Monaghans Conributions to Society Foodservice Management

Introduction The Food service industry has experienced significant growth over the past few decades. This growth and development has been facilitated by the contributions of some of the innovative individuals in the industry. One person who has made considerable contributions to society’s food service management is Thomas S. Monaghan.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Monaghan’s Conributions to Society Foodservice Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This great American entrepreneur has contributed to the hospitality industry field through innovations made by his successful fast food pizza franchise, Domino’s Pizza. This paper will set out to describe Monaghan with particular focus on his company, and the contributions that he has made to the hospitality industry. Brief History of Thomas S Monaghan Thomas S Monaghan was born in March 25, 1937 to his father who was a trucker and his mother who was a nurse. Monaghan’s father died in 1921 when Monaghan was four years old leaving the task of raising Monaghan to his mother. As a nurse whose job provided her with very low weekly wages, Monaghan’s mother was unable to provide for her two sons and they were soon taken into an orphanage in 1943. While at the orphanage, Monaghan was under the care of nuns and this led to his deep devotion to the Catholic faith (Zuber 141). Monaghan and his brother stayed in the orphanage for the next six years and they were eventually taken back by their mother in 1949. Monaghan served with the US Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959 when he was honorably discharged and after this, he returned to Michigan where he enrolled for a degree in architecture at the University of Michigan. While in school, Monaghan collaborated with his brother to open a small pizza business which was expected to help pay for his education (Dicke 134). However, Monaghan ended up dropping out of scho ol and running the business on a full time basis with great success. Domino’s Pizza Domino’s was started in December 1960 by the two Monaghan brothers, Thomas and James. The two bought a small pizza shop called Dominick’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan using the $900 loan they had obtained to start their business. Later in the year 1961, James Monaghan sold his stake in the business to Thomas who henceforth became the sole owner of the business. Monaghan adopted the official â€Å"Domino’s Pizza† name in 1965.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The first major development in Domino’s Pizza occurred in 1965 when Monaghan adopted the â€Å"simple menu† concept (Dicke 132). This concept essentially eliminated the subs and specialty pizzas, which increased the business’ workload. By making these eliminations, Domino’s Pizza was able to improve efficiency and therefore attain higher profits and sales. The company started to experience significant growth in the late 60s owing to the popular new business model of franchising. Monaghan was able to expand across the Midwest and by 1968, the business had five franchise locations. Monaghan promoted internal franchising by encouraging the store managers to buy their own franchise of Domino’s (Zuber 141). This approach was highly successful since it ensured that the Domino’s culture was carried on by the new owners who were already familiar with the operations of the company. Domino’s Pizza has been a strong player in the US and international pizza market for decades. The company operates in 65 countries and has more than 9300 locations internationally (Hitt and Ireland 2108). Monaghan’s long and successful involvement with Domino’s Pizza ended in 1998 when he sold a controlling 93% stake in the company to Bain Capital, a Boston-based private equity investment firm. This sale was made at $1 billion and following the sale, Monaghan ceased active involvement with the company he had founded in 1960. Zuber reveals that Monaghan disengaged himself from Domino’s so that he could devote himself full-time to a number of Catholic charities (140). Contributions to Foodservice Management A Monaghan’s company also focused on customer satisfaction, adopting a philosophy of â€Å"Total Satisfaction Guarantee† in 1993. Hitt and Ireland reveal that this philosophy has been a cornerstone of the Domino brand for decades (2108). To ensure customer satisfaction, Domino’s engaged in customer surveys and ensured that best practices were adopted. During the 1980s, Monaghan adopted a policy of taking the best practices from one franchise and applying them to the rest of the operation. Hitt and Ireland reveal that by taking the best practices of one location and applying them to all, Domino†™s was able to ensure continuous improvement of quality (2108).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Monaghan’s Conributions to Society Foodservice Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Monaghan put in a lot of effort toward refining the pizza making process. Dicke reveals that by the end of the 1960s, Monaghan had visited numerous pizzerias all over the state to gain knowledge on more efficient methods of operation (133). From these experiences, Monaghan was able to refine his pizzeria by restructuring the interior and rearranging counters, coolers and work areas. These modifications improved the flow of work in all phases of the operation therefore leading to greater efficiency. Monagham also made some innovations including the dough trays that ensured that losses from damaged crust were significantly reduced (Zuber 139). Monagham also developed the corrugated pizza box that ensured that the pizzas were able to retain their heat for longer. This innovation made it possible for customers to enjoy hot pizzas even after a 30-minute delivery time. Monaghan is credited with promoting uniform quality in the food service industry. To him, the production process of Domino’s was a unified whole that required standardized materials and a detailed division of labor (Hitt and Ireland 2108). The end product was required to be of a good and uniform quality. Even as Domino’s expanded through franchising, Monaghan took responsibility for remodeling, equipping, and training the owners of the new outlet. This ensured that the quality of Domino’s remained consistent even as major expansions occurred. The Domino’s franchise is well known for delivering its pizzas in a timely manner. Monaghan’s company is the market leader in pizza delivery and it enjoys a market share of up to 20% in this segment (Hitt and Ireland 2108). This can be credited to Monaghanà ¢â‚¬â„¢s concern with improving service time in addition to offering quality customer service. Domino’s has been able to establish a niche for itself in its ordering and delivery processes. Tracy argues that if a business is able to increase the speed at which it delivers the specific results that the consumers want, it will be able to increase the value of its products (140).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conclusion This paper set out to provide a brief history of Domino’s Pizza founder, Thomas Monaghan and describe his contributions to foodservice management. The paper documented that Monaghan started with a single pizza store in 1960 and expanded over the years. Monaghan contributed to the service industry by improving store efficiency. Monaghan was able to show that efficiency and speed of delivery could be achieved without sacrificing on the high standard of food quality that the customers expected. Due to his contributions through Domino’s Pizza, Monaghan will remain to be one of the most influential figures in food service management for generations. Works Cited Dicke, Thomas. Franchising in America: The Development of a Business Method, 1840-1980. North Carolina: UNC Press Books, 2002. Print. Hitt, Michael and Ireland Duane. Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization. NY: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Tracy, Brian. Create Your Ow n Future: How to Master the 12 Critical Factors of Unlimited Success. Boston: John Wiley Sons, 2002. Print. Zuber, Amy. â€Å"Tom Monaghan: Domino’s Pizza Founder sees great things for the Chain on the Horizon.† Nation’s Restaurant News 12.3 (2004): 139-144. Print. This research paper on Monaghan’s Conributions to Society Foodservice Management was written and submitted by user Bianca O. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Another Evening At The Club Essay Essay Example

Another Evening At The Club Essay Essay Example Another Evening At The Club Essay Paper Another Evening At The Club Essay Paper Essay Topic: The Joy Luck Club Alifa Rifaat’s story â€Å"Another evening at the club† gives a reflection of a woman’s perspective on life and marriage in a patriarchal society. It brings to light the unconventional reasons for a woman’s acceptance of marriage in a society such as material gain and power. Rifaat’s story is the protagonist Samia’s journey to realizing the true meaning of her place and authority in her marriage. Through various flashbacks the author attempts to bring a cohesive end to the protagonists realizations at the end of the story. The final passage of the story is the defining point of realization of her role in establishing the status quo of her marriage. The story reinforces the theme of materialism and societal influences on a person and their desires. Social norms and values play a significant role in shaping Samia’s perception of life and love. The final passage is the moment when Samia realizes that the idea of marriage that she had been taught to believe in was just an empty negotiated contract. In that moment she understands that the secondary position that she had accepted and the riches she had received was a form of payment. A price she paid for compromising a husband’s love and marrying an older man. Samia’s journey of realization to that moment begins when the terms of her marriage to Abboud Bey is negotiated. The author also shows how Samia’s mother and the patriarchal society have shaped her expectations and desires for materialistic pleasures. Her mother’s words in turn solidify her view that marriage should provide her with money, power and status: You’re a lucky girl he is a real find. Any girl would be happy to have him. He’s an inspector of irrigation though he is not yet forty. He earns a big salary and gets fully furnished government house wherever he’s posted, which will save us the expense of setting up a house – and I don’t have to tell you what our situation is and that’s beside the house he owns in Alexandria where you’ll be spending you’re holidays. (Rifaat 310) The basis of Samia decision may not only have been her family’s financial state but also the allure of being a member of higher society. Rafat exposes this human but materialistic side of Samia’s personality when she says, â€Å"in particular she noticed the well cut coat of English tweed and the silk shirt and the gold cuff links† (Rifaat 309). The emerald ring, the diamond bracelet, the lifestyle all symbolize the illusion of necessities that Samia now has. The author adds to this side of her personality when she contrasts how Samia felt when she saw Abboud Bey’s authority and feels â€Å"a guilty shame at her father’s inadequacy†(Rifaat 309). Samia associates money with power and poverty with inadequacy. The house and the money were all compensations she received for compromising who she was. Her husband asks her to tell people that her â€Å"father was a judge† (Rifaat 310), indicating a life started with a lie and based on image. Samia’s decision to marry him is only human, she wanted something that didn’t understand but needed. Her marriage to Abboud Bey was not only a chance for him to enhance his image in society but for her to become a member of high society. The physical gestures displayed by Abboud Bey impacts the way Samia see her position in her marriage. Abboud Bey’s simple gesture of â€Å"gently patting her cheeks in a fatherly reassuring gesture† (Rifaat 312), which initially made Samia feel safe completely changed meaning in the final passage of the story. This gesture triggers Samia’s realization that her husband slapping the maid or patting her cheeks were synonymous in displaying his authority and power over them. Samia reveals her realization of this authority: The gesture told her more eloquently than any words that he was the man and she was the woman, he the one who carried the responsibilities, made the decision, she was the whose role it was to be beautiful, happy, carefree. Now, though, for the first time in their life together the gesture came like a slap in the face. (Rifaat 312) Samia calls the gesture a slap in the face not because it was used to silence her but as a wake up call. It was like the slap had destroyed the illusion, which she has been living, and woken her up to a cruel reality. When he removes his hand the realization of her husband’s true authority over her rattles every fiber of being as â€Å"her whole body was seized with an uncontrollable trembling† (Rifaat 312). Samia understood that his every gesture had slowly taken over her autonomy was with her permission. When she tells Abboud Bey, â€Å"I thought I’d better leave it to you† (Rifaat 311) she was giving him more authority, as he was the man and she the woman. When she could have confronted the maid herself she hands it over to her husband and â€Å"took herself to the corner of the room† (Rifaat 311) avoiding any responsibility. This was a position that Samia had been taught to accept being brought up in a patriarchal society where the man has the authority. Upon finding the ring â€Å"she felt tempted to†¦throw it into the river so as to be rid of the unpleasantness that lay ahead† (Rifaat 312). Samia had enjoyed the benefits but could not endure the consequences of her decisions. Power had bought her swift action but also brought her guilt. The ‘slap’ begins the series of thoughts that act as her prequel to her ultimate realization in the final passage. The setting of the final moment supports the development of Samia’s thoughts to that realization point. The window, the boat and the lilies all exemplify and support Samia’s feelings. When she leans against the large window and â€Å"close [s] her eyes tightly† (Rifaat 313) she remembers that is what she had wanted all along. The large comforting window acts like a barrier to her thoughts and leads her to the point where she remembers her compromise. The image of â€Å"the dark shape of the boat had momentarily blocked out the cafà © scene† (Rifaat 313), as she had momentarily forgotten her place and now it was visible to her. It was not a realization; Samia had just forgotten for a moment that this is the reality of her life. The power and allure of society had blocked out her sense and logic, which a simple gesture had now let lose. As the boat cut through the â€Å"Nile water lilies that, rootless, are swept along the current† (Rifaat 313) every misconception that she had slowly swept away. When Samia opens her eyes she sees just another evening at the club with the â€Å"the cafà © lights strung between the trees on the opposite shore †¦ and the men seated under [the trees] and a waiter moving among the tables† (Rifaat 313). When she looks at the people playing chess and eating at the club through the comforting warmth of her window she sees her every desire. The waiters moving in between them shows the contrast in power and the life she may have had. When she opens her eyes it was like a curtain had been raised and the show was over and it was time to go back to the real world. This memory had brought with it a realization and its own questions. The decision lies in Samia’s hands to chose the life she lived from that moment onwards. Comfort, luxury and status were all waiting outside that window for her decision. Samia’s smile at the end symbolized her surrender to power and status. She was smiling as she had understood and made peace with her reality. Now it was time for her to go out to the club and join the society she wanted to part of. It was a smile of a mother and wife but most of all of a woman who knew what she wanted and how much she had given up for it. In conclusion the story explores the materialistic but humane characteristics of a woman in a patriarchal society. Through Samia’s point of view the author illustrates the influences of societal expectations and mans authority over women. The image of Samia leaning against the window and closing her eyes compels one to understand the true meaning of her compromise. It is difficult to understand a woman’s desires especially when she realizes that they aren’t completely hers.

