The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner and Facing It A Comparison Essay Example

The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner and Facing It: A Comparison Essay War provokes many feelings in those that have experienced it and it provokes each of those men differently. Such as in the poems, â€Å"The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner† by Randall Jarrell and â€Å"Facing It† by Yousef Komunyakaa. These two poems, both similar in theme, have substantial differences. In â€Å"Facing It† the feelings of the author are somber and uneasy, while in â€Å"The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner† the author seems almost apathetic. In Komunyakaa’s poem, the author is now a survivor, while in Jarrell’s the soldier is deceased. In the poem â€Å"Facing It† the author, when speaking of war, is referring to others, while in Jarrell’s poem he is speaking of himself. This factor gives Jarrell’s poem a more personal feeling. In â€Å"Facing It† you are inside the author’s head almost entirely through his narration. However, in â€Å"The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner† he is speaking of himself in past tense. This allows the readers to take a step back and create their own inferences. In â€Å"The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner† the author keeps his words and entire poem very brief. In contrast, â€Å"Facing It† is somewhat lengthy. In this case it seems to allow Komunyakaa to fully explain his experiences as well as his feeling while visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In Jarrell’s poem the reader is forced to imagine how he must feel or exactly how the experience must have been. â€Å"Facing it† shows the problems Komunyakaa has dealing with his experiences in war. We will write a custom essay sample on The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner and Facing It: A Comparison specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner and Facing It: A Comparison specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Death of a Turret Ball Gunner and Facing It: A Comparison specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In lines 29-31, he states, â€Å"In the black mirror a woman’s trying to erase names: No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair (pg. 947. ) It seems he cannot even watch someone perform such a meaningless action without jumping to the wrong conclusions. While in Jarrell’s poem it is quite the opposite in that it seems as though he could care less about what has happened to him. For example when he states in line 5, â€Å"When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose (pg. 21. ) He is implying that the military was both callous and apathetic in regards to his death. With which the author also seems to be in agreeance with. These two poems, both share a very similar theme. They are also both by men who have experienced something very profound. Even though they may seem so similar they are both completely different. Every person will always have different reactions to a profound situation no matter how similar they may seem.

ACT Tutor for You

How to Find the Most Effective SAT/ACT Tutor for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Tutors are an investment in both time and money. Just because someone calls themselves a â€Å"SAT tutoring expert† doesn’t automatically confer the skills of that title upon them. (If it did, I would have become a master dinosaur expert by age 4.) Bad or ineffective tutors can actually hurt you and your potential SAT/ACT test score in two ways: 1) Financially: bad tutoring takes away from your budget and limits the resources you can spend to recoup your loss. 2) Time-wise: the time you spend on ineffective tutoring takes away from the time you could be spending better elsewhere. So what makes a tutor effective? In this article, I’ll go over the key qualities of the best SAT/ACT tutors. Top image: SAD_Hortons_Kids 8 by US Department of Education, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. 1: The Most Effective Tutors Have Taken The Test†¦And Aced It. It may seem obvious, but one of the most important things to look for in a tutor is someone who has aced the test you are studying for, whether it is the ACT or SAT. A tutor who has read up on the SAT/ACT is not the same as a tutor who has taken the test and gotten a 99th percentile score. This is true regardless of your own level – a tutor who scored a 2400 (or 1600 on the new SAT) or a 36 on the SAT or ACT is almost always better than a tutor who got a 2000 (or a 1300 on the new SAT) or a 30, even if you yourself have a target score of 1500 or 21. Scoring in the 99th percentile on the SAT/ACT takes more than just being smart and knowing the material – you have to know the tricks of the test. In fact, the reason test prep is necessary is that the tests AREN’T just testing knowledge or aptitude – they’re testing how good you are at taking the test. If you don’t realize this, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, how good you are at math, critical reading, writing, or science – you can still get tripped up by the test. making bunny ears by woodleywonderworks, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. If only test prep were this easy. An example of a little known strategy that can make a big difference: if you’re a 600 scorer on the SAT, you should skip the hardest 25% of questions and only answer the easier ones (for more tips like this, click here). Knowing about and using this strategy has nothing to do with being inherently smart – it has to do with knowing the way the SAT is constructed. In general, the best proof that a tutor truly knows the test is if they've gotten a perfect or near-perfect score on it. But this alone isn't enough... 