Motivational Theories for Travel and Tourism

Motivational Theories for Travel and Tourism Abstract The purposes of this dissertation are to demonstrate how the motivational theories in travel and tourism can be used as a foundation for research into ceasing participation in organized leisure activities, and to discuss methodological implications that emerge from such an approach. The research problem is the identification of three motivational factors that mostly influence the choice of leisure activity in the Lebanese tourism sector. The dissertation will rely heavily on literature review and primary research that used university students and a focus group of industry professionals in Lebanon. The theoretical background of this study is structured according to Iso-Ahola’s motivational theory. Iso-Ahola’s theory asserts that personal escape, personal seeking, interpersonal escape, and interpersonal seeking motivate tourism and recreation. This dissertation operationalizes and empirically tests Iso-Ahola’s theory for similar tourism and recreation experiences. The motivation dimensions are monitored using scenario-based data for sporting events, beaches, amusement parks, and natural parks. The first investigation used confirmatory factor analysis to explore the efficacy of six competing motivational structures. Three of these competing models achieved superior and similar fit statistics, with one model incorporating the most parsimonious structure. This model gave equal and direct salience to each of the four motivations. The second investigation examined the differences in motivation levels for tourism and recreation experiences. Tourism experiences exhibited higher levels of motivation, particularly for the personal seeking and personal escape dimensions. The third investigation found no relationship between the number of recent domestic and international vacations and tourism motivations among the subjects. Chapter I Introduction This dissertation seeks to explore the rationale for, and difficulties of operationalizing, the measurement of tourists’ satisfaction with their experiences in particular destinations. It suggests that the on-going systematic measurement of satisfaction with destinations is a valuable exercise that will have tangible benefits, but acknowledges the difficulties of doing this in a meaningful manner. The principal argument presented is that the measurement of tourists’ satisfaction with a particular destination involves more than simply measuring the level of satisfaction with the services delivered by individual enterprises. There needs to be a much broader, more encompassing means of measuring satisfaction, one that relates closely to the motivations which tourists have for visiting the destination in the first place. The tourism industry consists of a number of different sectors including the travel, hospitality and visitor services sector. Within each of these sectors there are a number of individual enterprises that provide a range of services to people who are traveling away from their home environment. This travel could be for a variety of reasons including for pleasure, to visit friends and relatives, to work on a short term basis, to attend conferences, to participate in business activities, or any of a number of specific reasons. While the industry distinguishes between the various groups according to their purpose for travel, convention has it that all these short-term travelers are defined as ‘tourists† Likewise, the industry distinguishes between various ‘markets’ according to their place of origin (international, domestic, intra-state, interstate, etc). These distinctions are not relevant to this paper which is concerned with all these forms of tourism. Tourists visit destinations and engage in various activities while there. These destinations can be classified in various ways and at various scales of analysis. For example, Lebanon could be regarded as a destination for international visitors while Beirut could be one for people from northern Lebanon. At a different scale, a city or even a region could be regarded as a destination. This paper is concerned with all these levels. It is not concerned with individual enterprises which exist within certain destinations. As noted below, there appears to be adequate analysis of tourism satisfaction at the individual enterprise level. What is missing is a broader view that looks at the way tourists respond to the totality of their experiences in a particular destination irrespective of the particular activities that they engage in. I am going to provide an explanation of the Lebanese tourism economy because this market is the model that this dissertation uses as the benchmark for testing Iso-Ahola’s motivational theory. I have chosen this country due to its reputation of being the jewel of the Middle East and one of the most desired destinations in the region. The understanding of the characteristics of this market will play a critical role in laying the foundations for the research and would allow to increase the integrity and reliability of this research. Moreover, the market is highly concentrated and the geographic area is small; this aspect would play a paramount role in diminishing sources of error; and in case of their occurrence it would be easier to isolate and rectify. In addition, being my home country; I view studying this market as a personal passion which would allow me to present with a high â€Å"motivational† level. I will start by providing a review of the state of Lebanese tourism and highlight the trends, review precious research findings, and pinpoint the market characteristics. Tourism in the Lebanese Economy Over the last decade the tourism industry has emerged as a significant sector of the Lebanese economy generating approximately $5 billion in income, employing 1 in 9 Lebanese and contributing about $1.5 billion in export earnings. While approximately 55% of tourism activity involves domestic travel, the fastest growing sector is in-bound travel. This has been increasing significantly over the last decade with Lebanon receiving 1.1 million visits in 2004. Despite the recent downturn in the economies of major source countries, and the unstable political landscape visitor arrivals to Lebanon are expected to grow at an average annual rate of between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent to reach between 1.4 and 1.7 million visitors in 2010. Being a relatively new industry characterized by growth, the focus has been on marketing, visitor numbers, and length of stay, expenditure patterns and other measures of consumption. As the industry has begun to mature in the last five or so years; there has been an increasing interest in such things as quality of service, accreditation procedures, and measurement of client satisfaction. The issues discussed in this paper should be seen as part of this maturation process in which the industry is looking to achieve long-term sustainable growth that generates benefits for the industry, the clients and the community as a whole. Methodology of Research Collecting data in marketing research often involves several different strategies, such as interviewing and analyzing documents (Merriam, 1998). Using multiple sources of information is useful in our research since we have doubts that a single source of information will provide a complete and comprehensive understanding of the research problem, so in our research we use multiple sources of information. Basically, there are two forms of data: primary and secondary data. While writing the dissertation, I will use several different sources when collecting data in order to increase the validity of the collected data. Secondary data is the data that has been previously collected and published. The secondary data used in the beginning of our research, originated from various sources. In the preparatory period, we have started by studying literature related to relationship tourism marketing, tourism buying and motivational behavior and motivational marketing concepts in order to get deeper insight into and understanding of the researched area. The other sources used for collection of our secondary data were: newspaper and magazine articles, course materials, on-line sources (Internet databases) and tourism companies’ materials (internal and external). The methodology used for primary research will be depicted at greater length in the third chapter. Current Measurement of Tourist’s Satisfaction Levels Despite the large body of literature available on satisfaction research in general, only a few academic studies have focused directly on customer satisfaction amongst tourists. Of these, an even more limited number have been undertaken in Lebanon. The major studies include Fick and Ritchie (1991), Reisinger and Waryszak (1994), Arnold and Price (1993), Crompton and Love (1995), Geva and Goldman (1991), Maddox (1985) and Ryan (1995). Because of the limited material available in the academic literature, a preliminary survey of organizations that may have investigated tourist satisfaction was undertaken. Given the broad focus of the paper and the limited space, no attempt was made to look at individual tourism enterprises measuring the satisfaction level of clients as part of their on-going quality assurance program. The most common example of this is the questionnaire that is left in individual hotel rooms. These vary from single response questions to sophisticated instruments designed to elicit quite detailed responses from guests. Most of these are diagnostic in the sense that they are aimed at identifying specific measures that can be taken to improve the service. Some specifically enquire about customer’s perceptions of the service’s value for money. In some instances, particularly amongst 5 star hotel chains, these are used for benchmarking or as performance indicators. Because of this decision to exclude individual enterprises, the preliminary survey focused on the following organizations: Academic departments of Lebanese universities State tourist offices Non-government tourist industry organizations and associations The search found a range of studies has been completed most of which are primarily data-gathering research exercises rather than conceptual studies. The prime studies are described in appendix I. It is clear that some work has been done in this area by a smattering of agencies each of which approaches it from a quite different perspective. Despite acknowledgement of the potential value of the data, current efforts are not coordinated resulting in a lack of comparability that makes it impossible to identify trends and monitor changes in a systematic fashion. More importantly, the diversity of approaches demonstrates a need for substantial conceptual work on the nature of tourist satisfaction in general and the measurement of tourist satisfaction with destinations in particular. What is required is further exploration into the application of concepts and ideas drawn from the broader consumer literature to the specific challenge of measuring the satisfaction of tourists with particular destinations. This may require a quite different approach to that adopted for other services. Why measure satisfaction at the level of the destination? There are a number of reasons why it would be appropriate to look at extending the measurement of tourist satisfaction to the more global level of the tourist destination. It is critical to understand the underlying motivational factors in order to be able to get a clearer barometer for the measurement of satisfaction of tourists. Without pre-empting the nature of this measurement, these reasons include: Millions of dollars are spent each year on destination marketing by national and state tourism offices, airlines and regional tourism bodies. This includes detailed surveys of potential markets as well as extensive advertising and promotional campaigns in source countries. While there is considerable research into the impact of the promotional effort through awareness studies, tracking studies, etc, these all concentrate on the inputs (i.e. has the campaign reached its target audience?). What is missing is an understanding of the client’s reaction to the product offering, in particularly whether it meets the needs of the target market. This would become an integral part of the understanding what the market(s) is/are seeking. Peak organizations in the tourism industry recognize the need to encourage both new and repeat business. The latter can best be achieved by ensuring that our current offerings are satisfying the needs, expectations and desires of current tourists and their propensity to recommend the destination to others. The measure could become a barometer of the ‘health’ of the industry for strategic planning purposes. The tourism industry itself is grappling with the issue of service quality and recognizes that this is the key to long term success. At present its focus is on establishing accreditation mechanisms to ensure that individual firms conform to appropriate standards. Monitoring tourists’ satisfaction at the more global level would provide a valuable framework for this and enable