Architecture: Classical Greek vs. Medieval Gothic

Architecture: Classical Greek vs. Medieval Gothic Wendy DeLisio HUM_266 September 24, 2012 Taniya Hossain Architecture: Classical Greek vs. Medieval Gothic Looking at the design of different structures throughout the world, one may not realize the beauty of the art in each of them or the ideals on which they were constructed. For example the classical Greek era, 480 BCE – 330 BCE that held the ideals of order, balance, and God like perfection. This type of idealist architecture is seen in the Parthenon temple built in 447-432 BCE (Ancient-Greece. rg, 2012). The temple is built in tribute for the Goddess Athena, Goddess of war and wisdom. It is a post and lintel structure with columns fashioned in Greek Doric style. There are also the beautiful cathedrals built during the Middle Ages in gothic style that give society insight into the culture of that age. The architecture of these times were heavily influenced by religion and Christianity and designed to elevate the spirit of ma n toward God (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2012).One example of this time is the architectural design is the Amiens Cathedral. Originally built in 1152 BCE but was destroyed by fire; reconstruction started in 1220 CE and was completed in 1245 CE (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2012). In the design of this cathedral it is evident that the architect is influenced by the Christian religion, from the three archways representing the trinity and the middle archway adorned with a statue of Christ, it was built as a place of worship.These remarkable structures, each a piece of art, are both built with divine intentions, stand in stark contrast to each other, influenced by the culture of the age. Although both classic Greek and gothic architectures are built to define the ideals and beliefs of their age and have differences, the classic Greek architecture of order and balance has influenced and are used within the gothic medieval constructions. There are differenc es between the formal and stylistic characteristics of the classic Greek architecture and the gothic rchitecture of the medieval age. Classic Greek architecture is made of stone resting on stone with nothing but pressure holding them together. This is best exemplified in Greek temples, such as the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a post and lintel structure, built of lime stone and marble which were the common building materials of that age (Sporre, 2010). Using these types of materials limited the architect’s use of space. In order for the building to stand without the roof collapsing many columns were needed to hold the roof up.These columns, known as Doric columns because of their style, were made of marble and the pressure of the stone roof resting on them held them together. The Parthenon was with many beautiful states, from the metopes that are a series of carved panels forming the Doric frieze telling stories of the history and battles of the Gods, to the towering statue of the Goddess Athena for which it was built. The Parthenon and other Greek temples were meant to be revered from the outside as a center piece of the city, a monument to the Gods of that age. Gothic architecture, unlike classic Greek, used stone masonry.By using stone masonry they were able to create arches and redistributed the pressure of the stones enabling the structures to be built taller. They also created what is called a buttress and used this to hold up walls and arches as reinforcement. Gothic architecture was considered ethereal and focused on the use of space (Sporre, 2010). A beautiful example of gothic architecture was the Amiens Cathedral. Towering into the heavens, with strong arches, symmetrical lines, and ornate workmanship, this cathedral was a show piece for the city in which it was built and exuded spirituality.These cathedrals were meant to inspire one to look toward the heavens with extremely high ceilings and ornate stain glass window placed strategically towa rd the roof causes one to look upward. Like classic Greek temple, they were adorned with beautiful statues. However, the states were of the Christian Saints, and other religious symbolism. The Amiens Cathedral was meant as place to enter and worship, as were all cathedral of the medieval era. Even though there are differences between these two styles of architecture, they are a testament to evolution of how societies have grown and evolved.One can see this in the similarities of these two styles. Classic Greek architect’s used repetition in the arrangement of the columns holding up the roof of the Parthenon. Gothic architect’s used repetition in the creation of the arches on the facade of the Amiens Cathedral. The gothic cathedrals are built with order and as are the Greek temples. One can see that gothic architecture evolved out of classic Greek. The most interesting aspects of the classic Greek architecture were the way the buildings were constructed with marble ston es and no use of mortar or cement and the beautiful engravings on the metopes are mesmerizing.Gothic architecture is gorgeous. The creation of colored lighting through the placement of stained glass and the construction of the arches holds one captivated. Both styles of architecture are fascinating because of the elaborate detail and styles of construction that it took to create the beautiful structures during those eras. Even though each of these styles have their differences, clearly the classic Greek influences can be seen in the buildings of the medieval time period and in today’s architectural structures.References Ancient-Greece. org. (2012). The Parthenon. Retrieved from http://www. ancient-greece. org/architecture/parthenon. html Apollo Group, Inc. (2012). Medieval Gothic Cathedrals [Online Video]. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/UOPHX/HUM266/art_through_ages. html Sporre, D. J. (2010). Reality Through The Arts. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentic e Hall. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (2012). Amiens Cathedral. Retrieved from http://whc. unesco. org/en/list/162

