Statistics project what factors affects the happiness of a country - 1

What factors affects the happiness of a country - Statistics Project Example influenced by the economic, social, political, psychological and geographical factors such as Life Expectancy, Well-being, Happy Life Years, Footprint, Happy Planet Index, Population, GDP and governance ranking (Michael 21) and (Neil 32). The aim and objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the factors listed and the level of happiness of a country (Helliwell et al, 54). It therefore applies the quantitative analysis methods to show how the different factors are related to the level of happiness of the counties (Joop & Hessel 28). This study applies three statistical methods in the analysis of the relationship between countries’ happiness and the factors that cause happiness. The two methods are linear correlation analysis, statistical descriptive summary and graphical comparison (James 43). The data used for this study was collected as secondary data from www.happyplanetindex.org/data/). The dataset already has data in quantifiable metrics such that they can be used for quantitative data analysis. The data analysis methods applied in this study will be quantitative and descriptive. All the independent variables are in numerical forms except the country and the regions (McMahon 54). The relationship between each country’s happiness and the rest of the variables is tested through the correlation analysis (Gregg 32). The correlation coefficients demonstrate the link between happiness ranking for all the countries and each of the individual independent variables. The result for the linear correlation analysis is shown in table 1 below The third measurement taken in the analysis is the weight of influence of each of the variables on the level of happiness foe all the countries. The countries were divided into two categories, high happiness and low happiness countries. The ratios are taken as the average values of each dependent variable for the high happiness countries divided by the average equivalent for the low happiness countries

Government and Police State Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Government and Police State - Term Paper Example This paper focuses on BIAs in Seattle, in the US. The paper will discuss on BIAs in Seattle including BIA best practices; creating a BIA including the legal requirements and operating a BIA. The growth of American cities began around downtown and neighborhood main streets with majority of the people occupying them being independent businesses and local property owners. The rapid development of the infrastructure particularly the highway expansion provided an incentive for growth of Automobiles during the World War II. The availability of relatively inexpensive mortgages led to the rise in housing development.1 Outlaying shopping malls became the dominant feature especially in downtowns and other older relatively older commercial districts. These shopping malls became highly successful and part of the reasons for the same was: the ability to use a consistent design theme; ability to run different businesses within the same premises; and having and having an efficient decentralized management.2 The concept of business district management funded through mandatory assessments emerged in the 1970s, and grew to wide popularity during the 1990s. Under one name or another, well over 1,000 such districts exist today throughout the United States, with many more in Canada and throughout the world. BIAs is involved in provision of different programs key among them being marketing; professional management; and beautification just to mention a few. The extent of the programs provided by BIAs is, however, subject to the availability of funds as dictated by the yearly annual budget. In the year 2011, for example, BIAs estimated budget was about $17 million whereas the median budget was set at $342,000. For efficient management, a budget of $200,000 or less is usually allocated to the management staff of up to 2 people and a modest budget for other services such as promotions and marketing.3 America has seen the number of BIAs

Secure Payment Device using NFC