comparison between the efforts of the individual enterprise and those of the industry as a whole. Government agencies are now recognizing the value of assessing the success of their programs in terms of outcomes rather than inputs. As Lebanese government agencies move in this direction the need for the systematic collection of the type of data proposed will increase. In the case of tourism, this is particularly relevant to national, state and regional tourism development bodies responsible for destination marketing. Using the level of satisfaction experienced by visitors to their destination as a measure of success would transfer the focus away from the efforts of the organization towards their achievements. Governments of all persuasions are looking critically at their financial commitments and questioning whether they should continue the traditionally high level of support. If the industry can demonstrate a relationship between the level of support and the satisfaction of visitors to their destination then the argument for continued support would be strengthened greatly. This would complement other measures such as visitor numbers, expenditure, etc. With an appropriate measurement instrument it could be possible for individual sectors of the industry to be compared with other sectors. In an industry where the success of the whole depends on the contribution of each part, this information will help to identify those sectors that need to improve. Recent developments in consumer protection have extended into the area of satisfaction. The 1993 European Union Directive on Travel has required member states to implement laws giving tourists the right to obtain compensation from packaged tour operators in the event that they are ‘dissatisfied’ with their holiday. This applies in all destinations, including Lebanon. The results of the proposed survey will help to focus the attention of the industry on this issue and provide data on how the industry is going and what needs to be improved. Perspectives on Measuring Tourists’ Satisfaction with a Destination Measuring tourists’ satisfaction with a destination is conceptually different from measuring satisfaction at the transaction specific level. Moreover, it is contended that while satisfaction at the destination level is influenced by the various transactions that occur at that destination, an individual’s level of satisfaction is influenced by much broader, global factors, some of which are beyond the capacity of the tourism industry to affect. The purpose of this section is to outline some ideas that should be taken into account when developing a method to measure satisfaction at this relatively abstract level. Johnson, Anderson et al., (1995) have distinguished between two different general conceptualizations of satisfaction: transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction. The former is concerned with â€Å"satisfaction as an individual, transaction-specific measure or evaluation of a particular product or service experience† (Johnson, Anderson et al. 1995). Cumulative satisfaction, on the other hand, is â€Å"a cumulative, abstract construct that describes customer’s total consumption experience with a product or service† (Johnson, Anderson et al., 1995). As a customer’s overall evaluation of the purchase or consumption experience, cumulative satisfaction is the most relevant conceptualization when the focus is on the tourist’s evaluation of their overall experience at a destination. This is sometimes referred to as market-level satisfaction. The literature suggests that satisfaction measurement must be treated differently at these two levels of abstraction. Moreover, when considering consumer satisfaction with their consumption experiences, a major distinction has been made between the consumption of goods and services (Lovelock, 1991). Measures of satisfaction are not the same for these different consumption experiences, largely because of the role of the consumer in the service encounter. It could also be argued that tourism is a ‘special’ service in that, like recreation or education, it is largely self-produced (Williams, 1988). The individual plays a central role in determining the experiences achieved and the benefits derived. The ‘special’ nature of tourism can be understood by adopting the behavioral perspective first developed within the recreation and leisure literature. This literature demonstrates the value of perceiving recreation as activity that creates experiences which, in turn, result in benefits for the individual (Driver and Tocher, 1970; Mannel and Iso-Ahola, 1987). This created a focus on the factors which determine the quality of those experiences and the benefits derived. Measurement of satisfaction has therefore involved an assessment of whether the experiences have resulted in the desired benefits sought by the individual. In his seminal paper (Wagar 1966) suggested that the quality of recreation experience depends upon how well desired outcomes are realized. Satisfaction is therefore more a function of the needs and interests of the individual than the attributes and characteristics of the service provided. These ideas have gradually become the basis of the conceptualization of the tourist experience and informed much of the work about tourist motivations and expectations (Crompton and Love, 1995; Ryan, 1995). Therefore tourist experiences can be regarded as the result of an active endeavor by the individual to create a situation in which to achieve satisfaction. It is this active involvement of the individual in the creation of his or her personal experiences that needs to be acknowledged. In a similar vein, the early recreation literature also recognized the implications of this approach for the assessment of recreation service quality. It was recognized that â€Å"the quality of the experiences can be influenced by input factors provided by managers . . . but to a considerable extent the quality of experiences depends upon choices made by recreationists and how they use the many factors of production† (Brown, 1988: 413). In other words, the satisfaction levels experienced by recreationists are recognized as being a function of a number of different variables including those brought by the recreationist him/herself which are beyond the influence of the service provider. Drawing on the consumer literature, it is too easy to assume that the outcomes of the tourist activity are solely the creation of the tourist operators/industry. However, it is perhaps more enlightening to adopt a ‘transactional perspective’ outlined in the recreation literature. Here, the tourist â€Å"actively creates the recreation(tourist) experience, through a transaction with the physical and social setting, including what the recreationist (tourist) brings to the process in terms of history, perceptions, companions, skills, equipment, identities, hopes and dreams† (Williams, 1988). With this perspective, more emphasis is placed on the behavior of the individual and their role in creating the experience. Not all the responsibility for creating high levels of satisfaction rests with the service deliverer. With this in mind, (Crompton and Love, 1995) make a distinction between quality of opportunity and quality of experience. â€Å"Quality of opportunity is defined as qualities of the attributes of a service that are under the control of a supplier. Evaluation is concerned with judgments about the performance of the leisure opportunity supplier. . . . In contrast, quality of experience involves not only the attributes provided by a supplier, but also attributes brought to the opportunity by the visitor or recreationist. . Quality of experience is a psychological outcome or emotional response. . Satisfaction is measured by how well leisure activities are perceived to fulfill the basic needs and motives that stimulated the idea to participate in the activity (Crompton and Love, 1995:12)†. When the objective is to measure satisfaction with a holiday in a particular destination, it will be important to note this distinction and ensure that both aspects are included in the assessment. We have been reasonably good at assessing tourists’ perceptions of the quality of opportunity but largely ignored the question of quality of experience. A further perspective that could be of relevance here is that of Herzberg (1966). While his work mainly focused on the workplace, his theory of motivation has relevance to the expenditure of discretionary time such as going on a holiday. Herzberg (1966) suggests that all aspects of an experience can be classified as either a motivational or a hygienic factor. Motivational factors are those that positively encourage people to do something. For example, a desire to make new friends may motivate people to go on an organized tour rather than travel alone. On the other hand, hygienic factors are those things which would not encourage one to travel, but their absence would discourage such travel. A good example is the availability of clean drinking water. Having this available is unlikely to motivate someone to travel, while its absence could cause someone to not choose a particular destination. According to Roger James Associates (1996) â€Å"the absence of motivational factors does not lead to ‘dissatisfaction’ but rather to ‘unsatisfaction’ a sense of emptiness rather than a sense of anger or disappointment. On the other hand, the absence of a hygienic factor will lead to dissatisfaction. The presence of such a factor will not lead to ‘satisfaction’ but rather to ‘satisficing’, that is, a passive (albeit benign) feeling† (Roger James Associates, 1996 : 34). If we adopt this framework it could be suggested that we have tended to focus on the hygienic factors which are represented by the measurement of how well the services (hotels, airports, travel companies, etc) are provided. These are important because without these being done well, the customer would be very dissatisfied. However, we have not also measured the motivational factors. These are akin to the experience factors how well the destination facilitates the satisfaction of personal needs. The best way of ensuring that we are providing this is to understand the client’s needs, etc and to develop product that is relevant to these. In turn, this is linked to the benefits to be derived from the experience thus creating satisfaction. The work by Arnold and Price (1993) confirms the role that needs and desires play in the consumer’s evaluation of a particular experience. They present very clear evidence that the satisfaction of participants in this recreational (or possibly tourist?) activity is related to the extent to which the experience enhances their individual cultural script and are â€Å"interpreted within the broader narrative context of the consumer’s life† (Arnould and Price, 1993). They suggest that â€Å"satisfaction with river rafting . . . does not seem to be embodied in attributes of the experience such as amounts of time spent freezing in wet clothes, uncomfortable toilet facilities, bad food or any summary index of specific attributes of the trip† (Arnould and Price, 1993). These general thoughts appear to be in line with the fundamentals of the marketing concept most commonly described as â€Å"satisfying the needs and desires of the consumer† (Keith, 1960 :38) and the whole notion of benefit segmentation which suggests that purchases are selected on the basis of the benefits derived by consumers (Haley, 1968). It is also consistent with the recent work of Spreng and his associates which emphasizes the role that desires, as opposed to expectations, plays in determining satisfaction within the disconfirmation framework (Spreng, Mackenzie et al., 1996). Proposed Path Space does not permit an exhaustive examination of the extensive literature outlining the various models used as the basis for measuring customer satisfaction and gauging the behavioral aspects (see Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al., 1994). However, a review of this literature has uncovered a model that could be developed to provide a satisfactory method of evaluating tourists’ satisfaction at the level of the destination and their motivational map. This model has been developed by Iso-Ahola and has become the basis of extensive work at the national and international level. The index provided by the Iso-Ahola model provides a cumulative evaluation of a sector’s market offering coupled with individual evaluation of a specific transaction. Called the ‘Customer Satisfaction Index/Barometer’, it has been introduced in: Sweden, Germany and the United States of America (Fornell, Johnson et al, 1996). Taiwan and New Zealand are also in the process of introducing a similar national satisfaction indicator. While much work still needs to be done, the framework provided by Iso-Ahola model provides a good starting point. It should be possible to make the necessary changes required to produce a useful index that will contribute to the on-going development of this important industry. Chapter II Literature Review It is imperative to start with a review of literature that addressed motivation in the travel and tourism industry. By adopting