2: The Most Effective Tutors Are Experts At Teaching The Material Just because someone is an effective tutor in other areas does not necessarily mean they will be an effective SAT/ACT tutor. Why? Because you need familiarity with teaching the specific test material in order to be able to explain the way the tests will try to trick you and strategies you can use to counteract that. Just because a tutor knows what the tricks are doesn’t necessarily mean that he can explain it well. This aspect of tutoring is so important, we've divided it up further into the specifics of what expert tutors provide. Tutoringthat's completely customized to your weaknesses The best tutors know how to tailor their teaching approach to each student’s needs, especially when it comes to teaching people who don’t think about things the way they do. At PrepScholar, this involves using the Socratic method, where the tutors are working WITH, not teaching AT, students. Take the following sample ACT Math question: A bad tutor might approach the problem this way: "Here’s how you solve the question. It’s an isoceles right triangle, so you know the most reduced Pythagorean triplet you’re going to use is 1, 1, √2. Since the two sides that are equal are 10 ft long, the hypotenuse must be 10√2 feet long. Does this make sense?" If you're the student, you're going to feel pressured to answer â€Å"yes,† even if you doesn’t fully understand. The tutor isn’t assessing your understanding at each step, which prevents him from understanding where you need help. Here's an example of what a GOODtutor would do, illustrated by a series of questions: "What answer did you choose? Why did you do this?" "What is the question asking for?" "What information does the question give you? What more information do you need to get to the answer?" "Great - so you know that in an isosceles right triangle, the sides are the same. How would you figure out the length of AC?" "Let's review the new points that we learned just now." Notice that a good tutor examines the student's thinking at every step and makes no assumptions about how the student's thinking about the problem. This process is critical to good teaching: two students who miss this question may miss it for entirely different reasons. One student might have forgotten what an isosceles right triangle means. Another might have known this, but forgotten the Pythagorean theorem. A good tutor will identify the exact weaknesses of his student and create custom strategies to overcome these weaknesses. When you interview a tutor, you should figure out whether the tutor is capable of this style of teaching (more tips on vetting tutors here). Effective use of tutoring time Most tutors will waste your time and money. Someone who just sits there watching you do practice tests isn’t a tutor – that's basically nothing more than a babysitter, or a source of radiant heat. During the session, this is deceiving because it seems like you're learning a lot, but the reality is that the tutor is missing major weaknesses. In contrast, a good tutor will accurately diagnose your weaknesses and prioritize the biggest gains to your score. Excelling on tests like the SAT and ACT requires mastery of skills at different levels: Behavior: are you motivated to study for the test? Do you review your mistakes correctly? Do you have the right attitude toward the test? Test Strategy:do you know how to budget your time in each section? Do you understand the best skipping strategy for your goals? Do you know how to attack each type of question? Test Content:where are your weaknesses in all the different subjects on the test? How do we make sure you have the right resources to improve these weaknesses? A great tutor will constantly be assessing these weaknesses and structuring tutoring sessions around where you can make the biggest point gains. This type of teaching requires mastery of the test as well as deep insight into student weaknesses. That's why as part of PrepScholar tutoring, we equip our tutors with technology to analyzestudent weaknesses across the entire test. Your tutor will have access to every homework problem completed before the session, so the tutor will come prepared with lesson plans designed to improve your score fastest. Comprehensive test prep guidance Good tutors know it’s not just about what you do in the tutoring session. For every hour you meet with a tutor, you might spend 10 hours on your homework. Therefore,a good tutor's influence is not limited to just the teaching session - it extends across your entire prep program. The best tutors will do much more than answer your questions during tutoring sessions. They'll help you stay motivated to study. They'llshow you the most effective way to review missed questions, and they'll increase the effectiveness of your study time outside of tutoring session. When you work with a tutor, your tutor should be able to plan a complete study program and assign specific sets of homework. The tutor should be able to justify exactly why that homework is assigned, and why that's the best thing for the student to improve the score. unicycles doughnuts by Robert Couse-Baker, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Not a PrepScholar Tutors-recommended use of study time. 3. The Most Effective Tutors Come Recommended by Trustworthy Sources But wait, just because someone says they have experience teaching and aced the test doesn’t mean it’s true! This is where quality control and recommendations come in. For tutors, this often comes via word of mouth: you hear about people you know who had good (or bad) experiences with a tutor or tutoring service. Another