Child Marriage in India

To be defined at length in a later section, child marriage is most simply, for our purposes, a marriage in which the wife is below the age of eighteen at the time of consummation. The practice of child marriage in rural India is deeply rooted in cultural values and grounded in social structures. And despite laws that prohibit child marriage, the practice is still extremely prevalent in many regions. Though the statistics are contentious, it is estimated that in some parts of India, like the state of Rajasthan, nearly 80 percent of the marriages are among girls under the age of fifteen† (Gupta, 2005, p. ). In India overall, roughly 47. 6 percent of girls are married by the age of eighteen (The implications of early marriage, 2004). Despite international human rights efforts, the eradication of child marriage is greatly hindered by the intertwined social issues that often lead to and are then in turn reinforced by the practice. Various underlying social factors inform why child marriage exists, including: traditional gender norms; the value of virginity and parental concerns surrounding premarital sex; pressure of marriage transactions (or dowries); and poverty (Amin, Chong, & Haberland, 2007). The social outcomes of child marriage are also significant, and often devastate communities in which these practices take place. Societies in which child marriage takes place have higher rates of early childbearing, unwanted pregnancies, maternal and infant mortality, sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDS) and unsafe abortions. Additionally, adolescent girls placed in child marriages are often deprived of basic health care and health information, and achieve extremely low educational attainment (Mathur, Greene, & Malhotra, 2003, p. – 11; Bruce, 2007; Amin, Chong, & Haberland, 2007). Apart from these health and societal consequences, such marriages also affect girls’ individual experience as social actors. Early marriage negatively affects girls’ social networks, decision-making power, and ability to negotiate with partners—all of which do influence the health and well being of the individual (Bruce, 2007). In many ways, the social issues that emerge from the practice of child marriage also serve to reinforce it—creating a vicious cycle. This cyclical pattern is just one reason why the practice has yet to be eradicated despite international pressure and legal interventions. Each of the problems that informs child marriage intersects in complex ways and the result is an incessant and engrossing problem that impacts all aspects of the social worlds in which it takes place, from the well-being of the individual girls to the economic, political, and cultural structures of general Indian society. What is most urgent about child marriages in India, however, is the relationship between child marriage and the increasingly severe Indian HIV epidemic. The rates of HIV in India are a topic of great debate between the Indian government and both Indian and International NGOs. Yet, there is a consensus that HIV, once an urban phenomenon in India that was primarily transmitted within high-risk populations is now gaining momentum in rural areas (â€Å"Fears Over India,† 2005). These trends are alarming and suggest that the cultural contexts in which these HIV rates are climbing need to be addressed. Additionally, recent research has found links between HIV and early marriage in communities across the globe. †¦[T]he majority of sexually active girls age 15-19 in developing countries are married, and married adolescent girls tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers† (The implications of early marriage, 2004, p. 1; Clark, Bruce, & Dude, 2006, p. 79). HIV/AIDS in India The Indian HIV/AIDS epidemic is relatively new, and, once limited to high-risk urban populations, HIV is rapidly emerging as a problem for general communities within Indian society (â€Å"Fears Over India,† 2005). HIV/AIDS is becoming widespread, and as it reaches new populations, it poses new problems. As child marriage is fundamentally a rural phenomenon in India, the particular plight of HIV in rural areas must be discussed. Issues like how to educate and provide treatment for people in poor, rural areas are emerging, and new cultural pockets of Indian society must be understood in order to more effectively implement these programs. Though contentious, recent figures estimate that roughly 2-3. 6 million people in India are infected with HIV. This places India third worldwide for the number of HIV cases within a country. â€Å"Overall, 0. 36% of India’s population is living with HIV. † While this may seem low, given the vast population of India, the actual number of people who are HIV-positive is remarkably high (Overview of HIV/AIDS, 2008). And in Rajasthan, the largely rural state in which the project will be conducted, it is believed that there is a prevalence of nearly 5%–extremely high for India (â€Å"AIDS in India,† n/d). Many who work in the health sector claim that they are witnessing a rapid rise in infections to new populations. Sujatha Rao, director-general of the government’s National AIDS Control Organisation, says doctors are increasingly seeing women infected by their husbands,† a population typically not targeted by reproductive health programs (â€Å"Vast Distances a Barrier,† 2008; Santhya & Jejeebhoy, â€Å"Early Marriage,† 2007). There is also evidence that knowledge of HIV is extremely low in the rural areas where the study will be conducted, particularly among women. The National Family Health Survey reports that only 19% of ever-married rural Rajasthani women aged 15-49 had ever heard of AIDS, compared to 65% of their male counterpart. Aside from the gender discrepancy of knowledge across India, however, a rural/urban dichotomy was especially pronounced among women (2005-2006 National Family-Rajasthan; 2005-2006 National Family-India). This lack of knowledge unsurprisingly also appears to influence behavior. Among currently married rural women, aged 15-49, only 38% used any â€Å"modern method† of family planning, compared to 55. 8% of their urban counterparts. More importantly, only 3. 1% of married rural women have used a condom (the only method in the analysis that would protect against HIV), compared to 13. 3% of urban married women. Furthermore, only 14. % of ever-married rural women (ages 15-49) knew that consistent condom use can reduce the changes of HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 61. 6% of their urban counterparts (2005-2006 National Family-Rajasthan; 2005-2006 National Family-India). A recent New York Times article reports that the rural problem of HIV is made more pronounced by the difficulties that HIV-positive people in rural communities face when attempting to get tested and treated. Many patients travel long distances each month to receive government-sponsored antiretrovirals, but the cost and time required for such a journey is difficult for many to achieve. In consequence, many patients simply give up on treatment, â€Å"an anathema in HIV therapy as it gives rise to drug resistance. † One doctor notes, â€Å"Travel can affect drug compliance. Patients who don’t get family support, women who may not like to travel along will just give up† (â€Å"Vast Distances a Barrier,† 2008). Child Marriage For the purposes of our discussion, child marriage is identified as a marriage that takes place before â€Å"exact age 18†Ã¢â‚¬â€a definition adhered to by UNICEF and other international organizations (Bruce, 2007). This definition is at odds with the definition provided by India’s recent Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, which states that a â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢child’ [is] a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not complete eighteen years of age† (The Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, 2004). While this discrepancy will be analyzed further below, given that eighteen is largely considered the age of consent, it is this standard to which our definition will be held. It should be noted that the betrothal of a marriage can happen at any time, and often will occur at birth. But that marriage is not defined as a child marriage unless the wife is given to her spousal family, and the marriage is consummated, before she reaches the age of eighteen. Furthermore, as most child marriages take place among girls who are minors, with male partners who are of age, whenever the term â€Å"child marriage† is used in this project, it is referring to a marriage that involves a female child. Child marriage has not been ignored by Indian or international policymakers, yet enforcement of these laws has been virtually impossible. The Indian government is often portrayed as uncomfortable when dealing with personal laws within distinct communities that are not derived from grassroots movements (Burns, 1998; Yadav, 2006, p. 7). Despite this, laws have been on the books for over a decade. In 1994, a Marriage Bill was introduced which â€Å"recommended†¦the enactment of a uniform law relating to marriages and [provided] for the compulsory registration of marriages, with the aim of preventing child marriages and also polygamy in society. † Yet, this law did not pass and in Rajasthan, to this day, there is no compulsory marriage registration (Yadav, 2006, p. 0). This legislation has been preceded by various attempts to limit the practice and legislate the age at which girls are married. In the 1880s, discussions of the first Age of Consent Bill began, and finally, in 1927, it was declared that marriages with a girl under twelve would be invalid. In 1929, India began to prohibit the practice of all child marriage by instituting the Child Marriage Restraint Act. In 1978, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was amended to â€Å"prescribe eighteen and twenty-one years as the age of marriage for a girl and boy respectively† (Yadav, 2006, p. 7). Due to the illegality of child marriage, the number of girls who are put into child marriage in Rajasthan is extremely difficult to know. And particularly due to differing definition employed by researches, no consensus yet exists among those who have tried to obtain a number. Researchers claim that, in Rajasthan, the number of girls married off before age eighteen is somewhere between 55. 5% and 80% and other researchers estimate that roughly 56% of Rajasthani marriages occur with girls under the age of fifteen (Yadav, 2006, pl. 10; Burns, 1998). Therefore, there is overwhelming evidence that child marriage is occurring in Rajasthan in large numbers, despite the laws against it. Why is child marriage occurring? What social, cultural, and economic contexts inform the persistence of this practice? Some assert that Rajasthani people either do not understand the law or simply ignore it (Yadav, 2006, p. 37). In a New York Times article outlining the practice of child marriage in Rajasthan, it was stated that â€Å"Each year, formal warnings are posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, but they have little impact. In a discussion with a village elder in Rajasthan, the elder stated, â€Å"Of course, we know that marrying children is against the law, but it’s only a paper law† (Burns, 1998). Therefore, he suggests that the law is perceived as unimportant, allowing families to simply ignore it, and often without penalty. Additionally, cultural and social contexts still highly value this practice and Indian families often turn to child marriage to help cope with social conditions in disrepair. To approach this, I will first discuss the gender norms in India. How are women perceived? What are the practical implications of these norms? Secondly, I will discuss the value placed on virginity and understandings of premarital sex. Thirdly, I will discuss the economic factors that continue to promote the practice. And finally, I will briefly discuss the major consequences of child marriage, which will move us into a discussion of the links between child marriage and HIV. Child marriage is deeply embedded in ideals about the role of women and the status of girls in Indian culture (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). Understandings of the Indian family and a wife’s role more generally give huge amounts of insight to the status of women. Within the context of a patrilocal family ideology, girls are â€Å"reared to be obedient, selfsacrificing, modest, nurturant, hardworking and home loving. † In an interview with Seymour in the 1960s, â€Å"†¦one Indian gentleman expressed†¦, ‘American girls are given too much independence. A girl should marry young, before she has the chance to develop independent ideals. † By marrying girls young (and enhancing the disparity between her and her husband’s age), the male-based hierarchy is best preserved (Seymour, 1999, p. 55). Males are quite simply valued more in Indian families. They act as the head of the household, the breadwinners and the decision makers. These values are imbued from an early age and as the transition to adulthood is marked with marriage, these gender norms become particularly pronounced (Segal, 1999, p. 216; Gupta, 2005, p. 1; Yadav, 2006, p. 1; Seymour, 1999, p. 97). A woman’s primary role in the home is to produce sons, as this will bring honor to her family, and an heir for her husband. â€Å"In a society that stresses patrilineal descent, to bear children, especially sons, is critical, and girls learn from an early age that this is their responsibility† (Seymour, 1999, p. 7). Motherhood is additionally critical in order to establish the wife as a member of her husband’s family. As Indian families take collective care of children, producing a new family member is heavily prized and brings the newlywed status (Seymour, 1999, p. 99). How do women feel about their status and role in society? Seymour writes that, â€Å"Women are the moving pieces in an exchange system that creates extensive webs of kinship. Is this a hardship for them? Yes, for they must leave the security of their own family and join a different family. Do they find it oppressive? Sometimes, but not generally† (Seymour, 1999, p. xvi). Though others argue that â€Å"cultural dictation of female role and lack of continued financial and emotional support, predominantly from spouses and other family members, were influential factors in [high rates of depression among women]† (Jambunathan, 1992). The low value of girls is also reflected in traditions of female infanticide and abortions of female children and research that shows that women are by and large â€Å"neglected† by Indian society, resulting in poor health care and a high number of preventable deaths (Miller, 1981, p. 8; Segal, 1999, p. 218-220). In one survey, 52% of Indians said that they would get a prenatal diagnosis to select a male, as opposed to 30% who would in Brazil, 29% in Greece and 20% in Turkey (Segal, 1999, p. 219). These patterns have resulted in a worsening sex ratio in Rajasthan. It is estimated that between 750 to 850 girls are born per 1000 boys, a problem that not only reinforces these negative ideals about gender, but also could potentially be devastating to the longevity of Indian communities (Indian Census, 2001; Kristof, 1991). An Indian obstetrician interviewed for The Hindu stated that these days, it is extremely rare to see a family with two daughters, and some families do not even have one. In communities like Rajasthan, â€Å"people want to pretend they are modern and that they do not discriminate between a girl and a boy. Yet, they will not hesitate to quietly go to the next village and get an ultrasound done† (Thapar, 2007). And in a statement by UNICEF, the organization â€Å"†¦[says] that for most of the female fetuses that survive, ‘birth is the only equal opportunity they will ever get’† (Segal, 1999, p. 20). Additionally, child marriage is greatly informed by ideals of virginity—a cultural notion that has huge impacts on the intersections between HIV/AIDS and child marriage. â€Å"An unmarried, chaste girl symbolizes family honor and purity and is considered a sacred gift to bestow upon another family† (Seymour, 1999, p. 55). To exacerbate the outcome of these ideals, myths supposedly abound that men can be cured of various diseases, including gonorrhea, mental illness, syphilis and HIV by having sex with a â€Å"fresh† girl, a virgin. Bhat, Send, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 17; Burns, 1998) But as much as cultural ideals are echoed in the practice, â€Å"tradition has been reinforced by necessity† (Burns, 1998). Poverty is often cited as one of the major factors contributing to child marriage (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 15). â€Å"Child marriage is more prevalent in poor household and in poor communities. Almost all countries in which more than 50 percent of gir ls are married before the age of 18 have GDP per capita under $2000 per year† (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). For families in poverty, marrying a daughter early can mean lower dowry payments and one less mouth to feed (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 16). â€Å"An investment in girls is seen as a lost investment because the girl leaves to join another home and her economic contributions are to that home—so the earlier she is married, the less of a loss the investment† (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). What is devastating about the child marriage problem, beyond the human rights abuses, is the way in which it impacts both the individual and the community and the manner in which the practice reinforces itself. Impoverished parents often believe that child marriage will protect their daughters. In fact, however, it results in lost development opportunities, limited life options, and poor health† (Child marriage fact sheet, 2005). Child marriage continues to be immersed in a vicious cycle of poverty, low educational attainment, high incidences of disease, poor sex ratios, the subordination of women, â€Å"and most significantly, the inter-generational cycles of all of these† (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 21; Gupta, p. 1-2).

