Guest Satisfaction Essay Example for Free

Guest Satisfaction Essay Guest satisfaction within the Hospitality Industry is very important and essential. Only when a restaurant exhibit satisfactory guest it can be successful for a longer period of time. Guests will only come back and spend more money when the particular establishment supplies their wants and needs. Many aspects can influence the satisfaction of guests. However one main aspect which can influence the satisfaction is the quality of staff members. They represent the restaurant and when they are not good in their job it casts a damning light on the establishment. Guests will not recommend a restaurant which possesses bad staff members who are not polite or motivated. Within the staff quality there are several aspects which should be fulfilled in order to get a guest satisfactory guest. Therefore the main question of this Module Assignment will be â€Å"Which sub dimensions of the staff quality influence the guest satisfaction†. Literature Review In this assignment we will determine the topic staff quality and the different aspects which are linked with it. In the following Literature Review we will take a closer look on the Service time and the Service quality of staff and the stereotypes within the Hospitality industry. Service time of staff The service time has become an extremely important component of service quality within the hospitality industry. There is a complex relationship between the waiting times and the overall customer satisfaction because this will only be negative assessed when the costumer perceived the waiting time to be longer than what they found to be reasonable. Because most restaurants deliver so much quality in tangible offerings, they can distinguish themselves from their competitors by the quality of service (Allen, 1999). A study was developed to examine two factors in relationship to the waiting times. The first part of the study was the impact of waiting times at various stages of the service p rocess on perceived customer satisfaction. And the second part of the study was: What is the impact of company training activity on service time efficiency. For the study 8 of the same casual dining’s of one particular chain were followed. Only in 4 restaurants the managers talked to their staff about the service time issues every day before the shift started. 2 of these restaurants also called out the time between the orders were taken and it left the kitchen. The other 4 restaurants didn’t have a meeting or something about waiting times. The various stages of waiting time that were studied were: Arrival greet: time elapsed before guest was greeted at door Seating time: lapsed before guest was greeted at the table Drink Service: wait time after order was taken Order time: amount of time lapsed after order was taken -Check back time: time lapsed after food was received Payment time: how long guest waited for change/Credit Card Slip The results showed that the 4 restaurant that had spoken about the waiting time in all studied stages of waiting were on time and the percentages of the other 4 restaurants were always lower. The two restaurants that also called out the time during the shifts had a table turn (the length of time a guest would occupies a table at the Restaurant) of a very low 40 minutes. The two restaurants that only spoke about it before the shift had a table turn of 48 minutes and the other 4 had a table turn of over 50 minutes! For the study there were also mystery shoppers who went to the restaurant and after the visit had to give there rating. The mystery shoppers were asked about multiple items although the service times were most heavily rated. The 4 restaurants that spoke about waiting time were considered an excellent rating. The 4 that didn’t speak about waiting time were overall considered a below average rating with improvements needed. Service quality of staff Service quality can be seen as a very important factor when it comes to guest satisfaction (Melih Madanoglu, 2004). Service quality is the consumer’s judgment about an overall superiority or excellence. Itcan be crucial in the overall performance of an organization and enable it to differentiate itself from competitors to gain competitive advantage (Jannadi, 2001; Stevens et al.,1995). If the guests experience a good service there is a high chance that they will recommend the restaurant where they have eaten to other people. Everything depends on a good relationship between the customer and the staff. Many researchers carry out surveys about the dimensions of service quality and all had different solutions because like Parasuraman says the dimensions of SQ is generic. So it can be said that every dimension has to be adapted to the different restaurant and to the different target group they want to attract (Parasuraman, 1985). However when you look to the different results the researchers got from their surveys there are always some dimensions which appear every time. These words are reliability, staff behavior and their attitude to guests, timeliness and physical quality of the staff. All of these aspects have to be fulfilled to get a satisfied customer. Guests want to have a staff member who is nice, self-confident and friendly (behavior). Furthermore they want to see waiters/waitresses who like their job and are blessed to have them as guests (attitude). They also appreciate it to get their food and there drinks in an adequate time (timeliness). Finally customers feeling more comfortable when they have employees, who care for personal hygiene, have the right clothes and smell nicely. Stereotypes in the hospitality Customers will form their judgment based on the employee’s personal appearances, the customer’s pre-established expectations, and the environment in which the interaction occurs (Lockwood Jones, 1989). When there isn’t much information about these mentioned aspects, the customers will form impressions of the restaurant by looking to the staff members (observable cues). Race, sex, age, occupations and physical attractiveness are ex amples of these observable cues. These may connote differences in status and competence to observers (Berger et al., 1977). This is all about stereotypes and this plays an important role in human judgment. Stereotyping is the process of ascribing characteristics to people on the basis of their group memberships (Oakes et al., 1994). Selecting the best employees for service encounters is critically important for customer satisfaction and, ultimately, an organization’s success but how to do this when customers base their perceptions on stereotypes? The research of H.-F. Luoh S.-H. Tsaur analyzed the effects of gender stereotypes on the perceived service qualityunder favorable and unfavorable service quality conditions in fine dining restaurants. The results showed that under favorable service quality conditions, the respondents’ perceived service quality with regards to a female server on tangibles, reliability, assurance, and empathy dimensions was better than that of a male server. On the other hand, under unfavorable service quality conditions, there were no statistical differences in the respondent’s perceived service quality on the service rendered by a female server or a male server (H.