Management 4100 Cultural Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management 4100 Cultural Diversity - Essay Example he fast casual dining experience, of which Noodles & Company is part of, is also popular with consumers aged less than 24 years because it has an informal atmosphere and offers value for money, especially after the recent economic crisis. The largest segment that is expected to visit the restaurant will be those aged between 24 and 35, especially since this is the age group that frequents fast casual restaurants the most. The reason for this is the unhurried nature of service and the provisions that fast casual restaurants make for small children (Anthony 35). Most of those aged above twenty-four are expected to be both female and male, especially because those visiting Noodles & Company in this age group will be married. It is also expected that they will have small families, maybe between one and three children, and they will be in the middle-income bracket (Walker 54). Most of them will be employed with university education. Since this restaurant is to be opened in Qatar, it is expected that they will be Muslims; although, the world cup in 2022 is expected to bring in customers of all religions. This group is made up of strivers who attach importance to status and image, contended conformers who seek to be normal and follow trends, and are traditionalists who are averse to risk taking (Walker 56). For the 18-24 age group, both genders will be targeted. This age group will not be expected to have children with them, although most Noodles & Company restaurants in the US have seen a rise in couples visiting. Their income is expected to be relatively lower than the former, and they will be students in high school and university. This group is made up of self-actualizers who are exploring change, creative, and individualistic. They are also innovators who are setting their own achievement targets and are risk takers. Finally, they are esteem seekers who are materialistic and aspire for success symbols (Walker 57). Because the 18-24 age group was the most hit by the

Financial Statement Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Financial Statement Analysis - Assignment Example he financial information and data used for the analysis is extracted from the financial website () and published annual reports of the company for the period 2010-2013. The findings are presented on the basis of the profitability financial ratios (indicators) that are used to determine the financial position and performance of the selected companies in the hospitality industry of UK. The main objective of the study is comparing the performance of the main company with its major competitors in the industry. The financial analysis of the competitors allows determining prevailing trend in the industry that provides an insight of the performance of the company among its competitors. The structure of the present report is outlined as below: Intercontinental Hotel Group is an American brand of luxurious hotel operating more than 183 hotels and resorts over sixty countries worldwide. It was initially established by Pan American World airways’ in Brazil 1946. However, Intercontinental Hotel Corporation was then sold to Grand Metropolitan in 1981 in United Kingdom. In addition, the company operates more than 4,000 franchised hotels in different countries (InterContinental Hotel Group PLC, 2014). In 2013, the World Travel Awards awarded Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts as the World’s Leading Hotel Brand 2013. Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts operate under different portfolios to meet diverse needs. The core competency of the company lies in its high quality growth that has addressed the needs and developing strong relation with its customers (InterContinental Hotel Group PLC, 2014). The company has sustained it edge in the industry through adaption of technology, strategic alignment and market demand that has positioned the company a major structural hotel to anticipate socio-economic trends. Despite slow growth in the GDP of United Kingdom and consumption patterns in recreational sectors, the company has strived to attain strong market position in United Kingdom

Richard Rogers Architect Biography

Richard Rogers Architect Biography This report is written to acknowledge an architectural design icon, Richard Rogers. I will be looking at this mans life and his accomplishments. Richard Rogers is my design icon because his buildings are bold, daring, eye-catching and of course, inspirational. To get the information and research I need, I will be mainly gathering it from the internet, interviews and videos as well as any books I can come across. Hopefully, after reading this report you will understand why Richard Rogers is considered a design icon not to just myself, but the rest of the world. Richard Rogers As a person, Richard Rogers has lead an incredible life, born in Italy, he trained at the AA (Architectural Association) and Yale University leaving with an impressive amount of qualifications. Richard Rogers, his partner Norman Foster and their wives Su Brumwell and Wendy Cheesman, set up an architectural practice called Team 4, although this partnership only lasted a 4 years, Richard continued to marry Su, and create a new partnership with Renzo Piano when they then designed the first of many inspirational buildings, the Pompidou Centre. Richard won various awards for many different buildings, even though he did have some problems with the public about his buildings, he did go on to design another building, the Lloyds building in London, which is much more popular today than it was when it was being built. Richard has visited many different countries leaving his mark in many of them, including the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, New York and Japan. He has inspired many people with his buildings and his determination. He has not being afraid of putting his ideas forward, and has been given both grief and praise by the public. He is committed to ensuring that his buildings should be peoples places. The BBC invited Richard as the first architect to give the BBC Reith Lectures for a series called Cities for a Small Planet. Richard even became the Chief Advisor on Architecture and Urbanism to the Mayor of London, he has also been a chairman of the Tate Gallery and Honorary Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. If that wasnt enough, he even went on to be knighted and became Lord Rogers. Richard Rogers has many achievements and has done many, many things over his lifetime, below is a short timeline of some of his most remarkable achievements. Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Italy in 1933. Richard moved to London to go to the Architectural association. He then went on to gain a masters degree from Yale University in 1962. Richard met up with former Yale student Norman Foster and began an architectural practice called Team 4 with their wives, although the partnership only lasted a few years, Richard quickly found a new partner, Renzo Piano, who together won the Prizker Price their building the Pompidou Centre which was built in 1977. His next main building was Lloyds building in London which was completed in 1986 which became just as much of a monument as big ben. The European Court of Human Rights (1995) is very popular in France, for its fantastic looks. The Barajas airport in Madrid was also a head turner. The Millennium Dome though really was a fantastic structure, representing so much in such a unique way, this was completed in 1999. Another big project was London Heathrow Terminal 5, there was so much to this project, but it was finally completed in 2008. And finally, a real monument, Three Word Trade Centre, it is said to be completed between 2011 and 2015, it is to stand next to two other towers built by other architects using the same style. Buildings Richard Rogers has designed many buildings, most popular are the Pompidou Centre in Paris, in London he designed the Lloyds Building, the Millennium Dome and London Heathrow Terminal 5. The European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg, Barajas airport terminal 4 in Madrid and the National Assembly for Wales building were also fantastic structures. The Pompidou Centre The Centre Pompidou was Richards first building created alongside Renzo Piano in 1977, the design of which won the Prizker Prize in 2007 by basically creating the building inside out. This meant that all the parts you would usually expect to see inside, like the stairs, air ducts, plumbing, cables, etc. were all on the outside of the building creating massive indoor space, which is particularly useful as this particular building was used as an art museum, in fact, it is the largest museum for modern art in Europe. Not only was this building functional, it also complimented its use for an art museum, impressing its visitors before they even entered the building. In theory, having the internal maintenance, such as the plumbing and air ducts, should also make the building easier to maintain. Another complimenting aspect of the building is how each external part has being colour coded to make sure they stood out rather than blend in. The Pompidous original plans were actually much more extravagant to start, including moving internal walls and adjustable floors, which unfortunately, did not make it into the final design. Richard was at first reluctant to put this design forward as he was confident that the French government would turn it down, but as it has it, they didnt, and although it was criticized at first and claimed to be ugly it is now complimented on being one of the most remarkable buildings of the 20th century. The headquarters for Lloyds of London Richard used the Pompidou center as an inspiration for his next building, the Lloyds building in London. This was a massive project as the previous building was created in steel where as this one of concrete. Once again the building was designed with its internal parts, outside, this even included glass lifts which were the first of their kind in the UK, as well as the cables, stairs, pipes and even the toilets. This, of course, left large open spaces on the inside. Once again the Lloyds building was brightly coloured and brightly lit. The public at first feared this would make this building an alien is actually regarded as one of the finest buildings on London since the 1980s The Millennium Dome The millennium dome is another one of Richardss creations. It is a very clever design with 12 towers or arms extruding from the white canopy which support the roof of the structure. Stretching out a massive 365m diameter, the Dome is the biggest one in the world. The design of the structure is also clever as you will notice 365m in diameter, one meter for each day of the year, as well as one tower for each month of the year. Although you would of never of realized until someone mentioned it, its still a remarkable thing to have built in. On the inside there was a large open space with a skylight in the center of it all to fill with whatever the users would like, which for the millennium, was split into 13 different zones to educate the public in an interactive way, unfortunately, the  £43 million building only brought in half the expected visitors and was finally converted into the 02 Arena. The millennium dome was a remarkable structure built for the millennium and had been planned for since 1996, and was originally planned as a temporary structure to last only 1 year, but as it happens, its lasted much longer. 