Secure Payment Device using NFC CAREER EPISODE 3 3.1 INTRODUCTION In my last semester, i.e. 8th semester, I made a project called Secure Payment Device using NFC. My last career episode is about this project. I completed this project in six months duration from Jan 2013 to May 2013. I completed my Bachelors Degree in Electronics and Communication in June 2013. I pursued this program from Guru Nanak Dev University, Gurdaspur, India. The project secure payment device using NFC was completed in a group and I was assigned the group leader. Also, it was performed under the supervision of Prof. Rana. 3.2 BACKGROUND NFC Near Field Communication, it is a wireless communication technology. NFC and mobile payments are the two fields which are gaining attention in the society lately. Mostly all mobile phone has this NFC technology, and more to come in near future. Using NFC, if the payments are made possible, it will attract more masses. The project concentrates on how this technology can be used for mobile payments. It stores the credit card or debit card number on the phone i.e. the digital money and uses NFC reader to detect the card number and send it to the server for authentication. For this purpose, I had prepared a dummy database bank system and uploaded it on the server side. 3.3 OBJECTIVES The objective behind implementing this project was to overcome the problems related to payment. People tend to forget their wallet and debit/credit card, or there occurs a problem of security if the card is lost. So, to overcome this issue I designed a NFC based payment method, which replaces the regular money cards. The users mobile system become the mode of payment transaction. This solves the issue of security also and the person always has a mode of payment in his phone. Also, NFC is the new and useful technology, which got me interested in its various forms of application. 3.4 In this device, NFC for requesting on client end and sending card number, POS (Point of Sales) Terminal for client end for receiving data and processing the transaction, Website for registration, account details etc., Web service which is used for authentication and Database for loading and saving users details are required. Various new technology and software are used in designing of this device. The POS terminal is NFC reader interfaced with Arduino, from Arduino the program code is sent to APDU commands on phone to verify the AID of the application. Eclipse software is used to write application for NFC Enabled Phone to send card number and password that is stored in the phone. Computer languages like C#, ASP.NET are used to write the code for website and webserver. And SQL is used for database technology. 3.5 The idea behind this project is that the user just touches his phone to NFC reader when the payment is need to be made, and the phone will act as the credit card or debit card that the user previously used to use. A mobile payment enabled phone is associated with the bank or the credit card company, in a similar way the phone is associated to phone service provider.ÂÂ   For my project a dummy system and bank with some random database is made to use which assigns a card number and authenticates the user the permission required at the time of payment. 3.6 The project was performed in a group, and being a group leader I had many responsibilities and duties that I had to perform perfectly and had to maintain professional rules of conduct. The duties are listed below: To start with, I had to understand the problem statement assigned to me and survey and research relevant and related topics for possible solutions. After having the solution, I mapped a work plan. Based on the work plan, I divided the whole project into small task and assigned each team member the task based on team members ability. Also, I gave a strict deadline. I involved myself in the design procedure of the block diagram for this device based on my research work. I studied and compared all the components and came up with a final set of components. Using my planned circuit diagram and the component list, I started to plot the hardware model. I learned new software for the implementation of the programming codes in my device. Testing and troubleshooting was performed. Regular reports on updates of my project was given to the project guide. 3.7 PERSONAL ENGINEERING ACTIVITY Based on my literature survey, I made a block diagram for my device. For my project, I have used Roboduino with ATmega328, which is Arduino compatible board. I chose this microcontroller due to its simplicity in programming. To display a message at the POS terminal, I used LCD and interfaced it with Arduino. The NFC reader is interfaced with Arduino in SPI mode. I have made use of PN532 NFC IC which prepares NFC reader by matching 13.56MHz frequency with the antenna. The data that is scanned by NFC reader is passed to the computer and further sent to web server for authentication. The web servers code that is written in visual studio will verify the data that is sent to the web service URL. The URL is already hosted. It will then send a notification stating the success or failure of the data and that will be displayed on the LCD. 3.8 To use this system, it involves three parties buyer, bank, and the merchant. The process involves tapping the buyers phone on the reader at the point of sales (POS). Once the AID is selected from the android side, it will return the card number and PIN to the reader. As per the ISO 7816-4 standard, these values received are transferred in HEX code. On the PC terminal, this HEX code is converted into string by serial client. The bank receives the card no and PIN for verification purpose. On receiving the reply, the LCD will display true or false and it will notify the buyer about his or her transaction. 