Media Coverage of Womens Sports

Media Coverage of Womens Sports Women and Sports Introduction Media coverage of sporting activities performs a role in shaping attitudes of the society with regards to women’s sports. This is largely attributed to the thousands of hours or sports recording undertaken by the television network record each year. But for many decades, men’s sports activities have dominated the airwaves (Carlisle et al.). The domineering nature of men’s sports has led to women sports receiving little to no airplay; this is in large parts attributed to the lack of equal coverage between the two genders. A recent survey in the United States affirmed that women sports only received 1.6 percent airplay across all television network as compared to 96.3 percent given to men’s sports. This paper takes the position that the mass media is not doing enough when it comes to encouraging women sports (Messner and Cooky). The lack of adequate media coverage with respect to women sports has dealt a negative impact on the growth of the game. Even after the enactment of the Title IX legislation, women are yet to be treated in the same way as their male counterparts (Www2.ed.gov). The legislations ensure that men and women are treated equally when it comes to any activity that is federally funded, sports included. Problem definition Mass media companies don’t accord women the same prominence in their sports segments only relegating a small portion of the airtime. Some of the reasons women get little airtime on mass media companies include: Sexual Objectification Female athletes are still targets of being sexualized and objectified by the commentators. Despite the commentator not speaking about the athlete in a sexual manner, the inclusion of visual images of the women diverts attention from what is really important (Tanner). This is not an entirely new phenomenon, in the 1920s women basketball players’ pictures were used to draw the cognitive attention of the male audience to come and watch games. The women were being fitted with short shorts and tight t-shirts. Studies conducted in the United States revealed that women objectification has not changes even in the twenty-first century. The revelation was informed of the fact that most television networks were still portraying women in humorous and sexual as compared to their male counterparts. The objectification of women is further aggravated by the comments made by the sports commentators. Most of the commentators are male, as such they take most of the time to objectify women by put ting sexual visuals and making trivial jokes that demean women sports (North). Gender marking Another impediment faced by female athletes is the gender marking on their game titles. For instance, when an advert is being put up to announce the finals of the feminine game it is always marked as â€Å"Women’s Finals Tournament† (Tanner). This is in contrast to their male counterparts when men are playing there are no gender markers in the advertisements. Most broadcasters and mass media companies assert that they use gender markings to differentiate games that are being played at the same time. For instance, In the United States Tennis opens, all the games are played on the same day and at most times simultaneously. Some mass media companies use visuals that reinforce gender difference in games played (Tanner). For instance, CBS’s coverage of the 1989 NCAA basketball tournaments used the pink color to denote women’s matches while using the blue color to denote men matches. The mass media companies ought to drop the genders markers for women games sinc e it gives the notion that women games are in the â€Å"others† category (Tanner). Cause of the problem This section highlights the different reasons why women are not accorded the same prominence in the sports segment in all major media houses. Some of these reasons include: Society Society is another impediment to women’s sport and also gives mass media an excuse to reduce women sports coverage. Society defines that there are games that are lady-like which women can participate, these games include tennis and golf. But when women attempt to play games that are seen to be masculine in nature, the society shuns them. The main point as to why it is difficult for women to participate in such sporting activities is because it is seen as though they are going against social norms and customs. The stereotype with respect to the types of games women should play can be attributed mostly to media framing. Media framing can be defined as pieces or exhibits a journalist, or a news editor considers to be most important (Shaller). Through media framing, the editors bring about the most important characteristics of a story and highlight them; it is also an opportunity for both the editor and the journalist to stress the most important things they consider to be more im portant to their audience. The use of this tactic has been detrimental to women’s sports coverage; this is because most journalists and editors emphasis on masculinity as compared to femininity (Shaller). Media framing manipulates the audience’s psychology and makes the audience follow what the editor and journalist are putting across. Media framing one of the reasons why men sports are given prominence over feminine games in mass media. Another critical aspect is male hegemony; this can be defined as the process of male domination in the society. The mass media promotes male hegemonic beliefs when it comes to their domineering tendencies in the sports realm (Shaller). Commentators The field of commentators is largely dominated by men. A study of all major sports media companies indicated that there was an increasing incorporation of racial diversity in their news coverage (Messner and Cooky). But there was little progress with respect to women being given archonship positions or commentator positions. Most of the women in the sports scene are not regular anchors and used as auxiliary reporters. Despite the accomplishments that have been made with respect to women’s sports participation, there is still sexual segregation with respect to women holding influential positions on the sports desk. The commentator makes remarks that do not reflect women’s professionalism in sports. For instance, a commentator said, â€Å"the new mom Candace Parker leads the Los Angeles Sparks,† this was to reinforce the societal stereotype of women. This segregation