Quality Assurance Essay Example for Free

Quality Assurance Essay It is the policy of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E. T.B.- Mayo Area to develop and implement an effective Quality Assurance system that demonstrates consistent repetition of good performance using a system of documented procedures, which are known, understood and operated by all personnel. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area’s QA system demonstrates our capacity to monitor, evaluate and improve the quality of programmes and services to teachers and tutors as well as learners. All Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area providers Quality Assurance systems are approved by FETAC (Further Education and Training Awards Council). What you need to know On Induction you will be provided with information about your programme and the assessment process from your tutors, However it is your responsibility to ensure that you are familiar with all assessment information and ask for clarification on anything that you feel you do not fully understand. This handbook includes all assessment policies and procedures. All learners must sign for receipt of the handbook. September 2013 Version 3 Quality Assurance Policies Assessment Fair and Consistent Assessment of Learners Policies and Guidelines. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area Mission Statement In line with its mission statement, it is the policy of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.Mayo Area to provide a supportive and positive mechanism to ensure that all learners are assessed in an equitable manner and that transparent procedures are evident to guarantee satisfactory outcomes for all stakeholders. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area is committed to ensuring that all methods of assessment are effective in measuring learner attainment in line with documented learning outcomes and that assessment policy and practices are effective in monitoring the validity, equity and reliability of assessment consistent with national best practice. The planning and recording of assessments is to be carried out in accordance with the awarding body’s (FETAC) requirements and centre procedure. In order to achieve this Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area has implemented the following documented policies, guidelines and procedures: Admissions Policy Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area VEC Code of Behaviour for Students and Procedures Assessment Deadline Policy Feedback Policy Grievance Regarding A Grade Policy Appeals Policy Exceptional Circumstances Policy Plagiarism Policy and Procedure for corrective action. Assessment Malpractice Policy. Application for Specific provision. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area Anti Bullying and Harassment Policy Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area Computer Network and Internet Usage Policy. September 2013 Version 3 Assessment Information Learner Guidance and Information It is the learners’ responsibility to follow all guidelines on assessment. Learners will receive the following information either written or verbally from the teacher delivering each module:The purpose, methods and schedule of FETAC assessment tasks. Relevant module descriptors, assessment criteria and deadlines for submission of evidence. A copy and explanation of section 9 (Assessment Regulations for Candidates) from NCVA/FETAC â€Å"Regulations for Centres and Candidates.† What elements will and will not count towards interim and final assessment and with what weighting. Comprehensive assessment briefs and instructions for all levels. The marking and grading conventions used. The consequences of assessment, such as decisions about progression and rights of appeal, i.e. grievance regarding a grade form. Plagiarism; the definition and the penalties, including examples of acceptable referencing techniques and Procedures for Corrective Action. How and when assessment decisions are made. – Feedback Policy, Appeals Policy. Policy on late submission of work. – Assessment Deadline Policy, Extenuating Circumstances Policy. Standards expected regarding the hand in of work. Channels of communication i.e. feedback, query regarding a grade etc. – Grievance Regarding a Grade Form. Learner roles and responsibilities Learners are responsible for seeking and ensuring that they are familiar with information on assessment, including deadlines etc. Learners will follow the required procedures for assessment Learners must observe deadlines as notified by the centre for the submission of all assessment work. Candidates must sign a statement on all work to be assessed stating that all projects, assignments, learner records and collections of work/portfolio work presented for assessment are their own original work – See Plagiarism Policy. Where group projects/assignments have been undertaken, all candidates must indicate which part of the work is their own. The portfolio of each group member should record or contain supporting evidence of the individual’s contribution to the group task. September 2013 Version 3 Learners must not interfere with or damage in any way the work of other candidates. Learners must follow the rules and regulations of the VEC and FETAC regarding assessment. Learners should ensure that they keep a copy of their own work. Once handed in assessment work will not be returned to learners, this is for security of assessment purposes. Art and craft work, will be returned to learners, this may be collected at a specified date and time after the appeals deadline has expired – centres will notify learners of these times. If a learner does not collect the work or contact the centre by the specified date, the art and craft work will be destroyed, this is for security of assessment purposes. Admissions Policy This policy is set within the context of The Department of Education and Science, criteria and procedures, The National Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999 (NQAI) and The Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), published policies. This admissions policy is issued Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area to facilitate lifelong learning and promote opportunities for: Access Transfer Progression All Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.- Mayo Area centres aim to: Provide a fair and transparent system of admissions for all prospective learners. Make reasonable provision and accommodation for learners, including those with a disability in accordance with relevant legislation, with due regard to the efficient use of available resources. See application for specific provision. All centres must inform learners of the knowledge skill and competence required for successful application in every programme offered. Any specific entry requirements for a programme will be stated including appropriate alternative experience or qualifications. These will follow FETAC’s guidelines ‘Information for Learners Guidelines for Providers.’ All applications for programmes received in any of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim E.T.B.Mayo Area Centres for that programme will be examined by centre staff. All September 2013

Slow Food Versus Fast Food Essay Example for Free

Slow Food Versus Fast Food Essay Introduction Most hotels at Victoria Falls have for decades prided themselves on a culture of serving leisurely, gourmet meals (especially dinners) prepared using local ingredients including a variety of game meat (e. g. buffalo, kudu, impala, warthog, crocodile, guinea fowl), local mushrooms and vegetable varieties, and ? sh from the nearby Zambezi River. Arguably, a signi? cant proportion of this food quali? es to be called ‘slow food’, because it meets the four criteria for slowlness (Rothermel, 2009). First, slow food must be freshly prepared from fresh ingredients, mostly vegetables, fruit and whole grains, and meat in small portions. Second, the food must be eaten leisurely in company. Third, it must be simple but varied in taste. Finally, it must be produced in an ethical and environmentally friendly manner. However, in recent years, fast food restaurants, led by Innscor brands such as Chicken Inn, Creamy Inn, and so on, have begun penetrating the market. Indeed the expansion of fast food chains in the last decade can be observed in several African countries. In South Africa, international chains such as KFC and McDonald’s are becoming virtually ubiquitous. Rapid growth of fast food restaurant chains has become a global phenomenon (Berta, 2003; Doherty and van Warner, 1995; Emerson, 1980; King, 2004; Lan and Khan, 1995; Parsa and Khan, 1989; Soeder, 1994; Walkup, 2008; Willging, 