How to Say ___ in French - French Translation Help

How to Say ___ in French - French Translation Help If youre wondering how to say something in French, youve come to the right place. I get a lot of questions about how to say this or that in French; Ive provided links to answers to the most common of these at the end of this article. But of course I cant anticipate every question, so here are some tips and resources to help you find out how to say anything in French.1) If you speak some French, your best bet is to use a French dictionary - but the right way. French word order and syntax are very different than English, and if you just look up a bunch of different words and string them together, youll probably end up with nonsense.2) You can also try searching this site - with over 6,000 pages, its a good bet that Ive written a lesson including the word or phrase youre looking for. Just type your search in the box in the upper right corner, and click search.3) If you dont speak any French, you might be tempted to use an online translator, but this, too, is a tool that must be used w ith caution. 4) The best way to find out how to say something in French is to ask a native speaker. If you dont know any, youre in luck: our forum is filled with French speakers who are ready to answer your questions - within reason. While we wont translate paragraphs or write letters for you, we are happy to answer your questions, translate short passages, and offer corrections. Common Questions How do you say Happy birthday in French?How do you say Hello in French?How do you say How are you? in French?How do you say I love you in French?How do you say please and thank you in French?How do you say Merry Christmas in French?How do you say no in French?How do you say to be in French?How do you say what in French?How do you say yes in French?How do you say the colors in French?How do you say the months in French?How do you say the numbers in French? And if youre wondering how to say how do you say ___ in French? in French, its comment dit-on ___ en franà §ais  ? You can hear a sound file of this and other useful phrases in my essential French lesson.

Campaign finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Campaign finance - Essay Example Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney, forty-sixth vice president of the United States, has over three decades of experience in political service. Formerly a US representative and secretary of state, many saw Cheney as the ideal running mate for the relatively inexperienced George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election.Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 30, 1941, the son of Marjorie and Richard H. Cheney. He was raised in Casper, Wyoming, where the elder Cheney worked as a soil conservationist for the Department of Agriculture.After graduating from a local high school, Cheney earned a scholarship and traveled east to attend Yale University in Connecticut. He dropped out of school during his second year, due to his poor academic performance, and returned to Wyoming. Cheney went to work for a brief time before returning to school, first at Casper College and later at the University of Wyoming. In 1964, he married his high-school sweetheart, Lynn Anne Vincent. Cheney finally gradu ated two years later with a master's degree in political science.After graduation, Cheney received an educational deferment to avoid military service during the Vietnam War. He enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin, and launched his long political career in 1968, when he went to Washington DC to work for Representative William Steiger (R-Wisconsin) as a congressional fellow. Cheney was soon recruited by Representative Donald Rumsfeld, the head of President Richard Nixon's Office of Economic Opportunity, to work as his assistant. (Carney 82) Throughout the early 1970s, Cheney held a number of positions alongside Rumsfeld, who had become a mentor to the young political hopeful. He served as deputy White House counsel, assistant director of the Cost of Living Council, and deputy chief of staff for President Gerald Ford. To supplement his income, Cheney also served as vice president of investment group Bradley, Woods, & Co. Cheney's biggest break came in 1975, when he replaced his mentor as White House chief of staff after Rumsfeld was appointed as secretary of defense. At the age of 34, Cheney was among the youngest men ever to hold this position, which he held until 1976. During this time, he earned a reputation as a prominent player in the Republican Party. Washington Insider Beginning in 1979, Cheney served six terms in the House of Representatives, as a representative from Wyoming. Before his election to the House, he suffered a heart attack, the first of three coronary episodes he would endure before the age of 50. As chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee for most of his tenure, Cheney was known as a conservative, and voted strictly along party lines. When Republican Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, Cheney and his right-wing House colleagues were steadfast supporters of the new White House agenda. In addition to his vocal support for the "Star Wars" missile defense system, Cheney was in favor of military backing for the "Contra" rebels in Nicaragua, as well as for rebel fighters in Afghanistan and Angola. In the late 1980s, when he sat on the House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Deals with Iran during the Iran-Contra scandal, Cheney defended the controversial actions of the Reagan administration and his fellow Republicans. On the domestic issue front, Cheney was opposed to gun control and abortion and in favor of prayer in public schools. He voted against the Equal Rights Amendment and re-funding the Clean Water Act. As a result of his loyalty to the party, Cheney became minority whip, the second-most influential position in the House, in 1988. His wife, meanwhile, served as the chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986-1993. Under Reagan's successor, George Bush, Cheney served as secretary of defense, and played a key role in directing the nation's military during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The popular success of the

Public precurement and (ppt) + (ppp) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Public precurement and (ppt) + (ppp) - Essay Example The public department just makes monthly repayments for capital utilized and bears the on-going service costs. The major objective of PFI is to increase efficient delivery of public services and transfer risk to the private enterprises. But currently, it has come under lot of controversy for excessive payments, bribery, corruption and poor value for money. The paper would analyse PFI for managerial effectiveness, operational efficiency and cost effectiveness for public service delivery and asses its viability for best value for money. Analysis Public sector is showing significant shift in its operational areas towards privatization regarding public procurements of works, goods and services with emphasis on cost saving and increasing efficiency. The concept had originated in the developed nations which were getting concerned with large amounts of spending from the public funds for public utility services. It had led to frequent cases of irregularities related to public funding includi ng lack of commitment, transparency and efficiency issues (OECD, 2007). The reforms therefore had become necessary. An effective public procurement through PFI was a good option especially when relationship is forged through fair and competitive auction –bidding (Audit commission, 2001). ... PFI is improved form of public procurement system because of its unique framework as public private partnership. Moreover, private finance is sought within the realms of a public environment, processed by a series of state defined legal, administrative, political, and management networks. Like private sector, it ensures that the procurement of goods, services and works is optimally efficient and effective, and results in best value for money (Deloitte, 2009). But it differs from the private sector in the sense that it is not profit oriented. Indeed, these emerge as vital issues that require constant monitoring, regulation, and audit to keep the process corruption free. In the traditional procurement system, the spending department or body finalizes the project and budget and thereafter sends proposal to the treasury for loan (Whitfield, 2001). After approval the department gets the long term loan at very low interest rates as they are perceived to be low risk borrowers with governmen t not expecting to fail or default in its repayments (Grout, 1997). The loan sanction for the project is a long drawn process that each public department has to follow for any proposed work in the public area. Apart from the highly fractious procedures of finance, the operation, management and risks are hugely critical elements that become difficult to manage in the long run with the same efficiency and quality (Hood et al., 2006). Indeed, the changing socio-economic and political environment makes the various projects quite risky. Most importantly, getting the state treasuries to fund the various public projects would a massive burden on it and which could

Analysis of the short story Essay Example for Free

Analysis of the short story Essay `This essay will discuss certain reaction to the story ‘Examination day’, as well as reviewing the lifestyle and world Dickie lives in. The Jordan family are not rich but they are part of the working class society. The accommodation is quite small, they’re ‘little apartment’ is described in line 21: ‘The boy †¦ wandered to that part of the living room which had been ‘his’ from infancy. ’ This shows that things have not changed in terms of housing since he was young and probably their wealth has not increased as much as they would have liked. In the ‘little apartment’ Mrs Jordan mentioned ‘the Exam’ which was why the tension was quite high in the room. ‘The Exam’ is the ‘Government intelligence test they give to children at the age of twelve. ’ This examination was to make sure that there is no-one clever enough to overrule the current government. This test shows an example of what a dictator ruled government is like. This government is a totalitarian government in terms of not wanting to lose power or authority of any sort. These citizens are stuck in an unwanted dictatorship. The examination room was just as restricted as the lives they lead. The room was very dim which represents amount of information they know about the world and their current government. Also in Dickie’s eyes the room doesn’t look very inviting or welcoming even if it was an examination room. Although Dickie could not really see the ‘gray-tunicked attendant’ he knew that this was a very serious matter. The dimness of the room also shows the secretiveness of the government and how much they want their citizens to know. On the day of Dickie’s examination his parents’ were very anxious to see whether or not their son was allowed to come home or not; there were ‘†¦ not speaking, not even speculating. ’ They were so apprehensive that when the phone rang they both tried to reach for it. This shows that they had a feeling that things were not going to work out perfectly for them. When Mr Jordan answered the phone to the ‘Government Educational Service’ he was told that his son’s ‘†¦intelligence quotient has exceeded the Government regulation. ’ This information was a shock to Mr Jordan that even his wife had read the expression of disappointment on his face. The government had announced that Dickie was going to die because he had breached the ‘intelligence quotient’. This shows that the government are too scared to let the clever people live their own lives or even work for them at their young age. This shows that the dictator is not as strong as he portrays himself to be. This shows that he is insecure and that if anyone clever was around he would probably crumble from having lack of authority. I think that the Jordan family live in a completely totalitarian world where they have no freedom to do what they like when they feel like it; unless they are in their own home. Their dictator is too worried about anyone overruling him; he feels the need to get rid all of the clever citizens to be secure in his position. This shows that this dictator is too unsecure to be head of the government. He needs to step aside and let someone else do the job properly.