ensures that the amounts of women sports feature being aired on these main mass media companies wou ld largely remain the same (Messner and Cooky). As already attested to earlier, having more women on board and in positions of making decisions enable them to cover women feature stories better; as they tend to give their female counterparts better airtime as compared to male reporters in the same field. Racial diversity has not yet been emphasized in with regards to women anchors. The study confirmed that women anchors were still largely white, this means that women from all different ethnic backgrounds need to join. This will ensure that women from all walks of life would be able to participate in sporting activities or develop an interest in watching sports feature, this will mirror the accomplishments that have been done by their male counterparts (Messner and Cooky). Gatekeeping A study performed in America showed that mass media companies with female reporters as editors tend to shed positive light to women’s sports. The coverage was seen to be more positive with regard to the progress women have made since the introduction of the Title IX amendment. Despite these the positive indicators, the survey also affirmed that female reporters did not offers equitable coverage to women’s sports as their male counterparts (Kian and Hardin). But women reporters were apt to giving women athletes airtime as compared to their male counterparts. The study also confirmed that when an editor wanted a women’s sport story to be aired, he/she would assign the story to a female reporter; but this assignment is largely considered as trivial as compared to male sports (Kian and Hardin). The study also expounded on the decision-making process editors embroil in when trying to make a story coverage assignment; these factors include work routine, expectation of readers, organizational demand and also the editor’s attitudes and biases with respect to the a women’s sports. All these factors encourage editors to further neglect and put aside women sports in their coverage features (Kian and Hardin). The effects of seclusion The constant neglecting of women in sports has an effect on consumer utilizing the mass media. It impairs their psychology in that they become bias with respect to what games they can watch and which ones not to. These effects can be explained through: Cultivation theory This theory explores the impact the comments made by sports commentators have on their audience (Tanner). This theory is highly applicable to those members of society that are considered to be big consumers of television content. The way these individuals experience the real world would be greatly influenced by the content they have been exposed to while they watched television. The act of cultivation occurs by the continuous accrual of images and voices they pick up while watching television; these pictures and stories that have accrued over time will thus have the ability to skew an individual to be biased against a particular social issue. With respect to sports, people are exposed to sporting actions most of the time during the day; this means they collect images and stories from commentators and store them in their minds. Most of the time, people are exposed to information that does not accurately portray the real image of female athletes. Some of the stories are exposed to sugg est women to be sexual objects and does not highlight their competencies as athletes. The continuous accumulation of negative portrayal of women in sport greatly impacts the ability of the audience to be objective when it comes to female athletes; in the end, they dismiss media coverage of women games (Tanner). Another effect of cultivation theory is the mainstreaming notion. With respect to mainstreaming, heavy consumers of television content are not affected by the gains made by women in the fields of sports. The events happening in social realities have little impact in influencing these types of individuals; factors like politics, regional differences do not resonate with their belief systems (Tanner). Over the decades, women’s participation in sporting activities has increased. But heavy television users are most time oblivious to these facts while watching television (Tanner). They hold the notion that women are sexual beings and are emotional but do not appreciate their prowess when it comes to sporting actions. These types of individuals also believe that women sports are still second tier as compared to men’s sports; this is further encouraged by the use of gender markers while advertising the sporting actions that are going on. Such individuals in society will always view women as sexual objects first before considering them as competent athletes (Tanner). Advertisement revenue Studies indicate that there is a vested interest when it comes to sports journalism. Male athletes are considered to produce the highest turnover with respect to sponsorships, advertisement revenues, and television viewership. In retrospect, mass media companies will gravitate toward covering stories that would culminate in them getting more advertisement revenues. The stories are designed to draw male viewers and increase the advertisement revenues from companies that advertise products while the sports news are commencing. This form of bias against women’s sport relegates women to waiting until the Olympics when they receive considerably better media coverage. In advertising, male athletes are usually chosen (Jones). The reason is because they are more recognized all over the world; this, in essence, means that the advertisement revenue would be higher as compared to when female athletes are on the magazine. Due to the low recognition of women as compared to their male count erparts, media companies are skewed to favor male sports as compared to women’s sports due to the advertisement revenue generated. In most magazines in the United States, men get almost 13 times more photographs in newspapers and sports journals as compared to women athletes (Jones). Agenda Building Through agenda building, mass media conglomerates advertise events they believe are important and the audience should be waiting for (Tanner). This is done by carefully choreographic what events to give airtime to and what not to. As already asserted in the earlier, they do this because they have vested interest in the game. By giving prominence to a particular