175 Greenwich Street 175 Greenwich Street is the future site of the 3rd world trade center. The structure will stretch up to 1155 feet with 71 stories, four of which will be below street level. The building will occupy 200x 198 feet. The building itself has been designed to the highest energy efficiency ratings. It is to have a central concrete core using a steel frame on the outside of the building. It is planned to be completed between 2011and 2015 depending when the site is available to developers. The building will also be accompanied by two other towers built by separate architects but hired by the same company, Silverstein Properties. All three buildings are to have the same style. London Heathrow Terminal 5 Terminal 5 was finally approved in 2001 after a 46 month public inquiry, the longest public inquiry in British history. In 2002 work had finally started and was not completed until 2008. The new terminal means that the airport can support a much higher passenger capacity, but it will not have any more flights, although environmentalists say it will lead to more flights and pollution. For the terminal to be built, two rivers had to be diverted. Using artificial waterways to successfully divert the rivers allowed the  £4.2 billion building to be built. Terminal 5 had to include a railway station and several other buildings as well as a control tower; this really shows how big the project actually is. Style Richard Rogers has been accused of having several different styles, he himself is committed on his buildings being people places, although this is not normally classed as a style, he certainly has made it into one with his structures have exceedingly large indoor spaces. Bowellism is another style related to his first building, the Pompidou Centre. Having the internal components such as the lifts, pipes, stairs and cables externally, means that there is an unreal amount of floor space, which, for an art museum, is very useful. Post-modern is referred to another one of his structures, the Lloyds building in London, having all the components clearly visible, and then brightly painted, and then brightly lit When Richard was younger, he dreamed of building a Zip-up house where his parents would live, a zip-up house basically means ready to assemble or a flat pack house. Having walls, floors, panels and so on prebuilt and fabricated making the building energy efficient, and easy to adjust. Conclusion As you can see, Richard Rogers has lead a remarkable life, building many inspirational buildings such as the Pompidou Centre, leaving his mark in many countries such as England, and many cities such as Strasbourg, he has received many well deserved awards for his buildings and has even been knighted by the queen. He has an incredible design eye, and is not afraid to go outside of the box, or in some cases, the building, and even though some of his buildings have been criticized badly, in the end, they always came out positive. The fact that Richard is still designing, and his designs still make the public gasp is amazing, hopefully he will continue to build and design for as long as possible, and Im sure that many people will be inspired by his work and his life. All of these things, and many, many more, defiantly make him a supreme choice of a design icon. Recommendations Trying to recommend anything for Richard Rogers is extremely difficult as he has done it all, hes traveled, hes married, hes left his mark, hes inspired, hes lived, if anything people should look at his life and make recommendations for themselves. Do what you love doing, and do it until you die, dont be afraid of putting your ideas forward, and fight for what you want.

Comparing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Pleasantville :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Pleasantville Have you ever heard of the great Mark Twain? Many people have and recognize his novels by name; especially his most famous book called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The great thing about Huck is that it was meant to be a simple book, but ended up deemed a classic. The reason for this is that it contains many great American themes and motifs. Many American novels, books and movies also contain these themes and motifs, making it very easy to compare Huckleberry Finn to Pleasantville. Although the plot of each story is very different, Huckleberry Finn and Pleasantville have the same motifs. Both the movie and the book have the motifs of going west, rebel vs. the establishment and Jim Crow/Shaman. This essay will compare these common American motifs. The "go west" motif is about the characters running away or escaping from where they previously were (this doesn't necessarily have to include a trip west). In Huck Finn the river is the tool used to help Huck and Jim escape from their life. The river helps to take Huck and Jim away from civilization and reunite them with nature. The river also helps to free them from "slavery", Huck being a "slave" to the Widow Douglas and Jim actually being Miss Watson's slave. In Pleasantville a life in colour is how the townspeople are allowed to "go west". When they are in black and white they have the perfect life, meaning that nothing can ever go wrong, therefore they can never learn from their mistakes. When David introduces the thought of thinking for themselves to the teenagers of Pleasantville they begin to notice that there are other places in the world, this begins to change things from black and white to colour. Both stories contain the motif of going west. Another motif in these two works is the Rebel vs. the Establishment motif. In Huck the rebel would be Huck and one of the establishments would be the "civilized" people in the book. Huck refuses to believe that people can be so shallow and religious, and also believes that this comes from being "civilized". The other establishment would the Widow Douglas/Miss.