How Weather Conditions Affect Health and Well-Being in Singapore Essay

How Weather Conditions Affects Health and Well-Being Singapore is an island lying north of the Equator. Because it lies in the tropics, it receives sufficient sunlight, has mostly uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity and abundant rainfall. Singapore’s climate can be categorized into two main monsoon seasons. During the Northeast Monsoon season, from December to early March, northeast winds prevail. It is cloudy with frequent afternoon rain in the early part of this season. From late March to May, winds and showers are present mostly during afternoon and early evening. The Southwest Monsoon season, from June to September, has more isolated showers in the late morning and early afternoon. From October to November, winds and breezes prevail, with showers and thunder in the late afternoon and early evening. The temperature in Singapore ranges from 31 deg C at maximum and 24 at minimum. The pressure fluctuates between 1012 and 1005hPa, average being 1009hPa. Relative humidity drops from the high 90’s in the early morning to 60% in the mid-afternoon. Average humidity is 84%. There is no distinct wet or dry season in Singapore. Maximum rainfall occurs in December and April while drier months include February and July. Sunlight is also present as Singapore lies near the Equator. Some health conditions can be affected by weather conditions such as pregnancy, arthritis, Fibromyalgia Syndrome, fatigue, muscle pain, migraines, sinus headaches, multiple Sclerosis, loss of coordination or balance and Raynaud's phenomenon, where blood flow to fingers are disrupted and asthma. During pregnancy, weather conditions like temperature and humidity changes lead to fluctuation in barometric pressure. This is dangerous as a sudden... ...one on how tropical weather affects health as little data could be found online. There should also be more research done on how warmer weather can affect health and well-being. Pregnant people may be affected by sudden changes in barometric pressure. As a sudden drop of air pressure outside equals an increase of air pressure inside, the pressure increase can trigger labour. Hence hospitals should stabilize the air pressure to prevent this. Due to the change in time zone of Singapore, natural circadian rhythms are affected and people may feel energetic in the late night and lethargic during the early morning. This is because the time zone is not synchronized with the natural time as Singapore’s time zone was synchronized with Beijing. This moved time forward and thus affected the natural circadian rhythm. Hence time should be shifted back to its original state.

Pocahontas Term Paper Essay

In Camilla Townsend’s book, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Townsend points out that there are many historical inaccuracies and myths that are associated with the story of Pocahontas. Using historical evidence to support the story of Pocahontas, Townsend attempted to create an accurate timeline bringing the past to the present. At the same time, the Disney film Pocahontas attempted to depict Algonquian culture accurately, however, according to history, much of the material presented in the film is full of misconceptions and is historically imprecise. In fact, Disney’s Pocahontas epitomizes John Smith and Pocahontas as heroes who prevented a war between the Algonquian Native American tribes and the colonists who were living in Jamestown. However, historical evidence proves that at the time John Smith came into contact with Powhatan, Pocahontas was only a young child around the age of ten and, thus had very little influence over her father. Additionally, the film dep icts John Smith as a leader who was looked up to by the other colonists, while historical records prove that he â€Å"had made many enemies by the time he had left Jamestown.†1 Disney inaccurately portrayed particular pieces of the Native American experience with the European colonists, specifically regarding Pocahontas, yet, it is important to consider the audience that this part of history was being presented to. One of the biggest historical inaccuracies presented in the Disney film Pocahontas is the love story between John Smith and Pocahontas. The film exhibited John Smith and Pocahontas as falling madly in love at first sight. This love is represented in the film through the â€Å"colors of the wind† which can often be seen circling Smith or Pocahontas. In the book, Townsend provides evidence of a relationship between the two that included only friendship, laughter, and education, but not love. A demonstration of this relationship would be when Pocahontas â€Å" participated in a class of mutual language instruction with John Smith.†2 In fact, it is from these lessons that Smith was able to write down the only full Powhatan sentences to ever be recorded. While there was no love between Smith and Pocahontas, historical evidence has shown that Smith thought about Pocahontas in sexual  ways. Actually, â€Å"council investigation openly acknowledged that he made lewd comments about her – or having even done things to her – in jokes, or in moments of sexual arousal.†3 The true love story in Pocahontas occurred between John Rolfe and Pocahontas at the Jamestown settlement a few years after Smith had made contact with the Algonquian tribe. Unfortunately, Rolfe was not even represented in the first Pocahontas film. Another historical inaccuracy that can be seen in the Disney film is the physical depiction of both John Smith and Pocahontas. The film portrays Smith as a young, tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed colonist who is charming and interested in protecting the Native Americans after coming into contact with Pocahontas. In contrast, historical evidence mentions that he was interested in control, and his intent was to subjugate the Native Americans so that â€Å"they could be made to work for their conquerors.†4 Smith was particularly interested in power and control over the Native Americans to further the cause in the New World for the English, which â€Å"unfortunately had passed the English by for at least a century.†5 Interestingly, Smith is portrayed in the film as being a young adult, of similar age to Pocahontas; however, in reality he was a middle-aged man with a large beard, and much older than Pocahontas.6 Smith is not the only person who was represented inaccurately by Disney in the film. Pocahontas is portrayed in the film as being a tall, beautiful, young adult who is free-spirited and passionate about nature. The most serious inaccuracy regarding Pocahontas is undoubtedly the fact that she is represented as a young adult, most likely around the age of twenty. According to historical records, Pocahontas, at the time of Smith’s arrival to the New World, was only ten years old.7 Additionally, the film depicts Pocahontas as being shocked and in awe of the English, however, evidence shows that â€Å"at no point did Powhatan, Pocahontas, or any of their people look on the strangers with wide-mouthed awe or consider them gods.†8 In fact, it is because of her young age that Townsend believes that â€Å"Powhatan and his advisors were hardly under her influence† when it came to policy decisions. Thus, her representation as a young adult is historically inaccurate and was clearly put in place to support the imaginary love story betwee n her and John Smith and make this fairy tale seem more believable. In Disney’s Pocahontas, it is evident that Powhatan desires Pocahontas to marry a Native American. In fact, the film even depicts Powhatan selecting Kocoom,  one of his strongest warriors, to be Pocahontas’ future husband. However, Townsend shines light on the idea that Powhatan did not have a strong preference about who Pocahontas married because Pocahontas’ mother lacked â€Å"political significance.†9 For this reason, any male child that Pocahontas was to bear would have not been placed in a seat of power, so it was not particularly necessary that she marry at all. As a result, she was given the choice of whom she wanted to marry. Interestingly, historical records indicate that Pocahontas â€Å"married a man named Kocoom, around the age of twelve or thirteen† and that â€Å"she must have liked him very much indeed.†10 So while the Disney film inaccurately portrayed Powhatan’s interest in Pocahontas’ love life, the film was able to successfully introduce Kocoom as a great warrior who had love for Pocahontas. Unfortunately, the film also inaccurately depicted a skirmish between Smith and Kocoom, which ultimately led to Kocoom’s death after being shot in the back. One thing historians are certain about is that Kocoom was the first husband of Pocahontas, however, â€Å"within a few years Kocoom seems to have disappeared.†11 The true story behind what exactly happened to Kocoom is up for debate, although many believe that he could have been killed in war, as he was a warrior for Powhatan. Another historical inaccuracy in Pocahontas is the portrayal of Powhatan as a person who practices monogamy. In fact, there are slight references in the film that Pocahontas’ mother had died, thus, making Powhatan a widow. While it is possible that Pocahontas’ mother died, historians know that Powhatan practiced polygamy regardless, due to the numerous amount of children he had. Through this sy stem, â€Å"whole clans of brothers and sisters had an obvious shared interest in remaining united and maintaining their family’s power.†12 In Townsend’s book, it is stated that in order to maintain rule over the tribes he conquered, Powhatan would â€Å"simply marry a woman of their royal family† because â€Å"a son conceived by her would grow up with loyalty to both his father and to his mother’s people.†13 To be ensured of this loyalty, the children were to be raised by Powhatan himself. The film also portrayed the inaccurate idea that Powhatan was interested in killing all of the colonists. In fact, what Powhatan really wanted was to gain metal tools as well as technology in the form of guns, knives, hatchets and pans; this is the reason why he made a deal John Smith.14 Townsend even included the fact that Powhatan was interested in  Ã¢â‚¬Å"establishing kinship ties as a means of ensuring his expanding control.†15 While Disney portrayed the story of Pocahontas inaccurately in many ways, some of the historical information was displayed in a correct manner. At the beginning of the film, the women of the tribe can be seen working in the fields. This, from the study of history, is accurate because we know that every member of the tribe worked in the village, even the royal family.16 Women could be seen dividing into groups in the morning; some would work the field, some would pick up firewood, and others would gather Tuckahoe to make flour.17 The film also depic ted the Native Americans’ telling of great stories that included the European conquests of parts of the New World. Being that Native American culture is passed down orally, historians can easily accept this idea that historical tales were told around campfires. Townsend explains that on an â€Å"ordinary evening, Pocahontas might have sat in the flickering light of torches and the central fire†¦listening to the older people tell stories.†18 While historians will never know exactly what Pocahontas was taught about her ancestry, it is safe to assume that there were many stories about the prior attempts of colonization that the â€Å"coat-wearers† had on their land. When analyzing the historical inaccuracies of the Disney film Pocahontas, it is important to keep in mind the audience that the film was created for. Disney undoubtedly created the film as a way to introduce the concept of Native Americans to children. In fact, one could argue that the primary audi ence that this film was intended for is between the ages of six and nine. As a result, Disney would not want to create a film that portrays all Europeans as power-hungry and eager to conquer the world in violent ways. After all, American children are more than likely living on land that belonged to the Native Americans at one time. It would not be favorable for Disney to illustrate the people around these children as a group who is interested in stealing from others. Disney hopes to teach kids about the importance of giving to others and keeping those you love close. Thus, this is why we see John Smith and Pocahontas as attractive role models who fall madly in love. Pocahontas was created to be a fairytale that portrayed the idea of ultimate love and happiness, not to show the utter destruction that the Native Americans and their land suffered from after contact with the Europeans. One could argue that Pocahontas was created to depict a peaceful transfer of lands from the Native Americans to  the European colonists through mutual agreement, an example of how inaccuracies about the true occurrence still persist today. Disney attempted to develop a film that introduced the history of Native Americans and the New World to young children through a simplistic story with a happy ending. However, this could become dangerous if the children who view the film do not receive proper education about the subject and continuously base facts off the film. In general, making a fictitious representation of true events could pass as unobjectionable in order to make a story more interesting for film. In the case of Pocahontas, when a story works to make the group that was truly at fault look innocent, issues arise in terms of proper education and the reinforcement of unjust myths. The film, Pocahontas, was undoubtedly filled with many historical inaccuracies, which have caused confusion about the realistic story of Pocahontas, but it did provide truthful, basic background information about Native American lifestyle at the time of the European conquest. I agree with Townsend that Pocahontas deserves for her true story to be known. However, I believe that creating a Disney film was not the best way to accomplish this, nor was it the goal of the company. Introducing the true interactions and agreements made between the Algonquian Native Americans and the European conquerors was not possible to do through an animated Disney film due to the typical audience of the film and the simplistic, family-oriented themes that Disney incorporates. American History classes provided in American schools, particularly in areas that have a strong historical Native American presence, are doing a better job of teaching students about the truthful atrocities that the European settlers created for the Native Americans. It is clear, however, that pop-culture may not be at the same level of educating society. Works Cited Townsend, Camilla. Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma. New York: Hill and Wang, 2004. Pocahontas. Dir. Mike Gabriel. 1995. DVD.