game and neglect, other sends out a message to the audience that some games are far important as compared to the others. This is what happens to women’s games. The media corporations ensure that they give a lot of airplay to games like Nation Football League as compared to women’s soccer (Tanner). This undoubtedly tells the audience that women sports are second tier to men’s games, the corporations also stand to make a lot of income with respect to advertisement that would be brought to them when they will start airing the games. Another factor that leads to poor advertisements for women’s games is the general lack of interest from viewers. The mass media conglomerates assert that the production of women’s events is below average (Kane). The producers of such events do poorly with respect camera work and graphics editing; the combination of these factors renders women’s events as less attractive to the majorly male dominated viewership. They also assert that some features in men’s games are missing, features like slow motion and broadcasting prowess that is in tandem with men’s games (Tanner). Another factor that diminishes the position of women’s sports in media conglomerates is the fact that men are present in all levels of management; this means that they have a say with respect to what stories to highlight and how the stories are going to be shown. Male dominance ensures that all male sporting events are flashier and more glamorous as compared to women’s sporting events (Tanner). Possible solution For the mass media companies to make positive change with regard to women sports they need to hire more women. As already cited previously, when women are given the opportunity to interview athlete, they stand a better chance of giving fellow women more airtime as compared to their male counterparts (Kian and Hardin). The second possible solution is the media companies changing their agenda-setting strategies. As mentioned earlier, media companies turn viewers focus towards men’s games, it would be fruitful if the same tenacity is provided towards women sports. This will ensure that more fans gravitate towards women’s sports. These companies ought to invest the same amount of technology with respect to graphics like the ones in men’s sports. It has been cited that people dislike women’s sports due to poor graphics and lack of glamor. If this equipment is put in place, the game stands a better chance to gain more following both locally and abroad. Media com panies ought to hire more women commentators who should work alongside their male counterparts (Messner and Cooky). Women commentators will ensure that the use of derogatory phrases and sexually objectifying visuals while depicting female athletes (Kian and Hardin). Another front to improve women sports is the disbandment of gender makers in games. This phenomenon has been cited to relegate women’s games to the â€Å"others† category. The disbandment of gender makers would shed a positive light on women’s sports and make people more willing to watch the games. Finally, media companies have to use media framing in equal proportions; previously it has been used to incline audiences to watch male games as compared to female games. With positive media framing to women’s games, the audience’s psychology towards women’s games would be changed to a less bias one (Shaller). Conclusion Since the enactment of the Title IX act, women have made incredible strides in bringing their sports to the mainstream media. The act ensured that everyone participating in any form of sport funded by the federal government should not be discriminated against with reference to gender or race. But there is a considerable amount of resistance from the mass media companies. In tandem with other factors such as the objectification of women as sexual beings rather than considering their athletic prowess are major roadblocks. It is important and necessary that the media organizations put equal emphasis on the way the share out airtime. The media framing used for the men should also be used to women; this will ensure that the public perception of women’s games is gradually changed. This will ensure that the stereotype associated with women in sports is dispensed with, and a culture of professionalism is cultivated. Commentators are also supposed to refrain from making comments that a re deemed derogatory to women in sports and also refrain from using visuals that don’t represent the professionalism of women participating in sports. References Bernstein, Alina, and Neil Blain. Sport and the media: The emergence of a major research field.Sport in Society5.3 (2002): 1-30. Carlisle, Margaret Duncan et al. Gender Stereotyping In Televised Sports LA84 Foundation. LA84 Foundation. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015. Cooky, Cheryl, Michael A. Messner, and Robin H. Hextrum. Women Play Sport, But Not on TV A Longitudinal Study of Televised News Media.Communication Sport1.3 (2013): 203-230. Hanson, Valarie. The Inequality of Sport: Women Jones, Dianne. Womens sports coverage: online images of the 2008 Olympic Games.Australian Journalism Review32.2 (2010): 89-102. Kane, Mary Jo. Media coverage of the female athlete before, during, and after Title IX: Sports Illustrated revisited.Journal of sport management2.2 (1988): 87-99. Kian, E. M., and Marie Hardin. Framing of sport coverage based on the sex of sports writers: Female journalists counter the traditional gendering of media coverage.International Journal of Sport Communication2.2 (2009): 185-204. North, Louise. The gendered world of sports reporting in the Australian print media.JOMEC journal(2012). Messner, Michael A., and Cherly Cooky. Gender in Televised Sports.Center for Feminist Research(2010). Tamir, Ilan, and Yair Galily. Women’s Sports Coverage in Israel: Perception Versus Reality.International Journal of Sport Communication3.1 (2010): 92-112. Shaller, Jessica. Female athletes in the media: Under representation and inadequacy.Undergraduate Review: a Journal of Undergraduate Student Research8.1 (2013): 50-55. Tanner, Wendy. Marginalization and Trivialization of Female Athletes and Women’s Sports through Commentator Discourse A Study of ESPN’s SportsCenter. (2011). Womens Sports Foundation,. Womens Sports Foundation. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015. Www2.ed.gov,. Title IX And Sex Discrimination. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015.