2008). In the resort town of Victoria Falls, most tourists have traditionally opted to eat at the hotels where they lodge. However, with recent entrance of fast food chains, hoteliers, facing the threat of losing market share, have been responding to the changing competitive forces. Victoria Falls has become a ‘slow food versus fast food’ battleground. The main aim of this paper is to explore how the contemporary slow food– fast food contention is enacted in an African tourist destination setting. An important point to make is that it is not suggested here that Victoria Falls hotels serve slow food exclusively. Indeed, most hotels in the resort, in addition to what would qualify as slow food, also serve items which could be labelled as fast food, such as Corresponding author: Muchazondida Mkono, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Southern Cross University, P. O. Box 157, Lismore, New South Wales 2480, Australia Email: [emailprotected] edu. au, [emailprotected] Downloaded from thr. sagepub. com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on March 14, 2013 148 burgers, fries, and so on, typically as part of their ‘still room’ menus for lunches and snacks. At the same time hotels at Victoria Falls have always accepted that the majority of their guests spend the day undertaking a range of ‘tourist activities’ away from the hotel (for example elephant riding, over-the falls helicopter ? ights, bungee jumping, game safaris, white water rafting) and will often ? nd a quick snack elsewhere, or be provided with refreshments by tour operators offering these activities. Breakfast is generally consumed at the hotel, as most hotel rates are charged on bed and breakfast basis. Thus the real contention as to the tourist’s choice of either fast food or slow food is centred around dinner. Tourism and Hospitality Research 12(3) Warner, 1995; Emerson, 1980; Lan and Khan, 1995; Parsa and Khan, 1989; Soeder, 1994; Willging, 2008). Research has mainly focused on the health impacts of this trend (Allen et al. , 2007; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1995; Blanck et al. , 2009; Bowens, 1994; Chandon and Wansink, 2007; Chaudhry, 1992; Crowley, 2002; Dundes and Swann, 2008; Fitch et al., 2009; Grazin and Olsen, 1997; Gregory et al. , 2006; Hawkes, 2003; Hodges, 2003; Parker et al. , 2006; Rubin, 1996; Schreiner, 2007; Thornton et al. , 2009; Xu et al. , 2011), with the majority of authors corroborating the view that fast food poses signi? cant health risks. As such Slow Food Movement enthusiasts advocate a return to slow food habits. At the same time, there is a growing health conscious, market (Bartlett and Bartlett, 1995; Gray, 2004; Grazin and Olsen, 1997; Jonsdottir, 1998; Hwang and Cranage, 2010). In response to this trend, many hoteliers position their menus as healthier and wholesome. A closely related debate to fast food–slow food discourse pertains to the authenticity of menus. Authenticity is a central topic in tourism sociological debates, and re? ects a search for the Authentic Other in tourists (Beer, 2008; Chhabra, 2010; Cohen, 2007; Connell, 2007; Connell and Gibson, 2004; Daniel, 1996; Johnson, 2002; Wang, 1999; Warner, 2009; Wherry, 2006; White, 2007; Xie, 2003; Yang and Wall, 2009; Yu and Littrell, 2003; Zheng, 2011). Slow food, with its use of local ingredients and traditional cooking methods, has a stronger claim to authenticity, while fast food can easily be criticised as deauthenti?cation and MacDonaldisation of cuisine cultures; as Americanisation of traditional food cultures. A noticeable gap in the literature with respect to fast food chain expansion relates to the impacts on hotel food and beverage sales and pro? ts, as well as how (slow food) hotels have reacted to the trend to protect their market share. For African tourist destinations, hotels have long been an important part of the destination’s ‘authentic’ image, and the MacDonaldisation of the food culture in these areas might destabilise the desired image. The impacts therefore are far-reaching. Literature review While the concept of slow food has been received with a lot of interest among academics (Emerson, 1980; Gardner, 2007; Hodges, 2003; Jennings, 2006; Paxson, 2005; Peace, 2008; Piggott, 2001; Sassatelli and Davolio; Schwaner-Albright, 2007; Scoffer, 2008; Vaughan, 2008; Walkup, 2008; Waterhouse, 2008; Waters, 2006; Wong, 2009; Wright, 2007; Yee, 1999; Zuber, 2002), existing research has so far not looked at how resort hotels offering what could be described as ‘slow ? ne dining’ have been impacted by the expansion of fast food chains in Africa. Further, most research on fast food and slow food has been conducted in Western and Asian countries. African case studies are noticeably lacking (Emerson, 1980; King, 2004; Lan and Khan, 1995; Parsa and Khan, 1989; Soeder, 1994; Walkup, 2008; Willging, 2008). The concept of ‘slow food’ was borne out of the Slow Food Movement, founded in Bra, Italy, in 1986 by Carlo Petrini (Jones et al. , 2003; Petrini, 2001). The movement aims at safeguarding food and agricultural heritage around the world, and educating consumers about traditional foods (Nosi and Zanni, 2004). Formed to counteract the rapid globalisation of a fast food culture, the movement has evolved from being a protest against the erection of a McDonald’s restaurant in an Italian town to a formidable international organisation that has enthusiasts all over the world (Jones et al. , 2003). Interest in slow food has grown parallel to increasing criticism of fast food, although some authors question the movement’s ef? cacy in challenging the seemingly ‘all powerful’ fast food industry (Jones et al. , 2003). Fast food, according to Rothermel (2009), typically bland, chewy, cheesy, crunchy, salty, meaty, nutty, fatty, and sometimes spicy, captivates the palette quickly, repetitiously, and obsessively. As such, fast food is consumed by a growing population, particularly in developed countries (Doherty and van Methodology The goal of this study is to provide an exploratory, inductive analysis of the slow food–fast food contention as it has unfolded in recent times at the tourist destination of Victoria Falls. As a starting point for future research, the study highlights the perspectives of hoteliers, speci?cally food and beverage managers. The philosophical approach adopted for this study was hermeneutic (interpretive) phenomenology, which is also a research method (LeVasseur, 2003; Lopez and Downloaded from thr. sagepub. com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on March 14, 2013 Mkono Willis, 2004; Wojnar and Swanson, 2007). The approach was adopted to make sense out of a local situation by providing a thick description (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). The localised focus resulted in small-scale theories that are situated in speci? c personal experiences and perceptions (Riley and Love, 2000). The paper employs a highly re? exive and multivocal methodology where no single voice is priviledged (Riley and Love, 2000). Hermeneutic phenomenology is a particularly appropriate method for capturing subjective perspectives and lived experiences (Hegel, 1977; Ingram, 2002; Ironside et al. , 2003; Jonsdottir, 1998; Knibbe and Versteeg, 2008; LeVasseur, 2003; Lopez and Willis, 2004; Murphy et al. , 2009; Pernecky and Jamal, 2010; Racher and Robinson, 2003; Ross et al. , 2007; Sherrod, 2006; Simpson, 2007; Sinico, 2008; Szarycz, 2009; Wilde, 2003; Wojnar and Swanson, 2007). However, only a few hospitality researchers have adopted this methodology (Ingram, 2002). Hermeneutic phenomenology accepts that both the researcher and participants cocreate an understanding of the phenomena under study, while bringing into the research their own frames of references drawing from their different backgrounds (Wojnar and Swanson, 2007). Researchers under this orientation will therefore often attempt to acknowledge whatever biases they brought into the study, through a process of ‘bracketing’ (LeVasseur, 2003), explaining ‘where they are coming from’. As such, the researcher here acknowledges her own previous work experience in the hotel industry in Victoria Falls as signi?cantly shaping her frame of reference throughout the study. As Lopez and Willis (2004) argue, in the interpretive phenomenological approach, the researcher’s presuppositions or previous knowledge are valuable guides to the analysis, and can make the inquiry more meaningful. Wojnar and Swanson (2007) explain that hermeneutic phenomenology is most useful where the goal is to explicate contextual features of a lived experience as derived from the researcher’s and participants’ backgrounds, as well as their subjective experiences and