-F. Luoh S.-H. Tsaur). Another form of stereotyping is the fact that people expect better service from someone of the same sex simply because they feel they might be more comfortable interacting with them (Fisher et al., 1997). Mind-Map Sub questions For specifying the main question of this research paper which is â€Å"Which sub dimensions influence the guest satisfaction†, three sub questions were phrased. These sub questions were phrased after making the mind-map and analyzing the literature review. 1. Does the behavior of staff members influence the guest satisfaction? 2. Does the Appearance of staff influence guest satisfaction? 3. Does the speed of staff have an influence on the guest satisfaction? Methodology This chapter provides information about how the study was carried out. It dealt with the subject from which the data were collected, the tool which was used in collecting the data and how this tool was used for the subject from which the data were collected (sample, instrument and procedure). Sample This research study is carried out by 55 students of the Stenden University Hotel School. To collect the data for the study, the students have visited 16 different restaurants. Two of these restaurants were pizzerias and two were sushi restaurants. 15 of the restaurants are located in the city of Leeuwarden. Only one is located in another city called Sneek. The price range of the restaurants lies between the 8,50 â‚ ¬ and 36,25 â‚ ¬. Some of the restaurants were visited by more than two people at the same time. Because of this fact a table is presented beside the text which shows the different restaurants and how many people have visited each of them. Instrument The instrument which was used for the study was a questionnaire with a Likert-scale from 1-10. The questionnaire focused on different points. Those points are Hygiene, General behavior, attitude, speed of staff service, language, posture, gesture, knowledge, appearance and presentation and general satisfaction. The questionnaire shows also other aspects: The gender of the server, the gender of the student and the average spending per person in the restaurant. Procedure All the 55 students chose a restaurant of their interest. The questionnaire with the Likert-scale from 1-10 was brought to the restaurant. The students filled in the questionnaire during or after the dinner in a discrete manner. It has to happen like this because staff of the restaurant should not get influenced by the fact that they were observed. After every of the 55 students had dinner in the restaurant of his/her choice, all the questionnaires were collected. All the answers of the questionnaires were put in a clear table in excel. Results In the following chapter the results of the quantitative questionnaire for the restaurant visit will be presented. The focus of the questionnaire was laying on the question â€Å"Which sub dimensions of the staff quality influence the guest satisfaction†. For answering this question scatter plots and descriptive statistics were used. With the help of these methods it could be found out which sub dimensions were most equally valued and which variable were the most chosen one. The first method is the mode. It can be seen in it that most of the participants valued the sub dimensions of the staff quality which were given in the questionnaire with a high mark, which means that almost all probands were satisfied with the quality of the staff in the restaurant they have chosen. Hygiene, general behaviour, attitude, speed of staff, language and general satisfaction were valued with an 8 and posture, gesture, knowledge and appearance/presentation with a 7. According to this it can be said that the most participants of the study were more satisfied with the first six sub dimensions which can be seen in the table below than with the 4 sub dimensions which are following (look at table 2). Table 1: Descriptive statistic for the Mode Hygiene| 8| General Behaviour| 8| Attitude| 8| Speed of staff| 8| Language| 8| General Satisfaction| 8| Posture| 7| Gesture| 7| Knowledge| 7| Appearance and presentation| 7| The second method which was used for analyzing the data of the questionnaire was the scatter plot. Therefore the different sub dimensions of the questionnaire were taken in relation with the variable â€Å"General Satisfaction. From the nine valued variables which were compared, four of them were most significant. Those four were therefore the variables which had the highest relation to â€Å"General Satisfaction†.2 The first scatter plot in figure one dealt with the relation â€Å"Appearance/presentation† and â€Å"General Satisfaction†. The dots which can be seen in it lie very close to each other and to the regression line as well which means that almost all of the participants of the questionnaire valued both variables almost with the same mark. The next scatter plot which belongs to figure 1 focused on the sub dimensions â€Å"Posture† and â€Å"General Satisfaction†. It is cognizable that the dots of this plot did not lie that close together like they did in the previous relation which means that the participants did not all had the same opinion about both sub dimensions. The ensuing scatter plot showed how similar the probands valued the relation of â€Å"General Behaviour† and â€Å"General Satisfaction†. Here it can be seen that the dots were further apart than in the other two plots. This finding showed that even more participants than in the other scatter plots valued differently and therefore did not have chosen the same mark. The last scatter plot in figure 1 concentrated on the combination â€Å"Language† and â€Å"General Satisfaction†. It pointed out that the dots of this one had the highest spreading of all four scatter plots. The consequence of this is that only a small amount of the probands valued this relation with the same mark. All in all it can be said that the combination â€Å"Appearance/presentation† and â€Å"General Satisfaction† are the relation which the probands of the questionnaire valued most equally. Mostly all of them had the same opinion about this proportion and have experienced it in a similar way. On the other hand â€Å"Language† and â€Å"General Satisfaction† though is the relation which was assessed most differently. The people who filled out the questionnaire had therefore all a different opinion about this combination. Figure 1: Visualization of the four significant variables In the end it can be said that the reason why the sub dimensions â€Å"average spending per person† and the â€Å"gender of sever† were not involved in the analysis is that both criteria didn’t give enough information for a meaningful and helpful conclusion. Discussion In the chapter of â€Å"Discussion† the findings of the literature review, the results of the questionnaire and therefore also the answer of