3.9 For the function of the system, I used the following components to suit my requirement. PN532 it is a highly-integrated transmission module which is used for contactless communication at 13.56MHz and it also supports microcontroller functionality based on 80C51 core. Arduino Duemilanove, LCD 162, Resistors, Capacitors, LED, MOSFET, Inductor and Crystal With the help of these components I prepared a circuit diagram using a software called Eclipse. The readers circuit diagram differs than others because it moves from one host interface to other and the SPI interface uses MOSI. PN532 supports three modes. The interfacing is done for the LCD and NFC shield with the Roboduino. The NFC shield operates as SPI modes while interfacing, so 4 pins MOSI, MISO, SS and SCK are interfaced to the Arduino pins. 3.10 Once my hardware part was completed and the components were soldered to the PCB, I progressed my work with the development of the software part for my device. The software part was divided into two parts, one for the hardware functioning and the other part was designed to function the web application. To start with the implementation, I had to learn certain programming software, as they were new for me. The four software that are used in my device are Arduino IDE used for programming Arduino Uno board with C++ language, Microsoft Visual Studio used for developing a serial client software, web application and web service with the use of C#, Eagle is used for PCB designing and schematic layout and Eclipse to develop android applications using Java code. 3.11 For receiving data on COM port and for the verification purpose of the user, a software i.e. serial client is developed with the help of C#.Net. A random website is developed for the registration and processing the NFC payment purpose, editing details of the user, adding money etc. A tap pay app based on android is prepared for NFC shield to communicate and transfer the required card details to serial port. The serial client performs all further procedure. After the completion of the software designing, the project was run on the trial basis to check its working and for any faulty situation. Various troubleshooting and test kits were used to solve any issue in the device. All the connections were checked at the final stage to avoid short circuit situation of the PCB. 3.12 Working in teams is also a challenging situation. And as I was the group leader, I had to present the complete working model of my project on time. I coordinated with each group member. I took a fair, unbiased, and appropriate decision in the state of conflict. I took help from my seniors and project supervisor in the crises of any error or problem. There were two major issues during my project, first was working on software as coming from electronics and communication background, it was difficult and challenge to write such big codes. I took the challenge and learned all possible solutions and techniques to write the code. The second issue was I had to reconnect some of the components as while performing a trial run, the microcontroller got burnt. I took precaution while correcting the issue so that I dont make the same mistake again. 3.13 SUMMARY Therefore, after performing and developing such endless device, I have proposed a trusted and secure option for payment method which is based on NFC. It processes payment without the need of physical card, the mobile does all the work by just tapping it at the reader. Once the users details are verified, the payment is processed and executed successfully. I have kept the window open for expanding my project in future. The details can be encrypted before transferring it from the phone to the POS, thus keeping it more safe and secure. It can be used anywhere, from shopping at small shops to malls, as well as an access system for the door or for buying tickets at railway or bus stations. 3.14 The project was a big step in my bachelors degree. It involved serious knowledge and full dedication. I learned and developed new technologies and software that are related to my electronics and communication field. I used my engineering knowledge at various point during the execution and implementation of the project. I was grateful to my project guide for constantly helping me and training me to develop such device. I made a presentation and report describing the details of my project. I referenced various work of great researchers and scientist wherever needed.

Roundup Essay -- Monsanto’s Soya Bean