Tqm in Starwood

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide In partial fulfilment Of the requirements in Total Quality Management 12 October, 2010 I. INTRODUCTION Being one of the of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. already has nearly 1000 properties in some 100 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels and Resorts is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with different internationally renowned brands of St.Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element. It also owns one of the premier developers and operators of high-quality vacation interval ownership resorts, Starwood Vacation Ownership Resorts, Inc. The company began as a small investment firm and then became a real estate investment trust (REIT). In 1998, Starwood acquired ITT Corporation, a company seven times its size, in which during tha t time, the world's largest lodging and gaming company.Founded by Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Hotels and Resorts has been acquiring many other hotels and companies, at the same time, unloading some of its own properties to make room and money for new ones. Starwood Hotels and Resorts still face challenges in their worldwide operations. This led to a decision of adapting Six Sigma in the year 2000. The roll out of Six Sigma in the company started in the first quarter of 2001and was targeted to end in the year 2002 – also the time they say they will reap the fruits of their efforts. According to the founder, and previous chairman and chief executive officer of Starwood, Barry Sternlicht he launch of Six Sigma is one of the most important strategic initiatives since the formation of the company. It will be a multiyear effort encompassing thousands of associates. It will also sustain and build new momentum, strengthen their global brands, enhance their ability to share best practi ces globally, speed the adoption of new technologies, prepare them for the challenges of constant change, provide critical focus on the customer and overtime help them derive a dramatic improvement in the bottom line. All these will happen only with the successful implementation of the strategy.Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worlwide, Inc. was the first hospitality chain to adapt Six Sigma in its global operations. The company continuously improves with the Mission: â€Å"To our shareholders, our goal is to grow EBITDA at least 8-10% per year and EPS at least 15% per year. To our customers, we want Starwood to be the easiest company with which to do business. And to our employees, our commitment is to make Starwood a great place to work. † â€Å"At Starwood, we don’t just ‘do’ Six Sigma, we ‘use’ Six Sigma,† wrote one Starwood employee in iSixSigma’s Best Places survey. That means that we use it every day in our daily work to solve problems, regardless of their size. We follow the DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma principles and use tools daily (VOC translation tables, Pugh matrices, SIPOC†¦DOE, etc. ), but don’t necessarily have to make every problem into a project. We just get it done here. † This made Starwood the top best place to work in according to isixsigma. com’s Top 10 companies Best Places to Work list. To sum it up, Starwood Hotels and Resorts was able to pull off great opportunities of development and growth in the company through Six Sigma.II. COMPANY PROFILE A. Brief Description about the company: As a top company in the Hotels, Casinos, Resorts industry, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts specialize in the operation and management of hotels, resorts, casinos and spas. Starwood is now one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 925 properties in more than 95 countries. Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. , incorporated in 1980, is a hotel and leisu re company. The Company conducts its hotel and leisure business both directly and through its subsidiaries. Its brand names include St.Regis (luxury full-service hotels, resorts and residences), The Luxury Collection (luxury full-service hotels and resorts), W (luxury and upscale full service hotels, retreats and residences), Westin (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Le Meridien (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Sheraton (luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences), Four Points (select-service hotels), Aloft (select-service hotels), and Element (extended stay hotels). The Company is organized into two business segments: hotels and vacation ownership and residential.In January 2010, the Company announced that it has completed the disposal of Bliss World Holdings, Inc. to Steiner Leisure Limited. History of the company: Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the top hotel companies in the w orld. The company owns and operates hotels under leading brands such as Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Four Points, and its recently developed W brand. The majority of Starwood's hotels are owned by franchisees, and the company directly owns or leases about 170 of its approximately 750 hotels worldwide.Close to 500 of the company's hotels are in North America. Starwood also runs hotels in some 80 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America, including a chain of prestigious European palaces called the Ciga Group. The company began as a small investment firm and then became a real estate investment trust (REIT). In 1998 Starwood purchased ITT Corporation, a company seven times its size and at the time the world's largest lodging and gaming company. Starwood beat out the Hilton Hotels Corporation to get ITT, in what was one of the most dramatic takeover battles of the 1990s.Starwood is run by Barry Sternlicht, whose consummate dealsmanship parlayed the small trust into a global lodging company. B. Different Scope of the Company: a. Starwood’s Managed Hotels The Company manages hotels worldwide, usually under a long-term agreement with the hotel owner (including entities in which it has a minority equity interest). Its responsibilities under hotel management contracts typically include hiring, training and supervising the managers and employees that operate these facilities.For additional fees, it provides centralized reservation services and coordinates national advertising and certain marketing and promotional services. It prepares and implements annual budgets for the hotels it manages and is responsible for allocating property-owner funds for periodic maintenance and repair of buildings and furnishings. In addition to its owned and leased hotels, at December 31, 2009, it managed 440 hotels with approximately 153,800 rooms worldwide. b. The Brand Franchising and LicensingThe Company franchises its Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element brand names and generally derive licensing and other fees from franchisees based on a fixed percentage of the franchised hotel’s room revenue, as well as fees for other services, including centralized reservations, sales and marketing, public relations and national and international media advertising. In addition, a franchisee may also purchase hotel supplies, including brand-specific products, from certain Starwood-approved vendors.It approves certain plans for, and the location of, franchised hotels and reviews their design. At December 31, 2009, there were 476 franchised properties with approximately 116,300 rooms. c. Vacation Ownership and Residential Business The Company develops, owns and operates vacation ownership resorts, market and sell the vacation ownership interests (VOIs) in the resorts and, in many cases, provide financing to customers who purchase such ownership interests.Owners of VOIs can trade their interval for in tervals at other Starwood vacation ownership resorts, for intervals at certain vacation ownership resorts not otherwise sponsored by Starwood through an exchange company, or for hotel stays at Starwood properties. From time to time, it securitizes or sells the receivables generated from its sale of VOIs. At December 31, 2009, it had 22 residential and vacation ownership resorts and sites in its portfolio with 16 actively selling VOIs and residences, and two that have sold all existing inventory. C. Business Industry:The general business activity and principal products or commercial enterprise of Starwood Hotels & Resorts are categorized as being part of the Hotels, Casinos, Resorts Industry. D. The Company Values: â€Å"Go the Extra Step by taking actions that build lasting connections and loyalty ; Play as a Team by working globally and across all teams in the company; Do the Right Thing by using good judgment, respecting our communities, associates, owners, partners and the envir onment† E. Principal Subsidiaries: Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. F. Principal Competitors: Marriott International, Inc. Hilton Hotels Corporation; Four Seasons Hotels Inc. G. Key Dates of the company’s operations a. 1991: Starwood Capital Group is founded. b. 1993: Starwood begins buying hotels. c. 1994: Starwood buys Hotel Investors Trust; gains special REIT status. d. 1998: Starwood acquires ITT Corporation. e. 2001: Implementation of Six Sigma Strategy for the company’s overall operations III. BEFORE HAVING SIX-SIGMA IN THE COMPANY Starwood Hotels and Resorts did not follow a particular Total Quality Management program. Although they do have goals, such as: Starwood is entering a new stage in its development,† said Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. â€Å"The world is changing rapidly. While we own superb physical assets around the world, it is our 30 million customers who represent the critical and unrecognized asset of our com pany in this internet age. We are determined to build a customer-centric organization, a company that will take advantage of unprecedented advances in technology to improve nearly every facet of its core operations while increasing brand loyalty in an effort to create significant long-term shareholder value,† Mr.Sternlicht said. Starwood, though were very successful before their implementation of the Six Sigma also encounter several problems. One of which was when the Congress acted to change the law governing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). This made Starwood lose its tax advantage thus converting itself to the traditional corporate structure. The change made accounting difficult, particularly in comparing financial results from before and after the restructuring. In addition, there seemed to be trouble in the top echelons of management.Starwood's stock price fell, and in December 1998 the company announced that fourth quarter earnings would be less than estimated. Oth er lodging stocks did badly as well, but Starwood was clearly struggling to integrate its vast new holdings. IV. THE COMPANY’S ADAPTATION †¢ The slowing economy hurt Starwood and other hotel companies in 2001. The September 11 terrorist attacks were a huge blow to the industry. Starwood's North American business fell drastically immediately after the attacks, and two weeks later the company announced that it would lay off 23 