this approach we will be able to present a much more comprehensive and inclusive approach to understanding the theories of motivation in the travel and tourism industry; and thus, we will be able to lay the foundations of clear parameters that can help scholars and decision makers measure the satisfaction of tourists and the underlying motivational factors. This part of the paper is dedicated to reviewing the literature that currently assesses the main theories of motivation. These theories span across a wide spectrum; therefore we will tackle the various theories of travel motivation in the first part and then we will focus our discussions on Iso-Ahola’s motivational theory. The main theories of travel motivation Knowledge of peoples travel motivations and its association with destination selection plays a critical role in predicting future travel patterns. The essay talks about the various theories propounded by the theorists and analyses their practical benefits for the tourism industry. Tourist motivation can be defined as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives value and direction to travel choices, behavior and experience. (Pearce, Morrison Rutledge, 1998) as cited by Allan R. Rhodes Espinoza. According to Seaton (1997) motivation is a state of arousal of a drive or need which impels people to activity in pursuit of goals. Once the goals have been achieved the need subsides and the individual returns to the equilibrium-but only briefly because new motives arise as the last one is satisfied. Krippendorf (1987), as cited in Seaton (1997) suggests that the motivation of the individual person to travel, to look outside for what he cannot find inside have been largely created by society and shaped by everyday life. People who live in cities, for example, are motivated to travel as tourists to wilderness areas because they need to escape from an artificial, monotonous environment. (Dann Matley, 1976) as cited in Mansfeld 1992). Grays travel-motivation theory, as noted by Mansfeld (1992), gives us two motives about why people go to natural settings. The first motive is the desire to go from a known to an unknown place, called in Grays theory wanderlust. Secondly, a place which can provide the traveler with specific facilities that do not exist in his or her own place of residence, referred in Grays theory as sun lust (Mansfeld, 1992). It is a common practice to consider traveler or tourist types as potential market segments for travel and tourism marketing (Smith, 1989 as cited in Theobald, 1996).Some of the motives which determine their travel choices are recreation, pleasure, new experiences, cultural interest, shopping. Any reader of literature of tourism motivation cannot help being struck by the similarity in findings by many researchers. The adjectives and categorizations of tourists based upon motivations may differ in number, but recurrent themes emerge. For example the need to escape from everyday surroundings for the purpose of relaxation, and discovering new things, places and people are often alluded to. According to Crompton (1979), as cited in Bello Etzel (1985), the need for relaxation, exploration, social interaction and enhancement of kinship relationships act as dominant push motives in the vacation decision. Reversely, pull motives are aroused by the destination and include factors like scenic attractions, historical sites. Push factors are thought to establish the desire for travel and pull factors are thought to explain actual destination choice. Seaton (1997) suggests that the push factors include avoidance of work, cultural/social pressures at home. The pull factors include seeking leisure /play, freedom and escape. Maslow (1943) identified two motivational types: tension-reducing motives; arousal-seeking motives. According to Maslow, there are five needs forming a hierarchy, progressing from the lower to the higher needs. Maslow argued that if the lower needs [physiological {hunger, thirst, rest}, safety {security}, belonging and love {affection, giving and receiving love}] are fulfilled the individual would be motivated by needs of the next level of the hierarchy [esteem {self-esteem and esteem for others}, self-actualization {personal self-fulfillment}]. Cooper et al(2005) criticizes Maslows theory saying that why and how Maslow selected the basic five needs remain unclear, although Page(2003) feels that it has relevance in understanding how human action is understandable and predictable compared to research which argues that human behavior is essentially irrational and unpredictable. Cooper et al (2005) also questions the arrangement of the needs. Though Cooper et al (2005) criticizes much about Maslows theory, he feels that tourism industry has borrowed a lot from Maslow because he provides a convenient set of containers that can be relatively labeled. Hudman (1980) as cited in Davidson and Maitland (1997) argue that Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs provides a useful framework for understanding psychological motivational factors in tourism. Thus, for example, although the apparent purpose of a trip may be to visit friends and relatives, the underlying psychological motivation may be a need for belonging Motivational Theories for Travel and Tourism Motivational Theories for Travel and Tourism Abstract The purposes of this dissertation are to demonstrate how the motivational theories in travel and tourism can be used as a foundation for research into ceasing participation in organized leisure activities, and to discuss methodological implications that emerge from such an approach. The research problem is the identification of three motivational factors that mostly influence the choice of leisure activity in the Lebanese tourism sector. The dissertation will rely heavily on literature review and primary research that used university students and a focus group of industry professionals in Lebanon. The theoretical background of this study is structured according to Iso-Ahola’s motivational theory. Iso-Ahola’s theory asserts that personal escape, personal seeking, interpersonal escape, and interpersonal seeking motivate tourism and recreation. This dissertation operationalizes and empirically tests Iso-Ahola’s theory for similar tourism and recreation experiences. The motivation dimensions are monitored using scenario-based data for sporting events, beaches, amusement parks, and natural parks. The first investigation used confirmatory factor analysis to explore the efficacy of six competing motivational structures. Three of these competing models achieved superior and similar fit statistics, with one model incorporating the most parsimonious structure. This model gave equal and direct salience to each of the four motivations. The second investigation examined the differences in motivation levels for tourism and recreation experiences. Tourism experiences exhibited higher levels of motivation, particularly for the personal seeking and personal escape dimensions. The third investigation found no relationship between the number of recent domestic and international vacations and tourism motivations among the subjects. Chapter I Introduction This dissertation seeks to explore the rationale for, and difficulties of operationalizing, the measurement of tourists’ satisfaction with their experiences in particular destinations. It suggests that the on-going systematic measurement of satisfaction with destinations is a valuable exercise that will have tangible benefits, but acknowledges the difficulties of doing this in a meaningful manner. The principal argument presented is that the measurement of tourists’ satisfaction with a particular destination involves more than simply measuring the level of satisfaction with the services delivered by individual enterprises. There needs to be a much broader, more encompassing means of measuring satisfaction, one that relates closely to the motivations which tourists have for visiting the destination in the first place. The tourism industry consists of a number of different sectors including the travel, hospitality and visitor services sector. Within each of these sectors there are a number of individual enterprises that provide a range of services to people who are traveling away from their home environment. This travel could be for a variety of reasons including for pleasure, to visit friends and relatives, to work on a short term basis, to attend conferences, to participate in business activities, or any of a number of specific reasons. While the industry distinguishes between the various groups according to their purpose for travel, convention has it that all these short-term travelers are defined as ‘tourists† Likewise, the industry distinguishes between various ‘markets’ according to their place of origin (international, domestic, intra-state, interstate, etc). These distinctions are not relevant to this paper which is concerned with all these forms of tourism. Tourists visit destinations and engage in various activities while there. These destinations can be classified in various ways and at various scales of analysis. For example, Lebanon could be regarded as a destination for international visitors while Beirut could be one for people from northern Lebanon. At a different scale, a city or even a region could be regarded as a destination. This paper is concerned with all these levels. It is not concerned with individual enterprises which exist within certain destinations. As noted below, there appears to be adequate analysis of tourism satisfaction at the individual enterprise level. What is missing is a broader view that looks at the way tourists respond to the totality of their experiences in a particular destination irrespective of the particular activities that they engage in. I am going to provide an explanation of the Lebanese tourism economy because this market is the model that this dissertation uses as the benchmark for testing Iso-Ahola’s motivational theory. I have chosen this country due to its reputation of being the jewel of the Middle East and one of the most desired destinations in the region. The understanding of the characteristics of this market will play a critical role in laying the foundations for the research and would allow to increase the integrity and reliability of this research. Moreover, the market is highly concentrated and the geographic area is small; this aspect would play a paramount role in diminishing sources of error; and in case of their occurrence it would be easier to isolate and rectify. In addition, being my home country; I view studying this market as a personal passion which would allow me to present with a high â€Å"motivational† level. I will start by providing a review of the state of Lebanese tourism and highlight the trends, review precious research findings, and pinpoint the market characteristics. Tourism in the Lebanese Economy Over the last decade the tourism industry has emerged as a significant sector of the Lebanese economy generating approximately $5 billion in income, employing 1 in 9 Lebanese and contributing about $1.5 billion in export earnings. While approximately 55% of tourism activity involves domestic travel, the fastest growing sector is in-bound travel. This has been increasing significantly over the last decade with Lebanon receiving 1.1 million visits in 2004. Despite the recent downturn in the economies of major source countries, and the unstable political landscape visitor arrivals to Lebanon are expected to grow at an average annual rate of between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent to reach between 1.4 and 1.7 million visitors in 2010. Being a relatively new industry characterized by growth, the focus has been on marketing, visitor numbers, and length of stay, expenditure patterns and other measures of consumption. As the industry has begun to mature in the last five or so years; there has been an increasing interest in such things as quality of service, accreditation procedures, and measurement of client satisfaction. The issues discussed in this paper should be seen as part of this maturation process in which the industry is looking to achieve long-term sustainable growth that generates benefits for the industry, the clients and the community as a whole. Methodology of Research Collecting data in marketing research often involves several different strategies, such as interviewing and analyzing documents (Merriam, 1998). Using multiple sources of information is useful in our research since we have doubts that a single source of information will provide a complete and comprehensive understanding of the research problem, so in our research we use multiple sources of information. Basically, there are two forms of data: primary and secondary data. While writing the dissertation, I will use several different sources when collecting data in order to increase the validity of the collected data. Secondary data is the data that has been previously collected and published. The secondary data used in the beginning of our research, originated from various sources. In the preparatory period, we have started by studying literature related to relationship tourism