Case 4 Ginger – Smart Basics.Pdf Uploaded Successfully

C AS E 4 Ginger: Smart BasicsTM Dr Mukta Kamplikar1 Roots Corporation Limited develops and operates a fast-expanding chain of economy hotels across India under the â€Å"Ginger† brand. There is currently a lack of competition in the branded economy hotels segment and Ginger is the only branded economy hotel chain in India. The Ginger hotels are built around a concept that provides facilities to meet the key needs of today’s traveler, at affordable rates.Ginger faces challenges in different aspects of its business as it aims to deliver consistently, quality service to the customer and manage customer expectations. COMPANY BACKGROUND Exhibit 1: The proportion of hotel segments across Indian cities. Jaipur Cochin Goa Pune Hyderabad Bangalore Chennai Kolkata Mumbai Delhi/National Capital Region Budget Mid-market First class Lurxury R oots Corporation Limited (RCL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). IHCL is a part of the Tata Group of c ompanies (see www. tata. om), India’s premier business house. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces comprises 77 hotels, 7 palaces, 6 private islands and 12 resorts in 40 locations across India with an additional 18 international hotels in the Maldives, Mauritius, Malaysia, Australia, UK, US, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa, and the Middle East. Incorporated on 24 December 2003, Roots Corporation Limited operates the ? rst-of-its-kind category of Smart Basicsâ„ ¢ hotels across India. Launched in June 2004, the Smart Basicsâ„ ¢ concept created a revolution in the world of Indian hospitality.Roots Corporation Limited develops and operates a fast-expanding chain of economy hotels across India under the â€Å"Ginger† brand. The company either owns/ leases land on which it develops and operates hotels and has now started entering into joint developments where the owner brings in the land and bare shell and leases the same to the company. The company’s recent growth has been organic, through developing and operating hotels in new cities or by going for additional hotels in existing markets; thus expanding the geographic reach of the hotel chain.The company intends to develop and operate additional hotels under both business models to maintain or achieve a dominant position in every market covered by their Ginger hotel chain. The Economy Segment Historically, hotel development projects in India generally focused on upscale hotels that were primarily targeted at international tourists and corporate travelers. New hotels will be concentrated in 18 main cities over the next 10 years, as shown in the following chart. Exhibit 2: Projected hotel expansion rate over 10 years. 60 50 Number of hotels 40 30 20 10 0De lhi N Mu CR Ba mba n Hy galo i de re rab ad P Ch une en n Ja ai ipu r G Ko oa lka Vis t akh Ko a ap chi Ah atn em am da b Ud ad aip u A r Lud gra h Luc iana kn M ow Co yso imb re ato re Source: HVS International. 446 Case Study Between 2007 and 2010, supply will increase in all categories of hotels, as shown in the chart below. Exhibit 3: Projected supply increase in all categories of hotel. Increase over Five Year Development of Supply Mid-market First Class Proposed Supply Existing Supply Budget Luxury a? liations as opposed to Ginger hotels, which are part of a network of hotels).Going forward we see competition continuing from the unorganized section of the market as well as from newer international and local hotel companies who have announced their intent to set-up hotels across the country in the value segment. The market is witnessing a fair amount of activity in this segment of the hotel market. Some of the companies who have announced plans to establish a presence in the country are shown in Exhibit 4. Exhibit 4: Lodging brands venturing into India. Brand Formule 1 Promoters Plans Agra Ahmedabad Bangalore Chennai Delhi (NCR) Goa Hyperabad Jaipur Kolkata Mumbai Other Cities ,336 519 1,906 2,075 7,030 2,252 1,442 1,298 1 ,354 7,402 8,056 384 462 7,794 4,407 28. 7% 89. 0% 408. 9% 212. 4% 69% 48% 55% 36% 74% 18% 57% 42 61% 36% 47% 31. 1% 28. 0% 24. 8% 12. 4% 25. 4% 11. 7% 11. 2% 30. 8% 3. 9% 32. 5% 16. 7% 38. 0% 27. 0% 43. 6% 34. 4% 36. 3% 29. 4% 28. 9% 18. 6% 37. 5% 15. 6% 37. 0% 23. 1% 38. 2% 25. 6% 21. 3% 26. 0% 49. 7% 26. 7% 24. 0% 62. 5% 51. 9% 14. 2% 10. 9% 10. 0% 18. 4% 18. 8% 26. 0% 9. 7% 13. 6% 53. 5% 10,856 154. 4% 2,632 7,408 2,770 2,465 9,318 6,870 116. 9% 513. 7% 213. 4% 182. 1% 125. 9% 85. 3%Accor in a 100 hotels in the next decade joint venture with Emaar MGF Isthitmar, Dubai New look pod hotels Easy Hotels Sleep Inn Source: HVS International. Choice 10 hotels by 2010; ? rst hotels Hotels with to be in Tirupati and Vizag Gupta Group Air Asia, Malaysia Lemon Tree partnered by Warburg Pincus First hotel to be in Goa 10 hotels by 2010 While growth is expected in the upscale hotels, the growth in the economy segment is still minimal. While several chains, both domestic and international, ha ve announced plans for development of hotels in this segment, visible action on the ground is limited.Economy hotel chains in India mainly target value-conscious domestic business and leisure travelers who demand convenient lodging, a consistent product and high-quality services. According to a study conducted by Ginger, currently, 37 percent of economy hotel guests are individual business travelers, 23 percent are contract corporate customers and 20 percent are individual leisure travelers. Economy hotel chains aim to satisfy customers’ basic accommodation needs with a? ordable pricing, a comfortable lodging experience and a standardized service-product.Lack of competition in the branded economy hotels segment is a great opportunity for Ginger. Tune Hotels Red Fox Peppermint Royal Orchid 50 hotels by 2010; bids for 11 Hotels hotels on Railway land are held up; ? rst hotel open in Hyderabad Kamat Hotels 50 hotels in the next ? ve years; focused on West coast; tie-up with ONGC /MRPL Wyndham with Gammon 38 hotels by 2011 Kamfotel Days Inn / Super 8 Premier Travel Inn Whitbread 80 hotels in 10 years in a joint venture with Emaar MGF Landmark 20 hotels by 2009 Group, Dubai DIC Starwood No numbers mentioned No numbers mentioned City Max Hotels TravelodgeCOMPETITION The lodging industry in India is highly fragmented and competitive, and competition is expected to persist and intensify. Currently, Ginger