"If you read Wall Street’s reports, they don’t talk of soya bean as originating in China. They don’t talk of soya bean as soya bean. They talk of Monsanto soya. Monsanto soya is protected by a patent. It has a patent number. It is therefore treated as a creation of Monsanto, a product of Monsanto’s intelligence and innovation." – Vandana Shiva (Barsamian, 1997) Introduction Monsanto is a Saint Louis Chemical manufacturer that is a major player in the weed killing business. Monsanto has quite a portentous past. They developed and produced the notorious defoliant "Agent Orange" used in the Vietnam War, they invented the controversial recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), and they were the inventors and world’s main producer of polychlorinated biphenols (PCB’s) which are now banned but still linger in our soil and water (Arax, 1997). Presently, Monsanto is commonly known for its potent herbicide named Roundup. As the biggest-selling weed killer in the world, Roundup accounts for 17 percent of Monsanto’s total annual sales of $9 billion (Arax, 1997). The main ingredient of Roundup is glyphosate. Glyphosate is the eighth most commonly used herbicide in U.S. agriculture and the second most commonly used herbicide in nonagricultural settings (Cox, 1995). It’s estimated annual use according to the U.S. EPA is between 15 and 20 million pounds in agriculture and between 4 and 6 million pounds elsewhere (Arax, 1997). Monsanto claims that Roundup breaks down quickly in the soil, so that little or no toxic byproduct accumulates in plant or animal tissue - a viewpoint often disputed. Monsanto’s patent on Roundup will expire in two years, and when this happens, countless chemical companies will undoubtedly jump into the mark... ...Susan Benson, and Rachel Burstein. "A Growing Concern." Mother Jones January / February 1997: 37-43. Barsamian, David. "We Can’t Afford To Have a Sacred Car Rather Than a Sacred Cow." The Progressive September 1997: 36-39. Bruno, Kenny. "Say It Ain’t Soy, Monsanto." Multinational Monitor January / February 1997: 27-30. Cox, C. "Glyphosate, Part 1: Toxicology." Journal of Pesticide Reform Fall 1995 Vol. 15, No 3. Cox, C. "Glyphosate, Part 2: Human Exposure and Ecological Effects." Journal of Pesticide Reform Winter 1995 Vol. 15, No 4. "Perils Amid Promises of Genetically Engineered Foods" by Dr. Mea Ho. Biology Department, Open University, U.K. November 1996. WWW.GREENPEACE.ORG/~GENENG/INDEX.HTML "Why Consumers and Farmers Should Avoid Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered Soybeans" – A Greenpeace Report. WWW.GREENPEACE.ORG/~GENENG/INDEX.HTML

A Man with a Vision :: essays research papers

My search began with personal interest about a man by the name of Howard Coffin. I knew him as the founder of Pirates of the Spanish Main, a local organization that he established in 1931. His purpose in founding the club was to welcome dignitaries, promote the Golden Isles, and aid the community. As a member of the club today, I thought it might be interesting to trace the roots back to the founder. Little did I know, Mr. Coffin was much more than just the founder of a club. He was also a man with a vision, who made huge strides in developing much of the Golden Isles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. Coffin was born in 1873 and grew up on an Ohio farm, and in Ann Harbor, Michigan. He first discovered one of his visions while attending the University of Michigan. His vision was somehow to produce a low cost car, which would sell for less than a thousand dollars and that would attract a mass market. In 1902, Howard Coffin went to work for the Old Motor Works of Detroit, where he began his phenomenal career as an automobile builder. After the Olds Company decided to stay with their expensive car, he worked at other companies until he was finally able to achieve his dream. With the financial support of the Hudson Department Stores of Detroit, he invented the Hudson Car. The car was the first model of a four-cylinder roadster that sold for about $900.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first visit that Mr. Coffin made to the coast of Georgia was in 1910 to attend the Savannah Road Race. Early automobile manufacturers liked to watch their cars perform, but also they made it a vacation trip. While attending the races and enjoying their vacation, Mr. and Mrs. Coffin fell in love with the beauty and history of the Golden Isles of the Georgia coast. Since Mr. Coffin was well able to afford just about anything he wanted, he and his wife decided to purchase the 20,000 acres that made up Sapelo Island. They would have a place to vacation, a wonderful place to entertain, and a reason to return to the Georgia coast.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Howard Coffin’s real importance to Golden Isles history was in the vision that he had for development with the ongoing process of automobile roads. After the end of World War I, the sales of automobiles far surpassed the condition of roads for their travel.