marketing, tourism buying and motivational behavior and motivational marketing concepts in order to get deeper insight into and understanding of the researched area. The other sources used for collection of our secondary data were: newspaper and magazine articles, course materials, on-line sources (Internet databases) and tourism companies’ materials (internal and external). The methodology used for primary research will be depicted at greater length in the third chapter. Current Measurement of Tourist’s Satisfaction Levels Despite the large body of literature available on satisfaction research in general, only a few academic studies have focused directly on customer satisfaction amongst tourists. Of these, an even more limited number have been undertaken in Lebanon. The major studies include Fick and Ritchie (1991), Reisinger and Waryszak (1994), Arnold and Price (1993), Crompton and Love (1995), Geva and Goldman (1991), Maddox (1985) and Ryan (1995). Because of the limited material available in the academic literature, a preliminary survey of organizations that may have investigated tourist satisfaction was undertaken. Given the broad focus of the paper and the limited space, no attempt was made to look at individual tourism enterprises measuring the satisfaction level of clients as part of their on-going quality assurance program. The most common example of this is the questionnaire that is left in individual hotel rooms. These vary from single response questions to sophisticated instruments designed to elicit quite detailed responses from guests. Most of these are diagnostic in the sense that they are aimed at identifying specific measures that can be taken to improve the service. Some specifically enquire about customer’s perceptions of the service’s value for money. In some instances, particularly amongst 5 star hotel chains, these are used for benchmarking or as performance indicators. Because of this decision to exclude individual enterprises, the preliminary survey focused on the following organizations: Academic departments of Lebanese universities State tourist offices Non-government tourist industry organizations and associations The search found a range of studies has been completed most of which are primarily data-gathering research exercises rather than conceptual studies. The prime studies are described in appendix I. It is clear that some work has been done in this area by a smattering of agencies each of which approaches it from a quite different perspective. Despite acknowledgement of the potential value of the data, current efforts are not coordinated resulting in a lack of comparability that makes it impossible to identify trends and monitor changes in a systematic fashion. More importantly, the diversity of approaches demonstrates a need for substantial conceptual work on the nature of tourist satisfaction in general and the measurement of tourist satisfaction with destinations in particular. What is required is further exploration into the application of concepts and ideas drawn from the broader consumer literature to the specific challenge of measuring the satisfaction of tourists with particular destinations. This may require a quite different approach to that adopted for other services. Why measure satisfaction at the level of the destination? There are a number of reasons why it would be appropriate to look at extending the measurement of tourist satisfaction to the more global level of the tourist destination. It is critical to understand the underlying motivational factors in order to be able to get a clearer barometer for the measurement of satisfaction of tourists. Without pre-empting the nature of this measurement, these reasons include: Millions of dollars are spent each year on destination marketing by national and state tourism offices, airlines and regional tourism bodies. This includes detailed surveys of potential markets as well as extensive advertising and promotional campaigns in source countries. While there is considerable research into the impact of the promotional effort through awareness studies, tracking studies, etc, these all concentrate on the inputs (i.e. has the campaign reached its target audience?). What is missing is an understanding of the client’s reaction to the product offering, in particularly whether it meets the needs of the target market. This would become an integral part of the understanding what the market(s) is/are seeking. Peak organizations in the tourism industry recognize the need to encourage both new and repeat business. The latter can best be achieved by ensuring that our current offerings are satisfying the needs, expectations and desires of current tourists and their propensity to recommend the destination to others. The measure could become a barometer of the ‘health’ of the industry for strategic planning purposes. The tourism industry itself is grappling with the issue of service quality and recognizes that this is the key to long term success. At present its focus is on establishing accreditation mechanisms to ensure that individual firms conform to appropriate standards. Monitoring tourists’ satisfaction at the more global level would provide a valuable framework for this and enable comparison between the efforts of the individual enterprise and those of the industry as a whole. Government agencies are now recognizing the value of assessing the success of their programs in terms of outcomes rather than inputs. As Lebanese government agencies move in this direction the need for the systematic collection of the type of data proposed will increase. In the case of tourism, this is particularly relevant to national, state and regional tourism development bodies responsible for destination marketing. Using the level of satisfaction experienced by visitors to their destination as a measure of success would transfer the focus away from the efforts of the organization towards their achievements. Governments of all persuasions are looking critically at their financial commitments and questioning whether they should continue the traditionally high level of support. If the industry can demonstrate a relationship between the level of support and the satisfaction of visitors to their destination then the argument for continued support would be strengthened greatly. This would complement other measures such as visitor numbers, expenditure, etc. With an appropriate measurement instrument it could be possible for individual sectors of the industry to be compared with other sectors. In an industry where the success of the whole depends on the contribution of each part, this information will help to identify those sectors that need to improve. Recent developments in consumer protection have extended into the area of satisfaction. The 1993 European Union Directive on Travel has required member states to implement laws giving tourists the right to obtain compensation from packaged tour operators in the event that they are ‘dissatisfied’ with their holiday. This applies in all destinations, including Lebanon. The results of the proposed survey will help to focus the attention of the industry on this issue and provide data on how the industry is going and what needs to be improved. Perspectives on Measuring Tourists’ Satisfaction with a Destination Measuring tourists’ satisfaction with a destination is conceptually different from measuring satisfaction at the transaction specific level. Moreover, it is contended that while satisfaction at the destination level is influenced by the various transactions that occur at that destination, an individual’s level of satisfaction is influenced by much broader, global factors, some of which are beyond the capacity of the tourism industry to affect. The purpose of this section is to outline some ideas that should be taken into account when developing a method to measure satisfaction at this relatively abstract level. Johnson, Anderson et al., (1995) have distinguished between two different general conceptualizations of satisfaction: transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction. The former is concerned with â€Å"satisfaction as an individual, transaction-specific measure or evaluation of a particular product or service experience† (Johnson, Anderson et al. 1995). Cumulative satisfaction, on the other hand, is â€Å"a cumulative, abstract construct that describes customer’s total consumption experience with a product or service† (Johnson, Anderson et al., 1995). As a customer’s overall evaluation of the purchase or consumption experience, cumulative satisfaction is the most relevant conceptualization when the focus is on the tourist’s evaluation of their overall experience at a destination. This is sometimes referred to as market-level satisfaction. The literature suggests that satisfaction measurement must be treated differently at these two levels of abstraction. Moreover, when considering consumer satisfaction with their consumption experiences, a major distinction has been made between the consumption of goods and services (Lovelock, 1991). Measures of satisfaction are not the same for these different consumption experiences, largely because of the role of the consumer in the service encounter. It could also be argued that tourism is a ‘special’ service in that, like recreation or education, it is largely self-produced (Williams, 1988). The individual plays a central role in determining the experiences achieved and the benefits derived. The ‘special’ nature of tourism can be understood by adopting the behavioral perspective first developed within the recreation and leisure literature. This literature demonstrates the value of perceiving recreation as activity that creates experiences which, in turn, result in benefits for the individual (Driver and Tocher, 1970; Mannel and Iso-Ahola, 1987). This created a focus on the factors which determine the quality of those experiences and the benefits derived. Measurement of satisfaction has therefore involved an assessment of whether the experiences have resulted in the desired benefits sought by the individual. In his seminal paper (Wagar 1966) suggested that the quality of recreation experience depends upon how well desired outcomes are realized. Satisfaction is therefore more a function of the needs and interests of the individual than the attributes and characteristics of the service provided. These ideas have gradually become the basis of the conceptualization of the tourist experience and informed much of the work about tourist motivations and expectations (Crompton and Love, 1995; Ryan, 1995). Therefore tourist experiences can be regarded as the result of an active endeavor by the individual to create a situation in which to achieve satisfaction. It is this active involvement of the individual in the creation of his or her personal experiences that needs to be acknowledged. In a similar vein, the early recreation literature also recognized the implications of this approach for the assessment of recreation service quality. It was recognized that â€Å"the quality of the experiences can be influenced by input factors provided by managers . . . but to a considerable extent the quality of experiences depends upon choices made by recreationists and how they use the many factors of production† (Brown, 1988: 413). In other words, the satisfaction levels experienced by recreationists are recognized as being a function of a number of different variables including those brought by the recreationist him/herself which are beyond the influence of the service provider. Drawing on the consumer literature, it is too easy to assume that the outcomes of the tourist activity are solely the creation of the tourist operators/industry. However, it is perhaps more enlightening to adopt a ‘transactional perspective’ outlined in the recreation literature. Here, the tourist â€Å"actively creates the recreation(tourist) experience, through a transaction with the physical and social setting, including what the recreationist (tourist) brings to the process in terms of history, perceptions, companions, skills, equipment, identities, hopes and dreams† (Williams, 1988). With this perspective, more emphasis is placed on the behavior of the individual and their role in creating the experience. Not all the responsibility for creating high levels of satisfaction rests with the service deliverer. With this in mind, (Crompton and Love, 1995) make a distinction between quality of opportunity and quality of experience. â€Å"Quality of opportunity is defined as qualities of the attributes of a service that are under the control of a supplier. Evaluation is concerned with judgments about the performance of the leisure opportunity supplier. . . . In contrast, quality of experience involves not only the attributes provided by a supplier, but also attributes brought to the opportunity by the visitor or recreationist. . Quality of experience is a psychological outcome or emotional response. . Satisfaction is measured by how well leisure activities are perceived to fulfill the basic needs and motives that stimulated the idea to participate in the activity (Crompton and Love, 1995:12)†. When the objective is to measure satisfaction