Executing Strategies in a Global Environment Essay

Abstract This paper will analyze Federal Express’s value creation frontier, and determine which of the four building blocks of competitive advantage the company needs in order to continue their above average profitability. It will also explore the main aspect of product differentiations and capacity control of the company to maintain an edge on their rivals. Furthermore, for this assignment I will attempt examine the efficiency of FedEx’s current business model and recommend a new business level strategy that will give Federal Express a competitive advantage over it rivals. In addition, this paper will also examine the manner in which overall, global competition may influence my recommended business strategy and I will suggest a significant way that Federal Express can confront its global competition. Introduction Federal Express began operating in 1973, under the leadership of Fred Smith Jr. Before Federal Express, a major portion for small packaging airfreight flew on commercial passenger flights. Fred Smith believed that these two services should be treated differently, because the commercial passenger and cargo shipper had different needs. The commercial passenger they wanted the convenience of daytime flights. As for the cargo shippers, they preferred night services, which would afford them late afternoon pickups and next day delivery (Hill,2013). Since small-package airfreight only went out based on the commercial flight scheduling, it was hard for cargo shippers to achieve next day delivery. To remedy the shipping issue cargo shippers had Smith aimed to build a system that could achieve next day delivery of small package airfreight (Hill,2013). Today Federal Express has grown from a express delivery company to a global logistic and supply chain management company (Crane, et al., 2003). Over the years Federal Express was able to grow through acquistions and large investmenst in information technoloy. The company was also able to stand out from the rest best on their business model operate independently, compete collectively. Smith segmented his compnay into 6 different  component – FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services, which allowed each component to focus on their own maket segment. By segmenting of each component it provided Federal express the oppurtunity to focus more on customer. Even though Federal Express 6 different components operated seperatley the competed together under FedEx Corporation. Federal Express’s Value Creation Frontier and Their Four Building Blocks of Competitive Advantage Federal Express profitability depends on three factors: The value a customer places on t heir services, the price Federal Express charges for their services, and the cost Federal Express has to incur to produce the services they provide (Hll & Jones, 2013). The more favorable these factors are the more value is bestowed on Federal Express’s product. To accurately value, a company’s product management must distinguish the difference between utility and price (Hill & Jones, 2013). Utility is the customer’s satisfaction or happiness with using or owning a company’s product or services. Federal Express has stepped up to the plate by making shipping easier and convenient for their customer. Today we can find drop off boxes in front of office buildings and small neighborhood shipping stores. Having drop off boxes offers the customer anytime drop offs and no waiting time. Federal Express has also invested heavily in innovation to add to the customer’s experience (Crane, et al., 2003). The option of wireless technology and the ability to track deliveries and schedule picks on the company’s website provides the customer shipping right at their fingertips. For their global customer Federal Express can offer shipping option to more than two hundred companies. The prices Federal Express set for their services are higher than many of their competitors. Federal Express pricing is considered a premium, which reflects the high quality level of service FedEx provides (Crane, et al., 2003). Based on FedEx stance, their premium pricing is worth it, but they fail to realize their very price sensitive customer who may go with a more cheaper option for certain services (UPS). In this case it make it difficult for Fedex to standout based on branding and the amenties they offer. They may have to think of a different way to differeinate themselves from the competitior. Since Federal Express’s growth and customer, satisfaction comes with a high price tag. Their return on invested capital (ROIC) is very low compared to its biggest competitor UPS. In 2011, FedEx ROIC was 7.41% and UPS was 19.39%  (Hill, 2013). Some say in time the money FedEx spent to build up their company, technology infrastructure, and customer satisfaction may soon pay off. The other positive side is that FedEx spending and acquisition expenses have made it hard for new companies to enter and compete in the packaging industry Along with value creation, a company must excel in the four building block of competitive advantage – efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness. How well a company performs in these four areas will determine their profitability and competitive advantage over the competitor. These four generic building blocks are a product of a company’s distinctive competencies, which will allow a company to differentiate its product and lower its cost structure (Hill & Jones, 2013). In turn, sustain a competitive advantage and better profitability outcomes over their competitor. When determining a company’s efficiency we can look at what it takes (inputs) to produce a product or services (outputs). According to Hill and Jones, the more efficient a company is the fewer inputs it required to produce a particular output. The most common way to measure a company’s efficiency is through employee productivity – the out pout produced per employee (Hill & Jones, 2013). When examining FedEx efficiency they were the first packaging company to invest in technology that enabled their employees to access company information wireless 24 hours a day. This wireless feature also allows the employee to collect packaging data, which allows employees to quickly enter packages into the company’s package tracking system, which reduces the possibility of error (Crane, et al., 2003). As for FedEx service, they can be review by its features, performance, durability, reliability, style, and design (Hill & Jones, 2013). These features are used by customers to determine the quality level of the services that are offered by FedEx. Based on FedEx’s history, spending to build its infrastructure, and premium pricing FedEx is committed to providing a service of high quality standings. FedEx has also invested heavily in new technologies, which will improve their services, make it more reliable, and valuable to its customers (Amsler, Cullen, & Erdmenger, 2010). An example that show FedEx is all about quality is their technology efforts such as tracking deliveries on their website, and offering convenient shipping at the customer’s fingertips. As mentioned before FedEx is all about innovation. They are into creating new services  and processes to make shipping easy and convenient for their customers. One of their major investments is the joint venture with University of Memphis. University of Memphis and FedEx have joined and formed the FedEx Institute of Technology. This investment will ensure that FedEx will not be let in dark when it comes to new technology (Crane, et al., 2003). When it comes to customer satisfaction FedEx tries to identify their customer needs. FedEx heard the customers demanded for a more convenient way of shipping. FedEx has extended drop off times by three hours, offer drop off boxes, and the ability for customer to schedule pickups on FedEx’s website. The only dissatisfaction is the premium pricing set on their services. FedEx fail to adhere to the demands of their cost sensitive customers. These are the customers who only care about inexpensive delivery services. This group of people may use FedEx as a last resort for their shipping needs. Product Differentiation The idea behind product differentiation is creating a product that satisfies the customers’ needs (Hill & Jones, 2013). In order for a company to obtain a competitive advantage they must offer a product that better satistfies the customer’s need than its rival. When a company creates a stratergy that involves innovation, execellence, quality, and customer responsiveness they are offering custumers differentiation product. When the a company’s stratergy is about finding ways to increase efficiency and reliablity to reduce cost they are offering the customer low priced product (Hill & Jones,2013). In the case of Federal Express their stratergy is not about offering a low priced product, but offering a product that is innovative, meets a high standard of execellence, high quality, and basing the product on the customer’s need. Federal Express understood the importance of differentiation. Since their strategy is not based on offering a low costing product Federal Express had to focus on information technology. Today customers are interested in monitoring their shipments, estimating arrival times, price and cost of shipments. These elements are important to most businesses and consumers as well as the safety of their delivery (Crane, et al., 2003). To satisfy the needs of their customers and to stand out from their competitor FedEx has  invested heavily in the technology infrastructure, which provides options for customers to track and validate shipments at their personal computer. Federal Express works hard to create a high quality level of service that is difficult for their rival to match (Crane, et al., 2003). Over the years, FedEx has been known as an innovator in the shipping sector, and providing a high level of quality services. Due to FedEx’s higher prices the level of service they provide may become unnoticed. To differentiate their standard of quality from their competitor FedEx lets their customers know that if they are willing to pay more it will be worth it (Crane, et al., 2003). Capacity Control With technology, forecasting, and planning strategies Federal Express is able to handle the fluctuating demand in shipping. With General Information Science (GIS) Federal Express is able to build routes for the driver, guide sorting activities of inbound freight, estimate and record delivery times. This information is stored on a cloud, which is use for future planning and test the durability of a route to accommodate package volume fluctuation (Conger, Dezemplen, Haas, & McLeod, 2010). Efficiency of Federal Express’s Current Business Model Federal Express’s current business model is to â€Å"operate independently, compete collectively.† Currently Federal Express is under the leadership of FedEx Corporation. FedEx Corporations provides strategic direction and financial reporting for the following operating companies that compete collectively, but operate separately worldwide: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services (Amsler, Cullen, & Erdmenger, 2010). The idea behind â€Å"Operate independently, compete collectively† is that each company will operate independently, compete collectively and manage collaboratively. By operating independently, each of the organizational components (FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services) can focus solely on their market segment. Also by segmenting off each component by its own market segment has provided FedEx the competitive advantage in customer responsiveness and has limited wasted time and resources on problem that are not associated with each market (Amsler,  Cullen, & Erdmenger, 2010). The benefit of all the organizational component competing collectively is carrying and competing under a well know name – FedEx, which is one of the most recognized names in the industry (Smith, 2005). Even though â€Å"operate independently, compete collectively† has worked for Federal Express thus far, but keep in mind it only provided FedEx with a competitive edge in specific customer focus. To gain a stronger competitive advantage FedEx should add cost leadership to their business level strategy. Cost leadership is a business model strategy that works towards lowering a company’s cost structure so they can make and sell their products at a lower price than its competitors (Hill & Jones, 2013). This has been difficult for FedEx, because of their constant expenditures in their infrastructure (Amsler, Cullen, & Erdmenger, 2010). Due to FedEx costly expenditures, they are unable to compete with their biggest rival, UPS in setting prices. Global Competition and the Impact on Suggested Business Strategy Based on the international shipping demand among integrated global corporations and manufactures it will be FedEx’s as well as its competitors best interest to enter into the global shipping industry. Global manufactures are interested in keeping their inventory at a minimum and have just in time delivery option. This way global manufactures can keep cost down, fine-tune their production, and meet delivery deadlines (Hill, 2013) . As for global corporation their shipping need are different. They are in need of fast and a safe way to ship document that are to confidential for internet transmisson or require a real signiture. These global coroporation are seeking for the same shipping services the receive in the U.S for their global operations (Hill, 2013). According to Case 7: â€Å"The Evolution of the Small Package Express Delivery Industry, 1973 -2010† the trend for global shipping need is forcasted to grow approxiamently 18% annually from 1996 to 2016. This means there is a big demand for air cargo operators to build global shipping networks that will allow them to provide shipping services across the globe with in a 48 hour time frame. Through acquistion Federal Express was able to build a global shipping network to meet the demand among intergrated global corporations and manufactures. The acquisition expenses, international start cost, customs regulation cost , labor issue associated with global shipping, and the barries to attaining landing right in many markets prevented FedEx to  include cost leadership in their global busines stratergy. Eventhough FedEx does not have the competitive edge when it come to pricing they are t more visible in the global shipping industry than their competitors. They can offer services and shipping time frames their rivals can not offer. FedEx also has shipping hubs all over the world, which include 600 or so air crafts , which allows them to provide shipping option most of their comepitives can not offer. Based on history this was very difficult for other companies to establish this task. Since very few competitor have the same golobal infrastructure as FedEx global companies relay more FedEx for the international shipping needs (Crane, et al., 2003) Conclusion In conclusion, Federal Express’s competitive advantage is not based on cost, but on its technology infrastructure. Over the years, Federal Express has spent heavily on technology and in acquisitions in order to offer delivery options and services their competitor cannot. The spending was geared towards satisfying the needs of the customer, innovation, offering a quality product and excellence services. The only negative side on spending heavily is that the cost was passed on to the customer, but Federal express stance is that they offer premium services and products. Federal Express can offer their international customers shorter delivery time, because of the major acquisition transactions Federal Express was involved in over the years. As for their domestic business, it may be a little difficult to stand out from their competitor. Currently the competitor (UPS) can offer similar services and convenient shipping options at a lower cost. References Amsler, M., Cullen, J., & Erdmenger, J. C. (2010). Strategic Report for FedEx Corporation. Vector Strategy Group. Conger, R., Dezemplen, R., Haas, J., & McLeod, J. (2010). Using GIS Strategic Planning and Execution at FedEx Express. Crane, B., Landthorn, B., Miri, B., Relph, J., Sanchez, C., & Vernerova, A. (2003). FedEx Corpration: Strategic Management Project. Hill, C. L. (2013). Case 7: The Evolution of the Samll Package Express Delivery Industry, 1973-2010. In C. L. Hill, & G. R. Jones, Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach (pp. C83-C96). Independence: Cengage. Hill, C. L., & Jones, G. R. (2013). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach (10th ed.). Independence: Cengage. Smith, F. W. (2005). FedEx. Retrieved from FedEx corporation annual report: http://www.fedex.com/us/investorrelations/financialinfo/2005annualreport/online/msg_chair.html