Are Curfews Fair to Juveniles Essay

Cities across the United States have imposed curfews on juveniles for many years. Teen curfew laws restrict the hours that juveniles may be on the streets or in public places at night (Sutphen and Ford). Some people consider curfews infringing on people’s constitutional rights. Curfews are hard to implement by law enforcement, and, in fact, take law enforcement away from more serious crimes. More crimes occur during daytime hours and more children are victimized in their homes than on the streets. Although curfews are made to protect our juveniles and to deter crime by juveniles, does imposing these curfews violate the juvenile’s civil rights and target the true underlying problems involved in enforcing these issues? People have a right to personal freedoms, including juveniles, but curfews take away some personal freedoms of juveniles. A 16-year-old en route to a fast-food restaurant is stopped and questioned five times, by five different police officers (Davidson). Even though this teen had no intension of any mischief, he or she was stopped five times. When a juvenile transitions from a child to an adult they are required to take on more responsibilities, curfews limit them as they make the transition into adulthood. This hinders the juvenile from making adult decisions. Youth curfews use the idea of childhood based on innocence/ignorance, passivity and dependence, in order to prevent young people from crossing the boundary into adulthood before society deems them ready (O’Neil). Most parents want the freedom to choose how to raise their children and what values they want to instill in their children. If the state leaves guidance in the hands of the parents, they can monitor their child’s development and gradually increase her liberty and responsibility by allowing her to experience new situations and to make choices as she develops into an adult (Assessing the Scope if Minors’ Fundamental Rights: Juvenile Curfews and the Constitution). Curfews stifle the personal freedoms of juveniles. The enforcement of curfews presents even more reasons to abolish curfews. It is hard for law enforcement to enforce curfews and curfew violations are not taken seriously. Juvenile curfews will not stop young people who are intent on committing crime, in part, because the penalties for a curfew violation are not that serious (O’Neil). There are also limited police officers to help with the enforcement of curfews. Because of the curfews, it takes the police away from more serious crime that are happening in cities across the United States. The enforcement of juvenile curfews is hard to put into effect, and there are limited police officers to enforce these curfews, which are often not even taken seriously. Crimes by juveniles occur more often during the day than at night. When either both parents work, or there is a single parent household, juveniles must come home from school alone. Since juveniles are left unsupervised, they sometimes commit crimes and these crimes usually occur during the day. Those opposed to curfews replied that most juvenile crimes occurred in daylight hours, that most children were not criminals, and that many legitimate nocturnal activities were being suppressed (Juvenile Curfews and the Major Confusion Over Minor Rights). Since most juvenile crimes occur during the day, why should a curfew be imposed on juveniles? One of the main reasons juvenile curfews were imposed, was to protect the juveniles from the dangers that could occur during the late hours of the night. Although many feel curfews protect juveniles from these dangers, many times that is not the case. Many juveniles are victimized in their own homes. Critics argue that because many juvenile crimes occur during the day and most juvenile victimization occurs at home, nighttime curfews fail to target the worst problems (Juvenile Curfews and the Major Confusion Over Minor Rights). Although juvenile curfews were put in place to protect children, the streets are not always the places where children are victimized. Most large cities in the United States impose juvenile curfews. Juveniles have rights to the personal freedoms their parents allow and the government needs to let the parents raise their children without interference. Because most juvenile crimes are committed during the day, and since curfews restrict night time activities, we should abolish these curfews. Curfews also take law enforcement officers away from more serious crimes. Curfews were made to protect juveniles and to deter juvenile crime, but since most juveniles are victimized at home and most juvenile crimes are committed during the day, curfews are ineffective and should be abolished.

How Do Certain Food and Beverage

Despite all the conventional methods of analyzing the customers with all the physical and social and other factors, the actual statistics seem to differ tremendously from the estimated outcomes. This is because we as humans seem to bank heavily on emotions. Once the customer has some sort of emotional attachment with the outlet for whatsoever reasons, he is not going to opt for other places. The customer might now be considered loyal to the outlet. The customer wouldn’t prefer going to any of the competitors because he feels he has some sort of bond with the outlet. This emotional umbilical cord is very powerful as it is one of the easiest and the most effective ways to maintain customer loyalties. As they say, it is easier to retain the existing customers than it is to create new ones. The existing customers would always walk in with that feeling of homeliness and once this feeling of theirs is respected and catered, all the outlet has do is cash in. Existing customers don’t mind paying a little extra also because they’ve already grown used to the ambience and the way the outlet is run. Therefore, it should be profoundly important for the hotels and restaurants, to see to it that they lock in the customers as their regular