with a holiday in a particular destination, it will be important to note this distinction and ensure that both aspects are included in the assessment. We have been reasonably good at assessing tourists’ perceptions of the quality of opportunity but largely ignored the question of quality of experience. A further perspective that could be of relevance here is that of Herzberg (1966). While his work mainly focused on the workplace, his theory of motivation has relevance to the expenditure of discretionary time such as going on a holiday. Herzberg (1966) suggests that all aspects of an experience can be classified as either a motivational or a hygienic factor. Motivational factors are those that positively encourage people to do something. For example, a desire to make new friends may motivate people to go on an organized tour rather than travel alone. On the other hand, hygienic factors are those things which would not encourage one to travel, but their absence would discourage such travel. A good example is the availability of clean drinking water. Having this available is unlikely to motivate someone to travel, while its absence could cause someone to not choose a particular destination. According to Roger James Associates (1996) â€Å"the absence of motivational factors does not lead to ‘dissatisfaction’ but rather to ‘unsatisfaction’ a sense of emptiness rather than a sense of anger or disappointment. On the other hand, the absence of a hygienic factor will lead to dissatisfaction. The presence of such a factor will not lead to ‘satisfaction’ but rather to ‘satisficing’, that is, a passive (albeit benign) feeling† (Roger James Associates, 1996 : 34). If we adopt this framework it could be suggested that we have tended to focus on the hygienic factors which are represented by the measurement of how well the services (hotels, airports, travel companies, etc) are provided. These are important because without these being done well, the customer would be very dissatisfied. However, we have not also measured the motivational factors. These are akin to the experience factors how well the destination facilitates the satisfaction of personal needs. The best way of ensuring that we are providing this is to understand the client’s needs, etc and to develop product that is relevant to these. In turn, this is linked to the benefits to be derived from the experience thus creating satisfaction. The work by Arnold and Price (1993) confirms the role that needs and desires play in the consumer’s evaluation of a particular experience. They present very clear evidence that the satisfaction of participants in this recreational (or possibly tourist?) activity is related to the extent to which the experience enhances their individual cultural script and are â€Å"interpreted within the broader narrative context of the consumer’s life† (Arnould and Price, 1993). They suggest that â€Å"satisfaction with river rafting . . . does not seem to be embodied in attributes of the experience such as amounts of time spent freezing in wet clothes, uncomfortable toilet facilities, bad food or any summary index of specific attributes of the trip† (Arnould and Price, 1993). These general thoughts appear to be in line with the fundamentals of the marketing concept most commonly described as â€Å"satisfying the needs and desires of the consumer† (Keith, 1960 :38) and the whole notion of benefit segmentation which suggests that purchases are selected on the basis of the benefits derived by consumers (Haley, 1968). It is also consistent with the recent work of Spreng and his associates which emphasizes the role that desires, as opposed to expectations, plays in determining satisfaction within the disconfirmation framework (Spreng, Mackenzie et al., 1996). Proposed Path Space does not permit an exhaustive examination of the extensive literature outlining the various models used as the basis for measuring customer satisfaction and gauging the behavioral aspects (see Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al., 1994). However, a review of this literature has uncovered a model that could be developed to provide a satisfactory method of evaluating tourists’ satisfaction at the level of the destination and their motivational map. This model has been developed by Iso-Ahola and has become the basis of extensive work at the national and international level. The index provided by the Iso-Ahola model provides a cumulative evaluation of a sector’s market offering coupled with individual evaluation of a specific transaction. Called the ‘Customer Satisfaction Index/Barometer’, it has been introduced in: Sweden, Germany and the United States of America (Fornell, Johnson et al, 1996). Taiwan and New Zealand are also in the process of introducing a similar national satisfaction indicator. While much work still needs to be done, the framework provided by Iso-Ahola model provides a good starting point. It should be possible to make the necessary changes required to produce a useful index that will contribute to the on-going development of this important industry. Chapter II Literature Review It is imperative to start with a review of literature that addressed motivation in the travel and tourism industry. By adopting this approach we will be able to present a much more comprehensive and inclusive approach to understanding the theories of motivation in the travel and tourism industry; and thus, we will be able to lay the foundations of clear parameters that can help scholars and decision makers measure the satisfaction of tourists and the underlying motivational factors. This part of the paper is dedicated to reviewing the literature that currently assesses the main theories of motivation. These theories span across a wide spectrum; therefore we will tackle the various theories of travel motivation in the first part and then we will focus our discussions on Iso-Ahola’s motivational theory. The main theories of travel motivation Knowledge of peoples travel motivations and its association with destination selection plays a critical role in predicting future travel patterns. The essay talks about the various theories propounded by the theorists and analyses their practical benefits for the tourism industry. Tourist motivation can be defined as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives value and direction to travel choices, behavior and experience. (Pearce, Morrison Rutledge, 1998) as cited by Allan R. Rhodes Espinoza. According to Seaton (1997) motivation is a state of arousal of a drive or need which impels people to activity in pursuit of goals. Once the goals have been achieved the need subsides and the individual returns to the equilibrium-but only briefly because new motives arise as the last one is satisfied. Krippendorf (1987), as cited in Seaton (1997) suggests that the motivation of the individual person to travel, to look outside for what he cannot find inside have been largely created by society and shaped by everyday life. People who live in cities, for example, are motivated to travel as tourists to wilderness areas because they need to escape from an artificial, monotonous environment. (Dann Matley, 1976) as cited in Mansfeld 1992). Grays travel-motivation theory, as noted by Mansfeld (1992), gives us two motives about why people go to natural settings. The first motive is the desire to go from a known to an unknown place, called in Grays theory wanderlust. Secondly, a place which can provide the traveler with specific facilities that do not exist in his or her own place of residence, referred in Grays theory as sun lust (Mansfeld, 1992). It is a common practice to consider traveler or tourist types as potential market segments for travel and tourism marketing (Smith, 1989 as cited in Theobald, 1996).Some of the motives which determine their travel choices are recreation, pleasure, new experiences, cultural interest, shopping. Any reader of literature of tourism motivation cannot help being struck by the similarity in findings by many researchers. The adjectives and categorizations of tourists based upon motivations may differ in number, but recurrent themes emerge. For example the need to escape from everyday surroundings for the purpose of relaxation, and discovering new things, places and people are often alluded to. According to Crompton (1979), as cited in Bello Etzel (1985), the need for relaxation, exploration, social interaction and enhancement of kinship relationships act as dominant push motives in the vacation decision. Reversely, pull motives are aroused by the destination and include factors like scenic attractions, historical sites. Push factors are thought to establish the desire for travel and pull factors are thought to explain actual destination choice. Seaton (1997) suggests that the push factors include avoidance of work, cultural/social pressures at home. The pull factors include seeking leisure /play, freedom and escape. Maslow (1943) identified two motivational types: tension-reducing motives; arousal-seeking motives. According to Maslow, there are five needs forming a hierarchy, progressing from the lower to the higher needs. Maslow argued that if the lower needs [physiological {hunger, thirst, rest}, safety {security}, belonging and love {affection, giving and receiving love}] are fulfilled the individual would be motivated by needs of the next level of the hierarchy [esteem {self-esteem and esteem for others}, self-actualization {personal self-fulfillment}]. Cooper et al(2005) criticizes Maslows theory saying that why and how Maslow selected the basic five needs remain unclear, although Page(2003) feels that it has relevance in understanding how human action is understandable and predictable compared to research which argues that human behavior is essentially irrational and unpredictable. Cooper et al (2005) also questions the arrangement of the needs. Though Cooper et al (2005) criticizes much about Maslows theory, he feels that tourism industry has borrowed a lot from Maslow because he provides a convenient set of containers that can be relatively labeled. Hudman (1980) as cited in Davidson and Maitland (1997) argue that Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs provides a useful framework for understanding psychological motivational factors in tourism. Thus, for example, although the apparent purpose of a trip may be to visit friends and relatives, the underlying psychological motivation may be a need for belonging

Queen Elizabeth I - Family, Religion, and Politics Essay -- essays res

Born of a king whose most disappointing day was that of her birth, Elizabeth Tudor’s life seemed almost made for trials and controversy, both personally and politically. Although she had, at times, a horrible temper and a disagreeable personality, and suffered through many physical and psychological problems as an adult, Elizabeth proved to be one of the most remarkable monarchs in English history. Firstly, I will discuss Elizabeth’s family (including her many stepmothers), and then I will talk about her relationship with her siblings under their power. Thirdly, I will examine religion and how it affected her opinions and politics during her reign. Lastly, I will look at foreign politics of the time and some of Elizabeth’s decisions affecting England’s position in the world. Elizabeth was born in 1533 to Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. Anne was Henry’s second wife, after having divorced the first (Catherine of Aragon) for having failed to produce a male heir to the throne. (On Catherine’s death, her daughter Mary’s birth was declared illegitimate.) Ann had been Catherine’s lady-in-waiting. After Elizabeth’s disappointing birth, Ann Boleyn had two miscarriages. The king was growing impatient for a son. During Ann’s fourth pregnancy, she discovered Henry in bed with her lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Her anger brought on premature labour, and she gave birth to a dead boy. Henry had her arrested and taken to Tower Hill. She was charged with having committed adultery and incest, and was beheaded. The King married Jane Seymour thenext morning. Elizabeth was only three years old at the time. In 1537, Jane Seymour gave birth to a boy, Edward. Jane died a week later. The king remarried quickly (to Ann of Cleves), but the marriage en... ...lso proved to be a wise political move, for she flirted incessantly, and â€Å"not to marry always left the door open to the possibilities of marriage, and that was an asset.... which she did not care to lose† (Read, 162). Though, near her death, more problems were caused by a new generation looking for change (more people were executed in those last few years than all of the other years of her reign put together), Elizabeth Tudor’s name will echo in history books for many years to come as an important figure in English history. References Jenkins, E. (1965). Elizabeth the Great. London: Victor Gollancz. Morris, C. (1955). The Tudors. London: Fontana/Collins. Read, C. (1936). The Tudors: Personalities and Practical Politics in Sixteenth Century England. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Rowse, A.(1950). The England of Elizabeth. London: Macmillan and Co.