competes with three-star full-service hotels from the unorganized sector (these are hotels developed and operated as standalone hotels with no chain/hotel group Campanile While some developments have started in the mid-market segment with Lemon Tree Hotels, Ibis (Accor), Keys (Bergruen Hotels), Day Hotels (Dawnay Day), Hometel (Sarovar Group), Hilton Garden Inn Hotels (DLF) and Taj Gateway Hotels, not much activity is visible at the economy end of the spectrum.This is possibly on account of the high prices of real estate. Ginger: Smart BasicsTM 447 CASE STUDY Ginger—The Service Concept The concept of Ginger was developed in association with renowned corporate strategy thinker, Dr C. K. Prahalad, and the hotels were indigenously designed and developed by the Indian Hotels Company Limited. The Ginger hotels are built around a concept that provides facilities to meet the key needs of today’s traveler, at a? ordable rates. Smart Basicsâ„ ¢ is a philosophy of providing intelligent, thoughtout facilities and services at a ‘value’ pricing and re? cts the new spirit in which people live and work today. It signi? es the emerging lifestyle which is visible in the degree to which individuals have taken control of their various activities viz. the use of e-mail instead of letters, as also the use of mobile phones, conference calls and video conferences to get things done quickly and e? ciently. Essentially, it is simplicity and convenience in ease of doing business (awareness, booking channels, payment gateways); inform ality, style, warmth and modernity in its approach to product design, service philosophy and a? rdability in pricing. The ? rst of the Smart Basicsâ„ ¢ hotel was launched in Bangalore and was called indiOne. When the test marketing of the concept was completed, there were slight changes to improve the hotel facilities and services. After that, the Smart BasicsTM concept was rolled out across India. This category of hotels was launched with a new name, Ginger hotels, in line with the fresh, simple yet stylish and warm world of Smart Basicsâ„ ¢. An up-and-coming category of hotels, Ginger de? nitely signi? es simplicity, convenience, informality, style, warmth, modernity and a? rdability. The target segment for Ginger is the large growing middle class with increasing disposable incomes. They are the class of travelers who would spend on travel but not on luxury accommodations. These travelers look for value-for-money accommodation that is clean and secure and also include intern ational travelers looking for hygienic accommodation in the smaller cities. Ginger is the only branded economy hotel chain in India with a nationwide network of 12 hotels, with an additional 20 hotels under development as of 31 May, 2008.Their early-mover status in many markets and established regional operational synergy has enabled Ginger to develop and operate hotels e? ciently and successfully in targeted markets. As the only branded economy hotel chain in India, the chain has been able to establish credibility with property owners and secure desirable properties on favorable lease terms. The economy segment (3-star) is better protected against and more resilient to the volatility in the hospitality segment as compared to the upscale segment. THE OFFERING—SMART BASICSâ„ ¢Ginger hotels designed their facilities and services to include The Square Mealâ„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€a multi-cuisine restaurant, on-site cyber cafe, a meeting room (that seats 10 people), laundry facility (sa me day delivery), on-site ATM, a Gymnasium, secure parking and Doctor-on-call. Ginger lays special emphasis on environmental and ecological issues through the use of compact ? uorescent lights (CFL), well utilized natural lighting, auto-time management for air-conditioning and energy-e? cient hydro-pneumatic systems. Ginger provides ingle rooms for the lone traveler; twin rooms with separate beds for those who travel together; double rooms with a queen-size bed; and special rooms for the speci? c needs of the physically challenged. The rooms are packed with electronic locking systems, cable TV, Internet connectivity, a mini fridge, tea/co? ee makers, self controlled air-conditioners, an ergonomic work area, and a 17-inch ? at screen TV. Each room has branded toiletries, 24-hour hot and cold running water, a shower area, and bath and hand towels. Exhibit 5: Smart BasicsTM amenities. 48 Case Study Exhibit 6: Innovative promotion — A life-size model created for a campaign that i s carried to metros across India. Ginger operates predominantly in a large geography of nonmetros with uncontested market opportunity. Exhibit 7: The Ginger Development Map To ensure safety, Ginger is equipped with 24-hour security, closed-circuit TV to maintain records of all visitors, swipe card locks and digital safes located at a Give ‘n’ Takeâ„ ¢ counter at the lobby. In addition, it has supporting infrastructural facilities including administrative o? es, kitchens, housekeeping, HVAC facilities, diesel generators for emergency power supply, water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant, etc. Ginger has outsourced food and beverage to partners operating on a revenue-share model, which includes Cafe Co? ee Day in selected properties. Ginger also o? ers other facilities like â€Å"SMART Wellness†, which is an Ayurvedic wellness facility for business travelers at a low cost. This has been developed with Arya Vaidya Pharmacy at all businesscum-leisure locatio ns.Ginger has introduced â€Å"SMART Sleep,† which includes a posture-pedic mattress for absorbing and redistributing pressure from the body weight, a tropical duvet and an anti-allergy pillow. The company has also introduced selfoperated vending machines that accept Indian currency for customer’s convenience. The company is now developing a â€Å"SMART Shower†. The organization believes that a customer’s sleep and bath are his most important needs at their hotels. Going forward, Ginger plans to develop its own range of merchandise that will be o? ered in its hotels and on its website.The merchandise is to include their bath collection, bedding collection, furnishings and decor, apparel, accessories, travel accessories and etc. Ginger intends to increase their revenue per available room by adopting a ? exible pricing approach/policy, which will be linked to the occupancy levels in the individual hotels. EMPLOYEES