the other gaps. 2-31 Gaps Model of Service Quality Which of the four provider gaps do you believe is hardest to close? †¢ Why? 2-32 Gaps Model of Service Quality Which of the four provider gaps do you believe is hardest to close? Why? Gap 3 is the hardest to close because it requires coordination of all of the human resources issues in a company—training, incentives, communication, hiring, teamwork, and empowerment. Changing any one of these is difficult but changing them all, and getting them coordinated with each other, is extre mely challenging. In addition to the employee factors that must be considered in closing gap 3, the customer must be managed. -33 DETERMINANTS OF PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY Ways to Use Gap Analysis ? Overall Strategic Assessment: ? How are we doing overall in meeting or exceeding customer expectations? ? How are we doing overall in closing the four company gaps? ? Which gaps represent our strengths and where are our weaknesses? 2-35 Ways to Use Gap Analysis ? Specific Service Implementation ? Who is the customer? What is the service? ? Are we consistently meeting/exceeding customer expectations with this service? ? If not, where are the gaps and what changes are needed? (Examine gaps 1-4 for this particular service. ) 2-36