way to prescreen for quality tutoring is by going through an organization with a reputation for excellence in SAT/ACT tutoring. Quick plug: check out the PrepScholar tutoring site for a great example of tutors who are pre-screened to be effective teachers. So How Do I Find An Effective Tutor? When you’re looking for a tutor, you need to approach it like a job interview...except YOU are the interviewer. Why? Because you are making sure the tutor is the right person for the job of tutoring you to reach your maximum potential. It’s easy to be intimidated by potential tutors because they seem so knowledgeable, charismatic, or authoritative. Just because they will be teaching you, though, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to ask them questions and make sure they are the best tutor possible for you. In fact, it makes it all the more important that you find an effective, expert, and reputable tutor. The most recent analogy in my own life was at the beginning of grad school, when I was trying to decide on the right composition teacher. I was a little (okay, a lot) in awe of how much each of the three teachers I was choosing between knew, but I ultimately had to make sure that the professor I chose was going to be able to teach me what I needed to learn to be a better composer. To help you out in your quest for the right tutor, we’ve come up with this handy worksheet, containing a list of questions to ask any potential tutor (and space for you to write in the tutors’ answers). Click here to download it, or click the image below. The Bottom Line To sum it all up, here are the main attributes to look for in a tutor: They’ve taken the test and scored in the 99th percentile, so they know how to ace the SAT/ACT. They have expertise in tutoring effectively for the SAT/ACT. They have references from reputable sources. I hope these guidelines were clear and informative. You are now ready to go forth and shop for the right tutor for you! Shopping Cart by SunKing2, used under Public Domain. What’s Next? Find out more on how to find the best tutor for YOU here. Interested in online tutoring? We offer a variety of online tutoring packages right here at PrepScholar. If you want to read more about what each package entails, co-founder Fred Zhang goes into detail about each option in this article. Questions about our tutoring programs? Contact us through our website.

A Research Project for the Hotel Industry Essay

A Research Project for the Hotel Industry - Essay Example For example, the book included the research undertaken by Pegg and Suh, which examined the activities involved in service recovery, planning, responsibilities, outcomes and evaluation. (p. 31-34) What Prideaux, Moscardo and Laws provided for this study was a general framework that contextualized the subject within the hotel industry. There was a clear link between service, recovery and the hospitality business. In line with this resource is another important work, which is that by Young and Burgess (2010). Their research investigated and described service recovery as a form of marketing technology. It provided several empirical evidences that demonstrate how service recovery can address service aberrations. Furthermore, the researchers were also able to describe the relationship between service recovery and positive customer attitude. An understanding of the theoretical paradigm behind the importance of service recovery is critical in making sense of its relations to customer satisfa ction or profitability for hotels. In this respect, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) designed a model based on the interaction between an organization and its customers. The investigated almost 800 critical service encounters as reported by employees in several hospitality enterprises such as hotels, restaurants and airline companies. The research revealed how service-related variables such as service recovery collectively dominate the factors that create a high quality interaction, which eventually leads to customer satisfaction. This theme was also the subject of study by Bolton as she investigated how organizations have embraced relationship marketing. This research found that organizations need to address the issues in different stages of their relationship with their customers and that once the customer experiences are not satisfactory; the relationship is likely to be very short. A fundamental element in Bolton’s finding is that the incidence and quality of service encount ers are critical indicators of whether an organization’s relationship with the customers will flourish. Literature specific to actual experiences on service recovery include Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman’s work on service delivery. This study identified the factors that affect the magnitude and directions of what they called as the â€Å"four gaps† on the marketer’s side of their service quality model. (p. 35) In the investigation, the role of service recovery was highlighted. It was found that this component is one of the service-related factors crucial in correcting service-related failures connected with: 1) the difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions; 2) difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications; and, 4) difference between service quality specifications and the service quality delivered. (p. 35-36) For instance, consumers develop a set of perspectives and expecta tions based on word of mouth communications, personal needs and past experiences. They collectively underscore the importance of service recovery, especially in instances when service quality or service initiatives fail. Humphrey (2010) cited some actual examples to service recovery at work, which offered invaluable insights for this study. For instance, there is the case study of the Ritz-Carlton’