perspectives. However, the researcher is not absolved of the responsibility to minimise, or if possible at all, eliminating personal biases from the ? ndings of the study. It is often very dif? cult for researchers to demarcate between bias and fact, as bias can be very subtle. Data were collected from 11 hotel food and beverage managers. Food and beverage managers are the hands-on food and beverage operations decision makers who are directly responsible for the day to day and longer term strategy of a hotel’s food and beverage operations. Of course, other managers in the hotel, such as restaurant managers, executive chefs,149 guest relations managers and functions managers may also input into the food and beverage operations. The researcher however felt their input was minimal and in most cases, involved more strategy implementation rather than strategy formulation. Thus food and beverage managers, as primary strategists in the food and beverage department, were identi? ed as the key informants in the hotels. Out of a judgement sample of 18 hotel managers in 18 hotels (2 to 5 star) who were contacted by phone and asked if they were available for an interview, 16 agreed and appointments were set up. However, only 11 were subsequently interviewed. The other 5 could not avail themselves giving various reasons including emergency meetings or busy schedules. The researcher used an interview guide to maintain focus in the interviews. Questions were very open ended allowing interviewees to air their views freely. The research revolved around the two major research questions: the extent of threat posed by the emerging fast food competition (if any), and hotel management reactions. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed manually, verbatim. Data analysis was performed manually, through several stages, drawing from Benner’s (1994) hermeneutical analysis model delineated in Wojnar and Swanson (2007). The process began with reading and rereading transcripts reread to gain an intuitive feel for the data. Next, repetitious themes were identi? ed. The researcher then identi? ed exemplary quotes to illustrate themes. Findings and discussion The extent of threat The majority of managers felt that fast food companies were becoming serious competition for hotel restaurants: ‘‘It’s become a bit of a war really. We have our appeal, but fast food restaurants have ‘‘street’’ appeal. We offer ? ne dining. Both concepts have their appeal, I guess. ’’ The ‘war’ referred to above is not unique to Zimbabwe. Restaurant wars have occurred in other places where fast food restaurants have entered the markets rapidly (e. g. Watson and Caldwell, 2004). Some managers reported that some of their guests were using their shuttle buses to ‘sneak out for a burger dinner at a fast food restaurant in town’. In addition, and more worrying for the hotel industry in Victoria Falls, hotel food and beverage sales were reported to have been reduced signi?cantly due to fast food entrance. This was a great concern as managers Downloaded from thr. sagepub. com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on March 14, 2013 150 reported the negative bottom line impact of fast food restaurant expansion. However, others were con? dent of the competitive strengths of their hotel restaurants, perceiving no real threat from fast food. ‘‘I think tourists in our hotel prefer to taste our full service men. It’s gourmet. Fast to me is bland and ordinary. Plus unhealthy. Our food is prepared by world class chefs.’’ Tourism and Hospitality Research 12(3) white water rafting on the Zambezi River, elephant back safaris, and so on) might not be consistent with a slow destination image, or a slow tourist segment. Another interesting comment made concerned the in? uence of age in preference for fast food: ‘‘It appears to me that it is our younger guests who might be particularly interested in fast food. The older folks are put off by the noise in the fast food places’’. The health implications in relation to fast food and slow food have been widely discussed (Hodges, 2003; Hunt, 2004; Mair et al., 2008; Wong, 2009). Indeed this could be the biggest selling point for hotel food over food in this context, especially if the market is predominantly health conscious. This requires further inquiry. One of the managers felt that hotels’ competitive strength with respect to food and beverage was in the uniqueness and authenticity of their menus: ‘‘We sell cuisines that they can’t get anywhere else, our kudu and impala steak, for example. Our cuisine is authentic Zimbabweanness. We bring out the best of Zimbabwean and African food. ’’ Future research could investigate further the validity of this observation in more causal, quantitative research. However, some existing research would suggest that more younger people tend to prefer fast food compared to older people (Dave et al. , 2009). One manager drew attention to the attention paid to ambience in hotel restaurants, arguing that this is an important source of differentiation from fast food restaurants: ‘‘Our hotel restaurants have a special ambience which fast food restaurants simply cannot provide’’. Authenticity is a core concept in tourism research, and it is signi? cant that hotel managers are engaged with this discourse in their re? ection of work lived experiences. But to ascribe Zimbabweanness lends to us to the complex questions of who authenticates food as Zimbabwean or otherwise, what criterion must be used, and consequently to the questions of identity and, for a multiethnic society that Zimbabwe is, ethnicity as well. Indeed, ethnicity has been a source of socio-cultural tension with regard to representing Zimbabwean identity. However, this point constitutes a highly convoluted debate that cannot be treated in more depth in an exploratory study such as this one. One manager felt that Victoria Falls was a destination for the ‘slow’ tourist, who preferred ‘slow’ products and services, so that there was no real threat for hoteliers posed by the entrance of fast food. The slow food–fast food contention is a topical issue in contemporary hospitality management as it resonates with a nostalgic yearning for the past in modern society. ‘‘I think Victoria Falls attracts more ‘slow oriented’ tourists, I think. ’’ The role ambience in in? uencing customer satisfaction is widely recognised. However some fast food restaurants have made some strides in managing the atmosphere in their restaurants. For example, the Rainforest Cafe chain’s restaurant interiors depict a tropical rainforest with detail such as plant growth, mist, waterfalls, animatronic robots of various animals and insects (Williams, 2002). Thus hoteliers cannot become complacent about their restaurant ambience as sustainable sources of competitive advantage over their fast food restaurant competition. The researcher asked whether the cheaper prices associated with fast food was a concern for hoteliers. Some managers agreed that price was in fact the major source of competition: ‘‘The trouble is that a burger at a fast food restaurants costs little, say three of four dollars. Our dinners cost them $30 dollars thereabouts. So if the decision is an economic one, especially where it’s a big family, the fast food restaurant is an inviting option. ’’ Slowness is a contested phenomenon, and it is not clear cut what constitutes slow. Further, it is questionable whether Victoria Falls is indeed a destination for slow tourists. Indeed, the adventure oriented activities that Victoria Falls is commonly known for (bungee jumping, helicopter ? ights over Falls, cruises and However, some felt that there was no logic in comparing hotel food prices with fast food prices; that doing so would be akin to comparing ‘oranges with bread’. It is clear then that hoteliers have varying perception of who their competitors are: whether competition refers to other hoteliers, or whether it extends beyond the hotel industry. De? ning competition narrowly, however, is likely to be detrimental to a hotel’s long term competitive strength. Downloaded from thr. sagepub. com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on March 14, 2013 Mkono It was also highlighted by some managers that their clientele was ‘upmarket’ and therefore not very pricesensitive: ‘‘Most of our guests are internationals. . . . and price is not their primary criterion for choosing where they are gonna eat. They do not travel on a tight budget’’. 