Developmental History

Aaron (not his real name) was 3 years old and 4 months and 5 days on the day his mother was interviewed for this case study report. Aaron has a medium structure but is tall for his age, he likes to move around a lot, he is now able to run and play on his own with little supervision especially if he is inside the house. He likes going to the groceries and playing with the cans on the shelves. He can speak in short sentences but still uses baby talk when he asks for something. His first word was Mama and he actually grunts and giggles a lot. He is not comfortable with strangers or with anything new.He seems to have a slow to warm up temperament. But once he feels secure, he can actually be very friendly and interacts well with other people. He is potty trained and have started using pull-up diapers instead of the regular ones. He likes to work on coloring books and he has tons of scribbled papers. He gets bored watching TV, he does not even like Barney, but he likes music and he become s very alert when he hears Mozart or Beethoven. He likes toys that he can move, bang, throw and manipulate. He already has good fine motor skills as he can hold his spoon and eat on his own. However he can’t still button his own shirts..His favorite foods are oranges, vegetables and chicken. He also drinks apple juice with his meal. He still asks for his bottle when going to sleep but can use a sippy cup during the day. Aaron however sucks his thumb when he is sleepy or when he is feeling insecure. Health and Physical Condition Aaron was born through normal delivery, his mother was 25 when she gave birth and was the first born. His mother was healthy and did not have any severe medical conditions before and during the pregnancy. However, she had a case of urinary tract infection around 6 months into her pregnancy but was treated successfully with antibiotics.She also had a positive disposition during her pregnancy and she ate the right foods and dutifully took her vitamins an d regularly had her prenatal check-ups. Aaron passed the newborn screening test in flying colors, he was 7. 6 pounds, had the normal head circumference and height and he was already screaming when he came into the world. After 2 days in the hospital, he went home, however, he was supposed to be breastfeed but he had difficulty in it as his first feeding was from the bottle, his mother also had difficulty nursing him as she was a firs time mother.The doctors advised that he be placed on the bottle on an infant formula. He did not have any problems after this. Aaron was overweight when he was 5 months old, he has a very regular sleeping and feeding schedule and he sticks to it even if there are distractions. He liked to jump on his mother’s lap and he used his feet more than his hands at this stage. At 6 months, he changed his milk formula and he suffered from constipation, he had to be placed on different milk formula which was not constipating and was on a soft diet. After 2 days, he was able to resume normal bowel movement.He also had bouts of colic especially during the day. He does not cry much but when he does cry it took him a long time to quiet down. His mother noticed that he seemed to shiver when he cries and go blue when he does not get what he wants. When he is angry or upset, he will cough or make vomiting actions. The mother was alarmed with this behavior but when she talked to her pediatrician, he said that Aaron was merely trying to get his own way by vomiting and turning blue because when he checked him he was really just a normal child. The mother has learned not to reinforce vomiting or holding his breath and this have now disappeared.At one year old, Aaron was hospitalized for diarrhea and vomiting, he was having high grade fever and was throwing up and had very loose bowels. He was brought to the hospital because he was already showing signs of dehydration. He stayed in the hospital for 3 days and came home fine. His teeth came out in pairs and started when he was 9 months old, at 1 year and 4 months, he already had 8. He seemed to have the colds and low grade fever whenever his teeth were coming out. He has not been dropped, had his head banged or fell from the stairs. He started walking at one year old and was running before he reached 2 years old.He did not have any illnesses up to the time of the interview. Health and Medical Analysis From the case study presented, it seemed that Aaron’s major health condition that has brought about medical attention was on his digestive system. He had constipation, colic, indigestion; diarrhea and vomiting at a young age this would imply that he has a weak stomach or a very sensitive digestive system. He had been on infant formula since he was born and it could be that his stomach have not adapted as well as children who have been breastfeed (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).He also had been using distilled water since he was born and it could be that his stomach does not have the friendly bacteria that normal children have. The problem is that Aaron likes food; he has a healthy appetite but since he suffers from indigestion or diarrhea he might lose his love for eating because it was the source of his discomfort, however, at present Aaron has not shown any aversion to food. In the future, Aaron may have more instances of diarrhea because when he gets older, his mother would have lesser control over what he eats (Berk, 2005).At present he is being taught to always wash his hands before eating and to not place anything on his mouth, but the difficulty is that he still sucks his thumb before going to sleep. It is recommended that the mother try to introduce Aaron to regular water and juice and to have him eat different foods so his stomach would be accustomed to it. It was also recommended that the mother bring this to the attention of the pediatrician and to learn more about how to keep the digestive system healthy and functioning well. References Berk, L. (2005). Factors affecting growth and physical health. In Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood 5th ed (pp. 293-303). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Shonkoff, J. & Phillips, D. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early  childhood development. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press.   