LLB FAMILY LAW (Coursework) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

LLB FAMILY LAW (Coursework) - Essay Example In this case the property in question is the house, which though held in Paul’s name, Lauren has an interest in because of their shared history in it and the fact that she did make a contribution of some sort to Paul’s acquisition of it. A constructive trust is implied in law in both a domestic and a commercial context. In this instance it is in the domestic context. The main features of the constructive trust are that it relies upon three basic components, the first of which is common intention. There was indeed common intention in the coming together of Lauren and Paul in their living together. There has not been up to now not been any agreement among the two parties, Lauren and Paul either directly or in an implied manner, been an agreement that they would be sharing the house out for the purpose of benefiting from it separately. The common intention was that they live together in the house, even though its title was under Paul’s name, Lauren was able to play her part in the common interest by paying for the utility bills and assisting with household expenses and thus freed up Paul’s income for use in servicing the mortgage of the property or paying for its acquisition. By contributing towards the household expenses and the utility bills she therefore can claim to have made a material contribution towards Paul’s acquisition of the said property. She thus has rights under constructive trust, to the use of the property. The common intention is both implied and actual even in the absence of any written agreement. The absence of a written or structured agreement cannot therefore negate Lauren’s right to the use of the property in question and therefore she is entitled to stay there together with the children that resulted from and during their cohabitation.1 The fact that they have lived together for such a long time anchors the argument of common intentions to live together even though they are not married. The second c omponent of constructive trust is the detrimental reliance by the claimant. By detriment here is included the things that Lauren had to give up or make do without in order to ensure that Paul was able to acquire the property – the fact that she had to forego her job and chose to be a stay at home mother and take care of the children and also the fact that she gave up her State benefits to be used in the common household expenses and also the fact that she paid some of the utility bills. These are all factors to be considered in looking at the common intention constructive trust that protects the contribution that Lauren put into this enterprise. Lauren continued to live with Paul in the house even when the relationship became strained and even when she was treated to continued verbal abuse. She had every right to continue staying there and even now she has the right to stay there since the agreement that was in place that they would live together in the house is still in effe ct. And she has every right to go back there, together with her children, as long as she is assured that there will not be a return to the abusive and violent behaviour. Lauren, by virtue of her contribution to the acquisition of the property in question, would therefore suffer if the court or law determined that she was not entitled to its fair use and occupation. She should therefore have her constructive tr

Economic Problems And Issues Essay Example for Free

Economic Problems And Issues Essay Does big business own by corporations synonymous with monopoly? Let us first check the nature of the capitalist market how large firms dominated the market. When only a number of large companies dominated a specific market, what resulted would be an oligopoly. This means that only the larger and selected companies had the command in the market thus excluding smaller firms. This resulted in reducing competitive pressures in the market. In this manner, there is a tendency that the price of commodities may rise above what would be the market level. The oligopolistic producers do not have rivals or competitors coming into their market circle because of relatively high capital costs. The domination of a trade commanded by few big firms especially when they are incorporated into one large organization may result in exploitation and monopoly. In the market economy, if a market is marked by an oligopolies practice, exploitation affects the consumers because they will be charged with higher prices as compared to the price in the competitive market. The Big Businesses therefore are having a bigger slice of the oligopolistic profits because of this unfair competition at the expense of smaller firm. To know more why big business gets more profits due to oligopoly and monopoly, we need to look into the economics of production and marketing in relation to capitalism. Capitalism comes in a way that it focuses on distribution not on fair production. Instead of equal trade, capitalism is guided by hierarchy and inequality to all business concerns. Usually the privately owned businesses do their production mainly for profit where investments, income, distribution and pricing of goods and services are estimated through the operation in a market economy. In the world of business economics, this is how capitalism makes an impact in the regulation of the price of the commodity. Unfortunately due to the potential of the big business to engage in capitalism, they sometimes monopolize the market. According to the economic theory of Malcom Sawyer, within the market