AND TRAINING Ginger believes that their ab ility to attract good talent, train and retain employees is critical for their growth strategy, as people are critical to maintaining the quality and consistency of their services, and thereby their brand and reputation.The business model of Ginger uses a fair amount of outsourcing. Only about 10 managers per hotel are on the payrolls of Ginger, while all other facilities like kitchen, restaurant, backend maintenance, are outsourced. Ginger has a total of about 175 permanent employees. Since housekeeping and food and beverage are outsourced operations, these employees are on the vendors’ payrolls. Ginger tries to leverage on hotel management schools to develop a management talent pool with su? cient capacity to meet the demands presented by their rapid growth.The company aims to recruit, train and retain the best talent through a multi-step recruiting and training process, and career advancement opportunities. Ginger has implemented extensive training programs and periodic te sts for managerial and other hotel-based sta? primarily through training partners. New unit managers of the hotels are required to undergo a two-month training, during which they receive training in managing all core aspects of the hotel operations, as well as the company culture and philosophy. Ginger: Smart BasicsTM 449In addition to training, Ginger has implemented periodic web-based tests to assess the relevant knowledge and skills of their managerial and other employees. The company uses performance-linked compensation structure, careeroriented training and career advancement opportunities as key drivers to motivate its employees. Ginger’s challenge is also to ensure that the outsourced partner delivers up to the service standards that was agreed upon. To be able to create/modify the outsourced partner’s systems and processes to its needs in order to deliver consistent good quality of service to the customer is critical.Since each person in the system is working t owards the same goal of delighting the customer, there are few di? erences in terms of the employee pro? les between employees of the outsourced partner and the employees on the payrolls of Ginger. It is important to ensure that the people working for the outsourced partner see themselves as a part of the same team. It is also important that the outsourced partner sees the advantages in following the policies, processes and systems of Ginger. Ginger operates in a large geography of smaller cities where the pro? es of employees in terms of their exposure to technology, comfort with modern amenities, etc. are di? erent from that of a metropolitan city. The challenge therefore lies in getting these employees to perform up to expectations. To design systems to recruit the right kind of people and provide the right kind of training to employees is a challenge for Ginger because, while the developmental inputs do not need to be the same across unit locations, the output in terms of consis tent service to ful? ll customer needs has to be fairly identical. Additionally, acquiring professionally quali? d employees locally (in remote areas and non-metro cities) and retaining talent at those locations is an area of concern. In their endeavor to retain talent, Ginger makes e? orts to ensure that employees see additional value in non-monetary rewards like developing employees competencies by making this visible to their employees through certi? cations, etc. But to be able to consistently ensure this across locations remains a challenge. If there is attrition, to be able to train and retrain employees (since the numbers are very small) at remote locations becomes very di? ult. Ginger’s people challenges are thus attracting talent and keeping them continuously motivated, given the vast opportunities for most of their young talent. Ginger training head, Bhanot, says: â€Å"We are cost conscious and so we need to use unconventional methods of recruitment because conven tional methods like placement agencies turn out to be very expensive. We recruit through [email  protected], our recruitment portal, and about 48 percent of recruitment happens through this site. The rest of the recruitment is through referral programmes (with rewards for referring).These methods have been successful. We also build relationships with business schools and our employees go to colleges and partner with them by linking with their syllabi, calling students for get-togethers, using students as summer interns; instead of going once in a year like most companies do. We try to build relationships before the recruitment even starts. We also try to address the challenge of keeping our young sta? motivated by giving them opportunities to learn and grow by continuously upgrading their skills.We are a budget hotel and we have chosen e-learning initiatives to cut costs. We have in-house training, induction, training operations and e-learning modules (based on customer feedback s ystems) and program content is created internally. † CENTRALIZED HOTEL MANAGEMENT Personnel at corporate o? ce perform strategic planning, ? nance, project development, sales and marketing, training and other functions and guide, support and monitor the on-site hotel operations and executives. The key elements of Ginger’s centralized hotel management program are: Budgeting and MonitoringThe annual budget is based on historical operating performance of the hotel, planned targeted marketing, planned renovations, operational e? ciencies and local market conditions. Quality Assurance and Training–Quality standards These have been de? ned for all aspects of hotel operations, covering housekeeping and hotel maintenance, as well as ensuring compliance with these quality standards. A set of procedural manuals have been created and employees are trained to ensure the e? ectiveness and uniformity through 450 Case Study the human resources department at our corporate o? e a s well as through outsourced training vendors. The compliance with quality standards is monitored through both scheduled and unannounced visits and reviews conducted periodically at each hotel. Employees are required take periodic tests (including e-certi? cation) in order to monitor compliance with quality standards. In addition, the practice of mystery audits and tracking customer comments through guest comment cards, and the direct solicitation of guest opinions regarding speci? c items, allows Ginger to improve services and amenities at each hotel across the chain.To maintain a competitive edge and enhance their hotels’ appeal the company requires each hotel to allocate a ? xed percentage of their revenue for periodic renovation and replacement of furnishings and equipment to maintain the quality and standards of its facilities. Ginger has implemented a centralized procurement system (where possible, along with the parent company, IHCL) to obtain the best pricing availabl e for the quality of goods sourced to the hotels and to minimize the operating expenses. Ginger supports local sales e? rts of each of its hotels along with corporate o? ce sales executives who develop and implement new marketing programs, and monitor and respond to speci? c market needs and preferences. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Large travel agencies and smaller travel agents. Call Center—Ginger currently has a call center which can be reached through a toll-free number. Travel portals and other travel related websites. Distribution partners—Partners like BPCL, which is currently rolling out Travel Desks in various BPCL petrol pumps across the country, is also used as a channel for distribution.Access to these channels enhances occupancy rates of the units (hotels) on a day-to-day basis. The Ginger brand, trade names, trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual properties are used to distinguish and protect their technology platforms, services and products from those of their competitors. This also contribute to their competitive advantage in the economy-hotel segment of the lodging industry in India. These intellectual properties are currently owned by the parent company, Indian Hotels Company Limited.To protect the Ginger brand and other intellectual properties, they rely on laws governing trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights as well as imposing con? dentiality obligations on their employees, contractors and others. Ginger has registered trademarks in India, including â€Å" † and a registered domain name viz. www. gingerhotels. com. Ginger’s corporate marketing and advertising programs are designed to enhance consumer awareness and preference for the Ginger brand—which is to o? r the best value, convenience and comfort in the economy hotel segment of the Indian lodging industry; and to encourage customers’ use of their centralized reservation system. Marketing and advertising e? orts include outdoor advertisements, distribution of ? yers and other marketing collateral on their hotel properties, television, Internet, radio advertising, print advertising in consumer media, promotional events, special holiday promotions and joint promotional activities.In reshaping customers’ expectations to make the brand endearing, Ginger does not provide room service, valet and concierge, and communicates the message â€Å"Please help yourselves† through its advertisements. The advertisements convey that since none of the above facilities are provided by the hotel, the customer saves on tips. However, there is clearly an expectation-perception gap as the Indian customer is still uncomfortable with the concept of Smart BasicsTM. They grapple with â€Å"there was nobody to receive me,† â€Å"nobody gave me water in the room,† â€Å"I called 7 times andMARKETING GINGER Ginger’s core targeted customers consist of corporate customers, value-oriented individual SME business travelers and leisure travelers seeking comfortable and convenient lodging at an a? ordable price. Ginger reviews hotel pricing twice a year and typically adjust room rates annually based on the local market conditions of the city and the speci? c location of each hotel. The corporate o? ce team and the city and hotel managers jointly develop tailored marketing plans to drive sales for each hotel and in each city.Ginger operates in a large geography of non-metropolitan cities like Agartala, Nashik, Bhubhaneshwar and Durgapur where pro? les of customer in terms of their exposure to technology, comfort with modern amenities, etc. are di? erent. The challenge therefore lies in customer responses to these. Ginger is currently using the following distribution channels which includes online media. †¢ Website—Internet Booking Engine hosted on the Ginger website is one of the main channels used for making the bookings. Ginger: Smart BasicsTM 51 the room boy did not tur n up. † Ginger sees many customers each day who enter the hotel not knowing what to expect. The many complaints on the websites and complaints registered across the counters at the hotels have to do with services Ginger does not provide (by design) rather than dissatisfactions caused by Ginger’s service. Creating awareness for the Ginger brand at this point in time is a challenge, and since the business model does not allow huge expenditure on media, innovative promotion is needed.Ginger made quirky use of outdoor media by materializing the idea of using a life-size 3-dimensional hoarding of some parts of the hotel, including getting someone to live in it. This was taken across a couple of metros for promotion and received extensive coverage in the electronic media. Ginger needs to ensure their customers come in recognizing and knowing what they should be expecting from the hotel. The challenge is not only in communication through advertisements, but also to communicate it clearly when a customer checks in. Ginger’s ability to communicate clearly what the customer can expect is an area of concern.This is because there is a tendency not to explain either because the customer does not have the patience to listen or there is a fear of losing this customer. Ginger has been trying to plug this by educating the customer before he/she checks in by having commercials playing in the hotel, training front line managers to give clear messages to the customer as to what Ginger can deliver, and communicating this through advertising. STUDY QUESTIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. What is Ginger’s service concept? Use the Flower of Service to aid you in your answer. How does Ginger create customer value?How can Ginger manage customer expectations more e? ectively? Evaluate Ginger’s brand positioning and communications strategy. Given that the number of players in the budget hotels market is increasing, how can Ginger sustain its unique positioning? Ginger fac es challenges relating to people. How can they overcome these challenges? What are the key challenges in the way to service excellence for Ginger? Give recommendations to Ginger to overcome these challenges? 5. 6. 1  © 2009 Dr Mukta Kampllikar, Senior Practice Consultant, Tata Management Training Center, Pune, India. 452 Case Study