SIDS: A Traumatic and Tragic Disease

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is a traumatic and tragic disease that affects thousands of babies throughout the world every year. There is no way of explaining the death of a child that has SIDS and there are no real ways of predicting if it could happen to any baby. What makes SIDS even worse is that the source of what exactly may be the cause of it is still unknown. Advanced research in the last 30 years has dramatically reduced the number of deaths. SIDS not only affects the infants but also the families of the infant and it proves to be a very tough and emotional experience for them. So what exactly is SIDS? The term SIDS was finally defined in 1969 as the sudden death of an infant or child, which is unexpected by history and in which a through post-mortem examination fails to demonstrate an adequate cause of death (Culbertson 3). Basically this is another way of saying that it is not known why these babies die. SIDS is not a new disease contrary to what some people might believe, but it has been happening throughout time, unexplained deaths of babies are even recorded in the bible. SIDS was probably the most neglected disease ever recorded in history of man. It wasn†t until recently that major steps were taken to figure out why babies were dying so unexpectedly and what could we do to prevent it from happening. So what exactly causes SIDS and is there anything we can do to prevent it? Well as of right now, the cause of SIDS is unknown. We do not know what causes SIDS and there are no consistent warning signs that might alert us to the risk of it. However, scientists and researchers have discovered many things that might attribute to the causes of SIDS. SIDS almost always occurs at night when the infant is sleeping. A higher incidence of SIDS is seen among premature and low birth weight children. Women who smoke and let their children be exposed to smoke give their children a higher risk of SIDS. Low birth rates among children have a higher chance of getting SIDS. Finally there is a much higher rate of SIDS when infants are placed on their stomach to sleep. (Culbertson, 8-10) One of the biggest recommendations physicians make to new parents today is to let their babies sleep on their back. Putting them on their back greatly decreases the risk of SIDS to their children. These are just some of the things that have been THEORIZED by scientists and researchers that are possibilities that could be attributing factors to SIDS. But of course these are all theories that have been developed by researchers by statistics. Statistics is one of the greatest tools we have today to help us learn about the characteristics of SIDS. Since we don†t know what it is, seeing how it works and what things we can do to help slow it down are obviously good. Throughout history, before SIDS was defined, the accepted explanation was that either the baby choked on itself or was rolled on by the parents during sleep. Possibly an accepted answer due to the lack of knowledge in the past but know we know that most of the time they were wrong. Since there is no cure for SIDS, scientists and researchers have been studying new ways of possibly preventing it from happening to infants. New nursing techniques developed over the last 30 years have actually dramatically reduced the number of infant deaths caused by SIDS. But still we must not forget the fact we still don†t know what causes SIDS itself. That is what makes this so terrible, that researchers have all these techniques to help prevent SIDS but we still don†t know what we are preventing. Death by SIDS leaves a traumatic and terrible effect left on the parents and family members. A SIDS death usually promotes intense emotional reactions among surviving family members. After the initial shock and disbelief, parents often fall into a prolonged depression usually of self-denial about if they killed their baby. This depression can affect their sleeping, eating, ability to concentrate, and general energy level. (Culbertson 190-193) Crying, weeping, incessant talking, and strong feelings of guilt or anger are all normal reactions. Many parents experience unreasonable fears that they or someone in their family is in danger. Over protection of surviving children and fears for future children is a common reaction. As the finality of the child†s death becomes a reality for the parents, recovery finally occurs. Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries often trigger painful memories of the loss (Culbertson, 186-188). Children can also be affected by the loss. Many children may develop a fear that they themselves might die. In many cases children will also feel guilty about the death feeling that possibly it was their fault. However, children may deny being upset and try to hide their emotions which is a reason why most parents have to talk with their children and assure them it is not going to happen to them. (Culbertson,190-193) One of the true bright spots about the fight against SIDS is that in the last 20 years, deaths caused by SIDS have dropped dramatically in the United States and the rest of the world. Currently the average in the world among SIDS deaths is between 0. 5-3. 0 deaths per thousand (Culbertson,11). When comparing to that when it was first studied at about an average of 15-20 deaths per thousand(Bergman,10-11), a major improvement has been seen. However, though it isn†t that high of a number, it still accounts for 20 percent of all deaths between the ages of one month and one year and 95 percent of that between 2 months and 4 months. Guntheroth,70-73). It is important to point out that most all statistics of SIDS come from developed countries, countries that have the money to perform autopsies on infants. We can only assume that in undeveloped countries, which have a very high infant mortality rate to begin with, the presence of SIDS is there and probably have a much higher rate than in developed countries because throughout the world, SIDS rates are very constant with one another wherever studies have and can be conducted. SIDS ranks only second to injuries as the greatest cause of death to children who are less than 15 years of age and it takes more lives than leukemia, heart disease, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy in that age period. ( Bergman, xi). So in conclusion to all of this, there still is very little information on what exactly causes SIDS. Unlike other diseases, which we know the cause of, SIDS is the one that we don†t have any knowledge on what the source is that causes it. One of the most important statements but disheartening is that SIDS is a â€Å"disease of theories†(Bergman, 12). Everything we know, all the information that is produced and published is all just a theory because we don†t even know what happened and what caused the death. So where do we go from here? What can be done to stop this terrible disease? Who knows. All we can do is sit back and hope someone†s â€Å"theory† is the right one and be thankful that this disease only affects 1-3 infants per thousand born. There are so many questions but not nearly enough answers and until that day we can only do what the experts tell us to do and hopefully the SIDS disease will almost become non-existent.