percent of its North American workforce.Revenue fell in 2001 and 2002 as the global economy remained weak and business travel was less than robust. The company's European operations did better than its North American business, and Asia became the company's next frontier. Less than 10 percent of Starwood's operating profit came from its Asian operations in 2002, but the company aimed to increase that to 25 percent by 2007. †¢ â€Å"We have spent $1 billion in our ongoing effort to bring consistency to our branded hotels around the world,† says Bob Cotter, chief operating officer, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts. It is time and we are ready to complement this effort with a global focus on the delivery of consistent and exemplary service to our guests. From the reservation and check-in process, to room standards and cleanliness, it is our goal for every Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood Vacation Ownership and St. Regis/Luxury Collection guest to have a flawless experience during each and every visit. Six Sigma will help us reach that goal. † V. THE SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT STARWOOD In 2001 Starwood Hotels & Resorts became the first hospitality company in the world to embrace Six Sigma, an internationally recognized approach that enables Starwood associates to develop innovative customer focused solutions and to transfer these solutions across the global organization. Six Sigma is a customer-focused, fact-based, analytical system (approach and tools) for improving processes so that customers are more satisfied and Associates’ time is spent more on value-added activities, leading to increased profitably.The Six Sigma tools enable Starwood hotels to transfer solutions and innovations across their properties and offices globally. This gives the company a competitive advantage on speed to market in implementing Best Practices and Brand Standards. †¢ By launching Six Sigma, Starwood made a long-term commitment to radically improving the way it does business. For Starwood Six Sigma is a powerful business system that focuses on consistently delivering superior value to existing and potential customers. Six Sigma will roll out across Starwood Hotels & Resorts starting in the first quarter of 2001, completing implementation through the entire company by the end of 2002. While the company has budgeted a net cost for the program in 2001, as training and process reengineering begins, the company expects the program to begin delivering benefits in 2002 and beyond. Pioneered by Motorola and made famous by GE, Six Sigma has helped some of the world’s leading companies greatly improve customer service and increase financial returns.Starwood expects to save millions of dollars through improved efficiencies and maximized targeting of employed capital. Further, Starwood expects to generate significant incremental revenue and profit due to enhanced  loyalty and additional products and services. Former GE executive James Hyman has been named executive vice president, Six Sigma, for Starwood and will have global responsibility for executing the strategy, designing the tools and overseeing the implementation of Starwood’s Six Sigma initiative. Before joining Starwood, Hyman served as President of Europe for GE Capital Modular Space.Hyman will report directly to Bob Cotter. Starwood has also enlisted the expertise of renowned Six Sigma specialists Peter S. Pande, co-author of â€Å"The Six Sigma Way† and president of Pivotal Consulting, and the George Group to assist with the launch. During the first five quarters of implementation, Starwood will primarily redeploy current Starwood associates to fill approximately 450 Six Sigma specialist roles. Starwood will fill these roles with many of the company’s highest performing associates, in addition to some external candidates from all fields.These Six Sigma specialists will have strong analytical and organizational skills, and most will hold the title of â€Å"black belt† or â€Å"master black belt. †Ã‚   Each â€Å"black belt† is expected to drive EBITDA gains of $200,000 or more per year. †¢ Instead of hiring the usual ethnographers or consultants, Westin owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. turned to Six Sigma, a management process known for reducing defects and increasing efficiency. It was a surprising move given Six Sigma's rap as a creativity killer. But under Geoffrey A.Ballotti, president of Starwood's North America Div. , the company is using Six Sigma's strengths to promote innovation–and generate tens of millions in new revenue. Combining creativity and efficiency is a delicate managerial manoeuvre that few service companies can pull off. Starwood succeeded, in large part, because it began with a culture of creativity before introducing the management tool. Design has long played a major role in the company, with noted architect David Rockwell designing its hip W Hotels brand back in the '90s.Starwood gets a boost out of Six Sigma by using its techniques to dream up projects across the company. Massage is just one of hundreds of ventures done this way. This year's food and beverage engineering program, which rejiggers the choices on room-service and catering menus based on their popularity, has generated $20 million in extra revenue. In 2006, programs developed under Six Sigma delivered more than $100 million in profit to its bottom line. As a result, the White Plains (N. Y. company is on e of the world's most profitable hotel operators: Its net margin is nearly 15%, higher than those of rivals Hilton Hotels Corp. (HLT ) and Marriott International Inc. (MAR ) â€Å"We have been driving our margin growth faster than our competitors,† says Ballotti. â€Å"When people ask why, I point to Six Sigma. † The group that runs the effort is headed by Brian Mayer, who claims the quirky title of vice-president for Six Sigma, operation innovation, and room support. â€Å"I grew up in the hospitality industry,† says Mayer, whose grandfather and father ran catering businesses. The joke is that I was born in a chafing dish. † Since the program launched in 2001, Mayer's crew has trained 150 employees as â€Å"black belts† and more than 2,700 as â€Å"green belts† in the arts of Six Sigma. Based mostly at the hotels, black belts oversee the projects while green belts hammer out the details. The key to their success, says Mayer, is that instead of acting like â€Å"suits† imposing their will from â€Å"corporate,† the Six Sigma specialists operate more like partners who help local hotels meet their own objectives. Indeed, almost 100% of the creative concepts come from in-house staff.And every project must be overseen by a hotel employee. â€Å"By focusing on their goals and budgets it enables us to become a partner in the operation,† says Mayer. †¢ The SWAT Team: The innovation process begins when hotel teams pitch Mayer's group on a new idea. â€Å"They fight for our resources,† says Mayer. A Six Sigma Council composed of Ballotti and his 13 direct reports, including his senior vice-president for sales and marketing, then evaluates an idea's merit based on the division's priorities and the project's expected payoff.If the council approves a project, black belts and green belts are deployed like SWAT teams to the hotels to carry it out. †¢ London, 14 July 2004: A sign of the growing im portance of SIX SIGMA at Starwood Hotels & Resorts is that by 1 August this year, the hotel company, with over 740 properties globally, will have trained over 1000 associates from all over the world to become SIX SIGMA Green Belts the first training stage in the SIX SIGMA development program.The latest group of 12 associates from the Europe, Middle East and Africa region are heading to Warsaw on 19 July for a week of intensive Six Sigma tuition. This innovative project has re-designed all the individual reservation channels for hotel, golf, spa, transport, restaurant and outdoor activities into one single point of contact – a multi-purpose, multi skilled Resort Sales team that immediately can confirm and cross sell any request received by the hotel. The benefits for this project to Turnberry were immediate. To date there has been an 11. 5% increase in incremental spend by customers and  increase in rooms revenue of more than 19%. In addition, The Spa revenues have increased from GBP 91 per booking to GBP 141 per booking as a result of the newly centralized  reservation  group, which enables the maximum utilization of treatment rooms and therapists. †¢ Energy Summit for Starwood Hotels and Resorts: Starwood Hotels & Resorts has taken a leaf out of the recent G8 Summit by implementing an awareness program which focuses on Climate Change and Carbon Management across its 400 hotels in Europe, Middle East & Africa.The hotel group, whose brands include Sheraton, Westin, St Regis and Luxury Collection, has over the past few years been committed to becoming a ‘green’ operator at all levels. In the UK Starwood is part of the Hospitality Energy Consortium (HEC)*, a group of hotel companies who partner together in the procurement of energy. Lead by Chairperson, Angela Tomlinson, Director of Purchasing UK and Ireland, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the Consortium has partnered with the Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by Government to help the UK meet its climate change obligations.In partnership with the Carbon Trust, Starwood has recently taken part in a scoping study by Enviros, environmental consultants. The initial results, which will be available in August 2005, will enable Starwood and the other consortium members to review their energy consumption/carbon footprint, and provide better ways of working to achieve reductions in volumes used.In addition to this, as a huge element of energy management is dependent on buy-in from the associates in the hotels, a comprehensive energy toolkit and training program has been distributed to every Head of Department in every Starwood hotel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This is part of a wider awareness program with a focus on protecting the environment. As well as associate and corporate activity, Starwood has been active with guest energy conservation initiatives for a number of years already.In 1999 the company was the first in the hotel industry to introduc e a Green Room Program, to reduce water and electricity use for laundering guest towels and linen. Guests place a card on their bed each day if they wish to have their bed linen and towels changed. If guests do not put this card on their bed, their bed will be made without changing the linens and their towels will be hung up but not changed. A green card would be left for the guest as a thank-you for ‘going green'.Since then the Green Room Program has been fully incorporated into the ABCs of House-keeping in the Sheraton, Westin and Four Points by Sheraton EAME Brand Standards. As a result of this ongoing focus on Energy, Starwood has also created a North West Europe Energy Champions team, a group of associates who are responsible for driving support for this project. Starwood’s change management process, Six Sigma, is being used to drive this commitment and the implementation of the Energy Conservation Toolkit is now a required best practice at all hotels owned and man aged throughout EAME.This project is the result of Six Sigma Methodology delivering tools that will in turn deliver energy and carbon reduction, to the benefit of future generations but also the associates and hotel guests of today. †¢ Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of the group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line.The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. VI. AFTER SIX-SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION A. COMPANY IMPROVEMENTS: o While Starwood incurred $17 million in training costs to launch Six Sigma in 2001, the company reaped tangible EBITDA increases of more than $17 million. Training costs will be significantly reduced in 2002 and Starwood expects a substan tial increase (perhaps double) in the EBIDTA improvement achieved by Six Sigma-related programs. † o Six Sigma at Starwood has helped improve the financial performance of he group by ushering in the quality and consistency of the customers' experiences. Six Sigma has also provided the guidelines and tools to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties, and simultaneously improve the bottom line. The Six Sigma organization in the group reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. o Higher net margin than its key competitors – but also with helping spark and act on innovative ideas. The impact is based on global culture: most ideas and solutions come from hotel staff throughout the world. Last year, according to Starwood management, programs developed under the famed management technique delivered more than $100 million in profit to its bottom line. As a result, the White Plains (N. Y. ) company is one of the world's most