Stoichiometry Lab

Stoichiometry February 28th, 2013 Abstract: The reactions of the Sodium Hydroxide and two acids, Hydrochloric Acid and Sulfuric Acid were performed. The heat given off by these two reactions was used to determine the stoichiometric ratio and the limiting reactants in each experiment. Introduction: Coefficients in a balanced equations show how many moles of each reactant is needed to react with each other and how many moles of each product that will be formed. Stoichiometry allows us to calculate the amount of reactants needed and also the amount of product.The major basis of stoichiometry is formed by the law of definite proportions, which states that a chemical compound always contains the exact proportion of elements by mass. This is also the heart of balancing chemical equations. The coefficients of a balanced equation can also be thought of as the ratios in which the reactants combine. In the chemical equation A+ B> AB the coefficients tell us that for every one mole of reactant â€Å"A† one moles of reactant â€Å"B† are needed and used to produce the product â€Å"AB†.If two moles of â€Å"A† was present and only one mole of â€Å"B† the excess mole of â€Å"A† would have nothing to react with. In this reaction â€Å"B† would be the limiting reactant. The reaction is limited due to â€Å"B† because once â€Å"B† is all used up, the reaction will stop, and there would be an excess of unused â€Å"A†. The progress of a reaction can be measured by the heat energy that is given off. Exothermic reactions give off heat and therefore an increase in temperature also occurs. The reaction between an acid and a base is also known as neutralization, and is usually an exothermic reaction.When reactants are combined at stoichiometric ratios the reaction is able to be completed and would exert the most heat energy. The purpose of this lab was to carry out the reaction between a basic solution of Sodiu m Hydroxide with Hydrochloric acid, and also the reaction of Sodium Hydroxide with Sulfuric Acid to determine the limiting reactant and the stoichiometric ratio of each experiment. Procedure: Reaction Between HCL and NaOH Diluted Solutions of HCL and NaOH were prepared. 120 ml of 3M stock of HCl and NaOH were measured with a graduated cylinder and placed into two 250 ml beakers.Two 400ml beakers were filled with 240 ml of water measured by graduated cylinder. The 120ml of HCl was added to one of the beakers containing water and the 120 NaOH to the other, both being added slowly while stirring the solution vigourously. Label the beakers HCl and NaOH. Keep the beakers covered with a watch glass when not in use. Measure and record the temperature of the NaOH solution using the PASCO Explorer temperature probe. Make sure to rinse off and dry the probe after every use. Obtain a coffee cup calorimeter and lid to house the reactions.Measure the appropriate amount HCl (see chart A) pour it in the calorimeter and determine its temperature using the temperature probe. Record the temperature. Measure the corresponding amount of NaOH (see chart A) and add it to the calorimeter all at once. Put the lid back on the calorimeter and stir it carefully with the probe. Record the highest temperature reached as the reaction occurs. Rinse the cup with deionized water and dry. Repeat experiment for each of the amounts of chart A. chart A) Amount of each reactant l 1. 0 M Acid| 55. 0| 50. 0| 45. 0| 40. 0| 35. 0| 30. 0| 25. 0| 20. 0| 15. 0| 10. 0| 5. 0| ml 1. 0 M NaOH| 5. 0| 10. 0| 15. 0| 20. 0| 25. 0| 30. 0| 35. 0| 40. 0| 45. 0| 50. 0| 55. 0| *Use 100 ml graduated cylinder for measuring volumes 30 to 55 ml, 25 ml graduated cylinder for volumes 15ml through 25 ml, and 10 ml graduated cylinder for volumes 5ml and 10 ml Reaction Between H? SO? and NaOH Use the procedure from the Reaction Between HCL and NaOH only substitute the HCl with H? SO? , and the same amounts listed in chart A.

Robert Nixon was an African-American serial killer who...

Robert Nixon was an African-American serial killer who confessed to five murders and multiple assaults in Chicago and Los Angeles from 1936 to 1938. He was born on June 16, 1919, in the small town Tallulah, Louisiana. The press gave Nixon the nickname Brick Moron† after he confessed to the â€Å"brick bat murders† (Arney). Edna Worden, her 12-year-old daughter, Rose Valdez, Elizabeth Rice, and Zoe Damrell were a few of his many victims. After Nixon was arrested, he was sentenced to death and electrocuted on June 15, 1939 (Patillo). In the Lewiston Daily, June Arney wrote that Nixon broke into a woman’s home in Chicago in 1936 and looted her house before beating her to death with his â€Å"famous† brick. In 1937, he continued his killings in Los†¦show more content†¦These stories worsened racial tensions in Chicago, and the murder and resulting press frightened the white residents of the area, triggering â€Å"white flight from the once-elite areas that now bordered black districts† (Patillo). Nixon initially denied having any connection with the killings, but the Los Angeles Polices fingerprint evidence proved him wrong. During his trial, he eventually confessed to raping and murdering Anna Kuchta in 1937 and assaulting at least seventeen other women. However, he blamed his accomplice, Earl Hicks, for the murder of Johnson during his trial. Hicks, who was also under arrest, put the blame for Johnsons murder solely on Nixon. Nixon’s defense that his accomplice had killed the woman failed, and the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that they both were equally responsible for this murder. Nixon was convicted of the murder and was executed in the electric chair at the Cook County Jail in 1939 (Arney). When Richard Wright completed his draft of Native Son, Robert Nixon was charged with murdering a woman by beating her with a brick. In his essay, How Bigger Was Born, Wright admitted to copying details from press stories of the Robert Nixon case. By mixing his own â€Å"insight into the urban slum experience of African Americans,† Wright created the â€Å"disturbing portrait† of Bigger Thomas, who