the three sub questions will be discussed in detail. In the end a few limitations and recommendations on the process and procedure of the research will be named. Students of the Stenden hogeschool carried out a research study about staff quality. All of the students had to form groups and visit a restaurant of their choice. During the visit a questionnaire had to be filled out. This questionnaire consisted of several variables which belong to the topic â€Å"staff quality† like â€Å"Hygiene†, â€Å"General Behaviour† or â€Å"knowledge of the staff†. Those sub dimensions had to be assessed with the help of a likert scale from 1 to 10, whereat 10 meant â€Å"excellent†. After all that, each group had to formulate a main and three or four sub questions concerning staff quality and guest satisfaction. With the help of those questions the results of the questionnaire had to be analyzed. The main question of this paper was â€Å"Which sub dimensions of the staff quality influence the guest satisfaction†. For narrowing down this question a bit three sub questions were formulated. Those sub questions are â€Å"Does the behavior of staff members influence the guest satisfaction?†, â€Å"Does the Appearance of staff influence guest satisfaction?† and â€Å"Does the speed of staff has an influence on the guest satisfaction?†. In the result chapter it could be seen that especially five sub dimensions influence the thinking of the guests. One of these sub dimensions is â€Å"General Behaviour†. After it got taken in relation with â€Å"General Satisfaction† it was cognizable that the people who valued â€Å"General Behaviour† also assessed â€Å"General Satisfaction† almost with the same mark. The mode also showed that â€Å"General Behaviour† were valued from almost all of the probands with an 8 which means that all the staff members in the different restaurants behaved in the correct way. This finding expresses therefore that a good behaviour of the staff influences the g uest satisfaction in a positive way. It also reinforces the first sub question whether the behaviour of staff members influence the guest satisfaction. Also different researchers of the text â€Å"Validating Restaurant Service Quality Dimensions† which was edited in the Literature Review say that a friendly and polite behaviour of the staff members is very important for getting happy and satisfactory guest. The next sub question was about the sub dimension â€Å"Appearance and presentation of staff† and in how far it influences the satisfaction of guests. Concerning the results of the questionnaire, it is cognizable that also this variable influences the guest satisfaction. This conclusion was provable by looking at the relation of â€Å"Appearance/presentation† and â€Å"General Satisfaction†. The probands of the questionnaire had mostly the same opinion about the â€Å"Appearance and presentation of staff† as well as about the â€Å"General Satisfaction†. That means that when they have a special opinion about the first sub dimension they transfer it also to their overall satisfaction. In the mode the variable â€Å"Appearance/presentation† was assessed with a â€Å"7† which means that the majority of the participants were satisfied with this sub dimension. Also the â€Å"General Satisfaction† was valued with a high mark so it cou ld be said that the â€Å"Appearance and presentation of staff† influenced the satisfaction of the participants in a positive way too. In the literature review the author of the text â€Å"Gender Stereotypes and Service Quality in Customer – Waitperson Encounters† also said that the guests always pay attention to the appearance of the staff members. When they are not dressed adequate or looking cultivate people might think that the food they serve will also be dirty and contaminated. Because of this a neat outward appearance is important for making the guests feel comfortable and giving the feeling that everything is hygienic. Only when the guests feel comfortable they are satisfied and happy during and the restaurant visit. These findings confirmed therefore the second sub question whether the â€Å"Appearance and presentation of staff† influences the guest satisfaction. The last sub question dealt with the variable â€Å"speed of staff† and in how far it influences the guest satisfaction. In comparison to the other two sub dimensions, this variable showed another outcome. In the results it was cognizable that only a few of the participants of the questionnaire valued â€Å"speed of staff† with the same mark which means that they did not have the same opinion about this sub dimension. Whereas the first two variables were valued almost the same like â€Å"General Satisfaction†, â€Å"speed of staff† was assessed differently. Because of that this variable does not influence their overall satisfaction that much like â€Å"General Behaviour† and â€Å"Appearance and presentation of staff† These findings also answer the last sub question whether â€Å"speed of staff† influences the guest satisfaction. Although the text called â€Å"Validating Restaurant Service Quality Dimensions† which was worked on in the Literature Review had to be expressed that â€Å"speed of staff† is important for getting satisfactory guests, it seemed that this variable is not that relevant for the participants of this questionnaire. During the analysis of the results two limitations concerning the questionnaire appeared. The first limitation would be that it is not possible to find out which sub dimensions are most important for the guest satisfaction which is normally one of the most essential questions for interpreting in how far staff quality influences the overall satisfaction of guests within a restaurant. A recommendation would be to formulate another question at the bottom of the questionnaire concerning the importance of the sub dimens ions. With this question it would be possible to analyze which aspect is the most important one within staff quality. The second limitation is that only a few people were surveyed. The results would be more reliable if more groups would have had to fill out the questionnaire. It is only possible to formulate meaningful theses concerning a specific topic if a bigger group will be asked because only then it can be make sure that it is not a coincidence when a participant assesses a variable with a good or bad mark. When a bigger amount of probands value a variable with the same mark it is more probable that it really deserves this assessment. References Andersson, D., Mossberg. (2004). The dining experience: do restaurants satisfy customer needs?. Food Service Technology. 4, 171-177. Louh, Hsiang-Fei, Tsaur, Sheng-Hshiung. (2007). Gender Stereotypes and Service Quality in Customer – Waitperson Encounters. Total Quality Management. 18 (9), 1035-1054. Madanoglu, M. (2004). Validating Restaurant Service Quality Dimensions. Journal of Foodservice Business research. 7(4), 127-147. Tobin, R., Huffman, M.(?) . Examining the Impact of Service Times on Overall Guest Satisfaction Perception in the Casual Dining Environment. FIU Review. 24 (1), 42-48.