Business start up Application form assesments Essay

Business start up Application form assesments - Essay Example Business Idea and the USP The key idea is to look for gifted amateur and professional actors (however, the preference will be given to amateurs and beginners). In fact, the industry is full of one-role actors and actresses, who are engaged in TV shows, advertisements and photo sessions. Therefore, the USP is based on the fact, that actors and photo models have to communicate with the audience through acting, and the key requirement for cooperation will be the ability to establish a dialogue with the spectator, creating the atmosphere of the close communication. Market Research and Test Trading In accordance with the brief web research, most dramatic artists, cooperating with talent agencies, position themselves as the universal actors for the on camera and voice over works mainly (45% and 32% correspondingly). The rest 23% are divided among commercial prints (13%), live corporate performances, including low quality stand-ups (8%), and performance management for private events (2%). T herefore, the business interest towards high quality acting is declining, while the demand for the high quality dramatic events is constant (in accordance with the live surveys). ... These are in need of talented actors, models, dancers, and design experts. 2. Spectators. While the agency is not dealing with the spectators directly, this audience assesses the quality of the actors’ work. In the light of such a division, the demographic categorization of the audience is not crucial, since the commercial and photo products are created for diverse categories. Skills, Experience and Qualifications Talent agency business is communications. The list of qualities and skills needed for running this business is as follows: 1. Organizational skills (including leadership and management) 2. Communicative and persuasive skills: for communicating with the actors, and the category-one target customers 3. Perfect face, name, and phone number memory 4. Ability to stay aware of the latest business events 5. Professional intuition and artistic flair, needed for finding the right actors and models among the others. 3 Months Action Plan Month one: Rent and equip the office Emp loy office manager, and one deputy agent to train Start promo campaign Set up contacts with administrations of the art and drama faculties, administrations of the amateur and professional theaters, and other talent agencies if possible. These contacts will be required for finding the necessary characters and dramatic types (with further creation of the database) Signing contracts with at least five studios Month two: Continue filling in the database Establish contacts with producers and agencies Sign another 5+ contracts Month three: Employ two more deputies and delegate them the task to look for actors and models in amateur theaters and among students Extend the promo campaign for increasing the search and cooperation geography Sign 8+ contracts Benefits

Offshoring And Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Offshoring And Outsourcing - Essay Example Once the operation is outsourced to a given service provider, they will take the responsibility of conducting the operation and maintaining the management assets.When a company offshores, it just shifts the location of production or a service abroad. Examples of such are companies who outsource to foreign companies - for instance, Wal-Mart offshores production lines of a certain part of Chinese firms. Likewise, offshoring also refers companies who transfer specific lines of products or services to a location abroad without outsourcing the job. When a company offshores, it just shifts the location of production or a service abroad. Examples of such are companies who outsource to foreign companies - for instance, Wal-Mart offshores production lines of a certain part of Chinese firms. Likewise, offshoring also refers companies who transfer specific lines of products or services to a location abroad without outsourcing the job. Most of the times a company may never handle all aspects of organization's process internally or times they lack capacities to do so thus the need to outsource. Moreover, some processes are temporary, and the company may not intend to hire in-house experts to perform the tasks. These are some of the considerations including concerns for the economic accusation of labor and cost of production generally. For instance, instead of Wal-Mart paying more to acquire labor and raw material in a Specific line of production, they would rather outsource in China and in the long run obtain more gains.

Marketing Research Paper on Kudler Fine Foods Virtual Organization

Marketing on Kudler Fine Foods Virtual Organization - Research Paper Example It was during her trips after a corporate life that she took the risk of developing the first Kudler Fine Foods following discovery of an opportunity that she could exploit. This opportunity was sired following a discover that she could not get all her cooking ingredients in one store and this decided to open a gourmet store that would meet the niche needs of the consumers. This therefore illustrates that discovery of opportunities and exploiting them to garner a competitive advantage is one of the marketing strategy and tactics that Kudler Fine Foods employs (Kudler Fine Foods, 2011). Information technology serves as an effective tool utilized by Kudler Fine Foods Organization both for marketing research and as a marketing strategy. The organization has a web home page where it engages in online interaction with the stakeholders since it gets to acquire information on the customer responses as pertains to their products and also the needs of the consumers. Consequently, the web page enables Kudler Fine Foods to internetwork with its various branches hence reducing the travelling cost incurred in absence of online communication services. Also, following use of online home page, information gathered aids in the strategic decision making of the organization. This therefore enables Kudler Fine Foods to garner a strategic position in the industry as a result of incorporation of IT in the provision of its products and services (Kudler Fine Foods, 2011). Diversification is another marketing strategy employed by Kudler Fine Foods Virtual organization and marketing research will greatly influence the effectiveness of this strategy. Diversification is illustrated in the provision of products and services that the organization engages in hence making their stalls a one stop shop for their consumers. The organization by carrying out marketing research will be in a position to know the current wines that are preferred by the customers and thus prepare the wine. Consequentl y, in the baking department, marketing research will aid in developing of different cakes and in learning the market trends of cake consumption. Moreover, in the meat and cheese department, marketing research will provide valuable information as to how the organization can improve the provision of its goods and services. Following the recent development of Kudler Fine Foods Virtual Organization as pertains to expansion capabilities, there is clear indication that market research plays a dire role in not only diversification but also in market entry approaches. Investment in market research will enable Kudler Fine Foods achieve the vision of being the premier grocery and gourmet store (Kudler Fine Foods, 2011). Areas where Kudler Fine Foods’ needs additional market research Kudler Fine Foods needs to do additional market research as pertains to its procurement strategies. Currently, in an attempt to cut cost, Kathy the director is the one responsible for ordering for all the t hree stores on a weekly basis. Though it is cheaper, it reduces the time she interacts with her customers as the procurement and distribution takes the bulk of her time. The organization needs to carryout additional market research as to how it can procure products for the three stalls, to ensure that Kathy accesses the people on the ground and gets to know the preferences of the consumers form the

Oviatt and Mcdougalls Theory of International New Ventures is an Essay

Oviatt and Mcdougalls Theory of International New Ventures is an Alternative Theory to Johanson and Vahlnes Uppsala Model - Essay Example This essay discusses the field of internationalisation, that has a come a long way from the initial concepts of internationalization process theory, which were based on firms demonstarting Internationalization in a slow and rather incremental manner. Since there has been enough time to analyse and study the critical assumptions underlying these internationalization process models, and to empirically examine the concept, several paradoxes and disagreements have now emerged relating to them. Exhaustive evaluations of these export stage models have questioned their sufficiency and impressed the need for novel idead. The consequent result was the theory of development of international new ventures that from their inception, engage in international business. However, time and changing industry trends have witnessed further modifications and perhaps evolution of the definition of this concept. A most contemporary definition is provided by much more widely-accepted and comprehensive definit ions of International Entrepreneurship McDougall and Oviatt. To quote the last of them international enterpreneurship would be â€Å"the process of creatively discovering and exploiting opportunities that lie outside a firm’s domestic markets in the pursuit of competitive advantage† It is concluded then thus each theory has made a significant contribution to the research on the area, it has led to the evolution of a multidimensional conceptualisation of diversified list of frameworks and co-existent effective approaches.