things fall apart :: essays research papers fc

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a story that describes the effects of a new Christian religion in a tribal village of Africa, called Umuofia. The novel is set during the late 1800s to early 1900s when the British were expanding their influence in Africa, economically, culturally, religiously, and politically. The book shows the colonization of Umuofia by the British and the negative and violent changes this brought about in the lives of the tribe members. Along with colonization was the arrival of the missionaries whose main aim was to spread the message of Christianity and to convert people to their religion. The conversion to Christianity of tribal peoples destroyed an intricate and traditional age-old way of life in the village. This is best seen in the rise and fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who could be understood to represent the best and worst of his culture. Eventually, Okonkwo can be seen as the symbol of the disintegration. In the late 1800, Western society did not rest the case of imperialism and colonization solely on conquest. They developed an idea based on Darwinian racial struggle, that it was the responsibility of the more â€Å"civilized† whites to help the more primitive, non-whites. This sort of assistance also included the spread of Christianity- the â€Å"true† religion. So when the white missionaries went to Umuofia, in their own minds they were justified in their cause. Upon their arrival, one of their first victims is Okonkwo’s family. His son, Nwoye is immediately attracted to the new religion (148). In Christianity, Nwoye finds comfort for things that have long disturbed him, but the religion also provides a way to rebel against his father and his ideas of masculinity. Okonkwo believes that a weak man will never be able to survive in the village, and fears his son may turn out to be like his own father. A man who was always in debt and without the proper qualities of a real man. But, for the most part, Okonkwo's idea of manliness is not the clan's. He associates masculinity with aggression and feels that anger is the only emotion that he should display. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 in the midst of the Nigerian renaissance.

Embracing Higher Education :: College School Essays

Embracing Higher Education Universities are institutions where people can go and receive a higher richer education. Anyone whether young or old, female or male, immigrant or national born can earn a college degree. A formal education can be obtained with desire, demand, and craving to do so. The World Book Encyclopedia defines Universities and Colleges as schools where one continues an education after high school. According to the World Book Encyclopedia â€Å"a university or college education helps men and women enjoy richer, more meaningful lives†. If something can give a person a â€Å"richer, more meaningful† life, then why isn’t everyone running, jumping and rushing to get what the universities and colleges are giving? Each person has a different reason, but for most the reasons are the same repeating over and over again. â€Å"I do not want to go to college.† â€Å"I can not afford to go to college.† â€Å"I am to old to go to college.† The path to a college or a university is not the way for everyone. The ones who say, â€Å"I don’t want to go to college† have legitimate reasons for not attending an institution for higher education. A person can still lead a happy successful life without obtaining a degree. Not only can someone lead a happy life without a college degree, but they may also be educated. Gaining a higher education from a university or college is not the only way to â€Å"enjoy a richer, more meaningful† life. Many who have not obtained a college degree, are still successful, happy, and fulfilled individuals. Receiving a piece of paper, a degree from a university, does not guarantee a person anything, but a degree can be a great boost to say the least. A degree doesn’t automatically give anyone happiness, success, money, or a job, but it can help a person obtain their goals and much more. In Jon Spayde’s essay â€Å"Learning In the Key of Life† he says that education is gained through first-hand experiences. Spayde explains his definition of education as â€Å"an education carpentered out of the best combination we can make of school, salon, reading, online exploration, walking the streets, hiking in the woods, museums, poetry classes at the Y, and friendship† (62). Anything and everything, which we come in contact with or which comes in contact with us, becomes background that can be classified as an educational experience.

Impact of a major change at Blacks Essay

As I also stated in my introduction there have been many changes at Blacks recently in the last few months. Blacks are a fairly new business but have already become on of the UK’s leading suppliers of outdoor gear. Since opening they have generated high revenue and have been highly profitable every year. Every year Blacks beats the previous year in sales which shows that their market share is also increasing. As Blacks looked at their financial status at the beginning of the year and looked at their objectives there was suddenly an opportunity in the market. Competitor called Outdoors, who supply similar products to Blacks for camping was in financial crisis. The only way for Blacks to increase their market share is to close in on competitors. Blacks saw their opportunity and starting buying Outdoors’ shares. Before buying shares though Blacks approached Outdoors and asked if they would be willing to comply with a friendly take over, but they rejected hoping that there financial crisis would be resolved. It soon became obvious that they were in too much debt so Blacks seized their opportunity and bought them out. A hostile takeover was imposed and there was nothing the firm could do. They tried to resist the takeover bid but could not manage the finances. The board of directors did their best to ensure shareholders that their interests would be best protected with the current board but many fled They are now in the process of changing these stores into Blacks stores. The implication of this change has had a big effect on both Blacks’ employees and Outdoors’ employees. There were feelings of fear as to what will happen with so many job that and who would work in the new stores. In order to show compassion to the existing workers of Outdoors it was decided that they were going to keep the majority of workers and only make a few redundant that had little product knowledge or were just simply not needed. However the staffs were assured that changes would be made in the culture so as to meet the required level of customer service that Blacks offer. This caused some unrest as they resisted to changes Due to workers being let go some rumours got around through to Blacks stores that existing Blacks employees may have been dropped. However it was just a rumour that fizzled out and started with no real reliable source. This was one main change that happened at Blacks. Another was the change of manager at the beginning of the year. As I have already stated the change in manager has not been the best to date. The new manger has adopted an autocratic style of management. This leaves no space for ideas to be shared or any participation in decision making. As a result of this many workers were threatening to leave as before the manger had come we were constantly making bonus by reaching our targets. Since he came though, we have not been able to make target because the workers are de-motivated. Ways of handling Resistance to Change The new changes at Blacks have affected the natural order of things at the workplace, for example, new working practices will be introduced, staff have been made redundant and some staff may be re-located to new stores. This in itself will lead a natural resistance to change, so the question is: how should managers handle this resistance to change? I will propose six easy steps: 1. Managers should keep workers informed at each stage as to what is going to happen. This can be done by having: -regular staff meetings -regular discussions -issue bulletins -team briefings 2. Managers need to involve workers in the decision making process. This way it helps them to feel a part of the organisation 3. Take steps to avoid rumours spreading and misinformation circulating within and outside the company 4. Set up works council where worker representatives can meet with senior management and discuss issues pertaining to the future of the business 5. Invest in training to enable workers to cope with change, also offer counselling to the workers who may need to be made redundant 6. Review the organisational culture to ensure it fits with the future plans for the business

Example Solution Manual: exploring strategy text & cases

A key danger to highlight is of long lists of forces or influences that are too unwieldy for practical action. So the second question challenges students to assess which of the forces are likely to be of most significance in driving Industry change. Here students should justify their views In terms of the evidence from the past and the likely Impact In the future of any particular Influence. The end-chapter case example on the European brewing Industry also asks students to do a PESTLE analysis. Illustration 2. Scenarios Scenarios help students think long term and very broadly: here the World Economic Forum and its members are looking a decade ahead, and thinking about gee- economics in general as well as just the market in a narrow sense. The question asks about whether companies have more influence over government policy or gee- economics. It then goes on to ask about how companies might influence government. This also obviously touches on issues of corporate social responsibility, pursued in Chapter 4.Companies probably do have more influence on policy coordination, but the Issue Is which governments they should be talking to (the united States, China? ) and whether It Is only governments that matter (United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization? ). They should also consider how they can best Influence governments, Individually or collectively through, for example, the World Economic Forum or the Business Roundtable, the group of Coos of leading American corporations.To some extent, the power is likely to be exercised negatively: through lobbying against and criticism of proposals for financial re-regulation. It is worthwhile also asking about the influence these corporations can have themselves on gee-economic shifts: some Western company headquarters are shifting away from their home-countries, for example, the global headquarters of American civil engineering conglomerate Hallucination moved to Dublin and Swiss/Swedish engineering company ABA moved its global robotics business headquarters to Shanghai. Illustration 2. The Steel Industry The steel Industry provides a fairly easy-to-understand case of rapid structural change, and one led by industry actors. Understanding how the leading companies in other words, a sense that structures are given rather than changeable. The first question particularly invites a comparative analysis using the radar-plot introduced in Exhibit 2. 