Cognizant Company Analysis

Cognizant Company Analysis Introduction: Cognizant is leading With 50 global delivery centers and approximately over 64,000 associates, cognizant combine a unique onsite/offshore delivery model infused by a distinct culture of customer satisfaction. A member of the NASDAQ-100 Index and SP 500 Index, Cognizant is a Forbes Global 2000 company and a member of the Fortune 1000 and is ranked among the top information technology companies in Business Weeks, Hot Growth and Top 50 Performers listings. Cognizant is the pioneer in Offshore Outsourcing. They bring their clients the economic advantages, with the industry experience and the local expertise. Today, Cognizants clients are benefiting from 4th Generation services. Operating as their technology partner, Cognizant provides the expertise to help Cognizants clients realize their objectives. 4th Generation Offshore Outsourcing provides seamless integration between the customer and Cognizant. Cognizant go far beyond the established onsite/offshore model by offering in-depth local consulting presence, onsite teams focused on the customers business applications, and the management depth that partners closely with cognizant clients. The business culture is either India-centric or exclusively Cognizant in style, striking the best balance of all the offshore firms. Most of cognizant management team has extensive US or European experience, and understands cognizant clients culture. In India, Cognizant is considered a local player with a very strong reputation for excellence. Clients benefit from cognizant non-hierarchical, responsive can-do approach to business. Cognizant has deep technology expertise across a wide range of competencies. Technology competency and the quality of cognizant people are the highest-rated attributes in cognizant Customer Satisfaction Survey. Cognizant brings a strong project culture to every engagement. They did not start as a staffing company, but instead as the development arm of Dun Bradstreet. Their development heritage has given us an edge on delivering larger, complex, end-to-end projects. Their project expertise is reflected in a strong methodology and the development and use of cognizant proprietary tools. They track the progress of projects and programs with eCockpit, the proprietary engagement management tool that is available to all of cognizant clients. ECockpit provides a graphic representation of project-related status, such as productivity, effort, cash flow, and defects density. It also looks at personal metrics such as targets and individual progress. Key Points Cognizants single-minded passion: Dedicating cognizant global reorganization, industry intelligence and systems expertise to working with cognizant clients to make their businesses stronger. Cognizant is leading the market from the last few years.89% of clients rate overall cognizant Customer Experience as â€Å"Much Better, Better or About the Same as Competition†. Cognizants growth record in ‘07 to 08 was amazing. That was Employee growth was +11.4%, Revenues with +32% and the net income +23% (GAAP) systematically nurtured Growth. Cognizant is the only major offshore company organized around verticals and horizontals rather than just regions and development centers. With the deep domain expertise in key verticals and large-scale horizontal solution, the highly project-oriented firm that can take complete responsibility for large development and integration projects, and for delivering bottom line results from application management. Cognizant having a strong track record of successfully executing very large scale, complex, transformational development and integration projects offshore. These are the kinds of projects that have not been traditionally considered off-shore. Cognizant has deep technology expertise across a wide range of competencies. Technology competency and the quality of cognizant people are the highest-rated attributes in cognizant Customer Satisfaction Survey. Cognizant has a blue chip client base with many industry leaders that cognizant are proud to partner with and to contribute to the growth of their businesses. The clients go to extensive lengths to serve as references and champions of cognizant growth and innovation. Their client testimonials say Cognizant people go to extraordinary lengths to solve problems, or just help out. Cognizant people model attracts talented, highly motivated, client- focused individuals with a can-do attitude. Cognizant never had a termination for project failure or for non-performance. This fact is reinforced by all of cognizant customers in the annual customer satisfaction survey conducted by a third-party. The flexibility, responsiveness, ownership and the assurance that they will never let you down is core to cognizant delivery model. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. NASDAQ, a leading provider of custom software development, integration and management services, employees are the most satisfied among Indian IT services companies. Cognizant has always been committed to providing the most interesting projects and the best possible training and career development opportunities. The quality of the people that cognizant attracts, and Cognizants superior ability to develop cognizant associates will remain a strong competitive edge as the demand for IT professional worldwide continues to increase. The Info pulse acquisition allows Cognizant to better serve customers in the Benelux region by adding local client partners, industry expertise, and local language capability. The acquisition further strengthens Cognizants industry leading 4th generation offshore delivery model, which has senior executives based close to clients in the US and Europe who are tightly integrated with a robust SEI CMMI Level 5 offshore capability. Customers in banking and financial services have been among the first European companies to adopt a large scale offshore strategy, and Info pulse helps Cognizant furth er strengthen its position in this vertical. This acquisition will help cognizant current customers because they will get large scale offshore capabilities as cognizant as industry specific IT services, which has for several years leveraged offshore development in Eastern Europe. Cognizant has a strong track record in the financial sector and also values customer focus, has very high customer satisfaction, and a culture that provides an excellent balance between business and technology. Perspective: A public company has two key responsibilities to its shareholders, value creation and transparency. At Cognizant, transparency is essential to cognizant business. Especially in uncertain times, it builds trust between a company and its shareholders. And cognizant believe transparency is the best way to recognize long-term investment in the company. In an uncertain economy it is even more critical that cognizant provide you with key information about cognizant corporate governance policies. These policies provide a frame work for the proper operation of cognizant company, consistent with cognizant shareholders best interests and the requirements of the law. Ensuring that Cognizants financial results fairly reflect the results of cognizant operations is of paramount importance to the company and to cognizant investors. Cognizant have made the decision to provide cognizant shareholders and investors additional information to clarify cognizant policies, processes and controls to avoid un certainty for shareholders and investors. Cognizants management has always assumed full accountability for maintaining Compliance with cognizant established financial accounting policies and for reporting cognizant results with objectivity and the highest degree of integrity. It is critical for investors and other users of the Consolidated