Presence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Presence - Essay Example Website is a collection of pages or files that is present in the ‘cyberspace’, containing information and other details on a particular subject or subjects. These websites have virtual presence and their physical presence is the web servers. As the files and pages, which are visible on the website, have to be stored in some physical location, web servers play that part. â€Å"A server in this context is a computer that holds the files for one or more sites. On one hand, a very large Web site may reside on a number of servers that may in different geographic locations.† (whatis.com). Websites are developed and put online by several organizations, entities, individuals, etc to fulfil various purposes. Firms, which do business on the web has to be more concerned about presence particularly website presence, because many customers and other stakeholders of a web business will tend to know the company only through its website. (Schneider, 2008). Only if the firmâ€℠¢s online presence is optimally visible and accessible to prospective customers, it can succeed. To fortify their online presence, firms have to develop website, which is user-friendly, loaded with apt details, have a distinct and interesting look, etc.

Critical analysis related to the care of critically ill patients Essay

Critical analysis related to the care of critically ill patients requiring high dependency care - Essay Example The 3 basic roles of a nurse are that of a practitioner, leader and researcher. As a practitioner, the nurse attends to all the medical needs of the patient and as a leader she takes decisions which relate to, influence and facilitate the actions of others with an aim to achieve a particular goal. As a researcher, the nurse aims to implement studies to determine the actual effects of nursing care and to work towards further improvement in nursing care (Nettina, 2006). The aim of this essay is to analyze and criticize the management and care of a 55 year old patient Mr. X, diagnosed with myocardial infarction. The name of the patient shall not be disclosed through out the essay for the purpose of confidentiality. Mr. X was brought to the casualty on a Saturday afternoon by his wife with complaints of tightness in the chest, difficulty to breathe, and sweating for 10 minutes. There was no radiation of pain. The discomfort started suddenly while Mr. X was watching television. No physical activity triggered the symptoms. Mr. X did not experience similar complaints in the past. He was a known hypertensive and smoker. For his hypertension he was taking a combination of beta-blocker and ACE inhibitor. His previous health check-up 2 months ago showed normal sugars and mild hypercholesterolemia. ECG done at that time was normal and ECHO revealed mild left ventricular hypertrophy. In the emergency room, Mr. X appeared pale and diaphoretic. He was sweating despite cold weather. Pulse rate was 100 per minute, regular and not with good volume. Blood pressure was 160/100 mmHg. Perfusion was moderate. Saturations were 90%. Spot blood glucose was 120 mg per dl. Third heart sound was present and rales were heard over the basal regions of the lungs. Other systems examination was normal. ECG done in the casualty showed ST segment elevation abnormalities in the II, III and aVF leads. A diagnosis of inferior wall infarction was made. Diagnosing myocardial infarction is

Literature Review 'Family Business Sustainability' Essay

Literature Review 'Family Business Sustainability' - Essay Example Frequently a dichotomy is made amid the "family" and "business" where these two aspects forms distinctive subsystems which interact so as to form a complete structure named "family business". When family forces and business forces demonstrably interrelate and impact one another, then scholars agree that a blend is exists among the two aspects, implying a new and exclusive system which is termed a family business. Previous studies sought to define family business in relations to ownership or management and the controlling systems, and also intergenerational transfers, this view offered some insights into the manner of business. (Rosenblatt, 1995) However, this approach had some limitations, currently there has been a shift on how a family business is described and the focus presently is on establishing the business intention and its vision as ways of knowing is the business can be defined as family business. Alongside this new "strategic" perspective of a business, there is also a new approach which looks on the resources (capital, human, knowledge, materials) accessible to a specific business as a method of determining its standing. Resources based view (RBV) of a business suggests a business is a "family business" where the function of a family has a confirmable effect on role and also performance of a particular business. Though the past definitions and descriptions have not been completely replaced, there is a current change in analytical basis to encompass significant elements of business practice, for example visions, culture and intentions. (Rosenblatt, 1995) Business management of family business Business management of family businesses varies deeply from the management of broadly held public businesses. Family owners focus on management and also facilitates making of decisions, that can equally lower management costs and allow unusual though strategically beneficial decisions. (Rosenblatt, 1995) A well-functioning business system assist build trust and conviction in the family, and a excellent family dynamic, which in turn is an asset to the family business since it enables every separate part of management to work better and be able to add extra value whilst remaining inline with the different constituents of the management system. These management benefits can present apparent economic gains. (Rosenblatt, 1995) Nonetheless, a rising business turns into more and more complex and crafts its own requirements for a further formal organizational arrangement or structure. At such a time Family business managers have to adjust their management practices as a result. Certainly, success compels the want to adjust and modify, and every one of family businesses finally face this truth. (Rosenblatt, 1995) The character of Family Ownership Family members mainly have a high focus on management and leadership, on top of having a high emotional connection to the business. A family could have a feeling of moral commitment to other business stakeholders, or view the family business as means for creating a positive input to community. Furthermore, family members at

Students in sports Essay Example for Free

Students in sports Essay Did you know that more than 30 million kids participate in an organized sport in the United States? Sports participation is beneficial to students in many ways (sportsandrecreationalactivityinjury. NationalSafeKidsCampaign. 31 October. 2012). It can improve physical fitness, coordination, self-discipline and teamwork, as well as promote a sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment. But on the other hand can also have very big problems with the student’s grades and time. Having students play in sports can help them be better in school and academically. Students are more likely to have a better mental health if they are playing in sports because being physical actually decrease depression, decrease your anxiety, decrease your self-perception, and improves your confidence. Let’s say that a 6 year old child is playing soccer for the schools team but she is overweight being in a sport will actually help her feel better about herself because as she grows her body will change and will become a more fit, strong and healthier inside. If the child feels better about them self’s mentally it will actually open their minds for more important things rather than thinking about how they look (DoChildrenInvolvedINSportsBetterMentalHealth. RachelNelson. 2012. Demand Media, Inc. LIVESTRONG. COM. 5 November. 2012). Science Daily actually states that playing a sport as a young child with improves language skills because you will have to discuss what has to be done and what has happened (ScienceDaily. Editor Staff. 1995-2012. ScienceDailyLLC. 5 November. 2012). A recent study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) investigated the link between physical activity in children and academic performance in school. Initially, researchers predicted that kids who took physical education (PE) during the school day would do better academically, since it helps reduce boredom and helps kids stay focused(activekidsdobetterinschool. NicoleNicholas,FitnessIntructor,healtheducator. 2012. SparkPeople,Inc. 7 November. 2012). Did you know that brain injury is the leading cause of sports-and recreation-related death? Injuries associated with participation in sports and recreational activities account for 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among children in the United States (NationalSAFEKIDS Campaigm2012). Students playing in sports can actually have a done side in the mental process they could be hit the skill with can lead to a brain injury. For example Steve Young, star quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, is knocked to the ground during a football game. In 2000, after 13 years with the team, Young announced his retirement due to the serious of the head injury he sustained on the field. Having a brain injury can affect you in many ways; it can affect your sense of taste or smell, slow or slurred speech, minor or several headaches, balance problems and tiredness. Having a fracture to the head can be very bad for the way the brain works with our bodies. According to a new study by Dr. Keith Zullig and Rebecca White from West Virginia University in the US shows that middle-school teenagers who are physically active and play on sports teams are more satisfied with their life and feel healthier (ScienceNews. 2010. ScienceDaily. 7November. 2012). In an official recent survey, doctors found 17 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls between 12 and 15 are classed as either overweight or obese(fitnessforchildrenandyoungpeople. 2012. BBC. Health. 7November. 2012). Children are supposed to have at least an hour of some type of excuses a day. Not having that time to be doing something physically active may have a really negative income with your health for example it may cause you to be proem to catching a lot of different types of diseases. A child that is being physical in sport has a fewer change of getting chronic health problems than a child that are inactive later in life. Being in a sport can actually benefit you by helping your body built your bone structure. The exercising will help with peak bones mass between ages 20 and 30, exercising the muscles that pull on and strengthen bone is critical during this period because it will help the child reach their full growth potential(BoneBuilders. 2006. TheUniversityOfArizona. 7November. 2012). More than 10,000 people receive treatment in the nation’s emergency departments (ED) each day for injuries sustained in SRE activities. At least one of every five ED visits for an injury results from participation in sports or recreation. In 1999, Americans made an estimated 1. 5 million ED visits for injuries sustained while playing basketball, baseball, softball, football, or soccer. Approximately 715,000 sports and recreation injuries occur each year in school settings alone. Injuries are also a leading reason people stop participating in potentially beneficial physical activity (PublicHealthBurden. 2006. CDCInjuryCenter. 7November. 2012). With this said being in a sport can also not be good physically to your body but being in a sport can actually increase the change of the athlete start using steroids to increase their physical strength. And steroid use has trickled down to younger athletes too, who face fierce pressure to be stronger and faster, and to make it to college and professional leagues. Some research has shown that 5% of teen boys and 2. 5% of teen girls have used some form of anabolic steroids. Studies show that the developing kids using steroids are going to be harmed by this illegal drug down the road in their lifes(Steroids. 1995-2012. TheNemoursFundation. 7November. 2012). For example an athlete that used steroids is Shawne he was drafted in the first round (12th Overall) in the 2005 NFL draft out of the University of Maryland. He quickly made himself known as one on the quickest and dominant outside linebackers in the game. Merriman has 39. 5 career sacks in his first 43 NFL games. He has 189 tackles, was the 2005 Defensive Rookie of the Year, and has been selected to 3 Pro Bowls. On October 22, 2006 Merriman was given a 4 game suspension by the NFL for testing positive for an anabolic steroid. I guess we know what helped make Shawne one of the most feared players today. His suspension has led to the NFL rule that no player that has tested positive for steroids can be selected to the Pro Bowl or given any performance awards in the year they test positive. Merriman makes $11. 5 million dollars a year playing football(Top10SportsFiguresWhoseCareersAreTarnishedbySteroids. BryanJohnson. TopTenz. net. 7November. 2012). Have you ever asked yourself what student’s gains from being in sports discipline wise? Well sports do teach students right from wrong, hard work, how to set goals, motivation and how to achieve what you want. A sports coach can have a powerful influence on a childs life, potentially more than parents and teachers, according to Trulsons study. During practice, a coach is in a position to demonstrate the value of continued focus, delayed gratification and vigorous effort even when its hard. In competition, the student can see in real time the positive results of following coachs instructions. In his book The Art of Empowering Children, coach and teacher John Graybeal notes that this effect is even stronger if the coach directly discusses discipline in addition to the object lesson from the sport.