151 Victoria Falls. Hotels would need to think on a longer term basis if their strategies should shield them from the competitive threat effectively. One manager expressed apprehension about the potential ef? cacy of any potential reactive strategies, citing that tourists from countries where fast food consumption has become ingrained in lifestyle ‘‘can’t resist a cheese burger’’. Thus to some extent, in this manager’s view, the war was already lost. Since for some managers the real competition was lay in the differences in price levels, it was not surprising that hotels were expected to bring down their prices. Indeed, this had already been done in some hotels: ‘‘We have had to bring our prices down a little bit’’. Hoteliers would need to address the question whether they intend to target only the upmarket, or whether their target market can be de? ned more broadly. Considering that the government’s Look East Policy launched in the early 2000s has attracted a lower spending, more price-sensitive Eastern market, limiting the target market to af? uent high spenders might not be particularly wise as a marketing strategy. Hotels therefore ? nd themselves in a crossroads decision regarding whether it makes more business sense to bring their prices down to become more competitive in the face of fast food restaurant penetration, and accept any compromises this might bring to customers’ perceptions of their product and service quality; or to keep their price levels as they are in the hope that this lures a more high spending, perhaps elitist market. A particularly important point was the reference to health conscious tourists. It was the belief of some managers that a signi?cant proportion of tourists was becoming increasingly health conscious, and was therefore inclined to avoid eating fast food: ‘‘Our guests in general are becoming very health conscious. They ask for low fat, sugar free etc. They ask if our menu is organic. They know they can’t get healthy options at the fast food restaurant. That’s a fact. ’’ However, some managers were concerned about the effect of price cuts on their image. There was apprehension that tourists could assume that this was accompanied by a reduction in product and/ or service quality. The relationship between price and quality has been investigated in many marketing studies, suggesting that customers perceptions of quality are indeed affected by price. The theme of image for some extended beyond an individual hotel. The image of Victoria Falls as a tourist destination was seen as impacted by the expansion of fast food supply. One of the respondents asserted that this would compromise the ‘luxury resort’ brand image that Victoria Falls held internationally: ‘‘Victoria is a high end market destination. We are about luxury hotels, class. No offence to fast food restaurants. ’’ Conclusion and suggested future research Hotel reactions Most managers believed that the competitive threat posed for hotels by the expansion of the fast food industry in Victoria Falls was serious enough to warrant reformulation of competitive strategies. Among the changes that hotels needed to make was to change shuttle buses’ routes so that they would not pass through fast food restaurant locations: ‘‘We might have to change the route for our shuttle. The current pick up points are not good for us at all because fast food shops are staring at our guest right there where they get picked up. ’’ However, such a change cannot offer a permanent solutions as tourists are not necessarily restricted to the use of hotels’ shuttle buses for transport within The study sought to investigate hotel food and beverage managers’ experiences with and perspectives of emerging fast food competition. As such, the paper adds to a growing number of phenomenological studies in hospitality. Managers’ perspectives re? ect several interesting issues. Many of the responses suggest a signi? cant level of complacency, a refusal to accord fast food the status of formidable competitor. Some managers seem to think it ‘beneath them’ to even worry about fast food, and even more ‘beneath’ to engage in a ‘face-off ’ with them. The more ‘digni? ed’ option seems to be to pretend that fast food restaurants either do not exist at all, or to feign indifference. This begs the question whether this attitude is sustainable in the long term. The study also con? rms the dynamic and volatile nature of the tourist market. In an African destination Downloaded from thr. sagepub. com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on March 14, 2013. 152 where fast food consumption has been a once-in-awhile affair, the entrance of fast food is set to rede? ne food and eating culture. It is no longer a Western phenomenon. What is also important to realise is that fast food consumption is not restricted to the tourist market; that locals are also a part of the market. Future researchers might investigate the impacts of fast food expansion on the local population’s food culture, which will further case study knowledge on the so called MacDonalisation of society. Hotels might have to start actively targeting ‘slow tourists’. However, research on the characteristics and means of engaging this potentially growing market segment is still lacking. It is hoped that more African context-speci? c studies will be carried out on the expansion of fast food and its business and sociological impacts. An inherent limitation concomitant to phenomenology is the lack of generalisability of research ? ndings. Owing to the small sample, the perspectives represented here are not representative of any other context, although some may be ‘transferable’ to similar resort destinations where fast food chains are beginning to enter markets which have previously been dominated by hotels. Future researchers might want to engage in similar studies with a larger sample of informants, and perhaps on a wider spatial scale. Such studies could employ quantitative methods to explain causal relationships and test hypothesis, such as whether fast food entrance into a traditional hotel dominated market poses signi? cant threats to hotel food and beverage pro? ts. To complete the supply side perspective for this study, fast food managers also need to be included in data collection in future perspectives. It would be interesting to investigate why fast food restaurants have decided to expand into the Victoria Falls now, how they perceive the competition from hotels, how they have tried to gain market share, and their views on slow food–fast food debate in an environment where fast food continues to be criticised as unhealthy. How are they building their defence against this onslaught? How do they continue to thrive despite this worldwide onslaught? What will be even more interesting would be to compare the ? ndings made in an African context with those found in other, perhaps very different contexts. This research took a supply side bias, and thus fails to capture the perspectives of tourists who in fact make the choice between fast food and slow food. Thus future researchers might want to pursue either a market oriented approach, or better yet an integrative approach, which combines both supply side and consumer perspectives. In addition, future researchers who carry out similar studies in tourist destinations Tourism and Hospitality Research 12(3) could utilise the broader concept of ‘slow tourism’ as an analytical framework. Thus food choice and consumption are not viewed simply as acts in dining, but perhaps as a microcosm of a much more complex ‘slow tourism’ phenomenon. References Allen KN, Taylor JS and Kuiper R (2007) Effectiveness of nutrition education on fast food choices in adolescents. The Journal of School Nursing 23(6): 337–341. Bartlett M and Bartlett M (1995) Turning points or wrong turns? Restaurants Institutions 105: 12. Beer S (2008) Authenticity and food experience- commercial and academic perspectives. Journal of Foodservice 19(3): 153–163. Benner P (1994) Hermeneutic phenomenology: a methodology for family health and promotion study in nursing. In: Benner P (ed. ) Interpretive Phenomenology: Embodiment, Caring, and Ethics in Health and Illness. California: Sage, pp. 71–72. Berta D (2003) Arctic Circle fast food comes to hot-growth Utah suburb. Nation’s Restaurant News 37(12): 80. Blanck HM, Yaroch AL, Atienza AA, et al. (2009) Factors influencing lunchtime food choices among working Americans. Health Education Behavior 36(2): 289–301. Bowens J (1994) Fat profiles of your favorite fast-food restaurant: how do they measure up to recommended guidelines? Journal of Nutrition in Recipe Menu Development 1: 47. Chandon P and Wansink B (2007) The biasing health halos of fastfood restaurant health claims: lower calorie estimates and higher side-dish consumption intentions. Journal of Consumer Research 34: 301–314. Chaudhry R (1992) Fast-food seafood chains sell health, variety. Restaurants Institutions 102: 12. Chhabra D (2010) Back to the past: a sub-segment of Generation Y’s perceptions of authenticity. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 18(6): 793–809. ? Cohen E (2007) Authenticity’ in tourism studies: Apres la Lutte. Tourism Recreation Research 32(2): 75–82. Connell J (2007) The continuity of custom? Tourist perceptions of authenticity in Yakel Village, Tanna, Vanuatu. Journal of Tourism Cultural Change 5(2): 71–86. Connell J and Gibson C (2004) World music: deterritorializing place and identity. Progress in Human Geography 28(3): 342–361. Crowley D (2002) A promise is a promise. Club Industry (07478283) 18(8): 12 . Daniel YP (1996) Tourism dance performances: authenticity and creativity. Annals of Tourism Research 23: 780. Dave JM, An LC, Jeffery RW, et al. (2009) Relationships of attitudes toward fast-food intake in adults. Obesity 17(6): 1164–1170. Doherty J and van Warner R (1995) Casual themers beware: fast food has regained its competitive edge. Nation’s Restaurant News, p. 19. Available at: http://ezproxy. scu. edu. au/login? url? http:// search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct? truedb? hjhAN? 9502064211sit? ehost-live. Dundes L and Swann T (2008) Food safety in fast food restaurants. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality Tourism 7(2): 153–161. Emerson RL (1980) Expansion abroad: a solution to fast food’s slow growth? Cornell Hotel Restaurant Administration Quarterly 21(3): 24. Fitch RC, Harnack LJ, Neumark-Sztainer DR, et al. (2009) Providing calorie information on fast-food restaurant menu boards: consumer views. American Journal of Health Promotion 24: 129–132. Downloaded from thr. sagepub. com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on March 14, 2013 Mkono Gardner S (2007) Slow changes in fast food. Foodservice Hospitality 39(12): 33–36. Gray MT (2004) Philosophical inquiry in nursing: an argument for radical empiricism as a philosophical framework for the phenomenology of addiction. Qualitative Health Research 14(8): 1151–1164. Grazin KL and Olsen JE (1997) Market segmentation for fast-food restaurants in an era of health consciousness. Journal of Restaurant Foodservice Marketing 2: 1. Gregory S, McTyre C and DiPietro RB (2006) Fast food to healthy food: a paradigm shift. International Journal of Hospitality Tourism Administration 7(4): 43–64. Hawkes C (2003) Heavy issue: food industry weighs down Americans with freedom of choice. Nation’s Restaurant News 37(6): 44. Hegel G (1977) Phenomenology of Spirit. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Hodges T (2003) Brandwatch: in praise of slow food. Locum Destination Review. p. 26. Hunt G (2004) Rough ride slow food. Food Manufacture 79(9): 139–139. Ingram G (2002) Motivations for farm tourism hosts and guests in the South West Tapestry Region, Western Australia: a phenomenological study. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology 2(1): 1–12. Ironside PM, Scheckel M, Wessels C, et al. (2003) Experiencing chronic illness: cocreating new understandings. Qualitative Health Research 13(2): 171–183. Jennings L (2006) Andre Guerrero slows down fast food at newest restaurant. Nation’s Restaurant News 40: 32–32. Johnson J (2002) Liberalism and the politics of cultural authenticity. Politics, Philosophy Economics 1(2): 213–236. Jonsdottir H (1998) Life patterns of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: isolation and being closed in. Nursing Science Quarterly 11(4): 160–166. Hwang JJ and Cranage D (2010) Customer health perceptions of selected fast-food restaurants according to their nutritional knowledge and health consciousness. Journal of Foodservice Business Research 13(2): 68–84. King P (2004) Orion food systems: fast food, quick growth–globally. Nation’s Restaurant News 38(42): 34–34. Knibbe K and Versteeg P (2008) Assessing phenomenology in anthropology. Critique of Anthropology 28(1): 47–62. Lan L and Khan MA (1995) Hong Kong’s fast-food industry. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 36(3): 34–41. LeVasseur JJ (2003) The problem of bracketing in phenomenology. Qualitative Health Research 13(3): 408–420. Lopez KA and Willis DG (2004) Descriptive versus interpretive phenomenology: their contributions to nursing knowledge. Qualitative Health Research 14(5): 726–735. Mair H, Sumner J and Rotteau L (2008) The politics of eating: food practices as critically reflexive leisure. Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies 32(2): 379–405. Murphy SB, Moynihan MM and Banyard VL (2009) Moving within the spiral. Affilia 24(2): 152–164. Parker RS, Schaefer AD and Hermans CM (2006) An investigation into teens’ attitudes towards fast-food brands in general: a crosscultural analysis. Journal of Foodservice Business Research 9(4): 25–40. Parsa HG and Khan MA (1989) Analysis of menu trends in fast food industry. Journal of Hospitality Tourism Research 13(3): 545. Paxson H (2005) Slow food in a fat society. Gastronomica 5(1): 14–18. Peace A (2008) Terra Madre 2006. Gastronomica 8(2): 31–39. 153 Pernecky T and Jamal T (2010) (Hermeneutic) Phenomenology in tourism studies. Annals of Tourism Research 37(4): 1055–1075. Piggott S (2001) Go slow.

The World Aircraft Manufacturing Industry

The World Aircraft Manufacturing Industry Introduction As the globalisation spreads out the whole world, the connection between each country becomes closer. Airplane as one means of transportation also plays an important role to support globalisation. Boeing and Airbus are the two largest commercial aircraft manufacturer in the industry. This essay is focus on the market for commercial aircraft manufacturing by analysing competitive factors in the industry and comparing with personal computers market. Background The world aircraft manufacturing Industry can be divided into Military Space Aero-structure and commercial aircraft (Sedaei.S, 2007). In the Figure 1, it shows the segments of world aircraft manufacturing industry. à ¦Ã…“ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ .jpg Source: Commercial Aircraft Industry The passenger commercial aircraft is important in the aircraft manufacturing industry (Sedaei.S, 2007). In the large aircraft manufacturing, Boeing as the first producer, its quick development had made it become nearly a monopoly in the commercial aircraft. It made the prospect of airline worried. During the late 1970s, the nature of the industry was changed by European aircraft manufacturing. France and Great Britain created the Concorde with strong aviation industry, and then combined with West Germany to build up Airbus (Sedaei.S, 2007). Since Lockheed quitted in 1986, and McDonnell Douglas was merged by Boeing Company, the commercial aircraft manufacturing market is an oligopoly dominated by Boeing and Airbus (Besanko, 2007) Analysis of Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing Industry Market structure In the market, a few sellers control a significant amount of the market for the industry, which is defined as oligopoly. In the oligopoly, there are barriers to enter, due to the limitation of technologies and raw materials and so on. Also, the firms in the oligopoly are interdependent, which means that the action of one firm will influence all the other firm. Moreover, the non-price competition is engaged in the oligopoly (Besanko, 2007). As mentioned above, the commercial aircraft market has been in an effective duopoly by Boeing and Airbus. à ¦Ã…“ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ .jpg In the Figure 2, it reveals the market share of Boeing and Airbus. These two companies control the whole commercial aircraft manufacturing industry. Because of the oligopolistic between Boeing and Airbus, the competitive relationship will depend on the instances of strategic interaction. According to the market structure of commercial aircraft manufacturing industry, each firm would like to consider the actions of others when making decision (Cook.A.J, 2008). Competitive Factors The five-force frame work is the one of efficient ways to analyse the industry. The Figure 3 presents the five forces: internal rivalry, substitutes and complements, entry, supplier power and buyer power. Figure 3: The Five-Force Framework Internal Rivalry is pointed to the competition within the industry. Price competition and non-price competition are involved on the competition of firms. Due to the particularity of commercial aircraft manufacturing industry, which is its price elasticity of demand is not large, it is hard to erode profit by cutting down price-cost margin (Besanko, 2007). Therefore, the market engages in non-price competition. In the non-price competition, the firms can make profit by increasing fixed costs, such as new product development, and marginal cost like adding product features (Besanko, 2007). Except for crisis in 2001, Boeing and Airbus keeps backlogs which can take them long time to finish. It is found that neither Boeing nor Airbus can broaden market share rapidly with high fixed costs during this time. However, when it comes to downturn, Boeing and Airbus are willing to decrease the product capacity and make a deal with each other to face the declining backlogs (Tuttle.M, 2004). Recentl y, in order to make products differentiation, Airbus has developed its A380, which is a double-decker plane with over 550 seats. To maintain the market share, Boeing plans to concentrate on 350-passenger 787 dreamliner which is to be more fuel efficient than the others instead of creating Sonic Cruiser (Boeing.com, nd). Furthermore, the government subsidies is one of the drivers in the competition of commercial aircraft manufacturing. Since the airbus is generated by France, Germany and Great Britain, it received subsidies from European governments. With these subsidies, to some extent Airbus can undercut to the price of Boeing and gain the market share. To Boeing, it is also supported by US government on military aircraft, so that it can remain its competitiveness in commercial aircraft manufacturing (Besanko, 2007). Substitutes is an important factor affect the demand of products. To make profit, substitutes operate in the same way by stealing business and enhancing the internal competition (Besanko, 2007). In terms of the airline, the substitute for Boeing and Airbus is the airplane made by others. In detail, it is not economical that using medium and large capacity to fly with nonstop point-to-point travel. Thus, it forced Canadian manufacturer Bombardier and Brazilian Manufacturer Embraer to fill in this gag. These two manufacturers created regional jets, and 2000 regional jets sold to date. Undoubtedly, it shocked to traditional workhorses Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s. However, the demand for air travel is climbing up, and some carriers suppose to choose Boeing and Airbus to maintain profitability (Cook.A.J, 2008). Some indirect substitutes include the other means of transportation, such as high-speed rail in Japan, which can only impact on regional aircraft in certain routes (Besanko, 2007). Barriers to entry depend on the limitation of raw materials and technologies and so on. The commercial aircraft manufacturing is a special industry with high development costs and experience-based advantage, which makes difficulties on entering. For example, the Airbus takes $ 13million to manufacture the A380. That will be a large amount to an incumbent and the non-experienced will make incumbents to be risky (Besanko, 2007). Suppliers and Buyers are another two forces. Boeing and Airbus can get raw materials and components from supplier markets. In order to tie up with suppliers, Boeing has set up its Global Airlines Inventory Network, which can order spare parts from suppliers directly (Besanko, 2007). Concerned with buyers, each has limit power which are airlines and leasing companies. Because of the few substitutes, the minimum backlogs orders can be kept with its rival competition. Moreover, during the recession, the orders can be canceled by buyers. The cancellation will influence the profitability (Lipczynski.J, 2001). Comparison with personal market Personal computers have possessed an important position in the daily life. The personal computer varies in different types: workstation, desktop computer, single unit, nettop, laptop, netbook, table PC, Ultra-mobile PC, home theater PC and pocket PC (Reimer.J, 2005). Also, there are many competitors in the market for personal computers, such as HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Apple, ASUS and Toshiba. Therefore, the market for person market can be described as monopolistic competition. Different from oligopoly, the monopolistic competition involves many producers and consumers, and no exact business can control the whole market (Lipczynski.J, 2001). For instance, the Boeing and Airbus almost control the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry. Whereas, different brands in horizontal differentiation and different types in horizontal differentiation exist in personal computers and they are substitutes. In the short run, it can behave as monopolies to gain profit wit market power. In the long run, due to the freedom of entry and exit, it can behave like perfect competition (Besanko, 2007). Also, the new product development in personal computers market is independent. The firms can make decisions despite of effects come from the competitors (Shepherd.W.G, 1997). For instance, in the commercial aircraft manufacturing, Boeing and Airbus are interdependent which means the actions of one will entirely influence the other. Once Airbus develops A380 as new product, Boeing abandon its original plans to develop 787. Without the government subsidies, the innovation seems to be difficult owing to the high fixed cost. On the contrary, the producers in personal computer can develop new product based on customer preferences independently. Compared with personal computers, the growth opportunities in commercial aircraft manufacturing are limit. Because of the oligopoly, non-price competition and interdependent relationships is included. Boeing and Airbus have its own customer loyalty, the high operation cost and technologies. It is hard for them to stealing business and market share from each other. However, in the personal computer market, free entry makes the entrants can obtain the profits when sellers set prices above marginal cost, and can offer customers much more new flavors, styles, and so on (Besanko, 2007). Conclusion Overall, the market structure of commercial aircraft manufacturing industry is oligopoly. Boeing and Airbus possess the largest market share in duopoly. The competitive factors come from both internal and external, which are internal rivalry, substitutes, barriers to entry, suppliers and buyers, influence the firm growth, new product development and pricing of the commercial aircraft manufacturing market. Compared with the market for personal computers, they are different owing to different market structure which is monopolistic competition. The personal computers can do innovation freely and large space to grow.

rebeldol Essay on Nora’s Rebellion in Ibsens A Dolls House

Nora’s Rebellion in A Doll’s House  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The central theme of A Doll’s House is Nora’s rebellion against society and everything that was expected of her. Nora shows this by breaking away from all the standards and expectations her husband and society had set up for her. In her time women weren’t supposed to be independent. They were to support their husbands, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make everything perfect around the house. Nora’s first rebellion was when she took out a loan so that she could pay for her husband, Torvalds medical treatment. It was against the law for women to take out a loan without their husbands consent. When she did this she proved that she wasn’t as submissive and helpless as Torvald thought she was. He called her a "poor helpless little creature". A perfect example of Torvalds control and Nora’s submissiveness was when she got him to re-teach her the tarantella. She already knew the dance but she acted as if she needed him to re-teach her the whole thing. When he says to her "Watching you swing and dance the tarantella makes my bloo... rebeldol Essay on Nora’s Rebellion in Ibsen's A Doll's House Nora’s Rebellion in A Doll’s House  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The central theme of A Doll’s House is Nora’s rebellion against society and everything that was expected of her. Nora shows this by breaking away from all the standards and expectations her husband and society had set up for her. In her time women weren’t supposed to be independent. They were to support their husbands, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make everything perfect around the house. Nora’s first rebellion was when she took out a loan so that she could pay for her husband, Torvalds medical treatment. It was against the law for women to take out a loan without their husbands consent. When she did this she proved that she wasn’t as submissive and helpless as Torvald thought she was. He called her a "poor helpless little creature". A perfect example of Torvalds control and Nora’s submissiveness was when she got him to re-teach her the tarantella. She already knew the dance but she acted as if she needed him to re-teach her the whole thing. When he says to her "Watching you swing and dance the tarantella makes my bloo...