trade there exists a certain degree of monopoly. This indicates that profits come to those businesses with monopolistic power. As always, an increase in the monopoly of large firm always directed the profit to them instead to the small businesses. This explains that the degree of monopoly within a market will determine how poorly the small firms will be able to survive as compared to those small firms who are earning more in a more competitive market. The degree of monopoly can be graded with few factors being exhibited by the big business in the market. Their market power is obvious in the volume of their market share, the extent of their advertising, the barriers that prevent small businesses to enter the mainstream and so on. The higher and stronger of these factors, the higher the degree of monopoly. There is however an argument of the monopolistic practice of big businesses. Accordingly they put up higher prices in their product because of the prices of the materials being purchased and used in the manufacturing of goods. Another reason was the unpredictable inflation and the need for sustaining the salaries of their employees. However, any reason would still result in profits for them. Such alibis only undermine the status of their employees as according to their profits. If these companies are forced to lower their prices the employees will suffer due to lower wages and compensations. Also, poor quality materials will be used which result in poor quality products and the demand will fall as well as its production. Basically large firms can always maintain their prices and profits more than the normal price in the market without assistance from the government due to their big financial back-up and market power. The existence of Big Businesses and their influence in the economy has their impact on every nation’s future. In some ways economist always compare them to be practical capitalist building their market world in their own hands. Another bad effect of capitalism and oligopoly is that when big business are lording it over other business, the tendency would be for the smaller firms to also merge and have a fight for a competition. This is to improve their market power and have larger slice of the profits. In effect there is another monopolistic tendency in the market. Although competition is also beneficial to the consumer since they would have many choices with products, and the price would temporarily go down, the competition will most affect smaller and weaker firms. The formation of oligopolies within capitalism will result in the loss of profits for small capitalist directing the profit to Big Business. For this reasons, small and medium sized businesses ends up detesting Big Business and will be blaming the government for unfair and unequal treatment of trade (Mattick, 1974). In conclusion, the capitalists always have the tendency to use monopoly power so they can manipulate the price, the quality and quantity of the commodities. There is no real opportunity for smaller firms when the trade is being ruled by the oligopolistic and monopolistic big businesses. Although there are few advantages with competition, the smaller firms are always outside the room full of opportunities. What they lack is the power to push the big blockade blocking their road to profiteering because of the giants in the trade. The answer to the question now would absolutely be, Yes. Free Trade against Ptotectionism? What is a Free trade and what is Protectionism? Free trade is defined as a market model in which trade in goods and services between or within countries flow freely by government to government laws and restrictions. Included on the restrictions are taxes (tariffs) and other non-tariff trade barriers. On the opposite side is Protectionism. Protectionism is the economic policy of controlling trade between nations or countries such as imposing high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas and other government regulations made to discourage imports from other countries. It also includes anti-dumping laws to protect local industries from a certain foreign nation who could take-over the competition especially in business. Some people call protectionism as â€Å"fair trade† and it may sound alluring at first. Some supporters of protectionism agree that keeping out foreign commodities will save domestic jobs and give a chance for jobs to recover and enrich themselves. It will also sustain trade deficits as well. But are these claims have enough economic basis? Protectionism in effect raises tariffs and imposes quotas on the volume of commodities the government allows to come into the country. Although tariffs is one of the major financial resources of a country, such laws restriction control the choice of consumers to have freedom of choice as well as it also opens job to the trade. According to the US Department of Labor’s statistics, eight jobs are getting lost compared to one job saved in a protected industry due to protectionism Let us give an example, in Japan the government was protecting their own farmers against the influx of imported rice from other countries but in return they are paying five times more as compared with the rice in the world market. Even the European and U. S. consumers are paying more than double the price of their own commodities on certain products as compared to price in the world market take for example agricultural products such as sugar. When the U. S. Semiconductor Trade Pact pressured the Japanese to cut back production and exportation of their computer memory chips, the result was a worldwide shortage of this parts and the eventual rise of demand and short of supply. Eventually, this has caused price increase and the