Sports Performance Essay Example for Free

Sports Performance Essay Describe theories related to personality and how they affect sports performance. Evaluate critically personality profiling in sport. What is a personality? Hollander tells us that a personality Is the sum of an individuals characteristics which make a human unique. But it is not known for sure what a personality actually is or how we actually begin to form them. There exist three main personality theories and each of them relate to sports performance in their own way. The first theory is called the trait perspective theory. Trait theory states that we are born with personality characteristics that influence the way in which we behave in sport and in everyday life. Personality traits are stable and therefore vary little over time. Some sports performers may have an aggressive trait and this may surface in a variety of different situations. The key people behind this theory are Eysenck, Cattell and Girdano. Eysenck identified four primary personality traits and arranged them in a 2 dimensional diagram. The model was laid out in a cross, and at one end you have introversion and extroversion, and the other stable and neurosis. According to Eysenck you could either be stable or neurotic, but not both for example. It is said that extroverts, with their outgoing and sociable nature, would be more suited for team games such as football. Where as a quiet, reserved Introvert would be mores suited for individual sports such as archery. This data was collected by POMS, or profile of mood states a type of personality profiling. Cattell argued that more than just two or three dimensions were needed in order to create a full picture of a persons personality. He proposed that personality could be reduced to and measured in terms of 16 personality factors. He argued that measuring these factors via his test would give an appropriate personality profile. He recognised that personality was more dynamic than Eysenck suggested and could fluctuate according to the situation. So according to Cattell, a football player who never normally shows signs of aggression, may show signs when involved in a certain situation. Girdano was also a trait theorist and he suggested there are two distinct personality types, Type A and Type B. Type A according to Girano would be; highly competitive, have a strong desire to win, fast working, controlling and prone to stress. Type B would be the polar opposite of this, and would be; non-competitive, unambitious, slow working, no urge to control and less prone to stress. From this we see that the first distinct personality type would be more suited and more successful for a team game, and Type B would be more suitable for an individual game. We also see that Type A would be likely to get stressed in high pressure situations where as Type B would keep calm, however it would be likely for Type B to be unable to trigger any sort of aggressive or competitive characteristic when it mattered. The second theory is called the social learning perspective theory. The social learning theory, developed by Bandura, differs from trait and interactional approaches in that it sees individual differences in behaviour as resulting from different learning experiences. This means that what determines an individual’s response to a situation is not so much their genetic make-up or the constraints of the particular situation, but instead how past experience has taught that person to act. Behaviour therefore changes depending on the situation and is therefore a product of our interaction with the environment. Banduras model shows us how this personality theory affects sports performance. An inexperienced performer may be inspired by the positive attitude and commitment of an experienced player, and then chooses to copy desirable approach, receiving positive reinforcement in doing so. The third and final personality theory is the interactionist approach, which was based on the work done by Hollander. It is a combination of the trait and social learning perspectives. It suggests to us that personality is modified and behaviour is formed when genetically inherited traits are triggered by an environmental circumstance, thus meaning that behaviour is unpredictable. It also explains to us why behaviour can change in different situations, so for example a competitive rugby player may not be so competitive when off the field of play. Personality profiling is done to see which personalities are fit for what sport, and if a certain individual personality is one that all athletes may share. This is difficult due to the fact there is no clear, universal definition of a personality. Personality profiling involves measuring an athlete on a number of personality scales and building up a picture of their strengths and weaknesses. Tests can be measured in a various number of ways, through; questionnaires, interviews, observations or profile of mood states. There are a number of problems with personal profiling though. There is no conclusive evidence that a sports personality actually exists, so far there only exists theories surrounding the matter and no hard evidence. Profiling results are usually subjective, and conclusions may be influenced by personal opinions with no support of scientific evidence. Profiling results are invalid more often than not. It is feared that an athlete may unconsciously modify their own behaviour to match up to the profile ascribed to them. There also exists a reliability issue, due to the fact questionnaires are often carried out using self report, so therefore not always answered correctly or honestly.