David Guterson And His Use Of The Theme Of Nature Essay -- essays rese

David Guterson and His Use of the Theme of Nature   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  David Guterson, a young American author, has written two major works regarding aspects of human nature and human emotions. His first publication, a collection of short stories, entitled The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind addresses some of the moral dilemmas that humans face throughout their lives. His first novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, narrates the trial of a Japanese man accused of murdering a white man in the post World War II era. Throughout his literary works, Guterson uses elements of nature: land, trees, water and especially snow, as literal and metaphorical tools to develop and resolve conflicts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  David Guterson uses the same aspects and characteristics of nature in two different ways. First he describes in visual detail the literal or actual effects that elements of nature have on the characters in the story. But more importantly Guterson uses nature to convey substantial and symbolic meaning in the lives of the characters in his stories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the elements of nature that Guterson uses as a tool to develop the conflicts in Snow Falling on Cedars are the strawberry fields on the island. These fields represent an important source of income for the community. Traditionally the Japanese laborers worked the fields and the white Americans owned the fields. The question of the ownership of seven acres of strawberry fields serves as the apparent motive for the murder of Carl Heine. To a local Japanese fisherman, Kabuo (accused of murdering Carl Heine), the ownership of this land promises a secure future and ultimately independence. â€Å"...she knew that Kabuo wanted a strawberry field.. nothing more than that† (Snow Falling 89). â€Å"His dream...was close to him now, his strawberry land, his happiness† (Snow Falling 456). The strawberry fields connected Kabuo to his past and symbolized a continuity of life. â€Å"My father planted the fathers of these (strawberry) plants† (Snow Falling 362).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guterson also uses snow metaphorically to make the ownership of the strawberry fields disappear and seem unimportant in life (Snow covering the fields permitted the reader to veiw the ownership of the fields as a very materialistic and selfish thing). After the snow has fallen it acts as a purifier to a... ...nd. The snow changes in these scenes in the story as Guterson tells......................................................................   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Snow is also one of the elements that can also be traced through Guterson's earlier works. In â€Å"Angels in the Snow† Guterson uses snow in the very same way that he uses snow as a metaphor in his novel. â€Å"Angels in the Snow† is a short story about the struggle for a man to maintain a truthful marriage with his wife. In this story the snow that falls on Christmas eve symbolizes the falling apart of his marriage due to unsurpassable problems. â€Å"Outside the window a light snow blew down... in the yard the grass looked sprinkled with powder†(Angels 3). Guterson weaves a tale about moralistic troubles that began in a young man's fragile past. â€Å"Outside, the snow covered the last of the lawn. The world looked hushed, delicate and beautiful.† ( Angels 7) This passage describes the delicate remembrances of the protagonist's youthful days. And then, â€Å"outside the falling snowflakes looked larger...a low drift was forming...† ( Angels 12). This statement is offered as Guterson's main character begins to confront his past conflicts.

The Lottery by Beth Goobie is a Bad Influence on Teens Essay -- essays

A Bad Influence Throughout high school, the most essential trait to have above intellect and organization is good behavior. Without it, a student cannot be focused during a lecture, which can lead to disappointing grades and ultimately, a dreadful high school experience. The Lottery, by Beth Goobie encourages bad and rebellious behavior acted out by the protagonist Sally Hudson. At the start of the book, Sally gets picked by the school government as annual lottery winner. As lottery winner, Sally has to expect to be the butt of all jokes and for everyone to hate her. However, Sally gets told all the secrets and classified information the school has to offer. Sally does not enjoy becoming the outcast of the school so she tries to rebel. She eventually succeeds and the school government is forced to choose another person as lottery winner. This book is a bad influence on teens because it shows them that rebellion leads to triumph and that being devious and lying will grant them success in the future. In modern society, teenagers are being taught to be bold and honest, not sly or sneaky. We grew up hearing â€Å"since you told me the truth, it’s Okay,† by our parents. This way of thinking is correct, for what type of place would earth be if everyone was trying to swindle one another? However, in The Lottery the protagonist used sly and devious methods to get what she wanted. In the following quote, Sally gets exposed telling her best friend that she poisoned the president of the school council to avoid a meeting. â€Å"It was me, yes I poisoned Dusty†¦ it way the only way to avoid the council meetings† (Goobie 202). By using a dishonest way of getting what she wanted, Sally demonstrates how she is a negative role model for the world’s tee... ...nse to that is that it is tolerable to voice up in certain situations but not all the time or when it is unnecessary. In addition, some people may state that being sly is a good thing because it makes a person more cunning. My reply is it is fine if you think being sly will make you more intelligent as long as being sly doesn’t cross the line of unmoral. If it does, then the clever person will use his intelligence in a bad way as in Sally’s case. The Lottery is an incredibly bad influence on America’s youth because it portrays the protagonist as a sneaky rebellious individual who succeeds in life. Today’s teens as with any generation of youth is extremely lost and in dire need of direction. Books such as The Lottery should not be targeted towards teens for they are in a very fragile state of life. For if you hurt today’s teens, you are hurting tomorrow’s adults.

Prevention Plan for Divorce Before Marriage

Phuong Ho Prof. Janice Falbert CDFS 321 Section 9 Personal Relationships Wellness Philosophy Paper (PRW) Fall 2012 Marriage is one of the most essential factors of human life. It creates the basis for everyone to pursue a better, healthier, and happier life. However, it is the fact that there are more and more couples marrying and then ending up with divorce, and this rate is increasing faster year by year. Actually, all the divorce cases are originated from some of the forms of emotional illness that gradually appear in each partner during the time of their relationship.It is good to cure these forms of emotional illness to solve the martial problems of the specific patients. However; it is absolutely the best when the original points are studied and determined before they become the serious and fatal clues to damage marriage. What I am talking about here is the prevention efforts to be applied to the time period before couples marry, not after. I also present my Prevention Plan con taining the ideas, of preventing any chances that can cause divorce, for pre-marital couples.This is the ultimate result of the combination of my total knowledge about marriage and the practical philosophy of Primary Prevention material. It is true that relationship before marriage plays an important role in coupled life ahead; it also builds the foundation for the good, healthy, and happy marriage. However, it is completely wrong saying that dating works effectively to screen out future divorces, particularly those that occur early in marriage.Actually, dating does not have anything to do with the separation of married couples. The point here is that dating and marriage are different. Of course dating is important to lead to marriage. However, dating is a step to get two people closer and to see if they are for each other, and marriage is a commitment with full of incidents and probabilities. Loving someone, committing to him/her, and living together for the rest of your life are t otally different. This illustrates well for the divorces happening early in marriage.Many troublesome things happen when marriage life starts out. Things change dramatically, and the couples have to work through themselves or asking for professional help or divorces is the consequence. Another reason to say that dating is nothing to do with future divorces is that dating not working out leads to break-up right after that. People do not wait until they get into marriage, and then regret for what happen and say goodbye to each other. It does not work this way.Really, problems can appear during the dating; couples tend to learn how to overcome it (just like married ones); however, if they cannot find the same solution for this problem, break-up is easy to be brought up right away. Separation in dating is a lot simpler and easier than marriage. No such couples resist each other’s problems until they get married. As what I said previously, my Prevention Plan, which I will introduc e to you, is built upon my martial knowledge and the information from Primary Prevention material. So what is Primary Prevention?It is actually a distinct level from the three-tier model, which is pretty much similar to the main Prevention model, containing Primary Prevention, Secondary Prevention, and Tertiary Prevention. Secondary Prevention (treatment activities) is about trying to decrease the length of time an individual or family experiences an emotionally distressful situation; Tertiary Prevention (rehabilitation activities) is about preventing the recurrence of a debilitating