technology was badly hurt by such restriction. The laws of protectionism force you to pay more on taxes on foreign and imported commodities but also increase your domestic taxes as well. This happens when governments enlarge their Customs Department Bureaucracies to guard and enforce rules with trade restrictions. So if there is no benefit for protectionism, why is it being imposed and who gains from it? Those who gain specially from it are usually groups with their special interest. Such as big corporations, unions, and farmer’s groups whom they want to command higher prices as much as getting higher wages. Such groups are thought to have special political and influential clout to politicians which pass laws favorable to their counterpart. Who are the losers with protectionism? The answer would be very clear the people and their government. Then what are the benefits of a free trade? Substantially, all countries benefits from free trade. In the US, every agreement within the free trade must be checked and balanced critically. At present, the U. S. economy is being augmented by more than $12 trillion in gross income from tree trade. American exports in the 2005 has totaled to an estimated of $1. 2 trillion. Jobs that are connected with production of goods for export are 13 to 18 percent higher. The free trade policies have made competition today on a higher level in the open market. This led to better innovation and better products, higher salaries, new markets and more savings for the employees and the government. Free trade has been bolstering America’s high standard of living and there would be more opportunities and income if trade restrictions could be alleviated further. For the past 50 years, trade liberalization has made an extra $9,000 per year for each American household according to the study made by The Institute for International Economics. The relaxation of regulations by the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Uruguay Round of the WTO—the two major agencies that impose agreements between nations has generated an annual additional benefits of $1,300–$2,000 for the standard American family of four. In conclusion to this, freer trade facilitates more goods and services to reach consumers at lower prices, providing families additional income which they can use to buy other consumer goods. It does not only help families but helps to widen global freedom, follows international law, and provide economic development especially on poor or third world countries. The World Bank also reported in 1990 that the per capita real income is three times bigger in developing countries that has opened their markets to free trade or loosen up strict regulations on certain imported products. Freer trade and market reforms have lifted more than 500 million people from poverty for the last 25 years. This in every opinion is enough to agree on trade liberalization rather than stayed embrace with the so called â€Å"fair trade† and remained stocked from a world full of opportunities (Markheim, 2007).

Essay on The Theme of Rappaccini’s Daughter -- Rappaccinis Daughter E

â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter† – The Theme  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter,† the dominanat theme is the evil within mankind. This essay intends to explore, exemplify and develop this topic.    Hyatt Waggoner in â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne† states:    Alienation is perhaps the theme he handles with greatest power. â€Å"Insulation,† he sometimes called it – which suggests not only isolation but imperviousness. It is the opposite of that â€Å"osmosis of being† that Warren has written of, that ability to respond and relate to others and the world. . . . it puts one outside the ‘magic circle’ or the ‘magnetic chain’ of humanity, where there is neither love nor reality (54).    Waggoner’s theme of alienation does play a part in â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter† in reference to the doctor and Beatrice, and Giovanni after he has been rendered poisonous by prolonged contact with Beatrice. But alienation is not, in the opinion of this reader, the dominant theme in the tale. The overriding theme would be the evil residing within human beings, regardless of how attractive they appear outwardly. â€Å"Everything he has to say is related, finally, to ‘that inward sphere’† (McPherson 68-69).    Giovanni’s love for the beautiful daughter blinds him to various indications of her poisonous nature, to the evil nature of her father and to the intent of her father to involve Giovanni as a subject in his sinister experiment. At the climax his blindness is removed and he sees, with Beatrice’s help, the truth of the situation; he sees the evil within man.    The tale takes place in Padua, Italy, where a Naples student named Giovanni Guascanti has relocated in order to attend the medical school there. His modes... ...es Press, 1968.    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter.† ElectronicText Center. University of Virginia Library. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed-new?id="HawRapp"&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public    Kazin, Alfred. Introduction. Selected Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Fawcett Premier, 1966.    McPherson, Hugo. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Use of Mythology.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Waggoner, Hyatt. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† In Six American Novelists of the Nineteenth Century, edited by Richard Foster. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1968.    Williams, Stanley T. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.