Analysis of Motivations for Rural Tourism

Analysis of Motivations for Rural Tourism Chapter1. Introduction Travel motives and attempted to understand what motive affect tourists travel decision making process and when. Both the leisure and tourism literature have recognised that when people are motivated, they are more likely to participate in leisure travel and encourage tourists to engage in pleasure trip. None of studies have shown meaningful way of findings on ‘what type of motives occur and ‘how tourists are influenced by motivational factors with respect to the travel decision making process. Countryside background of the researchers is also, one of the inspired to choose rural tourism. Along with the researchers holiday experience in New Forest National Park become a motivation to examine the types of visitors and reason of the visiting New Forest National Park as a rural tourism. It was necessary to find out who are the rural tourists in the park In order to study for rural tourism in the park. After that the New Forest National Park would able to find a problems, improvement or enhancement for participants as well as non participants as a rural tourism. In addition, if there is anything to learn or find out the researcher would like to adapt to home countrys rural tourism development. This study was designed to investigate the motivation of rural tourism and identify the visitors in New Forest National Park. Rural tourists were identified and profiled and then rural tourists were investigated based on motivations for participating in rural tourism. 1.1 Background of New National Forest Park The New Forest was originally Woodland, but parts were cleared for cultivation from the Stone Age and into the Bronze Age. The poor quality of the soil in the New Forest meant that the cleared areas turned into heathland waste. The New Forest was created as a royal forest by William the conqueror for the hunting of deer. As of 2005, roughly ninety percent of the New Forest is still owned by the Crown, the Crown lands have been managed by the Forest Commission since 1923. Around half of the Crown lands fall inside the new National Park. New Forest National Park is an area that remains mostly undeveloped, unspoiled and has a high scenic. The New Forest national park Authority is an independent organisation. The park is operating in a local government framework which is funded by central UK government. The New Forest National Park is the smallest national park in south coast of England and the park has become a national park since 2005. There are more than 20 members who have overall responsibility for making decisions, for setting policies and priorities and for making sure that resources are used properly and they are supported by 70 other staffs who expertise across a range of disciplines including planning, conservation, recreation, education, finance and communication. 1.2 Overview of rural tourism in UK Tourism is becoming increasingly important to the UK economy, environmental, culture. The importance of tourism to local economies varies across the UK. Some place like London has an enormous investment in the tourist industry, while others lag far behind. Nevertheless, the future of tourism is full of potential for small business. With the increases in security concerns for international travel and travel to large major areas, many rural tourist companies are moving in with their own offerings. Many of these low-risk rural areas may be able to rely on tourism as an important part of their economy. Cloke (1992) cites privatisation in the UK as a major process stimulating this form of rural production focused on rural recreation and tourism. The new political economy influencing agriculture in the EC has also facilitated farm diversification into new form of tourism accommodation and attractions. A variety of tourist opportunities exist throughout rural area in UK and tend to continue to grow as increasing numbers of local entrepreneurs identify new way to market previously untapped local resources and attractions, and bring tourists into their areas. Moreover, the nature of tourism is especially well – suited to small-scale rural enterprises such as farm inn. Many remote areas are ideal locations for nature-based activities like walking, hunting and fishing, or ecotourism activities such hiking and rafting. Travelers interested in local cultures as well as the heritage of places they visit find an added benefit in having the towns local history buff lead a tour through the battlefield. For instance, Agriculture tourism invites tourists to experience working ranches, hay rides, corn mazes, and pumpkin patches etc†¦ At a time of change and uncertainty in the countryside, when many traditional rural industries are in decline or needing to adapt to stay in business, tourism represents an opportunity to stablise and support businesses and services. In carefully introduced and managed, and appropriate in scale and activity, tourism can help revitalise declining community facilities and services to the benefit of businesses, residents and the local economy. Rural tourism represents a merging of perhaps two of the most influential yet contradictory features of modern life. Not only are the forces of economic, social, cultural, environmental and political change working to redefine rural spaces the world over, but also, broad global transformations in consumption and transportation patterns are reshaping leisure behavior and travel. For these concerned with the nature of change in rural areas and tourism development, the dynamics and impacts of integrating these two dramatic shifts are not well know but yet are becoming increasingly provocative discourses for study.   1.3 Aims of the study 1.3.1 Aims It is important note that to identify the rural tourism visitors and their motivation of the trip in order to increase the number of the visitors as well as manages the rural destination without damages.  This proposed study is comprised of three parts. The first part of the study and dissertation will identify and profile the rural tourism tourists in New Forest National Park. This will involve profiles of rural tourism participants at the destination. The next part will identify motivational factor of the visitors in New Forest National Park rural tourism. This will involve identify the reason of the rural tourism trip.  The next park will determine the factors that affect rural tourism participation decisions. This will identify determine the factors that affect rural to tourism participation decisions. The aim is broad to allow for other discussion which after reviewing the literature reviews. It will be appear relevant to the paper. 1.3.2 Objectives Three objectives are formulated for this study. Research question are also related to each objective are described. The purpose of this dissertation thus is to examine the type of travel motivations that affecting tourists decision making behaviour in rural tourism. The first of the study will identify and profile the rural tourism in New Forest National Park. Second of the study will examine the motivational factor which underlies their initial stage of travel decision. Finally, the study will investigate factors that affect tourists decision about participation in rural tourism in New Forest National Park. 1.3.3 Research questions The first of the research question is simply identified of the New Forest National Park rural tourists are? This question will identify the characteristic of the visitors such as travelling individual or family, single, male, old, young people? Do New Forest National Park tourists have a particular profile such as higher income or sex? The second research question is doing New Forest National Park rural tourists have a difference in terms of visitors motivational factor? This question will identify the any particular reasons of the rural trip in New Forest National Park. In order to answer the question the study will focus on reason of the visiting in New Forest National Park as a rural tourism. The tourists pay participation in different type of tourism such as camping, farm experience. Third question is what factors may affect to decision to participate in rural tourism in this National park. Are they participating because of seeking for particular interest? Or just want to be in rural area. This question need to identify what it the items that tourist thinks most important such as safety, transportation, scenery or distance†¦ Will be surveyed with like scale 1 to 5. Also, satisfaction of the travel will be collected. What factors affect to decisions to participate in rural tourism in New Forest National Park? What factors then affect the participation? Maybe perception of rural resources will affect the decision of whether to participate in rural tourism. 1.4 Definition of terms There are continuing common theme within the tourism literature indicating that people intend to take a rural area trip because they are motivated by variety of different forces such as escaping from daily life routine, seeking adventure, rewarding and attractive destination attributes (Cha, McCleary, and Uysal. 1995) The motivational factors are believed to play a vital role in the tourist decision making process (Crompton and Ankomah. 1993). Rural tourism includes both those who intend to staying away from home for one night or more and those out for the day in the countryside for instance, visiting attractions, walking, cycling or enjoying a whole different range of countryside activities. These people are spends money in village shops, pubs, and restaurants and in market towns. They provide a market for local produce and create and opportunities for local entrepreneurship those staying overnight will do so in hotels or inns, bed breakfast establishments or self-catering accommodation, on the farm, on caravan parks or campsites, or with friends and relatives. Those out for the day may be from within the region or from further afield, and may include those on holiday in nearby seaside resorts or on day trips out of London. They may be visiting for a specific event or to see a particular attraction. They may have a particular interest in sports, arts, museums or heritage, or seek educational outlets for their children. They may also be on business, for a meeting or small conference, or to look for commercial contracts and business opportunities. A proportion of those staying or visiting will be from overseas, including those from the near continent. The underlying dimension of motivational attributes in travel decision behaviour is worthy to note in order to understand the factors that influence travel decisions. Travel motivation might explain not only tourists initial decision of whether or not to take a trip. But also, may contribute to explaining tourists final travel decision behaviours (Fodness. 1992) 1.5 Structure of the dissertation Chapter 1 provides overview of the rural tourism and background of New Forest National Park. Also presented is a description of the research problems which is limitation of the research and study aim, objectives and research questions. Chapter 2 conducted a literature review in which discussed various aspects of rural tourism and visitors characteristic, motivation of the rural trip and visitors decision making factors. Chapter 3 describes and discusses the methods used to collect the data that was needed including the survey method and data for analysis. Chapter 4 follow on by analysis the introduction of the study and offers a range of discussion of findings. Chapter 5 completes of the study with a brief summary and se of conclusions. Limitations of the study and recommendation also discussed. The study was designed to accomplish three objectives: first identify and profile the rural tourism tourists in New Forest National Park second objective was examine the motivational factors that visitors seeking rural tourism and last objective was identify the relative travel motives decision making to reach to take a rural tourism. Chapter2. Literature reviews 2.1 Rural tourism Lane (1992) noted that a third phase in tourism is taking place – the rise of cultural tourism. In this phase rural tourism offers more jobs, a pluri-activity of work patterns, a more diversified employment structure for rural areas and a means of sustaining services, farming and forestry. Rural tourism produces pressure to enhance conservation measures, while it provides a stimulus for arts and crafts and helps sustain small communities. Keane et al.s (1992) innovative, but little-known study on rural tourism offers a number of insights into the definition of rural tourism, acknowledging that there is a variety of term used to describe tourism activity in rural areas: agri-tourism, farm tourism, rural tourism, soft tourism, alternative tourism and many others which have different meanings from one country to another. Keane also points out that it is difficult to avoid some of this confusion in relation to labels and definitions because the term ‘rural tourism has been adapted by the European Community to refer to the entire tourism activity in a rural area (Deane et al. 1992) http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=kolr=id=Axc_zw_AO0QCoi=fndpg=PR8dq=what+is+rural+tourismots=rpw1C_DgA9sig=VMW2zUvYT828-jykKDpgnLZ742Y#v=onepageq=f=false To a certain extent, undifferentiated or mass tourism exists in rural areas, but this phenomenon is usually manifested in large scale developments and at some point cases to be ‘rural in nature ; mass and rural tourism are essentially incompatible and development of the former lessen the availability of the latter. Although it would be logical to assume that everyone is a potential rural tourist at some time. The range of rural tourism products and experiences is too great for generalisations. What matters, therefore is gaining knowledge of the existing and potential rural tourists motives, preferences and behaviour regarding the various niche markets that exist; specifically, who can be attracted to a given rural tourism product? This is research task complicated by the fact that many domestic and international visitors experience urban, rural and resort attractions on the same trip.