Financial Statements to have confidence that the financial information that cognizant provide is timely, complete, relevant and accurate. Management is responsible for the fair presentation of Cognizants Consolidated Financial Statements, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and has full responsibility to their integrity and accuracy. Management, with oversight by Cognizants Board of Directors, has established and maintains a strong ethical climate so that cognizant affairs are conducted to the highest standards of personal and corporate conduct. Management also has established an effective system of interna l controls. Cognizants policies and practices reflect corporate governance initiatives that are compliant with the listing requirements NASDAQ and the corporate governance requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley. Cognizant are committed to rigorously and diligently exercising cognizant oversight responsibilities, maintaining the highest standards of integrity and principles of ethics, and exceeding the corporate governance requirements. Level 1 Analysis: Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a global information technology services and consulting company with headquarters in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States and with significant operations in Chennai, India. Cognizant has been named to the 2009 Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies List for the seventh consecutive year. Cognizant has also been named to the Fortune 1000 and Forbes Global 2000 lists for 2009. It has consistently ranked among the fastest growing companies including the 2009 Business week 50 list of the top-performing U.S. companies, the Business week Hottest Tech Companies 2009, and the Forbes Fast Tech 2009 list of 25 Fastest Growing Technology Companies In America. Even though it is headquartered in New Jersey, USA, most of Cognizants employees are based in India. It has offices in Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon, Kochi and Budapest since 2008, development centers in Shanghai, Buenos Aires and Amsterdam. Cognizant has over 64,000 emplo yees. Cognizant Coimbatore center became the first company in the world to be certified for CMMI-Level5 per the latest model. Cognizant is among the top 10 companies receiving H-1B visas to bring foreign workers to the United States. The company recognizes the risk this poses to their business model. In a November 2008 SEC 10-Q filing, the company said Cognizant future success will depend on cognizant ability to attract and retain employees with technical and project management skills from developing countries, especially India. The vast majority of cognizant IT professionals in the United States and in Europe are Indian nationals. The ability of Indian nationals to work in the United States and Europe depends on their ability and cognizant ability to obtain the necessary visas and work permits. the company has been increasing its U.S. work force. In August 2009, the company announced plans to hire 100 people in Phoenix. Cognizant has seen year-over-year revenue growth of 32% in cal endar year 2008, from $2.13 billion to $2.81 billion (USD). This growth has been realized across all the industries Cognizant serves including financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and logistics. After the close of trading on 16 November 2006, Cognizant moved from the mid cap SP 400 to the SP 500. Cognizant operates in the IT services, business process outsourcing and consulting domains. Its primary competitors are Accenture, IBM, Capgemini, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro. Other competitors include IT services companies such as Computer Sciences Corporation, Perot Systems, Mahindra Satyam and HCL Technologies. Competitors in the Business Process Outsourcing space include Genpact and MphasiS (a division of EDS) (As of Wikipedia) Research Findings: As a pioneer in the field of outsourcing information technology work to India, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. has done famouslyand so have its shareholders. A $10,000 investment made in the stock in early 2001 would be worth more than $120,000 today. After soaring another 38% so far this year, though, the Teaneck, N.J.-based companys shares are due for a leveling off. Investors would be wise to pass them by. At a closing price of $69.25, the stock is trading at 51 times its per-share earnings over the last 12 months. That amounts to a huge premium over India-based outsourcing companies Wipro, which trades at a multiple of 37 times earnings, and Infosys Technologies, which trades at 42 times earnings. In Historically, Cognizant has earned its fat premium because of its superior management and its distinct model. Unlike IT outsourcing firms that are based in India, Cognizant has several thousand staff members here who work directly with U.S. clients in their offices. Those on-sit e staffers are backed up by an army of 23,000 employees in India who develop software for clients including major banks, health care companies, manufacturers and retailers. But Cognizants on-shore/off-shore niche is under threat as more multinational consulting firms follow the companys lead. In March, IBM announced it would open a new software development. (Tom Fredrickson, New York Business, 2006) Level 2 Analysis: The Companys principal services include technology strategy consulting; complex systems development; enterprise software package implementation and maintenance; data warehousing and business intelligence; application testing; application maintenance; infrastructure management, and vertically-oriented business process outsourcing (V-BPO). The Company operates in focused business segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing/Retail/Logistics and Other, which includes communications, media and information services and high technology. In September 2009, the Company announced the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Pepper cognizant advisors; the IT consulting services division of Pepper cognizant consulting. Financial Services During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Companys Financial Services business segment represented approximately 45.6% of its total revenues. This business segment provides services to its customers operating in the industries, such as capital markets, banking and insurance. Cognizant focuses on the needs of dealers, asset management firms, depositories, clearing organizations and exchanges. The Company focuses on retail and commercial banks, and diversified financial enterprises. Cognizant assists these clients in such areas as consumer lending, cards and payments, wholesale banking, risk management, investment management, corporate services and retail banking. It assists with the needs of property and casualty insurers, life insurers, reinsurance firms and insurance brokers. The Company focuses on such areas as business acquisition, policy administration, claims processing, management reporting, regulatory compliance and reinsurance. In 2008, its other business segment represented approximately 14.2% of its total revenues. The Companys communications industry practice serves communications service providers, equipment vendors and software vendors. Some of its solutions include supply chain management solutions, from pre-press to material procurement, circulation, logistics and vendor management; business solutions covering advertising management, online media and e-business; workflow automation covering the product development process for broadcasters; spot ad buying systems covering agency of record, traffic management, post-buy analysis and financial management; digital asset management (DAM) and digital rights management (DRM), and operational systems, including ad sales, studio management, outsourcing billing and payments, along with content management and delivery. Its high technology segment is an independent software vendor (ISVs) and online service provider. (According to NASDAC) Conclusion: Cognizant develops every application, cognizant embrace every challenge, investment in every new resource, recommendation cognizant make is dedicated to a goal: Making their customers businesses stronger by empowering them to be more responsive to their customers and to the competitive environment. Cognizant achieve this by focusing on the intersection of their clients emerging needs and the acceleration of business and technological change. Cognizant commitment to innovation keeps them focused on the future and being ready at every level to service change. Cognizant Technology solutions present financial growth is strong. If we observe their annual report we will find that they operate a profitable business. 