5. The radar-plot might look roughly like the following, with the mutinous lines indicating rough positions in around 2000 (10 years earlier than the illustration) and the dotted lines indicating positions in 2010.The comparative positions highlight the increasing power of suppliers such as the iron ore producers (negative); the high power of sophisticated buyers, somewhat mitigated by the declining power of the Big Three (mildly positive perhaps); and the beginning of decreased rivalry (positive) as the larger steel companies such as Imi tate try to consolidate the industry. It might be said that the new entry threat has stabilized and even reduced, though continued investment by Chinese players may increase rivalry especially if they turn to overseas markets.Overall, comparing the size of the two radar plots over time suggests only a marginal change in favor of the steel producers. With regard to the second question, the acquisition strategies seem driven by the desire to reduce rivalry by reducing the number of players and even capacity. You might ask students what is necessary to make this work: here you might highlight the importance for reduced rivalry of both simultaneous cuts in capacity investments by, for example, the Chinese and strong barriers to new entry. With Edgar to the third question, success in raising barriers to entry (e. . Through technological change) and in reducing rivalry (through continued consolidation) would make the industry more attractive. Vertical integration strategies into sources o f supply (e. G. Iron ore) would help too. A potential negative is significant progress with substitute materials. This depends on technological progress, hence providing a useful link between the Porter 5 Forces and PESTLE. Illustration 2. 4 Chugging in the Charity Sector The aim of this Illustration of course is to show that industry structure analysis is elevate to not-for-profits as well.Indeed, charities appear ruthlessly competitive – hence the High Street chugging. The first question points to at least three of the Praetorian forces as causing problems: (I) There are low barriers to entry, with ‘constant refreshment' of the industry by new charities; (it) there is strong buying power on the part of local authorities commissioning services; (iii) there is intense rivalry because of the number of competitors and tendency towards overlap and duplication of charitable services.In addition, they face substitutes in the form of coal authorities and other agencies perfor ming services in-house, but at this point the trend in that respect was in their favor. The suppliers of funds – donors – have many alternative charities to give to. The mergers and increasing concentration levels (the largest are growing fastest) imply growing industry consolidation. At the moment, the industry structure might be described as highly competitive, but there may be widespread advantages to it moving towards a more oligopolies situation. Illustration 2. Cycles of Competition The Wisdom' in strategy theory has been that competitiveness is about building up a Eng-term competitive advantage and then defending it against competitors. The idea industry will work its way out over time. It also highlights the potentially destructive nature of competition (at least from the point of view of industry players) and the value of trying to avoid it. Indeed, a key point is that these competitive cycles are not inevitable. Signaling to competitors, and interpreting the signals of others' competitive moves, can help avoid head-on competition.Retaliation (Section 2. 3 under barriers to entry) is a key principle here, as are the basics of game theory (Chapter 3). With regard to question 1, Francesco might have slowed down or rebuffed entirely Deceptiveness's invasion of the French market by retaliating hard against its initial move: even though the youth niche was not so important to Francesco, a determined response there would have signaled the likelihood that attacking the core French market would be so fiercely opposed that it might not be worth Deceptiveness's while even to try.With regard to question 2, Francesco would have been hard-pressed to avoid escalating competition in the business market. However, one possibility might have been for Francesco to focus on a particular selected niche (say the small firms segment). By signaling clearly through advertising or similar that this niche was the extent of their ambitions, Francesco might have enc ouraged Descriptive to concentrate on its best opportunities, leaving the French get on with their specialist in peace.Illustration 2. 6 Key Debate: How Much Does Industry Matter? This debate addresses an enduring source of controversy in strategy research, and allows students to review the importance of the contents of Chapter 2 (particularly the five forces'), at the same time as introducing the more internally focused issues of Chapter 3 that follows. For Porter, industry matters a lot. The aseptic might argue ‘he would say that, wouldn't he'?After all, this is exactly what his training in industrial economics and the standard products of his consulting firm would favor. However, the important thing here is to recognize the extent of the research he (and collaborators such as Anita McGowan) draw upon to make their case. It is worth pointing out to students that strategy theories are more than ‘Just theories': there is solid empirical research involved too. When meetin g a new theory, students should et used to asking: where is the research evidence?What the research seems to suggest is that an industry is not the be-all and end-all, but that choosing an attractive industry is a very good starting point in strategy: industry accounts for about two-fifths of the explained variance in the Porter and McGowan study (leaving aside control variables etc. ). Turning to the precise question, the kinds of industries that influence members' profitability's more than others seem generally to be service industries (explaining the greater industry effects in the Porter and McGowan study than in Runlet's).But to go on from here, industry influences are most likely to be strongest in highly competitive and mature industries. In such industries, sources of firm-specific differentiation are likely to be few, easily imitated and easily competed away, so making it hard to earn above-normal profits. At the same time, standard recipes for competing would have been est ablished, so only the incompetent would perform substantially below the norm (and competition should have eliminated most such incompetents by the industry maturity stage).These conditions would probably prevail in service industries such as hotels, restaurants and retail. Newer industries commodity competitors and suppliers, so allowing persistent variability in profitability. Video Questions Hoicks Hoicks is a specialist insurer in the Lloyd of London insurance market. The company specializes in niche areas such as property and casualty insurance for high net worth individuals and companies, as well as cover against such risks as hacking, kidnapping and satellite damage. The video case is quite complicated, so best viewed after a thorough working through of the chapter material. . The industry is facing more buyer power, with the rise of online price comparison sites. On the other hand, there is a process of consolidation with the rise of ‘consolidators' (companies such as R esolution), who are acquiring weaker companies in order to build position. This is likely in the long term to reduce rivalry. Major failures such as that of the American giant Alga (American Investment Group) are likely to reduce rivalry too. It is clear that general recessionary pressures are also influencing the market at the time of the video, reducing demand and likely to make it more price-sensitive. . Hoicks has a specialist position, aside from companies like Alga or the general insurers that Resolution is trying to buy, and its power in its niche is reinforced by its brand (well known in the United Kingdom). It also has the advantage of having both an underwriting (issue of insurance policies) and investment business, which mean that Hoicks is protected from short-term cycles or crises in one part of the business, probably helping to buffer it from price competition in the short term too. Assignment 2. PESTLE Analysts PESTLE analysis is a useful starting point for environmen tal analysis. Illustration 2. 1 provides a model. A ‘blank of the basic template of illustration 2. 1 can be provided to dents who can then be asked to complete it for the forces at work in a particular industry. The danger is that long lists of forces or influences can be generated by this device. So the second question challenges students to assess which of the forces are likely to be of most significance in driving industry change.Here students should justify their views in terms of the evidence from the past and the likely impact in the future of any particular influence. See the discussion of the PESTLE for the end- chapter case on the European brewing industry for an example. Assignment 2. 2 Building Scenarios Assignment 2. Requires students to focus on change in industry characteristics and competitive forces through the construction of scenarios. Guidelines for the construction of scenarios are given in Section 2. 2. 2 it is recommended that students follow these, buil ding either two or four scenarios for a given industry.The work done in Assignment 2. 1 should provide the bases of identifying the key industry forces or influences which will enable them to do this. Some of the problems of scenario building should be emphasized to students: Students may try to build in too many factors and, therefore, not be able to limit the number of scenarios. They may find difficulty in generating scenarios with a coherent and compatible set of factors. Some may be wary of having to exercise Judgment; and others will confuse Judgment with hunch.Try to encourage a realistic debate that tests out assumptions and students to build scenarios for an industry for which there is a company case (or for their own industry/company if possible) and then to assess the company's strategic position in the light of the different scenarios (e. G. See the notes above on the brewing industry). One of the issues that might surface is the ease or difficulty with which scenarios c an be constructed. It usually emerges that scenarios are much easier to construct where the number of key forces at work in an industry is relatively few.They are less easy to construct if the number of important forces is high because the number of variables the student is trying to handle becomes too great. This, in turn, raises another issue. Scenarios are of particular use in uncertain environments as a means of helping managers to think through possible futures. However, uncertainty may arise for a number of reasons. If uncertainty arises because of the unpredictability of a few forces, then arguably scenarios may be very lawful, but what if uncertainty arises primarily because there are a large number of forces at work: to what extent are scenarios of use in such circumstances?There are a limited number of very important forces at work in the brewing industry: but what of fast-moving hi-tech industries where there are many different forces at work? Assignment 2. 3 Five Competi tive Forces Five forces analysis is an absolutely fundamental technique in strategy. Section 2. 3 should give students the ability to carry out a basic five forces analysis of any industry. They should be encouraged to consider all of the elements of each of the vive forces: so for example, under barriers to entry, scale and experience effects, channels, retaliation and so on.The radar-plot technique of Exhibit 2. 