guests. The hotels have to work hard to make sure that the customers don’t take away the business elsewhere. The loss of a regular customer is colossal. The hotel is just not losing that one customer but a lot more than that. All those people whom he had recommended the hotel in course of years would also develop negative thoughts and opinions about the outlet. This might be a very serious issue and often devastating for the hotel chains. Loyalty as such is the key factor in most businesses, but its impact is more clearly visible in the business of hospitality and hotel management. When compared to several other businesses, the one fact that stands out here is that the hospitality industry has a lot to do with how the customer actually feels about being at the place. This might include the food, the ambience, the customer satisfaction and several other factors. Hospitality has more to do with experience as against those of other industries who just sell products. There can be many ways in which this can be done, some hotels prefer giving free gifts, some give special privileges to their regular customers, some others give huge discounts. All these methods are simply aimed at encouraging customer loyalty. The hotels and restaurants should never miss a chance on maintaining and pleasing loyal customers given the fact that this emotional attachment is so very delicate yet powerful enough change the very course of several businesses. Research Problem: It is because of these above stated reasons that it becomes immensely important for the managers to study the science of loyalty management and learn how to implement it thoroughly. Discussion: Important concepts and theories, the background of the study: In simple terms, it can be said that in spite of all what the company the customer has an inherent tendency to keep looking for better alternatives, the analogy here is given by Leahy where the characteristic customer behavior is compared to that of a cat. A dog considered being man’s best friend because come what may it does not swerve its loyalties. However the customer behaves more like the cat and is always on the lookout for softer and more comfortable lap. The need of the hour is that the hotels should see to it that they provide this soft lap to the customers and always keep increasing the standard of their services. Leahy here compares the restaurants to the airlines; the airlines have been far more successful in maintaining loyal customers than the hospitality industry. Airlines have several clubs where the members are classified as gold, silver or other such members. The members of such clubs are offered free up gradation from economy to business class if the seats are free. However no such practice is noticed among the hotel managements. The article takes evidence from US consultancy Colloquy, noting that restaurants are lagging far behind other businesses in developing loyalty schemes. The article notes that in the United States, only 27. 2 million customers are part of restaurant loyalty schemes, while airlines have over 254. 4 million members for their loyalty schemes. Leahy further emphasizes that loyalty issues are to be taken very seriously in the restaurant business and it is very important to retain regular customers. The General Approach: There are many ways to retain regular customers, one such prominent way is the loyalty card, a technique which has now caught on even in big showrooms and jewel stores. The simple technique here is that every time the customer buys something, he is given certain points and once these points reach a certain value, the points can be exchanged for discounts or special offers. This not only keeps the customer coming back to your store but also helps in maintaining good relations. Once again this idea was an innovation of the aviation industry and it still needs to be implemented to a greater extent in the hospitality industry. According to CEFF (2007), loyalty cards schemes are a key factor in determining choice of hotel, airlines and restaurant chains by leisure travelers. Surveys have revealed that even though there are some customers who don’t quite bother about these loyalty cards, a good percentage about seventy percent of them admit that the loyalty cards played prominent roles in them determining their hotel or airlines. Literary Reviews and Opinions: Gomez, Arranz and Cillan (2006) argue that these loyalty programs yield two important results of interest, which may be applied to the hotel and restaurant hospitality sectors. Such a program creates to genres of customers. The first class of customers includes those who display more behavior loyalty than the others simply because they are emotionally aware that the hotel considers them more important than their counterparts which are not enrolled in any of the loyalty schemes. As in all businesses, emotion plays a very prominent role even in the hotel and management industry. Yet another thing that needs to be borne in mind is that the customer will not simply walk in to your outlet just because you have all these cards and offers. For example, however captivating and encouraging might be the scheme; the customer will come to your restaurant only when he feels like eating. You can never force the customer to increase the number of his visits, directly or indirectly. Research that compares consumer behavior before and after the introduction of a loyalty program show that there is no real difference in the number of visitors, or the amount of purchasing done (Gomez, Arranz, & Cillan, 2006). Here it is once again argued that loyalty program don’t quite generate new loyal customers but just help in retaining the existing loyal customers. As in any other business, the sole objective and the motive behind your business should be very clear, for example, if the customer doesn’t like your product, then all the management tactics in the world will not help him come to you. The bottom line is that what you offer the