profitable hotel operators: Its net margin is nearly 15%, higher than those of rivals Hilton Hotels (HLT) and Marriott International (MAR), as well as the industry average of 9%. â€Å"We have been driving our margin growth faster than our competitors,† says Ballotti. â€Å"When people ask why, I point to Six Sigma. o Growth of their hotels (See Appendix 1) Starwood Hotel and Resorts Ranks Number 1on iSixSigma’s Best Places to Work list. (See Appendix 2) o Starwood Hotels and Resorts top ranked â€Å"The Top Best Places to Work List† because of adopting 6 Sigma in their operations. They use 6 Sigma every day in their daily work to solve problems, regardless of their size. They follow the DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma principles and use tools daily. Starwood requires that its full-time Six Sigma practitioners learn firsthand about the inner workings of all the various departments (housekeeping, food and beverage, sales and marketing, etc. in o rder to develop large-scale initiatives. At the same time, the Belts are also expected to lead process improvement projects at the individual hotel level. o The company measures quality with a three-pronged approach: improving the Guest Satisfaction Index (an independently determined numerical value based on guest surveys), increasing revenue and controlling costs. The last one – cost reduction – is where they had the most success so far, given the economy. They continue to go after revenue, but they try to take a balanced approach.If they’re too heavy on the cost side, they get some snap-back in other areas like customer satisfaction. They can’t take their eyes off the ball in any area. They are committed to all three prongs. One example of this three-pronged approach is â€Å"Make a Green Choice,† which was launched at Starwood’s Sheraton and Westin brands in September 2009. To help save on water, chemicals and detergents, the hotel gives guests the option of not having linens changed or the room cleaned altogether for up to three days. Those who participate can receive gift cards or points to be redeemed for food service. Starwood’s commitment to providing challenging cross-departmental opportunities for continuous improvement personnel, along with its policy of promoting Black Belts from within, truly makes it one of the premier companies for Six Sigma practitioners. Companies on the Top 10 list, announced in December 2009, had to meet the highest standards for providing an outstanding Six Sigma program, culture, training, compensation, and recognition and job satisfaction for employees. B. ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION: From Indonesia to Malta, Six Sigma is a welcome guest at Starwood hotels. Launched early in 2001, Six Sigma is entering its sixth year at the hotel, which still holds the acclaim of being the only hotel with a corporate-wide Six Sigma initiative. o Starwood properties each have a Six Sigma Council that organize and prioritize projects. Successful projects are then leveraged across additional properties. Six Sigma is emphasized in Career Paths at Starwood as reporting to divisional leadership and aligned with that division’s goals and priorities. A Starwood Six Sigma team received recognition at the IQPC 2004 European Six Sigma Excellence Awards with the Best DFSS Project. o Six Sigma at Starwood has helped increase our financial performance by improving the quality and consistency of our guests’ experiences as well as those of our internal customers. It provides the framework and tools we need to create a consistently superior guest experience at all properties while dramatically improving the bottom line.The Six Sigma organization reports to divisional leadership and is aligned with the division’s goals and priorities. o Six Sigma professionals make decisions based on data, not emotions, share responsibility and know how to generate results . They are enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. These are the skills and qualities that make Six Sigma professionals most successful and that Six Sigma helps build in future leaders. o Starwood’s has been resourcing the firm with workers who are mainly divided into three work categories: Green Belts (GBs) have full-time positions with a portion of their time dedicated to being the Six Sigma point person and transfer project champion and manager. o Black Belts (BBs) are full-time resources who typically work on new projects. They are a resource to GBs in their property or area. They are a member of the property’s Executive Committee. o Master Black Belts are a full-time resource dedicated to overseeing/creating a portfolio of Six Sigma projects in a given division, area or region. They are a resource to BBs, GBs and Six Sigma Council members in their area. Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide Inc is the first hospitality company in the world to embrace Six S igma since 2001 and extends this best practice to all properties worldwide, including the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Tower. o Barry S. Sternlicht, chairman and CEO, Starwood Hotels and Resorts had stated, â€Å"The launch of Six Sigma is one of the most important strategic initiatives since the formation of our company,† he continued. â€Å"It is our goal for every Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood Vacation Ownership and St. Regis /Luxury Collection guests to have a flawless experience during each and every visit.Six Sigma will help us reach that goal. † o Starwood Hotels & Resorts is a leader in the Hospitality industry in technology innovation. Smart Rooms, Wireless Internet Access, Self Check-in Kiosk, and state-of-the-art ERP systems are only a few technologies in place to improve our guest and associate experience. C. SERVICE-BASED ACHIEVEMENTS: †¢ For several years now Starwood has had an edge on its competitors because of its strong bra nd awareness amongst its target markets and the way in which it has developed a range of differentiated experiences. The company’s key asset is the associated diversification of the variety of brands, and the different market segments they serve, provide a broad base from which to enhance revenue. It aggressively attracts and cultivates new customers and maintains loyalty among the world’s most active travellers: As one example, Starwood Preferred Guest, its award-winning frequent guest program, first made headlines when it launched with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls, allowing members to redeem free nights anytime, anywhere.Since then, it has grown to include more than 33m members and is cited for its hassle-free award redemption, outstanding customer service, dedicated member website and innovative promotions and benefits for elite members. †¢ Although smaller than some of its peers, Starwood uses its scale to support its cor e marketing and reservation functions across its brands and reduce costs in areas such as insurance, energy, telecommunications, food and beverage, furniture, fixtures and operating supplies. Its size also limits exposure to any particular type of lodging, brand or geographic region. Strategically Starwood has also moved away from investment in owned real estate and increased its focus on its management and franchise business. In furtherance of this strategy, it has been selling some of the older hotels in its portfolio to, in turn, release capital to fund its ambitious international and branded growth plans. Simultaneously the company has retained one of the world’s most profitable hotel net margins of around 15%, higher than many larger rivals. †¢ Starwood has made a great success of its growing product innovation prowess.Having identified the bed as the key area for innovation opportunity in its mid-range Westin brand, Starwood designed the ‘Heavenly Bed’ providing the best night’s sleep by far of any comparable brand. Not only did this well-targeted development improve the all important occupancy rates in Westin properties, it also created a new business line as customers started to buy the Heavenly Bed for their homes. This has now been extended into the W chain where whotelsthestore. com now enables anyone to buy the key ingredients of the unique W experience.From the W bed, pillows and towels to books and an increasing range of male and female apparel, this is the latest incarnation of high-impact product innovation from this service sector pioneer. D. COMPANY ACTIVITIES DONE: o In January, 2006, the Westin Chicago River North hotel was picked to pilot a project, dubbed Unwind, for the upscale hotel chain. The purpose: to think up a set of nightly activities that would draw guests out of their rooms and into the lobby where they could mingle, develop a greater loyalty to the hotel group, and maybe spend a little more mone y.Westin spied an opportunity after a study found that 34% of frequent travellers feel lonely away from home. The Unwind project led the Westin to develop dozens of activities, including massages, at the Chicago hotel. o Starwood Preferred Guest: it is Starwood’s award-winning frequent guest program which first made headlines when it launched with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls, allowing members to redeem free nights anytime, anywhere. VII. SOLUTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONSUpon seeing all of their achievements, Starwood Hotels and Resorts should definitely continue using the Six Sigma method in order to maintain meeting their company goals and also to retain all of their company’s success. Aside from increasing profit, using the Six Sigma method really helped Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide improve the service that they are giving to both their customers and their employees. They should conduct more training regarding it so that their employees would know how the Six Sigma method works and not only the top management. Such employees of the companies consist of the Black Belts and the Green belts.The Black Belts should have trainings that will hone their knowledge about different creative ways on how to do a strategy for the whole company which will serve the changing needs and preferences of the company’s target market. Moreover, the green belts must have trainings in which they will be more knowledgeable about Six Sigma approach to different strategies that will be deployed by the company, these people are mainly responsible in delving into the little and detailed concepts of each strategy done by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. These greenbelts should also be trained to know and put into their heart the DMAIC Methodology.This DMAIC Methodology will help the Greenbelts solve a certain problem of the company, reducing the defects done by the company and improving, leveraging the customer’s e xperience to a higher value. The DMAIC Methodology should train the Greenbelts in defining the problem or what is specifically called the Project Scoping, Measure the relationships between the occurring problem and symptoms, analyze the nature of the problem, improving the operations by resolving the problem and control, which is mainly focused on maintaining the improvements through the use of different tools and instruments.As Starwood Company have different branches scattered all over the world, there must be one Six-Sigma team for each branch wherein they will be mainly responsible for their assigned branch so as to increase effectivity of the business operations and to better serve the target markets in those hotel and resorts location.The Six Sigma teams will be doing information-gathering processes wherein they will ask for comments and feedbacks from the existing customers and those who are the potential ones. Doing such, Starwood can think of strategies and tactics that sho uld be done to capture the potential market and by making things more attractive to the existing customers and make them more loyal to avail the services offered by the company.In times when the company faces visible losses from declining service consumption from the market, Starwood Company must achieve solutions through the use of the Six Sigma Problem Solving wherein it involves redefining and analyzing the problem, generating ideas from the team and the management, evaluating each idea and selecting the most appropriate one and implementing the chosen idea. Through the Six Sigma Problem Solving, the company will have a more systematic way of thinking solutions for a certain problem by delving first into the details, symptoms and underlying assumptions of such matter.Using such method, the employees who are in the Six Sigma team will be trained and honed to be more effective in decision-making and examining all the things that causes the problem to exist. Furthermore, through the problem solving method, the company will be more united as each one of them will have a voice in the company’s operations and they are also responsible for the strategy implementation as all of them make the final decision of