Bed & Breakfast Pet Hotel

When people go on vacation or on a business trip, sometimes it is impractical to bring the family pet. Not long ago many would just ask a neighbor to keep an eye on the pet while the family was gone. Others would leave the pet with enough food and water to survive during the trip, although this was impractical for long trips.These options each come with advantages and disadvantages, but they fail to ensure that the family pet is not just watched, but pampered. This concept of pampering the family has sprouted a whole new industry of pet facilities.With more people seeing the pet as of a family member, the care of the pet is becoming more important. In 2006 families spent approximately $38 billion on their pets and around 63% of household own at least one pet (Koncius, 2006).This has brought about a rise in pet hotels / pet bed and breakfasts. PetsHotel, a division of PetSmart, is a leader in this rising industry. PetSmart purchased a pet hotel in 2000 in the Tucson, AZ area and has e xpanded it to over 50 stores since then. PetSmart’s goal is to eventually have over 400 PetsHotel facilities nationwide and in Canada.However, PetSmart is not the only company getting into this rapidly expanding industry. This report is evaluating PetsHotel and its place in the industry. Specifically this report will demonstrate its position in the market through a Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats analysis, or SWOT analysis.This analysis will provide a clearer picture of what PetsHotel is facing in regards to the competition, trends, and future expansion. It will demonstrate where PetsHotel has a significant advantage over its competitors and where it has shortfalls. StrengthsThe most notable strength PetsHotel is the strong brand name and familiarity of its parent company, PetSmart. According to PetSmart’s website, the company has almost one thousand stores in the United States and Canada (PetSmart, 2007).PetSmart entered the pet hotel industry in 2000 w hen it recognized â€Å"its huge potential and it fits perfectly into [its] strategy of providing the lifetime needs of pets and their parents† (PetSmart, 2008). Customer loyalty and name recognition provides assurance for those customers who may not want to take a risk with a local, known pet facility.With how important pets have become to the owner, many owners will not want to take the risk of a bad facility. Jim Krack, founder of American Boarding Kennels Association, or ABKA, stated that â€Å"Pet owners expect the same type of amenities from their pet care providers as they receive from their child day care providers† (Shim, 2007).It is assumed that most people would not just place their children in any childcare facility without first ensuring a certain level or standards and safety. The name brand of PetSmart gives PetsHotel that instant recognition. In the fiscal year 2007, PetSmart posted $4.2 billion in sales and has $209 million in cash (Yahoo! Finance, 200 8). This cash cow can aid in the design and construction of new facilities. This will allow PetsHotel to quickly expand into competitive areas and into new, untapped market areas. Other competitors will not have the cash available without going into substantial debt to expand as quickly as PetsHotel can.Economies of scale also provide PetsHotel with a significant strength. Since smaller pet facilities will be unable to purchase items in the bulk level that PetsHotel can, the per item cost will be much greater than PetsHotel.Overhead and other expenses can be spread out amongst the over 50 PetsHotels already built. In comparison, Wags Hotel only has three stores to spread its costs around. Weaknesses Although the size PetsHotel is an advantage, it also lends itself to outside threats.The perception by some is larger companies many not provide as intimate and caring service for the pets. Consequently, many will prefer smaller, local services over the big corporate service of PetsHotel . Others will not want to go to the corporate establishment in favor of the local â€Å"ma and pa† pet facilities.The reasons for this could be the perception of intimate pet care with the smaller facility or it could just be hatred toward corporate America. Another weakness is a lack of accreditation. The American Boarding Kennels Associate, or ABKA, is a non-profit organization that seeks to assure high standards in pet care.ABKA provides pet owners with a set standard of quality of different hotels and kennels through a Pet Owner’s Bill or Rights and certifying different pet hotels. Out of 93 accredited pet facilities, none of them are PetsHotel brand pet facilities.To obtain certification the facilities must be â€Å"in compliance with the standards of the ABKA Voluntary Facilities Accreditation Program and have successfully completed an on-site evaluation by ABKA† (ABKA, 2008). A lack of certification from a reputable firm such as ABKA is a strong weakness for PetsHotel.ABKA’s website does list PetsHotel as a facility that can house a pet, but it also lists their lack of accreditation. This could sway a potential pet owner customer away from PetsHotel in favor of a pet facility that is accredited. OpportunitiesThe nearly 1000 PetSmart locations provide ample opportunity for quick expansion of the PetsHotels. By utilizing the PetSmart facilities, PetsHotels can quickly set up operations and provide services already at the PetSmart stores such as grooming, training, and Bansfield pet hospital. Some of