problem and to restore as high as possible the level of individual and family reorganization.Like the other two, Primary Prevention, considered as a hybrid form originated from Prevention, has its own characteristics and techniques, which are about aiming to reduce the incidence of new cases of mental disorder in the population by fighting against harmful forces which operate in the community and by str engthening the capacity of people to resist stress. So, unlike the purpose of Secondary Prevention shortening the time the patients resist and purpose of Tertiary Prevention avoiding the repetition of the illness, the Primary Prevention is more straightened method of anti-emotional-distress.It focuses directly on the fight against the mental illness created during the process by helping patients develop the abilities to avoid stress. Primary Prevention focuses mainly on groups of patients but for the specific problems that those groups obtain. To get a wider and deeper view of these concepts, let get back to the original Prevention. The fact is that the perception of Prevention is not new at all. The ideas that mental distress might be prevented and eliminated happened a long time ago, back to the ancient time.However, the fully attainable concept of Prevention as a Public Health treatment was recently developed when the number of serious mentally ill patients as well as divorces go es higher and faster. Prevention provides strategies that not only help all the patients take part in avoid illness and promoting health, but also enlighten the misunderstanding and wrong claims and opinions about emotional distress. Really, there were any people bringing on the ideas saying that major illness is surely in large part genetically determined and is absolutely not preventable, at most modifiable.Prevention proves that these ideas are wrong and that mental problems are not such diseases that can be hinted to any microorganism or DNA thread. They are actually troubles derived from the very normal routine life of each individual. Sometimes they can be cause from the factors of that patient’s life like family, friends, colleagues†¦; sometimes they are from the patient himself/herself. Therefore, because those problems are not genetic and instinctive, it is easy to result that they can be controlled, prevented, and eliminated. 4] So, how does Prevention do its j obs as a helpful treatment of promoting mental health and avoiding illness? The answer is in its technology given by four specific tools as Education, Community Organization, Competency Promotion, and Natural Caregiving. Each of them has different perspective, way of approaching, and practical application but they all have the same purpose of preventing mentally illness and promoting health. [3] My Plan of prevention of Divorce is a combination of martial and relationship tips, academic and proved material, and practically social information.The points are simple rules and tips to some people in their lives, but these people are failed to recognize or even ignore and underestimate them. This leads to number of serious consequences to their marriage lives, even divorces. As I mentioned, all my attention will be the Prevention applied to the time period before couples married. Firstly, the optimal step for the all couples before they commit to each other in order to have a good and st able marriage is to question themselves and each other â€Å"Am I sure? Are you sure? [6] That means a premarital couple have to make sure the other is the only one and their ultimate finish of love. Both of them have to make it clear that the other one think the same and is literally willing to commit to this life ahead. [5] There are some couples rushing to marriage by their contemporary passion and feeling without thinking reasonably. Certainly, this kind of marriage later will obtain many obstacles and problems and suffer from the multiple consequences including divorce if they do not ask for any help. Marriage is an important thing ever happening to a person.Make sure that is the right one and be ready to spend the rest time of your life with him/her. [1] The second point of the Prevention Plan is â€Å"Professional help is not supplementary, at all. † Some couples think they are fine with everything; all they need to do is go ahead and be ready for a wedding without th inking twice about this as a big incident that will change their lives forever. Premarital counseling is extremely important that helps couples have a clearer and more complete view of what is going happen and how things change dramatically after they become husbands and wives.Besides, this is also a chance for the couples to make up their mind again and see if the other one is really the one. This may create disappointments for some couples when they think they already know everything about their relationship (but they do not). However, this is one of the most effective ways to prevent the probability of divorces happen right before the marriage happens. [2] Another thing that affects most to the stability of marriage life of any couple is â€Å"Defining expectations can help build a good plan. † Any victorious battle has its own strategy.What are the expectations? They are intentions, standards, rules that are summed up by both sides of couple and will be applied for their future family. The same with this situation, a happy future house is not only built with love, but also with wisdom and knowledge. The expectations can be only found, treasured, and carried by communication, and the best way to communicate is, of course, talking. [6] Beside building, reinforcing, and enriching the love, respect, understanding to each other, the couples should take time having some serious talking, discussing about their future family.Many things this talking can come with are such as finance, children, sex, housework, religion, jobs†¦ Having a clearer and practical view of these factors can help couples avoid many unexpected issues popping up in their future life together. It will be a lot easier and simpler to avoid, deal with and fix these problems when the insiders already know the concepts of original issues. [2] Many people think it is wasting of time and unnecessary to spend their time for their future marriages while they have not even get married yet.Ac tually, this period of time is the bridge between the dating and marriage. Maybe dating does not work effectively to screen out future divorces, particularly those that occur early in marriage; however, preventing is much better than fixing. This period of time is the most magnificent transition step for couple to reinforce their points of view, concepts, and knowledge about the marital lives waiting for them ahead. Therefore, I can surely say that my Prevention Plan will work effectively in any society, including a nation with a high rate of divorces like U.S. As you can see above, this plan with three general tips is simple and trivial point in premarital relationship; however, missing, ignoring or even misusing them can lead to serious problems. Not only the citizens are educated about marriage promoting and divorce preventing, but also the influence of mental health service in U. S. will get more appreciations, attentions, and profits from the public. These profits can help impr ove the U. S’s medical health development in many ways also.The open behaviors that I encourage couples to do are completely suitably helpful for Americans especially young people to develop themselves a confidence in dealing with different situations that life brings to them. Number of stably happy families maintains and improves; divorce decreases; society is higher in standards; the country is stronger. The best way to get the Prevention Plan maximized its power is to publicize and popularize them as a guide for premarital, engaged, or long-termed couples.The therapists, professionals, or mentalists of Marital Mental Healthcare need to know about and encourage the couples to apply it. The plan should be also introduced to people by media like Science newspapers, Family or Health magazines, the online articles†¦ In order to get more results, the government also should legalize the law that each premarital couple have to take mandatory Marriage and Family course in orde r to have better perspectives of what they are going to face in the near future and to give them a chance to rethink if what they are doing is right or wrong.This will raise a flow of opposing ideas from media and public about imposing and frustrating premarital couples. This Prevention working means the rate of marriage of U. S. will decrease in some way also due to the cut way of couples who realize they are not ready for marriage. The birth rate is also stable due to the couples already talked about children issues before marriage. There are absolutely less poor or foster-care children due to the number of broken families reduce. The children’s future life quality is more clearly defined in a positive way. [1]Divorce rate decrease can lead to many social advantages and benefits to both people and government. My plan simply gives a little help to the couples that will be the future husbands or wives. Hopefully with its help, our nation will develop in a stable tempo. Though my plan plays as a tool to prevent Divorce for couples before marriage, it is the most important when the couples themselves are willing to do what the plan says. References 1. â€Å"How do you know that you married the right person? † Available: http://www. marriagemax. com/prevent-divorce. asp 2. Prevent Divorce before you get married. † June 22, 2009. Available: http://www. crosswalk. com/family/marriage/prevent-divorce-before-you-get-married-11605052. html 3. â€Å"Wellness – Primary Prevention. † Material. 4. Primary Prevention and its technology. † Material. 5. Marriage and the family: Diversity and Strengths (7th Edition). Olson-DeFrain – Skogrand. Chapter 9: Friendship, Intimacy, Friendship. Material. 6. â€Å"Preventing Divorce Before you Say ‘I Do’. † January 30, 2007. Available: http://voices. yahoo. com/preventing-divorce-say-do-177817. html