how to address the certain problem.By having such cooperation and teamwork within the workers in the company, there will be higher satisfaction for the employees which will in turn affect the quality service experience of the customers when they avail the offered service of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Moreover, to improve the service of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, the teams of the company must focus on examining and sustaining four key measures of organization performance which includes Accuracy, Cycle time, Cost and Customer satisfaction.In Accuracy, the team should measure if the company is giving correct financial figures, completeness of information, or freedom from data errors; applying the accuracy concept to Starwood Hotels and Resort s, the company must make sure that each branch located at different locations should be visible and transparent in terms of their prices for each distinct service, and also information about the whole service experience, like the service transactions and process that the customers must go through should be made known to them to give them ease in availing the service of the Hotels and Resorts.Next is Cycle time which is a measure of how long it takes to do something; with such thing, Starwood company working in the hotel industries must maximize well their service time so as to not waste the limited resources of their customers, it can be further applied to the company’s operations in terms of efficient availment of the different services through optimal number of employees assigned to different work divisions that will make the customers not wait for their turn for such service consumption.Thirdly, Cost should be measured in terms of the internal cost of the company’s process activities; to have lower costs, Starwood Hotels must have effective workers who are focused and motivated to work and communicate well to the customers so as to decrease the time needed for the service process that should be done by each one of them. As the employees of each hotel and resort become more productive with their assigned work, the cost of the company in sustaining each service process will decrease and will definitely have a greater impact on the company’s profitability.Lastly, the team must measure the Customer Satisfaction, which is typically the measure of the company’s success and will give a view of how the company will be in the near future years of business operations in the industry. The Customer Satisfaction can be measured by getting the direct feedback from the customers after they experience the service form Starwood Hotels and Resorts.Also, the company can do personalization and customization wherein the existing customers will alread y have their service ready after they booked a reservation, making all the things like foods, drinks, kind of bed sheets, store maintenance customized to their needs which in turn make them more satisfied to the service that will make them also more loyal to the company. Furthermore, as the world goes by, the market have acquired higher buying power and have ore sophisticated and changing needs as before; the company can focus on improving its service adapting form the customers’ needs and preferences so as to give higher value proposition to them in relation to the direct competitors of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Appendix 1: Different Branches of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide [pic] North America United States Arizona Phoenix The Westin Phoenix Downtown  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 10, 2011 Tucson Four Points by Sheraton Tucson Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 14, 2010 [pic] California Modesto Four Points by Sheraton Modesto – Opening October 30, 2010 F loridaBal Harbour The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Jacksonville Aloft Jacksonville Tapestry Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 13, 2011 Jacksonville Beach Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Beach  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  Nov. 30, 2011 Miami Element Miami International Airport – Opening May 5, 2011 Georgia Atlanta Aloft Atlanta Buckhead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Element Atlanta Buckhead  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Kennesaw Four Points by Sheraton Atlanta Kennesaw – Opening June 30, 2011 Illinois Chicago Aloft Chicago City Center  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Kentucky Louisville Michigan KalamazooFour Points by Sheraton Kalamazoo – Opening September 2, 2011 Mississippi Biloxi Four Points by Sheraton Biloxi Beach Boulevard  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  Jul 01, 2010 Nebraska Omaha Element Omaha Midtown Crossing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 11, 2010 New Jersey Fort Lee Sheraton Fort Lee Hotel †“ Opened September 1, 2010 New Mexico Albuquerque Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 11, 2010 New York Aloft Harlem  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 21, 2010 Element New York Times Square West  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 09, 2010 Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 14, 2010 W New York – Downtown  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 09, 2010Brooklyn Aloft New York Brooklyn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 21, 2010 Long Island City Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City/Queensboro Bridge – Opening January 13, 2011 Niagara Falls Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 07, 2011 North Carolina Asheville Aloft Asheville Downtown  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2012 Chapel Hill Aloft Chapel Hill  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 29, 2010 Oklahoma Oklahoma City Four Points by Sheraton Oklahoma City Quail Springs  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 22, 2010 Tulsa Aloft Tulsa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  A ugust 19, 2010 Pennsylvania Philadelphia Le Meridien Philadelphia  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 06, 2010 Puerto RicoRio Grande The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 04, 2010 Tennessee Memphis Four Points by Sheraton Memphis East – Opening December 9, 2010 Texas Austin W Austin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 09, 2010 Galveston Four Points by Sheraton Galveston  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 24, 2010 Houston Four Points by Sheraton Houston Hobby Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Houston The Westin Houston, Memorial City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 03, 2011 Virginia Winchester Aloft Winchester  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  June 04, 2010 Canada Alberta Calgary Four Points by Sheraton Calgary Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 06, 2010 EdmontonFour Points by Sheraton Edmonton West – Opening December 1, 2011 Red Deer Sheraton Red Deer Hotel – Opening January 27, 2011 Ontario Niagara Falls Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Fal ls Fallsview  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 22, 2010 Saskatchewan Saskatoon Four Points by Sheraton Saskatoon  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 22, 2010 Mexico Campeche Campeche The Westin Campeche Resort & Spa, Campeche – Opening June 1, 2011 Chihuahua Chihuahua Aloft Chihuahua – Opening January 1, 2011 Federal District Mexico City The Westin Santa Fe, Mexico City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 05, 2010 Santa Fe W Santa Fe, Mexico – Opening March 31, 2013 Jalisco GuadalajaraThe Westin Hotel Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico – Opening June 1, 2011 Quintana Roo Puerto Juarez The St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya – Opening March 31, 2014 Riviera Maya W Kanai Retreat, Riviera Maya, Mexico – Opening March 31, 2014 Africa Algeria Oran Le Meridien Oran Hotel & Convention Centre  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 Egypt Cairo Le Meridien Cairo Airport  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 31, 2012 St. Regis Hotel Cairo  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2014 W Ca iro – Opening January 1, 2016 Libya Tripoli Four Points by Sheraton Tripoli  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Sheraton Tripoli Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Mauritius Le MorneThe St. Regis Mauritius Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011 Morocco Marrakech W Marrakech Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2011 Nigeria Lagos Lagos Four Points by Sheraton Lagos  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 15, 2010 Le Meridien Ikoyi Towers – Opening January 1, 2013 [pic] Asia Pacific China Anhui Hefei Four Points by Sheraton Hefei, Shushan – Opening January 1, 2014 The Westin Hefei Baohe  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 23, 2010 Beijing Beijing Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 W Beijing – Chang'an – Opening January 1, 2014 Chongqing Chongqing The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 FujianFuzhou The Westin Fuzhou Minjiang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 22, 20 10 Xiamen The Westin Xiamen  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2011 Guangdong Foshan Aloft Nanhai-Foshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Guangzhou Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Sheraton Huadu Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 The Westin Pazhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 28, 2011 W Guangzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Aloft Guangzhou University Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Heshan Four Points by Sheraton Guangdong, Heshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Huizhou Sheraton Bailuhu Resort, Huizhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 QingyuanSheraton Qingyuan Lion Lake Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Zhanjiang Sheraton Zhanjiang Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Zhongshan Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 10, 2010 Zhuhai Sheraton Zhuhai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2015 Zhuhai The St. Regis Zhuhai – Opening June 30, 2015 Hainan Haikou Th e Westin Haikou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Sanya Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2012 Sheraton Sanya Tufu Bay Resort  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2013 The Malus Resort, Sanya  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 30, 2012 The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Wanning CityFour Points by Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2010 Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2010 Heilongjiang Daqing Sheraton Daqing Hotel  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Henan Kaifeng Four Points by Sheraton Kaifeng  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Luohe Four Points by Sheraton Luohe  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Zhengzhou Aloft Zhengzhou Shangjie  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Aloft Zhengzhou Zhengdong New District – Opening January 1, 2014 Le Meridien Zhengzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Sheraton Zhengzhou H otel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 HubeiWuhan The Westin Wuhan Wuchang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Jiangsu Changzhou Sheraton Changzhou Wujin Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Jiangyin Sheraton Jiangyin Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 Lianyungang Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  April 28, 2010 Nanjing The Westin Nanjing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 28, 2011 Suzhou Four Points by Sheraton Taicang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  June 30, 2010 Wuxi Sheraton Wuxi Binhu Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 27, 2010 Yancheng Aloft Yancheng  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Yangzhou Four Points by Sheraton Yangzhou Hanjiang – Opening July 1, 2013 ZhenjiangSheraton Zhenjiang Hotel  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Jiangxi Nanchang Sheraton Nanchang Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Liaoning Dalian Aloft Dalian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Sheraton Dalian Xinghai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 31, 2011 The Chengbao Hotel, Dalian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Macau Cotai Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Strip  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Shaanxi Xian Sheraton Xian Da Ming Gong Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 31, 2011 The Westin Xian  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Shandong