50% per share have grown up for earnings and revenues, where we can find a major growth. References: http://www.cognizant.com/html/home.asp http://www.cognizant.com/html/content/aboutus/Cognizant_Q2_2009_Corporate_Fact_Sheet.pdf http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17675300_ITM http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=CTSH.O.

Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should Be Legalized :: Argument, DUI, Alcohol

Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should be Legalized   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drunk driving should be legalized in the United States to help improve our standard of living. The legalization of driving while intoxicated would severely reduce the numbers of crimes that are committed on the roads. The number of illegal actions occurring on the roads would be reduced by the number of people that used to break the law by driving while drunk. Allowing people to drive drunk would also reduce the number of accidents occurring on the road systems. For example, only twenty percent of all auto accidents involve a person who has been drinking, where as almost all accidents involve someone who has not been drinking. Removing the restrictions against drinking would remove most of the eighty percent of the accidents that do not involve alcohol. Also, the accidents that would still be occurring would not have as many injuries. Out of the accidents that involve alcohol the person who has been drinking is usually the one who survives the accident, often with out a scratch. Allowing people who have been drinking to drive would also improve the quality of life for those who choose not to drink. Currently people who have been drinking are legally required to use some form of transportation other than them operating a motor vehicle. This requires them to hang around where they are and get a ride with someone else or wait or some public transportation. With the legalization of driving while drunk the non-drinking population would not need to be bothered by drunk people that do not have rides. Finally, this would help stimulate the economy which may be in dire trouble. For example, with the removal of restrictions on alcohol, many more alcoholic beverages would be sold because a Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should Be Legalized :: Argument, DUI, Alcohol Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should be Legalized   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drunk driving should be legalized in the United States to help improve our standard of living. The legalization of driving while intoxicated would severely reduce the numbers of crimes that are committed on the roads. The number of illegal actions occurring on the roads would be reduced by the number of people that used to break the law by driving while drunk. Allowing people to drive drunk would also reduce the number of accidents occurring on the road systems. For example, only twenty percent of all auto accidents involve a person who has been drinking, where as almost all accidents involve someone who has not been drinking. Removing the restrictions against drinking would remove most of the eighty percent of the accidents that do not involve alcohol. Also, the accidents that would still be occurring would not have as many injuries. Out of the accidents that involve alcohol the person who has been drinking is usually the one who survives the accident, often with out a scratch. Allowing people who have been drinking to drive would also improve the quality of life for those who choose not to drink. Currently people who have been drinking are legally required to use some form of transportation other than them operating a motor vehicle. This requires them to hang around where they are and get a ride with someone else or wait or some public transportation. With the legalization of driving while drunk the non-drinking population would not need to be bothered by drunk people that do not have rides. Finally, this would help stimulate the economy which may be in dire trouble. For example, with the removal of restrictions on alcohol, many more alcoholic beverages would be sold because a

Nick Hornbys High Fidelity Essay example -- Nick Hornby High Fidelity

Nick Hornby's High Fidelity In Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, the main character, Rob, relates music to every aspect of his life. He utilizes music as an escape from his anxieties regarding his failing record store, relationship, and sense of self. Music provides Rob with the inspiration that keeps him going: Records have helped me to fall in love, no question. I hear something new, with a chord change that melts my guts, and before I know it I'm looking for someone. (169) Music prompts Rob to isolate himself, hold an unrealistic view of people and sabotage his relationships. Rob allows himself to get overcome with a feeling when listening to a song pertaining to that feeling. Many of the songs he mentions as his favorites or with significant meaning, relate to Rob?s life in that they have a lot to do with loneliness. One song in particular that Rob wants to serve as his eulogy, ?Many Rivers to Cross,? by Jimmy Cliff touches upon aspects of his life, such as loneliness, abandonment and anger. The title, which is repeated throughout the song, relates strongly to Rob due to the fact that it contains the word ?cross? in it. Having just broken up with his girlfriend, coming to grips with his fear of commitment and finding unhappiness with his occupation, Rob has just crossed many boundaries in his life. He has taken on a sense of depression, which leads him to resort to anger all the time. The word ?cross? in the title can also relate to Rob?s anger. He is constantly ?cross? with his coworkers: If I have to listen to one more word of his useless, pathetic, meaningless babble in my entire life I will kill him. When I let him go I am shaking with anger. (56) When on the topic of Ian, the man Laura left him for... ...living in for the past few days has vanished? (60). At this point Rob acknowledges his defeat and realizes he cannot go on without Laura in his life because she was the one person he could rely on and talk to. With Laura gone, Rob resorts to a false comfort, his music. Rob is so passionate about music because it is the one stable thing in his life. No one can take music away from him and it keeps him going. Music is what he uses to start conversations, make a living, fill up his apartment and to motivate him. The lyrics, ?It?s only my wind that keeps me alive? can be related to Rob?s music. The only thing that keeps him going during rough times is his music, his ?wind.? Music is a secure commitment, which will never walk out on him or die on him? music is his High Fidelity. Works Cited: Hornby, Nick (1995). High Fidelity. New York: Riverhead Books.