customer must stand up to his expectations. Trust and satisfaction are won by genuine effort and determination, there are no shortcuts, and the customer is smart enough to figure out what the actual standard of your restaurant is. According to Gomez, Arranz and Cillan (2006), effective loyalty can only come from customer attitudes such as satisfaction, trust and commitment. Loyalty based on simple repeated behavior is not very effective. Ethical Considerations: Unwanted effects of biased management: Some researchers argue that even though loyalty is a very important issue, it is very difficult to impress the customer through these roundabout techniques; the management needs to focus more on other basic issues like the maintenance and the quality of service. All these schemes and offers can only assist the growth, they can never be the sole reason for the growth and a sensible manager should never depend upon any of these. Lacey and Sneath (2006) argue that customer loyalty programs are not always fair to all consumers. The argument is assisted by the fact that such loyalty schemes only focus on a certain class of customers and not all customers. This creates negative hype and ill feeling among. The firm spends all the resources on pleasing the existing customers whom they assume to be loyal where as the new customers who might prove to be loyal customers in the future are just left to themselves. If this methodology is practiced in the long run, the organization might stand to lose many customers, the organization was so very considered about pleasing the existing customers that they forgot that they even have to generate new customers. â€Å"One of the basic principles of the company is remembering what it is that guests prefer when they are in your hotel,† explained (Ritz Carlton) spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl. Such an approach can even be dreadful at times. It is argued that the same quality service should be given to all the customers. Never should the restaurant make the mistake of pleasing one class of customers at the expense of others. Such a treatment might be very pleasing to the regular customer but even he will hesitate to recommend the restaurant to others because he knows that new customers are not treated well over there. Apart from all the above-mentioned ill effects, this practice is strongly condemned even on ethical grounds. The safest and the best alternative are to provide uniform treatment throughout to all the customers. This generates a positive attitude and helps a lot in business. There is no substitute to genuine hard work, determination and honest implementation of policies. As Jack Welch in his book Winning quotes â€Å"sorry, there are no shortcuts†. Hypothesis and Questions: The prime objectives: Rather than concentrating on these hypothetical concerns, the restaurant should be bothered more about improving service delivery, bakery products, and cooking. Lacey and Sneath further argue that customers who are not a part of such loyalty schemes are often discriminated against and this is very unpleasant for the customer as well as a loss in revenue for the management. Langenderfer & Cook (2004), Petty (2000) throw light on a very important aspect here. The customer databases are rich with information and are excellent resources and if by chance this data ends up in wrong hands, t can be very taxing for the customers. If such a thing happens, then it would be a clear exploitation of customer rights and a breach of moral and ethical values. The customer would then obviously hesitate to become a member of any such loyalty schemes in future. Wendlandt & Schrader (2007) come up with yet another intriguing question, they argue that all these schemes at times might even backfire and in fact cause more loss to the organization. As an able manager, the first that needs to be firmly affixed in mind is that we as humans are more effected by emotional happenings than anything else. Once the person is emotionally troubled or if he even perceives that he is being manipulated, even the most loyal of the customers will give up. The customer might get frustrated by all these and begin to think that all these tricks only serve as gimmicks and in fact react exactly in a way opposite to what is expected of him. Smartly designed loyalty schemes however can actually avoid reactance of this type. For example, a loyalty scheme that offers long-term financial rewards that have to be gathered over repeat visits will probably avoid reactance (Wendlandt & Schrader, 2007). However, long-term loyalty schemes can also be less effective at retaining regular customers. Kirby (2007) has yet another way of seeing the same scenario, the argument here is that it is more beneficial to serve customers as people rather than targeting on their customer profiles. The argument here is that rather than treating loyalty as just another part of the charm game, the hotels should earn repeat business by offering excellent services based on remembered and recorded client preferences (Kirby, 2007). If hotels invest in tracking guest preferences and provide a superior service through the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), the customer will automatically be retained. Weinstein (2004) further argues that the ambience and the feel of the place are also very important. Always remember that the customer might forget what he came for, why he came, when he came etc but he is never going to forget how it felt to be there with you. In the book the â€Å"Ice Cream Maker†, a book on the concept of six sigma, the author argues that in a departmental store or a shopping mall, it takes an average of seven to eight seconds for the customer to pass by your restaurant, it is in this minute fragment of time that we have to impress the customer that our outlet is actually worth a visit. To make the customer ‘feel’ something is an enormous challenge in its own right. Therefore, it is well worth going the extra