Qingdao Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Chengyang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012Four Points by Sheraton Qingdao, Jiaonan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Sheraton Qingdao Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Tai'an Four Points by Sheraton Tai’an  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 10, 2010 Weifang Four Points by Sheraton Weifang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 30, 2013 Yantai Aloft Haiyang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Sheraton Yantai Golden Beach Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Shanghai Shanghai Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Twelve at Hengshan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 0 1, 2012 W Shanghai – The Bund  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Shanxi Taiyuan The Westin Taiyuan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012Sichuan Chengdu The St. Regis Chengdu  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2014 Tianjin Tianjin Sheraton Tianjin Binhai Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 15, 2010 The Astor Hotel, Tianjin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 28, 2010 The St. Regis Tianjin  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Tibet (Xizang) Lhasa The St. Regis Lhasa Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Yunnan Jinghong Sheraton Xishuangbanna Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Zhejiang Hangzhou Sheraton Hangzhou Wetland Park Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 31, 2011 Huzhou Sheraton Huzhou South Tai Lake Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 Ningbo The Westin Ningbo  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011Pinghu The Westin Nine Dragon Hill Resort, Zhejiang  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 31, 2012 Taizhou Four Points by Sheraton Yuhuan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Openingà ‚  July 01, 2012 Wenzhou Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 18, 2010 Wenzhou The Westin Wenzhou  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam Four Points by Sheraton Visakhapatnam  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Sheraton Visakhapatnam Seaview Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Gujarat Ahmedabad Aloft Ahmedabad, SG Road  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2011 Haryana Gurgaon The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Karnataka BangaloreSheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Bengaluru Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2013 Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 15, 2010 Mysore Sheraton Mysore Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Maharashtra Lonavala Le Meridien Lonavala Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2013 Mahabaleshwar Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  Januar y 01, 2013 Pune Four Points by Sheraton Pune, Nagar Road  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2010 Punjab Amritsar Sheraton Amritsar Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Chandigarh Aloft Chandigarh Zirakpur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011Sheraton Chandigarh Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2012 Rajasthan Jaipur The Westin Jaipur Infotech City  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Udaipur Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 01, 2010 Tamil Nadu Chennai Aloft Chennai, OMR – IT Expressway  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 01, 2010 Coimbatore Aloft Coimbatore Singanallur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 West Bengal Kolkata The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2012 Indonesia Bali Bali Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 01, 2013 Seminyak W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 15, 2010 Japan Miyagi SendaiThe Westin Sendai  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  Au gust 01, 2010 Osaka Osaka The St. Regis Osaka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2014 Sandakan Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 15, 2011 New Caledonia Bourail Sheraton New Caledonia Bourail Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 13, 2013 Singapore Singapore W Singapore – Sentosa Cove  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 30, 2012 South Korea Seoul Sheraton Seoul D-Cube City Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  September 01, 2011 Taiwan Taipei Le Meridien Taipei  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 W Taipei  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 14, 2011 ThailandAmphur Koh Samui Bangkok Aloft Bangkok – Sukhumvit 11  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2011 Bangkok Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sathorn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2011 Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok, Sukhumvit 15  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 15, 2010 Le Meridien Suvarnabhumi Golf Resort & Sp a  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2011 The St. Regis Bangkok  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  January 15, 2011 W Bangkok  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Koh Samui W Retreat Koh Samui  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  November 01, 2010 Phuket Four Points by Sheraton Phuket, Panwa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  August 01, 2010 VietnamCam Ranh Bay The Westin Cam Ranh Resort & Spa  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 Ho Chi Minh City Le Meridien Saigon  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 [pic] Central & South America Argentina Buenos Aires Buenos Aires The St. Regis Buenos Aires – Opening June 30, 2014 Chile Villarrica Villarrica Park Lake Hotel & Spa, Villarrica – Opening December 1, 2010 Colombia Bogota Aloft Bogota Airport – Opening January 1, 2012 Cartagena Sheraton Cartagena – Opening March 31, 2012 Panama, Republic of Panama City The Westin Panama – Opening September 1, 2012 The Westin Pl aya Bonita, Panama  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2011 Peru CuscoPalacio del Inka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2011 Lima The Westin Libertador Lima  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 Urubamba Tambo del Inka Resort & Spa, Valle Sagrado  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 04, 2010 [pic] Europe Zaporozhye Four Points by Sheraton Zaporozhye – Opening June 1, 2011 Austria Hof bei Salzburg Schloss Fuschl Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 05, 2010 Belgium Brussels Aloft Brussels Schuman  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  September 01, 2010 France Paris W Paris – Opera  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2011 Germany Hamburg The Westin Hamburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2012 Greece Athens W Athens Astir Palace Beach  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  April 01, 2012 Costa NavarinoThe Romanos, Costa Navarino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  May 20, 2010 The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  July 01, 2010 Italy Malpensa Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel & Conference Cen tre  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opened  October 01, 2010 Milan W Milan  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2012 Latvia Riga Sheraton Riga Hotel – Opening December 1, 2013 Poland Mikolajki Sheraton Mazury Lakes Resort  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  December 01, 2013 Portugal Algarve The Westin Verdelago Beach, Spa & Golf Resort, Algarve – Opening January 1, 2013 Russia Rostov-on-Don Sheraton Rostov-On-Don Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  June 01, 2012 SochiSheraton Sochi Hotel – Opening June 1, 2013 St. Petersburg W St. Petersburg  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  March 01, 2011 Switzerland Verbier W Verbier Retreat – Opening January 1, 2013 Turkey Ankara The Luxury Collection Hotel, Ankara – Opening January 1, 2011 United Kingdom England London Aloft London ExCeL – Opening January 1, 2012 W London – Leicester Square  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  February 14, 2011 Middle East Jordan Amman W Amman Hotel  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  July 01, 2013 Aqaba Al Manara, Aqaba  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 The Westin Saraya Aqaba  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  October 01, 2012 Pakistan Islamabad Sheraton Islamabad – Opening January 1, 2012Sheraton Islamabad Golf City Resort – Opening January 1, 2012 [pic] Qatar Doha Le Meridien Doha – Opening January 1, 2012 The St. Regis Doha  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opening  May 01, 2011 [pic] United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi The St. Regis Abu Dhabi – Opening January 1, 2013 The St. Regis Saadiyat Island – Opening October 1, 2011 The Westin Hotel & Spa, Abu Dhabi – Opening October 1, 2011 W Abu Dhabi – Opening January 1, 2012 Ajman The Ajman Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel – Opening October 1, 2012 Appendix 2: Article Starwood Hotels and Resorts Ranks No. 1 on iSixSigma's Best Places to Work ListStarwood Hotels and Resorts Ranks No. 1 on iSixSigma's Best Places to Work List FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact: |  Jessica Harper, Editor in Chief | |  206-774-3685 | |  editor ial. com (at) isixsigma. com | Miami, Florida (February 3, 2010) –  Starwood Hotels and Resorts, a global hospitality company with nearly 1,000 upscale properties worldwide, earned the No. 1 spot on the list of iSixSigma's Top 10 Best Places to Work for Six Sigma professionals at the iSixSigma Live!Summit today in Miami. â€Å"Starwood’s commitment to providing challenging cross-departmental opportunities for continuous improvement personnel, along with its policy of promoting Black Belts from within, truly makes it one of the premier companies for Six Sigma practitioners,† said Jessica Harper, editor of iSixSigma. Katie Barry, associate publisher of iSixSigma, presented the award to Brian McGuire, senior director of Hotel Operations and Six Sigma for Starwood’s North America Division. Starwood – which owns some of the most recognizable hotel brands in the world, including Sheraton, Westin, W, St.Regis, The Luxury Collection and Le Meridien †“ was the first hospitality chain to launch a formal Six Sigma program, back in 2001. Today, Starwood is in the process of rolling out a Lean Six Sigma program to all of its properties worldwide. Companies on the Top 10 list, announced in December 2009, had to meet the highest standards for providing an outstanding Six Sigma program, culture, training, compensation, recognition and job satisfaction for employees. Making a repeat showing on iSixSigma’s second-annual Top 10 list was 2008’s overall winner McKesson Corp. , which earned the No. 2 spot for 2009.Other returning companies included Xerox Corp. (No. 3) and Vought Aircraft Industries (No. 5). Reflecting the growth of Six Sigma in healthcare systems, half of the companies on the list are involved in the pharmaceutical or healthcare provider industries (McKesson, Pfizer, Merck, Piramal Healthcare and Cardinal Health). Highlights of Starwood's top-rated Six Sigma program, as well as short profiles of the other nin e finalists, will be published in the March/April 2010 issue of iSixSigma Magazine. Here are the rankings of the Top 10 list of iSixSigma's 2009 Best Places to Work: 1. Starwood Hotels and Resorts (North America Division) . McKesson Corp. 3. Xerox Corp. 4. Ecolab Inc. 5. Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. 6. Pfizer Inc. 7. Merck & Co. Inc. 8. Piramal Healthcare Ltd. 9. Cardinal Health Inc. 10. Computacenter AG & Co. oHG iSixSigma will be accepting nominations later this year for the 2010 Best Places to Work list. Last modified on Sunday, 28 February 2010 04:49 REFERENCES: o http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/history2/82/Starwood-Hotels-Resorts-Worldwide-Inc. html o http://www. isixsigma. com/index. php? option=com_k2&view=item&id=802:starwood-hotels-and-resorts-ranks-no-1-on-isixsigmas-best-places-to-work-list&Itemid=157 o http://www. ospitalitynet. org/news/4007061. html o http://www. corporate-ir. net/ireye/ir_site. zhtml? ticker=hot&script=410&layout=6&item_id=149848 o http://www . starwoodhotels. com/corporate/directory/new-hotels/all/map. html? sortType=region o http://www. businessweek. com/innovate/content/aug2007/id20070830_103596. htm o http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/07_41/b4053096. htm o http://www. sixsigmacompanies. com/archive/six_sigma_at_starwood_hotels_amp_resorts. html o http://www. starwoodhotels. com/sheraton/careers/paths/description. html? category=200000304