Successful and Unsuccessful Spin Doctoring Case in Public Relations Ess

This essay focuses on how spin doctoring became a phenomenon among public relations, journalists, politician and even a massive campaign. This essay considers the tool used by the spin doctoring team to engage and steer public opinion. Spin team must have a strategy in using each tool and we will discuss how this strategy affected how well the result will be. Overall, this essay has been written to show two spin teams use different spin tools in order to change public’s perspectives. The brief explanation shows how well the strategy they use to the success of the campaign and how it can be unsuccessful. The mainstream model of liberal journalism believes that it’s practices result in stories that are an accurate reflection of reality, journalist believe they simply hold a mirror up to society (Louw, 2010). In constructing a story, spin team must have an insight on how the society believe nowadays, and it’s not only to just follow that believe, but give society an option to consider another belief. Therefore the spin team need to understand their audience first, what is the best tool they can use as a strategy, how to talk with those audience, generate comprehensive media knowledge and the ability to spin current perspective. The public relations / spin industry is geared to planting stories in the media by using journalists to disseminate stories serving the spin doctors agenda (Louw, 2010). Nowadays, in developing a campaign, the role of spin team is very powerful. It’s not about how well the messages received to the public or remembered but becoming a share worthy and meaningful messages that shows empathy as well as emotionally attached with everyone. The Dove â€Å"real beauty† campaign shows a successful role of spin team, the... ...cians and Creating Celebrity. The media and political process (2 ed., p. 126). London: SAGE. Louw, P. E. (2010). Spin Doctoring: The Art of Public Relations. The media and political process (2ed., p. 81). London: SAGE. Stampler, L. (2013, May 23). How Dove's 'Real Beauty Sketches' Became The Most Viral Video Ad Of All Time | Business Insider. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-doves-real-beauty-sketches-became-the-most-viral-ad-video-of-all-time-2013-5 Tempo (2014, January 20). 7 Ekspresi Sewot Ani SBY di Instagram | -nasional- | Tempo.co. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2014/01/20/078546694/7-Ekspresi-Sewot-Ani-SBY-di-Instagram The Dove ® Campaign for Real Beauty. (n.d.). The Dove ® Campaign for Real Beauty. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://www.dove.us/Social-Mission/campaign-for-real-beauty.aspx

Musical instrument Essay

Trumpet The trumpet or cornet is the smallest and highest member of the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et (meaning little) to the Italian word clarino (meaning a type of trumpet), as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed. In jazz contexts, it has sometimes been informally referred to as the â€Å"licorice stick.†[1] French horn A wind instrument usually of the lip-reed class. Horns for signalling have been made from conch shells, wood, animal horns etc as well as metal. Horns capable of many notes usually consist of a conical brass tube in a curved, coiled or folded shape. This article is concerned with the European orchestral horn, or french horn. Cello The cello is a string instrument and a member of the violin family. It is a wonderful instrument for a child to learn at an early age. It is the most versatile of the string instruments The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin but is larger in size and more variable in its proportions. A â€Å"full-size† viola’s body is between one and four inches longer than the body of a full-size violin (i.e., between 15 and 18 inches (38 and 46 cm)), with an average length of about 16 inches (41 cm). Small violas made for children typically start at 12 inches (30 cm), which is equivalent to a half-size violin Violin The violin is the smallest member of the string family. Sound is produced by drawing the bow across one of the four strings or by plucking the string with a finger. Flugelhorn Flugelhorns have a short, wide mouthpiece; three or four valves; and a flared bell. They range in size from bass instruments with wider bores (the bore is the inside diameter of the tubing) to small soprano horns in f or e flat. Tuba tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or â€Å"buzzing† the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. Trombone he trombone is a member of the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. A unique feature of the trombone is the slide. While other brass instrument change pitches by pressing valves to change the length of the air flow, the trombone player simply moves the slide in and out to the change the length of the instrument.