mile to provide extra amenities to impress guests into engaging in repeat business (Weinstein, 2004). Some of the 5 star chains in Dubai follow this strategy, hoping to get repeat business by pampering even walk-in customers. Research Questions: To summarize we can say that all the literature on loyalty is divided into two categories both conflicting each other. The first category, is those who advocate the loyalty schemes to lock in customers and make sure that they patronize and prefer certain restaurants in place of the other. Some researchers even argue that such a type of management might even be unethical. The second category of advisors are those who emphasize on the importance of personalized service, remembering customer preferences, and offering amenities to keep customers coming back. They note that rather than discriminating customers, their stand is that hotels, restaurants and other businesses should keep service standards high across the board. As a manager we are faced with the question that when and to what extent which of these methodologies or logics are to implemented? What is to be given more importance and how are customers, both old and new to be dealt with? Should the approach to both these parties be same or different? What is it that needs to be done so that all the parties are happy and content? How are we going to satisfy the emotional requirements of our customers? Jang and Mattila (2005) throw light on yet another trend. Their basic argument is that the manager must learn to understand the customer needs and requirements and react accordingly, for example, if the customer is expecting monetary benefits, then he must simply be given so, instead if the hotel argues that the customer be given only the free spa session or a free buffet lunch against his will, then it is only obvious that none of the parties is happy. The customer is displeased because he is given something free of cost something he actually has no desire for. The hotel has used up its employees and other resources for the same purpose, which was not at all fruitful. Thus, such a decision has a negative impact on all parties. Jang and Matilla further note that at times immediate cash discounts are also not the solutions to the problem. Also, while customers may want immediate rewards, it usually suits managers to delay gratification in order to ensure repeat business. Also, there is less guilt associated with luxury rewards if they’ve worked up to them over a period of time. It is also noted that there is a very strong potential for developing such programs in the hospitality industry. The transactions involved and the formalities taken up during the process of loyalty offers should be made very convenient and comfortable. The customers should not be penalized to show their loyalty cards every time; the hotels should remember the customers and work towards serving them better. Data Management and Analysis and Budget considerations and timelines: Statistics will provide all sorts of data from all sorts of places. This data might vary over decades of research or even more, the right management comes from the fact that the manager should be able to pick up the right data and study it accordingly, wrongly directed research or haywire policy implementation is sure to spell doom for the company. Therefore, it is of profound importance that the right data be chosen from all perspectives, the implementation schemes should not be so costly that the management suffers because of these, after all management is all about producing the best possible results in the minimum possible expenditure. Also, the time limits should also be adhered to very strictly. What might be a huge success in summer might be a complete failure in winter. If the set goals are not achieved within the given time limits, then the entire purpose of research is flawed. Conclusion: There is no dearth of literature as far as the loyalty issue is concerned. Managers realize very well that there is more to management than just analyzing theories, real problems need real and innovative approaches, and not everything can be solved from the books. Able managers know for a certainty that all what is in research papers is just conjectures and even if a particular scheme or technique worked very well in a particular hotel or restaurant, there is no guarantee that it will produce the same or similar results elsewhere or even the same hotel the next year. Trends change, people change, their needs and expectations change, every year researchers come up with new theories. The key to being a successful manager is to have the right instincts and realize where to draw the line. It might be noted that the manager should not go to extremes, as an example he might be so puffed up with confidence that he turns a deaf year to the researchers or for that matter is so engrossed in the research that he forgets that he has to deal with real life situations. Coming to the issue of hotel management and the hospitality industry, the first and the foremost thing that should be firmly affirmed in the mind is that unless and until the product and services are up to the mark and stand valid in front of the customers’ expectations, no amount of management hoopla can help the cause. The hotel management should be more concerned about the quality of service and other basic but very important factors. Only when these issues are properly and sensibly addressed to and resolved can the management think of anything else. The loyalty considerations are also to be dealt with great care and delicacy. It is but natural that the older customer will expect better services and the new customers would want their privileges to be on par with those of everyone else. This is where the elegance of the manager comes handy. The manager should be able to glide between such scenarios always keeping in mind the benefit of the employees and should also be successful enough to generate the maximum possible revenue.