(Stephen page Donald Getz 1997) Lane (1994) recommended research into price sensitivity, the importance of particular types of land-scape, heritage and interpretive facilities, and on demand for certain types of accommodation. Better understanding of perceptions, motivators and consumption patterns (such as repeat visit) is also important. Rural tourism development attracted increasing interest in the 1990s and a growing literature has contributed to our understanding of it as an evolving phenomenon. According to long and lane (2000), rural tourism has moved into its second phase of development, its first having been characterised by growth in participation, product and business development, and partnership. Its second is predicted to be more complex, and is likely to be, given the questions that remain regarding its place in policy, its integration in practice. What is rural? There is no one commonly accepted definition for ‘rural (Willits Beatler, Timbers, 1990). In Websters dictionary, ‘rural is defined as â€Å"rural is defined as â€Å"of or pertaining of the country, as distinguished from a city or town; living in the country; and farming/agricultural (Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary.1998). ‘Rural applies to sparsely settled or agricultural country. The definition of ‘rural in the Korean dictionary is â€Å"a village or area where people make a living by farming, including raising stock, sericulture, horticulture, forestry, and fruit-growing (Yahoo Korea Dictionary, 2004) Lane (1994) suggests that ‘rural tourism exists as a concept, and reflects the differing and complex pattern of rural environment, economy, history and location. ‘Rural tourism is directly related to the particular characteristics of rural area, and it is assumed that the principal motivation for visiting the countryside is to experience its reality. This motivation justifies the definition of ‘rural tourism as an identifiable type of tourism, with rural tourism being an end onto itself – to experience the countryside. Lane (1994) discusses the historical continuity in the development of rural tourism and examines some of the key issues which combine to make rural tourism distinctive. Bramwell (1994:3) suggests that, despite the problems of defining the concept of ‘rural, ‘it may be a mistake to deny our commonsense thoughts that rural areas can have distinctive characteristics or the countryside. The views and perceptions people hold of the countryside are different from those they have of urban areas, which is an important starting point for establishing the distinctiveness of rural tourism. Lane (1994) actually lists the subtle differences between urban and rural tourism, in which individual social representations of the countryside are critical component of the ways in which people interact with rural areas. In fact Squires (1993) acknowledges that both social representations and personal images of the countryside condition whether people wish to visit rural areas for tourism, and what they see and do during their visit Lane (1994) also highlights the impact of change in rural tourism since the 1970s, with far greater numbers of recreationalists and tourists now visiting rural areas. As Patmores (1983) seminal study on recreation and leisure acknowledges, the impact of car ownership has led to a geographical dispersion of recreationalists and tourists beyond existing fixed modes of transport. Consequently, tourism has moved away from a traditional emphasis on resorts, small towns and villages to become truly rural, with all but the most inaccessible wilderness areas awaiting the impact of the more mobile tourist. Despite this strong growth in the demand for rural tourism Land(1994) acknowledges the absence of any systematic sources of data on rural tourism, since neither the world Considering the demand and supply of rural tourism, it can be defined more specifically; Demand-side rural tourism is based on the nature of the visitor and is defined as â€Å"a visit by a person to any place other than his or her usual work or home environment and that is outside a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (Greffe,1994,p23). On the other hand, supply-side rural tourism is more focused on a visitors place of stay. Rural tourism is also associated with a particular from of accommodation that offers tourism opportunities to participate in farm-related activities, such as vegetable gardening or caring for farm animals. ‘Agricultural tourism is specified by the act of visiting a working farm or any agricultural horticultural or agribusiness operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or active involvement in the activities of the farm or operation (Lobo, 2001; Buck, 2004). It includes taking part in a board range of farm-based activities, including farmers markets, petting farms, roadside stands, and ‘pick-your-own operations; engaging in overnight farm or ranch stays and other farm visits; and visiting agriculture-related festivals, museums, and other such attractions. Agricultural tourism operations provide a bridge between urban and rural dwellers. Agricultural tourism, or agri-tourism, is one alternative for improving the incomes and potential economic viability of small farms and rural communities. Farm to tourism is defined as a subset of rural tourism and is in many ways an incarnations of the traits typical to rural enterprises; small-scale, with local roots, and anchored in local traditions. It also seems to be the oldest form of rural tourism (Nilsson, 2002). The concept of rural tourism has evolved substantially in recent years. One aspect of the change is reflected in the vocabulary used to describe various types of rural tourism activities. For instance, some studies refer to outdoor-based tourism as ‘ecotourism, while other publications use the term ‘nature based tourism or ‘green tourism (Stancliffe, 1992). Although these two terms are not technically synonymous; the term ‘ecotourism suggests activities that promote conservation of nature, while nature based tourism is evocative of a broader spectrum of outdoor based recreation including hunting, fishing, camping, and the use of recreational vehicles. These new terms reflect new perspectives in the tourism industry. Green tourism – although in some countries the term ‘ green tourism refers specifically to tourism in the countryside(i.e. tourism in green areas), it is more commonly used to describe forms of tourism that are considered to be more environmentally friendly than traditional, mass tourism. Variously called ‘alternative, responsible, soft, good'(Wood and House 1991) or ‘new (Poon 1993) tourism, green tourism is an approach to tourism development which seeks to develop a symbiotic relationship(Budowski 1976) with the physical and social environment on which it depends. In other words, increasing concern about the harmful effects of mass tourism has led to calls for more sustainable forms of tourism development such as approach is, of course, of particular relevance to rural tourism given the environmental fragility of many rural areas. Heritage tourism is also often included within the scope of rural tourism and refers to leisure travel that has as its primary purpose the experiencing of places and activities that represent the past. The principal concerns of heritage tourism are historical authenticity and the long term sustainability of attractions (Gartner 2004) Ecotourism is a form of tourism development which ‘offers unique opportunities for integrating rural development, tourism, resource management, and protected area management in many sites around the world (Hvenegaard 1994). More specifically, it is a form of nature tourism which actively promotes environmental conservation, is directly beneficial to local societies and cultures, and which provides tourists with a positive, educative experience. It is, in effect, a form of alternative, sustainable tourism (Cater and Lowman 1994: 3), but one which, implicitly, depends on a rural environment. Hence, ecotourism is a subset of rural tourism, but not all rural tourism is necessarily ecotourism. When studying rural tourism, it is essential to first define exactly what is involved in rural tourism, because a lack of clarity in terms of definition can influence data collection, resulting in partial information on rural tourism with regard to both scope and scale (SharpleyRoberts, 2004) The roots of rural tourism are very similar throughout the world, no matter when it comes into practice (Fleischer Pizam, 1997). In the early days, rural tourism was developed and encouraged primarily for the purpose of revitalization and diversification of rural areas. A decline in the ability of farming and related agricultural support businesses limited the ability of farmers and rural residents to generate sufficient income causing many farmers to seek new sources of income and to diversify their farms. Also, a systematic and substantial decrease in the rural populations, the aging of these populations, now characterizes many rural areas (Fleischer Pizam, 1997; Ribeiro Marques, 2002) Tourism has long been suggested as a strategy of revitalizing rural economies. rural tourism can add income to farms and other households, provides job alternatives, diversifies the rural economy, and makes the provision of certain infrastructure possible(Oppermann,1996). Therefore, many rural communities turned to tourism to stimulate new economic development (Blaine, Mohammad, Var, 1993) Lane (1994) offers some tourism market trends that will accelerate the growth of rural tourism in the future. He points to growing interest in rural life, including heritage and tradition, an increasing health consciousness giving a positive appeal to rural lifestyles and values, market interest in high performance outdoor equipment, search for solitude and relaxation in a quiet natural place, and an aging but active population retiring earlier but living and travelling far into old age. As increasing attention has been paid to rural tourism as a specific form of tourism development, so too has the scope of research into tourism in rural areas become more diverse. Rural tourism is not new however; interest in rural tourism has increased rapidly during the past several years. The recent surge in rural tourism has come from the demand-side, due in part to increased disposable incomes improved lifestyles, increased health awareness, a mature travel market, changing tastes and preferences, and increases in automobile and weekend travel (Hill, 193; Alexander Mckenna, 1998) Opportunities for rural tourism development include general tourism growth, increased family vacationing, environmental interest, the recent dispersion of travel through growing auto travel, a mature travel market, changing tastes and preferences, urbanization, and growing weekend travel. On the other hand, there are also obstacles to rural tourism development, which include weak drawing power, dispersion of attractions and services, meagre secondary economic impacts, internal community conflicts, and destination life cycle. Hill (1993) made several suggestions for capitalizing on rural tourism opportunities and overcoming various obstacles. The major challenges he identifies are developing attractions, encouraging entrepreneurship, informing markets, reacting to changing tastes, providing quality service and preserving attractions and attractiveness. It is important to stress that a number of different tourism products or types of tourism development fall under the heading of rural tourism. However, they do not necessarily equate with it. For example, farm tourism refer to ‘all forms of tourism that are directly connected with a farm (Jansen-Verbeke and Nijmegen 1990) and includes staying on a farm, either in rooms or camping, educational visits, meals, recreational activities, and the sales of farm produce or handicrafts. Tourism has been considered as a vehicle for economic regeneration and employment creation in the UK, too. A number of local authorities have sought to capture the potential economic benefits afforded by tourism and a number of studies have investigated the ways to maximize the benefits. Thomas and Long (2001) presented the development of employee skills as a key issue for effective tourism development. They examined the link between employee skills development and the contribution of tourism to regeneration in rural areas. Wilson et al (2001) addressed the importance of the community context and rural tourism â€Å"entrepreneurs role in tourism development and promotion in rural areas. According to Wilson, the ten most important conditions for successful tourism development in rural areas include a complete tourism package, good community leadership, support and participation of local government, sufficient funds for tourism development, strategic planning, coordination and cooperation between rural tourism entrepreneurs, information and technical assistance for tourism development and promotions, good convention and visitors bureaus, and widespread community support for tourism. Cooperation of all elements of the industry and the community has also been emphasized by Hunt (1992). Additionally, he has suggests a broad-based program that details development, marketing and management as a strategy for successful development of rural tourism. Tourism has been considered as a vehicle for economic regeneration and employment creation in the UK, too. A number of local authorities have sought to capture the potential economic benefits afforded by tourism and a number of studies have investigated the ways to maximize the benefits. Thomas and Long (2001) presented the development of employee skills as a key issue for effective tourism development. They examined the link between employee skills development and the contribution of tourism to regeneration in rural areas. Oppermann (1996) found a surprising fact in a study of farm based tourism in southern Germany: operators thought a ‘calm relaxing environment was the chief motivator of tourists, but to visitors the actual farm environment was only a backdrop. And although the environmental wisdom in Germany is that rural tourists are mostly middle-aged couples with children Oppermann(1995) found a bimodal distribution defined by couples and groups of four. Families were much more likely to stay on farms. Identifying and segmenting the rural tourism market is probably the lease researched and understood process in the rural tourism system. There are few studies that focus on the rural tourist, although one could assemble market facts from diverse sources and aggregate them into a comprehensive rural tourism market evaluation. 2.2 Rural tourism issues However, rural tourism development may not always be the best strategy for solving rural problems. The successful development of rural tourism depends upon planning and the existence of infrastructure, attractions, essential services, management, maintenance, and an accessible market. In the absence of any one of these elements, a rural region may find that tourism is not a cost-effective option, or that other development tools, such as investment in infrastructure and education, must precede the development of rural tourist attraction and services ( Edgell Carwright, 1990). Only when proper conditions prevail, can tourism be a contributor to rural economic development in the areas. Sandell argue about the tourism access issues. Rural tourism is, simply, about people. It is about tourists who visit and enjoy the countryside and who, in order to do so, must be able to travel to and within rural areas. In other words, for rural tourism to exist and, by implication, for it to benefit local communities, people must have access to the countryside. As tourism is increasingly developed in rural areas and as the demand for rural tourism grows, so too will there be a greater need other demands on the countryside but also with the longer term protection or conservation of the rural resources. As more tourists demand access and as rural planners and managers, eager to jump on the rural tourism industry, should be limited to Swedish citizens as a result of concern over the misuse of theses rights by overseas tourists (Sandell 1995) Ray Williams discussed problems as the division and opposition of city country, industry and agriculture, in their modern forms, are the critical culmination of the division and specialisation of about which, though it did not begin with capitalism, was developed under it to an extraordinary and transforming degree. Other forms of the same fundamental division are the separation between mental and manual labour, between administration and operation, between politics and social life. The symptoms of this division can be found at every point in what is now our common life; in the idea and practice of social classes; in conventional definitions of work, the year, the lifetime. Much of the creative thinking of our time is an attempt to re-examine each of these concepts and practices. It is based on the conviction that the system which generates and is composed by them is intolerable and will not survive. On new forms of decision-making, new kinds of education, new definitions and practic es of work, new kinds of settlement and land-use (William, 1975) Williams (1984) also argue that traditional forms of rural planning were related to development control by designating landscap