Literary criticism Essay

compvirtuosont part of writings represents a lyric or a people glossiness and tradition. But, publications is more great than honorable a historical or pagan writing. publications introduces us to new(a) worlds of experience. We pick up from takes and literature we enjoy the triumphs and the tr come ondies of poems, stories, and plays and we whitethorn hitherto grow through our literary move with books. In conclusion, we whitethorn discover signification in literature by look at what the agent says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the agents message. and we interpret literature, in that location is placid an artistic quality to the give panaches. publications is important to us beca spend it speaks to us, it is both universal and individual, and in legion(predicate) ways it affects us, for the better. When some people sound off of the word Literature they think of books resembling, Walden, gray-haired man and the Sea, Tom Sawyer, Great Expect ations, or Moby Dick. These are what some call the classics. eon these a few(prenominal) books are indeed literature do we subconsciously judge different books based on the stylings of these few? People believe that the true sum of Literature, is a literary work in which the proofreaders mind is opened to new concepts and ideals.For a writing to be called Literature it doesnt have to be conveyed a classic nor does it need to follow the same innovation as these so called Classics. The book, 11/23/63, is much more of a pattern of Literature than A Tale of twain Cities. Based solely on the item that in the Stephen mightiness novel, he hind ends the judgwork forcet of, What if? into your mind.. Whereas, A Tale of cardinal Cities, depicts the affiance of the French peasantry in the years tip up to the revolution, as opposed to enterprise your mind. While A Tale of Two Cities, shows you what lifetime was like in those times.Stephen King shows you an alternate universe in which at that place was nonwithstanding matchless permute, and how that one change affects how hi flooring takes its course. When the creator military services your mind, explore worlds of unending possibility, or sheds light on a new way to perceive things. That is when the former has created a True work of literary chastity. The thing about the term, Literature, is that it doesnt have just one message. Literature is comprised of many things, but duration Webster definition of Literature is, the production of literary work especially as an occupation. The True meaning is open to interpretation, meaning that one individuals definition of the word may be completely different than some other persons definition. This is both the immense and horrid thing about the term. When scholars pass on writing as literature, they often encounter it a book or writing that has stood the test of time and despite its age it has surpassed many other great plant through history by receiving merit from the scholars, based on their description of the word, influential.You may agree that it should be con expressionred a piece of Literature, if it has done this, and you would be right, but what if it was a great piece of literary art that didnt become a scoop up seller? And thus was roster into the abyss to be forgotten until stumbled across one day by a mind ready to take in what the author wanted to say. Would you consider it Literature? Or would you just leave it in the abyss beca utilise it never became a best seller? Take Moby Dick for example, it is considered to be one of the Great Ameri brush off Novels and a treasure of world literature. However, it never accredited enough credit to title it a Best seller.One literary work, too helps define my idea of the word Literature, is The Hobbit by J. R. R Tolkien. The reason I consider this a piece of Literature is because of the nub of vision Tolkien uses to bring his world to life in the imagination of the reader. In this get out from that book, he describes every thought of the characters and his use of mental imagery helps create the scene in the mind of the reader. The off- winder came into the room from the itty-bitty window that opened in the side of The Hill the firelight flickered-it was April-and still they played on, turn the shadow of Gandalfs beard wagged against the wall.The dark filled all the room, and the fire died d cause, and the shadows were lost, and still they played on. And suddenly first one and then another began to sing as they played, deep-throated singing of the dwarves in the deep places of their antediluvian homes and this is like a fragment of their vocal, if it can be like their song without their music. (The Hobbit, summon 15) Tolkiens regent(postnominal) use of imagery in that transportation painted a clear picture of what happens while the dwarves sing. However, Splatterpunk likewise uses powerful imagery to paint pictures.The key diffe rence between the imagery use Splatterpunk and the imagery used in The Hobbit, is how the imagery is used. In the novel, The Cipher, which combined intensely poetic language and lavish grotesqueries, the author, uses imagery to place the pictures into the mind of the reader using powerful and descriptive words. As opposed to Tolkien, who draws upon the readers imagination with basic descriptions to help create a sketch in his mind. Now, many would not consider this a form of Literature due to the deficiency of personal connection between the story and the reader.However, I consider this book, and even this passage alone, to be a form of Literature solely because it opens my mind to a new world full of adventure and intrigue, while keeping the reader glued to the book during the time he reads. Imagery is a powerful tool for both the author and the reader, for if the author isnt clear with his use of imagery it breaks the readers upkeep and allows him to be lost within the story, an d not in a good way. Tolkien withal uses diction to place an image into the readers mind, and he does this in such a way the reader begins to sing the song in his own head.Far over the fogged mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must(prenominal) away, ere break of day, To claim our long-forgotten gold. Goblets they carved there for themselves And harps of gold where no man delves in that location lay they long, and many a song Was sung unheard by men or elves. The pines were roaring on the height, The winds were moaning in the night. The fire was red, it flaming spread The trees like torches blazed with light (The Hobbit, Page 16) Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is both universal and individual, and in many ways it affects us, for the better.In ways we sometimes may never understand. Ultimately, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the authors message in one way, while someone else finds the message a different way. In this way we becharm how the definition of Literature, is subjective to both the readers own interpretation, and the overall meaning of the work. Because even when it is ugly, literature is beautiful. Sources Cited Tolkien, John R. R. The Hobbit. N. p. George Allen & Unwin, 1937. 15. Web.