these features have already been added to PetsHotel’s Add-On features.These features include nail clipping, bath time, and access to a Banfield clinic in an emergency (PetsHotel, 2008). By utilizing PetSmart’s other services, PetsHotel could offer other services such as pet training and grooming beyond a simple bath.In 2006, PetsHotel announced that it wanted to reach a total of 435 hotels throughout the United States and Canada (PetSmart, 2008). This is an achievable goal in part because of the huge cash flow PetSmart can generate through its other business segments and because of the already established name brand in those areas. Companies such as Wags Hotels only recently added two more hotels.Those two new hotels are still within the general geographic area of central California (WagsHotel, 2008). However, PetsHotel is already in 26 states and plans three more openings in the next few months (PetsHotel, 2008).Threats PetsHotel’s website lists its hours of operations 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday thru Saturday and 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sundays. PetsHotel has a check-in and check-out time of 12:00 PM (PetsHotel, 2008). The problem that PetsHotel can run into is a 24-hour service such as Wags Hotel. By offering 24-availability, Wags Hotel allows travelers who arrive late at night to pick up their pet once they arrive. PetsHotel’s model would force the traveler to pick up their pet the next day and charge them for that extra night.Smaller pet facility companies are seeing the need for emergency veterinarian services. PetsHotel uses Banfield which is partnered with PetSmart. These smaller companies are starting to team up with the local veterinarians to provide the same quality service.Although the overhead for this service is spread out amongst the larger PetSmart Corporation, PetsHotel will further have to demonstrate that its corporate services are as good, caring and intimate as the local facilities and veterinarians. An example of this is Wagg Inn Pet Hotel with the Animal Hospital of Ashwaubenon, WI.At home pet nannies are another source of threat to PetsHotel’s business. People have been turning to high-class pet hotels because of how much they care about their pets. However, many feel reservations about leaving their pet in a facility at all.The alternative is to leave the pet at home and hire a pet nanny. One concern is whether the other â€Å"gues ts† at the pet hotel are current on their vaccinations. If the pet is left at home, there is no concern at all. Also, the pet will be comfortable in its normal routine and happy places.This alleviates any concerns of trying to settle the pet back into normal routines, especially where to go to the bathroom. Conclusions and Recommendations PetsHotel is in a very good strategic position compared to its competition.Availability of cash in conjunction with the strong brand recognition of PetSmart means it can place a facility anywhere in the United States and Canada and have instant credibility as a company that will provide quality pet care. PetsHotel should continue to innovate in pet quality and care through better designs of its facilities and services.It needs to continue to emphasize its high pet care and quality of service of both PetsHotel and PetSmart. Because PetsHotel is a division of PetSmart, and damage to the brand reputation of PetSmart will instantly translate into damage to the PetsHotel reputation. If the quality of service at the PetSmart stores declines, the perception will be that quality has also decreased in its pet hotels.Where PetsHotel needs to be concerned is in its accreditation and availability. Although AKBA is just one organization, PetsHotel can ill afford to ignore any organization devoted to pet facility quality and care.For people who want to ensure their pets are well taken care of, the lack of accreditation could mean a loss in customers. If the people are happy with both the service of AKBA and the local pet hotel, PetsHotel could lose more potential customers through word of mouth. By gaining accreditation, PetsMart not only retains its corporate brand of quality, but it is substantiated through AKBA.PetsHotel must also find a way to address those who do not want to disrupt their pet’s routine. PetsHotel and other pet hotel websites do list how the pet will re-enter its routine once it goes home.However, more is needed than just a small blurb on the website. PetsHotel needs to reassure anyone who inquires about this and possible provide examples through customer satisfaction surveys and testimonials. References American Boarding Kennel Association. (2008). American Boarding Kennel Association.Retrieved on January 25, 2008 from http://www. abka. com/abka/. Koncius, Jura. (Apr. 2006). Pet Hotels Really Puttin' on the Dog. The Washington Post. Retrieved on January 25, 2008 from http://www. projo. com/pets/content/projo_20060430_petshotel.80bdaa6. html. Petsmart, Inc. (PETM). (2008). Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from http://finance. yahoo. com/q? s=PETM. Shim, Joan. (Sept. 2007). Pampered pooches, fat cats living large in luxury pet hotels. CNN. Retrieved on January 25, 2008 from http://www. cnn. com/2007/LIVING/worklife/09/12/travel. pets/index. html. Wagg Inn Pet Hotel. (2008). Wagg Inn Pet Hotel, LLC.Retrieved on January 25, 2008 from http://www. wagginn. com/. Wags Hotel. ( 2008). Wags Hotel. Retrieved on January 25, 2008 from http://www. waghotels. com/.