5 should only be used as a summary once the full analysis is complete; the danger is of it being used to short-circuit the analysis. Students should be expected to do more than simply list elements; they should clearly identify the implications (positive or negative) of each. The second question about conclusions for industry attractiveness should underline the importance of drawing out implications, rather than Just listing. Assignment 2. 4 Comparisons between Industries and Over Time This assignment allows students to build on Assignment 2. In order to consider the inves tment implications of differences between industries and change over time. The assignment is a substantial one if relying on students' own research. However, time can be saved if two case studies are used (e. G. Brewing, pharmaceuticals or hi-if, perhaps looking backwards at change over the past three to five years, rather than change in the future). Similarly, students may save time by using the radar-plot technique (Exhibit 2. 5), as in the discussion of Illustration 2. 3. It is important to note the two follow-up questions.Explicitly asking for Justification helps students avoid the superficial analysis which is easy to do with five forces. Asking the question about investment helps students think about concrete implications, again something that five forces analyses often neglect. By looking over time, students will learn to be cautious about investing in industries with declining attractiveness. By comparing industries, students can also consider industry attractiveness in thei r diversification decisions, an issue picked up in Chapter 7.At the same time, it is worth countering attractive are likely to have high barriers to entry, so the costs of entry may outweigh the benefits of entering. An industry that is becoming relatively unattractive may be neglected by competitors, and, if you enjoy a strong competitive advantage in that industry, it may still be a source of profit to you. Assignment 2. 5 Strategic Groups This assignment builds on the notion of strategic groups and strategic space outlined in Section 2. 4. 1 in the text. Figure 2. 8 provides an example of how the exercise could be carried out.This could, for example, be applied to the European brewing industry: Key strategic dimensions might come under either of the scope or resource commitment characteristics in Section 2. 4. 1 – for example, product range or extent of vertical integration. Possible key strategic dimensions in the European brewing industry might include geographical cover age, strength of brands, diversification, size of firm, type of distribution, and so on. Students are encouraged to draw more than one strategic group map if they believe that more than two dimensions are important.It is useful to ask them to consider the extent to which different bases of such maps give rise to similar or different configurations. They might find, for example, that however the maps are drawn up, some companies always tend to end up in the same groups. In other words, some companies may have a very similar set of strategic characteristics along many dimensions. Students are asked to examine the strategic group maps to see if there are any under-populated White spaces' in the industry.For example, in brewing, is there an opportunity for a giant specialist in making ‘own brand' beer for the large retailers? However, students should assess carefully why there are few competitors in any such white spaces. White spaces can often turn out to be dangerous ‘blac k holes' rather than attractive opportunities. Assignment 2. 6 Critical Success Factors and the Strategy Canvas It is very likely that students will concentrate on success factors that are salient to them as consumers – for example, the product ranges of a clothing retailer.Less visible elements, such as ownership by a diversified parent company, may be neglected. However, for a short assignment, this need not matter too much: the essence is comparison in order to identify areas of (potential) competitive advantage. The key insight of a strategy canvas is to encourage competitors to compete where it s relatively easy to secure a significant advantage (Blue Ocean), and not necessarily to compete fiercely over the top-rated success factors if advantage can only be obtained at very considerable cost (Red Ocean).You can introduce less visible, but strategically significant elements after they have done their basic analysis. Integrative Assignment Full Analysis of an Industry or a Sector This assignment would be a demanding research project over a significant part of the course. It is however a very good test of students' ability to apply tools to real data appropriately, as well as developing their research skills. Students will see it as practical and, if allowed a choice of sectors, relevant to their own interests. Good research resources are essential.As well as free web-based resources such as company reports, trade association statistics and some government or supra- access resources such as the business press and Journals available through Businessperson Premier, Fictive or Prosiest, and reports from organizations such as Remuneration, Key Notes and Minute. Your institution's librarian will advise you on what is available to students and how proficient they are likely to be in using such resources. You would also want to guide students on which industries or sectors to choose.Very broad industries – for example, the world airline industry †“ are likely to overwhelm students with data. It might be helpful to encourage focus – for example, the airline industry in India, or similar. Industry focus also reduces the risk of plagiarism. There are many student assignments of a similar nature available for a fee on the web, and it would definitely be wise to avoid allowing students to research the same industries in successive years. Requiring a specific focus on particular homes (e. G. Internationalization) or some less common concepts (e. . The strategy canvas, cycles of competition etc. ) can also reduce plagiarism. Insisting on precisely citing sources for key data and points (through an end-note system or similar) makes simple plagiarism harder too, as well as being good practice. If allowed, students will find very helpful a couple of example assignments from previous years to guide them roughly on what they are supposed to do. A report length limit of around 2000-2500 words would encourage students to focus on what is really important.Requiring an executive summary would also force students to consider what is really important and what are the key implications. Over a two semester course, this assignment could be stage one of a two-part assessment regime; the second semester could have as an assignment asking students to consider implications of the first part for the strategy of a particular company in the original industry or sector. Case Example The European Brewing Industry This case focuses on the key techniques of PESTLE and five forces analysis that are central to this chapter.Full cases such as the pharmaceutical industry can be used evolve students' skills in seeing trends in industry data and drawing conclusions as to the likely impact of those trends on particular companies in an industry. PESTLE Here it would be helpful to ask the students to draw on wider knowledge or research (you may have beer drinkers from many countries in your class). Depending on how extensive students ' additional research and thinking are, a wide-range of issues may be raised. To highlight some for the purposes of illustration: Political: government campaigns against drink driving Economic: the rise of the Asian economiesSocial: rise of beer consumption in southern Europe Technological: few clear in the case, but innovations around products such as ice- cold lager might be raised Environmental: few clear in the case, but packaging issues are likely to be important Legal: few clear in the case, but changes in licensing laws and permitted alcohol limits for driving are relevant. Pestles can often seem somewhat inconclusive, so it is important to pull out key issues and conclusions. The increasing hostility to drinking (under P and L) and the rise of Asian economies and southern Europe (under E & S) seem particularly important trends.One way of drawing some simple conclusions is to assess the overall balance (positive or negative) under each of the PESTLE headings: in the case of t he European brewing There has traditionally been a wide variation of industry structures across Europe. The United Kingdom is fairly competitive. Denmark, Holland, Italy, Belgium and France, on the other hand, have been in near monopoly situations. However, with increasing exports and imports and cross-border acquisitions, national markets are becoming less protected. An interesting issue, then, is at what level to conduct industry structure analysis.If at a European level, the broad issues to consider under each of the five forces are as follows: Buyers: With more than one fifth of beer sold through supermarkets, and increasing resort to ‘own-label', these buyers are increasingly powerful (underline that buyers are not the ultimate consumers). Suppliers: The high concentration of the packagers suggests that these are becoming increasingly powerful. Substitutes: Wine is clearly a dangerous substitute. New entrants: Internationalization through M and increased trade is introduc ing new entrants into previously protected markets: most countries see increasing imports (Table 2).Enhances-Busch and Gabrielle are two obvious new entrants into Europe. Students might be alerted to the potential threat of Toasting and the other Chinese brewers. Although not prominent in the case, there is still the potential of small new brewers entering using micro-breweries or contract brewers (e. G. Cobra). Rivalry: falling demand, international entrants and over-capacity obviously increase the scope for rivalry. However, note that sales values are rising, that innovation and branding can mitigate price-competition, that there has been a history of price-fixing cartels, and that leading players are attempting consolidation through M.It might be useful to ask the students to compare industry concentration ratios in 2000 and 2009: that is, the share accounted for the top three or five players (Table 3). As ever, it is important to draw conclusions. On balance, the European brewin g industry does not seem attractive, and unlikely to become more so until the current round of consolidation is completed and brewers achieve greater leverage against their buyers and suppliers. Impact on Particular Brewing Companies The three companies are chosen to represent different types of ‘player'. A-B Ellen is the largest player, after a succession of spectacular mergers.It is remarkable how the company is withdrawing from fast-growing China and Eastern Europe, however. Greene King is tiny in comparison to A-B Ellen, with Just one key domestic market, the United Kingdom. However, domestic focus and its own pubs may be giving it a strongly defended local position. You might ask whether there are competitors who might be tempted to buy such a company. Tossing Tao is the wild-card here. It is strong in its booming home market, but it is also interested in moving overseas. But would it make Europe a priority region for expansion, or choose another market?